Loyal Heart (The Von Wolfenberg Dynasty #1) (18 page)

 
“I’ve heard great things about Saxon hospitality here at Wolfenberg,” Conrad said, rubbing his hands together. Then he winked. “And the
graf’s
daughter is quite a beauty.”

Brandt bristled. Duke or no duke, if Conrad lay a hand on…

Friedrich interrupted. “One more thing before we adjourn. Why don’t you open your letter.”

He’d hoped to find a private moment to peruse the contents so he could gather his thoughts before speaking to Sophia. Now he had no choice. He retrieved the missive, broke the Rödermark seal and unfolded the parchment.

He scanned the first line. It was typical of his father to put great effort into the preamble which made much of his own title, and the date, stressing the year of “King Conrad’s reign”. Brandt’s name didn’t appear.

His mind went blank when he read the terse message. Perhaps the dukes were playing some kind of trick. “I don’t understand,” he said hoarsely.

“What?” Conrad asked.

“Rittenhuis has reneged on the arrangement. Dorothea is to wed someone else.”

Friedrich slapped him on the back, and may have winked. “You’ve had a narrow escape there. Let me explain the tale as your father told it to me a sennight after it happened, bearing in mind he was still livid. We both know he is a man with a temper.”

Brandt clenched his jaw. He refused to be disloyal, no matter his family difficulties.

“When the Rittenhuises discovered you had left for Wolfenberg, they were understandably angry. Your father explained we had sent you here as an envoy and therefore they had no reason to be annoyed. Indeed he believed they should feel honored.”

Brandt had foreseen a confrontation.

“The argument raged on and apparently Dorothea made some disparaging remark about Rödermark honor.”

No surprise
.

“Your father accused her of disloyalty to my brother. Rittenhuis came to her defense. He too can be a volatile man. Your father lost his temper completely and struck out at his friend of more than thirty years with his cane. They left, swearing never to return.”

If Brandt were to give vent to the laughter bubbling up from his chest, he might undo the healing Wendelin had wrought. He’d worried about how to disentangle himself from Dorothea’s clutches. His father’s temper had brought about his freedom.
 

He executed a clipped bow, bursting to share the news with Sophia. “Your pardon, my lords. I must show this letter to a certain count’s daughter.”

This time it was Conrad who slapped him on the back. “Aha! An alliance in the making. What did I tell you, Friedrich?”

LISTEN TO THE TOADS

Brandt nigh on ran to the food pavilion. Impatience thundered in his heart when he discovered Sophia and Kristina entertaining the emperor and the duke. The family also watched the performance, all seated with their backs to Brandt.

He could no longer live that way,

Cut off from the one he loved, for they

Were like the honeysuckle vine…

Sophia’s lovely voice faltered slightly when she caught sight of him brandishing the parchment like a madman. He felt the heat on his face of the blazing torch lit to chase away the gathering darkness. No wonder she’d been alarmed. He must look like the devil incarnate in the flickering flame.

She recovered quickly, but a blush spread from her face to her neck. He was preoccupied with musing on blushing breasts when
Graf
Dieter turned. His frown softened when he saw Brandt. He leaned to whisper in his wife’s ear. She nodded, got up from her seat and came to him. No one seemed to notice. Unable to tear his eyes away from Sophia and finding himself incapable of speech, he thrust the letter into her hands.

Sophia continued to sing, but as she watched her mother her eyes brightened.

He nodded like an imbecile.

Together tree and vine will last,
she sang, so loudly Kristina glanced sideways at her. Heinrich’s son jolted awake. He was saved from falling off his chair by his father’s quick reaction. The duke gathered his heir into his arms. The lad seemed about to settle when the emperor leapt to his feet and led the applause.

The
gräfin
handed the missive back to him. “One less impediment,” she said with a smile.

He’d learned from Sophia that her mother knew what deep love was. His hopes rose that she recognized the bond between him and her daughter.

But his exhilaration was short-lived when she nodded into the shadows and whispered. “Here come the other obstacles now.”

He turned to welcome Conrad and Friedrich. Raining kisses on Sophia’s happy face would have to wait.

~~~

The banquet was a spectacular success, considering bitter enemies dined together. Feeling exhausted, Sophia stood beside her parents and brothers watching the sated dignitaries return to their respective pavilions with their bodyguards.

Everyone breathed more easily when the Wolfenberg servants who’d lit the way called out assurances that
All was well
. It wouldn’t do to have an emperor who may have imbibed a little too much stumble in a rutted field.

Her father kissed his wife’s forehead. “That went as planned, I think,” he gushed. “You did a wonderful job, as always. The smoked salmon was perfect and the sturgeon roe the best ever. Even Duke Heinrich was impressed.”

“We are fortunate to live close to the Elbe,” she replied. “And to be blessed with good cooks.”

It was typical she would refuse sole credit for her contribution to a masterful diplomatic success.

Her father shook hands with Lute and Kon, each in turn. “I was proud of you,” he told them. They grinned and went off arm in arm.

He slapped Johann on the back then kissed Kristina on the cheek. “You will make a wonderful
graf
and
gräfin
,” he said.

She blushed, leaning into her proud husband who bowed as he put an arm around his wife’s shoulders and said, “
Gute nacht
, everyone.”

Her father took hold of Sophia’s hands. “And you, daughter,” he said hoarsely. “You’re a jewel.”

“Thank you, Papa,” she murmured, squeezing his hands. “You are the main reason the evening turned out amicably.”

“I agree,” the man standing at her side said—a man whose touch she craved. She’d surmised the letter brought glad tidings but itched to know what had caused him to lose the lines of worry that seemed to perpetually mar his perfect face.

“Brandt,” her father declared, shaking his hand. “You’re in a difficult position here, but you handled it well. I leave you to put Sophia out of her misery.”

