by Jenny Lykins
Reed glanced over at her and was struck again at her two transformations of the day. He was used to admiring her beauty; Elise always looked wonderful. But today she’d been a breath-taking bride, and tonight... tonight she had stepped out of her daily persona and had become a totally different woman. Her shoulder length hair was full and wind-tossed, her lips a moist, inviting red. But her eyes...she’d made up her eyes in shades of brown and gray, and when she turned them on him he felt as if an exotic, green-eyed cat were piercing him with its gaze. That feline quality extended itself into her mannerisms as she moved with the grace of a panther.
He jerked his eyes back to the road and readjusted his grip on the steering wheel. Even though he and Elise had spent a lot of time practicing on back roads, he still didn't feel altogether comfortable behind the wheel of a car. He did, however, feel exhilarated.
Elise gave directions as they came to a stop at a traffic light. He turned his head to check the left lane before and met two pairs of eyes, both very feminine and very admiring. The blond in the passenger seat of the car next to him leaned toward her window.
"Nice car," she said, her voice low and throaty.
From beside him, Reed could feel his new wife moving about.
"Thank you," Elise returned in a husky voice of her own. She leaned her head onto Reed's shoulder and gave the girls in the next car a brilliant smile.
Reed's admirers looked at each other with disappointment. The neighboring car sped away when the light turned green, but not without one final glance of approval in Reed’s direction from its occupants.
Elise didn’t mention the little encounter. Instead she turned her attention to giving him directions and praising his driving skills. She gave him a verbal pat on the back as he pulled up to a space close to their friends' house.
Reed impressed himself with what he had accomplished in driving them to the party. His first attempt at driving had left them both with seat belt burns on their necks when he'd applied the brake. He'd almost decided not to try again.
Elise jumped from the car and waited for him on the curb as he unfolded himself from the interior. She threaded her fingers through his, and they strolled up the gaslit walk to the front door.
Before they stepped inside Elise squeezed Reed's hand and gave him a questioning look. He bent over and kissed her forehead.
"Don't worry, little one. If I can conquer microwaves, VCRs, automobiles and you," he said with a teasing grin, "a room full of twentieth century people should be a walk in the park."
Unlike any social function Reed had ever been to, they walked right into the house, unannounced and without knocking, and into the midst of a throng of people. He was only mildly surprised at the absence of a receiving line. Within seconds Jan was upon them, hugging Reed with as much warmth as she did Elise. Don was only moments behind, a glass of champagne in each hand for the new arrivals.
"You realize you guys have just cost me fifty bucks. I bet Jan you two wouldn't see the outside of your bedroom for a week, let alone make it to this party."
"Elise, we need to talk," Jan whispered as she hugged her again.
"Sure. What's up?"
Looking around, Jan seemed to be searching for someone. "Well, Cathy brought a date."
"Is that so?" Elise widened her eyes in obviously feigned shock.
"Yes. I just want you to know I didn't invite him."
Reed watched Elise as her gaze fell upon the person in question. She let out a snort of disgust and squeezed her eyes shut. Jeffrey was still there when she opened them.
As if he felt her stare, he turned and saw her looking in his direction. With a smirk on his stubbled face he excused himself from his date and moved with an arrogant strut toward their little group.
Reed felt her stiffen when Jeff started toward them. She took no notice when Reed released her hand and stepped away.
It was all Reed could do to keep himself from smashing his fist into the man's conceited face. Instead, he stepped into Jeff's path.
Jeffrey bestowed an indignant stare and tried to step around him. Reed moved with him. He ignored Jeffrey's threatening look and spoke in a very low, yet audible voice.
"You seem to have a very poor memory, sir. Elise is now my wife." He enjoyed the disbelief that jerked Jeffrey's body. "If you have no desire to attract unpleasant attention, you will remain a respectful distance from her. Do not try to approach her. Do not try to talk to her. If you choose not to heed my warning, you will be fortunate if you are able to crawl to your automobile afterward."
