by Adele Clee
As the couple broke through the crowd, Leo and Ivana were suddenly standing before them. Elliot’s heart almost leapt through his mouth. Without another word he raced over, embraced his brother, brought his sister’s hand to his lips and kissed it. Alexander came to join them, his cries of joy attracting attention.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Elliot struggled to contain his excitement. The blood rushed through his body so quickly he could hear it vibrating in his ears.
Leo grinned. “We’ve come to rescue you from the evil clutches of a room full of bores.”
Ivana tapped Leo playfully on the arm. “We have come to stay for a while.”
Alexander cleared his throat. “Having braved the three-week journey, you’ll need to stay for a month to recuperate.”
Ivana glanced at Leo and smiled. “I think we plan to stay a little longer than that.”
Ignoring the gapes and stares, they bombarded the new arrivals with questions. As soon as the dance ended, Evelyn and Grace hurried over, and they spent another few minutes embracing.
“And so now you are a marchioness,” Evelyn said affectionately.
“As I have just been reminded by those who stopped to greet us,” Ivana replied. “You know what it is like at the castle. No one pays any notice to such things.”
Leo raised a brow. “From your most recent letter, I understand we have two new nephews.”
All four of them tried to answer at once, but then stopped, laughed and gestured for Elliot to continue. “Our sons are both six months old.”
“Louis is our son.” Grace beamed with pride.
“And Theo is ours,” Evelyn added.
“And what of the other children,” Ivana asked eagerly. “Are they well? Are they thriving?”
Elliot nodded. “They are all doing remarkably well. Come to Portman Square tomorrow evening.” He had almost invited them for dinner but thankfully remembered that they still suffered from the affliction. “We will all gather there and wait until you’re able to venture out.”
Ivana smiled. “That would be wonderful. I cannot wait to see their smiling faces.”
“How … how are the Bruhns?” Evelyn asked hesitantly.
“They are living up at the castle,” Leo informed. “Herr Bruhn has taken to carving wooden figures. He has made one for each of the children.”
“Come,” Alexander said. “Let us go and find somewhere quiet to talk, where there are not twenty pairs of ears all listening out for a juicy piece of gossip.”
As they made their way through the ballroom in a bid to reach Alexander’s study before being pounced upon by another nosey guest, Elliot gave a contented sigh. It felt good to be together again. In his wildest dreams, he would never have thought the golden-haired devil would become like a sister to him. It seemed that life had a way of delivering the unexpected. Even in the darkest times, he now knew one must always have faith.
The next morning, Leo woke with a start as he struggled to recognise his surroundings. It took him a moment to realise he was in London and not snuggled up in their huge bed in the castle.
The warm body curled next to him shuffled closer. “What time is it?” Ivana asked dreamily.
Leo glanced around the room. “I haven’t the faintest idea. Sometime before noon, I would hazard a guess.”
Ivana stretched her arms above her head, the soft curve of her breasts rising up to meet his greedy gaze. “I don’t know about you, but I hardly slept a wink. My mind kept replaying various scenarios. Will the children look the same? Will they remember me?”
“Of course they will remember you.” He caressed her cheek, gave a mischievous grin when his hand drifted lower. “Perhaps you need to find a way to occupy your mind, an activity to make you forget your fears.”
From her sinful smile, he knew she was just as eager as he to partake in a little vigorous exercise. “Is there ever a morning when you are not in an amorous mood?”
Leo thought for a moment. “No. Not since meeting you.”
“As your wife, I believe it is my duty to oblige.”
“Good Lord, you know how to dampen a man’s ardour.” He felt soft fingers circle his throbbing cock. “Then again, I find I quite like your approach.”
Two hours later, while the sun shone brightly in the sky, Leo and Ivana stood in the hall of their townhouse in Cavendish Square.
“I still get nervous at the thought of stepping outside,” she said as she tied the ribbons on her bonnet.
