The Marriage Solution

'You think you can do that?' she asked in loving disbelief.

'I will try,' he promised gravely. 'And now we should go and see if this stupid brother of mine has finally done the thing I have been urging him to do for years. I'm surrounded by stubborn people in this family.' He eyed her with mock-severity. 'When will you all understand that I know best?'

It was much later, as the four of them sat having a midnight supper in the soft warmth of the June night, that Joseph and Maisie outlined their plans for the future.

'That house I designed for the Croxleys is up for sale,' Joseph said quietly as he sat holding Maisie's hand, their faces relaxed and at peace as though they had just come through a great storm. 'I'd like to put in an offer. With their son being disabled, all the alterations another place would need are already taken care of and they'll be glad of a quick sale now that his new job in America has been finalised. There's a massive downstairs study which would be ideal for my work and the garden is a pocket handkerchief that Maisie will easily cope with.'

'Are you sure you want to leave here?' Carlton asked Joseph softly, although Katie sensed he had been pleased at the proposal.

Joseph had obviously caught the same notion because there was a twinkle in his eye and a wicked tilt to his head as he gazed back at his brother. 'I don't think Maisie and I could stand the noise,' he murmured innocently, with a sidelong glance at Katie that held both respect and admiration. 'I have the strangest feeling you've met your match in Katie, Carlton. I've often longed to shout at you but I've never had the bottle.'

Katie blushed to the roots of her hair but Carlton's face was lazy and unconcerned as he grinned back at the younger version of himself. 'It wouldn't have had the same effect,' he admitted drily.

'We'd like to get married in a few weeks. Neither of us wants any fuss—just a few close friends and family,' Joseph continued quietly, with a long glance at Maisie's lovely face. 'But you'll be my best man?'

'Well, I sure as hell wouldn't let anyone else be,' Carlton said with a flash of his old arrogance, which made Katie smile and Joseph grin wryly.

'And the Croxleys' house…?'

'That'll be down to you to sort out, Joe, my lad,' Carlton said firmly as he stood up, pulling Katie up with him and wrapping a possessive arm round her waist. 'Just in case anyone has forgotten, this is supposed to be our honeymoon and we're back out on the first plane to Spain tomorrow morning..'

'We are?' Katie queried breathlessly.

'We are.' His eyes were dark and hot as they left the others and mounted the stairs to their room. 'I want to hold you in my arms all night and most of the day without anyone else around, my sweet love. I want to look at you spread out before me in the moonlight and know that you are mine to touch and taste and love. I want to feel your body quiver and tremble beneath mine as I possess every part of you until the only thing you can think of is me.'

As they entered the bedroom he pulled her against him fiercely, his eyes glittering with desire. 'I can't get enough of you, do you know that? You're like a drug, a hypnotising, powerful drug that has enslaved me.'

'Carlton…' Her legs were ready to give way beneath her, so sensual were his words, spoken in that deep, husky voice that made love to her all by itself.

He ran his hands over her skin, satin-soft and honey-brown from the heat of the Spanish sun, as he stripped her swiftly until she stood naked and trembling before him. 'You are my love, my life,' he whispered softly as his eyes blazed over her body. 'My yesterdays, my tomorrows, my wild, sweet destiny…'

And then there was nothing but the blinding, hot darkness of the night as love consumed them both.