Accursed Abbey: A Steamy Regency Gothic Romance (Nobles & Necromancy Book 1)

by Tessa Candle

  It reminded her of the look in her uncle's eye as he had gazed at Orefados' wine. Could the mage have some sort of hold over people? Had her aunt and uncle, and even Mrs. Grissoni, been spellbound? Or had Elizabeth been ensorcelled not to see Mrs. Grissoni’s true nature?

  Lost in such thoughts, Elizabeth was not mindful of what passed behind her back. All of a sudden there were sounds of a struggle, and Mrs. Grissoni was distracted. The pistol barrel drifted away from Elizabeth’s head. Elizabeth seized upon the opportunity and tore the gun from her captor’s hand, pointed it at the ground and pulled the trigger.

  The loud bang made everyone stop as the bullet ricocheted. Elizabeth cursed herself for not considering that the deflected slug might hit someone. Mrs. Grissoni looked down to see if she had been shot. Elizabeth, filled with wild nervous energy, wound up and swung the heavy grip of the pistol at the woman.

  When Mrs. Grissoni looked up from her chest, satisfied that she had not been injured, she was greeted by a sharp blow to the side of the head and fell senseless to the ground.

  Elizabeth pushed down her guilt at such misbehaviour. These were desperate times. Being ladylike was not an option. She looked about for Canterbourne. He was alongside Tonner, struggling to subdue Mrs. Grissoni's man.

  Canterbourne's sword had been taken from him, and he was forced to combat the burly cart-driver with his bare hands. Silverloo had joined in the fray, jumping up and nipping at the man's backside, then quickly dodging his kicks.

  Elizabeth ran to join them and levelled another blow with the pistol grip to the back of the man's head. His skull proved to be quite thick, however, and this attack only served to enrage him. He swung around to strike her.

  Canterbourne, incensed, flew at her assailant and tackled him to the ground before he could strike Elizabeth. Canterbourne drove the man's head several times against the hardpan of the road. The man finally stopped struggling and fell unconscious.

  Elizabeth felt a surreal rush of satisfaction at having been involved in such an altercation. She had always been quite physical, but she found herself surprised at how easily she slipped into this new, violent mode. It did not bother her at all to see a bleeding gash in the side of the man's head. What had happened to the English country girl?

  She did not have time to contemplate whether this might be the product of nature or of recent events, for a shrill laugh scraped through the air behind her. She turned just in time to see, looming at her shoulder, the crazed face of Mrs. Grissoni, who had risen from the ground and crept over to her quarry.

  In one sudden, fluid motion, the woman extended her palm and blew into it, sending some powdered substance in the direction of Elizabeth and Lord Canterbourne.

  Most of the powder hit Elizabeth in the face. She closed her eyes to the stinging sensation and remarked that the inside of her eyelids lit up with all the colours of poppies and paper lanterns. Then her knees buckled beneath her.

  Chapter 41

  Lord Canterbourne caught Elizabeth by the collar of her dress before she fell. With his other arm he reached to take the gun from her hand, and struck Mrs. Grissoni again. She once more fell unconscious.

  He could feel the powdered drug taking effect. He stumbled.

  “Use that rope to tie these two up,” Canterbourne commanded Tonner, blinking his eyes at the flashes of colour that appeared before them. “Then we must get back into town.” He could feel his heartbeat slowing. “Can you turn the carrriage around?”

  “Yes, my lord. I shall have to roll this cart out of our path first, then take the carriage up to that wider spot.” Tonner gestured up the road. “But it can be done.”

  “Good.” Canterbourne pulled Miss Whitely over to a large rock, so he might lean his sluggish body against it as he held her. “Go as fast as you can. I will try to stay awake, but we have been drugged, it seems, with I know not what noxious substance.”

  Canterbourne's vision swam. “If we are senseless when you return, get us into that carriage, even if you have to drag us. Drive us back to my place in town, and do not stop for anyone.”

  “Yes, my lord.”

