A Passion So Strong

by Chasity Bowlin

  “I won’t hurt you,” he promised.

  “I know that is a lie,” she said. “Everything I have ever heard about having relations with a man has always implied that, in the beginning at least, it is always painful.”

  He dropped his head until their foreheads touched, their breath mingling. “I will do everything in my power to ensure that it does not… but I need you to trust me. And I very much need you to relax. In fact, that’s rather vital to my not hurting you.”

  “This is all very strange, and I don’t have the faintest clue how I am supposed to relax when embarking on such a novel—.”

  ***

  At a complete and utter loss and hanging onto what little control he possessed by the most slender of threads, Sebastian did the only thing he could think of. He kissed her soundly. In fact, he devoured her mouth. Nipping and biting at her lips, sliding his tongue against hers in a blatant imitation of what he wished to do with their bodies, he achieved his ultimate goal. Not only did she stop talking, but he felt the languid heat seep into her limbs as her body softened against him.

  Sebastian moved his hips, thrusting deeper. The barrier of her innocence was a fragile thing, and other than a slight flinch, she gave no indication of pain as he breached it.

  Buried inside her, their bodies connected in the most primal of ways, Sebastian recognized that she truly was his soul mate. Never had he felt so complete, and at such peace. Even with the need riding him, the moment was perfect.

  “I love you… I know it sounds impossible. We’ve only known one another for a few days, but I cannot help but feel that I loved you before I even knew you, that perhaps you are what I have been looking for all along.”

  She opened her eyes, meeting his gaze with her own clear and direct one. “It does sound impossible… but I’ve come to believe in the impossible. I cannot say this is love because I have never known such a feeling. But I can say that I do not ever wish to be without you again.”

  There were no more words between them. None were needed. They communicated everything they needed to with their bodies. He moved against her in a slow and easy rhythm, and she countered it, meeting each thrust, until they both succumbed to the pleasure. She cried out as her body clenched around him, and he held her tight as he felt his own release take him.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Elizabeth pulled herself from the trance. She was weak and dizzy and knew that she’d strayed from her physical body for far too long. It was a dangerous thing. Every time she left the body, it was more difficult to return to it. But she finally understood why. The curse was wavering because the last of the Elliott line had returned.

  Reginald was waiting for her, a worried frown marring his features. “The Ravenner sisters will be here any moment!”

  “It doesn’t matter,” she said with a smile. “We have no need of them. I know the truth… They had no idea I was there, watching and listening, brother. But I know!”

  “What? What did you find out?” he asked excitedly.

  “Miss Anne Everleigh is the great granddaughter of Winifred Elliott. Winifred’s blood is once again residing within the walls of Evenwold!”

  “You are certain?”

  She rose on legs that trembled. “I am completely certain… You promised, brother, that we could finally be free. Now is our chance. You’ve felt the change yourself—the exhaustion and the pull to shed these bodies! We can end our immortality, Reginald, but not before we end his!”

  “How?”

  Elizabeth smiled, but it was an expression more befitting a madwoman than a member of the gentry. “The same way he ended Winifred and her daughter and her granddaughter. There is no greater purifier than fire.”

  “When?”

  “It will have to be soon, before he has a chance to pry into my mind and find out what I know. If he discovers Anne’s identity, it will be too late for all of us. She’s the last of her line… if she dies, we will never be free.”

  Reginald straightened his shoulders. “I will go tonight.”

  “No,” she said.

  “We will both go tomorrow. I need rest, and you do not have the strength alone. It will take both of us to subdue him.”

  They both stopped then as they heard the commotion of their guests arriving. Elizabeth straightened her gown and smoothed her hair. “We will get through this dinner and then we will form a plan!”

  “Yes, sister.”

  They left the room that they’d set aside for their rituals and descended the stairs together to greet Lady Athena and Lady Minerva.

  “It’s so good of you to come!” Elizabeth said with forced warmth.

  “It is, isn’t it?” Minerva said. “Especially since you’ve been walking around in our house without an invitation since day one!”

  Elizabeth drew up short. “What on earth do you mean, Minerva?”

  “Spirit walking,” Athena said brightly. “We know all about it. We don’t do it, of course, because I’m rather fond of my body and would hate to leave it lying around for any one to take over. That is how you acquired your current form, isn’t it? You convinced its previous occupant to take up astral projection and then you just slipped right in!”

  Reginald harrumphed loudly. “Utter nonsense!”

  “No. The nonsense stops now,” Minerva stated boldly. “You’ve been poking around in our house, but I’ve also been poking around in yours. Servants talk. If you offer them enough coin they talk quite freely. I know that your ultimate goal was not to do harm to Anne but to get your hands on Winifred’s grimoire and break her curse.”

  “We do want to break the curse,” Elizabeth confessed. “And I’ve no wish to harm Anne. In fact, it’s imperative that she be protected at all costs. The incident in the barn was unfortunate. Had we known her identity then, steps would have been taken to insure her protection.”

