Luciana swallowed hard. Leo was trying to save her and her father?
The door opened and Leo strode inside.
Her heart fluttered as it usually did whenever she saw him. He was formally dressed in his army uniform—black breeches, a red-and-black tunic topped with a black cape, his sword sheathed in a black leather scabbard, his hands covered in black leather gloves. His black boots looked recently polished, his clothes clean and pressed, and his handsome face recently shaven.
The fire from the hearth lit his hair golden red, and she felt a tightening in her chest when she realized he’d tried to tame the curls with a comb.
He dropped a large knapsack on the floor, then looked at her, his gaze narrowed, the sharp angles of his jaw clenched tight.
Her breath caught. Why did he look so … intense?
“Don’t trust him,” Tatiana whispered behind her.
The secretary entered and shut the door after Father Grendel shuffled inside. The elderly priest headed for an armchair close to the warmth of the fireplace.
“Thank you for coming, Father,” the duke said to the priest as he eased out of bed.
“Careful.” Luciana reached out to steady him. He was still dressed in the clothes he’d worn to the funeral feast. But then, so was she.
“I’m fine,” her father assured her. “Are the papers all in order?”
“Yes, Your Grace.” Percy circled behind the desk. “Once the contract is signed and sealed, it will go into effect the minute the ceremony has concluded.”
As Leo strode toward the desk, he drew a signet ring from his pocket.
“My lord.” The duke raised a hand, and Leo paused. “I will remind you once more in front of these witnesses that you have sworn a sacred oath to protect my daughter and my right to rule the duchy as I see fit.”
“You have my word.” Leo bowed his head, then dipped a quill into the ink bottle. He glanced up at Luciana. “She has agreed?”
“Of course,” the duke replied.
Agreed to what? Luciana wondered as Leo signed his name, then pressed his signet ring into a glob of hot wax.
Father Grendel rose from the armchair. “We will begin now. My lord, did you bring a ring for the ceremony?”
“Yes.” Leo pulled a second ring from his pocket and placed it on the desk. “It was my mother’s.”
“Excellent.” The priest took the ring. “Now if the bride will come forward.”
Luciana stiffened. “B-bride?”
Leo’s jaw shifted. “She doesn’t know?”
She turned toward her father, her heart racing. “What…?”
The duke lowered his voice. “Remember it is a marriage in name only. And you’ve already agreed to it. Nothing has changed but the timing.”
“But—”
“The wedding must occur for the contract to go into effect,” her father said. “It is the only way Leo can take responsibility for you. You must marry him tonight.”
Tonight? Luciana’s quick breaths pushed her breasts hard against the bodice of her blue brocade gown. And yet, she still felt as if she couldn’t breathe.
“Don’t do it!” Tatiana yelled.
“Shh,” Ariana hushed her. “She likes him.”
Luciana’s heart pounded in her ears. Yes, she did like him. Earlier today, she’d even felt certain that she loved him, but now her thoughts were spinning so fast, she didn’t know what to think.
“Ana,” Leo said quietly, and she whirled to face him.
“You have my word,” he said as his intense gaze bore into her. “I will protect you and your father. I will not harm you. Will you trust me?”
She gulped and her gaze flitted nervously around the room. Five days. She’d known him only five days.
“I will marry you as Ana,” Leo whispered, and her gaze shot back to him.
How much did he know? Captain Bougaire had warned him that she wasn’t Tatiana. Was this Leo’s way of telling her he would marry her no matter who she was? How could he agree to wed her and protect her when he didn’t know her any better than she knew him? “D-do you trust me?”
He nodded slowly. “I do. Will you marry me?”
A buzzing sound hummed in her ears as her nerves suddenly grew calm. Time seemed to slow down as if she were lulled by the steadiness of his gaze. It’s really very simple, an inner voice filled her mind. Do you love him? Do you want him?
“Yes,” she whispered.
