Redemption (Red Dragon Book 1) (11 page)

“All I want is to love you.” He couldn’t keep the raw pain from his voice even if he had wanted to. “And I want you to love me back.”

Something inside of Cat seemed to break at his words and she ripped her wrist out of his grasp and stood in front of him defiantly. “Love you!” Her voice was high pitched in anger. “You have no idea how much I love you! How much I’ve always loved you, even when you left me I still loved you. I’ve never stopped loving you.” She seemed to run out of steam at that, her breath coming from her in deep pants and tears running down her face. “And all you ever do is leave me.” She gave out a desperate sob. “You leave me alone.”

“Cat …” He reached for her, suddenly desperate to take her into his arms and hold her close. To try and stop those tears even though he knew that he was the cause of them, maybe because he had been the reason for them was why he felt a need to comfort her. However there was venom in her glare and she moved out of his reach.

“Just go away Valto.” She shook her head slowly. “Go back to Helsinki.”

Following her was probably a stupid idea, but Valto had never been all that smart when it came to Cat. She was surprisingly quick on her feet but he was able to keep up as she headed into her own room at the far end of the third floor landing. Just as she was about to shut the door he was able to all but force it back open, horrified at the scared look on her face as he did so. Sometimes he had to make sure that he remembered that Cat’s father had been an unpredictable and violent man, and that some of the things that he did could trigger certain responses from her. “I don’t want to go back to Helsinki.” He made sure that his words were gentle, watching as some of that fear drained away from her face. “Cat I want to be with you.”

“That’s not what you told my sister,” she said.

Though he was standing in the doorway Cat was barring him any further entry into her room, standing directly in front of him with her arms folded across her chest.

“No,”he said. “No it’s not.”

“There isn’t any hope for us.” She ran her fingers through her hair and closed her eyes. “All we are is fools.”

That was enough for Valto. He pulled her gently into his arms completely expecting her to fight him off as he did so, yet surprisingly she went to him willingly. Pressing her face into his chest as her tiny form started shaking with her previously unshed tears. “Marry me.” Valto whispered the words into the shell of her ear.

Chapter Thirteen.

Cat didn’t know how she kept ending up in these situations. She had been determined to let him go back to Helsinki, to completely wall up her heart and move on as Queen with a suitable Prince Consort at her side. How did she let Valto get to her like this? Why did she allow herself to fall into his arms like some swooning heroine in one of Lowri’s romance novels. She hated that she was so incredibly weak. With a deep breath she pulled away from him and quickly wiped her eyes, looking up at him she could see the depth of sincerity in his gaze.

“What?” She couldn’t believe what she had just heard, and she backed away as he reached for her again. “What are you talking about?”

For a long moment he looked confused before his expression cleared and he smiled at her. “Well we just broke up didn’t we? So the engagement Lowri planned is broken.”

It felt like all the muscles in her chest suddenly constricted and she couldn’t breathe. He was going to walk away and she knew it, just like everyone else in her life had done at one point or another. In the end everyone decided that she was too difficult, too high maintenance for them to be bothered with any longer.

“Yes you’re right.” She pressed her hand against her breastbone to try and ease the ache that was steadily building up there. “Of course.”

Just as she was beginning to turn away, he went to one knee on the carpet and gripped her hand. “Marry me.”

Her voice seemed to have fled her as she stood there staring down at him. “Marry you?”

“Yes marry me.” Valto pressed his lips against the back of her hand. “Not for duty, or politics, or for the sake of heirs. Marry me because you want to.”

The whole idea of it was completely insane. How on Earth were they supposed to make this work when they were both bringing so much baggage to the relationship, when all they ever seemed to do was fight? Yet that hadn’t been the question. The answer was and always would be yes, but that didn’t mean that it was necessarily the best nor smartest thing to do and Cat really didn’t want to make the wrong decision. Unfortunately a bad decision wouldn’t just impact her and Valto, but the entire of Wales as well. “Our lives don’t work like that.”

“Don’t work like what?” Valto was still down on one knee, which with his previous injuries must not be very comfortable. “Our private lives can work however we want them too Cat, I think sometimes you just need to remember that.”

Maybe he was right. Cat had spent so long worrying about her image and how every single one of her actions would affect her country that she hadn’t thought about herself or her life. Did she really want to marry Valto?

“Do you truly wish to marry me?” She pressed a trembling hand against his cheek, gasping when he pressed into her touch. Valto didn’t answer her then, instead he simply nodded his head slowly as he gripped her other hand even tighter. “Then I will marry you.”

