by Allison, Kim
His soft smile one of compassion, Elyssa both dreaded and craved the moment when his mouth would capture hers. Still, she could not give into him so easily. Not at least without having answers first. As his lips neared again, Elyssa shakily asked, "Do you love her?"
Daniel exhaled a quick sigh, though he never stopped his slow approach toward her lips. "Of course not."
In a quiet voice, just as Elyssa was on the very edge of his all too easy seduction, she asked, "Could you ever love me?" to prevent him from ethi
As soon as the words were uttered, Elyssa regretted them. Would have given anything to take back the wretched plea. Why did she continue to torture herself when it came to wanting Daniel's love? In truth, she was no different from any other woman that had ever fallen prey to his allure. She really hadn't even known him all that long, and here she was, on the verge of tears in desperate want and need of Daniel's spoken love.
He was of course immune to women's tears by now, and Elyssa was certain he'd long been weary of women expecting him to declare his devotion. Helpless creatures, all of them, and now she'd joined their ranks.
Her quiet plea stunned Daniel, for although Elyssa wore her heart on her sleeve, he'd rather suspected she knew he could not admit to love when he was not looking for a permanent relationship with anyone. He held a definite fondness for her, indeed he'd spent the entire day thinking of nothing else but rushing home into her arms and seeing her beautiful smile.
And it had nearly been on the tip of his tongue to accede to her sweet plea and speak the words back to her––a shocking revelation––but he forced himself to remain silent. He refused to mislead her so, and did he ever falter and speak those cursed words aloud, it would be to his immediate and lasting destruction.
His silence was heartbreaking, yet Elyssa knew he could not admit to loving her. She had known that from the beginning, from the moment she'd first discovered he was the notorious Lord Daniel Fredrickson, seducer and slayer of female hearts.
She saw the flash of shock in his eyes for a split second. Had felt the slight hesitancy in his movements at her foolish words. Elyssa felt humiliated at her blunder and tried to lower her head from his grasp, but Daniel refused to allow her reprieve.
Wordlessly, he denied her sweet behest, though he proceeded with his hands and mouth to show just how much Elyssa did mean to him. As much as any woman could mean to a man that had spent half his life in debauched carousing and seducing. And likewise of being seduced, not only for his excessive good looks, but for who he was. For his reputation and for his titles and wealth.
Her love for him, her complete infatuation, engulfed Daniel with the inexplicable need to consume her. It filled him with the longing to express his gratitude for her undeservin to prevent him from ethig love. He could see Elyssa's reluctance to submit to him, her indignity at having declared something so intimate only to feel rejected. Indeed, he hated himself for not being able to comfort her with like words. So he did the only thing he could.
Gently wiping away the lone tear that spilled onto her cheek, Daniel covered her mouth with his own. His arms pulled her abruptly against his hard chest as Elyssa began to fall prey to his impassioned onslaught. She wanted to deny him, had to deny him.
Her arms crept about Daniel's neck and she parted her lips at his insistence. A low moan tore from his throat the moment Daniel felt her surrender, felt the tenseness seep from her body as she melted against him. Her touches became as feverish as his, both of them helpless from falling into the fiery chasm of desire.
The burning need to be joined was so intense that Daniel's hands shook as he nearly ripped the gown from Elyssa's shoulders. Tore his shirt and breeches from his body, all the while staring wildly at Elyssa with the demanding need to take her at once. He barely managed to pull her over to the bed before taking her, his need a savage, almost violent thing.
It was unlike anything he'd ever known, Daniel incoherently mused, as he continued plunging inside her, deeper and deeper. The feeling of both resentment and craving toward Elyssa's timid plea for his love.
His eyes closed in ecstasy just before coming, but Daniel forced himself to slow, allowing Elyssa to join him. He knew she was close to the precipice, her familiar soft cries alerting Daniel she was near to erupting. He stared down at her, wanting to see the look in her eyes when they came together. With one last savage thrust, Elyssa cried out, the tremors within her taking hold and traversing down every nerve ending in her body.
