"Except in my novels, the hero never engages in wasted small talk when a rescue is necessary."
He chuckled and continued to try to free her skirts.
She watched him. "It doesn"t look as if it"s coming free."
"I can"t tug any harder, or I might accidentally knock you from your perch." He released her skirt. "You"ll have to take it off."
"Take it off-" She blinked. "Here?"
"Da. I will help with the tie. I"m very good at ties."
She sighed. "I begin to wonder if you"re rescuing me, or if I"m merely entertaining you."
"I"m fairly sure we can accomplish both goals at the same time, but not in a tree."
Her lips quirked. "Fine." With a few swift movements, she untied her gown and, with a careful step, climbed out of it.
She wore nothing but her chemise, stockings, and one shoe; her cheek smudged, and her hair a ma.s.s of tangles. Alexsey had never seen a more beautiful woman.
"There." She reached for a nearby branch. "I can get back to the window myself." Without giving him another look, she began the climb.
He kept an eye on her, but she kept her balance quite well. His Roza was a woman of many talents.
She finally climbed back through the window, Alexsey following. They were greeted by cries of happiness from Mrs. Pitcairn and large licks from the dogs.
Mrs. Pitcairn clasped her hands under her chin. "Och, "twas so romantic, miss!"
Bronwyn found a robe and hurried to slip it on. "I wouldn"t call it romantic at all."
"It might no" ha" felt as if it were, but it seemed like it fro" the window."
Alexsey turned to Mrs. Pitcairn. "I believe your mistress could use some of this tea you Scots seem to drink all the time."
"Och, tha" will be jus" the thing." Mrs. Pitcairn scuttled to the door, then stopped and turned around. "Miss, "tis no" proper fer ye to be alone oop here wit" a mon, miss. I couldna-"
"It"s quite all right, Mrs. Pitcairn," Alexsey said. "Miss Murdoch and I are about to become engaged."
Bronwyn stiffened. "We are not."
"Aye, we are," he replied. "If not today, then very soon." He looked meaningfully at the servant. "It will be sooner if we are alone."
Mrs. Pitcairn beamed. "I"ll go an" make the tea." Despite Bronwyn"s murmured complaint, she disappeared down the stairs.
Alexsey sat on the edge of the bed, admiring the lace chemise his bride-to-be was wearing where it peeked from her robe.
Her face heated, Bronwyn dove back into her wardrobe and looked for a gown. "There"s no need for you to stay here."
"I wish to speak to you. I"ve waited all evening to do so, and now is a good time."
She found a gown and hurried to pull it on, aware of his hot gaze.
Alexsey"s eyes were dark and inscrutable. "Much has happened over the past few weeks since we met."
"Yes, and some of it has implications for our futures. Alexsey, I know what you are going to say, but I must be clear; I can"t marry you."
His eyes warmed. "You don"t know what I"m going to say. I wasn"t going to talk about marriage yet. I have other, more important things to say. Like how much I love you."
She threw up a hand. "No! You don"t have to say that."
"Have to?" He looked amused. "I don"t have to do anything. I could leave this country right now and go home, and no one could stop me."
She stiffened. "You could, couldn"t you?"
"Da. But I don"t want to. Not unless I am able to take my prize with me."
"Prize?"
"You, Roza." He took her hand and pulled her toward him, standing her between his legs. "There are two facts I have failed to admit to either you or to myself. Bronwyn, I want you, and no one else. And I will have you, or I will have no one."
"Want? That"s not enough-"
"It is. I want you in my life for one reason and one reason only. Because I love you."
Bronwyn"s throat tightened. She so wanted to believe him. "Alexsey, I know why you started courting me. I overheard you talking to Strathmoor at Tulloch."
He winced. "That was wrong of me and I owe you a great apology. I was selfish and bored and . . . none of it is to my credit. But since it brought you to me and let me see what an amazing, beautiful woman you are-Bronwyn, I am not the same man who stood in that hallway, a man who did not believe in love. Whether you have me or not, I will never again be that man." His eyes glowed with truth.
"I have to admit something myself," she said. "After I heard you, I wished to punish you. I tried to seduce you, to make you mad with l.u.s.t for me."
"You succeeded."
"And then I was going to reject you." She pursed her lips. "I never really got around to the second part."
He laughed and moaned at the same time. "It has been agony! I could not tell you no, even when I wished to. You drove me mad with l.u.s.t, and then with desire, and then with love. I am yours, Bronwyn. I will never belong to anyone else." He cupped her cheek. "I was going to ask you to marry me tonight, but not because I had to. I was going to ask you to marry me because I can"t imagine not having you in my life. My future without you is a desert, a lone tree in a windy plain, a rock perched on a mountain with nothing but echoes to keep it company."
Her eyes had grown wide at his words, the faintest quiver of a smile on her lips.
Alexsey raised his brows. "Well?"
