Never Had a Dream Come True (31 page)

“If only Lord Elmsley would look at me with a fraction of that love, I would die happy.” Lydia sighed. “But I’m afraid he’s stubbornly refusing to see my potential as a possible wife. He practically threw me toward you before scurrying away in the opposite direction.”

“One day, perhaps?”

Lydia sighed again. “Perhaps. But to be completely honest with you, it will probably never happen. He just doesn’t seem to understand we are made for each other.”

Her smile was filled with self-humor, and Penny couldn’t help wishing Lydia would get her heart’s desire and end up as Lady Elmsley. She was such a wonderful friend and deserved to be happy.

“But then again, I wouldn’t mind not becoming Lady Elmsley if
that
man became mine.”

Lydia sounded almost breathless and without second thought Penny turned and looked in the same direction her friend was staring—and forget to breathe too.

There, in the middle of the ballroom, looking more fashionably handsome than ever, stood Rake in perfect splendor.

With an amused arched eyebrow, he took in the gaping crowd with his usual wicked smile, searching the awed faces for one special one: hers.

“Who is that?” Lydia whispered beside her.

Penny took a deep, shaky breath. “That is the man of
my
dreams.”

“Oh, goodness me. I must admit I do understand you wanting him. Lord Elmsley is nothing compared to him. Nothing.”

Penny couldn’t agree more, and as she stood up she knew no one was anything compared to the man who stood there silently searching for her. That wonderful, sarcastic, loving libertine was one of a kind, and what was even more perfect was that he was all hers.

With a whimper that came from the depths of her soul, she started toward him. As if he could feel her presence, he tensed slightly before turning toward her and nailing her with his dark eyes.

The crowd, which seemed to sense something extraordinary was happening, moved back and let Penny pass without obstacles, and in the end she couldn’t contain herself. Without caring about her outrageous behavior, she ran and threw herself into Rake’s waiting arms, flinging her arms around his neck and burying her face deep into the crook of his neck.

His arms moved around her waist and hugged her closely to him. She could feel his hands shaking as they stroked her back hesitantly, as if he hardly could believe she finally was there, where she belonged, in his arms. She tightened her grip around his neck and heard him chuckle in response.

“Penny, my love, I want to live a long and prosperous life with you, so could you please let me breathe a little. Otherwise this happiness will have a fast and sad ending right here on the ballroom floor.”

She loosened her grip slightly but still refused to let him go. She knew she was acting scandalously, but she didn’t care.

Rake had come, and nothing else mattered.

Without another word, he scooped her up into his arms and carried her through the still-gaping crowd, not stopping until he’d found an empty room where they could be alone, without an audience.

“I might be a bit presumptuous,” he said, as he put her feet on the floor again, “but I do get the distinct feeling you are a bit happy to see me.”

His amused voice, trembling with emotion, brought tears to her eyes, and she was unable to hold them back. Her heart felt ready to explode out of sheer happiness.

“I am,” she whispered into his neck.

“Are you
crying
?”

“No.”

He laughed and forced her head back so he could look into her teary eyes. “Oh, yes, you are.”

“A little, maybe.”

He smiled into her eyes with all the love in his heart and without the usual wickedness, and she felt wrapped in a soft blanket of happiness, as her tears continued to flow.

“You know, a man with less confidence than I have would start to wonder by now if you really are happy or sad to see me.”

She giggled and loosened her hold on him. “Let us be thankful, then, for you being such a confident man.”

“I still have to admit I do wonder.”

His admittance of how insecure he felt made her heart ache. Had she really been such an ogre toward him, acting selfishly and without regard to his feelings?

She wiped the last tears away and looked up into his smoky eyes as she put a hand gently against his cheek.

“I love you.”

“I know.”

She rolled her eyes. “Why do you ask if I’m happy to see you, then?”

He let go of her and went to a small window, turning his back to her before he answered her. “Because it has never been enough for you before.”

She frowned at him. “What has never been enough?”

