Redemption (Red Dragon Book 1) (4 page)

Chapter Six.

June 21st 2006

Kai's wedding, as had been expected, was quite lavish, with Steph having planned everything to the smallest detail. It made him quite nervous for his own wedding, since if this was what could be expected for the ninth in line for the line for throne, he hated to think what would be required for the Crown Princess.

"Nice ceremony." Valto glanced over at where his cousin Johann was standing beside him, arms folded across his chest and a smile on his face. "Getting scared yet?”

Taking another sip of his champagne, he smirked at the other man. "Not really, are you?"

Johann's wedding would be all of three months before Valto's, but the difference was that he had no idea what he was getting himself into. He and Myf hadn't seen each other for six years, and with the way that Johann had been throwing himself at everything in a skirt for at least that long it was clear that he hadn't put any thought into his upcoming nuptials. Digging into his pocket with his free hand, Valto pulled out the photo that Cat had given him. Scaring Johann half to death would easily provide his entertainment for the rest of the evening.

"Trying not to think about it, thanks."

"That's a shame," said Valto, handing the photo out to him. "I brought you an early wedding present."

"What?" Johann plucked the photo from his hand and turned it around, his eyes widening when he saw what was on it. "Who on Earth is this?"

It was a picture of Myf the previous summer, looking equally nervous and stunning in a sky blue bikini. Her incredible curves were clearly on display, her sheet of black hair clinging damply to pale skin, and her blue eyes were wide in shock as the photo was taken. She was certainly a Vaughn, even more so than Cat, and from what he had seen with the portraits hung around Caerdydd, there was a good reason their favour had been fought for so violently in the past.

"That dear cousin is your soon to be wife," he said. "You may thank me later."

There was silence from Johann as he stared at the picture. "Myf? But she’s fat"

He couldn't help but roll his eyes at how shallow the other man could be. "No, she was fat six years ago. Then again, so was I."

Johann slowly nodded his head. "I suppose, I just never thought that she would get ..."

"Hot?" Valto laughed. "She is a Vaughn Joh, and Cat's sister. You can't have believed that those genes wouldn't win out eventually. Not only that but she's a really nice person, a bit sweet and quiet for the likes of you, but certainly not one of your usual bitches."

"They're not all bitches," said Johann. "Sirrka wasn't a bitch."

"No she wasn't, and it's nice that the only one you were serious about was nice. But recently they've all been piranhas."

"She's sweet?" Johann glanced back down at the photo.

"Cat calls her submissive," he said. "Must be from their father beating them down constantly."

"Submissive." Johann's voice was barely a whisper. "I've never really done submissive."

"Well get the thought of having her on a leash out of your mind." Valto elbowed him in the side. "She's too nice for that sort of thing."

"I wasn't ..." Johann protested. "... Now I am."

With another laugh, Valto left his cousin fawning over the picture and weaved his way through the crowd in the ballroom until he was able to push open the doors outside.

Thankfully there was nobody else on the terrace, though he did take the winding steps down into the garden and settled himself on a patch of grass surrounded by tall bushes. The last thing he wanted was for his other cousins to find him out here calling his fiancé; he would never hear the end of it. Tipping his face momentarily into the fading sunlight, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and flipped it open.

With his heart in his throat, he scrolled through his contacts before finding Cat's number and hit 'call'.

"Hello."
Her voice was slightly muffled, as if he had woken her up and he had a flash of guilt at that.

"Cat? It's Valto."

"Oh."
There was the sound of her sitting up, and her quiet yawn made him smile.
"How's the wedding?"

"Starting to wind down now. Kai and Steph have already left, so it's just us stragglers hanging around."

"Did you give Johann the picture?"
There was a certain tone of amusement to her voice.

"Yes you tease, and I think it'll be providing his entertainment for the evening."

"That is disgusting! Myf will have a heart attack when I tell her."

"I don't know why everyone thinks you're nice, you can be quite evil when you feel like it."

She laughed then.
"So did you dance?"

"There wasn't anyone to dance with. Plus I don't dance, you know that."

"I'm sure there are plenty of pretty single girls there who would be up for a spin."

"None of them were you." The alcohol that Kai had been all but pouring down his throat all evening had turned him into a sap. "Why would I want to dance with anyone but you?"

"How much have you had to drink?"

"A bit. You know us Finns."

"Yes I do."

"How were your meetings? As boring as you thought they would be?"

"Worse. Agricultural treaties are quite possibly the worst things on Earth. I've come to the conclusion that this is how they actually killed the Kings of the past; they bored them to death. I mean seriously who cares how many head of sheep one county can have over the other?"

"Oh you Welsh and your sheep."

"Shut it reindeer boy."

They both laughed at that, and Valto found himself clutching the phone even tighter wishing that she was there with him. "I miss you."

"Oh Valto. You've only known me a handful of days."

"That's enough Cat. More than enough."

At that moment there was a shriek of laughter, and another one of his cousins came tumbling out of the bushes in a ball of blonde hair and powder pink silk.

"What was that?"

"Riika," he said. "I'll call you later."

"Sounds good."
Cat gave one last laugh and then hung up the phone.

"Oh my God did you hear yourself?" Riika was laying on her back on the grass, arms outstretched as she laughed almost uncontrollably.

Johann's little sister was distressingly like her elder brother. Both were too attractive for their own good, terrible flirts, and completely unable to keep their noses out of other people's business. It was bound to get her into some real trouble one day, and if Valto hadn't had so much to drink that he couldn't see straight it would have been today.

