Her eyes fluttered and opened slightly, revealing a teasing glimpse of her deep blue orbs. In the candlelight, he was amazed at how startlingly blue they were, deeper than the richest sapphire he had ever seen. He thought he heard her sigh before she closed them again. The flickering light from the candelabra gave her cheeks a healthy glow, the vibrancy of life. Where before her skin had been so cold and pale, it seemed his touch had roused the vigor inside her. He was startled at the transformation, startled and somewhat delighted. A spark lit in his chest, warming his entire being.
I must be so tired I am hallucinating, he thought. No woman could possibly be that beautiful. In the light of day, her beauty, her vibrancy, will fade, and she will be just like the rest of the women. A small, weak thing that needs protection. My protection.
Exhaustion finally claimed him, and he stumbled back into a chair near the wall. He fell asleep quickly, a twisted resolve settling over his dark features.
Chapter Five
A warmth touched her cheeks, and Jayce instinctively turned her face toward it. But when a painfully bright light lit her closed lids, she groaned and turned away, drawing the blanket over her head.
A clucking noise greeted her movement. “You can’t lounge around in bed all day, m’lady,” a male voice said.
At first she thought it was her father, but she knew this couldn’t be. Her father would let her sleep. Then, she remembered where she was.
And who she was.
Instantly, Jayce jerked the sheets from her head and sat up, prepared to meet her husband’s disapproving gaze. Instead, her eyes came to rest on a thin man bent over near the fallen table, carefully collecting the broken glass.
She flung the blankets from her and swung her legs out of the bed. What would Reese think of her if she slept all day? She was lady of the castle now, and needed to rise with the sun. She sighed slightly. She was used to staying up late and sleeping late. She would have to remedy that.
She froze as her feet touched the floor. How had she gotten into bed? She remembered the storm and trembled slightly. She also recalled a gentle touch, someone tucking her into bed.
The man cleared his throat and she turned to him. “My name is James, m’lady,” he introduced. “I was instructed to aid you.”
“By Lord Reese?”
“No,” James answered standing before her. “By Lady Nicole.”
*****
“I can’t believe you left her there. Alone!”
Reese watched Nicole pace the room. Her blond hair shimmered hotly in the sun’s rays with each angry turn. Her brows angled down over sparkling blue eyes; her tiny fists clenched with rage. His sister had finally been returned safely, as Cullen had promised, and Reese felt relief despite her fury at his treatment of the girl he had wed.
“No one to help her. No one to tend her needs!” Nicole whirled, pinning Reese with an angry glare. “Do you want her to think her husband is a brute?!”
Reese’s eyes narrowed slightly. “I don’t care what she thinks of me.”
Nicole waved a small, impatient hand at him, as if she were waving away an annoying gnat. “You are a brute. How can you treat her like that?”
“How can you ask me that?” Reese roared, straightening to his intimidating height. “You were the one kidnapped! You were the reason I was forced to wed the girl! If it wasn’t for you---!”
“Don’t start with me, Reese Harrington,” Nicole retorted in a motherly tone, marching up to him. She was a full head shorter than he was, but managed to match him glare for glare. “I’m sure it pricked your manly pride when I was spirited away from beneath your nose.”
Reese ground his teeth. “And now I have another helpless female to watch and to protect!”
“Not just another female, Reese. Your wife!” Nicole jabbed her finger into Reese’s chest.
“I didn’t ask her to be my wife! I don’t want her to be my wife! For all I know she---”
The sound of someone clearing his throat loudly made them turn to the arched entranceway to the room. James stood slightly behind Jayce, his disinterested gaze focused somewhere in the middle of the room.
Nicole dropped her mouth slightly, her cheeks flaming.
Reese stood with his fists clenched, staring at Jayce’s large blue eyes. He saw the hurt flash in those eyes for a moment and thought that surely she was going to burst into tears, forcing him to comfort her.
But for a long moment, Jayce didn’t move, meeting his gaze with a pained resolve. Then, with all the dignity of a queen, she slowly turned and left the room.
Reese and Nicole stood silently in the room, staring after the woman. Reese knew he should go after her, and took a step to do just that, then stopped suddenly. What would he do when he caught up to her? Tell her his words were the truth?