The Heartwood Box: A Fairy Tale (37 page)

“I wanted to tell him I loved him, but I was too afraid, and then directly after we had this dreadful quarrel.”

“And he tied you to the bed
.
I’m sure you must have done something truly wicked and disobedient
—
at least I hope you did.” 

He plopped a cherry in her mouth, looking absurdl
y eager to hear the details.

She spat out the pit, thinking of the reason for their fight, and irritation finally began maki
ng some headway against guilt.

“Our quarrel
.
Well, you must understand
.
T
hat visit to the garden was the first time he’d allowed me to leave the bedroom
.
It took me some time to notice that this house is designed as a luxurious prison, without any discernible exit
.
When I remarked on this, Damian saw fit to
decree
that I was forbidden to leave the house without a minder
.
And when I voiced an objection, he carried me upstairs and tied me to our bed.”  Donal looked ready to explode with laughter
.
“You believe I was wrong?” she
asked, ready to explode herself
and then grab the pitcher of water and dump it over his head.

“No, of course no
t
.
It’s outrageous,” he said.

He must have noticed her eying the pitcher because he picked it up, poured them each a glass of water, and then replaced it safely on his side of the lounge-chair.

“W
ell at least one of you is half
way sane,” she said frostily, taking a sip
.
“Derek asked me the same thing, and when I told him, he informed me I should be
grateful
that Damian was so
lenient
.
If I were his wife, I’d only be allowed to leave the house one day a year
—
for Titania’s Feast.” 

Donal had been taking a sip at that moment and spat out the water, howling with laughter
.
“Oh
,
that’s priceless
.
Did he say this before or after he pummeled you?”

Genevieve wondered to hear such things spoken of so openly, but Donal made it seem a matter of course
.
“Before!” she said, trying to glare at him, but finding the corners of her mouth turning up in spite of herself
.

“Lord, Derek the smooth-tongued seducer,” he said
,
feeding her another cherry
.
“First he force-feeds you a food you hate, then he boasts that he’ll keep you locked up for life
.
I always wondered how our middle brother would go about wooing a woman.” 

She giggled then
—
it was too ridiculous
.

“Sweetheart, I don’t deny he’s a complete beast, but I know Derek
—
he never would have continued if you’d told him to stop
.
Declan told me he confirmed as much
.
That backside of yours is a bloody mess
.
With any other woman, I’d have worried you were afraid, but having seen you stare down my brothe
r, I just don’t believe it.”

Genevieve blushed so deeply
she wondered blood didn’t pour out of her ears
.
“I wasn’t afraid.”  She was afraid of what she felt for Derek, but not of Derek himself.

“You wanted it then
—
you enjoyed it?”

“Enjoyed it!”

“Some people enjoy it
.
If you didn’t, why on earth didn’t you stop him
?
” 

“I don’t know…
.
I don’t know why I didn’t,” she
cried
, tears threatening again
.

“That’s what we’re trying to figure out here, Jenny-girl
.
Let’s put it this way
:
are you angry
with
Derek
?
Do you never want to see him again, or are you eagerly looking forward to the next time he takes you in hand, as it were?” 

“How can you even suggest that
?
Damian will never forgive me as it is!”

He leaned over and affectionately brushed her cheek
.
“Genevieve, do you trust me?”

She laughed through the sobs
.
“I don’t know
—
should I?”

“Yes
.
I swear it on Titania’s name,” he said with rare seriousness
.
“So trust this: Damian does not forgive you.”
Before she could choke, he added
,
“He does not because he is well aware that he has no right whatsoever to be angry at you
.
He is angry
at
Derek
.
You see, by our rules, Damian is
the husband, which means he
gets to play lord and master over you and the rest of us
.
Derek must have Damian’s permission before he can put his you-know-what, you-know-where, let alone beat your other you-know-what black and blue.”

“Donal,” she said impatiently, throwing a cherry at him

“Don’t blame me for getting so excited,” he said, throwing it back at her
.
“Finally, my two law-abiding brothers were the ones who got in trouble instead of me
.
I was hoping Declan would thrash both of them, but he contented himself with sending them away to thrash each other and kill demons instead.”

“Why was he angry at Damian?”

“Because he made such a fuss, of course!  Talk about tantrums
.
I don’t blame Damian for wanting to thrash Derek, whom I’ve yearned to pummel for years, but he had no bu
siness doing it in front of you
and making you think that you were to blame, which you weren’t.” 

“It makes no sense
.
I’m the one guilty of infidelity.” 

