The Heartwood Box: A Fairy Tale (20 page)

“You will master these thoughts immediately!  They are unworthy of a Black!” came Declan’s furious warning
.
“I would sacrifice your brother to your selfishness, but this is your bride!  You accepted custody of her
heartwood
box
,
vowed at the altar to cherish her, whatever the contents are
.
B
ad enough that you might be for
sworn, but have you already forgotten that your bride’s greatest terror is that you will reject her when you discover the darker passions that lurk within her
?”

Damian shuddered at the rebuke
—
he’d never in his life received one so well
deserved from Declan
.
He instantly felt a deep shame, all the more inexcusable after Genevieve’s willingness to surrender completely to him, which had led to pleasures infinitely greater than he’d dared hope for
.
And for him to repay her sweet trust…
.

To his surprise, his train of thought was interrupted by Declan’s wry laugh
.
“Enough!  None of us can survive if there are two such natures in our family.”

“Sire?”

“Damian, you were guilty of an unworthy sentiment
.
Forgivable so long as you recognize and repudiate it
.
Genevieve’s tendency to excessive self-blame is enough to deal with without you indulging
in
it as well
.
Examine your heart:
is
she truly capable of alienating your affections, especially for something she cannot control?” 

Damian nodded slowly
.
Declan was right
—
it was impossible
.
“Thank you, sire, for everything.” 

“The matter with your brother can wait
.
We will pray our enemy has their usual problems mobilizing
.
If all stays quiet, I will send
your brothers
in four days
.
Y
ou will have to resume the command then
.
In the meantime, enjoy this time
.
You are truly blessed in her, Damian.” 

They embraced and then Declan, with the silent grace of the Fae, practically vanished into the mist
.
A moment later Damian heard the clatter of Nightshade’s hooves leaving the stable
yard
.

Declan was right
:
h
e owed it to Genevieve to make this time as happy as he could
.
He grinned thinking of her
.
He
couldn’t wait to see her face when she awoke and realized she was still
chained
to the bed
.
She would be hungry
.
Standing in the orchard made him recall their picnic: Genevieve in her innocence opening her lips so that his rogue of a brother, who’d not an innocent bone i
n
his body, could feed her cherries, knowing the sight must drive Damian insane with lust
.

He relished the chance to teach Genevieve that such pleasures were not always innocent.

It was late morning when Genevieve finally opened her eyes
.
It seemed like every part of her body was stiff and tender in unfamiliar and tantalizing ways
.
There was no sign of Damian
.
When she
tried to sit up,
however,
she realized her arms were still b
ound to the head
board
.

Part of her was indignant, of course, but she could not lie to herself: the mere thought of it sent intense waves of desire through her
.
Everything about it stirred her: that Damian had done it, that she must wait here
meekly
for him to return and release her, that he might refuse and take advantage of her helpless state to do… wicked things
.

Recalling some of those things, she felt a surge of wet warmth between her legs
.
She was still tender, but apparently her
body
didn’t care
.
She thrashed and tried to rub her thighs together, but could find no satisfaction
.
Perhaps if she sat up
…
.

Shifting herself around to turn sideways and lie across the head of the bed, she was able to raise herself to sit, though she
was forced to
keep her arms in an awkward position
.
The sheets and bedding were twisted about and damp from their activities, and her shift must be a disgrace
.
But of course, she could do nothing until Damian returned
.
In the meantime, she had the chance to examine the room
—
his room and now hers as well
.

It was much larger than she’d realized, practically as large as the
whole first floor of her parent
s
’
cottage
.
T
he walls were dark grey stone broken up by tapestries on three walls and on the south wall, high mullioned windows
.
Th
e windows
were made of heavy lead
glass, but the room was
pleasantly
sunny
—
in June at least
.
In February, she imagined
,
it would be a battle to keep the room warm, despite the presence of a large hearth on the wall adjacent to the main door
.

Most
of the furniture was massive and ancient
looking, the wood black from age
.
Arranged
in front of
the hearth
were
a long
divan
and two deep arm
chairs, upholstered in
a heavy
brocade
.
Beneath the central window was a small iron table with a marble top and two chairs
.
Throughout the room, the colors were all dark and masculine: burgundy, dark blue, forest green, crimson.

