Bound by Love (Russian Connection 2)

Herrick was not a man who allowed such a valuable asset to slip through his fingers.

“If he is as cunning as you have claimed, he will not dare trouble Leonida,” Nadia easily dismissed the

threat. Like too many nobles she had no understanding of the power a man without a title could wield. “Not unless he wishes to incur the wrath of the Duke of Huntley.”

Herrick could not argue with her logic. Dimitri Tipova was not a stupid man.

“True enough. Stefan would kill him without a thought.” He abruptly chuckled, pondering the criminal’s reaction to Herrick’s determination to have him in his service. “Besides, Tipova will soon have other matters to occupy his mind.”

Nadia narrowed her gaze. “I sense you are plotting to lure the poor man into one of your nefarious schemes.”

“Not today.” Lifting his glass, Herrick offered a toast. “To Leonida.”

Nadia touched her glass to his. “Leonida.”

ONCE SETTLED IN THEIR elegant cabin, Leonida wandered to the deck of the ship, watching as St. Petersburg became a distant speck on the horizon.

A small smile curved her lips as she recalled the last occasion she had traveled away from St. Petersburg.

Who could ever have suspected the adventure that was awaiting her? Or the joy that she would discover?

Pondering the strange twists of fate, Leonida ignored the brisk breeze that tugged on her green velvet pelisse edged with sable, and the crew who bustled past her. It was not until a pair of warm, muscular arms wrapped about her waist and hauled her against a broad chest that she was enticed from her private thoughts.

“You have a rather wistful expression on your face, my dove,” Stefan murmured, his lips brushing the curve of her ear. “Are you sad to leave your home?”

Leonida shivered, her body melting with a familiar heat. Over the past days it had been impossible to find a moment alone with Stefan. Now she was anxiously anticipating her wedding night.

“I will miss St. Petersburg, but my home is with you,” she assured him softly.

With gentle care he turned her in his arms, studying her with a searching gaze.

“Our home.”

“Yes.” A sense of utter contentment warmed her heart. “And besides, we have promised to return for Vanya’s wedding.”

Lowering his head, Stefan stroked his lips teasingly over her mouth. “Did we?”

Her arms lifted of their own accord, wrapping around his neck as a thrilling anticipation clenched her stomach.

“You are not going to distract me,” she warned.

His lips shifted to spread a line of tormenting kisses down the curve of her throat.

“No?”

“No.”

He chuckled as she ruined her threat with a shaky moan of pleasure.

“Liar.”

Pulling back, she regarded him with a stern expression. “You are very certain of yourself.”

The lean, beautiful features softened with an expression that tugged directly at her heart.

“The only thing I am certain of is my love for you.”

Framing his face in her hands, Leonida raised herself on the tips of her toes to press her lips to his mouth.