The belt dropped from his fingers to fall to the floor.
Jayce’s heart hammered her chest; she couldn’t get enough air. A flash of light caught her eye and her gaze locked on his right hand. She saw what she hadn’t seen before. A small dagger glimmered in the shaft of sunlight. Reese approached her and she backed away quickly. What was he doing? Was he going to kill her? She held her hands out before her as if to ward him off, but she knew the thought of fighting him was absurd. If he wanted her dead, who was there to offer any kind of resistance? She was no match against his strength.
The backs of her knees slammed into the bed frame, and she fell over onto the mattress. She quickly propped herself on her elbows, waiting for him to come forward and take what was now rightfully his. For a moment, she saw nothing but a wall of dark shadows before her. Her mouth was dry; her hands were moist and slick. Then, he emerged from the darkness like a ghost, stepping into the sunlight, the black shadows sliding from his shoulders as if he were shedding a dark cloak. For a moment, she thought she saw satisfaction in his blue eyes, but then grim resolve filled his face. He stretched his left arm out over her, his hand in a fist. Jayce cringed back, pushing herself into the mattress. Was he going to strike her?
He held the dagger out over her.
Or was he really going to kill her? A scream welled up in her throat.
Reese pushed the sleeve of his tunic up over his elbow, baring his strong forearm. Then, he pressed the tip of the blade to his skin, slicing a small line down his arm.
Jayce half rose, crying out, “Don’t!” But the blood trickled over his arm and dripped down onto the sheets beside her face. She lifted her astonished gaze from the dark red blood to meet his steely blue eyes. For a long moment, they locked gazes, hers filled with questions, his resolve.
He set the dagger down on a table beside the bed.
Jayce rose off the bed, grabbing a towel from the same table, and turned, reaching out to his arm. Reese snatched the towel free from her grip as if her touch would be unbearable. He hurled the towel into the dark shadows of the far corner.
Shocked and confused, Jayce watched Reese roll his sleeve down to cover his cut. He stepped past her to the bed and ripped the sheets from the mattress. He was angry with her for something. But what had she done? They hadn’t exchanged two words! Without a second look at her, he marched to the door, yanking it open.
Her father stood in the open doorway, turning surprised eyes to Reese. Reese shoved the stained sheets into her father’s arms.
Jayce felt the heat suffuse her cheeks and for a moment had to look away. Her father was making sure the marriage had been consummated. She should say something. She should tell her father the truth. She lifted her eyes in time to see the look of surprise fade from her father’s blue eyes to be replaced by suspicion. His jaw tightened, and he snapped his eyes to lock with his daughter’s. “Jayce?” her father queried.
She should tell him Reese chose to shed his own blood instead of her virgin’s blood. She should tell her father the truth. But then she felt Reese’s hot stare on her. The impact of his gaze sent shivers down the length of her body. He was her husband. Her loyalty was to him now. “Yes, Father,” she lied.
Her father’s fist seemed to relax in the sheet, and he whirled, taking it with him. “It is done,” he proclaimed, and marched down the hall.
Jayce watched him go, sadness creeping into her spirit, putting a cloud of melancholy over what should have been the most joyous day of her life. Her father had left her in a strange castle. He had abandoned her to a man she didn’t know. And he hadn’t even said good-bye.
Jayce tried to lift her chin as she turned her back on her father, but her head felt heavy and it was a struggle just to get her chin away from her neck. She knew she had to be strong to face her future. She wasn’t a child anymore. She had been raised to be lady of a castle, to marry a man of her father’s choosing. She was prepared for this.
As she turned from her previous life to face her new life, she locked eyes with a set of angry blue ones. What she wasn’t prepared for was her husband.
He seized her wrist, hauling her back into the bedroom, and slammed the door shut.
Chapter Two
Reese faced Jayce’s startled expression with a heart of stone. It wasn’t that she was ugly. He had seen far, far less pleasant faces to gaze upon. It wasn’t her tiny body. Her shape was indeed quite curvy and could very well make the stoutest of men desire to protect and shelter her.
It was that she was a liar. He shook her slender wrist. His anger was fierce, his emotion lashing the air around them like a storm wind. “Why did you lie to your father?” he demanded. He squeezed her wrist tightly as he gazed into her innocent blue eyes. Innocent. He scowled at the thought. She was anything but. No innocent could lie that easily, could make her false expressions so believable.