The Heartwood Box: A Fairy Tale (45 page)

He wrapped his hand around her hair and forced her head back so he could kiss her vulnerable neck
.
He realized he had left a mark, which
caused something to snap
.
Suddenly his mouth was everywhere on her throat, her breasts, her chest, as he left at least a dozen love
bites on her fragile skin
.

Genevieve would be furious, which
didn’t bother him a bit
.
More importantly,
he knew t
he moment they saw the marks,
his brothers
would know what they meant
—
that Damian was her master, and they touched her only at his sufferance
.

Neither of them would dare mark her like that
—
only him
.

He took her mouth again, feeling that she was building to her climax
.
He tightened his grip on her hair
.
“Keep your eyes on me,” he ordered
.
“This orgasm is mine!” 

Genevieve’s whole body shuddered, but her desire was amply
mixed with apprehension
.
F
ear made her fight
the climax
, but his wife could never resist being dominated
.

“You are mine, Genevieve,” he
snarled
.
“Say it!  My brothers can touc
h you, but you answer to me!”

“Damian!” she begged.

“Say it,” he growled harshly
.

“I’m yours,” she cried
.

“You obey
me
—
say it now, or I won’t let you come
.”

He knew it was only the frenzy of lust that made her gasp, “I obey you.”

“Good girl—come now!”  He shifted in a way he knew
she wouldn’t be able to resist
and roared with satisfaction to feel her convulsing helplessly as she cried out his name
.
His pumping became frantic then as he slammed into her, bringing himself to his own climax
.

As he relaxed and the fury of possessiveness receded, he realized that he’d just behaved like a crazed animal
.
He clutched her to him
.
“
Gods, Genevieve, I didn’t mean…
.
Can
you forgive me?” 

Genevieve reached for his face and pulled him close for a gentle ki
ss
.
She looked perfectly happy
.
H
e didn’t think he’d ever seen anything as beautiful
.
“No,” she said smiling
.
“There’s nothing to forgive.” 

Genevieve was completely sincere when she promised there was nothing to forgive
.
She understood why Damian had attacked her, and she couldn’t complain about the result when he brought her to such raptures
.

However, she was less pleased when she noticed the result of those passionate kisses
.
“What is this?” she exclaimed
.

“Love bites
.
I already apologized, love
.
I’m afraid in the heat of the moment…
.
”
H
e shrugged apologetically, but his expression was pure masculine triumph.

“How long will these last?” she demanded, incensed by his smugness
.

“I’m not sure—perhaps a day or so.” 

“Or so?”

“It might be a week,” he admitted
.

“A week!  I can’t go out like this!”

He rolled over on top of her, thumbing her breasts and pushing his leg between hers
.
“We can always stay here
.
I was hoping we could eat in tonight, just the two of us,” he murmured between little kisses along the edge of her ear
.
Her completely disloyal body began humming with desire as her infernal husband well knew
.

When it was time for dinner, Genevieve found she had even more reason to wish she’d not forgiven Damian so easily
.
When she tried to stand, her ankle gave out
.
It turned out she’d strained it falling out of that blasted tree
.
Damian practically pounced on her
.
All signs of the apologetic lover vanished like smoke in a high wind, and his de
spotic side returned in force.

“Why on earth were you in a tree?” he demanded as he examined the swelling
.

“I wanted the cherries, and there were no more on the lower branches.” 

“And so you must climb high enough to break your neck?”

“It wasn’t that high!” she protested
.
“And Donal dared me.”  Genevieve instantly realized that was the wrong thing to say.

“He dared you!  I hope Derek beats him to a pulp!” 

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the end of it
.
He helped her over to the little table and then noticed that she was also having trouble sitting
.
He pulled her to stand and lifted her skirt up
.
“What happened here
?
You’ve had three days to heal!”

“It’s not what you think,” she squeaked
.

“Genevieve, you have no idea what I think
.
What did I say about answering my questions?”

“It wasn’t Donal—at least—you see, Declan got me this beautiful horse—named Mist—and Donal told me to climb on, just for a few minutes…
.
”

“You climbed on—you mean bareback—without a saddle or bridle?”

“Well it is a Fae horse,” she argued
.
“Even without a saddle…
.
”

“I don’t need to hear about the merits of Fae horses, Genevieve,” he said sternly
.
“Don’t even try to pretend to me
.
T
his happened in more than a few minutes
.
Now I will have the truth right now
.
Did Donal tell you to get off or not?”

“Fine
.
Declan told us we should enjoy ourselves as much as possible before the two more
tyrannical
brothers returned
.
But it seems that Donal can be as despotic as either of you when the mood strikes him.” 

