To Catch a Countess

by Patricia Grasso

  “You delayed too long,” Prince Rudolf told him.

  Alexander looked at the prince, who stood near the window. “What do you mean?”

  “Take a look.” Prince Rudolf grinned and gestured toward the window.

  Alexander crossed the room. With flute in hand, Victoria walked in the direction of the gazebo. A smile flirted with his lips when she skipped a few steps as if unable to contain her joy at being free of her prison.

  Taking the glass of vodka the prince offered, Alexander gulped it down and grimaced at its strength. In an irritated voice, he said, “I instructed the maid to let me know if Tory left her chamber.”

  Alexander marched across the room and yanked the door open to reveal Tinker who was just about to enter. “Damn it, Tinker, where’s that maid I set to watch Lady Victoria?”

  “Lady Victoria went out the window and climbed down the tree,” Tinker answered.

  “Does this mean Tory has won?” Prince Stepan asked, smiling.

  Alexander turned to the youngest prince. There was no mistaking the murderous gleam in his gaze.

  “I have a fondness for my brother,” Prince Rudolf said. Then, “Stepan, you are making it more difficult for Tory to extricate herself.”

  Without a word to anyone, Alexander turned away. He was going to drag her inside and—he didn’t know what he was going to do once he had dragged her inside.

  Lady Roxanne appeared in the doorway and slipped her arm through his. “Do you want to sprain your hand with wife-spanking?” she asked in a low voice. “Or would you prefer to catch a countess for yourself?”

  Alexander cocked a brow at her. “I’m listening.”

  “Escort Victoria to her chamber, and then go to your own chamber to start packing your bag,” the duchess said, her smile feline. “I will tell Tory that you are releasing her from the betrothal. I guarantee she will go to your chamber to persuade you to stay.”

  “What if she doesn’t?”

  “I know Tory better than she knows herself,” the duchess told him. “Her pride is hurt because you never courted her, and we kept silent for a year. A young naive girl like my niece yearns for a gallant knight to woo her into marriage. Victoria got a business deal.”

  “Does this mean I’ll need to polish my armor until it shines?” Alexander asked with a wry smile.

  “It would certainly help.”

  “I’ll see what I can do.”

  Alexander left the house and sauntered across the grounds toward the gazebo. He could almost feel the watching gazes from the window of the game room.

  Victoria spied the earl crossing the lawn toward her and returned the flute to its case. Alexander Emerson was handsome and well-built, especially in those tight breeches he was wearing. She could hardly believe that he was the man who would be her husband, who would sleep beside her at night, who would father her children.

  Victoria tried to gauge his mood. He didn’t look especially angry, not as he had earlier.

  “Are you going to lecture me now or wait until you return me to my chamber?”

  Alexander stared at her a moment, giving her a look she couldn’t read, and then sat beside her. Putting his arm around her shoulders, he drew her against the side of his body. “I want to hear about these lessons you’ve learned.”

  Victoria felt confused. She had expected him to give her a dressing-down. “I apologize for escaping.”

  “Your apology does not absolve you,” he told her.

  “I understand.”

  “About those lessons?”

  “I need to control my temper,” Victoria told him. “I also need to please you because, short of murder, my family will not interfere.”

  “You need to learn patience, my lady.” Alexander stood and held his hand out to her as if asking her to dance.

  Victoria looked from his hazel eyes to his offered hand. She sighed and lifted her flute from the bench of the gazebo. “Since we are betrothed, will you kiss me again like you did in the game room?”

  “We will kiss when I am ready, not when you are.”

  Hand in hand, Alexander and Victoria walked across the wide expanse of lawn. Victoria stopped suddenly as they neared the house. “I want to ask you a question.”

  Alexander inclined his head and waited.

  “Why do men give the orders and require women to obey?”

  “Men are stronger and smarter.”

  That answer didn’t sit well with Victoria. “Are you telling me that the weakest, stupidest man in the world is stronger and smarter than the strongest, smartest woman?”

