The Bride and the Brute
A Medieval Romance Novella
By Laurel O’Donnell
Smashwords Edition
Copyright © 2011 by Laurel O’Donnell
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All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems – except in the case of brief quotations in critical articles or reviews – without permission in writing from its author, Laurel O’Donnell.
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious or are used fictitiously. Apart from well-known historical figures, any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.
This eBook also contains Bonus Previews of other books by Laurel O’Donnell.
The Angel and the Prince Bonus Preview
Champion of the Heart Bonus Preview
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Chapter One
England, 1392
The stone statues in the chapel towered high above Jayce Cullen’s head, their cold, chiseled arms outstretched in welcome, their sculptured eyes empty of emotion as they stared at her. But even though the ghostly white men and women were hewn from lifeless rock, Jayce felt more warmth emanating from them than from her future husband. She cast a quick, sideways glance at Lord Reese Harrington. He was tall, taller than her father by six inches. His broad shoulders were four of her hand’s breadth wide, tapering to a slim waist. His thighs were hidden by his black tunic, and his legs were concealed by black hose. Standing near the white statues, his black clothing made him appear like some dark angel. He was dressed more as if he were in mourning than celebrating marriage to his wife.
Wife. The term rocked her body with anxiety. Lord Reese Harrington’s wife. Jayce studied his strong profile, the downward turn of his brooding lips, the slight flaring of his nostrils, his narrowed blue eyes. It should have warmed Jayce’s heart that he had chosen her. But it did not. Something was wrong. He had shown her no more than polite disdain when they had met moments before. As a matter of fact, he had only inclined his head slightly at her in a mockery of a greeting before whirling and preceding her through the chapel doors. Not quite the greeting Jayce had hoped for. What was it she had hoped for? Did she want him to kiss her hand? To smile, perhaps?
Yes! She had wanted to know the man she was marrying was more than the wealthy, powerful, womanizing lord she had heard about. She wanted reassurance that once he came to her bed, there would be no others. She wanted reassurance that her life with him would be a happy one. She dropped her gaze to her clasped hands. That had not happened.
Wealthy. Powerful. Womanizing. That wasn’t all she had heard about Lord Reese. The final piece of gossip that had reached her ears was the most troubling. She had heard he swore off marriage, vowing never to be troubled with a wife. She wondered what had changed his mind. When her father had joyously come to her with Lord Reese’s acceptance of his marriage proposal and told her he was giving his blessing to the union, well, she couldn’t say much. And now, standing before the eyes of God, she could say even less.
Why had he chosen her?
“Get on with it!” Reese rumbled at the chaplain, his voice thundering through the chapel like an angry curse.
Startled, it was all Jayce could do not to jump and flee down the aisle. She turned and cast her father a wary gaze. He sat in the first pew, the only man other than the chaplain and Reese in the chapel. She saw her father’s clenched jaw relax, then he gave her his most reassuring smile.
“Yes, yes,” the chaplain stuttered. He dabbed the top of his head with a cloth he held clutched in a trembling hand. “Well, then, I pronounce you man and wife.”
Jayce started to turn a cheerful smile on Reese, but he seized her wrist, storming down the aisle. She had to run to keep up with him. He flung the doors of the chapel open with an angry shove and moved into the inner ward.
Jayce barely had time to notice the peasants halting their work to glance at them. A man just outside the blacksmith’s shop stopped his hammering to raise his eyes, his tool frozen in mid-strike. He shook his head and continued with his work. An alewife glanced out the window of the brewery, ignoring the amber liquid that had just splashed all over her arm. A small child scampered out of Reese’s path, her large brown eyes wide with fear. For a fleeting instant, Jayce wondered why anyone was working at all; wasn’t it a holiday when the lord married? But embarrassment welled up inside her, forcing the thought aside.
Reese pulled her into the great hall and up a set of spiraling stairs. “Where are we going?” she managed to choke out.
Reese didn’t reply. He kicked open a door, and it banged loudly as it slapped against the wall. He all but hurled her into the dark room. The little bit of sunshine shining into the room through its only window illuminated only a corner of it. Jayce gasped at the sight of a four-poster bed with an enormous mattress filling its wide frame. Rich, blood-red velvet curtains hung from the top, draping down the sides, cloaking the bed’s heart in deeply shadowed mystery. It was a magnificent bed, the biggest she had ever seen.
She whirled to Reese to find him undoing the belt around his waist. Horrified, she looked around nervously, searching the room’s dark shadows as if they could somehow hide her. She knew it was his right to take her, but she had hoped they could get to know each other. She had hoped he would give her time. Now, she knew he would give her nothing.
“Lord Reese...” she ventured, her voice sounding strangely hoarse in her own throat. “Perhaps we could---” Her voice died completely, strangled into silence, as he lifted his eyes to her.
The belt dropped from his fingers to fall to the floor.
Jayce’s heart hammered her chest; she couldn’t get enough air. A flash of light caught her eye and her gaze locked on his right hand. She saw what she hadn’t seen before. A small dagger glimmered in the shaft of sunlight. Reese approached her and she backed away quickly. What was he doing? Was he going to kill her? She held her hands out before her as if to ward him off, but she knew the thought of fighting him was absurd. If he wanted her dead, who was there to offer any kind of resistance? She was no match against his strength.
The backs of her knees slammed into the bed frame, and she fell over onto the mattress. She quickly propped herself on her elbows, waiting for him to come forward and take what was now rightfully his. For a moment, she saw nothing but a wall of dark shadows before her. Her mouth was dry; her hands were moist and slick. Then, he emerged from the darkness like a ghost, stepping into the sunlight, the black shadows sliding from his shoulders as if he were shedding a dark cloak. For a moment, she thought she saw satisfaction in his blue eyes, but then grim resolve filled his face. He stretched his left arm out over her, his hand in a fist. Jayce cringed back, pushing herself into the mattress. Was he going to strike her?
