by Aubrey Brown
The air within the castle was thick with depression. It would seem that Misses Greenleaf was a vital part of their family. George was absent from the proceedings of the evening, which was to be expected. However, it came time for Rose to say good night to her parents and William. She did not want to leave his side, for she felt if she did she would cry herself into hysterics.
Feeling his eyes upon her, she stood and gave her salutations. Her father clasped her toward his chest and gave her a kiss upon her silken head. Her mother then did the same, and finally William bowed over her hand and kissed her glove-covered flesh. Feeling as if she might faint with nervous passion, she smiled politely and left the room to seek the comfort of her own bed.
As she walked the familiar hallways, she could not help but recall her childhood spent nipping at poor William’s heels. Smiling and shaking her head at the memories, she opened her door and was assisted by her mother’s maid to undress and redress into a night rail.
Blowing out her candles, she settled into the sheets to spend a night awake and lustful for her vampire lover.
* * * *
He watched Rose as she left the room and felt the very air leave his lungs. She was no longer by his side, and the emotion ached deep within his breast. It was madness to want a woman so. He had never experienced a sentiment so overwhelming. He would have to school his features and clear his mind, for Gabriel could read cleanly through him. Noticing Emma’s open stare at him, he moved to the window and lifted his glass of fresh beast’s blood to his lips. How had it happened that the slip of a girl named Rose had stolen his very wits? She was a small child running about the castle, asking him mundane questions, making him laugh, bringing him to heel when a reprimand was in order, and then finally stealing his very mind.
“Rose was very saddened to hear of Misses Greenleaf,” he stated for a conversation starter.
“We all have experienced profound grief over the last few days. The children have been very close to the governess,” Gabriel replied.
“How was her season, William?” Emma asked.
Feeling hunted William answered, “She blossomed, as you can see. She has had many a gentleman in attendance for her. She has changed and grown, and I believe she is ready for a husband.”
“Surely she has not had offers? The viscount would have written immediately,” Gabriel added.
“Gabriel, I am sure she has many admirers, but none have asked for her hand yet.”
Needing to change the subject, William asked, “Will James return to the university once this ordeal is over?”
Gabriel gave William a squint of his eyes and a turn of his brow. “He will. However, we have asked him to stay until Rose is settled in.”
Feeling the other man’s words as new-fallen snow upon his heart, he nodded his head.
“I must leave for a while to finish with much-needed paperwork at my estate. I will be present at the funeral tomorrow evening.”
With that said he left the castle to spend a very lonely, frustrating night pouring over paperwork.
He entered his home, and noticed that all was as well as it was when he left at the beginning of the season. However, he was not the same man he was at the start of London. He would have never thought in his immortal soul that he would be marrying, much less a woman such as Rose. However, he needed her far more than he was willing to admit to himself.
* * * *
Rose spent the better part of her day consoling a suspiciously calm Beth and speaking with James. It was clear her twin brother was ready to go back to his studies. He was acting very out of sorts and not looking to Beth in the slightest. Rose knew James did not favor Beth’s attentions, but now he was acting very strangely.
Shaking her head of her thoughts, she sent Beth to her room for a respite. The funeral could not be held until night fall, and she would be up way past her kip time. James departed as well, claiming a headache. So Rose was left to her own devices. She should seek the oblivion of sleep, but she was not tired in the least. She was anxious and lonely for her lover.
Her mind’s dream the evening before brought William to her arms, and she was placed upon her father’s great piano, and made exquisite love to, as the music of the keys carried their mutual orgasm to the heights of ecstasy. He stole in through her window as she slept. He began to kiss her neck softly to awaken her to the pleasures she could only find within his arms. When she awakened she was magically taken into the music room, where her naked warm body writhed with that of his cool body.
He whispered sentiment into her ears of love and adoration. It brought streaming tears to her eyes, as he told her, he loved her as, she, and he reached a mutual orgasm.
She awoke the next morning feeling strangely terrible. She loved William, more than any one person should love another. She had been certain she could hold onto her love and wait for his to come in return. However, now in the light of day and a break from his passionate embrace had wrought emotions she knew she had suppressed.
Rose expressed to her mother that she could wait for William to return her affections. Now she was not so certain. What if he could really never love her? What if his lust for her body waned?
The daylight hours passed for Rose slowly and uncomfortably. She wanted to see William. She also did not want to see him. She wanted to embrace him, but she also wanted to tell him to depart. Her heart was aching with indecision and wariness.
Night finally fell upon the castle, and Rose was dressed in her morning wear, along with her mother and Beth. Her father and brother were in their finest black evening wear, preparing for the burial.
George was also present and looking haggard. And why wouldn’t he be? The love of his life was now gone, and he was left to mourn her.
The small group began to walk out into the family cemetery when William finally materialized just beyond the grave stones. Not meeting his eyes, Rose moved toward the grave and began to silently weep. The siblings and George entered the hallowed ground as the other members could not step onto the sacred earth.
