Darkest Dreams

by Jennifer St Giles

  His other hand slid down my stomach to slip between my legs and rub firmly against my most intimate places. Somewhere in the recesses of my mind I knew I had gone from innocence to far past a point of ever returning to it. I knew the mysterious curiosity in me about passion and what he made me feel had grown instantly into an intense hunger. I knew that by all things proper and right I should push him away and recover what little sense I had left.

  And I surely would have done that except for one very shocking thing. I didn’t want to.

  Alexander moved again, abandoning my aching feminine flesh to lean me further back as he went to one knee. Then he laid me upon the carpet and stared down intently, his eyes burning, his chest heaving.

  I might have said stop even then, but he planted his hands on the floor next to either side of my head, and his mouth claimed mine in another searing kiss, one that brought the full length of his body and the hard press of his sex intimately against mine.

  Chapter Eight

  “Good Lord, what am I doing?” Alexander said harshly as he pushed up from me. His arms trembled with the force of his emotions.

  My whole body shook from the force of our passion. I stared up at him, blinking at him in amazement. “I believe you’re very adeptly seducing me, my lord.”

  He cursed. “No. I am not.” He sat, moving further back from me.

  I rose unsteadily to my elbows. “You’re not?”

  “No, Miss Andrews. What I was doing without a single thought to the consequences was taking serious advantage of a young woman who is not only under my employ, but also a respectable member of my family!”

  I couldn’t very well argue with him, for I was under his employ, and it was essential for my future to stay that way. I was a member of the family in that my sister was married to his brother. And though I hadn’t behaved in such a manner, I was nowhere near ready to abandon my respectability, at least the concept of it. So I took umbrage with the only thing I could. With as much grace as I could possibly muster, I rolled to my side and gained my feet. “Taking serious advantage implies that I wasn’t a willing participant. And I do believe I kissed you first, my lord. But you are correct in that we were rash and gave little forethought to our actions. Is that something one gains with experience in these matters?” I asked. Heaven help me, but I didn’t think my mind capable of thinking where he was concerned.

  He stood, stared at me a moment, then burst into laughter.

  “Captain Black? The lass’s buggy is at the door.” The butler’s voice reached us before the seaman-turned-servant did.

  Alexander whipped around and none too gently gathered the glass grapes. He shoved them my way. “Carry these against your heart, my dear.” Then he raised his voice. “We’ll be right there, Brighty! Tell the driver to wait.”

  The seaman appeared in the doorway. “Aye, aye, Captain.” Before he left, he nodded eagerly enough to make me wonder if he would lose the bird’s nest wig on his head. But I had more important things to worry about at the moment.

  When I looked down at the grapes in my arms I was shocked find a large dark, wet circle stained my left breast. The breast Alexander had taken in his mouth and done amazing things to. My stomach clenched and my pulse raced again. Oh my!

  I shot my gaze to him and found him staring at my breasts as if he was a heartbeat away from repeating his earlier actions. I crushed the grapes to me, and their hard glass balls made my nipples tingle even more. “How will I ever get home?” I groaned.

  “I’ve a cloak I will lend you. Perhaps you can say you accidentally spilled your drink? I will meet you in the entry hall,” he said, then quit the room.

  I stood stunned a moment, feeling as if I’d been swept away from anything and everything I’d ever known by a wild storm. It was very disconcerting. Forcing my feet into motion, I found my way back to the entry hall where, a few moments later, Alexander came dashing into the room from a completely opposite direction. I truly had to wonder if he were not some dark man of magic.

  “Hold this.” He handed me the cloak and grabbed the grapes, sliding one hand on top of them and one beneath. “The sweetest fruit God ever made,” he murmured.

  His brushing of my breast as he lifted the grapes away from me was far from an accidental caress, and let me know exactly what fruit he was speaking of. He turned and securely placed the glass grapes within the woman’s arms, creating the dénouement to my day’s hard work. It was perfect, a vision of beauty and grace enriched by a dazzling cluster of sparkling, jewel-like color.

  “Perfect,” I said.

  He took his cloak from me and slid it over my shoulders, but didn’t let his hands linger. His scent and delicious warmth enveloped me.

