Blakewood Read online

  After the evening meal, we all migrated to the green salon, which we only used when housing a larger crowd of guests, so Richard could entertain us with his tales of adventure around the world. Some were stories I’d heard before, some were new. While I laughed on cue, I wasn’t nearly as interested in my brother’s boasting as were the ladies among his guests.

  “Sir?”

  I looked up, and then stood when Elizabeth poked her head through the doorway. Thank God, Marcus growled in the back of my mind. He’d kept uncommonly quiet, obviously as bored with the evening as I.

  I stepped away from the sitting area and walked toward the wall of windows at the other end of the salon, waving her to me. Finally, she hurried forward, glancing at the others as she passed them, but Richard had turned his conversation to the women seated around him. As she drew closer, my gaze dropped to watch the way her slim hips caught every step. When my attention lifted to the collar of her plain dress, I noticed the top button was loose and exposed a bit more of the ivory skin of her throat. I pushed down the urge to reach forward and free the second button, perhaps even the third. It was as if she’d cast some dark spell over me. Every time I looked at her, I wanted to grab her, to taste those obliging lips.

  “Ritchie is asleep, and I thought I might borrow another book from the library. With your permission, of course.” She glanced at my brother and his guests then back to me.

  “Oh. Of course.” I scowled. “I’d thought you’d come to save me.”

  She brought a hand to her mouth to cover her light laughter. “I didn’t think one would need saving from his own brother. Will Marcus be out tonight?” she asked. Jealousy reared its ugly head in my gut and burned my chest.

  “He had a few hours this afternoon when he made certain we fed before we joined my brother and his women in the dining room this evening to take our meal,” I told her. “I hope you aren’t very disappointed.”

  “I was only curious if you’d fed or if he would be taking up time with the women your brother has brought here.” She tilted her head. “I think you might be jealous of him. It’s quite ridiculous when he and I have never shared more than a kiss.”

  “Kisses that I pray for your sake will not be repeated,” I growled.

  The corners of her lips lifted. “What can you expect when I am made to remain in my room reading at night? His sense of impulsive adventure is stirring in comparison.”

  I leaned closer, purposely yet discreetly, brushing the back of my hand against her hip. “If you want me to follow my impulse, I’ll clear this room and take you here on the floor.”

  Her lips parted with her gasp and color rose to her cheeks. “You wouldn’t.”

  I arched a brow, and she slid her hands over her hips in that nervous habit of smoothing down her skirts. “And would you be as wild as you were outside the stables?” Heat coiled out from my groin into my stomach. I would be wilder.

  “Is that what you want?” I asked.

  “I don’t know. You make me so dizzy I can’t think sometimes of what I want,” she whispered. “I liked the way you were the other night. For those few moments, you allowed yourself to let go and became what nature made you. It’s a freedom Marcus knows, but you deny yourself.”

  Just as before and without meaning to, she opened me completely. When I said nothing, she lowered her gaze.

  “I’ll leave you to your party.”

  I watched her turn and hurry from the room. When the door closed behind her, I let go a breath I didn’t realize I was holding.

  If it were me, she wouldn’t have made it to the door. Marcus’ thoughts found me as I lifted the pipe to my lips. She’s on fire for you right now.

  Richard was suddenly at my side. “That was the governess. Is there something wrong that I should know about? Anything with Ritchie?”

  I shook my head and moved to the bar near the windows and poured myself a drink. “No. She reports with the progress of his studies to me each night.” I lied. “He’s doing well.”

  “Then why are you shaking?”

  I looked back at him then followed his gaze to my hand. I was shaking because it took every ounce of my will not to grab Elizabeth Mason and bury myself inside of her every time she was in the same room with me.

  “Have you fed?” Richard continued when I said nothing. “You cannot continue to neglect your hunger, brother. Let that dog of yours loose if you can’t bear it yourself.” I gritted my back teeth together at his reference to Marcus. He should know your dog would bite out his throat given the first chance, Marcus snapped in my head.

  My gaze darted out the window at the movement that caught my attention. Below, Elizabeth strolled away from the manor. My chest tightened as I watched her breathe in the night air deeply. Go to her, Marcus tempted.

  Richard stepped closer. “Are you and the governess…?”

  “She shouldn’t be out there alone.” I threw back the drink in several swallows. “I’ve told her time and again to keep to the house at night. She’s a stubborn-headed woman who refuses to follow the rules of this household.”

  Marcus chuckled. It’s not me she’s in danger of tonight.

  Farther out, she moved past the fountain toward one of the gardens. I growled low in my chest when she looked back over her shoulder at the window as if silently beckoning. I poured another drink and downed it as well, watching her over the rim as she continued on.

  “Theresa is quite taken with you,” Richard said softly. I glanced back at the petite blonde. I didn’t want the twit. I wanted the woman who tempted me to follow her into the darkness of Blakewood.

  Go to her. Marcus whispered again.

