Page 34 of A Gentleman's Kiss
“What’s this?” he asked, coming to kneel beside her.
His hands rested on either side of her face as he lovingly kissed her tears away. His heart broke at the thought of her sadness. The amount of love he had for her, shocked him.
“Aunt Georgiana has told me the most horrid things. About you. About Tamara. About me.”
“Tell me, and I can assure you whether truth lies in her words.”
Lillian told him all that transpired the evening before with her aunt.
Dominick found himself filling with anger at the unnecessary pain her aunt had caused her. The woman was vicious.
“Lillian, my darling,” he said placing a feather light kiss on her lips. The world around him whirled. “None of it is true. Not one word,” he grasped her in his arms and hugged her close. He wanted so very much to take away her pain.
“None of it? How could you know?” Her eyes were hopeful, pleading for his words to be fact.
“I have just come from speaking with your uncle. Lillian, he has given me permission to ask for your hand.”
Getting onto one knee, he reached into his pocket and produced a small black velvet box. He held the box in his hand as he gazed into her eyes. “I love you, Lillian. I have never felt such power of emotion for another. I want to know you, talk with you, love you. You give me life, I have never experienced a spring like this before, and I want to share every spring, summer, fall and winter with you, the rest of my life. Miss Lillian Whitmore, would you do me the honor of consenting to be my wife?”
As he asked her, he opened the box. In it was a band of gold, and a large pink diamond, the shade of the lilies he’d sent her the previous morning.
Lillian’s eyes were wide, fresh tears sprung, but the smile on her lips touched the corners of her eyes showing her happiness.
“Yes, Dom, yes I will. I love you, too.” She threw her arms around him and placed feathery kisses all over his face.
“And do you like the ring?” he asked as he slipped it onto her finger.
“It is the most precious piece I’ve ever seen.”
The look of pure love and amazement on Lillian’s face took his breath away. He would hold this moment in his heart forever.
