After cancelling all her meetings for the day, Raina sat behind her desk and pretended to be busy, while simultaneously trying to spy on her husband. Since her desk sat a solid thirty feet from the double doors to her study, and the corridor to the other side of the house was narrow, and dim, she found herself rising and craning her neck to catch even a glimpse of him. Not exactly stealth. Sighing at her pitifulness, she plopped back down in her seat. She hadn’t seen him this morning, and she hated to admit she wanted to.
A melodious bell sounded seconds before Mrs. Taft came rushing from the back of the house to answer the door. Raina rose and waited to see who their visitor could be. Since Kevin was home, she wondered if he’d have callers.
“Raina, my lovely, where are you?” a woman’s sing-song voice called. “I read the most delightful thing in the paper this morning, I just had to come by.”
Happiness swelled in Raina’s chest and she practically ran into the corridor to greet her best friend. “Patricia!”
Patricia Welsh, married to a Ruthenian royal, and niece to the Queen Elect of Sziveria, squealed in delight when her cobalt eyes fixed on Raina. Her mess of blonde curls bobbed about her sweet, round face. “Oh, there you are!”
They exchanged quick cheek kisses in greeting, Patricia holding Raina’s hands tightly. “I’m so happy to see you.”
“Well, of course you are, silly. Though I must say I’m a little upset I had to read about your husband being home.” Patricia pouted and swayed, the supple light pink cashmere of her dress whispering.
“I was writing to you first thing this morning, I promise.”
“You know how long I’ve been dying to…”
The words died in her friend’s throat. Kevin strolled from the room Raina had designated as his study four years ago, and had never been utilized until now. Bare foot, he wore light brown pants and a navy blue cotton shirt, untucked, the long sleeves rolled to below his elbows. With every step the fabric pulled tight to his muscled frame. From his thighs to his broad shoulders, there was no doubt the strength in the man’s body. He sniffed as though he were tired and still waking up, and disappeared into the breakfast room. The women stood motionless.
Reappearing, he held a steaming cup in his hand, raising it to his lips. He took four steps before he realized they were still staring at him. The cup lowered and he raised a brow. The harsh morning light cast his handsome face in sharp angles. The stormy gray hue of his irises looked pale in the bright sun streaming in from high windows. Tousled locks of hair hung over his forehead.
“Good morning, ladies.”
Patricia’s grip tightened until Raina grimaced. When Raina realized her friend was going to remain speechless, she smiled at Kevin. “Good morning, Master Guardian.”
He inclined his head to them and then disappeared into his study.
Visibly slouching, Patricia raised a hand to her chest. Then she fanned herself. “Goodness, I had heard rumors, but I was not prepared for that.”
Raina bit her lip and ushered her friend to her study. “He will hear you.”
“Good, let him.” She craned her neck over her shoulder. “Maybe he’ll walk back out.”
In her office, Raina grabbed both doors, taking one last glance down the hall before closing them, hating to admit she wouldn’t mind another look herself. Sighing at her ridiculousness, she pushed the doors closed. “You are married. What would your husband say?”
Patricia snorted. “Get a good look and then come to bed, my apple blossom.”
Raina couldn’t believe the crassness of her friend. She’d never seen the playful side of her. “He would not!”
Patricia nodded, a devilish gleam in her rich blue eyes. “Oh, he would.”
Pink fabric fluffed up around her friend as she fell back into one of Raina’s many overstuffed chairs, positioned in comfortable meeting locations around the room. Raina always let her clients, or guests, choose where they wanted to convene. Patricia had chosen a view of the greenhouse in the far right of the spacious office. Raina settled down in a chair adjacent to her, an empty round table large enough for a refreshment tray between them. In a few moments, Mrs. Taft would bring in tea and an assortment of breakfast meats and biscuits. Raina’s stomach grumbled at the thought.
“I’m not so sure I want to know this side of your relationship.”
Patricia fanned herself again. “How are you not pregnant? I mean, really.”
Raina flushed. She’d never told her closest friend her husband had never been to her bed. Some things couldn’t be trusted not to be repeated no matter how close the relationship appeared to be. A juicy morsel such as that would be whispered to the first person who listened. Raina rubbed her forearm in discomfort and said what came to her mind. “He’s only been home a couple days.”
“Well maybe that preposterous Shield Guardian Enbrackon will be seen around you less.”