Valto’s face broke into a smile at her words, and he quickly got to his feet and threw his arms around her waist and gather her up against him. Cat didn’t think that she would ever get used to how good it felt to be pressed against his strong chest and to be encircled by his strong arms. “I am going to get you a ring.” He muttered the words into her hair.

A ring? It was generally tradition in the Welsh royal family for the woman to provide her own ring, as it was viewed as a privilege for her to be marrying into the monarchy. However this was a truly unusual situation, one that hadn’t occurred in many centuries in which the man was marrying into their family. She and Valto had always been different.

“You don’t need to do that.” She tilted her head back to look up at him. “I can get my own ring.”

Valto lowered his head to gently take her lips in a kiss, and Cat felt like crying because she hadn’t expected to ever kiss him again. In all honesty it was something that she had been taking for granted over the past few weeks until she thought that she had lost it forever. Their kiss, though it started soft and reasonably sweet, soon started to heat up, the tension of the past two days finally breaking.

Soon her fingers were tangled so tightly in his hair that she knew it had to hurt, but that didn’t seem to bother Valto in the slightest. Instead he simply held her even tighter and deepened the kiss until they were both hot and breathless. There was something different though, as if neither of them were holding back for the first time. Valto’s kisses were rougher than they had ever been, and the hands pressed against her skin were strong and demanding in a way that caused a jolt of electricity down her spine. All this time he had been so careful with her unless he was lost in the heat of passion, and even then it was nothing more than his animal instincts taking over. However she wanted that raw untamed passion from him now, wanted it in all their sexual moments with each other. Cat wanted to know that he did in fact want her, and that this wasn’t just something that he was doing for her sake.

They pulled away from each other slightly, though they were still close enough that she could feel his panted breaths on her lips. There was a hint of uncertainty in his eyes though, the same uncertainty that always seemed to be there when they were intimate and Cat had a feeling that he was afraid that he was doing something wrong. Probably scared that due to their size difference he was simply overpowering her. Oh if only he would overpower her; just the idea of it sent a fission of heat up her spine and a tightening in her lower abdomen. Without a single word she reached for him again, dragging his mouth to hers desperately.

Then as their passion heated up their tongues tangled around each other, and soon they were so entangled she couldn’t tell where Valto started and she ended. Cat was incredibly pleased that they had decided to have this discussion in her personal chambers, because her huge comfortable bed was not more than a dozen steps away. Right at this minute she wanted nothing more than to have him pressing her down into the mattress and dragging her pleasure from her. “Valto.” She grabbed him by the front of his shirt and started pulling him back towards the bed. “I want you.”

He nodded quickly, and before she knew what was happening he had tightened his grip on her waist and picked her up as though she weighed nothing and all but threw her onto the mattress. She bounced twice, though her laughter broke off when she noticed that he was quickly pulling off his clothes. At that sight she swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat, letting herself enjoy the view of all that smooth tanned skin on display. It didn’t take her long to kick off her skirt and unbutton her blouse, though she didn’t have the chance to discard it or even remove her bra before Valto had crawled up the bed to join her.

One of his hands tangled in the thick hair at the back of her head, forcefully pulling her head back so that he could suck on her throat in a rough move that had her groaning and digging her fingernails into his back. “Cat.” His words were moaned against her flesh, and she smoothed her fingers over his shoulders. “Teach me how to please you.”

Cat was surprised at that. Despite his inexperience he had never failed to leave her satisfied, and with how well this particular session was going she doubted she would be unsatisfied this time around either. “You do please me.” She wiggled out of her knickers and kicked them away. “I would very much like for you to get to the pleasing now.” Spreading her legs wide on either side of his hips, she arched her back to try and get him to make love to her already, she was ready to go.

“You said you didn’t have the patience to teach me before.” He moved to suck another bruise onto the base of her throat.

“Oh.” Her own words came back to her from their first night together. “You want..?” Reaching up she ran the pads of her fingers over his lips, and suddenly she wanted nothing more than to experience his mouth against her most sensitive parts. “Yes please.”

“I’m assuming this is nothing like in porn?” His question was innocent, but Cat couldn’t help but think about Valto watching porn with his own hand wrapped around himself and that image was enough to have her moaning and pressing up against him. “Tell me what to do.”

