Lost Princess (9 page)

Devlin said in a quiet voice, “Max, let them go.”

Max sighed. “If you must, then go.”

Callista rose and urged me to my feet. “Thank you, lord Devlin.” She ignored Max and led me off.

We were back in our room. I wished fervently that I could just go to sleep here and avoid seeing Max altogether. Callista was rubbing my back. “It was wrong of me to stay away today. If you had to act the servant, the least I could do is keep the other ladies from mocking you.“I didn’t say anything. I felt hopeless and drained.  “And I don’t care what you said to him to make him angry!” She declared with sudden spirit. “I don’t care if you stomped on his foot and called him a monkey’s butt.”

I looked up at her. “A monkey’s butt?” I said, a teary smile on my face.

“Cousin, he was
wrong
. Humiliating you in front of the very people who are supposed to be your ladies was just not right.”

“Excuse me.” Came a polite voice from the open door. “I only came to see if lady Katrina was all right.”

“Lord Devlin, please come in,” Callista said. “Is it true that you didn’t know your brother’s punishment for Katrina today?”

“No, and I still don’t. He wouldn’t tell me. That is why I’m forced to come to you to beg you to enlighten me.”

Callista stood and glared at Devlin, perhaps because he was Max’s twin and so guilty by association. “He ordered her to serve in the hall as a servant all day! The ladies already are unkind to her, and this only gave them permission to act worse.”

Devlin looked over at me. I’d put my head back down to avoid having him see me so very weak. “Katrina, will you look at me?” he asked in his kind voice.

I shook my head, standing and walking to look out our small window. I just couldn’t bear to look into his pitying face.

I heard Devlin sigh. “It seems my brother is outdoing himself in poor behavior, and that is saying something.”

Callista said, “I’m sorry Devlin, I know it isn’t your fault.”

“I wish I knew the right thing to say to ease your troubled heart, my lady Katrina. But I fear that when it comes to wives, I’m without experience.”

“Please, I’m fine,” I said.

“No she isn’t,” Callista disagreed. “He humiliated her! How can she direct the servants when they know that he will treat her so? How can she be his lady when the other women do not respect her? He has given everyone permission to taunt her and treat her as badly as he does.” I heard tears in Callista’s voice and turned to see her dash wetness from her face. “I will be a wife soon, and my fate is in the hands of someone who would be so cruel? Why did he not just kill her? How will she manage once he sends me away? I’d looked forward to being a wife, but now I must admit I am dreading it.”

I crossed the room and put my arms around Callista. “It won’t be like this for you,” I said. “I’m not a woman a man would want. You knew that years ago. I have no skills in being a lady of the castle, nor skills in leading the other women. I’m tall and slim and have always been laughed at for my strange ways. You’re a true lady. Your husband, lucky man that he will be, will know that and honor you.“I turned, suddenly remembering Devlin, but he’d kindly left us alone. I hugged Callista until her tears dried.

“I’m sorry,” she murmured. “I was trying to comfort you and now here you are having to comfort me.”

“At least you found a way to get me to stop pouting,” I said, remembering Max’s comment.

“Humph,” Callista said. “What will you do now? Will you stay here tonight? Are you still sore?” At my look she said, “One of the servants told me that you’d obviously been beaten.”

“No, that’s not…it doesn’t bother me. Although I’d rather not have my behind discussed among the servants.” I thought about that and added, “Or anyone, actually.”

Callista gave me a small smile. “It wasn’t too bad, then?”

I shook my head. “The worst thing is…well, I do like Max, when he’s not being a monkey’s butt.”

“How can you say that?” Callista asked.

“You’re the one who brought up monkey butts,” I tried to joke. It didn’t work very well. “Callie, he confuses me terribly, and I wish he weren’t so ready to believe the worst of me, but when he touches me—when we’re alone, it’s…well, it’s amazing.”

Callista asked slowly, “Is it amazing enough to excuse all this other behavior?”

I thought about that. “I don’t know,” I admitted, and looked up to see Max standing in the doorway. 

Callista paled until I worried she might faint. “Callie!” I said, easing her to the bed. “Put your head down.”

She put her head down momentarily. She looked up at Max, terror in her eyes. “My lord, I—”

Max shook his head. “I came to retrieve my wife.”

