Mine Till Midnight (The Hathaways #1)(65)

"We'll do no such thing!" Amelia snatched her hand from his and backed away. "I'm only wearing this ring because I can't get the blasted thing off. And what do you mean, I made promises? Were those Romany words you asked me to repeat some kind of vow? You tricked me! I didn't mean what I said."

"But you did sleep with me."

She flushed in shame and outrage, and dragged a sleeve across her sweating brow. Whirling away from him, she strode rapidly along a graveled path that led deeper into the garden. "That didn't mean anything, either," she said over her shoulder.

He kept pace with her easily. "It meant something to me. The sexual act is sacred to a Roma."

She made a scornful sound. "What about all the ladies you seduced in London? Was it sacred when you slept with them, too?"

"For a while I fell into the impure ways of the gadjo," he said innocently. "Now I've reformed."

Amelia sent him a sideways glare. "You don't want this. You don't want me. One night can't change the entire course of someone's life."

"Of course it can." He reached for her, and Amelia skittered away, passing a mermaid fountain surrounded by stone benches. Cam caught her from behind and jerked her back against him. "Stop running from me and listen. I do want you. I want you even knowing if I marry you, I've got an instant family, complete with a suicidal brother-in-law and a Gypsy houseboy with the temperament of a poked bear."

"Merripen is not a houseboy."

"Call him what you like. He comes with the Hathaways. I accept that."

"They won't accept you," she said desperately. "There's no place for you in our family."

"Yes there is. Right by your side." Breathing hard, Amelia felt his hand drift over the front of her body. Even though her br**sts were contained in a padded corset, the pressure of his hand over her bodice caused her to shiver.

"It would be disastrous." Heat climbed in her br**sts and throat and face. "You would resent me for taking away your freedom?and I would resent you for taking mine. I can't promise to obey you, to accept your decisions and never again be entitled to my own opinions?

"It doesn't have to be that way."

"Oh? Would you swear never to command me to do anything against my will?"

Cam turned her to face him, his fingers gentle on the burning surface of her cheek. He considered the question carefully. "No," he eventually said. "I couldn't swear that. Not if I thought something was for your own good."

As far as Amelia was concerned, that ended the debate. "I've always been the one to decide what is for my own good. I won't yield that right to you, nor to anyone."

Cam fingered her earlobe lightly, traced the side of her throat. "Before you make your final decision, there are some things you should consider. There's more than just the two of us at stake." As Amelia tried to step away from him, he gripped her h*ps and forced her to stay. "Your family's in trouble, sweetheart."

"That's nothing new to us. We're always in trouble."

Cam conceded the point. "Still, it's gotten bad enough that you'd be better off—even as the wife of a Roma?than if you tried to manage it all on your own."

Amelia wanted to make him understand that her objections had nothing to do with his Gypsy heritage.

But he was speaking again, his face close to hers. "Marry me, and I'll restore Ramsay House. I'll turn it into a palace. We'll consider it part of your bride-price."

"My what?"

"A Romany tradition. The groom pays a sum to the bride's family before the wedding. Which means I'll also settle Leo's accounts in London?

"He still owes you money?"

"Not to me. Other creditors."

"Oh, no," Amelia said, her stomach dropping.

"I'll take care of you and your household," Cam continued with relentless patience. "Clothes, jewelry, horses, books?school for Beatrix?a season in London for Poppy. The best doctors for Winnifred. She can go to any clinic in the world." A calculated pause. "Wouldn't you like to see her well again?"

"That's not fair," she whispered. "In return, all you have to do is give me what I want." His hand came up to her wrist, sliding along the line of her arm. A ticklish pleasure ran beneath the layers of silk and wool. Amelia fought to steady her voice. "I would feel as if I'd made a bargain with the devil."

"No, Amelia." His voice was dark velvet. "Just with me."

"I'm not even certain what it is you want."

Cam's head lowered over hers. "After last night, I find that hard to believe.'"

"You could get that from countless other women. F-far more cheaply, I might add, and with much less trouble."

"I want it from you. Only you." A brief, somewhat uncomfortable pause. His mouth twisted. "The other women I've been with ... I was a novelty to them. Someone different from their husbands. They wanted my company at night, but not during the day. I was never an equal. And I was never satisfied after being with them. With you, it's different."

Amelia closed her eyes as she felt the hot caress of his mouth against her forehead. "It was very wicked of you to sleep with married women," she said with difficulty. "Perhaps if you had tried to court a respectable one?