The Heartwood Box: A Fairy Tale (12 page)

“Nothing but my dear brother and sister’s company,” the rogue answered
.

Damian shook his head in helpless resignation
.
“Where is Derek?” 

“About,” Donal answered blithely
.

“I give you leave to take back your consent, love,” Damian whispered in her ear
.
“My brothers can live in Devil’s Swamp for all I care.” 

“Will you at least ban them our bedroom?” she whispered back, and then gulped, appalled at how wicked that sounded
.

Damian’s eyes blazed
,
and he leaned her over and gave her a deep kiss, which left her breathless
.
“
I don’t know how I will survive the next twenty-four hours,” he whispered, before turning to his brother, who was making the world’s poorest attempt not to laugh
.
“Donal, what shall I do with you
?
Here I have been using all of my powers of seduction, every bit of flattery and bribery I could think of, so that my poor bride will consent to take in my two good-for-nothing younger brothers, and instead of helping me make my case, you give the final proof of why you are utterly unfit for polite company.” 

“Not
so polite,” Genevieve muttered
and then covered her face
.
“I can’t believe I just said that.” 

Mama
would faint if she heard her
.
Donal burst out laughing
.
She looked up nervously at Damian, suddenly worried that he would disapprove
.

He
was smiling merrily
and gave her a reassuring tap on the nose
.
“You are adorable,” he said kissing the top of her head
.
“And altogether too sweet for such rotten brothers I am cursing you with
.
I should get you home, love.” 

Genevieve noticed now that the afternoon was
almost
spent
.
Damian and Donal
firmly ordered her to sit still, while they
pack
ed
up the remains of the picnic.

Derek still hadn’t returned when they were finished, so Donal roared out, “Derek, you worthless oaf!  Come and help us with these baskets, or will you make Damian’s bride play the pack mule for your lazy self.” 

Everyone was startled to hear Derek’s voice a few feet away
.
“Cease your noise, Donal, I’m here
.
”
He’d crept up so silently! 

“I hate when he does that,” Donal grunted
.

Derek
picked up a basket and started off without waiting for the rest of them
.

Genevieve
made a sudden decision and without saying anything to Damian, she
jogged
after Derek
.
When she caught up to him, he only gave her one of his
scowl
s
.
It should have been intimidating, but Genevieve was
becoming accustomed to his ways
and decided to imitate his brothers and
not
be put off by Derek’s
hostility
.

S
he took his arm
.
Luckily,
he was too well-bred to shake
it
off
, though his
good manners did not extend to making conversation
.

“I understand you and Donal are to live with us,” she said finally.

She could have sworn a wave of sur
prise flashed over his features
before they resolved into a
n expression of
stony indifference
.
W
as
he
deliberately trying to offend her
?
It
seemed
incongruous
behavior if Damian
was accurate
about his
brothers’
wishing so much to share
their
house
.

She couldn’t help wondering if despite Derek’s best efforts, he felt some lingering
resentment
.
Far from being offended, however,
Genevieve
was becoming curious about this prickly
new
brother of hers, who unlike the other two
seemed at the mercy of a difficult temper
—
much as she was
.

Either way, she had no intention of living with a man who thought he could quell her with a look
—
or force her to eat foods she disliked! 

In a tone that perhaps
approached the
border
of
saucy, she said,
“Damian assured me that you and
Donal both wish it
.
Of
course he also told me that I’
m to have charge of the meals
.
Please be aware,
if
you care greatly for tongue, you’d best get it at the village tavern for it won’t be served at our table.” 

She gave him an excessively sweet smile
and let g
o his arm to return to Damian.

But before she could go back, he caught her wrist and said in a low voice, “Don’t forget, sister, that Damian also swore you’d be tied down if y
ou refused to eat your meals.”

There was nothing in his expression to indicate he was joking
.
Genevieve gulped a moment
and then steeled herself
.
In
a
tone that
definitely crossed the border over to insolent,
she retorted,
“You can try
,
” and ripped her hand away.

She jogged back to Damian and Donal, relieved that they could not have
heard the little
exchange
.
With a bright smile, she told them, “I was just informing my new brother that I would have charge of our meals now, and if he must eat tongue, he
should
get it at the tavern.”