  “I have to agree, perfect. And I won’t ruin it,” he said, then stepped away from me. “So, in light of that, there will be no need to wait for my opinion regarding any changes you wish to make, Miss Andrews. I have a number of business matters to attend to up the coast and fear I won’t be available. I do sincerely thank you for…sharing such treasures and your expertise with me today though. Brighty will see you out, lass.”

  “Aye, Captain. Should I send word for Captain Jansen to ready the ship?”

  “Yes.” Alexander strode from the room, leaving me to feel more alone than ever before.

  Upon arriving at Killdaren’s Castle, I hid Alexander’s cloak under my pillow, “accidentally” spilled an entire ewer of water down the front of my dress, then called for a bath. As the maid helped me undo the row of buttons, I expressed my desire to give the gown away.

  She was ecstatic, saying she would have the perfect use for it. I watched the dress disappear from my sight with mixed feelings. I wanted to both remember and to forget the feel of Alexander’s mouth and hands. Placing Aphrodite’s ring in a special box upon my vanity, I sank, deflated, into the heated bath water. The more I considered my uninhibited response to Alexander the more depressed I became. Why, I was like Iris in the training ring, responding to his every move, his every word, his every touch like a nymph in the forest.

  The man was abandoning his castle and training his new horse to escape having to encounter me, a situation that would in no way help repair the Killdaren brothers’ estrangement. If anything, I’d added to it.

  At dinner, I discovered that Cassie and Sean were at odds and received the impression it had to do with my employment at Dragon’s Cove. Prudence’s golden eyes were shadowed with worry. After last night’s nightmare, Rebecca had lapsed back into stuttering badly with her every word, setting her back months in the healing process. The earl and Sir Warwick were absent, but Lord Ashton and Mr. Drayson had joined us for dinner. I knew that the entire Killdaren household was on edge, but it seemed to me that Mr. Drayson was unsettled, or more accurately distracted. I finally had to ask, “Is something wrong, Mr. Drayson?”

  He exhaled, his poet’s eyes troubled. “It’s the strangest thing. A rather terse note was left for me at the hotel’s desk this morning, demanding that if I had compromised anyone of late to make full restitution or pay the consequences. I swear upon my honor that I’ve never done such a thing. I’m extremely troubled over it.”

  Lord Ashton cleared his throat. “Egad, Drayson. The same for me. I didn’t mention it because I was taken aback by what it implied. I’ve done nothing to compromise anyone as I see it. And of course you haven’t either. The first thing that came to my mind is someone is trying to set up some sort of blackmail scam. I sent the offending thing on to my lawyers with strict instructions for them to investigate the matter thoroughly. A man could take the missive as a threat of bodily harm for some undisclosed and, believe me, completely unknown transgression.”

  “What?” Sean asked, stirred from his brown study.

  Both Mr. Drayson and Lord Ashton repeated themselves.

  My mind raced at the news and ran through Rebecca’s nightmare last night. Mary had accused some man of compromising a woman. Could that man have been Mr. Drayson or Lord Ashton? Could e
ither of them have been the “horseman” who had attacked Mary? I dropped my fork, and it clattered noisily onto my plate. Everyone looked at me.

  “Pardon me. I must be more exhausted than I thought.” No! I told myself. I’d spent the summer going on a number of outings with both of these men, and never once did I have any doubts about their kindness and respectability. They’d at all times kept gentlemanly distances and never made a move or a suggestion toward anything improper. In fact, the only man in Dartmoor’s End who’d ever been improper in any way had been…Alexander today.

  “You do appear rather pale,” Mr. Drayson said. He sat to my right. “Maybe you’ve taken on a task you shouldn’t have.”

  “I agree,” Lord Ashton chimed in. “I must admit that I was more than surprised to learn from Gemini today that you’ve taken a post. Even if it is only listing artifacts for Blackmoor, it’s too much. Women of quality aren’t meant to work.” He sounded as if the very act of doing so lowered a woman’s worth and respectability.

  I stiffened my back and drew my brows together, unbelieving of his attitude. “Forgive me for saying, Lord Ashton, but that school of thought is changing.”