  Richard placed a hand on my shoulder. “Will you go after her? Do you feed on her?” No it was a different kind of hunger that made me want to leap out the window and go after her. It was a purely physical desire that burned through every vein.

  “We’ve already fed today,” I told him.

  She’ll be waiting for you. Perhaps naked. Right out there in the dark. At every sound, she’ll wonder if it’s you coming to possess her as you did before. Marcus’ poisoned words filled my mind. She might touch herself before you get there. Can’t you imagine that salty feminine scent on the air, on her fingers?

  I swallowed loudly. I could imagine it as he damn well knew.

  Skirts lifted up to her thighs, she might find herself leaned up against one of the statues. The cool stone against her cheek as she plunges her fingers inside. And she’ll be thinking of you…even when one of the groundsmen who haven’t retired yet slips up on her.

  My whole body shook with that shared thought. I slammed the glass down on the bar. He’d won. As usual, Marcus knew exactly what to say to weaken me. The thought of another man atop her forked angry fire though my entire body. I turned without any explanation to my brother and strode from the room. I ignored Beatrice as I passed her in the corridor and made my way out the door of the manor.

  The cool air did little to lessen the fire in me. I leapt in the air and swept through the night in the direction I’d seen Elizabeth going. It took me only minutes to spot her below, winding her way through the small maze of hedge. I dipped down to the center of the garden and stepped into the stone building to wait for her to find her way there. From the shadows inside, I watched her weave around the statues, her curiosity of the building pulling her toward me.

  When she stepped inside, I rushed forward, grabbing her roughly so that she screamed and her hands instantly pushed at my chest. “Let go! Let me go or I swear that Marcus Highcrest will open you from navel to chin!” She kicked at my shin, and I grunted against the pain while Marcus laughed in the back of my mind.

  I pushed her against the stone wall, pinning each of her wrists at either side of her head and her body with mine. “It’s me,” I whispered and her fight abruptly ceased. Despite the darkness, I could clearly see her expression change from fear to relief.

  “Leander Overton, you scared me so that I nearly jumped out o
f my own skin!” She leaned her head back against the wall and took a deep breath.

  “That’s what you get for sneaking around in the dark when you’ve been told to keep inside.” I licked at her jaw, smiling when her breath hissed through her teeth. I ground my hips against hers.

  “I didn’t think you were coming,” she admitted. “But you did. I’m glad you did.”

  “Only to teach you what happens to women who go outside the house when they’re told not to.” I pushed her arms above her head, grasping both in one hand. In doing so, her breasts rose high against my chest and her nipples poked out against me. Lowering my free hand to her collar, I found that second button and freed it, then the next, working my way down the front of her dress.

  She sucked in her breath when my hand slipped inside her dress and cupped her breast through the fabric of her underclothes. The material ripped away easily when I jerked it out of my way. I lowered my face to her breasts and sucked hungrily at the tips.

  “If this is meant to keep me indoors, you are mad.” She chuckled.

  “Perhaps I mean to be cruel, to punish you out here where no one will come to your aide—even your Marcus Highcrest,” I growled. When she chuckled again, I dragged my teeth across her nipple, causing her to cry out. To my surprise, her body jerked against mine. Her reaction was purely sexual. I did the same to the other and groaned when her response was the same.

  I released her arms and jerked her dress down then pushed the material over her hips. She shed the remainder of her underclothes and tossed them aside while I undressed. She stepped toward me instantly.

  “You have me so I mean to rip into you,” I murmured against her cheek as our feet left the floor of the building. She grasped my shoulders, gasping when I bent my knees and nudged her legs up so that she was sitting across them.

  “My heart feels as if it will pound right out of my chest,” she said on trembling breath.

  I angled my hips beneath her and pushed up into her sex. She cried out, her fingernails digging into my shoulders. Lifting my knees until they were they were on either side of her hips, her legs pressed against my sides, I eased deeper into her slick heat. I drifted up to the wall until the stone pressed against her back and my knees rested against it as if we were positioned on the ground. I leaned forward, my chest meeting her breasts until it was my body that held her suspended off of the ground. I caught her wrists and pushed them above her head.

  “I don’t think I’ll be able to move like this,” she whispered.

  “No? Then I can do as I like.” I eased back and then thrust hard into her, wanting her to feel every inch of the desire that pounded through me. She cried out, her legs tightening around my waist.

  “Yes,” she hissed, which threatened the little control I meant to keep. I stroked in and out of her, watching her face, her emotions. She was a dangerous woman, I knew, one that might destroy me all together. Day by day, it seemed my attraction to her became stronger. And oddly Marcus had not intervened as he did with most women I’d shown interest in. Perhaps she’d vexed him as well.

  “Release my hands. I want to touch you,” she said on quickened breath.

  “Do you?” I smiled when she tugged, but could not free herself.

  “Please!”