  Alexander grinned at her logic. “Men rule the world because we think instead of feel as women do,” he answered. “We have all the money and enough wisdom to keep women pregnant, so they can’t compete against us.”

  “I wish I could live for one day in a world where women were the bosses,” Victoria said.

  “What would you do for that day?” Alexander asked, amusement lighting his eyes.

  Victoria crooked her finger for him to lean close. “First, I would scold His Grace for his bad behavior,” she whispered against his ear. “Then I would send you to your chamber without supper.”

  Alexander feigned fright. “Surely, you wouldn’t deny me sustenance?”

  “What’s that?”

  “Food.”

  Victoria flashed him an unconsciously flirtatious smile. “I would let you eat with the children.”

  Alexander laughed, enchanted by her irreverence. “You are incorrigible,” he said, touching a finger on the tip of her nose.

  Unexpectedly, Victoria leaned close and grabbed his finger between her lips. Her gesture was blatantly sexual.

  Alexander grabbed her upper arms and yanked her against his body. He lowered his head, his mouth claiming hers in a hungry kiss. Victoria slid her hands up his chest and entwined her arms around his neck. She leaned heavily against him and returned his kiss in kind.

  “Why were you ready now and not a few minutes ago?” Victoria asked, her lips still pressed to his.

  “You little witch.” Without warning, Alexander lifted her into his arms and tossed her over his shoulder like a sack of grain.

  “My flute.”

  “I’ll send someone out for it.”

  Victoria giggled, feeling the blood rushing to her head. “My brains will leak out of my ears.”

  “I’ll send someone out for them,” Alexander said, making her laugh.

  “Don’t you think you’re carrying husbandly discipline a bit too far?” Victoria called.

  “I’m enjoying this view of you,” Alexander said, patting her upended bottom.

  With Victoria giggling, Alexander carried her into the house. The four Russian princes and the marquess stood in the foyer.

  “I guess the earl won,” Prince Stepan said.

  “Don’t fool yourself,” Prince Rudolf said in a loud voice. “If Victoria is laughing, she won the skirmish.”

  Halfway up the stairs, Alexander grinned when he heard Victoria calling, “Don’t listen to him. Rudolf wants you to spank me.”

  Reaching her bedchamber, Alexander set her down on her feet. “Do not go out the window again, or I’ll chop the tree down,” he told her. “You wouldn’t want to cause the death of a perfectly healthy tree.”

  Victoria lay on her bed and concentrated on learning patience. She didn’t believe she would be successful. If only she could learn to read. Readers could lose themselves in books for hours and hours. That would never happen for her. She was much too stupid to learn.

  How would she ever keep her stupidity from Alexander? Living with him and keeping the secret would be impossible. She needed to try to learn to read again. This time she would bypass her sisters’ and aunt’s instruction and hire a tutor. With her mind made up, Victoria decided she would speak to Samantha’s children’s tutor, Phineas Philbin, once she returned to London.

  Twenty minutes later, Aunt Roxie walked into her chamber. Her aunt looked upset, and Victoria wond
ered what she had done wrong this time.

  “Well, Tory, you have gotten your wish,” Aunt Roxie said, giving her a displeased look.

  Victoria had no idea to what her aunt was referring. “What do you mean?”

  “Lord Emerson is canceling the betrothal agreement,” Aunt Roxie told her. “He doesn’t want to force you into an unwanted marriage,”

  “I want to marry him,” Victoria said, alarmed.

  “Alexander is returning to London tonight,” her aunt informed her. “He has gone to his chamber to pack his belongings.”

  “Tell him I am content,” Victoria said.

  “If you want to marry the earl,” Aunt Roxie said, “you need to persuade him that His Grace and I aren’t forcing you into this.”

  Victoria bolted off the bed and hurried across the chamber to the door. She did not see her aunt’s smile of satisfaction.

  Alexander couldn’t change his mind about marrying her. That was unacceptable. Now that he’d touched her breasts, he was going to marry her. After all, she hadn’t let him win these skirmishes between them for nothing.

  “The earl’s chamber is the last door on the right,” Aunt Roxie called.

