The First Proposal - Chasity Bowlin Page 0,42

lost. She felt those now familiar tremors in her body, every muscle coiling tight. And then he kissed her, his tongue sweeping past her lips to tangle with hers in a perfect imitation of their bodies, and she shattered. The cry that escaped her was swallowed up in that kiss. But as she clung to him, Percy felt his muscles tense, felt the same tell-tale quivering in his body and then a rush of heat as he took his own pleasure.

They stayed like that for a heartbeat, thee sound of their ragged breathing filling the room. Then he rolled onto his back and pulled her to him, nestling her against his side. Sweat slicked his skin and Percy kissed him, tasting the saltiness of it.

“Now I’m really your wife,” she said. “You are stuck with me forever.”

He grinned and one of his large hands swept down to cup one cheek of her bottom. “I was stuck, Persephone Dunne, from the moment I saw your lovely backside dangling over my garden wall. Thank heavens for your sister’s hellion children and a broken kite.”

“But your poor roses were destroyed,” she said.

“I’d burn the whole damn thing down so long as it meant having you at my side,” he admitted. “So many people told me what love was, what it would feel like to fall headlong into a grand passion. But believe it or not, it was Lady Sheffield who said the most profound thing.”

Percy wanted to be upset about having his former lover mentioned in their bed, but given that Lady Sheffield was instrumental in helping them get to that point, it seemed a bit ungracious. So instead, she asked, “And what was that?”

“That when I met the woman I was meant to be with, it would simply feel right. That I would be overwhelmed by this sensation of rightness when I looked into her eyes,” he admitted. “And I was. I knew from the moment I saw that lovely bottom, I’d have you in my bed. But I knew from the moment I looked into your eyes, that I’d have you as my wife.”

She laughed. “That was almost romantic. Minus all the talk about my bottom.”

“Just tell me you love me.”

Her laughter died away. “I do. And it’s as you said… the moment I first saw you, I couldn’t catch my breath. I haven’t caught it since, honestly. And I’m not even certain I want to. I realized that I’ve just been existing. Long before I came to London, even when I was living with father, I was simply passing time. But not now. You make me feel alive. You make me feel everything. And I don’t ever want to stop.”

With that, Percy kissed him again. He closed his arms about her, and drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

EPILOGUE

October, 1819

“This would be a lovely color on you.”

Percy looked at the bottle green silk that was being held up by her unlikely friend, Aurora, Lady Sheffield. “It is a lovely color. But we aren’t here to shop for me. We’re here to purchase a gift for Olivia.”

Aurora put the silk down. “Yes, but that doesn’t mean we only have to buy a gift for Olivia. You can purchase other things, as well.”

Percy shook her head. “To what end? In two months, I’ll look like a fattened calf going to market no matter what I have on.”

Aurora smiled at her. “Yes, but you won’t care. Because by then, you’ll be able to feel your baby moving. It’s miraculous.”

Percy’s heart skipped a beat at the thought. “If anyone had ever told me we’d be friends, I would have laughed until I made myself ill with it. And yet here we are and I couldn’t be more glad of it because I can ask you all the things I need to know about carrying a child.” It was both a relief and a painful reminder. Daphne had not kept her word. She’d done everything in her power to ruin them, and true to her word, Lady Deerfield had revealed every ugly thing she could uncover about Daphne and James. It had not gone well for them. Her sister and brother-in-law had become pariahs in society.

“Your sister chose her path,” Aurora reminded her gently. “You cannot change what she is and she has no wish to do so. Your only option is to keep your distance and live happily with your husband who adores you.”

“And you?” Percy demanded. “When are you going to finally marry Westerhaven?