and marry me so we can be together without a maid in tow."
She gasped, her hand reaching out to lay on his chest. She pushed him back a step and met his gaze, hers cloudy with desire. Heat licked along his spine that she was so attuned to him. That her reaction to him was so alike his own. Made him burn with a longing that cried to be sated. How fortunate that the woman he needed to marry made him react so.
"Ye are not trying to fool me, my lord? Ye are in earnest?" she asked him.
Sebastian had the overwhelming desire to strangle the gentlemen in London, and ladies too, who had teased her. Made her believe she was useful to gain other people offers of marriage and not one for herself. The fact he too was fooling her made his stomach churn. He did not wish to hurt her and telling her the truth of why he wanted the alliance would surely do that.
No, this was better. If she agreed to be his wife, he could marry her, gain Halligale back, and Elizabeth would never be the wiser. What one did not know would not hurt them, as the saying went.
Her brother will work out your motive.
Sebastian pushed the unhelpful thought aside. he'd worry about that when it happened. "I want you, and no one else. I promise you that, above my honor as a gentleman." Which was also true. He did want her, and no one else. The mere idea of her marrying someone else made him want to gnash his teeth. "Marry me, Lady Elizabeth. Be my wife."
She smiled, her pretty mouth tempting him before she said the words that placed him one step closer to his home. "Yes, my lord. I shall marry you."
He whooped, picking her up and spinning her about before taking her lips in a searing kiss. She kissed him back, held nothing from him, even though they could be come upon at any moment.
"Call me Sebastian. No more my lord or Hastings. To you, I'm merely Sebastian." He kissed the smile off her face, enjoyed her reaction to him, the bank of desire she released in him each time he was with her.
"Ye may call me Elizabeth in return," she said, wrapping her arms about his neck, her smile as warm as the sunshine on his back.
Sebastian liked the pleasure his proposal brought forth in her. To make her happy made him so. It was a novel experience, one he'd not experienced before with a woman. He liked it. He liked her.
"When shall we announce it? I need to write to my brother."
The idea of telling her brother tempered his enjoyment. He was an intelligent man from all reports, and Rawden was right. He would suspect his motives. Undoubtedly know he was the late Lord Hasting's brother and see his proposal for what it was.
"May we postpone telling your brother?" he asked her.
Her shoulders slumped, and he knew he'd disappointed her. Sebastian pulled her into his arms, holding her tight. "I do not say this to upset you or cause you to doubt my offer. I merely want to enjoy the Season here with you a while longer before the madness of a wedding pulls you back to Moy and your family. I do not wish for you to leave."
Her fingers played with his hair. Damn it all to hell, she was sweet and his if he could manage to keep her. Keep her brother from ripping her from his arms.
"I understand, and I shall not tell Brice, but," she said, looking up at him with beseeching eyes that he feared he'd never deny. "May I tell my friends? I would like to share my happy news with them."
Sebastian saw no impediment to that idea. "Of course, I would love them to share in your happiness."
She leaned up, surprising him with a kiss, and he took the opportunity afforded him and kissed her back. The kiss spiraled into something that was hot, needy, and altogether not appropriate for where they stood. They needed to marry and soon. He wasn't sure he could live without her in his bed every night for too much longer.
So long as her brother didn't cause him any more trouble, more than he already had. He would not lose Elizabeth, or his childhood home for a second time.
Chapter 11
Elizabeth stared at her friends, hoping the shock of her betrothal would enable them to speak, and soon. Both