The Duke's Reluctant Bride

by Lauren Royal

  But this couldn’t be what it appeared.

  Apparently the script called for the farce to go on a little longer. But were she a gambler, she’d wager that before night fell, her brothers would be sending her up to her old bedchamber a husbandless maiden still, congratulating themselves on the success of their practical joke.

  “Aren’t you going to cut the cake, Kendra?”

  Startled, she looked to Amy. Her sister-in-law was grinning widely and holding out a knife. Dominating the center of the table, the bride cake was double frosted, sugar over almond icing. Despite her churning stomach, Kendra’s mouth watered; she loved sweets.

  Very well, then. If her brothers wished to continue the charade, she’d play her part.

  Rising and taking the knife, she reached to cut the confection and felt Trick’s hand envelop hers. She turned her head, raising astonished eyes to find him leaning over her, bracing himself with one hand on the table. “We’ve yet to feast.” He nodded toward the servants still carrying in platters.

  “Ah, Trick,” Jason said, a trace of laughter in his voice. “It’s obvious you have much to learn about your new wife. She always eats dessert first.”

  Colin nodded. “And she’s taught Amy her unfortunate habit.”

  “Cake!” baby Jewel crowed gleefully, banging her spoon on the table.

  “Second word she learned,” Colin informed them dryly. “Right after Mama and before Papa.”

  “We’ve other unfortunate habits as well,” Ford chimed in, clapping Trick on the back. “Perhaps you moved too quickly in aligning yourself with the Chases, my friend.”

  Kendra felt Trick’s hand tighten on hers. Beneath his tousled hair, his eyes narrowed. “I moved too quickly?”

  She stiffened at his words. He seemed to be taking this seriously. Could it be he wasn’t in on the joke? Or…

  Could it be this was no joke?

  Suddenly unsure, she looked around the table at her brothers’ faces. Their expressions told her nothing.

  When she saw Colin with Amy and Jewel, and Jason together with Cait, she couldn’t help but wish to have a family of her own someday, like those her brothers were creating. A whole family, like the one she’d been cheated of growing up displaced and parentless during the Civil War and Commonwealth years. And she knew Colin and Jason wanted no less for her.

  But finding love with any of the suitors they had presented?

  That was about as likely as seeing Zeus descend from the sky.

  This was her life they were toying with. She bit the inside of her cheek. Caithren caught her troubled gaze and returned it with heart-wrenching sympathy.

  Trick moved again to pull back the knife, but Kendra held steady. When he grinned— approvingly, she thought—her eyes went to the tiny chip in his front tooth. For the hundredth time in the past hour she remembered what it had felt like to kiss him. Like being outside her own body…and yet exquisitely aware of every place it came into contact with Trick’s. His hands warm on her waist, hers resting on his wide shoulders, her elbows pressing into his chest as she moved closer. And of course, the gentle pressure of his lips on hers, not hot like a volcano, but sweet like a double-frosted cake—

  She stopped breathing, shocked at her thoughts.

  Did she want this to not be a joke?

  Catching her staring, Trick slipped her a wink. “Come, we’ll cut it together, leannan.”

  He was an enigma, but at least he was a nice one. Kendra drew a calming breath as they sliced the cake, his hand guiding hers. She placed a piece on Amy’s plate, then one on her own.

  All the while, Trick remained standing beside her. She could feel his gaze, feel him suddenly shifting, but before she had time to react, he’d reached and plucked the veil from her head.

  “What!” She turned and snatched it from his hands.

  “I wanted to see your…hair,” he finished lamely, blinking at her in seeming bemusement. “What on earth did you do to it?”

  “Do to it?”

  “The…” He waved a finger, drawing spirals in the air. “The…”

  “Curls?” Kendra supplied helpfully. She couldn’t help but laugh at his expression. “Jane worked on it for more than an hour. Do you like it?”

  “No,” he said flatly. “I liked it before.”

  “Oh.” She felt a blush heat her face. Perhaps he wasn’t so nice after all. “After this, I’ll take it down.”

  He stepped close and spoke in a low tone that made her spine tingle. “After this, I’ll take it down.”

