“Prove it,” he said in that low commanding voice that made my knees knock.
“How?”
He bent to graze that beard near my ear. “Meet me upstairs.”
A thrill shot through me as he exited the dance the minute the song ended. He escaped through the crowd and disappeared from the ballroom, that cape draping elegantly behind him. I waited as long as I thought was respectable before I followed.
Of course, I was stopped by everyone on the way, who wanted a couple of minutes of my time. Since it was officially my reception, I couldn’t deny them, despite my husband’s lascivious request.
After that, Kelly dragged me back out to the festivities outside to introduce the cupcakes featuring the newly minted Duchess coins, where I would give the order to cut into the red velvet cupcakes at the same time to see who won all the prizes.
It was after ten o’clock before I was able to escape upstairs to our bedroom. No candles were lit, which I thought was odd. Maybe he was only planning for a quickie before we had to head back downstairs to finish the night and close the scavenger hunt by midnight.
The door to the adjoining terrace, however, was wide open. I stepped out onto the turret and saw the dark shadowy figure of a man leaning over the parapet. I walked over to where he stood. “Excuse me, sir. I’m looking for a bad boy.”
The man rose to full height and faced me. I gasped when I realized I was staring right into the striking blue eyes of Cillian Byrne.
“Lucky you,” he smirked. “You found one.”
“I thought you were Auggie,” I said, immediately flustered by the mistake.
“Sure, you did,” he murmured, his gaze making an unwanted journey down my body. “The offer still stands,” he said as he took a step towards me. “Unless, of course, you were looking for a bad boy in particular.”
With one deft motion he released the fastener holding my cape together at my breastbone, which let it waft gently towards the floor. There around my neck was the locket he had given me as a wedding gift. I squared my chin as I held his gaze.
“I’m honored you would wear my gift,” he said. “There must be someone very special inside.”
“There is,” I agreed. “The father of my child.”
He stepped closer. I had to fight the urge to back away. His eyes held mine as he opened the locket. Finally, he glanced down to find the picture of Auggie I had printed and put inside.
My eyebrow arched as our eyes met. “Well played, Princess,” he said softly. He didn’t move his hand, he continued to caress the shiny smooth locket between his fingers. It took every ounce of strength not to wrench away.
“You got what you came for,” I said at last. “You can go.”
“Not yet,” he decided. “I still have a Gold Duchess to find. There’s one left at last count.” His voice lowered. “That’s when the hunt becomes particularly exciting, don’t you think? When there’s just one last chance to snatch victory from the hands of defeat.”
“Then you better get to it,” I advised in that same low voice. “You’ve come too far to lose now.”
He smiled. “My thoughts exactly.”
He made no motion to move, which only grated on my nerves even more. “You better hurry before someone else finds the coin.”
His gaze drilled into mine. “There is more than one Duchess to claim,” he announced. Next thing I knew his hand snaked out and grabbed the back of my neck, pulling me close. I was so shocked my mouth opened in a gasp. He took full advantage and lowered his mouth to mine, stealing a savage kiss I did not want.
His tongue rammed between my lips as he held me prone with one arm, forcing my body against his. I used both hands to try and force him away, but he was too strong. His hand slipped up into my hair, grabbing a handful, as he tried to prod me into submission.
Instead, I struggled against him, finally using all my might to push him back. “Don’t you ever do that again!”
He chuckled as he thumbed his swollen mouth. “Can’t blame a man for seeing what all the fuss was about,” he commented as casually as you please. He stepped forward. I stepped back. This pleased him. “I’ve had better,” he decided. “See you at the finish line, Princess.”
He turned on his heel and strode from the terrace.
I stood there for several minutes, trying to compose myself. I hugged myself to ward off the shivers. My tense body caused Jack to launch a major protest, punching and kicking my insides like his own personal speed bags.
“It’s okay,” I assured him, caressing my tummy. When I finally got him to settle, I headed back inside the bedroom just in time to see Auggie entering the room. Our eyes met and held.
“You okay?” he wanted to know.
I opened my mouth. I wanted to tell him everything, but I didn’t even know where to start. I also knew from the near empty glass of bourbon in his hand that it could go any number of ways, almost all of them downhill.
And what difference would it have made? Cillian made his hateful point. I was nothing special. He made damned sure I knew it. It would likely never happen again.
“I just needed some fresh air,” I said at last.
He nodded as he stepped closer. He spotted the open locket on my chest. “Where’s your cape?”
I sputtered, gesturing to the terrace. “I think I caught it on something.”
Again, he nodded as he came to stand right in front of me. I could smell the peach bourbon on his breath. He studied the open locket. “I like the new picture,” he said before he killed the rest of his glass.
“He wanted to put the father of my child in the locket. I figured it fit.”
He tossed the tumbler aside. It shattered on the floor.
“Auggie,” I started, but he pulled me close, kissing me immediately to stop all conversation.
Though this was my husband whom I loved, the kiss made me instantly uncomfortable with the fresh memory of Cillian’s mouth on mine. I found myself resisting despite myself.
“What’s the matter?” he slurred against my ear. “I thought you wanted a bad boy.”
