“I am going to rip you a new one once I’m up and dressed,” Gayle muttered fiercely at this blatant intrusion into their personal space.
“You and what army?” Garrett scorned.
“Oh, I believe eliciting the assistance of your wife will be a sufficient deterrent,” she came back sweetly.
“In that case, I apologize,” Garrett muttered. Billie Pendragon was a force all her own.
Grigor was barely aware of the conversation going on between his wife and brother, his attention on the black-and-white view being channeled from a security camera onto Garrett’s laptop.
It showed a tall man with dark hair standing outside the main entrance of Pendragon Castle, currently in conversation with Carys.
A man Grigor instantly recognized.
At the same time as he knew how impossible that was.
To Grigor’s certain knowledge, the man their visitor resembled had been dead for fifteen hundred years.
Chapter Three
Maddox stared transfixed at the young woman who had finally succeeded in pushing open the huge wooden door in answer to his ring of the bellpull. Finally, because it had taken every effort of that slender five-foot-tall body to push open an eight-foot-tall and three-inch-thick wooden door obviously built to withstand centuries of sieges.
Whoever owned this castle really should invest in putting a smaller door inside the large, iron-studded medieval one. It would certainly save wear and tear on the castle staff.
Because Maddox was pretty sure from the yellow duster in her slender hand, and despite wearing fitted low-rider denims and a thick blue sweater that matched the color of her eyes, that this young woman was employed at the castle rather than a member of the Pendragon family.
She was possibly aged in her very early twenties, with dark curls tousled about a heart-shaped and vivacious face dominated by those deep blue eyes surrounded by thick dark lashes. Her nose was slightly retroussé, her lips as red as the berries on the Christmas holly adorning the snow-draped hedgerows Maddox had seen during his walk here.
Mine.
Mine, mine, mine!
Maddox winced as that intrusive voice kept repeating the mantra inside his head. Weeks of silence, and now he couldn’t shut the fucking thing up! First with the claim of home, and now this totally inappropriate claim of this young woman being his.
Maddox knew he had no right to even look with lust-filled eyes at this glowingly beautiful young woman, let alone feel the thickening and engorging of his cock inside his perfectly tailored trousers.
Mine.
No, Maddox shot back forcefully, absolutely not mine.
No doubt people would think he was insane if they knew he heard a voice, let alone answered it. But that voice could and did often catch him unawares, even if in the past, its advice had always been sound.
Until now.
Now it seemed to think it could lay claim to a woman Maddox had only just met. Admittedly, her scent—because it wasn’t a perfume; it was too sensual and earthy to be manufactured—now called to him as strongly as those two pennants had flying over the castle walls.
But there was no way this young, beautiful, and innocent-looking woman could be meant for him. He was too jaded and cynical, too old—
“You aren’t selling medication for erectile difficulties, are you?”
Maddox blinked, his gaze becoming intent on the young woman standing in the doorway. Her slightly husky voice had that musical lilt he had quickly grown to realize was the Welsh accent.
And yes, he might be old, but he wasn’t that old that he needed medication to achieve an erection.
She grimaced. “Only Grigor was a tad annoyed with me last week when I invited in a man it turned out was selling tablets to correct erectile difficulties.”
Maddox frowned at the thought of anyone being annoyed with this sunny-faced woman. He also wished she would stop repeating the phrase “erectile difficulties,” because his cock was having serious second thoughts about becoming fully engorged.
Although perhaps that was a good thing… “I’m not selling anything,” he assured.
That blue gaze eyed him up and down, no doubt taking in the expertly and expensively styled dark hair, long cashmere overcoat over a perfectly tailored suit, highly polished—and very wet—black leather shoes.
“Of course you aren’t,” she acknowledge with a bright smile. “Which of the Pendragon brothers are you here to see? Nathaniel and Chloe are out with their children this afternoon Christmas shopping, but should be back later. Deryk and Izzy and their daughter are visiting relatives in Russia. Aeran, Rhys, Cristina and their babies are in London, also visiting family. But they’re all expected home in time for Christmas,” she added happily.
“I believe I should like to see Grigor,” Maddox grated, wanting to see this man who dared to scold— “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name?” he prompted.
The knowing look she gave him said that was because she hadn’t told him her name. “I’m Carys Evans.” She reached out and shook his hand briefly, only to then stare down at it in puzzlement after their hands had touched.
Had she felt that same electrical charge as Maddox had the moment their skins touched? So much so, he had been reluctant to release her.
“I shouldn’t really have told you all that about the family.” Carys grimaced. “And Holly said I shouldn’t introduce myself to strangers who knock on the door either,” she added with a rueful wince. “But I’ve always thought that everyone is a stranger until you meet and say hello. And it’s really bad manners not to introduce yourself once you have met.”
Maddox couldn’t fault the logic of this outspoken and utterly charming young woman. “And Holly is…?”
“Married to Dylan, and they have the most adorable little girl.”
Maddox was starting to get confused. “How many Pendragon brothers are there?”
