Darkest Dreams
Page 11
“The Dragon’s Curse will find a way. Don’t you see? It’s a sickness in the Killdaren’s blood. From birth Sean and I heard about it, were told we were destined to end as we had been born, hands around each other’s throats. You heard my father. We didn’t believe it; we made a pact against it. Sean and I fought the night I discovered Lady Helen murdered. We were both crazed by guilt and drink. But here’s the difference. I never thought Sean was trying to kill me that night. He is convinced I was trying to kill him, though. What happened was a foolish accident, but now that Sean feels as he does, the trust is gone, and I have no doubt now that he will kill me the moment he perceives me as a threat to him and his. Even staying as far from him as I could for eight years hasn’t lessened it. He believes in the curse.”
I took another long sip. “Then he’s doing the right thing. If his children never hear of the Dragon’s Curse it can’t hurt them.”
“It can’t? What if they have twins? What happens the first time they have a fight, and he finds one of them has hurt the other? How will he react? What happens if there is an accident and one is at fault and has hurt the other? What will he say? What will he think? The only way for Sean ever to be free is to no longer believe in the curse.”
The wine swirled though my body and mind as wildly as Alexander’s reasoning. “Then we have to break the curse,” I said. “If anyone can be cursed then they can be uncursed.”
“I’ve read the tome backwards and forwards. There is no cure.”
“What tome?”
“The book that chronicles the Dragon’s Curse upon the Killdaren clan since the beginning of history. I’m sure Sean has it here. He always keeps it near.” Alexander went over to the bookcases, searching through the books. How he could read in this light escaped me.
“Where did the curse come from?” I asked. “Why was your family cursed?”
“Legend has it that back in the age of dragons, when magic ruled the earth, the queen of the Tuatha de Danaan was very disillusioned with her king’s unfaithfulness and sought comfort in the arms of a mortal. That man, my ancestor, was keeper of her dragons and would take her on long dragon rides and show her every earthly pleasure.”
“And?” I whispered, thinking about those pleasures, wondering what it would be to experience them.
“She pledged her heart and her love to this man, but there was only one problem.”
“What?” I demanded, impatient to hear the end.
“My ancestor had an identical twin. That twin wanted to bed the queen too, so they took turns with her. When she found out that she had been fooled, she cursed all identical twins born in our family and cursed all dragons too. The dragons killed each other into extinction and, of the identical twins born in this family, one of them has always killed the other.”
“So, she was a woman scorned not only by her husband, but then by her lover as well. Or lovers, I should say, because neither of your ancestors loved her.”
“True.” He squatted to another shelf.
To break the curse of a woman scorned one would have to do what? I shook my head. Everything suddenly seemed too complicated to think about. I drained my glass of the sweet, nectar-like liquid of the spiced wine, enjoying its smooth tingly feel upon my tongue and the heady scent of spices. “Can I have more, please?”
Turning from the shelves with a huge book in hand, he lifted his brows. “You’ve already drunk that glass.”
“Yes, you’ve been talking quite awhile, you know.”
“Not that long. Just a little more for you. You seem to be very fond of spiced wine,” he said. He plunked the book down on a nearby table. “You find a cure in that, I’ll be your slave for life,” he said. As he slipped the glass from my hand, his fingers brushed over mine, bringing back all of the sensations he’d wrought within me. My breasts swelled, my lips parted, my insides quivered.
“There you are, Blackmoor,” Dr. Luden said, entering the room with his black bag.
“A glass of wine, sir?” Alexander asked as he handed me mine.
“Yes. It’s been quite an evening.”
“Cassie?” I said, almost afraid to ask.
“Is fine. As I understand it, she stays up most of the night helping Sean with his astronomy and then is up most the day with everyone else. She needs to rest, eat more and worry less. It’s too early to know if she is carrying twins, and I see no indication of any serious complications at this point. I will, of course, be back to see her in the morning.”
