Only With Your Love (Vallerands #2)(114)

That caught Celia by surprise. Yes, she would dearly love to stay. However, she had made up her mind that she would never become an encumbrance to him, anchoring him in one place when he longed to be moving. Perhaps this was why he had been gone the past few mornings…Yes, he must be restless, he must want to leave. But he was asking how she felt because he would force himself to stay if that was what she desired.

“Well, it would be…er, interesting and…stimulating to go somewhere new,” she said.

“Oh.” Justin sounded perturbed. “I thought it might be interesting to settle here for a while.”

“Settle?” Celia turned around and knelt before him, peering into his face. “Mon amour, in your entire life you have never wanted to do such a thing. I know why you suggested it—you think that I require it. But truly my home is wherever you are, and so there is no need—”

His surprised stare turned into a grin. “I’ve never wanted to settle somewhere before because I never had someone to settle with. If you don’t like it well enough here, we’ll find somewhere else.”

“But…will you not become discontented, staying in one place?”

“Actually, I’ve taken an interest in the activities at the shipyards. That is where I’ve been the past mornings. I’ve decided I would like to build a schooner. I have a particular design in mind, fine-lined, with a sharp bow that would dive through the waves and make her fly.” His blue eyes gleamed with enthusiasm. “It could be a great folly, of course. But there are men able and ready to work on it here in Marseilles. And I have a yen to spend some of my ill-gotten fortune.”

“A schooner,” she said, slightly dazed. “But what about all the exotic places you wanted to visit?”

Justin put his hands at her h*ps and held her there, staring at her seriously. “They’ll be waiting for us whenever we wish to see them. But for now I am ready for a home, Celia. I want to belong somewhere with you and…” He glanced down her slim body and back up to her face. “And I want a family,” he said softly. “Our own family.”

“So do I.” Celia gave a trembling laugh, her chest suddenly aching with love. “But I am afraid too much domesticity all at once may choke you, monsieur.”

“I know what I want.” He arched one dark brow while the hint of a dimple appeared in his cheek. “Don’t you trust me, little heart?”

“Oh yes,” she said fervently, and threw her arms around his neck.

Justin laughed in delight and rolled over with her, pressing her back into the warm, pillowing sand. “Then you agree to stay?”

“I agree to everything.”

He pressed a vigorous kiss on her lips. “Intrepid little wife…I’ll make you glad you took a chance on me.”

“You have,” she whispered, stroking his brown-black hair from his forehead. “You already have.”