by Allison, Kim
"There is so much to say, I don't know where to begin, Elyssa." He was pleased to hear her indrawn breath as his left hand covered a rounded breast, his right hand going about her back to undo several more of the tiny buttons. His expertise with women's clothing did not go unnoticed by Elyssa and she commented on it.
"Women much prefer an experienced man rather than some bumbling oaf,” Daniel replied. “Is that not so?"
"A woman wants to be cherished for who she is, and experience does not take precedence in matters of the heart." That they were discussing something so ridiculous during such a stressful moment did not go lost on Elyssa.
Exhaling a sound of disgust, Daniel continued his ministrations. Elyssa closed her eyes briefly at the long forgotten feel of Daniel's romantic onslaughtk hi d f fingers closing over her breast, the delicious feel of his tongue invading her mouth. Her eyes flew open as Elyssa attempted to fight his wicked magic.
She was unable to loose herself from his hold. Indeed, he seemed to revel in her feeble attempts, for it showed he was in control. For once in the past year, he was finally in command. Even if it was only temporary, and only if it was exerting control over her body and not things he couldn't change.
"Let's get back to matters at hand, shall we?" he rasped, the multitude of buttons undone allowing Daniel to easily slide the bodice of her gown down to her waist. Elyssa was outraged, yanking the gown back over her chemise, but Daniel jerked her hands down by her sides. "I am certain you don't want your lovely gown to become torn during our...discussion, do you? I would advise you to stop fighting me, darling."
Against her will, Elyssa left the gown alone, for the sooner he had his say, the sooner she'd be able to return back to the party. How long had she already been gone? Ten minutes, fifteen? It certainly seemed much longer than the few moments she'd actually been gone.
"Now, about your crime, Elyssa. You have been a naughty little girl. Do you wish to explain yourself?" Elyssa thought Daniel was referring to the wrong she'd done him by not showing up at the wedding ceremony, when in fact he was talking about the murder of his father.
For all that he'd callously used her for his own gain, had Daniel actually been genuinely hurt by her abandonment? He seemed a man whose will had been crushed, whose eyes bespoke of deep pain. Surely he hadn't actually come to love her a bit, had he? Her expression growing soft, Elyssa tentatively reached out to nervously rub her hand over his immaculate jacket. Stuttering a bit at first, she finally managed to reply to his question.
"I never expected your understanding or your forgiveness, Daniel. I hoped you would understand after everything I'd been through."
Slapping her hand from his jacket, Daniel's gaze grew angry. He could scarcely believe Elyssa conceded to her guilt in Percy's death. That she was so sure of herself she'd not even seen to getting rid of the damned murder weapon. That he had done that himself to protect her, fool that he was. And now she had the nerve to stand there looking up at him with a trite look of sorrow and feigned innocence on her face.
"Oh, you did it f romantic onslaughtchance secondor us, did you?" he asked sarcastically.
"At the time I felt it was the right thing for us both, and I still believe that. Surely you have come to see it was the only thing I could do."
"You are a cold, unfeeling bitch," he bit out, turning his back to her. Elyssa's eyes stung with tears but she forced them back, incensed that he continued to scorn her for something he was to fault for.
"Is that right?" her trembling voice asked, though anger quickly took over. Her words were meant to mock his certainty. To return some of the hurt he was so callously heaping upon her. And too, his sudden lack of obsession toward her body was instantly a challenge. How dare he make her feel vulnerable towards him after all this time? How dare he manipulate her so easily just by looking so damnably handsome, taking only the sensation of his fingers on her breasts, the feel of his tongue in her mouth, to destroy all her hard won confidence over the last year!
"I am cold? So frigid and unfeeling that you snuck into Greystone to spy on me and watch me with another man? Wanting me but knowing you cannot have me? Do you wonder how many times William Harrison has made love to me?"
Turning sharply toward her, Daniel stared at Elyssa in stunned amazement. The woman he thought he knew so well, had come to love, indeed had wanted to wed, was changing before his eyes. But then again, he'd obviously never known Elyssa as well as he thought he had.
"You heartless little cunt,” his voice deceptively calm. “I don't care how many times Harrison has fucked you, do you hear me? Go on back to your latest lover. I'll get what I want on my own terms.”
