He cupped her left breast and Sarah shuddered as his fingers touched the hard ridges of her flesh. He gripped her hair in his right and bent down to brush his lips over hers. “I am going to suck on your breast. I own your flesh, Sarah. You are mine. No one and nothing else may have you.”
Her muscles tensed and an inhuman growl vibrated from her but she remained in position as if waiting for him to put his words into action.
He slid his hand out of her hair and let it drift over her skin. She was hot to the touch and trembled as he stroked the side of her breast, her belly, her hip to the inside of her thigh. He continued to stroke her nipple with his other hand as he sought the hard nub buried in the sweet curls between her legs.
Her damp response emboldened him to slip two fingers inside her and slowly thrust in and out. He bent his head to her left breast and blew over its erect flesh. She whimpered, definitely his Sarah, as he lowered his mouth to her tit. The taste of her skin, so precious, so warm, was enough to drive his arousal higher.
“So you’ll fuck me like all the others? Your beloved is dead to you. If you don’t get out you will die too.” It was Sarah’s voice but in a hateful tone Perry was glad he’d never heard.
He lifted his head from her breast to meet her gaze. “There has never been any fucking between us.”
“Liar!” Sarah’s body trembled, every muscle strained in some wordless fight Perry couldn’t see.
“Even that first time, when you thought I was punishing you, I was being selfish.” He spoke directly to the woman he loved, his mate. “I wanted to bind you to me, taking your innocence, marking you. Despite my cowardly retreat, I loved you then, needed you then.”
The color in her eyes flickered again, black to greenish brown and back again. A single tear glistened on her cheek and Perry kissed it away. Gently he slid his mouth over her sternum, his fingers still deep inside her. He flicked his thumb over her clitoris and sucked on her tit until she cried out.
“But I saw—” She stopped and Perry released her flesh again to see her face.
“What did you see, my love? What is it that drove you into this circle without me?”
The blackness that obliterated her irises was gone, her greenish-brown eyes glassy and filled with fear. “Your child. He couldn’t be mine but I saw him.”
He hooked his fingers inside her sweet pussy and she gasped. With his other hand he pressed her lips to his. He swept his tongue around hers, demanding, driving himself insane with her taste.
Finally he broke the kiss and told her sternly, “Our children. I will have none without you. I will bring you out of this circle, mine forever, or I will die with you.”
Her eyes widened. “No, please, Perry, you can’t do that.”
“It’s done,” he said flatly. “We are one soul, Sarah. I will be with you.”
Tears flowed freely now and she shook uncontrollably, unable to hold the pose he’d demanded but still trying.
“Put your arms around my neck, my love. Let me show you.” He moved his fingers inside her and she jerked her hips.
Her hands gripped his hair at the back of his head and she pressed herself against him. He groaned at the feel of her tits, his hand clenching inside her pussy. He bore her backward and spread her legs.
Lost in his need, he bent to devour her, his mouth frantic on her clitoris. She tasted so sweet, so good. He clenched his hands around her thighs, one over the mark that gave him fierce satisfaction, and he wished he could mark her again.
She screamed, “Master!”
Chaos erupted around them but Perry barely noticed. The smell of her, the feel of her was his whole existence. Sweet cream flowed over his tongue and he growled involuntarily. He lifted his head and found Sarah staring at him.
He held her stunned gaze and said, “Again.”
The thing within her still writhed and spat, trying to take over. But Perry was Sarah’s Master and she obeyed him. He made it clear that she belonged to him and he also showed his love for her. The words had been so important to hear, but from the way he’d followed her here, the way he’d fought for her, she knew he meant them.
She’d been prepared to die, to give up her life for the life of the child she’d seen, the one she was sure would never be born if she lived. But he was here and unwilling to let her go. He faced this evil that bound the curse to their blood, and defied it.
You will lose. He will always be a wolf. I will never free him. The voice inside her was filled with so much hate, so much death.
