Savage Spring

by Constance O'Banyon

  “It has never been my habit to keep a woman waiting,” he said lazily. “Lead the way to your bedroom, Madame Antoinette. I know of no woman from history whom I would rather make love to tonight, unless it would be Cleopatra, should she be hiding in the shadows…but she already turned me down.”

  Alexandria pulled back, knowing Tag had seen her. She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at his cruel jest. Her mind wouldn’t accept the fact that the man she loved would stoop so low as to make love to a woman he detested. Did he want revenge at the price of honor? Was not honor more important than revenge?

  Alexandria waited until she was sure they would be safely upstairs before she went to her room. Her face was wet with tears as she pictured in her mind what was going on in Claudia’s bedroom at that very moment. Removing the wig and gown, she placed them back in the box. Tonight had been very educational for her. She had found out how far a man would go to get what he wanted. She wondered if the love she had felt for Tag would wither and die now that she no longer respected him.

  She lay down on her bed and allowed the tears to fall. No, it hadn’t died. If it had, she wouldn’t be feeling so miserable. In her mind she could almost see Tag holding Claudia in his arms and whispering passionate words in her ear. She cursed herself for being a fool and believing in Tag—she cursed him for making her love him!

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Tag uncorked the bottle of brandy and poured some of the liquid into each glass. He knew he would need the artificial stimulant if he were going to be able to give Claudia what she wanted from him tonight. He watched out of the corner of his eye as she slipped out of her gown and petticoats. She removed the powered wig and dropped it on the floor. Raising one of the glasses to his lips, he took a deep drink.

  Claudia walked slowly over to him, swinging her hips enticingly. She licked her lips and took her glass. “I doubt that I will need this. I have never been one to drink very much—I find drinking dulls the senses.”

  She was completely naked, and Tag’s eyes roved over her body with complete indifference. Her body couldn’t compare with Alexandria’s slim loveliness. Claudia’s breasts were overdeveloped, her waist was thick, and her hips were wide. Some of the powder from her wig had run down her face, giving her the appearance of a painted clown.

  “You will have to indulge me, Claudia. I like to drink and get acquainted before I make love to a woman.”

  She reached up and removed the leather headband from his head. “What an exciting thought. No man has ever wanted to know what went on in my mind before. All they ever wanted was to get me into bed.” She could hardly contain her excitement as his eyes roamed over her breasts, then down to her hips. She felt she would die if he didn’t take her in his arms. Claudia knew Falcon would be the most exciting lover she had ever been with, and her whole body seemed to burn with a slow fire.

  Tag watched Claudia lift her glass to her lips and drain the contents. Reaching for the bottle, he filled her glass once more. Setting the bottle on a night table, he began slowly to remove his clothing, while Claudia watched him with hungry eyes.

  She could feel the blood beating in her temples as she looked at his magnificent body. She followed him with her eyes as he picked up the bottle and sat down in the middle of the bed. Her whole body seemed to come alive, and she felt an ache deep inside when he motioned for her to join him there.

  When Claudia sat down beside Falcon, he tipped his glass to hers. “To a night to remember, Claudia,” he whispered, indicating she should finish her drink. “I have waited a long time for this moment.”

  “Have you, Falcon?” she asked in a breathless voice. “I can never tell what you feel about anything. You are always so secretive.”

  By now, Claudia’s head was spinning, and she didn’t know if it was from the brandy or from Falcon’s nearness. She emptied her glass, and again he refilled it.

  She didn’t know how many glasses she had consumed when he finally pulled her back on the bed and pressed his body against hers. She felt a warmth spread over her as his hands ran up and down her back in the most sensuous way.

  “Tell me what you fear most in the world, Claudia,” he whispered against her ear.

  Claudia’s head was reeling, and she couldn’t understand why Falcon was asking such a question, so she said the first thing that popped into her head. “I fear a young boy who has by now grown to manhood,” she answered in a passion-laced voice. “He is out there somewhere watching me, and one day he will try to take my life.”

