WB

by test

  What I needed right now was a couple of days to think this over and set out a game plan to try and adjust to my new life, but I didn't have time for that. My family and Gage were waiting for me to make a decision, right now. Scratch that, my family was waiting for me to make a decision. Gage looked more than willing to make a decision for me and to take over my life.

  I still felt angry about the way he kidnapped me and scared me half to death. What kind of man locks up a woman in his mansion? I was pretty sure if my mother and brother weren't around he would still have me locked up, in his bedroom probably. My mind wandered down this path a ways, imagining the two of us, locked in his room with no clothes, alone with nothing to distract us. I shivered at the thought of being in his bedroom and it wasn't just in horror.

  He wasn't one to wait around. If I was the shy, retiring type I would probably find that facet of his character admirable. But, I was used to taking care of myself and I knew that if I didn't make a stand now, he would ride roughshod over me and have me cocooned in a silk and marble cage of his devising before I could shout, “Votes for Women!”

  “Well, I think I should leave for Portland in the morning. Gage, if you would be so kind as to arrange a flight for me, I would appreciate that. I have to try and salvage what I can of my job and my apartment,” I said in a sensible way, silently patting myself on the back for being so decisive.

  I didn't want him to pay my way back but, I didn't have any choice right now and I consoled myself with the thought that I would ask for a receipt and pay him back as soon as I could.

  Gage smiled in a way I didn't like and I saw Laurent and Helene stand up slowly and move towards the door. I wasn't sure what was going on, but I didn't like it. Something had changed and I had the feeling it wasn't good.

  “Where are you going?” I asked when what I really wanted to know was why they were leaving.

  Laurent stopped for a moment in the doorway and turned to look at me with a pitying expression. He gave Gage a warning glance that he returned with a bland smile and then answered me, “Mother is tired and I have a few calls to make. I will see you both in the morning. Bon Nuit Anna, Gage,” with quick nods in our direction he left the room.

  I was alone with Gage, again.

  I straightened the collar of my shirt, picked my chair up where it had fallen on the floor when I got so angry earlier and set it carefully upright again. I refolded my used napkin next to my plate and lined my empty water glass up with the edge of my dessert spoon. I looked around WARLOCK’S BRIDE JENNIFER RINEHART 47

  the table to make sure everything looked the way it should and glanced towards the door that led to the kitchen.

  Maybe I should load up the dishes? It would save Harrison and his staff a trip. Then again, that might be rude, I didn't want to make Harrison uncomfortable or make him think I was trying to move in on his job. I was stalling and with a feeling of nervousness I glanced at Gage.

  He had a slight smile on his lips as he watched me. He was leaning back in his chair with one hand drumming lightly on the table. He looked casual and relaxed, his feet were stretched out to the side and crossed at the ankle. When he started to stand up I gave an involuntary gasp and stepped back.

  I stopped myself with an annoyed frown. What did I think he was going to do? Ravish me on the dining room table while my mother and brother were in the house! Ridiculous! Leah and Patty were right, I did watch too many melodramatic movies.

  He walked around the table towards me and stopped when he was inches away. He was taller than me and I didn't like the way my eyes were on a level with the button open at the top of his shirt. His hand came slowly up and he ran his fingers gently through my hair and then put a finger under my chin and gently pushed my face up until I was looking into his eyes.

  His gray eyes were hot with need as they looked into mine and I was transfixed. His head lowered and this time I didn't pull away. His lips were warm and tasted faintly of wine.

  He was gentle as he pulled me in closer to him and I felt my breasts crushed against his chest and his hands started a soothing motion on my back as the kiss became deeper. His tongue slid smoothly between my lips, rubbing against mine with a sensual motion. I moaned in pleasure and his fingers rubbed the sensitive skin at the base of my neck. The kiss deepened until our tongues were twining around each other faster and faster. I barely had the time to register that I was kissing Gage Hawthorne when his kiss moved from my mouth to the sensitive spot under my ear.

  My heart was fluttering in excitement and I felt breathless when he pulled away. He stared at me with a brooding, slightly grim expression that was at odds with the sensual kiss we had just shared.

  “You are my woman Anna and you will not go anywhere without me.”

  I twisted away from him with an oath, but he grabbed my arm before I could walk away and pulled me back to him. In a reflexive motion I raised my knee to kick him in the groin and with a muffled laugh he blocked me and held me so tightly to him I thought a paper wouldn't fit between us.

  “You know it. That's why you visited me all those times. I didn't initiate those dream visits. I sought you out one time and you came to me each and every time after. I tried to come to you again, but you blocked me. So I did the only thing I could to be near you; I made myself open to you, so that whenever you visited, you could access my life without any of the blocks I put up for everyone else. But when I tried to speak to you, when I let you know that I knew you were there, you vanished. So I waited and kept looking for you. While you came to see me over and over again.”

  I tried to pull away again, but his arms were tight around me.

  His voice was low and guttural and he forced me to look at him when he spoke, “You watched as I made love to other women, showing you what I wanted to do with you when I finally found you. You know that's why you came back, don't you? You want me as much as I want you. Every time I was fucking someone it was you. Every sigh, every moan, was yours. I WARLOCK’S BRIDE JENNIFER RINEHART 48

  have waited years for you Anna. Do you have any idea what that's like? I wont lose you now.”

