The Perfect Temptation

by Leslie LaFoy

  words that didn't sound self-pitying. And gave up. "I'm going

  to lose him, Preeya. He's mine only until Sarad arrives."

  “Oh, Alex," Preeya offered with a shake of her head.

  "Your life has been difficult from the beginning. I knew in

  the first moment I held you that your journey would not be

  an easy one. But I have also known that at the end of the

  journey would be a reward worthy of your struggle."

  Suddenly Alex understood why Preeya hadn't been the

  least bit surprised to learn that the royal tutor was also a

  royal princess. "You were a part of this, weren't you?" Alex

  asked, pointing to the letter with her cup, her mind reeling.

  "Your husband was Kedar's uncle. You knew my mother before

  we came to court, didn't you? You knew about me."

  Preeya nodded, a satisfied smile playing at the comers of

  her mouth. "I had become the third wife only weeks before

  Kedar was sent to join the household. We were of the same

  age and we were both strangers in a place that was our home.

  In our loneliness, we became friends. When Kedar met your

  mother, he shared his happiness with me. And because I was

  happy for him, I did what I could to help them be together.

  Your mother became my friend, as well.

  "Then she was sent away by her father and lost to Kedar.

  She was lost to me, as well. But only for a while. She sent me

  a message, asking for my help, and I secretly went to her. I

  was there with the midwives when you came into this world,

  my Alex. I was there when they left and your mother hovered

  close to death. You were in my arms when she told me

  that you were the child of Kedar, the child of their love."

  "You've always known," Alex mused aloud, still stunned

  by the revelation. "Always."

  Again Preeya nodded. This time, however, she didn't

  smile. "I made your mother many promises that day when

  we thought she would not live. I promised her that I would

  take you away and care for you if she could not. I promised

  her that if she lived, I would not endanger Kedar by telling

  him of your birth or of your mother's marriage to the man

  who would be called your father. I promised her-with great

  sadness, but in respect for her love of Kedar- that I would

  let her, and you, remain among those lost to him."

  "And she lived and we were lost."

  "Never lost to me, my Alex," Preeya said gently, reaching

  out to pat her arm. "I have always known where you were. I

  watched from a distance, prepared to take you away to safety

  if your mother could no longer protect you. I had promised.

  But when the man was killed and your mother took you and

  tied, I didn't know what to do. Fearing for you, for your

  mother, I set aside one of the promises I had made her. I

  went to Kedar and I told him everything."

  What courage that had taken. Courage born of love. "Was

  he angry with you?"

  "No. He understood why we had chosen as we had. And

  he was too concerned with finding you and your mother to

  care about the past. He wanted to hold again the woman he

  loved. He wanted to gaze upon the face of their child. Nothing

  else mattered. Kedar is not a man to waste today or tomorrow

  by regretting yesterday."

  "As Aiden is wont to do," Alex admitted.

  "He will change. Kedar was not always so wise. In many

  ways your Aiden reminds me of Kedar when he was of the

  same age."

  The comparison teased her curiosity. "Preeya? You knew

  from the moment Aiden and I came into this kitchen together

  that first day that we would be lovers and you encouraged

  me to make that choice. Why?"

  She chuckled softly and shook her head as though it were

  the silliest question she'd ever been asked. "Because I want

  you to be happy and your Aiden fascinates and delights you."

  She took a sip of tea. "Can you deny that?"

  "No."

  Apparently something was lacking in her answer because

  Preeya arched a brow, sighed, and then asked, "Which is the

  greater destiny, my Alex? Being a princess? Or loving and

  being loved?"

  "Loving and being loved," she supplied, the answer

  obvious.

  "Life brings enough sorrows without our making them

  for ourselves. Love your Aiden and let him love you. Embrace

  the happiness you have today." She finished her tea,

  set aside her cup, and slid off the stool. Pausing as she passed

  on her way back to the stove, she placed a kiss on Alex's

  cheek and whispered. "If it is destined, it will be."

  Alex smiled wanly. At least there was now an explanation

  for why part of her believed in the invisible hand of fate and

  part of her believed that the course of life was within her

  power to shape. Unfortunately, neither perspective seemed

  to offer any better chance of lasting happiness than the

  other. Although, in the short term, she had to admit that she

  and Aiden had planned a promising day for themselves. And

  fashioning a split skirt was a necessary part of it.

  "Aiden is going to teach me to ride today," she announced,

  setting her cup aside and getting up from the table.

  "Good." Preeya glanced over her shoulder. "You will be

  leaving Mohan behind?"

