Amelia
Amelia’s sleep was mercifully dreamless. It had been this way since they moved back into their old home, attempting to surrender to their old ways. She didn’t know the precise cause, but she welcomed it.
The evening after her walk with Ana, Amelia awoke with the powerful sensation she was being watched. Her gaze traveled the perimeter of the dark room, lit only by a flash of moonlight, but there was no one.
She lifted back the blankets and rose from the bed when her attention was drawn to the window; an instinctual pull she’d felt night after night.
But when she peered out into the dark night, no one was there. Only the quiet street. As it was each time.
Jacob’s arms slid around her from behind. He nuzzled his face into her shoulder blades. “Bad dream?”
“No dream at all,” she said, still fixed on the stillness of the street below. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”
Jacob answered her by caressing his mouth along the blades of her shoulders, tracing a path north to her neck. His hands tightened, a tender but possessive gesture, and she felt him grow hard near the small of her back.
Abruptly, he broke away. “I’m so sorry,” he said, breathless. “I wasn’t thinking.”
Without taking her eyes off the street, Amelia reached behind her, pulling her husband back closer. “Don’t be sorry,” she whispered as her own body came alive. She felt desirable and longed to be needed that way for the first time since the world had stopped. It wasn’t wrong. It wouldn’t hurt her. “And don’t stop.”
Jacob’s hands traveled up her torso, fingers cupped and sliding over her breasts and to her shoulders where he let the straps of her nightgown drop to the floor.
Amelia moaned, falling into him, pressing into the hard line of his sex, ready for her. “I know what you’re about to ask me,” she panted, “but don’t. I want this. I need this.”
With one hand, she reached between them and grabbed his cock, pressing it into her, waiting for him to take over. Jacob paused for only a moment, then groaned as he entered her for the first time in weeks. His knees buckled as he thrust, one hand pressed into her sex, the other braced against the windowsill.
All her fears slipped away. No third entity. No monster in the room. This intimate moment was only about the two of them, Jacob and Amelia, Cerridwen and Cianán, and their love everlasting.
Jacob’s pace quickened, lost in his desire for her. She pressed her palms against the windowpane and cried out in pleasure when nearing her own climax.
Amelia nearly stopped him when she realized she hadn’t taken any form of contraceptive in weeks. But it didn’t matter. Nothing existed except the two of them, and this moment, and the love only they could ever understand.
She opened her eyes as Jacob released inside her, and she climaxed in tandem. Instead of relief, horror overtook her in a single, stinging moment.
She had not been wrong.
Staring up from the lamppost, watching them in their coital tangle, was Victor de Blanchefort.
If you enjoyed The Secrets Amongst the Cypress, an honest review is always appreciated.
The story will continue in Within the Garden of Twilight, Volume IX.
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Crimson & Clover Series Prequels
The Storm and the Darkness | Shattered (novella)
The House of Crimson & Clover
Volume I: The Illusions of Eventide | Volume II: Bound (novella) |Volume III: Midnight Dynasty | Volume IV: Asunder |
Volume V: Empire of Shadows | Volume VI: Myths of Midwinter | Volume VII: The Hinterland Veil | Volume VIII: The Secrets Amongst the Cypress | Volume IX: Within the Garden of Twilight
La Famille Lagniappes (Character Bonus Stories)
Flourish: The Story of Anne Fontaine | Shame: The Story of Jonathan St. Andrews | Banshee: The Story of Giselle Deschanel
Crimson & Clover Lagniappes (Bonus Stories)
St. Charles at Dusk: The Story of Oz and Adrienne | Surrender: The Story of Oz and Anasofiya |
Fire & Ice: Remy and Fleur Fontenot | Dark Blessing: The Landry Triplets | Pandora’s Box: Jasper and Pandora Broussard |
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SARAH M. CRADIT ONLINE
Sarah is the USA Today Bestselling Author of the Paranormal Southern Gothic series, The House of Crimson & Clover, born of her combined passion for New Orleans, and the mysterious complexity of human nature. Her work has been described as rich, emotive, and highly dimensional.
An unabashed geek, Sarah enjoys studying obscure subjects like the Plantagenet and Ptolemaic dynasties, and settling debates on provocative Tolkien topics such as why the Great Eagles are not Gandalf's personal taxi service. Passionate about travel, Sarah has visited over twenty countries collecting sparks of inspiration (though New Orleans is where her heart rests). She's a self-professed expert at crafting original songs to sing to her very patient pets, and a seasoned professional at finding ways to humiliate herself (bonus points if it happens in public). When at home in Oregon, her husband and best friend, James, is very kind about indulging her love of fast German cars and expensive lattes.
