by Lexie Ray
“She talks like him,” Dwayne said as he shook Andrea’s arm with excitement. “She talks like him. There’s two of them. This is so weirdly awesome.”
Jamie reached up to smack Dwayne across the back of his head as Mads reached his cousin. He took her hand, and she dipped into an elegant and formal curtsy. It was a motion that never failed to bring back good memories, and he supposed it was more than propriety that made her do it.
As a child, Natalie had had few interests beyond the realm of science. It was Mads who had preferred dance and the arts. After hours of her trying and failing to pull off the motions, to the ever-increasing insults of her mother, Mads had taken his cousin aside. It had taken them only an hour for her to perfect the dance.
He bowed to her. She only arose when he straightened.
“Do not, for one moment, think that I don’t know what you are doing.”
“I am welcoming my cousin,” she said with a horrible attempt at innocence. “A cousin that seems intent on ruining the Persian rug.”
Before his gaze shifted to the butler in the corner, Mads glanced down at the tracks his muddy boots had left across the antique. Mads was also smart enough to know that this, too, was a trick to get him in a better mood, or at least to redirect his anger to a different source. Nurturing a grudge was one of Mads’ many talents. There was still a score to be settled between him and the majority of the staff of The Mermaid, and he rarely passed up an opportunity to repay old wounds.
“I am certain Markus is up to the task,” Mads said. “He is so well acquainted with scum.”
Natalie’s lips twitched into a smile as Mads released her hand. She was really intent on distracting him. Playing to fond memories, giving him outlets for his anger, and offering vindictive agreement were all signs that she was running out of ways to dodge the upcoming conversation.
“Alas. I wish you had sent word. As you know, I am having a gathering tomorrow and lack any extra rooms for you and your servants.”
“Workers,” Dwayne called out. “More like friends, actually. Well, we are.” He waved his hands to indicate himself, Jamie, and Jai. He turned his attention to the women and added, “I don’t know what he’d call you. Friend’s girlfriends? Chicks he knows? Entourage? Groupies? Associates?”
“Guests,” Andrea said. “How did you go past guests?”
Dwayne shrugged his massive shoulders and grinned at Andrea’s annoyance.
“I called ahead,” Mads said.
“The Mermaid does not have a phone.”
“But Markus has a cell phone that he is ordered to carry at all times.”
Natalie’s corset did wonders for her posture and only seemed to bother her when she was annoyed. She held herself stiffly now.
“You seem rather insistent on your set path. What would you say to my expressed disgust with your unneeded and completely unwarranted interference in my affairs?”
Mads met her gaze with a hint of a victorious smile. “Make your peace.”
“I see. Would it do me any good to remind you that I am the lady of the house?”
“Not when I am still the legal owner,” Mads replied.
“Is that why you never agreed to sign the final papers?”
“I like to plan ahead.”
“Obviously,” she said. Her ribs strained against her extravagant dress as she took a deep breath. “Well then, let me welcome you for the night.”
“I am staying until I am assured of your safety.”
“I can assure you of that right now.”
Mads smiled lightly, placed his hands behind his back, and silently held his ground. He could almost feel the heat of Natalie’s rage, but both of them had been trained too well in courtly manners and propriety to delve into a screaming match. Their arguments were a game of wills, and they both preferred it that way.
While Mads had apparently won the first battle, he didn’t believe for a moment that she wouldn’t retaliate. Just not now. Instead, she smiled her Mona Lisa smile and tipped her head.
“Well, I am glad to have you stay. It has been far too long. And what a delightful chance to meet your friends at last.”
Mads heard the threat brewing in the words, like thunder from an oncoming storm, but he wasn’t quite sure how it would hit. So, he stood his ground as Natalie opened her arms in greeting.
“Please forgive my rudeness. I was just so delighted to see my cousin that my manners were forgotten. I am Baroness Natalie Vladimirovich. Welcome to The Mermaid’s Song.”
A loud crack of thunder shook the stone walls, lightning sliced the sky, and Natalie dipped into a graceful curtsy. It was hard for Mads to shake the feeling that this was a bad omen.
Chapter Four
Natalie cursed as she lowered herself into a curtsy. How could she have made such a miscalculation? One more day and the conference would be in full swing. That many people in one room, all knowing of Mads’ status and eager to interact with him, would have been enough to keep him at bay. Or at least to ensure that there were parts of the castle he wouldn’t dare enter, thereby forcing him to leave her to her own devices.
He was supposed to trust that she could take care of herself. Natalie could have seen him bringing perhaps one or two people to remain vigilant in the shadows. That would have been acceptable. But no, he had to bring a whole entourage that actually seemed to like him. She should have put the letter off an extra day.
Stowing her anger carefully out of sight, she straightened and resolved that if she couldn’t get him out of The Mermaid, she could at least make an attempt for some space. Looking over the gathering, she offered a large smile.
“Now, if you’ll allow me an indulgence, let me see if I can identify each of you from Mads’ descriptions.”
One of the women perked up at that. She glanced at the impressive mountain of a man next to her. He met her gaze with the same mix of fascination, worry, and excitement. It was the man that spoke.