  Victoria marched down the corridor, stopping when she reached the last door on the right. Her hands were shaking, and her heart was pumping furiously.

  Eating crow galled her, but she wanted him. Steeling herself for another humiliating experience, Victoria knocked on the door. When she heard him call out, she stepped inside and closed the door.

  Alexander looked up from his packing, his hazel gaze fixed on hers, “Yes, Victoria?”

  Victoria wet her lips, dry from nervousness. She shifted her gaze to his bag. “You’re leaving?”

  “That is quite perceptive of you,” Alexander said, and resumed his packing.

  Victoria leaned back against the solidness of the door for support. “Please don’t leave.”

  “Why shouldn’t I leave?” Alexander asked, giving her his full attention. “You aren’t interested in marrying me.”

  “I never said I wouldn’t honor our betrothal contract.”

  “I have no wish to pass the next forty years disciplining a wife.”

  “I will obey you in all matters,” Victoria promised.

  Alexander cocked a brow at her. His skepticism was amusingly apparent.

  “Very well, I promise to obey you in most matters.”

  That brought a smile to his lips. “I don’t want a wife who is merely honoring a contract,” Alexander said. “I want a wife who will care about me.”

  “I want to marry you,” Victoria said, a high blush staining her cheeks. “I do care about you.”

  Alexander stared at her for so long that Victoria feared he was going to reject her. Then his gaze softened. “Come here, Tory.”

  On shaking legs, Victoria crossed the chamber until she stood merely inches from him. She tilted her head back and gazed into his hazel eyes.

  “We will be married for a long time,” Alexander said, grasping her upper arms in a light grip. “Are you absolutely certain this is what you want?”

  “This is what I want. Only—”

  “Only what, Tory?”

  “I wish you had courted me first and then asked me like other gentlemen do with their ladies,” Victoria told him. “I don’t understand why everyone but me knew we were betrothed.”

  Hearing the hurt confusion in her voice, Alexander pulled her close and put his arms around her. “I made the mistake,” he admitted. “The others only honored my wishes. Will you forgive me?”

  “Yes.” Victoria tipped her head back, looked into his hazel eyes, and wished that he could love her. Too bad she was too stupid to love. Pressing her head against the solidness of his chest, she told him, “I feel safe and protected with your arms around me. I can’t remember ever feeling safe and protected.”

  “Look at me,” Alexander said, his voice husky.

  When she did, he dipped his head and his mouth covered hers in an endless, drugging kiss. She entwined her arms around his neck, pressed herself against the hard planes of his body, and returned his kiss in kind.

  “You never felt safe and I never had a loving family,” Alexander whispered, his lips hovering above hers. “Together, we will create our own family, and our children will always feel safe, protected, and loved.”

  “Yes, Alex.” Victoria breathed against his lips.

  His lips covered hers again. This time her lips parted in invitation, welcoming his tongue inside her mouth.

  The world faded away for Victoria, her whole being focused on his lips, his tongue, his body pressed intimately against hers. His strength surrounded her, comforted her, aroused her. A soft whimpering sound escaped her throat as she surrendered to his kiss and yearned for more.

  Alexander kissed her thoroughly, inciting her to meet his passion. He cupped her buttocks and lifted her off the floor to feel the rock hardness at his groin. Slowly, he lowered her to the floor and then slipped his hand between their bodies to caress her breasts, so soft beneath the bodice of her dress. Victoria moaned at the contact. She wanted to feel his hands on her bare flesh.

  Knowing what she needed, Alexander unfastened her gown, drawing it and her chemise down to her waist. Victoria felt the cool air caressing her breasts. And then his hands were on her bare flesh—cupping, kneading, caressing. When he flicked his thumb across the tips of her nipples, pleasure buckled her legs.

  “Never be embarrassed by what we do in our bed,” Alexander told her. “A wife belongs to her husband.”

  “Like property?” Victoria whispered, her expression troubled.

  Alexander shook his head. “A husband and wife belong to each other, no matter what troubles may come.”

