Page 42 of Pursuing Mr. Mattingly

“She was the first person I came across after my carriage broke down. I admired her poise and her ability to converse on topics beyond her age. After that, I was all too curious about her life and the people she spoke about.” He pressed a kiss into her hair. “Thanks to Hannah, she led me to you in a way.”

“Perhaps it was indeed fate all along.” Even now, she couldn’t wrap her head fully around the fact they’d wed, and she was lying in bed with this man. Her heart trembled, but it wasn’t from any sort of defect. How she had come to rely on him so much in such a short period of time, she didn’t know, but she was glad it had happened.

For a long time, they remained in a companionable silence while the rain fell. Never had she felt so comfortable in the dark as she did now. When her eyelids began to droop, Sophia shook herself and turned in his arms. She rested her head on his chest while letting one hand drift up and down his back. He’d worn an adorable long night shirt in which to sleep, and each time he donned it, she never failed to smile. It made him so approachable and dear. There was something so intimate and satisfying about being in a man’s arms, pressed into his hard body, and listening to his heartbeat to remind her that she wasn’t dead yet and that she needed to remain grateful for all she had.

“Oliver?”

“Mmm?”

So he hadn’t fallen asleep. It was lovely that he kept vigil with her. “What was the most favorite thing you remember about your father?”

“Oh, that is a difficult question.”

She twined a leg over his. “Was he someone you aspired to be like?”

“Yes and no.” His hand at her hip set off tiny flutters through her lower belly. “My father was a politician through and through. As such, he wasn’t home as much as I would have liked.” Over and over, he drew abstract patterns on her hip, her upper thigh, and each fleeting touch had shivers moving up and down her spine. “That’s largely why I eventually became an ambassador—through my father’s contacts.”

“You didn’t wish to follow in his footsteps?”

“The need to almost have two faces when one is a politician was off-putting to me.” As had been his want since they’d wed, Oliver slipped the fingers of one hand through her unbound tresses. That gentle, rhythmic motion worked to further relax her. “I dislike the assumption they cannot act the same man in both side of their lives. Also, the underhanded dealings to bring supporters over to each side in a political race or issue goes against everything I personally believe in.”

“Which is what?”

“Brokering peace between two countries or people. What I enjoy most is finding common ground between parties and showing each one that what they bring to a meeting is just as valuable as anything else.” A chuckle escaped him. “The moment when two sides of an issue realize they need each other, can be enhanced by each other, well, there is nothing like it.”

“I can see that about you, for that is largely what you did for me.” He was truly a gem of a man, and she unexpectedly lost a piece of her heart to him. “Is that why you wished to eventually become an ambassador? To show your father there were other ways to effect change?”

“Perhaps. I haven’t given much thought to the deeper reasoning.” He smiled against the side of her neck. “However, the requirement for travel also assisted my intentions to move up the ranks and eventually gain this position.”

“It does sound lovely.” Though she’d been married twice, she’d never had cause to leave England. She’d gone as far at Bath once, but nowhere else. “I envy you that freedom, that knowledge you must gleam while you are out exploring and seeing new, different things.” Now, there was no time left to explore, for she didn’t wish to be away from home when the worst happened.

At least Hannah would have a taste of that life.

“I enjoy it immensely.” Oliver slipped a hand down her back, and at the curve of her bottom, he squeezed a cheek. “If you’d like, I can entertain you with stories of my travels. Or, if you’d rather, I brought several journals with me that have detailed trips. It’s a hobby of mine to infuse the spirit and attitude of a place with the people who populate it. Eventually, I’d like to try and have those journals published. Perhaps someday my words will provide insight and entertainment to others.”

“What a wonderful idea.” And it would give her a better understanding of him as person. Since they’d married, of course, they’d talked of everything and nothing, but there was still so much to glean. “I would like to read them while spending time with my family.”

“I’ll make them available to you in the morning.” The happiness in his voice tugged a smile from her. “Should you have questions, perhaps I can deepen my descriptions that will help you to see these places in your mind.”

“I have never met anyone quite like you, Oliver.” At least having him with her did a decent job at distracting her from the worries.

“It’s always a good idea to have original people around you to make you think.” He brushed his lips fleeting over hers. “I’m beginning to enjoy these middle-of-the-night talks.”

“As am I.” Sophia snuggled closer to his warmth. “There is something so deliciously intimate and safe talking while surrounded by darkness, and I appreciate that your presence has dispelled some of the fear for me.”

“Have you always been afraid of the dark?”

“Yes and no. It largely depends on what is happening in my life.” She burrowed a hand beneath his night shirt in order to touch his skin. The fact that his muscles tensed, and he sucked in swift breath made it all the more amusing. “When times are wonderful, it’s easier to think of the night as a friend, easier to let the shadows wrap around you as a comforting blanket.”

“But when times are difficult, the night appears as an enemy of sorts, something one constantly needs to do battle with, a specter that brings you the worst of your fears and forces you to examine them,” he added in a soft voice.

“Yes, exactly.” She stilled her palm on his chest. “How is it you understand my exact thoughts on this?”

Oliver shrugged. “I have had those same thoughts over the course of my life.” He spent the next several seconds decorating the underside of her jaw with feather-weighted kisses. The rasp of his overnight stubble sent tingles of need pinwheeling through her belly. “For now, you are not alone. How can I help fight those demons for you?”

Oh, he was so sweet it was almost too good to be true. Yet there was something about him that was as sincere and innocent as a child’s laughter. “When I was a young girl, my father used to check under my bed—as well as those of my brothers—for witches and ghosts that we feared might have hidden away while we were away from our rooms.”

“He sounds like a special sort of man. No wonder you adored him.”

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