Page 70 of The Champion

Rowena lay still as he clutched her. His heart pounded against her breastbone while his ragged breathing caressed her ear.

“Thank you, ma petite,” he whispered.

Rowena squeezed him tight. “’Twas my pleasure, my lord.”

Stryder kissed her as he withdrew. She was amazing. He’d been told that virgins most often cried their first time, and yet, there were no tears in Rowena’s eyes.

Instead, she looked up at him like a woman. Sated. Pleased and welcoming.

And, it was then he knew he would have to do the right thing by her. No matter his convictions on the subject.

No matter his common sense.

He was honor bound to this.

Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to utter the very words he had sworn to himself that he would never speak. “Will you marry me, Rowena?”

She looked up at him, blinked twice, then burst out laughing.

Ten

Rowena was quite certain Stryder had to be jesting. Surely, he didn’t really expect her to marry him now? What madness that would be?

But the offended look on his face told her his question had been an earnest one.

Suddenly, she felt quite guilty for laughing at his offer. She wasn’t the kind of woman to ever intentionally hurt another’s feelings, least of all those of Stryder whom she now considered a close friend. “You’re serious?” She reached for her chemise and pulled it on over her head.

Some things were best done dressed and confronting a man about an unwanted marriage proposal was one of them. She adjusted the linen around her while she sat on the floor, watching him.

Stryder made no move to dress himself. Instead, he lay there in all his naked glory, completely bare and enticing. “Of course, I am.”

“But why?” Confused, she gathered her waist-length blond hair and pulled it over one shoulder to keep it from knotting anymore. The ends of it pooled in her lap. “Why would you consent to marriage...with me?”

He looked as baffled by her question as she was by his. “I took your maidenhead.”

“You didn’t take it. I gave it to you, Stryder. That doesn’t require a marriage proposal. Indeed, I have friends aplenty who meet with their lovers enough to know better.”

“But you are a lady.”

“And you are a lord. What has that do to with anything?”

He sat up with a stern frown on his face. “What if you’re pregnant with my child?”

“What if I’m not?”

His frown deepened as did his stern tone. “Rowena, be reasonable.”

“You be reasonable.” She brushed back a lock of his hair from his face. “I am sure that I’m not the first woman you have been with. In fact, I know I’m not, and yet, I doubt you have ever proposed to the others.”

“They were different.”

“Well, I’m glad to hear that.” A strange wave of satisfaction went through her. It was nice to know that he hadn’t just tupped her without thought. Perhaps he even held some true feelings for her. That thought made her much warmer than it should. “But it changes naught. I do not wish to marry.”

She gave him a hard, meaningful stare. “And neither do you.”

“But—"

She placed her hand over his lips to stop his words. “Answer me honestly, Stryder. Do you truly, deeply wish to marry me or are you only asking because you think it is the right thing to do?”