Page 45 of The Duke of My Desire

“You,” she whispered. “Of loving you. Of losing you. I’m afraid that if I give you my heart, I will have to let Phillip go and I can’t do that, Gregory. I can’t let him go, not entirely. Not even for you.”

“Oh, Justina...” He cupped her face with his hands, his thumbs sweeping across her cheeks to catch her falling tears. “I would never ask you to let Phillip go. He is a part of you. Loving him made you the woman you are, the woman I love, and I don’t want you to eject him from your heart. I would be more than happy to share it with him.”

She was crying freely now, and Gregory pulled her to him, holding her close, her tears soaking his coat.

“Marry me,” he whispered into her hair.

“I want to,” she said. “I do, but...”

“But what?”

She drew back and looked up at him, fear clutching her heart. “What if loving you means losing you? What if you’re taken from me? I can’t go through that again, Gregory. It would break me.”

Her voice cracked and she hugged him again, burrowing her face in his chest as fresh tears flowed from her eyes.

“I can’t promise to live forever,” he said softly as he rubbed her back. “I wish I could. But I can promise to love you and honor you until I take my final breath. You will have to decide if that is enough.”

She drew back to look at him, to look into his eyes, his words burrowing into her heart. She cupped his cheek. “I do love you, Gregory.”

“Then say you’ll marry me. Say you’ll be my wife.”

Justina took a deep breath and thought of Phillip, of what he meant to her, what she’d meant to him. He would want her to be happy, she knew. He would want her to know love again, to marry and have children, so long as it was with a good man. Gregory was a good man. And she wanted to marry him, have his children, grow old with him. Love him.

“Where did you come from?” she murmured, tracing his cheekbones with her thumbs as she took in his sweet smile and warm brown eyes. “How did you find me?”

His smile widened. “Does that mean you’ll marry me?”

Rising up on her toes, she kissed him deeply, tenderly, and when she drew back she beamed up at him. “Yes. I would be honored to marry you.”

His arms closed around her and his mouth captured hers again, his kiss filled with so much need and love and joy that Justina started to cry again. But this time they were happy tears.

Was she scared? Oh, yes.

Indeed, she was terrified. But the thought of going back to her life before Gregory, to a life without Gregory in it, terrified her even more.

And now that she had him, she would never, ever let him go.

The weight Gregory had been carrying the last few hours had lifted the moment Justina accepted his proposal.

He’d been prepared to give her more time to consider his offer—days, months even—knowing she might never say yes. But here he was now, with her in his arms, and she was to be his wife.

He could scarcely believe it.

Only a few days ago, he hadn’t even known this gorgeous, incredible woman and now she was his. His Justina. His duchess. His everything.

“I want you,” he said raggedly against her lips before drawing back. He gazed into her eyes, so green, so luminous, and in them he saw everything he’d ever hoped to see—desire, happiness, love. All for him.

“I love you, Justina.” He kissed her jaw, her cheek, her nose. “I think I’ve loved you from the moment we met. I know I’ll love you for the rest of my days.”

“Gregory,” she breathed, her eyes glistening. “I never thought I would again, but I do love you. I love you dearly.”

She brushed her lips against his and he deepened the kiss, sweeping his tongue in to tangle with hers, needing to taste her, to brand her as his.

He wanted the world to know she belonged to him, and that he belonged to her, from this day forward. He wanted to bring her pleasure and joy, today, tomorrow, every day of her life, and make every hardship, every heartache, a distant memory.

A knock sounded at the door and a moment later his mother appeared in the doorframe, her expression regretful. “The magistrate has arrived,” she said. “He awaits us in the guest parlor.”

Gregory nodded then took Justina by the hand and smiled down at her. “Mother, Justina has agreed to be my wife.”