The Perfect Temptation

by Leslie LaFoy

  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 hesitation

  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." Sa
rad 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

  to the dock. And if he thought for one minute that she was

  going to sail off and wait for him to come on the next ship-

  "It is difficult to say," her uncle mused aloud. "She has a

  special place in his heart and there will be many suitors willing

  to offer great riches for her."

  Aiden bristled; she could see It in the widening of his

  stance, the squaring of his shoulders. ''Then we'll go to

  Kedar," he replied, his tone flinty, "tell him to name his

  price, and I'll send for it."

  "I think it would be best if you waited for him to-"

  "Excuse me, gentlemen," Alex interrupted, dropping her

  valise and parasol and stepping up to stand with them. "But I

  haven't gone anywhere. I'm right here and I will not be removed

  from this matter."

  Before either of them could muster a protest or an apology,

  she planted the palm of her hand in the center of

  Aiden's chest and backed him away from her uncle. When

  she had him a sufficient distance, she took the front of his

  shirt in hand and drew him to a stop. "John Aiden?" she said,

  looking up into sparkling, laughing green eyes.

  His grin was wide and bright. "You never call me John

  Aiden."

  Her anger dissolved in an instant. God, how she loved

  him. How impossible it was to think of living without him.

  ''That's because," she admitted, laughing softly, "I'm so

  very rarely irritated with you."

  She was his; the love of his life. She always had been. She

  always would be. He knew it in his heart and deep in his soul.

  Mindful of those watching them, Aiden slipped his arm

  around her waist and drew her close. "You are absolutely

  beautiful," he said softly, his words for her ears alone. "You

  take my breath away every time I look at you. Alex, you're

  everything to me. My happiness, my heart, my life. I can't

  live without you. I don't want to live without you. I love you."

  He bent his head and brushed a kiss across her lips, then

  straightened to solemnly ask, "Will you marry me, AlexT'

  She twined her fingers in the hair at his nape and arched a

  brow as a smile tickled the comers of her mouth. 'Will you

  remember tomorrow your solemn vow to never be happy?"

  He'd been a such a fool for so long. God only knew why

  Alex had as much patience with him as she did, but he'd be

  forever grateful for the incredible gift of it. "Sometimes what

  you least expect comes to you from where you least expect it

  when you least expect it And sometimes, Alex, the gift is so

  brilliant, so magnificent, that it completely changes the way

  you see the entire world. I've set that vow aside. In loving you

  I've realized that I made it for the wrong reasons."

  "And will you someday set aside your vows to meT'

  "Never," he promised from his heart. "I'll make them for

  every reason that's right. I'll stand before God and swear on

  my soul to hold them sacred. There will never be another

  woman, Alex. I will love only you, hold only you into all

  eternity. Please stay. Please tell me that you love me."

  Her joy was boundless and complete. "What will come,

  will come, Aiden. We can't know what it will be. But I do

  know that I love you with all my heart and that I'm destined

  to face whatever life brings always in your arms, always protecting

  your heart and our love. Yes, Aiden. I'll marry you."

  "Thank you," he murmured, bending down to kiss her

  slowly and with a reverence that filled her soul to overflowing.

  Only when the fires of passion flared, when their breaths

  caught, did he draw away. Grinning, he cleared his throat

  and asked, "So what do we do now, darling? Do we go to India

  and ask your father's blessing?”

  She shook her. head. "Kedar knows that love is the blessing,"

  she assured him, smiling and easing out of his embrace,

  certain of her course. ''We bid the others a safe journey."

  Hand in band, they turned and made their way back to her

  family. Sarad was the only one who didn't look supremely

  pleased and so Alex deliberately began with him. "Please

  tell my father that I have chosen love and that I will bring

  my husband to meet him before the year is out!'

  He snorted, but one comer of his mouth twitched upward.

  "Kedar will be disappointed. But he will also understand

  your choice as no one else can. Mark the days of your promise

  well, my niece. Your father will."

  Alex nodded and turned to Mohan. Aiden released her

  hand and she reached out to smooth his dark hair as she said,

  "I'll always be your sister, you know. If you need me, I'll be

  there for you. I'll watch you and remind you to be a good and

  honorable ruler. And I'll pray that you someday find a love

  as perfect as I have."

  "I am happy for you, Alex. I am glad that I was able to

  playa small part in making Aiden see the wisdom of loving

  you. I think the ploy to make him jealous of other men was a

  masterful one. Do you not agree?"

  "It was absolutely brilliant." She bent down and hugged

  him close and pressed a kiss to his cheek. ''Thank you, little

  brother."

  "I will see you in one year?” he asked, his bravado cracking

  as she straightened and drew away.

  "If not once or twice before," Aiden assured him, reaching

  past her to ruffle the hair she'd just smoothed.

  To the sound of his laughter, she turned to face the hardest

  of her farewells. "Thank you, Preeya," she said, the tears

  welling in her eyes as she took her hands in her own. "For

  always watching, for keeping my secrets and hoping for my

  great happiness. For sharing your wisdom and making me

  be strong when I didn't think I could be. If Brahma sees fit to

  bless me with children, I will have Aiden bring me to you so

  that your love can see them safely into the world."

  "No tears at our parting, Alex," she gently admonished,

  her smile soft and gentle. "You have chosen well and wisely.

  Aiden is a good man. A strong man. There will be many,

  many children, Alex. You will be in India often. It will

  please your father to hold his grandchildren. I will see you

  again before the year is gone. And I will be prepared and

  waiting for you."

  Alex hugged her close and kissed her, lingering for a

  while, reluctant to let her go, determined to banish the

  welling tears before she stepped away and Preeya could see

  them. After several long moments, she gave the effort up as

  futile. With a chagrined smile, a sniffle, and a quick brush of

  her eyes with her fingertips, she stepped away and turned to

  the man standing at Preeya's side.

  "At least we don't have to say good-bye, Sawyer. I will

 
miss having you around the house, though. I've enjoyed your

  company."

  He cleared his throat. 'Thank you for saying so, Miss

  Radford. I am sure that our paths will cross in the days

  ahead. And most assuredly when you and Mr. Terrell visit in

  India."

  "Whoa!" Aiden exclaimed from behind her. "Did I hear

  that correctly? You're going to be in India when we get

  there?"

  Again Sawyer cleared his throat. "You understood correctly,

  sir. When his lordship returns, I intend to submit my

  notice, and immediately leave my life here to become a part

  of Preeya's."

  Stunned, Alex looked back and forth between them.

  “How-"

  "I was asked to translate one conversation;' Mohan

  quickly explained. "I assure you that I learned nothing of an

  untoward nature and that I was greatly disappointed."

  ''Carden is going to kill me." Aiden chuckled. He extended

  his hand to Sawyer. ''Congratulations. The matter of

  my imminent death aside, I sincerely wish you both every

  happiness."

  ''Thank you, sir."

  Aiden hugged Preeya and planted a kiss firmly on her

  cheek.

  "Aiden says that he's very happy for you both:' Alex

  translated for the stunned and furiously blushing woman,

  then took her back in her arms to give her her own congratulatory

  kiss. "You're very good at keeping secrets, Preeya. I

  never guessed. But I'm delighted by the surprise and ever so