“Eight. Grigor. Nathaniel. Deryk. Bryn. Dylan. Garrett. Aeran and Rhys.” She smiled. “They’re all married and have children. Well…Aeran and Rhys aren’t married to Cristina, because the three of them are together, and it would be bigamy if they both married her. That’s a really interesting relationship, actually,” she continued. “They have three-month-old twin boys, and one looks exactly like Aeran and the other is just like Rhys.” She shrugged acceptance of the intriguing situation. “There were ten brothers originally, but Rufus and Gideon—”
“Are both dead,” a cold voice cut in harshly.
Maddox looked past Carys into the cavernous hallway behind her to where a dark-haired, dark-eyed man was striding purposefully toward them. He was easily six and a half feet tall, and Maddox had no doubt most men would find his imposing height and bearing intimidating. But at six feet seven inches tall himself, and wealthy beyond most men’s dreams, Maddox wasn’t easily intimidated.
Those dark eyes remained fixed on him as the man halted beside the door. “You may go, Carys,” he dismissed.
Carys would much rather remain and learn more about this very tall and dark-haired stranger standing on the doorstep, who, for some reason, seemed to have rattled the demeanor of the normally unshakeable Grigor.
She would also very much like to know why her skin was still tingling from the single brief touch of the visitor’s hand.
Carys was spending the winter acting as housekeeper to the Pendragon family, not having managed to find a job locally since leaving uni at the beginning of the summer. It wasn’t that easy to earn a living as an artist and art historian in North Wales. Something Carys should probably have thought about before spending three years attaining her degree in art history.
She had been excited about the prospect of this temporary job acting as housekeeper at the castle that overlooked the village where she was born and had lived all her life. Her mother had been housekeeper here for years, and during that time, Carys had asked her mother numerous questions about the ultra-private Pendragon family. Her mother had loyally refused to answer a single
one of those questions. Which had only deepened Carys’s curiosity.
But so far, working at the castle had been pretty boring. Well…apart from the salesman last week, she recalled with an inner chuckle. As Dylan and his wife, Holly, were both doctors, it had been doubly amusing that Dylan should have been the one who ended up talking to the salesman about those little blue pills so many people made jokes about nowadays.
The man currently standing on the doorstep of the castle didn’t look as if he had need of any such pill. In fact, he looked anything but boring. He was as tall as the Pendragon brothers, with short, perfectly styled dark hair and eyes that seemed to swirl different colors, depending on how the light caught them. At first glance, they were a pale green, but then the light would shift and they appeared to be a pale blue, then golden. No doubt most people would describe them as being hazel, but they looked so much more than that to Carys.
No matter what the color of his eyes, she found his American accent intriguing, and every time he so much as glanced at her with those beautiful eyes, she felt a quiver of awareness travel down the length of her spine before it centered as pulsing heat between her legs.
Which was a pretty curious reaction from a twenty-two-year-old virgin who had never been in a serious relationship.
Oh, she’d gone out on a few dates over the years. But not a single one of the men she had been out with had appealed to her for more than a date or a kiss or two. Her mother said she was too fussy, but Carys preferred to think of it as “waiting for Mr. Right.”
And yet she knew if this man were to invite her out, she would say yes without a single qualm.
Did that mean he was Mr. Right?
Doubtful, but for the first time, Carys believed she might be finding a man intriguing enough for him to be, as her uni friends had described it, Mr. Right Now.
Although the chances of this man inviting her out were pretty slim, she accepted.
He looked to be aged in his mid-thirties. His professionally styled hair and tailored clothing attested to his wealth and sophistication. There was also the fact that he was obviously American, and Carys had never stepped foot outside Wales. She had even preferred to attend a Welsh university. She seriously doubted a man like this would be interested in an unsophisticated twenty-two-year-old out-of-work ex-student.
“You may go, Carys,” Grigor repeated sharply.
“Um. Sure. Yes.” But for some reason, Carys was having trouble actually lifting her feet so she could turn and leave. Weird. But it really felt as if her feet had turned to lead weights that had somehow become attached to the flagstone floor of the entrance hall.
“I would prefer you stay exactly where you are, Carys.” Maddox gently used the mental compulsion he hoped would keep this intriguing young woman here.
He’d discovered he had a gift for being able to do that several years ago, and quite by accident. For years, he’d had no explanation as to why people would do exactly as he wished them to—not ask personal questions, secure a table for dinner in a busy restaurant, harmless stuff like that. Then one day, Maddox realized he was actually projecting those wishes from his mind to theirs, and that the person he was projecting them to would then change the subject from asking those personal questions, or a maître d’ would magically produce an empty table in a restaurant Maddox had previously been told was full.
Except Carys wasn’t responding the way those other people had.
The puzzled frown on her face seemed to say she was aware of something buzzing inside her head like a persistent bee, but had no idea what it was.
“Grigor, look at his eyes,” a blond-haired man murmured incredulously as he stepped up to the door.
“I’ve seen them.” The dark-haired man’s gaze narrowed to glittering dark slits.
“Compulsion doesn’t working on him either.”
“I know,” Grigor rasped.
What the fuck—!
The blond shook his head. “His hair is shorter, the clothes are modern, but otherwise, he looks exactly like him,” the blond murmured. “Rhys is going to freak out when he sees him.”
