The Heartwood Box: A Fairy Tale (44 page)

Donal, that traitor, scurried down the tree, easy as a squirrel
.
“Look who’s back!” he said brightly, wearing his tart-stealing expression
.

She tried to get up, but found to her mortification that she’d twisted her ankle and couldn’t stand without holding onto the tree
.
Derek’s already dark expression became thunderous, while Damian’s smile was pure menace
.

“Brother?” Derek asked
.

“You take Donal
.
I’ll deal with my wife—this time,” Damian said
.
A moment later she was being hauled over Damian’s shoulder while Derek tackled Donal
.

“Damian!  Put me down!  Don’t you dare!” she shrieked
.

“Genevieve, I am not home one minute, and already you are in deep trouble
.
I strongly recommend you be quiet.” 

“What about Donal!  Make Derek stop!”

“Donal has it coming
.
You’d best worry for yourself, darling.”

She caught a glimpse of Derek flipping Donal onto the ground, before they arrived at the kitchen door
.
Damian said a quick hello to George and Thomas, who looked understandably stunned to see the master of the house home again—carrying his wife over his shoulder like a blasted sack.

“Damian, put me down!” she pleaded
.

“Be silent, Genevieve,” he said, unlocking the door to the dining room and moving quickly through the anteroom, up the stairs, and down the hallway to their room
.
He finally put her down in the bathing chamber and immediately turned the water on to fill the tub
.
“Forgive my state, darling
.
I’m in dire need of a bath.”  Taking note of her juice-stained face and twig-strewn hair, he added, “And you as well.” 

Now that they were alone together, Genevieve gulped and tried to speak, but her voice was little more than a whisper
.
Before she could stop them, tears started rolling down her face
.
“Damian…
.
”

“Shhh, no tears,” he said and pulled her into his arms
.

“I’m so sorry, Damian… Gods.”

“No, Darling,
I’m
sorry—you don’t know how much
.
Genevieve, you cannot imagine what the past five days have been like.”

She gripped him as hard as she could, worried that she might shake apart
.
“Don’t say sorry, please…
.
I can’t bear it… please Damian
.
I wanted to tell you I loved you, but I was too big a coward, and then… I was so afraid I’d lost you, that you hated me…”
To her mortification, she began hea
ving, she was crying so hard.

“Never, darling
.
Impossible
.
You are so dear to me.”  His voice cracked as he whispered in her ear, “I love you, Genevieve—I
cannot even express how much.”

The tub was almost full
.
“We’ll talk about everything
.
Now I just want to hold my little wife
in my arms,” he said.

He quickly undressed both of them, helped her into the tub, and then climbed in after her
.
Genevieve had never felt anything equal to the comfort of lying in his arms again
.
She splashed her face, trying to rinse the tears and get a hold of herself
.
Damian had come back—he and Derek had reconciled—he loved her
.
Whatever their troubles, they were together again
.

Damian clutched Genevieve to him for a few minutes, trying to bring his emotions under control so that he didn’t behave like a madman
.
When he felt calm enough, he began soaping her back and arms, taking note that Genevi
eve was sporting a new tan line
and even
had
a little sunburn on her nose
.
His clever brother had kept her outside, and she was clearly better for it
.

Within minutes, Genevieve was practically purring from his strokes, looking like a contented little kitten
.
He was already sporting a vicious erection from seeing her on the ground looking adorably guilty
.
He tried to get his lust under control
.
He wanted to seduce Genevieve slowly, gently, give her the control
.
He was horrified that she’d witnessed his brawl with Derek, by far the most brutal fight he’d ever had with one of his brothers
.
She’d need time to feel safe with him
.

He forced himself to hold back from massaging her breasts though he was yearning to take them in his mouth
.
Instead, he used the pitcher to dampen her hair
.
“I missed this,” he murmured.

“Me too—I wouldn’t let…” Genevieve cut off abruptly
.
Suddenly she looked miserable and guilty
.
It took him a moment before he guessed that she’d been about to say something about one of his brothers—Donal probably
.

He knew this moment was crucial if he was to repair
some of
the damage he’d done and start all four of them on the right footing
.
“Tell me,” he said
,
keeping his tone light
.

Of course, Genevieve tried to turn her face away, but he caught her chin and made her face him
.
“Please Damian,” she begged.

“Were you going to speak of Donal?”  He smiled warmly and whispered, “Trust me, Genevieve
.
Please—I’d never lie to you
.
I know you’ve been intimate with Donal
.
You can tell me anything at all about my brothers.”  When she still didn’t respond, he decided on a different tactic
.
“Genevieve, I am your husband
.
I must know anything that happens with
my brothers
.
Is that clear?”