  Cassie leaned forward and narrowed her eyes. “Lord Ashton, can you not see that attitudes such as yours completely demean a woman? Why should she not be allowed to apply her skill and intelligence toward any profitable endeavor just as a man can?”

  Lord Ashton’s brows arched as he gasped for air. He looked at Sean before addressing Cassie. “I mean no disrespect. Men are more adept than women at certain tasks, and women should accept that as fact, just as I lay no claims to womanly duties. Besides, for a woman of quality to work, it reflects badly upon those who are in a position of responsibility to provide for her.”

  “I’m in agreement with you, Ashton,” Sean said softly.

  Cassie turned a wide-eyed, hurt gaze toward Sean. “So you’re of the opinion that a woman has no identity apart from her ‘provider’?”

  Sean sighed. “I did not say that.”

  “Yes, you did,” Cassie replied, emotion thick in her throat. I knew tears were only moments behind. She looked at her plate for a long moment, paled and stood. “Forgive me,” she said to the table at large. “I’m feeling a little unwell at the moment.” She quickly left the room. Sean stood, as did the other gentlemen. I rose as well and went to follow after Cassie but Prudence grabbed my arm, pulling me back. I read her mind before her whispered words escaped. “She’s his now. They must work things out alone.”

  Sean excused himself curtly and quit the room.

  I bit my lip, blinking back my tears and concern. Cassie had enough to worry about right now; she didn’t need to be arguing with Sean. Why couldn’t he just accept her for the gifted and giving woman she was?

  “Perhaps you shouldn’t have stated your opinion so strongly, Ashton,” Mr. Drayson said.

  Lord Ashton turned shocked eyes my way. “Please accept my apologies and convey them to your sister, Miss Andrews. It was not my intent to upset her.”

  “I will let her know. Meanwhile, gentlemen, let’s continue with our meal.” Though it was the last thing I wanted to do, I reseated myself and steered the conversation to less treacherous waters by mentioning my parents’ return to their archeological expedition in Greece and their search for the ruins of the temple Alexander the Great built for Apollo.

  “Speaking of ruins,” Mr. Drayson said. “I chanced by the old Kennedy Mansion today. The site made my skin crawl. I’ve no doubt the place is haunted.”

  Prudence gasped and grabbed my arm. From the images whirling in her mind, I instantly knew everything about the place, and it scared me to death. Mr. Drayson referred to what was once Lady Helen Kennedy’s ancestral home. She was the woman Sean and Alexander fell in love with, fought over, and were under the vague suspicion of murdering eight years ago. A week after Lady Helen was killed, her father committed suicide in the home. It had been empty ever since.

  “A haunted mansion close enough to explore? Really? I’ve heard nothing about this rumor. You must tell me.” Gemini’s enthusiasm nearly made me faint.

  “Good God! Miss Andrews. You completely misunderstood me. Don’t ever consider doing such a thing. I’m not a man who scares easily, and I must tell you the sense of evil lurking within the broken and abandon ruins is overwhelming. Most likely Lady Helen’s father is still wandering the halls, crazed over his daughter’s death. No telling what a spirit like that will do.”

  “Lady Helen?” Gemini squeaked. “Oh! Good heavens. I didn’t make the connection.”

  The dinner had gone from bad to worse, and everyone’s appetite lagged. At the first opportunity Lord Ashton and Mr. Drayson begged off any evening entertainment to return to Seafarer’s Inn. Prudence went immediately to see to Rebecca, who was in the competent and loving care of Bridget. Bridget had even brought her younger brother, Timmy, to play with Rebecca. I hoped having a child her own age with her would help, and thought I would check before retiring. I could then question Bridget to see if she’d had any news from Flora, though I knew she hadn’t. If she had, everyone would be giddy with relief and I would have sensed it.

  We climbed the stairs to our rooms and Gemini sighed heavily. “I knew it was too good to last.”

  “What, Gemmi?”

  “The happiness.”

  “Life isn’t that way,” I said.

  “No, but it isn’t this dark either. And I fear things are going to get much darker. Do you want me to sleep in your room tonight? In case you have another dream like last night?”