He held the dagger out over her.
Or was he really going to kill her? A scream welled up in her throat.
Reese pushed the sleeve of his tunic up over his elbow, baring his strong forearm. Then, he pressed the tip of the blade to his skin, slicing a small line down his arm.
Jayce half rose, crying out, “Don’t!” But the blood trickled over his arm and dripped down onto the sheets beside her face. She lifted her astonished gaze from the dark red blood to meet his steely blue eyes. For a long moment, they locked gazes, hers filled with questions, his resolve.
He set the dagger down on a table beside the bed.
Jayce rose off the bed, grabbing a towel from the same table, and turned, reaching out to his arm. Reese snatched the towel free from her grip as if her touch would be unbearable. He hurled the towel into the dark shadows of the far corner.
Shocked and confused, Jayce watched Reese roll his sleeve down to cover his cut. He stepped past her to the bed and ripped the sheets from the mattress. He was angry with her for something. But what had she done? They hadn’t exchanged two words! Without a second look at her, he marched to the door, yanking it open.
Her father stood in the open doorway, turning surprised eyes to Reese. Reese shoved the stained sheets into her father’s arms.
Jayce felt the heat suffuse her cheeks and for a moment had to look away. Her father was making sure the marriage had been consummated. She should say something. She should tell her father the truth. She lifted her eyes in time to see the look of surprise fade from her father’s blue eyes to be replaced by suspicion. His jaw tightened, and he snapped his eyes to lock with his daughter’s. “Jayce?” her father queried.
She should tell him Reese chose to shed his own blood instead of her virgin’s blood. She should tell her father the truth. But then she felt Reese’s hot stare on her. The impact of his gaze sent shivers down the length of her body. He was her husband. Her loyalty was to him now. “Yes, Father,” she lied.
Her father’s fist seemed to relax in the sheet, and he whirled, taking it with him. “It is done,” he proclaimed, and marched down the hall.
Jayce watched him go, sadness creeping into her spirit, putting a cloud of melancholy over what should have been the most joyous day of her life. Her father had left her in a strange castle. He had abandoned her to a man she didn’t know. And he hadn’t even said good-bye.
Jayce tried to lift her chin as she turned her back on her father, but her head felt heavy and it was a struggle just to get her chin away from her neck. She knew she had to be strong to face her future. She wasn’t a child anymore. She had been raised to be lady of a castle, to marry a man of her father’s choosing. She was prepared for this.
As she turned from her previous life to face her new life, she locked eyes with a set of angry blue ones. What she wasn’t prepared for was her husband.
He seized her wrist, hauling her back into the bedroom, and slammed the door shut.
Chapter Two
Reese faced Jayce’s startled expression with a heart of stone. It wasn’t that she was ugly. He had seen far, far less pleasant faces to gaze upon. It wasn’t her tiny body. Her shape was indeed quite curvy and could very well make the stoutest of men desire to protect and shelter her.
It was that she was a liar. He shook her slender wrist. His anger was fierce, his emotion lashing the air around them like a storm wind. “Why did you lie to your father?” he demanded. He squeezed her wrist tightly as he gazed into her innocent blue eyes. Innocent. He scowled at the thought. She was anything but. No innocent could lie that easily, could make her false expressions so believable.
He could see confusion and apprehension in those large sapphire eyes. But no fear. Reese scowled. No fear? he thought. Men greater than she have trembled before my wrath.
She parted her lips and they moved. It was a moment before he realized she was speaking. “You are my husband,” she said simply.
Husband. The word sent tremors of horror and anger up his spine. He tossed her arm aside and whirled, moving for the door.
“Wait!” Her voice sounded desperate.
He halted, straightening his shoulders.
“I-- Have I done something to displease you?” she asked.
Reese whirled on her, his fists clenched tight, his eyes wide in absolute disbelief. “Displease me?” he echoed, hotly. “Yes! You married me!” With that, he stormed from the room, leaving her completely alone.
He didn’t care if she fled the castle. He didn’t care if he never saw her again. This entire marriage was a farce. He didn’t care for the woman. He didn’t love her. And he had vowed long ago he would not marry unless he loved the girl.
His father had married his mother for her lands; not an uncommon union, but one empty of affection or devotion... or love. His father had married for fields of wheat, rolling hills, and cattle pastures. There had been no love between his parents. And Reese had seen the terrible consequences of that.
All his life he heard pieces of the servants’ gossip, whisperings of his mother’s infidelity. He hadn’t believed it. Didn’t want to believe it. Any of it.
But when he was eight years old he witnessed something that forever left a scar on his heart.
He had been walking through the castle’s halls when he saw his mother in a dark alcove, laughing quietly. He heard the whispering of a man’s low voice coming from the darkness and assumed it was his father. He started to run toward them, to tell them about the grand adventure he had exploring the guards’ barracks, but then stopped abruptly as he saw his mother step from the alcove. She adjusted her dress, her hand resting casually on the chest of a man, a man who was not his father.
Reese’s jaw and fists clenched at the bitter memory. The pain had long since receded, but the anger was still fresh in his mind. After that, stories circulated throughout the castle of her liaison with a baron. Rumor had it there had been a wandering gypsy amongst her numerous lovers as well.
He had been too ashamed to mention any of this to his father. But his father eventually discovered his mother’s treachery. Reese had been eleven years old when he had awoken to shouts and screams. He had raced from his room to find his mother, half-dressed, standing in the middle of the hallway. His father faced another man, a man clad only in leggings, their laces untied. Reese shook his head, remembering the disgust in his father’s eyes as he turned to look at his wife. Then, his father turned his back on her and challenged the man to a duel. Reese remembered feeling a surge of pride for his father as he confronted the bastard who had bedded his wife under his very nose.
