My ferrets dont love me and they bite my feet

Question
Although I love my ferrets dearly, I do not think they love me.  Can ferrets love their people? As they are fuzzy mammals, I want to think they would love me back. My ferrets think of me as "the Snack Lady" a/o "the New Toy Lady".  Clodius, my deaf ferret, is occasionally a little bit affectionate and receptive to scratching and stroking, but Rufus, Milopheus and Ferocia are only interested in me to play chase, to dig in the rice box, or to give them a new toy or a treat.  The other thing is that they bite my feet, but they don't bite other people's feet.  When my husband gets out of the shower, they run in and lick the water off his ankles.  When its me, they run in and bite my ankles.  They have their own bedroom, but sometimes I move their stuff into my bedroom so they can spend more time with us, for a weekend or so.  They love to climb under the covers and bite my feet when I go to bed.  They do not bite my husband's feet. If I hang my legs off the bed, they scamper down to the floor, and then leap up and down to try and bite my feet.  My husband says they do this because they get my attention this way.  But when they bit my feet, I pick them up, give 'em a scruff, and say "don't bite my feet", then I usually cradle the ferret in the crook of my arm, stroke its face like I'm bathing my baby kit. Then the ferret usually yawns and starts to squirm, and I give it kisses and put it down on the floor.  But it runs back under the covers and bites my feet again.  My ferrets don't like holding and kissing, so I'm thinking my doing this is negative reinforcement towards the foot biting.  But, it doesn't seem to work so far.

Answer
I think your husband is correct, every time they bite you, you react in a way that is fun for them.  Perfect example of positive reinforcement.  Picking them up could be their goal or your reaction could be there goal.  They probably don't make an association between biting and being held, so that is only frustrating them and teaching them how to make you stop.  Do what your husband does, remain calm and ignore them.