The Heartwood Box: A Fairy Tale (28 page)

“And you were not a party to these raids on the kitchen?” she asked
.

“I’ve stolen my share of tarts
and felt the snap of Roderick’s great wooden spoon,” he said, laughing
.
“To be honest, though, my passion was for riding
.
I was a lazy devil when it came to books, but any time Declan gave us an hour’s leisure, I was on my horse.” 

“What of Derek
?
Somehow I can’t see him stealing fruit-tarts.”

“No
—
Derek’s passion was for hunting
.
He was probably the only one of Declan’s descendants never once to be thrashed for stealing from the kitchen
.
But he was much the same as a child as he is now, surly and unsociable
.
I think Donal would have taunted him to madness, but Derek has the devil’s own temper and he’s vicious with his fists
.
As Derek is not a source of jam-tarts, Donal soon learned the amusement of provoking him was not worth the beating he’d inevitably get.” 

Genevieve laughed, but she sensed something in Damian’s tone
—
he loved
his brothers
deeply
and felt protective of them
.
Her coming would make a great change for them: they would live in a new house
;
all of their usual arrangements were being disrupted
.
She couldn’t help worrying about them, especially Derek
.
Donal struck her as able to find cheer wherever he looked, and not even Genevieve’s self-doubt could stand against his sincere warmth
.
But Derek…
.

She shook it off
and turned back to Damian, who’d sat there for a whole entire hour without once restraining her hands, fondling her breasts, or driving his tongue into her mouth
.
She almost laughed at herself for the pang she felt
—
perhaps she wouldn’t mind just a bit of that
.

But though she felt a lingering desire, for the moment she was content to let it recede a bit
.
There was something to having it not be quite so clamorous
.
I
t allowed her to enjoy another side of Damian, or at least a different way of spending time with Damian
.

And much as she loved the sensual
“
play
”
as he called it, she loved this easy companionableness almost as much
.
It had been many years since she’d had anything like it, and it made her unspeakably grateful that she would have it with her husband
.

Suddenly it was on her lips to tell him she loved him, but she forced down the impulse
.
A familiar
,
cruel voice pointed out that they’d known each other a grand total of
four
days, were still little more than strangers to each other
.
He might think her needy or easy in her affections for proclaiming her love so quickly
.
H
e might feel uncomfortable if (Titania forbid) he couldn’t in honesty return the sentiment
.

Another, more recent voice said she was unfair to him
.
Damian was no cad to humiliate her for feeling affection
.
He’d consistently shown respect for her feelings
.
A
nd for all his annoying domineering, she saw how he’d been gently and steadily trying to do away with her fear so that she might feel safe telling him her desires
.

But it was too hard: the cowardly voice was too long-standing and tenacious
.
She blushed when she realized he’d been watching her
.
His knowing look made her wonder how much he guessed of her thoughts
.

“You dear girl,” he murmured
.

She didn’t confess her love, but she found the courage to reach for his face
.
He seemed pleased and held still for her so she might explore
.
She drew three of her fingers over his forehead, up to the line of his hair, pushing back the lock that always seemed to be falling over his brow
—
she loved that lock
.
He obligingly closed his eyes so she could draw a featherlight stroke over his eyelids
.
She traced his ears, caressing the baby-soft lobes, over to the still-strange scratchiness of his cheeks
.

They’d both been lying on their sides, propped up by their elbow
s
.
When she
finished, Damian lay down on his back, inviting her to lay her head on his welcoming chest
.
Genevieve couldn’t resist
.
He pulled h
er in with his arm
and after a moment’s hesitation, she
laid
her hand over his heart, wondering if he would guess what she was too afraid to say
.

For a long while they just lay like that, without speaking, enjoying the gentle warmth of the June day
—
she loved that she could do this
.

After a while, Genevieve said lazily, “This is the most beautiful gard
en I’ve ever seen
.
I think I
shall live out here in the warm months
—
that is,” she looked up nervously, “I don’t mean to be idle
.
If there are things I should do
—
duties…
.
”

She wasn’t even sure how to ask
.
Many of his remarks had made clear that unlike her mother, she would not be responsible for the cooking and cleaning
.

“I
can
cook a little,” she said gamely
.
“Nothing like mama, I’m afraid
.
Where is the kitchen, by the way
?
Y
ou never showed it to me.”

“Not today, love,” Damian said, giving her a little smile
.