And it was the look in her eyes at that very second that shook Daniel to the core. Words were only words, after all, but the unmistakable look of love in Elyssa's eyes sent a jolt of guilt and unworthiness through his veins.
Contrite for taking advantage of her, Daniel rolled from atop her, lying on his back as he stared at the ceiling in self-disgust. He could not allow Elyssa to make him the center of her world, as egotistical as that might sound, for he'd been through that bother with countless other women in the past. He wouldn't be able to live with himself once everything changed, and it undoubtedly would.
But then she touched him. Elyssa's lapse in judgment. ed to ">CHAPTER fingers splayed across his naked chest, her soft lips placing a gentle kiss against his mouth. And he was lost.
CHAPTER 11
The next morning Elyssa awoke to an empty bed. The spot where Daniel had lain through the night was already cold. An icy dread seized her heart, for Elyssa knew of an instinct that Daniel's absence wasn't due to a mere business meeting or an early morning ride. He was simply....gone.
It had of course been her cursed affirmation of love, her foolish plea for him to love her back that had sent Daniel scurrying at the first possible moment. How utterly hopeless that had been To try forcing a man like Daniel to speak of love.
Would he wait to return to Greystone until after she left? In truth, she held no claim to being mistress of the mansion any longer. Greystone needed no mistress, she thought miserably, for its master wouldn't allow it. Didn't want it., span.MsoHyperlinkweknew she
She got up and dressed, eating only a few bites of breakfast downstairs. Unable to keep her mind focused on anything of importance throughout the morning, Elyssa eventually decided to take a ride across the estate. She had the young stable hand, Will, saddle a relatively wild mount, against his wishes. The stallion, although recently broken, was as near untamed as a horse could be. In truth, Daniel had been the only one that had fully mastered riding him, and Will advised Elyssa to choose another more docile mount.
"See here, Will, I am as capable a rider as the great Lord Fredrickson," she sneered. "I wish to ride that devil horse, so please hurry up and be done with it." Unused to Lady Fredrickson's sharp abruptness, Will knew it would be fruitless to argue further. He would instead follow her from a distance to make certain nothing untoward happened.
Short moments later he watched as Elyssa tapped the whip against Devil's flank once. That was all it took to send the beast flying. Will rushed to mount one of the quicker horses left, glad that he had planned to follow her from a distance, for there was no possible way to ever catch up with Elyssa on the unnaturally fast stallion. She was hellbent on going somewhere, Will mused, and he wished she would slow her pace.
Elyssa drove Devil as hard as she could, and he seemed to revel in it. His long strides meant freedom, and the stallion would carry her wherever she wished to go. Elyssa found herself headed to the cliffs, angry tears falling unhindered, as she cursed Daniel for making her fall in love with him. For capturing her heart so callously, so bloody easily. For making her believe in things she had no business believing in. It flashed through Elyssa's mind that she was being drawn to the cliffs like the others before her. A wild desire to keep going threatened to consume her, to dive off the cliff on the demon horse, and she knew he would take her no matter that he could already sense the danger.
Nearly too late, she managed to pull the reins tightly, coming all too close to the edge of the jagged cliffs. Barely two feet from the borde
r, Elyssa's breath refused to come. Only when she managed to safely back away a few feet did she exhale a shuddering breath.
Dismounting, Elyssa slid to the ground, covering her face with her hands. Devil skittered a short ways down the path, though never straying too far from Elyssa. A moment later Will approached quietly, still out of sight. He saw Elyssa's huddled form seated on the cold ground, heard her quiet sobs.
He'd been beside himself with frantic worry when he watched Elyssa head to the haunted cliffs to prevent him from m smile. His heart had nearly burst in the fear she would fall to her death like the other hexed Fredrickson women.
