Beside Valto, Cat blushed a deep red and Valto couldn’t help but roll his eyes at her reaction. The fact that she had a crush on Ukonsaari’s King and had done since she was a young girl, something that Valto had often teased her about when they first courted. She must have caught his reaction because Cat immediately started glaring at him, and he couldn’t help but laugh.
***
It had been a long time since Valto had been in Scotland. He had always liked the rolling hills and greenery, and thankfully Eilidh had always been more than happy to take him sightseeing and hiking through the Highlands. He was kind of looking forward to meeting up with her again; they had broken up under reasonably amicable terms and he hoped they could rekindle their friendship. It was always nice to hang around with someone who had similar interests to him.
Beside him, curled up on the leather back seat of the Range Rover that was taking them up to Braemar, Cat made a soft noise in her sleep. She may be feisty and strong in her own way, but there was no way her could see her traipsing across the highlands in a dress that cost five figures, and a pair of stiletto heels. In fact the image that it conjured was enough to make him smile.
“I can hear you smiling.” She hadn’t even opened her eyes, and Valto couldn’t help but widen his grin in response.
“One of these days you’re going to teach me how to do that,” he said, leaning forward to kiss her forehead.
She laughed softly before slowly opening her eyes and smiled at him. “It’s a woman thing.”
He couldn’t help but smile again, leaning forwards again to kiss her on the lips this time. “I thought it was more a mother thing.”
Cat rolled her eyes then and pulled away from him. “I wondered how long it would take you to get to the subject of knocking me up. You were obsessed with talking about children when we were teenagers.”
That was true. It wasn’t a secret that Valto was very much a traditionalist, and he wanted nothing more than to have a loving wife and a few kids. Johann had used to tease him endlessly about his ‘white picket fence’ fantasies, but it was something that Valto hadn’t been prepared to compromise on which was probably why he had been so determined to get Cat back. No other woman was ever going to be able to fulfil that role in either his life or his heart. “You know that I want a family with you.”
She nodded her head. “I know.”
It was nearly night when they finally made it to Braemer, and Valto wasn’t able to enjoy the scenery of this quaint little town that exploded with guests every year. Luckily Teuvo’s staff seemed efficient and an entire small but lovely little hotel on the edge of the town had been booked out for the King and those he counted as friends. Valto was very pleased that both Wales and Finland were classed as close friends of Ukonsaari, or else he might have been stuck with some of their more stuffy relatives and contemporaries in the more fancy places in the middle of town.
When he stepped out of the Range Rover Valto couldn’t hold in his sigh as he looked up at the sweet stone walled building with its slate roof, smoking chimneys, and the soft glow of lights coming through the windows.
“Oh this is pretty.” Cat had stepped out beside him, smoothing down her wrinkled cream colored skirt and leaning against him tiredly.
“And you’re tired.” He pressed a kiss against the top of her silky chestnut locks. “I think an early dinner and then bed.”
Cat’s arm snuck around his waist to give him a tight squeeze. “If I wasn’t so exhausted I would come to you tonight.”
Those words made his heart start to gallop in his chest and his cheeks to heat up, even though he knew that he would more than likely be spending the night alone just thought was enough to get a physical reaction out of him. With another kiss to her head, he started to lead her through the front door of the hotel that was being held open by one of her footmen.
“Valto!” The voice was softly feminine with a posh English accent, and despite everything he couldn’t help smiling at the woman who was seated in one of the armchairs that filled the foyer. “It’s so good to see you!”
Beneath his arm Valto felt Cat physically tense at the sight of the tall and slim form of Eilidh who had quickly got to her feet to greet them. She was a beautiful woman with a thick strawberry blonde hair, sky-blue eyes, and just a wholesome look about her. Certainly she had nothing on Cat, who even when she wasn’t dressed to the nines nor covered in make-up was so gorgeous that she could take your breath away. “You too Eilidh.”