Maddox shot the man a scathing glance. “Exactly who am I supposed to look like?”
“Gideon.”
One of the dead brothers, according to Carys. “And why will Rhys freak out when he sees me?”
The blond shrugged. “He and Gideon were close, and he hasn’t been the same since we lost him. You look so much like him, you’re bound to bring back painful memories for Rhys.”
“I believe Carys said Rhys is away at the moment, so I doubt that situation is going to arise,” Maddox dismissed.
“Who are you?” the man he believed was Grigor demanded, “And what gives you the right to tell a member of our staff what to do?”
Maddox easily returned that glare, not in the least intimidated by the other man. “My name is Maddox Wilder.” He was well aware of the affect his name had on most people.
But not Grigor Pendragon, apparently. The other man remained as stony faced as ever.
“The owner of Wilder Enterprises?” the blond man prompted curiously.
Maddox flicked him a brief glance before returning his attention to the brother he believed to be the arrogant Grigor. This dark-haired man seemed to be the elected spokesperson for the Pendragon family. “I’m owner and CEO of Wilder Enterprises, yes.”
“We’ve owned a lot of very profitable shares in your company for several years,” the blond murmured appreciatively. “I imagined you being older,” he added speculatively.
Maddox gave an inclination of his head. “A lot of people make that mistake.”
“I’m not interested in what mistakes other people may or may not make where you’re concerned.” Grigor’s gaze swept over him from head to toe. “What are you doing here? You obviously didn’t intend coming here, because I can see at a glance you aren’t dressed for trekking through snow up to a remote castle on a Welsh mountain.”
Maddox’s smile was as lacking in humor as the other man’s. “I was in the area and became curious about your home. The innkeeper where I had lunch said your family has owned the castle for centuries.”
“Did he, indeed,” Grigor mused cautiously. “Most people tend not to…notice it.”
Maddox snorted. “I don’t see how they can miss noticing a big-ass castle on a mountain!”
“I assure you they do.” Grigor shrugged. “All except you.”
“I spotted it as the helicopter I was in flew overhead. Before it developed engine trouble and we had to land nearby.” Maddox was suddenly struck with the idea that whatever had drawn him so inextricably to this remote castle, and to his total awareness of Carys Evans, might also be responsible for his helicopter having developed engine trouble and the necessity for his pilot to carry out an emergency landing.
Maddox had lived long enough that he knew nothing in life could be dismissed as being purely coincidental. Everything had a purpose, even if that purpose wasn’t immediately apparent.
“Would you like to come inside?” Grigor Pendragon invited evenly.
Maddox eyed him through narrowed lids. “Why?”
The other man frowned his irritation. “Because I’m sure my other brothers who are at home would also like the opportunity to meet you. Why did you bother ringing the doorbell if it wasn’t with the thought of perhaps meeting a member of the Pendragon family?” he pressed as Maddox hesitated.
That was a question Maddox was still asking himself.
A question the voice, now silent after being so vocal earlier, obviously didn’t feel inclined to answer.
He shrugged. “I told you, I was delayed in the area while my helicopter is being repaired, and impulsively decided to take a look around the area while I was waiting.”
“You’re hardly dressed for it,” the other man reminded.
Maddox’s nostrils flared. “This castle is the only interesting thing around here.” He was becoming more than a little tired of answering the other man’s qu
estions. Especially when Maddox had no idea what he was doing here either. He certainly had no intention of telling Grigor Pendragon that something had drawn him to this castle. The situation was weird enough without that.
“What the hell is all the noise about?”
An auburn-haired, bronze-eyed man scowled darkly as he walked down the stone staircase toward them, a small baby cradled in his arms.
His face paled when he reached the bottom of the staircase and he saw Maddox standing in the doorway. “Gideon…?”
Chapter Four
“How do you like your tea, Mr. Wilder?” A voluptuous redhead, who had introduced herself as Holly Pendragon and married to Dylan, now prompted politely. She held a silver teapot poised over one of the half-dozen china teacups on the silver tray Carys had brought into the room a few minutes ago.
Another woman, slender, with long auburn hair, had entered the room a few seconds later and sat herself down on Grigor’s lap before introducing herself as his wife, Gayle, and also Holly’s sister.
“Lemon rather than milk, thank you.” Maddox sat on one of the leather couches in the sitting room of the castle. He had allowed himself to be persuaded into coming inside only as a way of being with Carys for a little longer.
Only to now be totally aware of the pale faces and blatant stares of the other four men in the room. The two women, not having been involved in the previous conversation, merely seemed puzzled by their husbands and brothers-in-laws’ behavior.
The dark-haired, dark-eyed brother had introduced himself to Maddox as they walked through the stone entrance hall, past the hugest decorated Christmas tree Maddox had ever seen. He was indeed Grigor, the eldest of the Pendragon brothers.
Once they were all comfortable in the sitting room festooned with holly bowers and another, smaller, decorated tree, Grigor had introduced the three brothers now present as Garrett, Dylan, and Bryn. Which meant of the five brothers he had been informed were at home, Nathaniel was the only brother still missing. He was Christmas shopping with his family, according to Carys.
Dragon Reunion (Dragon Hearts 8) Page 2
