“My lord,” she addressed the older man.
“Grandpapa, or George, please. I insist. We are family.”
“Grandpapa.” She tested the word, and it felt right. “My mother and father are…gone.”
“I know, child.”
Shock rooted her to the floor. “You do?”
“Yes. I heard a few days ago.”
“But…how?”
He sighed heavily. “Long ago, I hired a friend to watch over your mother and father. I felt bad for breaking apart my family and not giving your parents’ union my blessing. I was a proud man, still am, but time heals old wounds as they say, and I cared more about her happiness and safety. I knew the moment you were born, heard tales of your childhood, your accomplishments… It has been my dream to meet you. I only wish”—his voice became rough again—“it had been under happier circumstances. Tell me, how did you come to England? My friend Michael believed you had perished. He said that a man named Samir Al-Zahrani had helped another shah take over the palace and killed those inside.”
She braced herself, knowing the truth had to come out. She wished only for honesty between them.
“My parents trusted Al Zahrani, but he betrayed us all and took me for his concubine. I escaped, only to be kidnapped by slavers and sold to an English brothel.”
George gasped. “My God. Zehra, are you all right? Did anyone hurt you?”
“Yes, I’m fine,” she reassured him. “Lawrence Russell was my savior. He was there, helping to stop the auction, and he bought me in order to protect me. I was too afraid to tell him about you. Al Zahrani was still looking for me, and I heard him threaten to kill anyone who stood in his way.” She hesitated and blushed. “I feared it would put your life in danger if I tried to find you. And…” Again, she struggled for the right words. “I feared you would want nothing to do with me.”
Tears rolled down her grandfather’s cheeks. “Had I known, I could have spared you heartache, my child. When Michael told me he heard you were coming to London, I had every intention of finding you and meeting you. I want everything to do with you. I only regret your mother will never know how happy I am to have found you at last. You must come home with me tonight.”
“But the man who kidnapped me, Al-Zahrani, he is still out there. You won’t be safe, not so long as I am with you.”
“Did you say Al-Zahrani?” A voice from the doorway made Zehra tense. Avery stood in the doorway, watching them. Lawrence was just behind him, glaring at his brother.
“Er…yes,” Denbruck said. “My granddaughter said he kidnapped her and that he’s threatened to kill anyone to get to her.”
“What?” Lawrence focused on Zehra now, his eyes wide. “Why didn’t you tell me?” He moved past his brother and came over to her, clutching her hands in his. Lord Denbruck stared at their joined hands with mute curiosity.
“Because I knew you would seek him out,” she confessed to Lawrence. “I could not let you put your life at risk for me.”
“She’s right,” Avery said. “You would have been foolhardy enough to rush headlong into danger. Challenge him to a duel or some bloody nonsense.” He looked toward Zehra. “Miss Darzi, you should know that Al-Zahrani is no longer in London. We know of this man and are having him followed. While he wasn’t a part of the slavers who brought you to London, he was at the White House that night. I suspect it was he who informed the ambassador about you, which might explain why he insisted on our acting with such haste. I fear now that had I followed my orders, you might indeed have ended up back in his clutches.”
Zehra’s hand flew to her mouth, but Avery was quick to continue. “My men have tracked him to Brighton, where they are under orders to apprehend him and send him home. And if he resists…well…” Avery let the threat linger. He looked to his brother Lawrence, who sighed and gave him the slightest nod of understanding.
“I’ll walk you to the door, Avery.” Lawrence squeezed Zehra’s hands. “I’ll be back in a moment.” He left to see his brother off.
Denbruck was smiling again. “See? All’s well then, child. You’ll come home with me at once. I want you to rest, and you have an aunt and uncle who want to meet you. And we must introduce you to society, of course, when you’re ready.”
The thought of all that made her head spin. She wanted to go with him, but she also wanted to stay with Lawrence.
“Do you wish to come with me?” he asked, his tone gentle.
She bit her lip and nodded. “But please, Grandpapa, I must speak with Lawrence before we go.”
The earl’s blue eyes sharpened. “I must know more about him first. Did he do anything untoward to you? Say the word and I will—”
“No! He was wonderful. He gave me everything I needed. He was brave and strong and sweet and…” A thousand other words to describe him never left her lips. Loving, passionate, tender, wonderful, wicked…
“And you fell in love with the boy?” Her grandfather chuckled. “I shouldn’t be surprised. Lady Russell’s lads are charming. Damned rogues too, the lot of them, but damned fine men as well. Did he break your heart?”
“No,” she answered honestly. “I love him. And he loves me.”
Denbruck crossed his arms. “Well, you must understand this is all highly unusual. By all accounts it is scandalous, but it won’t be hard to sort things out, I suppose. I will let him come calling on you once you’ve had a proper come-out. In a few months, he can come by with flowers and other such nonsense and take you riding in the park or whatever it is young men do these days with their ladies.”
“A few months?”