Alexander handed the doctor his wine. I took a relieved sip from mine, welcoming the soothing relaxing of muscles too tense for too long.
“I’ll take you home just as soon as you’ve refreshed yourself,” Lord Alexander said to the doctor. A sense of disappointment slid over me. Somehow, though he’d given me every reason not to, I expected something more from him, given our last encounter and the vision on the bed that I was sure had to have come from him. I’d never imagined a man between my legs before, impaling me with his sex. Though I knew such were the goings on of relations between men and women, I’d never fantasized about them.
“No need. Since we live in opposite directions, Mr. Killdaren has ordered a carriage for me.” The doctor drank the wine in one gulp. “I’ve always told Seamus this Killdaren recipe could double your fortune if sold. Very…invigorating. I expect I’ll be speaking to both of you tomorrow at some point, so I’ll take my leave now.”
“Thank you,” I said. The doctor smiled warmly.
Alexander only nodded.
Moving to the door, I shut it. I didn’t want any more interruptions. I wanted a few minutes alone with Lord Alexander. “So, were your business endeavors successful this week?”
His brows lifted and his gaze raked down my body, leaving a trail of heat.
Feeling very bold, I moved toward him, making sure that my back was arched enough to press my breasts firmly against the bodice of my dress. That his gaze dropped as I approached gave me a heady feeling.
“Business?” he said, blinking.
“Did you not take your ship up the coast to conduct business this week?”
“Um, yes. I did. Business was…fine.” He drank some wine. “I haven’t been home yet but I trust I will recognize where I live. You’ve continued on with the antiquities?”
I nodded, taking a slow sip of wine, noting from beneath my lowered lashes how he watched me. “The entry hall, parlor and the glass room have all been catalogued. I’ve only partially arranged the parlor. I want to see what other treasures you have before I determine exactly how it should look.”
“The glass room?”
“The room where the grapes were,” I said, heat flushing my cheeks. I’d abandoned my tasks in the parlor, just to spend time in the room where the memory of his touch was so fresh.
“Yes, the grapes.” He drank more wine. His gaze was firmly fixed on my breasts. I drew another step closer, able to feel the heat of him, able to smell the sunshine and leather and salt of the sea on him.
“Enjoying the sweetest fruit God ever made?” I asked him softly.
He choked on his wine and moved his arm so jerkily to catch his breath that the liquid splashed from the glass and splattered my chest.
“Oh!” I gasped as the cool liquid slid between my hot breasts. Shoving my glass into his hand, I snatched out my fichu and began dabbing at the liquid.
“Bloody hell, woman! What are you trying to do to me?”
“Me to you? You’re not the one with wine trickling...” I shivered. “Everywhere.”
“Not everywhere yet,” he said, his voice so dangerously low that warning signals fired in my somewhat inebriated brain. Before I could fathom what he was about, he held up both glasses of wine and poured them down the front of my dress!
“Oh!”
“There’s more.” He gripped my hips and lifted me up. I had no choice but to latch my hands on his shoulders. He backed me up to the door and pressed me against it as he slid his hands down and gra
bbed the backs of my thighs, pulling my feet out from under me. He inserted himself between my legs, pinning me intimately against the door.
“Don’t fall,” he said softly, hooking my legs that were wrapped in my skirts over his hips before he released them.
He locked the door and my heart hammered wildly.
My wine-soaked breasts were at the level of his mouth. He began licking the wine. Long, hot stokes of his tongue lapped over the tops of my breasts, sending burning shivers of pleasure to the very place he’d pressed against me. I shivered, gasping from the sensations.
He unbuttoned my bodice and camisole, and my aching breasts spilled from their confines. He groaned, cupping them with his hands. He took one nipple in his mouth and sucked hard in a demanding, rhythmic motion that had my whole body dancing to his beat. I wanted that pulsing to consume me, to touch every part of my body and to shake the very center of my intimate being.
“Oh, God.” I said as my head fell back against the door.
