A rustling of fabric alerted her that Geoffrey had followed, but she couldn’t turn to him. Couldn’t face him.
“Liliana?” His warmth registered, seeping into her leg where he knelt beside her. “Sweet, look at me.”
She took a deep breath and complied. His intense eyes contracted with concern, which only made her feel worse. How beautiful he was, this compassionate soul—an honest man who put others’ needs before his own. She should have known, should have known by the way she’d opened herself to him, how she’d responded to him from the beginning. She should have known, but she hadn’t.
And now, as he reached up to touch her face, she could no longer deny the glaring fact. She was in love with Geoffrey Wentworth.
“Tell me what is the matter.” He ran his hand behind her neck, cupping it while skimming his thumb along her jaw. “I knew something was wrong last night. I shouldn’t have let you go without…”
His voice faded away. Oh, he was still speaking, but she could not focus on what he was saying.
Dear God. She was in love with Geoffrey.
Liliana shook her head, words failing her. She was in love with him. And now that she was aware of it, it rose in her, like an experiment gone wrong, boiling over until it couldn’t be contained—
“I love you.” The declaration spilled from her lips.
Geoffrey stopped speaking midsentence, his mouth remaining open as if it hadn’t quite gotten his brain’s message.
She shouldn’t have said it, but she wouldn’t take it back. She’d never expected to say the words to any man. Yet they were the most honest words she’d ever spoken. When this was all over, at least she could console herself with that. Geoffrey, on the other hand, was certain not to believe anything she’d said or ever would say again.
He remained on bended knee, seemingly not breathing, apparently stunned.
This was her moment, her one moment to show him her heart. He might decide her words were all false, but maybe, just maybe, if she could make him believe her love was true by her actions, then he would forgive her when the rest came out. Maybe he would understand. Maybe they could have a future.
And if not, then she’d always have this night in his arms to remember.
She slipped off of the chaise, dropping to her knees as he was. His other hand came up, as if automatically, framing her face. Liliana rose as high as she could while kneeling and wrapped her arms around his neck in a similar fashion.
Please. Let him understand.
She pulled his head down and kissed him.
Geoffrey burned, his feelings a conflagration that seared through him, leaving nothing unscorched.
She loved him.
He hadn’t dared hope. Certainly he’d suspected Liliana was coming around to the idea of a relationship, but he’d expected it would take months, possibly years, to break through the wall she kept around her heart.
And yet she’d said she loved him.
He squeezed her to him, tightening his hold as he deepened the kiss. Christ, he never wanted to let her go. There was only one way to ensure that, and she’d yet to answer him.
He broke the kiss, gasping for air. He reframed her face between his hands, waiting for her violet eyes to open. Purely male satisfaction stole through him at her dazed expression. “So your answer is yes?”
Liliana’s slow blinks became more rapid. “Let’s discuss that later,” she murmured, arching herself toward him and brushing his manhood.
Geoffrey pulled back, though the effort cost him. His body screamed to conquer her, to take her here and now. Yet he would not let her get away. Call him a cad, but he wasn’t above using her obvious desire to get his way. After all, she’d already admitted her love for him. He wouldn’t let her retreat. He’d push his advantage now, knowing if she gave her word, it was golden. “No, now. I will not make love with you unless you agree to be my wife.”
She shook her head, tugging at him, trying to bring him back to her.
“No, Liliana. Not until you say yes.”
She closed her eyes with a frustrated moan.
What could she be thinking? He knew she’d never wanted to marry. He suspected she feared a husband would control her as her aunt had tried to do, would forbid her work. Most men would. But surely she knew by now that he would not, that he would encourage her and could indeed help her by using his influence. Surely she saw, as he did, what they could do together, how good they’d be together.
Liliana lifted her lids and looked him directly in the eyes. “I will marry you,” she said.
“Thank the Lord,” he muttered, struck by the balm of relief that soothed his suddenly overwhelming need to own her, to possess her, not as an object or a person to control, but so that she would never leave him. He moved in to seal her promise with a kiss, but Liliana’s hand snaked up and she pressed four fingers against his lips.
“If,” she whispered, and his heart stopped. “If you still wish me to in the morning.”
He tugged at her arm, pulling her hand away as his mouth closed in on hers. For such an intelligent woman, she could be quite nonsensical. How could she possibly think he would change his mind once he’d bedded her? If anything, his need would only grow, expand, bind him to her eternally.
Liliana moaned against his lips, opening herself, trying to draw his tongue deeply. Yet now that he had her promise, Geoffrey wished to take this slowly. Just the knowledge that they had forever made him want to savor rather than conquer.
He considered moving them to his rooms. It wasn’t ideal to take his future wife on the library floor, but as Liliana tore at his shirt, desire pounded through him, mocking his intentions. Who was he kidding? They’d never make it upstairs. Hell, at this rate, they wouldn’t even make it to the chaise.
Instead, he decided to give in to an urge that he’d had since the first moment he’d seen Liliana astride his prize mare. He gathered her in his arms, twisting to bring his legs in front of him as he lowered from his knees to a sitting position. He ruched Liliana’s skirts up her thighs with one smooth move, spreading her legs as he settled her astride him.
Her heat scalded him, separated from his by nothing more than the fabric of his trousers. A groan ripped from his throat as lust shot through him, hardening him impossibly more. Almost as if by instinct, Liliana ground down upon him. He clamped her hips, unable to stop himself from arching into the pressure.
“Sweet, we must slow down,” he groaned.
In answer, Liliana rotated her hips against him. “I don’t wish to.”
Geoffrey barked a laugh. She didn’t wish to. He clenched his eyes shut. He’d wanted to make this night perfect for her, but he was fast losing his ability to think properly in the face of her need.
Liliana’s hands found his chest, and without warning she pinched his nipples hard.
Geoffrey gasped, his eyes flying open as the combination of pleasure and pain ricocheted to his cock.
“Now, Geoffrey,” she commanded. “Please.”
He quit fighting the need and reached for the fall of his trousers, his hands trembling like a green boy’s as he pressed her skirts higher. “Do you wish me to come to you? Or would you like to mount me, much as you are now?”
Her eyes widened in surprise, but then her brows drew together, telling him he’d intrigued her. “That’s possible?”