The earl’s disapproving frown disappeared for the moment. “Rory loves having a bevy of devoted admirers about. And Chantal is so very happy to be reunited with her husband, she is already in the family way.”
Drex smiled wistfully. He couldn’t be happier for his brother, yet…he wished, yearned for, Christina and a child borne of their love.
He cleared his throat, wishing he could stop the pain engulfing his heart.
“Splendid. Rory will need a sibling to keep him out of trouble, I perceive, especially someday when he becomes earl.”
His father frowned. “You’re the elder twin, Drex. The earldom will pass through your children.”
He cast a pained glance to the floor, staring at the high gloss of his black boots. “Unless Christina changes her mind and returns to me, I will not have any children.”
“Hmmm,” came the earl’s response. “We’ll see.”
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The Lady and the Dragon
Drex raised his gaze, unable to hold back the question in his heart any longer. “How is she? Happy?”
“I suggest you ask her yourself.”
His father stepped aside. Christina stood in the doorway.
The world tilted crazily around him. Drex reached out to the mahogany table by his side for support.
“Hello,” she murmured, looking fresh and tanned and smiling.
“Lilli,” he breathed.
She stood in his house! Hope soared within him as he drank in the sight of her in a soft twill traveling dress of lilac that clung to her familiar curves, much as he longed to. A shaky smile graced her lush pink mouth. Drex didn’t know what to say.
“Well, I’ll have your manservant show me to another room,” his father announced.
Drex nodded absently, staring at his wife as the earl quit the room. Had she come to stay?
“You looked surprised to see me,” she said.
“Shocked.” He took a step toward her, and her familiar floral scent assailed him with an urge to hold her and never let go.
“I was angry with you,” she conceded.
“You had a right to be.”
“I did. But…I realized before you left England that, in your position, I might have made many of the same choices. You had no reason to trust me when I stowed away on your ship. Or after my recklessness forced you to pay a thousand pounds in gold to rescue me from my aunt. Thank you for that, by the way.”
“I wasn’t about to let another man have you, no matter what it cost me.”
She smiled uncertainly, then bit her lip. Drex had never wanted to hold her more, but he stood frozen, uncertain.
“Tell me one thing,” she demanded softly. “Did you marry me for any other reason than to free your brother?”
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Shelley Bradley
“God, yes. I know I didn’t tell you that I loved you until it was too late. By then, you had little reason to believe me. If freeing Ryan had been my only goal and I cared nothing for you, I would have simply abducted you after returning you to your grandfather. Or found some other way to use you. I was desperate to have my brother back. But I also ached to be with you. Live with you. Love with you. So I chose marriage. I know now that I should have been honest and enlisted your help in gaining Ryan’s release. I truly did mean to tell you the truth. I kept waiting for the right time to tell you. It didn’t come soon enough.”
“Thank you.”
“Come in. Sit. I—”
“I need to say something first.” She clasped her hands together, looking nervous. “The first month after you left, I prayed you would stay as heartbroken as you looked the day we said goodbye. I hoped you would drown in unhappiness, so you could understand how I felt.”
Had she traveled all this way to complete some scheme of revenge? “I’m intimately familiar with misery, Christina. Believe me.”
“That first month I was thrilled you had finally listened to my wishes and left me alone. Then, some insidious little emotion within me surfaced…and I missed you. I found myself lying abed at night remembering you.” She bit her lip again. “T—the way you rescued me from the ratlines on The Dragon’s Lair, the chilly night you gave me your coat on the Worthington’s terrace and—and saved me from Lord Ralston’s attention.” She cleared her throat and whispered,
“The first time we made love. The last time… No matter where I went, something reminded me of you—a gesture, a piece of music, a sunset. I recalled how handsome you looked on our wedding day, how patiently you waited for me after. Revenge was not nearly so satisfying then.”
“And now?” he whispered, daring to hope. Sweat beaded his brow, streaked his chest. The familiar ache to hold her assailed him. His heart beat in triple time as he waited for her answer.
“Now I realize that you stayed away and put our future in my hands, despite the pain it cost you. You really listened to me. No one else has ever done so. I had to reconsider the assumptions I made about you ruthlessly controlling me.” She smiled. “After you left, I expected to see you crawl through
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The Lady and the Dragon
my window again, demanding I follow you to the ends of the earth. That you didn’t proves you care.”
“I love you,” he told her, his voice honest, his gaze unflinching. “I have for longer than I wanted to admit.”
“Then perhaps you will help me. I have a dilemma.”
She took a step closer. The sounds of swishing cotton and her shallow breathing swept across his taut nerves.
“I have no notion what to do with my life,” she said.
Drex curled his hands into fists, restraining the urge to tell her to stay. “I can’t answer that for you. Nothing has changed since I left London. Our marriage rests in your hands.”
She took another step toward him, eyes glassy with moisture. “But I’ve no notion how to tell you that I need you and I want to be with you always.” She sniffled, her mouth twisting down with the onslaught of tears. “Or that I love you, too.”
Drex closed the remaining distance between them, kicked her valise from his path, then swept Christina into his arms. Her delicate arms clutched him, and she sobbed into his shoulder.
He smoothed her golden hair with a gentle hand and soothed her cries with a whisper. “You don’t have to say anything else. Just stay with me.”
She lifted her head and met his gaze, her eyes as brilliant as cut emeralds.
Drex smiled.
“Forever. I’ll never let you leave me again.”
Her words warmed the depths of his heart. He kissed her hands. “I won’t ever give you a reason to ask me to go.”
The smile that lit her shining oval face warmed Drex’s heart. He reached for her. She met him halfway for a kiss of welcome and promise for the future.
She broke away, laughing. “When will you take me to a swamp?”
The change in subject took Drex aback. He grappled for an answer. “A swamp? Christina, it’s not the place for a lady to venture. People can be hurt, even die—”
“Trust me to look after myself, to make my own mistakes.”
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Shelley Bradley
Drex sighed. “How about tomorrow, you curious little minx?”
She threw her arms about him with a saucy smile. “Maybe the day after. I suspect we will be more than busy until then.”
He laughed. “God, I hope so. I’ve missed you so much.”
“You’ll never have to miss me again.”
Drex claimed her lips for another sweet kiss. She sighed. The ton might whisper that the Duke of Manchester’s only granddaughter was nothing short of reckless. But now that she had tamed her dragon, Christina much preferred to think of herself as happy.
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About the Author
To learn more about Shelley Bradley, please visit www.shelleybradley.com
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