Damian shook his head, his expression dangerous
.

“Damian!” she cried.

“No—this is too much. You cannot possibly imagine I would ignore this.” 

“I forgave you for pounding into me and then behaving like a hound marking his territory!” 

“And that was very sweet of you, but I am not you
.
Fortunately, I know the perfect punishment.”

“What?”

“That I will save as a little surprise for later,” he said, pulling her in for a thorough kiss that left her lightheaded
.
“Frankly, you should be glad I am not sending you to Derek.”

“You wouldn’t!” 

“Wouldn’t I
?
I see now that he is exactly what you need.” 

“That’s just what Donal said,” she grumbled, wondering if perhaps she might come to regret this new spirit of cooperation between the brothers
.

“I’m not surprised
.
Now can you sit in that chair, or shall we play our favorite game by the divan, because I have no objection whatsoever to feeding you while you are on your knees.”

“And now you sound like Derek,” she huffed.

He laughed, his voice rich and relaxed, as he served her up a generous helping of her new favorite dish, Roderick’s creamed chicken, this time served with delicate herbed crepes and some lovely green beans with butter and a hint of tarragon
.

He poured them each a glass of chilled white wine and then said, “So speaking of Derek
,
I really do need to know everything, darling, and please, no apologies
.
Just tell me what happened.” 

So she did, becoming more and more comfortable as it became clear that Damian did not seem hurt or disturbed by anything she was saying
.
“I truly don’t know
how
long it had been when Donal found us,” she said at the end of it
.
“I can’t explain it, but my thoughts were very disordered
.
I think Derek was apprehensive about my state—at least
that’s what I recall.” 

“Thank you,” he said feelingly
.
“I cannot tell you how much I appreciate your openness with me, Genevieve
.
I will do everything in my power to be as open with you.” 

“I want you to be, Damian
.
I hate worrying about what you’re feeling.” 

“Come, let’s sit by the hearth
.
I find I need to hold my beautiful wife,” he murmured
.

He led her to
one of the
arm
chair
s
and pulled her in to sit on his lap
.
He just clutched her for a few minutes, as if he wanted to reassure himself she was still there, still his
.

Finally, he said, “I don’t think it’s news to you that I was not comfortable with the state you were in the other day
.
I am well aware that my behavior was completely inexcusable.”  He stopped her when she tried to interrupt
.
“Please hear me out, darling—I need to say this
.
It took me several days to make some sense of it, but it is clear that in addition to feeling horribly guilty about our quarrel, I suffered a bout of lunatic possessiveness and jealousy towards Derek
.
I could not have handled it worse and you suffered terribly for that, and I am truly, truly sorry for it.” 

“I know,” she murmured
.
“Pleas
e, don’t apologize
.
Please.”

He looke
d at her a bit too knowingly
and then kissed her nose
.
“I won’t say any more on that
.
However, we still have the issue of your state
.
Understand I am not speaking of the need for punishment itself, or the fact that Derek is the one who can satisfy it for you
.
I am speaking only of your state afterwards, and the truth is that I am not comfortable with it
.
So far, you have needed three days of healing, during which even a few minutes on a horse set you back another few days
.
I would give anything to take you riding, but I can’t until you are fully healed, and even more seriously, I cannot possibly spank you myself now…
.
”

Genevieve slapped his arm
.

“I’m jesting
.
I do not mean to make some proclamation for all time, but I am hoping there is a way to meet this need without leaving you in that state
.
I want you to tell me how you feel about what I’m saying.” 

“Declan spoke to me
.
He did not like it that I did not stop Derek sooner
.
I don’t think I could have—I don’t understand why I didn’t
.
I don’t mean to defy you, or make problems with Derek…
.
” 

“Shhh, love
.
I’ll tell you what I am thinking, Genevieve
.
I am not going to interfere between you and Derek
.
If you provoke him, whatever the motive, you must be prepared to accept the consequences of his temper—no different than Donal when he used
to
provoke Derek
.
I will use the riding as a rule of thumb
.
Unless he clears it with me first, he will not administer any punishment that leaves you unable to ride a horse the following day
.
Does that seem fair to you?” 

“Yes.”  She felt an odd sense of relief
.
She desperately wanted to avoid being the cause of conflict between Damian and Derek, and she felt Damian’s objections were reasonable and well within his rights as her husband
.
The problem was that she didn’t trust herself to say no to Derek
.
She agreed with Declan that she must set limits, but there was a kind of madness between her and Derek, and she could see matters going too far without someone to stop them.