Page 77 of Empowered By the Earl (Second Sons of London 3)

Turning, she opened the door to her bedchamber and entered, closing it behind her. A lone candle burned on the bedstand. Louisa went to ring for Tilly to assist her in undressing and suddenly stopped in her tracks.

Owen emerged from the shadows in the room.

“What on earth are you doing in here?” she demanded.

“Is this a convenient time to speak, Louisa?”

“It most certainly is not,” she said briskly. “I told you we have nothing to discuss. Especially alone at night in my bedchamber.”

“What I have to say to you requires privacy. This is the most secluded place I could think of for us to have this conversation.”

Anger bubbled up and she told him, “There will be no conversation. Now or ever. I have made my feelings clear to you.”

Owen took a few long strides and reached her, his hands taking hers. “But I have not made my feelings clear to you,” he stated softly.

Confusion filled her, not just his words, but the feelings that stirred within her as his hands engulfed hers. She looked into his eyes and saw a tenderness there she had never seen before. Her pulse leaped.

“I have not always been good with words, Louisa. From the time I was young, I was a man of action, never more so than on the battlefield. I find myself floundering in a genteel society now. But one thing has become perfectly clear to me.

“I want you.”

Disappointment raced through her. “This is just more of the same, Owen,” she told him, trying to pull her hands from his. “Yes, I realize we are attracted to one another but it doesn’t matter.”

His gaze held hers as he said, “But it does matter, Louisa. I have changed. I admit that I am one of the most stubborn men on the planet. At times, my hardheadedness has gotten me into trouble. This time, it almost did me in.”

She shook her head, bewildered. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“Then let me make it perfectly clear to you, Louisa. I want to marry you.”

Stunned, her jaw fell open, no words coming out.

It didn’t matter, however, because Owen’s mouth took hers.

---