The Prince Who Loved Me (The Oxenburg Princes) (18 page)

There was but one woman who lit his soul afire, one woman who—with but a glance—could either melt his bones into liquid or rend him limb from limb.

And every day, he blessed the day he’d met her.

—
The Black Duke
by Miss Mary Edgeworth

Some time later, Bronwyn slowly awoke, like a person surfacing in a pond. Her ears felt muffled, her body faintly numb, her senses dulled. She sent a sour glance at the little brown medicine bottle, feeling as drunk as if she’d emptied a wine bottle by herself.

With a huge yawn, she sat upright and stretched. Her ear didn’t hurt a bit, so that was good—well worth the fuzzy brain.

A jingle in the drive outside made her look toward the door.

“They’re home!” She arose, staggering a little as she pulled the blanket about her like a cape. Slowly, she weaved her way to the window to look out of the curtains.

No carriage stood in the drive.

She rubbed her eyes. Had she dreamed it? “That’s the last time I take that medicine.” She was starting to return to the settee when a knock sounded on the front door.
Had Papa forgotten his key again?

She made her way unsteadily to the door and swung it open.

Instead of Papa, her eyes locked upon a gold button.

It was real gold, too, and not brass. The surface had been pressed to resemble a lion, which gleamed menacingly at her.

Slowly, she slid her gaze up over a blue waistcoat, past a carelessly knotted cravat pinned with a large emerald, to a tanned throat. And up to Alexsey’s amused face.

His black hair was mussed by the wind, his green eyes agleam, and he wore a mischievous expression that made her heart leap as if in recognition.

“Ohhhhh . . .”
So pretty
, her bemused mind sighed.
So very pretty.

His brows rose, and she noted again how they flared the tiniest bit at the corners, giving him an exotic look. “Oh?” he repeated.

She tried to kick her fuzzy brain into action, but nothing happened, so she just nodded.

Amusement and curiosity showed in his eyes. “And here I have ridden like a madman to see you. While I didn’t expect a hug or a kiss, I did expect a ‘Hello, how nice to see you.’ ”

A yawn that would not be repressed began to torment her. She covered her mouth and hoped he wouldn’t notice.

The prince’s gaze narrowed, his smile now gone as his eyes raked over her hair and took in the blanket. “
Ya ni panilah
, have you been ill?”

“Yes. Earache.” She saw his lack of comprehension, so she patted her ear. “I’m better now, but the medicine—whew!” She leaned her head against the door, hanging on to the knob to keep her balance as she tried to make her eyes focus on him. “So . . . what are you doing here? The dinner cannot be over yet.”

“I am visiting you.” He removed his gloves and stuffed them in his coat pocket before he placed a hand under her elbow, his fingers warm.

She really liked his hands. They were large, but always so gentle.

“Roza, forgive me, but you look as if at any moment you might fall.”

“No, no. I’m holding on to the knob.” She nodded down at her hands, which were completely hidden by the blanket. “See?”

He looked at the blanket. “
Da.
” Then one of his arms slipped behind her while the other found her knees. With the smallest of efforts he straightened, and suddenly she was in his arms.

It was heavenly. So very, very heavenly. She dropped her head against his broad shoulder.

Alexsey kicked the front door closed behind him. “Where do I take you, little one?”

She pointed a languid finger toward the sitting room. As he carried her there, she admired the strength of his arms and the width of his chest. If she wished to touch him, all she had to do was lift her hand.

It was so tempting.

So very, very tempting. And it was the last thing she should do.

Her heart thudded in an oddly happy way and she watched him through her lashes. “You know what I think, oh great prince?”

He stopped by the settee and smiled into her eyes. “No, but I know you will tell me.”

“Yes. You shouldn’t be here.”

“I know.” He placed her on the settee, then set his hat on the small table beside it. “Yet here I am, unable to stay away.”

She tried to sit up, only halfway managing it. “I’m unchaperoned. That’s not allowed. You must go.” She pointed toward the door.

“Do you wish me to go?”

She blinked. Of course she did. Or did she? Somehow her gaze found his mouth. Never had she met a man with such a sensual bottom lip. Just seeing it made her breath catch, her knees grow weak, her—

“Then I stay for a while.” Satisfaction curved his mouth, breaking the spell. He unbuttoned his coat and shrugged out of it, displaying his elegant dinner coat and blue embroidered waistcoat. His simple cravat was held by a gold and emerald pin, the fire of which matched his gaze.

Though his cravat pin sparkled, she couldn’t seem to look away from his eyes. They were so pretty. So very pretty.

Bronwyn knew she should insist he leave, but her fuzzy mind just hummed along happily.

