The Bride and the Brute Read online

  “That never stopped you before, why should it now?”

  James’s eyebrow rose slightly. “Your wife awaits you in your chambers.”

  Reese’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t have a wife.”

  James bowed contemptuously. “As you wish, m’lord,” he answered stiffly, and departed the room.

  As soon as Nicole is home safely, I will right this entire fiasco, Reese vowed silently. He picked up the note he had begun earlier and scanned the words, nodding in satisfaction.

  Chapter Three

  Jayce changed into a simple gown of blue velvet and sat on the bed for a long time, wondering if Lord Reese would return. She tried to put her rebellious hair into a horned headdress, but without help she couldn’t get the dark strands beneath the metal. So, she settled for a braid wrapped about her head. She wondered if she was supposed to wait for Reese in the room.

  So much for a happy marriage, she thought. He hated her. It was apparent her husband didn’t wish to have anything to do with her. But why had he chosen her then? Why had he picked her to marry? She glanced around the room. It was dark; if it weren’t for the candle burning on a table, she would not be able to see a thing. She picked the candle up and moved through the unfamiliar chambers.

  Servants had arrived earlier to tidy up the room, making the bed, changing the water in the basin.

  Jayce stared at the immaculate bed piled with warm furs and blankets. Thick red velvet curtains hung from the ceiling over it. She touched one of the curtains reverently, as if it would reveal the many secrets of her new husband if she coaxed it gently enough.

  Lightning shot through the sky, making her jump. She dropped the candle and it hit the floor, rolling across its wooden surface. Ever since she was a child, storms had terrified her. Jayce’s mother had died amidst a horrendous thunderstorm. She remembered kneeling at her mother’s bedside, holding her cold, clammy hand while deafening claps of thunder attacked her ears and white-hot flashes of lightning assaulted her eyes. She remembered crying out for her mother and for the first time in her life not hearing her answer.

  The large crack of thunder boomed in her ears, echoing in the room. Jayce glanced around the blackness, her eyes wide, her hands clutching at her elbows. Her father had stayed with her through storms such as these, but now he was gone.

  Wind swirled in from the open window, billowing the red curtains around her like fingers stretching, reaching to grab her. She stepped away from the curtain and smacked her head on one of the bedposts.

  The searching wind found the candlelight and extinguished it, plummeting the room into a terrifying darkness. For a moment, Jayce couldn’t move, could barely get her breath. The blackness clawed at her heart, threatening to drag her down into its bottomless abyss.

  The wind continued to whip through the room. The curtains of velvet, now gloved fingers of doom, encircled Jayce’s flailing arms, her ankles. She fought her invisible foe, the feeling of entrapment embroiling her senses. She jerked free of its hold, pulling so hard she banged into the table, knocking it over. Glass shattered and she stepped away, blindly, until her back hit the cold stone wall.

  Two bolts of lightning ripped jagged holes in the sky, bringing with them twin blasts of thunder.

  Fear gripped her heart in a taloned fist, and Jayce slowly sank to the floor. She encircled her knees, rocking slightly back and forth. She whispered soothing words to herself, words her father had murmured to her.

  She was terrified. Confused. She buried her face in the dress at her knees.

  Abandoned.

  Chapter Four

  When Reese returned from the border patrols, he was soaked through to his skin and his mood was darker than when he had left. He had found no sign of Nicole, no indication that her return was imminent.

  He returned to his chambers, candelabra in his hand. Outside, a distant grumble of thunder faded quickly into silence. The damn storm was finally abating after raging for hours.

  As he moved into the room, his foot skidded on a candle lying in the middle of the floor, throwing Reese backward. He almost fell, but caught his balance with a flail of his arm. He cursed. He’d have to speak to his servants about being so sloppy. He moved to the bed, but before he could partake of its luxurious comfort, his booted foot sloshed in a pool of water. His gaze slid to the window. A soft breeze rippled the now soggy curtains of his bed. He moved to the window and pulled the shutters closed, cursing the servants again. Then, he turned to the bed, this time managing to set his bottom on it. He sighed and reached out to place the candelabra on the table…

  … and nearly dropped it when its base did not encounter the nightstand that should have been there.

