Kayden however, was no fool. He frowned at Jason’s sneaky offer and seeing that Cassie was unaware of his mate’s undertone, intervened. ‘She’s been pretty banged up, Jase. Her bruises are getting better; it’s the head wound that’s worrying me. Until she stops getting dizzy and passing out on me she goes nowhere.’
‘What bruising?’
Kayden motioned for Cassie to show him, noting her timid look. ‘It’s okay, Cassie. Believe me; Jason is very familiar with injuries. I want him to look at your head too, just to make sure you’re healing alright. My forte is horses. A second opinion will ease my mind.’
Jason checked her head and she felt him running his fingers lightly over the area and along the cut that was healing but still tender to his touch. ‘The cuts healed but there’s still is a lot of swelling. Maybe she should still be lying down.’
Cassie shook her head slowly. ‘No way, I’ve spent my whole life in the bedroom. Kayden said if I take it easy I can move around, just so long as I lay down if I start feeling tired. He’s been taking really good care of me.’ She smiled at Kayden, who winked back at her.
‘Okay, but if you want my advice I’d recommend total bed rest. But that is if I was here looking after you.’ He chuckled and Kayden shook his head, keeping his eyes on Jason with a look that made him quit mucking around and finish the examination. He checked the bruising on her thighs and freaked out. ‘You should have told me we hit her, K. Shit! You poor little thing,’ he said, sitting back down. ‘You’re damned well black and blue. Christ, I must have really hurt you when I jumped on you the other night. No wonder you screamed.’
Kayden raked his hand roughly through his hair. ‘It wasn’t just from that, idiot. Our princess had never been … um … kissed either. Sorry, Cassie but he needs to know. Didn’t you feel her?’ All of a sudden he sounded grumpy.
Jason looked at Cassie with regret, before turning to Kayden with a puckered brow. ‘In my defence I was drunk and come to think of it, yes she did freak out when I French kissed her. I thought she was having me on. Anyway, I have already apologised to her. Stop trying to make me feel worse.’ He looked back at Cassie. ‘You forgive me, hey princess?’ He slid off his chair and knelt on the floor, holding her hand between his in a begging gesture.
Cassie touched his face with her free hand and smiled sweetly. ‘Jase, it’s okay, let’s just put it in the past. I looked a mess when you found me. It’s perfectly understandable you would have considered me to be of a feral nature. Please believe me when I say many of my bruises are from my trip here and the rough handling. I think they forgot to put, “Handle with care” on the outside of the crate and instead it said, “We will pay you double to throw this one around”.’ She giggled, trying to lighten the moment and not wanting the subject to ruin a perfectly enjoyable night.
Jason’s eyes softened. ‘We’ve been so cruel to you, thinking you were just a plant sent in to spy on our group. This has happened to us a few times before and I’m afraid you’ve borne the brunt of other liars who came before you. I hope you can forgive us,’ he said sincerely.
‘Group?’ Cassie asked, confused.
Kayden cut in. ‘Later. Let’s just enjoy a truce and talk about details another day.’
Jason kissed the back of her hand, treating her like a true lady and showing her how he felt about her now. It was a nice gesture and Cassie giggled at his smooth charm. Glancing back at Kayden, she could see in his eyes that he wasn’t completely sure about trusting her yet.
Entertaining Companions
Cassie had been on Kayden’s farm for a couple of months. All of her bruising had gone and she felt happier than she had ever thought possible. She was even learning how to cook although Kayden only let her do the easy parts, like stirring the pots and helping him roll out the dough for bread rolls and so forth. Mostly she sat at the bench and her job was to chat and keep him amused while he prepared the meals. Kayden still grumbled about having to do everything for her even though Cassie knew he actually enjoyed taking care of her more than he let on. When he took over a chore that she could barely get her head around or when she made a fuss of his male ease at doing it, his face would break out into the cutest smile.
Cleaning the house was the only chore he left her to learn on her own. She was fascinated that even after so many months there was still one monster that hid in the laundry and refused to work with her. The dreaded washing machine! As she told Kayden, it seemed to have a vendetta against her. He just laughed when she told him that it had big teeth that snarled at her and kept eating the washing.