  Athena cocked her head to the side, studied Elizabeth for a moment and then said. “She’s telling the truth, sister. I feel it.”

  Minerva gave a slight nod. “Right then. We’re here to join your coven, and we’ve brought something with us that will interest you greatly.” From within the folds of her cloak, she produced an old book, leather bound and quite worn. “It isn’t Winifred’s. She was not the great witch everyone thought her to be. She was primarily a healer. Whatever magic she did have was surely taxed to its limits by the curse she placed upon the lot of you…. This book was our grandmother’s. And she was a witch like no other!”

  Reginald’s eyes widened. “That is why we could sense such power in Anne! Because she is descended from two lines of witches!”

  “Yes!” Elizabeth said. “We should bring her here! With her power—.”

  “Absolutely not,” Athena said. For once her voice did not sound fey and weak, or even remotely childlike. It was firm and rang with power. “Anne has chosen not to explore her gift. As much as I wish it were otherwise, that is her choice to make. I will not have anyone take that from her.”

  They stood there, glaring at one another for the longest time. It was Minerva who broke the impasse. “You can have our assistance in whatever spells you need to cast to bind the Vicar and weaken him so that you can end him once and for all—I may not be able to walk about in this house unseen, Elizabeth, but you need to learn to better shield your thoughts—or we can leave and you will not have our assistance or our family’s grimoire. The choice is yours.”

  It was Elizabeth who relented. She sighed heavily. “Fine. Have it your way. It would still be better with her… but between the four of us, we should have enough power to subdue him. Do you have a spell in mind?”

  Minerva laughed softly. “My dear, I always have a spell in mind.”

  Together, the four of them climbed the stairs to what had once been a small ballroom but that had been converted into a salon. Elizabeth and Reginald had used it for their spells and rituals and as a safe place where they could undertake their spirt walking. Aside from Thomas Savage, they were the Ravenner sis
ters were the only others to be invited into their sanctuary.

  There was a small work area near the fireplace where they mixed their potions. There were shelves upon shelves of herbs and magical items. And in the center of the room, where people had once danced reels and the minuet, was their sacred circle.

  “Four is a good number for casting,” Athena said. “We will each represent one of the four elements and the four points of the compass. It can only increase the power of our spells.”

  “I certainly hope so,” Elizabeth said. “He’s more powerful than you know.”

  Minerva smiled again. “So are we, dear. So are we.”

  ***

  In the kitchen, the cook slammed a pot onto the table. “What do you mean dinner is delayed?”

  The butler frowned at her. “The Squire and Miss Alcott have taken their guests upstairs the ballroom and have given no indication of when they will wish to have dinner served. You will keep the meal warm until otherwise instructed.”

  “It doesn’t bloody well keep warm! It’ll be ruined!” she shouted.

  Neither of them noticed the young maid slipping out the kitchen door and making for the village. Neither the Squire and his sister nor their guests had noticed her lurking in the corridor while they spoke. But he would notice she thought. Vicar Savage would be grateful for the information she shared and she would be rewarded for it.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Anne was in her bed, staring up at the ceiling, but for the first time, she was not in it alone. Sebastian lay next to her. They’d returned to the house, sneaking in like thieves in spite of being there alone. She’d giggled like a girl when he’d ticked her on the stairs.

  How long had it been since she’d truly laughed and enjoyed herself? Not since the late Marquess had passed. Certainly not since Ambrose had married Miss Penelope Stone and her future had become so incredibly uncertain.

  Of course, there was still a great deal of uncertainty in her life. She’d agreed to marry Sebastian. It would seem a hasty decision to most, but nothing had ever felt more right. It was the one thing in her life that she was completely certain of. But there was every possibility that Ambrose would cut her off completely. They had not discussed Sebastian’s situation but she knew he was a younger son and that if he’d been willing to accept employment from Ambrose then his prospects were limited.

  Where would they live? How would they survive? Did she care so long as they were together?

  “I can hear your mind turning,” he said, opening one eye and giving her a disapproving glance.

  “I love Evenwold, Sebastian, but it isn’t mine. If we wed—.”

  “When,” he said firmly. “When we wed.”

  “When,” she amended, “Ambrose could very well insist that I leave here. I have no fortune, not dowry, no lands. I come to you with nothing.”

  He pulled her close, wrapping her in his arms. “You are everything that I need. If we need to leave here, we will. There is a world out there for us to explore together. We can go to the East Indies. I have friends there. Or I can go back to India. Or America. There are opportunities everywhere, Anne, and so long as we are together, we will find a way to make it work.”

  She smiled as she laid her head against his chest. “It all sounds possible when you say that. But when I say it to myself, I am far less convincing.”

  His hand slid from her back, down to the curve of her bottom. “Perhaps you simply need a distraction?”

  The heat of hand on her skin, the closeness of his body to hers, the tempting smell of his shaving soap and whatever else it was that was simply him combined to rob her of any sense or any possible protest. “Perhaps a little distraction wouldn’t hurt.”