  “God’s blood!” he murmured. “What now?” He rose to his feet and took a step toward the empty space where the table had once stood. His foot crunched on something, and he paused, realizing it was broken glass beneath his boot sole. His foggy, tired mind instantly came alive. His hand moved for the hilt of his sword.

  The image of the woman he had left alone in his bedchamber rose in his mind. Jayce. Even if she was only a Harrington in name, she was still a Harrington. Had someone dared to attack her? It would be an unforgivable insult if something had happened to her.

  The bed was unslept in, the covers unmoved. He shifted his gaze to the closed window, then the broken glass. Had there been a struggle? His eyes frantically searched the darkness. Had she left the room? Forcibly?

  “Jayce?” he called.

  Silence answered him.

  He took a step deeper into the darkness and the candlelight washed over the hem of a blue dress tucked away in a far corner of his room. Reese lurched forward, his fist clenched tight around the base of the candelabra, until the candlelight encircled Jayce in its glow. She sat slumped at the bottom of the wall, her head slouched-over on her shoulder, her arms limp at her sides.

  Rage engulfed him. Has someone dared to harm her? he wondered incredulously as he knelt at her side. Without taking his eyes from her, he set the candelabra down on the floor. A stray strand of brown hair fell over her cheek, its darkness contrasting sharply against her pale skin.

  Then, something tickled the inside of his stomach. Something he had never felt before and refused to acknowledge. He reached out and touched her hand. It was like ice. He engulfed her small fingers with his large hand, trying to warm them. Her fingers twitched, then curved around his, and he knew she was alive.

  He scooped her into his arms, and she stirred, tossing her head, calling, “Father?” Reese gently placed her in his bed, noticing how the large bed made her appear tinier than she was. He pulled away from her, but her arms reached out, encircling his neck. Reese froze, unsure of what to do. He could pry her arms from his neck. He could settle next to this stranger and hold her. Or he could search her body for wounds.

  “The storm,” she whimpered.

  Reese felt her body tremble. A flash of lightning lit the night sky as if summoned by her words. He leaned close to her to duck beneath her arms. When his cheek brushed hers, he was startled to find the moisture there.

  Guilt twisted his gut. Had he caused her this anguish? He ripped free of her hold, telling himself it didn’t matter. She was not his concern.

  Her head fell back against the pillows, her cold hands leaving a path of ice along his cheek and neck. Instinctively, his hands skimmed her body, searching for wounds. But it wasn’t wounds he found. It was a shapely, strong figure. His hands fluttered over her slender neck, down her curvy sides, across her flat stomach and down her slender legs. Searching for blood, he told himself. In the dark, he could not see if she was hurt. His fingers moved back up over her legs. They were so smooth and sleek. He wondered what they looked like.

  Reese had to jerk himself from her, pulling his hands away from her body as if she had suddenly burst into flames. His own body responded instantly to touching her. Disgusted at his primeval response, he told himself it was nothing but the wanting of a woman. He could sate his des
ires on a willing servant wench later. Reese pulled the cover up over her body, concealing it beneath the fur, hiding it from his hungry gaze.

  Jayce groaned and tossed her head, and he shifted his eyes to her face. He could see the moisture on her cheeks as her tears glistened in the candlelight. He stepped closer and pressed a palm against her skin, fearing she was feverish. Her skin was cool against his hand. At his touch, she seemed to quiet and settle into the bed. Reese couldn’t help cupping her gentle chin and stroking her cheek with his thumb.

  Her eyes fluttered and opened slightly, revealing a teasing glimpse of her deep blue orbs. In the candlelight, he was amazed at how startlingly blue they were, deeper than the richest sapphire he had ever seen. He thought he heard her sigh before she closed them again. The flickering light from the candelabra gave her cheeks a healthy glow, the vibrancy of life. Where before her skin had been so cold and pale, it seemed his touch had roused the vigor inside her. He was startled at the transformation, startled and somewhat delighted. A spark lit in his chest, warming his entire being.

