by Cari Hislop
“It doesn’t matter. I can barely remember their faces and their insipid offerings were never as pleasant as your kisses.” Eve picked up the miniature off the dressing table and approached the fire. “I won’t be able to sleep if I don’t show you this.” She held out the picture and waited as the hood stared down at her hand.
“Why do you have a portrait of Cousin Herbert?”
Eve looked down at the handsome young man and burst out laughing as her heart sneered at her stupidity; it hadn’t been fooled. It knew that face didn’t belong to its owner. She looked down at her chest as it throbbed in smug omniscience and shook her head in disbelief. How could her heart know what the demon looked like? “Mrs Roberts gave it to me. She said it was a gift from your mother.”
“You thought this was me?” The shoulders shook with silent laughter. “I was much better looking than Herbert…before…” The demon’s shoulders were no longer shaking with laughter. “I’d give almost anything to look like Herbert.”
Eve looked down at the miniature and felt her heart snub the young insipid face. “No you wouldn’t.”
“Yes I would.”
“No you wouldn’t.”
The hood jerked towards her with visible exasperation. “I would!”
“You wouldn’t, because if you looked like Herbert I’d never fall in love with you.”
“You can’t know that! And what do you have against Herbert’s face? Heaven help me. If you don’t like his face, you certainly won’t like mine.”
“I disagree; I imagine your face has character. Herbert looks like a bore.”
“My lady, are you going to make a habit of disagreeing with my feelings?”
“Probably; I certainly can’t imagine falling in love with a man named Herbert who looks like his most interesting thought might be, ‘I wonder if I should pay my tailor before I order my next coat?’”
He’s not that dull…”
“He’s dull, not just that dull? So I’m right?”
“It doesn’t matter if Cousin Herbert is a dullard; you can’t disagree with my feelings. If I had Herbert’s face I’d still be me. You still enjoy my kisses. There’s nothing to disagree with.”
“I disagree. Is Herbert a bore because he feels drawn to all that is boring or is he a bore because he was born with a boring face and so celebrates all that is boring to compensate? I’d suspect the latter.”
“It doesn’t matter; if I looked like Herbert I wouldn’t be a bore.”
“How do you know? If you’d been born with a boring face can you be certain you’d have made exciting friends? Can you imagine this boring face married by proxy to a woman he’s never talked to in the hope that she’d fall in love with him?”
“I’m not Herbert!”
“Thank goodness; I doubt boring Herbert would have given me the option of an annulment. I’d be doomed to die of boredom.”
The demon-lord whirled away from the fire and stomped into the shadows near the bed. “Enough!” The whisper was full of anger; was this the real demon? “My feelings are not debatable; I feel what I feel and that’s the end of the matter. I don’t wish to spend the rest of my life defending my feelings to my wife as well as my mother.”
Feeling hurt by his angry tone she barked back, “Luckily you can still annul me from your life if you find me obnoxious company.” Eve grimaced as her heart screamed in horror as it pummelled her chest in fury for suggesting it.
The demon whipped round to face her. “No!”
“Then why do you find my questions threatening? I’m merely searching for truth.”
“Then ask me questions, don’t question my feelings!”
“Just because you think you feel something doesn’t mean you do. What if you’re lying to yourself? What if you’ve convinced yourself that you feel a certain emotion when you really feel the opposite?”
“That’s ridiculous!”
“Is it? Earlier today you told me you weren’t angry with me when clearly you were. Were you lying to yourself or to me? Are you sure you love me?”
“Yes; though right now I’m questioning the sanity of my heart.”
“That at least proves you’re a good man. I suspect if faced with the same situation Herbert would simply slap me about until I cowered in deference. You still haven’t told me who you were lying to.”
The cloaked demon hissed, “I was upset that you’d questioned my feelings.”
“So you knew you were angry?”
“Of course I knew I was angry.”
“So you lied to me.”
“I didn’t want you to think I was angry with you. I was afraid you’d think ill of me.”
“We all feel angry at times. It’s a natural response to having one’s life turned upside down by an irritating wife…” The black hood showed no response to her peace offering. “You don’t have to lie if you’re angry. I’m sorry I upset you. I was definitely in the wrong. I wish you’d ignored me and had those horrid people thrown out. Now I’ve upset you again because I couldn’t love you if you looked like Herbert.”
“You could.”
“I couldn’t.”
The demon put his hands on his hips in irritation. “You would!”
“I wouldn’t…I’d rather marry a one eyed demon.”
