Redemption (Red Dragon Book 1) (2 page)

Chapter Two

June 10
th
2006

Cat honestly couldn't find it in herself to be humiliated at the sound that emerged from her throat. Not that she could have helped it if she had tried. There was a dark chuckle from the man beneath her, as soft hands slid down the length of her back to grip her hips and guide her into a grinding motion.

“Fuck.” A shudder went through her at that sensation, and she circled his wrists with her hands, running her palms up her partner’s forearms and over strong biceps. Sleeping with Crown Prince Hans of Germany wasn't exactly the most logical thing she had ever done, but she hadn't exactly been in her right mind when she had first turned to him. Worth it though, she thought as she moved in a way that made her moan. So fucking worth it.

“Are you doing alright up there?” His voice was thick with arousal, and the sound of it sent a shudder through her.

Resting her hands on his chest, she ran her fingers over the hard muscles before leaning down to kiss him. For a long moment their tongues moved against each other sensually, and then his strong arms wrapped around her waist as she was all but thrown on her back. She almost sunk into his ridiculously soft mattress as he rolled on top of her, urging her to wrap her legs around him.

“Why?” She wound her fingers through his dark brown hair, pulling his head down so that they could kiss again, his stubble scratching along her chin. “Can't you keep up?”

His response to that was to give a strong thrust of his hips, his raw power pushing her further up the bed. Their kiss deepened and she clung to him eagerly as his pace inside her picked up, and their playful lovemaking suddenly became hot and heavy. The feeling of his chest brushing against her pebbled nipples had her gasping into his mouth, and she quickly felt herself climbing towards orgasm.

“Cat.” He moaned it against her throat. “Shut up.”

Her climax came over her in a wave, and she found herself digging her fingernails into the muscles of his back as she all but screamed into his mouth. Cat had found that her orgasms were always intense when in bed with someone else. Then again she had only ever slept with this man and Alexandru the forty something year old King of Moldova, both of whom were renowned lovers.

White light filled her vision, and her head fell backwards as her body shook through its aftershocks. Hans did as he always did, fucking her through it even as his own breathing became ragged and his movements lost their rhythm.

“Do you ...” One of his hands moved to the small of her back, lifting her up so that she arched and he sunk in even deeper on his next thrust. “... think you can go again?”

This was her fifth orgasm of the night. Hans’ mouth and hands were definitely worth travelling all this way to be with him. “I'm fine, go ahead.”

He made a noise of understanding, and he intertwined his free hand with hers on the bed as he started moving within her with an increase in both speed and strength. Cat had been privileged enough to have the pleasure of his body for twelve months now. It made her wish that she had taken a leaf out of her distant cousin Johann the eternal womanizer’s book, and done the whole no strings attached sex thing a lot earlier.

He gave a low groan, burying his face in her shoulder as his body started to shake. There was suddenly a great heave of his body as he pulled out of her, and then she felt warmth stripe her from pubis to throat. His hand moved from the small of her back to her thigh, and he stroked it gently as they both slowly caught their breaths.

“You could just wear a condom you know?” She pulled him down into another kiss, and then he grimaced as he pulled away.

“Let me get you something to clean up with,” he said, pushing off of her with a grunt.

“That would be nice. Thank you.”

Turning around in the doorway to his bathing chambers, he gave her a grave look through amazingly blue eyes. “Don't start talking like that already.”

It was one of the few rules that Hans had made when she started sleeping with him, that she wouldn't put on any of her airs and graces in the bedroom. Apparently he had slept with enough fake people to know that he didn't want that from anyone he shared himself with.

“Yes sir,” she said, swiping a finger through his cooling essence between her breasts, and then sucking it off. The salty taste of him, combined with the way he rolled his eyes at her display made her laugh.

“You're testing my patience.” With those words he turned back into the bathroom, returning a moment a later with a wet cloth and a towel.

He climbed back onto the bed beside her, gently cleaning her up before throwing both on the floor beside the bed and pulling her into a kiss.

“So I suppose you've heard what's going on in my life?” She settled herself more comfortably into his extravagant bedding.

He made a soft noise as he lightly sucked on her neck. “You mean how you're getting Lowri to find a husband for you?”

“And how Parliament are going mad because of it?” she asked.

With one last kiss to her sensitive flesh, he looked at her with a surprised expression on his face. “They don't like the idea of you not marrying for love?”

She rolled her eyes. “Oh they couldn't care less about that, they just don't trust Lowri to pick someone suitable for me. They seem to be of the opinion that she will choose someone that will intentionally ruin their plans.”

“Politicians are bastards.” He rested on his elbow above her. “You need to tell them how to get lost.”

“Or just have them beheaded,” she said.

Hans gave a deep chuckle, a noise which rumbled up from his chest and was practically contagious. “So I suppose this will be our last night together.”

He didn't say it as a question, simply a statement, which meant that he had already made up his mind. Cat had expected this, though she wasn't happy about it, and she felt her stomach sink at the sound of his words.

“Not necessarily.” She raised a hand and placed it against his cheek.

“I don't play with other people’s toys,” he said.