Callista looked over at me, still wide-eyed. I gave her another hug and walked resolutely over to Max, who turned and left without another word. He didn’t speak all the way to his room, and I retreated to the far side of the room as he set the bar on the door.

“My lord, how long had you stood there?” I asked bluntly, slightly terrified myself. I tried to go over our conversation in my head, but couldn’t remember exactly what we’d said prior to his arrival.

He didn’t come over to me. He began to take his clothes off. “Long enough,” he said.

I looked heavenward as if for inspiration. Nothing came. “I no doubt owe you several apologies—” I began.

“Come to bed,” he interrupted me.

I blew out the candles and slowly went to the bed and took off my dress, then went to my dresser and put on a night dress, one of soft blue cotton that looked ghostly in the moonlight. I went over to the bed and slid between the sheets.

For a time Max did nothing. “My brother is upset with me—with how I’ve dealt with you. You have found a champion in him. He passed me in the hall on my way to fetch you and gave me a piece of his mind.”

I didn’t know what to say but didn’t dare to stay silent. “Oh,” I said.

“My brother has always…struggled with things that came to me with ease. I have found that bitingly unfair, yet he never complains. I…respect him for that and find his anger uncomfortable.“I looked over at him in the moonlight. He was looking up at the ceiling. I’d never thought he’d talk to me like this. Not if we’d lived together a thousand years.

“He’s a good man,” I said.

Max looked at me now. “My wife, my second wife, I mean, once tried to seduce him.” Max’s voice was flat now, emotionless. “Devlin turned her away. It’s good I trust him so completely, or I’d worry at your fondness for him.”

“I wouldn’t ever try and seduce another man…”

Max shook his head. “That is nearly word-for-word what my second wife said.”

I sat up in the bed. “I am not she.”

Max looked up at me, his face now in my shadow. “No, you’re not.“An uncomfortable silence ensued.

I finally lay back down on my back, a full foot separating us. Max said in a very quiet voice, “I have tried to find Devlin a wife, but he will not have it.“This was certainly not where I’d expected the conversation to go.

“Has he told you why, my lord?”

“No, he refuses to discuss it. He’s my brother, and I want him settled. He seems happy enough, but I still wish him to wed.”

I tried to find the right words. “If he’s happy, then perhaps…”

Max turned on his side to look at me. “He should marry. That’s part of his responsibility—to have heirs.”

“I see,” I said slowly. “Is that why you married?”

“Of course,” he said. “What other reason is there?”

He had me there. I couldn’t very well ask him if he adored me and couldn’t manage without me here in his bed. I almost laughed at the very thought. Besides, there were worse reasons to marry, I supposed. “Then I hope to give you the heirs you desire.”

He looked at me with interest. “Do you? Even though you’ve no doubt heard about the curse that supposedly haunts me, or should I say, haunts my wives?”

“I’m not much for curses or ghosts,” I said.

“That’s right, you ran straight to the haunted village.” He nodded at the memory. “I do not put stock in ghosts or curses either.“I forgot to answer as I mulled this over. His voice roused me out of what was becoming a mild doze. “Katrina, I decided then to marry you. It was never out of pity.”

I was certainly awake now. “Why speak you of pity, my lord?”

He sighed. “I don’t pretend to find what women discuss in any way important, but I have heard you say that you are not someone a man would want.” His hand gently touched my shoulder, and I gasped almost inaudibly. “I can only speak for myself, but I want you. I wanted you when I opened my eyes this morning, only to find you’d fled. I’d looked forward to waking you as I had the previous morning. I was disappointed to find you gone.“His hand had now slid around my shoulders, and he was slowly pulling me to him. “By the time I found you, my disappointment had matured into anger.” He used his other arm now to settle me face to face with him. “Where were you hiding?”

I looked at his face, only inches away now. “I wasn’t hiding, really. I was simply in the window down the hall from my—I mean Callista’s room. I was watching the sunrise and…thinking.”

His lips brushed mine, and I sighed. “Where did your thoughts lead you?”

“Only in circles, my lord,” I said, a small smile on my face.He ran his hand up my arm, and I inhaled sharply as he rubbed over the burn where the tea had scalded me.

He gave me a questioning look.

“I—I was serving tea to those women, but I bumped the table and the tea spilled.” I didn’t want to think about this afternoon, much less talk about it.