"That was beautiful. I especially like the desert/plain/mountain part."
He was silent a moment. "To be honest, I stole that part."
"From Sir Gordan Bradford."
He sighed. "I can see I"m going to have h.e.l.l to pay for marrying a well-read woman."
"I haven"t said I"d marry you."
"Not yet. But you will." He stood. "I have something to show you. But first, you must sit."
She perched on the edge of the bed. "Why?"
"You will see." He knelt before her.
As she watched, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a thin, narrow package. He unwrapped it and held it up.
"That"s . . . that"s my shoe!"
"You left it in the woods the first time we met."
"And you kept it all this time?"
"I kept it in my drawer and wouldn"t let the servants touch it." His warm hand clasped her stockinged ankle, and he lifted her foot. His gaze rose to hers. "May I?"
It was a moment like one of her books-only better, because it was real, and he was real, and he was here, with her. "Yes."
His lips quirked and he held the shoe in one hand, his other around her ankle. "You have very delicate ankles."
"Thank you. I suppose that is what made you love me?"
"How can I resist a woman with a leaf in her hair-"
"Oh no!" She patted her hand until she found it.
"-and who smells like turtle soup, and sings with such pa.s.sion even though she cannot carry a tune?"
She stiffened. "You didn"t like my singing?"
He slipped his hand up her calf. "I would have you sing to me every day and every night, just to see the happiness in your eyes."
She tried to ignore the warm hand on her knee. He must love her, to still wish her to sing. "I know quite a bit about Oxenburg, too," she added helpfully. "The highest mountain is thought to be over 12,520 feet tall."
"I am impressed." His thumb made a lazy circle on her knee as he held the shoe near her foot. "Before I do this, I must tell you it is my intention to court you."
She felt a flicker of disappointment. "I thought you wished to marry me?"
"I plan to court you, too."
"After we are married?"
"Before, during"-he slipped his hand to her thigh-"and after. I plan on courting you every day until the end of days. I will give you everything your heart desires. New gowns, a library full of books, a clerk to help your father file his patents-"
"Oh! How lovely! Can we afford an a.s.sistant who could help him with his experiments?"
"Of course. But now-" He slid his hand back down to her ankle and pulled her foot forward. "Bronwyn Murdoch, most troublesome of all women, would you do me the honor of marrying me? Will you promise to love, honor, and- Well, I will not ask for what you cannot give. Let us just say "love, honor, and listen once in a while." "
She chuckled, her eyes alight. "Yes, Alexsey Romanovin. I will."
He slipped the shoe onto her foot. "That will do." Happiness warmed him from head to toe and he joined her on the bed, pulling her against him. He nuzzled her neck, then nipped at her left earlobe.
"It"s only fair to tell you, I"m not sure I"ll enjoy being a princess."
He trailed a kiss to her neck. "I sometimes snore."
She clutched his shoulders tighter. "I don"t like crowds."
He nipped at her chin. "I get seasick every time I am on a boat."
Her hand rested in his lap. "I"m not good at remembering people"s names."
He placed a line of heated kisses along her collarbone. "I cannot stand chocolate."
She froze and lifted her head. "We may have problems with that."
"With you, Roza, problems do not scare me." His smile turned wicked, and he leaned her back on the bed. "Let me start this courtship with a kiss."
And she did, knowing she"d found the man she was supposed to be with. One who made her laugh and shared her love of reading, a man who would encourage her to take new chances-all while making beautiful, fulfilling, maddeningly wonderful love to her.
With a smile, she slipped her arms about his neck and showed him exactly what she thought of him.
"This is not how I thought to see my grandson married. They should have waited until we returned to Oxenburg and had the wedding in our grand chapel."
Sir Henry stood beside Natasha at the top of the steps and watched the happy couple climb into a carriage bedecked with red roses. He handed her a gla.s.s of scotch. "No, but you canna doubt he is happy."
Natasha watched as Alexsey bent to kiss his bride"s nose, knocking her spectacles askew. The two laughed, and Alexsey readjusted the spectacles with the greatest of care. "They love one another," she said in a satisfied tone.
"She dinna marry him for his money."
Natasha nodded. "True."
"Nor his position."
"Which she hates."
Sir Henry took a thoughtful sip of his scotch. "He dinna seem very fond of it, either."
Natasha paused. "I used to think he would grow into it, but he has not. Fortunately, he now has the kaltso." They"d used the ring during the wedding, which would make it mean all the more. "Because of that, she is married to both Alexsey and the Romany cause. They will do well helping my people."
From where he stood, Sir Henry noticed how the ring caught the afternoon sun. "I saw that ring before the wedding. The ruby . . . "twas interestin", it was."
She didn"t answer, but took another sip of whiskey.
"It"s fake," Sir Henry said baldly.
"My husband Nikki was known to gamble at times."
Sir Henry gaped. "He dinna!"