Masque of Enchantment

by Charlene Cross

  Alissa’s eyes widened. “She was never told?”

  “Eventually, she discovered his loss,” Eudora said. “But she never knew the circumstances behind his leaving … or his death.”

  Alissa’s heart suddenly ached for her mother … and her father. How could anyone be so cruel as to keep two people apart when they truly loved one another? “I’m not certain that I’d want to be known as a Chapman,” she stated, sudden anger in her voice. “Damn the lot for their subterfuge!”

  “Geoffrey’s father paid his own price for his deception,” Edward stated. “Besides losing his eldest son, he also lost his two younger. One was killed in a duel after he’d been caught cheating at cards; the other drowned in the Thames after being robbed by a band of thugs. Milton Chapman, too, has since died, a broken and lonely man for his treachery.”

  “There’s something I want you to see,” Eudora said, rising, taking the brooch to Alissa. “Press this stone,” she said, handing her the brooch and pointing to a small diamond. Alissa did as told; the sapphire suddenly sprang away from the setting on its secret hinges. “This was your father.”

  A handsome man with hair and eyes the color of her own stared back at her. She gazed at Geoffrey Chapman, the Earl of Benton. Tears formed in her eyes, and she tried to blink them away. Then she felt the nudge of Jared’s forefinger under her chin.

  “It’s all right, love. He did not leave you willingly. No man ever would.”

  She smiled weakly. “You are right … about my father.”

  “I am correct about the other, too,” he said, speaking of himself.

  “That is a promise?”

  “It is.”

  As the tears cleared from her eyes, she and Jared read the inscription written opposite the miniature of her father, a hidden promise of his love: Forever one heart with thee.

  “It is a promise I make to you, as well,” Jared whispered close to her ear, and Alissa felt the warmth of his words surround her heart.

  “And I to you,” she whispered.

  A knock sounded on the door, and Mary peeked in. “Excuse me, but yer baths are ready.”

  Jared rose to his feet. “Thank you, Mary.” He pulled Alissa from the chair. “Madam, we are wanted upstairs.” A cry escaped her lips as he suddenly swung her up into his arms. “We shall see you on the morrow,” he announced to his father and Eudora, then strode toward the door.

  “Put me down,” Alissa demanded, kicking her feet as she heard the duke’s knowing chuckle. “You’re making fools of us.”

  His feet touched the stairs. “What’s foolish about a husband wanting to be alone with his wife?”

  “But it’s still daylight!”

  “All the better. It’ll save the expense on the candles left unburned. I want to see you, love. All of you.”

  As they reached the top of the stairs, Alissa’s eyes met Mr. Stanley’s. “I see she’s a-stayin’,” he said, grinning. “I’ll brings ye some supper, later.”

  “I’ll ring when we need sustenance. Till then you may guard the hall. We’re not to be disturbed.”

  “Right, gov’nor.”

  “You insufferable buffoon!” she cried just above a whisper when they’d turned the corner. “How dare you intimate to the servants that we … we …”

  He chuckled. “We what? Are about to make love?” Alissa’s mouth drew into a tight line, and seeing it, Jared said, “I simply issued an order. Thom’s assumption is his own … correct, but his own.”

  “Ooooh! If I were a man—”

  “If you were a man, madam,” he said, with a grunt, “I wouldn’t be carrying you down this hallway.”

  “Your wound!” she said, anxiously. “Put me down before you hurt yourself.”

  He nodded toward his door. “Turn the handle.”

  “This isn’t my room!”

  “Turn the handle.” She did, and after they had entered, Jared kicked the door closed with his foot. “This, madam, is our room.” He carried her to the bathing chamber. “And this is our bath.”

  Alissa slid along his body to her feet. “Surely, you don’t expect … ?”

  He began unbuttoning her clothing. “I do.” Becoming frustrated, he finally rent the gown in two, surprising his wife. “I’ll buy you another … a dozen if you’d like.”

  Their clothes fell away, and Jared lifted Alissa in his arms, then plunged into the steamy water, settling her down in the large tub across his lap. She moved against him, and he sucked in his breath. Hearing it, she turned to face him, sliding her body over his length.

  “Do you know what you’re about?” he asked in a husky whisper, feeling the rise and fall of her slender form as it floated above his, teasing him, unmercifully.

  “I do,” she replied, her eyes locked with his.

  “And do you know the outcome?”

  “Yes.”

  “Is it what you want?”

  “Yes,” she replied throatily.