“Shield Guardian Enbrackon is helping me build a client portfolio that well outmatch anyone else in the city. I’m grateful for his help,” Raina bristled, thankful when the sharp knock she’d been expecting sounded.
Mrs. Taft entered with a small tray, placed it between the women, and then departed. Raina realized she should have asked if her head housekeeper had checked on Kevin, but then remembered he’d declared his being an adult and capable of caring for himself. He likely wouldn’t appreciate her mothering him. Though, as she chewed a biscuit, she had to admit she didn’t know what he’d appreciate at all.
“How long did it take you and William to become comfortable together?” Raina asked more as an afterthought while she mused.
Patricia swallowed her bite and took a sip of tea before answering. “Not long, but William was determined since we had to share a room on the ship to Ruthenia for the summer months.” A wicked smile twinkled in her eyes over the top of her cup. “He didn’t want a bashful wife for the long journey.” She set her cup down. “Are you and Raiventon not comfortable?”
Raina worked her bottom lip between her teeth. How did she word the problem without giving too much away? “He’s been gone a long time, I’m not sure how long to expect him home this time.”
Patricia leaned across the distance and patted Raina’s knee. “You both will be fine. Just keep jumping in his bed like you must have last night, and the rest will work itself out.”
Tea snorted up Raina’s nose and she coughed. The liquid burned in her sinuses and she waved tears away. “Patricia! I had no idea you were like this!”
Her friend shrugged. “I didn’t know I could be, but after seeing your husband, and reading Miss Dandridge’s article, I know there’s no way you’re an innocent.”
What had the woman written about them? Raina chanced another drink to hide her whimper.
Kevin pinched the bridge of his nose in agitation. Lines of numbers, notes and shorthand only his wife understood stared back at him from an open file. Early in the morning before anyone stirred, he’d decided to see if Raina had any files on Enbrackon so he could gauge for himself the level of their relationship. She did, and the information made very little sense to him. Sighing, he snapped the folder closed, stacked it with three others, and tossed them in the drawer to his left.
A deafening shriek had him leaping from his chair and taking the quickest route from the study, over the desk. He skidded into the carpeted corridor and came to an abrupt stop. Raina stood outside the vestibule, the morning paper clutched in her hands to the point that if she held any tighter, the thing would disintegrate in her grasp. Bright red splotches covered her neck and chest and fanned across her cheeks.
“This can’t be happening. This isn’t happening to me,” she breathed out. The paper shook in her grasp. “No, no, no, no.”
Kevin crossed his arms and propped his shoulder against the wall in front of the stairs. He knew the problem. Cora Dandridge had followed the Arch Guardians orders, likely all too happily. “How bad?”
Her gaze shot up, her pale brown eyes wild with anxiety. “How bad?” She shook the paper at him and shrieked again, “How bad?”
In mock surrender, Kevin held up his hands. “I didn’t write the article.”
Tears gathered in her eyes and Kevin straightened. Was she going to cry? The angry red flush on her skin began to dissipate. She stared at the paper and shook her head.
“I can’t believe he’d do this to me.”
“Who?”
She looked at him again. “My father. You said he made sure Miss Dandridge was at the event last night.”
“Yes, he wanted to make sure everyone knew I was home.”
The flush returned, along with her temper. She crumbled the paper, stalked up to him and threw it at his chest. “Well, everyone knows, all right.”
Kevin took the paper at the same time he grabbed her upper arm before she could stalk up the stairs past him. She glared at his grasp and tried to yank free, but he held firm.
Her spine straightened and if she’d been able to look down her nose at him, she would have. She certainly craned her neck far enough to try. “Get your hand off me, immediately.”
Anger hit him fast and hard. He hauled her up against his body, ignoring her supple curves along his thighs and torso, the way her belly pressed between his hips. “Listen closely princess, only two people have earned the right to give me orders, and you aren’t one of them.”
A short gasp escaped her parted lips. If he weren’t less than two months from having to lie to get out of a marriage she didn’t deserve to be in, he would kiss her. His pulse pounded in his ears and his senses demanded to know how she’d taste. How she’d feel pulled tighter to him. How she’d move in desire. But only a fool would tease himself with what he wanted and walk away, and Kevin wasn’t a fool. He released her so quickly she stumbled back.
He held up the paper. “I didn’t write the article, so don’t blame me for it. Take it up with your father if you’re that upset.”
