The Devil's Good Intentions (4 page)

Katherine’s eyes widened as she read the sudden fury in his face and felt his fingers gripping at her throat, threatening to squeeze the life out of her.

“
You belong to me Katherine and I will not share you with another man. Furthermore, you will warm my bed whether you like it or not. And not only my bed Kat but wherever and whenever I choose and you will obey me.”

His nostrils were flaring and his face was contorted in pure rage. He looked like the devil himself, making her wish that she hadn’t tried to shake his calm. Now she knew that she was playing with fire and the devil wasn’t one to hold back and not let her get burned. A tear streamed down her face as he held her in place by the throat.

Without warning, his lips came crashing down onto hers. A small cry escaped from her throat as she felt her lips bruising. When she gasped for air, he slid his tongue into her mouth and increased the intensity of the kiss. Pulling back, he sucked her bottom lip into his mouth and nipped it before pulling away.

He loosened the grip around her neck slightly, but not enough so that she could pull away.

“
It takes a lot to provoke my temper, but when provoked it is quite wicked, wouldn’t you say?” He growled into her face.

She couldn’t even think to answer with words. She could only nod her head and look everywhere but at his face - his eyes.

“
Now you know one of my triggers. Let’s hope for your sake you do not repeat this trigger or find any of my others.”

With that, he released her neck and got off the bed.

Katherine remained frozen in place as though he was still holding her captive with his anger.

“
Henry will be here in 15 minutes with your breakfast. Get dressed.” He ordered her as he stormed out of the room and slammed the door behind him.

True to his word, Henry had arrived fifteen minutes later with a tray of food in his hands. Katherine was still in a state of shock and barely managed to clothe and brush her hair. At first she had simply sat up on the bed, dumbstruck and staring at the door that Salvador had stormed out of, while placing the tips of her fingers gently over her slightly bruised lips from his forced kiss. She would have never thought that she could bring out such anger in him by merely taunting a mistress and a lover in his face, how wrong she had been.

What kind of man was she to be married to? Although he appeared cold at times, he was for the most part calm in a teasingly manner. She could see the devil in him when he grew mischievous, but this morning she had witnessed that devil come to the surface and rear its ugly head. Katherine shivered and gently stroked her neck where she could still feel his fingers while eying the tray of food in front of her.

Henry strategically placed himself in the chair beside the door, nodding to the tray to encourage her to eat. Katherine was in all truth completely starved and knew he would not have to waste any more encouragement.

Once she finished everything on her plate, Henry ordered her a bath. He assured her that he would be just outside of her door “just in case she needed something”, and then left her to soak in the tub.

A tear slid down her cheek as she recalled the last time she had taken a hot bath, it was the night before her Father died. Since then, she had either bathed in the creek or sponge bathed herself in the cottage. Slowly seeping into the steaming water, she held her head under until she could not stand another second. Leaning her head back on the edge, she let the hot water soak into her muscles. This to her was pure luxury. No diamonds, emeralds, dresses or bobbles could have meant more to her than the simplicity of a hot bath. When the water started to cool, she quickly washed her hair and lathered her body with the lavender scented soap the Inn had provided to her, and then quickly rinsed off.

When she was dried off and had the towel wrapped around her, she walked back into the room to retrieve the dress that she had left on the chair, only to find it missing. She cursed as she tore apart the room looking for her clothing and then cursed some more when she realized that all of her dresses, including her petticoats and under garments was missing.

“
Henry!” She bellowed out with rage as she approached the door.

“
Yes My Lady?” he responded back reluctantly through the closed door.

Katherine ripped open the door and directed her wrath at the only person who she could see at the time.

“
Where are my clothes?” She snapped out as he stared at her barely concealed person.

“
Lady Katherine! You must return to your room!” He screeched out as he tried to herd her back behind a closed door.

“
First tell me where my clothes are!” She yelled at him, not caring that she was half nude with only a towel to conceal her, or that she was attracting a crowd.

Henry continued to try and push her back into the room, but she merely stomped her foot and stood her ground.

A maid burst through the small crowd of onlookers and headed right towards Katherine.

“
Excuse me My Lady, but it was I who removed your clothing while you bathed.” She confessed with a nervous tone.

“
And where are my clothes now?”

“
Lord Salvador requested that I remove your wardrobe and burn it. I beg your pardon, but he being your husband, I could hardly refuse.”

Katherine stood there stunned. The maid bowed her head and stared straight at the floor. Henry took advantage of the fact that Katherine was distracted and gave her one good shove into her room and then closed and locked the door.

When Katherine returned to her senses, she rushed to the door. When she realized it was locked, she punched it so hard that her knuckles burst into a throbbing flame, causing her to cry out and cradle it to her chest.

“
Damn you Salvador!” She cursed out as she walked over to his bag and donned his night shirt.