The female scorn in Elyssa craved to prove him wrong, yearned to make him sorry for the ruthless words he'd spoken about her, and suddenly Elyssa wanted nothing more in the world to force Daniel to kiss her. She was not above spiting herself in the process to prove she was the one with control over him and not the other way around.
He started toward the door to leave but Elyssa rushed in front of him, holding her arms out to the sides to prevent him from leaving. Daniel's tolerant look of boredom seemed to convey she could do nothing to physically keep him from leaving the room.
"You don't wish to dirty your hands on me?" Elyssa taunted as she lifted her unbuttoned bodice up a few inches to remind Daniel that he'd just undone her dress. "I vow you could be made to kiss me before you set one foot out of this room."
A raised eyebrow betrayed his doubt, though Daniel remained silent. Flicking the thin straps of her lacy chemise from her shoulders, Elyssa revealed a tantalizing display of flesh. Daniel didn't flinch. She splayed her hands over his hard chest and felt the instinctive tightening of his muscles beneath his shirt, a small forced smile playing sultrily about her lips.
Reaching her tongue out to moisten her lips, Elyssa slid her arms up about Daniel's neck and she stood on tiptoes to barely reach his mouth. Feeling a bit awkward, especially trying to seduce a man that was completely intent on not being seduced, Elyssa's lips did nothing more than cover Daniel's. She moved her lips back and forth against his but received no response whatsoever. Pulling back from him for a few seconds, Elyssa was discouraged to see a look of I told you so on his cursedly handsome face.
With a bravado increasing within, Elyssa reached up again and leisurely kissed the crook of his neck, the corner of his mouth, his lips. She briefly touched her tongue against his lips but received no reaction. All pride threatened to dissolve as Daniel continued to withstand her female wiles.
A ribbon of humiliation began to further weaken her resolve, but Elyssa continued on. If nothing else, for her own self confidence, which was swiftly melting into oblivion. Yanking Daniel by the edges of his jacket, she forced him to look down at her and lifted her mouth to his. Elyssa could swear she felt the slightest surrender in his warm lips. But in the end, nothing.
His deep voice interrupted her as the look on Elyssa's face grew even more determined. "You have the look of an angel, yet possess the soul of a dark fallen creature. What happened to the woman I remember?"
A brief look of hurt flashed across Elyssa's features and she frantically sought to end this farce before she allowed Daniel to hurt her any further. Placing his hand dangerously near her breast, Elyssa pulled his head down toward hers and closed her eyes as their lips met. She parted her lips, breathless with frustration, and greedily sought to plunder his mouth with her tongue as he'd so often done to her. The forward action caused Daniel to nearly lose all control.
He wanted to hurt her. Wanted to curse herIn between kisses, ishi d f. Wanted to pull her beneath him and plunge himself inside Elyssa as deep and as hard as he could. Finally he could withstand her wantonness no more. His tongue ravaged her mouth as Daniel held her head immobile, his other hand boldly claiming her breast.
Within seconds Daniel backed Elyssa up against the bed, their mouths still fused in a heated frenzy. Elyssa longed to feel his hard, warm flesh against her own yet she knew
it was impossible, this insanity she'd begun. She had finally proven Daniel incapable of refusing her body, yes, but in the process had betrayed her own vulnerability toward him. And if she were perfectly honest with herself, Elyssa would have admitted that it was that incredible yearning for Daniel, that overwhelming need to be held within his strong arms and to feel his mouth upon her own that had first prompted her foolish challenge.
Daniel's mouth followed suit after his fingers and his mouth closed over her nipple, tugging at the hardened peak, satisfied to hear Elyssa panting. His other hand yanked greedily at her gown and Daniel managed to lift it up to her thighs. The savage look on his face as Daniel looked tauntingly into Elyssa's eyes made her feel helpless beneath his touches. In truth, she wanted nothing more than to feel his hardness thrust inside her, though Elyssa knew she would hate herself afterward.
Inside Daniel was losing his soul to the warm and too willing body pressed so intimately against his own. Would it always be this way? Was he forever cursed to remain beneath Elyssa's spell, no matter that she had stolen everything he'd ever wanted?