Irritation flashed in her pale eyes. “Don’t treat me like a child.”
“Then lose the tantrum and stop acting like one.”
For a moment, she simply stared at him, spine straight, shoulders back in defiance. Her firm, petite breasts pressed tight against the navy fabric of her dress. Kevin continued to fight the urge to haul her back to his body and change the direction of her passion. Raina took the paper and then slumped down onto the nearest stair. The crumpled pages went slack between her hands. He let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.
“Do you know what she said?” Raina asked, her voice low with defeat.
Kevin sat beside her. She had to scoot over, but even then, their hip and thighs touched through fabric. He half smiled at the juvenile thrill. “Doesn’t sound like I want to.”
“Oh, nothing bad about you. No concern there.”
“Why would she write something bad about you?” He clasped his hands between his knees.
Raina’s shoulders rose and dropped in a curt motion, the paper rustling in her grasp. “Who knows why she writes any of the drivel she does. I must have done something to make her angry, because I’ve never read one of her articles with so much venom.”
Kevin considered his options. On one hand, he knew how witchy Cora Dandridge could be. She was after all her brother’s twin, and Mason could be ornery with the best of them. However, she took her job as a journalist seriously. Even when she was assigned the gossip section by an Arch Guardian… she wouldn’t write an outright lie. So that left Kevin wondering if he should ask the hard question. He decided he should. “Does she have reason to?”
“Have hatred toward me?” Raina scoffed. “I don’t see why she would, since we don’t exactly move in the same circles.”
“But she knows me.”
“Knows you how?” Raina asked slowly, a hard edge to her words.
Kevin raised a brow. “Is this jealousy coming from a woman who wore matching clothes with a man who wasn’t her husband?”
Brilliant red bloomed across her cheeks. The paper creased in her hands again. “Don’t be absurd. Who you keep company with is none—”
“Is completely your business, or have you forgotten?”
She blinked. “Forgotten what?”
“That you made our contract binding for life, barring death or infidelity.”
“Oh, yes.” She licked her lips again and Kevin quickly looked at the wood floor beneath his feet.
“Why did your clothes match Shield Guardian Enbrackon’s?”
Raina snapped the paper, attempting to return it to a folded state. But she’d wrinkled the thing so many times it’d never fold normal. “I have no idea. I hadn’t even noticed until I read it in the article.”
“You didn’t plan for the similarity?”
She glanced at him and then quickly went back to trying to straighten the paper. “Plan? Goodness no, what would people say?” Then she laughed, a sarcastic, sharp sound. “I guess what they did say, hmm?”
Kevin hated to admit he was relieved. Either the Shield Guardian didn’t have his claws in as deep as Kevin feared, or Raina was that naïve. “Did she just talk about you two?”
“No, that was a highlight to get to the part about where I must be quite good. One man seduced, the other man I left with… and stayed with.”
Now Raina’s reputation lay in assumed tatters for the vultures to pick at. How he loathed the society he’d been forced into. However, no matter how mad he wanted to be, his little wife had dug her own hole. She was just now forced to look up from it. An unexpected protective urge tightened in his chest and he frowned. He didn’t have to leave her there.
Kevin knocked his thigh into hers and then stood. “Come on.”
Brows drawn tight, she met his gaze. “Where?”
He offered his hand. When she did nothing more than stare at his outstretched fingers, Kevin sighed. “I don’t bite.”
Cautiously, her hand slid into his. The gentle sensation of her touch meeting his caused Kevin’s breath to hitch. He hadn’t been expecting skin like silk, or warmth close to sitting near a fire. Would she feel similar underneath all the layers of clothing she wore? Kevin shook the thought away. He’d never know.
Using him as an anchor, Raina stood with ease. She didn’t pull free. Instead, she seemed to inspect their joined hands.
“You’re very strong.” The words came out more as an observation than anything else.
“You aren’t used to strong men?”
Frowning, Raina turned his hand over in hers and delicately traced a scar running the width of his palm. Kevin inhaled deeply through his nose, but didn’t snatch his hand away. He should. But he couldn’t. Her tender touch left him mesmerized, and more than a little aroused. The subtle, very feminine scent of peaches and flower blossoms filled the space around him.
“Not like this. None of the men I meet are built like you, nor do they have scars. Did you have a hard childhood?”
