Surrender regency lovers.., p.10
Surrender (Regency Lovers 5),
p.10
Clara gasped. “You—”
“My goodness, Clara.” Her breathless and flushed father reined his horse in next to them. “You have frightened your mother half to death, and I am not far behind her! What on earth made you go off alone with Mr. Long in that way when you knew we were putting together a search party?” He frowned his disapproval.
Clara barely heard him, still staring at Ezra and struck dumb by his declaration of love.
“Listen to your father, love,” he encouraged softly. “We will talk together again soon. I have much to tell you.”
The only thing that mattered to Clara was hearing Ezra tell her he loved her again.
Sooner rather than later.
The moment they returned to Weston Park, Clara’s mother insisted that her daughter needed to lie down after her ordeal, while Ezra was taken off by the other gentlemen to have his arm looked at and also to explain who Mr. Hetherington was and why he had a grievance against Ezra. Clara would have far rather listened to the latter conversation than suffer being fussed over by her distraught mother.
Finally, given no other choice, Clara pretended—again—to be asleep. Her mother was then quietly persuaded by the duchess and countess into leaving Clara to rest before they departed Weston Park later that afternoon.
The fact her mother was still insisting on them leaving Weston Park today made it urgent that Clara speak with Ezra.
The moment Clara was alone, she got up from the bed to check that Ezra’s horse was still in the stable yard. She had watched out of the window and seen several of the local gentlemen leave Weston Park shortly after she came upstairs with the other ladies, possibly with the intention of going to the west barn to aid Mr. Long.
But Noble was still tied up in the stable yard, so Clara knew Ezra was also still here somewhere. Possibly talking privately with her father, the duke, and the earl.
Ezra had told her he loved her!
Clara was still overwhelmed by the declaration, at the same time as the excitement bubbled up inside her, threatening to burst free.
She didn’t care what Ezra wished to talk to her about. She loved him, and he loved her, and whatever problem had been keeping them apart, they would deal with it. Together.
“Clara.”
She had been so lost in thoughts of the future, so filled with that excitement, that she had missed hearing Ezra enter the bedchamber.
“Ezra!” She was suddenly overwhelmed with a shyness she believed she had shed a month ago when she was abducted, her feet seeming to be weighed down by lead weights and preventing her from moving toward him as her brain was telling her to.
He entered the room to close the door softly behind him. “Your mother said you were sleeping.”
Clara grimaced. “My act convinced her even if it did not convince you earlier.”
Ezra could see by the way Clara was wringing her hands together in front of her that she was nervous. It was not an emotion he usually associated with her. “Do you feel up to talking right now, or would you prefer not to?”
Her eyes widened. “Not to? But… Have you changed your mind about loving me?”
He smiled slightly. “I do not believe one simply changes one’s mind about loving someone.”
“But you are standing so far away from me.”
“As you are from me.”
“Yes, but I have a good reason for that. My feet simply will not move,” she explained as he raised questioning brows.
Ezra chuckled huskily. This was the Clara he had grown to love so deeply that to even think of being without her caused a huge black hole to appear and then widen in his chest.
But he had things he needed to say, to tell her, first.
“Take a seat in that chair,” he invited. “I have a story to tell you, after which… Well, what happens next will be up to you.”
She blinked. “Me?”
Ezra nodded. “I love you, Clara. But there are things about me you need to know before or if we are to proceed any further.”
Clara remained standing when Ezra began to talk of his past, but when he got to the part where he had married Isabel Hetherington during his years in the Bahamas, her legs suddenly felt too weak to support her any longer.
Ezra waited until she was seated before continuing. “I was lonely and alone, and Hetherington and his sister arrived six months into my forced exile from England and my friends there. They were happy and gay and never without some idea of how to amuse themselves and whoever was with them. I spent a lot of time in their company. I was too drunk one of those evenings we spent together to be aware of proposing to Isabel, only recall waking up in the morning to find it was to be my wedding day. I had been sent away because of my scandalous behavior with a married lady. I could not, in all conscience, refuse to marry Isabel. I am ashamed to say that at the time, I decided Isabel would do as a wife as well as any other.”
He wished he could take the stunned look off Clara’s face, that he could hold her and kiss her. But he dare not do so much as touch her until he had told all of his story, else he would never find the courage again to tell her the truth of his past.
He drew in a deep breath before continuing. “The wedding night came round all too quickly, and when it did, I realized that I was not even slightly physically attracted to the woman who was now my wife.” He winced. “I tried, but—” He shook his head. “I simply did not want her. Which was when she told me to get out of our bedchamber, that she had never intended we would be together, and that she would be taking her lover to her bed that night, as she did every night. I had no idea what she was talking about at first, but then Hetherington entered the bedchamber wearing only a robe, and all became clear to me.”
Clara moistened the dryness of her lips. “Brother and sister were lovers.”
“Worse than that, the only reason Isabel married me was so that they could pass off their bastard child as being mine.”
Clara swallowed down the nausea lodged in her throat. “What happened to the child?”
“It was stillborn, and Isabel was not capable of having another.”
“Perhaps as well, in the circumstances.”
Ezra crossed the room to kneel beside the chair in which Clara sat, not touching her, but close enough she could feel his warmth. “I never consummated my marriage. I lived separately from the Hetheringtons until my return to England two years later. I never set eyes on either of them again until Hetherington took me prisoner at gunpoint earlier today.”
“This was the reason you were going away?”
He nodded. “I wanted to see if there was some way I might be free of my marriage to Isabel.”
“Why?”
“Because I love you.” He reached out to grasp her hands in his much larger ones. “I love you so deeply, Clara, and there is nothing I want more than to ask you to be my wife.”