1844-1848
Charles Deschanel I, and his young wife Brigitte, emigrated from France and purchased a plot of land along the Mississippi River in Louisiana. Their children, Ophélie, Jean (the Deschanel heir), and Fitz, are born within the first few years. Charles names his plantation after Ophélie.
1861-1862
Civil War tears the country apart. Charles shrewdly makes back channel deals with the Union, which saves his property when New Orleans falls early. He is branded a traitor by fellow Southerners, but is one of the few of his peers to emerge not only intact but with even stronger prospects.
1863
Ophélie is brutally murdered by one of the Union soldiers, after months of abuse.
1865
Civil War ends. Both Jean and Fitz fought, and survived. Charles continues his associations with the same Union men who murdered his daughter. This infuriates Brigitte, who plans her revenge.
1866
Brigitte finally gets her revenge when she takes her own life, cementing the Curse against Charles and his descendants. This is witnessed by her son Jean's wife, Julianne, who writes about it in her diaries. Later, she will convince her daughter Ophelia of the Curse potency.
Later that year, Charles and Brigitte's son Fitz, along with his wife and son, are killed in a boating accident, presumably the first victims of the Deschanel Curse.
1875 & 1878
Charles II (grandson of Charles I) and Ophelia are born to Jean and Julianne. T
hese are the only two children they will have. Charles II becomes the Deschanel heir.
1896
Julianne dies, leaving all her diaries and recollections of the Curse to her daughter, Ophelia. Ophelia carries these beliefs with her all her life, never marrying.
1901-1903
Charles II and his wife Amelia give birth to three children: John, Jean, and Elizabeth.
1905
A yellow fever epidemic sweeps New Orleans. All three of Charles II and Amelia's children perish to it. Later that year, Amelia gives birth to a son, August, who will become the Deschanel heir.
1906
Amelia gives birth to her only other surviving child, a daughter, Blanche. Blanche will go on to start the Broussard, Guidry, and Fontenot dynasties. Current descendants refer to Deschanels as either "descendants of August," or "descendants of Blanche."
1908
Charles Deschanel I dies.
1925
August, at the age of 20, returns home from boarding school married to a Yankee woman, Eliza Gass, whom he is very much in love with.
1930 & 1931
Charles Deschanel II dies, followed by his father, Jean Deschanel, leaving August as the only surviving heir.
1925-1949
August and Eliza try repeatedly to produce children, resulting in a series of painful stillbirths. Eliza falls ill and dies in 1949. With no heirs, and August coming into middle age, the future of the Deschanel family is uncertain.
Within days of his wife's death, August marries his deceased wife's nursemaid, a young Irish woman by the name of Colleen Brady. It was said he married her as an expression of the family's ill fortunes thus far, and that he "might as well marry the help, in any case."
1950-1959
In a felicitous twist of fate, August and Colleen go on to conceive ten children, six of whom survive into adulthood: Charles, Augustus, Colleen, Evangeline, Maureen, and Elizabeth.
1961
August Deschanel passes away, leaving his son Charles III as the Deschanel heir.
1975
Ophelia Deschanel passes away at the age of 97, the last of the older generations. She passes on all her notes, and legacy, to August's daughters.
1976-1987
The sixteen grandchildren of August Deschanel are born. At this point, there have been no major tragedies in many years, and the Curse begins to fade into history.
Children of Charles: Nicolas (1975), Nathalie ('77), Giselle ('78), Lucienne ('79), Adrienne ('80), Anne (’81)
Children of Augustus: Anasofiya ('75)
Children of Colleen: Amelia ('76), Benjamin ('77), Ashley ('78)
Children of Evangeline: Markus ('85), Katja ('87)
Children of Maureen: Olivia ('75), Alain ('80)
Children of Elizabeth: Danielle ('82), Tristan, ('89)
1996
A series of tragedies strike the family. Colleen's son Benjamin, along with his wife and child, perish in a house fire. Charles Deschanel, his wife, and three of his daughters (Nathalie, Giselle, Lucienne) die in a bayou car accident. Later that year, Elizabeth's daughter, Danielle, is struck by a car and killed on Christmas.
2006
Current Time
Ancestry of August and Blanche Deschanel
All current Deschanels are either descendants of August, or descendants of Blanche. Below is a representation of the direct ancestry leading to their entrance into the family tree. For more detailed ancestry charts, please visit www.sarahmcradit.com.
Current year in the series is 2006.
Charles Deschanel I (1810-1908) + Brigitte L’Allarde (1832-1866)
I
Jean Deschanel (1846-1931) + Julianne Bonapartie (1848-1896)
I
Charles Deschanel II (1875-1930) + Amelia Cutright (1880-1910)
I
August & Blanche (siblings)
Descendants of August Deschanel (1905-1961)
August Deschanel and his second wife, Colleen Brady, had seven children in total, six surviving into adulthood. From those immediate progeny, came sixteen grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren. August’s grandchild, Nicolas, is the current living Deschanel heir.