  With an urgent groan, he swung his arms from the sides of the tub, surrounding her. His searching lips captured hers in a hungry, wildly poignant kiss. His tongue probed gently, and as she allowed it entry, his hand slid over the curve of her spine to caress her hips and knead the softness of her bottom.

  Then, his mouth suddenly tore aside. “I can’t wait, love,” he growled, his hands shifting her thighs across his hips, opening her to his rigid desire. Positioning himself, his hands gripped the moons of her hips and eased her down.

  Filled with him, Alissa felt the burning need to move. And she did. A violent shudder racked Jared’s entire body, his breath caught raggedly, and she gazed deeply into his passion-glazed eyes. Knowing she held power over him, possessed the ability to drive him half mad, she moved in the same provocative motion. Then, suddenly, her eyes widened as his powerful hand pressed her closer, his own hips meeting her rhythm. A chuckle rumbled from his solid chest. “It works both ways, sweet,” he whispered against her throat, sending delightful shivers through her.

  As Jared’s lips tasted and teased her honey-flavored skin, white-hot desire shot through Alissa’s veins. His tongue traced the sensitive curve of her throat, gently soothing the small nick made by the vicious blade, and her head arched backward, giving his mouth full rein. An aching torment sparked deep in the pit of her stomach, building into a fiery inferno, and a moan of pleasure erupted from her throat.

  The seductive vibration filled his ears, teased his lips. Then her entire body arched as it pulled upright, straddling him; her arms lifted her luxurious mane, her hands clasping behind her head. Like the pagan goddess in his dreams, she swayed in a dance of passion. Full ivory globes tempted him, and his impoverished hands were suddenly filled with them, gently molding them, cupping them, urging them to his starving lips. Then, as his tongue tormented and teased the responsive nipples, her moan of pleasure erupted anew, and his steadying hands slid to her waist, guiding her undulating form, rocking it against his hardened contours. “That’s right, sweet. Coax me, caress me! Share your fire!” he cried, huskily.

  Inflamed by her untamed ardor, her nymphlike grace, he felt her body surge against him, seeking the ultimate pleasure only he could give. His fervent gaze memorized her ardent look as she succumbed to her desires, drowning in sweet surrender. Her pulsing spasms enticed him, and his passion blazed uncontrollably. Wildly, he thrust upward, his own desire bursting forth, filling her, her name torn from his lips in an agonizingly sweet melody.

  Spent, Alissa fell against him, and Jared held her close. “I love you,” he whispered, with aching poignancy, his lips traveling her cheek; a tear fell from his eye to slip unseen into the bath. Oh, how I love you. And, through my own stupidity, I almost lost you. His arms tightened around her.

  As the water cooled, his passions momentarily sated, he rose with his wife in his arms, afraid to let her go, lest she disappear. Setting her on her feet, he ministered to her, drying her from head to foot. The towel quickly rubbed over his own body, he swung her high in his arms, carry
ing her to their bed.

  Tearing the covers aside, he placed her reverently upon the sheets, then lay beside her. “I love you, Alissa,” he said, his throat aching with joy, and fear, his gentle hand traveling the plains of her smooth stomach. “Forgive me … please … for all the unkind things I said. I was wildly jealous … afraid you didn’t love me … I wanted to hurt you, as much as I was hurting.”

  “Ssh,” she whispered, her finger covering his lips, then her hand rose to brush away a lock of hair from his brow. “I know why it happened, and I forgive the words, for I know they were not said by the real you.”

  “I’ve been such a fool, Alissa. I’m not certain I can forgive myself. My babe grows inside you …”

  “My love, why do you chastise yourself so?”

  “Because …” How could he explain what he needed to hear from her lips … the reassurances that would heal his jaded soul? “I …” He fell silent.

  Reading the display of emotions in his emerald eyes and on his handsome face, Alissa realized what he wanted, needed most of all. “Jared … I love you. I love you from the depths of my soul. I love you with every inch of my heart. And I always will.”

  “Alissa,” he whispered, his eyes glowing with joyous tears, his heart expanding tenfold. His splayed fingers wound through her hair. Then his mouth lowered over hers, embracing her lips in a tenderly sweet, achingly wonderful kiss. “My precious love, I had vowed never to give my heart to a woman again. But I was wrong, sweet. I never really knew what love was until I found you. You are my love, my life, my soul …”

  And as Alissa pulled her husband into her arms, her heart swelled with the greatest pleasure imaginable. At last, she knew totally, completely, the love of one man. And just before Jared’s lips took hers, she whispered the hidden pledge of love, “Forever one heart with thee.”

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