“No, he just wanted to inspect me, to see if I was good enough. He wants me to marry Nick and have his children, or he will kill me. He wants you to choose my life or Kayla’s. One of us has to die he said.” I try to push him away from me. “But I already know what your choice will be, so just let me go.” He pulls me back to him.
“If you think I would hand you over to him to be killed or used like that, then you don’t know me at all.” I look up at him. “I may be scruffy, but I am not heartless, Short Stuff.” I crash back into his arms and breathe. “Don’t worry. I will take care of everything for you. Lie back down and rest, and I will go talk to Ryan about …”
“No, no, don’t leave me …” I beg, grasping his arm before he can get too far away.
“Okay. It’s okay. I won’t leave. I’m going to stay right here.” He climbs into the bed with me, wrapping the covers around me and holding me so close that I don’t ever want to move. He stays with me through the day, even as I fall asleep. When I wake up to him still holding me, I sigh deeper into his comforting arms. “You want to get a shower? The doctor is here. We can have him look you over?”
“You’re not going to leave, are you?” I look up into his eyes, and he seems shocked by my request. He grazes my cheek with a soft hand and shakes his head with a smile. I find my way to the bathroom as he starts a bath for me. He looks in the other direction as I step into the tub, but he doesn’t leave. He sits down beside the bath, looking the other way. When I cry out in pain from an open wound, he jerks his head in my direction and looks me over. When finished, he quickly looks away again.
“Sorry. I wasn’t trying …” he sighs, shaking his head. “Are you okay?”
“Yes, it just stung when I turned into the water.” I finish up and dry off, not knowing what to do next when Elijah wraps me up in one of his shirts.
He looks into my eyes as he helps button up the shirt on me. “Hey, this shirt fits you better than your normal clothes do,” he laughs, and I smile. “There it is, that beautiful smile that always shows up when you tease me.”
“I only tease you because you aggravate me.”
“I aggravate you, huh? I thought you didn’t like me? If I aggravate you, then that must mean you care what I think about you.” I quickly look away from him. He sighs with a laugh before suddenly picking me up into his arms. “No reason to worry about that, Short Stuff.” He kisses my cheek and whispers against my ear, “You drive me insane, which must mean I care about what you think, too.” I kiss his cheek and instantly feel a rush from my toes to my head, so I lay my head on his shoulder and smile, enjoying the sensation. The doctor looks me over and bandages up my open wounds while Elijah looks on.
Not long after the doctor finishes looking me over, Kayla rushes in with a panicked expression. “What happened?”
“Apparently, Savage isn’t too happy that she is helping us. So, after he inspected her quite thoroughly, he has decided that she is perfectly suited to be Nick’s new wife. He also wants us to choose you or her, one of you has to die or else we all die,” Elijah tells her. I look up to see her and Ryan, with shocked expressions, as they stand in the doorway. Kayla exchanges looks with Ryan before approaching me. I sit up and tense.
“I’m not going to hurt you. I am only going to show you where you can get some fresh clothes and help you find a room you can stay in. It looks like you are going to be staying with us for a while. I have to warn you though, these men are quite over protective. It gets rather annoying,” she says to me with a smile. I wrap my arms around her, and she whispers soft comforting words, as if I am her own child. I don’t remember much about my mother, but I would like to imagine that she would have done the same for me.
I make use of Kayla’s kindness and put on clothes that I would never usually wear. My hair is combed out, long and free, and when I look in the mirror, I see a woman that I have never seen before.
“Cat?” Elijah calls out to me from the other side of my door. “Cat, can I come in and talk to you?” I race to the door, forgetting myself until I open it and see the expression on his face. He looks me over, speechless. I look down at myself and realize he has never seen me dressed this way before.
“Kayla’s clothes,” I say.
“They fit you nicely,” he says, shaking his head. He tries to look away from me when Ryan walks by.
“Hey Cat, how are you feeling?’ Ryan asks, looking me over suddenly.
