The Scandal You Started, page 7
“Don’t ever do that again. Do you understand?”
“I won’t. I promise.”
Victor released a slow exhale, then pressed a long-second kiss to her hair. “Come on. If I keep thinking about what happened, my head’s going to explode.”
His head might’ve exploded, but if she thought about what he’d seen, her cheeks were going to fry off her bones. So, with one last cuddle, she headed with Victor to join the others.
“I heard my name,” she said when Monty mentioned something about her and George.
Monty looked across George, River, and Ash to her. “I was just telling Lord Norland that you and George recently stayed at the farmhouse with two other Studies.”
Rayna glanced at Dominic, ready to agree with Monty, but the moment she was captured by the marquess’s stare, the words vanished from the tip of her tongue.
There was a blaze of raw emotion coursing through his piercing irises that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end as if she were staring into the eyes of a raging predator. His gaze snapped to Victor next to her and narrowed just a touch before latching on to her again with an irritated accusation that she couldn’t quite decipher.
Her brows dipped in question, but he swiftly moved his attention to Monty. “The house sounds to be a decent residence,” he said coolly. “Except there is one problem.” River became the subject of his murderous stare. “My guardianship being in the hands of my kidnapper. For the sake of us both, I require someone else to be my Guardian.”
Rayna had had a feeling Dominic wasn’t going to like the idea of River as his Guardian, and while she didn’t exactly blame him, the threatening tone was unnecessary.
River shifted on his feet with a wince as Monty cleared his throat. “If you’d rather not have River as your Guardian,” the older man said, “then I’m sure we could arrange for George to stay with you instead.”
Dominic grunted. “Doesn’t the puppy need his own guardian?”
Rayna instantly bristled as that one nerve that so easily sent her anger spiking was pulled.
Oh, fuck no.
There was one thing she really couldn’t stand for. Never had, never would. And that was her family being insulted.
Why was he suddenly being so rude anyway?
“I’m not a puppy,” George bit out, his cheeks flushed red.
“If not George, then Zack,” Monty said calmly. “He’ll be back in a few days, so—”
“You will not keep me in here a day longer,” Dominic stated with a tone of unquestionable authority.
Then his eyes settled on her, glinting under the cool lighting.
Ah. So that’s what he wants.
His refusal to take either River, George, or Zack as his Guardian quickly made a lot of sense.
It was because he wanted her to be his Guardian.
Victor made his answer clear when he pulled her half behind him. “River, George, or Zack. Or we return you to your time today.”
Rayna stepped out from behind him, refusing to be shielded. In fact, she wanted to glare Dominic down. It was vexing how he was living up to his entitled, arrogant image when only minutes ago she’d thought his curiosity was cute. Asshole.
“I choose neither of the three, nor will I return.” His stubborn stare never left her, but his words were undoubtedly directed towards Victor.
“River, prepare for the marquess’ return this evening.”
Dominic’s eyes shot to Victor. “River will do no such thing.”
Victor jerked a step forward. “My word goes here, and River will do what I say.”
Dominic stood from the edge of the bed, his objective clear from his blown-up shoulders and tight fists. But Rayna was done with his shit-arse attitude and quickly pushed her way in front of Victor, bringing Dominic to a stop in front of her.
“That’s enough,” she snapped, icy irritation biting at her skin. “You don’t get a bloody say in what goes on around here, and you sure as fuck don’t get to threaten anyone just to have your way.” His eyes darkened, but she raised her chin undeterred. “Instead of being a rude prick, if there’s something you want, ask for it. Clearly.”
The corner of his mouth lifted the slightest bit as he bent towards her, so damn smug that she was giving him an opening. “You will be my Guardian.”
That wasn’t a question.
Victor lurched to answer, but she beat him to it. “No.”
Dominic’s brows dropped in confusion as if he’d never heard the word before. “No?”
“No.”
A snort came from her left, but she didn’t need to follow Dominic’s furious scowl to know it had come from George.
“For what reason are you refusing?” Dominic growled.
She gave him a dismissive shrug. “Because I can.”
His jaw rolled slowly, and Rayna fought the tickling urge to smirk.
There was nothing he could say to counter that, and his dumb silence was music to her ears.
She cocked her head in a taunt. “I also don’t like your attitude, so maybe if you fix that up and apologise to these men, I’ll reconsider.”
“I have done nothing that requires an apology.”
She pointed to each man as she listed his transgressions. “You were dismissive of Monty, you threatened River, you insulted George, and you’re being unnecessarily aggressive towards Victor. But nothing they’ve said or done justifies the way you’re treating them. So apologise. Now.”
Dominic scrubbed a bandaged hand over his whiskered jaw and shuffled closer to her. “What link is there between my apology and your refusal to be my Guardian?”
She scrunched her face at his stupid question. “You’re being rude to the people I work with and care about, and I can’t stand that. So why would I agree to live with you and take care of you for possibly four months? But, if you have the decency to apologise, then I’ll consider being your Guardian.”
“No,” he declared after a few seconds. “There will be no pointless consideration. If I apologise, you will be my Guardian.”