But his pride was very short-lived. His father died the next day on the field of honor. An honorless man.
Their mother had tried to raise Reese and his sister, Nicole, but she was not very good at it. Reese wanted nothing to do with her anyway, and he and Nicole ended up looking after each other. Their mother died in childbirth eight months after their father’s death, leaving them a brother to raise as well as themselves.
At the age of twelve, Reese had become lord of the castle.
He had planned to take his time and find a woman he could love, a woman who could love him, a woman he was destined to marry. Not this.
As he stormed down the hallway, servants paused in their tasks to glance in his direction and shake their heads. Reese greeted their sympathetic looks with a guttural growl. He paused only long enough to snarl at one of the servants, “Have James sent to me.”
He entered his den, slamming the door shut on prying eyes. He prowled the room for a moment, thinking of his sister. He slapped his palms on the ledge of the window, looking out over the darkening skies toward Lord Cullen’s lands. So help Cullen if Nicole was not returned safely. He would storm Cullen’s castle himself and find his sister.
Reese shook his head in disgust. Forced into marriage.
A loveless marriage. The thought made him sick. But he would not risk the life of his sister. Not for all the threats on the earth. Cullen had repeatedly petitioned him to marry his daughter, Jayce. After three refusals, Reese had put the matter out of his mind. A mistake he realized only too late.
Nicole vanished from the castle grounds a few days after his final refusal.
A missive arrived shortly after Nicole’s disappearance, announcing that Lord Cullen would have Reese marry his daughter, or the health of Nicole would be at stake.
Why would a father do that to his daughter? Reese didn’t know, and he didn’t care. The deed was done. Nicole was his primary worry.
Suddenly, a knock sounded at the door. Reese granted entrance, and a slim, elderly man entered the room. His haughty demeanor gave him the aura of nobility instead of the head castle servant he was. He wore a stylish sleeveless doublet of grayish purple and a white shirt beneath that. His leggings were black, and his leather shoes curled at the toes.
“James,” Reese ordered the man, “have Rogue saddled. I’m riding out to the borders to see if I can see my sister coming.”
“I suppose you’ll sleep out there, too?” James wondered in a disdainful, sarcastic voice.
Reese would take that arrogance only from James. The man had been with him since he was a child. He respected James. And liked him immensely. “If I knew the road they were taking.”
“If you don’t mind my saying, sir,” James said.
“That never stopped you before, why should it now?”
James’s eyebrow rose slightly. “Your wife awaits you in your chambers.”
Reese’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t have a wife.”
James bowed contemptuously. “As you wish, m’lord,” he answered stiffly, and departed the room.
As soon as Nicole is home safely, I will right this entire fiasco, Reese vowed silently. He picked up the note he had begun earlier and scanned the words, nodding in satisfaction.
Chapter Three
Jayce changed into a simple gown of blue velvet and sat on the bed for a long time, wondering if Lord Reese would return. She tried to put her rebellious hair into a horned headdress, but without help she couldn’t get the dark strands beneath the metal. So, she settled for a braid wrapped about her head. She wondered if she was supposed to wait for Reese in the room.
So much for a happy marriage, she thought. He hated her. It was apparent her husband didn’t wish to have anything to do with her. But why had he chosen her then? Why had he picked her to marry? She glanced around the room. It was dark; if it weren’t for the candle burning on a table, she would not be able to see a thing. She picked the candle up and moved through the unfamiliar chambers.
Servants had arrived earlier to tidy up the room, making the bed, changing the water in the basin.
Jayce stared at the immaculate bed piled with warm furs and blankets. Thick red velvet curtains hung from the ceiling over it. She touched one of the curtains reverently, as if it would reveal the many secrets of her new husband if she coaxed it gently enough.
Lightning shot through the sky, making her jump. She dropped the candle and it hit the floor, rolling across its wooden surface. Ever since she was a child, storms had terrified her. Jayce’s mother had died amidst a horrendous thunderstorm. She remembered kneeling at her mother’s bedside, holding her cold, clammy hand while deafening claps of thunder attacked her ears and white-hot flashes of lightning assaulted her eyes. She remembered crying out for her mother and for the first time in her life not hearing her answer.
The large crack of thunder boomed in her ears, echoing in the room. Jayce glanced around the blackness, her eyes wide, her hands clutching at her elbows. Her father had stayed with her through storms such as these, but now he was gone.
Wind swirled in from the open window, billowing the red curtains around her like fingers stretching, reaching to grab her. She stepped away from the curtain and smacked her head on one of the bedposts.
The searching wind found the candlelight and extinguished it, plummeting the room into a terrifying darkness. For a moment, Jayce couldn’t move, could barely get her breath. The blackness clawed at her heart, threatening to drag her down into its bottomless abyss.
The wind continued to whip through the room. The curtains of velvet, now gloved fingers of doom, encircled Jayce’s flailing arms, her ankles. She fought her invisible foe, the feeling of entrapment embroiling her senses. She jerked free of its hold, pulling so hard she banged into the table, knocking it over. Glass shattered and she stepped away, blindly, until her back hit the cold stone wall.
Two bolts of lightning ripped jagged holes in the sky, bringing with them twin blasts of thunder.
Fear gripped her heart in a taloned fist, and Jayce slowly sank to the floor. She encircled her knees, rocking slightly back and forth. She whispered soothing words to herself, words her father had murmured to her.
She was terrified. Confused. She buried her face in the dress at her knees.
Abandoned.
Chapter Four
When Reese returned from the border patrols, he was soaked through to his skin and his mood was darker than when he had left. He had found no sign of Nicole, no indication that her return was imminent.
He returned to his chambers, candelabra in his hand. Outside, a distant grumble of thunder faded quickly into silence. The damn storm was finally abating after raging for hours.
