Loyal Heart (The Von Wolfenberg Dynasty #1) (2 page)

An only child, Kristina relished being included in the boisterous but good-natured quarrels of Sophia and her siblings. She and her friend were like sisters and she thought of the boys as her brothers—except for Johann. Her feelings for him had changed as she’d grown. A little’s girl’s shy crush had turned into a young woman’s awkward infatuation. She became tongue-tied and gauche in his presence. He probably deemed her a clumsy adolescent.

Sobering, she asked, “Where does your papa find these teachers?”

Sophia calmed too, smoothing her skirts. “I don’t know, and speaking of Papa, he and the others are no doubt waiting for us.”

The Von Wolfenbergs gathered in the parlor every evening before dinner. Even the dogs were included. Sophia’s father was a renowned breeder of hovawarts, though only two were kept as family pets. Sophia had told her the story of a hovawart named Vormund saving her father’s life long ago during Cologne’s revolt against Emperor Henry.

Kristina looked forward all week to the gathering, basking in the back-and-forth banter of her friend’s family.

Once the dulcimer had been covered to protect it from dust, they made their way arm in arm to Sophia’s chamber. They washed their hands and checked each other’s hair for wayward strands. Collapsing onto the couch in fits of laughter tended to play havoc with a girl’s coiffure.

Sophia suddenly frowned. “Let’s make a pact,” she said, taking hold of Kristina’s hands. “We must promise to remain friends after we marry.”

Kristina’s throat tightened. The ongoing argument in the Halden household was over a choice of a suitable husband for her now she was seventeen. She swallowed hard. “Have your parents made arrangements for you?”

“
Nein
,” Sophia replied. “They are allowing me a say in whom I marry.”

“You’re lucky,” Kristina whispered.

Her friend shrugged. “It’s all to do with Johann’s mother. My father was forced to marry her because they were betrothed as children. I told you she was mad, didn’t I?”

Kristina’s heart went out to Johann. “
Ja
. It must be difficult for him.”

Sophia eyed her. “It does seem to preoccupy him more and more these days, though I’m sure he has no memory of her.” She winked. “He needs a
 
loving wife to take his mind off it.”

Heat rushed up Kristina’s neck and she feared her face must be as red as a winter beetroot. “
Ja
. Will he be at dinner tonight?” she asked, trying to sound nonchalant as she tucked a wayward lock of hair into place.

Sophia squeezed her hand, a peculiar glint in her eye. “If you married Johann, we would be true sisters.”

Kristina studied her feet, lest her friend discern her dismay. “He doesn’t even like me.”

“You don’t see it, do you?” Sophia asked softly.

“See what?”
 

Sophia put her hands on her hips. “Johann is four and twenty. He has always been the most mature and thoughtful of my brothers—confident, intelligent, well-spoken. Much like Papa in fact.”

Kristina looked into her friend’s eyes. “I agree, so—”

“He is all those things, until you enter a room. Then he turns into a stammering idiot.”

A spark of hope flickered to life in Kristina’s heart. “Do you think he likes me?”

Sophia shoved her. “You’re not listening. Johann is in love with you, just as you are in love with him.”

Thrown off balance, Kristina opened her mouth to protest, but what was the point? Sophia knew her too well. “Is it so obvious?”

“For a long time,” her friend replied. “But you have to tell him how you feel.”

“I never know what to say. I start to sweat. Most unladylike, and, worse still, I want to throw myself at him.”

“My mother would say that’s a sign of alchemy between soul mates.”

Kristina gaped. “You discuss such things with your mother?”

“Of course. My second given name is for my grandmother Agneta FitzRam, who drowned in the White Ship disaster sixteen years ago. She was very open in discussing such things with her daughters, and my mother has made sure I know what to expect when I marry.” Her face reddened. “She’s told me ways to please a man, for example, er—in the bedchamber.”

Kristina grinned, suddenly filled with an urgent desire to learn how to please Johann. He was well muscled, broad shouldered and tall. She had grown up without brothers, but had often conjured vague images of Johann without clothes. She feared she’d never be woman enough for the man of her imagination.
 
“I might have to come to you for advice.”

