She knew the type of person he was, she had read the papers, knew that he had been sexually active since he was barely a teenager. She also knew the history of infidelity in his family. But she wanted to change him. The challenge was there and she was going to take it. Because she loved him.
She wanted to be his wife, wanted to have his children and somehow make a difference in his life. She could do it. She was different from the women he had been with, and she was the only one he had ever asked to marry him. That was something in itself.
As soon as she straightened, he knew what the answer would be and felt hope and incredible joy bursting inside him.
"Will you marry me?" he asked huskily.
"Yes."
"Thank Christ!" Hauling her onto his lap, he kissed her hungrily. With a broken sigh, Catherine opened her mouth to receive his kiss, her body trembling. Bearing her back on the cushions, he covered her body with his, the kiss becoming wild and uncontrolled. It was as if the answer had broken down the last piece of barrier between them and left it all bare and wide open. His hands raced over her arms before reaching between them to cup her breasts. His erection surged to immediate life.
He kissed her deeply, over and over again, until they were both gasping. Her hands raced over the tightly bunched muscles of his shoulders and back, fingers digging into his skin.
Shifting to the side without breaking contact, he shakily pulled his zipper down to release the discomfort his desire was causing. Taking her hand in his, he pressed her fingers around his rigid heat and had her jolting.
"No," he whispered thickly against her mouth when she tried to move her hand. "Touch me," he invited hungrily. "I need to feel you. Dear Christ!" he groaned against her lips. "Feel me, darling-" he moved her fingers all the way down to the tip where the moisture had gathered. "Feel how much I'm dying to sink myself inside you. Let me-"
He rolled on top of her. When she realized what he was about to do, she sprang back and shoved at his chest.
"What-"
"No." The breath was backed up all the way inside her lungs, her body trembling violently. She felt scorched as if she had been branded.
"I apologize," he told her stiffly. Rising, he eased himself back into his trousers and carefully zipped them up. Finding his sweater, he dragged it on and walked slowly to the window as he strove to get back the control that had disintegrated.
He was wild for her and had never lost control like this before. It bothered him.
"We will get married this weekend," he said tonelessly without turning around. "I can acquire a special license, and we go to the courthouse-"
"No."
His shoulders stiffened at the finality in her cultured voice.
Turning to face her, he tried to ignore the disheveled hair and the fetching picture she made with her swollen lips and overbright eyes.
"You said you would marry me-"
"Yes." Wrapping her hands around her arms, she forced herself not to react to the look in his eyes. "In a church. I might not have any biological family, but the ones at the school I teach and the people at church are my family. I also need to meet yours."
He was afraid she would say that. He had this wild idea of dragging her off to Europe. They had houses in Spain, Italy, London and Scotland. They could live in any of those places and never have to encounter his family. He was terrified of her meeting them and becoming revolted and turned off.
"You won't like them," he told her bluntly.
"I like everyone," she pointed out with a smile.
"Not these people." Shoving away from the window, he walked over to the table where he had put the bottle of scotch he had brought with him. The only thing she had stored in her wine fridge were several bottles of cheap wine that were not to his taste, so he had brought a bottle of his favorite scotch, since he was now spending so much time at her place. Pouring some in a glass, he stared at the golden liquid that reminded him of the color of her eyes.
"We court scandal," he continued in that same flat voice as he turned to face her. "I don't want you anywhere near them. My parents are amoral creatures. Everything you read about them, their affairs with other people, the state of their marriage, it's all true. I learned from them," he added bitterly.
"They were never parents to me and Irene, my sister, and now she's suffering as a result of what they put us through." His eyes were tormented as he stared at her.
"I want to urge you to let us elope. Go somewhere, anywhere but here. We have houses all over the world, and if you still want to teach, you could pick a place and we could settle there. They have no scruples, but the first thing they're going to comment on is your lack of breeding." His mouth twisted slightly. "Your work as a teacher will mean nothing to them, because as far as they're concerned, that's beneath the family and not acceptable."
Squelching the spurt of apprehension and anxiety that had sprung up inside her, she walked towards him.
Taking the drink from him, she put it aside and took his hand in hers.
"You have long fingers and a strong clasp." She lifted her head and smiled at the frown on his forehead. Hearing him talk about his family just now had broken her heart and made her moredetermined to fix what was broken inside him. She owed it to both of them. And if she had to wade through some family drama to do so, then so be it.