‘How are you going to manage that?’ he whispered.
‘Like this.’
Reaching up, she drew his head down far enough to rest her lips against his.
‘Freya—’
‘Kiss me, Jackson. That’s an order. You’re not the only one who likes to be obeyed. Kiss me.’
He obeyed with fervour, wrapping his arms right round her so that she couldn’t have escaped if she’d wanted to. But she didn’t want to. She wanted the pressure of his lips, growing fiercer with every moment. She wanted the feel of him shaking with desire against her own body, which was also shaking as never before—not for Dan, not for any other man, only for this man in her arms, where she was determined to keep him.
She had everything she wanted. He was hers as completely as she was his. His lips told her so, as did his arms, and the powerful beat of his heart that she could just hear. She wanted him with an intensity that only one thing could satisfy, and she was determined to have it.
When she drew him towards the bed he hesitated for a tiny moment, as though not daring to believe that his dreams could come true. But then doubt was swept away by desire and they fell onto the bed together, kissing, embracing, murmuring, pulling at each other’s clothes until there was not a stitch left between them.
He made love to her with a mixture of tenderness and passion that left her dizzy. She responded with everything in her, and had the delight of seeing in his eyes that she had taken him by surprise.
Afterwards he held her close, her head against his chest, so that she could hear his heart again, beating more slowly now, with sweet, gentle contentment.
‘I feel as though we’ve only just met,’ he murmured.
‘Yes, that’s just how it is,’ she said happily. ‘This is a new life for us. And there’s something else as well. Thanks to Harriet, I know you better than ever before.’
‘Harriet?’
‘She told me about that baby seal on Herringdean, and the sacrifices you made to protect it. I’d already heard a rumour about how you quarrelled with a production firm and stormed out, but it made you sound grim and threatening.’
‘Good,’ he said at once. ‘If my father knew the truth he’d cut me out of his life.’
‘But it made me want you in my life. I began to understand how much you need me and how deeply you long to be needed in return. Not just loved, but needed.’
‘Yes,’ he breathed. ‘Yes. I didn’t realise before. Freya, is this really happening to us?’
‘I don’t know. I can hardly believe it. It’s so beautiful. Can it be true?’
‘It can be as true as we make it.’
‘Yes,’ she murmured. ‘Oh, yes.’
‘There are still questions whirling in my brain,’ he murmured against her hair. ‘You were so much against me. You didn’t want my love. At least, you said you didn’t. When I held you in my arms and kissed you I dared to hope that you wanted me a little—’
‘More than a little, my darling. I’ve wanted you for quite a while, but I wouldn’t admit it even to myself. I was afraid. After what happened with Dan I didn’t want to fall in love—’
‘Especially with me,’ he said wryly.
‘Yes. I was more afraid of getting close to you than anyone else—maybe because I knew it was inevitable. That night in Monte Carlo I resisted you because I felt caught up in something beyond my control. I know now that I was right, but I shouldn’t have been afraid of it because the fate beyond my control was love.’
‘Mine too. That’s why I came here as Dan’s spokesman. I thought it would be what you wanted.’
‘You thought I’d let you spend your life watching over me?’
‘
Let
me?’ His voice became teasing. ‘You couldn’t stop me.’
‘Oh, yes, I could. There’s a very simple way.’
‘Tell me.’
‘I won’t marry Dan. I’m going to marry you. That way
I’ll
be
your
protector. So come on—we’re getting married. That’s an order.’
‘Hey, I was going to say that.’
‘Tough. I got in first.’
‘Yes,’ he said happily. ‘You did. I guess I’ll have to get used to you taking command.’
‘You’ll have to get used to me protecting you as much as you protect me.’
‘Joint partnership.’
‘Fifty-fifty.’
Solemnly they shook hands.
‘I can hardly believe in such happiness.’ She sighed blissfully. ‘And it’s even more lovely in this place, where so many of the family are happy too. All except—’ She broke off and sighed.
‘Your mother and my father,’ Jackson supplied. ‘Yes, it’s sad, isn’t it? How can we really enjoy our own happiness when things are still so wrong between them? At first I thought they’d sort it out soon and rediscover what they used to have. But it’s getting worse.’
‘It’s because he overheard Mum say she had doubts about him and wasn’t sure that they’d stay together,’ Freya recalled. ‘That really seemed to knock him sideways.’
‘Yes, he’s used to women wanting him more than he wants them. I’m sure he could win her over if he tried, but he doesn’t know how to give in, to say he’s sorry.’
‘He’d see it as a weakness,’ Freya said. ‘And he avoids that like the plague. I remember him telling you that you shouldn’t let anyone know anything about you that they could see as weak and use against you.’