  My heart was pounding and I felt the blood rush to my face in embarrassment. I wanted him to never mention the dreams. I liked pretending they didn't happen. I was happier thinking I was a little bit crazy than that I had dreams about him and they were real. That he knew I was there and liked it was too much for me.

  “No, no, no! I hated the dreams, they kept happening and I didn't want to see you with your women, you pervert!” I pushed against his chest and he let me put some space between us and I wedged my hand up and out of the circle of his arms and then was able to squirm away.

  He watched my efforts with a smile and said, “You liked it every time. It made you hot.

  That's why you don't have a boyfriend. I don't think you have slept with anyone yet. You were waiting for me to find you.”

  My face burned with embarrassment. It was mortifying to think that he knew of my less than stellar love life. But if he thought I was waiting for him, had been hoping to meet him someday, he was nuts. I didn't even know he was real a week ago.

  “I'm going to bed. Alone,” I said breathlessly.

  I tried to walk around him and he grabbed me again, pulled me close and whispered in my ear, “I can't wait to be inside you. I wont be gentle either, because I know you don't want that. You want me to fuck you deep and hard. I'm going to make you come so hard you scream and pant for more. I'll do you in all the positions I showed you and you'll love it and beg for more.”

  I walked away on shaky legs and didn't look back. I could feel his eyes on my back as I moved across the foyer. The stairs were deserted and I climbed them quickly, thinking at any moment he would swoop down on me. By the time I made it to the orange bedroom I was frantic. My heart was racing and my brow sweaty.

  I had to spend several minutes breathing deeply, trying to calm down. I pressed my hands to my burning cheeks and clenched my fists to stop their trembling. A n
erve pulsed next to my right eye and I squeezed my eyes shut trying to still the jumpiness.

  Gage was wrong. I didn't visit him in my dreams. I didn't want to see him or any of the women he had sex with. He was insane, completely and utterly. I don't know how he fooled my mother and brother into trusting him to keep me safe, but that just showed what a talented liar he was, the big phony. I would be safer with a hungry lion than I was with him and only a fool would stick around to see what happened next.

  I had to get out of here. Once the idea took hold I was a woman possessed. My eyes wildly roamed the room, looking for a way to escape. I wasn't going to act the submissive little wife to his sex starved warlock. But I wasn't sure what to do. I had no money, no passport and my nearest friends were thousands of miles away.

  I thought of my mother just steps away, but I had to admit I didn't think she would help me leave. She and Laurent thought the safest place for me was with Gage. Boy, were they wrong. He had danger written all over him. Helene trusted Gage and thought I was in danger if I stepped out the door. Laurent was out too. I didn't miss the significant look he gave Gage as he was leaving the dining room tonight.

  He knew I wasn't happy with the control Gage had over my life but he seemed to think that I was better off with him. Stupid men! Why did they always think they had the only solution? Why couldn't they trust that I might know better what was right for me? Well they had made a serious mistake underestimating me. I wasn't going to sit idly by while others WARLOCK’S BRIDE JENNIFER RINEHART 49

  managed my life!

  I believed what they said about the danger I was in from warlocks, but I had been safe for twenty three years, surely I could manage a few more on my own? If I didn't do magic no one would know what I was. I could wear the locket again. I hated the thought of wearing something that Celia had given me for such an underhanded purpose, but if it would help me to live an independent life, then who cares?

  Besides, it wouldn't be hard not to do magic. I didn't know how to do it now and I had lived my life as a normal person for years so it wouldn't be a big loss. How can you miss what you have never known? Also, who, other than, Gage, my mother and brother knew what I was?

  As long as I kept a low profile I should be okay.

  On the other hand, and this was of particular significance to me, I didn't want to accept any help from Gage. I was grateful to him when I found out about my family, but the man was a tyrant and the best thing I could do was stay far away from him.

  Hopefully now that I had met him I wouldn't have any more dreams of him. I figured just the act of meeting him, finding out what part he played in my life and my rejection of his plans for me should stop the dreams from happening. Sort of a psychic closure. And what a relief that was, I felt my cheeks warming imagining myself an unwilling voyeur to his future sexual exploits. Having the dreams now would be even worse since I had found out he was real and that he knew when I was there.

  Well, I had always had problems with insomnia, so at the least, I wouldn't have him invading my sleep very often. I didn't believe that I was the one initiating the dream visits, it had obviously been him every time. I didn't know anything about magic, ergo, I couldn't have been magically visiting him. What a creep to try and make me think I was stalking him.

  I used one of the empty plastic clothing bags to pack myself a change of clothes. Call me shallow, but I spent ten minutes agonizing over which new outfit to bring with me. It was unlikely I would ever be able to afford clothes like these again and I consoled myself with the thought that I deserved a pretty outfit in exchange for being kidnapped, mauled and basically messed about.

