Beauty Tempts the Beast (Sins for All Seasons #6) - Lorraine Heath Page 0,136
of poetic justice had occurred the day she married Robin and became a Trewlove.
“No such thing,” Mick told him. “You can always work in another kiss.”
“All right!” Thea called out, motioning at them. “I’m ready to arrange you lot.”
As they walked toward the fireplace, Beast glanced at the space above the mantelpiece where the framed canvas that bore the word TREWLOVE in a multitude of colors, the same canvas they’d all painted on a long-ago Christmas Eve, hung. When Robin had left to attend Eton, he’d given it to Beast.
“Since your last name is no longer Trewlove, I thought you might need the reminder more than I do.”
He hadn’t needed the reminder. At heart, he would always be and remain a Trewlove, but the lad’s generosity had touched him deeply and so, just as he had with Sally Greene’s coins, he’d accepted the gift graciously.
He’d continued to publish his novels as Benedict Trewlove. Over the years, he’d written thirty, and while Thea always guessed the butler was the culprit, he’d never had a butler commit a murder until his last book. It was his gift to her. When he had decided to put away his pen, in his final book, at last his detective had married the widow he’d once suspected of killing her husband.
He and his siblings stepped up onto the deep stone hearth that extended beyond the portion where a fire normally burned and arranged themselves in the order in which Ettie Trewlove had come into their life.
Their spouses joined them. He placed his arms around Thea, intertwining his fingers just below her ribs, where her hands joined his. The hearth was tall enough that it gave them enough height, so she’d be seen over the head of their son’s wife.
Thea’s hair had gone lighter, paler, over the years, was almost silver now. His hair was streaked with white but most of it remained the shade of midnight.
“All right,” the photographer said, holding up a hand, “look at my finger. Say slàinte!”
“Slàinte!” echoed through the room five times as five photographs were taken.
“We’re finished,” he finally declared, and the crowd dispersed with hallelujahs and efficiency.
Within his arms, Thea turned to face him and sighed. “Well, that’s done for another year.”
The photograph, yes, but the portraits of the immediate family members that were to be painted in oils remained to be done. He doubted any other generation of Campbells had been documented as well as this one.
“You’re so skilled at managing things,” he said.
“I’ve gained a lot of experience from managing you over the years.”
He scoffed, laughed. “You do keep me from becoming too arrogant.”
With a great deal of tenderness, he tucked his forefinger beneath her chin and stroked his thumb over her bottom lip. She was still as beautiful to him as she’d been when she’d first approached his table and asked what she could bring him. She still managed to steal his breath. She still owned his heart.
“Do you have any idea how very much I love you, how grateful I am you’ve been at my side all these years, how much you brighten my world?”
“As though a thousand tapers had been lit?”
He’d forgotten how he’d once described to her Sally’s smile in those terms. “So many more than a thousand. Robin once asked me what kissing you was like. I told him it was as vast as the oceans, as infinite as the stars. Even that is a paltry description. Of all the moments in my life, the one for which I am most grateful is the one that first allowed me to catch sight of you.”
Smiling broadly, with all the love she felt for him shining in her eyes, she wound her arms around his neck. “At our age, I think people will understand if we go upstairs for a wee nap.”
Which would result in no nap at all, at least not before he made love to her.
“Knowing how much I adore you, Beauty, and that we’re a good five minutes from our chambers, I think they’ll understand if it’s impossible for me to wait that long to at least have a taste of you.”
Drawing her in close, he lowered his mouth to hers. As his wife returned his kiss with an enthusiasm that guaranteed they would be heading upstairs in a very short amount of time, he recalled the blessing his father had given them on the day they married. He couldn’t help but believe, through the passing