The Heartwood Box: A Fairy Tale (17 page)

Her bridesmaids came and collected her
.
R
ather than return to her parent
s
’
house, they’d borrowed a room in the tavern for her to change from her wedding gown into a green travel dr
ess
.

Donal met her at the door
and ordered t
he bridesmaids back to the tent
and then led
Genevieve
over to where her parents were standing with the
priestess
.
“Time to say goodbye,” he said
.

Genevieve hugged both of them
.
Her mother of course burst into tears and tried to cling, but the priestess chided her to let Genevieve go and then insisted
her parents
return home.

Donal wished them good cheer
and then grabbed Genevieve by the
hand
and led her back to the tent
.
The tent had cleared of all but the younger men and women, who’d grown decid
edly boisterous
.
Damian was no
where to be s
een.

Donal left her with Derek
and went to shepherd the girls into a group for the bouquet-toss
.
“It’s tim
e, little sister,” Donal said.

Genevieve couldn’t help swallowing nervously
.
Donal’s eyes were dangerously bright, and even Derek seemed more intense than usual—they were plotting something
.
Donal made an impatient gesture, so she turned her b
ack on the group
and tossed the bouquet over her shoulder
.

There was a chorus of squeals, and she turned to see Sa
lly holding the bouquet aloft.

But a moment later
,
the
officers from
the garrison
moved in front of the girls, forming a wide circle around
her
.
Something was happening.

She looked to Donal, who was holding out a narrow length of black material
.
There was something in his expression that made her instinctively back away
.
The men were making catcalls and eying her like so many wolves around a doe
.
The instinct to flee was overpowering
.
She tried to run, but she was quickly caught and pushed back
.
She spotted a gap in the circle and bolted towards it, but again she was caught and pushed back
.

Donal called out, “Men, Damian has caught himself a bride
.
It’s time for us to deliver her to him.” 

The men let out a roar
.

Completely panicked now, Genevieve screamed and frantically tried to fight her way out
.
Somehow, she ended up in Derek’s arms, but his dark eyes were implacable
.
Suddenly her wrists were being pulled beh
ind her and tied together with
soft fabric
.

Derek bent down and hoisted her onto his shoulder to the cheers and thundering stomps of the men
.
She caught a glimpse of Donal
as he deftly caught Sally and prevented her from coming to Genevieve’s rescue
.

“I’ll kill you for this, Donal!”
Genevieve
shouted, which pr
oduced another roar of laughter
and loud shouts that Damian had caught himself a “hellcat” and similar nonsense.

Genevieve was furious to be man
handled so by her infernal brothers
.
She tried to struggle and kick Derek, but he adjusted his grip so she couldn’t move
.
“Let me go, you oaf
.
I’ll kill you, Derek, I swear it!”

“Quiet,” he ordered
,
giving
her a sharp slap on her rear, which led to another gleeful roar from the men
.

At the edge of the tents, he stopped and someone reached for her, pulling her up
.
It was Damian on a massive, jet-black stallion
.
By now, Gen
evieve was in a thorough temper
and struggled and kicked, but Damian wrapped an arm around her
,
settled her securely, and without a word kicked the horse into a canter.

As soon
as they were away from the town
on the road to the hills,
Damian
slowed the horse to a walk
.
He leaned
Genevieve
over on one arm
, causing
her
anger
to evaporate
.
His
smile was pure triumph
.
She
struggled against the bonds
but was helpless
.

Damian laughed and lowered his head to kiss her
.
His tongue plunged into her mouth, ruthlessly taking possession
.
When he finally let her go, he pulled her back to lean into him, kissing her neck and rubbing her breast
s
with his hand
.

Genevieve was left speechless
.
This wa
s a side of Damian she’d sensed
but hadn’t understood enough to recognize
.
S
he was his now
.
T
onight he would possess her body, and there didn’t seem to be any limits to w
hat he would demand from her.

When she could finally speak, she squeaked out, “
A
ren’t you going to release my hands?”

“Not tonight.”

“Damian!” she gasped.

He turned her around on the saddle until she faced him, yanking up her skirts
so
she could straddle the horse as he did
.
He gripped her rear to pull her tightly against him
.
With his other hand he grasped her hair, wrapping it
several times around his wrist
,
and then forced her head back.

She stared up at him, utterly stunned, before he pressed their lips together
.
She wanted to touch his shoulders, his chest, and twisted trying to free herself, but the bonds held
.
Being restrained only made the need that much more intense, and she let out a strange moan
.