Leo nodded in acquiesce. “After years of hiding in the shadows, I think we will never feel completely at ease in the sun.”
“What do you think they will say when they see us?” Ivana clapped her hands, her excitement evident on her face.
“I have no idea,” he chuckled. “Perhaps swoon in shock.”
Leo opened the front door. They hovered on the threshold, let the rays of light infuse their being.
“Well, I cannot hear sizzling. That is always a good sign.” Leo offered his arm, and Ivana hugged it tight. “Shall we go and surprise our friends?”
“Yes, my love.” Ivana nodded confidently. “Let us go and share our good fortune.”
They decided to walk the half mile to Portman Square. After years of living in the dark, they took every opportunity to feel the sun warm their skin. Once there, they discovered that Elliot, Grace, and the children had joined Alexander, Evelyn and their children in the park for a picnic.
After a twenty minute stroll around the park, they noticed their friends sitting on the grass, nibbling on food laid out on a blanket. The children were running around, laughing and giggling and Leo knew the sight would bring a tear to Ivana’s eye.
“They all look so happy, Leo,” she said, her voice sounding a little shaky. “I feel as though my heart is about to burst from my chest.”
Indeed, he felt the same way too. To see the sun beating down upon his brothers’ smiling faces was perhaps one of the most splendid things he had ever witnessed.
As they crept closer, Frederick glanced in their direction. He stopped and stared before his eyes grew wide and round.
“Frau Lockwood. Frau Lockwood,” he cried as he charged towards them.
Ivana picked up the hem of her skirt and rushed towards the boy, scooping him up in her arms and hugging him tight.
Elliot and Alexander jumped up from the grass. They stared at Leo for the longest time and then they too ran towards him, picking him up and cheering loudly.
Despite numerous frowns and complaints from passersby, no one cared. In their excitement, they all ended up in a heap on the grass.
“Please tell me I am not dreaming,” Elliot said, gasping for breath.
“No. You’re not dreaming.” Leo could feel his smile stretching from ear to ear. “It only took me two blasted years to replicate Talliano’s elixir. I doubt there is a rat alive in all of Bavaria.” He turned to Alexander. “You’ll be pleased to know I am now an expert in deciphering illegible Latin.”
“You should have known he would not give up so easily,” Ivana added before being swamped by the children’s eagerness to embrace her.
Elliot’s gaze drifted over him. “Did you suffer as we did?”
Leo shivered as the memory surfaced. “Once my most recent batch had proved successful, Ivana took it first. I managed to compel her to sleep.”
“I begged him to take it before me, but he would not listen,” Ivana said.
“It was horrendous,” Leo groaned. “With no one to compel me to sleep, I writhed on the floor in agony for hours, but the end result was more than worth the pain.”
Elliot sighed. “Well, you are here to tell the tale.”
Leo winced as he recalled their recent adventure in Scotland. Damn it. They had almost been bitten again.
Ivana turned to Christoph, who was sitting next to Grace. “Do you remember me, Christoph? Do you remember your time in Bavaria?”
The child shook his head. Leo knew Ivana had spent many days and night
s worrying about the boy.
“Do you not remember when we were at the castle?” Grace said softly. “We rode in a carriage all the way home and Edwin had a stomach ache for days.”
Christoph’s eyes widened. “Yes, mama, I think I do.”
Ivana gasped and put her hand to her heart. She opened her mouth a few times but struggled to speak.
“So I assume your three-week journey was not as treacherous as I suspected,” Alexander said.
“We did not come here directly,” Leo informed. “We spent some time in Scotland before venturing south.”
“Scotland?” Elliot repeated. “What on earth were you doing there?”
“It’s a long story, but I shall tell you about it this evening. For now, let us relish the time we have together. I never thought I would ever see the day when we would all be sitting together like this.”
A few people stopped and stared as they all lay on the grass smiling up at the cloudless sky. For no reason at all, Elliot chuckled loudly, the contagious sound leaving them all in fits of laughter. They held hands, the physical bond a sign of the love they shared. They were a family. Nothing would ever break the bond of the brotherhood.