  As Tonner drove away to turn the carriage around, a surge of euphoria washed over Canterbourne. Things were not so bad, after all. He had proposed to the woman he loved, and she had accepted and was now in his arms. He squeezed her affectionately and looked into her dozing face. Even scratched and stained from the many bizarre affronts she had suffered, she was lovely.

  His heart filled with a rush of lemon-amber warmth, as though it lay happily basking in a sunbeam on a window bench in a summer cottage. He was so brilliantly happy. He bent down and kissed Miss Whitely's soft lips. They felt like cashmere and tasted like honey and cinnamon.

  She stirred and smiled at him as he pulled back to behold her again. Her eyes were wide and inviting, and the dilation of her pupils gave her a sensual look. “I love you, Miss Whitely,” he whispered.

  “And I you. Only you must call me Elizabeth now.” She giggled.

  “Elizabeth.” His voice was full of admiration. “What a beautiful name.”

  She sighed and wriggled in closer to his chest, which made his heart beat madly. “What shall I call you?” she asked.

  “Absolutely anything you want to.” He was almost breathless.

  “Prince Charming would be apropos.” She reached up and ran her fingers through his hair.

  This one intimate gesture brought Canterbourne’s heart to a full boil and filled his body with a molten stream of desire.

  “But,” she continued, “it does not seem familiar enough. I want to call you something that draws you very close to me.” She smiled. “Something that makes you feel, in your heart, that I am entirely yours.”

  He was wordless a few minutes, trying to catch his breath. “My name is Maximilian, but you may call me Mill. It is what my closest friends and my mother call me.”

  “Mill!” She threw up her arms and clasped them behind his neck. “What a perfect name.” She pulled his head down and kissed him so passionately that he thought he might lose all control.

  Canterbourne reminded himself that her senses and behaviour were horribly compromised by the effects of the drug. He pulled out of the kiss and gasped for air. He should calm himself, but his own senses were telling him to make love to this beautiful woman. His future wife.

  He leaned back down to kiss her again, then heard the sound of someone clearing his throat. Canterbourne looked up to see Tonner holding open the door of the carriage. Where had the time gone?

  “Will your lordship require assistance?” asked Tonner with excellent sang froid.

  Canterbourne, finding his bodily command somewhat restored, picked up Elizabeth in his arms and grinned wickedly. “I believe I can handle the care of this young lady, if you can manage the driving.”

  Just then a carriage came into view, flying around the bend of the road a mile to the north. Canterbourne did not need to see the coat of arms to know that it was Orefados' rig. His senses were suddenly alert. He shoved Elizabeth into his own carriage a little gracelessly, and he and Silverloo leapt in behind her.

  “Go now, man!” he yelled to Tonner. “If you can find away of giving him the slip, do so, but do not let that carriage catch us!”

  Chapter 42

  For the second time in as many days, Elizabeth found herself being transported while under the influence of some drug. Only this time it was rather fun. She smiled and scratched the ear of the comatose Silverloo.

  She was engaged to Lord Canterbourne! Mill, she corrected herself. It made her so frightfully happy that she wanted to giggle. Then she realized that she was giggling—and quite loudly.

  Silverloo only stirred slightly in his slumber. It had been a draining day for the little dog’s nerves.

  Canterbourne let the curtain fall on the rear carriage window and turned back to give her an odd look. Then he shook his head and chuckled. “You find this amusing, do you?”

  “Sorry, Mill. But it is a
little diverting, is it not? Besides, I find at present that I cannot stop myself from laughing, just for the joy of being with you, of being betrothed to you.” She giggled again, then heaved a contented sigh.

  He raised his brows. “Oh my. You are quite relaxed, aren't you? Well, at least whatever that demoness dosed us with is pleasant. I feel quite relaxed, myself, notwithstanding our mad-paced dash down a bumpy little country road, while chased by an utter lunatic.”

  Peals of thunder rolled overhead, and the first spate of massive raindrops began to assault the carriage. He shook his head. “And now we are about to be deluged by such a heavy rain that the roads will turn to mud.”

  Elizabeth wriggled over to him so that their arms touched. It was such an open invitation that he could not resist putting his arm around her. It felt very nice.