He loves me. You cannot deny it. He is not like the man who took your love and spurned you. Free them. It’s been eight hundred years. Free them.
Reject him and give me your blood. I will free them.
She could free them all and the curse would be gone. It would be so easy. But Perry, so focused on her, must have seen something.
“Open your eyes. I command it,” he said harshly.
She snapped her eyes open and stared into his face. His voice was hard and determined. He loomed over her, his cock at her entrance and her feet on his shoulders.
“You are mine, Sarah,” he said. “Say it!”
It hurt. Her throat was tight and the evil inside her fought to keep her silent. “I am yours,” she managed to say.
He thrust his cock inside her and she was plunged into intense pleasure. Whatever happened, he loved her and she loved him.
“Our children will be wanted and we will love them together,” he said, punctuating his words with the slide of his hard length inside her. “They will never feel as if they don’t belong, as if they are extraneous. I promise you that even if I want to strangle you, I will love you.”
“Perry,” she cried out. The darkness moved in, trying to stop her ears from hearing his words and freeze her heart from him.
“Come for me, Sarah. Do it!” He drove into her frantically, no rhythm or finesse, just passion.
Her climax was a tidal wave, demolishing everything, leaving only one thing—love. She clutched him closer, thrusting her hips. The evil was there but she no longer felt its pull.
“Please, Master,” she cried out. “Please come inside me,” she begged.
He gripped her face and plundered her mouth as he streamed his hot release to fill her. His guttural shout, muffled by their kiss, vibrated against her lips and she spun into another orgasm.
Something happened.
The chanting grew louder around them. Wisteria screeched, a hideous, high sound that echoed in the large chamber. And then Sarah was free. She thought for a moment that it was over, that she and Perry had defeated the ghost of her ancestor.
But the shade of Wisteria D’Insigny was not going to allow happiness. Her hatred of the DeFalks had only grown in the hundreds of years she’d been bound to its curse. Her ethereal remains loomed over them now and Sarah flinched.
The shade’s laughter was like shards of glass and she clasped her ephemeral hands together. “Oh, this is delicious. It is not you who doubts his love, but he— Oh, this will be magnificent.” The ghostly hands reached out and gripped Perry’s shoulders.
Perry jerked away from Sarah and his eyes turned a hideous black. Sarah watched, horrified, as her lover picked up the discarded knife and raised it over his head.
“He is so easy to convince, my child,” the shade said as her spirit fluttered around Perry. “I don’t even have to possess him to do it. He truly believes you would rather die than be with him. And I will make him give you your wish.”
Why wouldn’t he believe the shade? Hadn’t Sarah told him that her own life meant nothing and, worst of all, that his love for her was not enough? She had refused to declare her love for him even as he had spoken his.
She scrambled to kneel before him and gripped the arm that held the knife. She placed the blade at her neck and pressed it against her skin.
“If you would be free of me, Perry Arundale, kill me. For I will never be free of you. I love you.” As she spoke the words for the first tim
e, her gaze held his steadily, determined that if they did not survive he would know the truth. “I saw you just as I saw your child. A vision I knew was true. I knew my innocence, my heart and my very soul belonged to you.”
Perry shook his head and a lighter color flickered in his gaze. The shade’s illumination increased. “She lied to you. She betrayed you. Now you should believe she loves you? Don’t be a fool.”
But Sarah and Perry had been through too much. The shade meant nothing and Sarah held Perry’s confused stare. “I have loved you for a long time, before I knew your name, before I became your maid. I denied it because I believed I stood between you and happiness.” She couldn’t stop the single tear that slid down her cheek and she shuddered when Perry wiped it away with his fingers and placed his palm against her cheek.
She turned her head and kissed his palm. “I will always belong to you. No one, not her, not even death can possess me. Only you.” She lifted her head, the scrape of the knife against her skin of no consequence compared to the shine in Perry’s gaze. “I love you.”
