Chapter 14
Not long after, Elias was dressed and striding for the library. He had gone over the conversation in his head a dozen times. Victoria and her mother needed to leave Edenbridge Hall. This wedding was a sham, a crime—it was inexcusable—and he would not let it come to pass. He would tell Victoria that, and he would make her leave. It was, after all, for her own good.
With that conviction in mind, he swung open the doors to the library, expecting to meet the woman. Unfortunately, she was nowhere to be seen. The lamps were all lit, and the fire was blazing, but there was no Victoria. He was about to take his search elsewhere when he noticed half a dozen books had been left strewn across a table. He huffed in annoyance.
Of course Victoria had discarded them so carelessly, not bothering to replace them on the shelves. It fit perfectly with his opinion of the young woman. Stomping over to the table, he began slamming the books closed, but the subject matter caught his eye.
Beasts of the Perished Woods: A Comprehensive Guide, Myths and Legends of the Cursed Forest, History of Our Beast-Ridden Woods: From Ancient Times to Present. Why was Victoria reading about the Perished Woods?
Just past the table, he noticed more books scattered on the carpet. Angrily, he walked around it to pick them up and was startled to see Victoria herself. She was lying on her stomach, elbows propped on the ground, her chin in her hands. Elias recognized Terrors Among the Trees: Tales of Trolls from the Perished Woods sitting before her. She smiled up at him.
“What are you reading?” he demanded.
“I’m just doing a little research.”
“Research? What is there for you to research?” All the books she had out were pertaining to the cursed wood.
“If I am to live near this cursed forest everyone makes such a big deal about, I think I should know a thing or two about it.”
“You only need to know one thing about it: It’s dangerous, and you don’t go there, and you shouldn’t even be anywhere near it!”
“Is that one thing or three?” She was teasing him again, making a joke out of something serious.
“You seem to think there is charm in stubbornness, but I assure you, there isn’t.”
Victoria grinned up at him. Elias, not knowing what else to say and feeling his cheeks grow hot, started scooping up the books and slamming them shut.
“Hey!” Victoria cried, jumping to her feet. “I am reading those.”
“You don’t have any business reading these!”
“Why are they in the library if they aren’t for reading? Or is it me you object to?”
“It is definitely you that I object to,” Elias confirmed.
“I can’t go into the wood, and I can’t read about the wood. Is there any other command you have for me, sir?”
He did have one. Elias drew in a breath. “I think this has gone on long enough. You should leave.”
Victoria put her hands triumphantly on her hips. “I am not going anywhere. I will soon be the mistress of this house—your aunt.”
“I don’t care who you marry; you will not be my aunt.”
“Once I have wed your uncle, Lord Harrington, I will be your aunt, and I expect you to show me the level of respect that particular relationship calls for. That means no telling me what to do, where to go, or what I can and can’t read.”
“My uncle should have these books locked up.”
“That’s absurd,” Victoria countered.
“You are absurd.” Elias threw the books onto the table and dug in his pocket, pulling out the ribbon Victoria had left under his pillow.
She smiled sweetly, her eyes wide and doe-like. “My ribbon! Where did you get that?”
“You know exactly where I got that! The question is, what were you doing in my room?”
Victoria plopped herself onto the table, knocking over a stack of books. “I was snooping,” she answered, showing no remorse. “I saw you kept my ribbon that you bloodied and thought you might like a clean one.”
“You went through my desk?”
“Of course I did. I was snooping, and I discovered the ribbon I used to tie off your wounded hand. You’d saved it. Which is very sentimental of you, Elias.”
“I wasn’t saving that ribbon. I threw it there and forgot about it. There’s nothing more to to the story.”
Victoria’s sparkling eyes told him she still thought otherwise.
“Would it make you happy if I did save it?” he demanded.
Victoria closed her eyes. “I can see it now. You, brooding by the fire, clutching my ribbon—smelling it and dreaming of me.”
“What a thing for an engaged woman to say.”
Victoria’s eyes popped open. “Do you think it would make your uncle jealous?”
“If he cares for you enough to marry you, I imagine so.”
“Which part do you think would bother him most, my imagining it or your doing it?”
“I have never clutched nor smelled any ribbon of yours.”
Victoria slipped off the table and approached him. “I don’t believe you.”
“You don’t know a thing about me.”
She held his gaze. “I think I do.”
“If you did, you would listen to me. You would fear me.”
“You think I’m another Lydia Pritchard.”
Elias shook his head. Victoria was inches from him, her body warm, her cheeks flushed. Her scent flooded his senses, and his heart raged in his chest. She had no idea how close he was to losing control.
“You’re not like anyone I know either,” Victoria said, and she spoke these words in a whisper. It wasn’t the teasing, confrontational tone he was used to. It sounded vulnerable, like a confession.
Something came over Elias. It must have been the beast in him. He took Victoria by the waist and drew her body against his. Her arms went around his neck, and he kissed her. The kiss was angry—violent almost—but she met his fervor with her own. It was a moment of pure desire. His heart pounded in his ears, and he pushed her away. But it was too late, there was a knowing in her eyes. Elias wanted Victoria, and now she knew it.
There was nothing he could say. No words came to his mind. He wanted Victoria Fairfax. He wanted to spread her out on the table and study her body like a book. He wanted to taste her again—every inch of her. Surely, the beast was taking over.
Victoria said nothing, for she herself was dumbstruck. Had any man ever captured her attention so completely? It was an entirely unfamiliar experience; she hardly knew what had hit her. Could it be that after months of forced courting, she’d actually found a man she wanted? Impossible! Victoria didn’t want to marry. She had never wanted to be any man’s wife. Her heart belonged to the sea, and marriage was only her ticket back there. But when Elias held her, when his body was pressed against hers…it felt magnetic. There was a pull that she couldn’t resist.
“I liked that,” she whispered.
Elias growled and strode from the room, leaving her alone with a stack of books and unanswered questions.