Page 71 of Snowbound Regency Christmas
She felt heat creep up her neck and into her face. Devin was humbling himself before her. He was asking Julia what she wanted. No man had ever done what she’d asked him to. None but Devin. She wrung her hands. She did not know what she wanted. Or, rather, she wanted more time. Julia had nearly been married to a stranger once before and she did not wish to do so for a second time. She had only known Devin for a few days. In that time they’d been strangers, enemies and then flirtatious friends. Warm feelings were already planted in her heart, but they needed time and nourishment to grow. And she wanted Devin to propose marriage to her not because he had compromised her good name but because he loved her and needed to be by her side. Yet how to put her thoughts into words?
Julia glanced down again at Devin on bended knee. She had once believed that she wanted power over the other people in her life rather than them having power over her. But it was not true. She did not want Devin to bow to her. She wanted to be his equal in all ways. So Julia carefully knelt and asked, ‘Devin, what would you like me to do to make this right?’
‘I should like to marry you, Julia, for you have stolen my heart and my wits.’
‘You didn’t have much of either.’
Devin chuckled and grinned lovingly at her, taking both of her hands into his larger ones. ‘I would argue with you, termagant, but in my proposal this morning I lacked both… I suppose it was easier for me to pretend that I only wanted to marry you to save your reputation rather than to admit that I had fallen hopelessly in love with you.’ He gulped and she could see his Adam’s apple bob up and down. ‘I spoke to Joshua and it appears that the blame of the engagement is entirely my mother’s. He never asked you to marry him. Nor did he sign the marriage contracts—they were forged by my mother. And Joshua saw no way out of the wedding without disgracing you and our mother. Butyouwere unbelievably brave. You saved my brother from a marriage he did not want and kept a secret that could have exonerated you and badly damaged his reputation. You paid for your bravery with three years of servitude and then I wrongfully accused you and threatened legal action. Then I treated you shabbily. I do not know how to atone.’
Squeezing his hands, Julia smiled back at him. ‘And I treated you so nicely too, hedge-bird.’
His laugh echoed off the stone walls and perhaps even her diligent stepmother heard it. ‘You’re ruining my beautiful, heartfelt apology.’
‘And you’re ruining my courtship,’ Julia countered. ‘You haven’t kissed me even once. That is, if you wish to court me and kiss me… I am not yet ready to accept your marriage offer, but I believe I will be, given time to get to know you better.’
Devin definitely wished to court her and to kiss her. He knew only one way to answer her query. He released her hands and gently cupped Julia’s cheek, caressing her delicate skin with his fingers. Leaning his forehead against hers, Devin used his free arm to pull Julia closer to him, her body flush with his own. He brushed a gentle kiss against her forehead and he could feel her trembling in his arms. He rubbed a circle on her back. ‘Whisht, darling. It’s only a kiss.’
She stiffened in his arms. ‘I’ve never been kissed before. What do I do?’
Devin made a row of kisses from her temple to her chin, before caressing her lower lip with his thumb. ‘Take a breath or you’ll faint and miss the entire thing.’
Julia moaned and made one of those sweet noises she had while sleeping that had inflamed him so. ‘Rudesby.’
He kissed the tip of her nose. ‘Peagoose.’
‘Ramshackle,’ Julia said but surprised Devin by putting her arms around his neck.
He nuzzled beneath her ear. ‘Goose-cap.’
‘Blunderhead.’
Unable to think up a suitable retort to deliver with his mouth, Devin gently brushed his lips against Julia’s. It was even more marvellous than his fantasies. Her lips were sweet and soft, like the petals of a rose. He moved his mouth back and forth over hers several times. This was Julia’s first kiss and Devin needed it to be perfect. She trusted him with all of her firsts and he wanted to make them wonderful for her.
Lifting her head slightly, he kissed the tip of her saucy chin.
‘I take all of my insults back,’ Julia said in a husky voice, her eyes fluttering open to look at him. ‘That was marvellous.’
‘We are only beginning.’
‘Truly?’
Devin decided that action was better than words. He licked the seam of her lips and Julia opened her mouth for him. He tasted her with slow, drugging kisses, before slipping his tongue into her mouth. He felt her lush body stiffen against his for a moment, but then her arms tightened around his neck and Devin felt her tongue brush his. Julia was tentative at first, but not for long. Her demanding personality could not allow him to be in charge the entire time, even for a kiss. Her tongue tangled with his and her hands moved from his neck to his hair. Devin couldn’t resist doing the same. Julia’s honey-gold hair had seduced him from the start. He deftly removed the hairpins until her curls fell long and heavy down her back. Devin’s fingers ran through her hair and he deepened the kiss—exploring every delicious corner of her mouth.
Then he made a trail of burning kisses from her mouth to her throat. The noises she made were positively indecent and Devin relished every single sound. He made a slow burn of kisses from her throat to her ear and sucked on the tip of it.
She moaned and then said his name. Her hands stilled in his hair.
Devin couldn’t stop himself. He continued to lick and tease her ear with his tongue. ‘What’s on your mind, sweetheart?’
‘Before you court me, you should know that I am not trustworthy, Devin. I peeked at you while you were changing—more than once.’
‘So did I—I could see your reflection in the window.’
Leaning back from him, Julia’s mouth fell open in mock surprise and she cuffed his shoulder with one hand. ‘I thought you were a gentleman. You odious hornswoggler!’
‘And I thought you were a gentlewoman, myinfamouslady.’
Julia’s face was flushed and her lips swollen and red from his kisses. She’d never looked more beautiful. ‘Did—did you see much?’