“And all these other men you’ve kissed; they were one-eyed monsters too?”
“No.”
“So if you didn’t love them why did you kiss them?”
“Because they made me laugh and I wanted to.”
“You wanted to? Surely you had some feeling for them.”
“Yes, I thought they were attractive. It’s the feeling of wanting to kiss a man. If you’ll be so good as to come back to the fire I’ll give you a demonstration.”
“Why would you want to kiss me?”
“Because I enjoy kissing you…” Her heart snorted in contempt at her logical answer and continued moaning for its Master. She ignored the strange longing in her chest and licked her lips in hope. “Could we please forget boring Herbert and start the evening over? I was having such a lovely time before those horrid people interrupted.”
“Will you promise not to debate my feelings?”
Eve rolled her eyes in irritation. “You’re not upset because I’ve questioned your feelings; you’re upset because I’ve kissed other men. You’re jealous!”
The black hood turned away in sullen disagreement. “No I’m not.”
“Yes you are.”
“I’m not.”
“You are!”
The cloak appeared to snap taut with irritation. “My feelings are not pinned to my chest. You can not know what I feel unless I tell you. Accept what I say as fact and leave it at that.”
“If you insist, but you’re inordinately interested in men I’ve kissed and your tone of voice is decidedly envious when mentioning my previous beaus.” The demon silently swivelled and headed for the secret door. “Where are you going?”
“To my room.”
“Will you have supper with me?”
“No.”
“…will I see you again before morning?”
“No. Good night my Lady.” Eve’s heart groaned in mutinous fury as the secret door closed with a soft ominous click. Why couldn’t she keep her mouth shut? If she’d held her tongue she’d be tucked under his cloak sharing his sweet kisses instead of shivering alone by the fire listening to her impertinent heart calling for her husband.
There was nothing soothing about the soft patter of rain against the window panes. It was merely an unpleasant reminder of her spoiled walk in the garden. Would he still be upset with her in the morning? The possibility made her eyes water. She didn’t ask herself why she was crying; personal truth was far more daunting than someone else’s truth. She knew she was upset at being deprived his kisses, but her heart wailed in its cage as it hissed, ‘You fool! You’ve driven him away. Who cares if he’s jealous? I want his kisses…how could you deprive me? Now he’ll hide away and make us wait days for
another kiss…I hate you! How could you do this to me? Adam… Adam…Adam…’ Eve watched the secret door until bedtime hoping he’d return, but her panting heart was left to moan in disappointment.
Chapter 17
Eve lay awake for several hours listening to the sound of the rain, her noisy heart calling for its master in the next room. She finally fell into a fitful sleep. She was dreaming she was in the Garden of Eden searching for Adam while being pursued by a large laughing snake with Mr Robert’s teeth. She finally spotted Adam through the trees. Excited and relieved at the sight of a naked masculine shoulders she tried to call out to him, but she couldn’t raise her voice above a normal tone. She could hear the snake hissing her name as it slithered closer. Looking behind her she tripped and fell. She couldn’t move, couldn’t get back on her feet. The snake had her by the legs; constricting her throat with terror. Her heart screamed as her lungs froze. Then the snake was touching her, coiling itself around her body. She couldn’t breathe as its tongue flickered over her lips issuing the vile stench of rotten teeth. She tried to escape, but the snake laughed in a hissing whisper promising it would eat her.
The dying fire in the grate cast long ugly shadows as she was awakened by a draft of cold air and an uncomfortable weight. Opening her sticky eyes she found herself
Uncovered; her bedding flung away allowing her to be intimately crushed by a dark shadow hissing her name. Putrid breath warmed her face as unseen tendrils dragged at her nightdress. She pushed with all her strength until she could fill her lungs with air. “Adam!” The word was no more than a choked sob.
“I’m right here Eve. A man can’t wait forever to claim his wife’s bed. Be still and let me have my way.”
The thought of someone impersonating her husband filled her with fury. “Adaaam!”
The shadow snake merely hissed with laughter. “Don’t fight me Wife or I won’t be so gentle.”
Evil tendrils kept groping, entwining; she was being suffocated by fear. She clawed at his face and pushed free long enough to scream before succumbing to sobs at the thought that her husband might think she’d encouraged the shadow. He might stop loving her. He might annul the marriage. Her horrified heart wailed in horror as she called again, “Adam! Help me…”
“Relax Eve; I’m merely claiming my conjugal rights…” The evil tendrils became more determined to drag the hem of her nightdress towards her hips as she fought to free herself from the nightmare.