Chapter Twenty-four
Leo paced across the floor of Ana’s bedchamber. My bedchamber, too. Hell, the whole damned fortress was his now. Not that he cared about being a duke. It was simply the best way to protect Ana and her father. Once the news spread, the king’s assassins would start pointing their arrows at him.
He would send a courier in the morning to deliver the news to the king. Although Leo would couch the message as good news, that he’d brought the duchy into the royal family, he knew Uncle Fred would be royally pissed. The king’s orders had been for Leo to bring the duke and his daughter to his palace at Ebton. Leo would still take them, but no doubt the king had expected his assassins to kill the duke and daughter before the wedding could happen.
With Leo now in the way, Uncle Fred would most likely try to arrange some sort of accident for him. He’d have to be extra careful. If he died, Ana and her father would be homeless.
The amount of trust they were placing in him astounded him. By the Light, he would not, he could not let them down. He halted a moment in his pacing as the shock of tonight’s events skittered through him once again. He now had a wife. And family.
He shook his head. As much as he wanted to embrace this new idea of having a family and home, he knew he was too dangerous to live with. He would need to return to his life as Lord Protector, traveling with the army and guarding the borders of Eberon.
The former duke would still run the duchy, and Ana would live here safely with her father. Everything would be the same as before.
Except now he was married.
He resumed his pacing while his new bride hid in the dressing room. Dammit. Maybe it wasn’t as bad as he suspected, and she wasn’t actually hiding. But he’d seen the look of panic on her face when she’d learned she was to marry him tonight.
It had taken her a few minutes to agree to it. Had she acquiesced to please her father? If that was true, it was damned annoying.
Somehow, he had hoped that she would want to marry him. When she’d defended him earlier today, screaming to the crowd that he wasn’t a Beast, he’d thought she truly cared about him. But just because she railed against injustice didn’t mean that she loved him.
Dammit, he wanted her to love him. But that just frustrated him even more because he couldn’t touch her. Not her bare skin. He was a married man who could not consummate his marriage.
“Shit.” He dragged a gloved hand through his hair. How could he be so dangerous and pathetic at the same time? Perhaps it was just as well. He wasn’t sure Ana would even welcome his touch.
Never touch the Beast.
Never let the Beast touch you.
He’d promised to keep her safe. That meant he would have to keep his distance. He couldn’t be a husband. He was nothing more than her bodyguard.
A knock on the door made him scowl. He’d left four of his personal guard outside with orders that he and Ana were not to be disturbed. He unlocked the door to find Edmund outside with a basket and a stuffed knapsack.
“Congratulations!” Edmund beamed at him, then glanced back at his personal guard. “He’s still dressed.”
They chuckled.
Leo arched an eyebrow. Apparently, he’d spent too many years with Edmund and his personal guard, for they had lost all fear of him. “Is there a reason for this disturbance?”
“I brought wine and food.” Edmund lifted the basket. “In case you’ve worked up an appetite.”
“Thanks.” Leo nabbed the basket.
“Aye, you need to keep up your strength.” Edmund excha
nged an amused look with the guards. “It’ll be a long night, but I’m sure he’s up to it.”
They all snickered.
Leo groaned inwardly. “What’s in there?” He motioned to the knapsack.
“The clothes you left in the tower.” Edmund leaned to the side to try to peek inside the room. “Shall I put them away for you?”
“I’ll take care of it.” Leo grabbed the knapsack.
Edmund elbowed the nearest guard. “He wants to be alone. I wonder why?”
They all grinned at him like the fools they were. Had they forgotten he was a Beast? “Stay extra vigilant,” he ordered his guards. “There is still an assassin at large, and he will be targeting this room.”
“Aye, my lord.” The guards bowed.
Edmund snickered. “And you’ll be somewhat distracted, I wager.”
“Edmund, go away.” Leo shut the door before he could be subjected to more of their inane chuckling. He dropped the knapsack on the floor and kicked it. “Dammit.”