Kevin pulled away, fisted his hand and dropped it to his side. “No. I had a very happy childhood.” It’s adulthood that’s been beating me.
“And the scars?”
Kevin shrugged. “I work under your father. Occupational hazard.”
Her frown increased. “Doing what, exactly?”
Before he could stop himself, Kevin stroked a finger down her cheek. “Ask me again when you’re ready for the answer.”
She opened her mouth then snapped it shut and nodded.
Kevin dropped his hand. “Are you more comfortable in a carriage or Ariot?”
The small vehicle only big enough for two people, was run by a magnetic engine harnessing the power of positive and negative attraction. Expensive, not many Sziverian’s were able to own one. A lack of resources made them a rare commodity, used mostly by those willing to show off their wealth, or were used by the government.
Raina stared at him thoughtfully. “You have an Ariot?”
“Yes.”
She tilted her head in confusion. “Why? I don’t even own one. Not that I like them, they’re far too cramped for me. I feel squeezed and unsafe when I ride in one.”
“Because your father wanted me to, so he made sure I have one,” he answered as if the reason should have already been known. “So, which is to be?”
“A carriage, why?”
“We’re going to see a friend.”
A cold, misty rain left everything gray and gloomy. The perfect accompaniment to Raina’s mood. She rested her hands on her legs and watched buildings go by. Water seeped like tears over the edges of partially dry brick and stone. They’d been riding for longer than Raina expected.
“Who is this friend?” she asked, wondering if he were always so quiet. He hadn’t spoken much on the ride home last night either.
“Primary Guardian Kynhaven.”
Raina tried to place the name. “I don’t think I’ve met him.”
“Likely not. He doesn’t attend social functions unless he’s dragged to them.”
“How do you know him?”
“We work together.”
“Why am I going with you then?”
Kevin’s smile was more predatory than kind. Raina shifted slightly in her seat. Who was this man she’d married?
“So you can talk with his sister.”
Raina sighed with irritation. “Why would I want to do that?”
The carriage slowed before an imposing, two-story granite mansion. A wide porch and equally wide steps covered with an arched stone awning made the imposing structure seem more approachable. But the steep, angled, rich rust-colored roof in the dreary light took the feeling of welcome away. The carriage rolled up to the side of the house to a well-kept stable area with a second story.
Kevin jumped out before anyone could open the door for him, and then offered his hand to Raina. Butterflies danced in her stomach as she reached for him. She’d held lots of hands in her life, from simple assistance like Kevin extended now, to more intimate actions, like a fluttering kiss across her knuckles. None of them caused her to feel before. Had made her heart race and a warm tingly sensation spread through her body. All from a simple, rather innocent touch.
If holding his hand made her all breathless, she wondered what a kiss would do. The idea was a dangerous one. When he kept her hand after she was free of the carriage, she didn’t protest. She tried to convince herself it was due to the rather nasty article that had practically painted her an adulteress. If anyone watched them, they’d see a woman with her husband who didn’t believe the rumors. But she’d be lying to herself. The modest affection from him comforted her. Made her feel close to a man she wished she knew.
Being married four years to a stranger hadn’t been something she’d anticipated when her father arranged their contract. Though, looking back, she didn’t know why she expected less. Arch Guardian Synintel seemed to live to control every aspect of his daughter’s life. Her marriage was no different.
The front door opened before they even reached the first step. A footman dressed in plain black pants and a pressed gray long-sleeved shirt appeared in the doorway and executed a neat bow.
“Master Guardian Raiventon, I was unaware you were expected.”
“We weren’t. Are they home?”
“They are. I will inform them of your presence.”
“Thank you.”
The footman executed another curt bow and then disappeared into the house. By the time they walked inside, a gorgeous woman with long, black hair was practically running down the stairs. The muted blue silk gown she wore billowed behind her, showing off every curve of her figure. Her unbound hair flowed wildly around her shoulders. Modestly applied makeup brought out the planes of her face, from her full cheeks and lips to the perfect arches of her brows.
“Kevin,” she said with a grin, her silver eyes dancing. “I guess my article made a bigger impression than I expected. You forgive me, don’t you?”
Raina gaped. This was Cora Dandridge? She didn’t know why, but she’d always imagined the journalist to be a short woman with glasses and crazy, dull hair. Not a voluptuous beauty who was a good four inches taller than Raina and made her look, and feel, like a twig. Then again, with Cora’s reputation as a flirt, who managed to succeed in her conquests more than she failed, the woman’s attractiveness shouldn’t have shocked her at all.
