“As you have discovered, I possess a very long reach. I eventually will make him pay for what he has done.”
She rolled her eyes at his arrogance. “Despite your certainty in your skills, I must reach St. Petersburg.”
“I have promised to have word sent to reassure your mother.”
“And what if Sir Charles reaches St. Petersburg first and manages to convince my mother she must pay immediately?” she demanded.
His jaw tightened at her persistence. “Sir Charles was in no condition to approach your mother. In truth, I am not certain he will survive the injury you inflicted. You may have already stolen my vengeance.”
Leonida shuddered. She did not regret stabbing Sir Charles. Or even the thought he might die. Her true concern was that he might survive to hurt another woman.
“We cannot be certain,” she muttered.
A silence filled the bedchamber. Stefan studied her with a growing skepticism.
&nb
sp; “There is another reason you are so eager to travel to St. Petersburg. Why?”
“I need to be home with my family. Surely that is not so strange after all I have endured?”
“Not strange, but certainly suspicious. You are a complicated woman and you rarely have a simple motive. Whatever your desire to be reunited with your family, there is another reason for your sense of haste.” His fingers tightened on her arms, his grip not tight enough to hurt, but warning that he was far from pleased by the thought she was not being entirely honest. “What have you kept from me?”
She glared at his unyielding expression, feeling as if her entire life was being consumed by this man.
“I will agree that you had a right to know why I came to Meadowland. It is your home, after all. But my reason for wishing to return to St. Petersburg is no one’s concern but my own.”
A dangerous emotion smoldered in his eyes at her deliberate challenge. “No, Leonida, you thrust your way into my life, now you must suffer the consequences. I will not allow you to keep anything hidden from me.”
Her heart missed a panicked beat. “I went to England to help my mother, not to thrust my way into your life.”
His gaze skimmed down to the revealing shift before returning to her wide eyes.
“And end up in my bed.”
Her heart missed yet another beat. “That has nothing to do with the situation.”
He leaned forward, his lips brushing over her temple in a featherlight caress. “It has everything to do with the situation.”
A bittersweet longing clenched her stomach. If only he were not the Duke of Huntley and she not the Countess Karkoff’s daughter. If only they were a man and woman who had no duties or the heavy expectations of their families.
She could so easily fall in love with him.
“Stefan, you must let me go,” she whispered.
“Never.” His voice held a chilling certainty. “You are mine.”
“I am beginning to think that you are the one who is mad.”
“Very likely.” Pulling back, he captured her wary gaze. “Why are you in such a hurry to return to St. Petersburg?”
Leonida heaved an aggravated sigh. Stefan must surely be the most stubborn, unreasonable man ever born.
Why did she even bother to fight him? Her reward for such skirmishes was nothing more than another dent in her pride, and an ache in her head.
“Because when I was so rudely kidnapped I was forced to leave behind my belongings,” she snapped.
An odd expression settled on his elegant features. “And they are so important to you?”