As he moved into the room, his foot skidded on a candle lying in the middle of the floor, throwing Reese backward. He almost fell, but caught his balance with a flail of his arm. He cursed. He’d have to speak to his servants about being so sloppy. He moved to the bed, but before he could partake of its luxurious comfort, his booted foot sloshed in a pool of water. His gaze slid to the window. A soft breeze rippled the now soggy curtains of his bed. He moved to the window and pulled the shutters closed, cursing the servants again. Then, he turned to the bed, this time managing to set his bottom on it. He sighed and reached out to place the candelabra on the table…
… and nearly dropped it when its base did not encounter the nightstand that should have been there.
“God’s blood!” he murmured. “What now?” He rose to his feet and took a step toward the empty space where the table had once stood. His foot crunched on something, and he paused, realizing it was broken glass beneath his boot sole. His foggy, tired mind instantly came alive. His hand moved for the hilt of his sword.
The image of the woman he had left alone in his bedchamber rose in his mind. Jayce. Even if she was only a Harrington in name, she was still a Harrington. Had someone dared to attack her? It would be an unforgivable insult if something had happened to her.
The bed was unslept in, the covers unmoved. He shifted his gaze to the closed window, then the broken glass. Had there been a struggle? His eyes frantically searched the darkness. Had she left the room? Forcibly?
“Jayce?” he called.
Silence answered him.
He took a step deeper into the darkness and the candlelight washed over the hem of a blue dress tucked away in a far corner of his room. Reese lurched forward, his fist clenched tight around the base of the candelabra, until the candlelight encircled Jayce in its glow. She sat slumped at the bottom of the wall, her head slouched-over on her shoulder, her arms limp at her sides.
Rage engulfed him. Has someone dared to harm her? he wondered incredulously as he knelt at her side. Without taking his eyes from her, he set the candelabra down on the floor. A stray strand of brown hair fell over her cheek, its darkness contrasting sharply against her pale skin.
Then, something tickled the inside of his stomach. Something he had never felt before and refused to acknowledge. He reached out and touched her hand. It was like ice. He engulfed her small fingers with his large hand, trying to warm them. Her fingers twitched, then curved around his, and he knew she was alive.
He scooped her into his arms, and she stirred, tossing her head, calling, “Father?” Reese gently placed her in his bed, noticing how the large bed made her appear tinier than she was. He pulled away from her, but her arms reached out, encircling his neck. Reese froze, unsure of what to do. He could pry her arms from his neck. He could settle next to this stranger and hold her. Or he could search her body for wounds.
“The storm,” she whimpered.
Reese felt her body tremble. A flash of lightning lit the night sky as if summoned by her words. He leaned close to her to duck beneath her arms. When his cheek brushed hers, he was startled to find the moisture there.
Guilt twisted his gut. Had he caused her this anguish? He ripped free of her hold, telling himself it didn’t matter. She was not his concern.
Her head fell back against the pillows, her cold hands leaving a path of ice along his cheek and neck. Instinctively, his hands skimmed her body, searching for wounds. But it wasn’t wounds he found. It was a shapely, strong figure. His hands fluttered over her slender neck, down her curvy sides, across her flat stomach and down her slender legs. Searching for blood, he told himself. In the dark, he could not see if she was hurt. His fingers moved back up over her legs. They were so smooth and sleek. He wondered what they looked like.
Reese had to jerk himself from her, pulling his hands away from her body as if she had suddenly burst into flames. His own body responded instantly to touching her. Disgusted at his primeval response, he told himself it was nothing but the wanting of a woman. He could sate his desires on a willing servant wench later. Reese pulled the cover up over her body, concealing it beneath the fur, hiding it from his hungry gaze.
Jayce groaned and tossed her head, and he shifted his eyes to her face. He could see the moisture on her cheeks as her tears glistened in the candlelight. He stepped closer and pressed a palm against her skin, fearing she was feverish. Her skin was cool against his hand. At his touch, she seemed to quiet and settle into the bed. Reese couldn’t help cupping her gentle chin and stroking her cheek with his thumb.
Her eyes fluttered and opened slightly, revealing a teasing glimpse of her deep blue orbs. In the candlelight, he was amazed at how startlingly blue they were, deeper than the richest sapphire he had ever seen. He thought he heard her sigh before she closed them again. The flickering light from the candelabra gave her cheeks a healthy glow, the vibrancy of life. Where before her skin had been so cold and pale, it seemed his touch had roused the vigor inside her. He was startled at the transformation, startled and somewhat delighted. A spark lit in his chest, warming his entire being.
I must be so tired I am hallucinating, he thought. No woman could possibly be that beautiful. In the light of day, her beauty, her vibrancy, will fade, and she will be just like the rest of the women. A small, weak thing that needs protection. My protection.
Exhaustion finally claimed him, and he stumbled back into a chair near the wall. He fell asleep quickly, a twisted resolve settling over his dark features.
Chapter Five
A warmth touched her cheeks, and Jayce instinctively turned her face toward it. But when a painfully bright light lit her closed lids, she groaned and turned away, drawing the blanket over her head.
A clucking noise greeted her movement. “You can’t lounge around in bed all day, m’lady,” a male voice said.
At first she thought it was her father, but she knew this couldn’t be. Her father would let her sleep. Then, she remembered where she was.
And who she was.
Instantly, Jayce jerked the sheets from her head and sat up, prepared to meet her husband’s disapproving gaze. Instead, her eyes came to rest on a thin man bent over near the fallen table, carefully collecting the broken glass.
She flung the blankets from her and swung her legs out of the bed. What would Reese think of her if she slept all day? She was lady of the castle now, and needed to rise with the sun. She sighed slightly. She was used to staying up late and sleeping late. She would have to remedy that.
She froze as her feet touched the floor. How had she gotten into bed? She remembered the storm and trembled slightly. She also recalled a gentle touch, someone tucking her into bed.
The man cleared his throat and she turned to him. “My name is James, m’lady,” he introduced. “I was instructed to aid you.”
