The Secrets of Clover Castle

by Martin, Holly

  ‘As you’re clearly my soul mate, I think it’s best we make love first, banish that curse once and for all.’

  As soon as he’d said it he wanted to snatch it back. It had been a joke to try to lighten the mood between them, instead he’d just made it a million times worse. She stared at him for a moment and then burst out laughing.

  ‘It’s ridiculous, isn’t it? The curse, the cameo, the stone heart, the dragon necklace. It’s all just one ludicrous coincidence.’

  He nodded. ‘The story has dragons, evil witches and a family curse in it, of course it can’t be true.’

  She carried on laughing, shaking her head incredulously.

  ‘Can I see the cameo?’

  She nodded, obviously finding the whole thing hilarious, which he was relieved to see. She got up and disappeared into the lounge. A few moments later she returned and passed him the black box. She hovered near him for a moment and he patted the bench next to him. She climbed over and sat by his side.

  He opened the box and studied the cameo for a moment, flipping it over to look at the back and then the front again. ‘I can see why you would think it’s the same one, they’re both very similar. But I doubt it is. The cameo was actually supposed to be one of the treasures that Uncle Boris carried around with him in his chest. If Boris and the chest are lost at sea, I doubt the cameo could suddenly turn up here. Besides even if it was the same one, this cameo wasn’t yours, it wasn’t passed down through the generations, Jamie only bought it for you yesterday.’

  She smiled up at him with relief. ‘Exactly, it’s not really mine. Your soul mate is probably wandering around out there looking for this.’

  ‘Soul mates are such a ridiculous notion anyway; two people who are so intrinsically linked that when they are born again in a new body, they seek each other out because they are destined to be together.’

  She laughed. ‘Fairy tales don’t come true. There are no happy ever afters in life, where everything is perfect. We’ll save that for the movies.’

  ‘And the hot movie sex, that should stay in the movies too?’

  ‘Oh I don’t know, I’m definitely willing to give that a try.’

  ‘But not the happy ever after?’

  ‘That pot of gold at the end of the rainbow doesn’t exist, so there’s no point in looking for it. Doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy the rainbow and have fun splashing in puddles when the sun comes out.’

  Cameron didn’t really know what she meant by that metaphor but he didn’t totally like the sound of it. He closed the lid on the cameo and passed it back to her.

  ‘I really doubt that it’s part of some ancient family curse. It’s a beautiful piece of jewellery and Jamie bought it for you so you should definitely wear it.’

  ‘I will,’ she smiled brightly at him. ‘I’m going to bed.’

  She kissed him briefly on the cheek and disappeared towards her bedroom.

  He stared after her, a huge lump in his throat, and then let his head sink into his hands. He had to sort out his feelings for her. There was an attraction there, an undeniable chemistry that hummed between them but it ran deeper than that and they both knew it. But if he was going to be with her, if he was finally going to let himself fall in love again it had to be for all the right reasons; not because she had broken the thousand year old stone heart, nor because she had a tattoo of a dragon wrapped around a heart and certainly not because she seemingly carried the exact same cameo that his great aunt Sophia had worn on her wedding day. He would not fall in love because fate and legends and curses had decreed that Milly was his soul mate. If she was truly going to capture his heart, he had to get to know her a lot better first.

  He thought back to their conversation about hot movie sex and smiled. As Milly said, it would be a lot of fun finding out.

  * * *

  Milly was singing in the kitchen as she made breakfast when a very dishevelled looking bear staggered sleepily from his pit.

  She giggled when she saw Cameron, his hair sticking out everywhere, his face all creased up. She had an overwhelming urge to go over and straighten his hair for him. He was only wearing his pyjama bottoms again and she couldn’t help but stare when he absently scratched his chest. She had a strong desire to go and do that for him too.

  ‘Did I wake you?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Oh … Sorry.’

  She walked past him to get a chopping board and he caught her round the waist, pulling her against him.

