To Love in Silence (Currents of Love Book 3) Read online

  “I want to be allowed my preference. I am the only one who must consider the effect of that preference. And I have considered it. I have lain awake for weeks and months considering. I know I am young and naïve, but I am not dimwitted. I understand more of the world around me than most would give me credit for. I understand what the future might hold for me if I chose to stand beside you. But I would rather stand beside a good and, an intelligent and strong man able to understand me, than spend any more of my life in company with someone who assigns me no worth whatsoever.”

  She paused, eyes caressing every inch of his face, studying his expression and delving into his eyes. “Can you be that man, Eric?”

  He let out a haggard breath, his throat clenching. “Only for you.”

  “Then you are what I want.” She whispered, leaning in to press her lips to his.

  Eric’s heart soared at the touch, lifting him up from where he kneeled to close his arms around the woman who’d taken up every waking moment of his being for months and press her back against the settee, hungry to relearn every curve, every taste and texture. His lips moved down her neck, across her exposed upper chest and along the dip of her neckline, reveling in the increasing rise and fall of that smooth expanse of skin.

  Lifting away with a gasp, he reminded himself of their setting. “We shouldn’t,” he rasped, distracted by the movement of a small, hot palm down his chest, his abdomen, and curving around his waist to his back.

  “Is that what you want?”

  He shook his head with a grin, giving in to the draw of the moment and of those small hands tightening around him, pulling him close.

  Far too short a time later, breathless, disheveled, and utterly spent, Eric looked down into the flushed features of the angelic creature who’d so thoroughly ensnared him, her molten eyes under half-closed lids and the small smile on her swollen lips.

  “Have we come to a mutually beneficial conclusion?” He asked

  “Very much so.”

  He felt the purr of her words beneath his thumb. “Eloise?” he waited for her sleepy eyes to drift open and focus on him. “Will you marry me?”

  Her smile shone brighter than the daylight as she nodded, and he knew with a sense of complete and utter certainty that all was finally right in his world.

  EPILOGUE

  ERIC PAUSED IN THE entryway to the drawing room, taking in the sight before him. The room was filled to capacity with people, all moving and milling about with smiles on their faces and cups of mulled wine in their hands. A large tree resided in the corner, bedecked with all manner of garlands, ornaments and finery. When his mother had decided on the tree, Eric immediately called into question her ability to decorate such an expanse, knowing full well she would have no trouble rising to the occasion. Especially not with the help of so many additional hands.

  Ayanna Langdon stood beside the tree, his six-month niece from James and Angelique propped on her hip while she pointed at the decorations making absurdly overzealous facial expressions. Gavin and Ammy sat at a side table with a small plate full of cookies attempting to instill in their toddler the wisdom of eating only one at a time, and from the looks of it failing. James and Angelique huddled together near the piano where Sarah sat at the bench sifting through her music options, and Daniel brooded in a chair beside the fire, reading through a stack of holiday cards. Also in attendance, Marissa and Alain oversaw placement of the desserts at the side table nearest the tree, feeding each other samples when they thought no one was looking.

  The entire scene exuded a feeling of warmth and brightness, enhanced by the candlelight glinting off the ornaments on the tree. His heart swelled to see it, just as gay and carefree as he remembered from his childhood, even somehow more so now with the additional of family members making Heathermoore a happily cramped abode.

  Sighing, he began to look around for another face, the one which had become most dear to him over the past year. He didn't have to look long, for Eloise came hurrying in his direction a moment later, doing her best to walk and talk at the same time. The activity posed no small feat for her, as she was still learning the signs to go along with her words, but she'd been improving at a fast clip.

  “There you are, I was worried you wouldn't arrive before the children and your siblings had eaten all of the desserts!” She laughed.

  “Heaven forbid,” he grinned. “I hope you saved me a plate?”

  “Of course, though I can’t guarantee they haven’t been nibbled on.” She grinned at him. “Come sit with me, we were just waiting on you to open gifts.”

  “And there is uncle Eric, at last!” Ayanna announced to her grandchildren as Eloise pulled him into the midst of the crowd.

  “My sincerest apologies,” he kissed first his niece, then stepped over to provide his nephew with the same treatment.

  “All right,” The dowager commanded, “Everyone round about the tree.”

  They settled into their places, the Langdon brood and Gavin accustomed to the ritual, while the newcomers to the family looked on in anticipation. A round of holiday carols ensued, culminating in the exchange of gifts.

  Once the not unsubstantial pile of exchanges subsided, the family members dispersed to their corners once again, but Eloise procured one additional small box from behind the corner of the sofa where they sat and handed it to Eric. He raised a brow at her.

  “I wanted you to see it first, without an audience.” She explained.

  “That makes me doubly curious,” he smiled, opening the box and removing the paper protecting the gift inside. Peering inside, he noted what looked to be a small carved ornament. Taking hold of the red ribbon affixed to the top, he tugged until he held the ornament aloft. What emerged from the box was a tiny carved cradle. Eric blinked in confusion for a moment looking over at Eloise and noting her expectant, nervous expression then back at the ornament before his eyes went wide with understanding and he darted his gaze back to his wife, who smiled broadly and nodded.

  He wrapped his arms around her, dragging her onto his lap and kissing her soundly until she began to laugh and squirm, pushing him away. Face flushed, she turned her head and made some commentary, reminding Eric they were anything but alone in the room. He looked up to a sea of faces staring at them, each showcasing various degrees of amusement.

  “Well?” His mother signed, then crossed her arms in front of her expectantly. In response, Eric held up the ornament, allowing the occupants of the room a moment to register what it was. The moment they did, a flurry of movement erupted. Eric barely had time to dart out of the way before the women of the house surrounded her, smothering her in hugs and well-wishes. The men responded with a gauntlet of handshakes and slaps on the back for Eric.

  He managed to turn within his encasement well enough to catch Eloise’s eye behind the barricade of her recently gained mother and sisters, finding in them the promise of a life more fulfilling than he could have imagined just a few short years ago.

  The End

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