The Devil's Good Intentions (5 page)

“
A towel, My Lord.” He winced and then quickly squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the explosion he was sure was about to happen.

Salvador’s jaw ticked as he envisioned his Katherine in all of her passionate fury, mesmerizing her would be suitors, donning nothing but a towel and enough bare skin to beckon the King himself on his hands and knees.

He closed his eyes and tried to temper the storm within him. Admitting to himself that had when he was in a fit of rage he didn’t care about anything but the topic of his anger, why would she be any different? It’s not as though he left her any clothing to wear so she could seek out her missing wardrobe. How could he possibly be angry at her? It was his own rash thinking that forced the situation and he should have known better. But instead, he quickly barked out orders to the nearest maid and stormed off to find her a new wardrobe, and a priest to seal their fate.

“
Has Katherine’s new wardrobe arrived yet?” Salvador managed to say; with out adding the roar and growl that he felt would follow.

“
I believe it has My Lord, I will have it delivered to her room immediately. Truth be told, I greatly feared disrupting her after she settled down and felt it best to wait for you.” Henry admitted.

Salvador threw two coins on the table and stood up.

“
After you have delivered her wardrobe to our quarters, you will wait down here for the priest to arrive. When he does, you will bring him up.” Salvador instructed before heading off to see what awaited him in his room.

He was almost looking forward to battling it out with his spitfire bride. He headed up the stairs taking two steps at a time, his anger had already vanished at the thought of seeing her again.

When he entered the room, he had expected to have an object flung at his head and winced as he stepped in to the darkened room. Instead, he found her sprawled across the bed, with a book on the pillow beside her head and his night shirt ridden up to reveal a tempting thigh. The sun had started to descend from the sky, leaving a slight glow in the room. The remainder of the sun rays gently kissed at her skin and seemed to wrap themselves around her in a warm cocoon to assure a peaceful sleep.

Salvador quietly took off his boots and strolled over to the bed to sit beside his sleeping beauty. She really was a prize to behold - his prize. Raking his eyes across her bare thigh, his cock stiffened in response. She lay there innocent, untouched and a blank canvass that beckoned for him to master. He had never taken an innocent before. Since he was a young boy, he had a vision of his wife being pure and untainted. As he grew into a man, he had deliberately taken women who were well experienced and who had no hint of innocence running through their blood. He craved innocence and yet denied it, wanting to save it for his marriage bed. He wanted a woman who he could thoroughly call his own, inside and out. He wanted a blank canvas. He would mould his woman into the perfect wife and would teach her how to please only him in bed. Katherine was the woman to fill that role and by God he would condition her to want only him.

His Mother had been unfaithful to his Father and had spread her legs for just about any man who would look her way. His Father turned a blind eye, which only disgusted Salvador as he grew old enough to know what was going on. His Father was weak minded and his Mother was a whore! At social parties they were the perfect Aristocratic couple of the ton, but behind closed doors they were nothing but a family of lies and deception. Salvador grew into a man who despised liars, had no tolerance for weakness amongst his male peers and mistrusted all women. He would marry Katherine this very night and then keep her on a short leash. Once he taught her pleasure, he would need to keep a close eye on her to assure that her pleasure remained his alone, and if she ever deceived him she would pay greatly. He was most certainly not his Father. He would never turn a blind eye to infidelity and God help her if she ever crossed that line.

Salvador traced his finger along the satin skin of her bare thigh. He wanted to lift his night shirt and see more of her skin, but given that the priest was due to arrive soon; he stuffed down his lust for her and decided to wait until she was truly his. Stifling the urge to lean over and taste her skin, if he wasn’t careful he would be exchanging his vows with a hard on of steel. In a few short hours she would be his, not only on paper but in the eyes of God. Then he would take her and claim her as no man had ever claimed her before. He was determined to have the family that he always wanted. She would bare his children and would be the wife that his Mother should have been to his Father. He would make her love and crave him and he would cherish her for it. But he knew he had a long way to go before that would happen and refused to compromise in the meantime. He was the man of the house, the head of his family and her protector and provider. He would not allow her to endanger herself just to spare her feelings like some other husbands that he knew. He would be strict with her when it mattered, but at the same time, he refused to crush her spirit. She would know when she crossed the line and he would discipline her when needed. It was his responsibility to see to her every need and assure her happiness - he looked forward to playing that role. He needed this so badly. He didn’t realize just how badly until he laid down last night with her cradled safely in his arms. But as badly as he needed her, he needed her to need him too.

“
Katherine” he whispered out to her while stroking his fingers through her hair.

“
Katherine honey, it’s time to wake up.” He cooed to her.

She gently stirred and then stretched out like the sexy kitten she was. She was driving him mad!

“
Kat, I need you to wake up and rest yourself behind the screen. We’re about to expect company.” He gently informed her.

Her eyes shot open and then narrowed into slits as she focused them on him. He internally chuckled to himself and mustered up all his willpower not to smirk, which he knew would only provoke her.

“
You!” she grumbled out as she rolled away from him and managed to maneuver herself off the bed to stand, her feet slightly apart and her hands on her hips. With the window behind her illuminating her shapely body, he felt himself harden once again and involuntarily gave out a groan.

