Chapter 15
“Diana,” Alexander murmured softly, his voice still thick with sleep as he buried his face slightly deeper into the warmth of her hair. “If you move again, I shall consider it a betrayal.”
Diana laughed quietly against his chest.
The sound vibrated through him in a way that made his arms tighten instinctively around her waist, pulling her closer against his body beneath the sheets.
Morning light spilled faintly through the curtains of the bedchamber, pale and golden, carrying with it the stillness that lingered in the house before the day had properly begun.
Alexander kept his eyes closed.
For a long moment, he simply remained where he was, his cheek resting against the crown of her head while the slow rhythm of her breathing moved softly against his chest. The warmth of her curled beside him felt dangerously comfortable, the soft silk of her nightgown brushing his bare arm each time she shifted.
He had not expected to wake like this. Not with her tucked so naturally against him, one hand resting lightly against the center of his chest as though she had fallen asleep there without a second thought.
Something inside him had shifted in a way he did not fully understand.
He had woken moments earlier and simply watched her.
The morning light had fallen gently across her face, softening the dark sweep of her lashes against her cheeks and catching along the loose strands of hair that had escaped during the night.
Her expression had been peaceful in sleep, far removed from the controlled composure she carried so easily when she was awake.
And the sight of it had affected him far more than it should have.
Diana stirred slightly in his arms.
“You are awake,” she said quietly.
Alexander exhaled slowly.
“Yes,” he admitted.
Her fingers shifted faintly against his chest.
“And yet,” she continued with quiet amusement, “you appear to have no intention of leaving this bed.”
Alexander tightened his hold around her waist. “That is correct.”
“Alexander.” The way she said his name carried the unmistakable tone of someone who had already anticipated his stubbornness.
He opened his eyes reluctantly. “Yes?”
Diana tilted her head slightly to look up at him, the morning light catching the warm color in her eyes as she studied his expression. “Your grandmother is expecting us at breakfast.”
Alexander closed his eyes again. “That seems… deeply unfortunate.”
Diana’s laughter returned, softer this time, and he felt the small movement of it against his chest like a pleasant warmth.
“She has been awake for hours already,” Diana said. “And if we do not appear soon, she will undoubtedly send someone to investigate.”
Alexander groaned quietly. He shifted slightly beneath the sheets, reluctantly loosening his arms around her, though he made no real effort to move away.
“I dislike mornings,” he muttered.
“You were awake before I was,” Diana pointed out.
“That does not mean I approve of them.”
She pushed lightly against his chest. “Alexander.”
Her tone carried a gentle firmness now. He opened his eyes fully this time and looked down at her.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Diana’s hair was loose around her shoulders, the soft strands catching the morning light in a way that made the sight unexpectedly distracting. The faint flush lingering along her cheeks suggested she was remembering the previous night just as clearly as he was.
Alexander felt a quiet warmth spread through his chest at the thought. He had spent much of the night memorizing the sound of her voice when she forgot to guard it. Memorizing the way she looked at him when she stopped trying to pretend she was unaffected.
The memory alone was enough to make the corners of his mouth lift faintly.
It came back to him with startling clarity: the way Diana’s careful composure had slowly unraveled over the course of the evening until she had been looking at him with that unguarded softness he suspected very few people had ever been allowed to see.
And most vividly of all, he remembered the moment she had stopped trying to hide the way she looked at him. The thought stirred something warm and quietly powerful beneath his ribs, a feeling that felt suspiciously like triumph and something far more intense besides.
“You are smiling,” Diana said suspiciously.
Her voice pulled him back to the present. “Am I?”
“Yes.” Her eyes narrowed slightly as she studied him, clearly unconvinced by his feigned innocence.
Alexander shifted slightly on the pillow, stretching one arm beneath his head with ease as he regarded her. “That is troubling.”
Diana narrowed her eyes. “Why?”
Alexander allowed his gaze to linger on her face for a moment longer than necessary. There was something deeply satisfying in the way the faint flush still lingered along her cheeks, a quiet reminder of the previous night that made the warmth beneath his ribs deepen.
“Because,” he said calmly, “it suggests I am in a remarkably good mood.”
