Page 104 of The Earl’s Marriage of Convenience

Eliza regarded him for a moment—then smiled, softly. “Then we are of one mind,” she said.

Relief moved through him immediately. Of course. Of all things, this would be shared between them as well. “I am glad to hear it,” he said, a quiet laugh escaping him.

“I wish to be what you need,” she said, her voice lowering as she spoke his name. “Edwin.”

It moved through him—swift and undeniable. “You are more than I could have hoped for,” he said honestly. “More than I deserve.”

He introduced her to the house staff in charge of their rooms. As he spoke the words Lady Devon, the sensation was overwhelmingly right, settling, as if a piece of his life’s puzzle was finally in its proper place.

“Would you like time to yourself?” he asked after a moment.

She nodded. “I should like to change and refresh. It has been a long day.”

He inclined his head. “Of course.” He allowed her that space.

And waited. An hour later, as he sat in his study pretending to read papers he had not truly seen, a soft knock sounded at the door.

“Enter.”

She stepped inside. “So, this is your study,” she said, her gaze moving over the room before settling on him.

He rose at once, crossing toward her. “Yes.”

She paused, hesitated. “I had expected you to come upstairs,” she said quietly.

Understanding struck him. “I did not wish to presume,” he replied, his voice low.

She stepped closer. “You are not presuming.”

The words settled between them.

He closed the distance. “I would very much like to go upstairs with you now,” he said.

“Good,” she whispered.

And that was all the encouragement he required. The kiss that followed was nothing like the ones before. It was not gentle. Not hesitant. It was certain. He drew her close, his hands firm at her waist as her fingers found his shoulders, pulling him nearer still.

There was no question now—no restraint—only the shared understanding of what came next.

He lifted her into his arms without pause, carrying her toward the stairs, toward the future that awaited them. And toward something that had long since ceased to be mere convenience.

It had become … everything.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Eliza could hardly think.

Her thoughts dissolved into color and sensation—into warmth, into motion, into something far stronger than reason. Everything blurred together, need and desire intertwining until she could no longer distinguish one from the other.

He kissed her as though she were everything he had ever wanted—everything he had been searching for without knowing it—and the intensity of it both startled and drew her closer. There was something consuming in the way he held her, something that might once have frightened her, and yet now only made her want more.

As he carried her up the stairs and into his chamber, she barely registered the movement, only the shift in space, the softness beneath her as he set her down. She glanced about the room for the briefest moment—enough to understand that this was his, that she had crossed fully into his world—and then his lips found hers again, and everything else fell away.

This was where she wanted to be.

Not in separate rooms, not behind careful distance or polite restraint, but here—where nothing was measured, nothing controlled.

She wanted this closeness, this consuming pull, this sense of being entirely known and wholly desired. Not just for tonight, not just for a fleeting moment—but always.