Alec Mackenzie's Art of Seduction: Mackenzies (Mackenzies Series Book 9) by Jennifer Ashley

Author:Jennifer Ashley [Ashley, Jennifer]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781946455086
Publisher: JA / AG Publishing
Published: 2017-11-13T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter 16

Alec froze with her hand in his, his eyes fixed on her. His chest rose with his breath, the red coat that was the symbol of his enemies moving.

“Or ye can marry me, I was about to say.” The words were a growl. “Give a man a chance to speak.”

Celia inhaled damp air, warmed by the tiny stove. “I have a small legacy that can help us live—nothing very grand, but it will feed us, and you can continue to give lessons. My money is in a trust, entirely mine, untouchable by my mother or father …”

Alec stilled her babbling with a finger on her lips. “I’m not doing it for your legacy. I want to keep you from your mum’s machinations forever. Even if your dad has me killed for it, you’ll be my widow and looked after by my da’ and brothers.”

Celia kissed his finger. “Don’t say things like that. All my life I’ve watched my mother and her friends, including Lady Flora, use marriage as a weapon, or at least a tool to obtain what they want. I say I turn the tables on them, use it as my own weapon.”

Anger flared in Alec’s eyes. But of course—Celia had just declared she’d use him and marriage to him to thwart her enemies. What gentleman wanted to hear a woman say that?

The anger vanished with the suddenness of a slap and Alec burst out laughing. His head went back, and his booming laughter filled the room.

“What a woman!” His eyes glowed with golden fire. “I’ll show ye off to my family with pride, I will. Yes, I’ll marry ye, lass. To hell with the lot of them.”

“Good.” Celia stuck out her hand. “Seal the bargain?”

Alec pushed the offered hand aside. “I’ve a better way to seal it than that.”

He scooped her up to him and kissed her with a strength that took her breath away. Celia sank into him, sliding her hands under the warmth of his hair. His tam slid off to fall among the detritus, but Alec didn’t seem to notice.

He held Celia against him, his arms firm on her back, his body a bulwark in the dark, a solid rock in the swirling maelstrom of her life. Celia kissed him as the boat listed with the current, the strength of the Thames fighting it.

When Alec raised his head, his eyes were dark in the red glow of the stove, the look in them one of triumph, but also one of pain.

Celia wondered at the pain, but there would be time for them to talk, to understand. She touched his cheek, acknowledging what she’d seen, then she kissed him again, seeking the warmth of his lips. They were in this together now, she tried to convey.

Alec’s return kiss acknowledged this and made Celia realize that her journey was just beginning.

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