“Is it true?” Ana’s voice carried softly across the room, and he looked up to see her standing in the doorway of the dressing room.
She was beautiful, so beautiful, that he stopped in his tracks just to look at her. Her face was a bit pale, as if she was nervous, but then why wouldn’t she be nervous? She’d just married the Beast.
Her hair was loose, falling to her waist in shimmering black waves that he couldn’t touch. Her slender body was covered from the neck to her bare ankles—a voluminous blue velvet robe on top of a white nightgown. He wondered briefly how sheer her nightgown was. If it was like the one before—just the memory of it caused his groin to tighten.
Stop that, he ordered himself. Her big blue eyes were watching him so closely, he couldn’t afford to swell up like a randy goat.
He positioned the basket in front of his breeches as he strode toward the table near the hearth. “I have food. You might be hungry like me. We didn’t get to eat at the funeral feast.”
She eased into the bedchamber while her maid hovered by the doorway. “Is it true that the assassin will target this room?”
“They might try.” Leo retrieved two goblets and a bottle of wine from the basket. “But don’t worry. There are four guards at each door and two outside below the windows. A total of ten.”
“Shouldn’t we stay in the tower? I thought it was safer there.”
He poured wine into the goblets. “It was safer for you there when you were alone. But now you have me.” He set the bottle down with a clunk. “Your guard dog is on duty.”
She blinked. “Guard … dog?”
“Precisely.” Time to set things straight. “Don’t think of me as a husband. I’m too dangerous for that. Don’t even think of me as a man. I am a vicious dog who will destroy anyone who tries to harm you.”
Her eyes had grown wide, but she didn’t cower in fear. Not his brave and beautiful Ana.
She lifted her chin. “I won’t have you speak of yourself that way.”
“Do you need a demonstration?” He ripped the glove off his left hand and stepped closer to the fireplace, where a few half-burned logs remained in the hearth. He reached out his hand, and sparks sizzled and popped around his fingers. A small bolt shot out and struck the logs, scattering a few wood chips before engulfing the wood in flames.
Leo heard the maid’s screech as he slowly tugged his glove back on. Steeling his nerves, he prepared himself to see the horror on Ana’s face.
To his surprise, she was hugging her maid.
“Shh, Gabriella.” Ana patted her on the back. “He’s not going to harm us.” She shot him an annoyed look. “For some reason, he felt compelled to try to frighten us.”
“Aren’t you afraid? You said in confession that you’re afraid of me. And I saw the panic on your face when you learned we would marry tonight.”
“I was caught by surprise.” She glared at him. “And it occurred to me that I’ve known you only five days. There is too much I don’t know about you.”
He snorted. “There is even more that I don’t know about you.” He lifted a goblet as if to make a toast. “To the beginning of our life together, and to the end of our secrets.”
Her face grew even more pale. Now he really had frightened her.
“Gabriella,” he addressed the maid. “Please bring some extra blankets.”
“Yes, my lord.” Gabriella ran for the exit to her small room.
Leo drained his goblet. “I will not be sharing your bed. Even an accidental touch might kill you.”
Ana approached the table. “Why are you acting like an ogre?”
“Because I am one.” He refilled his goblet.
She shook her head. “You’re a man, and a terribly confusing one at that. On one hand, you try to frighten me and push me away. But at the same time, you claim you want to bed me, and you press my hand against your—” She motioned toward his breeches.
“Cock?” He took a drink.
She narrowed her eyes. “Lightning rod.”
He choked. After a minute of coughing and sputtering, he wiped the moisture from his eyes and found her calmly filling two plates with cold chicken, cheese, and strawberries.
“Ana, you should be afraid of me.”
“Why? You’ve told me over and over that you’ll never harm me. Shouldn’t I believe you?”
He winced. How could he explain that he had two warring factions going on inside him? One that longed for her to trust him and love him, and another that feared if she did, he wouldn’t be able to resist her. And then he would end up hurting her or even killing her.