  “A little distraction?” he asked with a grin. “It’s hardly a little distraction! I will have you know, future Lady Strong, that it’s a very generously sized distraction.”

  She laughed again, enjoying his teasing, enjoying the playful side of him that she could only imagine was too infrequently indulged. Perhaps that was why there were perfect for one another. The tiny bits of joy that were buried deep within them recognized and magnified one another.

  “It is an epically sized distraction, Lord Strong. Epic!”

  ***

  Thomas Savage pulled his small curricle to a halt just beyond the lane that led to Evenwold. “Go on, girl!”

  The maid from Alcott Hall sobbed. “I only meant to tell you about her, sir! I can’t do what you’ve asked me to!”

  “You will do it, child! You heard them. She’s a witch!”

  “So are we,” she protested.

  “And one day we too shall pay for that sin, but for now, I am using my power for good and ridding the world of this vermin!” he shouted. “You have the oil and the box of tinder. Go and do as you’ve been told, or I will make you regret the day you were born!”

  The maid climbed down from the vehicle still sobbing and gathered the jug of oil and the other items he’d given her. She’d been instructed to stuff the rag into the jug and light it on fire before tossing it through the windows. She was to burn them alive.

  “I never should have gone to him,” she whispered. “I never should have believed his lies.” She knew that if she didn’t do as he asked, she would be punished for it, but so would her family living in the village. He was notorious for being harsh in his vengeance.

  As she reached the house, she saw one open window. It was like an invitation, she thought. If she weren’t supposed to do as he asked then surely all the windows would have been locked tight and she could have hurled that jug at them with all her might but they would have held firm. It was meant to be, she told herself, as she crouched down and pulled the cork from the jug. Stuffing the rag into the opening, her hands were shaking so badly it took three attempts to finally strike the match to tinder.

  She took a deep, steadying breath. Rising up onto her feet, she lifted the jug and tossed it with all her might toward the open window. Just as the jug reached the casement, the window slammed closed. Even as the jug connected with the glass it did not shatter. Instead the jug bounced backward, rolling into the bushes. As they caught fire, the flames climbing into the darkness, the maid let out a startled scream. There in the window she saw the face of a dark haired woman who was not Anne Everleigh, but who bore a close enough resemblance to her to make the girl take a step back.

  One step led to another. Each step became faster, and by the time she reached the end of the lane she was not walking but running. She ran past the vicar and in the opposite direction of Alcott Hall. Instead, she ran towards Penwickett and the comfort of her family as if the Hounds of Hell were licking at her heels.

  ***

  Minerva placed the book on the floor and let it fall open, knowing that it would open to the page they needed just as it always did. The four of them sat within the circle they’d cast, each one representing a direction and an element. She was fire because it suited her to be so. Athena was earth, which was fitting. Elizabeth represented water and Reginald represented air. Thin as a wisp, it suited him.

  “Join hands,” she instructed and waited for everyone to follow suit. Once it was complete, she looked down at the book again and began to read as the remainder of their makeshift coven joined in.

  “Darkness like a blight,

  the devil’s own might,

  tethered and bound,

  no escape will be found.

  Dark magic be gone,

  evil to be undone,

  your wickedness returns to thee,

  pain and suffering times three,

  as we will, so mote it be.”

  They continued the chant, repeating the words over and over again, their voices rising in unison. Power swelled and grew, becoming a tangible presence in the room. Elizabeth and Reginald both looked at them with wide eyes.

  Minerva glanced to her right, to Athena. A knowing look passed between them. Neither of them would disclose that they had borrowed Anne’s power, albeit
temporarily. As part of their spell to bring Lord Sebastian Strong to her, they’d extracted her power as payment. It would be returned to her, though she had locked it away so tightly, she’d likely never notice its absence or return.

  But completing the spell with it coursing through them, they both realized how much they’d underestimated the full extent of her gift. Knowing she was powerful was not the same thing as feeling it flow freely in the throes of a powerful spell.

  Their voices rose further, the chant filling the room. The power shifted, growing, and then it seemed to explode. The candles guttered and went dim. The windows blew open and the fire in the hearth suddenly roared to life, sending a shower of sparks onto the carpet, but Athena, with a wave of her hand, put them out.

  “It worked, didn’t it?” Elizabeth asked breathlessly. “His magic is bound?”

  “All of your magic is bound,” Minerva replied, “because you are all linked in the curse.”

  “I don’t care,” she said. “He can be killed… permanently. When his heart ceases to beat, his spirit will not simply vacate one body and move to the next, but will move to another plane. Yes?”

  Athena shook her head. “I cannot tell you where he will go or what will become of him… only that because his magic is bound, he will no longer be able to force his spirit into another’s body and take it over. Neither will either of you. And when you die, whatever you’ve done on this earth, will have to be paid for.”

  “God forgives all,” Elizabeth said. “I simply need to live long enough to ask him for it.”

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  It was the glow of the fire beyond the windows that pulled Sebastian from the exquisite taste of Anne’s kiss.

  “Fire,” he said.

  “It isn’t cold in here,” she protested.