Reed turned his back and walked away, that very action an insult to the cretin who had dared to lay a violent hand on his wife.
Jeffrey glared at Reed's retreating back. A dull, brick red color suffused his face and neck. He looked as though he might launch himself into Reed, but he merely grabbed a drink from a passing waiter and stomped off in the opposite direction.
"What did you say to him?" Elise grabbed Reed's arm. Her worried look turned into a dazzling smile that made her exotic eyes twinkle when he smiled at her.
"I simply refreshed his memory and pointed out the inadvisability of his approaching you." Reed shrugged off the encounter as if it were nothing.
"Well, whatever you said, it was definitely effective. I've never seen Jeff so ready to explode."
Elise felt as if a heavy weight had been lifted from her when she realized she would never again have to endure a verbal sparring match with Jeff. And that's exactly what she would have had to do this evening. That or spend the night dodging him.
She stretched upward and nuzzled Reed's neck, murmuring a thank you.
The few drops of cologne he'd splashed on after his shower wreaked havoc on her senses. He had been so sparing with it she was forced to cuddle up close just to catch the scent. Deciding it was masochistic to torture herself in that way, she moved away to mingle and regain her self-control. Every time she inhaled she had to fight the urge to show Reed the way to the master bedroom. She would love to give him a tour of Jan and Don's king-sized bed. After all, they were legal now.
Her daydreaming stopped when she felt a warm hand encircle her elbow. As she turned with a smile and aimed her sense of smell toward Reed's neck, she was brought up short with annoying abruptness.
She stiffened when she realized the hand on her arm was not Reed's. The grip tightened.
"Don't cause a scene, Elise. Your husband is otherwise occupied. I just want to talk."
Jeffrey attempted to guide Elise out of the room, but she dug in her heels in the hallway and refused to budge further. He threw a nervous glance over his shoulder.
"I have no qualms in causing a scene, Jeff, if you don't let go of my arm and leave me alone."
"Elise, this bozo who's appointed himself your guardian angel won't be around forever, once he finds out you married him on the rebound. You may as well talk to me now, while I'm willing to be patient. I may not be so understanding when you come crawling to me after he splits."
Elise glared at him for several seconds, then released a deep breath, in the hopes he would think she was reconsidering. The nerve of this maggot, to suggest she married Reed on the rebound from him. The only rebound he caused was bouncing her off the walls.
She peered up at him through her lashes, striving for the picture of innocence. He released her arm as she slid her hands up to cradle his face, a tender caress that left the index and middle fingers of both hands in the hollow beneath his ears, directly behind his jaw.
"Let me put this to you in a language you'll understand, Jeffrey." Her fingers began a pressure inward that increased in intensity. He tried to jerk back at the first twinge of pain, which only increased the pressure.
"I want you to leave me alone. I hate you. There will never be a time when I come crawling back to you, or even look in your direction. Do you understand? LEAVE ME ALONE!" With this final statement hissed through clinched teeth she released the pressure and shoved his face out of her hands. She took the opport
unity to slip back into the crowd while he was still rubbing the pain from his jaws and catching his balance.
What would it take to get this jerk off her back? If she didn't think he'd fight dirty, she'd let Reed deal with him and put him in his place. She never, in her wildest dreams, ever expected to find herself embroiled in an abusive situation; one she had almost no control of, no matter what she did to stop it. She knew Reed would handle it. There wasn't a doubt in her mind he would lay down his life for her.
"Hello...earth to Elise. Anybody home?"
Her attention snapped back to the party. She focused on Jan's waving hand in front of her face.
"Huh? Oh, what were you saying?"
Without moving her head, Jan sliced her eyes to the left, indicating two very chic women by the wet bar. She lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper.
"Do you know those two? They've spent the last five minutes sending looks to your husband that must be scorching his clothes." Elise followed Jan's gaze and studied the sultry pair while her friend continued. "I don't know them well. They work with Don, so we had to invite them. They have a reputation for jumping anyone with facial hair."
