Dear God, there was truly no going back now, and he was at peace with that.
*
He loves me!
Isobel stared at the doctor, the man who’d turned her entire life upside down, and she hardly dared to believe what he’d just said. “Do you mean it or are you merely saying that because I’m potentially carrying your child?”
“It’s how I feel; it’s how I’ve felt ever since the night at the clinic before I ever knew of your condition.” He rested his hands on her shoulders, and while he held her gaze with his, he slowly tugged the tulle down her arms, only stopping once her breasts were bared. “And I’m quite certain I’ll continue to feel the same as time goes on and I spend it with you.”
When he dipped his head and took one of her hardening nipples into his mouth, Isobel gasped. With each swipe of his tongue and every gentle suck on the bud, heat swept through her body. She took his hand and guided it to her other breast, needing to experience his touch, wanting to be claimed by this man who’d taught her that some men would sacrifice everything if it meant gaining love.
For long moments, he pleasured her breasts. Isobel squirmed on his lap, and unashamedly rubbed her lower half against the swollen length of him. Need circled with hungry intent in her lower belly, for it had been all too long since she’d been with him in an intimate capacity.
Royce lifted his head. He blew on her wet nipples, and the cooling affect sent a shiver down her spine. His eyes were dark with desire as he looked at her. “I can’t help that I’m an earl, Isobel, but I’m also a doctor. You made me see that a healer is who I truly am.”
“You mean to still work at the clinic?” Her hands trembled as she manipulated the knot of his cravat.
“I do, and I aim to find a balance between both sides of me.” He took over the task for her, and once he tossed away the neckcloth, she pressed her lips to the newly bared skin of his throat. A half sigh half groan escaped him. “It was actually your cousins who inspired me. They all have very specific callings in their lives, yet the men they’re becoming outside of that is astonishing.”
Her chin quivered. “I suppose Stormes do make an impression on everyone.”
“There are no arguments from me on that count.” Royce claimed her lips again, but this time he treated her to a series of long, drugging kisses that made her head swim and sent tiny fires into her blood. If she wasn’t careful, she’d ignite into an inferno right there on his lap.
What would William say then? He’d known she was to meet the doctor tonight in the hopes they’d come to an understanding, but her brother hadn’t known about the scandalous gown she’d donned for the intent of seducing Royce.
But then she didn’t care, for there was magic in those kisses, and his hands were seemingly everywhere as he caressed her, primed her, made certain she was well and truly heated before wrenching away again.
His breath skated across her cheek as he slid those elegant hands down the length of her body to grasp her hips. “I know you’ve been reticent on this stance before, but I’d like you to marry me.” When she would have voiced a protest, he took it away with a fleeting kiss. “Not for society’s sake, not for appearances, not because of the babe or obligation or guilt. I want you to marry me because I’ve fallen in love with you.”
More dratted tears sprang to her eyes. “They’re pretty words, I’ll give you that, but I’m a mess, Royce. Even before my… condition, I wasn’t exactly a diamond. I’m a Storme, and because of that, I’m far from perfect. I do many things wrong. I have a temper. My family is subject to destruction, and most days I fear I’m going down that path too because all my emotions are trapped inside.”
“Dearest, there is no such thing as perfection. Even if there was, why would I want that? There’s no challenge in it.”
“Oh.” She rather liked it when he called her by terms of affection. Tears fell to her cheeks, and she dashed them away in some annoyance. “I’ve never felt as helter-skelter as I have since meeting you, but I do know one thing for certain.” She played with the open placket of his shirt. The skin beneath was hot, and it took all her willpower not to explore him with her mouth. There were still too many things unsettled. “When I’m with you, all those things don’t feel as bad or overwhelming. You bring me peace.”
“Are you saying that I’m the eye of your storm?” His eyes were bright with hope, and in that moment, he was the most adorable man that her heart fluttered.
“What a nice way of looking at it.”
“I think so.” Royce brushed his lips over hers. “Listen to me, Isobel. Every storm eventually exhausts itself of rain, but even if the sun doesn’t immediately come out afterward, let me be there at your side to watch you do amazing things when it does.”
She snorted. “What can I do? I’m not that talented.” Though she did wish to explore writing down those old stories she used to tell Caroline, the ones of fairies and princess and knights errant that had calmed her sister when life grew overwhelming.
“The question is really what can’t you do when you put your mind to it?” He kissed her again and slid a hand between their bodies to burrow beneath the rumpled mess of her skirting. “You’re a Storme. I’m an earl. Those might be marks against each of us, but together I believe we’ll make a good team, or at least the start of one. London will need to mind itself once we finally have everything sorted. Marry me.”
“Oh, Royce.” When had he become so romantic? Isobel laughed and for the moment it banished her maudlin tears. “Do I have a choice?” Her voice went up an octave when he slipped his hand between her splayed thighs and strummed those fingers along her sensitive flesh. “It’s so much change in such a little period of time that I hardly know which way to go any longer.”
“That’s entirely your decision.” There was a rather wicked glint in his eyes as he penetrated her body with two long digits while encouraging the tiny bundle of nerves at her center with his thumb. “Yes, life is constantly changing, but if it didn’t, we wouldn’t change into the people we need to be either.”
Drat him for knowing exactly how she liked being touched and for telling her exactly what she needed to hear. He soon found a rhythm he liked while she gave herself over to the wild sensations coursing through her with each thrust and every circle. Pressure stacked and mounted in her belly as he varied the friction he used. Heat poured over her being the longer he worked. Soon she wriggled on his lap, pressing his hand closer to where she needed him to be.
All too soon fireworks exploded behind her eyes. The dull ache in her head temporarily ceased. She shattered in his hold. Contractions rolled through her core and waves of bliss shivered through her body. “Oh, I’ve missed that,” she said on a whisper while her head lolled onto one shoulder. The delicious residual tremors only made her hunger for more of him.
The grin he gave her brimmed with smugness. He knew her all too well. “Our lives are at a crossroads. Be at my side with me at yours, or choose to go it alone, but that need for attention—for love—that drives you? I can give you all of that, whenever you want, just say you’ll be mine, for I only want to see you happy. You at least deserve that.”
How could she turn him down in the face of such a speech? “How can you know me better than I know myself at times?” She put a palm to the side of his head, traced a fingertip along his eyebrow, his temple, his cheekbone. “I thought all I wanted from life was scandal and a man to plunge into it with me. I’m angry and spoiled and lonely, yes, but then I met you and everything changed—again.” She marveled over that fact. Perhaps all changes weren’t necessarily bad. “As long as you’re in the mix, I don’t mind so much that my life is shifting into the unknown. With you I’m learning that it’s nothing to be embarrassed about if I’m not like everyone else.”
“Have you ever seen two storms that were the same?” When he fumbled at the buttons on his frontfalls, his knuckles brushed her sensitized nubbin, and a host of shivers erupted over her skin. “There’s a reason for that, sweeting. Everything is beautiful in its own way. How dull life would be if everyone were the same.”