Struggling to regain some kind of control, Daniel rasped above the sound of her soft moan, "Do you get this hot for Harrison?" Her movements stilled and Elyssa was stunned to hear Daniel's mocking words as his fingers trailed down the front of her bodice. "Are you this easy for him, Elyssa?"
"How dare you!" she cried breathlessly, shoving unsuccessfully against Daniel's chest.
"Like this," he responded harshly. "I dare like this." She stilled at the feel of his fingers graze a path up her smooth thigh, his mouth grazing an erotic descent down her jaw. Elyssa's eyes unwittingly closed as she was helpless to respond with any coherency.
Daniel looked at Elyssa in disgust, for all that the sight of her, ripe for the plucking, was nearly his undoing. He had conquered and won. Had turned Elyssa's own foolish ploy against her, though it had been difficult to restrain his basest needs in the process. romantic onslaughtfeg">CHAPTER
A few more wanton touches with his fingers, each one nearer to breaking her resistance than the last, along with the feel of Daniel's mouth lavishing kisses all over her were Elyssa's final downfall. Her eyes fluttered closed at the sinful feel of his fingers inside her. She was warm and wet and willing. An all but forgotten trembling started twining its way through her entire being. Elyssa could do no more than surrender to him. Her hands trembled against Daniel's back, a deep longing forcing her body to arch against his. A bright light flooded her senses and Elyssa allowed the sensation to glide over her body as she fell beneath his spell completely and thoroughly. She could do little more than part her lips and allow Daniel's passionate assault.
It wasn't a kiss of tenderness, however, but rather a kiss to prove his complete domination over her, her utter surrender. Elyssa's soft voice begged, "Please come inside me. I need you."
Though he'd not planned to bury himself inside Elyssa that night, her sweetly implored words, no matter that she was a conniving bitch, tore at his resolve and Daniel obliged her wish without hesitation. He hurriedly undid his pants and covered her body with his own atop the huge bed.
He plunged into Elyssa, again and again, her cries of contentment urging him onward. Deeper and harder. Her breathy declaration of love stunned Daniel, angered him, and he brutally thrust harsher inside her, wanting Elyssa to realize this was not an act of lovemaking. It was anger, retribution, punishment. And within a brief moment they both cried out together in climax. Their breathing labored, Daniel and Elyssa lay wordlessly beside each other. It hadn't been the same as they remembered it, that passion and fierce attraction for one another. Rather, it was infinitely more intense than before. The physical temptation was as undeniably strong as it had ever been in the past, but an inexplicable need had suddenly overtaken that neither of them were able to deny. A need of wanting to be one, having to be one, no matter that resentment and bitterness would forever mar their relationship.
A sternness eventually claimed Daniel's expression as reality returned. He rose from the bed, quickly donning his breeches. His hasty departure from her side left Elyssa feeling lonely and confused. She looked up at him and her heart fell into a cursed abyss as Daniel spoke the callous words, "Didn't I tell you before that I always get what I want?"
A shocked look passed across her face as Elyssa remained stunned in silence, tears springing to her eyes. Daniel unlocked the door, turning back to leave Elyssa with a parting thought, "The next time you're lying beneath Harrison, don't be so bloody desperate. It's rather pathetic." romantic onslaughtk hi d f
The door slammed behind Daniel and Elyssa felt as if she'd been raped. Daniel's harsh words were like a knife in her soul, and once again she'd fallen victim to her own foolish heart.
Daniel leaned his head back against the closed door, hating himself for being such a bastard. But Elyssa had been to fault for that. He was still in shock, amazed that she had admitted to Percy's murder without exactly speaking the words. But she coldly and brazenly let him know that she'd had to do it. Closing his eyes in abject misery, Daniel cursed himself thoroughly, for still he loved her.
CHAPTER 18
Moments later Elyssa made her way back down to the ball. William was quick to meet her, asking in concern where she had been, whispering that he'd missed her. As hard as it was, Elyssa managed to make it through the remainder of the gala without breaking down. And if her mother or Sophie thought her appearance was slightly askew they kept it to themselves.
