Chapter 22

It took Vander a few minutes to summon the wherewithal to lift his head. Letty smiled up at him, but it was a tremulous sort of smile as if she were in danger of bursting into tears.

"How are you?" he asked gently, smoothing a lock of hair back from her face.

"Wonderful," she answered. He could see that she meant it. He supposed it was natural for one's emotions to be overflowing after your first time making love.

Come to think of it, he was in uncharted waters, too. He hadn't known it could be like that, hadn't known it was possible to feel such a connection with his partner.

Letty gave a shuddering breath beneath him. "I must be crushing you," he said, propping himself up on one elbow.

"It's fine. No, it's not fine—what a tepid word for the most marvelous feeling." She wrapped her arms around his back and pulled him down again. "I wish we could stay here forever."

Vander smiled against her temple. "Me, too."

He froze. Because… he meant that.

He, who had grown tired of his previous eight paramours the moment they'd finished copulating, didn't want to leave. He genuinely wanted to stay here with Letty.

Forever.

He didn't even care if they didn't make love. Which wasn't to say that he didn't want to make love to her again. He very much did.

His cock was already at half-mast inside of her, clearly interested in the prospect.

But, given that this was her first time, it was probably best not to push things. And… he didn't mind. He really didn't. He just wanted to hold her in his arms, to talk with her, laugh with her. He wanted her to fall asleep on his shoulder and wake beside him in the morning. He wanted to have breakfast with her at that little table by the window, her in her wrapper and him in his banyan.

And then, he wanted to repeat this process every day for the rest of his life.

He sat up enough to look at her again. He felt dizzy with these unfamiliar thoughts swirling around inside his head.

He reminded himself that this was not why Letty had asked him to come tonight. She had specifically asked him to teach her how to find her pleasure. He knew what he should do, and that was to tell her to make sure her future husband attended to that little spot between her legs he had rubbed with his thumb. That if her husband expected to do nothing more than the things that felt good for him, it was highly unlikely that Letty would find equal enjoyment… at least, in Vander's experience, which was considerable.

But he found that he couldn't bear to utter a word of that. Because the thought of Letty having a husband other than him was agonizing.

He found her smiling up at him, brown eyes sparkling. She reached up and smoothed her fingers through his hair. "You somehow manage to look even more handsome when your hair's a mess. Meanwhile, I probably look like Medusa. It's positively unfair."

His heart thumped so hard he was surprised it wasn't audible. And he realized—

He loved her. He didn't just desire Letty, want to make love to her.

He'd gone and fallen in love with her.

Hellfire and damnation. This whole situation was a thousand times worse than he'd realized. He'd just about resigned himself to a dreary existence, toiling away in his assigned closet at his father's office, married to a woman he tolerated but didn't care for.

That sounded barely endurable. But when you tossed in the fact that he would be without the woman he loved, the whole situation became untenable.

Unless… what if Letty could be the woman he married?

Her parents would refuse their permission. And David would never speak to him again.

But he thought Letty might—might—say yes. After all, she had agreed to accept one of her two suitors, and she wasn't particularly enthusiastic about either of her options.

He wasn't a great prospect, either, given his past. But she liked him. He knew she did. And he was bloody rich and good at giving her orgasms.

And she liked his hair.

That had to count for something…

"Vander?" Letty's voice pierced his scattered thoughts. "Is everything all right?"

He struggled to attend. What had she been saying? Oh, yes, she had compared herself to… Medusa, and he hadn't spoken a word of denial.

He brushed a kiss across her forehead. "You look nothing like Medusa. You'd make Aphrodite sick with envy."

It occurred to him that he was still inside her and the sheath was full, and he should clean himself up before disaster struck. Withdrawing, he padded over to the washstand.

His thoughts were flying away with him. A vision of his future was slowly coming into focus. With a few changes, work at his father's insurance company would be tolerable.

But he had to have Letty as his wife. That part was non-negotiable.

He returned to the bed and took her in his arms, pulling the counterpane up over them. Now he just needed to convince her parents that he was worthy of their one and only daughter…

Something occurred to him. "When is the ball when you have to announce which one of your suitors you're going to marry?"

Letty yawned against his shoulder. "It's tomorrow. Or—I suppose by now it's today."

Vander sat halfway up. "Today? You mean it's in sixteen hours?" He threw off the covers and stood, scooping his scattered garments from off the floor.

"Vander?" Letty propped herself up on one elbow. Her hair was sticking out to the side and his heart squeezed, she looked so adorable. "What's wrong?"

That would be the fact that he had less than twenty-four hours to convince her parents that he was good enough for their only daughter. What he needed was a plan, and a damn good one, and he sure as hell wasn't going to be able to think straight with Letty lying naked in his arms.

But he could hardly tell her that, so he settled for, "Nothing," as he pulled on his trousers. Seeing Letty's frown, he added, "I just… can't be discovered here. You would be—"

"Ruined," she said along with him. "I understand," she added, although she didn't look happy about it.

Vander paused, his fingers upon the buttons of his waistcoat. Should he say something to Letty? Offer her some reassurance?

He decided against it. He needed to do a damn sight better than a slapdash proposal in her bedroom while he was halfway out the door. He'd made a complete hash of things so far. Looking back, he cringed as he remembered the night he'd asked Letty for her help, and she'd clearly thought he was proposing.

Letty deserved to feel treasured.

He pulled on his boots. He needed a ring. And… some flowers. Yes, flowers were good. And… bloody hell, he wasn't sure what else, but there was going to have to be more to it than a ring and some flowers…

He had just tugged his coat into place and was starting for the door when a small voice behind him interrupted his train of thought.

"Vander?"

He turned to find Letty peering up at him from beneath the snow-white counterpane, which she'd drawn up to her chin. She looked… sad.

"Is that it, then?" she asked, her voice cracking.

He crossed the room in three strides, sat on the bed, and pulled her into his arms. He proceeded to kiss her as if the room was on fire around them and it was going to be the last thing he ever did. He poured every ounce of love he felt for her into it, but make no mistake, it was not a sweet sort of kiss. It was a wicked kiss, the kiss of a rakehell, that bespoke every deliciously depraved act he was going to perform upon her body the second they were man and wife.

When he finally lifted his head, they were both breathing hard. "Does that answer your question?"

Letty really was adorable when she was confused. "Yes. No. I—I'm not sure."

He stroked his fingertips along the edge of her beautiful face. "No, Letty, that is not it. I will call upon you tomorrow. And we'll talk."

"Can't we talk now?" she blurted.

He pressed a kiss into the palm of her hand, then stood. "No. I have a few things I must do first."

"At two o'clock in the morning?" she asked, glancing around as if his intended task would present itself there in her bedroom.

"Actually, yes." He was going to be up half the night planning, after all. "Until tomorrow. Good night, my darling."

"D-darling?" she sputtered. "Did you just call me—"

But Vander was already halfway out the door. He had planning to do.