“I have nothing to forgive.” He glanced down at Raina. She tried to pull her hand free, but he wouldn’t let her. “My wife however…”
What did he expect her to say? She was the daughter of an Arch Guardian. Diplomacy having been bred into her from the cradle. “Miss Dandridge is entitled to her opinions.”
Cora slowed when she reached the last two steps, her fingers trailing like a lover’s caress over the banister as she slid her foot to the last stair. Each move was calculated, seductive without effort. Raina tried to stifle the onset of jealousy. Even in her dreams she couldn’t make herself move with such outward grace.
“Opinion? Darling Master Guardianess, if all I wanted to do was write opinions, I’d be working for The Havener. My editor requires research and honesty, and our readers expect it.”
Raina straightened her spine. “Then your research was lacking.”
Cora looked from Raina to Kevin and then back. “I see. Enlighten me.” She motioned to a room on the left.
Kevin released Raina’s hand and the immediate cold surprised her. When he didn’t follow, she glanced over her shoulder. He’d already walked away, heading down a long corridor opposite the room they entered. Raina had the unfortunate sensation of heading into a viper’s pit.
Cora continued through a simple library to a small study. However, the journalist surprised Raina by sitting in front of a gently burning fireplace and motioning to a chair across from her, not behind her desk where she’d have all the perceived power. Raina sat and folded her hands primly on her thighs.
Cora eased back into the seat, her arms on the rests, legs crossed. “Tell me, how do I have you wrong?”
Raina straightened until the small of her back ached. “Excuse me?”
Annoyed, Cora waved a hand and sighed. “You came here all bothered about my article, therefore something I said offended you. What part do you feel I lied about?”
All of it. But she couldn’t admit that. No one but she and Kevin needed to know the true condition of their marriage. Just the thought of the seductive woman across from her aware of how available her husband was had Raina squirming in her seat. Even though their contract practically made infidelity a capital crime, at this point, Raina couldn’t fault the man if he wasn’t faithful. The thought however, made her feel ill. The revelation wasn’t something she had time to dwell on. Cora Dandridge stared at her expectantly.
“I haven’t been seduced by Shield Guardian Enbrackon.”
Cora’s eyes widened. “Oh?”
“We have a professional relationship, nothing more.”
Cora regarded her for a moment, her foot tapping in the air. “Guardianess Raiventon, I think you believe that, honestly, but that’s not what the rest of society is seeing.”
Raina’s stomach dropped. “What do you mean?”
Cora’s foot stopped. “Have you really not been listening to the gossip around you these past few months?”
“I haven’t heard any.”
Cora laughed, a musical sound meant to draw attention rather than genuine emotion. “You’re joking.”
Unamused, Raina frowned. “No, I’m not. Our relationship is strictly business and no one has implied anything to me otherwise. At least until I read your article this morning.”
All traces of humor left Cora. “Then you haven’t been paying attention, you silly girl.”
Raina gasped and blinked in shock. “Excuse me?”
Cora slammed her hands on the arms of the chair and then stood. She paced in front of the fire, the elegant folds of her gown flowing like water around her legs. “For at least three months everyone has been whispering behind their hands about your secret love affair with the Shield Guardian while Kevin has been absent. You’ve been seen going to his house alone. He arrives at yours well after your last client has left for the day. Do you deny any of this?”
“There has been no secret love affair!”
“And the visitations?”
Raina wanted to deny them but realized she couldn’t, nor was she able to give the reason why. Not without giving away a secret that wouldn’t really exonerate her in the end anyway. “Were all business related.”
“That is not what Haven City sees, or says. If you want your relationship with that vile man to be professional, you best start changing its parameter’s and fast.”
Vile man? Everyone seemed to have a rather negative view on Enbrackon. All he’d done for her was try to help. Well, most of time. “I don’t understand.”
Cora rolled her eyes. “Don’t see him when you aren’t accepting clients. And do not, under any circumstances, be seen at his house alone again. I can’t fix what you’ve done. But your husband is home now. Before you could get away with it, loosely. Now, the vultures are watching. Do you understand?”
Raina closed her eyes against a sharp, heavy pressure in her chest. “Yes.”
“Good. Because if you hurt my friend, I will write an article about you that makes the one released this morning seem like a daisy field.”