Diana watched him for another moment, clearly considering this answer. Her expression remained skeptical at first, as though she suspected there was something more behind his amusement than he was admitting.
“Remarkably good,” she repeated slowly. “That is a very confident declaration for a man who has not yet faced his grandmother at breakfast.”
Alexander lifted one brow. For a moment, he studied her expression, the mixture of exasperation and lingering warmth in her face making his chest tighten in a way that felt unexpectedly pleasant.
He shifted reluctantly and sat up, the cool air of the room brushing his shoulders as he pushed the covers aside.
Diana followed a moment later, gathering the loose fabric of her nightgown as she rose from the bed. The soft movement drew his attention despite himself, and for a moment, he simply watched her cross the room toward the dressing screen.
The morning light caught along the graceful line of her shoulders, turning the loose strands of her hair to dark silk as she moved.
Alexander forced himself to look away.
“If you continue staring like that,” Diana said from behind the screen, “I shall begin to suspect you have no intention of leaving this room today.”
“That is not inaccurate,” he replied mildly.
There was a brief pause. Then Diana laughed again.
“You realize,” she said, “that if we delay much longer, grandmother will assume the worst.”
Alexander considered that. “I suspect she already has.”
“Yes,” Diana admitted. “That is precisely why we should hurry.”
Diana stepped out from behind the screen a few minutes later, fully dressed, her hair pinned neatly once again, though a few rebellious strands still framed her face.
They stepped into the corridor together, the quiet hallways of Rosewood House slowly stirring with the first movements of the morning staff.
By the time they reached the breakfast room, the doors were already open. Lady Salford sat at the head of the table with a cup of tea in one hand and a look of deep satisfaction on her face.
She did not even attempt to hide the way her eyes moved slowly between them as they entered.
“Well,” she said pleasantly.
Diana paused as Alexander pulled out her chair.
Lady Salford lifted one brow the moment they entered the breakfast room. “How radiant you both appear this morning.”
Alexander felt Diana stiffen beside him almost instantly.
He glanced sideways just in time to see the faint color rising along her cheeks, the warmth spreading upward from her throat in a way that confirmed his suspicion that her grandmother’s observation had landed exactly where it was intended.
Alexander, however, found the remark unexpectedly amusing.
He pulled out her chair before taking his own seat beside her, aware that Lady Salford’s sharp eyes were following the movement with the unmistakable attention of someone who had already decided she knew precisely what she was observing.
“We slept well,” he said, the words coming easily.
And they were, he reflected privately, entirely accurate.
Lady Salford made a slow, thoughtful sound over the rim of her teacup. “I imagine you did.”
Alexander felt Diana shift beside him again, the subtle movement of her shoulders suggesting she was trying very hard not to react too strongly to the direction the conversation was already taking.
“Grandmother—” Diana began.
“Oh, my dear,” Lady Salford said lightly, waving one hand as though dismissing the protest before it could properly begin. “Do not look so scandalized. Married couples occasionally enjoy each other’s company.”
Alexander lifted his coffee cup, hiding the faint curve of amusement threatening to appear at the corner of his mouth.
The memory of the previous night lingered vividly in his mind, far too vivid to ignore entirely. The warmth of Diana beside him when he had woken, the quiet softness in her expression before she had remembered herself, the way she had said his name when she realized he was already watching her.
The thought alone made something settle pleasantly in his chest.
“It was,” he said thoughtfully, lowering the cup again, “a very enjoyable evening.”
The effect of this remark was immediate. Diana turned toward him with wide eyes, and Lady Salford nearly choked on her tea.
Alexander watched the reaction with mild curiosity, though inwardly he found the entire situation far more entertaining than he had expected breakfast to be. He had no particular intention of embarrassing Diana, but he also saw no reason to pretend.
“What?” he asked calmly.
Lady Salford slowly set her cup down. She studied him for a long moment with an expression that suggested she was reconsidering several assumptions she had made about him.
“You are remarkably direct,” she said at last.
Alexander leaned back in his chair slightly, allowing himself a moment to observe both women across the table.
Diana still refused to meet his eyes. He suspected she was debating whether to kick him under the table.