“Do you truly mean it, Alexander?”
“I like it when you say my name.”
“Answer my question,” she said. “Will you let me stay?”
“I won’t let you stay,” he corrected gently, “I’ll ask you to stay. Every day, for the rest of our lives. It was never my place to ask you to leave anyway. This estate is just as much yours as it is mine.”
“Somehow, I cannot imagine you asking me everyday,” a small smile formed on Penelope’s face.
“Then you will need to sharpen your imagination,” he said . “Like now, I am asking you to stay. Darling.”
Her heart nearly skipped a beat when he called her that. This was something that she could get used to.
“I will.”
“Even if it’s not easy,” he said.
“I don’t want easy.”
“Even if it’s dangerous? I am not a man who has lived an easy life.”
“I’ll take the risk,” Penelope smiled. “It keeps things interesting for me, anyway.”
Alexander let out a shaky exhale, his forehead dropping once more against hers.
“Then God help me, I’ll never let you go again.”
“And I’ll never walk away again,” she promised softly.
He cupped her face once more, framing her with such gentleness it nearly undid her. “One more kiss, and then…”
It was almost like he could not get enough of her. But she felt the same way. It was like he was air, and she needed more of him.
“And then?” she asked.
“And then I shall lock the door and never let another soul interrupt us again.”
Penelope laughed, tipping her head back as his lips found hers again. And for the first time since they’d met, neither of them held anything back.
Somehow, she had ended up back in Alexander’s arms. But this time, things felt different between the two of them. There was less hesitation.
It felt like she had heard him be fully honest with her for the first time ever, when it came to his feelings about her. And it was something that she could happily get used to.
“We will be just fine,” she murmured against his skin. There were so many people whom she had to inform – the staff, Odette, and her own sister. But Penelope could not care about anything else at this moment.
This is what it feels like to be in love, she said to herself. It was not something she had ever thought she would experience.
EPILOGUE
“Careful, Odette!”
“I am being plenty careful,” came the response from the free-spirited girl. Penelope laughed, admiring how radiant the young girl looked.
It was the first time she’d worn a proper gown for the entire day.
“You’ll tear your hem if you keep dashing about like that,” Penelope continued.
“I don’t care!” Odette laughed breathlessly. “Then the dress will have to be a sacrifice that we made.”
