Page 85 of To Have and to Hoax
“I will never, ever let you walk away again,” he said, and even through her tears she could see the intensity of his gaze, could read the truth in his eyes. “I want to be the man who deserves you, because you deserve everything.”
“We deserve each other,” she said, and leaned forward to kiss him gently. The kiss slid from loving to heated in the space of a heartbeat, his head tilting slightly to give him a better angle, his tongue tracing the seam of her lips until she parted her mouth to allow him entry.
He broke the kiss with a muffled noise that sounded like a half laugh, half groan, but he did not remove his hands from where they cupped her cheeks. “I want to promise you things—everything,” he said heatedly, his breathing gratifyingly unsteady. “It has to be different this time.”
“It will be,” she said with a certainty that she had never thought to feel about him ever again. “We understand each other now.”
“You helped me understand myself.” He placed another soft kiss on her lips. “I promise never to take someone’s word over yours ever again.”
“I promise not to let you walk away from a fight again,” she replied, then kissed the tempting expanse of his throat, just visible above his collar.
“I promise never to walk away again.” He slid his hand down from her cheek in a slow, loving caress along her neck to her breast, cupping its weight in his hand, rubbing his thumb across the peak. He paused, thoughtful. “And I promise to tell you the next time I’m in a riding accident.”
Violet snorted. “Better yet, why don’t you promise to avoidgettingin a riding accident in the first place?”
James grinned at her. “Fair enough.”
“I promise never to pretend to be dying to extract revenge for an argument,” Violet continued, then leaned forward and made short work of unbuttoning his shirt.
“I promise never to pretend you’re actually dying and keep you bedridden for days on end.” His thumb continued its gentle pressure, and he stole another kiss.
“I promise never to cough significantly in an attempt to gain your sympathy.” She loosened the collar of his shirt enough to drag her lips along his throat.
“I promise never to flirt with another lady as an act of revenge against your revenge.” His hand left her breast to join his other hand in reaching around her, undoing the buttons of her frock with practiced ease.
“I promise to support you, whatever you should decide to do with regard to your relationship with your father. And West, too.” She drew back from kissing him, her tone not as light. The look in his eyes was all she needed to see—the gratitude, the love.
“I promise never to spend a silent breakfast with you ever again,” he said quietly, and the underlying message was crystal clear. They would never again allow their fears, their mutual uncertainties, to come between them.
“I promise never to depart in a huff in a carriage again,” she said, deliberately lightening the tone. “Or at least, not to my mother’s house.” She gave him a saucy smile and slid her hands inside his shirt, running her palms over the smooth heat of his bare skin.
“I promise to follow you every time,” he said, a wicked glint in his eye as he undid the last of her buttons and reached up to ease her dress down over her shoulders and down to her waist. “And I promise to ravish you in the aforementioned carriage once I catch you.” He leaned down to place a heated kiss at the spot where chemise met bare skin, sending a shiver coursing through Violet.
“And I promise to enjoy it thoroughly when you do,” she said.
And, as they rattled through the streets of London back toward Curzon Street, she immediately set about keeping that particular promise.