She nodded her head quickly and then stole another kiss before pushing on his shoulders to get him to move down her body. “No not for me anyway. I’m far too sensitive. You need to be gentle.”

“Yeah.” He pressed his lips against her pubic bone. “I think I can manage that.”

With that he slowly moved down then and Cat couldn’t do anything other than gasp and wrap the sheets around her fists to try and stop herself reaching out for him. Though with her previous lovers she would have sunk his fingers into their hair and guided them to where she wanted them, doing that with Valto on his first time could cause nothing but issues, but by the gods she wanted to hold onto him. “Valto please …”

He was pressing soft kisses against her inner thighs and her core but not delving in where she was aching for him. At first she thought it was because he was unsure about what he was doing. However, when she finally got around to looking down at him the amusement in his eyes showed that he was in fact teasing her. “Oh you bastard.” He chuckled against her at her words, the vibrations causing her to cry out. “Get on with it.”

She let go of the sheets then and reached down to finally run her hand over his head, watching as his eyes fluttered shut at her touch. It was then that he decided to stop teasing, and his tongue finally came into play as he used his fingers to gently hold her open and lick over her clit. Though she knew that she was supposed to be guiding him and teaching him how to perform this particular act, it seemed like his genius IQ extended to human anatomy and before she knew it she was withering on the bed and crying out in pleasure.

Cat lost track of time at that point, but she knew it couldn’t have been too long before her orgasm swept over her like a tidal wave and she was screaming so loudly that she was surprised that Myf wasn’t kicking down the door.

Chapter Fourteen.

Valto would never admit it but he was secretly pleased that Cat had accepted the lift from the Royal family of Ukonsaari, who would be joining them in Edinburgh for the Braemer festival. He adored his cousin Astrid who was the Queen of the small Scandinavian country, even if most of the rest of the family thought her completely insane. Valto had a feeling it was that quirkiness that he found so endearing in the first place.

Astrid was a forty-six year old blonde bombshell with an amazing figure for a woman her age, let alone one who had birthed four children. There were whispered rumors amongst the family that she had had work done, but in Valto’s eyes it was money well spent because she was more beautiful than most of the women half her age. Though it wasn’t her appearance that was the biggest scandal when it came to Astrid. No that came from the country that she had aligned herself through by marriage.

Ukonsaari had apparently always been a little strange, the last of the Feudal regimes with a complete ruling monarchy there were many who thought that it was run as nothing more than a dictatorship. Though it was clear that the people who said this didn’t take into account the healthy and happy populace, nor the way that the royal family was adored. Astrid’s husband was King Teuvo II, otherwise known as the Warrior King of Ukonsaari, a man who was all but revered as a god amongst his people had the ability to pretty much do whatever he saw fit. Since he had taken power in 1982 he had changed more laws in his country than any King before him, even taking advantage of his legal polygamy laws and taking a second spouse in 1994. This alone had caused quite a fuss on an international scale, but now everyone was used to it and nobody seemed to even blink an eye.

“Valto.” Astrid was waiting for them in the VIP lounge, wearing an expensive cream suit and stiletto heels that clicked on the polished marble floor as she hurried over to where he was standing by the bar. In one smooth move she had wrapped her arms around his neck, and Valto found himself all but smothered by her expensive perfume. “Look at you.” She stepped back and held him at arms length, looking him up and down before smiling widely. “You look gorgeous darling.” Her attention then turned to Cat who had just entered the lounge flanked by the two Royal Guards who had been assigned for her protection. “Caitlin dear it’s good to see you.” With that she swung herself away from Valto and enveloped Cat in a hug that almost swallowed the tiny woman. “I can’t believe you’re getting married. Goodness that makes me feel old.”

“You’re not old,” said Valto. “Not even close.”

“You are sweet to say so.” With a pat to Cat’s cheek, Astrid stepped backwards and gestured for them to follow her through the lounge. “Now we really must get moving, His Grumpiness can’t stand to be late.”

With that she led them out onto the tarmac, waving off the VIP concierge who came running after them. It was hilarious to see really; whereas most of the Queens would follow protocol and let themselves be fawned all over by the staff Astrid was completely self-sufficient and refused to be pampered to. With a long strides she led them across the tarmac to where the personal jet for the royal family of Ukonsaari was sat, a medium sized plane covered in blue and yellow which were the national colors of their country. There was a woman standing outside the plane, drinking from a huge mug and looking completely frazzled. She was tall and slender, with short black hair and thick rimmed glasses. Valto immediately recognized her as Haley, the personal secretary of King Teuvo.