  ‘Being woken up by your singing is lovely, you have a beautiful voice and I can’t think of a nicer way to start each morning. Well, apart from waking up with you in my arms, that would be pretty perfect.’

  He leaned in closer for a kiss and she stopped him with her hand on his chest, but even that simple touch sent a twist of desire straight down to her groin.

  ‘Cameron, I’m working.’

  ‘It’s not even nine o’clock yet, you can’t be working twenty-four hours a day. Besides, I think you have no intention of taking on the castle as a Castle Heritage property. I think you came here, saw my hot little ass and decided you wanted a piece of it and that’s why you stayed.’

  Milly gaped at him, he had no idea how close to the mark he was with that statement. She had acted unprofessionally. She had known as soon as she saw it that they probably couldn’t take it on, but she hadn’t wanted to disappoint him. She hadn’t even been going to stay the week but then she had got carried away with secret passageways, ghosts and legends of treasure and curses. The castle had pulled her in and so had he. Right now she never wanted to leave and that scared and thrilled her in equal measure.

  ‘It’s OK baby, you can have my ass anytime you want it.’

  She giggled and he bent his head lower, just brushing her lips with the softest of touches when there was a loud knock on the door.

  Before they could move apart, the door opened and Lavender poked her head round. She clapped excitedly when she saw them together.

  ‘Oooh, don’t mind us dears,’ Lavender said bustling in, leaving the door open for Constance and Gladys who giggled and cooed excitedly seeing them so close. Milly inched apart without straying too far from Cameron’s side.

  ‘We just wanted to talk to you about tonight’s celebrations,’ Gladys said. ‘The village is delighted you are taking part.

  Cameron sighed. ‘We’re not doing it.’

  ‘Oh, shush, of course you are. Young Milly here promised you would, we’re so pleased,’ Gladys said.

  ‘What?’ Cameron looked down at her. ‘I’m not …’

  Milly wasn’t going to have this argument with him here. She had to get Dick back and she wasn’t above using Cameron to do it. Out of sight of the old ladies, she ran her hand over his bum and gave it a tight squeeze, silencing any more protests from him.

  ‘The Lord of the castle has always taken part in the Summer Solstice celebrations. It ensures we have good fortune for the next year. It would be bad luck for you not to be involved in some way or another,’ Lavender said.

  ‘So, Milly, you’re going to wear this,’ Constance shook out a floor length, white oversized nightdress that was definitely not flattering in any way. ‘And Lord Heartstone, we have a helmet for you.’ This resulted in giggles from the other two ladies. ‘You both need to be down on the green by ten pm at the latest to be prepared for the play, but of course there’s lots of fun and games that go on before it starts. Though they are mostly for the children, we’d be delighted to have you there, too. There’ll be plenty of food and drink beforehand and the play will take place just before midnight so the erm … finale can happen as the clock strikes twelve. After that, there’ll be more eating and drinking and fireworks too. It’s a good night.’

  Milly nodded and Cameron didn’t say anything, maybe her hand on his bum had rendered him speechless.

  ‘Well, we don’t want to keep you two lovebirds from … whatever it was you were doing before we rudely interrupted, so we’ll see you later.’
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  The ladies left, giggling and whispering between them.

  The second the door was closed, Cameron turned on her.

  ‘You promised I would do it?’

  ‘Oh, stop being a grump, it’s a bit of fun.’

  ‘Why did you promise that?’

  ‘They are holding my car to ransom. If I get you to be in the play they’ll give me my car back.’

  ‘They can’t do that.’

  ‘Look it’s a silly play, why won’t you do it?’

  ‘I’m not doing it.’

  ‘Do it for me.’

  He faltered in his tirade for a moment as he thought about it, then shook his head. ‘No, sorry baby, I’m not doing it.’

  ‘Why not?’

  ‘Because the whole play is done naked, that’s why.’

  Milly had no words, no words at all.

