It wasn’t until those words were said that Caroline realized how much she needed to hear them. She had never been ashamed of her birth. Yet time and time again, she had tried to distance herself from this man because of it. She hadn’t wanted to embarrass him or hurt him. But in truth, she was the one who hadn’t wanted to suffer embarrassment or hurt if he one day chose to change his mind and deposit her in a separate household like her father had done.
It would devastate her.
She had agreed to trust him.
But she hadn’t. Not really. Not deep down in her heart where it mattered. He stood before her barefoot, clad in nothing but a pair of breeches, his powerful chest on full display. Handsome. Solid. Ready to hand her the world.
And what about her?
Was she ready to accept what he offered without looking back? With absolute trust?
Lord, yes.
“Can you do that?” he asked softly. “Because I love you, Caroline. Even though we haven’t known each other for long, I knew from the start, in the most secluded part of my soul, that fate brought us together.” His thumb trailed over her lower lip. “AmIqualified to become your husband?”
She let out a small huff of laugher. This man. . .
He had always been a rock. Solid. Unmovable.
Herrock.
Even faced with her uncertainty and doubt, he had never wavered. She completely lost her head around him.
Caroline circled her arms around his waist.
“I love you, too, Mason.”
Loved him like mad.
***
“Caro.”
Mason lifted her into a tight hug, lips crushing frantically against hers. She had scared the hell out of him when she rushed from his chamber. A thousand words could not begin to describe the cauldron of fire blazing in his heart. There was so much he wanted to say, wanted to profess, reassure,promise, but Caroline Harwood had completely, utterly, and wholeheartedly robbed him of all rational thought. So he would do the next best thing. If he couldn’t say the words, then he would show her.
Here.
Now.
This kiss.
He boldly swept his tongue between her lips, savoring the sweet flavor of the woman he loved. He couldn’t get enough of her. Her touch. Her taste. Her soft sighs of pleasure. Nothing mattered but this.
Her.
Mason set her down on the bed, his gaze falling on the heap of dresses there. He sobered, and sent Caroline a suspicious look. “What were you doing to do? Leave?”
“What? No! I needed to dress and wasn’t sure what to wear.”
“Ah, good.” He chuckled, and tugged the quilt away, flinging it to the floor. “You don’t need clothes. I’ll keep you warm. Tonight we cannot be separated.”
“Kate and Clair. . .”
“I sent Rebecca to them. She will make our excuses.” He cupped a breast in his hand. “That reminds me . . . you still haven’t told me whether or notIam qualified to be your husband.” His eyes bore into hers. “I am, after all, an incorrigible, mad beast.”
A slow grinned bloomed on her face. “You are all of those things. But they are exactly why I love you.”
“Thank God,” he whispered. He burrowed his face in the column of her neck. “I won’t let you go, Caroline. You must spend an entire lifetime with me. An entire lifetime of madness.” He took a nipple into his mouth and sucked.