Charles Deschanel III (1950-1996)
Children by Cordelia Hendrickson (1951-1996):
Nicolas (1975)
Children by Lisette Duchene (1958-1980):
Nathalie (1977-1996)
Giselle (1978-1996)
Lucienne (1979-1996)
Adrienne (1980-2006) m. Oz Sullivan (1975)
Children by Angelique Fontaine:
Anne (1981)
Augustus Deschanel (1951)
Children by Ekatherina Vasilyeva (1950-1975):
Anasofiya (1975) m. Finn St. Andrews (1978)
Colleen Deschanel Jameson (1952)
Children by Noah Jameson (1950):
Amelia (1976)
Ben (1977-1996) m. Laurel Green (1977-1996)
Ashley (1978) m. Christine Eames (1978)
Madeline Deschanel (1953-1970)
Evangeline Deschanel Gehring (1954)
Children by Johannes Gehring (1955):
Markus (1985)
Katja (1987)
Maureen Deschanel Blanchard (1956)
Children by Edouard Blanchard (1935-1998):
Olivia (1975) m. Greg Claiborne (1975)
Alain (1980-2006)
Elizabeth Deschanel Sullivan (1959)
Children by Connor Sullivan (1960):
Danielle (1982-1996)
Tristan (1985)
Descendants of Blanche Deschanel (1906-1990)
Blanche Deschanel had three husbands over the course of her colorful lifetime. The first, Ellis Kenner, died under suspicious circumstances before they could produce issue. She had only one child with her second husband, Johnson Guidry, who also died of suspicious cause. Finally, she had three with her third husband, Claudius Broussard, of whom it was said she finally met her match. The Broussard line then additionally produced the Fontenot and Dubois branches.
Blanche and Johnson Guidry (1890-1930) begat Pierce Guidry (1950-1996)
Children by Winnifred Babin (1926):
Pansy Guidry (1949)
Fathers unknown:
Rex (1973) m. Sissy Dupuis (1975)
Clothilde (1976) m. Virgil Dupuis (1970)
Eugenia (1978) m. Beau Frederick (1977)
Antoine (1980)
Eloise (1982) m. Napoleon Audette (1980)
Rene (1987-2006)
Alton Guidry (1950)
Kitty Guidry Marsolet (1954)
Children by Landry Marsolet (1952):
Charles (1980)
Winnifred (1984)
Blanche and Claudius Broussard (1900-1975) begat Eugenia Broussard Fontenot (1940)
Children by Wallace Fontenot (1939):
Luther Fontenot (1962)
Children by Josephine Plaisance (1964):
Remy (1981)
Fleur (1981) (twins)
Theodore (1990)
Llewellyn Fontenot (1963)
Children by Sophie Doucet (1962):
Charlotte (1983)
Annette (1987-2006)
Lowell Fontenot (1964)
Children by Julia Vizier (1965):
Noelle (1990)
Blanche and Claudius Broussard (1900-1975) begat Cassius Broussard (1942)
Children by Helene Barrow (1944):
Jasper Broussard (1963)
Children by Pandora Prejean (1963):
Leander (1982)
Estella (1984)
Harriett (1987)
Imogen Broussard Dubois (1965)
Children by Harris Dubois (1960):
Leon (1985)
Violet (1988)
My brain is a peculiar organ. It remains ever full of ideas but is not always so keen on letting me access them. Over the years, I’ve discovered the most effective way to tease and massage these ideas to the front of my brain, where I can turn them into stories: brainstorming. But this req
uires the right brainstorming partner.
Holly Burgess, in this manner, is my muse. As a fellow author, she understands the trials and victories of the process, and knows all the right questions to ask. Often, she even asks questions I don’t want to answer… but need to. Slowly, the ideas gather moss and then become a boulder. Without her, Secrets might have remained a small rock, hiding in the dark corners of my mind. Holly, I can’t thank you enough.
My beta readers have also been absolutely essential during this process. Marinda Hatcher, Julie Galvin, Madeleine de Kuijer, and Melannie Johnson Savell, your perspectives were all uniquely valuable to me this round as I dipped my toes in an era I loved but had never ventured into. And, again, Holly, your alpha reads kept me moving forward.
And, while perhaps she will never see this, I need to give credit where its due. My pug puppy, Queen Melian, (Miss Mellie, Mellie Ann, Biggie Smells) deserves the award for keeping my toes warm and my heart swelled with happiness. I have always loved animals (sometimes more than humans) but have never been so connected to another furry heart. All the times I wanted to stop for the day, her sweet face and cuddles kept me rooted in place, for one more chapter.
Finally, James. My constant, as always and ever.
The Secrets Amongst the Cypress Page 28