  * * *

  Milly had enjoyed the festivities immensely. She had watched the children run around the green trying to find the Solstice cookies. She had watched the inauguration of four-year-old Seth as he was given the very heavy chains of mayoral office to wear. There had been strawberry bobbing – because apples aren’t in season, dear – hook a duck, a coconut shy and lots of other fun and games. She had chatted to almost everybody in the village and fallen a little bit in love with their completely bonkers personalities. But the best part of the night was that Cameron hadn’t left her side. He had held her hand ever since they had left the castle, which had made them the subject of many a raised eyebrow and he simply didn’t care. And he had agreed to be in the play because he wanted to make her happy.

  As the sun had set over the sea, there had been cheers of celebration and she and Cameron had drunk hot alcoholic punch which had gone completely to her head. Now, half way through the play, she was finding everything hilarious, especially the sheer amount of willies.

  It had started off innocently enough; the children had led her into the arena area on the green, singing, dancing and playing musical instruments. It had been beautiful and charming. And then it had got very weird.

  To say the whole play was performed completely naked was a slight exaggeration on Cameron’s part but it wasn’t far off. As the men poured into the small arena, cartwheeling, twirling and leaping, Milly felt her mouth fall open. Every single man was wearing a full length, skin tight, body stocking. The stockings were coloured in earthy tones of green, brown and grey and were thankfully not see-through, but they left very little to the imagination.

  Milly didn’t know where to look. From her position, tied to the tree in the middle of the village green, she had a prime view of every willy in the village as they danced and wiggled and bounced up and down in front of her. She stifled another giggle as she forced her eyes away from the inappropriate bulges and tried to focus on her role as damsel in distress. She couldn’t stop laughing.

  It was a male-only play, with the exception of her part as the sacrificial virgin. Luckily her role did not require nudity. She had been dressed in an oversized white floor length nightie with flowers entwined in her hair. She had had to use the cameo brooch to keep the nightie on her as it was so big it kept falling off.

  She had no idea what the play was about as the story was communicated through music, dancing and chanting in some obscure language that sounded like it might be Old Norse. She was only thankful that all the men were wearing masks so she had no idea which bulge belonged to whom, otherwise she’d never be able to look any of the villagers in the eye again. The edges of the self-made stage were lined with every woman in the village, who were eyeing the willies on display with much enthusiasm and cheering. She spotted Lavender, Constance and Gladys all clapping and enjoying the proceedings with much hilarity. The children were seated on the grass, innocently entertained by the play. Some of the men had blatantly stuffed their body stockings as their bulges were abnormally huge and a few of the socks that had been used for padding had travelled from their original position with all the dancing and now looked like mutant growths on their bellies or half way down their legs.

  Suddenly all the men dropped to the ground in a bow with their heads touching the grass, leaving a path between her and the fake cave at the far side of the arena.

  The men started chanting, ‘Oogie, Oogie, Oogie’ over and over again and the women and children joined in too.

  Ah, the legend of the Oogie monster was about to be explained. Milly looked up at the cave, trying not to focus on the neat rows of scantily clad bottoms that were saluting the moon.

  From the back of the cave came a creature who Milly assumed must be the Oogie, as when he appeared the chanting got louder. This was played by a very large man with a huge belly and a long beard that stuck out from underneath his mask, which was painted to make him look like some kind of sea creature with tentacles dripping from his face.

  He slowly moved down the pathway towards her and the men stood up behind him, some of them chanting, some of them resuming their drum playing in steady beats like war drums. Milly shifted uneasily, suddenly wishing her hands weren’t tied quite so tight.

  The Oogie reached her and then turned round to face the audience, rubbing his belly greedily. The audience laughed and many of the children booed. He moved back down towards his cave where two men presented him with a very large knife and a fork.

  He laughed manically at the sky and the chanting got louder and louder when suddenly he charged towards her, knife and fork raised.

  She had been told to scream at the appropriate time, and now, suddenly fearing for her life, seemed as good a time as any. The scream ripped from her throat when suddenly she was blinded by a flash of fire.

