From Governess to Countess (Matches Made in Scandal #1)(71)

‘And a very important duty it is too,’ Allison said, nodding solemnly. For the first—and most likely the only—time in her life, she found herself extremely grateful for the bulldog’s presence.

*

It was a short, but emotional ceremony. The new Count and Countess Derevenko remained only for a brief champagne toast leaving their guests to celebrate the long-awaited nuptials by feasting and dancing, while the couple left to celebrate in their own way, alone. Aleksei drove them from the palace in his troika. It was twilight, the stars only just beginning to come out as they sped across the snow. Allison tucked into his side, watched breathlessly as he handled the three horses with seeming ease, the cold air stinging her cheeks, the glow inside her making her oblivious of the rapidly falling temperature.

The troika turned up a long carriage way, gliding to a halt in front of a house built to resemble a Chinese pagoda. ‘What is this place?’ Allison asked.

‘Ours,’ he answered. ‘Do you like it?’

‘It is ridiculous. It is beautiful. I love it. Is it really ours?’

‘I thought we needed a retreat. Somewhere no one—not even the children—are permitted.’

‘I can’t wait to explore it.’

‘Later, my Countess.’ He leapt down from the carriage, pulling the furs aside, helping her down to the front step, where a carpet had been set out, the door waited ajar, and a groom appeared from nowhere to lead the horses away.

‘Aleksei.’ She looked up at him, a smile trembling on her lips. ‘I love you so much. I can’t quite believe that we are married.’

He kissed her then, his lips icy from the journey. ‘Nor can I. I think we need proof, don’t you?’

‘Yes.’ Ridiculous to be nervous, this was Aleksei, but she was none the less. ‘Is it silly to say that it feels like the first time?’

He kissed her again, pulling her tightly up against him. ‘It is the first time. Now I am truly yours, and you are truly mine. For always.’

‘Always.’ She reached up to smooth the rebellious kink in his hair. ‘It is a family trait, this little question mark,’ she said. ‘Your brother’s hair was the same. And Nikki’s too. I wonder...’ She bit her lip on the question she had been asking herself for months, but it felt—yes, it felt right to raise it on this most auspicious day. ‘Aleksei, it is not that we need anything else to make our love perfect, but...’

‘Lyubov moya.’ A smile dawned on him—one she had never seen before. ‘Are you telling me that you would like us to have a child of our own?’

She nodded. ‘I’ve been thinking—wanting...’

‘Why did you not say?’

‘You’ve been thinking the same?’

He nodded. ‘But you said that you had never...’

‘And you said you had never...’

‘Not until I met you.’

Tears filled her eyes. Tears of joy. But she was not having tears on her wedding day. Allison blinked them away furiously. ‘I love you, Aleksei.’

‘And I love you, Your Illustrious Highness.’ Aleksei grinned at the shock on her face. He scooped her up into his arms, holding her high against his chest. ‘Let me show you just how much.’