He lifted me up and carried me to the bed, where we fell together. His hands were all over my body, rough, demanding, possessive.
“Auggie,” I protested. “Stop.”
“Why?” he wanted to know. “You’re my wife. I’m your husband. Unless you’re thinking about someone else,” he added, those eyes drilling into mine.
He meant Caz, of course.
I knew the truth would kill him.
I held his face in my hand. “There’ll never be anybody else but you.”
His hand slid up my bare thigh underneath the dress. “Prove it.”
“Auggie,” I started again, but his mouth covered mine, both possessive and demanding as he nudged my lips apart, coaxing a deeper kiss.
I knew that Cillian was hellbent on destroying things between Auggie and me. He made that clear. He didn’t want me. He didn’t even like me. He was just another Christopher.
He was irrelevant.
And I wasn’t about to let him hurt my husband anymore.
So, I gave in to Auggie’s kiss with such abandon it made him shudder against me, moaning deep into my mouth as he positioned himself on top of me. Just as he released himself against me, rock hard, throbbing, and ready, someone knocked on the door.
“Go away!” he practically growled as his eyes drilled into mine.
“I’m sorry, sir,” Kelly said through the door. “It’s nearly eleven. It’s time to say your goodbyes to the guests outside.”
I could watch the gears turn as he stared down at me. He still throbbed against me. “We’ll be right there,” he finally conceded.
“Very good, sir,” she said through the door.
He waited until he could hear her foot falls retreat. He kissed me again, harder, possessive, full of aching want and need. I was sure he’d take me right then despite it all. Instead he pulled away off the bed.
“There,” he stated simply.
“Now you have a reason for your lipstick to be smeared.”
I gasped as he turned and left me on the bed.
Chapter Fourteen
It took me a few minutes to compose myself before I headed back downstairs to the party. I stopped on the terrace to grab my discarded cape. I ripped that hateful gift from Cillian from my neck before I retreated to our private bathroom to fix my makeup.
My lipstick was smeared, and my hair was all out of place, though I couldn’t really tell from looking which encounter was the culprit.
It really didn’t matter. I freshened myself up as best as possible before I headed back downstairs to bid the outdoor crowd goodbye.
Auggie’s gaze swept over me but he said nothing as he turned his attention back to his public. Ever the professional, he smiled wide for the adoring crowd, waving to them, paying them the attention they so eagerly craved. I followed suit as we stopped to take official photos with those who had won the Duchess coin; a group photo for the lucky hundred and separate photos for those who had won the Gold Duchesses.
I was thrilled that one of the winners was the little old lady who had sat up front the whole night, despite the fact the music was a lot more contemporary than she was probably used to. When they played us off with bagpipes, it appeared to make her entire evening.
Kelly led us back into the castle to wrap things up for the scavenger hunt, which had made it all the way to the dungeon. I tried to talk to Auggie on the way, but he was tight-lipped and aggravatingly stoic. I could say little in front of Kelly, so I said nothing at all.
It would have been useless anyway. The closer we got to the dungeon, the more crowded and noisier it got. Kelly pushed through, allowing us passage. We entered the room just after the crowd erupted in cheers and applause. The last Gold Duchess had been found!
We turned the corner and I stopped in my tracks as I spotted who held the valuable coin high.
It, of course, was Cillian, whose chiseled face carved itself into a victorious smile. Those present launched into a chorus of For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow, but neither Auggie nor I joined in.
“Speech! Speech!” the crowd chanted.
He stood on an old wooden chair to address the crowd. “I would like to thank the beautiful new princess for her kindness and her hospitality,” he said, and the crowd enthusiastically agreed. Before he jumped back down to the floor, he kissed the coin while looking dead in my eyes. I felt my face flush immediately. I stole a glance at Auggie, who watched the scene unfold with those angry green eyes.
It was a lot harder for him to play nice when we took the official photo with Cillian, whose arm wrapped around me like it had any right to.
They squared off afterwards, unable to address the situation with anything other than eye contact.
To make matters worse, Cillian bent to kiss my cheek before he left. Auggie stalked off without saying anything at all.
Though the castle was filled with hundreds of people, I had never felt lonelier. Mom and Fern were off with Gav helping to clean up the outdoor venue as the crowds exited. Kelly did likewise in the castle. Dallas and Dash had already gone to bed hours ago and Dad was the world away.
There was no one I could talk to.
“Hey, Princess,” a male voice said.
I turned to face who was speaking before rolling my eyes with an aggravated sigh. “What do you want?”
Caz Bixby approached. “I wanted to say goodbye to you personally, since this was your reception and all. If you excuse me for saying so, you don’t look so happy for someone who just had one hell of a royal shindig in her honor.”
“You’re not excused,” I gritted. I blamed him for the whole night. It was easy to do, considering. “And fuck off,” I added before turning away.
He pulled me back. “Hey,” he said softly, with what sounded like genuine concern in his voice. “Are you okay?”
“Of course,” I snapped. “I just had a ball thrown in my honor.”
I wrenched my arm from him and stomped off.
My back hurt. I had a raging headache. I was exhausted. Jack was kicking the hell out of me. And most of all I didn’t want to face Auggie. I knew it would only get so much worse.