Recognition lit in Elise. She watched the women in question slink across the living room and flank an unsuspecting Reed. Each of them clung to a muscular arm.
"Oh, yes. They were admiring my car earlier." Elise's voice was saccharin sweet. "Would you excuse me, Jan? I feel the need to make sure Reed is clean shaven."
Jan's face glowed with delight, and she followed close on Elise's heels.
Elise pulled her cellular phone from her clutch bag while she elbowed her last few feet to Reed. With the phone held to her ear, she touched Reed's chest to interrupt the conversation.
"Excuse me, darlin', but this is the hospital lab on the phone. The test results are back and they're...well, they’re positive." Then, with a grimace on her face she said in a dramatic whisper, "They want to know if that rash is still oozing."
The hands jerked away from Reed's arms as if they'd touched hot coals. Burning, sensual gazes dulled into blank looks of total disinterest, and the pair of sequin clad bodies slithered back into the crowd.
She could hear Jan's trademark laugh bubbling over her shoulder. When Elise put her hand behind her back, palm up, Jan slapped it with her own before strolling away.
Reed stared at Elise with a quirked eyebrow. He failed to hide a smile behind his long-suffering look.
"Madam, you are incorrigible," he said, unable to mask his amusement. "I should be annoyed with you for placing my health in question, but I fear if those ladies had had their way, I may have truly ended up with the phantom rash you spoke of...or worse."
"Don't mention it, suh. You know we Southan gals ahn't as delicate as we appeah. And I was just protectin' mah interests." Elise batted her eyes and fluttered an imaginary fan, her face the picture of innocence. In reality, her heart was doing flip-flops. She fought down the flame that rose through her body when she looked into her husband's laughing blue eyes. It had only been a few hours, but she wanted this man - in the worst way. The need for him built inside her like a well-stoked fire. It was just a matter of time before the fire engulfed her, and when it did she planned to take him with her.
Reed couldn't help staring at Elise. If she'd had on a hoop skirt and ruffled ballgown he could have believed himself to be back home, so true was her nineteenth century accent and mannerisms. Unexpected homesickness mingled with his love for her, and he felt himself being pulled in two different directions. It was the first time this pairing of emotions had been this strong. He didn't cherish the feeling.
He knocked back the remains of his champagne and attempted to refocus his thoughts.
Don walked up to the couple, sliding his arm slid around Elise's shoulders as he gave her an affectionate squeeze. He gestured to Reed with his chin and smiled. "So, how's the first few hours of married life?"
Without missing a beat, Elise narrowed her eyes to a torrid, feline gaze, and stared at Don for several seconds. The barest hint of a smile curved her lips when she slowly reached up and moistened her finger with her tongue. Throwing her head back in a pose of ecstasy and making a soft hissing sound, like that of raindrops hitting a flame, her finger trailed down her neck to come to rest on her collarbone. She looked through her lashes, piercing Reed with an emerald stare.
"Ohhhh, woman," Don groaned. "You know all the right buttons to push. If you two feel the need to duck out of here early, I think I'll know who to blame."
By the time Elise had concluded her little "simulation" Reed's mind had gone blank. For several seconds no coherent thought penetrated the that threatened to incinerate his body. His first returning thought was that he was in danger of being reduced to a pile of smoking ashes right there in the middle of the Sevier's living room floor. The next thought was the need to counteract the immediate physical condition his mischievous imp of a wife had generated.
He made a monumental effort toward that goal, but after Don sauntered off to join another group, Elise shot Reed a considering look before speaking.
"That's not a bad idea Don had." Then, in her best Shakespearean voice, "What say you we slip the bonds of this common gathering and gather alone ‘neath a starlit sky?"
Reed chuckled at Elise waxing poetic. She had warned him champagne always had an unpredictable effect on her.
*******
The Jag was a blur on the silvery landscape as it rocketed along the river road to Oak Vista.
Reed was again driving. Elise leaned back in her seat, eyes closed, allowing the warm, tropical air to swirl around her in an attempt to cool her body and mind. It only made things worse.