  “Well,” she looked up at him through lowered lashes, “at least we have each other's company.”

  “Oh yes.” His voice was husky as he pulled her into his lap and kissed her. “And what delightful company it is.”

  She could feel his hardening member through the layers of fabric in her dress and moaned involuntarily as his tongue sought hers, teasing, exploring, massaging. Her whole body warmed. She could feel herself getting wet. Being engaged was really very enjoyable.

  Finally he came up for air and gasped, “Oh, Elizabeth you drive me mad. We must distract ourselves and do something else, or I cannot vouch for my gentlemanly behaviour.”

  But Elizabeth did not want him to be a gentleman. She wanted him to keep kissing her, and to do other things besides. And what was the harm, really? They were to be married, after all.

  She smirked wickedly. “Do you know… I got the impression that Mrs. Grissoni was not happy when we suggested that we—well,” she lowered her lashes again, “that I might no longer be a maiden.”

  He swallowed and looked at her with pure lust. “Yes. I admit, the idea was so very appealing that I did not mind the subterfuge.”

  Elizabeth threw back her head to laugh and bumped it on the carriage wall, which made her laugh even more. She rubbed the goose egg where Mrs. Grissoni had knocked her on the head, but felt no pain. “Yes, it was brilliant to watch her get so angry.”

  Elizabeth’s hilarity subsided, and she added with a suggestive smile, “But did that not imply to you that I would no longer suit Lord Orefados' purposes if I were not a virgin?”

  “It did, indeed,” Canterbourne growled.

  His erection was growing, pulsing against her buttocks. She suddenly wished that no clothing separated them. “Well then, if we were to… I mean, would it not be the surest way to make me safe against his schemes, if...” She looked hopefully at him.

  “If?” His lips twitched.

  “I mean, if we were to consummate our marriage a little early.”

  He crushed his lips against her, and she grabbed his hair in her hands, pushing her tongue into his mouth.

  He embraced her so hard that she thought she would suffocate, until he pulled back, breathless. “I am willing if you are, my love.”

  Her cheeks were hot, and the heat she felt between her legs was maddening now, demanding release. “Yes, please.”

  He lifted her off of his lap and laid her down on the carriage seat. “Let me get you ready, my sweet bride.”

  She could see the profile of his member poking up through his pantaloons, and she so longed to see it. But suddenly he flipped up her skirts and spread her legs. His mouth was upon her mound in an instant, and a wonderful delicious teasing began.

  She moaned as he massaged her with his tongue. A great longing and simultaneous mounting pleasure took over her body. “Oh yes! Oh, Mill. That is—” she shrieked suddenly as the pleasure became so intense she could hardly endure it. “My Lord! That is amazing!”

  She lost her ability to speak as his efforts became more intense, and she drew ever closer to ecstasy. She panted and moaned for him, and at length, when she thought she might burst with the pleasure of it, he arose again.

  His face was transformed with heat, and his eyes burned as he stared at her. “I wish I could see you naked, but I think we must save that pleasure for another time. My apologies for the cramped space.”

  “I suppose it is well that I am feeling quite flexible at the moment.” She laughed nervously as she watched him unfasten his pantaloons. He was staring at her with an intensity that was almost fearsome. Elizabeth uttered a little “Oh” as his large, hard member was finally free and pointed straight at her, as though selecting her for its particular attention.

  He lowered himself over her and teased her with the tip of his penis. She quivered. “Oh yes! More!”

  He penetrated her slowly, and she gasped from the surprise of the experience. It hurt a little, but only a very little. Then a flood of delicious warmth came down. She pulled on his hips to bring him further inside of her.

  “Oh my darling, Elizabeth.” His voice was full of emotion. “Do you want all of me?”

  “Oh yes! Give me all!”

  He plunged into her all the way then. She could feel a tingling warmth in a certain area deep inside, as though a great ethereal portal were opening, and she would be transported through it into a land of inarticulable pleasure and irrevocable communion.