  I released her wrists and slid my arms beneath her thighs and around her, pushing off from the wall as I did. The position allowed me to pump in and out of her as I liked. Her arms went around my neck instantly, and she kissed me with such passion that it shook me. I plunged into her frantically, seeking release from the madness that overtook my mind. When her sex tightened and she cried out with pleasure, I threw my head back as I found my own. Pain ripped through me as my canines extended. Her scent on the night air filled my lungs, and I shouted as ecstasy spasmed through me. I wanted more. I wanted all of her.

  No.

  I opened my eyes, surprised that Marcus’ thoughts found their way through that cloud of lustful yearning. “Yes!” I argued with vehemence. The urge to feed off of her was nearly too intense to bear.

  No.

  Realization and guilt tore through me followed by anger that Marcus Highcrest had taken the moral high-ground over my own reason. I looked down at her to find her sobbing, overcome by our exchange. I winced, lowering us slowly until my feet touched the ground. I pulled from within her body and settled her to her own feet. She didn’t release me, but held on as if she might fall without my strength.

  “I was too rough. I’m sorry for that,” I whispered.

  “It was amazing,” she said as she gazed up at me. Finally, her hands slid from around my neck, and she bent down to retrieve her clothes. I watched her in silent embarrassment. I’d almost fed off of her, wanted to with nearly everything I was made of. It was not out of hunger. It was out of pure need to make her my own. But Marcus was right. She deserved better than to be preyed upon in such a manner; she deserved the right to choose what her life would be rather than me forcing mine upon her.

  It was then that I decided I would distance myself from her for her own good and for mine, since my control seemed to slip away whenever we came together like this. Perhaps, it would allow me clarity on how I could keep her without giving in to sadistic urges that might turn her away from me forever.

  Chapter Fifteen

  “I really don’t think I should,” Elizabeth insisted, but I ignored her as I placed my hand on her back and guided her to the dining hall. She didn’t realize or, if she did, she showed no indication of awareness that I loved to touch her. Inside, I urged her to sit to the right of me and took Leander’s place at the head of the table, noting the look of irritation when Richard and his gaggle of women entered the dining room.

  “Now this is just ridiculous.” Richard threw up his hands as his friends took their seats. “Seven nights in a row he’s not dined with us.”

  “Leander sends his apologies. He’s tired.” I murmured gratitude to the serving maid when she filled my glass with wine then I continued continued, “You know that happens from time to time for those with employment. Isn’t that so, Elizabeth, love?” I sipped the wine, watching her over the rim of my glass.

  “Is he ill?” she asked softly, concern reflected clearly in her expression.

  “Something like that.” I leaned toward her and reached for her hand. “You ask about me and ask about me and when I’m finally here, you ask about him. I don’t believe you can make up your mind which of us you like best.” I smiled when her cheeks pinked with embarrassment. She snatched her fingers away from mine.

  “Well, I know which of you I like best, and I don’t like it at all that you are sitting at the head of Leander’s table,” Richard snapped as he finally settled down in his place at the table.

  “If anyone should sit in for him in his absence, I think it should be Marcus,” Elizabeth surprised me with her quick defense. “And I believe it good for him to do so.”

  “Good for him?” Richard stared at her as if she’d grown a second head. “What about the rest of us? Is it good for us to share our meals with someone who has no regard for anyone here at all?”

  Elizabeth glanced at the others at the table before speaking softly. “I do believe the only one here turned away by Marcus’ presence is you. Perhaps you are not so upset with your brother’s absence as you are with the fact that some find Marcus as interesting as they find you.”

  I laughed out loud just as Beatrice bustled into the room. “Love, you do have a knack of cutting open a man don’t you? It’s very alluring.”

  “I do not mean to cut anyone open. It isn’t my place to do so.” Elizabeth lowered her gaze as Beatrice sat beside her. I’d noticed that she tried to do as she was expected when Beatrice was present. It was no secret she wanted the woman’s approval. It was ridiculous when it was as obvious as the nose on my face that Beatrice had a fondness for Elizabeth.

  “Indeed. Why is a governess eating at the family table anyway?” Richard asked pointedly, interrupting my reflectio
ns on the two women.

  “Richard! Certainly you have more manners than to ask such a thing!” Beatrice scolded.

  “Just as you invite your lady friends to dine with you, I have invited Elizabeth as my own guest,” I drawled. “If her presence offends you as much as mine does, she and I will be more than happy to take our meal in a more private room. She is accustomed to my appetites and will not be offended.”

  “You are scandalous,” Elizabeth whispered. “Any more talk like that and you will wear your dinner, I swear it.”

  “And, of course, Elizabeth can dine with us,” Beatrice added, though she did send a scowl of disapproval in my direction.

  “No one’s presence offends me more than yours,” Richard growled after a moment.

  I ignored him. In truth, it was not Richard that Leander was avoiding. It was the governess. It amused me to see Leander so unnerved at how much he lusted for the young woman. All of the impulses that make us men and vampires, he fought. If he’d stop fighting them so much, they wouldn’t take nearly as much of a hold on him. His predicament was laughable.