Page 29

Later that night

“T here’s someone here to see you, Miss.”

Regina turned to her maid, from her vigil at her bedroom window. “Who is it?” she asked, a dangerous hope taking root in her chest.

“Kingston, a Mr. Kingston. He’s in the garden.”

Leo. Regina didn’t remember rising to her feet.

She didn’t think about the fact that she was dressed in only a thin linen nightgown and her dressing gown.

All she knew was one moment she was seated and the next she was sneaking down the stairway careful to avoid the fourth and twelfth stairs because they creaked.

She’d spent the last few hours trying to make sense of what had happened earlier that night.

She was somehow engaged to Leo. He was the new Baron of Starkley?

Had fate somehow managed to deliver her the perfect solution to her troubles?

Her parents hadn’t known what to do or say once they were in the carriage, and Regina had been no better.

Outside of a declaration that they were leaving for the country estate the next day, her mother had not spoken since.

Regina had opened her mouth to argue but one look from her father had stayed her tongue.

This wasn’t the time to argue. The contract was still in place as far as they knew.

If Leo was the new baron, all would be resolved sooner or later.

All she could think about was Leo and his bright eyes.

The surety in his expression when he staked his claim to her in front of half the ton.

She hadn’t been able to look away from him in that moment, thrilled and terrified in equal measure.

He had seemed like a prince from a fairytale; Lord Krishna come to life to save her from an unworthy husband.

His face had been carved in rock as he faced down Mr. Harrison, but his touch on her arm was firm and perfectly gentle.

She never imagined it would feel so good to belong to someone.

It had always seemed demeaning to be reduced to a possession.

But with Leo, it was clear he saw it as a right to defend and protect, a right to act on her behalf.

When her mother had dragged her away, Regina hadn’t known what he would do or when she would feel his hand in hers again.

When she would hear his voice. With the look on her mother’s face, she was half sure she wouldn’t be able to leave her house for a month.

But he had known that. Beautiful, brilliant Leo had found a way to come to her.

The balmy air greeted her as she slipped out the door to the garden, pressing her body along the wall until she cleared her parents’ window to the line of trees.

A hand came out from the garden gate and clutched at her wrist. She turned, heart pounding to see Leo watching her with uncertain eyes.

He was still dressed from the ball, even though his cravat was loosened, and his jacket was now missing.

His shirt sleeves were rolled up in deference to the warm summer night.

Without a second thought, she launched herself into his arms, and he caught her firmly against him, sweeping her feet off the ground.

She buried her face in his shoulder breathing his smell of rosemary, wood and amber and wrapped her arms around his neck.

His embrace around her unconfined waist was strong and tight pressing her barely clothed body flush with his.

She pulled back slightly to meet his eyes and then his mouth was on hers, hot, languid and overwhelming.

This time he didn’t leave it for her to take the lead.

His mouth moved over hers with certainty, one hand anchoring her head in place to take what she offered freely.

He tasted of port, his mouth as smooth and soft as she remembered.

But this was different because this wasn’t a stolen kiss.

She didn’t have to wonder if he was indulging her curiosity or flattering her interest. He had sought her out, held her hand and publicly announced that she was his.

He wanted her. He saw her as she was and wanted her just as much as she had always wanted him.

She tore her mouth away from his with a gasp, and he turned his attention to her cheek and jaw as her exhilarated heart raced in her chest.

His breath wafted over her skin as he sighed, his face pressed to her unbound hair.

“Regina,” he murmured, and she shivered as the rumble of his voice moved through her body.

Then his mouth pressed against her neck, and she shivered again as he lay a necklace of kisses from one shoulder across her throat to the next.

Strength leeched from her limbs and her body turned to water, a soft whimper escaping her.

Her head fell backwards, eager for more of his tender ministrations.

“Leo,” she pressed her cheek to his, hoping her heart rate would slow to something less alarming.

“I’m here.” He was here. He was here for her.

“Is it true?” she whispered.

