“Thank you, Douglas. You truly are a good friend. I am forever indebted to you for your kindness.” She reached out and took his hand in hers, grasping it tightly.
“Yer not goin’ to listen to a word I’ve said, are ye?” he teased but sadness filled his eyes.
“I wish I could, but it is not only my future at stake.”
“I imagined as much. That uncle of yers…he’s a vile man.”
“ ‘Tis unkind to say, but true,” she smiled. But she’d lingered too long. If she wished to avoid Brandon, she would have to leave the stable, whether she was prepared to face the household or not.
Chapter 8
She reached the manor without a single encounter, and breathed a sigh of relief when she was safely behind her bedroom door. And she remained there the entire day, pacing and thinking, and coming up with nothing more than that with which she began. Nothing had changed, at least nothing that could change the course of her future. She would have to marry Lord Grafton and find some way to trick him into thinking she was still untouched by other men. There had to be some way to pull off the scheme. A needle prick to the finger might allow her to leave behind the evidence he would require, but how was she to sneak such a thing into the marriage bed? And what about the barrier that Brandon had encountered when he’d been inside her? Brandon had known when he reached it, had warned her of what was to come before he’d thrust in with force to break through.
Her skin crawled and her stomach turned at the thought of lying beneath Lord Grafton. It had been a wretched thought before, but now it was unbearable after having given herself to Brandon. She didn’t want another man inside her—ever!
She wouldn’t try to hide it. She would not deny the physical coupling she’d allowed, not when it had felt like the most right thing in the world. Lord Grafton would be disappointed to find his bride had already been used, but there was naught he could do about it. She could not undo what she’d done, and she realized that even if she could…she wouldn’t. She’d given herself to the only man she would ever love, and he’d given himself to her. She would not take it back even to erase all the heartache her miserable future held in store.
A knock sounded at the door then. “Lady Catalina,” a young maid’s voice called from the other side. “Your uncle is expecting your presence, my lady.”
She breathed a weary sigh. Her uncle was expecting her to join their guests at dinner, and the time had apparently crept up on her quickly. “Thank you, Helen. Please tell him I will join him in just a moment.”
She ceased her pacing and squared her shoulders. She would make it through this evening just as she’d made it through every other. She was strong, and she could take whatever hardships life threw at her.
But two hours later, the evening had tried every bit of strength she had and she’d begged her leave. Lord Grafton’s coldness had invaded her bones, and Cousin Alice had aroused more jealousy than she thought one person capable of feeling. And Brandon…she couldn’t keep her mind from straying to that morning, every moment burned into her memory to replay itself over and over again.
She resumed her pacing now, back and forth across her bedroom floor. There was no point in seeking the solace of sleep—she knew it would not come.
A knock sounded on her door moments later, and she knew who was there without asking. And while she should have ignored it and waited for him to leave, her legs carried her to the door and she opened it without hesitation. The look in his eyes left her speechless—fire and jealousy, so potent she took a step back.
“I couldn’t stand watching him look at you like that…touching you like he had any right,” Brandon seethed as he stepped inside and closed the door behind him. “He had no god damned right—you’re mine!”
He crushed her to him then, covering her lips, branding them with his heated kiss. She should have resisted, but she couldn’t. Her body wouldn’t allow it. She wanted to feel his flesh beneath her fingers, to feel his muscles flex beneath her hands. She wanted to taste his skin and feel him moving inside her. She wanted to see him give himself over to the rapturous pleasure her body had brought him once before.
But she didn’t want to be passive like a woman was expected to be. And so she reached between them, finding the buttons of his shirt and unfastening them as quickly as she could. She pulled the shirt off him then, moving to his trousers. Her dress fell, and she realized he’d unfastened it without her notice. She dropped her arms to let it fall to the floor and let him strip off her shift before she returned her attention to his trousers. She could feel his eyes on her body as she worked and it sent a thrill coursing through her body a moment later to see the proof of his desire for her as his pants fell to the floor.
His hard shaft jutted toward her and it caused the strangest of reactions in her body—it made her mouth water. She wanted to taste him, though the thought made her blush profusely.
Still, she reached for him tentatively, gliding slowly along his massive shaft and revelling in what she felt. Just like before, he was like hard steel encased in silk. She wrapped her fingers around him to explore the arousing texture further, like he’d shown her how to do. Her mouth continued to water, and no matter how she tried, she could not set aside what it was she wanted.
Her blush deepened, spreading down her chest as she gave into the wanton desire and dropped to her knees in front of him. Grasping him in her hand, she samples the tip of him with her tongue.
“Catalina,” he groaned as he reached for her, attempting to stay her movements.
But she wanted this. “Please, let me…”
His knuckles were white and his hands shook, but he released her, nodding ever so slightly. Not certain how to proceed, she let her body guide her. She parted her lips, taking him into her mouth as deep as she could, feeling his silken steel against her lips. She drew back to the tip, but took him in once more as his hips jerked against her and a groan escaped him, a groan that sounded as if it had been ripped clear out of his chest.
“Oh god, Lina, where did you learn…”
She shrugged her shoulders by way of explanation and returned to her delicious task.