She opened her eyes and turned her gaze to the heart-wrenching profile of the man she loved. Her husband. Her hand, of its own volition, rose to caress his cheek, then trace the outline of his jaw.
She leaned closer. Her fingers followed the tendon in his neck until she encountered a starched, linen collar. She dipped a finger into the collar and ran it along the edge. My, but his tie was entirely too tight.
"Here, why don't we loosen your tie and get you more comfortable?" she murmured as she slid her fingers to the formal black bow.
With agonizing slowness she found one of the ends and drew out the knot. The silk dropped to his chest, and she freed the top onyx stud with a flick of her wrist. The black, silk strip held the warmth from his body, exuding his special scent when Elise pulled it free from the confines of his collar and encircled her neck with it.
Heated longing coiled in her stomach when she watched Reed's Adam’s apple convulse with a forced swallow.
The war was over. The conflagration had begun, and there was no controlling it. Reed was the only one who could extinguish this fire now.
She leaned closer still and laid a warm hand on his thigh. Another flick of the wrist freed a second stud. She heard Reed's breathing catch, then stop for a moment.
Careful to stay out of his line of vision, she eased her lips onto his, using them to tease him with promises of better things to come.
She felt the car swerve onto their property and blaze a bumpy new trail to the river.
He pulled to a stop beneath an ancient live oak and his arms encircled her like steel bands. His lips forced the promised kisses from hers and the moan building deep in his throat mingled with her own.
She was nearly in his lap now, her body draped across his, her hands cupping each side of his face. Their kisses became more frantic, switching from deep, languid passion to heated, frenzied urgency.
Suddenly, Reed jerked the handle and kicked the door open. Cradling her in his arms, he rose from the car and sought a grassy spot in which to lay her.
With exquisite gentleness he lowered her to a soft patch of grass, his lips still on hers, fanning the flames instead of extinguishing them. His body pressed her back into the soft cushion of grass. Her fingers flew down the studs of his shirt, yanking them apart when they proved too stubborn.
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Her searching hands slid beneath his shirt, encircled his waist, kneaded the smooth, hard muscles of his back. Her patience at an end, Elise grabbed the linen and drew it over his shoulders, turning the sleeves inside-out in her impatient endeavor.
Reed released her only long enough to free his arms, then reached again, this time to lower the straps of her beaded dress.
Elise stilled his hands. She help up one finger in a gesture to wait. She wasn't through giving him his birthday gift.
She backed away, never taking her eyes from his, and rose to her feet. In slow motion she turned her back to him. Reaching behind her, she found the zipper and drew it down one agonizing tooth at a time. She took an eternity to reach the bottom.
Her head turned back to Reed first, then her body. She teased him with a knowing, confident smile that barely curved the corners of her mouth.
She moved one shoulder in a tiny rotation. A sparkling strap hovering at the edge of her shoulder fell to her arm. Still holding Reed with her gaze she reached up and hooked the other strap with her thumb, sending it over her shoulder. The form-fitting dress fell into a shimmering black pool at her feet.
Her eyes glowed bright with reflected moonlight. A come-hither look invited him to finish what she'd started.
She narrowed her eyes and blinked, fear slamming into her chest.
"No!" she screamed. "Oh my God! No!"
Reed jumped to his feet in alarm as Elise lunged at him. His face was a mask of confusion, and though his mouth formed a question, he made no sound.
"Grab my hand!" she screamed. "Hold my hand!"
Elise grabbed for Reed, desperate to hold a part of him. To her horror, her hands reached for his and passed right through them, as his body became more and more translucent. She clawed at the air in a mindless attempt to find something solid to grasp.
"I love you, Reed! I love you! Stay with me!" she sobbed, her spirit fading with him as she watched the outline of his body become more and more faint.
All she could see was his face, etched with indescribable pain and sorrow. His pleading eyes seared her soul with a blue flame, he mouthed the words "I love you"...