In all her innocence, she mistook that groan as him accepting that he was indeed in trouble, rather than holding back the incredible lust that almost drove him to take her right there and then.

“
That’s right! I’m mad at you!” She spat out in a rage that didn’t quite match her tone, due to her grogginess. He supposed it was the thought that counts.

“
How dare you discard my entire wardrobe without my consent!”

At that, the knock on the door provided him with a safe response.

“
Speaking of, your new wardrobe has arrived.” He stated with only a bit of a smirk. “Now get behind the screen Katherine.”

She opened her mouth to no doubt argue with him, when her face suddenly paled and her body went ridged. She shut her mouth, scratched her head and scowled as she disappeared behind the screen, remembering her scene from that morning no doubt.

He walked over to the door and allowed the servants to bring in the few outfits that he had purchased for her. She could fuss all she wanted about not wanting to dress up for him, but in truth, he had personally hand picked every item and knew he would be pleasantly pleased with whatever she chose to wear.

“
You have thirty minutes to freshen up and be dressed before I come back.” He threw over his shoulder as he left the room.

He had decided hastily that morning, while she was trying to talk him out of marriage, that it was in his best interest to tie her to him as quickly as possible. He really had her to thank for that speech of hers. Did she really think that he was like most men? He knew a good thing when he had it and knew when to let go and when to hold on for dear life. He had also decided that he would only tell her at the last minute that they were to be married that night. He was already on the defensive and didn’t want to give her more time than he absolutely had to, lest she devise a way to complicate things. No, a surprise attack was in his best interest.

Again he was chuckling to himself as he headed back downstairs.

~

Katherine knew when to pick her battles; this was one she would clearly not win. She needed clothing, thanks to her future husband, so therefore it would not serve her best interests to take the shears to the exquisite pieces she had strewn across the bed. She had never owned any dress so fine than what was laid before her. Even her under garments were beautiful. She had spent the majority of her time over the past two years wearing nothing but old tattered petticoats, now her over-bearing husband to be wanted to wrap her in a world of silk and lace.

Knowing that the clock was ticking, she quickly wet a cloth and lathered it up with soap to give herself a quick wipe down. Choosing a misty pink ensemble that held delicate white roses woven into the material, the square bosom revealed too much cleavage for her taste but couldn’t be helped. Her under garments weren’t the traditional white cottons that she was accustomed to. He had chosen rustic pinks and yellows and gold silks. She wondered why he had not supplied her with a corset, but would not complain; truthfully she found them restricting and uncomfortable. Next she tried to pin up her hair, but failed miserably. She did not have enough pins to hold up her heavy chestnut mane so instead opted to brush and pin back her bangs, then allow her hair to remain down. She knew it was not proper for a lady to wear her hair in such a scandalous manner, but to hell with proprietary, the ton had shunned her when they caught their first whiff of financial set backs and for that she never wanted to associate with such vultures of society again. She was who she was and the rest be damned, including Lord Salvador.

She tried relaying her anger to him again when she had woken, but he was back to his frustratingly calm self. She could have sworn she read amusement cross his features when she tried to lay into him. He was infuriating! Was there even a point to argue with him? She almost expected him to pat her on her head and say something like “yes dear…that’s nice now run along and play” or “I’m sorry I upset you kitten, allow me to make it up to you by attempting to look guilty”.

She huffed at that last thought. Kitten, sweet Lord he knew how to press her buttons. Kittens are cute and cuddly, she however was not and resented that he thought of her as such whenever she was on the verge of wanting to scratch his eyes out.

What the worst part was, when she initially awoke from her slumber, she felt his velvety voice wrap around her, making her skin tingle in response. She had eventually reminded herself that the velvety voice belonged to Lord Salvador, the man who had stolen her freedom from her, and then quickly had to hide her response to his handsome features before lashing out on him. The devil was a handsome man that could seduce her just with his voice; she had to be careful with this one. Men had always been easy for her to side step and ignore, but Lord Salvador was a presence of power that demanded recognition. What hurt was that if she had to be married, she wanted there to be love in her marriage, but Lord Salvador was a difficult man. She could try to make it work and was sure that once she was over the initial shock and resentment, she would try because if she was anything, it would be practical, but she didn’t have high hopes. It also didn’t help that she was physically attracted to the man.

~

When Salvador entered the room, his breath left his lungs and perhaps he felt a little light headed at the sight before him. Katherine was just putting her brush down on the table when she had swung around to meet his surprised face. She was remarkable and he was quite sure he had never desired any woman as much as he had her at that very moment. The rustic pink of her dress set off a beautiful golden hue on her delicate skin. Her natural curves beckoned him to take a step forward, before halting himself at the warning gaze she set upon him.

“
Judging by your stunned silence, I assume I meet your approval” She bit out with an edge of sarcasm.

He quickly gathered his wits and threw her a lazy grin. She couldn’t know that even in her old tattered clothes she had surpassed his approval; the sight of her now was beyond words.

“
I suppose you will do” he bantered back to her with a twinkle in his eyes.

She sighed heavily and rolled her eyes before turning her back to him and making her way to the seating area.

He stalked her slowly while drinking in her beauty and then sat himself directly across from her.

“
Have you thought of any new lectures since my last visit with you, my dear?” He threw out as a conversation starter, knowing it was the perfect lead into what he knew he could not put off any longer.