Rose felt William’s dark gaze upon her dress as a caress. Her heart thumped heavily within her breast. Seeing him and feeling his stare only confirmed her suspicions. She was truly madly deeply in love with the duke. However, her mind screamed at her soul to think rationally and what her soul said in reply shocked her. It told her to fight for her lover. That if she wanted his love, she would have to stay and fight for him. She would not give up on him, that she should follow her desires and wait.
It sounded mad, but she was in a maddening situation. She had to show and teach a man who was two hundred years her senior how to love. Simply love her.
A time later the group moved back into the castle to have a drink. Beth could hardly keep her eyes open, so James surprisingly volunteered to take her to her room.
Rose remained quiet as she felt the intense anger begin to build within William. “I think I shall retire to bed,” Rose announced.
“Capital idea, dear. You are most likely in need of rest. We will see you tomorrow evening,” her mother replied.
Before William could object, she quit the room as quickly as she could. She had to make a plan to lay siege to his heart, and she could not possibly do that while in his company.
A time later, after the lights in the house were extinguished, her parents left to feed. She felt a measure better, until she felt the familiar sensation of very cold wet air slide up her back.
* * * *
Rose was moving away from him, and he wanted to know why. She would not make eye contact with him, and he felt for the first time in a long time her mind close off. Cold anger ran through his veins at the thought of her no longer wanting to marry him.
So he waited a proper amount of time and excused himself from the castle on the pretext of going over more paperwork. He waited for the couple to leave the residence and went to Rose’s room. He floated under her door and materialized under her sheets. He found that she was indeed awake.
“Rose, we need to speak.”
“William—”
“We are to be wed soon, and trust me when I say we will be wed. You need to come to me when you are out of sorts.”
Trying to keep calm, William moved her, so he could look directly into her eyes to see the truth behind their depths.
It would seem she had no words, only tears to give him. With a curse, he brought her face to his chest and held her tightly. He could not abide her tears. So he leaned her back once again and clasped the sides of her cheeks and brought her salty lips to his own, for he had no words for her either.
Just as the kiss was deepening, the door to her room rocked open to reveal two figures. One was her father’s and the other was her mother’s. Both stalled in surprise with one’s eyes growing red with rage.
“You are a bloody, lying, bastard!”
Chapter Twenty
Before William had a chance to explain, he was bodily removed from Rose’s bed and pushed through the wood, stone, and mortar of the wall, and he fell onto the floor of the hallway, where Gabriel stalked him with his teeth extended and his claws out.
William tried to back away from the angry vampire. However, Gabriel picked him up by his throat.
“Gabriel!”
William heard Emma’s terrified voice from a distance as he was once again thrown not through a wall but through a window.
“Father!”
William heard Rose’s voice as he fell to the earth on his haunches.
Gabriel appeared before him as swiftly as he had ever seen another of his kind move. “Gabriel, please…”
“Do not speak to me, you bastard!”
A slashing pain came across his chest as Gabriel opened up his chest with his claws. Fearing the monster within would respond in kind, William tried to move out of the way. However, another slash came to his body as he noticed Rose and Emma running toward the sparring vampires.
* * * *
Rose was terrified for William. Her father looked crazed and out of his mind. So she grabbed the letter opener that was on her small desk and quickly tucked it away under her night rail. She had a sincere hope she would not have to use the instrument upon her own father.
She saw her mother running toward her and screamed, “Mother, please…”
No sooner had her words hit the air than Rose and Emma were running after the men. Her father was slashing William with his mighty nails, as William stood and took the brunt of the attack. Blood was stark and flowing freely on William and Rose could not stand for it. She loved her father, but she was William’s now.
“Father, stop!” she cried out.
“Gabriel!” Her mother screamed.
They finally came upon the two figures. Just as Rose was about to intervene, her father threw himself and William down the large hill just above the fences. Moving quickly down the same hill, she saw that William and her father had broken through the fence line and were now fighting exactly above the shore line. The two figures looked almost mythical in the moonlight. One of the men struck the other as the wounded man pleaded for him to listen.
“Mother, he is going to kill him! Please!”
As soon as her mother heard her, Emma had them transported to the side of the battle. Her mother then ran for the two men, and Rose followed her as swiftly as she could. Her mother came upon her father as he was just about to bestow another slashing blow upon William. She grabbed at his arm, and her father seemed not to notice, for when Rose came to stand in front of her lover to protect him, her father slashed her across her face. Growling, her mother displayed her preternatural strength and threw her father into a large tree that snapped in half upon impact. She then held him by the throat.
Rose’s face became hot with stinging pain as she fell to her knees. Hearing William stand from behind her, she held her cheek as the tears flowed freely. She then felt his hands upon her as he turned her face toward his. He moved her hand to reveal a startling slash and an intense amount of blood.