“I’m afraid it’s how things are done. If you were to declare yourselves now, before you’ve even been introduced in society, I fear it could make matters quite difficult for both of you. Gossip and rumors would damage both your names. A few months won’t stop love, if that’s what you both feel. Now, let’s get you home. We’ll talk to the boy first, and then it’s time you and I got to know each other. I’ve missed far too many years of your life. I don’t want to miss another moment.”
Zehra brushed away a tear as they left the ballroom to find Lawrence.
Lawrence paced the hall. He and Avery had had a few minutes of quiet conversation, and both had apologized. He’d hugged his brother and sent him home, but he hadn’t gone back into the ballroom. He wanted to give Zehra some time with her grandfather. Everyone from tonight’s disrupted activities had made themselves politely scarce, which left him all alone to wait. At last, Zehra and her grandfather came out of the ballroom. Lawrence nodded respectfully at Denbruck.
“My lord.”
“Mr. Russell.” Denbruck nodded back. “My granddaughter has told me of you and the nature of your assistance to her. I cannot express the depth of my gratitude that you were there that night to render her aid.”
“It was a privilege, my lord.” Lawrence met his gaze. “And with your permission—”
“Heavens, boy, we have time enough for that later. You may call on me tomorrow if you like, but I offer you both my blessing, once the proper allowances are made, of course.” He smiled sadly. “You’ll take her away before I even get to know her.” He leaned down to kiss Zehra’s cheek. “I’ll wait for you outside. When Her Grace invited me here tonight, I honestly wasn’t in the mood for dancing, so I left my coach waiting in front in case I needed to make a quick exit. I intend to make use of it.” He chuckled and chucked Zehra under the chin as though she were a child of ten and not a woman of twenty.
Once he had left, Lawrence dragged Zehra into his arms, holding her with a ferocity that surprised himself.
“Lord, I thought I might lose you.” The terror he’d experienced when Avery had tried to take her away was like nothing he’d ever experienced in his life. He’d known then that he was going to marry her and give her everything he could in life to make her happy, even if he had to defy his country to do it.
“Lawrence, you don’t have to do the honorable thing,” she said, and her voi
ce held a tremulous note that stabbed at his heart.
“No one has ever made me do anything honorable,” Lawrence replied. “I’m a rogue, darling. When I do something, it is because I want to. And I have decided I want my Persian princess in my bed, in my life, and in my heart. Would you deny me that?” He curled his fingers under her chin and tilted her head back so he could look deep into her bright-blue eyes.
“As long as you love me, then no, I would deny you nothing.”
“Good. Because I’ll find a way to convince you to fall in love with me.”
She tilted her head, a disappointed look on her face. “I’m afraid that will be quite impossible, my lord.”
Lawrence was puzzled. “Oh? Why is that?”
“You cannot convince someone of something if they already know it to be true.” A coy look came over Zehra’s face. “But perhaps I shall pretend I need to be seduced. I would like to experience your idea of convincing me.”
“I will be sure to do that, once I’m able to get you alone.” He pressed his lips to hers in a slow, sweet kiss, relishing the feel of her in his arms. But he had to let her go, at least for now. Not long, yet too long, all at the same time.
“Dream of me?” he asked her, flashing a grin. He tried to look confident, but deep inside he still feared her slipping away from him. It left him with a bittersweet ache deep in his chest.
“I’ll always dream of you, my wicked rogue.” She kissed him once more before she left him standing alone in the corridor. She joined her grandfather outside, taking his heart with her.
Epilogue
Lawrence stood at the back of the crowded assembly room, watching the most beautiful woman in the world descend the steps to the main dance floor. There was no sorrow in her eyes, no hint of the pain she’d endured. The man who had hunted her in London, Al-Zahrani, was at the bottom of the ocean after a sea battle with Ashton Lennox’s merchant fleet. Zehra was safe. Now and forever.
“Miss Darzi!” Her name was announced by the master of ceremonies, and the crowd erupted in applause.
“Can you believe it? Denbruck’s granddaughter?” a lady in front of him murmured to a friend. “She’s a princess, you know.”
“Indeed. Persian royalty, they say,” her companion replied. “True exotic beauty. No debutante this season will stand a chance against her. Thanks heavens my daughter is already married.”
“I heard she was sold into slavery but was rescued by a gentleman here in England!” the first woman whispered scandalously. Lawrence tensed, expecting to hear them condemn her.
Her friend shuddered. “Oh, Helen, you read far too many of those dreadful novels, I fear.”
Another companion chimed in. “Indeed. If it were true, I have no doubt Lady Society would have said something in the Quizzing Glass Gazette.”
“But wouldn’t it be exciting if it were true?” Helen asked.
“Oh, I suppose there’s a certain rough romance to the idea, but we shouldn’t give credence to such stories. It does her no favors, I can tell you. I heard the king himself met with her over tea yesterday and was utterly captivated. Every bachelor in England will be vying her for hand.”
Helen grinned behind her fan. “They will be wasting their time. I know a woman who was on Bond Street yesterday, and she saw Miss Darzi buying the most beautiful wedding gown.”
“What?” the others said together.