She gave him a sad smile. “I would like to say that neither do I, but we both know that's a lie.”

He leaned down then and kissed her. “Well we might as well make the most of it.”

***

It was the sound of her mobile phone going off which roused Cat from a surprisingly deep sleep. With a low groan she rolled across the bed, realising that it must be quite late in the morning as Hans’ spot was cold. Grabbing her mobile phone off the bedside table, she rolled onto her back and quickly opened the text message. The two words on the screen made her breath catch in her throat, and she quickly sat up.

The door to the bedchamber opened slowly, and Cat quickly gathered the bedding up over her naked body in case it was one of the maids. Instead it was Hans who slipped into the room, walking across the thick carpet so as to perch on the edge of the bed. “You look upset. What's happened?”

She handed the phone over to him, and then let her head drop into her hands. “I can't believe she would do this to me.”

Hans’ eyebrows rose as he looked at the screen, and then handed it back to her. “Oh Cat.”

“She's chosen Valto,” said Cat. “Which means that she's sent him a letter offering him the chance to court me, and he's accepted.”

“Ok. You and Valto were close once, is this necessarily such a bad idea?”

Close? That was a pretty poor choice of words for what she and Valto had been to each other all those years ago.

“We were engaged,” she said. “For four years.”

He reached out for her then, gathering her close and she wrapped his expensive silk tie around her fist. “I know.”

“He broke my heart.”

Hans pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “I know that as well.”

She felt tears picking at her eyes, and she quickly wiped them away. “So why would she do this to me?”

“Maybe she knows something you don't,” he said.

“Like what?” She looked up at him.

“Like how you have a tendency to call me Valto when you lose control of yourself.”

Immediately she felt warmth creep over her cheeks at that, and she quickly ducked her head. She had hoped that he wouldn't notice, or at least be too caught up in his own pleasure to be paying any attention to what she was doing.

“Oh … you noticed?”

He gave a deep chuckle, tilting her chin up so he could kiss her softly. “I notice everything when it comes to you.”

“I'm sorry,” she said.

He shook his head. “No need to apologise. It's not the first time I've played stand in for someone else before, and it won't be the last time. Valto is a good choice, both politically and diplomatically, and despite everything I think you know that.”

Of course she knew that. Valto was the tenth in line for the Finnish throne, so well bred but far enough from succession that it wouldn't cause any issues. He clearly wasn't after her for her station or her money. Also, Valto was incredibly family orientated, which meant that she wouldn't need to worry about them having children. All in all he was perfect, and if he just kept away from her and kept his mouth shut they could probably make the marriage work.

“Yeah.” she said, pulling him back down for another kiss. “You're probably right.”

Chapter Three.

June 15
th
2006

Wales in summer was very much the same as Wales in winter, or at least that's what Valto had always found. The sky was grey over the Welsh capital when he arrived; and he found that it was a perfect contrast to his mood. Even after three years in the military, he had never felt this level of anxiety before. The idea of seeing Cat again had his stomach in knots, and he knew that he was heading straight for a panic attack.

“Get a grip.” His hands tightened on the steering wheel of the Audi that he had hired. Lowri had offered to have him picked up from the airport, but he needed this distraction to keep him from going insane.

In the twenty minutes since he had landed, Kai had called him twice and Steph had texted him three times. They hadn't said anything, but it was clear that they were worried that he would get cold feet, turn tail, and run. He had to admit that he was still uncertain about what he was doing here; it seemed ridiculously romantic to be throwing his entire life away for the sake of a second chance at love.

It wasn't very long before Caerdydd Castle, the massive ancient home of the Vaughn family, once one of the most powerful families in Europe came into sight over the top of the oak trees. It was a testament to medieval architecture, a huge fortress of grey stone on top of a hill, overlooking Caerdydd. There was a long winding road built out of uneven cobblestones, which led up to the wrought iron gates at the front of the drive.

“ID please.” The guard who exited the small hut on the outside of the gates was dressed in the black and gold of the Welsh Royal Guard.

Pulling his wallet out of his pocket, he flashed the guard the ID card which had been sent to him three days before. Easing his car through the gates after being waved through, Valto quickly swallowed down his ever rising panic. The drive up to the castle was surprisingly narrow, overhung by enormous oak trees so that it was almost pitch black beneath their thick branches. All in all the atmosphere was rather gloomy, and Valto felt it weighing heavily on him.

After what felt like hours the oak trees thinned out, and across a perfectly manicured lawn rose Caerdydd Castle.  Desperately trying to calm his breathing, Valto pulled the car up in beside the stone steps which led up to the huge main doors of the castle, stepping onto the cobblestones when the doorman opened the car door for him.

“Thank you,” he said.

Smoothing his hands over his suit jacket, he tightened his blue tie and checked his reflection in the side mirror of the car. His blonde hair was slightly more tousled than usual, probably due to him running his fingers through it nervously all the time. His grey eyes were a bit bloodshot because of lack of sleep, but he had thankfully shaved this morning so he hoped that helped him look put together. Or at least put together enough to present his courtship to a Crown Princess.

