To Tame a Dangerous Lord (Courtship Wars 5)
His exquisite assault stirred a wildness in her blood and reawakened the intense yearning inside Madeline. When he at last broke off, she was breathing heavily. She wanted to protest his cessation, but Rayne pressed his lips into her hair, and drew her close against him.
With a dreamy sigh, Madeline rested her head against his shoulder. “I still find it hard to credit that you fell in love with me,” she said after a moment. “How did it happen? I am nothing like the other candidates you were considering for marriage. Certainly I am no beauty.”
She felt the tenderness in his touch as he caressed her nape. “I see I will have to cure you of a grave misconception, darling. You are the most beautiful, the most desirable, the most special woman I have ever known. And I love you dearly.”
I love you dearly. Madeline closed her eyes to savor the most beautiful words she had ever heard.
“I couldn’t help but love you,” Rayne continued thoughtfully. “I think it began when you threatened me with your pistol the very first time I met you.”
A teasing note of humor had entered his voice, but Madeline still took issue with his claim. “I never actually threatened you that first time, you will remember.”
“No, you saved your threats for when I dueled with Ackerby.” Rayne chuckled softly. “It’s fortunate I like my women strong and feisty.”
She pulled back to eye him. “You think me feisty?”
“That, among many other estimable attributes. You’re kind, brave, honorable, caring, clever, resourceful….
Your spirit, your wit, your liveliness, your warmth, your sense of adventure, all captured my heart.”
Warmed all over by his praise, Madeline smiled with quiet delight. “I confess I have never thought of myself as adventuresome.”
“You must be. I’ve had more adventures in the past fortnight than in the past two years. Come to think of it, I haven’t had a tame moment since your advent into my life. But that is just the way I want it.”
“Are you certain, Rayne?”
He might have heard a trace of lingering doubt in her question, for he caught her chin and stared at her steadily. “Utterly certain, my love. You are far more than I bargained for in a wife, but exactly what I want.”
When Madeline remained silent, drinking in his reassuring gaze, Rayne ran his thumb over her lower lip. “I’ve told you from the first that you have too little faith in your own appeal.”
“So you did, but I didn’t believe you really meant it.”
“I trust you will believe me now.”
“Yes—but was it any wonder I didn’t think you could ever love me when you would not even remain with me on our wedding night?”
“No, it’s no wonder. It was unforgivable of me, I know.”
Madeline narrowed her brows at him. “We have yet to spend even one night together, let alone share our nuptial bed.”
Looking repentant, Rayne pressed a light kiss on her lips. “I mean to remedy that directly. You are sleeping in my bed from now on. Beginning tonight.”
Madeline gave a sigh of satisfaction and approval
and rested her head once more on his shoulder.
“You made an accomplished seductress, I must say,” Rayne remarked, pressing a kiss on her hair this time.
She smiled again. “I had help. I thought I needed more ammunition to capture a man like you, so I asked Arabella and Roslyn how they had made their husbands love them. They were kind enough to advise me, and one of their courtesan friends taught me some of her arts.”
“A courtesan? Indeed? I should like to hear that tale.”
Madeline’s face flushed, but she decided not to mention Fanny Irwin’s advice book to young ladies on capturing a husband, or her even more personal instruction on seduction. “I may tell you someday, but for now I mean to keep my techniques to myself. You have too many advantages as it is.”
“Very well, but otherwise, I suggest we strive for more openness from now on. We’ve kept too many secrets between us. No more secrets, love, agreed?”
She lifted her head to look at him again. “What about your spy secrets?”
“Well, some of those may have to remain confidential,” Rayne admitted.