Watching as her lover’s eyes grew red with hellfire, she stayed his body’s movements toward her parents. He was shaking with anger as the monster within him wanted to take revenge. She was scared for her father. For she knew if William chose, he could slash him to ribbons as well.
“William, he was crazed, he did not mean to hurt me, just as he was angry and hurt you. Please let my mother’s touch bring him to peace.”
Groaning in pain, he fell to his knees covered in bloody slashes and held her closely.
Hearing her mother and father walk over to where they were seated upon the earth, she heard her father say, “Oh dear, God, what have I done? Rose, are you all right?”
“She will be fine, Gabriel,” William answered above her head.
She heard her father growl in response, “Do not speak to me if we are having a normal conversation, you bastard. You lied to me and used my daughter. You have not changed.”
Becoming angrier by the moment, Rose stood, shaking in frustration and fear.
“How dare you speak to him thus? Look at him, Father, you have slashed him to near death, and you are unhurt. His blood is now soaking my dress. You have pushed him through the castle walls and a window, and he has not touched you even in defense. Please understand that I am a grown woman,” she pleaded.
“He compromised you. He is older and wiser. He should have known better and left you alone. Alternatively, at the very least, he should have come to me and your mother when it was clear he was intending to marry you!”
Rose placed a hand upon William’s downturned head and screamed, “He begged me to come to you both ages ago. He threatened to tell you of our relationship to secure my hand. I expressed to him that I did not want to tell you of our amour. This entire incident is of my doing. I told him I loved him before I was sent to London. He set me down, and I left with every intention of finding another man to make my husband. However, when we reunited for the season, it was clear we were meant for one another. He has been nothing but a gentleman, and you cannot see past the fact that I am not a child any longer. I am a woman of marrying age. I love you and mother greatly, but do not make me choose. For I promise you, you will not like the result.”
“Rose…”
William spoke below her arm, and she kneeled once more by his side, shedding more tears. “I am sorry, William. I am so very sorry.”
“Gabriel?” her mother asked.
Her father was panting heavily, but his eyes were no longer red. He looked as if his world had come to an end, and Rose felt nothing but anger and bitter pain. Her lover was slashed to bits because of her childish want of keeping their affair a secret.
“He still should have never touched you indecently,” her father added.
Scoffing, Rose said, “You tell me that you and mother were celibate before your marriage, and God will smite you, for you lie! I wanted William to cross me before we told you of our intention to marry, but he refused. He wants your acceptance. I tell you, I will marry him with or without your consent. He will not favor marrying me in such a manner, but I do know that he will never leave me, for he cannot live without me,” she explained.
“Gabriel, look at our daughter and her fiancé. They clearly want to be together. It seems to me William has wanted to come to us before things became overwhelming, and your daughter has made some missteps. I knew this would happen if you knew, please do not make another mistake,” her mother implored.
Her father turned to look at her mother. “You knew of this? When exactly were you going to tell me? I am not a fool, Emma, I asked him to watch over her while she was in London, not to take advantage of her!”
Rose stopped weeping long enough to ask, “My father asked you to watch over me? You were made to come to London?”
William’s bloodied face winced. “He did, and I promised, but I swear to you that the night of your birthday my entire reasoning to stay had changed with my first real sight of you. Please, Rose,” he pleaded.
“What in God�
�s name has come to pass here?”
The small group turned to find James walking toward them.
“I heard a horrific noise within the castle, and I came to a wall that was missing, then the window smashed and here you all are fighting. You are to marry him, Rose, and they do not favor the match, why?”
He looked over to William and stopped his lecture. James’s eyes grew wide with fright as he saw the state of the other man covered in blood.
“He needs a physician, what on earth has happened to him?”
As he asked the question, the slash across his face began to close rapidly. “What in God’s name are you?”
James fell to his bottom as he tried to move away. “James, let me explain…” her father started.
“Aye, Gabriel, explain to your child who and what you are.”
The voice came from the air as if a ghost happened upon the group. However, when the demon materialized, Rose knew immediately who she was. She was a petite woman with raven-black hair, chocolate-colored eyes. Skin colored lily white, and a bountiful bosom. She was perfection itself. However, the smell of evil and fear surrounded the area as her beautiful face contorted with fearsome fangs that dripped with blood. A man wobbled to her side with blood leaching from his neck.
“Hello, William,” she stated with an evil smile.
William stood slowly and staggered to his feet. “Josephine?”
Chapter Twenty-One
He had not seen his former lover in over one hundred years. It was a slop of cold water upon his face to see her again. At one time in his miserable existence, he thought he loved this demonic creature, but seeing her here and now, he felt nothing but anger for her intrusion. His heart did not pinch within his breast. His mouth was not salivating, and he was not eager to please her. He did not hunger for power or fear or blood. As a matter of fact, the idea that he once thought himself in love with her, made him sick. How could he have ever thought himself enamored with her?