‘Right. He’s never understood that when you really love someone you’re not afraid to let them know your weakness, the way you know mine.’
‘Mum hated coming here to Russia. She thinks Varushka was the great love of Amos’s life because of the way he rushed out here to her deathbed.’
‘She’s wrong. I think Janine means more to him than any other woman has, but he doesn’t know how to show it. Even with her he can’t risk seeming vulnerable, and it could be the worst mistake he’s ever made.’
‘But if they can make it right,’ Freya said hesitantly, ‘how will you feel? After what you told me about your mother—’
‘I know. But I like Janine. She’s always been pleasant to me. And she’s his victim too. As for Amos, he’s still my father, and I’d still like to see him find happiness in love.’ He drew her closer. ‘Especially now that I’ve found it myself.’
‘Yes,’ she murmured. ‘Enough about them. I want to think only of you. Come to me, my darling—come to me—that’s right—yes—
yes—
’
* * *
The christening was held in a little church on the edge of town. Everything went perfectly. Janine showed no sign of trouble, and Freya began to hope that all would be well.
Afterwards Leonid led the way to his mother’s grave at the back, followed by the family, including Amos and Janine.
Freya tried to draw her mother away, but Janine resisted.
‘I will go where my husband goes,’ she said.
Varushka’s marble gravestone was simple but lovely. Flowers lay around the base, put there earlier by Leonid.
‘It’s beautiful,’ Charlene said. ‘I wish I could read the Russian words.’
‘They just give the date she was born and the date she died,’ Leonid told her.
He said the words in English, and at once Freya sensed disaster. For the date of Varushka’s death was the exact date of Janine’s birthday.
She had coped with Amos’s absence on that day, but now the coincidence of the dates seemed to make everything worse. Janine didn’t speak, but she turned and walked away.
Freya hurried after her.
‘Mum, the date’s just an unlucky coincidence.’
‘I spent that day in tears. It was my birthday, and we were going to have a lovely celebration holiday together. But that was the day he said goodbye to
her
—held her in his arms, kissed her, told her he loved her. The very same day.’
‘He’s coming over,’ Freya murmured.
Amos and Jackson were approaching.
Janine turned to face Amos, who tensed.
‘What’s the matter?’ he demanded. ‘Why do you look at me like that? I was only paying my respects.’
‘Drop the pretence,’ Janine snapped. ‘
She’s
the one who has your heart. I’ve known for months now—ever since you dumped me to rush here to her deathbed. You chose her over me.’
‘No!’ Amos said explosively. ‘No, that wasn’t what happened. I came because I had to.’
‘Yes, she wanted you, so you had to. When we get home I’m leaving you.’
Amos drew a sharp breath. Freya and Jackson exchanged glances, both sensing that Amos was about to make a momentous decision.
‘All right,’ he said. ‘Here’s the truth. I didn’t come here from choice. I was blackmailed.’
‘Oh, Amos, please—do you expect me to believe that Leonid blackmailed you?’
‘No, not him. He knew nothing about it. It was—’ He stopped and a shudder went through him. ‘It was Perdita.’
Janine didn’t speak, but her face showed her scepticism.
Amos tore at his hair.
‘It’s true,’ he cried. ‘Perdita was a journalist in those days. She found out about a slightly iffy deal I’d done. She could have caused me a lot of trouble if she’d talked. And she threatened to do exactly that if I didn’t come out here to see Varushka before she died. That was why it happened so suddenly. I only had a few hours to save myself from disaster. I didn’t want to come. Over the years I’d seen Varushka so rarely that I barely knew her. But I had no choice.’
He took a deep, painful breath.
‘That’s the truth, my dear. Please believe me.’
The word ‘please’ made everyone look up, alert, wondering if they’d heard properly. Amos had actually said
please
to a woman.
And Freya saw something else. There on Amos’s face was the same defenceless look she’d seen on Jackson’s face the previous night.
It was a look that neither man had ever worn before. She was sure of it. And it meant the same: a willingness to sacrifice everything to win the valued prize.
Horus the Elder and Horus the Younger had achieved victory at the same time. She could almost hear the cries of triumph from the Edfu temple.
Janine’s gaze was fixed on Amos, who was totally still, tense with apprehension as nobody had ever seen him before. Then she gave a cry of joy and threw herself into his arms. He seized her fiercely, burying his face against her neck and saying her name in a muffled voice. By now the rest of the family had caught up, and they gave a big cheer.
‘He did it!’ Jackson said triumphantly to Freya. ‘He told her about his weakness. He trusted her with it. That’s the bit that makes all the difference.’
‘Oh, yes!’ she exclaimed joyfully. ‘She’s the one.’