  I must be so tired I am hallucinating, he thought. No woman could possibly be that beautiful. In the light of day, her beauty, her vibrancy, will fade, and she will be just like the rest of the women. A small, weak thing that needs protection. My protection.

  Exhaustion finally claimed him, and he stumbled back into a chair near the wall. He fell asleep quickly, a twisted resolve settling over his dark features.

  Chapter Five

  A warmth touched her cheeks, and Jayce instinctively turned her face toward it. But when a painfully bright light lit her closed lids, she groaned and turned away, drawing the blanket over her head.

  A clucking noise greeted her movement. “You can’t lounge around in bed all day, m’lady,” a male voice said.

  At first she thought it was her father, but she knew this couldn’t be. Her father would let her sleep. Then, she remembered where she was.

  And who she was.

  Instantly, Jayce jerked the sheets from her head and sat up, prepared to meet her husband’s disapproving gaze. Instead, her eyes came to rest on a thin man bent over near the fallen table, carefully collecting the broken glass.

  She flung the blankets from her and swung her legs out of the bed. What would Reese think of her if she slept all day? She was lady of the castle now, and needed to rise with the sun. She sighed slightly. She was used to staying up late and sleeping late. She would have to remedy that.

  She froze as her feet touched the floor. How had she gotten into bed? She remembered the storm and trembled slightly. She also recalled a gentle touch, someone tucking her into bed.

  The man cleared his throat and she turned to him. “My name is James, m’lady,” he introduced. “I was instructed to aid you.”

  “By Lord Reese?”

  “No,” James answered standing before her. “By Lady Nicole.”

  *****

  “I can’t believe you left her there. Alone!”

  Reese watched Nicole pace the room. Her blond hair shimmered hotly in the sun’s rays with each angry turn. Her brows angled down over sparkling blue eyes; her tiny fists clenched with rage. His sister had finally been returned safely, as Cullen had promised, and Reese felt relief despite her fury at his treatment of the girl he had wed.

  “No one to help her. No one to tend her needs!” Nicole whirled, pinning Reese with an angry glare. “Do you want her to think her husband is a brute?!”

  Reese’s eyes narrowed slightly. “I don’t care what she thinks of me.”

  Nicole waved a small, impatient hand at him, as if she were waving away an annoying gnat. “You are a brute. How can you treat her like that?”

  “How can you ask me that?” Reese roared, straightening to his intimidating height. “You were the one kidnapped! You were the reason I was forced to wed the girl! If it wasn’t for you---!”

  “Don’t start with me, Reese Harrington,” Nicole retorted in a motherly tone, marching up to him. She was a full head shorter than he was, but managed to match him glare for glare. “I’m sure it pricked your manly pride when I was spirited away from beneath your nose.”

  Reese ground his teeth. “And now I have another helpless female to watch and to protect!”

  “Not just another female, Reese. Your wife!” Nicole jabbed her finger into Reese’s chest.

  “I didn’t ask her to be my wife! I don’t want her to be my wife! For all I know she---”

  The sound of someone clearing his throat loudly made them turn to the arched entranceway to the room. James stood slightly behind Jayce, his disinterested gaze focused somewhere in the middle of the room.

  Nicole dropped her mouth slightly, her cheeks flaming.

  Reese stood with his fists clenched, staring at Jayce’s large blue eyes. He saw the hurt flash in those eyes for a moment and thought that surely she was going to burst into tears, forcing him to comfort her.

  But for a long moment, Jayce didn’t move, meeting his gaze with a pained resolve. Then, with all the dignity of a queen, she slowly turned and left the room.

  Reese and Nicole stood silently in the room, staring after the woman. Reese knew he should go after her, and took a step to do just that, then stopped suddenly. What would he do when he caught up to her? Tell her his words were the truth?

  Nicole whirled on her brother, her blue eyes full of disgust and anger. “I pity her for being married to you,” she said, and raced out the door after Jayce.

  Reese cursed silently and ran a hand through his thick locks. He lifted his gaze to find James standing in the doorway, staring at him. “What are you looking at?” Reese snapped.

