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stood
and strode around the table. Lifted her into his arms. Carried her
swiftly to the sofa. Set her on the chintz-covered cushion, then
covered her body with his.
    “ Missed you so bloody
much,” he murmured in a rough whisper, interspersing kisses along
her jaw and neck between words. “Couldn’t eat. Couldn’t sleep.
Couldn’t think o’ anything but you. Finding you. Touching you.
Loving you.”
    Every thought fled his
mind when she tangled her fingers in his hair and urged his mouth
to hers for a lush, tongue-dancing kiss. More. Damn it, he needed more. He
insinuated his hand beneath her gown’s hem and skimmed his palm up
her leg.
    “ Ached for you...God,
Sophia, I’ve ached for you every minute of the last six months.”
They both groaned when he touched her folds. “Wet,” he rasped,
dragging his tongue down her throat as he teased her with a light,
circular motion then slipped two fingers inside her. “You’re so
beautifully wet.”
    She moaned and arched beneath him, spreading
her legs wider. “I’ve ached for you as well, Ian.” She stroked his
hard length through his breeches, and he gritted his teeth against
the intense pleasure.
    Helpless to remain still, he thrust into her
hand. “I won’t last long if you continue doing...ahhh...that.”
Long? Bloody hell, he was a heartbeat away from ripping open his
breeches and mindlessly sinking into her. Which was precisely what
he’d promised himself he wouldn’t do. Damn it, he was going to do
this properly even if it killed him--which it bloody well
might.
    With a groan that felt ripped from his soul,
he sat up, bowed his head, and fought to control his ragged
breathing.
    “ Ian...” She sat up and
kissed his neck, dragging another groan from him. “You didn’t need
to stop. I want us to have this night. One last night to be
together.”
    A frown pulled down his brows and he turned
toward her. “One last night? What are you talking about?”
    “ Us spending the night
together. Enjoying each other.”
    “ And then?”
    “ And then I’ll go home.
And you’ll return to Scotland.”
    Bloody hell. He’d not only pounced on her,
he’d lost his mind and forgotten all his fine plans for the
evening. “Sophia. I stopped because I didn’t come here for a quick
romp--“
    “ I understand. Which is
why I want you to know we can have the entire night.”
    “ No, you don’t understand
at all. I didn’t come to London to resume our affair or to spend a
night with you. I came here to tell you that I love you. So much it
hurts to even breathe without you. I don’t want you to be just my
lover. I want you to be my wife.” He withdrew a square velvet box
from his waistcoat pocket then lowered himself to one knee. Looking
into her eyes, he opened the box to reveal the pearl ring he’d
commissioned especially for her. “Sophia, will you marry
me?”
     
     
    Chapter 6
     
    The blank shock, followed
by dawning dismay, on Sophia’s face was definitely not the reaction
Ian had hoped for. She rose from the sofa then moved to the
fireplace, putting the length of the Axminster rug between them.
“ Marry you? You
cannot be serious.”
    Hurt, and damn it, anger propelled him to
his feet. He set the ring aside then reached her in two long
strides and grasped her shoulders. “I’ve never been more serious in
my life. I love you, Sophia. I want ye to be my wife. To share my
life.”
    She shook her head and tried to shrug off
his hold, but he wouldn’t let her. “It’s impossible, Ian.”
    “ Why?”
    “ Why ? Surely you can see this could never work between us. Your
place is in Scotland. Mine is here, in England, being the sort of
mother to Edward I promised him I’d be. The sort whose behavior is
above reproach. A scandal would not only cast shame upon me, but
Edward as well. Just last year a terrible scandal erupted when a
viscountess was discovered having an affair with a footman. Her
husband publicly gave her the cut direct, and many in Society,