He moved to the other breast, doing the same. Then, leaving my aching tips, he licked his way around the fullness of them, driving me even wilder with the want of more until he gave it to me. Suckling me past reason, until my hips thrust to his rhythm, until I knew nothing but his touch.
Suddenly he stopped and stepped back a little as he eased my shaking legs from his hips. Damp with wine, I was on fire everywhere. When my feet settled on the floor and I braced my hand on the door handle to stay upright, he moved back even further.
I blinked at him.
His hair was wildly mussed, his eyes burning coals of green fire. His chest heaved from his exertions, or was it his restraint? Wine stained his white shirt in patches. And the bulge that pressed against his breeches made it appear as if the buttons would pop free at any second.
“The next time you seduce me, I won’t stop, Andromeda. So make very sure you want everything, all the way. I can’t marry you either. I’ll leave no legitimate heirs. When I die, my title will go to Sean and his heirs. It is the least I can do for crippling him for life.”
Then he turned and let himself out the French Doors.
I stood there stunned, bare breasts heaving and aching. My whole body on fire for a man who’d just coldly walked away. Well, maybe not coldly, but it sure did bloody feel like it. I suddenly knew Bridget’s exact sentiments when she’d thought it would serve Stuart right for her to find another lover. Right that minute, I’d even take a vampire, just as long as he could rid me of the blood throbbing painfully to every part of me. I refastened the bodice of my ruined dress, thinking at this rate, any more encounters with Alexander and I just might have to start walking around naked.
Stumbling over to the sofa, I gathered the afghan from its back and wrapped myself in it. Just as I was about to leave, I spied the large book Lord Alexander had pulled from Sean’s shelf. The book on the Dragon’s Curse. I decided to tuck that beneath the afghan to read later…when I could think…if such a day ever came.
A quick look out the door showed me the corridor was clear, and I dashed as fast as I could from Sean’s wing, completely ignoring any and all dragons that I passed. I’d had enough of them and their fire for the moment. Maybe for life. The more I thought about it the more I realized that Lord Alexander had done it on purpose. The man hadn’t even kissed me!
Chapter Ten
I awoke late Saturday morning, after a horrible night of restless, dark dreams. I saw Mary. She chased me, decaying hands reaching for me as she screamed for me to touch her, to “see” what had been done to her. The gown she wore was bloodstained over her heart. There were two women immediately behind her, one white blonde, the other reddish blonde, and they were doing the same as Mary, screaming for me to touch them and to know what had been done to them. Behind them were even more women.
I ran.
I ran so hard and fast to the town that I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move another step, and I fell in the street, gasping for help.
The villagers all came out. They stared at me. Someone told them who I was, what I was, and they gathered around me like I was an animal to be reviled. They poked at me with sticks that turned to swords and left me bleeding. Then the rocks came, bruising, bone-crushing rocks that left no part of me whole.
Cold, despite the bright sun and warm temperature, I rose and washed my face. My skin was icy and appeared to have a bluish tinge in the mirror. Dark shadows made my eyes look bruised and haunted. I turned away, afraid to see more, just as I was afraid to face what Alexander had said last night. I, who didn’t believe marriage possible for myself, had been wrenched inside by his declaration that he’d never marry and why. He was sacrificing his life to atone for causing his brother harm. A fact that seemed to dispel the validity of the Dragon’s Curse in my mind, but was also completely unnecessary. Sean had built a wonderful and full life for himself, despite his injuries.
I felt as compelled to help Alexander to understand the error in his thinking as I was to have him carry through with his threat. The next time you seduce me, I won’t stop, Andromeda. So make very sure you want everything, all the way.
I kept tossing the words out of my mind, but they kept returning, so I dressed, bent on finding anything or doing anything to distract myself from thinking an affair with Alexander was a fine thing.
Determined to forget, I set my mind on the Killdaren household. After last night’s unraveling, I knew everyone within the household would be on edge. I was. The fact that Lady Helen and Mary’s deaths were connected stripped away any semblance of normalcy. I wondered what would happen now with Stuart Frye’s mother.
