Page 88 of As the Earl Likes
She didn’t finish uttering the final word before Sheff had gathered her into his arms. “Yes. No. Wait.” He slid down her body, setting his hands on her hips. “Yes, I want to marry. You. I want to marry you. Please marry me, Jo.” He leveled his gaze at her belly. “Hello, there. I am very much looking forward to meeting you. You will have the best mama in all of England. What a lucky girl—or boy—you are.”
“You think the babe is a girl?” Jo asked, her eyes shining down at him.
“I don’t know. The first image that filled my mind was a dark-haired girl with hazel eyes and a fierce smile.” He held his breath. “Will you marry me?”
“I can hardly believe we are standing here doing this,” she said with a laugh. “Yes, I will marry you.”
Sheff pressed a kiss to her abdomen. “Your papa already loves you so very much.” He stood and looked into Jo’s dewy eyes. “I love you too. And I always will.”
“How can you be so sure when you’ve always believed you were incapable of doing so?”
“I was so wrong about who I am and, more importantly, who I want to be. The time I spent with my father was most enlightening. He showed me a side of himself I’d never seen before. Being with him away from my mother gave me joy—and peace. It helped me to realize that I want a place where I can always feel that way, and that place is with you. I am, apparently, quite capable of overwhelming love.”
She touched his cheek. “Oh, Sheff. I was wrong about myself too. I’d been doubting my role with the club, but I should also have been skeptical about my spinsterhood. It turns out I might be happiest if I had a family of my own—with you.”
He sucked in a breath, hardly believing that this was what they both wanted. “I wish I’d been smart enough to return to London sooner.”
“And I wish I’d left London before now,” she said with a smile. “We told each other what we thought was true, what we thought we wanted. But even the best-laid plans can change.”
He laughed. “If you are referring to my betrothal scheme, it was very poorly planned. Yet, I don’t regret a bit of it since it brought us together.”
Her gaze turned sultry. “For that reason, it was a brilliant scheme, really.” She pressed a kiss to his jaw.
Sheff’s body, already slightly aroused, vaulted into unbridled lust. “So many nights I dreamed of you,” he murmured as she kissed his throat. “Every night since we parted.”
“I can’t believe you were celibate the whole time.” She licked his flesh, and he shivered.
“It took no effort. The only woman I wanted was too far away. I became very well acquainted with my hand, I must say.”
Jo laughed, and Sheff unfastened her dressing gown. She shrugged it off with his help, then set it atop the bed. She wore a thin night rail, which he drew over her head and sent to join the dressing gown. Then he swept her into his arms and carried her the very short distance to the bed.
He set her atop the coverlet, then removed his nightshirt and let it fall to the floor. She was already pulling back the bedclothes and sliding between them. She held them open for him to join her.
Eyes locked, they caressed each other, their hands exploring. He cupped her breast, feeling the difference in its firmness since he’d held her last. She was going to have their child. He would be a father. He’d never known how much he wanted that. And perchance he hadn’t wanted it before. But with Jo, he wanted everything.
Sheff kissed her, and the touch of her lips against his felt like he’d come home. She cupped his face as she kissed him back and moved her body to his. Sliding her foot up his calf, she hooked her leg over his thigh.
Why had he stayed away from her for so long? He pushed away thoughts of the weeks they could have spent together and focused on this moment. She moaned into the kiss as he rolled her nipple between his thumb and forefinger. Then he drew his hand down her side and over her hip, bringing his fingertips to her sex.
She moaned against his lips as he stroked her clitoris. Her hips moved, and he rose over her, pushing her back onto the bed. She wrapped her legs around him.
She pulled her lips from his. “I want you now, Sheff. Please don’t wait. I need to be yours.”
He kissed her cheek, her temple, her forehead. “You are mine. Now and forever.” He positioned his cock at her opening. Her hand curled around his shaft, guiding him into her wet heat.
Closing his eyes, he rested there for a moment and reveled in the overwhelming joy of loving her and being loved in return.
“You don’t need to worry about pulling out,” she whispered.
He could tell she was smiling when she spoke, and he laughed. “I suppose not.” He opened his eyes and looked down at her. “How careful should I be?”
“I don’t think you need to worry. I did ask Persephone about that, and she confided in me that she and Wellesbourne did not curtail their activities until she became too uncomfortable. And then they ‘modified’ things, whatever that means. I’m confident we’ll learn as we go.”
“Did you tell your friends about the babe?”
“I did. My mother wasn’t in London, and I needed advice.” She put her hand to his cheek. “I didn’t want you to think I’d entrapped you in a marriage you didn’t want.”
“My darling, I would never have thought that. Your thoughts on marriage were not different from mine, and aside from that, I would not believe you are capable of that sort of manipulation.” He began to move, withdrawing, then sliding back into her sheath. “Rather, I would expect you to declare what you want, which you did.”
