Majesty Castle

Dinner was surprisingly quiet. Matthew coming back to Majesty was the last thing anyone expected and the tension was obvious. Other than the sounds of clinking forks and knives, nothing else could be heard. When dinner was done and the last of the desert dishes were cleared from the table, all of the diners quietly took their leave.

Allegra went along with Nina and Candace to the library where they discussed the upcoming wedding between Nina and James. Candace was a saving grace even if she was a little raunchy at times. If ever there was a couple more perfect for each other, it was surly Candace and Zakk. He is rough around the edges, but soft when he should be and she although isn’t quite the “lady,” she is very much a woman and together they make it work. It may not be obvious to her, but she was the envy of the two younger girls.

Zacky went back to his room after seeing Luke out. Fawn’s pregnancy news had done a number on his head and being alone was what he needed if he was going to clearly think this through. The fact that Fawn was now living in his father’s house had Zacky even more on edge. His father hadn’t uttered a single word to him in years because of Luke. Yet, here was his wife, pregnant with his child, living in his father’s house. A decision was going to have to be made sooner or later.

Matthew and James went out to the stables to check on the horses one last time while Johnny went to find Etta. Because of the storm, Zakk insisted she stay in one of the guest rooms until it passed.

That left Brian. Braving the rain, he went back to the fort to see Simone.

***

Slowly the door was pushed open and Brian peeked inside readying himself for an onslaught of home furnishings. The last time it was candlesticks that flew through the air aimed at his head. This time, nothing came. So, he stepped inside.

“Oh hell spawn, where for art thou?” he called out gingerly and after not getting a response he walked down the hall to the bedchamber that Simone had claimed as hers.

After knocking on the door and not getting an answer, he turned the knob and pushed the door open. It was dark, but easy enough to see the figure lying in bed due to the moonlight from the window. At first he stood there just looking at her, but it didn’t take long for his feet to start moving. As he stood by the bed looking down at Simone, Brian unbuttoned his shirt and slid it off his shoulders letting it fall to the floor. After taking off his shoes, he crawled into the bed beside her.

Simone slept while Brian lay silently beside her knowing this could possibly be the last time he ever sees her again. In his mind, he knew he wasn’t going to let her go without a fight and surely there would be one. He moved his body closer so that he was lying right behind her on his side. His hand slid up her thigh and rested on her hip while he moved his face closer to her neck and breathed in her scent. Simone stirred, but didn’t wake.
Brian couldn’t resist. She was the one he could never obtain and for that he wanted her even more. His lips lightly caressed her shoulder, but he stopped when she sighed in her sleep. He smiled to himself and kissed her shoulder again while his hand moved back down from her hip to her thigh.

Simone felt the intrusion and panicked. She screamed and tried to move away as fast as she could, but Brian grabbed her around the waist. “Let go of me!” It was dark and Simone couldn’t see Brian. When the panic in her started to rise, her whole body started shaking.

“It’s me, damn it. It’s Brian.”

“Brian?”

“Yes, Brian.” He took her hand and placed it on his face. “See?”

She slapped him.

“Are you crazy? You scared the hell out of me!”

“Calm down.”

She slapped him again.

“Calm down? What the hell are you doing in my bed?” Clearly he wasn’t welcome and she was still angry about being left at the fort against her will.

Brian let out a huff and got off the bed. He found the matchbox on the bedside table and lit the oil lamp before getting back on the bed. Simone was sitting facing forward on the far side of the bed with her back against the wall and her legs under her. In the light she could see Brian in all his shirtless glory. He leaned back against the headboard and looked at her. “I came to tell you that I spoke with your brother and he thinks you should go and find your parents. So, as of tomorrow morning, as long as the storm has passed, you are free to leave.”

“Really?” She leaned forward almost not believing him.

“Really,” he nodded. “I don’t agree with you going on your own, but it isn’t my call now is it?” There was bitterness in his tone and she noticed immediately. He leaned off the side of the bed and picked up his shirt. After pulling an envelope out of the front pocket he handed it to her. “He said to give you this. It should cover your expenses.”

Simone took the envelope and looked down at it while he continued to speak. “There is enough to rent a carriage to take you where you want to go as well as to pay for lodging and food. If you need more, just send word and he will get it to you.”

Brian folded his arms across his chest and focused his gaze on the lamp. Simone set the envelope down on the bed and glared at him.

“Why are you so angry?”

“Do you really need an answer to that?”

“Yes, Brian, I do.”

“Fine.” He stopped to think for a minute how to put into words what he wanted to say to her. “I don’t get it, Simone. Everything you need is here. Everything you could ever want is sitting right in front of you. I don’t know what the hell your definition of family is, but where I come from a mother doesn’t leave her child unattended in a room at an Inn to go off gallivanting with men. You’re headed for heartbreak, Simone, and you don’t even know it. Why can’t you see that your family is here and was here all along?”

