Page 47 of Snowed In with the Runaway Bride

“Do you think I would have lain with you if I didn’t?”

He shook his head slowly. Other women might have, perhaps, but not Penny.

It was almost beyond his comprehension. He had yearned for her for so long, and now...

“I want you to marry me,” he blurted out, and held his breath for her answer.

Penny surprised herself by hesitating. She had only just now gained a few precious days of freedom for herself. Freedom from the expectations that had weighed on her since she was a child. Freedom from the constant scrutiny of hostile would-be relatives judging whether or not she was worthy of being a duchess. Freedom to be herself, to decide what she wanted for herself going forward.

Then she looked down into Hugo's hopeful, beloved face. It was him she wanted. A life of adventure with him, not a staid existence of balls and musicales and Venetian breakfasts.

Every day with him would be a new adventure.

"Yes, Hugo," she said. "I will."

His face lit up, but he hesitated another moment as though he did not believe his good fortune. “You will?”

Penny reached out and held his face in her hands, feeling the slight scratch of his beard on her palms. She made her words into a solemn vow. “I will.”

She leaned down and kissed him, but the sweet promise quickly turned into passion as they fumbled with each other’s clothes, stopping occasionally to gaze at each other in bewildered wonder before working at buttons and hooks and strings.

He lay her down on the bed when they were both naked and lay beside her, propped up on his elbow to gaze down at her.

“What do you love most about me?” she asked, tracing her fingers along each plane of his face.

He paused to think. “Your spirit,” he said at last. “You never let anything stop you or get in your way.”

Dipping his head, he brushed her lips with hers. “And you? What do you... do you love about me?”

“Your freckles.” She could not help but laugh at his indignant expression.

“I do not have freckles.”

“You do.” She leaned up to kiss him on the temple. “Right here.” She brushed her finger across the bridge of his nose. “And here.”

He tilted his head down to her, and she kissed those freckles as well before brushing her hand across a spot just below his ribcage.

“You have some here as well,” she murmured. “In fact, you have so many freckles, it will take me years to count them all.”

“We will have years,” he said, and his kiss was a promise.

By the time she pulled away, they were both panting. She held a hand up, and he paused.

“Hugo, now that we are engaged, I want... I want to... ” She grimaced in frustration. “I don’t know how to ask.”

His brows knit as he puzzled it out, and then rose in shock. “Penny, do you mean... ?”

“Yes,” she said. “Show me everything.”

He swallowed hard. She was unable to resist trailing her fingers down his throat so she could see him shiver.

“If we do, Penny, there will be no breaking the engagement. You will belong to me, and I will never let you go.”

“Yes.” Nothing sounded more wonderful. “Yes, I want that. I want you.”

With a groan, he surrendered to her, sweeping her up into his kiss. He moved to rest his body atop hers, and she could not help but wince at the pressure on her joints.

Immediately, he pulled away and removed his weight from her. “Are you all right?”