Eirin Ch. 06

He watched as her eyes narrowed in confusion then widen as understanding dawned. "He was dead Eirin. They interviewed some of the patrons of the pub but couldn't find out very much information.

Apparently, he had run up several tabs around London and made enemies almost everywhere. He had been in the pub yelling and ranting for most of the night. In the end the investigators decided there were too many suspects and no way to narrow it down. The investigation is still open but they don't hold out much hope of solving it."

Lord Hawthorn just sat there and allowed Eirin time to absorb all the information; her face was a storm of emotion and he could tell that she really wanted to be sorry for what happened to him. In the end, her face took on an expression of resolve as she looked him in the eyes, "He deserved it. I never thought I would be happy someone has died, but I can not forgive them. Yes, I agreed to take Melissa's child, but I can't forgive her."

"Eirin, he was a horrible person. I've been investigating him since we've been here and discovered many terrible examples of his behavior. Anyone could have done it. He had apparently conned lots of people."

"Some day I will ask you to tell me more about that but not tonight. I don't want to know anymore about Phillip tonight. I am happy he's dead and for now, that's enough." Lord Hawthorn watched as Eirin's shoulders slumped, as if hearing the news had worn her out.

"That was not all Mr. Prewitt and I talked about. I know you must be tired but I really want to get all this out there." Lord Hawthorn could feel himself getting nervous; he was now giving Eirin her freedom and the right to choose who or what she wanted. What if she didn't choose him? No, that was unfair to her, she had the right and he wouldn't take it from her.

"I returned all of your properties to you. The property from your father is entailed, so you can't take control of that yet, but I returned it to Mr. Prewitt to handle until your twenty-fifth birthday. As it turns out, your mother also had substantial holdings and none of those were entailed. She held the title of Countess from an old Scottish estate and that title has been transferred to you.

It came with several estates and quite an inheritance. You can take control of that immediately. Mr. Prewitt has assured me that he will help you to manage them."

"What are you saying?" Eirin's breath was coming in faster and faster and her head felt light.

"You don't have all of your money yet, but you have plenty to live off of. You have the allowance from your father's estate and complete control of your mother's holdings. You can stay here in London or go to any of your other houses. There is nothing holding you back now."

Eirin heard his voice as if it was traveling through a tunnel. She had promised Maria just this morning to give Lord Hawthorn a chance. She had decided this afternoon that the next time he came into her room in the middle of the night she would not pretend to sleep, but wake up and turn to him. This was the man who had brought her to London, tracked down her father's killer, managed her house while she hid downstairs and arranged for her to take control of her own holdings.

Yet through all that he had said nothing about himself. He acted as if he was going to leave. Would he just leave her like that? Did that mean he didn't really love her? She looked back up when she felt Lord Hawthorn take her hand in his.

"I have one more thing I wanted to give you. Then I'll let you go back to your room." Eirin's face was pale as she looked up at him and nodded.

Lord Hawthorn could hear his own breathing in his ears and saw his hands shaking as he lifted her hand to his chest. "Yes, like I said, I wish to give you one more thing. I know I have done horrible things to you. I have no excuse and would not blame you if you decided you couldn't forgive me. I thought I had everything a woman would want. I didn't understand why you would have turned down my marriage proposal; I have money and estates, a title and the power that goes with it.

Now, I realize that you don't need those things. You already have them. You could have any man in all of England. I know you don't need me but I have discovered that I need you. If I gave you something that can come only from me, something I have never given another woman, ever, and will never give to another woman, would you take it? I wish to give you my heart and my soul. I love you Eirin, I think I have loved you since the first night you were here.

I was not fair to you and I know you don't trust me but I promise, if you will give me a chance, I will work every day to make it up to you. I don't want to marry you to save your reputation or mine; I want to marry you because I can't spend the rest of my life without you." Lord Hawthorn finished the speech he had been practicing all day in a rush.

This was it, she would either accept him or she wouldn't. He was so scared that he had lost her and for once in his life, he had no back up plan.

Eirin listened to Lord Hawthorn speak and felt her world tilting on its side. She had never dreamed anything so sweet in her life. She didn't notice the tears running down her face or how long she had sat there just looking at him until she felt his thumb on her cheeks.

She saw Lord Hawthorn's face fall and wondered what had made him sad but then he said, "It's alright Eirin, I understand. I already knew there was a chance that you wouldn't forgive me. Now that everything is settled, I'll leave in the morning."

He moved to stand and she pulled him back down to her. She pulled so hard that he fell atop her, knocking her onto her back. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him, trying to communicate all her love for him through it. He pulled back from her and looked at her, his eyes full of confusion.

"I do forgive you. I don't know when it actually happened; Maria and I talked for a long time today and I realized that I couldn't run away from my feelings for you."

Eirin watched his eyes light up again as he leaned down to kiss her. She had expected his kiss to be hard but instead it was soft and languorous. She felt him lift his weight slightly off of her as his lips moved from her lips, across her cheek and down her neck.