“Get your hands off me you slimy snake! Adaaam! Adaaaaam! Adaaaaaaaaam!”
“I’m right here Eve…” A forked tongue flickered tasted her lips making her gag. “…this won’t take long if you…stop…fighting me.”
“Get off…get your hands off me…Adaaaaaaam!”
Her piercing scream made the shadow emit a string of oaths and curses. “The servants will think you don’t enjoy your husband’s favours.”
“You’re not my husband…”
“Ah, but they don’t know that and when Latham denies having bed you, you’ll be flung out of his life without a souvenir, unless I give you a brat or some unpleasant disease.” The shadow seemed to think this funny as his foul breath rolled in waves up her nose as he quietly chuckled in amusement. The horrifying prospect of losing Adam’s love enraged her heart. If only she could reach the connecting door…she tried to scream, but the snake silenced her with a hard unpleasant kiss. She bit his lips making him swear an oath as she tried to crawl towards the edge of the bed calling for her husband, but the furious snake dragged her back. “Where do you think you’re going? I’m going to pleasure you and earn a small fortune. Your ugly Lord won’t want you when I’m done with you.”
“Adam!” The thought of being cast out of the demon’s life filled her with terror as she thrashed free and kicked with all her strength before emitting another ear splitting scream as she twisted to protect her face from the man’s angry blows. Her sobs and the snake’s angry curses covered the soft sound of the connecting door sliding open and bare feet pounding towards the bed. One minute the snake was suffocating her and the next she was blissfully free to fill her lungs with air as the snake screamed in pain as he was pummelled half senseless by an enraged demon. “Adam!”
“Go to my room Sweetheart. I’ll take care of the snake.” She dragged herself off the bed and ran to the secret passage where she shivered in relief as she peered into her room. The demon furiously rang for a servant before returning his wrath back to the man groaning on the floor in front of the fire. She forgot her ordeal as she watched her demon-Lord crouch down in front of the fire revealing a beautiful profile that made her heart sigh with hunger for more. Needing to put distance between her and the snake she retreated deeper into the passage until she abruptly stepped into the demon’s bedchamber. Moonlight reflecting off rain spattered windows outlined a large tester bed. Her heart dragged her feet across the room. She crawled into the vacated warmth and pulled the covers up over her eyes and sobbed in relief.
Nearly an hour later the sound of floorboards creaking told her there was someone in the room. Shaking in fear she peered over the covers as a shadow closed the thick curtains causing total darkness. “Adam is that you?”
“It’s me.” The soft worried whisper filled her eyes with tears. “May I join you?”
Only the demon would ask her if he could climb into his own bed. “Yes.”
Feeling the mattress move, she reached for his nightshirt and clung tightly as ancient bed ropes creaked as he climbed in and lay down beside her. Strong arms gently slid around her causing her heart to moan with ecstasy as she pressed herself up against its master. “Is he gone?”
“Yes.”
“What if he comes back?”
“I horsewhipped him on the drive and promised him that if he comes near you again I’ll personally cut off an important part of his anatomy. He’ll avoid you like the plague. As for the pregnant Mrs Robinson; she was amazingly slim for a woman about to give birth. It appears the babe was nothing more than a large sack filled with cabbage under her dress.”
“She called it cabbage…I thought there were two servants outside their chamber.”
“Laudanum…fast asleep in the hall.”
“He said he was being paid to ruin me.”
“Yes…Roberts revealed under duress that my mother promised to pay the pair five hundred pounds if they could find a way to force an annulment. This is the last time she interferes in my life. Her coachman will deliver the ultimatum; one more scheme and I’ll have her locked up in an attic. I’ll be hanged before I let her hurt you…did he hurt you?”
“He hit me several times…”
“Bastard!”
“…and he touched me.”
“Where?” She could feel him shaking with fury.
“My legs, my chest, my face and he kissed me…it was disgusting. But I bit his lips. I don’t want to be alone…you’ll let me sleep here with you, won’t you?”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry I upset you earlier. I don’t care if you look like Herbert; would you kiss me? You don’t have to if…” Silenced by soft adoring lips, her heart moaned his name with pleasure as an unseen hand caressed her throat. Adoring lips reluctantly released her. “You’re not angry with me?”
“No.” He punctuated the small word with a short kiss on her cheek. “Forget Herbert; let’s relive today tomorrow only without the Roberts and boring Herbert.”