It wasn’t a surprise that she would be here. As the pretender to the Scottish throne she was an important part of Royal party of both Ukonsaari and Wales. This also was the reason why she was in Braemer. Scotland was her ancestral lands after all, and Valto would have honestly been surprised if she wasn’t attending the festivities.
He let go of Cat so as to step forwards and embrace the other woman. She seemed to cling to him as they did so. From behind them there was the sound of Cat clearing her throat and Valto found himself having to disentangle from Eilidh so as to turn and look at his fiancé. He watched as her eyes flicked between the two of them. “Anyway it’s nice to see you Eilidh, but I must have a shower and get ready for dinner.”
“Oh of course.” Eilidh smiled at Cat. “I’m sure we can meet up later.”
With that Cat and her small entourage disappeared down the hallway to where he assumed her room was, and he couldn’t help himself watching her walk away his eyes riveted to the swing of her hips. “So how did that happen?” When Cat had finally disappeared from view Valto turned back to look at Eilidh.
“How did what happen?” Valto let her take his arm as she walked him towards a small staircase at the other end of the foyer. She all but dragged him up it and Valto found himself on a landing with four doors on it, the whole thing was painted cream with the usual terrible floor coverings that was often found in the British Isles.
“You and Caitlin.” She walked down the landing away from him before pulling a key from her jeans pocket and unlocking one of the doors. “Are you coming?”
Though he really wanted to spend some time with his friend, he knew that he should really go and spend some time with Cat before they went to dinner. He wasn’t entirely sure what they were going to be doing in their few days here, and really needed to get a proper rundown. “Me and Cat?”
“Yeah how did you two get back together after all this time?” She waved him in through the door until he finally followed. “We were together for two years and you despised her the entire time. I nearly fell over when mother told me that you were marrying her.”
“I was an idiot.” He shrugged his shoulders. “I was young and stupid. I thought she’d slept with Johann and I was so wrong.”
Eilidh was stood on the other side of the room, her arms folded across her chest as she stared at him for several long seconds. “Have you slept with her?”
Her voice was tight and Valto could understand why. She had very much desired to take their relationship to a more physical level but he had been incredibly resistant to her advances. It had been one of the things that had ultimately led to them breaking up that final time just before he had gone to Iraq. The breakup had hit his family rather hard as he knew that they had been hoping for a wedding, in fact he wasn’t entirely sure that his family even approved of Cat but were just going along with the whole thing to humor him. “Don’t do this Eddie.”
He saw her calm at the sound of his nickname for her, and he hoped that she wouldn’t take offense to how his relationship was progressing. Valto was aware that it was probably insensitive to discuss his sex life with the woman that had ultimately broken up with him because he hadn’t wanted to sleep with her. However the way that she was looking at him, an expression that he was all too familiar with, Valto knew that she was going to be pulling out the big guns. “Valto just tell me.”
“Yes I’m sleeping with Cat.”
“Color me surprised, I thought you were asexual,” said Eilidh.
T
hat was something that she had started throwing around amongst their friends towards the end of their relationship, and it had been something that had concerned his father enough for him to be lectured about his ‘duty’ to the family. It had taken him weeks to convince his parents that he wasn’t asexual but was in fact just waiting for the right person to give himself to, which was something that had his father scoffing. “I never said that.”
“You might as well have been.” Edliah’s hands gravitated to her hips and her eyes narrowed. “You were never interested in doing anything with me.”
“I wasn’t ready then” he answered.
Something that could only be described as pain crossed her delicate features, and Valto immediately felt a hit of guilt right in his gut. Though they had broken up after a rather rocky last six months, they had managed to keep in touch during his time in Iraq and he had hoped they could continue that friendship now that he was reasonably close to London. Well closer than Helsinki anyway.
Not that he would ever do anything to hurt Cat or compromise their relationship. He knew that she was uneasy towards Eilidh, and rightly so. Valto was fully aware that he should never have used Eilidh to get back at Cat, all he wanted was to make her jealous and have her come crawling back to him begging for forgiveness. This was something he had never told Eilidh, that though they had spent two years together and he had cared for her but not enough to push his thoughts of Cat aside. But now, as they stood in this hotel room, Valto was beginning to suspect that she had known all along.
