Well, although she was quite sure that something like a house that fulfilled its owner's wishes wasn't possible, she felt that there was some mystery about this mansion. And she was very determined to find out what it was about this place that had kept her aunt so intrigued that she never wanted to leave it again.
If you have a wish, simply speak it out loud. She read the sentence again and smiled to herself. Apparently Beatrice had been very fond of fairy tales. "Ridiculous," she murmured. "
Laying down the letter on the table, she decided to try it out, proving once and for all that her aunt had just invented all these stories about a magic house - probably without being aware that they were just a delusion.
"Hello, my lovely new house," she said into the silence of the room, choosing the first ideas that came to her mind. "This salon looks a bit barren, how about decorating it with some flowers? A glass of champagne would be nice, too. Oh, and I'd like to have a really handsome man here to serve me. While he's at it, he could give me a nice hard massage. My back hurts like hell after the long drive today." She gave an amused little laughter, turning to the photography on the mantelpiece.
"Now how's that, Aunt Beatrice? Not bad for a beginner, what do you think?"
In the blink of an eye, she was lying on one of the brocade settees along the wall, face down on a sheet of cream-colored silk. A bubbling glass of champagne stood on a small table beside her. When she turned her head to the side, she saw that the room was filled with hundreds of roses in pastel colors, emanating a wonderful, intoxicating scent. They were white roses, yellow roses, peach roses, all neatly arranged in crystal vases that were placed on every piece of furniture.
A light breeze from an open window grazed her skin, and she suddenly realized that she was completely naked. With a small outcry of surprise, she wrapped herself in the silken sheet and sat up on the settee.
She gasped when she felt warm, long fingers on her shoulders, and the caress of a hand large enough that it could only belong to a man.
"The muscles of your neck are so tight, Mistress," a deep voice said. Jane slightly turned and looked up to look into the face of a stunning young man. He wore a servant's livery that looked like a costume from a Regency period movie, and his long, chocolate brown hair was bound at the nape of his neck. His light blue eyes gave a great contrast to his tanned skin, and his lush, full lips were slightly opened. They seemed to have been made for kissing. Without realizing, Jane moistened her own lips with her tongue, watching this irresistible mouth.
"Who are you?" she managed to whisper, unable to do anything but stare at him.
Smiling, he bowed down and gently pushed her back onto the settee, kneeling down beside her.
"My name is Sean," he said. "I'm here to help you relieve some tension." His warm silken voice felt like a caress on her skin. Closing her eyes when his hands touched her again, she gave in, accepting this situation despite the impossibility of what had happened to her. A soft sigh escaped her as she felt him pour a warm, sweetly scented oil over her back. Without her even noticing, he had pulled down the sheet, exposing her naked body. When he began to knead the muscles of her back, she moaned with pleasure. His strong fingers working her flesh felt heavenly.
"That's right," he said. "Relax, beautiful Mistress. I'll take care of you now."
*****
Chapter Two
Two years later …
Luke Thomas led a life beyond even his own wildest dreams. As Hollywood's most sought-after action hero, he knew he was the fantasy object of many women - he never tired of hearing them tell him so. He was tall, blond, handsome and broad-shouldered, and had perfected the smoldering look that drove women insane. He was constantly in the public eye, surrounded by beautiful women, adoring fans and the ever-present paparazzi.
Since conquering Hollywood by storm, he had finally become rich and famous. Now all the women he met wanted him - actresses, supermodels or just fans who flew out to L.A. with the sole hope of meeting him just once. His daily habits were well-known, and people queued in front of his favorite restaurant or his gym to ask him for autographs, which he patiently gave.
If he wanted a beautiful woman in his bed, he only needed to attend one of the glittering events to which he was invited nearly every day. Not even bothering to introduce himself, he would give the object of his passing interest an inviting look or a naughty smile, began some small talk, spiced up with compliments and daring comments. Whoever she was, she'd willingly follow him up to his hotel room for a guiltless one-night-stand, or to his luxurious house in Malibu. Now that he could afford such a home, he had recently bought this one from an aging co-actor who was in need of money.
Driving home after a meeting on this later summer's day, he found himself stuck in one of those typical L.A. traffic jams. Cursing, Luke pulled over and parked by the sidewalk, then stopped the engine. Maybe he'd wait in a coffee shop until the streets were clear again. He was wearing a baseball cap and mirrored sunglasses, so he hoped that nobody would recognize him immediately. His bodyguards only accompanied him to public events since he refused to be watched wherever he went. Often his unusual height was intimidating enough to keep most unwanted followers away.
Just at that moment, Luke spotted a beautiful woman, the loveliest he had ever seen. She was tall, slender but not like one of those Hollywood models he met every day. They looked like stick insects to him. No, this one was dangerously curved, with full breasts and hips and long, auburn hair that reached almost to her waist in luxurious, thick curls.
She sat on a bench on the other side of the crowded street in a small piece of parkland which was lush and green, surrounded by a white fence. She hadn’t even noticed him. She was reading a book in which she seemed to be deeply immersed. He wondered what it was that she read, but he was too enchanted by her wonderful body in that thin white summer dress to think about it further. One strap of the dress slid down over her shoulder when she shifted to a more comfortable position. He wanted to kiss that naked shoulder while he drew that dress down to reveal her alluringly full breasts ...
