by C. J. Pinard
He chuckled. “That doesn’t count. And surely you know what I meant.”
“I do,” she admitted with a slight nod.
Zackary put his hand on hers. “Mariselle, you’ve grown into such a beautiful young woman. I hope you know that.”
Gasping a little at his touch, she looked up, wide-eyed, into his greenish-hazel colored eyes and saw them colored with desire. “Thank you, King Zachary.”
“Stop with the formalities, Mariselle. We have been friends since childhood. You know we Rothhavens are a relaxed bunch and don’t get involved in things so formal and stiff.” He snorted a laugh. “Well, some things are stiff, but that’s a discussion for another time.”
Mariselle resisted the urge to gasp once again as she stared into his eyes and took in his playful expression. Unlike Alexander and Griffin, this Rothhaven brother was still just as spirited and mischievous as he had been when they were children.
“I was serious when we were kids, you know,” he said, removing his hand from hers and raking his thick, rough-looking fingers through his dirty-blond hair.
“Serious about what?” she asked, trying to remember all of the things he’d said to her when they had been kids, playing in the Castle Rothhaven, or in the woods behind it.
“When I said I’ll always protect you. That I won’t let anything, or anyone, hurt you.”
She smiled shyly and looped a stray auburn curl behind her ear. “I don’t need protection, Zackary. I’m a big girl now.”
Zackary, with his face dusted in dirt from where he’d been riding, grinned a sexy smile at her and said, “I know about your secret, Mariselle. I know everything. But you need to know that your secret is safe with me.”
“Really?” she asked, apprehensive. “I’m a bit embarrassed by it, if I’m honest. I didn’t ask for the monthly curse any more than Syracuse asked for its infertility one.”
“I know,” he replied, his eyes softening. “But I also want you to know that it doesn’t change how I feel about you. I was so happy to see you earlier. I had been thinking about you for years. I always wondered how you had grown up, and if you were happy. If you were okay, and how you were faring after your mother passed. I’m sorry about that, by the way. She was a very nice lady.”
Mariselle nodded, looking down. “Thank you.” She let out a ragged sigh and looked up to meet his gaze once more. “I can’t believe you even thought of me. You boys… and Eva… as I was growing up an only child, you were like extended family to me. I look back on those times with fond memories. I always looked forward to visiting the castle with my father. It was the highlight of my month… my year, even!”
“Is that so?” Zackary chuckled. “We loved having you there, too. Especially Eva. Poor girl, being the only daughter.”
Mariselle winked at him. “I think she kinda liked it.” She cleared her throat, wondering if the wink had been too much, or even too provocative. “Speaking of, have you seen Eva? She’s in the castle.”
Zackary nodded. “I have. We had a good catch up over wine last night. I’m sorry I couldn’t make dinner, by the way. I was out riding and lost track of time.”
Hesitating slightly, she pulled at a stray thread on the hem of her dress, and asked, “And Alexander? Have you two caught up?”
“We have,” he replied. “Early this morning while riding.” He gestured to the stables.
Interesting, Mariselle thought. Must have been why he had left the bed so soon.
“That’s good,” she replied softly.
“So, how is Marcus? Is he all right? I heard he had a horse accident.”
Mariselle nodded. “He’s okay, just not the same, you know.”
“I do,” Zackary agreed.
After a short, awkward silence, Zackary looked at the redhead, whose hair seemed to glow in the early afternoon sun. “Fancy a ride?”
She looked up at him. “I beg your pardon, sire?”
Zackary shook his head. “Sire… just stop it, Mariselle. Let’s take Midnight out for another ride. Just the two of us.”
Mariselle’s eyes widened and she sucked the side of her bottom lip between her teeth. With her brow furrowing, she cocked her head to the side. “Do you think that’s wise? I mean, Alex—”
“My brother won’t mind. He said I could take him out for a ride at any time.”
Her heartbeat sped up, and her stomach churned with nerves and excitement. “Uh, okay, if you don’t think he’ll mind…”
Zackary stood up and offered her a dusty hand. “He won’t.”