Sarah saw his eyes change color from the ebony black to luminous blue. Light flashed and blinded her. A huge force slammed into her and if Perry hadn’t been quick, the knife might have slashed her throat. But he tossed the blade away and gripped her shoulders to pull her to him.
Chaos ignited around them, wind and fire seeming to whirl and dance as Perry kissed her. As Sarah surrendered she noted that Perry had kissed her in many ways—tenderly, passionately, in anger and out of hurt—but this was something as different from those touches as the night from day.
From the moment he cupped her face and his mouth met hers, the love between them blossomed and warmed. The heat, like the feel of the sun on a summer day, spread over her body and engulfed her.
He loved her, adored her, needed her. Words tumbled from him and her breath caught as he punctuated each loving statement with a kiss. She clasped him closer, allowing herself to fully bask in the glory of their shared emotion.
A loud roar startled them and Chantal shouted at them. “Watch out!”
The shade of Wisteria D’Insigny, her diaphanous arms raised, gave a cry of defiance and the discarded blade rose to fly toward Perry. Sarah didn’t think. She twisted in front of the wicked knife careening toward her.
But Perry would not allow it. He dragged her to the floor and the knife streamed by them and clattered against the invisible barrier that held them within the circle.
The chanting stopped.
The chamber became silent.
A thin stream of smoke still remained where the shade of Wisteria had towered a moment earlier and Sarah stared at it. A weak voice reached her ears. “I invoke my right! Blood and death!”
Wind gusted through the chamber and Sarah felt a warm presence fill the circle. A gentle voice rumbled through Sarah’s body but she saw no one. “You may no longer prey on the innocent. I break the hold you have on her. Her bloodline is free of you.”
The thin voice protested. “I hold them accountable. They have not changed. They take.” The smoke drifted beside Chantal. “See her. A DeFalk violated her, deceived her, just as I was. They have not changed,” the voice shouted, and the room shook.
But the warm wind increased and the shaking stopped. “The Beast remains. Be at peace, my child. It is the innocent who are freed.”
The warmth faded and the thin smoke trembled and began to dissipate. “No! They must pay.” But the voice died away.
A deep voice rumbled through the cavern, shaking the walls, making pebbles pelt the stone floor. “No more blood sacrifices. The Beast shall remain. Blessed be.” The warm wind swept through the circle and whistled through the cavern into the night air.
Sarah held her breath and clung to Perry, expecting another blow, another attack. But nothing happened. When she opened her eyes the thin smoke was gone.
It was over.
Chapter Fifteen
“Is the curse broken?” Sarah asked Chantal. They were in her sitting room, a warm place on the second floor. A fire blazed in the fireplace and Sarah, Chantal, Perry and Jaimison sat on the comfortable furniture. Sarah was amazed at how conventional it all seemed after such a dramatic scene below.
Chantal, now completely changed from the sexual, powerful witch she’d been during the ceremony, placed her teacup on her saucer with a gentle click. “No. I don’t think so.” She seemed to take a moment to consider her words. “I think you and your descendants are released from the sacrifice required.” Her gaze met Sarah’s. “Our family’s suffering was an offense to her power.”
“I don’t understand,” Perry said.
“Wisteria called on the Mother Goddess to implement the curse. I don’t think the Mother is finished with the DeFalk line yet.” Her lips pursed together. “The thing that drove Wisteria to curse Edward DeFalk has not been bred out of the line.” The expression on Chantal’s face was haunted by her own encounter with the evil within the DeFalk descendants. “But I believe the D’Insigny women will not be required to sacrifice their lives to end the curse.”
Sarah released a long, slow breath. “The Mother Goddess. That was the warmth I felt.”
Perry held her hand. “That voice. The one that spoke to Wisteria.”
Chantal nodded. “Yes. She has decided to keep the shape-shifting curse in the DeFalk blood.” She glanced from Sarah to Perry. “Perhaps she believes it serves a purpose.”
