Caught Between Brothers

Chapter 8

“I’m going to have a babe.”  The words seemed distant as Kevan froze for a moment. Here he was thinking he would have two weeks alone with Elle and she was telling him she was pregnant with his brother’s child. Of course, he couldn’t be thinking of her in the way he had been. She wasn’t his to have. Had she known this for long? Why did she not tell him sooner? He slowly removed his hand from her arm. “Oi'm 'appy for yer an’ Aedan.” He said dryly, dropping his brother’s name like a bomb between them. He turned curtly before he could see the hurt cross her beautiful face. His heart hardened, sinking heavily in his chest. He should have known better than to have feelings for a taken woman.

He walked quickly from the room, down the corridor and across the castle to his own room. He slammed the door behind him and began pacing the floor. Well, Aedan would get what he wanted once again and little brother was left to sulk alone. Kevan grabbed a pouch of coins and stormed back out of his room. He would not sit around and feel sorry for himself. There were plenty of girls out there that were available to him, with enough coin. He crossed the courtyard to the stables, the stable boy seeing him coming hurried to ready his horse. After a few impatient moments, Kevan mounted his horse and galloped off towards the nearest town. He jumped down from his horse, nearly before it stopped. He tied it loosely to the front of the dingy tavern and walked inside. His eyes scanned the dim room until he found what he was looking for. The wench wasn’t as beautiful as Elle but she had the resemblance of a youthful beauty long past. He walked up to her with a grim face. She knew what he wanted and nodded for him to follow her up the stairs. She led him into a room with a small bed in one corner and a table near the door. “Yer’ll pay me now.” She motioned toward the table for him to lay her coins. He dropped the entire pouch onto the table with a loud thud. Her eyes grew wide with surprise and quickly darkened with pleasure. “Dat’ll git yer whatever yer want.” She ran her hands over his hips and tugged at his pant waist. With a quick movement, he removed her hands from his waist and pushed her against the wall roughly. “Oi’ll git what Oi want alrigh’.” He grunted against her skin, his grip tightening on her wrists. A look of fear flashed in her eyes before they landed on the pouch on the table. He knew she would let him do anything to her for that pouch. His face hardened once again and he lifted her easily and tossed her on the bed. For the next few hours, he took the wench in that tiny, dark room. He felt no pleasure or love from his act, just shame, wishing it was Elle he was with. After he had finished, he left the room without looking back and returned to the castle in the dark. He didn’t sleep that night or much for the next few nights. He avoided Elle for the next two weeks, only seeing her at meals. He spent his time outdoors, as far away from her as he could manage, doing his best to rid himself of his feelings towards his sister-in-law.