As if she had sensed his thoughts, she looked up from her book and instantly saw him, looking him straight into the eye. Her face was beautiful, too, she had classic features with high cheekbones, a straight, aristocratic nose and huge eyes. His heart beating faster, he wondered what color they were and was determined to find out. Quickly, he put on his naughty boy grin and winked at her. This always worked with women.
But, to his utter astonishment, she looked down at her book again, obviously finding her lecture more interesting than flirting with him. Luke was dumbstruck as he stared at her disbelievingly. Didn't she recognize him? Well, he often wore heavy make-up in his movies, but he had been a lot in the press lately. Besides, he deemed himself to be strikingly attractive for his thirty-four years. Women seldom managed not to be seduced by his charm and extraordinary blue eyes, let alone his sculpted body.
It was outrageous for a woman to behave this way.
Cursing, Luke jumped out of his Porsche, not even caring to open the door. Taking off his cap and glasses, he threw them onto the back seat. He could not leave this alone. He had to find out who she was. And he wanted to see if she really was able to resist him for long.
With purposeful, long strides, he headed straightaway to the park, towards the bench she was sitting on. The closer he got, the faster his heart began to pound in his chest, and he had a strange feeling in his stomach. What was this woman doing to him? He felt like a teenage boy on his first date, and he didn't even know her. Although he wasn't close enough yet, there was that odd sensation of being able to sense her wonderful scent - like the wild flowers that grew beside the wheat fields of his grandfather's farm in Canada. He was captivated.
He was only a few steps away from her when she looked up again, and raised her lovely green eyes to him. Suddenly, he couldn't lift a single limb, so compelling was her intense gaze. He stopped dead in his tracks, simply staring at her. He
wasn't aware of time anymore - he could have stood there a minute or an hour, he didn't know. Nothing seemed to matter but his overwhelming wish to be with her, to taste these seductive lush lips that were opened slightly, inviting him to touch them with his.
"I knew you'd come, Luke," she said, her voice deep, warm and slightly husky, like she'd just woke up after a night of passionate loving. He wondered how she knew his name. Of course, she probably recognized him from one of his movies or the pages of some tabloid, but she spoke to him as if she really knew him. "I waited for you."
And I have been waiting for you all my life, he thought, unable to utter a single word.
Why did he behave in such a strange way? He was used to speaking in public. He had been to so many parties that he could make small talk about anything; he had learned to always choose the right words. And still he felt that whatever he might say to this woman right now would sound ridiculous.
Silently he sat down beside her, not taking his eyes off her for a single moment. Her skin was pale, but had a slight glow to it, like cream-colored silk. And she smelled just the way he had imagined it, sweet and irresistible. Unable to keep himself from touching her any longer, he raised his hand to caress her smooth cheek.
"You are beautiful," he whispered. She looked like a goddess that had come down from Mount Olympus to seduce a lovesick, human fool.
The moment he touched her cheek a storm raged through him, and he was lost in a maelstrom that took him right out of his body, to another time and place. The world around him was lost in blackness, and he felt consumed by a feeling of something draining from him, as if his whole being was sucked through a crack in the dark. A blinding light streamed through the opening and made him shut his eyes against its brightness.
A fraction of a second later, everything had changed. He felt real again. Still slightly dizzy, he could feel the warmth of a breeze on his skin.
"Open your eyes, Luke," he heard her voice again, and cracked open his eyelids. The beautiful woman was standing before him, but they were not in the park anymore. It was night, and they were on a long, vast beach, standing bare-footed in sand so white it gleamed beneath the endless sky.
Looking at her, he took a rugged breath. Her body, clad in a tight black dress, was partly covered by her waist-long hair, but what he saw was perfect. More curvaceous than she had appeared from afar, her breasts were tight and so full that he wanted to bury his face between them. When his eyes wandered lower, his mouth went dry, and he cleared his throat.
"Where the hell am I?" he said hoarsely. As an actor, he was used to unusual situations, but this was strange, being here with her as they stood in the warm sand, staring at each other.
"This is my home," she said. "We are near my house in Boston."
"This beach is in Boston?" he said, not even bothering to point out that they'd been in a park in L.A. just a minute ago. "Impossible. This looks more like the Caribbean."
"Nothing's impossible," she said. "When I'm in my house, whatever I wish for simply happens. And I wanted you to be here with me, Luke," she said, her hand reaching out for him and taking his. Her voice was like a caress.
Feeling her fingers in his, Luke closed his eyes briefly, then opened them again. He had to find out if this whole scenario was real, or maybe just a dream. But even if this was only his imagination, it felt incredibly real. A soft breeze from the sea carried the distinctive salty, wild smell of the ocean. He saw the moonlight of this starless night playing on her shiny dark hair, bathing the beach and the water in a deep blue light. For the first time he realized that it had somehow, very suddenly, grown dark, although he had walked up to her in the bright sunlight of early afternoon.