Damian released her hair
and brought his hand around to fondle her breasts
,
which sent bursts of sensation through her
.
She instinctively shifted her hips, rubbing against the leather of the saddle, feeling a desperate need for something—anything—that would give relief
.

“My wanton little bride,” Damian murmured as he made open kisses against her neck.

“Damian, don’t say that!” she cried out, appalled that he would think such a thing of her
.

“I do say it, little one
.
I consider it only fair that my bride be tormented by desire, since I am about to die of it
.
Soon you will be tied to my bed, Genevieve, and when I am finished with you, you will scream shamelessly for me to give you your release.” 

Genevieve’s eyes glazed, and she couldn’t help squirming aga
in
.

“Oh no you don’t,” he said
and lifted her up by the waist
.
“Put your leg over aga
in.” 

Genevieve mewed unhappily
but obeyed
.
He turned her so that she faced away again, her legs in
the
proper ladylike position, though there was no sidesaddle
.

“Soon, darling, but for now you will have to wait.” 

Damian held her securely around the waist with one arm, while the other gently massaged her arms and wrists
.
In the meantime, he nudged the horse into a full gallop though the road was utterly dark
.

Genevieve instinctively protested, lest Damian get them both killed before he could satisfy this desperate hunger, but he whispered, “Hush, little one
.
This is Nightshade, Declan’s horse, bred in Faerie
.
He needs no bridle, and day or night, he is incapable of making a misstep.” 

The rest of the ride passed
quickly
as the horse effortlessly climb
ed
the steep road to the Blacks
’
mountain fortress
.
The smooth motion should have put her to sleep, but the light brush of Damian’s hands over her breasts, stomach, thighs kept her desires stoked too high to even contemplate sleep
.

Finally, the horse clattered into a dark stable
yard
.
Damian was off in a second, hoisting her over his shoulder just as Derek had, only somehow Damian’s hand found its way under her skirt to grip the bare skin above her garters
.

He let out a sharp whistle, presumably for a stable hand, since he made no move to tend to Nightshade
.
Instead, he walked
swiftly towards a dark building, which
was
much
larger than her parent
s
’
cottage
,
but wasn’t nearly as imposing as
the fortress she’d
seen from the valley
.

“Welcome,
my love
, to our new home,” he said with pretend pomp as he unlocked the door
.

Genevieve couldn’t refrain from an audible snort that she would enter her married home slung over the shoulder of the provoking male who called himself her husband
.

Damian snorted in turn
.
“
P
erhaps if my bride is
extremely
well-behaved and obedient, she may be permitted to see beyond our bedroom within the next
four
days.” 

“Damian!  You don’t mean that.”

“Don’t I
?
We ha
ve been granted a mere
four
day
s for a honeymoon, darling
.
I warned you there were areas where I claim the right to make all decisions and won’t tolerate challenges to my authority, and tonight you
will
learn what some of them are.” 

He carried her through a dark room, unlocked a second door, through
more
room
s,
then up a flight of stairs, and down
a long
corridor
.
T
rue to his word, she could see nothing of the house, though she sensed the coolness of the stone walls
.

Finally, he went through a doorway
.
Unlike the rest of the house, this room had at least the flickering light of a low fire
.
Damian
slung her off his shoulder, landing her face
down on the edge of a bed, her legs hanging down to the floor
.

“Do not move,” he ordered
.

Her skirt was caught about her waist, so she wriggled trying to get it to fall down, which led to a sharp slap on her buttocks
.

“What did I say, Genevieve?”  She stilled instantly
.
“Good girl,” he said, rubbing the spot he’d slapped, and then moved away
.

Lights came up as Damian lit several candles, though she could see lit
tle except that she was lying
on a large bed with elaborately carved posts, thick as tree-trunks, that spired towards the high ceiling
.

She was quickly distracted as Damian pulled off her shoes, and then reached up and untied her garters, so deftly she hadn’t time to protest before her stockings were also off
.
He rolled her over and pulled her to sit on the edge of the bed
.
Before she could even look at the room, he was
before her
.
He gently cradled
her cheeks and kissed her
.

“I’d thought to draw us a bath first, but it will have to wait.” 

She pulled urgently at the bonds that held her wrists, wanting to touch him
.
Damian’s eyes blazed until his ga
ze positively smoldered
.