They had changed history.
Laughter bubbled up and out, from deep within her chest. She chuckled up at the ceiling.
Alex was in Preble’s cabin. The moment she had boarded the squadron’s flagship, he had come forward to bow over her hand, to inquire as to her well-being, and to apologize profusely, on behalf of the United States Government, for the two years she had spent in captivity and all that she had endured. He had insisted she take his cabin.
Alex closed her eyes. It was still so hard to believe. She was free, finally free, with Blackwell. She was on board Preble’s ship, and she had just survived a devastating battle, had lived through one of history’s great moments. Dear God! But now what would happen?
Xavier had risked his life to rescue her; that was clear. Certainly he loved her. Would they not share the rest of their lives together? In any case, there was no question of her ever returning to the twentieth century. The oil lamp had been left behind.
The cabin door opened.
Alex eyes’s pierced through the twilight gloom and she inhaled sharply. Blackwell stood on the threshold, holding aloft a lantern. He stared unblinkingly at her.
Slowly Alex sat up.
And she drank in the sight of him, her heart pounding. He had not changed his clothes since the battle, although he had obviously washed the dried blood from his face. He had, of course, long since shaved off his beard. He was dirty and tattered, his arm in a sling, a bandage on one side of his head … but he was utterly magnificent.
“I did not mean to awaken you,” he said, making no move to enter the cabin.
Alex wet her lips. How she wished to be in his embrace. To hold him, to confess the depth of her feelings for him. “I wasn’t sleeping. How could I? Xavier … thank you.”
His nostrils flared. Something else seemed to flare between them, knowledge, perhaps, that this was meant to be and that the first time, their having missed one another had been a grave universal mistake. “I could not leave you behind in Tripoli, Alexandra,” he said softly.
Alex swung her legs over the side of the bunk. She was still wearing her Moslem clothing. She realized that she must be as filthy and disheveled as he. “Please, come in.”
He hesitated. “It is not correct.”
Alex’s eyes widened. He was worried about her reputation. She smiled faintly. “I don’t give a damn what this entire ship thinks of me. I’m sure that they all think the worst, anyway, because I have lived for two years in a harem.”
“No one thinks anything of that nature,” he said sharply. “No one thinks that you are anything but brave and beautiful.”
His words thrilled her. “Please come in. We have to talk.” She felt herself flushing.
Glancing away from her, he closed the door behind him.
Alex stood, her heart banging very hard, and crossed the room to stand in front of him, mere inches between them. “I owe you my life. How can I possibly express my gratitude?”
His gaze lifted, touched hers. How soft it had become. “You owe me nothing. I did what any American man would do.”
“Xavier.” Tears filled her eyes. Helplessly she reached up and cupped one side of his face. Love ballooned in her chest. She choked on the magnitude of her feelings.
His eyes fluttered closed. He did not move.
Alex’s fingertips stroked his cheek and jaw, the most she could do in that moment to express the depth of her emotions.
And then she was crushed in his arms and their mouths were fusing. Alex felt the joy, all of it, welling from her toes, from her heart, from her soul, and as he kissed her, she began to cry.Thank you, Lord,she thought silentlyThank you.
“What is it?” He cupped her face, his fingers long and strong. “Alexandra, why are you crying?” he asked with open concern.
“I am crying because I am so happy,” she whispered.
He stared at her, then finally he smiled, too. And because his smiles were so rare, Alex’s heart turned over, hard. “I am happy, too,” he said.
They lay together in the small bunk, naked and entwined. Xavier’s large hands ran up and down her shoulders, her spine, her arms. Alex sighed.
“I cannot stay with you, as much as I wish to,” he said, kissing her shoulder very, very tenderly. His arms slipped around her and he held her close.
Alex smiled at him, snuggled fully against him. “Everyone already knows what we have been doing, I am sure. If I do not care, why do you?”