Unable to hold himself back any longer, he brought her hand up to his lips, kissing her palm. Her soft sigh made him bold enough to draw her into his arms. They both drew in a sharp breath when their bodies molded into each other. He claimed her inviting lips with a groan of satisfaction and kissed her with all the hunger he felt for her. He gently teased her lips with feathery kisses for a while until she opened her sweet mouth for him and let him in, their tongues mating for the very first time. He drew her closer, his hands exploring her body, every curve and valley. Moaning, she rubbed herself against him before she grabbed his hands and brought them up to her chest, silently begging to be touched.
Again he wondered if this was real. Real, like the feeling of her ample breasts filling his large hands perfectly, like she had been made for him. Groaning, he brought them together and kneaded them very gently, using his thumbs to rub her tight peaks through the thin fabric of her dress. He was pleased when he heard a low moan escaping from her lips. Was she really a goddess who had come down to earth to seduce him and steal his soul while he fell for her charms? He didn't care. All he wanted was to take her right here, right now. He placed his hands onto her deliciously rounded backside and pressed her close to him so she could feel how much he wanted her.
When the goddess rubbed herself against his throbbing shaft and pressed her sweet lush lips to his, opening them for him and teasing him with her tongue, Luke lost all self-control. He was only a man, and this was already more than he could bear. But he would show her that he wasn't her plaything. He was a movie star, after all.
So he swept her up in his muscular arms and drew her down with him to lie on the sand near the edge of the ocean, gentle waves rolling in and washing warm water over their feet. The goddess landed right on top of him, her soft curves pressing against his hard, aroused body.
The fine white sand was still warm from the day's sun. Their two bodies, entangled, rolled around on it, their movements a dance as old as time. A male, tanned and hard with muscle, and the long, slender limbs of a female wrapped all around her lover, making them look like a single creature from the depths of the sea that had been swept to the shore.
He explored the sweetness of her mouth for a long time, deeply kissing her like it was his last day on earth. All the passion that had waited under his calm and cynical surface was released and broke out like a volcano since this seductive goddess had awakened him from his dull existence. He felt like a sleeper who had dreamt his whole life, and was awake for the first time. "Who are you?" he whispered against her mouth.
"Jane," she breathed, offering him her lips for another kiss. "And I'm waiting for you, Luke. Come to me …"
His world shifted again, and everything fell into darkness. When he opened his eyes, he was back in the cozy park, sitting on that bench.
And he was alone. The mysterious woman was gone.
*****
A few hours later, Luke was back home at his house in Malibu. He still didn't understand what had occurred in the park. All he knew was that he must have fallen asleep on that bench, and had awakened from a very vivid dream. Damn, but what had happened to the dark-haired woman? Had she laughed at him because he’d fallen asleep, and simply left him?
More importantly, had she even existed, or was she entirely a creature of his own imagination, born from a dream? He had been to a brunch in his favorite restaurant this morning, with his agent and some friends. Was it possible that someone had slipped something into his drink, some kind of drug? He should get to his doctor and have his blood tested. On the other hand, he couldn't risk a scandal right now. If they actually found something in his blood, and word got out, no one would believe his story of being drugged by someone else.
But this didn't explain the white sand he'd found in his shoes when he had slipped them off at home, or the fact that this same fine substance was sticking to some parts of his toned body now as he showered. Almost as if he had rolled around in the sand with a desirable woman.
He was still scrubbing his skin when the doorbell rang. Muttering curses under his breath, Luke stepped out of the huge marble shower and wrapped his still-soapy body in a black bathing robe. Then he went to answer the front door. When he opened, it was not the woman he secretly had hoped for. He was still so hot for her that he'd have rip
ped off her clothes and ravished her right here on his expensive Persian carpet adorning the front hall. Instead, and to his utter disappointment, it was the FedEx driver. Today, he didn't deliver a large package full of fan mail as usual, but handed Luke a single letter. "Special urgent delivery for you, Sir," he said with his distinctive Hindi accent.
Luke thanked the man and gave him a tip before he quickly closed the door, curious to open the unexpected message. He looked at the envelope in his hands. It was made of fine silk paper, with his name and address written by hand. Briefly contemplating whether to get a letter opener, he decided to simply rip open the envelope. When he unfolded the message, he was amazed by the quality of the paper again. You didn't find anything like this very often in the age of e-mail. The handwriting on the single page was very elegant and unmistakably female. He shook off a shiver of excitement and began to read.
Dear Luke,
We met in the park today. Unfortunately, you dozed off before we had the chance to get to know each other better. If we meet again, it can be under my conditions only.
However, I'd be delighted to welcome you to tea to my home. It's a place where the usual rules of nature do not apply. If you are willing to embark on this adventure, follow these instructions: Simply lie down comfortably, close your eyes and relax. Try to think only of me. Then slowly count from 10 backwards.
Jane Eden
Luke turned the page over to see if there was anything written on the other side, a date and place maybe, but there was nothing. He didn't know what to make of this, and he didn't like the tone of the letter at all. Women used to throw themselves in front of his feet when he asked them for a date, but this one? "Under my conditions only," he murmured, disbelievingly. Well, he would tell her his own conditions soon enough! To do that, he would have to meet her, of course, but where?
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