“By Lord Reese?”
“No,” James answered standing before her. “By Lady Nicole.”
*****
“I can’t believe you left her there. Alone!”
Reese watched Nicole pace the room. Her blond hair shimmered hotly in the sun’s rays with each angry turn. Her brows angled down over sparkling blue eyes; her tiny fists clenched with rage. His sister had finally been returned safely, as Cullen had promised, and Reese felt relief despite her fury at his treatment of the girl he had wed.
“No one to help her. No one to tend her needs!” Nicole whirled, pinning Reese with an angry glare. “Do you want her to think her husband is a brute?!”
Reese’s eyes narrowed slightly. “I don’t care what she thinks of me.”
Nicole waved a small, impatient hand at him, as if she were waving away an annoying gnat. “You are a brute. How can you treat her like that?”
“How can you ask me that?” Reese roared, straightening to his intimidating height. “You were the one kidnapped! You were the reason I was forced to wed the girl! If it wasn’t for you---!”
“Don’t start with me, Reese Harrington,” Nicole retorted in a motherly tone, marching up to him. She was a full head shorter than he was, but managed to match him glare for glare. “I’m sure it pricked your manly pride when I was spirited away from beneath your nose.”
Reese ground his teeth. “And now I have another helpless female to watch and to protect!”
“Not just another female, Reese. Your wife!” Nicole jabbed her finger into Reese’s chest.
“I didn’t ask her to be my wife! I don’t want her to be my wife! For all I know she---”
The sound of someone clearing his throat loudly made them turn to the arched entranceway to the room. James stood slightly behind Jayce, his disinterested gaze focused somewhere in the middle of the room.
Nicole dropped her mouth slightly, her cheeks flaming.
Reese stood with his fists clenched, staring at Jayce’s large blue eyes. He saw the hurt flash in those eyes for a moment and thought that surely she was going to burst into tears, forcing him to comfort her.
But for a long moment, Jayce didn’t move, meeting his gaze with a pained resolve. Then, with all the dignity of a queen, she slowly turned and left the room.
Reese and Nicole stood silently in the room, staring after the woman. Reese knew he should go after her, and took a step to do just that, then stopped suddenly. What would he do when he caught up to her? Tell her his words were the truth?
Nicole whirled on her brother, her blue eyes full of disgust and anger. “I pity her for being married to you,” she said, and raced out the door after Jayce.
Reese cursed silently and ran a hand through his thick locks. He lifted his gaze to find James standing in the doorway, staring at him. “What are you looking at?” Reese snapped.
James’s eyebrow rose slightly before Reese hurried past him, out of the room.
Chapter Six
Nicole knocked at the door. When there was no answer after several more knocks, she swept into the room. Jayce sat at the window, staring out over the pastures. She barely looked up, and Nicole noticed the way her shoulders sagged. Her heart ached for the woman. “I’m Reese’s sister, Nicole,” she said. “I am terribly sorry about the way my brother has been treating you.” Unnerved by Jayce’s silence, Nicole walked to stand beside her, peering out the window, following her gaze. A black horse, as black as the darkest night, ran wildly within a fenced-off area, snorting like some possessed demon. Nicole returned her gaze to Jayce. “I do so hope you like your life here,” Nicole said earnestly. “I’d like to be friends.”
Jayce turned to her, and Nicole was pleased to see she was a beautiful woman. Her eyes were startlingly blue and reminded Nicole of the richest sapphires she had ever seen. She knew they would help sway her brother to take her as his rightful wife. He had a fondness for blue eyes.
“Is it true my father kidnapped you?” Jayce wondered.
Surprised, it was all Nicole could do to keep her mouth from falling open. “Well, yes,” she finally answered, looking away from her probing gaze. “But he treated me civilly,” she added quickly.
Jayce turned to stare out the window. Nicole raised her eyes in time to notice a troubled furrow on Jayce’s once-smooth brow. “Do you know why he did it?” Jayce asked.
“His demand was for Reese to marry you,” Nicole answered.
Jayce dropped her gaze to her lap. “It makes no sense,” she murmured.
“What doesn’t?” Nicole wondered.
Jayce turned confused eyes to Nicole. “Why he lied to me. Father told me Reese wanted to marry me.”
Nicole patted her shoulder, comfortingly. “It doesn’t matter. What’s done is done.”
“How can I blame Reese for despising me?”
“He doesn’t despise you,” Nicole said. When Jayce turned disbelieving eyes to her, she smiled glumly and shrugged. “He just doesn’t know you.”
“And if he has his way, he never will.”
Suddenly, two female servants entered the room. They began racing about, collecting the sparse items belonging to Jayce. A feeling of dread began to prickle the back of Nicole’s neck.
Jayce slowly rose from her seat at the window, confusion etched in her furrowed brow.
“What’s going on?” Nicole demanded of the servants. “What are you doing?”
One of the women stopped before her. “Lord Reese has instructed us to gather the lady’s belongings.”
Jayce cast Nicole a look of dread.
Reese was tossing his new wife out, returning her to her father. Nicole grabbed Jayce’s hand, squeezing it tightly, reassuringly. “Reese is not that cold. There must be some misunderstanding.”
“There is no misunderstanding,” a voice thundered from the doorway.
Both women turned to find Reese standing there. He filled the doorway, his dark, hulking body blocking out the torchlight from the hallway behind him.
Jayce stepped forward, turning Reese’s cold, hard gaze from his sister to focus on her. “You have every right to turn me out,” she murmured. Then she raised her chin and added, “I would expect that from a coward.”
His teeth clenched, and he pushed himself from the wall, approaching her like a raging storm cloud. “I have been called many things, lady, but never coward.”
Jayce stood her ground. “Then, perhaps it’s time someone told you the truth. If you were brave, you would have faced me to say you were throwing me out instead of having servants tell me.”