Thank you!
Thank you for reading Abandoned to the Night.
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If you would like to read a chapter from Lured to the Night, please turn the page.
Adele x
Lured to the Night
A Brotherhood Novella
Chapter 1
Castle Craig, Perthshire, Scotland, 1822
“They think I’m a witch?” Isla Maclean jumped up from her chair near the fire and gaped at the man she had known all of her life. “Och, I dare say the villagers would have a shock if they knew I had the fangs of a wolf and drank blood for supper.”
Douglas growled and clenched his jaw. He hated her speaking so candidly about her affliction. “I swear I’ll kill that foreign beggar if he so much as looks at ye again.”
Her bottom lip quivered at the thought of Nikolai returning. Her father’s trusted friend was no match for a monster. “It’s been almost three years, Douglas. Let us pray he has tumbled from his horse and broken his wicked neck.”
The corners of Douglas’ mouth curled up. “Aye, now isn’t that a sweet thought.”
“It is what I hope for each day when I’ve no choice but to hide in the shadows.” The image of her father’s harrowed expression flashed into her mind. Witnessing his daughter’s abominable cravings had been too much for his weak heart to bear. She would never forgive Nikolai for that. “But there are more important matters to concern ourselves with now.”
Douglas shook his head so vigorously a strand of long grey hair fell from his queue. “They’ll nae listen this time. There’s talk you’ve brought a curse down on the village. That you’re the one responsible for the death of their livestock.”
Isla snorted. “What, am I stealing animal organs to use in my evil potions?” She had said it in jest but the solemn look on Douglas’ face suggested there was an element of truth in her words. “It was a joke, Douglas. Please tell me they have a little more faith in me than that.”
There were many rumours about why no one saw her during the daylight hours. Nikolai’s curse had forced her to become an outcast in her own village.
“They’re simple folk, with nary an ounce of sense between them.” Douglas frowned. “But I fear someone is feeding their weird notions. Someone is filling their weak heads with nonsense.”
Only one person had a strong enough grievance to cause her any trouble. Only one person was respected enough to give credence to the tales.
Lachlan Carrick.
“Malmuirie said Lachlan has come home.” It took a tremendous effort to let his name fall from her lips. “I’ll warrant he’s not got a pretty word to say about me.”
Douglas glanced up at the ceiling and sighed. “Aye, but Lachlan is a man of honour. He would not embroil himself in village tittle-tattle. If yer maid says otherwise, then I’ll see her crawl the length of Artney Glen.”
“Malmuirie said he is not the same since he left.” Isla had been promised to Lachlan since birth. The laird’s eldest son had made no secret of the fact he regarded her marriage to Nikolai as betrayal. “She said he has a heart of stone. She said he no longer has any respect for women.”
Malmuirie had painted a vivid picture of a scoundrel and debaucher. Apparently, there were ladies in Edinburgh who had no care for their virtue. There were widows who wanted a strong, virile man to warm their bed, nothing more. The image of soft hands trailing over Lachlan’s broad chest caused jealousy to slither through her body.
“As I dinnae wear a dress, I cannot say.” Douglas smiled. “Does such a thought bother ye, lass? Do ye still hold a torch for Lachlan?”
Isla made an odd puffing sound. “While our fathers may have had different ideas, I’ve only ever thought of him as a friend.”
Douglas folded his arms across his chest. “As a friend ye say? So you’ve never locked lips with him on the banks of the burn?”
Isla’s cheeks flamed. She thrust her hands on her hips and straightened her spine. “Did Malmuirie tell you that?”
“No, lass. But yer father often asked me to keep an eye on ye.”
The memory of the summer afternoon flooded her mind. The sun had been high, the rays bright. The water from the stream had played its own trickling melody. She had stared into Lachlan’s piercing blue eyes, put her trembling hand to his cheek. As their innocent mouths touched softly, she knew then that there would never be another man for her and her heart had raced at the prospect of becoming his wife.
