huge hands arranging the folds, one of them gently touching the side of my neck as he did so. He let them rest of my shoulders for a moment, heavy and warm, the fingers squeezing ever so slightly, and then he sighed audibly and turned me around to face him. The cloak smelled of his musk, a male perfume that was as heady as the poppies.
"You feel better now?"
"I –I wasn't really cold."
"We must not take the chances. You are barely out of the bed. When I get here this afternoon I summon the doctor.
He comes to see me with the pale face and the shaky knees. He stammers that you are recovered but still maybe a little weak. I pound him on the back and give him a sack of gold coins. I think he almost faints."
"Poor man, you probably frightened him to death."
Count Orlov looked incredulous, as though such a thing was utterly improbable. Me? his eyes seemed to say. Why, I am as gentle as a baby with a heart of purest gold. I couldn't help smiling again, and that pleased him. He took hold of my arms and squeezed them tightly indeed, so tightly that I winced, and then he slung a heavy arm around my shoulder and propelled me toward the trellises, a great, hearty animal full of exuberant spirits.
"We eat now," he told me. "I have my chefprepare a special meal for my English beauty."
"Really, Count Orlov, I-a very light meal is all I -"
He curled his arm closer about my shoulder, half dragging me through the arched trellises, past the herb garden. "We do not argue about it," he said sternly.
"Orlov does not brook the insubordination."
"I am not one of-"
I stumbled, toppling forward. He swung a strong arm around my waist, supporting me. I could feel his hard muscle tighten as he pulled me upright, and I could feel his warmth and smell that musky male perfume as, for a moment, I rested against him.
"You twist the ankle?" he asked.
"I don't think so."
"Me, I forget myself. I am carried away. I am too rough.
Always myoId nurse she says, 'Too rough, Gregory, don't play so rough.' I bloody my brother's nose when I just mean to tap him and break the stableboy's arm when I mean only to tease him."
I pulled away from him, overwhelmed, feeling as though I had been caught up by a force of nature. Orlov looked disturbed
and apologetic. I had lost a number of hair pins. My waves began to slide and tumble. Damn! I thought as I tried to push them back up.
"But no," he protested. "Let the hair down. It is like the liquid copper, so thick, so shiny."
"I don't seem to have much choice," I said as more pins fell to the ground.
I ran my fingers through the heavy waves and pushed them back from my temples while Orlov watched admiringly.
We were standing by the kitchen gardens. It was almost dark. Pale silver stars had begun to glimmer lightly against a dark violet-gray sky. Orlov stood with his legs planted apart, hands resting on his thighs. His white garments gleamed dimly in the dust. His eyes were full of admiration, full of fondness.
"We go in now," he said. "I take your arm gently."
"You don't seem to know your own strength."
"Myoid nurse tells me that, too. 'Gregory,' she says when I knock Alexis to the ground, 'you do not know your own strength.' Alexis is big, too, taller than I am, but always I manage to make him submit when we wrestle as boys. He is better horseman than I am, though," he admitted reluctantly. "Feodor is a better shot than either of us."
"You must have had quite a rowdy childhood."
"Always my four brothers and I are rowdy and rough.
We knock each other about and bash heads and such, but we stick together. We are poor, you see. We often are without shoes, often eat only thin soup and hard bread. It strengthens us though and makes us tough and sturdy."
He had certainly come a long way from his deprived, undernourished
childhood, I thought, and I wondered how
the son of a "fierce soldier" who couldn't always provide shoes for his family had become not only a count but also a man of such incredible
"You feel better now?"
"I –I wasn't really cold."
"We must not take the chances. You are barely out of the bed. When I get here this afternoon I summon the doctor.
He comes to see me with the pale face and the shaky knees. He stammers that you are recovered but still maybe a little weak. I pound him on the back and give him a sack of gold coins. I think he almost faints."
"Poor man, you probably frightened him to death."
Count Orlov looked incredulous, as though such a thing was utterly improbable. Me? his eyes seemed to say. Why, I am as gentle as a baby with a heart of purest gold. I couldn't help smiling again, and that pleased him. He took hold of my arms and squeezed them tightly indeed, so tightly that I winced, and then he slung a heavy arm around my shoulder and propelled me toward the trellises, a great, hearty animal full of exuberant spirits.
"We eat now," he told me. "I have my chefprepare a special meal for my English beauty."
"Really, Count Orlov, I-a very light meal is all I -"
He curled his arm closer about my shoulder, half dragging me through the arched trellises, past the herb garden. "We do not argue about it," he said sternly.
"Orlov does not brook the insubordination."
"I am not one of-"
I stumbled, toppling forward. He swung a strong arm around my waist, supporting me. I could feel his hard muscle tighten as he pulled me upright, and I could feel his warmth and smell that musky male perfume as, for a moment, I rested against him.
"You twist the ankle?" he asked.
"I don't think so."
"Me, I forget myself. I am carried away. I am too rough.
Always myoId nurse she says, 'Too rough, Gregory, don't play so rough.' I bloody my brother's nose when I just mean to tap him and break the stableboy's arm when I mean only to tease him."
I pulled away from him, overwhelmed, feeling as though I had been caught up by a force of nature. Orlov looked disturbed
and apologetic. I had lost a number of hair pins. My waves began to slide and tumble. Damn! I thought as I tried to push them back up.
"But no," he protested. "Let the hair down. It is like the liquid copper, so thick, so shiny."
"I don't seem to have much choice," I said as more pins fell to the ground.
I ran my fingers through the heavy waves and pushed them back from my temples while Orlov watched admiringly.
We were standing by the kitchen gardens. It was almost dark. Pale silver stars had begun to glimmer lightly against a dark violet-gray sky. Orlov stood with his legs planted apart, hands resting on his thighs. His white garments gleamed dimly in the dust. His eyes were full of admiration, full of fondness.
"We go in now," he said. "I take your arm gently."
"You don't seem to know your own strength."
"Myoid nurse tells me that, too. 'Gregory,' she says when I knock Alexis to the ground, 'you do not know your own strength.' Alexis is big, too, taller than I am, but always I manage to make him submit when we wrestle as boys. He is better horseman than I am, though," he admitted reluctantly. "Feodor is a better shot than either of us."
"You must have had quite a rowdy childhood."
"Always my four brothers and I are rowdy and rough.
We knock each other about and bash heads and such, but we stick together. We are poor, you see. We often are without shoes, often eat only thin soup and hard bread. It strengthens us though and makes us tough and sturdy."
He had certainly come a long way from his deprived, undernourished
childhood, I thought, and I wondered how
the son of a "fierce soldier" who couldn't always provide shoes for his family had become not only a count but also a man of such incredible
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