“Mads talks about us.”
“At lengths,” Natalie said. “And in great detail.”
She had expected mortification to cross the man’s bearded face. The sheer joyous delight that instead crossed it caught her off guard. So did the bodybuilder’s excited, childish clapping.
“Do me, do me, do me,” he chanted. “Did he tell you how pretty my eyes are? They are like shiny pools to capture the soul.”
The woman next to him tried to smother her indulgent laughter but didn’t attempt to hide her smile.
“You must be Dwayne.”
“My eyes gave it away, didn’t they?” he said with a wink.
It was enough to make the woman by his side break into a flutter of giggles.
“And that would make the splendid woman next to you Ms. Chin.”
“You can call me Andrea.”
“Oh. And you can call me King,” Dwayne said.
“Please don’t,” Mads muttered behind her.
“Stop spoiling my fun,” Dwayne sulked.
His sudden dip of mood vanished with the slightest touch of Andrea’s hand on his forearm. Mads’ description of both of them and their interactions had apparently not been exaggerated.
Since the couple had failed to give her the reaction she wanted, Natalie turned her attention to the remarkably handsome, blond man.
“Jamie, I presume. Look at your finery. Such golden hair could truly be a crown.”
Jamie forced a polite smile and nodded his thanks. His eyes, however, were pleading with Mads for some kind of guidance. It was hard for Natalie to hide her scowl when Mads simply shook his head. Why was it that the one time she wanted to provoke Mads’ overprotective nature was the one time he didn’t seem to care at all? She quickly moved her attention onto the next in line. Jai.
While they had never discussed their appearances, she knew him instantly. Their heights were almost identical. She hadn’t thought that there was a possibility for someone’s hair to be darker than her own, but his accomplished the task. It fell in curlin
g tendrils to his shoulders, framing his face and looking soft to the touch. But it was his eyes that drew her attention. They were dark and lit up with warmth and intelligence, drawing Natalie in like gravity, robbing the air from her lungs and making her stomach flutter slightly.
Within a second, the rest of the world snapped back into place, and she was left wondering how long she had remained silent. Faced with the baffling question of why Jai had presented such a distraction, Natalie’s brain began to crank and whirl through the possibilities. It was a roaring noise in the back of her skull, and she ignored it while she nodded her head to him.
“Jai.”
She had never spoken the name aloud before. It felt like silk in her mouth. Something decadent and rich.
“Natalie.”
His British accent curled around the syllables of her name and ghosted over her skin. Decadent. She quickly turned away from him and focused her attention solely on the last of her party, her final hope of causing Mads any kind of discomfort. A real smile formed when her brain quickly noted who it was.
“Now, you.” She came closer and took Willow’s hands, holding them out to the sides as she studied her closely. “You, I’m afraid, I cannot place.”
“I probably didn’t make the letters,” she laughed. “I’m Willow. Nice to meet you.”
“Willow? Forgive me. My dear cousin is normally so precise with his descriptions.” Still holding Willow’s hands, she looked over her shoulder at Mads. Holding his sharpening gaze, she added. “He took some great leaves of fancy with you.”
“I can’t really tell if I’m getting insulted.”
“Or by whom,” Dwayne added.
“Oh, no, dear. No. My sweet Willow, I doubt even Aphrodite herself could live up to such high praises.”
Natalie dropped one of her hands to brush her fingertips along the soft curve of Willow’s cheek. It succeeded in making her very uncomfortable, and Natalie tried to cover her victory.
“You can stop now,” Mads said swiftly.
“Whatever do you mean?”
“If your goal is to coax my blushes, as I am sure that it is, you will have to change your focus. I cannot be embarrassed by having my accurate perceptions brought to light.”
Anger flared within Natalie’s chest. Mads had become far too good at controlling himself. He met her eyes with a challenge clear in his gaze. Apparently, she wasn’t the only one shocked by his declaration, since everyone remained in an awkward silence.
Without a backup plan, Natalie found her eyes inexplicably drawn back to Jai. She could feel him watching her, a constant calm presence, and was oddly unnerved by it. Grasping for a distraction, she held up Willow’s hand.
“My apologies. Here I am prattling away while you are practically frozen. Come. The maids will have had time to draw your baths. Let’s get you warm.”
***
Jai moved around the antique furniture of his room, studying the classical paintings while never really seeing them. His mind was busy mulling over each moment of his first interaction with Natalie. He had been careful not to form any expectations. Natalie seemed to take a certain amount of joy in defying them. But it had still blindsided him.
Not just because she had treated him like he had the plague – before it was curable – but because of the reaction he had to her presence. She was beautiful. That was hard to miss. But it was her ferocity that had captured him. There was a passion about Natalie that was impossible for her to hide, even behind the conservative clothes and courtly manners. It was a fire that had slipped into every word she had written him. Until the moment their eyes locked, Jai hadn’t thought about how much he had longed to see that burning passion in person.
A sharp knock on the door drew him from his thoughts and mounting worries. His shoes clicked across the stone floor as he crossed the room and opened the door. Natalie stormed in like a black streak. She rushed to the middle of the room then spun around to fix her eyes upon him with a pinpoint focus.