He kissed me again, but then settled back. “Today, what happened…” he let his voice fade to silence. I waited uncomfortably, but I couldn’t be afraid, not now that he was touching me. “I find it was perhaps a greater punishment than I’d thought it would be.”

I realized that from Max, this constituted a heartfelt apology. “My lord, my spirit has not died but…” Now I searched for the right words. It was so nice here in his arms that I didn’t wish to ruin it.

“Katrina?” he prompted, never one for patience.

I wet my lips with my tongue. “It was difficult that it was so public.” I feared I’d said too much and rushed to explain myself, “I know you’ve said you wanted to punish me just to punish me, and if that is your will, then I’ll bear it, but—”

He leaned forward and kissed me, stopping my hasty flow of words. The kiss lasted a long time, lighting little fires inside of me. Max pulled away from me finally, his breathing faster. “I believe I had more to say, yet find I cannot remember it.”

I grinned now, pleased beyond words at that admission.

He noted my pleasure and leaned down to whisper in my ear, “Shall I show you what I planned to do to you when I woke this morning?”

I swallowed and nodded solemnly. “Yes, please.”

Max helped me remove the nightdress from over my head. He gathered me close and kissed me again until I barely noticed him sliding down my body. He nuzzled my breasts, suckling first one than the other as I moaned my pleasure and building desire. But he did not come over me to finish the act, as I expected. Instead he slid further down, kissing and licking along the way until he was nearly to my hips. I suddenly realized what he intended to do and sat up in surprise. “My lord! You can’t!”

He gazed up at me, surprised. “Why not, wife?”

“It’s…I…You can’t!” I finally repeated, beyond words just at the thought of his mouth…there. I realized I’d grabbed his shoulders and was trying to urge him back up.

Max looked at my rather wild face and relented, moving back up to place a quick kiss on my mouth.“Wife, you’d better become comfortable with the idea. I will do it, whether you like it or not.” Now he grinned at me like a devil. “And you will like it.” He again examined my panicked face. “But perhaps you are not ready tonight. I will acquiesce in this to your wishes, however…” He leaned down and kissed me again, licking my lower lip the way I’d done to him. “There is always the dawn.”

I was breathing heavily with lust and the idea was…frightening, yet oddly exciting as well. “I shan’t sleep!” I cried.

He chuckled again as he began to slide inside of me. “T’will be a long night ahead of you, certainly.“I couldn’t answer as my eyes closed, and he began to move.

I arched against him and met him thrust for thrust until he began to lose his rhythm, and I lost my hold on myself and shattered in that stunning pleasure. Max collapsed on top of me and then rolled to the side with a groan. I let my breath slow and my racing heart find its proper beat as Max did the same. He let his hand move slowly over my breasts, not intent now but calming. I found my hand touching his chest as well. I actually hadn’t noticed I was exploring him until he looked down at my hand. I stilled, and he kissed my nose.

“You do nothing wrong,” he assured me. “Why do you insist on believing that your actions here are wrong?“Sated and sleepy, I didn’t think to lie or even plan my words. “I do so many things wrong. I have been told time and again I’m too tall and slim for any man to want.” I yawned, my eyes almost closed. “I don’t want to do it wrong here, not here when you give me so much,” another yawn, “pleasure.”

I think Max may have spoken further, but I had drifted too far into sleep, and later, could not recall what it was.

Chapter Eight

I was snuggled up against Max’s back and woke when he turned to me the next morning. I yawned and smiled at him before I saw the intently interested look in his eyes.  My eyes widened as he turned and pounced on me, brushing my tousled hair out of my eyes. “Good morning, wife,” he said in a low voice.

“Good morning, husband,” I squeaked as he tangled his fingers in my hair to hold me still as he kissed me.He had kissed most of the sense out of my head when he began to, like the night before, lick his way down my body. I writhed and tried to think of a valid excuse. “I haven’t had time to become accustomed to the idea,” I said in a high voice.

Max bit my hipbone, and I let out a low cry. “Better hurry,” he advised. 

A fierce pounding rattled the door.  “My lord! There’s trouble,” said a voice I thought belonged to Caius.  Max gave the door an annoyed look but quickly rose and grabbed his clothes. He threw them on and tossed aside the bar to open the door, knife in hand.