“But…” she tried to protest.

“No
.
No excuses will be accepted
.
While I am ecstatic that you have developed feelings for them, I am master of this house
.
As far as this family goes, my word is law
.
There are no secrets between us
.
If I ask you a questio
n, I expect you to answer it.”

“I don’t want to hurt you.”

“I understand that, darling, but that’s for me to decide, not you
.
Now please fi
nish what you were saying.”

“I didn’t want to take a bath with
Donal,” she said nervously.

Damian just caught himself before he sharply demanded what she meant by that
.
This entire disaster started with his getting angry
at
Derek
.
He must never forget for even a second that Genevieve would blame herself
if he fought with his brothers.

He plastered a light smile on his face
.
“You don’t have to bathe with him
.
Why
?
Did he try to persuade you?”

“No, of course not
.
I think he guessed that I wouldn’t want to—with anyone but you
.
I don’t know why, but I just couldn’t bear the thought of it.”  Genevieve was watching him carefully,
trying to gauge his reaction.

He chuckled
.
“I am very happy to hear that
.
I never want you to feel pressured to do something that makes you unhappy, Genevieve.”  He saw something in her eye
.
“I know that’s not what happened with Derek
.
I promise we will talk about it, but would you mind if we save him for later
?
I’ve just spent the last
three
days with Derek, and honestly I could use a little break.”  It was the right thing to say: she bubbled over with knowing laughter
.
“I’d much rather hear about Donal—especially since it looks like you two had a gra
nd time getting into trouble.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone as good-tempered as Donal,” she admitted
.

“I owe him eternally
.
H
e did an excellent job cheering you up.” 

“It’s funny, he’s so humorous and carefree,
but I find he’s very observant
and considerate
.
Like with the paint in the sitting room
.
I have not been back to the bedroom once since we came back
.
W
e stayed the whole time in the garden or the conservatory
.
He guessed that I wouldn’t want to, just like with the bath
.
He purposely hides it, I think, but he can be very perceptive…
.
”

She
trailed off, afraid she’d said too much, but he could sense what she was trying to communicate
.
“It is fitting that my brother is a master of stealth
.
And I thank Titania that he has used his gift to sneak into your heart.”  He kissed her gently
.
“
T
hough if I’m to be fair, I suppose I must feel equally thankful that Derek battered his way in!” 

He winked at her, which elicited one of her captivating blushes.

He then gave her his most autocratic smile
.
“I believe I will issue my first decree as master of this house and all its occupants: my lovely
wife
will bathe only with me.”

Genevieve’s eyes glazed as they always did
.
He rubbed her buttocks knowingly, enjoying her shudder
.
“In fact,” he added, “I can think of quite a few other decrees I wish to make now that we are all home together
.
I see t
hat I’m going to enjoy this.”

He stood abruptly and helped her out of the tub
.
Gods, it had been too long
.
Genevieve practically threw herself at him, rubbing against him like a little cat
.
He gripped the back of her head and tilted it so he could kiss her properly, loving the way she melted when he took possession of her mouth
.

Suddenly he couldn’t bear to wait another moment
.
Without bothering to towel them off, he carried her to the bed, tossed
her on
, and climbed on top of her
.
He continued to take deep kisses, while she squirmed wantonly beneath him, opening her legs without his having to tell her to.

“I want you,” she moaned
.
He reached down and brushed his fingers through the folds of her sex—she was soaked
.

It was almost as if the scent of her desire triggered some instinct in him
.
All
of Damian’s
virtuous intentions crumbled to dust, as if a lifetime of playing the responsible older brother, the reliable commanding officer, the reassuring lover and husband finally became too much
.
He was gripped by a primitive need to assert his dominance
.
His brothers might share in loving her, but she was
his
.

Genevieve
saw something in his expression
because her eyes widened with alarm, which only fueled his need
.
He shoved a cushion under her hips and pinned her wrists above her head
.
“I am going to take you now,” he growled
.
“Deep and hard.” 

Her eyes glazed with desire, though she was still wary, which pleased him
.
She should be wary
.

He thrust in hard, growling with satisfaction at the rightness of it
.
He
shifted her
wrists
to his right hand
and used his left to
pull
her leg
over his hip so he could go even deeper
.
He began driving into her, shocked at the violence of his need
.
He was pounding her so hard, their
heads
edged dangerously close
to
the wooden headboard
.
“Grip the headboard—brace yourself!” he ordered
, releasing her wrists
.