Masque

by Lexi Post

  He had never been a religious person, but the chapel itself and Father Richard were old friends…that is when Father Richard decided to appear. Synn hadn’t discovered yet why the good father graced him with his presence some times and not others, but he certainly didn’t mind the company. Unlike other priests of his time, this father was well aware of the human condition and did not expect perfection from mere mortals.

  “Father Richard?” Synn paused. The good father wasn’t a ghost like the others and yet he was. He had appeared after Synn finished the graves and had blessed them all. “Father Richard, are you here?” He waited, his fingers drumming on the pew in front of him. Maybe an enticing tidbit would bring the father out of hiding. “Father Richard. I don’t know if you are aware, but we have guests. Two lovely ladies from this century are now living in the Abbey.”

  He waited, smelling the air. Father Richard had a very particular frankincense scent. Synn leaned back against the pew. The father must already know of their guests. “No men have come with them, so I think I will take the dark-haired lady, Rena, through the Pleasure Rooms.”

  “What?!”

  Synn grinned. He couldn’t see the father yet, but incense tickled his nose. “I have no choice. No men arrived with them.”

  Father Richard appeared as he strode purposefully up the aisle toward him. “My son. Enticing a young woman to sin is not going to expiate the sins of all here. Two wrongs do not make a right.”

  Synn raised his brow as Father Richard stopped at the pew in front of him, short of breath. The father was thin and wiry; therefore, he must have come from far away to be so winded.

  The man sat at the end of the pew across from Synn. “Tell me you are not seriously contemplating this.”

  “But I am.” He faced the father, his elbows on his knees. “I believe by having the woman complete the circuit for the rest of the guests who did not, I may be able to fulfill the desires that were interrupted when I arrived.”

  The priest hesitated. “But everyone here has been able to finish their Pleasure Rooms and yet they remain. Why do you think taking this woman through will change their status?”

  Synn reviewed his logic before answering. He didn’t want to win a debate, he wanted the father to agree it could be the answer, or propose a better one. “I believe the problem is our people are not alive. Yes, they later completed the rooms they had hoped to that night, but they were already dead. However, the prince never finished and he did cross over. I think if I can persuade a live person to complete each room, the clock will start working again and the spirits will be allowed to cross.”

  He watched his elusive friend for signs of agreement. He’d read every book in the library and developed theory after theory for freeing the spirits trapped in the Abbey. He’d tested a number of those theories, but none had ended in success.

  Father Richard looked heavenward and crossed himself. “You realize if you are right, there is no surety you will be free as well. You are different.”

  A cold chill swept through Synn’s body as he nodded. He was different. He was a killer. He deserved to be trapped in the Abbey for eternity.

  The priest’s hand on his shoulder jerked him from his morbid thoughts as comfort seeped beneath his skin.

  “My son, you deserve to be freed. You must stop blaming yourself for their deaths. How many times must I tell you, it wasn’t supposed to be this way? Something evil interfered with His plan.”

  Synn stood, dislodging the priest’s hand and the peace he provided. Father Richard was wrong. He was to blame, and he must free the spirits of the Abbey. “But do you think it could work? Does it make sense?”

  “I don’t know.” Father Richard sighed. “It goes against what I believe, and yet, if someone tainted the original events, this does make logical sense. But I will tell you, I’m not happy about it.”

  Synn smirked. “You can always watch.”

  Father Richard crossed himself again as he rose, but his lips quirked. “Stop teasing this old man. I can still take you down if I want.”

  “Only if I let you.” Synn winked. “Now, I just need to persuade this exciting woman to experience each room in order. Not an easy task, I assure you.”

  “You only have six left. That’s a start.”

  “Father! You did watch.” Synn stared hard, not quite believing the man he respected had given in to the sin of the Abbey.

  The father grabbed his ear and pulled hard. “No, you wicked man, I heard Eve and Jonathan talking about it in the vestry. I should take a swing at that pretty face of yours for your lack of faith, but you will need it to entice the lady of the Abbey.”