  The wispy lace fluttered from her fingers to the soft blue Oriental carpet. Feeling more confused by the moment, she plopped back onto her chair.

  “Mmm…porcupine,” Trick said, reseating himself with a satisfied smile. “At least I’ve married into a family that appreciates good food.”

  The “porcupine” was actually a stuffed breast of veal, larded all over and studded with small strips of ham, bacon, and pickled cucumber. Trick added a healthy portion to his already-loaded plate.

  “Leave room—we’ve surprise as well,” Colin warned. Spearing a bite of cake, Kendra looked up as a servant set the dish called surprise on the table. A stuffed calf’s head served up in its original shape, it had bunches of myrtle stuck into its eyes and looked very surprised indeed.

  The steam rose off it in tantalizing swirls…and it bellowed.

  Kendra screamed. A piece of cake went flying off Amy’s fork, splattering on one of the diamond-paned leaded windows. Ford jumped up, his lattice-backed chair clunking to the floor behind him. Trick’s and Jason’s mouths dropped open.

  When the calf bellowed again, Kendra rushed from her chair to take shelter in the door frame with Cait, both poised for flight. Stopping only to snatch up baby Jewel, Amy joined them. The ladies all clung together, staring. Squished between their bodies, Jewel let out a wail.

  The calf’s head bellowed once more…

  No, it croaked.

  With a half-amused, half-disgusted groan, Trick dropped his fork, reached to pry the calf’s mouth open wider, and lifted its heavy pink tongue. A toad hopped out and looked around, blinking its bulbous eyes before it leapt off the table and headed toward the door.

  The ladies broke apart to let it pass between them. Amongst gales of laughter from the gentlemen, Kendra thwacked Colin on the head as she returned to her seat. “For goodness’ sake! Have you no sense of propriety?”

  “A question of propriety from your lips, little sister?” Colin rubbed his head good-naturedly. “Was it not just yesterday we found you—”

  “Hush, Colin.” Amy dumped their sobbing daughter on her husband’s lap. “Here. You made her cry, she’s yours.” She seated herself and raised her fork, but not before sending him a tolerant smile.

  Jewel quieted when Colin bounced her on his knee. “Well, you’ve seen us at our worst now,” he said to Trick around a mouthful of dressed artichoke bottoms. “Welcome to the family.”

  Trick shrugged noncommittally. Watching him scan the group around the table, Kendra tried to imagine what he was thinking.

  It couldn’t be good.

  It was time to bring this charade to an end. She turned to Jason. She’d been the female head of his household since their parents died seventeen years ago—or at least since she grew old enough to accept the responsibility. “How will you get along without me here to direct the household?”

  “We’ll manage,” her brother said blithely, wrapping an arm around his competent wife. His fingertips played idly in her dark-blond hair. “I set Jane to packing your things.”

  Trick touched Kendra’s hand. “Jane is your maid, I presume? She can follow tomorrow. You’ll send her along, Cainewood?”

  “Certainly.”

  “But—” Kendra started.

  “Tomorrow,” Trick said firmly “You won’t be needing her tonight.”

  Kendra’s spoon hung in the air, its bite of cake forgotten. Trick was acting as though they were really married, talking of m
aids and spending the night together.

  Did highwaymen even have servants? She certainly hadn’t seen any at the cottage. Was she really married to this man? Toying with the bracelet around her wrist, she recalled what little she knew of him.

  It wasn’t much, and it wasn’t good.

  “But you’re—” Something in his golden eyes made her falter. “—a highwayman,” she finished weakly.

  Jason reached for the bread. “Yes, we need to talk about that.”

  Trick tore his gaze from Kendra. “Aye?”

  “It has got to stop.”

  Trick chewed thoughtfully, then sipped some wine. The silence stretched between him and Jason, almost as though it were a palpable barrier.

  “I mean it, Trick. You don’t need the money.”

  “Aye? You think not?” A corner of Trick’s wide mouth turned up, and Kendra would swear he was about to start laughing.

  Did he really not need the money? Had he enough put aside, then? Could highway robbery be that lucrative?

