Read Online Cait and the Devil by Annabel Joseph - Free Book Online Page A

sure she was sleeping. It couldn’t hurt, could it? The door would be locked, but he could use the hall door. And if she was still awake, he could hold her, soothe her. Explain that it wasn’t her fault, that it was his father, that he was the one flawed...
    But no, if he held her there would be no explaining. There would be no talking or soothing or anything except him ripping off her shift and burying himself to the hilt between her thighs.
    With a soft groan, he felt his member pulse to life just imagining it. Just imagining it for a second was enough to keep him up all night. He was just about to take himself in hand when he heard the lock click, a tiny sound, but unmistakable. The door opened a crack and her haunting eyes peered through the half light of the moon to meet his. She gasped softly, but she didn’t close the door. Instead, she opened it wider and sidled into his room, pressing back against the door as if, that way, she might not break the rule about entering.
    He watched her from where he sat, in a conundrum. He was unclothed and fully aroused. There was no way to rise from the bedclothes and show himself to her without frightening her right back out of the room. And he didn’t want her to leave because she was obviously troubled. The very fact that she would break his emphatic rule and enter his room was evidence of that.
    So he sat right where he was and waited to hear her speak.
    “I...I’m sorry to disobey you. I...I had to come in.” The poor thing was terrified he’d be angry.
    “Why did you have to come in?” he prompted softly.
    “B...Because...I’m cold.”
    He frowned. “It’s not at all cold, Caitlyn. It’s warm tonight, so if you’re cold I’m afraid you may be ill. Come here to the bed. Let me check for fever.”
    She pulled her blanket more tightly around her shoulders in some unconscious gesture of defense, but he could have it off her in an instant, and the flimsy shift she wore beneath. She approached him as if she knew there was danger. He reached out to place roughened fingers against her forehead, then down the side of her face, against her porcelain cheeks. He looked into her eyes.
    “No fever. You feel fine to me. Are you really cold, or do you have another reason for being here? Do not tell lies, Caitlyn. I don’t like it.”
    “I... I...”
    “Were you upset by my father today?”
    “Yes,” she whispered in relief. “He...scares me a little.”
    “I completely understand. He dealt with you very rudely and I apologize for it, although I’m sure he’ll do it again. You must understand that’s just his way. Unfortunately, he is my father, so you must show him respect as far as you can.”
    “Yes, sir.” He knew she would, only because he asked it of her. She really was remarkably obedient. His cock throbbed from the trusting, open way she looked at him. She leaned closer so he could feel her heat. The sweetness of her soft breath washed over him, stealing his control.
    “I’m... I’m so sorry if I embarrassed you. If you were displeased with me...”
    “I was not displeased. I am never displeased with you. I know I ...” Without meaning to, he reached to take a lock of her black hair between his fingers, twirling it. “I know it seems I am distant, that I don’t care for you. But Caitlyn, there’s a reason for that.”
    Silence stretched out between them.
    “What reason?” she finally asked.
    Duncan frowned. “I’m not really certain if you’re ready yet to become my true wife.”
    She drew a soft breath of surprise. “What...what do you mean? Your true wife?”
    He dropped her hair and ran his knuckles down her velvet cheek. “Wives and husbands, they can share certain...intimacies with each other if they wish. But it requires bravery, and hard work.”
    “What kind of work?” she asked, so eagerly that it touched his heart. “I’m good at doing work. I don’t mind it at all.”
    “I know, Caitlyn. But it’s hard, complicated work, like