Before leaving my room, I hid the Dragon’s Curse book in my armoire to read later and went in search of the others. I found that Gemini, Bridget, Prudence and Rebecca had all left their rooms, and I went downstairs to the kitchens. Tiptoes and whispers were somehow what I expected. Instead, I found the fires were ablaze, and everyone was rushing around as if their life depended on finishing their tasks within the next minute. With all of the scrubbing and polishing going on everywhere I passed, it surely seemed to me that the Queen herself was expected.
“What is it?” I asked one of the passing maids. She gave a furtive glance about, making sure no one could see her pause, then she whispered. “It’s The Killdaren. The missus is going to have a baby, and while she’s resting today, he’s ordered that the entire castle be scrubbed and put to rights so that when she’s feeling better, there won’t be a thing that needs doing.” The maid then dashed off, scurrying like a squirrel with but a moment to prepare for a life-long winter.
I located Gemini, Prudence, Bridget and Rebecca in the dining room.
“Has anyone spoken to Cassie this morning?” I asked as I moved to the sideboard to for toast and tea.
“Only to Sean, a few minutes ago,” Gemini said. “Cassie is fine, but Sean is a mess. He’s quite beside himself on how to keep Cassie in bed. She keeps remembering something that needs to be taken care of, and he keeps assuring her that it is being done. Then he wanted to know what Cassie did for leisure, and I couldn’t tell him a thing.”
“Why not? Why she…” My mind drew a blank. “She always—”
Bridget nodded her fiery head. “See, I was right about it. She’s always doing everything for everyone else and doesn’t do anything for herself. Been that way ever since coming to the castle.”
“She reads,” I said, sitting down to the table slowly, somewhat stunned that I couldn’t list a few things Cassie did for enjoyment.
“She’s teaching others to read, but she doesn’t take the time to do it for fun anymore,” Gemini said.
“M-miss Cass, p-play…p-piano,” Rebecca said, her pale cheeks turning bright red. This was the first time she’d involved herself in a conversation since her nightmare at the beginning of the week.
“Rebecca’s right,” I said. “Cassie loves music, and she plays the piano so well. She used to play for hours before she began ‘Cassiopeia’s Corner’.”
“Then we’re all just going to have to take charge of Cassie and help her have fun. We have to get her to stop doing for others and to do for herself,” Prudence added.
We all stared at each other, and I knew what they were thinking, for I had the same feeling. It would be easier to clean Killdaren’s Castle from top to bottom alone than it would be to stop Cassie from being Cassie.
“She might not enjoy playing the piano here because the music room is so blimey spooky,” Bridget said and visibly shivered.
“What do you mean? We’ve a ghost in Killdaren’s Castle?” Gemini’s eyes lit up as they had with Mr. Drayson’s mention of the haunted mansion. I wondered at her sudden interests in specters and why she would ever find things of that nature appealing. Given my recent dreams, anything related to the dead speaking beyond the grave made me shudder.
“We might as well. Dozens of them. Have you not read about the instruments in the glass cases? The last time I dusted them off was more than enough for me.”
“No,” I said. “I’ve never been to the music room, but then this place is so big I’ve only seen just a part of it and haven’t done any exploring.”
“I’ve never been to the music room either, ladies,” said Gemini. “Why don’t we go there after breakfast and see what we can do to make it sunnier for Cassie. Fresh flowers always help.”
“Not if you’re decorating a tomb,” Bridget added.
I thought she was grossly exaggerating until a short while after breakfast when we all ventured to the music room, which had an eerie, tomb-like feel to it. The sensation was different from the eeriness of the nearby archeological sites like the Circle of Stone Virgins, and of course, the Merry Maids, the ancient Druid ceremony place that Alexander, Lord Ashton and Mr. Drayson had taken Gemini and me to earlier this summer. In those places a sense of magical history filled the air. Here in the music room, something darker hovered, despite the abundance of white and gold décor.