“No,” Victor said.
“And no one will contend otherwise.”
“I already said no,” Victor said low and slow.
The two men had a stare-off, and Dominic might have had the taller, bulkier build, but Victor’s ice-blue eyes were deadly laser beams that burned like liquid nitrogen.
Rayna turned her back to Dominic. “V—”
“No, Rayna,” he said sternly.
“V.”
She wasn’t particularly eager about the idea of being Dominic’s Guardian, but if it saved everyone else from his unjust insolence, she’d take the job. It was less about self-sacrifice and more about her stubbornness and determination to take on difficult cases. Plus, she had said she wanted to work with the marquess when Victor had first told her and George about him.
Be careful what you wish for, Rayna.
Panic flickered through Victor’s eyes as he shook his head. “No, Rayna. Dammit, no.” He sounded more pleading than unbending. “You promised me!”
She smiled softly. “I didn’t promise you anything about this.”
His face twisted like he wanted to scream and pull his own hair out. “I won’t—no. You can’t. No, no. No.”
“I can do this.”
He shook his head rapidly, a stifled sound of frustration slipping out.
“Every time I think I might have changed my mind, she reminds me why I never want kids,” George muttered in the background.
Rayna threw him a glare. “Fuck off.”
He smirked and nodded his chin at Victor. “Look at how the vein in V’s forehead is ticking.”
Ash opened his mouth, and she immediately put up a finger in warning. “If you say ‘blood pressure,’ Ash, I’m going to knock you to the floor.”
Ash’s ruby-red eyes danced as he curled his smiling lips into his mouth.
“V,” Rayna said in his silence.
With a huff, Victor turned his head away. “Ask Monty,” he grumbled.
She raised her brows at the older man. “Monty, are you okay with this?”
Monty twiddled with his salt-and-pepper moustache before sighing. “Yes. I suppose I am.”
Satisfied with his response, she fortified her shoulders and swivelled to face Dominic.
“River, can you come here please?” she called.
The slim, awkward man slunk to her side in silent steps.
“You will apologise to everyone,” she then said to Dominic, “and I will be your Guardian. On the condition that River will work with us as an additional part-time Guardian, and if you so much as even speak badly about him let alone to him, you will be sent back to your time immediately. Do I make myself clear?”
He smiled at River, and it was anything but kind. “That shouldn’t be a problem as long as River is not under the same roof as us.”
River cleared his throat and looked between them. “Yeah, that—that’s fine.”
Hardly missing a beat, Dominic faced the others and bowed his head. “I sincerely apologise for my offensive actions,” he uttered before lifting his glimmering gaze to her. “Is that sufficient enough for you?”
A growl bubbled in her throat at his easy-going tone, but she gritted her teeth and gave him a single nod.
He spread his shoulders wide as his mouth quirked in a satisfied smirk. I won, he was declaring, and, fuck, did it piss her off.
She reacted to her ire and jabbed a finger into his chest. “Let’s get one thing straight, shall we, Dominic? From here on out, you’re under my care, which means you will do what I say, when I say it, exactly as I tell you to. And seeing as you wanted me to be your Guardian, you’ll do so without complaint.”
His smirk widened into a toothy grin as he bent into her. “I have never taken orders from the King of Khaas himself, sweetheart. But there is a first time for everything, is there not?”
Outside the room
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” George asked once he, Victor, River, and Monty had stepped back out of Lord Norland’s quarantine room.
All four men watched through the observation screen as the marquess sat upon his bed with Rayna by his side while Ash prepared to sedate him one final time.
“He, uh…I think he likes her,” River added.
Victor sighed and pulled off his glasses to press his thumb and forefinger over his eyes.
“Think?” George echoed, throwing a hand out to the glass. “It’s damn obvious that’s the only reason he wants her as his Guardian. And I’m not saying he’s a threat to her, but he’s determined and bloody stubborn. Even if Rayna stands her ground, it doesn’t seem clever to let them live together. Alone. For four months.”
There was a minute or two of silence as they all watched the marquess’s body fall limp as the sedative did its job.
“There’s no rule that says a Study can’t make advances on their Guardian.”
Victor, George, and River glanced at Monty when he spoke.
“We all saw that she wasn’t the instigator, so no rules were broken,” the older man added. “And no matter what happens, he will return when the project is complete.”
At that point, the clack of the metal door sounded, and River and George moved away to meet Ash and Rayna as they exited the room.
Victor held Monty’s concerned frown, knowing it reflected his own thoughts.
“There’s no certainty history won’t repeat itself,” Monty murmured.
Somewhere in his gut, Victor felt the weight of those words.
Knowing what it possibly meant for them all, he should have been keeping Lord Norland and Rayna apart…
So why wasn’t he?
Chapter 8
Rayna
In the five-plus hours Dominic slept after Ash had put him under, Rayna had packed a suitcase at her house, while River had collected clothes roughly in Dominic’s size from the lab wardrobe. Then she’d driven herself to the farmhouse she and Dominic would be calling home for the next four months before he too was transferred there in his state of slumber.
