Page 92 of Texas Honor

“You don’t have to marry me,” she began.

“I want to be with you,” he said simply. “Night and day. What we’ve just done is going to color our lives from now on. Lovers are pretty transparent,” he added quietly. “I’d lay odds the whole household, except for Becky, will know the minute they see us what we’ve done together.”

“Oh, no,” she moaned, hiding her face.

“Don’t be embarrassed,” he said, smoothing back her thick short hair with a gentle hand. “It isn’t proper to be ashamed of something that beautiful. You’re my woman now. My wife. I’m going to take care of you and Becky as long as I live. And you and I are going to build a good life together.”

“It’s asking a lot, for you to take on a ready-made family,” she said softly.

“I like my ready-made family.” He laughed. “Becky’s a spunky little thing. I’ll enjoy being her father. Just as I’ll enjoy being a father to our other children,” he added, tilting her face up to his. “Do you want that, to have children with me?”

Her eyes widened. It seemed natural, now, to discuss such a thing. She found the thought not at all distasteful and wondered why. She didn’t love him. She was attracted to him, she liked him. He didn’t love her. He felt a sexual attraction and affection for her. But the way they’d loved...it had felt like loving.

“Yes,” she said simply. “I want to have your child.”

The words sounded so profound coming from her lips that he trembled. The involuntary movement of his body shocked him, and he frowned. This was getting out of hand. He’d wanted her; he’d had her. But he still wanted her. And that question about children had been an impulse, not something he’d consciously thought about. But it was exciting to consider making her pregnant. Deliberately...making her pregnant. His heart began to shake him.

She saw the look and didn’t understand it. Her eyes searched his curiously.

“Is something wrong?” she asked softly.

“I was thinking about making you pregnant,” he said, his face growing taut. “It...arouses me.”

She smiled delightedly. That must be a good sign. “I’m still on the pill.”

“And I didn’t mean I wanted to start a new family tonight,” he said, recovering his senses. He chuckled as he sat up, drawing her next to him. “We need to get married and get used to each other before we take that step. Becky will adjust better if she has us to herself for a while.”

Amazing, how perceptive he was. She touched his face gently. “You were like her, as a child, weren’t you?” she asked. “Shy and alone and a little sad.”

His jaw tensed. “Yes.”

“I didn’t mean to pry.”

He sighed, drawing her palm to his mouth. “I’m not used to sharing things,” he said. “Especially not emotions. Give me time. I’ve been a pretty private person up until now.”

“So have I,” she confessed. Like caressing fingers, her eyes moved over him with sudden possession. “I never liked looking at him,” she said absently, and then flushed when he chuckled.

“I like that scarlet blush,” he murmured, drawing her against him. “I’ll miss it.”

“You sound as if you’re planning a cure for it,” she teased.

“Oh, when I get through with you, Mrs. Coleman-to-be, you’ll be shockproof.” He bent his mouth to her ear to whisper something, and she gasped. He took the sound into his mouth, twisting it sensuously, and she gripped his arms with helpless pleasure.

He drew his mouth away, the expression on his face both explicit and reluctant.

“I want to have you again,” he said quietly. “But I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

She stared at him, waiting for him to tell her why, the question in her eyes.

He touched her mouth gently with a lean forefinger. “I didn’t plan this. I was going to make a little light love to you, but it got out of hand. I wanted everything to be perfect when we married, complete with a wedding night. I’ve robbed you of that.”

“Men aren’t supposed to feel guilty about seducing women,” she reminded him.

“I feel as if I’ve seduced a virgin,” he whispered, searching her shocked eyes. “And one lapse is all there’s going to be, Margaret. I won’t take you again until you’re wearing my ring. And I think, deep down, you like that.”

Deep down, she did. She stared at his hard, craggy face with new eyes. He saw so much that was buried beneath the surface. He seemed to read her thoughts.

“I like very much what you did to me,” she whispered. “And I... I’ll like it if you...if you do it every night after we marry.”

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