Page 86 of Tempting the Marquess

“Oh? There was a question?” she replied pertly. “I must have missed it amongst the mocking and crowing and insistence I marry you because of my precarious health. Worst proposal in the history of the world.”

“You won’t take pity on a poor, frail, terribly injured man and let that go?” William said weakly, adding a couple of pathetic coughs for good measure.

“No,” she growled, every inch a warrior cherub.

“All right, all right, I surrender. Lady Samantha Buchanan, I am most partial to your rosy cheeks, wild hair, and both your left feet. Not to mention the way you hurl a hairbrush. I’ve never met anyone I like half so well, and I’d very much enjoy spending the rest of my life with you. If, of course, you’ll haveme.”

“Hmmm. It is a very big decision.”

“Yes, but the baby would also very much like you to marry me. So I count two votingfor...”

“Goodness me, a clear majority.”

“Indeed.”

“Well,” she said sniffing suspiciously, her words getting wobblier by the second, “I do believe this could w-work out quite nicely. So, Lord Standish, your b-betrothal offer is accepted.”

“Most obliged,” he replied, giving into laughter at last, then he leaned down and she tilted her head up, and finally their lips were sealing a long, hot promise for the future.

* * *

Equal parts reliefand joy buffeting her body, Samantha cuddled closer to William. Nothing could take away her happiness right now. Soon she would have a home of her own, a place where she belonged. Someone to belong too. A husband and a baby tolove.

Unable to be still in her excitement, she adjusted her position so she knelt astride his hard thighs. But her fiancé tensed. “Is something wrong?”

“No,” he muttered, but his strained voice made the word a laughablelie.

“William.”

“I’ll be fine when you stop moving,” he said reluctantly.

Hmmm. Now that he mentioned it, his greatcoat had parted, and she sat nestled right on top of a very large bulge.

Smiling wickedly, she allowed her hips one slow circle while her breasts rubbed against William’s chest. His hips jerked, forcing his thick erection against her mound, and they both sucked in a harsh breath.

“Samantha.”

“Yes?” she said, innocent as a newborn kitten while she plotted the exact moment to rub against him again.

“Do. Not. Wriggle.”

“Really? What might happen if Idid?”

“Nothing.”

“Nothing?” she said incredulously, “You can’t say you don’t want me. That lie is about to split your trousers.”

“Of course I want you. So damned much it hurts. But nothing can happen.”

“Why? Because we’re at Forsyth House and my relatives are finishing their dinner a floor below?”

“There is that,” he muttered. “But it’s more because you are with child. I made some, ah, enquiries, and it is at best discourteous and at worst barbaric to make demands when your lady is expecting. So I’m trying to do the decent thing and refrain.”

Samantha scowled in displeasure. Whoever had felt compelled to pass on such ridiculous and old-fashioned advice could go straight to perdition.

“What if your lady makes demands of you?” she asked softly, reaching down and stroking his cock so there would be no misunderstanding what she meant.

William exhaled unevenly. And in the work of a moment, her night rail was in pieces, and she lay naked on herback.