"What the hell are you doing listening through the bushes?" he said, throwing a small rock at her and watching as it bounced off of her forehead.

“Bored.” She shrugged her shoulders. “Everybody is starting to go home, and Johann is mooning over some picture of a girl with huge ...”  Riika held her hands out in front of her chest.

“Ah.” Valto smiled at that. “I'm glad he likes it.”

“What's it like to be in love?” she said, hugging her knees against her chest.

“Painful. Actually more like a combination between blissfully happy and complete agony. Riika is there something you want to talk to me about?”

She shook her head quickly and gave him a brittle smile. “No. No I'm fine. Do you love Caitlin?”

“Yes.” He didn't even need to think about it. “Very much so.”

“And she loves you, right?”

Valto had known that eventually someone was going to ask him that question, and that when they did he could either lie through his teeth or be brutally honest. Now looking at Riika's sincere face he found he couldn't do the former. “That's a difficult question to answer. I hurt Cat a lot and in the worst possible way.”

“You broke up with her because you thought she slept with Johann,” said Riika.

“That's right. I was wrong, horrendously so, and now I've sacrificed my entire life to try and make it up to her.”

“Why?”

He gave a soft laugh. “Because my life is meaningless without her, and it's taken me five years to work that out.”

***

It was nearly one o'clock in the morning when he finally made it back to Caerdydd, and he had to admit that he was glad to be back. He would miss Helsinki that was for sure, but it had been more than a week since he had last seen Cat, and he had only been able to talk to her a couple of times. How on Earth had he survived as long as he had completely banished from her side?

He seriously contemplated just falling into bed fully dressed, but he had been wearing the same clothes for the past thirty-six hours and they felt and smelt stale. With a low groan he slowly pulled off his clothes, choosing to then collapse face first onto the mattress. He had had a good few days in Finland, and it was always good spending time with his twin. It was also nice to see Kai so blissfully happy, something which made his stomach turn. He wanted that, a spouse who he could worship and adore, and who would love him in return.

Sleep must have claimed him then, because the next thing he knew he was being poked awake. The room was dark around him except for the silvery beams of moonlight coming through the window, and they framed Cat so perfectly that he thought he was dreaming.

“Cat?” He blinked up at her in confusion, taking in the fact that she was wearing a light blue silk dressing gown and her hair was falling loose to the small of her back.

“You're going to catch your death of cold,” she said, walking to the other side of the bed and pulling back the covers. “Get into bed for goodness sake.”

With a small moan he slowly complied and settled his head on the pillow, smiling gently at where she was still stood beside the bed. “What are you doing up at this time of night?”

She suddenly looked nervous, flicking her hair back and staring down at the pattern on the quilt. “I just thought I'd see you when you came back, make sure everything went alright.”

“Is everything ok?” He started to sit up, but came to a stop when he saw her hands move to the belt tying her gown close.

She rose her gaze to his face then, before parting the material. Valto nearly swallowed his tongue when she revealed that she was naked except for some lacy panties. To say that she was beautiful was the understatement of the year. The moonlight made her pale skin look like it was glowing, flawless and perfect as he stared at her. Her legs were long and shapely, hips rounded and tapering into her tiny waist. However it was her breasts in perfect proportion to her slender frame that had his attention, high and pert on her chest and the desire to cup them in his hands was almost tangible.

“Can I join you?” Her voice was breathy.

“Yes.” He nodded his head. “Of course.”

With that she slid onto the mattress, lying on her side so as to face him. “Valto are you going to come over here, or cling to the edge of the bed there?”

Her amusement was practically contagious, and he found himself smiling as he wiggled across the mattress towards her, stopping just before their bodies touched. “I'm here.”

“Yes you are.” She raised her hand and ran her hand through his hair, drawing him even closer. “Valto do you want me?”

“Want you to what?”

“Valto,” she said. “I'm practically naked in your bed, what do you think I'm asking?”

When he looked back on this night he knew that he would be horrified at how long it took him to figure out what she was getting at. Then again not very much blood flow was getting to his brain, since it had all been redirected southward. “Oh, but I haven't had a shower.”

She gave a laugh. “You can be my bit of rough. Valto if you don't want this you just have to say.”

He gently pressed his lips to hers, groaning softly into her mouth when her arms wrapped around his neck and she pulled him close. This was their second kiss in five years, and like their one just before he left for Kai's wedding it was almost overwhelming. So very different to the soft chaste ones of their youth that it was unbelievable.

“You're gorgeous.” He whispered the words against her lips. “You're the most beautiful woman in the world.”

“Oh Valto.” She scratched her nails lightly between his shoulder blades, making him gasp in response. “I'm already marrying you.”

“I know. It doesn't make it any less true.”

For a long moment they just lay there looking at each other, before she drew him back down into another kiss. He rested on his forearms above her, still in awe at how slight she seemed compared to him. Their tongues slid against each slickly, and he felt like he was losing time in her arms and at the sensation of her soft bare skin against his. Pulling away from her mouth, he slid his lips down the pale column of her throat watching in awe as her head fell back to give him better access. With a shaking hand he pushed back the bedspread and let his lips linger on the velvety skin of her shoulder, suddenly unsure about how to proceed.

“Here.” Cat's smile was gentle as she took his hand. “I'll help.”