He came to sit beside her on the settee, which suddenly seemed very small. “You are a very big man.”

“And you are a very small woman. Like a bird.”

She considered this, pretending not to notice when his hand found hers. “What kind of bird?”

He chuckled. “A sparrow, perhaps.”

“How about a hawk? I would like to be a hawk.”

He kissed her fingers. “With me, Roza, you may be anything you wish.”

With him
. She liked that. A lot. Her common sense whispered an urgent warning, one she couldn’t quite hear through her haze. “The dinner cannot be over.” Surely she’d said that before, but he hadn’t answered.

“No. It continues. I told them I had a headache; then I came here.” He continued kissing her fingers, looking at her as he did so. “I couldn’t stay away.”

He looked so delicious, every touch of his lips sending tremors of sensation through her. She wondered how much stronger they’d be if not for the medicine, and the answer almost frightened her. She pulled her hand free and crossed her arms. “No. This is most improper.” The words stuck on her lips, as if disliking to be said. “If we’re caught—”

“I know: there would be a scandal.” He grinned. “So we will not get caught.”

“How can you be so cer—” His gaze had dropped down to her chest and she looked down. In crossing her arms she’d unwittingly pressed her breasts upward, causing them to round softly above the neckline of her gown.

She hastily dropped her arms, her face afire as she rewrapped the blanket around herself, which was impossible to do as she was sitting on most of it. “That’s quite enough of that.” She tried to sound stern, but she ruined it with a giggle.

Goodness, what a situation. But perhaps it would serve her well.
I’m to make him fall wildly, madly in love with me—or at least deeply in lust, and now is the time to woo him, subdue him, make him desire me as no other—
She caught sight of herself in the side mirror and gasped. “My
hair
!”

He chuckled as she frantically tried to pat the unruly curls into place.

“It’s not funny. I look like a—a—a—I don’t know what, but it’s not— This won’t work at all!”

He tugged her to his chest, tucking her head under his chin. “There. Now I cannot see your hair, just feel its softness.” He ran his fingers over her curls. “I like your hair. It is silken.”

“You like it uncombed?” she asked dubiously.

“I like it however you wear it.”

She suddenly wondered who was trying to make who fall in lust—and then she remembered they were both doing the exact same thing. Somehow, she hadn’t seen it in that particular way before, and she laughed a little at her surprise.

“What is it?” he asked, his heartbeat warm against her cheek.

“I’m just laughing at us. At you. You are trying to seduce me.”

A dark smile flickered over his face. “Trying? I do not try anything. I do.”

“I do, too. A lot.”
Ha—take
that.

He ran his fingers over her cheek and down to her gray-blue gown, which was wrinkled from her having lain on the settee all day.

He
tsk
ed. “I do not like that color on you. You should wear reds, Roza. Like the flower you resemble. I will buy you many gowns, all red. You will wear those.”

She lifted her head so she could see him. “Stop princing.”

“Princing? What is that?”

“You may be a prince in Oxenburg, but this isn’t your country.” Her voice grew louder, and she poked him in the chest with her finger. “I’m not a subject, and I won’t take orders from you like a serf.”

He chuckled as if richly amused, and stretched an arm across the back of the settee. “My beautiful Roza, we don’t have serfs in Oxenburg. But if we did, you would be a very bad one. Always you argue. Never you do as asked.”

She opened her mouth to retort that she would make a very
good
serf, but the absurdity of the idea made her choke on a short laugh. “I’m rather proud of being a bad serf.”

His gaze swept over her. “Fortunately, I like a woman with pride.”

And she liked that he enjoyed her, unfettered and uncensored. That he didn’t mind if she poked him in the chest while making a point, or that her hair was uncombed and her gown wrinkled. . . . She liked a lot about this man. Too much.

She snuggled her head back on his shoulder and sighed against his neck. “Ah, Alexsey, what are we to do?”

His arms tightened about her and for a moment, she thought he wasn’t going to answer. Then he tipped up her face to his. “Has anyone ever told you that you think too much?”

She nodded. “Everyone who knows me.”

He kissed her nose. “They are right.”

Feeling surrounded by him, protected, she looked up at him through her lashes. “My stepmother and sisters might return soon. I don’t wish you to get caught.”

“
Nyet.
They won’t be home for another hour, at least. The dinner was very elaborate and there was talk of whist being played afterward.”

“You’re certain?”

“Positive. People were quite animated.”

She eyed him up and down. “I can’t believe you pleaded a headache and anyone believed it.”

“To assuage any suspicion, I hinted to my host that I had an assignation with a willing housemaid.”

