The vulnerability in his eyes made her wonder if anyone had ever said those words to him in his entire life.
“I love you,” she whispered again. “I love you so much. I want to be with you all the time and have your babies. We can figure this out. We can find a solution that works for both of us, don’t you think?”
In answer, he kissed her, a kiss filled with such promise and tenderness that her knees threatened to buckle beneath her. She kissed him back with all the love in her heart, all that she’d been holding back for fear that it wouldn’t be appreciated. This kiss sealed the beginning of something new, something she knew she’d never regret.
Still kissing her, he swept her up in his arms as though she weighed nothing and carried her over to the sofa, laying her down upon it and then coming down on top of her, his muscular body pressing her against the cushions. She could feel the rigid heat of his desire against her abdomen.
“Is this all right?” he asked, his hands busy beneath her skirts. “I need to be inside you, darling.”
“Yes, please,” she breathed, lifting her hips to help him move the heavy fabric out of the way, wishing they were once again naked, skin to skin. But that would take too long, and she wanted exactly what he did. She wanted him now.
A few seconds later, he was rubbing the blunt head of his cock at the seam of her sex, wet with her body’s hot arousal, until she was gasping and sobbing his name, begging him to enter her. And then he did so, filling her completely with his thick, hot length, and their gazes met and held.
“I love you,” he said again, his heart in his eyes.
“I love you, too,” she replied, knowing she’d remember this moment for the rest of her life.
* * *
SEBASTIAN LAY UPON his back on Jocelyn’s elegant sofa, Jocelyn sprawled across him in glorious dishabille, his heart still pounding in his chest from his release. He’d been so prepared to let her go, he still couldn’t believe that she’d told him she didn’t want him to.
She’d said she loved him.
He was almost afraid to look at her for fear that he’d somehow misunderstood her. For now, he was content to simply toy with a strand of her beautiful auburn hair and enjoy the moment. If his life never got any better than this moment, he could die a happy man.
“That was lovely,” she said at last, her own breathing still somewhat unsteady.
He smiled at her prim and proper way of describing something so decidedly unproper and pressed a tender kiss to her temple. “It certainly was.”
Lifting her head, she looked down at him, a look of wonder in her eyes. “You love me,” she said softly, as though she still couldn't believe it either.
“You love me,” he countered.
“I do,” she agreed. “Maybe I have since the first day we spent together. I’ve never known anyone like you, Sebastian. You make me feel safe and desired. You make me feel more like myself than I’ve ever felt before.”
He hugged her tightly, humbled and thrilled by her words. “I don’t think anyone’s ever looked at me the way you do. You make me want to be a better man. You make me want to start a family, to actually live my life, instead of merely surviving it.”
They stared at each other for a long moment, understanding flaring between them. He’d been so certain that love was a physical craving, but this connection between them went far deeper than that.
She lowered her head back to his chest, idly toying with the buttons of his vest, making him wish they’d taken the time to undress. “What I said about marriage... I think I’ve told you enough about mine to the earl for you to know how terrible it was for me. I didn’t think I’d ever want to go through that again, convinced myself that I could be happy just taking you as my lover. I thought I could be wild and decadent, pursuing my own pleasure, but I’m not that sort of woman. I missed you the moment I left your arms the other day.”
Relief washed through him, and he realized this was exactly what he’d needed to hear from her. He didn’t want her to concede to his wishes simply because she didn’t want to lose him. He wanted her to want to marry him as well.
“I know I don’t have anything to offer—”
She lifted her head again and pressed her fingertips to his lips. “I don’t want to hear that. You have more to offer than I ever even imagined. You’re strong, intelligent, tender, an incredible lover.” She gave him an impish smile. “Need I go on?”
“I’m not a wealthy man,” he told her stubbornly. “I can never give you everything you’re accustomed to.”
She gestured around the lavish room. “Most of this belongs to Oliver, but I do have some money of my own. Albert left me very comfortable, and until Oliver reaches his majority, it’s my duty to raise him in the style he deserves. Would it be so terrible for you to leave your flat in Bethnal Green and move in here?”
He sighed, thinking of the compromise O’Brien and Allison had reached. Quinn had moved up a bit, and Allison had moved down, meeting at a happy medium. But Sebastian had fallen in love with a bloody countess, the guardian of the future Earl of Aston. He could never expect her to move her young son to his hovel in Bethnal Green. He couldn’t even ask her to raise the little earl in a place that was somewhere in the middle.
“It would not be terrible at all,” he said, realizing how ridiculous it was to protest such a fantastic change in circumstances. “I just never want you to think that I fell in love with you because of all of this. I’d love you if you didn’t have a penny to your name.”
“I believe you,” she said simply.
“Your reputation will suffer,” he said, feeling a masochistic need to point out every drawback he could think of. He didn’t want her to ever regret her choice and needed her to go into it with her eyes wide open.