~~~

“Let’s walk in the moonlight,” Brandt suggested, taking Sophia’s arm. “It seems appropriate.”

“For what?” she asked impatiently as he led her away from the servants cleaning up the remnants of the banquet.

Freed from the tyranny of his father’s decisions, Brandt suddenly felt playful. “It brings out the toads near the Elbe,” he teased. “Listen.”

She frowned, but stood still, listening. “You’re right. I’m so used to hearing them…”

He knew he was on dangerous ground when she fisted her hands, but he carried on. “Somehow the aromas of the garden seem more noticeable in moonlight.” He raised his head. “And just look at those stars. Not a cloud in the sky.”

She craned her neck briefly then turned to face him, jaw clenched, eyes narrowed. “What was in the letter?”

He drew out the parchment and smiled. “I am trying to set a mood, and all you are concerned about is…”

She grabbed the missive, opened it and scanned the contents.
 

His heart did a strange flip when the letter’s meaning dawned on her and she glanced up at him sharply. He went down on one knee. “When you hear the tale of how my freedom came about, you will laugh.” He took her hand. “But for now, Sophia von Wolfenberg, I want us to remember the moonlight, the aromas, the stars, even the toads, when we tell our children how I pledged myself to you and asked you to be my wife.”

She swayed, staring at him as if he’d spoken in Greek. An alarming possibility poked at him, churning his gut. “I’ll understand if you’ve had second thoughts about leaving your parents…and your country. We might yet find ourselves on opposing sides in a war.”

She clutched the letter to her breast and looked into his eyes. “I love my family, and I am proud to be a Saxon.”

He got to his feet and took her into his embrace when she swallowed tears. He held his breath, waiting for the axe to fall. It was one thing to profess love when there seemed scant possibility of a union, quite another when irrevocable decisions had to be made. Perhaps he’d misjudged the depth of her feelings for him. If she refused, his legs might not carry him back to his chamber.

She sniffled, her head against his chest. “I can hear your heart beating, Brandt Rödermark, and I am humbled that it beats for me. You are my country. Without you there would be no life. My parents understand that.” She tilted her face to him. “It will be my honor to accept your proposal of marriage.”

THE SUMMER HOUSE

“Kiss me,” Sophia whispered. “I’ve missed your kisses.”

Brandt enfolded her in his embrace, bent his head and hungrily claimed the lips he’d dreamt of tasting again a thousand times. She opened readily to allow his coaxing tongue entry, sucking like a baby sucks at a mother’s breast, humming contentedly all the while.

When she took a breath, he teased her tongue with his and she let him draw it into his mouth. “You taste of
khavyar
,” he rasped when they finally broke apart, both panting.

She craned her neck to look up at the sky. “If we walk to the summer house behind the
 
herb garden, we can watch the stars without hurting your ribs,” she whispered.

He was more interested in feasting on her virgin neck, startlingly white in the moonlight, but had to concede he’d soon need to sit.

She giggled nervously when the door to the little structure squeaked. “We haven’t used it much this summer,” she whispered. “It’s only big just enough for the six of us, and we’ve had so many
visitors
this summer.”

The cheeky grin that accompanied her statement sent blood rushing to his
rute
. “You’re a minx, Sophia,” he rasped, easing onto the wooden bench. “I want to eat you up.”

“Mama has explained to me how that works,” she said innocently as he gathered her onto his lap. “She says it’s very…arousing. I can’t wait to try it.”

It was too dark to see, but he was sure she was blushing, as was he. Indeed fire raced through his whole body and he almost went up in flames entirely when she wriggled. He clamped his hand on her thigh. “You’ll have to keep still,” he growled.

She laid her head on his shoulder. “I’m sorry. I have all the theory of lovemaking, but…”

“Don’t worry,” he somehow managed to say, “I’ll teach you.”

“
Gut
,” she exclaimed, her breath warm on his neck. “I want to learn how to please you.”

He was aware the summer house was located not far from his host’s bedchamber. It was likely they’d wake her parents if he took her now on the planked floor. But if that was out of the question, mayhap…

“Pleasure is for both partners,” he explained, sliding his hand under her skirts and up her thigh. The warmth of her soft skin held a promise he could scarce believe.
 

The breath hitched in her throat. “There’s a pulse,” she whispered, “throbbing for need of you.”

He knew only too well what she meant, but she’d already had explanations and he didn’t want to waste effort on more of them. When he moved her legs a little farther apart his fingers easily found the hard little nub that throbbed for him. He covered her mouth with his as he stroked, her cries of ecstasy echoing in his throat when she arched her back and quickly released. Her wet warmth bathed his hand.

She went limp in his arms as he kissed her nose, her lips, her forehead, her neck. “You are beautiful,” he growled.

“It was even better than Mama foretold,” she murmured with a contented sigh. “Your turn now.”

~~~

Sophia dropped to her knees between Brandt’s legs and nuzzled her nose against the hard bulge at his groin, concerned when he groaned. “Am I not doing it correctly?” she asked.

He leaned forward and cupped her face in his hands. The meagre moonbeams penetrating the wooden slats of the summer-house highlighted the strain on
 
his handsome face, intensifying her worry. “Better than correctly, Sophia, and I’d like nothing more than to have you strip me of my leggings and let me show you how effective your touch is.”

She lay her head on his thigh. “But…”

He drew her back up on the bench and put an arm around her shoulders. “There’ll be a better place and time, when we aren’t worried about disturbing your parents. I might shout out my euphoria if we continue.”

She cuddled into him, smoothing down her skirts. “Euphoria is a good word for what you made me feel. Thank you.”

He pecked a kiss on her head. “You’re welcome, my little Saxon.”

“I’m part Danish too,” she teased.