  “Who do you hate most in the world, Claudia?” he asked, pulling her even closer and breathing hotly against her arched neck.

  “I hate a woman named Joanna—I once told you about her. She is everything I ever wanted to be. I tried to destroy her, only to find she was indestructible.”

  “We are none of us indestructible, Claudia. Each of us has our vulnerable spot, and I believe I have found yours,” he said harshly.

  Claudia didn’t know what he meant—all she knew was that his wonderful hands were rendering her senseless. All at once, Claudia’s eyes closed, and she drifted off to sleep. The liquor she had consumed at the party, along with what Tag had given her, had had the effect he had hoped it would.

  Tag stood up and pulled on his trousers and shirt. Standing over Claudia’s sleeping form, he stared at her with distaste. She had passed out cold, and he was grateful, knowing he would never have been able to make love to her. He shuddered in disgust when she moaned in her sleep. He doubted she would remember much about tonight when she awoke in the morning.

  Tag ran his hand through his hair, feeling as if he were soiled and dirty from being in such close proximity with her. He left the room and climbed up the backstairs to the third floor. Since he had spent much of his boyhood in this house, he knew that the servants’ quarters were there. He needed to be with Alexandria tonight as he had never needed anyone before in his life. He wanted to breath in her clean sweetness and feel her soft, silky skin. Knowing how she would feel about his going to Claudia’s bedroom, he hoped he could make her understand that he had only done what had been necessary. He had found Claudia’s weak points and her fears…now he could work on them!

  There were three bedrooms on the third floor, but Tag already knew which was Alexandria’s since she had mentioned that her room faced the garden. He turned the handle, and the door swung open soundlessly. The bright moonlight was streaming in through the window, and he could see Alexandria curled up on the bed. Kneeling down beside her, he gathered her into his arms and kissed her soft cheek.

  Alexandria awoke with a start. Her eyes fastened on the dark outline of a man’s face. Before she could cry out in fear, he spoke.

  “It’s me, Alexandria. Don’t be afraid.”

  She pushed him away and sat up, pulling the covers up to her neck. “What are you doing here, Tag? Get out of my room this instant, before I scream and bring the whole house in to investigate,” she whispered.

  Alexandria could clearly see the smile playing on Tag’s lips as he sat down on the bed beside her.

  “I was afraid you would be angry with me. I knew when I saw you hiding in the study that you would believe the worst of me tonight.”

  “I wasn’t hiding, and it isn’t any of my business what you and Claudia do in her bedroom,” she said, not realizing that the hurt she felt could be heard in her voice.

  Tag reached out and touched her cheek softly. “Don’t think too badly of me, sweet, sweet Xandria. If you are thinking that I was intimate with Claudia tonight, you would be only half right.”

  “I don’t know what you mean. How can you halfway make love to a woman?”

  Tag leaned forward and untied the ribbon of her nightgown and slid his hand across her breasts. “Like this, Alexandria,” he said, leaning forward and capturing her lips in a burning kiss.

  Alexandria could taste the brandy on his lips and smell the perfume that Claudia always wore, and she began to struggle. She wanted to hit out at
him in her pain. He released her, and she drew back, not wanting him to kiss her after he had been with Claudia.

  “Don’t ever touch me again!” she whispered through tight lips. “As long as you live, never come near me again! I don’t like what you have become.”

  His eyes looked deeply into hers. “Don’t say this to me, Alexandria. I need you tonight.” His voice was pleading, but she felt no weakening in her feelings toward him.

  “Well, I don’t need you anymore! If I never see you again, it will be too soon for me!” she cried, getting out of bed to put some distance between them. She was afraid she would weaken if he touched her again.

  “You don’t mean that, Alexandria. You’re just angry with me. Let me hold you for a moment. I promise I will ask nothing more of you.”

  “No! You are drunk, and I want you out of my room right now.”

  Tag leaped across the bed and grabbed Alexandria by the shoulders. “I’m not drunk, except from your nearness, Alexandria. Don’t you remember how good it was between us? Forget about Claudia and kiss me,” he said with urgency.

