Chapter 18

"I knew you'd come," Winifred called as she raced down the stairs and leapt into Ajax's arms. She did not hesitate or hold back. Why would she? The man she loved was here!

He was such a big fellow that he seized her and swirled her around, holding her close as if it was the most natural thing in the world. And it was.

She felt as if she'd found heaven in his embrace. She never wanted to leave it again. Being in his arms, held by him, was like coming home.

He pressed his forehead to hers. "I'm so glad you were so confident," he growled softly.

"How could I not be?" she teased, closing her eyes, savoring the feel of their heads tilted together and his scent surrounding her. "I know you."

"And I you, Winifred," he said, his hands holding to her so tightly his fingertips pressed through her dress and into her skin.

She loved it. Oh, how she loved his passionate hold.

He slowly let her feet trail to the ground and then he held her against him, wrapping his arms about her.

She heard a slight sigh, and she spotted her sister Alison watching from the hall.

Alison's eyes were alight. Her whole face had transformed into one of hope, and she looked like a girl who had suddenly witnessed a fairy tale story unfold. And she had.

This fairy tale story was having the most wonderful of happy endings. Except, it wasn't an ending at all, it was only the opening of a grander tale.

Alison gave Winifred an incline of her head, beaming, then backed into the shadows, slipping away.

"Who was that?" Ajax asked softly.

"You noticed?" she asked, leaning into him, reveling in his heat, his strength, his power…and his gentleness.

"Oh, I notice just about everything when it comes to you," he said.

"That was my sister, and I cannot believe it, but she admires me," she declared.

"Of course she admires you, Winifred," he said kindly, gazing down into her eyes with his own adoration. "Everyone should admire you. There should be a line stretching out from this house all the way down to the Thames, out to Greenwich, and beyond. A line of people who should admire my soon-to-be wife."

She beamed up at him. "You, sir, are full of hyperbole."

"How else should one be?" he drawled playfully. "One must revel and celebrate in this life, and I am ready to revel and celebrate with you."

"But what has Mama said? What has my brother said?" she rushed, fear whispering in.

"What could they say in the face of the Duke of Westleigh and our mother?" he replied easily.

"You don't understand," she said, licking her lips. "My mother said things."

"Yes, I'm sure she did," he replied.

"If I'm honest with you, she questioned my reasoning."

He held her tightly then, pulling her even tighter to him, as if he'd never let her go. Gently, he rested her head upon his shoulder. "No one will ever threaten you again. For any reason. Whether it be their own fear, their own anger, or their own bitterness. You shall always be in a position to defend yourself. I promise you that, Winifred. You are no longer a victim of fate, but someone who makes their own life occur. And you will be able to defend it. And I shall be there by your side while you learn your strength."

She nodded against his shoulder, even as hot tears burned her eyes. "I couldn't bear it, you know. The possibility of having to go back to that little life, not after what I've known with you."

He pulled her back and tilted her face up with his thumb and forefinger at her chin. "Nor should you have to."

"I love you," she whispered.

"And I love you," he said softly. He traced his thumb along her lower lip. "You are mine. Always mine. You have been mine since before I even knew you," he whispered. "We have been each other's through all time. And we will be each other's when time runs out."

Her heart. Oh how her heart soared at those words!

"I was seeking you out all those weeks ago," she said. "And I didn't even know it."

"And now the world will open to you," he assured. "For the world does love a seeker."

"Ajax," she replied, "it already has."

He beamed down at her.

"Now where is my mother and my brother?" she asked with a sigh. "Lest they pop out from somewhere and try to seize me and send me up to Suffolk."

He laughed at that. "There shall be no popping out and seizing," he said. "First, your brother is with my brother, the duke, and they are sorting out all the contractual details and your mother is with mine."

"Do you think your mother can withstand mine?" she groaned.

Ajax threw back his head and laughed. "My mother can withstand anyone. Never you fear. No doubt, at this very moment, your mother is being converted into the way of being a Briarwood."

Her eyes widened. "I can't even imagine such a thing."

"Imagine it," he said. "My mama will have your mama dancing to an entirely new tune by sundown."

She frowned, hardly able to believe that her mother could ever be soft again. Or kind. "I don't know what I will do if she does."

"Do you not wish her to?" Ajax said softly, his gaze searching hers.

She bit her lip, trying to understand her own feelings. "Of course I do, but she has hurt me so terribly. I don't know if I could…"

"You never have to see her again," Ajax said simply.

"What?" she breathed. Surely, that couldn't be true. Her mother had been the driving force of her life for years. She could scarce imagine her out of it.

"If you don't want to, you never have to see your mother again. I promise you that." He tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear. "We can ban her from the house."

She blinked as her eyes began to burn and her throat tightened. "That's not really what I want."

"Then tell me," he whispered softly. "What is it you want?"

"I want her to love me," she rushed. "I want her to be in that line of people that stretches all the way out to the Thames and to Greenwich and beyond. I want her to admire me, not to tolerate me. And I don't know if she can ever do that."

He enfolded her in his arms again.

Oh, the wound of it! How it ached. But she couldn't let the past poison her future. She couldn't let her relationship with her mother twist her relationship with Ajax. She had to find a way to leave that behind.

"I don't know if she will ever be in that line," Ajax said honestly. "But I can tell you this. People are capable of the most immense change, and if she does change, it will be entirely up to you if you allow her in or not. And I will stand by you either way."

She nodded. Tears slipped down her cheeks as relief swept through her. "I'm so…"

"What?" he asked gently, stroking those tears away with his thumbs.

"I don't know," she confessed. "Can one be so many emotions at once?"

"Of course," he said as if she was quite reasonable. "One can feel as if the world is completely turning inside out, be full of bliss, and then, in the next moment, be terrified."

She laughed and wiped at her own tears. "You've named all three emotions perfectly well."

"Whatever you feel," he said, taking one of her tear-stained hands, "I will be holding your hand while you feel it."

"Kiss me," she said, her heart full of love and wonder at this man. "Kiss me."

He lowered his mouth to hers and did as she bid. And as his lips moved over hers in a tender caress, she felt all her cares fall away, replaced by her deep love for him and the passion he always awakened when his mouth took hers.

He lifted his head and gazed down at her with heated eyes. "Now, come with me."

She shook her head, dazed from the kiss and the passion now sparking within her. She had missed him. Even in these short days. She had missed his body, his soul, and the way he made her feel at one with him when they kissed.

"You never have to stay in this house again," he said firmly. "You shall come to Heron House where you belong and wait there for the wedding. And every day you can grow and be yourself and become part of my family. They're all waiting for you."

He grinned. "It was everything I could do to stop Zephyr, Achilles, and Jean-Luc from coming."

She beamed, her heart leaping at the idea. "I would've liked to have seen that. This house would've been under veritable siege," she said.

"And they would have charged to the rescue if needed," he added. "If they feared that you were taken prisoner, that is."

"I almost was," she said with a grimace, "but I never gave up on you, or myself, and I never will. And I have you to thank for that."

"I told you already," he corrected patiently. "That's not actually true. You have yourself to thank."

"I realized that," she said, her lips curling into a slow, self-satisfied smile, "in my battle with my mother. But Ajax, I don't know if I ever would have realized that I could save myself if I hadn't met you."

He tilted her head back and kissed her again. Kissed her for all he was worth, with every bit of love and fire and passion that he had.

And she met him kiss for kiss.

In that wild, all-consuming love, she realized then that the old Winifred, the one who had been so afraid, the one who had tried to hide, was gone.

When the kiss was done, Winifred took his hand and led him out of the foyer, through the door, onto the street and into the light.