The change in his expression was very slight, but Genevieve was becoming more sensitive to Damian’s smiles, and this was the one he saved for his most despotic assertions of authority
.
It should have been inconsequential, because in truth she didn’t feel any strong curiosity about the kitchen, but she looked at him suspiciously
.
It was consequential to him
.

What wasn’t he saying
?

It came to her suddenly
.
“
W
here is the kitchen?” 

The ante
chamber had three doors in it, for the dining room,
the
study, and the sitting room
.
This room gave out to the garden, and the other two rooms had no doors that she could recall
.

How was that possible
?
Both his brothers would live here, and yet she’d seen only the small bedroom that Derek would use when Damian was absent
—
where were his brother
s
’
rooms?

Damian was giving her a smile that was all challenge
.
Genevieve stood up
and walked back to the house
.
A quick look told her there were no other doors in her sitting room
.
She checked both
the other rooms
—
no doors
.
There was a
door
below the staircase in the ante
chamber
she’d not noticed before
, but it
led
only to
a
small
water
closet
.

Damian was standing by the double doors, watching her
.

She turned on him
.
“Explain this to me!”

“Explain what, love?” he said softly
.

“Don’t be obtuse!” she growled through her teeth
.
“Where is the door
?
H
ow do I leave this house
?”

“You don’t,” he said with the same velvet softness
.
“Not until we have settled matters between us, including your rules.”

“My rules?”

“Yes, Genevieve, rules.”

“I suppose I must have your permission to go out then?” she said with maximum scorn.

“No,” he
responded
.
“You may not go out at all unless one of us is with you.” 

“One of us?”

“Me or my brothers.”

“Your brothers!”

“Yes
.
When I am absent, they have charge of you.” 

“Your brothers have charge of me
?
Damian, I’m a grown woman.”

“You’re a
married
woman, Genevieve,” he warned
.

“My mother is a married woman
.
S
he does not have to beg permission when she leaves to do the shopping.” 

“What happens in your parent
s
’
house or any other house is irrelevant
.
You are my wife, and I am the one you must obey.”

“Damian, I’ve not asked permission to go out since I was nine years old.”

“I know, darling, and I realize it will be an adjustment for you,” Damian said, sounding eminently reasonable, though his words were anything but
.
“You will be permitted to visit the town and invite friends to the castle.”

“To the castle, but not to the house!”
s
he s
puttered
.
“Not to my house.”

“No one outside the family may enter this house
.
T
hat’s my final word,” he said, his temper showing signs of fraying
.
“The bottom line is that you are my wife now, and you must accustom yourself to having less fr
eedom than you enjoyed before.”

“Not less freedom, no freedom!” she burst out, utterly outraged
.

Many odd details of the past few days with him suddenly made a sinister kind of sense
.
“This was the plan from the beginning
—
l
ocking me in my room, making sure no one spoke to me
.
This is what you didn’t wish me to hear, isn’t it!  That after marrying you, I would be locked away inside an eastern hareem
.
And I actually worried I might deceive you!  You spoke the truth that night
.
Y
ou were the one deceiving me!”

As she said the words, she realized she’d gone too far
.
She could tell from his expression that he’d lost the battle with his temper
.
She backed away, not frightened precisely, but wary.

“As you will it, then Genevieve
.
No freedom
,” Damian said silkily, stalking closer, caging her in between the wall and the stairwell
.

When he struck, it was tiger-fast
.
Once
again she was over his shoulder, being carried upstairs
.

“Though I believe you will find that there is a difference,” he explained, his voice showing no more strain than if he’d been carrying a kitten not a grown woman
.
“I
would
be willing to allow you some freedom, darling, but only if you acknowledge that it is mine to grant, and
that
I may take it away again at any time
.
And beware how you goad me, bride, lest I decide to ignore your wishes entirely
.
Were I only to consult my own preference, you would remain locked in this house, completely sequestered from all but me and the men of my family.” 

They had reached the bedroom
.

“And” he said, lowering her down on the bed, “when you defied me, you would remain chained to my bed until you saw reason.”  There was nothing playful in his tone.

“Damian don’t you dare!” she screamed
.

He let go, and she rolled to escape, but it was apparent from his mocking expression that he was merely taunting her
.
He caught her before she could touch the floor and used his knee to hold her in place while he buckled the cuffs back on
.
This truly was humiliating
.