She took his rough hand as he pulled her to her feet. She looked up at him, figuring him to be at least six feet or more, especially in the straw hat he’d just plunked onto his head. He stared down at her for a long minute, smiled, and shoved a long, strong-looking piece of straw between his teeth and said, “C’mon, M. Let’s ride.”
Nodding, she let him lead her by the hand into the stables.
“Richard! Emily!” he called out.
Immediately, Emily arrived, removed her hat, and bowed slightly at the king. “Yes, Your Majesty?”
“Prepare Midnight for a ride. Miss Langer and I will be taking him into the forest.”
Emily bit back a grin at seeing Mariselle and Zackary standing there hand-in-hand, and asked the king. “One saddle, sire?”
“Yes, Emily.”
“Right away, sire,” she replied, bowing again and replacing the hat onto her head. She disappeared into the stables.
“She’s a bit of an odd one,” Zackary murmured as he looked down at Mariselle.
Mariselle didn’t say anything. She agreed, but felt it rude to do so visibly. So she just nodded.
“How long have you been riding?” he asked, staring down at her.
She licked her lips and replied, “Just got my official lesson today. Only rode my father’s horse a few times when I was younger. I obviously never have mastered breaking a horse, though.”
He nodded in understanding. “Yes, some of the young fillies need to be broken very early. There’s nothing harder than a stubborn girl. They are worse than the colts. Why are females so much more stubborn than males?”
As Mariselle repressed a facetious comment about the stubbornness of pigheaded men, a voice broke their conversation.
“Your Majesty. Your horse.”
They both looked over to see Emily holding Midnight by the reins, saddle perched on his back.
Emily and Zackary helped Mariselle up onto the back, as much as she wished they’d just leave her alone and let her mount. Then, Zackary easily mounted the horse in the front position.
“Thank you, Emily. We will return shortly.” Zackary tipped his hat at the stable hand, and he and Mariselle were off, riding at speed on the back of Midnight toward the forest.
Chapter 9
King Alexander watched from the window of the turret, his arms folded across his hard upper body. With his jaw bunching in annoyance, and jealousy burning in his chest, he huffed as he watched Mariselle and his younger brother ride off on his horse.
When he had met with Zackary earlier that morning, the younger Rothhaven had never given a reason for his visit to the North Haven castle. He had simply said he missed his big brother, and that was it. Being as Alexander had much to tend to, he hadn’t thought much of his brother’s flippant comment.
Until now.
As he watched the woman he’d just taken into his bed no more than twelve hours prior ride off on a steed into the forest, his ire grew. He knew Zackary—and all of his brothers—knew about Mariselle’s little secret. She had somehow become fertile—or so they hoped—but nobody knew why. Zackary even knew that Griffin had bedded her the month prior, which had not resulted in a pregnancy. What his little brother Zackary didn’t know, was that Alexander had spent the entire night fucking her over and over, in every position possible. She could, by all intents and purposes, be growing a Rothhaven heir this very moment inside of her.
It was this thought that had Alexander s
crambling for something to say to his baby brother. He didn’t want Mariselle visiting anyone else’s bed. He didn’t even want her entertaining the thought if his child was growing inside her. Alexander just had to know if she was with child, and common knowledge was that it would be about a month before that evidence would present itself.
But was it just the promise of an heir Alexander cared about? No, it wasn’t. The sight of the redhead with her arms wrapped around his younger brother had made him go half-crazy. He didn’t like her touching Zackary’s trim, rock-hard stomach. From his vantage point, he had seen the way his brother had looked at Mariselle… the way he had flirted with her, because it was the same way he looked at Mariselle… and he didn’t like it one bit.
And now taking her horseback riding… Zachary’s signature foreplay move. He was no idiot.
Alexander had to devise a way to keep his brother’s dick away from the redhead. But how? By the way Mariselle had stared up at the younger Rothhaven, it might be difficult. But he would find a way.
After watching the pair disappear into the forest on his prized steed, he turned away from the window and made his way down the stairs.