He pulled back and allowed her to slide down the front of his body until her feet finally touched the ground. “Is what true, sweetheart?” he asked, cuddling her against him.

“Is it you? Are you the baron?”

“Yes, it’s true.”

“Are you sure you want this?” she asked, lifting her head to meet his gaze. Now that he was here, she kept wondering if this was something he would truly want. She knew his aversion to attention. How could he hope to have the life he wanted if he did this?

“What do you mean?” He frowned down at her, his hand passing gently over her hair.

“I mean you hate the idea of having a title. The visibility. You won’t be able to stay safe anymore.”

He smiled. “I suppose you’ll have to protect me,” he replied.

“So you are really going to marry me?” It was probably a silly question considering all that had happened before, but it fell out of her mouth, borne of a lifetime of being left behind.

He smiled softly and brushed the back of his fingers over her cheek in a tender caress. “Are you going to have me?”

Tears stung her eyes, and she buried her face in his chest, her fingers curling into his shirt. The relief she felt as she squeezed his strong body to hers was excruciating. He cuddled her close, his hand stroking over her hair. “I feel like I’m dreaming again.”

“Did you dream of this often?” he asked.

“I hated it. I never allowed myself to hope for anything like this, but then I saw you and I couldn’t get you out of my mind. It broke my heart thinking of you.”

“It’s no dream, sweetheart.”

“My parents are taking my sister and I back to the country estate tomorrow.”

He hummed in response. “I had a feeling they would move quickly.”

“What are we going to do?” She wanted to keep her face there in his chest for the rest of the night. She didn’t want to have to think about anything, plan anything, strategize anything else for at least a month. Her champion was here. He would handle everything. He would have a plan, a way forward.

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t want to go with them,” she confessed.

He shook his head. “Go.”

Maybe she didn’t want him to handle everything. “But—”

“It won’t matter either way. By law and based on the terms of the agreement they drew up I am your fiancé and believe me I have every intention of executing that contract to the fullest extent of my ability at the earliest opportunity.”

A shiver ran through her at those words and her nipples tightened.

Yes. She wouldn’t have to endure the disrespectful pawing of that ingrate.

Leo would be her husband, and she would have his body, his touch and his kisses for the rest of her life.

A knowing smile curved his mouth as if he could feel her reaction through her night gown.

Her wedding day couldn’t come fast enough.

Maybe he was right. Fighting now didn’t make any sense when the end result would be the same. “Do you promise?” she asked.

“I guarantee it. Go with your family and wait for me. When I have all the legalities in order on my end, I will come for you.”

Staring into his face, wrapped in his arms and scent, she was struck by a sudden anxious thought.

She’d waited before and all her previous fiancés had died before they could make her their wife.

Was this too good to be true? Could she trust that it had always been the divine plan to deliver Leo to her, or was fate cruel enough to snatch him away as well?

Mr. Harrison was still in the line of succession.

If Leo died before he married her, she didn’t think she could bear having to go to anyone else.

Everything inside her tightened painfully.

Until she had his ring on her finger, and she was in his bed, she wouldn’t be able to breathe easily.

“I have to go now.”

“Kiss me first,” she begged. It had been at least ten minutes and already it was too long ago.

“Don’t you think you’ve had enough kissing for one night?”

It was wanton to be sure, but she didn’t care. She wanted as much of him as she could manage before she had to leave. “Kiss me first and then leave.”

His head dipped and his lips parted hers, pulling and caressing them, his tongue stroking into her mouth with slow deliberation.

His hands swept over her back and waist molding her to him so she could feel him hard and eager against her aching body.

She wrapped her arms around his waist with a moan and kissed him back praying for her desire to turn the fear in her heart into something else.

After all, this wasn’t goodbye. This was only the first of many nights she would spend in his arms.

He drew away too soon and her eyes drifted open to meet his. There was a hunger there that matched her own. Soon she promised herself, soon she would know all of what that meant, and he would be the one to teach it to her. “Wait for me,” he whispered.