Eirin moved her head to the side to give him better access as goose bumps ran down her arms. She tried to lift her knees to wrap her legs around his waist but her skirt wouldn't let her. She finally gave up and gave in to the feelings he was evoking within her.

Propped above her on his elbows, his fingers were playing with the ends of her hair as his tongue made swirls around the base of her neck, above her shoulder. She felt him bite down gently and couldn't stop the moan.

She felt him reverse his direction as he kissed his way across her throat; stopping at the dip at the base of her throat to lick and nip her soft flesh. He then kissed his way up her chin and back to her lips. As hard as she tried to take the kiss deeper, she couldn't get him to cooperate. He sucked her bottom lip into his mouth but when she lifted her head to return the gesture he pulled away.

Eirin groaned in complaint only to see Lord Hawthorn smile down at her. "I want to enjoy you tonight like it is the first time ever. I will never have enough of you so tonight I will take my time."

With that, he once again leaned down to take her lips. He felt her arms tighten around his neck and allowed himself the luxury of kissing her deeply; entwining their tongues so that he could taste the fire she held within her.

Eirin felt Lord Hawthorn pull away again and no matter how hard she pulled she couldn't get his lips back to her own. She gave up, however, when she felt him kiss her nose and then her eyes. Then she heard him whisper to her between each of the kisses.

He told her how beautiful her eyes were then they were golden and bright. He hoped she would start going outside again because he loved to see the way her glowed with the color of the sun. He took the time to describe each part he lavished with kisses and licks. With each word and each kiss, Eirin felt her breath catch.

She ran her fingers through his hair wishing she could feel more of him. Suddenly she felt a draft on her chest and looked down to see that he was unbuttoning the front of her dress. He unbuttoned a button then stopped to kiss and lick making her shiver all over.

By the time Lord Hawthorn had managed to completely undress her, Eirin felt as if she was floating through the room. She felt the warmth of the fire as well as the heat of his body. He had kissed every inch of her body including her legs and feet and her skin was tingling so that could no longer tell what was his mouth and what was his hand.

She gasped as she felt his mouth on her breast and his skin on her legs. She immediately wrapped her knees around his buttocks trying to pull him closer. Her back arched and she grabbed the back of his head knowing that no matter how hard she held him, he would never be close enough.

Lord Hawthorn released her hands from behind his head and held them above her own head with one of his hands. He then rested on his side and ran his other hand across her belly watching her suck in her breath as he went.

He knew he couldn't last any longer; though he wished he could draw it out more, his body was telling him to hurry. He settled himself between her legs and looked into her eyes as he entered her.

They had not had sex in a week and she was tight. He could feel her heels on his buttocks trying to make him move deeply within her. However, he wanted to savor every inch as he entered her. When he finally settled fully within her, he just stayed there willing his body stay still. Looking in her eyes, he once again told her how much he loved her.

He laughed out loud when she told him that if he really and truly loved her then he would stop playing with her. He withdrew and kissed her again as he reentered her. Within another few thrusts he felt Eirin clamp around him and could no longer withhold his own response. He sped up his thrusts as he emptied himself deep within her.

Falling to his side, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. They whispered to each other of their love and plans long into the night; making love several more times until Eirin could no longer keep her eyes open and finally fell asleep. Lord Hawthorn stood and carried Eirin to the bed holding her close and cradling her head upon his shoulder.

As he fell asleep, spooning against her back, he thought he heard her once again whisper that she loved him. He fell asleep smiling.

Epilogue—One year later

Eirin was trying to sleep. She was so tired but something was wrong. Where the room had been warm just a minute ago, now she could feel a breeze against her skin. Her brows furrowed and she groaned as she reached down to find the blanket but there was no blanket to be found. Instead, her hand landed on warm skin. She turned her head and looked up into the eyes of her husband. His hand was making its way under her nightgown and she could feel it along the outside of her thigh.

"I was sleeping," her voice was husky and he could see a small crease against the side of her cheek where she had been laying.

"I was lonely," he smiled down at her.

She was just about to answer him when a cry from the cradle on her side of the bed caught her attention. She began to pull herself out of the bed to retrieve the squalling infant but Lord Hawthorn stopped her by crawling over her to slip off her side.

He returned to her cooing to the child who had stopped crying and was currently trying to grab his nose in one of her tiny, perfect, pink hands. He sat down on the edge of the bed in front of her; giving her his back as he continued to hold a conversation with the baby that only the two of them seemed to understand.

Eirin sat up in the bed and propped herself up on some pillows as Lord Hawthorn set the baby on her protruding belly.

"It's a good thing you like babies so much. When this next one comes, I have a feeling we will have our hands full," she said good naturedly as she cradled the baby on her shoulder.

He looked at her with concern, "Do you want to get a governess?"

"Don't you dare! I want all these babies all to myself."

Lord Hawthorn smiled at his wife's answer as he once again laid back down on the bed and pulled his wife to him, holding his family close.