Cursing the young Lord Fredrickson, Will detested Daniel for conquering yet another victim, overcoming her naivete and then leaving her. Daniel had not told Will that morning where he was going, or when he would return. And Will knew that Daniel's departure was the cause of Elyssa's present state of mind. She was simply a disposable pawn to him, much like all the others who hadn’t the good fortune to be born into blood so blue as the Fredricksons. Will had always admired Elyssa for her regal bearing, in spite of the sadness she had harbored ever since coming to Greystone.
Satisfied that she was no longer in danger, for Elyssa's tears eventually subsided and she called to Devil, Will hid until she'd mounted the huge stallion and headed back toward the mansion.
Elyssa spent the remainder of the day indoors, choosing a book from the library after a meager dinner. As she passed by Daniel's bedroom, she impulsively opened the door, half expecting to see the woman from the previous day lying in Daniel's bed.
The bed was immaculately made, however, and there was no evidence that Daniel had been there. Indeed, that he would ever return. On an impulse, Elyssa entered his bedroom, wanting and needing to feel his presence. She slowly crossed the room and picked up his shirt, lying discarded in a chair, and held it against her cheek. She inhaled his lingering scent, reveling in the smell and the feel of his shirt, knowing it had touched his hard body.
She waited in his room, alternately reading and pacing the floors, until night fell. Depressed and on edge, Elyssa returned to her own room, ignoring her maid's request to help her change into her nightclothes. She could only fall into bed in restlessness, wondering where Daniel was and who he was with.
Turning onto her side, Elyssa pulled the other pillow to her chest. She forced the tears back, refusing to allow herself to begin again, for did she start crying this time, she might never stop. Sleep was long in coming that night, and then only in short, restless intervals. Her dreams were filled with Daniel, and true to reality, he was unattainable even in sleep.
After two more days in the mansion, Elyssa wearied of the wait. She'd had no word from Daniel, indeed was growing incensed at his callous thoughtlessness, and decided it was time to pack her things and leave. It was obvious Daniel had no intentions of returning to Greystone until she was gone, her initial suspicions apparent. She'd made the fatal error, that of exposing her bare heart to Daniel, and was now beingto face the realitythi made to pay for her foolish lapse in judgment.
Just as she started packing her bags, the maid, Annie, knocked on her bedroom door, advising that a delivery had just been left for her. Confused, Elyssa thought there must be a misunderstanding, and although she tried to get Annie to go away, the young maid was insistent that Elyssa would not be disappointed.
Moments later the numerous boxes were brought upstairs and placed on her bed, in the chair, and on the floor. Finally Elyssa was left alone, her door closed, and she looked about in confusion. The fancy gold letters adorning the boxes indicated one of the most well known seamstresses in London, and a few others from a jeweler. Elyssa's heart skipped a beat at the realization Daniel had bought her gifts. Countless gifts, and she was torn as whether to open them or not, part of her still wanting to flee and not allow herself to be hurt any further.
The other side of her, however, wanted to open each and every box. Her admiring oohs and ahs continued until she had every new garment displayed on her bed. Gowns in every color and print imaginable, soft slippers, hats, and undergarments. And oh, the lacy undergarments. She wasn't even quite sure how a few of those were meant to be worn, and blushed furiously at the notion.
And the thought struck anew. Daniel wasn't here. He'd no doubt ordered all the fine clothing before ever leaving her two days past. Nothing had changed at all. Her fingers gently touched the satins and velvets, admired the costly strand of diamonds Daniel had meant for her neck. She could not accept any of it.
Quickly tossing her own remaining garments into her bags, Elyssa determinedly started toward the stairs. She stopped dead in her tracks at the sight of him.
Daniel reached the top of the staircase, his dark eyes searching hers for a sign. Of what, he wasn't certain. Of forgiveness? Or hatred? He’d passed Delilah's departing carriage on his way in just moments before, and knew that Elyssa had by now seen the things he bought for her.
