Page 20 of A Rogue's Rules for Seduction
The spell between her and Dom broke apart. Leaving behind revelations and disclosures, she snapped back into the moment, and they were once again on a rocky ledge on a windswept island.
“That’s no threat,” she said with a shake of her head. Moving away from the rocky outcropping, she headed toward a low bush growing nearby. She bent down and plucked several green berries from the scrub. “These blaeberries aren’t yet ripe, but I warrant that on the more protected and warmer side of the island, they’ll be perfect.”
Dom’s brows climbed. “Whatberries?”
“We call them whortleberries in England,” she explained. She held the small fruit between her fingers. “It’s unusual that they’d grow in the Hebrides, especially since they prefer forest floors and growing under tree canopies, but Mr. Longbridge did say that his island was an unusual place.”
There was a long silence, and she glanced up to see Dom staring at her, his expression puzzled. “Have I said something strange?”
“Didn’t think princesses like you paid attention to things such as wild berries and tree canopies.”
Her spine stiffened. “Perhaps I’m not as much of a princess as you thought. Perhaps there’s more to me than youeverknew.”
She dropped the unripe fruit to the ground andstrode ahead. The only reason why her heart pounded was because she walked quickly, andnotbecause she was hurt by what he’d said, or who he had believed her to be.
They’d taken a step forward, only to fall even further behind.
Chapter 7
“The island is, of course, haunted,” Longbridge said proudly as Dom and the other guests gathered in a vale between two rugged mountains. “Ghosts, naturally, and the fair folk. You can’t find a niche or stone that doesn’t have some spirit presiding over it.”
“It’s a wonder they tolerate the presence of the living and the mortal,” Kieran mused.
“Who says they do?” Willa asked. She didn’t even look at Dom when she said, “Heaven knows, I’ve little stomach for human men.”
Dom clenched his jaw. The last hour had been spent climbing over and across the island’s uneven terrain—and being chilled by Willa’s pointed silence. She’d ignored him for the past sixty minutes.
Life was much simpler in Ratcliff, when all he had to deal with was backbreaking labor and earning enough coin to feed and shelter his family, sometimes avoiding someone with a grudge coming after him with a club. Simple, basic needs that weren’t tangled up in the knots and thorns of caring about someone. Well, he’d loved his family, but that was different.
“You see this vale,” Longbridge continued, pointing to a band of water winding its way between the hills. “Follow it for a quarter of a mile, and you’ll reach a bridge that spans a creek. On the other side of that bridge is a small cabin, regularly maintained by my servants. It’s a place I favor going to when the activities I wish to pursue are too scandalous even for the main house.”
The devil only knew what sort of things Longbridge thought too scandalous, but Dom would have to take the man at his word.
“Whenever I’m in residence,” the host explained, “my staff keeps the place modestly provisioned.”
“Is it haunted, too?” Celeste asked.
“To the best of my knowledge,” Longbridge said with a laugh, “only by the spirits of my tempestuous assignations.”
“Is the changing of bedlinen also part of your staff’s maintenance of the place?” Kieran asked dryly.
“Naturally,” their host answered. “I’m only scandalous in certain regards. Hygiene isn’t one of them. Come, let’s proceed onward so I may show you the best views.”
Everyone followed Longbridge as he began an ascent up a steep hill, with Dom bringing up therear. He could move faster and keep pace with the others, but his desire for company had fallen off like a diseased limb. Instead, he let everyone stay several yards ahead of him.
It wasn’t possible to look at anything other than Willa as she energetically climbed over rocks and across ruts in the ground. She’d once wryly said that her fey looks didn’t quite fit in such a dull and boring place like an aristocratic assembly in a ballroom. Yet here, on this wild and uncanny island, springing lightly up the side of a rugged mountain, it was as if she’d found the place where she truly belonged. Her cheeks were pink and her eyes gleamed like a nighttime sea.
Truly, she was one of the loveliest beings he’d ever been lucky enough to behold. And he couldn’t stop himself from speeding up his strides, drawing closer to her. Even if he shouldn’t.
He’d been a goddamn ass, saying what he had. It hadn’t surprised him, that when they’d been engaged, she’d used him to shock Society. Yet, much as he’d worshipped her, he hadn’t behaved any better. They laid themselves bare with their disclosures, and there was a kind of comfort in that.
There might’ve been a chance that the cold distance between them had gotten smaller, that maybe she wasn’t as far away as she had been. Then he’d opened his damned mouth, and here they were, strangers sharing the same side of the mountain.
As everyone continued to ascend, Celeste driftedcloser to Dom. She took his much larger hand in her far smaller one.
“Hard to believe we’ve the same parents,” he said, looking down at how different in size their hands were. “You could always do such fine needlework.”
“Not by choice,” she said, dryly. Then, glancing toward Willa, she added, “Going to have to do better, big brother.”