“Then you would have seen the man took liberties.” Lies were easier to live with than the truth. “You would have witnessed my indifference to his amorous advances.”
Douglas smirked. “Aye, if ye say so. Though I—”
The sound of Malmuirie’s irate voice echoed from the hallway beyond the solid oak door. Douglas moved to stand at Isla’s side as she contemplated walking over to investigate. When the door suddenly flew open, she put her hand to her chest, gulped and tried to catch her breath.
“Forgive me.” Malmuirie scurried into the Great Hall accompanied by Lachlan Carrick. “I’ve told him you don’t receive visitors.”
“Visitors?” Lachlan snorted. “Surely your mistress will welcome an old friend.”
Isla blinked rapidly to clear her vision. The man before her looked vastly different from the man she had said goodbye to some three years earlier. He had lost the naive, boyish charm. Now his blue eyes were cold, his hard jaw less forgiving. The dark brown hair brushing his brow was not as wild and untamed as she remembered. He’d discarded his kilt for a pair of breeks, had covered his muscular arms with a blue coat cut in a fashionable English style.
Douglas stepped forward; the men shook hands, patted each other on the upper arm.
“What brings ye to Castle Craig at this late hour?” Douglas’ friendly tone held no hint of suspicion, but Isla suspected it was not a coincidence.
Lachlan’s contemptuous gaze drifted over her. “I would come at a respectable hour, but I hear your mistress favours doing business in the dark.”
“Do they not have manners in Edinburgh, Lachlan?” She would not be intimidated by his veiled insults. “Do they not see fit to offer a greeting when they barge into people’s homes?”
He stepped forward and inclined his head. “Miss Maclean. I bid you good evening.”
Isla narrowed her gaze. “I have not been Miss Maclean for three years. Or had you forgotten?” In truth, everyone still called her by her birth name. There were some, particularly Douglas, who still questioned the validity of her marriage to Nikolai.
The muscle in Lachlan’s cheek twitched. “No. I have not forgotten.”
“Wel
l, perhaps you have forgotten that there’s no longer a law preventing you from wearing the clothes of your clansmen.” She waved her hand at his stuffy attire. “Or is this what appeals to the ladies in Edinburgh.”
A low growl emanated from the back of his throat. “You were not so concerned about the habits of your countrymen when you married a foreigner.”
They stared at each other for a moment. She imagined that whatever expression he wore, his eyes would still hold a look of disdain.
“Let us all sit.” Douglas waved to the chairs hugging the hearth.
Lachlan cleared his throat. “I prefer to stand.”
“Then say what you’ve come to say.” Isla’s temper flared. She was tempted to flash her sharp teeth, to let him know she commanded a power he could not even begin to comprehend.
Lachlan shook his head and inhaled deeply. “I have come with a proposition. One I believe will be to our mutual advantage.”
Many times she had dreamt of him saying a similar thing, though she imagined his tone would be warmer, his gaze heated. Now she suspected a proposal of an intimate nature would be the furthest thing from his mind. The thought fuelled her ire. Perhaps she should tease him, chip away at the arrogance that oozed from his pores.
“I hear you’re a man familiar with propositions, that in Edinburgh you’ve gained experience with proposals that are mutually advantageous.”
She had once seen lust and desire flash in his bright blue eyes. She knew how magnificent such a specimen of strength and brawn must appear to ladies looking for pleasure.
His expression darkened. “I hear you’re a witch set to kill every animal in the village to make your brews and potions.” He raised a brow. “If gossip were fact, there’d be many a man hanging from the bough of a tree. Besides, I doubt Douglas wishes to hear your jealous banter.”
Och, the man could provoke the Devil.
“Did you learn your conceit in Edinburgh, too? What need do I have to be jealous? You were the one who ran away. You were the one who let bitterness stand in the way of our friendship.”