She shivered a bit and tried to curl her knees beneath her arms
.
Everything in the room shouted of Damian and the Black family, this family of men where she was now the sole female
.
It could not be
more different from her parent
s
’
cottage
, with its diminutive rooms painted in light colors, and filled to b
ursting with cheerful bric-a-bra
c
.

The main door opened, and Damian entered carrying a tray
with
a pitcher of
her favorite
iced
lemon water and a tall glass
.
He was dressed in a pair of
loose
linen trousers and an undyed
,
open-
neck shirt
.
Genevieve swallowed nervously, wondering that the sight of him in such relaxed attire would make
her desires flare even more.

“A
h, my bride is awake finally.”

She suddenly
felt
shy, thinking of the things they’d done the previous night
.
Damian
placed
the tray
on the table next to the bed
and picked up the glass
.
She struggled against the bonds,
annoyed that
she couldn’t reach it.

“Do you wish something, Genevieve?”
Damian
asked mildly
.

Her eyes flashed, but she said with forced politeness, “Something
to drink, if you don’t mind.”

He sat on the side of
the
bed and held the glass to her lips so s
he could take several deep sips
and then patted her lips dry with a napkin
.

“I
’
ve prepared breakfast, but perhaps my bride
would prefer to bathe first.”

“Bath… and also…
.
”
T
he drink
made her realize
she needed to use the
necessary
.

“Of course
.
I will draw us a bath then.”

“Us?” she squeaked.

He just smiled in
answer and then took her hands
and
unclipped
the
thin chains
that
had
held them, leaving the cuffs themselves in place
.
Genevieve immediately pulled at
them, but he caught her hands.

“No you don’t
.
You will now have your first rule for this room, darling
.
I decide when you are to be released
.
You are not permitted to remove your bonds
—
indeed, y
ou should not even touch them.”

“Damian, that’s absurd.”

He gave her affectionate
kisses on her forehead and nose
.
“You are free to try me, darling, and then I can give you your first lesson in how the Blacks
deal with disobedient brides.”

He pulled her abruptly over his lap, grabbed her wrists behind her back, and rubbed her buttocks, letting his fingers skim across places they should never go
.
To her humiliation, Genevieve groaned loudly, writhing from the desires
his outrageous words awakened.

He bent and gave a little nip to her ear
.
“We’ll save that for later, then,”
he said
and released her.

He pulled her by the ha
nd through the door to the bathing chamber
.
The
enormous tub
was
already half filled with water
.
Damian turned a faucet in the wall, and steaming water gushed out, mixing with
the lukewarm water in the tub.

The necessary was enclosed, but still
Genevieve never imagined using one while a man stood in the same room
.
I
t seemed she had no choice, so she went in a
nd out as quickly as possible.

When she came out, Damian had removed his shirt, makin
g clear he’d not been jesting about their
bathing together
.
Despite the intimacies of the night before, Genevieve was not at all sure she was ready to bare herself in the full morning
light before her new husband.

As was becoming the rule,
however
, Damian did not leave her to mull over what she wished for
.
He removed the cuffs from her wrists and before she could stop him, briskly whisked the shift from her bod
y and helped her into the tub.

Luckily for her, there were bubbles on the surface
,
so she didn’t feel quite so exposed
.
She averted her eyes while he slipped off his trousers and got into the tub after her, causing a generous gush of water to pour over the sides
.
Instinct made her try to move away, but he pulled her
in to lean against his chest.

He kept his arms around her, and they lay that way for some time without speaking
.
This is marriage, Genevieve thought with surprise
.
More than the passion of the previous night
, resting here in Damian’s arms
wi
thout any anxious need to speak
was the most
intimate moment they’d shared.

After a while, he began leisurely rubbing her back with a rough cloth
,
pushing her hair over her shoulder
.
He
next pulled up each of her arms
and washed them, carefully examining the skin on her
wrists where she’d been bound.

To her embarrassment, he then pulled her
body
up to rest
her back
on his knee, so her breasts stuck out of the water
.
He slowly circled the textured cloth over one breast and then the other
.