Page 101 of To Love A Spy
“Of sitting in my cottage, staring out at the empty seas. Of serving brandy and beer to my neighbors, then trudging home at night to a cold hearth and empty bed.”
He pressed his fingertips to her cheek. “Valencia . . .” he began.
“No, let me go on, while I have the courage to speak,” she cried. “I was also thinking of you returning to London. To the glittering ballrooms, the gaiety, and the glamour. The ladies and all the luxuries of Town life. Your friends, your family. The social swirl will soon dull the memory of this interlude for you. But not for me.”
Her voice cracked. “After the past, I thought I was tough enough to parry any attack. But love is far sharper than steel.”
She saw a strange light flood his eyes.
“It cuts deeper than muscle and sinew. It cuts to the heart. You wish for there to be no secrets between us? Very well— I . . . I love you. More than I can say. Not that it matters. I?—”
Her halting words we cut off by his lips. A gentle kiss, a whisper of breath warm on her cheek.
“What you describe of my London life would not dull this interlude, it will only make your absence from my life sharper. My valiant Valkyrie, you think my heart is untouched? Like you, I have been staring at the sea, trying to imagine a world without you in it. All I see is an endless stretch of grey.
Her heart gave a lurch.
He smiled. “There is, you know, a simple solution?—”
“I thought of it,” she interrupted. “I was so desperate I considered suggesting it myself.” Blinked the pearls of tears of her lashes. “It is very so tempting, Thomas. But I fear that becoming your mistress would end up making us both unhappy.”
“Mistress?” He frowned, then slowly his lips quirked up. “I told you. I already have one mistress.”
She gave an involuntary gasp.
“My work,” he added quickly after pressing a kiss to her brow. “Valencia, I am not asking you to be my ladybird. I am asking you to be my wife.”
“Impossible,” she blurted out.
“Why?” he asked.
“You know damn well why. You are a powerful lord and I am a . . . nameless nobody. Society would swoon to hear you have legshackled yourself to such a person. There will be too many questions, too many titters. Such nasty scandal would intrude on your work. As for your family, they will likely think you have gone stark, raving mad.
“You forget, I am very good at deflecting questions. You are the only one in the world who matters to me, Val. And since when have you known me to care about convention? Society can go to the devil.” He hugged her close, enveloping her in his warmth. “We shall weather any gossip, my love, and Society will soon move on to fresh scandal.”
Hope flared in her breast.
“There is just one thing.”
Her heart skipped a beat.
“You will have to put up with my odd hours and sudden disappearances. I may be getting on in years, but I am not quite ready to retire.”
“I think I can agree to that,” she whispered. Slowly running a hand along the line of his jaw. “However, I must insist on a joint command. My training makes it difficult to submit to orders. Is that a problem?
“Is that a yes?”
It took less than a heartbeat to answer.
“Yes.”
Thunder rumbled from the ominous clouds hovering on the horizon, drowning her murmur.
“Yes!” she shouted, tears mingling with raindrops. Sweet and salt. Holding him tightly, she watched the distant flashes of lightning illuminate the horizon. The future looked brighter than she had ever imagined.
Blinking away the droplets, she kissed him . . .
A large wave shuddered the deck, throwing them up against the rail. “Damn,” murmured Lynsley, his lips feathering against her damp hair. “Not another cursed ocean squall. I must say, I am getting heartily sick of turbulent seas.”
