The Paleys (1921-1927) - An Alternate Romanov Story

A Practical Arrangement

Natalia felt a pang of reluctance at the offer put forward by Nicholas but didn't argue. A ride home would indeed make things easier for their return, even if she was reluctant about accepting any favours from this particular person.

Outside, the cool night air hit her, offering a brief sense of clarity. As they waited for Tata, who had disappeared once more to say goodbye to her friends, Natalia found herself alone with him again. The silence stretched between them until Nicholas broke it, in a low and teasing voice.

"Aren't you the least bit curious?"

Natalia frowned, not entirely following what he was trying to say.

"Curious about what?"

Nicholas turned to face her with a playful gaze that was not without its seriousness.

"About what it's like to be kissed."

Natalia felt her legs wobbling slightly at his question and hated how easily he could fluster her. Of course, she was curious. In a couple of weeks, she would turn eighteen, and by that time, Irina had already received a marriage proposal from Feodor. Even Tata, with her discreet manner about such things, had almost certainly kissed someone by now. It wasn't something at the forefront of her thoughts on a daily basis, but it did cross her mind from time to time.

As teenagers, she and Tata had read a fair amount of French novels they weren't, theoretically, allowed even to come close to in her mother's library. Those might have ignited their imaginations a little too strongly, but they led them to imagine all sorts of perfect scenarios where their first kiss would happen. The fantasies had changed over time, but, somehow, they always included cliffs, the wind sweeping over their hair - even though they had already cur theirs into bobs by then - and a rough looking, yet gentle man who would anticipate their every desire and make them feel like the most important person in the face of the Earth.

Over the years, after rejecting various suitors who had come her way, some more appropriate than others, Natalia began to consider whether she was expecting too much of her love life because of that old fantasy. She looked at Irina and Feodor and they seemed perfectly contented, even though their romance was nothing like the dazzling stories she had read in those books. Over the last few months, it had sometimes crossed her mind that, maybe, she should lower her standards, but she wasn't about to let Nicholas, of all people, know that.

"Not really," she replied with forced indifference, her gaze sliding away from him as she tried to push down the warmth rising in her chest.

Nicholas tilted his head slightly, his gaze intent on her in a way that made Natalia's pulse quicken despite herself. The air between them felt charged after the question, as if he was testing the waters, pushing boundaries without ever explicitly saying so.

He leaned in just a little and lowered his voice.

"Are you sure? Because I think you might be... just a little bit curious."

After that, the air between them seemed to thrum, as the strange build-up of energy between them was reaching a new level that was making her feel hyper-focused on his presence, aware of his every movement, of the pleasant musky scent of his cologne, mixed with the grassy smell of his wool coat. She forced herself to meet his eyes, though she hated how vulnerable she suddenly felt under his violet and oddly intense gaze. He kept getting closer as if testing the waters, and though he hadn't made any overt move, she knew exactly what he was trying to do.

"You know, this is the sort of thing you have to see from a practical point of view," he said, in a low voice, which somehow managed to make the moment even more intimate.