“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Madeline shrugged. “Well at the time, I still thought…I had just seen you with Meagan and…”
“I see.” Inhaling deeply, Derek wiped a hand over his face. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I wanted to, but I couldn’t. It was not my secret to tell, and I didn’t want to put Kara in a position to reveal something so deeply personal about herself unless she truly wanted to.”
“I understand.” Madeline chuckled, “However, it would have made things easier had I known.” He nodded in agreement. “Then tell me now.”
Reaching across the pillows, her husband took her hand in his, giving it a gentle squeeze. “I admit that a part of me?I suppose it was the more conscious part of me?followed you that night because I thought it my duty to protect you from him. I knew what I knew, and although I could not reveal it to the world, I reasoned that at least I could ensure that he did not catch you alone, take advantage of you.”
Madeline sighed, having expected as much. “That’s what I thought after Kara told me the truth, and I admit it almost made me lose hope.”
His hand on hers tensed, and a deep frown came to his face. “What? Why?”
“Because it meant that you did what you did out of duty, and not because you cared for me.” She sighed, “And I wanted you to care for me.”
A soft smile came to her husband’s face, and his thumb began brushing gentle circles over the palm of her hand. “Although I didn’t realise it at the time, I did care for you, and when they found us alone together, I knew that I ought to try to find a way to set you free, but I couldn’t.” He shook his head. “I didn’t want to lose you. Not even then. Not even at a time when I still thought that you were as wrong for me as I was for you. No matter what, I still wanted you. As I do now.”
Staring into her husband’s eyes, Madeline saw the truth of his words, and her heart almost burst with joy. “You truly love me, don’t you?” she asked, shaking her head in awe.
He smiled. “I do, and I have for a while.”
“I love you, too,” she whispered, brushing a hand over his cheek, “and also for a while.” Remembering the day she had arrived at Huntington House, Madeline smiled. “You never answered me.”
A frown came to his face, and his eyes, which had begun to drift lower, returned to hers. “What do you mean?”
“When you kissed me the day I arrived here,” Madeline began, seeing recognition light up his eyes, “I asked you about the way between husband and wife. I asked if you could simply pull me into your arms and kiss me whenever you wished.” Unable to keep from grinning, Madeline bit her lower lip, feeling a sudden flush rush to her cheeks. “And I asked…if I was free to do so as well.”
Her husband laughed, “As I recall I told you that you were free to do as you wished in every regard, did I not?”
“Did you mean it?”
He inhaled deeply. “I did not. Not then.” A slow smile curled up his lips as his gaze once more drifted lower. “I do now.”
Feeling the air rush from her lungs, Madeline flung herself into her husband’s arms, her lips claiming his in a passionate kiss.
For too long, they had been apart, afraid to reveal how they felt. But that was over now. And Madeline was determined not to waste another minute. No matter what, she would claim what she wanted, and she wanted him.
And from the way he responded to her kiss, he wanted her just as much.
Chapter Thirty-Six ? A Yuletide Blessing
The storm raged on for two days, and when it finally subsided, more than one home needed additional repairs. However, none had collapsed as Meagan’s had, for which Derek was grateful. Without hesitation, they opened their house to two other families, who reluctantly accepted their hospitality.
“Come spring, we will rebuild,” Derek promised, his wife by his side, her radiant smile the most wonderful gift he could ever have wished for that Christmas.
“With what?” one of his tenants had asked, and Derek had been hard pressed to answer. Although they could take lumber from the woods around Huntington House, they were lacking other materials as well as tools. After decades of neglect, not only Huntington House needed a myriad of repairs and improvements.
“Use my dowry,” his wife told him later that night.
Derek’s eyes grew round as he stared at her. “No, I will not. I promised you I would not touch a pen?”
“I know,” she replied, capturing his chin in her hand, not allowing him to turn away from her. “But things have changed. We are different people now.” Her gaze drifted lower. “We know how we feel.”
“Are you thinking of kissing me?” Derek teased, forcing himself not to reach for her, not to pull her into his arms.
A large smile came to her face as her eyes met his once more. “I can’t seem to think of much else these days.”
“Neither can I,” Derek growled out, unable to keep his desire at bay any longer. Pulling her against him, he claimed her lips, his right hand travelling over her cheek, past her earlobe to settle on the back of her neck. Deepening the kiss, he wished they were upstairs in their bedchamber and not in the drawing room, his family in the kitchen only down the hall preparing Christmas dinner.
“We need to stop,” she gasped, trying to push him away. Her breath was as unsteady as his own, and her eyes glowed with the same longing and desire Derek felt in his own heart. “Our guests will be arriving soon.”
Swallowing, Derek nodded, his gaze travelling down to her lips unbidden. “Tell me again why we invited them.”
Madeline laughed, “Because they’re our people, and because it’s Christmas.” Stepping back, she took his hand and pulled him after her toward the kitchen. “Let’s see if Bessy needs any help.”
Derek scoffed, “I doubt it.”
As they stepped into the kitchen, aromatic flavours tickled his nose, and Derek realised that he was quite famished. His wife, too, licked her lips as her eyes glided over the feast his mother and sister had prepared with the help of Meagan and the two other wives currently living under their roof. “It looks wonderful,” Madeline beamed, her cheeks aglow as she nodded her appreciation to the women who had slaved in the kitchen for the better part of the day. “You’ve outdone yourselves.”
More than one face blushed, and a touch of pride came to all their eyes as they bashfully averted their gazes. Except, of course, for his mother. “Of course, it looks wonderful, dear,” she stated, a touch of matter-of-factness in her voice. “What did ye expect?”
Madeline smiled, then leaned closer to him and whispered, “Nothing short of perfection.”
Derek tried to suppress a chuckle as he felt his mother’s watchful eyes on him. “Can we assist you in carrying these platters to the dining room?”
After his mother pointed to the platters that were to go out first, Derek and Madeline set to work, going back and forth between the kitchen and the dining room, carrying delicious smelling food that made their mouths water. Roasted duck. Steamed vegetables. Warm bread. All these scents travelled through the house, mingling with the fresh scent of evergreen branches hanging over windows and doorways, decorated with red ribbons. Candles had been placed strategically throughout the house to highlight the decorations and give the rooms a warm glow, adding to the warmth coming from the fireplace.
For a moment, Derek stood by the long table and gazed at the house that had once seemed like a curse.
Certainly, it was still in need of repairs and improvements. The furniture was outdated; the wallpaper faded. But it was a warm and friendly place, filled with laughter and children chasing each other from room to room. Especially now, with some of their tenants under their roof, the house seemed to have come alive.