  It was more a statement than a question. Alex nodded. "If

  there's some great calamity that requires our presence-"

  "It is called Haven House for a reason," Preeya asserted.

  smiling broadly. "We will manage calamity without you."

  How on earth did Preeya know that's where they were going?

  How? She'd said nothing to her. And she and'Aiden had

  been speaking quietly as they'd made their plans. Even if

  Preeya had had her ear ... No, Preeya wasn't the sort to

  eavesdrop. Not at all.

  "And while you are gone, I will tell Mohan the story of

  his sister."

  ''Thank you."

  "Go. Be happy today."

  Alex smiled and left the kitchen shaking her head. Who

  could fathom how Preeya knew the things she did? She just

  did. And given the huge secret she'd kept perfectly for

  twenty-four years, it was a given that no one else was ever

  going to know where she and Aiden spent their day. She

  grinned. Or days. If the gods were feeling benevolent.

  Chapter 19

  He'd reluctantly returned to the Blue Elephant yesterday afternoon.

  More reluctantly-and later-than he had the afternoon

  before. Today ... From his vantage in the window

  seat, Aiden watched as Alex tried to reason the short bit of

  knotted rope from Tippy's mouth. Tippy didn't seem to care

  one whit what good dogs did, didn't seem the least impressed

  by the argument that she had to let it go before she

  could run after it and fetch it back to the parlor again. Alex,

  ever Alex, wasn't the least frustrated by the dog's lack of cooperation.

  She just kept smiling at her, tugging gently on her

  end of the rope toy, and explaining the rules of the game in

  the most patient voice and rational terms.

  No, today he didn't want to go back to
the Blue Elephant

  at all. At Haven House, Alex was his alone; he didn't have to

  share her with an adoring younger brother or a sweetly doting

  Preeya. He didn't have to worry about little ears when

  they talked or be mindful of little eyes when he wanted to

  touch her. At Haven House the world was British to the core,

  well ordered and predictable. There were no screaming peacocks,

  no strange combinations of food, no clock ticking

  away precious minutes and hours.

  At Haven House, Alex wasn't an Indian princess or even

  the royal tutor; she was his lover, his friend, his companion,

  his absolute delight. No one was going to walk through the

  front door and take her away from him. Not Sarad, not

  Hanuman. Reality couldn't touch them here.

  It waited for them at the Blue Elephant. With every day

  that passed, it drew closer, grew darker and more certain.

  Time was running out He could feel it. And he knew that its

  end would come in the little shop in Bloomsbury.

  But if he didn't go back there ... If he kept Alex tucked

  away within the thick walls of Haven House ... If Vadeen

  accomplished his task neatly and cleanly ...

  It wouldn't change the end. Sarad would still arrive. The

  gangplank of his ship would be lowered and Alex would

  walk up it, her chin held high and her shoulders squared, resolved

  to fulfill her duties, to meet her obligations.

  There was nothing he could offer her that would make

  her stay. He wasn't a poor man by any means. But he wasn't

  a prince, either. He didn't own a house, much less a palace.

  Hell, he didn't even have a ship these days. Life with him

  would be a great deal less than royal. And always would be.

  Alex deserved to be a princess. And someday, down the road

  of her life, there would be a prince who fully understood just

  what a rare treasure she was and who would live his life only

  to make her happy.

  And since he wasn't that prince ... Since he was the bodyguard

  responsible for keeping her alive for that someday

  wonder, he needed to get her back to the Blue Elephant before

  dark. He picked up the gun from the seat beside him

  and, tucking it into the small of his back, rose to his feet.

  "Tippy, sit," he commanded as he advanced toward Alex

  and the still recalcitrant dog. Tippy instantly dropped down

  on her hind end. "Release."

  Alex staggered back as the resistance on the other end

  came to a sudden end. "Oh, you could have told me how to

  do that," she laughingly chided.

  ''And ruined your half of the game?" he countered with

  what he hoped looked like a carefree smile. "It's time to go

  home, darling. We're later than usual."

  She nodded and put the rope in the basket in the comer.

  She paused .to scratch Tippy behind her right ear, say, "We

  will pick this up tomorrow where we've left it. Be a good

  dog while I'm gone," and then headed for the foyer and the

  cloak tree.

  Tippy followed her departure with a notably forlorn and

  disappointed look. Walking past the animal; Aiden muttered,

  Me too, girl."