  His mouth settled on hers, and she tried to struggle at first, but soon her lips parted, and she felt him drawing her against him. He was holding her so tightly she thought her lungs would burst from want of air. When he raised his head, he sprinkled kisses over her face.

  “You are my only salvation, Alexandria. When I am with you, I can forget about all the ugliness,” he breathed hotly in her ear.

  “Is that all I am to you, Tag—someone to keep the ugliness out of your life? Do you come to me when you can no longer stand to live with yourself?”

  He looked at her with a piercing gaze. “I don’t know, Alexandria, perhaps I do.”

  “I’m not your mother, Tag, and I’m not Morning Song. If you need someone to fill either of those roles, you have come to the wrong person. Because I feel that I owe you something, I will do all I can to help you, but I will no longer play your lover.”

  “Like hell,” he whispered harshly. “You don’t owe me a damned thing. I always thought there was more to our relationship than owing, Alexandria. I suppose I was wrong.”

  “Yes, you were. Now, it’s late, and if you don’t need your sleep, I do.”

  Tag stared down at her. He had expected her to be angry, but he hadn’t expected her coldness. Morning Song would have forgiven him anything, and he had thought that Alexandria would be the same. But then, Alexandria was nothing like Morning Song. Each day his life seemed to become more and more entangled with hers. His body seemed to have a hunger for hers that would never be satisfied. He was troubled and confused by these feelings that tormented him.

  “I’m leaving, Alexandria, but I hate to leave with this misunderstanding between us. I thought you and I always understood each other.”

  “You were wrong, Tag. I don’t understand you at all. We both have our troubles, but I don’t solve mine by jumping into bed with someone I don’t love.”

  “You jumped into bed with me, Alexandria—does that mean that you love me?”

  His eyes were searching as she looked into their shimmering depth. “Right now, I don’t even like you, Tag,” was all she could bring herself to reply.

  Tag knew he should leave, but something kept holding him there. He took Alexandria’s hand, and even though she didn’t pull away, her golden eyes seemed to gleam defiantly in the bright moonlight. In that moment he felt pride in her courage. She would always stand up for what she believed in. She would never allow anyone to push her into anything. He knew he loved her more than he had ever loved Morning Song. He could feel her pulling away from him, and he feared he had spoiled any chance he might have had to win her heart. Tag knew that after tonight she wouldn’t have a very high opinion of him, and he wanted her respect almost as much as he wanted her love.

  “Alexandria, try to understand that I did what I had to tonight. Claudia doesn’t have the slightest notion who I am, and I have to get to her the only way I can.”

  “Doesn’t it bother you that that sick old man is her husband? Don’t you have any qualms about bedding another man’s wife?” she asked, stepping back a pace.

  He reached out and grabbed her, slamming her body into his with force. “Hell, no it doesn’t bother me—why should it? I feel no guilt where Claudia and my uncle are concerned.”

  He felt Alexandria shudder and knew she believed he had made love to Claudia. It became important to him that she know he couldn’t complete the act. Cupping her face in his hands, he raised it up to his.

  “Alexandria, I never completed the act with Claudia. I didn’t make love to her. I couldn’t.”

  She looked into his eyes, wanting to believe him. It hurt her so deeply to think that he had been with Claudia.

  “You went to her bedroom?”

  “Yes, I went to her room with the intention of doing whatever I had to to make her talk. I didn’t find it necessary to make love to her. She told me all I needed to know anyway.”

  “You kissed her.”

  “Yes, I admit that.”

  “I don’t like what’s going on, Falcon. This is a dirty business and I wish I’d never become mixed up in it.”

  He studied her face closely and wished the ugliness hadn’t touched her life. He wanted to shield her from anything that was soiled and dirty. He wished she would come home with him now, but he knew she wouldn’t. “We are a pair, aren’t we, Alexandria? You don’t know whether to call me Falcon Knight or Taggart James. I don’t know whether to call you Xandria, Alex, or Alexandria.”

