Dusk (Equinox Book 1)

by Bradley, H. J.

  He looked up at her then in surprise, and she could understand why. As Johann’s PPO he had probably only ever been around what Myf liked to call ‘real’ royalty, like her sister, he had more than likely never seen anyone like her before. “But you are a princess.” He dropped her suitcase on the enormous bed that took up the whole centre of the room and then turned to look at her.

  “By birth only.” Myf folded her arms across her chest and shrugged her shoulders. “I’ve been living in student accommodation for the past six years; I wouldn’t know how to act like a princess if I tried.”

  At that Mattie gave a laugh. “You’ve been acting more like a princess than most of the people that claim the title.” He gently took her arm and guided her back out into the main living area. “You’ve got class.”

  Myf slowly shook her head. “That’s all a complete show. I know how I’m supposed to act.” She frowned before clasping her hands in front of herself. “I will do my duty in this courtship and my marriage.”

  All the humour seemed to leave Mattie’s face at those words, and shock filled his brown eyes as he approached her. “What are you talking about?”

  It was then that it hit her that ultimately Mattie was Johann’s staff, friend or not, and she was really going against protocol discussing these things with him. Especially since she hadn’t even got a chance to properly talk to Johann about exactly what he expected of her and how she was meant to act with him. “It doesn’t matter.” She strode past him quickly, running her had along the soft leather of the white sofa that took pride of place in the living room. Myf knew that it was best to just ignore him in the hope that he would cease the conversation.

  The next room was the kitchen, a large sweeping room with granite benchtops and white cupboards, fitted out with the most expensive brands. However, that wasn’t the most amazing part about the room, instead the huge floor to ceiling windows that looked out over Manhattan was enough to take her breath away.

  “You’re expected to go out for dinner with him this evening.” Mattie’s voice caught her by surprise, causing Myf to turn around quickly to find him seated on one of the white stools by the breakfast bar. “The table has already been booked.”

  “Well, of course.” She was unable to stop herself wringing her hands, something she did whenever she was uncomfortable. “It’s only proper for us to be seen in public together.”

  “You do know that if you’re so against marrying him, Johann will do everything in his power to break off the engagement.” Mattie said.

  Myf found herself smiling as she leaned against the counter and shook her head. “I never said that I didn’t want to marry him, only that I knew where my place in that marriage would be.” There was a look that could only be described as confusion on his face, and Myf wasn’t naïve enough to realize that most people wouldn’t understand her way of thinking. “You don’t understand. Marrying Johann is all I’ve ever known, my whole life has been spent knowing that he was my future. I don’t know anything other than that.”

  At that he stood up from his stool, walking into the kitchen so as to take her shoulders in his huge hands and guide her to sit down. “I’ll get you something to drink.”

  She watched him saunter over to the pantry and start rummaging around inside of it before turning to look at her in confusion. “Where’s the coffee?” His brows furrowed as he turned back to the pantry. “Someone forgot to buy the coffee beans.”

  Myf let out a chuckle at that and shook her head. “I don’t drink coffee.”

  “What?” There was a thump as the top of Mattie’s head hit one of the pantry shelves. “What do you mean you don’t drink coffee?”

  “I’ve never really been a fan of it.” She folded her arms on the granite benchtop and leaned forwards to catch his eye. “I drink herbal tea.”

  It was actually quite amusing to watch him try to hide his grimace at those words. “Right.” He fidgeted for a minute. “What’s that then?”

  She gave a laugh and stood back up, patting him on the arm as she went to look into the pantry. It seemed that either Cat or Emma had been in contact with whoever it was that had been stocking this apartment up, because her favourite blackberry tea was in the pantry. “Lovely.” She took one of the tea bags from the box, already hearing Lowri’s horrified tone at the very idea of her not brewing any kind of tea the ‘proper’ way. “Now where’s the kettle?”

