Page 107 of Taming Ivy
A hand landed heavily on his shoulder.
Gabriel’s brown eyes contained the chill of the moors. Alan stood nearby, fingers twitching no doubt with the desire to land a series of punishing blows to Sebastian’s chin.
"Let her go, my friend.” Alan gave his advice calmly, but the steel in his voice would have given any man reason to pause.
Sebastian rounded on them both. "Gabriel, if you wish to keep that hand, remove it. Now.”
Gabriel’s smile was hard and unfriendly, fingers tightening in direct contradiction to the warning. "You placed milady’s safety in my hands. I’m following your directive. Keeping her safe.”
"You are too angry to go after her,” Alan echoed, moving to block Sebastian’s path.
"I am warning you both.” His own friends now betrayed him? Rage had him stuttering ineffectively. “Goddamn it…this is insane.”
Gabriel’s chuckle contained no mirth. "I swore to protect her. An oath you laid before me. And I will honor it, Sebastian, even if it means protecting her from you.”
They kept Sebastian at the Graham ball for two hours in an effort to diffuse his anger. Only when he demonstrated full control of his emotions did the men accompany him home in Alan’s coach. Gabriel left Sebastian in Ravenswood Court’s front hall, his unmarred brow raised in unspoken warning.
The flames from the low fire revealed his bed was empty; the covers drawn back, unrumpled. Ivy thought to sleep elsewhere tonight, did she? Sebastian did not blame her. Throwing off the black cutaway coat, he loosened his cravat, tossing it to the side. Boots were yanked off, left in a careless heap, his shirt landing in a crumpled pile on the floor. On bare feet, wearing only trousers, he tried the connecting door between the suites and found it locked.
The rap he gave the door was as sharp as his irritation. "Ivy. Open this door.”
There was no response so he banged harder. Finally, a slight rustle could be heard on the other side. She was in there. She was in there and she wanted nothing to do with him. His voice vibrated harsher than his fists against the wood. "Open the damn door. Before I break it down.”
After a long silence, her weary voice muffled by the thickness of the oak, Ivy replied, "Go away.”
Stumped by her quiet resolution, Sebastian stared at the door, thinking what to do next.
It took a minute to recall the location of the key. For years, it sat in the drawer of the bedside if ever needed and pushing open the door to the countess’s suite of rooms, Sebastian felt a rush of satisfaction. On bare feet, he padded silently forward until he stood where the lamplight formed a pool of illumination.
Ivy sat in the middle of the bed, a pale, yellow counterpane clutched to her bosom. Huge and liquid, her eyes followed him, bottom lip catching between her teeth when Sebastian held out the key, dangled it, then dropped it into his trouser pocket. She did not appear surprised or even alarmed that he gained entry with such ease. She seemed to expect it.
Crossing his arms, Sebastian prepared for the battle to come, and despite his previous anger, he was relatively calm. The evening was a disaster, but one of his own making. He possessed an unfortunate tendency to react in the worst possible manner with Ivy, each incident only pushing her further away from him. Eventually, she would be so alienated as to be unreachable, and that reality was destroying him. He did not know what to do to make things better. He’d made the Devil’s bargain when promising her that it was possible to wait until she loved him again.
In the weeks since their marriage, he had not succeeded in changing Ivy’s heart. This failure,hisfailure, was slowly killing him.
Ivy turned up the bedside lamp at the sound of the key in the lock. She watched in grim resolution as the door swung open and Sebastian prowled into the room. He waggled that key at her and dropped it in his pocket, mocking any effort to keep him locked out.
Drawing her knees to her chest, Ivy clutched them hard. Nearly three hours had passed since she fled from the Graham's ball. Where had Sebastian been? He wore only trousers, the muscles lining his ribs flexed with each deep breath. Seeing the tic in his jaw, and the way it clenched, Ivy knew it was only by the thinnest of threads he kept himself from snatching her up and shaking her.
From forehead to chin, Sebastian rubbed his face. "Never lock a door to me again, Ivy. Ever.” His tone was blanketed in restrained composure.
“It did little good, obviously.”
"Come to bed.Mybed. Where you belong.”
Her eyes narrowed. "You cannot be serious.”
"It would be unwise to doubt my sincerity at the moment.”
Ivy’s teeth hurt from being clenched so hard. She shook her head. "If you think I shall jump at the snap of your fingers, you are a bloody fool. And I repeat my words directing you to go straight to hell.” What motivated her husband to such irrational behavior was a mystery, one sure to bewilder her for many nights to come.
Sebastian’s smile was faint, as if suddenly amused despite everything. "You also called me a liar. No one has ever said that to my face and lived to tell the tale.”
Ivy stared straight ahead. "Should you wish to call me out for the insult, I’m waiting.”
“My intentions are quite different.”
“I do not know your intentions, my lord. However, if you meant to demonstrate your disregard for me, you succeeded. You deceived me, Ravenswood, when you forced me to this marriage.”