“I do not want you.”
Jai stammered over his shock. “Excuse me?”
“I. Do. Not. Want. You.” She emphasized each word.
“Did I do something to make you feel uncomfortable?”
“No. But your letters had begun to show a certain longing that, while not displayed in person, was tolerable. Now that you have changed our dynamic without invitation, I wanted it to be clear that any approach you make will be rejected.”
Jai’s chest constricted and expanded too far at the same time. He couldn’t begin to sort it all out. As it turned out, his mouth didn’t need his brain’s consent to continue.
“I understand. Thank you for making it clear.”
Natalie curtsied – the motion far sharper than it had been before – and left just as quickly as she had entered. Jai couldn’t even turn to watch her go. The fact that he was enamored with Natalie had only just bloomed in his mind. He hadn’t realized how deep the roots had taken hold until they had been ripped out.
Before he could remember how to breathe, Natalie came storming back in. She resumed the exact same position as before and addressed him in a sharp tone.
“You must continue to write me.”
“Must I?”
“Yes. Your particular brand of feeblemindedness aids my work. And my work benefits the world. Therefore, you must continue to write.”
“To benefit the world,” Jai clarified.
“Yes.”
Taking a deep breath, he nodded. “Of course.”
“Good.”
And then she was gone. He took a single step, and suddenly she came rampaging in a third time.
“I’m just going to sit,” Jai said as he settled onto the edge of the bed.
“You appear to be offended.”
“No. My face just does this when people offend me.”
She continued on as if he hadn’t spoken. “Do not be.”
“Oh, okay, then.”
This round, he had enough time to kick his shoes off before she came back.
“You were being flippant.”
“Yes, I was,” Jai said.
“I want you to know that this is not a reflection on you.”
“Okay.”
Natalie scowled. “I don’t like sex.”
What little control he had managed to regain was dragged from him. He didn’t know what to say, and his attempt only resulted in a questioning grunt.
“I find it sweaty, tedious, boring, and, to be completely candid, I achieve far better results when left to my own devices.”
Heat rushed to Jai’s cheeks at that thought, but Natalie didn’t seem to notice.
“I had, in the past, entered into romantic relationships with the understanding that there would be no sexual contact. But it only resulted in resentment and attempts at emotional manipulation. It is not a mistake I will make again. Regardless of temptation.”
“I’m a temptation?”
Natalie glared at him, excused herself, and left. She didn’t come back.
Chapter Five
Willow gave some real consideration to the idea that she had hit her head. Hard. Mads had always stood out of a crowd. With his finely tuned manners, intensity, and complete inability to smile in any way that showed his teeth, he didn’t blend into the general thrum of a crowd. But she had just thought that it was a personal quirk. If he had grown up here, however, it seemed like he had somehow turned out remarkably normal.
Her room wasn’t helping to soothe the eerie sense of otherworldliness that seemed to consume the castle. Time didn’t appear to exist here. Every inch of this space was an echo of a time long since passed. The only sound was the raging storm, and the fireplace was the only source of light. By the time that she had been shown in, a metal tub filled with steaming water had already been placed in the middle of the room.
With her fingers and toes numbing, Willow had slipped into the water before she had a chance to marvel at the fact that there was actually a removable tub in th
e middle of the room. There was no tap. Someone had had to carry it in and pour bucket after bucket of water. This whole place made it hard to keep any sense or reality. No wonder Natalie was so odd.
The air was like an icy blanket that wrapped around Willow the second she pushed herself out of the water. Leaving a trail of footprints, she hurried to her suitcase, towel wrapped around her body and skin exploding into gooseflesh. She yanked open the suitcase and paused. Every article of clothing she had was hidden under a few inches of frigid water.
Willow whirled to the sound of her door opening, one hand clutching the towel tightly around herself. The perfected grace Natalie had displayed before was gone, replaced by an anxious rigidness. When she finally came to stand in front of Willow, Natalie actually looked surprised to even be in the room. She blinked rapidly, glanced around, and met Willow’s eyes.
“Willow,” she said, “you’re not dressed.”
Willow felt her toes begin to numb again and her body begin to shake. “My clothes are ruined.”
“What a shame. I am sure I can find something that might suit.”
Something had really rattled Natalie, and it had thrown her off whatever game she was trying to play. Willow’s brow furrowed as she asked, “Do you know anything about this?”
“How would I know anything about your luggage?”
Willow tried to make it clear that she didn’t believe her at all, but Natalie didn’t look at her. Instead, she seemed to reserve all her attention for whatever was bothering her. Willow was apparently just an afterthought, like she was a task that needed to be attended to.
“I will send in a maid with what we find. It will not be long.”
“How do you know my size?”
“It will not be hard to judge.”
Willow folded her arms over her chest, but it was hard to look authoritative when wearing a towel and shivering.
“How lucky that you just happened to come in. You know, since you had no way of knowing I needed help.”
Natalie snapped her head up, her gaze finally focusing on her. Steeling herself, she forced a smile. “Yes, quite fortunate.”