“Love.”

Lord, what had she done to this proud man in her silly hunt for confirmation? She felt almost nauseous as she looked at his stiff back where he stood by the window, hiding his face from her.

“I just want you.”

“Are you sure?”

“That’s all I ever wanted.”

He turned around and looked at her directly with his dark eyes filled with the insecure emotions he couldn’t control, and for the first time she noticed how tired he looked, how dark the smudges were under his eyes.

“Is it really? Because that’s not the impression I’ve gotten during the last year and a half.”

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered and took a hesitant step toward him. She stopped as she noticed how he stiffened even more. He wasn’t ready to let bygones be bygones yet, but she knew she should be grateful he seemed finally willing to talk to her.

The funny thing was that now, when he was obliging her, all she wanted was for him to shut up and kiss her. She wanted, no
needed
, him to tell her with his mouth and his roaming hands exactly how much he loved her. Unfortunately, he had tried that for a year and a half and she hadn’t listened to him once, had only been looking for verbal confirmation.

She looked at the closed door and the key in the keyhole, and an idea came to her from nowhere. She hid a smile from him as she slowly moved toward the door.

“Bloody hell, Penny, you can’t leave me now!”

She ignored his frustrated outburst, and when she reached the door she locked it tightly before starting to unbutton her dress. She turned slowly and met his dark eyes, filled with pain and confusion.

With a secretive little smile she moved back toward him, with every step trying to show him how much she wanted him, and she saw him lose his breath for a moment.

“Penny…”

“Rake,” she purred as she let the dress slip down her shoulders and end up on the floor in a cloud of expensive fabric. Clad only in her thin chemise and silky stockings, she stopped in front of him and lifted her hands to her hair. She removed all the pins, and the honey-colored mass tumbled down her back.

He staggered backwards.

“You don’t know what you’re doing.”

“I don’t?”

She let a finger follow the row of buttons in his jacket and felt his chest tremble as he took a shaky breath.

“No. You can’t possibly understand what you are doing to me. Please stop, Penny, before I do something both you and I will regret later.”

“Why will we regret it?”

He pushed her hand aside as it reached his chin, and she laughed huskily. He trembled even more.

“Because you want to talk, and if you don’t stop this I can’t do anything else but kiss you.”

She moved forward until her mouth was only a breath away from his. “So why don’t you shut up and kiss me?”

Her soft whisper slowly found its way into his head, and she watched his insecurity fade away as the smoldering heat returned to his eyes.

“Are you sure?” he asked hoarsely, still not believing what he had in front of him. Tired of waiting for him to get it right, she put her hands at the back of his neck and forced him to lean forward so she could press her soft lips against his and do what she had longed for every night and every day since they last met: she kissed him.

With a groan, he let his hands find their way over her body, and willingly she pressed herself against his palms, showing him without words how much she wanted him. Without ending their kiss, he removed his clothes piece by piece before hauling her closer to him and laying her down on the floor in the pile of delicate apparel.

“I love you so much,” he whispered as he let his mouth leave hers and travel to her neck and the very spot he had talked about so long ago below her ear. “Promise to never let me go again.”

“Never,” she moaned, as his teeth gently bit her earlobe. “Never in this lifetime or the next.”

With a tender kiss, he thrust deep into her, and she lost all ability to think or talk. All she could do was follow his steady pace, which in the end took them all the way to heaven and back.

“Shut up and kiss me?”

She looked up into his laughing eyes and stretched with a satisfied smile, feeling too content to care about his teasing. He shook his head and moved away from her slightly, lying next to her on the floor with his arms around her, pressing her body close to his as if afraid she would disappear if he let her go for even the tiniest of moments.

“I’m glad I came,” he said softly against her ear, and she couldn’t stop another satisfied smile.

“Me too.”

“I almost didn’t.”

Surprised, she turned her head and looked at his serious face. “Why not?”

“Because you made me feel inadequate.”