“We’ve already established that you are a fiendish vixen guilty of murdering puppies and causing floods in the Indies, but
infidelity
?
Jenny-girl, you might say that the motto of the Black family is ‘
what’s another brother
…
.
’
So that brings us back, at long last, to the question we started with: do you want Derek to come back?”  He stopped her before she could interrupt
.
“Assuming that Damian and Derek work everything out, and Damian is completely
in accord
with the
‘
what’s another brother
’
plan, how do you feel about Derek?” 

“Of course I want him to come back,” she said, her voice breaking
.
Donal searched her face as if trying to make sure she was sincere
.
“I’m not mad at Derek
—
what happened wasn’t his fault.”

“That’s an absurd thing to say, little girl
.
But I am very glad to hear you
’
re not angry
with
him
.
Genevieve,” he said more cautiously, “you realize that if he does come back, this will happen ag
ain
.
You two are like a tinder
box
.
I could tell at that picnic that he was already within a hair of taking you over his knee, and he’d barely known you an hour
.
Then at the wedding, the moment you and he started dancing
—
well, let’s just say, Derek’s palms were itching something fierce to get at that ass of yours.” 

Genevieve slapped at him, her face burning with mortification
.

He must have read something in her expression
because he kissed her forehead
and said, “You are a very special girl, and Derek is a lucky bastard
.
A
nyone else would have shown him the door for what he did.”  He
ran
his fingers
lightly
through her hair
.
“So that only leaves your quarrel with Damian, and in that you were entirely to blame.”

“I beg your pardon!”

“Beg away, Jenny-girl
.
This could all have
been avoided if you’d been half
way clever about it
.
I speak as someone who spent
most of
his
childhood
being sent to his room
.
The great thing about people locking you up is then they think they know where you are
.
All you have to do is sta
nd with your hands folded
and say sweetly, ‘Yes of course, Damian, whatever you say.’  Then, once he thinks you are safely locked away, your accomplice sneaks you out, and voila, freedom!” 

“And I suppose you are offering your services as accomplice?” 

The rogue actually ran his eyes up and down her figure, coming to rest at her bosom
.
She was well awa
re that he’d selected the night
dress she was wearing
.
Though not as indecent as the one Damian had chosen fo
r her, this was made of a light
weight lawn, suitable for the summer months
,
the thin fabric not quite transparent, but close
.
The dress also made it obvious that she was wearing no undergarments at all
.

“Jenny-girl, if you took my cock in your mouth, you’d never need fear a locked door again.” 

Genevieve’s eyes blazed
.
“You scoundrel!  How dare you say that to me!” 

“I never claimed to be anything else
.
You’re the one who went all on about morality
.
Can you blame me for trying?” he said in a wounded tone
.
“Blame those blasted cherries
.
I was trying to torture Damian, but since then I’ve been able to think of nothing else but how I might get you on your knees before me!”

She took a shaky breath
—
she couldn’t help imagining it as well, and the picture roused an intense lust
.
She licked her lips absently
.
“You’d rea
lly want to
…
.
”
S
he was too embarrassed to continue.

“I’d really want to… sleep with you
?
Yes.”

The words were spoken in his usual light manner, but the look he gave her was so heated
,
Genevieve couldn’t help believing him sincere
.

“But you haven’t…
.
”

“Is this one of those children’s games where you finish each other’s sentences
?
I haven’t… eaten squirrel brains… sailed down the Nile… tried to seduce my brother’s wife
?
Actually, I thought I would wait for her to seduce me.”  Genevieve’s jaw dropped
.
“Don’t look so surprised
.
The truth is, I do fancy you, at least when you’re not blotchy and runny-nosed from bawling, but I’m a lazy chap, and I’d prefer that you do the work.” 

She hit him with the cushion
.

“Ouch
—
careful or no one will seduce anyone.”

“You truly want this?” 

He glanced down at his member, which was blatantly tenting the thin fabric of his pants
.
She laughed helplessly
.
Perhaps it was all as idiotically simple as Donal had said:
w
hat’s another brother?
There was a strange sort of logic to it, she supposed, and it accounted for Damian’s nervousness when he first broached the topic of his brothers sharing the house with them
—
and what he’d said about their family trying to root out jealousy
.

She met Donal’s eye
—
he smiled mischievously and put his hands beneath his head
.
“Any time you’re ready,” he said lazily
.
“Climb right on
.
I promise I’ll make it worth your while.” 

Beast!  Badly as she wanted him, she wanted to wipe that knowing smirk off his face just as much
.
She thought of what he’d said
—
about the picnic
—
she licked her lips just thinking about it
.
She gave him a wicked smile and climbed off the daybed and knelt on the grass
.