  Synn pulled away despite the pain it caused. “I apologize for having such disrespectful thoughts. But you’re right, I do still need to convince her to fulfill every room. I hope you will pray for my success.”

  Father Richard harrumphed before turning away. “For the sake of your soul and those trapped here, I will pray for your success.” The priest strolled down the aisle, disappearing as quickly as he’d come.

  Synn walked through the pews and stopped before a side window. There had never been a plan for a graveyard. In fact, it had been a garden when he’d designed the Abbey, but he’d needed the stone of the garden walls to make the headstones for those he’d buried. Like a magnet to metal, his gaze shifted to two headstones in particular. Those were the resting places of Eve and Jonathan, the young couple who were so in love, and at the time, just beginning their journey as man and wife, except they weren’t resting…yet. His hands fisted as he ground his teeth in frustration.

  He would free them. If this plan didn’t work, he’d try another and another, and he wouldn’t stop trying until he found a way to release every soul.

  * * * * *

  With Valerie driving, Rena enjoyed the approach to the Abbey, seeing for the first time how truly large it was. As Synn had mentioned, the Abbey name was a misnomer, and in so many ways. The large stone structure resembled a medieval castle, the chapel at the back the only nod toward the religious in its entire design. Why would a person, the prince, build a medieval castle in the 1800s in Nova Scotia? It didn’t make sense. And how rude to call his Pleasure Palace an Abbey.

  The landscape between the walls and the moat had overgrown any semblance of order, but according to the landscaper, it had well-ordered flowerbeds, walking paths and secluded spots with stone benches. Seeing it from the moving vehicle, it appeared more like an angry jungle, naked branches entwined, clawing at the structure.

  As Valerie turned the vehicle to cross the bridge, Rena gazed up at the tall walls to find a lone figure standing between the battlements. Synn. A shiver raced down her spine. As attracted to him as she was, he caused her insecurities to surface. One minute she wanted him to kiss her and the next she wanted to sink to the floor in shame. Her gut said he was upper class, but her mind said he was penniless.

  Valerie pulled the Expedition to a stop. “I’ll bring in the bags of ice if you grab the cooler. Then we can dump all the cold food in it as we bring it in.”

  She nodded and picked up the new red Igloo they’d purchased. A refrigerator would be at the top of the priority list…once they had electricity.

  After dumping the cold food into the cooler, they strolled back outside for the last of the bags. Valerie grabbed two more. “It would be nice if our resident guest would help us with all this stuff.”

  Rena hefted the last bag. “I’m sure he would have, but he’s on the roof. I bet the sunset is amazing from there. Maybe we can see the ocean. It was only a few blocks west when we were driving in town today.” An image of the lone man standing on the battlements crowded her head. “Do you mind if I run upstairs? I really want to see the sunset.”

  Valerie took three loaves of bread from the first bag. “Yeah, yeah, go. But don’t expect me to make dinner.”

  “That’s a deal.” Spinning around, Rena ran up the stairs to her wing of the Abbey. Striding through the hallway toward the back
, she found another set of stairs leading to the floor above, which had a similar hall. By the time she reached the end of that hall, she was at the front of the Abbey again, only here there was a stone spiral staircase. Carefully, she ascended.

  At the top, a wooden door stood open and she stepped outside into the fading light of day, but it wasn’t the sunset that arrested her attention. Synn stood, one foot braced on an embrasure, one hand resting on the crenellated stone of the battlement. The breeze lifted his long brown hair away from his face and off his shoulders…his very bare shoulders.

  Oh shit. She hadn’t expected his back to be so broad and muscular. His biceps stood in stark relief as if he worked construction. Below his narrow waist, his firm ass and muscular thighs were outlined by his tight gray pantaloons, if she had the term right. She’d bet the boots he wore were Hessians because those were the only nineteenth-century boots she’d heard of that rose to the knee. To call the man handsome would be to belittle his sculpted perfection, and her heart increased its beat as raw, sexual attraction rifled through her limbs.