But a moment later, he reached for her, lifting her nearly clear off the floor. “I won’t be able to hold off,” he told her, though she didn’t fully comprehend his meaning.
But all though fled seconds later as his fingers slipped through the soft curls at the apex of her thighs. She waited to feel him against that same sensitive spot he’d touched before, but though he grazed over it and a fiery jolt of pleasure shot through her body in response, he didn’t stop there. She could feel him part her with his fingers a second before he slipped inside, in and out in mimicry of the way his member had thrust inside her. He seemed to crook his finger inside her after a moment and the sensations that spread through her body in response threatened to overwhelm her. Oh lord, before Brandon, she’d had no idea her body could be made to feel so much pleasure.
He withdrew a moment later and she couldn’t help but whimper at the loss. He chuckled, but swept her up in his arms at the same time, laying her down on her bed. He hovered over top of her a moment later and ripples of fire coursed through her in anticipation. She felt him against her, the tip of his steel shaft pressed against her sex, but he didn’t move. He remained perfectly still, looking down at her, driving her insane. She writhed against him, trying to urge him inside, but he held firm.
“Brandon, I want you inside me,” she confessed.
“I know, love. I’m just savoring the moment,” he told her but he pressed forward then, filling her in one smooth thrust, stretching her to accommodate his massive girth.
That strange and wonderful sensation deep inside her grew quickly, and she clung to him as he increased his pace with every thrust and drove her higher. It was unlike any other sensation, and a thousand times more potent. And if she could have her way, she would remain there forever, joined to Brandon in the most intimate way.
He began to thrust wildly, losing the sen
se of rhythm he’d established, and her body became a kaleidoscope of exquisite pleasure. Seconds later she bit down hard on the inside of her cheek to keep from crying out as she toppled over the edge, splintering into a thousand shards of rapturous delight.
She could feel it a moment later when, to her surprise, he swelled even more inside her and he groaned loudly, his hot seed filing her once more.
She opened her eyes as the sun lightened the dawn’s sky. She felt the rise and fall of his chest with each breath, and listened to the sound of his heartbeat. Tears sprung to her eyes as it hit her right then. This would never subside, this overwhelming love and desire she felt for him.
She was betrothed, and so was he…but she never wanted this to end.
But could she sacrifice Evelyn to keep him there? Would she commit her sister to the very same fate she wished so desperately to avoid?
No. She could never be so heartless.
Wiping away the tears, she shook Brandon gently. He needed to leave before someone happened upon them. But as she leaned up to look at him, she realized he was already wide awake, watching her.
“You have to leave, Brandon,” she whispered sadly.
“No.”
“No? What do you mean no?”
“I mean, no, I am not leaving.”
“Brandon, we don’t have a choice. Please, just go.”
“I cannot stand by and watch you marry that brute of a man. Thinking about you lying beneath him…his hands on your body…I cannot do it. I know you do not love him.”
“I don’t have a choice. I want…it doesn’t matter what I want. Uncle Thomas gave me no choice. If I do not marry Lord Grafton, he will force Evelyn to stand in my stead.”
“That son of a bitch!” he cursed, sitting upright, but the movement pulled the covers away and he looked back down at her bare breasts. She watched as some of his anger fled his expression while his hands moved to caress her.
She should make him stop, but she couldn’t. Worse, her back arched off the bed to press her breasts more firmly against his hands. Still, her faculties hadn’t completely fled. “Besides, you are engaged to Alice.”
“I am betrothed to your cousin because she and her mother are lying, deceitful bitches. My stepfather insisted on the arrangement, threatening to toss my mother out if I did not agree,” he ground out, though his anger was quickly giving way to something else. “I had believed you were engaged to Grafton of your own volition. I knew something wasn’t right, but I had no idea what it was to know it was not of your choosing. So what did I care who I took to wife when I could not have the only woman I have ever loved?”
“You love me?” she queried hesitantly, awe in her tone.
“I have loved you from the day you arrived here, and every day since.”
“I love you, too,” she whispers, anguished. “But it does not matter. We cannot let my sister and your mother suffer.”
He was quiet for a moment, though his hands continued to move on her and she found it increasingly difficult to focus on doing what was right.
“We shall have what we want, and no one but my stepfather will suffer for it,” he announced after a moment of teasing her body mercilessly.
Through her blurry haze of desire, she struggled to focus on his words, though she worried they would be nothing more than wishful thinking. “What do you mean, Brandon?”
“There is nothing my stepfather holds dearer than his political aspirations. It is the very reason for his insistence on your engagement to Lord Grafton, is it not?”
“Yes, I believe it is.”
“Then you will have to trust me, Lina. Can you do that, with both your life and your sister’s?”
Brandon would never do anything to hurt her or Evelyn—she knew that. But could she entrust Evelyn’s happiness with him? Could she depend on him to see how very important that was to her, that protecting Evelyn was more important to her than her own happiness?
Yes, she could. He would not risk Evelyn’s happiness, because in doing so, he would know it would bring nothing but abject misery to her.
“Yes, Brandon. I trust you.”