“So you came to visit me . . . and nothing more?”

His gaze raked over her. “I will not pretend I don’t wish to touch you, Bronwyn. I will not pretend you haven’t been tormenting my thoughts.”

She, the most nonthreatening woman on the face of the earth, had been tormenting the thoughts of a handsome prince? She fought the desire to smile. “There are far more beautiful women out there than me. Sorcha, for instance.”

“You are beautiful in the way I like. Sorcha is not.”

“You can’t deny her beauty.”

“Why not? You are denying yours.”

She stared at him, surprised. “I . . . I suppose I was.”

“Roza, every time I look at you, I see your shining hair, your warm eyes, the light of your smile, your full breasts, your—”

“Yes, yes.” Her face felt as if it were afire, for his eyes had followed the progression of his speech. “That’s very flattering. But my stepmother has hopes you’ll notice Sorcha.”

He couldn’t have looked more uninterested. “Roza, do you not understand? This attraction we have is rare. This spark we have, it does not happen often.”

“Spark?”

His eyes darkened. “When I do this . . .” He traced a finger along her collarbone, lingering in the hollows, his skin warm against hers.

She shivered, her breasts peaking, a sigh escaping from her lips.

His arm tightened about her. “
That
is what happens between us. I have met your sister several times, and there is nothing between us. You cannot make a spark where none exists.”

He rested his hand on her knee, his voice warm. “Enough about your sister. We have too little time, my sweet. Far too little.”

Though there were layers of skirt and petticoats between his hand and her skin, the warmth and weight of his hand set off a reaction so strong, she nearly gasped. Her body had tightened, her skin prickled awake, and her breasts tingled as if aching for his touch.
Good God, I’m lost.

He cupped her chin, turning her face toward his, then removed her spectacles and placed them on the side table. “I would see you without these.”

Humor, passion, and intelligence shone in his eyes. His jaw bespoke a strong character, while the gentleness of his hands left her aching for more. There was so much about this man that she liked. He’d called the way her body reacted to his a spark; she’d call it an out-and-out fire.

She yearned for him like a woman starved. And suddenly, looking into his eyes, she didn’t care about doing the right thing. She didn’t care about the future.

She grasped his coat, leaned up, and kissed him.

Roland, hidden in the shrubs, looked toward the noise. Lucinda was walking through the roses, her fingertips brushing the petals of the flowers. He watched as she came closer, ever closer to him and farther away from the dangers of the dark castle, her gown tugged by the playful wind, her long blond hair tossed about her face. Soon he would reveal himself to her, and watch her eyes light with love and— A crunch on the pathway made him crouch lower.

Someone else was coming. And just like that, the moment was lost.

—The Black Duke
by Miss Mary Edgeworth

Alexsey’s large hands grasped her waist as he slid her into his lap without breaking the kiss, and she shivered and pressed against him.

This is it.
This
is what I want!
Everywhere he touched, everywhere she wished him to touch, was aflame with longing and desire, answered need and unanswered yearning. She wound her arms about his neck, pressing her chest to his, trying to get closer.

His lips covered and offered, gave and took. Bronwyn shivered against him and offered herself without reservation.

Each kiss tantalized and teased, and washed away more and more of the haze the medicine held over her. His caresses grew bolder, stronger, his hands moving over her back, her hips, to her breasts—

She gasped as his thumb found her nipple even through her gown and chemise, and she pressed her breast into his hand, wanting, needing—

His kiss turned fierce, letting her know that he, too, was aflame with need. She moaned against his mouth.

He broke the kiss to nuzzle her neck, his breath harsh. “Roza, Roza,” he murmured, punctuating the words with kisses. “You feel so good. You belong in my arms.”

She opened her eyes. She belonged in
his
arms? No, no, no. He
was supposed to feel as if
he
belonged in
her
arms. Blast it, she’d forgotten her purpose once again.

How could she switch this, turn this into her win and not his? What had she learned in her books . . . ? Oh yes.

But would that really work? There was only one way to find out. “Alexsey?”

Aching with desire, he captured her hand and kissed the palm. “Yes, my sweet?”

With her hair mussed about her face, her cheeks flushed from their kisses, and her eyes half closed, she looked like a woman who’d just been thoroughly loved.
One day she will look this way because of me.
Pleasure raced through him at the thought. God, he loved the feel of this woman, of her full curves, and the—

He frowned. What was she . . . was she
humming
?

He pulled back and looked at her.

She smiled and, with an archness at odds with her usual expression, her humming changed into a song.

She was singing to him.

