Compromising Kessen (The Vandenbrook #1)(23)
Author: Rachel Van Dyken

Christian threw a shoe, heard Duncan swear, and smiled to himself. At least he had two things to be thankful for before going to bed.

Kessen’s kisses and a large bruise on Duncan’s head.

Chapter Thirteen

Kessen felt like she was being rained on. Why? She had no idea. In fact, she was relatively certain she was merely dreaming of the rain, until her face suddenly felt rather wet. She opened her blurry eyes and froze. Christian was standing over her with a cup of water.

She groaned and turned to her side. “What. Are. You. Doing?”

“Waking you up, sleepy head. It’s practice for when we’re married. I am an early riser, you know, and I think—”

Kessen reached across the bed and clapped her hand over his mouth, forgetting about their no-touch rule. She didn’t have the heart to remove her hand. Instead she kept it there, memorizing the way his skin felt under hers. “Stop talking,” she finally ground out, although it sounded breathless. Perfect. Now he’ll think I’m a wanton woman in the morning.

“I have the shower ready for you,” he said awkwardly.

She was out of bed in a flash, glaring at him.

“Calm down. I’m not joining you. What kind of man do you think I am, anyway?”

“A normal one,” she muttered under her breath.

He was trying hard not to smile. “Kessen, trust me. My concern is only for your desperate need for a shower. Because honestly, you’d want to stab me if you knew I was seeing you like this.”

She gasped, moaned, then sat up on her bed and put her head in her hands. She hadn’t showered last night—her hair. She reached up and touched a knot on the top of her head. Perfect. She sighed before turning her red face to his perfectly shaved one. “Wait here, I’ll be back after I’m done getting the kinks out of my hair, which might take a few hours.”

“I’ll wait.” He pulled out the newspaper and began reading.

****

Kessen tried to hurry through the shower, but her hair was not having it. She finally doused it with leave-in conditioner and ran her fingers through the long locks. It took a ridiculous amount of time to brush her teeth and shave her legs—because, well, you never knew.

She donned her boy shorts and long-sleeve Henley before returning to her room.

“You do have fantastic legs,” Christian said from behind the newspaper.

She felt a blush coming on.

“I do hope you’re blushing right now,” he said, still not putting the newspaper down.

Kessen closed her eyes to regain her composure. “So, you’re here at an ungodly hour, which means you have something to discuss with me. What’s going on?”

Christian put the newspaper down and grimaced. This couldn’t be good. Was he breaking up with her? Did something happen? He put his head in his hands and sighed.

“Christian? What is it? Are you okay?” She knelt in front of him with her hands on his. Again the no-touching rule was getting harder and harder to follow. She jerked her hands back quickly, but not before sharing a smoldering glance with him.

“There are pictures,” he whispered.

“From the ball, you mean?”

He pressed his lips together and shook his head.

“From the other day when we went walking?”

He shook his head again.

“Then from what?”

He closed his eyes and bit his lip. Kessen’s brain was going a hundred miles an hour. What could they have possibly gotten pictures of? The only time they were doing anything remotely scandalous was when they were in the cottage. Oh no!

“Th-the cottage?” she stuttered.

He nodded.

She sank to the floor and hugged her knees. “How bad?”

He joined her on the floor and pulled her to his side before saying, “Bad.”

“How bad is your version of bad? Because my version has us going to the place of no return.”

“It’s not that bad,” he answered, still pulling her to his side. Obviously, the no-touch rule wasn’t in effect anymore.

“Is it in the newspaper?” she asked, reaching for it. He slapped her hand away.

“Kessen, do you trust me to take care of this in the best way possible?”

She nodded numbly.

“The pictures … well, they make both of us look bad. Unfortunately, because you’re so new.”

“They make me look like a sl—”

“Do not finish that sentence,” he growled.

She nodded but knew he was thinking the same thing.

He kissed the top of her head. “We made page six.”

“Please tell me you mean page six in London.”

“Afraid not,” he said.

“Drat.”

Christian laughed and pulled her closer. It felt good to be protected, and it wasn’t as if there were any cameras in her bedroom. It didn’t hurt that the hug made her feel loved and cherished; her mom had given the best hugs.

“I think we should move the wedding forward,” he said, shattering her thoughts.

“What?” Panic rose in her throat. So this was what it felt like to have a nervous breakdown. Swell. Jumping to her feet, she began pacing the room.

“Kessen, Kessen, look at me.” He was steadying her, but she suddenly felt dizzy. “Sit down. It’s fine. Everything will be alright.”

She kissed him.

Call it getting lost in the moment, call it temporary insanity, but in that moment when he was comforting her, and she felt the blackness cave in around her eyes, she knew what she wanted. She should blame it on her more basic instincts taking over. Her mind had already gone when she heard him say wedding and forward; now her body apparently needed confirmation.

Christian’s body, however, needed something entirely different. Before she knew what was happening, she was on her back with Christian pinning her down. He was so warm and inviting. She wrapped her hands around his head and pulled his lips down to hers.

He moaned her name, making her deepen the kiss. She shouldn’t be blamed for her actions. After all, she hadn’t even had breakfast yet, or coffee or anything. So obviously, she wasn’t in her right mind. It wasn’t her fault. At least that’s what she kept telling herself as Christian’s tongue feathered along her lips and jaw until she thought she would go insane.

A knock in the distance jolted both of them from the floor. She’d never seen a man move so fast. It would have been impressive had he not hit her in the process, sending her sailing back to the floor

“Kessen! Oh! I’m terribly sorry!! Are you hurt?” He was kneeling next to her as the door flung open.