Taking his phone out of his trousers pocket, he sent Kai a quick text which simply read 'here' before returning it to his pocket and striding across the drive to the stairs. Another one of the door men was holding open the huge door, and he tipped his hat to Valto as he walked through into the foyer.

It had been a very long time since he had been here, though nothing seemed to have changed in the interim. There was still the huge foreboding portraits of the various Kings and Queens that had come before, a huge persian rug on the polished stone floor, and a crystal chandelier hanging from the extremely high ceiling. There was a young woman standing in the middle of the foyer wearing a perfectly tailored suit. Her auburn hair was curling around her slim shoulders, and she threw him a polite smile.

“Good morning Your Highness.” She gave a small curtsey. “Her Highness Lady Lowri will be with you shortly. Is there anything that I can get for you?”

He shook his head. “No thank you.”

With that she gave another curtsey, before turning and walking through one of the many doors which lined the foyer, shutting it with a sharp 'snick' behind her. This left him alone in the now silent foyer, wringing his hands together nervously and trying to control his breathing.  The sound of a door behind him closing with a loud bang made him jump, and he quickly turned to look in that direction.

“Valdamer.” Lady Lowri, forever beautiful even in her autumn years, was stood beside the main door leading from the foyer into the main part of the castle. Her arms were folded over her chest, and her navy blue dress set off both her pale skin and light blue eyes. “You came.”

“Yes,” he said. “I responded to your letter.”

She nodded her head, tendrils of silver hair falling across her face. “Yes you did, and my question here is why?”

Valto had expected to be interrogated to within an inch of his life, but to have such a straight forward question thrown at him straight off the bat took him aback. “Why? As in why did I respond?”

“You walked away from this family five years ago, and took with you what was left of my step-daughter's heart,” said Lowri. “So why have you now decided to make contact?”             

He had hoped to be able to say these things to Cat, to beg her for forgiveness and show that he was sincere. Then again, in all honesty, him giving up his military career, his home, and his citizenship for her should be enough to prove that he wanted to make amends. However it seemed that he had to get through her guardian first.

“I was an idiot five years ago.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “I said some horrible things, and threw away the most important thing in my life.”

Those sharp blue eyes narrowed for a moment. “Do you still love her?”

He had been asked that same question many times over the past couple of days, it was one that had been cycling in his head almost constantly since he had received the letter. “Of course I love her. I think I'll always love her.”

Lowri seemed satisfied with that. “She has agreed to the courtship because she can see that you are a good match. It's important for Caitlin that her future husband be of good breeding, decent genetics, and neither after a title nor money through her. The choice came down to you or young Nikolai … you've been given a second chance.”

“I won't blow it,” he said.

“If she wants you gone, you will leave.” Lowri opened the door behind her and gestured for him to walk through. “I have just got my daughter back; you will not be taking her away from me again.”

***

Lowri led him through the labyrinth of corridors that made up the ground floor of Caerdydd Castle, her heels clicking loudly on the stone floor. Eventually she pushed open a plain looking door, and he found himself blinking as natural light flooded into the hallway.

“Caitlin is taking morning tea in the rose garden,” said Lowri. “I trust you remember where that is?”

Despite the harsh tone to her voice, there was a soft smile on her face, one which he couldn't help but return. “I haven't forgotten.”

“She's been a shadow of herself for the last five years Valto.” She reached out and gripped his arm. “It has been like living with a ghost. I have faith that you can make her happy again.”

Cat's smile had once lit up his very world, and the idea that she stopped smiling made something twist inside him uncomfortably. “In the rose garden?”

She nodded and then all but pushed him out of the door, closing it behind him quickly.

The gardens of the castle had always been one of his favourite places, winding paths of gravel and stone weaving in and out of countless walled gardens. There was the smell of herbs and flowers in the air, and the sweet smell of roses was almost overwhelming as he neared the largest of the gardens. The walls were covered in a vine with huge pink flowers, and there was a small door which was almost hidden amongst the foliage. Thankfully it was already open, and he ducked through the opening so as to enter the garden.

Even though there were several large garden beds filled with flowering roses of various ages and colors, they weren't what caught his attention. On a grassy patch in the middle of the garden, underneath a cherry tree, was a table and chairs. The table was made up for morning tea with a tea set and a selection of cakes and sandwiches, a footman standing subtly in the corner of the garden should anything be needed. However, despite all of this, he found himself standing on the path, gaze completely taken up by the young woman who had stood from her chair when he entered.

Cat had always been gorgeous, well to him anyway, but the woman standing in front of him took his very breath away. Over the years he had forgotten how tiny she was, barely over five foot and with a petite figure to go with it. Though now her hips had a subtle curve to them, and she had developed a bust that was perfectly in proportion to the rest of her. She was stunning, with thick wavy brown hair which tumbled loose over her slim shoulders, and large hazel eyes which were locked onto him. Cat was dressed in an emerald green sundress that accentuated her figure, and she was, as usual, adorned with gold jewellery around her throat and wrists.             

It was in that moment that he knew he would do anything in his power to win her over again.