  She threw back her head and looked at him with her golden eyes sparking fire. “As far as I’m concerned, you may call me Miss Bradford.”

  He reached out and touched her cheek softly. “Don’t say things in anger that you will regret later, Alexandria. Don’t tear my heart apart.”

  She batted his hand away. “I mean every word I said to you tonight, Tag. Go away and leave me alone.”

  “Alexandria, if you never want to see me again I’ll understand. The only reason I can give you for not turning your back on me is that I…need you in my life.”

  She moved away from him and he could see the tears glistening on her cheeks. “You talk about your needs, Tag—what about my needs?”

  He clasped her head in his hands and gently raised her up on her tiptoes and laid his face against hers. He breathed in her clean, fresh smell and felt his senses reel. “I will give you anything you want, Alexandria. Just don’t abandon me now,” he whispered softly.

  Alexandria closed her eyes and her hands moved around his waist. She raised her head and saw the sincerity in Tag’s eyes. He was tugging at her heart strings, and she felt her anger melt away.

  “I could never turn my back on you, Tag. I will always want to be your friend.”

  He laughed softly and hugged her tightly. His heart felt lighter now that she was no longer angry with him. “Friendship isn’t what I want from you, but it will suffice for now. When this is all over, I will ask more of you.”

  Alexandria started to ask him what he meant, when his head dipped down and his lips brushed against hers, causing tiny shivers of delight to flow through her body like a restless river.

  Tag could feel her melting against him and knew she had forgiven him for tonight. He lifted her in his arms with the intention of placing her in bed and leaving, but when he laid her down she locked her arms about his neck. He could see that her eyes were fever-bright, and he felt his body awaken with the raging passion that she always seemed to evoke in him.

  He sat down on the bed and touched her lips. “If I stay, Alexandria, it will have to be because you want me to. Say the word and I’ll leave now.”

  Suddenly, the age-old battle raged inside of Alexandria. She wanted him to make love to her, and yet she knew it was wrong. She could see him tensely waiting for her reply. She reached for his hand and placed it on her breasts.

  The groan that issued from his lips was smothered when his lips covered hers i
n a mind-destroying kiss. Tag could feel the burning need deep inside him as he broke off the kiss and slipped her nightgown off her shoulders and down past her hips. Alexandria raised her hips and he removed the nightgown and tossed it to the floor.

  He allowed his eyes to move over her body, and he drew in his breath at how lovely she was. Before, when he had made love to her, it had been dark, and he hadn’t realized how perfect she was. As his eyes examined every inch of her, his hands followed the same course.

  Alexandria could see the admiration in Tag’s eyes, and she shivered with delight as his hands moved up her legs, across her rib cage, and then circled one of her breasts.

  When his head dipped down to explore her breasts, he circled each nipple with his tongue and felt them harden to rosebud tips. There was an urgency about him as he stood and stripped off his clothing. When he returned to Alexandria, she stretched out her arms to him and he pulled her tightly to him. “I need you tonight sweet, sweet, Alexandria,” he breathed hotly in her ear.

  For a long moment Tag just held her to him, loving the way she fit so perfectly against his body. Neither of them spoke as he stroked her softly. His mind was swirling and he felt a whirlwind of feelings when he turned her to her back and knelt over her. He could see that her amber eyes were glowing as he slowly moved forward and entered her body.

  At first he went slowly, wanting to give her pleasure, but soon the tide of passion clutched them both in its grip and they moved together in frenzied lovemaking.

  Alexandria threw her head back as Tag’s lips moved down her throat to encircle her breast. This couldn’t be wrong, she told herself. Nothing that felt so right and beautiful could be considered wrong. The love she felt for him seemed to spill over her like a volcano erupting.

  “Tag, Tag,” she murmured softly, as he took her body higher then she had ever flown before.

  Tag tore his lips from her breast and groaned when he returned to bruise her lips with a savage kiss.