The Devil's Good Intentions (11 page)

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Such actions as?” He asked.

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Fetching the priest and waiting not two minutes before we were to be wed to inform me. That was low. For all you know, I may have always dreamed of a beautiful wedding in a big white church dressed in a beautiful white dress with all the things to go along with a fairytale wedding, I am a female you know and have female wiles.”

She could feel him chuckling again.

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And is that really what you wanted, my Sweet?”

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Heavens no! But that’s not the point. You didn’t consult me and left me out of the planning for one of the most important days of my life!” She returned, trying to sound as though she was scolding him, but even she could hear the grin on her face at the thought of a fanciful wedding.

She never understood the big who-haw of spending scads of money on a dress she could only wear once, inviting people to share a very intimate event, even though the guest list consisted of people who really care not for the marriage and were probably hoping for failure. God she hated the ton.

“
I apologize greatly for that Kat. I too was not thinking clearly and could only concentrate on making you mine. It’s not an excuse because on this point you are absolutely correct.” He stated, sounding genuine.

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Thank you. Although I am grateful for the new wardrobe which I have yet to thank you for, I do not appreciate you dictating what I am to wear. Nor did I appreciate you ridding me of my older clothes in the manner that you did. You could have simply explained to me your intentions, rode me into town and dropped me off at the dress maker and then picked me up when I was through. I would have given you a hard time about accepting new clothes at first, but would have relented no doubt, after trying to battle with that hard head of yours.”

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I know for a fact that you would have fought me every step of the way. I also know that you would never have picked out the pieces that I have picked out for you. You would have chosen the bare minimum just to shut me up and then secretly wished you had picked up what you really wanted.”

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True” she sighed out.

Most women would have emptied his bank account at such an opportunity, but she had never been pampered in her life and although at one point when she was younger, had all that she needed, it was never to the extravagance. She felt uncomfortable accepting such gifts and did not want him to feel as though she was vain and open to taking advantage of him, even if he could afford it.

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That aside, I rather enjoyed picking out your wardrobe. It pleases me to know that my wife is wearing nothing but the finest quality. In addition to that, if I see something that I believe would look lovely on you, it will please me to see that through. I will set up accounts at the dress makers for you and encourage you to take advantage of them; however I will insist that I have final word on all designs before the outfit is erected. I will object if I feel you are selling yourself too short, if I believe the outfit to be too revealing, not revealing enough, so on and so forth.”

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But what if your tastes are not mine? Do you wish me to tread around society feeling uncomfortable in my own skin? Do my feelings not matter to you?”

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Were you not pleased with my selection?”

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Well, yes. I would never have picked out those outfits for myself, but yes…I was pleased.”

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Then we circle back to trust. Trust that I know your likes and dislikes and will respect your limits.”

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Let’s take that one step at a time.” She conceded.

He chuckled and encouraged her to go on.

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There was no need to tie me up to prove your point Salvador. That was a little barbaric don’t you think?” She mustered up the courage to say, while blushing viciously.

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There was every need and you know it. And in addition to there being a need, I would like to hear you deny that your pleasure was not increased because of it. Be honest with yourself Kat, and with me.”

She should have anticipated his response and in truth he was right.

“
Fine - I concede. But I still believe you could have been nicer about it.” She didn’t want to admit complete defeat to him.

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No, I don’t believe I could have, nor would you have wanted me to. Do you really want to discuss this point Katherine or leave it be and accept it for what it was? I’m going to give you that chance to retract your statement and move onto the next point. I do give certain allowances for some modesty.”

She was grateful for that.

“
That was my last point, for now. I’m sure I will think of more as the day progresses.”

With that being said, he kissed her on the back of her head again and shifted her on his lap so that he could remove his cravat from around her wrists. Lifting the blind fold from her face, he kissed each eye as they squeezed shut to ward off the sudden light that filled her eyes, making them water. Before she could open her eyes again, his lips crash against hers and then she was gently lifted and placed on the bed. While she sat there trying to recover her wits, he stalked over to his bag and donned his robe.

“
Get beneath the sheets Kat.” He called out over his shoulder as he headed to the door.

She was confused as to where he was going or why she needed to cover herself, but quickly obliged.

When he returned, he announced that they would be bringing the bath in, so for her to sit tight while they filled the tub. While she laid back and replayed their discussion in her head, he walked around the room and placed objects in their bags and retrieved his own outfit for traveling. Once the bath was filled and the door was shut, he locked it and jerked his head for her to attend to her bath. She was about to drop her sheet to comply but remembered she was naked and blushed from head to toe. Oddly enough, it was easier for her to accept that she was naked in his presence while blind folded than now.

“
Katherine” He growled out at her.

She sighed heavily and took the plunge. As she was crossing the room, she peeked over and noticed that he was staring at her with that hunger in his eyes that made her shiver.

“
Take out your traveling clothes first” he said to her in a dark velvety voice that was a bit on the husky side.