“Was it worth it?” A smile had appeared back on Eilidh’s face. “Waiting I mean?”
The memories of the times that he had spent intimately with Cat filled his mind, and he knew that he was probably grinning like a fool. “Yes it was worth waiting for.”
***
Valto couldn’t help but feel both flattered and uncomfortable with the way that Eilidh was looking at him. They had been together off and on for just under two years, and though he hadn’t truly loved her of course he had felt a certain degree of affection towards her. There was something about the hunger in her gaze as she stared at him across the feasting hall that made his blood sing; after all he hadn’t really experienced this sort of thing very much in his life. Not that he was going to do anything about her obvious interest; though he certainly found Eilidh attractive she was nothing compared to the gorgeous woman sitting by side.
He turned to look at Cat who was stabbing ferociously at the peas on her plate with a fork. There was something about the frown on her face that made him think that she had also noticed Eilidh. Caught between finding the whole thing a bit of an ego boost and not wanting to upset Cat any more than she already was, he quickly leaned down and pressed a kiss to her temple.
“I don’t trust her.” Cat’s words were whispered. “She’s up to something.”
“No she’s not,” he said. “Don’t be jealous.”
“I’m not jealous.” Cat stabbed at her peas again, as a sly smile came over Eilidh’s lips.
Chapter Fifteen
.
“So you won.”
Cat looked up from where she had been watching an enormously strong man throwing a shot-put across the field, to see Eilidh standing next to her. Despite wanting nothing more than to get the other woman into a headlock Cat was aware that she was in public, and this was not the kind of publicity that Lowri would approve of.
“Won?” She let a smile grace her lips. “I’m sorry but I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Eilidh rolled her eyes before settling herself on the empty seat next to Cat. The moment she did so there was the sound of the three security staff who were almost always at her side, moving forwards. She held her hand up to let them know that she was completely safe, and they slowly moved back into their positions in either corner of the marquee in which she had been relaxing. It had been kind of nice to have some time alone, Valto was out somewhere with Teuvo and Olani, and the only thing Cat hoped was that he wouldn’t come home with the desire to go ice fishing or something.
“Valto of course.” Eilidh crossed one leg over the other and throwing Cat a dark look. “You managed to get him to actually want anything to do with sex.”
Oh of course. The only thing that Eilidh cared about when it came to any man was their dicks, it was like she was a female version of Johann and that thought alone made a wave of anger flow through her. “My relationship with Valto has more depth to it than sex.”
“Well it’s not like you’re in love with him or anything.” Eilidh let out a laugh. “You separated five years ago, and everyone knows that Hans was all but prepared to abdicate for you. What happened there anyway?”
“That’s none of your business,” said Cat, folding her arms across her chest.
“No of course not.” Eilidh’s voice was surprisingly soft, and Cat hoped that she had for once realized that she had crossed a line. “So why Valto?”
“Also none of your business.”
Eilidh scowled. “I want him back.”
Cat’s heart stuttered in her chest at that. She had never thought that she would have any competition for Valto’s affections, and that even though he was well loved amongst royalty and nobility alike she hadn’t known anyone to be wanting to date him. “I’m engaged to him.”
“Cat you’re nothing more than a plain little girl wrapped up in thousands of pounds of makeup and clothing.” Those pale eyes gave her a once over. “You’re no real competition.” She gave her a smile that looked more like a smirk. “Goodbye Cat, and good luck.”
With that she stood up, and with a flick of her hair she stalked out of the marquee leaving Cat in her wake with a hollow sensation in her chest.
***
A cold autumn wind was coming down from the Highlands, causing Cat to wrap her thick faux fur coat around herself against the chill. She had always enjoyed the festivals, finding them a lot more colorful and exciting than the ones that her father had used to hold in Wales. Once she was Queen she was determined to change things in her homeland, bring back the vibrant heritage of Wales.