“Shawna!” King Alexander cried out as he passed the servants’ chambers.
A few of the chambermaids gasped as they saw the king in their quarters. They immediately dropped to a knee and bowed low as they spotted him. The manservants did the same, all of them surprised to see him.
“Shawna!” he hollered again, slowing down and then stopping in the massive stone hallway of the servants’ chambers.
“Your Majesty, she is tending to Princess Eva,” one of the chambermaids said, her head bowed.
“As you were,” Alexander said, “All of you.”
The staff all stood and scurried away. With a huff, Alexander left the servants’ quarters and took the steps two at a time to reach the third floor of the castle. Eva’s chambers took up the entire floor. As he exited the stairwell, he came to a waiting area with furniture, a spindle, and a pitcher of water and chalices. A suited knight stood guard outside of a closed door, and he bowed slightly when he saw the king.
“Eva!” he called out.
His sister and Shawna both emerged from Eva’s bedroom, their eyes wide. Shawna bowed immediately.
When Alexander saw that Eva was close to naked, holding up a slab of shiny sky-blue fabric around her torso, he narrowed his eyes. “What are you doing, sister?”
Before she could answer, an older woman, probably close to seventy years of age, emerged from the bedroom. She carried a bolt of fabric and a pin-cushion in her liver-spotted hands. Her milky blue eyes widened when she saw the king, and she bowed awkwardly while holding the items.
“I’m getting fitted for a gown, Alexander,” Eva replied, brushing some black hair behind her shoulder and narrowing her icy blue eyes at her brother.
Alexander thought she looked so much like her mother at that moment. It was himself and Eva who had gained her eye color and milky white skin. Flogging down sadness at missing his mother, and wondering what she would look like now had the plague not snatched hers and their father’s lives, he lifted his chin. “I need to speak with—”
“Can’t you see I’m busy?” Eva cut in. “We can talk at dinner.”
Irritated that he had been interrupted, his eyes landed on Shawna. “I need to speak with you.”
Shawna’s brow furrowed. “Me, sire?”
The king nodded. “Yes, you.” He looked at his sister. “May I borrow your lady servant for a spell?”
Eva grinned knowingly. “Yes, you may.”
“Get your mind out of the gutter, sister.”
Eva chuckled and then ushered the dressmaker back into her room, closing the heavy wooden door behind her.
Alexander turned to Shawna. “Miss, I have been told you are a trained midwife. Is that correct?”
Shawna nodded nervously, wringing a piece of small, blue fabric between her hands. She wondered why the king would ask something so ludicrous, yet her curiosity was piqued. “Yes, Your Majesty. But as you can probably guess, I haven’t had much practice.”
“I see,” he replied, looking down as he began to pace a short length of the floor in front of her. He was quiet and continued to pace for such a long time, Shawna grew uncomfortable, but knew she had no choice but to stand and wait to be dismissed. Finally, he spoke. “If a woman were to be… with child… how soon could do we know?”
Again, Shawna’s brows dipped together, and then she bit back a smile, thinking how it didn’t take a midwife to answer this question. “Well, sire, if the woman misses her monthly, then there is a good chance that—“
“I know that much. Look, I need you to do something for me, will you?” he implored, his eyes looking desperate, pleading.
Alarmed, Shawna nodded. “Anything, Your Majesty.”
“I need you to keep a close eye on Mariselle. If she gets her… ah, monthly, I want to be notified personally by you and you only.”
“Yes, sire,” she said, dipping her head in reverence. “But I’m sure she will want to tell you herself.”
“Either way, but nobody can know but you and her, if she tells you first,” he replied.
“Yes, Your Majesty.” Shawna briefly wondered if this was a good opportunity to let the king know about Sir Henry’s cruelty, and then to ask for a transfer to the East Haven… or at least a holiday so she could go see Oscar and Armand. But as she looked into the king’s eyes, she could see the same desperation and love in them as were reflected in her own at the thought of her sweet love whom she missed dearly. She daren’t risk asking such a thing right now, but hoped, through Mariselle, she may one day get the nerve to do it.