She laughed lightly and shook he head. “So that is what this is about. Big tough Brian wants to step in and be my hero. You just can’t understand that I don’t want you!”

“Don’t you?” He cocked his head to the side and gave her an all-knowing smirk before grabbing her arm and jerking her forward. Her body crashed into his chest and they were now eye to eye. “Tell me to my face that you don’t want me.”

He waited while staring right into her eyes for her to respond, but she said nothing and he took that as his answer. His arm held her tightly to his chest and he wasn’t planning on letting her go. His hunger for her was evident and when his lips met hers, she didn’t protest. He kissed her not like a lover would, but as a man who wanted her more than any other and she responded by parting her lips for him. He took her breath away and when he finally pulled back from the kiss, he stared at her even more intently than before. “Now, tell me you don’t want me, Simone.”

A gasp was all she could manage until she caught her breath again. She looked at him, but couldn’t respond. When he leaned forward again attempting to steal a second kiss, she moved her head back.

“No.” She shook her head. “No. Brian, get out of my room.”

“You can’t say it, can you?” He loosened his grip on her waist and let his arm fall to her lower back.

“Stop it.”

“You want me,” he chided.

“NO!” She pushed off of his chest and got up off the bed. “Get out of my room. I don’t want you now and I never will. I know who you are. You are no better than the whores in the brothels. You have sex with any woman who will have you and I wont be one of them. I’m not going to be another notch on your bedpost that you’ll use for your own personal pleasure and discard like the trash when you are done. So, no, Brian, I don’t want you! Is that clear enough?”

Brian shot up off the bed and grabbed his shoes and his shirt. A mix of anger and hurt flooded his face. “You’re making a big mistake, Simone.”

“No, I’m not!”

“Fine, I’ll go.” He started for the door and with one hand on the knob he turned and looked back at her. “I would have given up everything for you. My money, the girls, life at Majesty, all of it. All for you and you know damn well that you feel something for me, you just wont admit it to yourself.” He shook his head and looked at her like she was a complete stranger. “I was there for you when no one else was. I gave you my shoulder to cry on and defended you when no one else did. None of that mattered, did it?” His eyes met hers as she stood there on the verge of tears. “ I tell you what, Simone. I’m going to walk out of this room and tomorrow morning, I’m going to go back to Majesty and forget that you even exist. When you get back from your trip, I wont even acknowledge you and when you realize the mistake you made, it will be too late because now, I will never touch you again. There wont be a single thing you could do to make me want you. I’m dead to you from now on.”

Brian walked through the door and closed it behind him. Simone stood there letting the tears spill down over her cheeks. She ran for the door and opened it. Brian was walking down the hall towards his bedroom and she called out to him.

“Brian! Wait!”

He chuckled outside his bedroom door and turned his head to the side to look at her. “No,” he shook his head. “I’ve waited long enough.” When he walked into his room, he slammed the door so hard the floor beneath her vibrated.

Simone retreated back to her room and closed the door behind her. She stood leaning back against the door with her eyes closed and tears running down her cheeks. After tonight, her life would never be the same again.

*******

When the morning came, Brian woke up to the sound of birds chirping outside his window. That sound could only mean that the storm had passed and today Simone would leave. He rubbed his hands over his face before sitting up and swinging his legs over the side of the bed. The words that he said to her last night replayed over and over in his head as he sat there. It was harsh, even for him.

Without even bothering to put on a shirt, he walked out of his room and down the hall to hers. Simone’s bedroom door was wide open. The bed was made up and there was no sign of her. She was gone and all he could think about was the last thing he said before he walked out of her room the night before. “I’m dead to you from now on.” Those would be the words that would haunt him the whole time she was gone. Never knowing if she was safe or taking care of herself. Never knowing if she was hurting or happy. Never having told her that he loves her. In the end, it was him who was heading for heartbreak and it hurt more than he expected it would.

Simone had left in the early hours of the morning and took a carriage to Majesty. If she was going to find her real parents, she was going to have to have something to go on. Jon sat with her in the study and respected her wishes. He answered all of her questions and told her where they found her. When their conversation was over, he begged her to change her mind, but she refused. Before she left, she hugged him and together they cried. Jon made sure she knew she had a place to come home to when she returned and in him a father should she decide that was what she wanted. When she was gone, Jon sat down in his chair and hung his head low. Never did he ever think he would see the day when he had to say goodbye to his daughter. Part of him died when she walked out the door. Rosalie was in for a much needed rude awakening.