“What are you looking at?’ Elijah asks him “I was looking at her, to see if she is alright. What’s wrong with you?” Ryan asks.
Elijah slips off his shirt and wraps it around me. “If you going to talk to her, then talk to her, but don’t stare. It’s like you have never seen a woman before.”
“What? Have you seen a woman before, Eli?” Ryan laughs, walking away.
“Jackass. You shouldn’t be running around with so little on. Kayla only wears things like that in bed, not out in front of everyone.”
“Don’t you go to bed with her?” I ask him.
“I sleep next to her on top of the blankets; she sleeps under, completely covered up. All I do is hold her hand. She … she misses Nick and has trouble sleeping,” he says awkwardly.
“That’s nice of you. It must be difficult for you considering.”
“Kayla’s my best friend’s wife. She is what I thought was the ideal woman for me, and she is great but …” I look up at him with anxious anticipation. He shies away from me. “Well, you know, you always think you know what you want, and then you realize maybe something else might be better for you. Anyway, I just wanted to check on you and also apologize for the last night. I didn’t mean to take my frustrations out on you. I shouldn’t have said those things. I didn’t mean any of it.”
“You were angry at me. It’s understandable.”
“No, I wasn’t angry at you. I was angry at myself. I felt guilty for going after you, after Kayla I guess.”
“You have strong feelings for her. You can’t be expected to be so restrained, especially when I gave you such strong encouragement,” I say, and he looks my way.
“Yeah, confused feelings. Now I am not so sure that it is her as much as it is the life she has with Nicky, or had with him anyway. I have always wanted that. It shouldn’t matter, but when my mother left my Dad and I behind, all I ever wanted was for her to come back and for us to be a family again. That obviously isn’t going to happen, so I thought maybe I could create my own someday, but … I guess I am not marriage, or dad, material.”
“That’s not true. Those boys adore you. I see how you are with them, and Brayden even comes to you before he goes to Kayla sometimes. I think you would be an excellent father,” I say, drawing his smile my way. I stumble over my next words, have to choke back the rest, and look away from him.
“Can I ask you a personal question? It’s none of my business, but there is a feeling that I have, and I am curious. Feel free to smack me, but how is it you have never been with a man? Is it because of Amery? I see how you look at him and follow him around. He said you two have been friends since before his wife was killed. That’s a long time to be friends without ever seeing someone else. Have you been saving yourself for him?” I am stunned by his question. He has been paying more attention to me than I thought. Well, either that or I am not hiding anything from anyone. I used to think of Amery every second of every day. He treated me like I mattered, and he cared for me when no one else would. Of course I love him. I have loved him since I knew what love was. My inability to say anything to him seems to say a lot. Elijah sighs suddenly. “I thought so. Why did you let me get so far with you then?”
“I am not completely innocent, Eli. Maybe I thought it would make Amery jealous if he found out.”
“Oh yeah? Good for you. Go after what you want,” he says. He looks sad, and suddenly, I regret lying to him.
Before he walks away, I try to think of something else to say to keep him here. “But …I am supposed to be with Nick. What is he l
ike, do you know? I have a feeling it is going to be cold and heartless, and painful.”
“Don’t worry about any of that because it’s not going to happen. You’re not going to spend your first time with someone who doesn’t love you Cat, or with someone who doesn’t see you for the amazing, beautiful woman that you are. I promise I won’t let that happen to you. I will fight with everything I have to get Nicky back to Kayla and get you back to who you belong with, which I guess is Amery.”
“Or maybe!” I yell, stopping him again. “Maybe, it is like you said, sometimes you realize what you wanted is not really what you want after all.”
“Funny how that happens,” he says, leaning against the doorframe towards me.