  It was highly disconcerting not being able to see a kettle anywhere in the kitchen, and it suddenly occurred to her that New Yorkers may not know that a kettle were required to make tea. However Mattie pointed straight at the strange tap over the sink. “If you press the button on the side of the tap boiling water comes out.”

  “All I want is a kettle.” She started rummaging quickly through the cabinets until she found a row of white mugs lined up. “Is that too much to ask?” She pulled out a mug and plonked the teabag into it, before finally figuring out the tap. Soon the whole kitchen was full of the sweet aroma of the blackberry tea. Relaxed for the first time since learning that her courtship was about to begin, Myf leaned against the cabinet and closed her eyes. “I don’t think I’m built for New York.”

  “You’re definitely built for New York.” Mattie’s words were husky, and she opened her eyes to see him giving her a slow once over. Myf wasn’t used to this kind of attention, and she found herself blushing beneath his heavy gaze.

  “I don’t think you’re supposed to be looking at me like that.” She ducked her head and took a sip of her hot tea, refusing to meet his eye.

  “You’re a beautiful woman.” She could almost hear him shrug. “I can’t help myself.” Mattie gave a soft laugh. “But don’t worry, you belong to Johann.” He paused for a moment. “And he most certainly belongs to you. I’m not going to do anything other than look.”

  Myf’s cheeks were red hot, but she eventually looked up to see the sincerity in his eyes. She immediately felt more comfortable in his presence, and she hoped that given enough time they could become friends. “So I’m meant to be going out with my fiancé for dinner tonight?”

  “Oh, yes of course.” A sly smile came to Mattie’s face and he quickly got to his feet. “Just wait until you see the clothes that Cat sent over for you.”

  A sensation akin to horror felt like an icy fist in her chest. Cat’s taste in clothes tended to be more of the risqué variety than what Myf was comfortable with; but when you were five foot nothing, with a petite figure you could pull off plunging necklines and short skirts. Undoubtedly the clothes that were waiting for her would be enough to put Johann off for good.

  Chapter Five

  “No getting drunk,” said Mattie, plucking the tall glass of vodka and cranberry from Johann’s hand and carefully placed it on the opposite side of the table, before meeting his pout with a glare.

  “One drink isn’t the end of the world Mattie.” Johann reached for his drink again before taking another sip. “Plus I need something now for my nerves.”

  The restaurant they currently sat in was luxurious enough, yet with an atmosphere that leaned more towards being cozy. Warm lighting, homely colours, and an all over comfortable environment meant that this was unlike the places that he usually frequented. However everyone had assured him that this was the best way to make Myf comfortable on their first real date.

  Not that Johann would truly call it a date, not when Kai and Steph were going to be sat with their PPO’s not three tables away, and Mattie was meant to join them there as well when they arrived. He didn’t mind Mattie’s presence, it was something that he had got used to over the years, and he knew that his own PPO could be extremely discrete when it came to the women in his life. Then again, Johann supposed that Myf would be the last woman he had to romance in any particular way.

  “I never thought I’d see you nervous over a girl.” Mattie’s words cut into Johann’s musing, and he found himself staring at the other man in surprise.

  “She’s not just any girl,” he
said.

  Mattie raised an eyebrow at him, before turning to look towards the main entrance to the restaurant. “They’re here.”

  At that Johann followed the other man’s gaze to see Kai helping Steph out of her coat, and it was then that he noticed the third member of their party beginning to take off her own coat, that he jumped to his feet. Not even half a dozen long strides had him standing in front of Myf, sliding his hands beneath the shoulders of her coat to help her slide it off. There was a shock as his fingers slid along the soft skin of her shoulders, and it was when her coat was fully removed that Johann got to see why.