  Alexander pressed a kiss on her lips and then pulled the gown’s bodice up. He smiled when she moaned in disappointed protest.

  “We will have years to enjoy what we started here,” Alexander told her, fastening her gown. He escorted her across the chamber to the door. “Thank you for agreeing to be my wife. I will come to your chamber thirty minutes before dinner to escort you downstairs. I have a surprise for you.”

  “I don’t like surprises,” Victoria told him, still dazed by his caresses.

  That brought a smile to his lips. “I promise you will like this one.”

  Two hours later, Victoria stood in front of the cheval mirror in her bedchamber and eyed herself critically. Her gown had been created in celestial blue silk with a medium-high waist, a rounded neckline, and short melon sleeves. She had woven her fiery mane into a simple knot at the nape of her neck, but several curly tendrils had escaped.

  What surprise did Alexander have for her? She hated surprises. Being startled made her feel disoriented, panicked, and stupid.

  The bedchamber door swung open. In the mirror, Victoria saw Alexander walk into her chamber. She noted that he hadn’t bothered to knock, as if he had the right of ownership.

  Without turning around, Victoria smiled at him in the mirror. Alexander placed his hands on her shoulders and nuzzled the nape of her neck, sending a delicious shiver down her spine.

  Victoria sighed. She didn’t want to go to dinner. She wanted to marry him now, this moment. She wanted to learn what other pleasure he could give her.

  “You are beautiful,” Alexander whispered against her ear. “Except . . .” She felt his hands at the nape of her neck, and then her hair knot came unfastened, sending curls of fire cascading to her waist. “I prefer your hair loose. You remind me of a pagan princess.”

  “Ladies always wear their hair up in the evening,” Victoria told him, parroting her aunt’s words.

  Lifting her hair away from one side of her face, Alexander placed his warm lips to the side of her throat. “My passionate pagan.”

  Victoria decided she would always wear her hair down unless pinning it up was absolutely necessary. She leaned back against his strength, savoring the feeling of his lips brushing her neck.

  T
hrough half-closed eyes, Victoria watched in the mirror as Alexander slid his hands under her arms to embrace her from behind. He cupped her breasts and glided his fingers across her nipples, which hardened beneath the silk.

  A bolt of desire shot through her from her nipples to the sensitive spot between her thighs. Closing her eyes, she whimpered and leaned heavily against him.

  “Open your eyes, Tory,” Alexander whispered. “Watch me touching your breasts.”

  Victoria opened her eyes and saw him slide his hands inside the bodice of her gown. Alexander flicked his thumbs across the tips of her nipples and then, holding them between his thumb and forefinger, squeezed them gently and rolled the tips back and forth.

  “Oh, God,” Victoria moaned.

  “After we’re married, we’ll stand naked in front of a mirror,” Alexander said, his voice husky. “You’ll watch me do this and other things. You’ll moan my name instead of God’s.”

  His words made her legs buckle, but he held her steady. Turning her around in his arms, Alexander smiled at her dazed expression.

  Victoria slid her arms up his chest to entwine his neck. “Kiss me.”

  Alexander planted a kiss on her lips and set her back from him. “We are expected downstairs,” he told her. “If we don’t arrive soon, everyone will wonder where we are.”

  “Let them wonder,” Victoria said, gazing into his hazel eyes. “No one will fuss about our absence. We’ve been betrothed for a year already.”

  Alexander laughed in her face. “I have been betrothed for a year,” he corrected her. “You have been betrothed for less than a day. Remember, you need to learn patience.”

  “Can’t I learn patience tomorrow?”

  “You owe apologies to everyone.”

  Victoria slanted an unhappy glance at him. She hated apologies almost as much as she hated surprises.

  Everyone had gathered in the drawing room before going down to dinner. Nobody looked up at Alexander and Victoria when they entered.

  “Are we invisible?” she whispered. “Or is this the cut direct?”

  “They’re afraid you’ll suffer one of your fits if they greet you,” Alexander said, steering her in the direction of her guardians.

  “I do not suffer from fits.”