And as he could see for himself, it meant nothing to her. He didn't know whether to be pleased or incensed that she wasn't taking the clothes and jewels before trying to walk out of his life. He saw the brief flash of softening in her eyes, the glimpse of immense hurt, before her emerald orbs flashed once more in defiance. Her steps renewed and her jaw clenched in silent anger. Elyssa managed to take one step past Daniel before he pulled her back by the arm. She struggled to loosen his hold, but Daniel refused to escaped her lips a"Where the hell do you think you're going?" he bit out, his remorse for putting her through agony the past three days suddenly vanished in place of anger that she would actually try to leave him without a word. As if he'd not done the exact same thing.
Angry tears sprang to her eyes and Elyssa finally replied. "To get away from you! To save you from my unwanted presence."
Hating how he'd hurt her, Daniel's grip softened a bit, though he refused to completely release his grip. The look of repentance in his eyes threatened to shatter Elyssa's resolve and she looked away. Grasping her chin, Daniel forced her to look at him. His soft urgent words tore at her resolution and Elyssa despised him for her weakness.
"Don't go, darling. Your presence is anything but unwanted." He managed to wrest the bags from her hands, tossing them aside out of reach. She cried out and Daniel forced her hand over his heart. "Don't leave," came the urgent heartfelt request. "I need to have you here with me."
Elyssa laughed mockingly in rebuke of the flimsy words he'd most likely plied countless other women with. She had learned her lesson quite thoroughly and was in no need of further ridicule. Grasping her fully against him, Daniel heard Elyssa's soft cry of protest against his chest.
"I am so sorry," he said earnestly. "So sorry I left without a word, darling. I was completely asinine to leave."
Her quiet agreement made Daniel chuckle and he continued as he stroked her hair, "I've never told a woman that I love her, Elyssa. Perhaps it is because I don't know what love is really. But you are the first woman to make me feel whole. That my life is complete with you. For the first time in my miserable existence." Daniel felt the hot dampness of her tears through his shirt, felt the quaking in her chest from muffled crying, and cradled her even more tightly. "I need you, Elyssa. Please say you will marry me." She stilled immediately, not certain she'd heard him correctly. Daniel laughed and repeated himself, looking in her eyes so he could see her true reaction, no matter what words she spoke. "Be my wife, Elyssa. Please. Save me from myself, darling."
Smiling tremulously, Elyssa undeserving of g">CHAPTER asked, "What about protocol, Daniel? I am still officially in mourning."
"Damn the mourning period, darling, and all the hideous black clothing. I much prefer you in bright colors and brilliant diamonds." He could see the reluctance in her eyes. She was frightened of going against society. Perhaps scared of going into a marriage with a heretofore rake. God knows she hadn't experienced anything good in her brief marriage to Percy.
But whatever the cause for her reluctance, Daniel knew she still l
oved him, and that alone was reason enough to fight against any forces, seen or unseen. She was on the verge of saying yes, and Daniel meant to give Elyssa no chance to refuse his shocking request of marriage. He gathered Elyssa into his arms for a sweetly urgent kiss, bending her back further in his arms as the kiss deepened.
Once he leisurely finished his amorous assault on her mouth, Daniel held her hands while gallantly dropping to one knee, his voice deep and sure. "Elyssa. Darling. Have my children and grow old with me." Elyssa reached out her fingers to touch his pitch black tresses, her hands trailing down to lovingly caress the strong jaw and warm lips that she so loved. Daniel's dark eyes continued staring at her, anxiously awaiting her reply.
Elyssa's choked cry preceded an adamant "yes, oh yes!", and Daniel laughed in sheer elation as he grabbed her down into his arms, the thought that everything he wanted and needed was finally within grasp.
to prevent him from m smile
CHAPTER 12
Blake Edmonton was pleasantly surprised to see his good friend enter the dining room early the next morning. "Daniel, old man, what a nice surprise. Haven't seen you since you took up residence at Greystone again." Flashing a brief smile, Daniel declined Blake's offer to have some breakfast, though he did pull out a chair and sit across from his childhood friend. "In fact," Blake continued, "it's a bloody wonder you're up this early. I would have imagined you lying in some delectable strumpet's bed at this hour. Has coming back to London changed you so much then?"
Expelling a breath, Daniel replied, “You have no idea.”