  With a wrenching sigh I put away the beautiful silk dress (I couldn't wear it to work or anywhere really) and picked a more sensible pair of pants, shirt and the white belted coat. In the bathroom I gathered a toothbrush and some other toiletries I felt sure I would need in the next few days. Who knows how long it would take me to get home? My plan wasn't foolproof, but it was the best I could come up with.

  A sense of urgency had me almost running around the room gathering what I needed, but with a deep breath I forced myself to calm down. I sat on the edge of the bed and took a last glance around. This would be the last time I saw this room. I felt a pang of grief thinking that I would never see Gage again.

  There was something about him that made me want to get closer to him, to find out everything about him. I wanted to know what he did for a living, his favorite food, what he read when he couldn't sleep at night and if he liked me, really liked me for me and not just as a womb for his future children.

  But that was just stupid. Gage and his need for a child were linked. You couldn't separate one from the other. He wouldn't have spent years looking for me if there wasn't some great personal gain for him. An obviously successful guy like him would always have his eye on the bottom line. Unfortunately for me, I was a part of the package.

  WARLOCK’S BRIDE JENNIFER RINEHART 50

  What I needed was to get back home and to put him from my mind and date a normal guy. Someone nice and funny and safe. I'd spent too many years alone, wishing I could meet someone when what I really should have been doing was getting out and actively looking.

  Eligible men don't just drop into your lap. You have to work a little to find them. I promised myself that I would make that a priority when I got back home.

  Well, it's now or never I thought when I had everything I needed in a shiny plastic bag. I eased the door open an inch and then the rest of the way when I saw the corridor was empty. I wondered where the human mountain was. They must not think I am a flight risk now that my mother and brother are here. I held my bag over my arm and tip toed slowly down the corridor where it turned to the right.

  So far, so good. I didn't see anyone and so I quickly walked out to the stairwell. I could see the dim lights of the entryway, and a circle of light spreading out from the doorway of the library. With a feeling of alarm I knew that HE was in the library.

  If I tried to walk out that way he would see me as I went past. I needed to get down to the blue salon to pick up my locket. My entire plan hinged on my having it, but I couldn't think of a way to get there without being seen. I stood there trying to decide what to do when I heard voices approaching from the other end of the hallway.

  With a quiet oath I looked around for a place to hide. I dove for the first door and frantically pulled on the knob, but it was locked. I had the feeling that all the doors would be similarly closed to me. Finally, with a grunt of exasperation, I ended up sinking down behind an occasional table. It was shadowy here and as long as they weren't looking for me it was unlikely they would see me, kneeling on the floor, looking guilty as hell.

  With a relieved sigh I watched as two housemaids in white trimmed dresses walked past me and down the stairs to the entryway. With a start of excitement I realized there must be a servants staircase. All of these grand old homes have one in the romance novels I devoured as a teenager. Okay, if I was being honest, I was known to kick back with one or two most weekends now.

  I stood up, looked around to make sure no one had seen me and then went down the hallway the maids had come from. I passed more strange paintings of men and women standing in circles. Women sweeping the sky with willow switches and solemn men building temples of bones. I shook my head, Gage had quirky taste in art. But now that I knew about the family business, the pictures made more sense.

  I was just stepping through the doorway onto a small curving staircase when a heavy hand landed on my shoulder. With a shudder of fear, I turned around.

  A short man with dark curly hair was facing me with a suspicious look on his face, “What are you doing out of your uniform? Are you the new third floor maid?”

  He was dressed all in black. Black jacket, pants, shoes, even his button down the front shirt was black with a silky waistcoat to match. It must be some kind of uniform. He had a large ring of keys on his belt that he fingered meditatively as he waited for my answer.
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br />   I gulped and nodded. He looked me over with a critical eye and nodded to my bag,

  “Well, what's the problem then? Why aren't you in a uniform? Why are you on the second floor?”

  My mind raced. As soon as I opened my mouth he would know I was American and

  from that he would know I wasn't the upstairs maid but Gage's fiancé. I felt angry tears well up in my eyes and with an impatient hand I wiped them away.

  WARLOCK’S BRIDE JENNIFER RINEHART 51

  Think Anna! There had to be some way for me to get out of here. I wondered, somewhat desperately, if I could subdue him and tie and gag him in one of the bedrooms. Was I capable of hitting someone? He was a couple of inches shorter than me, but he was solid and healthy looking with thick arms and sturdy legs. He had a ruddy face like someone who enjoyed the outdoors. He probably played sports on his days off. What if I injured him, permanently? What if he injured me?

  “Did you get sacked already?” His voice was sympathetic and I saw him looking at me in a much friendlier way now.

  I nodded again, grasping at any excuse and he shook his head in a comical way, “Do you need a ride to the village?”

  Within five minutes I found myself bouncing along the road in a yellow Citroen on my way to the village of Dawling Green. My rescuer, the under butler Ralph, had given up on talking to me after five minutes of incoherent sniffling, snorts and sobbing (I thought sounded as fake as an imitation crab sandwich). But he must have believed my distress was real because he grimaced at my sobs and muttered a few platitudes about 'looking on the bright side,' and 'silver linings,' before subsiding into an uncomfortable silence. I took care to utter little sighs and sniffles every few minutes and he didn't look at me for the rest of the drive.