Samuel (Samuel's Pride Series) (7 page)

When she started to protest, her
seanmháthair
looked at her. Snapping her mouth closed, she turned away again. This was going
to be the worst day of her life. No one cared that she didn’t want this. All
they wanted was to get it settled so that they could move on with their lives. Her
mother asked her to come and let her help her dress.

“I’ll be wearing what I’m wearing. ‘Tis
not a celebration we’re having.” Her mother tisked at her. “I agreed to this
because I’ve no choice. You want me to dress in a white gown and play the part
of a blushing bride? You can go to hell.”

Her mother slapped her. It was no less
than she deserved, but still it hurt. She heard Samuel coming toward her, but
she didn’t acknowledge him either. Her mother turned her back on her and walked
away. Samuel jerked her around to face him.

“You plan on pissing everyone off today?
It’s your wedding day; you should at least be somewhat happy.” He glared at
her. “You’ll be my wife soon, and I’ll make sure that your brother never
bothers you again.”

“Please call this off, Mr. Payne. I beg
of you. This isn’t right, and you well know it.” He tried to pull her closer to
him, but she jerked away. “You don’t love me any more than I love you.”

“No, we don’t love each other, but we
may soon. When we have children, we’ll be happier.” When he reached for her
again, she could see the anger in his eyes, but he shook it off before he
continued. “You’ll have to stop calling me Mr. Payne. My name is Samuel, Samuel
James Payne.”

Kennedy nodded. There was no hope for it.
He was going to go through with this, and she wasn’t going to be able to talk
him out of it. When the judge asked her if she needed to change, she told him
no, that she was ready. She glanced at Samuel again as he straightened his tie,
but he never asked her to change. She wouldn’t have been able to stomach
putting on a wedding gown for this, and she was pretty sure he knew it.

In a matter of minutes, they were being
pronounced man and wife, and she was wearing the heavy ring that was her
seanmháthair’s
,
and he was wearing her grandda’s. It bothered her so much that the rings fit
them as if they’d been made for them. Her
seanmháthair
pulled her aside
just after they were presented to those present as husband and wife.

“You’ll do as you promised for me.” She
nodded and tried to pull away, but she held her tight. “A promise is a promise,
and you gave me your word.”

“I’ll not leave him or hurt him. I’ll
give him my body and whatever he wants.” Kennedy pulled her arm free of her
seanmháthair’s
grip. “But he’ll never have my heart. I’ll never love him or want his love
in return. I’ll be his wife, but I’ll never be his love.”

She turned to see him standing behind
her, and she lifted her chin. If he wanted to hit her for this, she’d welcome
it. She was being forced into this to protect her family. Her
seanmháthair
had told her that if she did this, she would make sure that Michael and Kaitlin
both would be able to marry someone of their choosing, and they’d be ones that
inherited all her
seanmháthair’s
fortune.

Chapter 7

Samuel moved through the woods quietly.
Not because he felt he had to stalk something. On the contrary, he just didn’t
want anyone to bother him. There were enough beings out in his woods now that
he felt closed in. And he wanted more than anything to be alone.

She’d hurt him. He wanted to think that she’d
not meant it, but there was little doubt that she had. And it wasn’t as if he
loved her either, but she’d been so final about it. As if she’d do everything
in her power to make sure she never loved him.

That had cut him as deeply as any wound
his father had given him, and his heart still ached from it. Kennedy would
never love him, not now and not ever. How could a woman…? Samuel started to say
how could a woman say such a thing, but he’d had a talk with her grandmother
after she’d left the room, and he could well understand some of her pain. Kennedy
had been cornered by all of them.

“I want her safe, not just from Shamus,
but from all men. Kennedy had hardened her heart against love. Her parents had
never loved each other, but her father loved her. Kennedy was his bright star
in a marriage that was full of accusations and cruel words. My son was a good
man, but like all people he had his faults. He let Kennedy get her education,
but he never took it seriously. When she graduated at the top of her class, he
asked her why she had tried so hard to show up the men. He told her that she
made it hard for him to find her a husband when she was so much smarter than
them. She just laughed at him and told him she was never going to marry.” She
reached into her pocket and handed him a photo. It was of Kennedy and her
parents. They looked as if they’d rather have been anywhere but there. “That
was taken the day she graduated with honors from the cooking college she went
to.”

“She looks…embarrassed. Like she’d
rather be elsewhere as well.” She took the picture back when he handed it to
her. “What happened?”

“You’re very smart.” Dani laughed a
little. “Her father had just told her that she was going to be married. He’d
found her someone that would care for her, he’d told her. They fought terribly,
and in the end, she ran away. He didn’t try hard to find her, but I knew where
she was. I think he knew it as well. The day he died was her first week home.
They told us that Kendal had a massive heart attack.”