  He brought his arm down, causing the muscles in his back to ripple before he turned to catch her staring.

  Her gaze shifted to his eyes and for a moment they revealed such heartbreaking anguish that all sexual heat fled and her stomach tightened into a sorrowful knot. He shuttered his gaze and smirked. “Were you looking for something?”

  Confused, and more than a little distracted by the man’s emotions and his highly defined pectoral muscles, one of which had a fist-sized dark spot, she grasped for logic. “Yes, the sunset.”

  “Ah, then you are just in time.” He stepped to the side, bowed and swept his hand toward the battlement. “It’s ready for you, my lady.”

  She searched his eyes for any sign that he made fun of her, but found only sincerity. “Thank you.”

  She stepped up to the place next to him as indicated and gazed across the town. As she suspected, the ocean was a few blocks past the shops and it glittered red as the setting sun shimmered off its dark surface, its waves lifting and lowering the dazzling color as it moved.

  “This is breathtaking.”

  “Yes, it is.”

  His tone made her glance up, and she found him staring at her. She swallowed.

  He released her hair from its clip and the breeze swept it from her face. She couldn’t have looked away from his eyes even if the sun had turned green.

  He cupped her jaw with his hand. “You are exquisite.”

  Her breath hitched at his words, but her mouth parted as his face drew closer to hers. When their lips were but a breath away, he spoke again. “You are made for passion, Rena.”

  She let her eyes close, his words shooting pure desire through her, and then his full lips were upon hers. It was not a gentle kiss, but neither was it harsh or demanding, simply controlled. The hand holding her face encouraged her to open her lips and she did.

  She grasped his biceps as his tongue swept into her mouth to explore. He tasted like cinnamon spice but not sweet. When his arm snaked around her waist and pulled her closer, she entwined her arms around his neck, her body tight against his hard one. Unable to stem the growing need building inside her, she pressed her hips into his. A long, hard cock greeted her. She wanted him.

  Synn groaned and released her, stepping away.

  She grabbed at the embrasure to keep herself from falling on her ass. What the hell was that?

  He turned toward the sunset again, his body in perfect profile, his hands clenched at his sides.

  Not sure if she was upset because he stopped the kiss or because he started it in the first place, she gritted her teeth. Her body ached for release and she wanted him to provide it, no matter what her mind said. Her sexual frustration gave her a bravery she rarely had. “Why did you stop kissing me?” She had hoped to sound matter-of-fact, but hurt crept into her voice. Did he find her beneath him?

  He remained motionless, speaking to the horizon. “If I didn’t stop now, I wouldn’t be able to. You are not ready for me yet.”

  Huh? “What do you mean? It’s not like I’m engaged any—” She clasped a hand over her mouth. Stupid, stupid. He didn’t need to know she’d recently had her heart broken and quit her job because her ex-fiancé’s family owned the company.

  Unfortunately, her words caught his attention. He turned his head to study her. “You were to be married?”

  She shrugged. “Yes, but it didn’t work out. I didn’t fit in with his family and friends.” He didn’t need to know the embarrassing details of her sexual curiosity being low class and too depraved for the likes of Bryce Lloyd. Synn seemed to be of the same class though he kissed a hell of a lot better.

  “Why?”

  He startled her from her thoughts. “Why what?”

  “Why did you not fit his life?”

  Ah, now that explained everything, didn’t it? She didn’t fit Bryce’s life. Rena Mills, event planner, had no family ancestry dating back to the Civil War to prove her worth. “Let’s just say we didn’t have a lot in common.”

  Synn’s piercing stare made her uncomfortable, so she gazed at the now-purple sky, the sun having sunk below the water, leaving nothing but a shadow of its former brilliance behind.