A muscle in his cheek twitched and his eyes burned with outrage. Nicole could feel the anger emanating from his body like the heat from a hearth. She watched Jayce match his rage and was proud of her new friend.
“You are not the only one who has been duped,” Jayce proclaimed, her voice gaining strength. “I could have had my choice of husbands who would have been willing, nay, even eager to claim me as wife. And yet, I am saddled with a boorish, unchivalrous lout capable of no feelings for anyone but himself. Well, Reese Harrington, I wouldn’t want you as my husband if you were the last man in all of England!” With that, Jayce pushed past him, out into the hall.
Nicole cast a surprised glance at Reese, which transformed into a victorious grin. She whirled and raced into the hallway after her brother’s new wife. “Jayce!”
Jayce didn’t stop at Nicole’s cry. She stormed down the hallway, her fists clenched.
Nicole caught up to her and seized her wrist, bringing her to a halt. “Jayce!” She smiled. “You were wonderful! I couldn’t have done better---” Her words died on her lips as her gentle eyes focused on Jayce’s face. Only then did Nicole realize Jayce’s cheeks were wet with tears, and her trembling wasn’t from anger, but from misery. “Oh, my dear,” she murmured, pulling Jayce into an embrace.
Chapter Seven
The great hall was silent that night. Where there was once raucous laughter and loud music, there was now only muted conversation and the plucking of a few harp strings. Many of the peasants and servants cast Reese tentative looks as he sat in his chair on the raised platform that filled the west end of the room.
Reese met the stares with a harsh glare. He refused to feel guilty about returning Jayce to her father. He did not love her.
Still, he had to admire her courage and conviction. No woman had ever stood up to him, spoken to him in such a manner. He was angry, and he knew he should have been insulted. But he wasn’t. Instead, he found himself admiring Jayce. Most other women would have slunk away sobbing to their fathers without saying two words to him. But not Jayce. Her eyes had sparked like the hottest part of a flame.
She was right. And that thought angered him the most. He had only thought of himself; not once had he considered how she felt. He hadn’t even attempted to speak to her. And because of these damnable guilty feelings, he had allowed Nicole to invite Jayce to dine in the great hall before she left in the morning. Jayce sat on the opposite side of Nicole, only two seats away from him. He could feel her presence there; tingles tickled the nape of his neck.
A movement at the far end of the great hall caught Reese’s attention, and he swiveled his head to see Dylan McNaught approaching with the usual spring to his step. Dylan was an eager, innocent, naive young man who had been recently knighted. Reese had hired him instantly, seeing in him the excitement and youth he had missed. Dylan had worked for Reese for a year now and they had become friends. His blond hair and large, boyish, brown eyes promised that in time he would break many women’s hearts. He marched up the center aisle, heading directly for the head table.
Reese watched as he greeted Nicole with a bright smile. “It’s good to see you safe, m’lady,” Dylan said with a slight bow.
Nicole returned the smile. “Thank you, Dylan,” she answered.
Reese started to rise, but froze as Dylan turned his eyes to Jayce.
“You must be Lady Jayce,” he said, reaching across the table to take her hand. He bent and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. “I am honored to have you as my lady.”
“Dylan,” Reese called, trying to correct him.
But Dylan’s eyes alighted on Jayce’s face, and dread pierced Reese’s stomach. He opened his mouth to stop Dylan’s words, but knew he wouldn’t be quick enough.
“I vow with all my heart to protect you and serve you as I do Lord Reese,” Dylan promised Jayce, a smile crossing his lips.
Reese groaned and sank back into his chair, shaking his head. Dylan’s grandiose sense of honor was going to cause him untold trouble. Dylan was not a man to break his vow easily. But this was one vow that would have to be broken.
Dylan turned to him. “Lord Reese!” He moved to stand before him. “The border lands are secure. I’ve—“
“Dylan,” Reese said, lowering his voice, “we can discuss business after the meal.”
“Of course,” Dylan replied, rounding the table.
In the face of Dylan’s youthful vibrancy, Reese suddenly felt old and tired.
*****
It was late when Reese finally meandered up to his room. He paused before the door to his chambers. Jayce was in there. He couldn’t bring himself to kick her out of his room, too. He returned to the great hall, moving toward the hearth. It was quiet; all the servants had finished their tasks and were preparing for bed. He stopped in the middle of the room, finally noticing the room’s sole occupant.
Jayce stood before the hearth, her hands folded before her, staring into the fire. Reese walked toward her. He stopped two strides behind her as a waft of roses met his nostrils. He knew he should leave, but then he suddenly found himself speaking. “I’m sorry about all of this,” he said quietly.
He watched as she drew herself up. “So am I,” she finally answered in a curt voice.
The firelight shimmered in her luxurious brown hair. “You’re a lovely woman. I’m sure your father will have no trouble finding you another husband,” Reese said, trying to be reassuring.
She turned to him then, and her blue eyes sparkled like liquid crystal. “Apparently not lovely enough,” she answered, and moved by him.
Reese cringed slightly at her words. She was lovelier than he had imagined. He reached out and clasped her arm, halting her movement. A shock scorched through him at the touch. “You could have been Helen of Troy. It wouldn’t matter. I will not be forced into marriage.” He held her arm a moment longer before releasing her.
Jayce didn’t say a word. Reese only heard the soft padding of her slippered feet as she walked out the door, and out of his life.
Chapter Eight
Reese could not sleep that night, and the next day came all too soon. As the sun climbed into the morning sky, he stood at the window, looking down into the courtyard. He blinked away the sun’s glare and watched as Dylan helped Jayce mount her horse. The young knight and another of Reese’s most trusted men would escort her back to her father. Dylan swung himself up onto his horse, reining the prancing animal in to cast an angry glare up toward Reese.