He managed a smile, though it took some effort. Was this a Scottish tradition? A way to woo that he’d somehow missed? Or was she just being . . . Roza?

She must have taken his silence for approval, for she sang louder. Her voice alternated between husky sweet and painfully flat, and yet somehow it didn’t matter. She was here, in his arms, singing to him. Only to him.

He didn’t know why that mattered, but it did.

He tightened his arms about her, a fierce surge of passion thrumming in his veins. Her lips pouted over a vowel, and then pressed together to make a
p
, and with each movement of her soft lips, he was newly enthralled, newly charmed, more deeply stirred.

When she took a breath to begin a new stanza, he kissed her with all of the pent-up passion she’d roused. He kissed her to let her know he wanted her. To let her know he’d been thinking of her, and dreaming of her, and that this—holding her in his arms and tasting her, sent his senses reeling—

A door opened and then closed somewhere in the house and she started, breaking the kiss and staring out at the foyer.

He had to curl one of his hands into a fist to fight back the passion she’d left hanging in his soul. After a second, he could speak. “Roza?”

“I thought—” There was the sound of the door opening and closing again, followed by footsteps disappearing. She relaxed in his arms. “It is just Mrs. Pitcairn leaving for her cottage.”

Bronwyn ran a finger over his lips, her eyes bright with passion. “You . . . you liked my singing?”

“It stirred me.” With a wink, he gently bit her finger. “Too much.”

She chuckled, the sound warm against his chest. “I am glad you left the dinner early, but this is a crazed idea, Alexsey.”

“I know. But I will not go until fate forces me, or you ask me.”

She lifted her lips to his ear and whispered, “I don’t want you to go. Not yet.” With that, she slid her lips to his jaw, kissing a path to his eager mouth.

Bozhy moj,
she was so succulent and sweet. He held her to him, taking and giving, awash in waves of passion unlike any he’d ever experienced.

Bronwyn reveled in the urgency of his kisses, of his hands.
Ah, this. This is what I wanted.

His hands were splayed over her back. As he kissed her, he slid one of them down to her waist and along the curve of her hip. It was such an intimate touch, shivery shards of longing danced through her. He slid his hand down her leg over her gown to her knee, then below; she could feel each of his fingers as they slid over her ankle and held it.

Through the haze caused by his kisses, she felt his hand slip up under her skirt to cup her calf. She gripped fistfuls of his coat, pressing against him.

His tongue brushed hers and she opened for him. He thrust his tongue against hers as his hand slid up over her knee, above her stocking. His palm lay flat against her naked thigh. She gasped eagerly against his mouth, opening her legs, moving restlessly, yearning for all she’d never known. Never wished for. Until now.

He held still, breaking the kiss, his breathing as ragged as hers. He rested his forehead against hers. “Bronwyn, do you—”

She grasped his wrist and tugged his hand higher, sliding his hand up her thigh, his fingers dangerously close to her core.

Breathless at her own daring, she waited, her heart pounding furiously. All of her life, she’d read about passion. Because of Alexsey, she was at this very instant living the moments that before now had only been pale, vague words upon a page.

She was really living now, tasting life, feeling the wind and the joy and the passion. She closed her eyes, her body quivering on the brink. The freedom of this moment was almost unbearable. With hands that shook with desire, she guided his hand higher, until it rested there, tucked under her gown and chemise, warm against her womanhood.

As he felt her thighs part, Alexsey clenched his teeth against a crashing wave of his own desire. She was so sweet, so passionate, so
his.
She was everything he’d thought she was—wildly passionate, vibrantly alive, sharing herself with him in a way that made his wild Romany blood sing with joy.

She moved restlessly against him, pressing herself into his hand. He massaged her gently, smoothing the slick folds with his palm. She moaned against his neck, writhing against his fingers, moist and swollen, ready for him.

Alexsey’s breath caught, his cock swelling in instant response. God, he wanted her with an insistence he’d never before felt. Wanted her under him, in his bed, and no one else’s.

He stroked her slowly, trailing his fingers over her, stroking her lightly at first, then with increasing pressure. She gasped, grabbing his coat, his shirt, twisting in heated need, her sweet, hot breath trailing over his jaw and sending shivers through him. He trailed his fingers again, and again, feeling the center of her desire harden against his fingers, her arousal increasing with each movement, each touch—

With a startled cry she arched against him, calling out his name as she clenched her thighs on his hand, wave after wave of passion washing through her. He crushed her to him, holding her close until her movements ceased, fighting his own desire. This moment was for her.

As her breathing stilled, he was shocked to see a single tear roll from the corner of her eye, a diamond drop against the dewy softness of her skin.

“Roza?” he asked softly.