  There was something missing here. But she couldn’t seem to think straight in his presence; it had been that way since she’d first laid eyes on him. She felt all hot and bothered, and her brain refused to work.

  “Why do you do it?” Ford asked.

  Trick favored her twin with a mild look. “Maybe it’s a pleasant amusement.”

  “You’re finished, Trick.” Jason’s voice brooked no nonsense. He set down his fork. “Find your amusement somewhere else.”

  The golden gaze flicked to Kendra. “Aye,” he said, the other corner of his mouth turning up. “That I will.”

  ELEVEN

  THE SUN WAS setting, painting the sky in muted tones as they made their way to Trick’s home in the impressive two-seater caleche he’d driven to Cainewood. Borrowed, most likely, Kendra thought, along with the matched bay horses…at least she fervently hoped he hadn’t stolen them.

  A furtive glance to the rear convinced her they weren’t being followed—she wasn’t being rescued—by any of her brothers. “I cannot believe it,” she said.

  Trick gave her a long, considered look before responding in that characteristic unhurried way of his. “You cannot believe what?”

  “I cannot believe I’m married. It happened so fast.”

  He raked a hand through his shining hair. “Why did you go through with it?”

  “I didn’t think it was real. Even now, I’m half-expecting one of my brothers to ride up laughing at their masterful joke.”

  “They’re not coming,” Trick said.

  “I know.” And she knew as well that some tiny part of her had wondered if the wedding might be real all along, and even—maybe—hoped that it was. Of all the men she’d encountered in her life, Trick was the only one with whom she’d ever felt a sort of magic.

  But that didn’t stop her from wanting to sink her claws into her too-clever brothers. How dare they cook up a scheme like this behind her back?

  And what on earth could they mean by marrying her to a known outlaw? He could be a murderer, for all she knew! His rapier rode in the sword belt on his right. Her brothers carried weapons as well, of course, but they didn’t draw and use them on a daily basis.

  Her teeth ached from clenching them. Consciously relaxing her jaw, she took a deep breath. “I know they’re not coming. I’m so furious with them, I swear I won’t speak to them for weeks. But I still cannot believe it. All along, I was certain this was a prank.” That desperate conviction had helped her cope all the day, and it was frightening to let go of it. “I thought they were trying to teach me a lesson.”

  Trick turned to her, a hint of a smile on his wide mouth. “Are you due to be taught a lesson?”

  “No!” Why did his tone make her so flustered? “They refused to tell me whether you’re titled. Are you? Who are you?”

  “I’m your husband,” he said carefully. “And I agree with your brothers that that’s all you need to know for now.”

  Kendra glared at him through the growing dark. He was as bad as they were—worse, in fact. She was accustomed to her family meddling in her life, but what right had this virtual stranger to do the same? It was beginning to dawn on her that “magic” might not be near enough to sustain a marriage. “I can vow not to talk to you as well.”

  “Who said I was interested in talking tonight?”

  His tone sent more tingles down her spine, but, realizing his game, she held on to her anger. Perhaps with other girls he’d been able to seduce his way out of trouble, but that wouldn’t work on her! “Who said I’m interested in what you’re interested in?” she snapped.

  “Oooh, clever riposte.”

  With a noise of disgust, she crossed her arms and turned her back on him—for a moment. In truth, she was too old for such petulance. They both were. She sighed. “My brothers manipulated you, too, you know. Aren’t you angry?”

  “Aye, a bit perhaps.” He guided the caleche off the main road, onto a less-traveled path. “But not overmuch. And not at you. I know this isn’t your fault.” When Kendra faced him, his gaze softened, and his words took on the lilt of his homeland. “It’s not such a bad bargain I’ve made, aye?”

  Kendra blushed wildly, thankful for the cover of darkness. A fair bargain, was she? She couldn’t think of anything to say in return to such a statement, so she remained silent, hugging herself.

  Perhaps thinking she was cold, Trick wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She should be terrified, she thought vaguely. She knew little of men in an intimate way, and even less about Trick…besides that he was dangerous.