“He’s going to be the death of me.” Haley’s words were muffled by the rim of her mug as she took another sip of whatever drink she had in it. “He insists on sending out all his own diplomatic letters, but he’s the least diplomatic man on this Earth.”

Astrid laughed again and took Haley’s arm. “Come on you, let’s tell him whose boss. hey?”

With that the two women walked up the steps into the plane arm in arm, and it was as Valto had been preparing to follow up after them that he felt a tugging on his hand. Turning around he looked at Cat who had a soft smile on her face and a twinkle in her eye. She had clearly enjoyed Astrid’s antics as well, and it was nice to see her like this as though the weight that had previously held her down had been lifted. “What’s wrong?”

Cat didn’t even bother to answer him. Instead she pulled him close and got on her tip-toes to kiss his mouth in a soft lingering sensation.

“Nothing,” she said. “I just wanted to kiss you.”

He didn’t get a chance to respond to her, because she was quickly climbing the stairs into the plane and leaving him standing on the tarmac watching her go. With a shake of his head and a laugh, Valto followed her up into the aircraft only to find himself surrounded by chaos. Cat, who apparently was more used to these kind of scenes than he was, had already curled herself up on one of the huge leather seats and was smiling happily as she watched this odd family.

At the far end of the plane there was a leather sofa with a desk in front of it, on which were piles of paperwork and a laptop that had been hastily pushed to one side. Astrid was standing in front of the desk chuckling happily to herself and patting a horrified looking Haley on the shoulder. However it was the man behind the desk who completely caught his attention. Valto had never found men all that attractive before, but even he could tell that King Teuvo II was a handsome man for his age. At nearly fifty years old he still stood at well over six foot, with broad shoulders and muscles that seemed to be trying to tear their way out of the dark purple shirt he was wearing. He had a neatly trimmed beard, and dark brown hair that fell down to the small of his back and was held in tight braids and twists secured by leather strips and ivory beads. It was also clear that underneath the clothes he had a number of tattoos if the dark ink peeking out from his shirt collar and sleeves were any indication.

“I am the King, I can write whatever I want in my letters.” He was clutching an envelope against his chest and glaring at his wife though icy blue eyes.

“You’ve been saying the same thing for thirty years.” Astrid gave a laugh. “And you know that that’s not true.”

Valto stopped beside were Cat was curled up, smiling gently to himself when she took his hand, waiting for the King to acknowledge him. However it looked like the bickering might continue on for a while, and it would have probably have continued on past them taking off and arriving in Edinburgh if it wasn’t for the third member of this extraordinary marriage waking up. “What in Hel is going on here?” The voice of Olani Kransk boomed around the jet as the huge man struggled into a sitting position from where he had been sleeping beneath an enormous blanket.

Teuvo’s husband was even larger and broader than he was; however he was bald except for a blonde braid which fell to just below his shoulder blades. His eyes were a deep brown and there was something absolutely terrifying about him, even though Valto knew that he was one of the gentlest people you could ever hope to meet.

“Go back to sleep sweetheart.” Astrid glanced over at Olani and smiled.

“Can’t.” He stretched his arms over his head. “I’m awake now.” He glanced over at the two new arrivals and smiled. “Valto it’s been a while since we’ve seen you. And Caitlin you’re as beautiful as ever.” At that he turned back to look at Teuvo. “What’s got you all upset then?”

“I’ll give you three guesses.” Teuvo glanced up at his wife. “But you’ll only need one.”

Valto watched as Olani rolled his eyes, leaned over and pressed a kiss to his husband’s temple before settling back down in his chair and doing up his seatbelt. Valto quickly checked his watch to see that they were due for take-off in about ten minutes; not that Astrid seemed to care with the way she was still berating Teuvo who was pointedly ignoring her. With a snort of laughter Valto moved to sit in the seat beside where Cat was curled up, quickly doing up his own seatbelt as at last both Astrid and Teuvo’s secretary were seated as well. Throughout it all the King didn’t even bother to look up from his masses of paperwork, until Olani leaned over and poked him in the side.

Teuvo first to glare at his husband, before his expression brightened as he noticed that there were guests on his plane. “Young Valto.” His voice boomed through the plane, almost as loud as Olani’s. “And lovely Caitlin.”