What purpose did it suit him to rid her of all her clothes? Did he think that would keep her from running? If she had a place to go that she was sure she could not be found, then she would run, baring nothing but a sheet if she had to! And how did he expect her to leave the room? She wasn’t stupid enough to believe that he would allow her to run around half dressed in his shirts. Even now she knew he wouldn’t take kindly to her scandalous behaviour in the hallway, screeching at the top of her lungs while wearing nothing but a towel. She didn’t care, he brought that on himself. He most likely figured out that her clothing no longer fit her and were not only out of fashion but falling apart at the seams. She had two outfits that she wore to the balls but opted to leave those behind at the cabin because they would have taken up too much space in her bag. She had always looked at practicality and was not much for material possessions. She was certain that he would return with something for her to wear, but in the meantime, it did not make it any easier. He could have simply stated that he would bring her more appropriate attire to wear and avoided that whole hallway scene. Mind you, she knew she would have been stubborn and refuse his offerings, he probably knew that too. She had been with this man for close to 24 hours and in that time she had figured out that he certainly was no push over and did whatever he wanted, regardless if it was her or himself that his actions were affecting. This is what she had been afraid of when she thought about marriage, losing herself. Now she was tied to an over baring arrogant ass who would settle for nothing less than obedience.

“
Great” She huffed out to the empty room.

For the remainder of the day, Henry opted to remain stationed outside of her door, which suited Katherine just fine. She was used to being alone and was uncomfortable having people around her. Even the noises from the streets and below in the tavern drove her to distraction. She had spent 2 years sheltered inside a small cabin by herself, with only her voice and the soft sounds of the forest to keep her company. The few times she would venture out to a ball to gather food, she would get in and get out as quickly as she could. The few times she stuck around to humour an admirer, she would quickly leave after that. She had tried to open the window for some fresh air, but the window was stuck and she quickly gave up. In the end, she pulled a book from her sack and read until her heavy eyelids could no longer stay open.

~

When Salvador returned to the Inn, he found Henry sitting outside of his door. After reassuring himself that the door was locked, he brought Henry down to the tavern for a drink and to get an update on his bride to be. The last time he had seen Katherine it was not on the best of terms. Just hearing her mention the idea of her taking on a lover had set his blood boiling. He didn’t regret his rough treatment of her and was actually pretty proud of himself for remaining as calm as he had. What he really wanted to do was throw things around the room, throw her over his knee or possibly even back hand her for even thinking about touching another man. Even now as he reflected on their previous argument, he felt his blood starting to boil. He had never in his life felt possessive or jealous over any of the women he had slept with. Women were meant to please men, whether it was him or another he didn’t care. Something about Katherine brought out the beast in him. She was an innocent, not a whore and she was his. No man had ever touched her before and other than he alone, no man would ever touch her from this day forward.

Once he had cooled down a bit, he had instructed a maid to quietly rid Katherine of her wardrobe while she was bathing, with the full intentions of bringing back a couple of outfits to last her till they got home. He had also met with the town priest and got him to agree to meet him at the Inn later that evening to perform their wedding vows and then to join them for dinner afterwards.

They would leave for Oxford first thing in the morning and would only have to stop for shelter two, maybe three times at the most. By the end of the week they would be home and he couldn’t wait.

“
Two pints please” he called out to his server as she rushed by, trying to fill out the orders of the table beside them.

“
Right away love” She responded as she disappeared into the kitchen.

“
So how was my kitten this morning?” Salvador asked lazily, while inside he felt twisted up at how she may have reacted to the removal of her wardrobe.

“
Funny you should ask” Henry murmured as he took the pint of beer from the tavern wench and gulped down as much as he could at once.

Salvador gave him a speculative look but allowed him to take his time.

Henry cleared his throat and wrung his hands in his lap.

“
You see My Lord, Lady Katherine did not take too kindly to losing her wardrobe and may have over-reacted, a slight”

At that point he nervously looked away and took another long drag of his beer.

“
Go on” Salvador prompted, knowing this could not be leading to anything good.

“
I may have made the mistake of not locking the door when mayhap I should have. You see, I greatly under estimated the...uh...temper, that is” Henry stuttered for the correct wording.

“
Out with it Henry” Salvador stated coolly while inside his blood was heating up.

“
I never would have suspected that she would burst out into the hallway like a raging storm! She was magnificent as she thundered her temper upon us and demanded to know where her clothing had gotten to. She may have drawn a wee tad of attention to herself, but that maid you had bestowed upon quickly clarified the situation for us and temporarily sheltered us from her anger.”

If a storm hadn’t been building inside of Salvador, he probably would have smiled at the almost poetic explanation his steward had referred to as Katherine’s temper. But Salvador had visions that stirred up his own raging storm and was trying to keep a cool appearance.

“
And what pray tell was my Katherine robed in as she showered her storm unto her fellow men?” He ground out between clenched teeth.

“
The whole thing lasted no more than three minutes at the most My Lord, I assure you! Once the maid spoke up, I was able to get Lady Katherine back into your room behind a locked door and I assure you, she has remained there for the remainder of the day!”

Henry downed the remainder of his beer and hoped to god Salvador didn’t note the blush that must be clearly marked on his cheeks.

“
Henry” Salvador stated his name with impatience.

Henry closed his eyes and cursed to the Gods who made him the messenger.