Blackwell and his wife, the Countess Northwalk. The Duke and Duchess of Trenwyth. The Earl and Countess of Southbourne… I could go on—”
“Don’t you understand,” she interrupted. “These are the people I could drive away with the scandal attached to my name.”
To her utter astonishment, a rumble of mirth vibrated from him. “You don’t know these people, but you will. And they’ll support you. They’ll dare the rest of the ton to shame you. And even if they did, Nora, we’d keep other society. This is a whole wide city full of people. Hang everyone but you and me.”
For some humiliating reason, this only made her weep harder.
He thumbed away her tears, only to have them replaced with new ones. “You said something to me that has been weighing on my conscience…”
“What’s that?” she sniffed, trying to regain control of herself.
“That you don’t know who you are. That you don’t feel that you are deserving, but I know you, Nora. Every man in your life has made you feel unworthy but, darling, you are kind and self-sacrificing. You’ve always made yourself responsible for others in your care. Your family, your bastard of a husband, your sisters. I could lift that burden from you. I could care for you, so that you might turn your kindness elsewhere. You can find whatever purpose suits you. And I’ll be right beside you, if you’ll let me.”
Overwhelmed, Nora gripped his arms, intent upon pulling him away, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Not when he was right in front of her, kneeling between her knees, saying the words that filled the empty well of her soul. “I…don’t—I can’t believe this is happening.”
“Why not?”
“Because every time I’ve dared myself to hope, it’s been ripped from me… and I allowed it. I facilitated it. When I think of the time we’ve lost, of all the things I could have said and done differently…” She laid her palms on his chest, searching for the thrum of his heart and finding it there, strong and steady. “I realize it was irresponsible to come for the gold, but I wanted to do something to fix what I’d broken. I was desperate and reckless…”
He broke her words off with a searing kiss, his lips a warm and reassuring pressure against hers, parting her lips so she could taste the salt of her tears. He kept the kiss gentle and voluptuous, his tongue slick and soft against hers, making no demands. Asking nothing. Just offering. Coaxing.
He pulled back before the kiss could deepen any further, though the pace of his heart had quickened beneath her palm.
“God, I love you,” he breathed against her mouth, the hands bracketing her face roaming to cup her head and smooth down her neck. “I didn’t need a grand gesture or a crate of gold any more than you need ask my forgiveness. I’m not angry, I should never have been angry. Medicine is my calling, but you are my life. Nora.” He kissed her temples, “Nora…” her eyelids and brow, “my lovely Nora.” He smoothed his lips over her cheek until he returned to her mouth. “You are the greatest treasure. The sparkle beneath a grey sky. You are the beauty no one else can compare to.”
“How blind you are,” she said wryly, expecting any moment to wake from a dream.
He pulled back to spear her with a look full of so much affection, she nearly expired from the dizzy optimism it evoked. “I can only see you. Here. Right in front of me. We decide our futures now. You and I. Nora, will you marry me?”
She gripped his shoulders, suddenly frantic. “Yes. Today. Right now. Before anything happens to stop it.”
He chuckled, fondly caressing her hair. “Nothing will happen. Nothing will take you from my arms. Never again. Not if you come to me with your worries and burdens. Not if you let me in to help you. I want to protect you. I want that to be my right and privilege. The whole world could collapse tomorrow and all I’d want is to experience it with you. Would you promise to let me?”
Ardent emotion robbed her of her words, so she simply nodded, her fingers curling in his lapels to draw him down for another luxurious, whisky-flavored kiss. One that deepened and heated as his fingers ventured possessively over her skin.
Nora sighed into his mouth, releasing with the breath a tremulous marvel at the machinations of the day. She’d been heartsick