“You don’t think so.” She shook her
head. “Christ, you think Shamus did it. You think he killed his own father.”

Samuel had listened to her explain that
he’d been in very good health. Not only that, but he’d had a physical the week
before for insurance and they’d told him he had the heart of a much younger
man. She’d asked for a report on his death and was told that his son, the
oldest, was in charge now, and he’d had his father cremated.

Samuel hated his own father, but to kill
him? He knew that he’d never be able to do anything like that. He was a prick
and a bastard, but he was still his father. But that didn’t mean that if he
drew back his hand to hit anyone, he might not consider killing him. And this
included Kennedy now. But poison would have been harsh.

You do know that you’ve been out here
for nearly four hours, don’t you?
His mother touched his mind gently, but
he could still feel that she was upset with him.
Your wife is asleep on the
couch in the living room, and all your guests have left. I’d carry her up
myself, but you know that’s not possible.

She hates me.
His mom told
him he was wrong.
No, she does. And I can’t blame her. I…everyone in her
family from her father to her grandmother have forced her into this situation,
and now I have done so as well. She’ll hate me for this.

Come inside and talk to her. She’s had a
hard time of it and she needs to know that you’re not going to hurt her.
But he had, and
he told his mom he had.
By giving her a life she’d never have? Keeping her
from a brother that would harm her…did you know that he beat her? Took a belt
to her back so badly that…. Oh Samuel, she needs us.

He told her he’d be in soon. Samuel was
making his way to the house when he saw someone, another lion, coming toward
him. He lowered his body to the ground and waited. When he caught his scent,
every part of him froze. What the fuck was his father doing there?

Hello, son.
Samuel moved
forward but not close enough to have his father touch him. He did tell his mom
to lock the doors and that he’d explain later.

What do you want here? In the event it
escaped your notice, you’re not welcome. I’d very much like it if you left.

You have a mate
. Samuel glanced
at the house, then back at his dad, saying nothing.
I was wondering if I
could meet her.

No. You stay away from my family.
His father sat
down and snarled slightly.
You were told to stay away from us and never to
contact us again. I can only assume you know about the house and land.

Yeah, that’s why I’m here. I want my
share
.
Samuel only stared at him.
I know you sold it off. It’s only fair that I get
some of that money, if not all of it. I did raise you up in that place
.

And hit mother and I. You made our lives
a living hell there, and when you left, you owed a great deal of back taxes as
well as several months of back payments to the bank
. Samuel glanced
at the house when he heard the door open. Butler was on the porch now, and he
had a shotgun in his hand.
That man up there knows what to do if you try
anything, and when he shoots you, I’m going to piss on your carcass.

That’s no way to talk to your father. I
gave you what you are today. Just give me my fucking money, and I’ll get out of
your hair.
Samuel started to move by him when he felt his father move. It only took Samuel
a second to turn on him and have him pinned down to the ground in a hold that
he’d not break.

I want you to get the fuck off my
property. And never return. I’m not giving you one thin dime of the money
. Samuel let him
go and moved to the house. He didn’t want to enter as a lion because the rest
of the staff hadn’t been made aware of him, but Butler had it covered.

There were clothes just inside the little
laundry room, and he shifted quickly and went back out on the deck with just
his pants on. His father was still here, but he moved toward the woods when he
saw Samuel. He and Butler went inside as soon as he was out of sight.

“Make a note to have a security team
come in tomorrow and have things beefed up. I don’t want him to be able to get
back on the property again.” Butler said he would. “And call Jimmy. Have him
bring in some patrols for me for the next few weeks. I want to make sure he’s
gone.”

“I will.” Butler put the gun back in the
wall where he’d had a gun box put in recently. “The missus, sire, is in the
living room. If she sleeps there much longer, I fear she’ll be sore.”

“I’m taking her up now.” He stood there,
looking at the door to the room where she was. “I don’t want to hurt her anymore.”

“Of course you don’t, sir. She’s a
wonderful woman. It’ll…I believe this has been a bit much for her.” Samuel
looked at Butler as he continued speaking. “She will need someone to love her
for who she is, not who she thinks they want her to be. I think…I’m of the opinion,
sir, that telling the missus she can’t do something will only make her sadder.”

“You think I should let her be the chef?”
Butler nodded. “And what will the staff think having their mistress cook for
them?”

“They’ll think they’re blessed that
their bellies are full and that her husband is a good enough man and one that
loves his wife dearly enough to allow her to be all that she needs to be.” Butler
flushed. “I do believe my own missus said that if Kennedy…Mrs. Payne…wasn’t
able to do something, she might…she might harm herself by crawling into a shell
and not returning.”