  But his warmth was oddly comforting. She scooted closer, and when his long fingers rubbed up and down her arm, she leaned against him, thinking about when she first saw him and how she’d wanted him to notice her. Remembering yesterday in the cottage, and the thrilling moment when they’d nearly kissed. Today they finally had, and kissing him had been even better than she’d imagined. But now it was their wedding night, and she could only wonder: what came next?

  She’d barely grown comfortable against him when the caleche bumped off the path and over a grassy knoll, following a faint trail that led to the cottage. Windows glowed in the distance, the lamps inside already lit.

  The cottage looked warm and welcoming, but as they rolled to a stop, she tensed. Tonight she’d become his wife in more than just name, and, despite her curiosity, she wasn’t sure she could go through with it. Caithren’s words kept rumbling around in her head.

  You should know it will hurt…

  He helped her down and guided her inside with a hand at the small of her back, touching her where she wasn’t used to being touched. The door shut behind them, but he didn’t remove his hand.

  He was close. Much too close. His gaze locked on hers, his heat penetrating the small space between them. She could smell a soap-fresh masculine scent—sandalwood, if she wasn’t mistaken. She wouldn’t expect a highwayman to use imported soap, but then, little about any of this had matched her expectations.

  Just when she thought she might panic, he turned away. “I’m going to settle the horses, aye?” Before she could react, he was out the door.

  How could this be happening to her?

  Her fashionable high Louis-heeled shoes made a loud, unnerving sound as she walked around the main room, picking things up and putting them down at random. She tried the bottom drawer of the desk again, but it was still stuck tight.

  What had she expected? She’d first tried it only yesterday.

  This was incredible.

  Too soon, Trick blew through the doorway with a wolfish smile that made her breath catch in her throat. He strolled straight to the cabinet and poured them each a goblet of wine. Yesterday’s cups were gone, the broken shards of glass picked up, the stain nonexistent, as though the spill had never happened.

  But it had happened, and because of it, she was married to Trick Caldwell.

  “Here,” he said, handing her a goblet. He tapped his against it, the tinkl
e of expensive crystal sounding pure and loud in the silence that stretched between them. “Slàinte mhór.”

  Kendra watched his throat muscles work as he drank deeply. Perhaps he wasn’t as cavalier about this as he made himself out to be. Her head spinning even without the wine, she took a cautious sip. “Sl…what?”

  He set down his glass and moved to her, slipping his arms about her—quickly, as if he might lose his nerve. “It’s a toast. Good health,” he translated quietly. “And don’t be too impressed. It’s all the Gaelic I can remember.”

  “I…I’m…” Feeling dizzy, her heart pounding, her face flushed, Kendra placed one hand on his chest and leaned into him, knowing she was giving him the wrong idea but unable to help herself. She felt abandoned and confused, and he was her only anchor. “I’m not impressed.”

  “Oh, aren’t you now?” he drawled, taking the goblet from her other hand. He set it beside his on the table, and then his head dipped, and his mouth covered hers.

  Warm. Warm and soft. That was all she could think. His lips moved against hers, sparking a searing heat that spread throughout her body. She tasted wine and Trick, sweet and tart and so delicious she almost forgot how nervous she was. Her arms clasped around him, lest she drop to her knees.

  When he broke the kiss, he saw her teetering, and his hands moved to her waist to keep her upright.

  A smug smile on his face, he let her catch her breath. “Still not impressed?”

  Impressed, she was. And terrified.

  He drew a steadying breath of his own and ran a hand back through his hair, and she watched, transfixed, as the front flopped back down into place. “Why don’t you cut it?” she asked, casting about for a safe topic of conversation.

  “Hmm?” His darkened gaze held hers.

  “Your hair, where it hangs down in your eyes.”

  “Maybe I’m just lazy,” he suggested.

  “You’re hiding,” she countered.

  “Not tonight.” He moved close again and ran his hands over her shoulders, down her arms. “Shall we repair to the bedchamber?”

  Kendra hadn’t thought her face could get any hotter, but it did as he took her by the hand and led her down the corridor. The bedchamber had been cleaned up, too; no trace remained of the broken washbowl or its spilled contents. A new one stood in its place.