Lord Valorous(48)

       
         
       
        

Poppy had no answer for that, because when he outlined it in that way, it did sound foolish. She nodded.

"No."

"Pardon?"

"You're not leaving me."

Poppy thought about his choice of words while she grappled to stop her heart thudding so hard in her chest that it hurt.

"I need to return to my lodgings, my lord, and then I have decided I will return home to my family."

"And you were to leave here tonight without telling me?" He prowled closer, so close she could see the hair on his chest through the open V of his shirt. "Did you not think I would wake and be worried to find you gone?"

"I would have left word," Poppy defended herself.

"With whom?"

"Umm, well I … . Maybe a note then?"

"Don't leave me."

Poppy blinked, unsure she had heard those words correctly. Looking into his face, she felt the breath lodge in her throat.

"I have given you no reason to trust me. No reason to see me as a gentleman that you could have a future with, but I need you to try, Poppy. I love you." He reached out a hand and cupped her cheek. "Forgive me for my treatment of you in my carriage after we had made love. My only defense is that I was shocked, scared, and unable to grasp the feelings that our union   had created inside me."

"I don't understand, Jacob. Surely you cannot love me... I am so far beneath you." Poppy ruthlessly stomped on the hope welling up inside her at his words. "I will be no man's mistress, as I have already told you."

He closed his eyes briefly. "You must forgive me for that also."

"We can never have more, Jacob."

"We can and will. Marry me, Poppy. I need you to make me feel alive. Only when you are near do I become the man I want to be. You challenge me, you make me laugh, but more importantly you are you, my love. Maddeningly honest, vibrant, and heartbreakingly beautiful. I have never met anyone like you, Miss March. Let me spend a lifetime showing you how much I need you."

She hadn't realized she was crying until he brushed her tears aside with his thumbs.

"Surely we can't," she whispered as the longing and hope rose inside her. "Surely I am not free to love you back?"

"Do you love me?" He pulled her closer, his face now inches from hers.

"Oh yes, so very much. But-"

He kissed the words from her mouth.

"No buts. You are my future as I am yours."

"But I am a vicar's daughter."

"Believe me, the Lords of Night Street marry for love, not position, my sweet. Let me make you happy, Poppy. I want to argue with you, make love with you, and wake each day with you in my arms." 

Her knees grew weak at his words, and suddenly she gave up the fight. There would be doubts tomorrow, and perhaps the next day, and she would likely voice them. But one thing she also knew was that she loved this man, as he did her, and they would have a future together that dawned bright and clear. Together they would face whatever it held.





THE END





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Thanks so much for reading Lord Valorous, book #3 in The Lords of Night Street series.



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• For a sneak peek of Sensing Danger, book #1 in the Sinclair and Raven series please read on.





SENSING DANGER

By Wendy Vella





She was exquisitely beautiful, and he knew it was her, his angel.

James watched Sinclair hold out his hand and the woman walk to his side. Not overly tall, she would reach his chin. A long dark braid hung over one shoulder and feathered brows arched over dove-gray eyes. Tilted slightly at the corners, they were framed with long curling lashes. Her teeth trapped her lower lip.

The jolt of awareness he felt looking at her made his fingers curl around the bedding. It was merely a reaction to what they had experienced and nothing more, James reasoned.

It was unfathomable that someone so small and delicate could have saved him. Dressed in that worn blue dressing gown, she did not look old enough nor strong enough to have saved him in the manner she had.

"Raven, this is my sister, Miss Eden Sinclair. It was she who rescued you."

Lord Sinclair wrapped an arm around his sister's shoulders and held her to his side, and James could see the close bond they obviously shared. His family had been cold and distant; in fact, he had never been close to anyone, although he would try for his little sister's sake.