Page 44 of Poison and Wine
“I didn’t order you any bleedin’ lingerie.”
“You said you did.”
When I realized what she meant, I grunted and rolled my gaze to the ceiling. “Christ, woman, I meant the right bra and knickers to wear with the blasted dress.”
Caterina blinked at me in surprise. “Oh,” she murmured.
“That’s all you have to say after biting my head off?”
“What would you have me say?”
“Maybe that you’re sorry for implying that I was some randy bastard who wanted you showing your tits and ass off in some scraps of lace.”
With a scowl, she replied, “Fine. I’m sorry for jumping to conclusions.”
“Don’t act like it killed you to apologize.”
“And you shouldn’t get used to it because I won’t be doing it again.”
Fucking hell, this woman was going to be the death of me. She had me half-mast and wanting to beat the hell out of someone. Placing my hands in front of my bulge, I barked out, “Be ready and downstairs at noon!”
I’d stalked halfway back to the door when her voice stopped me. “Um, I’ll need someone to help me get dressed.” When I whirled around ready to blast her for being a spoiled princess, she held her hands up. “It’s not that I’m helpless. The back of the dress has a lot of buttons.”
Fuck me. The last thing I needed to do was to be anywhere near Caterina when she was half naked. Just me thinking about her exposed breasts and pussy was making me even harder than before. With me out of the count, I realized there was no way in hell I would allow any of my brothers, not even Saint Kellan, to be near her.
“Since she’s the only woman in the house, I’ll send Nera.”
“Thank you.”
With a nod, I escaped out of the bedroom and ran into Quinn. “Easy, man, where’s the fire?”
Before I could respond, his gaze honed in on the bulge in my pants. His expression darkened. “What were you doing with Caterina for that to happen?”
I rolled my eyes. “Not a fucking thing.” At his skeptical look, I threw up my hands. “What do you want me to say? That I’m a masochist who gets off on riling up my future wife? Or that just being in the general vicinity of Caterina makes my cock hard, like a randy teenager?”
Quinn crossed his arms over his chest. “As long as you’re not laying a finger on her, then I don’t give a shite.”
“Just as I promised Caterina, out of honor to Maeve nothing sexually will happen between us until she comes willingly to my bed.” At Quinn’s nod of approval, I added, “I’m sure my dick will rot off from lack of use before she ever does that.”
A chuckle rumbled from Quinn’s chest. “Aye, that’s a definite possibility.”
Chapter Eleven: Caterina
After the last three days, I didn’t think there was anything else that could possibly rock me to my core. But Callum delivering me a wedding dress that he had handpicked obliterated me. Every time I thought I had him figured out, he did something else to confuse me. And that confusion led to twinges of feelings I hated myself for.
One minute he could be kind and considerate, and then the next he was an unimaginable bastard. I found myself caught between wanting to wrap my arms around him or smack him. Well, I suppose I had already done that. But I was certainly tempted to do it repeatedly.
Of course with my extremely limited experience with men, I didn’t know if this was normal. Did all couples drive each other crazy while simultaneously having moments of enjoyment? At the same time, I imagined that if it were Kellan or Dare or even Quinn as my groom, it would be different.
After Callum had left me this morning, I’d taken a long and luxurious bath. Then I’d unearthed a somewhat archaic looking curling iron in the back of the closet. Thankfully, it still worked, and I was able to do my hair in flowing waves. It was the first time in almost three years I’d really done anything to my hair. The prideful part of me reveled in how beautiful it looked.
Disgusted with myself, I turned away from the mirror and started going through the makeup. I’d just finished with everything from mascara and eyeliner to foundation when a knock came at my door.
After exiting the bathroom, I called, “Yes?”
“Signorina, è Nera. Sono qui per aiutarla.”
My heartbeat accelerated. Callum had come through and asked her to help me. I opened the door with a smile. “Grazie, Nera,” I replied. I was glad she was the one who was working today. We’d had a nice chat yesterday before I let her have the evening off for me to cook lasagna. It was also nice having someone else to speak Italian with besides the guards.