Ahead of her Valto was striding across the field, almost having to run to keep up with the pace of Olani. The afternoon was just starting to wrap up and there we weren't that many people hanging around the fields, and Cat found she quite liked the sudden tranquillity. That was until she saw Eilidh, and after their previous conversation Cat felt her blood pressure rise at the sight of the woman. Cat was trying very hard not to get annoyed; after all it wasn't up to her who Valto was friends with. However it was rather grating when the friend in question was also the woman he had all but left Cat for in the first place. She was hardly a jealous person, Hans had other lovers during their relationship and she had just requested that he make time for her when she was available, but this woman was trying her patience.
"Did you want me to shoot her?" The voice of the Royal guard, Rose, who had been assigned as her personal protection officer infiltrated Cat's thoughts. "I can make it look like an accident."
With a soft laugh Cat looked up at the other woman. She was tall and slender, with shoulder length brown hair and brown eyes. For the past forty eight hours Cat had found her highly amusing and quirky, something highly unusual for her protection. In fact she liked Rose so much she was planning on requesting her as her permanent protection officer.
"I think I would prefer watching her crash and burn on her own." Cat knew that she was grinning in a way that Myf would have described as evil; she just couldn't find it in herself to care.
"I like your attitude," said Rose. "Confidence is the key."
With a nod of her head, Cat looked back at towards where Eilidh had caught up to Valto and Olani and was talking to them in an animated fashion. For a moment she let herself truly see the other woman without her own bitterness in the way. Eilidh was, without a doubt, an attractive woman.
Taller than Cat by quite a few inches, she was slender but in an athletic way rather than just the g
enes that Cat had inherited from her father's side. With strawberry blonde hair that fell to just below her shoulders, she had a windswept look about her. Eilidh looked just like the clean cut girl next door; beside her Cat was nothing more than a porcelain doll.
"I think maybe we should go inside.” Cat suddenly felt something icy grip her heart, and she had a feeling that maybe she had let down her walls a bit soon. "I need to get ready for dinner."
Out of the corner of her eye she saw Rose scowl, but both of them knew that it was better to ignore rather than face Cat's obvious distress. "Alright ma'am we'll just catch up to them."
At those words Cat can't came to a halt and held up her hand for the small entourage of security and footmen that had taken to following her around would stop. "No I don't want to bother them. Lionel?"
A young footman wearing the green and white uniform of her house, golden curls a riot on top of his head, steeped forwards and bowed. "Yes your highness?"
“Can you please relay a message to my fiancé that I will be returning to the hotel to prepare for this evening?”
“Yes ma’am.” Lionel bowed again before hurrying away.
Without another word to any of her staff, Cat turned and headed back towards the hotel in silence.
Chapter Sixteen.
Cat didn’t know whether it was because their relationship had got to a point where she felt comfortable enough, or whether it was in fact the forwardness of Eilidh that had her wanting to stake her claim. But Cat knew that she was ready to spend the night with Valto, felt like she was finally ready to hold him close until the morning. It was quite a liberating feeling, and Cat couldn’t help the silly grin that she knew was on her face as she made her way down the corridor towards Valto’s room. However what she hadn’t expected to find the moment that she opened the door was a very naked Eilidh standing at the side of the bed.
Now Cat wasn’t the type of woman to ever feel self-conscious. She had come through rehab with a healthy amount of confidence and pride in herself, knowing that she was a reasonably attractive woman and that she could seduce any man that she had wanted. However now standing in the doorway to Valto’s room, unable to tear her eyes away from the image of Eilidh standing there beside the bed completely naked. It appeared that the other woman was as shocked as Cat was if her wide grey eyes and horrified expression was anything to go by. Then again Cat couldn’t blame her, there really was no other reaction to have when caught by your lovers fiancé post-coital. Well she assumed they were post-coital since Valto was nowhere to be found, and Eilidh’s hair was a muss atop her head.
Redemption (Red Dragon Book 1) Page 12