The First Proposal - Chasity Bowlin Page 0,40

first thing you’d like to do in your new home? A tour of the house? A presentation of the servants?”

“Oh, heavens no,” she said. “All of that can wait. I won’t be put off any longer, Algernon Dunne. You’re going to take me upstairs to our bedchamber and make me your wife in truth!”

God, but he loved her. “You are the most amazing woman I’ve ever known.”

The carriage slowed and he disembarked before it actually fully stopped. Reaching in to help her down, he all but ignored the footman who stared at him in confusion as the ushered her toward the steps of the town house and then through the front door. He gave a cursory nod to the butler, handed him his hat and Persephone’s shawl.

“Peters,” he said to the butler, “Meet Mrs. Dunne, formerly Miss Persephone Blake. We were married this morning.”

The butler never even blinked despite the fact that Burke had forgotten to tell anyone in his household he planned to return with a wife. “Welcome, Mrs. Dunne. We will be honored to serve you.”

Algernon didn’t even give her a chance to reply. Instead, he just took her hand and made for the stairs, tugging her along behind him.

“You’re in a terrible hurry,” she pointed out.

“Yes, I am,” he admitted. “And since that frock is borrowed from Olivia, you’d best start removing it the moment that door closes behind us. I’m not explaining to my sister why her gown has to be mended.”

Persephone blinked at him, then her lips curved in a sultry smile. “That day when you sent me away, after you kissed me the first time, I thought you didn’t want me.”

They’d reached his bedchamber. Their bedchamber. He’d have no locked doors between them. Ever. “I wanted you too much. I didn’t trust myself to touch you for another second that day without taking more than you were ready to give.”

They stepped into the room, and he closed the door. When he turned back to her, she was already tugging at the tapes of her borrowed gown, the fabric bunching and then gaping as they were finally freed. It simply fell away then. She stood before him in her stays and chemise, as she loosened her petticoat and let it fall to the floor, as well. “There… Olivia’s dress is saved.”

“Minx,” he hissed.

“Should I stop now?” she asked, her fingertips poised above the ties of her stays.

“No. Definitely not. Keep going,” Algernon urged. He kept his gaze focused on her, watching intently as she slowly loosened the ties. Finally, she shrugged out of the stays and tossed them at his feet. He spared them a glance, but only for a second. Then he looked up.

The sunlight was pouring in through the windows. Beneath the sheer lawn of her chemise, he could see every lush curve, every tempting shadow. The last of his patience fled. He tugged at his neckcloth until the knot gave and he tossed it aside. As he strode toward her, he was shrugging out of his coat, then his waistcoat. He paused long enough to tug his shirt free of his breeches and then pulled it over his head, sending it to a heap on the floor.

When he reached her, she placed one hand on his bare chest and it burned him like a brand. If there was even a whisper of doubt that of all the women in the world she had been the one destined just for him, that simple touch dispelled it. Flesh to naked flesh, the spark of it was undeniable. He felt it all the way to his soul. Scooping her into his arms, he carried her to the bed and placed her on it. He took a moment just to drink in the sight of her there and to know that she was truly his.

“I don’t think I have the will to be patient… to offer you the gentle seduction that you deserve,” he admitted. His voice sounded gruff and foreign to his own ears.

“Last night was all the seduction I require,” she whispered. “I confess, I haven’t been able to think of anything but the wondrous things you made me feel.”

He exhaled on a heavy sigh. “You’re going to be the death of me.”

Rising up on her elbows, Percy cocked her head to one side, letting her gaze roam over his body. It had never occurred to her before to think a man was beautiful, yet he was. Every muscle was perfectly defined and he