Amos lifted his head. His cheeks were wet.
‘I guess I still have to catch up with a few things,’ he said huskily.
‘Just a few,’ Jackson agreed.
‘And to prove to you that I’ve seen the light I promise to leave you two alone. I won’t try to make you marry each other. That’s over, for good.’
‘It was over anyway,’ Jackson told him. ‘We got engaged this morning.’
More cheering.
The whole family rioted in delight, dancing around them, slapping them on the back.
Jackson and Freya were barely aware of them. Looking into each other’s eyes, they saw only what mattered to them, what would matter for the rest of their lives.
‘Let’s go away,’ Jackson said. ‘I have a lot of things to say to you.’
‘And I to you. But they don’t really need saying.’
‘No, but I want to say them anyway.’
They drifted off. The ground sloped gently upwards, so that after a while they could look back on where the family was still rejoicing, waving up to them. They laughed as they saw Amos give them a victory gesture.
‘I guess he’s got what he always wanted,’ Freya said.
‘Yes. Look, he’s trying to placate Janine in case she makes him suffer. I guess that’s how it’ll always be between them from now on. Between us too, perhaps.’
‘Don’t worry. I won’t be too hard on you,’ she teased.
‘Is that a promise?’
‘Wait and find out.’
They shared a gentle kiss, stood for a moment contentedly resting against each other. Then they resumed their walk, leaving the others far behind—leaving the whole world behind. For they had a new world now, one in which nothing and nobody else existed.
And that was how it would always be.
EPILOGUE
T
HEIR
WEDDING
WAS
a quiet affair in a church so small and so deep in the country that birdsong could be heard during the service. This was Freya’s choice, and Amos had acceded to it willingly. All he’d asked was to be the man who gave her away to his son, and she’d happily agreed.
She had no fear that her groom would go missing this time. She knew that no power on earth could take Jackson from her. He’d told her so in words and actions, and she knew it on a level too deep for words.
All the Falcons were present. Nothing could have kept them away from this wedding. They smiled as Amos and Freya moved slowly down the aisle, noting how Jackson kept his eyes fixed on his bride, as though only half daring to believe that she was really there. They all enjoyed the moment when Amos handed Freya to her groom and couldn’t resist giving a thumbs-up sign to celebrate his triumph.
Then he slipped away to join Janine in a pew. Together they listened as the priest began to speak the words that would unite the family as never before.
‘We are gathered here to join together this man and this woman...’
This man and this woman.
Out of sight, Amos took hold of his wife’s hand, squeezed it a little, and sighed with relief when she squeezed back. Since that day in Russia when they had rediscovered each other he’d had the sense of living in a new universe, one that had yet to be explored.
The wedding service continued, with the bride and groom taking it in turn to utter their vows.
For better, for worse.
Amos murmured in Janine’s ear, ‘Try to forgive me for the worse.’
Smiling, she turned to meet his eyes, murmuring, ‘From now on it’s going to be better.’
At last it was time for the bride and groom to leave the church, ready to start their marriage. And there behind them were Amos and Janine, also making a new start that only they understood.
Perhaps Jackson and Freya came closest to perceiving the truth.
As they lay in each other’s arms that night she murmured, ‘There was more than one bride and groom today.’
‘Yes, I thought so too,’ he said with a warm chuckle. ‘When you think how nearly they missed each other—’
‘How nearly
we
missed each other. If you hadn’t come up with that mad performance—’
‘It was true. Dan really had contacted me.’
‘Yes, but the rest—the things you said about watching over me, forcing him to be a good husband. Surely you couldn’t really have done that?’
In the dark warmth of the bed she felt him chuckle.
‘Couldn’t I? I don’t know. I was desperate enough to try anything that might work.’
She thumped him lightly.
‘You lousy, cheating so-and-so. You just said what you knew would get you your own way.’
‘That’s the best reason for saying anything. I wanted you and I didn’t care what I had to do to get you. After all, I’m a Falcon.’
‘So am I now, so you’d better watch out. But you couldn’t
really
have lived up to that stuff about being my guardian angel even if it meant sacrificing your career. Could you?’
‘I hope so, but the honest answer is that I don’t know myself well enough to predict how well I’d have succeeded. I still have a lot to learn about who I am and what I can do. But I can’t learn it alone. You’ll have to teach me.’
‘Hmm. Now, that might be interesting.’
‘More than interesting...’
He drew her closer, wrapping his arms about her with an intensity that was both commanding and protective.
‘Why don’t we start now?’ he whispered.
* * * * *
Keep reading for an excerpt from THE GREEK’S TINY MIRACLE by Rebecca Winters.