“And you think I would not want you if you could not offer me marriage?”
“Clara?”
She slid out of the chair and onto the floor beside him before releasing his hands and cradling his face with her palms. “Ezra, I do not need a wedding ceremony and a gold ring on my finger in order to belong to you. I have done that since the first moment I saw you.” She gave a humorless smile. “Why is it that we both seem to attract madmen to us?”
Ezra shook his head. “Hopefully, we will attract no more. And I am no longer married to Isabel. Hetherington confessed to me earlier that he shot and killed his sister and her lover three months ago before he returned to England.”
Clara let out a shaky breath, her hands now tightly gripping his forearms. “I cannot pretend to feel sorry for it after the two of them used you so abominably and forced you to live alone and lonely for the rest of your life.”
“I am hoping to be able to change that if you will say yes to my marriage proposal.”
She arched a teasing brow. “Did you make one? It sounded to me as if you made a statement about wishing to ask me to be your wife.”
“Darling Clara.” He kissed her slowly and lingeringly on the lips. “Would you do me the honor…” He kissed her again, even more slowly and deeper. “Of consenting to become…” He kissed her hungrily, passionately. “My wife?” This time, he waited, his breath warm against her lips.
“Before I answer, I wish for your promise that you will keep no more secrets from me in future.”
“That is a promise easily made.” He nodded his agreement. “Now, darling Clara, will you agree to be my wife and the woman I shall love for the rest of my life?”
“As long as you will consent to be my husband and the man I shall love for the rest of my life?”
“I will.”
Her smile lit up the whole of her face. “Then it would seem we are betrothed to be married. I think I should warn you now, I do not believe in long engagements.”
He chuckled. “I will speak with the vicar tomorrow, and if possible, we shall be married before Christmas,” he promised throatily. “Once I have asked your father’s permission, of course.”
“Papa would not dare say no,” she assured confidently. “Not when he knows I would move into your house with you tomorrow, wedding or no wedding.”
Ezra’s arms moved about her waist as he pulled her close against his chest. “You are going to be a handful, aren’t you.”
“Would you wish it any other way?”
He laughed. “I am looking forward to every minute.”
Clara’s arms entwined about his neck as she smiled at him. “I love you so very much, Ezra Stone.”
“I love you very much, Clara Catchpole.”
“Soon to be Stone.”
“Soon to be Stone,” he acknowledged emotionally, knowing the wedding could not happen soon enough for him.
Just as he knew he would cherish and love Clara for the rest of their lives.
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About The Author
Carole Mortimer is a USA Today Bestselling Author and recipient of the RWA Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award 2015, RT Career Achievement Award 2017, RT Pioneer for Romance Award 2014. She was also recognized by Queen Elizabeth II in 2012 for her ‘outstanding service to literature’. Carole has written over 245 contemporary, Regency and paranormal romance novels.
She is happily married to Peter. They have 6 sons, and live on the beautiful Isle of Man. She also loves to hear from Readers!
Other books by Carole Mortimer
Regency Lovers Series:
INDECENT (Regency Lovers 1)
OBSESSION (Regency Lovers 2)
CRAVING (Regency Lovers 3)
FORBIDDEN (Regency Lovers 4)
SURRENDER (Regency Lovers 5)
SCANDAL (Regency Lovers 6)
Steele Protectors Series:
LOGAN (Steele Protectors 1)
ATTICUS (Steele Protectors 2)
BRYCE (Steele Protectors 3)
ROURKE (Steele Protectors 4)
More books to come in this series
Regency Sinners Series:
Wicked Torment (Regency Sinners 1)
Wicked Surrender (Regency Sinners 2)
Wicked Scandal (Regency Sinners 3)
Wicked Deception (Regency Sinners 4)
Wicked Captive (Regency Sinners 5)
Wicked Temptation (Regency Sinners 6)
Wicked Sinner (Regency Sinners 7)
Wicked Christmas (Regency Sinners 8)
Dragon Hearts – Contemporary paranormal
Nathaniel (Dragon Hearts 1)
Deryk (Dragon Hearts 2)
Bryn (Dragon Hearts 3)
Dylan (Dragon Hearts 4)
Grigor (Dragon Hearts 5)
Garrett (Dragon Hearts 6)
Aeran & Rhys (Dragon Hearts 7)
Regency Unlaced Series:
The Duke’s Mistress (Book 1)
Claimed by the Marquis (Book 2)
Taken by the Earl (Book 3)
Pursued by the Viscount (Book 4)
Desired by a Lord (Book 5)
Captured by a Gentleman (Book 6)
Pleasured by a Duke (Book 7)
Seduced by a Marquis (Book 8)
Tamed by the Earl (Book 9)
Series is now complete
Knight Security Series: Spin-off to ALPHA series
Resisting Alexandre (Knight Security 0.5)
Defying Asher (Knight Security 1)
Challenging Gabriel (Knight Security 2)
Capturing Caleb (Knight Security 3)
Tempting Zander (Knight Security 4)
Enticing Ian (Knight Security 5)
Seducing Ethan (Knight Security 6)
Series now complete
ALPHA Series:
Christmas Alpha (Alpha 1)
Dark Alpha (Alpha 2)
Shadow Alpha (Alpha 3) Author’s 200th Book
Midnight Alpha (Alpha 4)
Renegade Alpha (Alpha 5)
Warrior Alpha (Alpha 6)
Rogue Alpha (Alpha 7)
Savage Alpha (Alpha 8)
Series is now complete
Carole Mortimer, Surrender (Regency Lovers 5)