Reese watched Jayce’s dark hair wave in the breeze as if bidding him a farewell.
Dylan was not talking to him.
Something inside Reese tugged at his heart. He would never know what it felt like to touch her hair.
Nicole was not speaking to him now, either.
He would never know what kind of passion her spirit hid.
Reese clenched his fingers into a fist. If only things had been different between them. He might have courted Jayce. But with the anger and resentment burning in his heart, the poor girl had no chance. This is the best way, he told himself. The only way. I will find the woman I am fated to marry. I will find the woman I am destined to love.
The three horses started forward, moving beneath the portcullis. Reese watched them go until Jayce was just a speck on the horizon. He sighed slightly as if a weight had been removed from his shoulders. Then why did he feel as if he had just lost something precious?
“M’lord.”
Reese turned to see James standing in the doorway. He held out a piece of rolled parchment, sealed with a stamp of wax.
“This just arrived,” James told him.
Reese snatched the missive from James’s hand, inspecting the seal. It was the seal of a physician. Reese ripped it open, his eyes scanning the words. A scowl crept over his face. He clenched his jaw, dragging his gaze from the parchment to lock eyes with James.
“Stop her,” Reese ordered. “Don’t let her leave.”
“I’m afraid she’s already gone, sir,” James replied.
“Then saddle my horse. I’m going after her.”
Chapter Nine
Jayce stared down at the pommel she gripped so tightly it made her knuckles turn white. She should have been worrying about how she was going to explain to her father that she had lied to him, that she was still a virgin, that her marriage had not been consummated. Instead, all she could think about was the feeling of betrayal stabbing her heart. Why had Reese turned her out without giving her a chance to prove herself? He had almost been repentant at the hearth the previous night, almost civil. Almost a man she could call husband. She had begun to hope that maybe he wouldn’t return her to her father, that they could try for a life together. But this was not to be.
There was no reason she should feel hurt at his cold dismissal. Reese had not chosen her. He had been tricked, forced into marrying her. Yet, even knowing this, the pain of his rejection would not fade.
She knew she should forget him. She would never see him again. But he haunted her thoughts like a vengeful apparition.
Suddenly, her horse began to slow. She turned her gaze to the two guards before her. They were straining in their saddles, their stares focused on something behind her. She turned her head to see a horse riding toward her down the road, a small cloud of dust trailing behind the animal.
As the rider approached, Jayce saw his dark hair rippling behind him like a banner, announcing his arrival. He was bent low over the pommel, driving the animal hard to overtake them.
She knew instinctively who it was. Unwillingly, her heart beat faster, pounding in her chest with hope.
Reese reined in his horse beside Dylan, announcing with an explosive pant, “She’s returning to the castle.”
Jayce saw the satisfied grin curling Dylan’s lips, but when she turned gladdened eyes to Reese, he would not meet her gaze. Slowly, her happiness faded and apprehension rose inside her. “Why?” she demanded, finally drawing his gaze. “Have you decided to call me wife?”
“No,” he replied, and offered no further explanation.
Jayce’s scowl deepened. “Then why the sudden change of mind?” she inquired, refusing to budge her animal until he gave her a reason.
Reese’s eyes narrowed slightly before he turned his face toward the breeze.
Anger flared in Jayce. He was toying with her, playing some sort of game. “Are you convinced I’m not a part of my father’s plot to gain a husband?”
The soft ripples of air weaved their way through his dark hair like fingers. His stubborn jaw was set.
“Or have you suddenly developed an unselfish streak?” she asked spitefully.
He slowly turned his ice-blue eyes to her. “Your father is dead,” he answered. “Wanted or not, you are my responsibility.”
Dead? For a moment she thought he was lying to her. Then, Reese held out a piece of crumpled parchment to her. With numb fingers she took the paper, her dazed eyes drawn to the scroll. It was a missive from her father’s doctor. Her fingers trembled as she read its contents. Her father had been sick for months, and had finally succumbed to death.
Jayce read the note three times. Why hadn’t she known?
Her father had kept his distance from her during the past months, but she had no idea he was harboring a deadly illness. Distantly, she heard Reese instructing the guards to head back to Castle Harrington.
Father is dead.
A numbness slowly crept through her body. Father is dead, her groggy mind repeated. How can this be? She heard her name called and numbly turned her head toward the voice. Reese was staring at her, but she could read nothing in his expression.
“Are you all right?” Reese was asking.
Jayce felt herself trembling and fought to keep her composure. Alone. The word exploded in her mind. “Yes,” she whispered, and didn’t know if she succeeded in controlling her weak voice.
She watched Reese turn his back on her. The shaking in her body grew until she could barely hold the reins.
Father is dead, her mind repeated. She found she still held the parchment in her hands. The words blurred together, and Jayce swiped at her eyes. I can’t let Reese see my weakness, she told herself firmly. And even as she said this to herself, a lump rose in her throat.
An overwhelming urge to get away filled her. But where could she go? Who would take her in? She lifted her gaze to search the landscape, as if someone would materialize there and offer her refuge. Instead, her gaze was drawn to Reese, who wavered before her tearing eyes. He sat stoically in his saddle, staring at her.
I can’t let him see my pain, she thought. I don’t want to see his scorn. She spurred the horse forward, past him, desperately blinking back her tears. If she could just ride in front of him, she was sure she could keep a straight back. She was sure that when the tears came she could keep her shoulders from shaking.
The horse walked forward, jarring loose a tear. It slid over her cheek and down her chin. With any luck, he had missed it. Jayce’s horse moved past his, and she knew she had made it.
But then Reese’s hand shot forward to capture the reins of her horse, halting her animal’s progress. Jayce didn’t turn her gaze to him; she didn’t move, willing her tears to stop, willing him to release her.
“Jayce,” he said, and his voice was full of compassion.
