The Mad, Bad Duke (Nvengaria #2)(103)

The wildcat’s lips curled over its long, white teeth, blue eyes crazed in the lantern light. As Meagan watched, the panther’s form shimmered and became an upright logosh, the eyes and snarls unchanged. That form wavered again, as though Alexander could not hold the shape, and he dropped to become the sleek black leopard once more.

He wasn’t running away. As logosh, and even as the panther, Alexander should be able to get past these men and run as far and as fast as he pleased.

But he does not wish to. He knows he belongs here.

Meagan started forward but Egan’s strong grip held her back.

Myn growled something in Nvengarian, and Egan scowled. He replied in English, “I’m not thinking it the best idea, letting her near him when he’s in this state. Beauty soothes the wild beast only in fairy tales.”

An icy blast of wind made Meagan shiver, and the panther circled again, fur ruffling.

“Thank you for the compliment, Egan,” Meagan said, voice shaking. “I believe no one has ever called me a beauty before.”

At the sound of her voice, Alexander swiveled his head to her, but there was no awareness in animal his eyes.

“I still think ’tis a bad idea,” Egan said to Myn. “Is she to put out her hand and say ‘nice kitty?’”

“Do not be so silly, Egan,” Meagan replied. “Alexander might recognize me, and if he does not …” She stopped. If Myn had not been able to reach Alexander through this wild state, there was nothing to say she could. “They will have to let me through.”

Myn barked a command at the sword-wielding men, who did not look happy to open their ranks to let Meagan near the panther. Their job was to protect the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess whether that meant escorting them through a London mob or keeping the logosh Grand Duke under control.

“I do hope it’s you in there, Alexander,” Meagan said, as she moved past the men and stood with the lantern light at her back. “I would feel silly saying these things to another logosh.”

The panther’s eyes met hers, devoid of all thought but the need to hunt, kill.

Meagan drew a breath. “They believe you will change back to Alexander simply because I wish it, you know, as though you were a henpecked husband. You shall have to set them straight on that account. You never do anything I ask, not even conceding to take breakfast with me in the morning room.”

Meagan laughed nervously, but the panther ignored her. He paced away, prowling the circle, muscles rippling with his restless stride.

“Not much privacy out here, is there?” Meagan went on. “You’d think a woods would be quieter than a ballroom, but not when you’re the Grand Duke and his wife, I am afraid. We will always be surrounded by servants and bodyguards. Never a moment to ourselves.”

Alexander swung to her. He shimmered into his logosh form and then suddenly to Alexander, tall and naked, his eyes filled with fury.

“Get away,” he snarled at her, and then dropped back into the panther.

“Alexander.” Meagan choked back tears. “Please, don’t leave me alone.”

The panther again ignored her. That one moment of awareness had vanished, and Alexander continued to pace, his eyes showing only animal thought.

“I heard a funny thing today,” Meagan said, wiping tears from her face. “I talked to Black Annie. She seemed surprised we’d been trying to find her, but I believe she craftily avoided us for as long as she pleased. She told me that the love spell had ended on our wedding night. That it was finished. That everything we have felt since then is all our own doing. Is that not amusing?”

It wasn’t in the least amusing, but Meagan was babbling, trying to think of things that might break through Alexander’s wall.

“So really,” she went on, “all the times I told you I loved you, it was not the spell controlling me. I moved my own lips and spoke from my own heart. Are you not entertained?”

Alexander’s distracted pacing slowed but did not stop. He moved like a caged beast, uncertain and frustrated.

“I love you, Alexander,” Meagan said. “It is very frightening to feel it this much, but I cannot help it. I love you.”

Alexander growled, his breath grating in his throat.

“I love you whether you are a man or a logosh or a Grand Duke,” Meagan hurried on. “I want you in my life—I cannot live any other way. If Nikolai has to make a bed for you on the floor, so be it, and if you claw the furniture to shreds, well the chairs in the India sitting room are hideous anyway.”

Tears trickled down her face, chilling her skin in the biting wind.

Alexander shimmered to stand upright as himself, breathing hard, his eyes glowing blue in the darkness. “Stop,” he said in a grating voice.

“I cannot stop. I love you. I will keep saying so until I die, whether you understand me or not.”

Alexander focused intently on her, then he swept his gaze around the circle at Egan and his bodyguards, who watched warily, holding swords ready.

“Go,” he snarled in Nvengarian, before he dropped into panther form again and resumed his silent stalking.

Meagan chose to believe Alexander meant only his men, not her. “Please, gentlemen,” she said. “Do give my husband and me some privacy.”

“Not a good idea, lass,” Egan said, moving protectively next to her. “He’s no’ right in the head at present—who knows what he’ll do if you are alone with him?”