  He reached down and massaged her with his finger in the same spot as he had done with his tongue. Her mind turned to steam and she could only moan. Then he began to withdraw and plunge into her again as he massaged her, and she could feel ecstasy building and building until she cried out. “Oh yes, oh God!” Her whole body launched into wave after wave of pleasure. She never wanted it to end.

  Just as this rapture was dwindling, he began to plunge into her faster and harder. She just began to think he might knock the carriage off its wheels when he growled something inarticulate. She could feel the warmth of his seed filling her.

  “I love you!” he gasped.

  “I love you, Mill.” She sighed happily. “I love you so.”

  He collapsed upon her. For a few moments they were happy and silent.

  When he sighed and raised himself to kiss her, she asked, “Can we do that again?”

  He laughed and smacked her lips loudly. “What a greedy little wife I shall have!” But his member was once more growing hard. He pushed it back into her and began driving her again, much more vigorously than before.

  “But I can refuse you nothing, dearest Elizabeth.” His whisper was a growl. “And you are so warm and delicious. I shall fuck you all the way to town, if you will permit me.”

  Elizabeth's eyes rolled back in their sockets. If only they could take their time getting back to town. This was without a doubt the best day of her life.

  Chapter 43

  Lord Canterbourne was awakened from his doze by a sudden lurch of the carriage as it navigated a quick turn, then sped onward. The carriage man must have taken an evasive manoeuvre and turned onto a side road. Hopefully Orefados would not see it and would race past them.

  The sound of torrential rain beat upon the sides of the carriage as the horses galloped onward. Canterbourne was suddenly alert. He needed to straighten himself and be ready in case there should be a fight.

  He sat up and settled Elizabeth's skirts back into place, smoothing her hair. She slept peacefully, Silverloo snoring at her feet. The red stain on her lips was fading, and her mouth was an angelic arc.

  She was not entirely an angel, however. He chuckled to himself as he recalled her racy language and fast hands when they made love. He hoped it was not entirely the effect of the drug.

  His heart filled and he hardened again, but he pushed away such thoughts. There would be time for love later. Right now he had to be ready to protect her. He cast about the carriage for his sword as he re-fastened his pantaloons. The servant had returned it to its holder on the wall.

  The carriage rolled to a halt. Lord Canterbourne stepped out, throwing his cloak around his shoulders against the deluge of rain and closing the door behin
d him as quietly as he could. The effects of the drug were mostly out of his system, but his legs were still a little wobbly. He hoped Orefados was not on the way.

  He and his driver spent a few minutes gazing down the haze in the road behind them, eyes strained for any sign of Lord Orefados' equipage. Steam rose up from the warm ground, and the rain was a grey sheet over a landscape darkened by boiling thunder clouds.

  “I believe we have lost him, my lord. Only now we must turn the carriage around, as I can see that this road ends at that gate, and this is as wide a space as we shall get. Unless your lordship should wish me to trespass into the field. It is flat enough to turn the carriage, but in this downpour we might as easily get stuck in the mud.”

  “Let us not risk it. We can take the horses off here and turn the rig ourselves. I shall assist you. I think we can do it without disturbing Miss Whitely, can we not?”

  “I should think so, my lord. Only I wish I could do it myself, so that your lordship would not be troubled with such labours.”

  “Don't think on it, Tonner. These are extenuating circumstances. And anyway, it is my own fault that I only brought you, and not at least one other man. On the other hand, we move faster without the extra weight. Shall we get to it?”

  They detached the horses and tethered them in the nearby trees, then they took the front rigging and pushed it back and forth, gradually turning the carriage box until it was facing back the way they had come.

  Far from finding the labour demeaning, as Tonner had feared, Canterbourne enjoyed it. It felt good to be active and using his muscles. And the knowledge that such precious cargo was sleeping soundly inside made the labour seem almost noble, like a quest of chivalry for his fair lady.

  When they had the horses attached again, Canterbourne grinned at his driver. “You need not travel so fast now, Tonner. We don't want to catch him, and it will be safer to go slowly. “These roads are getting muddier by the minute. When we get back to town, I shall make sure you are given a couple of nice hot toddies.”