Free A Ravishing Redhead by Jillian Eaton

she felt a gentle tug as Henry wound a lock around his hand. He had come home two hours ago and they had not been out of bed since.
    “Henry?” she said hesitantly.
    “Hmmm?”
    “Why did you marry me?” Margaret could feel every muscle in her body tense as she waited for his reply. How long, she wondered, had she been desperately yearning to ask that question? For months it had hovered on the tip of her tongue, there but not there, the last wall between them.
    Henry did not hesitate before he said, “For your money, of course.” Rolling over onto his side he gazed down at her, his eyes lingering on the sheet that barely covered the tips of her breasts before sliding back up to her face. “Why did you marry me?”
    “Because my mother wanted me to marry a Duke,” she admitted candidly.
    The hint of a smile tugged at Henry’s mouth. “And do you always do what your mother tells you?” he whispered huskily as he leaned forward to kiss her exposed shoulder.
    “No, not always but in this case – Henry, stop that! This is a serious discussion.”
    With a sigh he lifted his head and slipped his hand out from under the sheet. “ What is a serious discussion? What the devil are you going on about?” he asked.
    “The reason why we married each other,” Margaret said.
    “I thought I explained that quite thoroughly, love. I married you for your dowry.”
    “Yes I know that,” she replied. “But why me?”
    Henry frowned. “Is this a trick question?”
    She shook her head.
    “Very well. I married you because you seemed sweet and gentle and kind. The perfect wife to manage a household and take care of my children” he said, watching her closely.
    “But I am none of those things!” Margaret cried, suddenly feeling perilously close to tears.
    “Exactly. I married you for the woman I thought you were, but I love you for the woman you are.”
    “You… you love me?” she sniffed.
    “Well of course I bloody love you, I – Margaret, are you crying ?”
    She covered her face with her hands and turned away from him. “No,” she said, her voice muffled. Henry loved her . Through her tears she smiled, and she smiled all the more brightly when she felt his arm snake around her ribs to pull her snugly against him.
    “You silly goose,” he said fondly, nuzzling her hair. “I have loved you since the day you threw a plate at my head.”
    A watery laugh escaped her lips. “You liar,” she accused, poking him with her elbow for good measure.
    “Well, perhaps I did not know I loved you at that precise moment... But I did. We married each other for all the wrong reasons, Maggie mine. Yet how can that matter when we love each other for all the right ones? Come here,” he said gruffly and she squealed as he rolled her over the top of his body before pinning her beneath him. “There,” he said, grinning wolfishly down at her. “I have you exactly where I want you. There shall be no escaping me now, Lady Winter.”
    Looking up at her husband, seeing the love in his eyes that matched the love she felt in her heart, Margaret could think of only one thing to say. “Why would I want to?”   
     
     
     
      

 
     
    EPILOGUE

     
     
    For her second wedding, the bride wore blue. The dress floated down her body in a cascade of soft silk and chiffon as she walked across rose petals towards her husband. He took her hands when she reached him and raised them to his lips, giving one kiss for each finger while the bride blushed and tried not to roll her eyes at the silliness of it all.
    “They look perfect together, don’t they?” Catherine said fondly. Standing only a few yards away from where Margaret and Henry were repeating their vows for the second time, she leaned against her husband and he automatically curved one arm around her waist to draw her snug against his side.
    “Perfect,” Marcus agreed before he asked, “And whose idea was it to renew their vows?” 
    “It was Henry’s idea to have another