Beside Valto, Cat blushed a deep red and Valto couldn’t help but roll his eyes at her reaction. The fact that she had a crush on Ukonsaari’s King and had done since she was a young girl, something that Valto had often teased her about when they first courted. She must have caught his reaction because Cat immediately started glaring at him, and he couldn’t help but laugh.

***

It had been a long time since Valto had been in Scotland. He had always liked the rolling hills and greenery, and thankfully Eilidh had always been more than happy to take him sightseeing and hiking through the Highlands. He was kind of looking forward to meeting up with her again; they had broken up under reasonably amicable terms and he hoped they could rekindle their friendship. It was always nice to hang around with someone who had similar interests to him.

Beside him, curled up on the leather back seat of the Range Rover that was taking them up to Braemar, Cat made a soft noise in her sleep. She may be feisty and strong in her own way, but there was no way her could see her traipsing across the highlands in a dress that cost five figures, and a pair of stiletto heels. In fact the image that it conjured was enough to make him smile.

“I can hear you smiling.” She hadn’t even opened her eyes, and Valto couldn’t help but widen his grin in response.

“One of these days you’re going to teach me how to do that,” he said, leaning forward to kiss her forehead.

She laughed softly before slowly opening her eyes and smiled at him. “It’s a woman thing.”

He couldn’t help but smile again, leaning forwards again to kiss her on the lips this time. “I thought it was more a mother thing.”

Cat rolled her eyes then and pulled away from him. “I wondered how long it would take you to get to the subject of knocking me up. You were obsessed with talking about children when we were teenagers.”

That was true. It wasn’t a secret that Valto was very much a traditionalist, and he wanted nothing more than to have a loving wife and a few kids. Johann had used to tease him endlessly about his ‘white picket fence’ fantasies, but it was something that Valto hadn’t been prepared to compromise on which was probably why he had been so determined to get Cat back. No other woman was ever going to be able to fulfil that role in either his life or his heart. “You know that I want a family with you.”

She nodded her head. “I know.”

It was nearly night when they finally made it to Braemer, and Valto wasn’t able to enjoy the scenery of this quaint little town that exploded with guests every year. Luckily Teuvo’s staff seemed efficient and an entire small but lovely little hotel on the edge of the town had been booked out for the King and those he counted as friends. Valto was very pleased that both Wales and Finland were classed as close friends of Ukonsaari, or else he might have been stuck with some of their more stuffy relatives and contemporaries in the more fancy places in the middle of town.

When he stepped out of the Range Rover Valto couldn’t hold in his sigh as he looked up at the sweet stone walled building with its slate roof, smoking chimneys, and the soft glow of lights coming through the windows.

“Oh this is pretty.” Cat had stepped out beside him, smoothing down her wrinkled cream colored skirt and leaning against him tiredly.

“And you’re tired.” He pressed a kiss against the top of her silky chestnut locks. “I think an early dinner and then bed.”

Cat’s arm snuck around his waist to give him a tight squeeze. “If I wasn’t so exhausted I would come to you tonight.”

Those words made his heart start to gallop in his chest and his cheeks to heat up, even though he knew that he would more than likely be spending the night alone just thought was enough to get a physical reaction out of him.  With another kiss to her head, he started to lead her through the front door of the hotel that was being held open by one of her footmen.

“Valto!” The voice was softly feminine with a posh English accent, and despite everything he couldn’t help smiling at the woman who was seated in one of the armchairs that filled the foyer. “It’s so good to see you!”

Beneath his arm Valto felt Cat physically tense at the sight of the tall and slim form of Eilidh who had quickly got to her feet to greet them. She was a beautiful woman with a thick strawberry blonde hair, sky-blue eyes, and just a wholesome look about her. Certainly she had nothing on Cat, who even when she wasn’t dressed to the nines nor covered in make-up was so gorgeous that she could take your breath away. “You too Eilidh.”

It wasn’t a surprise that she would be here. As the pretender to the Scottish throne she was an important part of Royal party of both Ukonsaari and Wales. This also was the reason why she was in Braemer. Scotland was her ancestral lands after all, and Valto would have honestly been surprised if she wasn’t attending the festivities.

He let go of Cat so as to step forwards and embrace the other woman. She seemed to cling to him as they did so. From behind them there was the sound of Cat clearing her throat and Valto found himself having to disentangle from Eilidh so as to turn and look at his fiancé. He watched as her eyes flicked between the two of them. “Anyway it’s nice to see you Eilidh, but I must have a shower and get ready for dinner.”