  All I wanted to do was to pull the covers over my head and forget the world existed, but I could hear the loneliness in Gemini’s voice, and I realized she was just as unhappy and unsettled as I was. “Your company would be most welcomed,” I told her.

  “Really?” she asked, clearly surprised.

  “Absolutely.” I set my arm across her shoulders, hugging her to me. In her mind I read a swirl of thoughts and confusion, going from what she felt about Lord Ashton, imagining being kissed for the first time by him—which in no way matched the wild attraction Alexander stirred in me—to a niggling curiosity about the haunted mansion. I shuddered, wanting to pull her close and protect her from all harm. It seemed the safe little circle we had known in Oxford had disappeared forever.

  Tensions had flamed high in just days and then hovered at that level for the rest of the week. Gemini, who’d been at loose ends, came with me to Dragon’s Cove for two of the days, but quickly lost interest in cataloguing the antiquities. The enormity of what had to be accomplished overwhelmed her, and the dreadful scene upon the entry doors disturbed her greatly. She decided to spend the rest of the week at Killdaren’s Castle.

  I’d ascertained the day after the diner fiasco that Bridget had yet to hear from Flora. Cassie had been upset and withdrawn since the dinner, only saying that she and Sean were trying to come to terms with a difference of philosophy. I offered to secure rooms in town if my employment at Dragon’s Cove was a difficulty, and not only did she refuse to hear of such a thing, but she’d gone off crying.

  Sean appeared shortly afterward, harried and unshaven. He informed me curtly that while he disapproved of my employment, I had to immediately discard any notion of ever considering not being a guest in his house.

  He also informed me—and I was absolutely under no circumstances to tell Cassie this—that he was seeking to relocate everyone far from Dartmoor’s End, Killdaren’s Castle and Dragon’s Cove. He feared the curse between him and his brother was reaching out to steal away his one chance at happiness with Cassie, and he wasn’t going to let it happen.

  By the end of the week I reeled from how much our lives had unraveled in so short a time. And deep inside of myself, I longed for Alexander to return. Every night I slept wrapped in his cloak, smelling him, remembering him…aching to know more of the passion he’d ignited inside of me.

  When Friday, the day Alexander was expected back, passed, and he fai
led to show, I left Dragon’s Cove in my own dark mood. I would have taken a tray in my room instead of joining the family for dinner, except it was Sir Warwick’s birthday, and Cassie had planned a special meal for him, which said a lot for her determination to be the perfect hostess. Sir Warwick’s prickly wit often served to increase tensions rather than ease them.

  As it turned out, Sir Warwick was on his best behavior, and dinner was the most pleasant it had been in a week. He seemed genuinely touched by the gesture and had softened his barbs enough to laugh. We’d just entered the drawing room for our evening’s entertainment when the sounds of a disturbance in the center hall alerted everyone to a problem.

  “Father! Where are you?”

  My pulse raced at the sound of Alexander’s angry voice. He was back.

  “Bloody hell,” Sean yelled, standing so quickly that he overturned the chess set, sending the pieces scattering upon the floor. Alexander appeared in the doorway at that moment, making my heart tumble. His tan had deepened and he was unshaven, looking as wild and dangerous as any fabled king of the sea.

  Frightened and clutching her rag doll, Rebecca screamed and frantically searched for her mother. She tripped and fell after just one step. Amazingly, the earl, who was the closest to the child, reached down and picked her up. I believe he did it without thinking, because he just looked at the girl, wondering what to do. But when she wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her tear-streaked face into his snowy cravat, crying harder, he held her closer to him and told her not to be frightened. It was the first time I’d ever seen the earl interact in any way with his daughter. Prudence, who’d been rushing to Rebecca, grabbed her heart and I think would have fallen had not Bridget been right beside her to steady her. The way Prudence stared at the earl holding their daughter ripped into my heart; her every hope, her every desire was shimmering in her eyes.

  Cassie stood and took control. The undercurrents between everyone had reached an explosive point. “Gemini, help Prudence and Bridget get Rebecca up the stairs and settled down. I’ll be up as soon as I can.”