The two brothers
stared at her with
such
s
hock, she suddenly feared she’
d displeased
Damian
with her forwardness
.
But before she could apologize,
he dropped his basket and swung her up in his a
rms, kissing her on the mouth.

“Damian!” she protested.

“Must I do all the work
?
”
Donal groaned, picking up Damian’s basket
.

“You whine about carrying a basket!” Damian roared
.
“When my bride has braved that
dyspeptic troll
we call a brother.” 

Genevieve
giggled and gave him a little kiss back
.
Damian looked at her with such affection, she felt her heart filling
.

It had been such a strange outing, spitting cherry pits with Donal, being fed bites of
t
ongue sandwich by Derek, kissing Damian
.
She didn’t think she’d ever passed such an enjoyable day in her life, and yet there had been nothing out of the ordinary in it
—
no fireworks display or acrobats or dancing, just a simple picnic with her betrothed and his brothers.

Unfortunately,
they arrived home to find
her mother in her most querulous state, full of troubles over the flowers and something about icing that Genevieve couldn’t even pretend to follow
.
The many emotional tumults
of the past few days were catching up
with her, and Genev
ieve realized she was exhausted
.
It was
not
a good state for
coping with
Mama’s
propensity to worry endlessly over things
Genevieve
considered trivial
.

Thankfully
,
Damian and Donal came to her rescue
.
While Damian listened to her mother with
admirable
patience, making all the proper remarks, Donal jumped up, proclaiming that Mrs. Miran looked pale and was in dire need of a restorative tea
.
Though Genevieve would have been bristling, her mother was greatly soothed by this evidence of worry
.

Genevieve was far less pleased when
Derek rejoined them for dinner
and
got his revenge for her earlier taunts by
again
taking charge of her meal
.
After seeing that she’d just taken a small piece of chicken and a spoonful of peas, he picked up her plate and
with her mother’s delighted support,
piled it with potatoes, another piece of chicken, and
a
slice
of
cold ham
.

She tried to refuse
but found she was no match for her new brother, who pulled his chair closer and forced her to eat as he fed her until she grabbed the fork away and ate for herself
.
To Genevieve’s infinite irritation, even her traitorous father gave his hearty approval
.
Damian would only wink at her, while Donal repeatedly patted his face with a napkin to hide his laughter
.

Damian seemed to sense that her nerves were
dangerously strained by the end
and announced that she must go to bed
.
Her parents seemed to have resigned the
mselves to their new son’s ways
because neither objected when he swept her into his arms and carried her upstairs
.

Genevieve, though exhausted, was no longer willing to be sweetly passive at Damian’s autocratic ways
.
She gritted her teeth in sullen silence as he brought her to the
room with the water
closet
.
W
hen she was done, he was waiting in her
bed
room, holding out
a
nightdress for her
.

She ripped it from his hands
and asked snappishly, “Are you locking the door?” 

“Yes, darling.”

“I’m not a child, Damian
.
”

He gripped her chin firmly and forced her to meet his eye
.
“I never think of you as a child, Genevieve
.
We spoke earlier of areas where I make the decisions
.
T
his is one,
and I expect you to obey me.”

Her
breath caught and her
body
shuddered in a way that was becoming familiar to her
.
This time, however, she noticed that Damian wore a small look of triumph
.
H
e knew exactly how he affected her
!
The
very thought produced another jolt of desire, but this time it was countered by an unbearable idea
.

“You know
!  You know
what you’
ve been doing to me,” she cried
.
“It’s deliberate, but I’
m not always like I was today
—
I’
m not like
M
ama
.
I’m not mild and sweet
.
I tried to tell you at the picnic
.
I’ve had… troubles in the past.”

“Genevieve…
.
”

“You’
re a
grown
man
.
You’
re responsible for your actions
.
You ask me to live with your brothers, as if I might object, but did you warn them about me!  I tried to tell you before
—
if you accuse me of pretending, of acting different before we were married, I won’t be able to bear it.” 

“
You are overwrought, darling.”

“Yes I am,” she
cried
passionately
.
“
Say it!  Say that
I tried to warn you
—
before you leave and lock me in my room!”