Sophia beamed back, a finger pressed to her lips. “It will be our secret!”

~~~

Johann paced the hallway outside his sister’s chamber. He teetered on the verge of leaving several times, his gut churning. He might be condemning Kristina to a life of torment. The sound of female laughter eased his misgivings, but they returned in full force when the door opened and two red-faced females halted abruptly, gaping at him. His mind went blank except for an overwhelming compulsion to tuck the errant blonde curl behind Kristina’s ear.
 

I’m possessed.

Sophia was the first to recover. “What are you doing here?” she asked, her sly grin letting him know she was fully aware of the reason for his presence outside her chamber. Even his little sister recognised his infatuation.

Kristina’s blush deepened, so perhaps it was of no importance that his own face was on fire. In fact his entire body burned. What was it about this woman?

He stiffened his shoulders. “I came to escort you ladies to the parlor,” he said lamely.

Sophia eyed him as though he were an imbecile, which he conceded was appropriate. “I don’t need my brother to escort me to the parlor in my own home,” she replied, “though it’s only good manners for you to accompany Kristina. I can’t imagine why it has taken you so long to think of it.”

She swished off in a flurry of silk skirts, nose in the air.

Kristina leaned back against the door frame, looking as nervous as he felt. “
Guten abend
, Johann,” she murmured shyly.

“Good evening,
Fräulein
Kristina,” he replied. “Did you have a good lesson?”

He berated himself inwardly. Her music lessons were important, and he was proud of her mastery of the dulcimer, but why couldn’t he tell her of his feelings, his fears?

The knot in his gut loosened when she beamed a big smile and he caught a trace of her perfume. He inhaled deeply.
Lavendel
.
 

“I love lavender—”

“
Meister
Grigor is like a wind instrument—”

“Sorry,” they exclaimed at once.

Emboldened by the smile, he reached for her hand and brushed a kiss across her knuckles. “I am not usually at a loss for words,” he rasped. “Only with you.”

She pressed her warm fingers against his, ever so slightly, but didn’t withdraw them. “I have the same problem with you.”

Encouraged by a hint of longing in her blue eyes, he said, “It’s strange. After all, we’ve known each other since we were children.”

“But we are no longer children,” she replied in the sultry voice that never failed to arouse him. “And you’ve never kissed my hand before.”

He itched to blurt out a request to kiss her lips, but there was the topic of madness to discuss before things went any further. “There is a matter we must speak of,” he said, sounding too desperate for his own liking.

His heart plummeted when she looked him in the eye and whispered, “I don’t care.”

He gaped like a fish out of water.

“That wasn’t what I meant,” she added hurriedly. “I do care…about you.” She averted her gaze, chewing on her bottom lip. “A lot.”

He’d dreamt many times of taking her into his embrace and begging her to become his wife, but…
 

He cursed his mad mother’s legacy. Dread seeped into his veins. Kristina knew. The happiness that seemed within his reach might yet be snatched away. “You know,” he said hoarsely.

“
Ja
. I’ve known for years,” she said softly. “It doesn’t matter.”

He swayed, but caution still rooted his feet to the planked floor. “Your parents…”

She took a step towards him. “They are snobs. The prospect of their daughter becoming a countess…” Her voice trailed off and she averted her gaze. “But I am being forward.”

She was too close, the faint aroma of her excitement too much for his beleaguered senses. Was it possible she cared for him?

He put his hands on her waist and drew her closer so her breasts brushed against him. He was careful to keep her away from his arousal, lest it alarm her. It was an effort to resist the temptation to brush his thumbs over her pouting nipples.
 

Her eyes widened and to his great delight and relief she stood on tiptoe, curled her arms around his neck and molded her breasts to his chest. With a cat-like whimper she surrendered, thighs to thighs, belly to belly, hips to hips. He was certain she was a virgin, yet she seemed instinctively aware of what the hard flesh pressed against her signified. Perhaps his intuition that she was a woman of passion had been right. The notion did nothing to stem the need surging in his
rute
.
 

He inhaled deeply. “I’ve wanted to hold you like this for a very long time,” he rasped.

“Kiss me,” she whispered. “I’ve waited forever.”

He bent his head and touched his lips to hers. Their welcoming warmth thrilled him. He nibbled her lower lip, biting gently. Still whimpering, she swayed backwards against the doorframe, pulling him with her. She opened her mouth, then flicked her tongue along his lip. He sucked it, elated when her tongue mated with his.

His knees threatened to buckle when she in turn sucked his tongue into her mouth. He recognised in a moment of blinding clarity that this woman was his destiny. “Kristina,” he rasped when the need to breathe broke them apart, “be my wife.”
 

She leaned her forehead against his. “You are the only man I have ever loved, Johann. I will marry you.”

Despite his euphoria, doubt raised its ugly head once more, but he had to be sure she understood the risks. “God willing, our children will be whole and healthy,” he said.

“We will love them anyway,” she whispered.

He cupped her bottom and pressed her to his arousal, elated that doing so felt completely natural. His heart swelled with the certainty that the years ahead would be filled with closeness and trust, in and out of the bedchamber. “You are wise,” he said.

“And patient,” she added.

~~~

Kristina didn’t know what to expect when Johann squeezed her hand reassuringly and led her to the parlor door. She’d entered the cozy room many times before, but always as Sophia’s friend. Would the Von Wolfenbergs consider her a suitable wife for their eldest son?

He leaned over to whisper in her ear, his warm breath sending tendrils of desire up her thighs and thence into a very private place. “They already love you,” he said, nibbling her lobe. “But not as much as I do.”

She’d always believed Johann would be a patient and loving husband, but this was a side of him she’d only imagined. She saw him through different eyes, at once confident and overwhelmed by the certainty that he would be an ardent lover. Perhaps Sophia’s advice wouldn’t be needed. She and Johann would learn how to please each other. Now that they’d admitted their feelings the long pent up desire seemed to be in full control of her body. Even her nipples tingled.

Hoping the lust in her heart wasn’t apparent on her face, she entered the parlor.

Count Dieter stood with his back to the fire. His frown disappeared when he saw them. “I see you have good news, my son,” he said to Johann with a broad smile.

The man she loved puffed out his chest, filling her with pride. “I intend to ask Kristina’s father for permission to marry her.” He glanced at his step-mother. “If no one in this family has any objections.”

Sophia squealed, scrambled out of her chair and hurried to embrace Kristina. “Sister,” she sobbed.

Kristina’s throat constricted and she was in tears by the time the entire Von Wolfenberg family gathered in a happy cluster around them, all voicing their joy.

Johann’s father kissed her on both cheeks. His stepmother hugged her, as did Lute. Kon politely brushed a kiss across her knuckles and smiled his congratulations. Sophia clung to her all the while bouncing up and down, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Lute and Kon punched Johann playfully until their father waved them away and gave his eldest son a bear hug.

Lastly, Johann went into his teary-eyed stepmother’s open arms.

Even Armond and Amara wanted to be in on the celebration, barking and sniffing Kristina’s feet, as if something about her new standing had changed her scent. The notion sent heat rushing to her face.

A polite cough brought everyone’s attention to Manfred. “Dinner is served,” the elderly manservant intoned.

Count Dieter led the way into the dining room, but Johann grasped Kristina’s hand and held her back. “I should warn you,” he rasped, pulling her close so they were nose to nose. “I am quite mad.”