“Is there something on your mind, miss?”
“No, Your Majesty. I will do as you ask.”
Alexander stared at her for a few, hard seconds, and then dismissed her. She scurried into the princess’s chambers, and Alexander made his way down the stairwell on his way to the dining hall.
Awkward, Mariselle thought as she lifted a forkful of stew into her mouth. She sat at the very end of the table, watching as the two Rotthaven brothers talked. She could easily hear what was being said—which was nothing more than Syracuse business and castle happenings—but she still felt as if there were an elephant in the room.
Truth was, Mariselle wasn’t very hungry. Her stomach was in knots because she now felt completely conflicted. She had just spent a long and luxurious night in King Alexander’s chambers, barely a month after having King Griffin in hers… and here she was, completely turned on by and drawn to Zackary as they had taken a ride through the forest earlier. It hadn’t lasted very long, as she was tired from her riding lessons, but she had enjoyed the easygoing way he spoke and how comfortable she was in his presence. Looking at him, she thought all the Rothhaven brothers were sexy, but there was something magnetic and animalistic about Zackary. As she stared at his tanned, muscular arms, and the fullness of his lips as he spoke and ate, she couldn’t, for the life of her, remember any of his features being so… dramatic and breathtaking as a child.
You stupid twit, no child looks at another like you are looking at him now, she scolded herself.
Shoving a piece of bread into her mouth to avoid smiling at the silly thought, she begged her mind to move on to something else. She didn’t want to be having dirty thoughts about the second-to-youngest Rothhaven while the ache between her legs still persisted from her romp in Alexander’s bed the night before.
As she’d been lost in her lusty thoughts, both brothers turned to look at her simultaneously, which grabbed her attention. She finished swallowing down a swig of wine and set the goblet on the table.
The two infuriatingly handsome kings stared at her.
“What?”
Had they been talking about her? She was dying to know. Or maybe she wasn’t. Maybe Alexander had told Zackary about their tryst the night before and now Zackary would be angry. Maybe Alexander had told him ab
out how she has been with the oldest Rothhaven no more than two months ago, and they both thought she was a dirty little harlot.
As the insecure thoughts began to creep up and make her unable to breathe, she removed the napkin from her lap and set it on her plate. Trying to maintain her composure without anxiety creeping into her chest and causing her to scream, she stood. “I should go, sires. I have to—”
“Sit down, M,” Zackary drawled, pointing a finger downwards.
She nodded. “Yes, sir.”
Mariselle wasn’t sure she had ever seen a man—let alone a king—roll his eyes before, but she was just as sure as the sun sets in the west, that Zackary had done just that. “You don’t need to leave. Yes, we were talking about you, but that does not warrant you leaving. We much prefer your presence.”
Mariselle’s gaze flicked between the two smoldering brothers. “Why’s that, sires?”
“Oh, my land… would you quit with the formalities? We’ve known you since you were just a wee lass. Please stop speaking like one of the servants,” Zackary said, amusement in his eyes.
Mariselle knew, at that very moment, as she looked at them, that she may have some kind of advantage. They certainly did not treat her like one of the staff, and even Alexander, with his sexy, but serious ways, seemed to have a weakness for her. In order to not go insane with all the thoughts swirling in her head, she held both hands up to keep them from commenting further. “You two… I need…” She sighed and stood up once again. “I have some thinking to do. Enjoy your supper.”
With a toss of her napkin onto her plate, she whipped her head around, and with it held high, left the banquet room and headed up to her own chambers to think.
Chapter 10
Shawna desperately wanted to tell Mariselle about her encounter with King Alexander, but she dared not to. It was painfully obvious that the king was extremely concerned that Mariselle could be carrying his child. This made Shawna happy on so many levels. Not just because she had felt and seen the chemistry between the two, but because a baby—any new life—would be a huge blessing to the kingdom of Syracuse and that wasn’t any sort of cause for alarm. Not now. The country was in dire straits and any new offspring would be a godsend, regardless of how it came to be.