  “Rena?”

  She kept focused on the horizon. “Yes?”

  “I want to be inside you.”

  A flush spread through her limbs and warmed her against the cooling air of the day’s end. She glanced at him. Though his eyes were shadowed, his desire reached across the two feet separating them.

  She had to know he wouldn’t think her inferior, and the one way to be sure was to ask about what had been preying on her mind all day. “Tell me. Did I dream I saw ghosts in the Blue Room last night or were they really there?”

  A lascivious grin formed on his face. “If you mean did Eve and Jonathan make love while you watched, then the answer would be yes, they were there.”

  “Oh sugar.” She leaned against the battlement. “You saw them too?”

  He nodded, staring intently.

  “Did you…did you enjoy watching them?” She held her breath. So much depended on his answer.

  “I have observed them before, but I found watching you as you took pleasure in their mating much more enjoyable.”

  Her breath halted. He’d watched her. He liked watching her, and he liked seeing the ghosts have sex. Her heart beat increased as she pulled air into her lungs. She didn’t know if it meant he was as sexually depraved as she was or not, but it certainly put them on an equal ground.

  “Rena. Is having sex in front of others something you would like to do?”

  Would she? How would she know? She hadn’t even thought about watching others, except on porn videos, and the few she had, she’d hidden from Bryce. “I—”

  “Rena! Rena, are you still up there?”

  She leaned over the battlement and peered into the dark shadow cast by the abbey wall, barely able to find Valerie in the front courtyard. “Yes, I’m still here!”

  “Well, come down. I’m hungry.”

  “Okay! On my way.”

  She turned from the battlement only to collide with Synn’s hard body. His arms locked around her. She found his expression calculating, but before she could determine his thoughts, he kissed her.

  She couldn’t help it. She melted into him as his mouth claimed hers. His hand grasped her ass and pulled her tight into his erection and her pussy filled. His lips traced the side of her jaw before he licked a path to her neck just behind her ear. When he sucked on her earlobe, her knees weakened and she grasped his taut arms.

  He pressed her head against his chest and she rested there. He spoke to the top of her head. “You better go now. Your friend awaits.”

  She lifted her face from his chest.

  He pushed her back to arm’s length. “Go. You are to eat dinner, I believe. I promise, we will be together soon.”

  She shook her head to make it work again. “Would you like
to join us?”

  “No thank you. I ate while you were gone.” He nodded toward the town.

  She looked past him. Was there a food kitchen there? She couldn’t imagine him going to such a place. Friends perhaps? She’d confer with Valerie on how they could make him feel comfortable eating with them. She walked to the stairs. Okay, dinner. Then maybe some Synn? Before taking the first step, she turned to look at him. He once again stood against the darkening sky, facing the ocean.

  Taking a deep breath to steady herself, she started the long trek down to the kitchen. After dinner, maybe she could have dessert in the muscular form of one upper-crust man.

  * * * * *

  Rena turned her head into the pillow to allow her dream lover’s lips access to her neck. His hands linked with hers on either side of her while his kisses traveled along her skin to her collarbone. He pinned her wrists above her head and his lips moved to the crest of her breast before traveling between her cleavage.

  She moaned, her nipples hard. Suck me. Please.

  As if he heard her, his head moved toward her nipple and long hair flowed over her chest. Synn?

  Her nipple caught within a warm mouth. A tongue stroked before lips enclosed her hard nub and sucked. Teeth nibbled, teasing before suction began again until half her breast was covered in warm moisture.

  “Yes.” She pushed her chest upward. She sought to grasp his head in her hands, but they remained above her head. Oh Lord. Moist fullness engorged her pussy.

  He released her breast and licked around the nipple, causing an ache to form deep inside her. She tried to calm herself, but her body, tense with wanting, would only allow her short breaths. His tongue left her breast and cool air blew across it. Her nipple hardened to a painful peak, as the other was pinched.