  What he found beneath the thick black wool of her coat, was enough to take his breath away. The curves that had both fuelled his fantasies, and had him despairing that he would ever find the woman attractive, were clad in the most amazing little black dress he had ever seen. Certainly it was something you would generally see on Cat, but on her sister who was a good six inches taller and twenty kilograms heavier it looked almost obscene. Myf’s legs seems to go on forever, her hips were all but begging for his hands against them and their generous girth tapered in a waist that curved in just enough to give her a traditional hourglass figure. It was her bust though, every silk clad inch of it, that caught his attention and made him want to take her straight back to his apartment and mess up his sheets.

  “Thank you.” She smiled gently at him, and it took Johann a moment to realize that she was talking about the coat.

  “That’s a fantastic dress.” Johann watched as she glanced down at herself, the smile still on her face.

  “I’m pretty sure Cat picked it out.” She scowled then. “She seems to think that if something looks good on her it should look good on anyone.”

  Well that wasn’t exactly true. There was absolutely no way that Cat would look anywhere near as good in this dress because she didn’t have the curves to fill it out. Yes the future Queen of Wales had a fantastic figure, but it was in no way as curvaceous or as incredible as that of her sister. “You look beautiful.”

  Myf flushed at that, something that he had discovered during their time together over the summer was something that she did when she was complimented. Johann found it endearing, that for once he was able to stand beside a woman who didn’t think that she was God’s gift to man. It was nice to be able to say something nice to her and receive such an involuntary honest response. Maybe, he thought as he leaned in to kiss her cheek, this was what he had been missing all these years.

  “Come on, I’m starving.” Steph said from beside him, and Johann looked up at her and Kai to find himself being thoroughly scrutinized.

  “Food does sound good,” said Myf.

  Johann offered her his arm, which she took with a small nod as he led her back to where Mattie was now greeting Steph and Kai with hugs. Letting go of Johann’s arm to hug Mattie herself caused him to grit is teeth at the sight of another man’s arms around her. It was stupid, and he knew that, to even be contemplating that Mattie was trying anything on with Myf despite his obvious attraction to her, yet he couldn’t help himself. It made him wonder what made this one woman so different to the others that had come before her, never before had he felt so possessive or jealous. Johann didn’t know if he liked this side of himself.

  “Relax.” Kai’s voice in his ear made him jump. “He’s not groping her.”

  “I know that,” said Johann.

  “Then why do you look like you’re about to punch him?” Johann chose to ignore her words, and instead just slid into the booth beside Myf. He couldn’t help but feel a sense of pleasure as she shyly threaded their fingers together, and Johann squeezed her hand in reply.

  Johann had to admit that the meal had been very nice. He would have liked to have been able to spend time alone with his fiancé, especially since they were supposed to decide whether or not they were going to accept the terms of the courtship period. If they decided against it, Lowri and Mauno would have to dissolve the engagement.

  “You two are getting fifteen minutes to yourselves.” Bill, who was Kai’s PPO, had sidled over to Johann as they were all stood outside the restaurant on the crowded sidewalk. “We’re all going to be on the other side of the road.” The look he gave Johann was clearly a warning, as if he thought that he would do anything untoward on a street in the middle of Manhattan.

  “Thank you.” Myf reached out and squeezed Bill’s arm gently, and he smiled at her in response before turning to help Greta herd Kai and Steph across the road to go window shopping.

  “So now we need to decide what we’re going to do.” Johann turned back to Myf the moment that they were out of earshot, only to find that she had averted her eyes.

  “No.” She wrapped her coat even tighter around herself despite the fact that it was a warm summers evening. “You need to decide.”

  “What does that mean?” He took hold of her shoulders and turned her towards him. “Myf, look at me.”

  Johann watched as she dragged her gaze to his, and immediately he felt like he was drowning in those light blue orbs.

  “I will agree with anything you want.” Myf shrugged her shoulders beneath his hands.

  There was something about those words that made his chest ache. “If you don’t want to marry me you only have to say.”

  “And what, be passed onto the next available member of your family?” Myf shook her head quickly. “No, I want to marry you, Johann.”