She pressed her hand against his cheek gently as tears filled her eyes. “I’m so sorry for being so stupid.”

“Not stupid.” He smiled. “Only a bit simple-minded.”

“Just a bit?”

“I’m trying to be nice here, so don’t push me.”

“I love you, Rake.”

“I know.”

A rustle at the door broke them apart as someone tried to get in, and they hurried to get dressed. There was no need to make the scandal worse than it was already.

As Rake opened the door, an angry footman burst into the room, yelling about their inconsideration, and laughingly they dashed from the Assembly Rooms and out into the street. Without a word, Rake immediately started toward the closest church, and Penny followed him closely with light steps.

Their wedding ceremony was simple and unemotional, but Penny cried all the way through. When the yawning priest finally blessed the newlyweds before leaving them alone, Rake sighed, relieved. She looked at him with a question in her eyes, and he grinned wickedly toward her.

“Well, I wasn’t really sure this ever would happen, so please let me have a moment here rejoicing.”

“Why didn’t you just ask me?”

He raised an elegant eyebrow. “Ask you? I have practically begged you to marry me, and you haven’t accepted me once.”

“You have never asked me to marry you,” she snorted, and when he looked at her in amazement she repeated her words. “You have never asked me.”

“I have too.”

“Not once. Not even today.”

“I have told you more times than I can remember how much I want you.”

“Yes, you have, but that’s not the same thing as asking someone to marry you.”

He chuckled as the truth hit him. “You mean you just wanted me to ask you to marry me?”

She nodded haughtily, not really caring anymore, although something inside of her still wanted him to understand what had led to all their misunderstandings.

“Leave it to a woman to complicate things.”

“So asking me to marry you is to complicate things?”

He frowned slightly. “Well, when you put it like that…”

Suddenly he took her hands into his and looked down into her eyes with all the love he felt for her clearly visible.

“Lady Penelope de Vere, would you please do me the honor to become my wife, and by so turn me into the happiest man alive?”

She shook her head, and he grinned at her.

“No?”

“I’m sorry, I can’t. I’m unfortunately already married to the love of my life.”

“Thank God for that.” He groaned as he hugged her close and kissed her with all the heat in his heart, ignoring the fact that they still stood inside the church.

Penny didn’t mind, though, as he soon lifted her and carried her outside, out into the dark street and into the dream that finally had come true.

It was said that a reformed libertine made the best of husbands and, as it turned out, that was perfectly true. Not one day had passed since that somewhat chaotic wedding day when Penny had felt any less loved or wanted.

Every day Rake without words showed her exactly how much he needed her in his life, and every day she told him in all the words she could think of how happy he made her.

“You two make me sick,” Jamie groaned when he found them kissing on the terrace. “She’s practically giving birth to your firstborn, and you still can’t keep your lusty hands off her.”

Rake grinned wickedly and, with a sorrowful sigh, let his hands leave Penny’s breasts. “I can’t help it. She was made for loving.”

“In a bedroom, please, and preferably when she’s not in labor.”

“I asked him to make me think of something else,” Penny admitted, to save her husband from his twin brother’s teasing. “And he did.”

“You are a lucky man, Rake. I can’t think of any other woman who wants to make love while her body is torn apart by excruciating pain.”

Rake paled considerably, and Penny glared at Jamie. “I finally made him calm down, and you had to make him all flustered again?”

Jamie blushed, as the truth hit him. “Sorry about that.”

“Just go away.”

With one last embarrassed look, Jamie left the married couple alone, and as Penny looked up into Rake’s worried face she swore between her teeth, which effectively made him lose his breath.

“Are you in pain?”

“Not so badly,” she lied.

“You are lying.”

“Yes.”

“Don’t lie to me.”

“I always lie to you.”

“No, you don’t. You are the most honest person I know, and you never lie.”

She closed her eyes as a wave of pain tore through her body, and she could tell by his shaking hands trying to caress her gently that he was panicking.

“I have lied to you.”

“Oh, really? Whenever could that have been?”