He was the one who was afraid, dammit. And the only solution was to keep her at a distance.
He sat at the table. “Tomorrow morning I will investigate the poisoning.”
“Oh, I’ve been meaning to tell you. A scullery maid in the kitchens did it. She was the second assassin’s lover, so I believe it was an act of revenge on her part and not even related to the third assassin.”
Leo sat back, staring at her as she nibbled on a piece of chicken. “You know all this for a fact?”
She nodded. “I have an eyewitness who saw her. You needn’t worry about her. My father told me after the wedding ceremony that he would take care of the matter so we could relax and … enjoy ourselves.”
Enjoy? Leo snorted. He couldn’t imagine a wedding night more awkward than this. “I would like to question your eyewitness.”
She winced, then gulped down some wine. “He’s not available at the moment.”
Leo tapped a gloved finger on the table while he studied her. “Is he one of your spies?”
She nodded and bit into a strawberry.
“And he works in the kitchen?”
She nodded again.
Leo thought back. Hadn’t Brody told him she had talked to the ghost of a boy who had died years ago in the kitchen? He had to be the ghost who had warned her in the Great Hall.
She ripped a small loaf of bread in half and offered him a piece. “May I ask you a question now?”
“Yes.” He topped his bread with a slice of cheese and took a bite.
“Why are you so determined to keep my father and me safe? Why are you endangering yourself in our stead and risking the wrath of the king?”
Leo swallowed hard. Because it was the right thing to do. The noble thing. Because she deserved to live long and be happy. He could give her countless reasons, but deep in his heart he knew the truth.
The Beast wanted to be loved.
And it had to be her. He cared about her.
He snorted. He wasn’t even sure who she was.
The dressing room door opened, and Gabriella eased inside, giving him a fearful look.
He stood and motioned to the floor between the table and the bed. “While you lay out the blankets, I’ll put away my clothes and check on the guards.”
“Yes, my lord.” The maid scurried out of his way as he brought his knapsack into the dressing room.
He to
ssed it in the corner next to the knapsack he’d brought from camp, then headed through the maid’s room to the servants’ corridor. There he found Jensen and three more guards.
After they bowed and swore they would be extra vigilant, he returned to the dressing room. As he opened the door, he spotted Ana and froze. She had moved close to an upholstered chair. She glanced quickly over her shoulder at the maid whose back was turned to her as she spread blankets on the floor.
Ana leaned over to peer closely at the upholstery. Her fingers skimmed over the fabric, then with a look of relief, she straightened. As her gaze lifted, Leo stepped to the side out of view.
More secrets? Dammit.
He poured fresh water into the basin to wash his face and hands, then dried off with a linen towel. His gaze drifted around the room, taking in the shelves lined with Ana’s gowns, a stack of folded white shifts, another stack of nightgowns, a basket filled with ribbons and pins for her hair. In the middle of the room, a large copper tub sat with a spigot for draining the water into buckets.
He smiled to himself. This was where she took her infamous long baths. Nearby, a small table stood with more baskets containing scented soap, lavender, and rose petals. He lifted a glass bottle and uncorked it to take a sniff. Scented oil.
If he were a normal newlywed husband, he would take this to bed and slather her sweet body with it, touching and tasting every inch of her, using it to make her legs slick as they wrapped around him, her thighs warm and welcoming.
But he was not normal. The lightning power was still strong, sizzling beneath his skin, eager for release. Unfortunately, his cock didn’t know that and had another sort of release in mind.
Lightning rod? Damn. That might be too close to the truth.
With a sigh, he corked the bottle and set it back on the table. He pulled his gloves back on and a cape from one of the knapsacks. The loose material might help to conceal the bulge in his breeches.
When he entered the bedchamber, Ana was back at the table, seated and finishing her plate of food.
How to Tame a Beast in Seven Days Page 24