The Perfect Temptation (67 page)

ever learn?"

"Only the hard way," he admitted,
slamming down the

glass and heading for the door. "I'll
talk to you later today,"

he called back over his shoulder. "Much
later."

"Where the hell are you going?"

"To buy myself a big white horse,"
he called out, not

looking back, the liquor searing its way
downward and

blessedly warming the dread churning in the
pit of his stomach.

“That's going to be something of a bitch to
get done in

the middle of the night."

Just ahead of him, the brandy bottle
shattered against the

wall beside the front door. Aiden ignored it
and kept going.

Chapter 21

Alex walked along the bustling wharf in the
early morning

light, carrying her parasol and valise, and
trying very hard

not to
rain
on everyone else's happiness.
In
the tradition of

royalty the world over, Sarad, flanked and
backed by his

bodyguards, led the procession toward the brightly
pinioned

ship anchored just ahead. Behind Sarad, borne
in the

canopied and gaily festooned royal litter,
went Vadeen, his

bandages concealed by a new and resplendent
set of clothes.

Mohan scampered at his side, chattering away
in Hindi, his

English suit forsaken for opulent silk of
royal purple and

red. Preeya,
in
a new, gold-embroidered sari, followed in

their wake, her parasol and valise-and Mohan's
basket of

kittens--carried by the very proper but
sweetly smiling

Sawyer.

A fair distance back, Alex brought up the rear
of the

happy little entourage, kicking her English
traveling skirt

out ahead of her and fighting the urge to look
back over her

shoulder. Wishing Aiden at her side wouldn't
bring
him,
she

reminded herself for the countless time. Looking
for
him

only deepened the pain in not seeing him. No,
she had
to

keep her attention focused on the ship and the
gangplank

leading up to
it.
Resolutely looking forward would
be
the

only way she might get through the next few
hours without

dissolving into yet another sobbing puddle of
tears.

Forward, not back,
she silently repeated. Sarad had

reached the wharf end of the gangplank and was
conversing

with the man who had to
be
his ship's captain. The guards

were back a short distance, but close enough
to shield any

one member of the royal party if the need
arose. Except her,

she noted. She was far enough away that it
would take them

some time to reach her. They were watching
her, though, and

talking among themselves. No doubt discussing
the princess's

silly devotion to English dresses and her
tendency to dawdle,

she decided. And, judging by their scowls,
they weren't

feeling particularly tolerant of either
predilection.

For a second she considered quickening her
pace to

please them and then decided against it These
were her last

moments on English soil and no one was going
to hasten

their end. She was a princess and only Sarad
would chastise

her for the distance she'd allowed to develop
between the

guards
and herself. And,
besides, the longer she tarried,
the

greater the chance ...

No, she chided, there was a fine line between
faith and

foolish hope. Dragging her feet and delaying
her departure

was
akin to looking
back over her shoulder.
If
it was meant

to be, it would be. How fast or slow she
walked wouldn't

change her destined course. Aiden either came
for her or he

didn't.

She reached the knot of her family and
stopped. The ship

gently rocked in its berth and the soft
lapping of the water

against the hull seemed oddly out of place
amid the jarring,

raucous noises of the dock. Alex closed her
eyes and focused

on the lullaby, hoping it would ease the
throbbing ache in

her soul.

Vadeen called out sharply in Hindi, startling
her and shattering

her concentration. Glancing around. she
instantly

noted the tension in the guards, their
dark
expressions and

the direction of their gazes. She turned to
see what had

alarmed them.

Aiden,
her heart sang. Her delightfully wicked, tousle haired

Aiden was there, riding purposefully toward
her, his

jaw set and his shoulders squared. There was
no more handsome

man on earth, no other who would ever claim
her heart

as he did.

Details flitted past her awareness. He wasn't
riding his

own horse, but a huge white one she'd never
seen before.

And everyone around her was watching his
progress, their

expressions a strange mixture of happiness and
what seemed

almost
to
be trepidation. They were wise, she realized as he

drew the massive animal to a halt in front of
tier and swung

down from the saddle. To assume that he'd come
for any reason

other than to say a formal good-bye was a
fool's blindest

hope.

Unable to stand not knowing, she took the
initiative and

tossed the biggest gambit of her life.
"I'm glad that you

came to say good-bye, Aiden." .

Standing
in
front of her, the reins
in
his hands, his eyes

dark and his lips a firm line of resolve, he
slowly shook his

head. "Don't get on that ship,
Alex," he said quietly. "Please."

Her heart fluttered with hope, but she held it
in check,

knowing Aiden, knowing his ghosts and the
limits of what

he could offer of himself. And knowing just as
well that she

couldn't live with less than all of him. She
managed a smile

and began, gently saying, "I have
responsi-"

''If
anyone knows the
price of responsibility
and
the value

of love, it's
Kedar.
He'll understand
if
you choose love, Alex!'

Her knees went weak with the wildness of her
surging

hope. "I don't want to be alone,"
she confessed. her body

trembling, "waiting for your returns,
praying that nothing's

happened to you. I can't live like that,
Aiden."

''Then I won't go."

So calm, so certain, so impossible. "It's
what you do for a

living. What your family does. You sail. That
requires you to

go."

''Then
you'll come with
me," he countered without hesi
tation

his resolve clearly unshaken, his gaze
searching hers.

We can run a regular India-to-London route. I
sail, you buy.

And whenever you want, I'll take you to see
Preeya and Mohan.

I promise. Please say you
will,
Alex."

No
pledge
of forever. No declaration of his feelings.
But

It was. a life together. And, in that, a
chance that he might,

over time,
grow
to
love her. It was enough for her heart,

enough to give her hope.

His brow shot up and his gaze slid away from
her as he

asked, ''What did Vadeen say?"

Alex blinked, startled from her reverie and
realizing b

hadn't the foggiest awareness that Vadeen had
said
and

at all.

"I said," Vadeen
answered,
grinning, "that I had despaired

but am
now hopeful
again. You have, Aiden, in the English

way
of
circling
and circling, finally approached the
point of

asking Princess Alexandra to marry you. I beg
you
to
have

mercy on us
all
and
to
circle no
more."

His
smile
was instant, bright and broad. Her heart
soared

With certainty and unbridled
joy as he turned back to her.

She
is
a princess, Mohan interjected. ''The permission

to
marry
must come from the raja, from our father"

His, smile
faded
and then he shrugged and said,
“All
right.

If
that s .how It
has
to be, then that's how it has to be."

Her jaw went slack in astonishment as he
turned and

walked over
to
her uncle.

"I request passage
on
your ship, your highness. I'll pay

whatever
price
you ask. I intend to go to
Kedar
and formally

ask to
marry
his daughter, the Princess Alexandra.”

He hadn't asked her yet! She hadn't agreed to
be
his wife.

Not that she had the slightest intention of
refusing, but to

have it
all
negotiated without her consent .. .

“My
brother will
expect a
bride price." Sarad countered.

folding his arms across his chest. ''Unless
you have something

of great value to offer, there is no point in
making the

journey."

"What will he want? I'll get it."

It had better be a white horse because, as far
as she could

tell, it was the only thing of any value he'd
brought with
him