“Someone’s already asked her, I’m sure of it. I wonder who the lucky fellow is.”
“Hmph, more flights of fancy, I’m sure. I swear, Helen, those novels will be the end of you.”
Lawrence smiled to himself. He walked along the back of the room, drawing closer to Zehra, watching as all the men competed for her attention. She stood there as regal as any queen and offered them sweet, polite smiles. But when he came to stand in front of her and offered her a courtly bow, her face flushed and the crowd rippled with whispers.
“The first dance is mine, is it not?” He nodded at her card, where his name had been written days ago.
“I believe you tried to make them all yours.” She walked right up to him, her eyes only on him, just as his eyes were only for her.
“Of course. It is the only way to keep you from learning how disappointing a dancer I truly am.”
She laughed. “Nonsense.”
“You really will marry me?” Lawrence asked as they prepared to dance.
Her blue eyes were filled with sweet fire. “You think I won’t?”
“You could have your pick of any man in London now. Men with money, with titles. Men far better than me.” He curled a hand around her waist, his heart racing. She was without a doubt the most desired woman in London. Even the damned king had been taken with her. He had to know that she truly wanted him and didn’t simply feel indebted. “So, I must know. Why me?”
“Because from the first moment I met you, you saved me.”
His heart sank. It was as he had feared. “You owe me nothing, Zehra, you know that. I’ve told you a dozen times that I wanted nothing in return. I was doing my duty.”
She looked as though she was tempted to laugh. They began to spin in slow circles around the hall, the eyes of most of the ton on them, but none were close enough to hear. “Lawrence, you silly, wonderful man. I don’t mean that you saved me from those other men.”
“Then what did you mean?”
“Before you, I was without a guiding star,” she replied. “When you took me into your arms, that sense of being lost vanished. I knew I wanted you and no one else, even though I did not yet understand the depth of that desire…that love.” She ducked her chin a moment before defiantly raising it back up. “I am told the English do not speak so openly of love, but I do. I love fiercely—I love you fiercely. It is not in my nature to question my heart or its mysterious desires.” Zehra lifted her chin to gaze at him. “Do you feel that way about me?”
He couldn’t speak, not at first, but finally nodded. “More than anything.”
“That is why I am marrying you. Now, stop thinking so much, my English rogue, and dance.”
Lawrence beamed down at her, unable to repress his joy. “Now that is something I’m happy to do.”
Tonight they would dance. Tomorrow he would announce their engagement in the papers. While he had met her under the most scandalous of circumstances, he would not let their marriage begin under a similar cloud. The musicians readied for the next dance and couples spread out on the dance floor, but neither he nor Zehra saw them. They were together in a world that held only them and the music that poured into their hearts.
Zehra stepped into her bedroom at her grandfather’s townhouse, her feet still aching from all of the wonderful dancing. But she sensed something was amiss and froze. Her bath had been drawn, yet she didn’t remember asking for one. She walked deeper into the room and saw red-and-orange-tipped petals floating in the water like a colorful blanket. She stared at it, shocked, and jumped when Lawrence stepped out from behind her changing screen. He placed a finger to his lips for silence. Smiling, she tiptoed over to him.
“How did you get in here?”
He nodded at her bedroom window, which was still open.
“My brother Lucien taught me the value of climbing trellises in my youth.”
“Oh? And was this to make it easier to seduce the young ladies?” she asked.
“In this case, one particular lady.” He waved to the bath. “It’s nice and hot. I thought after tonight you might need it to relax.”
“It’s a wonderful idea. Will you join me?” She turned her back to him so he could unbutton her gown.
“If you wish me to.”
She smiled impishly. “And if I wish for you only to watch?”
He leaned down to nibble her bare shoulder. “Then I will suffer the sweet agony of only watching.”
“Lucky for you, then, that I do not wish you to suffer agony.” She let her gown drop to the floor at her feet. “Today.”
Soon they lay in the l
arge tub together. She leaned back against him, their hands playing with the petals. Zehra lifted one orange petal up, examining the colors closely.
“Where did you find these? They are not English roses.”
“When you told me about the roses from your home, I hunted every florist in the city to find a way to acquire some Persian roses. I’m now in possession of several plants at a hothouse in my garden. They will soon be yours.”
She had to take a moment to collect herself. “You brought part of my home here?”
“To make your new home as close as I could to your old one,” he answered, nuzzling her neck.
“How did I ever deserve to find a man like you?” Zehra asked.
“Sometimes, two people find their way together. Fate gave us our chance that night I stepped into the White House. I thought I was trying to save you to make up for mistakes I made in the past, but I was wrong. I didn’t know then that you would be the greatest gift in my life.”
Zehra turned around on his lap, straddling him. The colorful petals rippled around them on the surface of the water, their perfume making her dizzy in the most delightful way.
“And you, my wicked rogue, are the greatest gift in my life. My rescuer, my lover, my partner in life.” She leaned into him, kissing him with the passion and love that burned like an eternal flame in her heart, and he swept her away in his wicked embrace.
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