She was sitting in a navy, velvet armchair next to the wooden bedside cabinet and double bed placed in the corner of his bedroom when he awoke groggily. But the moment he spotted her, his eyes glowed wolfish and bright, and he flashed her a lopsided smile.
“Well, this is a lovely surprise,” he purred so damn huskily that it vibrated in her belly.
He didn’t seem to think it was as lovely, though, when he wobbled to push himself upright as she let him know he was in the farmhouse. After which she gave him the option to eat or wash, and then laughed when he asked for a servant to run him a bath. She delighted in the way his expression slowly dropped as she explained there were no servants.
“What you mean to say is that you would like me to do everything I have always had done for me by myself?” he confirmed in humoured disbelief. “I would be the joke of the ton if anyone caught word of this, little witch.”
She rolled her eyes. “Well, it’s a good thing none of them are going to find out then. And I didn’t say you’d have to do everything by yourself.” She pointed a warning finger at him. “But I won’t be ordered around like a servant, so don’t even try to, or we’re gonna have serious problems.”
He leaned into her and grinned with playful exaggeration. “Ah, but I wouldn’t dare do so.”
His ensuite bathroom was tucked in an alcove at the end of his bed, along with a built-in wardrobe. She instructed him to drink the glass of water on the cabinet while she prepped his bath and put out the shaving kit he asked for.
When she came back out as the water was running, Rayna watched as Dominic struggled to get himself up from the bed. She might not have felt remorse when Ash put him to sleep in the lab after the way he’d acted, but her skin pinched from the inside in that moment.
It wasn’t just that the anaesthesia hadn’t worn off properly, but the past two weeks hadn’t been easy for him, and it’d clearly taken a toll on his body. But he was a man who’d grown up in an environment where his pride was everything. He didn’t and wouldn’t ask for help, especially not from her. Neves forbid a woman see him as human.
So rather than waiting or offering, she announced her assistance under a guise so he couldn’t argue.
“I’m going to help you bath this once because you have no idea what anything is in there, and by the time I finish explaining everything, your bath will’ve gone cold,” she said, digging through the chest of drawers along the wall of the bedroom door. “You’ve got five minutes to put these boxers—I mean, smalls—on and get in the tub while I wait outside.”
Of course, he was shocked. By both her offer and the size of the black boxers she dangled in front of him. He tried to argue that it wasn’t right for her to bathe him, suddenly deciding he was actually an easily scandalised nobleman rather than a flirtatious oaf, but she walked out of the room, ignoring him.
Fifteen minutes later, Rayna was sitting on a little black stool to the side of the white bathtub in the white-tiled and grey wood bathroom, while Dominic was sitting in the tub, the soapy water rippling against his upper abdomen.
She was trying to shave his foam-painted jaw, but she’d made little to no progress. He was more interested in yapping away questions like a starry-eyed child about the “glass cuboid in the corner with the watering can in it” to the humming of the fan in the background, and the blue shaving gel turning white in the palm of his hand.
“But what causes the chemical reaction?” he asked, dipping his chin just as she brought the razor to his face.
“Dominic,” she snapped.
He lifted his wide, curious gaze to her. Two clean-shaven streaks exposed a permanent shadow on his chiselled jawline.
She brandished the blade. “Sit. Still.”
He grinned sheepishly. “Apologies, sweetheart.”
Washing his unbandaged hands in the bathwater, he faced her again, then crossed his bulky arms over the flat rim of the tub with all the laziness of a big cat. She held his chin and began shaving the rest of his cheek, trying and failing not to sneak appreciative glances at him every time she washed the razor in the small bowl gripped between her knees.
It irritated her that she couldn’t tame her own eyes, but she told herself most people would have struggled not to notice the masculine nakedness of him.
And there was a lot of him. A lot of attractive parts.
Not that her belly hummed at his attractiveness. No, no. Just...objectively speaking.
The stark contrast between the white of the bathtub and his bronzed skin spoke volumes for how much time he spent in the sun shirtless, because the tan blended evenly from his thick neck all the way down his chest. With how close he was, his shoulders seemed twice the size of hers. And she could try to count each indent of muscle, but she’d be counting for ages.
He was hairy too—a nice kind of hairy all over. The fleece she’d glimpsed on his arms and chest earlier in the day painted what she’d seen of his legs too and down his torso to under the soapy water. She absolutely hated that she knew the colour of his nipples, but with the hair on his chest wet, it was impossible to miss the distinct flat pebbles of copper brown.
She was almost thankful for the distraction when he started talking again.
“No woman has ever shaved me before,” he muttered as she cleared the last strip of white foam from one cheek. “I am beginning to wonder why. It is rather pleasant watching you concentrate so sweetly, while your delicate fingers touch my face.” He sank closer. “Then again, I doubt it would feel thus if it were anyone other than you, sweet Rayna.”
Her eyes flattened into unimpressed slits, making him grin. She pinched his chin and jerked his face away rougher than necessary, so his other cheek was visible. He hissed a little discontented sound, but his gaze never left her.
“You’re a lot happier about this now than when I suggested it,” she said.