But even as I tried to assist Kelly, she shooed me off to send me to bed, telling me I was pale and exhausted and doing nobody any favors, least of all the baby or myself, by trying to be a hero.
“Go to bed,” she instructed at once, finger pointing to the stairs, her face set in a grim line. The hotheaded temper associated with redheads threatened to rear its ugly head, so I knew better than to disobey and headed up to my room like a good girl.
Who needed a nanny? I had Kelly Murphy.
I wanted Auggie to be in our room, but I dreaded finding him there. I was too emotionally drained to argue.
My heart both lifted and sank to find him there, already changed into casual clothes and packing his suitcase.
“What are you doing?”
“Packing,” he answered flatly.
“I see that. But why?”
He spared me a glance. “Are we going to play this innocently? Or are you going to tell me the truth?”
“Auggie,” I started as I entered the room. He turned to face me and stopped me right in my tracks. “Can I change first?” I asked, gesturing to the dress I was quite frankly tired of wearing.
“Haven’t you already?” he shot back.
I gulped hard. “That’s not fair.”
“Isn’t it?” He stepped closer. “You’ve lied to me twice now.”
“I didn’t lie,” I started, but even I knew that wasn’t true. “I didn’t tell you about the locket…,” I started.
“A lie of omission,” he corrected. “But we’re not talking about that lie.”
I sighed. “What do you want me to say?”
“The truth would be nice.”
“Trust me. The truth isn’t nice.”
“Tell me anyway.”
“It was Cillian,” I said softly. “I came up here to find you and Cillian was on the terrace. He shouldn’t have even been up here. They’re private quarters for the family.”
“He’s family,” he pointed out.
“Yeah, I’m aware. Not a damned day goes by without someone mentioning it.”
He said nothing. He simply waited.
“He got in my face. I showed him the locket. And he grabbed me. He kissed me,” I admitted at last, though my throat closed in on the words.
His jaw clenched. “And?”
“And nothing. I shoved him away. I told him never to do it again.”
His fists curled into fists so tight it turned his knuckles white. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because that’s what he wanted. He didn’t kiss me because he wanted to, he kissed me because he wanted you to know he took something that belonged to you. It’s a giant pissing game. It means nothing.”
“If that were true, you would have told me.” Auggie turned back to his suitcase and snapped it shut.
“Where are you going?”
“Home,” he muttered as he brushed passed me.
“And where is that?” I wanted to know.
He paused at the doorway. He stared at me for a long moment before he let out a breath that I didn’t even know he was holding. “For tonight, it’s where you’re not.” I gasped and stumbled backwards. A tear trailed down his face. “It kills me to say that to you. Every bit as much as it hurts you to hear it. What hurts even worse? I never thought I’d say that less than a month after we married.”
I rushed towards him. “This is what he wants, Auggie. This is why he did it. Don’t let him win.”
His face curved in an ironic snarl. “Don’t you see? He already did.”
He slammed out of the room.
I tossed and turned all night, crying useless bitter tears. It was less than a month into my marriage and we had already had a quarrel so serious we had to sleep apart.
Jack was equally unhappy about it. Cont
ractions started off and on by two o’clock in the morning, enough to keep me from going to sleep, but not enough to send me to the hospital.
I was grateful for that last little bit. From Cillian’s behavior at the ball, I knew now just how low he would sink. I wanted to chain my knees together to keep from having the baby for another few weeks.
The stress and hormones led to bad dreams, where I dreamed Auggie sent us all back to Los Angeles, where Christopher waited to take Jack away from me. Somehow in my fevered imagination, he became king thanks to his new best friend, Cillian.
Ironically, my only friend in these dreams was Caz Bixby, which made no damned sense at all.
I woke up from this hateful dream time and time again, but always fell back into it. Why that was never possible when I had good dreams, like being romanced by Ryan Gosling throughout my early twenties for instance, was a damned mystery.
Worst of all, there was nobody to talk to. Fran and Gav were sleeping together in their own room and I never would have intruded. Mom had enough on her plate with my dad and my grandparents.
I had to pull up my big girl panties and figure it out on my own.
The next day, the McPhees returned to Castlewick. I was relieved at least to find that was where Auggie had gone, but he spent most of the day out at the stables with fellow equestrian, Alex Fullerton.
Dash begged to go join them, so I walked him out to the paddock where Alex and Auggie were exercising the horses. Auggie hid any residual hurt or anger behind that royal mask of his, but I could tell by the way Dash studied us that he sensed something was wrong.
I went back to the house before I gave too much away.
Mom and Rachel Fullerton were upstairs in their apartment with the kids. “We’re thinking about taking a ride into Cochrann to meet Fern and Gav for lunch,” she advised. “Would you like to come?”
I shook my head. I could no longer do casual, spontaneous things like dinner and shopping in town anymore. I had to have a full guard for safety, which required coordination and planning.
Besides, I really didn’t want to be around anyone. The party before had taken it out of me. I just wanted to lie in bed and lick my wounds. I was still having contractions off and on and my back ached like the dickens.
The Duke Takes a Bride (The Rocking Royal Trilogy Book 2) Page 15