  So it was up to him whether to accept this or not, and even though he felt an inherent bitterness about this entire situation, he was fully aware that things could be far worse. “I think.” He removed his hands from her shoulders and instead took her hands in his. “I think we can give this a bloody good shot.”

  Her eyes fluttered closed and let out a deep breath. “Johann …”

  “Marry me?” He drew her into his arms, already amazed at how perfect she felt there. “What do you say?”

  Instead of replying, she pressed a soft kiss to the corner of his mouth. At that movement he found himself tightening his hold on her, and urging her down the alleyway that they were standing beside. Once there he pressed her against the exposed brick wall, capturing her mouth with his own in a deep and searching kiss. Myf tasted of the red wine that she had been drinking with dinner. For several long moments they were lost in each other, their mouths slowly sliding together, and before too long he found himself cradling the back of her head as he drew her closer by her waist.

  “Oh for …” Mattie’s voice came from the entrance to the alleyway.

  Johann pulled his mouth from Myf’s and turned to face the other man. “Could we have a minute please?”

  “I think you’ve had more than that, don’t you?” Mattie let out a laugh. “So I’m guessing the engagement is on?”

  Myf gave a soft laugh and buried her face in Johann’s shoulder.

  “Yes, the engagement is on.” He pressed a kiss to her temple. “Now could you at least turn around and give us a moment.”

  “You do know Kai is going to be here in a minute, right?” Mattie sounded amused and Johann couldn’t help but smile as well.

  “I’ll call you tomorrow and see when we can get together.” Johann kissed Myf again, tightening his hold on her when she all but melted into his embrace.

  Chapter Seven

  “Steph and I are going ice skating.”

  Johann gave a deep groan, struggling into a sitting position on his soft leather couch whilst holding his mobile phone up to his ear. He knew that it was only early in the evening, not even eight o’clock yet, but it had been a busy day at work and had wanted to do nothing more than collapse when he had got home. Kai, it seemed, had other ideas.

  “That’s nice.” He flopped back down on the couch. “Have a good time.”

  “Myf’s coming, too.”

  Running a hand through his hair, Johann swung his legs over the side of the couch and rested his elbows on his knees. “I suppose I’m expected to go courting then, am I?”

/>   It had been three days since he had last seen his fiancé, and Johann had found that his thoughts had all but been taken up with her. This was something which meant that he hadn’t really been able to concentrate on anything else, making not only work, but also his social life, difficult. In fact, despite being invited out several times already by the handful of friends he had made during his own short time in Manhattan, Johann had found that he just wanted to stay at home and contemplate his future.

  “We just thought that it would be nice for you and Myf to spend some time together.” Kai’s voice sounded disapproving and Johann rolled his eyes in response. “Though I don’t think she actually expects you to turn up, so if you don’t want to …”

  Immediately that reminded him of the conversation with Myf that Mattie had told him about, how she didn’t think he would make any changes for her and that she was fine being nothing more than his wife in public and nothing to him in private. This was a mentality that he was determined to break. “No, I’ll be there. The usual place?”

  “That’s right?”

  “I’ll be there in half an hour,” said Johann.

  With that he hung up and flung his phone towards the other end of the sofa, before standing up and stretching. It had been a while since he had taken a woman ice skating, then again he hadn’t really kept one around long enough to do something quite so ordinary. As had been almost constant since his courtship had begun, a feeling of panic started to rise in his stomach at the idea of making that effort for Myf.

  It took a hot shower and a change of clothes for him to start feeling even slightly human again, and by the time he and Mattie had arrived at the Chelsea Piers rink he was ready to put on all his charm. He put his skates over his shoulder as they entered the building, and Johann found himself smiling at the sight of Kai and Steph already on the ice, skating around each other and laughing.

  However, it was Myf, standing on the edge of the rink wearing a long grey cardigan over a bright red skirt, which caught his attention. She was smiling and laughing along with her friends, looking so incredibly normal and absolutely nothing like the Princess she inherently was.