  The Oogie fell to the ground and so did the men.

  From behind the tree came a fire breather, blowing out great swathes of fire from the sticks he was holding, his body stocking covered entirely in green shimmery scales. Behind him was a man in silver, his stocking made to look like chainmail. His face was hidden behind a silver knight’s helmet. Milly was vaguely aware of two more green scaled men behind the knight, one playing the part of the dragon’s wings and one playing the part of its tail, but her attention was on the knight in shining armour who was undoubtedly Cameron.

  Her mouth was suddenly dry.

  He drew his sword from his belt – the only other piece of clothing he was wearing apart from the helmet – and ran towards the Oogie, who stood up to face his attacker whilst Cameron’s dragon dealt mercilessly with all the other men. Soon the Oogie and Cameron were the only ones left on the stage as they fought each other in slow motion. Cameron defeated the Oogie, plunging his clearly retractable sword into its belly. The Oogie, obviously mortally wounded, staggered off to its cave and the crowd cheered. The drumming stopped as Cameron turned to face her.

  She tried to swallow but there was no moisture in her mouth at all. The thin body stocking showed every muscle in his strong body; his hard chest, his washboard abs, his huge thighs. Her eyes wandered down and she could barely tear her gaze away.

  He moved closer, so close she could feel his heat and smell his intoxicating scent, which seemed stronger and more potent out here under the moon. He removed his helmet and stared at her with heated eyes.

  Suddenly he kissed her, his hands at her waist pulling her close. The crowd cheered. He was demanding with his mouth, his tongue sliding against hers in one hot, passionate kiss. She could hear fairy-like music getting louder as he kissed her, bells and chimes and what sounded like a harp. His hands skimmed her sides, until he reached her wrists, and he untied her from the tree.

  He gathered her close, walking back with her towards the middle of the stage and Milly suddenly realised why he was reluctant to let her out of his arms. If she stepped back now, the village would clearly see how turned on he was after that kiss.

  He knelt down on the ground, causing her to quickly kneel too, to save his embarrassment. Another figure appeared, a man dressed in a gold cassock, making him look a bit like a vicar. He put a hand on
each of their heads, as Cameron held her close, staring into her eyes. The vicar chanted words neither of them could understand and suddenly everyone was cheering and standing up and throwing petals over them. The clock in the church tower chimed midnight.

  And then the vicar said the first English words she had heard since the play began. ‘You may kiss the bride.’

  Bride?

  Cameron didn’t need to be told twice though, his mouth came down on hers hard, one hand in her hair, the other round her back. As the last petals fell softly in her hair and on their faces, she closed her eyes and lost herself in the kiss. People cheered again and then as the kiss continued, the voices and laughter became more and more faint.

  Milly opened one eye and realised they were completely alone, the pub on the other side of the green a sudden hive of activity.

  She pulled away to look at Cameron.

  ‘I think it’s over.’

  ‘Tell me again why I protested so strongly about this.’

  ‘Because you didn’t want anyone to see your willy,’ she giggled.

  ‘Small price to pay,’ he kissed her again and she let him, there wasn’t a single part of her now that could have stopped him.

  Maybe it was the scent of the incense burning on the flares nearby, maybe it was the hot punch, maybe it was just Cameron and his strong arms, his intoxicating scent and his incredible kiss, but she wanted this man more than she had ever wanted anything or anyone.

  She pulled away slightly. ‘We should get up.’

  He groaned softly, leaning his forehead against hers. ‘I’m going to need a few more minutes first.’

  She dipped her head, pressing her mouth to his throat, layering kisses down his neck to his collarbone.

  ‘Shit, Milly, that’s not helping.’

  ‘Good.’

  He frowned. ‘What do you mean good?’

  Feeling silly and brazen she ran her hands down his back and squeezed his bum. ‘I’m on holiday which means, as of five o’clock tonight, I’m no longer here in a professional capacity.’