I smile, embracing his shirt around me. When he smiles back, I can’t help myself. I jump into his arms and embrace him fully. He squeezes me a little too hard though, and I grimace from the wounds on my back. Elijah pulls away from me to remove my clothes and look at my back. “Savage do this to you?” I nod. “Yeah, I can see the outline of his cane.” He stiffens, looking away from me. “I don’t think I have hated anyone more in my life.” He takes hold of the back of my head and kisses my forehead. “Get some sleep, beautiful, and if you need a hand to hold through the night, let me know. I hear I am pretty good at that.” He walks away, looking back at me once before going into his own room with his usual cocky smile. He is so full of himself. He must think every woman will just fall all over themselves for that cocky smile, and I would bet they do.
Chapter 20
Catriona
I awake to hear Amery yelling. I force myself out of bed and run out to the balcony to see what is going on. “Savage is going to kill her! He is going to kill her if Nick denies her or if she denies him. Her fate is that she will marry him. She will be forced to bare his children, and she will do all this until she is no longer needed. He already has the High Council considering approving the relationship. I can’t believe none of you called me to tell me what happened! What if he came back here for her!?”
Elijah suddenly stands up in anger. “We would have told him to fuck off.”
“You are such a fool! She can’t run from him or deny him. He will have Ward hunt her down and cut off her head,” Amery says, swearing under his breath.
“So we hide her,” Elijah says.
“Sure, like that will work,” Amery laughs, dismissing Elijah. “The biggest worry right now is that Nick will deny her for her sister, Ria, who is determined to win him for herself. She will do everything she can to keep Cat from being chosen by him. I think the best thing is to have Cat marry me. I will bed her and get her pregnant, and that will force the Council to reject her relationship with Nick. Not to mention, she will have the protection of my army and realm.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Elijah yells at him. “Since when do we have to act like we are in the dark ages? You will bed her? Don’t you think you should let her decide what she wants?” Elijah mocks Amery with a lot of animated feelings and frustrations.
“It doesn’t matter what she wants. If we tell the Council that we are married and with child, that alone will force Savage to back off. If she doesn’t, she will be forced to face a competition with her sister for Nick, and …”
“And she shouldn’t have any problem winning him over compared to me. I am obviously not as sexy or beautiful as my sister, something that Nick obviously likes,” I say, glancing up at Amery as I walk down the stairs. “Amery, you know you don’t want to marry me. Why would you?”
“Well, that is just ridiculous,” Kayla says suddenly. “You’re absolutely gorgeous. You just hide it under all those baggy clothes and a mess of hair. Trust me. I know you well. Come with me and let me show you,” Kayla takes my hand and leads me into her room. “I have seen Ria, and she is nothing compared to you. And if I know my husband well, which I do, he likes the strength in a woman more so than her outer beauty.” She leans down as she sits me in front of the mirror, “And honey, you have both. You just choose not to see it. Now, I am going to help you find it.” She takes my hair down and brushes it out, cleans my face, and lifts my chin, forcing me to smile. I watch as she treats me with warm attention and a soft hand, something I would have never expected from her. I am supposed to take her husband that she has been fighting for, but she helps me anyway.
“Why are you helping me?” I ask her.
“Why not? None of this is your fault. Besides, you remind me of me.”
“I doubt that,” I sigh as I look her over.
She laughs at me as she goes to a drawer and pulls out a photo. She stares at it for a few seconds before sliding it in front of me. “That is me, not so long ago.”
Kayla is an absolute mess in the picture, plus heinous glasses to add to it all. “Why would you keep this? Are you proud of it?”
“It’s not my picture, it is Nick’s. He took the picture without me knowing. Our early relationship was a little combative, at least on my part, but somehow, that didn’t matter to Nick. He found me to be his one and only, even then. He managed to see straight through to my heart and through the mess that was me. There was nothing I could do to disguise myself from him. I don’t care what has happened, he is still the man that sees more than just outer beauty. Now, I am going to teach you how to show that beauty, but you have to be the one to believe it and let your heart shine through.” Kayla teaches me a few things and opens up my eyes. She shows me a woman that I never thought I could be. She puts me in one of her dresses and shows me how to wear heels. Heels are something I struggle with at first, but she gives me a few pointers and a slightly shorter heel before taking my hand and leading me out into the main room, where the men are all gathered and still arguing over what I should do about my life. One glance at Elijah, and I want to turn back, but Kayla tightens her grip on me and forces me to follow her down the stairs.