She picked out a dark blue velvet dress that had a squared front, showing just a modest hint of cleavage and long sleeves to keep her warm on her travels. He nodded his approval as she laid the dress and under garments on the bed and then hurried to the tub to hide herself within the sweet smell of the steaming water. Before she stepped in, Salvador announced that he was just going down the hall to make sure that Henry was ready when they were. Once he was gone, she quickly relieved herself in the chamber pot and then sunk into the water. She knew she should hurry, but as her muscles relaxed with the heat of the water and all her sore spots from their wild love making slowly started to ebb, she could do not but groan and sink her face into the water. When she came up for air, she heard the click of the door and knew he was back. She moved quickly and gave her hair and body a thorough scrub down, knowing that it may be days before she would have such a luxury again. She didn’t expect to be on the road the whole time, but she was realistic and knew that when they stopped for the night, it would be to sleep and not dally.

Salvador brought her a towel and waited for her to step out of the tub so he could wrap it around her. Again she felt shy under his scrutiny, but complied. He insisted that she stand there while he dried her off. When her body started to react to his ministrations, she quickly looked away from him and lowered her head in hopes to hide her blush. If he noticed it, he didn’t point it out. Giving her a light tap on her bum, he told her to get ready while he disrobed and in turn sank into the tub.

The Inn Keeper was kind enough to pack them a lunch and gave them a bottle of wine as a wedding gift, showing his appreciation for being included in the event. By the time they were seated in the carriage and were well on their way, he could tell that Kat was still exhausted and watched her through hooded eyes as she slowly dozed off. He tucked her into his side and rested her head against his shoulder as the carriage gently rocked them. The talk had gone better than planned and he had discovered that she was full of pleasant surprises. He had not expected an apology or an acceptance to what he had to say. He knew that he had just won a great battle, but did not delude himself into thinking the war was won.

Now that they were married, he was even more eager to get home and settle her in to her new life. He would introduce her to the brotherhood and their wives and do everything in his power to shelter her from the claws of the ton. It was inevitable that she would have to mingle with such characters at social events. Even prior to his marriage he had managed to avoid such events as much as possible and still found himself surrounded by those he trusted and cared for and never lacked for anything to do. If he was lucky, he would get her with child sooner rather than later, which would provide the perfect excuse to avoid such undesirable events. Just the thought of his child growing in Katherine’s belly made him grin. He did not look forward to the actual birthing of the child and felt a pang of fear at the thought of losing her in child birth, but he couldn’t help but look forward to greeting his children as they came into this world. They would be beautiful and provide the final touch to the perfect family that he was building for them.

He let Katherine sleep for a few hours and then woke her for lunch. They talked about their favourite authors, politics, plays and other light topics. He told her about his estate and the history behind it. He relieved her worries about having to partake with the ton. She told him about what life was like before her mother died and admitted to remembering the social event that he had first seen her, but regretfully did not remember him.

“
Don’t take offense Salvador. There were circumstances that prevented me from truly remembering anyone, to be honest.”

He remembered and felt that horrible pang of jealousy and possessiveness.

“
Would you be referring to your group of admirers?” he managed to say calmly.

She laughed and shook her head at the memory. Her laughter was like music to his ears. It was genuine and soft, unlike most of the laughter he had been exposed to that was served to feed his ego rather than display genuine pleasure for the situation. The women he had been exposed to were shallow and only acted as they thought he wanted them to. It disgusted him.

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Yes, that would be what I was referring to. My friends used to envy me the attention I would draw and could never understand why I felt far from flattered. I in turn could not understand how they could want a man to proclaim his love and adoration to a woman that he had just met. Would it have mattered to them if I was shallow and vain? They didn’t know me from Adam and yet they insisted that I was one of a kind. Even though I was young at the time, I was not so foolish to be blinded by their vanity.”

He was relieved to hear her say that, more so than she could ever imagine.

“
Yes, I could see that. At first I saw your pretty face and knew what kind of flower you would blossom into, but I also knew that you could have easily grown into a poisonous bud. In fact, there was a brief moment that I shrugged you off because I felt that that was more than likely the case with you. Luckily for me, I could not stop from glancing over to you from time to time and I started to see through that upcoming beauty of yours.”

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Really, how so?”

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When you thought no one was looking, I could see the displeasure of their attentions on your face. I did consider it to be a possible headache, however I had my hopes. You did nothing to encourage their flattery and I could see that you even tried to hide behind your friends, pushing them forward when a new admirer would approach. You were so lovely, even in your youth.”

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I did have a headache that night you know, only the stress from those advances only made it worse.”

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So I was right on both accounts. Being right doesn’t surprise me anymore” he put as much arrogance as he could into the statement, which only made her burst out laughing and almost spill her drink.

He chuckled along with her and found he could not tear his eyes away from her mouth. She had a beautiful smile and her teeth were perfectly white and straight. He would have wondered how she managed that with such lack of nutrition or hygienic products, but had a suspicion that she knew a bit about herbs and within that would find the solution.