Stolen and Seduced - Christine Pope Page 0,284

to Adriana’s face. Shaking her head, she turned away, not bothering to hide a smile.

Only when the door to the bedroom suite was locked behind them did Adriana speak. “I guess if one maid knows what is in store for me, the entire castle will have the news soon.”

Kaljeet leaned against the mantelpiece. “It’s true. There are few secrets in my home. But everyone will already know that you gave your escorts the slip today and came home late. If I failed to punish you, they might think I was getting soft. I can’t have that. As someone used to command, I’m sure you understand.”

Adriana stood in the center of the room. Unsure what to do with her hands, she clasped them behind her back. “Appearances are important.,” she said. “Now the maid has seen us come here, you with switches in your hand, she will report that you have carried out the punishment regardless. The story that people believe is the important thing. Not what actually happens.”

Kaljeet pushed away from the fireplace and reached for her hands, bringing them from behind her back to his lips. “I’ve been waiting for you for the longest time.” He kissed each palm.

“What? I was only half an hour late at the most.” She caught the woodsy smell of him and closed her eyes. The fragrance took her to the gully again, reminding her of that moment of joy.

“I’m not talking about today.” He lifted her braid off her back, pulled off the band, and fanned her hair around her shoulders.

His touch was gentle, seductive even. Her pussy clenched and her nipples strained against the silk of her tunic. He couldn’t intend to carry out the threatened punishment.

“I mean I’ve been waiting for someone like you since I lost Maisy.”

So that was the woman’s name. Adriana had sensed the presence of someone else between them.

“Tell me about her,” she said, her voice low. Maybe he’d forget about the switches lying on the bed.

“She was a Devmaerean beauty, a warrior princess. Strong. Stubborn. The right mate for a man like me.”

A look of great sadness flickered across his face. “She died stupidly.” Anger replaced hurt in his voice. “She fell, racing up the stairs one night. Slipped on a loose tile. I was at her side in a second, but she said she was fine, just winded from her fall.”

His eyes darkened. “For the next few days, she was tired, short of breath. Then she woke me in the middle of the night, gasping for air.” He sighed and Adriana wanted to hold him and ease the burden of his grief.

“By the time the healer arrived she was dead.”

Adriana raised an eyebrow, not comprehending.

“She’d broken a rib and it had punctured her lung. While she was struggling to breathe all those days, she was slowly suffocating.” He shook his head in frustration. “If she’d seen a healer and rested like I insisted, well, who knows?”

He rubbed his forehead as though trying to erase the hurt. “It doesn’t matter. Things happen for a reason and maybe the reason Maisy left me is that I was meant to wait for you.”

So that was why he’d been so protective of her all week, Adriana thought. He was trying to guard her from unseen injuries.

There was a kindness in his eyes now. She brushed his cheek with her fingers. “I’m so sorry you lost her.”

“Thank you.” His tone was businesslike again. “One thing I learned from that short union is to always be in charge of my mate. To make sure she does what she’s told. So today you are going to get your first taste of what happens when my mate disobeys me.”

“Will it always be this way if I am yours?” She moved closer and nested her hands behind his neck. Suddenly she was attracted to him more than ever, not by his imperious manner, but by the shadow of vulnerability that he’d allowed her to see. Here was a man who loved deeply when he loved.

“Yes, it will.”

“And I have no say in it?” she teased, rocking her hips against his.

“Not now. When you came back to me instead of disappearing into the wilderness, you gave me your answer. I’ve been reading your ship’s databanks. It seems you are a skilled outdoorswoman.”

“The best,” she said.

“Then you accept me as your leader and mate.” A statement of fact.

“I do,” she said, astonished that her own admission came so easily.

Looking at the tall, handsome man who’d cared