She steps away from me and shoves me in front of her. “Okay boys, let me introduce you to the real Catriona,” she says, and I look from her, to the floor, and up to the multiple wide eyes and dropped jaws in front of me. Kayla laughs. “Well, speak boys. Otherwise you idiots will never have a chance with this incredible beauty.”
Ryan smiles and takes a step forward, but Amery pushes him back with his arm and steps in front of him, which makes me smile, but when Elijah rushes around them both and holds his hand out to me, my knees nearly give out from underneath me. “Dance with me please … Short Stuff,” he says with an irresistible wink.
I smile, taking his hand. “Okay Scruffy.” He pulls me into his arms, and I lean in against his chest with an exhale that causes my whole body to feel like it is floating in air. I don’t even hear music. All I hear is the pounding of his heart, and I suddenly realize he is nervous too. I graze his chest and up the back of his neck to change his view back to me so I can smile into his eyes and cause that rapid thumping of his heart to skip a beat. I have never felt more powerful…
“Alright Loverboy, give someone else a chance with this stunning woman,” Amery says, pushing Elijah out of the way as he takes my hand and pulls me in close. “See, now this is how you dance,” Amery says, spinning me until I laugh. Every blush I make is not because of the whispers and tender touches from my long time best friend, but from the focused and admiring blue eyes of another. I continue to glance his way, giggling nervously whenever he gives me a wink. I dance with Ryan and give Kayla a wide-eyed smile over his shoulder. I never noticed how incredibly sexy he is until now. I guess have been preoccupied. Before I can take a break, little Nicky looks up at me with his hand out, and I take it proudly while Brayden laughs in the background.
“He finds the whole thing silly,” Nicky tells me.
I have never laughed or smiled so much. My mouth aches, but I don’t care. I wish I could live the whole night over again, especially the part where I get to dance with Elijah, or maybe just that part, over and over.
When the dancing and music ends and the night becomes too late for m
ost, I assume Amery will leave, but he refuses to leave me here by myself. No matter how much I try to tell him I will be fine, he still wants me to leave with him, which starts another fight between him and Elijah. Kayla steps in between them with a roll of her eyes.
“Stop. Amery, you are welcome to stay here as well, but Catriona is going nowhere. She should be allowed to make her own decisions, and I believe she wants to stay here. Don’t you?” she asks me as the whole room turns towards me. I nod, causing Amery to roll his eyes. “Okay, so it is settled then. Now, I think the next thing we need to plan to do is have Catriona go to Nick and introduce herself.”
“What?” Everyone seems to yell at her at once. She shakes her head with a sigh.
“To make her more valuable to Savage, she needs to make Nick interested, and she needs to show interest in him. Before you all start yelling again, I will teach her what to do and what not to do. If she continues to hide from him, she becomes easily dismissed and replaced. Savage can’t harm her or kill her so easily if his grandson finds her appealing.” Kayla looks my way with a powerful determination, and I begin to see why everyone is so scared of her.
I walk up to the door in Kayla’s clothes and shoes and my skin, trying to remember everything she told me to do. I am greeted with curiosity but am allowed inside. Savage steps out of his study to greet me.
“What are you doing here Catriona?” he says, looking me over with a slight smile and a lot of curiosity.
“I thought if I am to marry Nick … I mean Nicholas, that maybe I should take the time to get to know him and …” Kayla’s words vividly play in my head. Stand up straight and be unafraid. Be straight forward with what you want. Never ask. Tell them what you want. If you are denied, don’t fight it, accept the answer and walk out as if it doesn’t bother you. If your request is accepted, don’t look surprised but assured, knowing you were always going to get your way. “And allow him to get to know who I really am,” I say with a confident tone, a voice I have never heard from my lips before. Suddenly, I feel my head sit up higher on my shoulders and my eyes open wider.