  James’s eyebrow rose slightly before Reese hurried past him, out of the room.

  Chapter Six

  Nicole knocked at the door. When there was no answer after several more knocks, she swept into the room. Jayce sat at the window, staring out over the pastures. She barely looked up, and Nicole noticed the way her shoulders sagged. Her heart ached for the woman. “I’m Reese’s sister, Nicole,” she said. “I am terribly sorry about the way my brother has been treating you.” Unnerved by Jayce’s silence, Nicole walked to stand beside her, peering out the window, following her gaze. A black horse, as black as the darkest night, ran wildly within a fenced-off area, snorting like some possessed demon. Nicole returned her gaze to Jayce. “I do so hope you like your life here,” Nicole said earnestly. “I’d like to be friends.”

  Jayce turned to her, and Nicole was pleased to see she was a beautiful woman. Her eyes were startlingly blue and reminded Nicole of the richest sapphires she had ever seen. She knew they would help sway her brother to take her as his rightful wife. He had a fondness for blue eyes.

  “Is it true my father kidnapped you?” Jayce wondered.

  Surprised, it was all Nicole could do to keep her mouth from falling open. “Well, yes,” she finally answered, looking away from her probing gaze. “But he treated me civilly,” she added quickly.

  Jayce turned to stare out the window. Nicole raised her eyes in time to notice a troubled furrow on Jayce’s once-smooth brow. “Do you know why he did it?” Jayce asked.

  “His demand was for Reese to marry you,” Nicole answered.

  Jayce dropped her gaze to her lap. “It makes no sense,” she murmured.

  “What doesn’t?” Nicole wondered.

  Jayce turned confused eyes to Nicole. “Why he lied to me. Father told me Reese wanted to marry me.”

  Nicole patted her shoulder, comfortingly. “It doesn’t matter. What’s done is done.”

  “How can I blame Reese for despising me?”

  “He doesn’t despise you,” Nicole said. When Jayce turned disbelieving eyes to her, she smiled glumly and shrugged. “He just doesn’t know you.”

  “And if he has his way, he never will.”

  Suddenly, two female servants entered the room. They began racing about, collecting the sparse items belonging to Jayce. A feeling of dread began to prickle the back
of Nicole’s neck.

  Jayce slowly rose from her seat at the window, confusion etched in her furrowed brow.

  “What’s going on?” Nicole demanded of the servants. “What are you doing?”

  One of the women stopped before her. “Lord Reese has instructed us to gather the lady’s belongings.”

  Jayce cast Nicole a look of dread.

  Reese was tossing his new wife out, returning her to her father. Nicole grabbed Jayce’s hand, squeezing it tightly, reassuringly. “Reese is not that cold. There must be some misunderstanding.”

  “There is no misunderstanding,” a voice thundered from the doorway.

  Both women turned to find Reese standing there. He filled the doorway, his dark, hulking body blocking out the torchlight from the hallway behind him.

  Jayce stepped forward, turning Reese’s cold, hard gaze from his sister to focus on her. “You have every right to turn me out,” she murmured. Then she raised her chin and added, “I would expect that from a coward.”

  His teeth clenched, and he pushed himself from the wall, approaching her like a raging storm cloud. “I have been called many things, lady, but never coward.”

  Jayce stood her ground. “Then, perhaps it’s time someone told you the truth. If you were brave, you would have faced me to say you were throwing me out instead of having servants tell me.”

  A muscle in his cheek twitched and his eyes burned with outrage. Nicole could feel the anger emanating from his body like the heat from a hearth. She watched Jayce match his rage and was proud of her new friend.

  “You are not the only one who has been duped,” Jayce proclaimed, her voice gaining strength. “I could have had my choice of husbands who would have been willing, nay, even eager to claim me as wife. And yet, I am saddled with a boorish, unchivalrous lout capable of no feelings for anyone but himself. Well, Reese Harrington, I wouldn’t want you as my husband if you were the last man in all of England!” With that, Jayce pushed past him, out into the hall.