“I do have great wealth, but there is something more you should know,” he said. Now, he was starting to stumble. “I am not married but I have… children. There are women I never married to who have provided me with children. I am not fond of these women but I will admit that I am a man who has taken comfort in women over the years. I even have women whose sole purpose in my household is to warm my bed. I am not proud of this but you must understand that I did not give thought to how a future wife might react to such things. I never thought I would marry and a wife was not of concern to me. Ghislaine, I realize that this situation might make you vastly uncomfortable and even ashamed, but I assure you, if you and I were to marry, there would only be one woman in my life, for the rest of my life, and that woman would be you.”
By the time Gaetan was finished, there was an expression on his face that Ghislaine had never seen before – something of hope and desperation, of a man who was as vulnerable as he’d ever been in his life. It was enough of an expression to soften Ghislaine completely but, more than that, he was admitting everything she’d ever hoped for. This strong and handsome man, a man she’d been attracted to since nearly the beginning of their association, was confessing things she’d never thought she’d hear from him. She blinked and tears spattered onto her pale cheeks.
“This is a dream,” she whispered. “It must be a dream because in my dreams is the only place you would ever say such things to me.”
Gaetan couldn’t tell, but he thought she might have been happy. He’d never been very good at reading women, but he thought she might – just might – be glad. A timid smile creased his lips.
“This is not a dream, I assure you,” he said softly. “But I will admit it is my biggest fear that you will not feel that I am worthy of you.”
She blinked again and more tears spilled. The brightest smile he’d ever seen nearly split her face in two.
“My sweet darling,” she said earnestly. “I have never known a more worthy man. I know of your past and I know of the bedslaves. Aye, I have been told. But it is of no matter. If you say that I am to be the only woman in your life from now until forever, I believe you.”
He was elated to the point of feeling lightheaded. “Truly?”
“Truly.”
“Then may I know if anything I have said is agreeable to you?”
She laughed through her tears of joy. “Everything you said is agreeable,” she said. “Gaetan, do you know how long I have adored you? I cannot recall when I have not. Hearing you say such things… I simply cannot believe it.”
His smile turned bold and he reached out, cupping her sweet face in his two big hands. “It is true,” he said, his heart bursting with newfound joy. “I adore you as well, my little mouse. But knowing that you return these feelings… you cannot know how happy you have made me.”
“As you have made me, Gaetan.”
“Are you agreeable to marrying me, then?”
“Of course, my dearest. More than you know.”
With that, Ghislaine reached out, pulling him to her and Gaetan’s mouth descended upon hers, tasting her lips for the first time as she responded to him. He remembered those lips from before, when she’d been sleeping. But now, there was warmth and tenderness, a potency that surged through him like wildfire. He knew she’d been married before and, because of that, he knew she wasn’t a maiden, but he didn’t care. He wasn’t one, either. He kissed her deeply, completely uncaring that the old woman who had just finished wrapping the leg was a witness to his most private moment.
All he cared about was the moment itself.
But the old woman was being jostled around because Ghislaine’s leg was moving about as Gaetan’s big body overwhelmed her. The old woman thumped Gaetan on the hip because that was the body part nearest her.
“Caution, good lord,” she rasped in her strange Latin. “You must be cautious of the leg!”
Gaetan didn’t want to focus on the leg; he was right where he wanted to be, with Ghislaine’s face trapped in his hands and his mouth on hers. But he pulled his lips away from her long enough to snarl at the old woman.
“Get out,” he hissed. “Leave us.”
“Be cautious of the leg!”
“I will, I will. Now, get out!”
The old woman looked at him, pursing her lips unhappily, but she could see that she was both unwanted and unneeded. Moreover, the lady didn’t seem to be complaining about his rough treatment of her in the least. The old woman had done her job, at least for the moment, but she had a feeling the way the warrior and the lady were pawing at each other that those stitches might be torn out again before the day was finished. Surely, the lady was in pain but she didn’t seem to mind. When the old woman saw the warrior plunge his tongue into the lady’s mouth, she lurched to her feet with a shriek of disgust and fled her hut, slamming the door behind her.
Gaetan, his lips against Ghislaine’s, simply grinned.
“We are finally without our audience,” he murmured.
Ghislaine had her arms around his head, pulling the man down to her as if to never let him go.
“Excellent,” she breathed. “But Cam is still here.”
Gaetan could see the dog sleeping against the wall behind her. “He will pay no mind.”
“He’d better not.”
Her lips fused to his and Gaetan couldn’t help but notice she was being quite aggressive with him, which he loved. He never imagined her arms around him could feel as good as they did. The moment she touched him, it was like it was the very first time he’d ever been touched by a woman. Nothing could have been more pure or more welcome.
“I cannot believe we are finally alone,” he said as his teeth nibbled on her jawline. “I never thought we would have such a moment as this with all of those annoying men hanging around us as they do. Did they not know I have been wanting to do this to you for quite some time?”
She giggled, quickly cut off by a groan when he latched on to her tender neck. “How long?”
“Ages.”
“You were not thinking of doing this when you spanked me upon the field of battle those weeks ago.”
He started to laugh, but his passion was so strong that it came out as a choking sound. He simply couldn’t give attention to anything other than his want for her.
“Mayhap not, but you will forgive me. I do not usually consider the battlefield a place to seduce a woman.”
“I am not any woman.”
“God help me, you are not.”
Ghislaine didn’t want to talk anymore. She wanted him in the worst way and she moved to unfasten the leather belt that was around his waist. Gaetan knew immediately what she meant. He was overwhelmed by the fire in his veins, the strength of which he’d never experienced, but it was a fire he’d felt before. He knew this fire that fed his manhood, not to be quenched until he was releasing himself deep into a woman’s body, but he was genuinely concerned about doing anything like that with Ghislaine. She wasn’t someone cheap to be used on a whim. Even as she unfastened his belt, he tore his lips from hers and looked her in the eye.
“As much as I would like to take all of you, we must be cautious of your leg,” he said huskily. “Moreover… I did not tell you of my adoration for you simply to have my way with you. I told you because it was the truth.”
Ghislaine yanked the belt off and it fell to the floor of the hut, heavily, because of his scabbard. “I know,” she said breathlessly. “But I want you to touch me, Gaetan. I want to feel your hands upon my body. Will you make me beg, then?”
He shook his head, a smile playing on his lips. “You will never have to beg me, ever.”
“Then prove it to me.”
He did.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
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New Blood