"I love that sound," he said against her lips, sucking her bottom lip.
"I love it when you make me make that sound."
That earned her a full smile from Nikolai. A rare and beautiful sight. He released her from his grip, setting her lightly on her feet, then looped the satchel he'd been holding over his shoulder and let it drop to the snow. He opened the drawstring and pulled out a square package wrapped in brown paper with a rope tie and held it out to her.
"What's this?"
"Open it."
Looking up at him from beneath her lashes, she held it close for it had some weight to it, then she pulled the bow and unwrapped the crinkly paper. She gasped when she saw the vibrant, scarlet material.
"Oh, Nikolai."
He lifted it from her hands, the wrapping falling away, and let the material unfold open. A gorgeous red cloak, finely made with a white silk lining and small stitching.
"I had her put in pockets for you as I know how your hands get cold."
Sienna stood and stared at him with adoration as he held it out for her to put on.
"Let's see how it looks."
She turned around and let him drape it warmly over her shoulders. He then fitted the silver clasp at the neck and lifted the hood up over her head. It felt luxuriously soft and cozy.
"Now then," he said, reaching a hand in to brush the apple of her cheek with his knuckles. "Almost perfect."
"Almost? I'd say that it is perfect, but Nikolai, you didn't have to go to all that trouble and-"
He lifted a red velvet box from his pocket and opened it. Sienna hitched in a breath, not quite grasping what she was looking at.
"How did you know … Is this the one … ?"
"I know, because I made it my business to know what had caught your attention so thoroughly that day at the market. And yes, it is the very one you beheld … then put back."
"I can't accept it," she said. "It's too expensive."
He chuckled and removed the diamond pendant of the wolf running with a shining ruby twinkling for the eye. He unclasped it and lifted her hair with the back of his hands on either side of her neck, dipping his head forward to latch the necklace while she continued to protest.
"Nikolai, I know that you're no longer earning wages from the Glass Tower. I won't accept something so extravagant. The cloak was unnecessary as it is. Now, we can take this back to the jeweler in Hiddleston. I'm sure he'll understand."
He finished latching it on her neck, then cupped her face and pressed a swift kiss to her lips, delving deep with his tongue.
She gripped the fabric of his coat at the shoulders and held on till he was finished, which wasn't for several minutes.
"It is a gift, Sienna. You will accept it."
"It's too much."
"It isn't enough." He brushed his thumb down her cheek and across her lips. "Nothing will ever be enough. But I will give you what I can. And you will accept it. This makes me happy."
"But the expense-"
"Sweetheart," he said on a chuckle. "Do you remember that I spoke of my father with a smallish estate in the east the other night?"
"Yes. I remember."
"He left it to me, of course. And I might've exaggerated in its smallish state."
"Really? How much exaggeration?"
"It's not small at all. It's rather large."
Sienna quirked a brow. "How large?"
He glanced up at the sky as if measuring. "I'd say about the size of Winter Hill. But with larger gardens."
Sienna's mouth went slack. "You're joking, aren't you?"
"No." He shook his head. "My father was well respected and earned the respect of King Grindal. The king compensated him for his loyalty when he retired from the king's guard."
Sienna brushed that wayward lock of unruly hair that always seemed to fall over his brow. "I'd love to see it one day."
"You will. When this war is over, I plan to marry you and take you there. I know you prefer the forest, but I'd like you to see it all the same."
Sienna's chest clenched as her face slackened for the second time. "Marry?"
His lips firmed and brow pinched together. "Unless … that is, if you want to stay here and keep things as they are, I'll understand. I'll stay-"
She leapt up and wrapped her arms around him with a laugh, her hood slipping to her shoulders.
He folded her in a tight embrace, molding her to his body, and dipped his face into her hair.
"Would you like that?" he asked on a husky whisper.
"I'd love that." She nuzzled into his neck. "You want to marry me," she said as a statement not a question.
They remained wound together. "My father had a chapel built on our land. There's a wall of glass behind the altar so that moonlight would bathe my mother when he married her there in their midnight ceremony." He pulled away, piercing her with his burning gaze. "I would like to marry you there."