Perhaps it did. Sarah realized that without the curse she wouldn’t have found Perry and their connection might never have happened. Of course, Sarah had come to believe that nothing—no curse or storm or arrogant old lady—could have kept them apart. His gaze met hers and the blaze of fire there made her heart race.
Chantal rose. “I have prepared two guestrooms. Marie will show you.”
The woman began to leave the room, but Jaimison’s large frame blocked her exit. “Do you wish me to use that guestroom?” he asked bluntly.
For a moment they stared at each other and Chantal broke the silence by clearing her throat. “Goodnight.”
Before Jaimison could move she stepped around him and headed up the stairs. His eyes narrowed as they followed her progress.
“She still does not trust, Edward,” Sarah said gently. “Lord Robert hurt her terribly.”
Jaimison stared at the staircase. “I will not be going back to England with you.”
Sarah glanced at Perry. He didn’t seem surprised either, even though he hadn’t witnessed the intense connection between Chantal and Jaimison.
When Perry rose he held out his hand for Sarah to come with him. “A good plan. In fact I wouldn’t wait until we leave. A good woman is worth fighting for.”
Jaimison sent Perry a quick grin. “She may turn me out.”
“She may,” Perry answered, and tucked Sarah’s hand under his arm. “But if you love her, that won’t matter.”
Marie appeared at the bottom of the stairs and beckoned to them. “Madam said I was to show you to your rooms.”
Jaimison stepped forward. “Show me to hers.”
Sarah smiled. It wouldn’t be easy but she would bet money on Jaimison.
In the small guest room toward the back of the house, she and Perry said very little as they stripped away their clothes and climbed into bed. Without a word Perry pulled her into his arms and held her. “I thought I’d lost you,” he said, his voice muffled by her hair.
“I thought I would cause your death,” she responded, and pressed her nose in the crook of his shoulder. “I don’t know what to do now.”
He stroked her hair, the other hand draped over her hip. “We will go to Jamaica and raise a brood of children.”
She kissed his chin, his cheek, his nose. “Perhaps you mean a pack of children.”
He laughed and bent to take possession of her lips in a kiss that left her breathless and wanting. “But first we will go to London. There is a matter of a fantasy I believe you have.”
Her heart skipped
a beat. “How do you know of any fantasies I might have? I’ve never told you.”
“I asked,” he said simply, and brushed his mouth over hers. “Leo was quite forthcoming once he realized how besotted I was with you.”
“What did he tell you?” She tried to back away from Perry but he tightened his hold.
“He told me you were quite fascinated with groups. Several times he came upon you when you were flushed and excited, always from a room where three or more people were indulging in pleasure.” Perry kissed her forehead. “I had planned to…give you a gift, an experience that would satisfy your fantasy.”
“Madame de Laval,” she said softly.
“Yes. Madame is a Mistress. She is a female version of myself, demanding submission from her partners.” He scraped his teeth over the sensitive skin of her neck and she shuddered. “She was immediately drawn to you.” His cock pressed against Sarah’s belly and her breath caught. “I wanted to give you that if I couldn’t give you much else.”
“Perry, please,” she begged, her body on fire, her heart pounding. “Please.”
He pressed her back against the mattress and loomed over her. “Beg me again.”
* * * * *
The entire trip home was a pleasure and a torture for Perry as he made sure to tell his wife what he planned for her in detail. All doubt between them was gone, replaced by an ease he had never experienced before even with his brother.
They had written to Joshua and Elizabeth, letting them know they would be returning to Arundale Hall, but it would only be a visit. For once Perry had a future stretched out before him that was filled with hope and happiness. He didn’t deserve it but he was going to take it.
Sarah had brimmed with ideas for their new life, talkative and excited. The transformation was incredible. The burdens that weighed on her were gone and she was a young woman in love. Perry had thought she was beautiful before. Now she was like an angel.
WitchofArundaleHall Page 16