Flashes of Daniel's unexpected appearance commanded her every thought. Brief moments when he'd actually been gentle in his touches, when his eyes had softened in feeling. But Daniel's anger had been all too real. Even though a year had passed, his bitterness had in no way lessened.
He faulted her completely for everything, and too, thought her a whore. Of course, didn't she bring that upon herself, carelessly acting as if she and William Harrison were lovers? He felt betrayed. Still, she would stake her very life on the fact that Daniel had not remained celibate for very long after she'd fled England. Catherine had bragged about that herself.
She prayed that his fury wasn't because of the vague doubts running through her mind. That Daniel was wrathful toward her because he had killed Percy and hadn't been rewarded with the inheritance he'd been expecting. If only Daniel had calmly come to her and opened up about his feelings, she would have come to an agreement with him. How did he think attacking her would accomplish anything?
After leaving Greystone unnoticed, Daniel went to a gentlemen's club in London. After the nearly hour long drive there from the mansion, he was more than ready to drive the demons from his head that Elyssa had put there. He had a few drinks and tried his luck at cards. Losing three straight hands not long after, he had sense enough to desert the vice. Daniel left the club after paying for an expensive bottle of brandy and told his driver to take him to the Edmontons' home.
Perhaps Catherine could help make Elyssa's memory disappear. She'd always been there over the past year when Daniel had needed someone to talk to. Someone to share a tumble beneath the sheets with. He didn't love her, had made it perfectly clear from the onset that he didn't, and Catherine was wise enough to know she was only one of a myriad of lovers Daniel had taken over the eternal months. Still, she was satisfied merely to be a part of his life once again. For now, anyway.
At the last moment before reaching the Edmontons', Daniel yelled to the driver to head toward his own home instead. He wasn't fit company for anyone tonight, and didn't want to have to put forth the effort of trying. He needed to sleep and put to rest the ghost of Elyssa. escaped her lips a nervous">CHAPTER Daniel continued nursing the bottle of brandy as thoughts of Elyssa plagued him, his bitter ruminations warring with those more tender of long ago.
How captivating she'd been tonight, Daniel mused bitterly. He had forgotten how beautiful she truly was. It had nearly killed him to watch from behind the upstairs banisters, like some naughty child, while Elyssa allowed herself to be le
d about the ballroom in the arms of the popular Lord Harrison. Although he liked to think of Harrison as a fop, the truth was that Daniel genuinely liked the man. Harrison was well liked by their peers and had a reputation for being honest and reliable. Besides the fact that the man had far too large a female following. He would only end up hurting Elyssa in the end.
A bitter laugh escaped Daniel's lips at that ridiculous notion, for if anything, William Harrison would end up being the one sorry he'd ever become involved in a relationship with Elyssa. Innocent and charming she might seem, but Elyssa was truly cunning as a fox, and hadn't he learned that firsthand.
Finally they arrived at Daniel's home, modest by society's standards, but more than big enough for Daniel. While the liquor imbibed throughout the evening had not made Elyssa's haunting image disappear, it had dulled his senses somewhat. Daniel banged on the front door with his fist. The beating continued getting louder and louder until the butler awoke and rushed downstairs to let Daniel in.
"What took you so long?" Daniel asked, his words slightly slurred. He removed his coat and carelessly dropped it to the floor.
"I apologize, milord, but I was sleeping. It is rather late, sir," Jeeves replied, retrieving Daniel's coat.
"We need to move your bed down here by the door." A drunken chuckle escaped Daniel's lips at that image.
"Yes, very good, sir," he commented, raising his eyes heavenward at his employer's nonsensical babbling. "May I assist you any further, milord? Help you into bed? Get you some coffee?"
"You know I cannot abide that horrible drink. Besides, I think it is fairly late. Take the rest of the night off."
"Why, thank you, good sir," Jeeves replied, making his way back to bed. romantic onslaughtug">CHAPTER
Daniel slowly made his way upstairs. Of a sudden impulse, he stopped at the bedroom door before his. Daniel stared down at the sight of his shaking fingers loosely holding the doorknob. She'd done this to him. Just one encounter with Elyssa after an entire year gone by, and he was lost. He could not allow himself to fall prey to her again.