It was agony. She bowed her head, squeezing her eyes closed on the tears now flowing freely over her cheeks. She couldn’t turn to him. She couldn’t be fooled by his gentle tone when she knew so well he wanted nothing to do with her.
Then, his arm was beneath her shoulders, drawing her from her horse, pulling her onto his lap. She resisted at first, fighting the comfort his arms offered. Reese pulled her tight against his chest, her weak struggles no match for his strong arms.
“It’s all right,” he whispered, his words spoken into the hair at the top of her head.
Jayce buried her face in his strong chest, sobbing. His arms around her were warm and soothing. She sobbed most of the way back to his castle, and when there was nothing left but exhaustion, she succumbed to a deep sleep.
Chapter Ten
Her head pounded and Jayce eased her eyes open from the dark comfort of sleep. Her gaze swept her surroundings and she recognized where she was immediately. Reese’s room. Slowly, she sat up. She was in his bed, tucked beneath luxuriously warm blankets.
She was alone. She swung her feet from the bed and had no sooner set them on the cold floor when the door opened and Nicole entered the room, a basin of water in her hands.
Nicole’s eyes alighted on Jayce, and a smile lit her face. “Welcome back,” she greeted.
Jayce winced and rubbed her head.
Nicole sat on the bed beside Jayce. “I’m sorry about your father,” she said earnestly. “Truly I am.”
Jayce shook her head, scowling. “He didn’t seem sick,” she mused. “I don’t know what happened.”
Nicole patted her hand. “He probably didn’t want you to become alarmed.” Nicole rose and paced to the basin resting on a table. “So he hid whatever illness he had.” She dipped a rag into the water, returned to the bed, and wiped off Jayce’s face.
“Please,” Jayce said, gently removing the rag from her hands. She stared down at it for a long moment. “Did Reese bring me back here?”
“Yes,” Nicole answered. “He carried you into the castle and tucked you in by himself.”
Jayce turned surprised eyes to Nicole. “Really?”
Nicole nodded her head, her beautiful blond hair bouncing.
“Where is he now?” Jayce asked.
“In the great hall, breaking his fast.”
Jayce remembered Reese’s gentle touch and his comforting warmth. She could almost feel his arms around her, holding her tight. “Do you think Reese would mind if I joined him?” Jayce wondered.
Nicole appeared troubled for a moment, then said, “No. I don’t think he’d mind at all.”
***
Jayce entered the great hall with Nicole beside her. Reese was sitting in the middle of the raised table, engaged in animated conversation. Her heart faltered, as did her steps, when he turned his gaze to her. His penetrating blue eyes seared her to the spot. She barely noticed the man with whom he had been speaking lift his dark eyes to her.
Reese stood and moved down the center aisle as she approached. He was coming to meet her. Had something changed inside him? Was he truly going to see her differently? A grin tugged at Jayce’s lips; anticipation burned through her veins.
But Jayce noticed with dismay that his large steps and agitated gait were not those of a happy man. With each step that brought him nearer, Jayce felt an uneasiness spreading through her. Her hopes fell as he stopped just before her. His jaw was clenched, his blue eyes hard with anger. His gaze swept past her to Nicole. “Is this your idea?” he demanded.
“Your wife wished to dine with you,” Nicole answered.
Jayce placed a gentle hand on Nicole’s arm and stepped forward to face Reese. “It was my idea. I thought...” Her voice faded as Reese’s blue eyes snapped back to meet her gaze. They were cold and dark, emotionless. She felt tears of disappointment sting her eyes. Surely she had not imagined his arms around her last night, his tender words in her ear.
“I will have your meal brought to you in my room,” he told her. “Now return there at once.” With that, Reese whirled, presenting her with his back, and moved toward the head table.
Jayce stared slack-jawed at his retreating back. The peasants near her murmured at his curt dismissal of her. The disappointment and crushed feelings were suddenly buried beneath a whirlwind of fierce anger. What right did he have to treat her like… like a common slave?
Jayce’s fists clenched tight, and she marched forward after his retreating form. She would not obey him like some humble lapdog!
He stopped just before the head table and Jayce almost ran into his back. She stepped around him, forcing a false smile to her lips. But she couldn’t quite unclench her teeth as she said, “Thank you for inviting me to dine at your table, m’lord.” She added a mock curtsy for insult and took a seat beside the dark man who sat beside Reese.
She felt Reese’s eyes at her back like daggers, but didn’t turn. Finally, Reese too, took his seat.
A healthy serving of venison was placed on a trencher before her.
The young man seated to Jayce’s left eyed her with curiosity. Jayce beamed him a smile, then took in his wild dark hair and beard, his savage brown eyes. His perusal of her unnerved Jayce, and she pulled away from him.
“Is this the wife you’ve kept hidden from me?” the dark man asked.
Reese grunted, taking a large bite of venison.
“No,” she answered, still stinging from Reese’s curt dismissal. “I am not a wife. No husband would treat his wife the way Lord Reese treats me.”
The dark man scowled. “But were you not married in the chapel? Was it not your virginal blood that stained the sheets?”
Jayce opened her mouth to reply, to deny it all. She cast a quick glance at Reese, looking at his arm, thinking of the cut that lay beneath his tunic. Who would believe Reese had cut himself to avoid bedding her? She dropped her gaze to her clasped hands.
“Tell us, why did you force yourself on Reese?” he challenged. “How dare you so disgrace the Harrington family name?”
Jayce felt embarrassment rise into her cheeks. “I had no part in Nicole’s kidnapping.”
“Are we to believe that?” he wondered.
“Morse, don’t bully her,” Nicole reprimanded, taking a seat beside Jayce.
Morse threw back his head and chortles of glee issued from his mouth. “The victimized Lady Nicole is the only one to come to your rescue!” He laughed again.
Jayce didn’t dare cast a glance at Reese. She knew his glowering visage and stern disapproval would shatter her already shaky resolve.
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