He smiled, leaning down to suckle her nipple into his mouth. She felt his teeth graze the tight bud, and she covered her mouth with the back of her arm to stifle the cry of pleasure that fell from her lips. She arched toward him innately, but he pulled away and stood up, leaving her body quivering in frustrated passion.
“Then dress quickly and come with me, my love. Though know that I plan to undress you again very soon,” he whispered slyly.
Baffled, she did as he asked, and she followed him out of her room moments later, though she started to dash back into her room when she stepped out and found Brandon’s mother just yards away. He held her hand firmly though and would not allow her to retreat.
“Oh Brandon,” his mother smiled brightly. “You have no idea how much grief you have given me, worrying you would never realize how perfect you were for each other.”
Lina’s jaw dropped open. She’d expected angry reprimands and disappointed sighs…not the beaming smile that made the woman appear ten years younger.
“I apologize, mother, but a son needs some way to bring his mother grief, does he not? If only you had expressed your dissatisfaction earlier, I could have bedded Catalina long before this day.”
“Brandon!” Lina whispered in horror. Had he really just said that aloud? Could he not have come up with some other excuse for being in her room?
“It is quite all right, my dear,” his mother tried to reassure her as she pulled Lina into her embrace. “I did not imagine you would have been able to withhold yourself from my son’s charms for this long. He is so much like his father, and I confess tripping into his bed long before the ties of matrimony made it appropriate. Still, I do hope that I shall be able to call you my daughter very soon.”
“That is precisely why we’re about this morning, mother. I do hope you’ll forgive me for the upheaval I’m about to cause.”
A mischievous light twinkled in his mother’s eyes. “Upheave away, my son. God knows you’ve earned it.”
His mother released her then, and she felt the loss for the briefest of moments, surprised by her own response to the woman’s affection. She hadn’t realized how much she’d come to care for her, the only mother-figure she’d known in many years.
She looked at Lina seriously then and took her hand, “I’ve kept my distance from you all these years to keep Thomas’s wrath from falling on you like it did on Brandon. It was always to spite me, you know? The man is a vile fiend. But I care for you deeply, Catalina. You are my sister’s daughter, and I have loved you like you were my own.”
“I love you, too, Aunt Gwendolyn,” she replied, realizing her words were true.
“Now, off with the two of you. Go stir up your trouble and make me proud, Brandon.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he responded eagerly, and pulled Lina along with him, down the stairs and along the hall to her uncle’s study.
He knocked but didn’t wait for a reply. He threw open the door and barged in, her hand still in his, but he positioned her behind him carefully. He was protecting her, and though she prided herself on being strong, it had been so long since she’d been able to rely on another for strength. Brandon would not let any harm come to her. She knew it.
“Thomas, you will release the both of us from the betrothals you forced upon us.”
Her uncle practically jumped from his chair, storming toward them and she forced herself to remain standing tall. She would not cringe away from him—perhaps easier now that Brandon was there as well.
“You must be out of your mind! Get your hand off my niece this instant or I shall be sorely tempted to cut if off!”
“Really? Is it some great love you feel for her that has you jumping to defend her honor?” Brandon goaded, and she immediately knew what he was up to.
“Does an intelligent thought ever cross that empty head of yours? Of course it is not lov
e. What use have I for such a ridiculous emotion? You will get your hands off my niece because she is property of Lord Grafton.”
“It is a deep affection for Lord Grafton then?”
“You fool! They are nothing more than pawns. It pleases Grafton to have Catalina in his bed, and it pleases me the political advantage Grafton will offer me in return.”
“Ah, so then it is your political aspirations that fuel your concerns. That is just what I was hoping to hear.”
“What are you rambling about, boy?”
“As I said, you will release the both of us from the betrothals you forced upon us.”
“I will do no such thing. The girl is to be wed to Grafton in a fortnight. Until then, you will keep your hands off her. I had to send you away to keep you from sullying my bargaining chip. You will not defile her now!”
He’d sent Brandon away to protect her virtue? And all so he could sell it to the most advantageous bidder?
Brandon looked to her then, as if he was asking her how she wanted to proceed. He was giving her the choice to keep silent about what had happened between them. But she realized she didn’t feel shamed for giving herself to Brandon. Nothing had ever felt more right, so how could she be embarrassed by it? And so she took it upon herself to address her uncle.
“It is too late for that, Uncle Thomas. Your bargaining chip has been thoroughly sullied,” she announced proudly, though she wondered if any woman prior had ever confessed such a thing with so much pride.
“You little whore!” he railed when the meaning of her words sunk in. He raised his hand to strike her like he’d done so many times before, but Brandon caught his arm quickly, out-powering the man who took great delight in abusing his own strength.
Rage shone in Brandon’s eyes but he reined it in. “Your fists will do you no good anymore. And if you so much as harm a single strand on her head ever again, I will show you just how good I’ve become with my own.”
“You wouldn’t dare!”
“You spent two years hurting the woman I love. You are lucky I don’t demand your life in payment for your atrocities.”
Bad, Very Bad Shifters- The Complete Mega Bundle Page 78