  How incredibly right her mother had been about the combination

  of men and horses, Alex mused, grinning, as they

  cantered through the twilight, side by side. Riding at a walk

  was comfortable and the gentle roll to the gait was a bit like

  flirting from opposite sides of a crowded room. There was a

  vaguely carnal promise to it, but it was distant at best. The

  vagueness, she'd discovered that first day of instruction, disappeared

  when the horse broke over into a trot. The rhythm

  was clipped, but undeniably sensual in a somewhat rugged

  sort of way. It was a prelude; rather like the first moments

  after locking the door and trying to discard layers of cloth-

  while kissing.

  Cantering, though ... Oh, Lord, cantering was her favorite

  gait: It was easy and smooth and always made her

  think of Alden and the erotic pleasures to be had once they

  tumbled down together. Alex chuckled softly. He hadn't let

  her gallop the horse yet, but she suspected that she was going

  to enjoy that even more than the cantering.

  Yes, riding was indeed dangerous for a woman committed

  to sterling virtue. Riding with a man like John Aiden Terrell

  was especially so. And she wished she'd taken it up sooner

  than she had.

  Beside her, Aiden raised his hand in silent signal and Alex

  reined in her mount, mindful of the rules he'd laid down the

  first day: they were to walk their horses for the last block

  and, as they neared the comer and the rear yard of the Blue

  Elephant came into sight, she was to fall slightly back so that

  he preceded her into the open space. Why, she didn't know.

  He hadn't explained and she hadn't questioned. It was the

  way he wanted it done and she trusted him and acceded.

  How far they'd come since that first day, she mused.

  Alex studied his back as he moved ahead. Her heart both

  melted and twisted as it did every night at this time. For

  three straight days she'd watched the sun drop toward the

  rooftops and hoped that Aiden would suggest that they stay

  at Haven House for the night, for eternity. If the gods demanded

  all she had, all that she was, for a forever with him,

  she'd pay it and never regret the decision. But he hadn't

  asked and he never would. The ghost of Mary Alice Randolph

  didn't leave any room in his heart for her.

  It wasn't good or kind to envy and resent a dead woman,

  but she did. Mary Alice couldn't make Aiden laugh anymore,

  couldn't make him gasp and moan in pleasure. She

  couldn't be his wife or the mother of his children. That Aiden

  clung to "what was" and "what might have been" so tenaciously.

  Alex swallowed down the tears tickling her throat,

  reminding herself that what he could give was all that he

  could give and that it would have to be enough. She couldn't

  change his past, couldn't change him, couldn't make him

  love her more than he loved his Mary Alice.

  Ahead of her, to the accompaniment of the peacocks'

  high-pitched heralding, he rode into the yard and reined his

  horse to a halt in the pale shadows at the front of the stable.

  Alex did the same, and as he swung down and strode back to

  assist her in dismounting, she deliberately put away her

  melancholy and summoned a smile for him.

  ''Time to come back to earth," he said, reaching up and

  slipping his hands around her waist.

  "I don't want to," Alex admitted even as she placed her

  hands on his shoulders and leaned out. "Let's take a ride in

  the moonlight. It's not that cold." She glanced toward the

  kitchen and noted the bright light spilling through the windows.

  "Preeya's still preparing dinner. We have time."

  He set her on her feet in front of him and loosely wrapped

  her in his arms. "You make the little voice of common sense

  hard to hear, darling."

  "It's not me," she countered, smiling up at him, twining
/>   her fingers through the hair at his nape. "It's the peacocks."

  He laughed and she added, "What would be the harm,

  Aiden? I don't want to go back inside. Not yet."

  He kissed her lightly and quickly; a prelude, she knew, to

  refusal. ''Then keep me company while I put away the horses,"

  he offered as he stepped back and eased her arms from around

  his neck.

  It was the best reprieve she was going to get and she knew

  it. Better a little more time alone together, she consoled herself

  as she drew the reins over her horse's head, than none at

  all.

  The reins of his own mount in hand, Aiden reached for

  the door latch and froze. Alex abruptly halted behind 'him,

  puzzled. "What is it, Aiden?"

  "I closed the latches when we left this morning," he

  replied, drawing the gun from the small of his back. "Move

  off and put that horse between you and the doorway."

  "Maybe Sawyer took the carriage out while we were

  gone," she posed even as she stepped to the other side of her

  mount, partially obeying his command. Looking under the

  animal's neck, she added, "And forgot to latch the doors

  when he returned."

  He shook his head while pushing his horse to the side. "If

  this goes badly, get on that horse and get to Barrett's as fast

  as you can."

  Alex didn't argue with him, didn't tell him that, no matter