From what he’d seen of her earlier, he
was thinking that Butler might be right. Kennedy wasn’t speaking to anyone and
had stared off into space for so long that he’d run. Going into the living room,
he found her curled into a tight ball with a small blanket over her. When he
pulled it off her, he noticed the tears that had stained her face. Picking her
up, he carried her to the bedroom, their room.

~~~

Kennedy felt the movement under her and
thought of her da taking her to bed. When she realized that he was gone and she
wasn’t at home, she struggled to get out of the arms before she realized who had
her. When Samuel spoke, she wasn’t any more thrilled than she’d been when she
thought that Shamus had her.

“You’re going to make me drop you. Stop
that.” She demanded that he let her go. “I will, but not on the stairs. You
were lying on the couch for a long while, and you might be a little wobbly.”

“I most certainly am not.” When he put
her on her feet, she did nearly fall over and would have tumbled down the
stairs had he not grabbed her. Before she could pull back from him, he picked
her up in his arms again. “Will you put me down?”

“No.” She noticed that they were in another
part of the house that she’d never been in, and before she could get a good
look around, she also noticed that Samuel had no shirt on. She jerked her arms
from around his neck so quickly that she nearly made them both fall. He started
cursing and she braced herself for the hit.

“I won’t hit you. And I wish you’d
believe me.” He put her down on the floor again just inside the bedroom. “I may
want to paddle your bottom to see it pink up, but I’d never hit you out of
anger.”

“And paddling my butt, that is supposed
to be pleasurable?” She felt her face heat up when he looked at her. “I’m not
going to have fun with you in the bed. We’ll have sex when necessary but
nothing else.”

“Oh yes, if it’s done right it can be
very pleasurable. For us both. And who decides when it’s necessary? You or me?”
She flushed deeper and turned away from him. He was much too delicious looking
without his shirt on. And her fingers itched to run through the hair on his
chest. “Kennedy?”

“I don’t think more than once or twice a
week is necessary. You’ll want a child, of course, but there is no reason that
we should subject ourselves to having it for pleasure.” He laughed, and she
turned to him. “I’m being very serious. I’ve thought this out, and this is what
I’d like.”

“I don’t think so. Maybe if you had said
once or twice an hour might have been okay, but I don’t think that once I’m
inside of you that your arrangements are going to work. You see, I’m very sexual
and will need to sate my lust on you several times a day.” He moved toward her,
and she took a step back. The thought of more than once a day with this man was
making her think all sorts of things, and when he stopped and sniffed the air,
she knew that he could smell her. “You’re aroused.”

She shook her head, and he grinned. “I
don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m never…I have never had sex, so being
aroused is something you’re making up.” He nodded and moved toward her again
and backed her into the wall. “This isn’t…you should just let me get on the
bed. You can do whatever you want there. And the lights need to be off.”

“I think we can do a great deal right
here. And I plan on doing a great many things to you. With the lights on.” She
shook her head, but he wasn’t paying attention to her. “Do you have any idea
how badly I want to have you come in my mouth?”

“That’s not sex. We’re only going to
have sex.” His chuckle made her nipples harden, and when he moved to her throat,
she felt her body tighten. “Mr. Payne, you have to stop this.”

“I’m your husband, Kennedy. Do you think
you can call me by my first name?” She shook her head again, and he licked her
throat. “You taste so much better than the first time I tasted you. Like
peaches. And you smell delicious too. Like a woman who is in need of her mate.”

“You don’t want this any more than I do.”
Samuel put his hands on her waist and pulled her closer to him. She tried to
fight him off by pushing him away, but her fingers got tangled in his furred
chest. He moaned against her ear.

“Touch me, Kennedy. Touch me like I’m
going to touch you.” Her fingers moved over his chest until she found his
nipple. It was as hard as hers felt, and she pinched it. When he moaned, she
pulled her hands away and put them behind her back. He shook his head and
brought them back to him. “You should know that for as much as you touch me, I’m
going to return the favor.”

“Why?” Her voice was husky sounding to
her ears, and she wondered what he thought of her. “You can’t possibly want to
have more than just sex with me. Can you? The act is just…well, I’m sure you
know that it’s verily messy.”

“Christ, I hope so.” He put his hands on
her shirt and watched her eyes as he pulled it apart. When he tore it open,
buttons scattering all over the room, she felt her breath catch and her heart
start to pound. “You’re very naïve for someone as old as you are. Didn’t you
ever want to fool around in the back of the car with some boy from high school?”