She fell back onto the pillow. “Any moredemands, and I’ll be laid to waste.”
He chuckled, taking delight with the colorforming in her cheeks. With a mischievous smile, she traced afinger across his chest. He hauled her from the bed, before otherthings that came to mind were set into motion and placed her shiftover her head. “We’re getting married. I want to do thisright.”
Alexandra put her arms around his neck, andtilted her head up for a kiss.
“I’m serious, Alexandra. I demand that wemarry.”
“There is a shortage of preachers on thisisland in case you haven’t noticed.” The vixen moved her handsseductively down his chest around to his hips. He grabbed herhands.
“We are getting married and that’s it. Youare going to be by my side for the rest of our lives.”
She kissed his chest and neck.
“Control yourself.” Before she could doanything more to distract him, he strode to the shelf, jerkedorchids out of the vase, handed them to her, and then grabbed theBible. “This won’t be the fairytale wedding you dreamed about, butit is the closest to a real ceremony I can think of.”
Alexandra sobered. Nicholas’s moods werelike the tides, ever shifting from amusement to irritation. Did heview her as another duty to oversee, an unaccountable desire to beresponsible for her? “You don’t have to do this.”
“I command it. Put your hand on the Bible.We will swear before God.”
Of course he’d command the nuptials, yet itwasn’t the authoritative side of his nature, she struggled with,but the import and relative consequences of what they were about toshare. She was a nobody. She could not give him an heir. His fatherwanted a tried and true aristocrat with perfect breeding. He wasbetrothed.
What if they were never rescued? Weeks hadturned into months and only two ships had passed. The probabilitygrew every day that their lives were eternally bound on theseshores. Alexandra made a silent vow. However long they lived onthis island, she would pledge herself to Nicholas.
His smile drew her gaze. Unable to resist,her eyes met his, and the world faded. The palms ceased to move.The swish of the surf vanished, and despite the lack of church orvicar, her heart fluttered with the sincerity in his eyes, the vowhe was about to speak. The look of resolute and unwavering resolvemanifested on his face assured a rare kind of promise, coupled withan indomitable will to succeed.
Shaking, she placed her hand on theBible.
“I, Nicholas Richard Rutland, heir to thefourth Duke of Rutland, take you, Alexandra Sutherland, to be mywife. I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, insickness and in health. I will love you and honor you all the daysof my life.”
“I, Alexandra Sutherland, take you, NicholasRichard Rutland, to be my husband. I promise to be faithful to youin good times and bad, in sickness and in health, to love you andto honor you.”
Nicholas took her hand and placed the ringupon her finger. “What we have just done is forever, Alexandra. Iwill love you in word and deed. To do the hard work of making nowinto always. To laugh with you, to cry with you, to grow withyou.”
“Oh, Nicholas. I love you unconditionallyand without hesitation. All that I am, all that I shall ever bewill be yours.”
“And all I want in this world is onlyyou.”
His powerful arms swept around her, and shedrowned in languid warmth, a contentment and peace drained all herthoughts and fears of the future.
She was shaken at her own fervent reactionand slipped her arms around his neck. Nicholas pulled off hershift, laying her on the bed and she opened herself to hislovemaking. Her heart flooded with aching tenderness, holding fast,the time for things meant to be, the last instance where aftereverything else, this would remain as what really mattered.
Sated, they lay entwined, Alexandra securein his arms. Under extraordinary circumstances they had beenbrought together and promised an oath to each other as strong andbinding as any sacred vow uttered in a church. She committed tomemory every line and plane of his face. Marriage was to be longand enduring, yet the unspoken reality between them expressedvolumes.
Alexandra took a deep breath. Yesterday wasgone. Tomorrow had not yet come. She had only the present momentand she would cherish these days with no misgivings, only sadregrets that if rescued, it was to end.
ChapterFifteen
Months blurred into a year and no ship hadbeen seen. Getting home seemed nonexistent. Despite moments ofnostalgia, Nicholas had never been happier, enamored withAlexandra, hiswife, in every way a man could be in lovewith a woman.
He hummed a tune, picturing Alexandraentering the ballroom at Belvoir in satin with scintillatingdiamonds, and then contrasted her garb on the island, the veil-likeshift she had patched. He had to admit there was no greater beautyand he remained a bit selfish, preferring to see her that way,reluctant to reveal the cloth in the box in the lean-to.
Everything about Alexandra was honey-goldand warm, as if he were the focal point of her whole world. Herpassionate nature had taught him to love. It was a new feeling forNicholas. A feeling he embraced.
Even the natural and unassuming way she tookhis hand in hers, soothing, and washing away the resentment towardhis father’s mandates that had been roiling in him for so long. Yetfracturing his peace were the choices he made and the subsequentconsequences. Tearing him apart was the likelihood ofdisinheritance.
He would not be duke, a role he was bornto.
Yet a life without Alexandra would be nolife at all. If the worst scenario occurred, he would start new inthe Colonies.