She rested her forehead against his. “That was—” She gulped back a sob. “That was—”

He kissed her gently, his heart tight with an unnamed emotion.

Bronwyn’s mind was too abuzz to think. Her eyes wet with happiness, and her body humming. She’d never felt more alive, more complete, more
herself
. She snuggled closer to him.

He gave a muffled laugh that ended with a moan. “Please do not move, my Roza. This embrace has stirred me, too, and I cannot continue without—”

She waited, looking at him.

He moaned, his voice husky with desire. “I will explain it later. Ah, Roza, what you do to me. No one has ever tied me in such knots.”

“Never?”

“Never,” he declared, his breathing slowing slightly.

Deeply happy, wrapped in his arms, she felt . . . treasured. And yet, she couldn’t keep a small thought from creeping into her cocoon.
Where does this end? And how?
Desperate to think about something else, she asked, “Do you enjoy being a prince, Alexsey?”

He looked surprised. “No one has ever asked me that. I suppose I do, as much as I can.”

“What do you mean?”

He shrugged. “Do you enjoy being a daughter? A sister? We are what we are; we do what must be done. And if it is what we’ve known since we were children, then we do not imagine other ways or lives.”

She eyed him curiously. “But you do imagine other things. I know it.”

He gave a reluctant smile. “Sometimes I do. But never for long.”

She sighed, thinking of her own life, of how they all worked to reach their goals—Papa’s patents and Sorcha’s season. “All we can do is the best we can do.”

“Now you sound like a Gypsy. My grandmother would be proud.”

“I wish I really
were
a Gypsy, and you really a huntsman.” It was such a lovely fantasy, better than any book. But it was just that—a fantasy. She sighed.

His eyes were half closed as he watched her, a pleased smile on his lips. Who had won that round? He’d certainly taken her much farther down the path of seduction; her body still trembled with aftershocks.

But she also saw a warmth in his gaze that was more . . . intimate.
Then I made some inroads, too.
“Alexsey, do you think—”

The sound of a carriage arose outside, the jangle of a bridle and the crunch of wheels.

Bronwyn sat upright. “Oh no! My stepmother and sisters!” She was on her feet in a trice. “You said they wouldn’t be back for hours!”

“So I thought.” With a great sigh, Alexsey stood. “I must go.”

“But they will see your horse and know you’ve been here!”

“Do not worry; I tied the horse to the side of the drive. They will not see it in the dark.” He bent and kissed her soundly. “I will go out the window.” He swiftly pulled on his coat.

Outside, Bronwyn heard the coachman’s voice and the opening of the carriage door. “Hurry!” she whispered.

He collected his hat and then bent to kiss her one last time, sweetly and insistently.

Despite the danger, she clung to him.

The sound of the carriage door closing made her release him. “Go!”

“I will see you soon, little one.”

As he went to the window, she headed to the sitting room door, shutting it behind her and reaching the foyer just as her family entered.

“How are you feeling?” her mama asked.

“Much better, thank you. How was the dinner?”

Sorcha, rosy-cheeked from the wind, untied her bonnet. “Oh, Bronwyn, I’ve never seen such wondrous food!”

“There were courses and courses and courses,” Mairi said. “And the desserts—” She kissed her fingers to the air the way their French tutor did whenever he was pleased with something.

Bronwyn laughed and helped them remove their pelisses. “Tell me all about it, for I couldn’t help but think of your wonderful dinner when I wasn’t napping.”

“It was
lovely
,” Sorcha said, her eyes sparkling. “The dining hall was decorated with pine boughs and it smelled heavenly.”

“But Sorcha was forced to sit next to Viscount Strathmoor at dinner,” Mairi said.

“That was unfortunate,” Mama agreed, hanging her pelisse on a coat hook.

Bronwyn led the way into the sitting room, glancing at the windows, which were all closed. “Was Strathmoor rude?”

Sorcha made a face as she sank onto the settee. “He only spoke to me twice all through dinner, leaving me completely to the gentleman to my left, horrid Mr. MacInnis.”

“Who is a thousand years old and can’t hear.” Mairi snickered. “Sorcha had to yell for him to hear her.”

“He says the most inappropriate things, too,” Sorcha said in a huffy tone. “He told me he liked ‘younger women’ like me, and he spent the entire dinner leering at me in a very disgraceful way.”

Bronwyn shook her head. “A pity. I hope the two things Lord Strathmoor said to you during dinner were pleasant?”

“No. First he asked for the salt dish. Then, before the men retired for port, he told me he’d had the pleasantest dinner conversation of his life.” Sorcha’s lips thinned.