Blood of the White Witch (5 page)

“All right,” I said, nodding my head in
understanding, relieved that he wasn’t upset with me, only the
situation.

“I’m sorry our wedding had to be tangled up
in all this mess.” He spoke softly, reaching to brush my damp hair
away from my face.

“I’m not. We wouldn’t be married right now
if that weren’t the case,” I reminded him.

“True,” he replied as his eyes flitted over
my face, and I could see some regret there. “But I would’ve loved
to sweep you off somewhere for a couple of months where we didn’t
have a care in the world, and everything could just revolve around
me being with you.”

“That does sound lovely,” I agreed as my
mind paused on the thought of being sequestered away with him
somewhere. “Maybe we can do that someday soon. Don’t worry about
me, though. I’m fine with everything.” I smiled and looked into his
eyes. “The view here is very nice too.”

“It is, isn’t it?” he replied not missing a
beat, knowing that I was talking about looking at him, while he
looked at me.

He wrapped both of his arms around me then
and pulled me up close to him, looking deeply into my eyes.

I waited for the kiss that I knew was
coming, moistening my lips in anticipation as he tilted his head,
moving toward me. I was completely taken off guard when he stopped
short and pulled back from me a little.

“Are you hungry?” he asked, suddenly looking
at me with concern.

I nodded my head and laughed, his quick
change of subject throwing me off as I struggled to catch up with
him.

“Yes. But not for food,” I replied and
nudged the end of his nose with mine, knowing he would get my
message.

That was all the encouragement he needed to
proceed with his previous thought. He rolled me over onto my back,
not allowing anything to distract him from his intended target this
time.

We ended up deciding to stay in the room and
ordering room service for dinner that evening.

I watched from the crack afforded by the
partially open bathroom door, where I was hiding when it arrived on
a beautiful tray that was wheeled into our room by a young male
waiter. There was a vase of flowers on the cart along with linen
napkins and polished silver cutlery with pretty china.

“You can come out now, baby,” Vance called
to me when he had closed the door behind the exiting young man.

I blushed a bit and couldn’t help the
girlish giggle that escaped my lips when I walked back into the
bedroom.

“I can’t believe you just answered the door
in a bathrobe!” I exclaimed while I tightened the belt on my own
robe, which was identical to his, only smaller. “I would have died
of embarrassment!”

“What could I possibly have to be
embarrassed about?” Vance grinned. “I’m here on my honeymoon with
the prettiest girl in existence, having a romantic dinner with her
in matching bathrobes. Every guy in this place would be absolutely
jealous of me right now and my extreme good fortune.”

I blushed again at his appraisal of me. I
had always felt inferior to Vance when it came to looks. He had a
way of making women of all ages stop dead in their tracks just so
they could stare at him, me included. I had never seen any boys or
men stop to stare at me the way women looked at him. Well, that
wasn’t entirely true. Vance looked at me that way all the time.

“Earth to Portia,” Vance’s voice broke into
my thoughts, and I suddenly realized that he was holding a chair
out for me to sit in.

“Oh, thank you,” I said, feeling a bit
flustered for a moment.

“What are you thinking about?” he asked
which I suddenly found funny since he could have just ruffled
through my thoughts on his own and found out for himself.

It suddenly meant a lot to me that he
respected my privacy enough to not do something like that.

“It’s nothing,” I said, dismissing my
previous thoughts with a wave of my hand as he moved to sit in his
own chair.

“Really?” he probed. “Because I can almost
see those wheels turning in your head.”

I laughed at him.

“I was just thinking about how incredibly
handsome you are and how lucky I am to have you … again,” I said as
I smiled at him, sure I was stroking his ego to a flame by this
point.

He surprised me once again, when he shook
his head.

“Someday I hope I’ll really be able to make
you understand that I’m the lucky one in this relationship, Portia.
I’m almost afraid to take my eyes off you sometimes … for fear I’ll
wake up and this will have all been a wonderful dream.” He looked
at me, his eyes overflowing with love.

“I’m not going anywhere, Vance,” I replied
and reached out to lay my hand over the top of his.

“Good,” he answered with a smile, and he
turned his hand slightly so he could squeeze mine. “Now eat up
before your dad comes bursting through that door complaining that
I’m keeping you too occupied with … other pursuits and not feeding
you enough.”

“Yes sir!” I said, laughing at the wicked
grin and wink he sent my way.

The smells lifting from the delicious dinner
in front us soon had our mouths watering in delight. We enjoyed the
crispy duck in a lovely sauce, something I had never tried before,
with baby carrots and asparagus. Vance had also ordered us the hot
rhubarb soufflé for dessert, which was perfection in and of
itself.

After we were done with dinner and our tray
was picked up by the waiter, we opted to snuggle together for the
rest of the evening until we both fell asleep in each other’s
arms.

The next morning, though it dawned bright
and clear, I could see it was going to be another chilly one
outside. The weather didn’t affect us, though, because we still
opted to stay in our room for most of the day. I soon began to
realize that going off on a honeymoon to an exotic location was
absolutely pointless, since we never wanted to leave our little
hideaway to do anything else.

“Do you feel like you’re ready to venture
out into the world yet? Maybe explore the place a little?” Vance
asked me in the middle of the afternoon, after a pretty heated
couple of hours.

“I guess we can … if you want to,” I said. I
was lying in his arms, letting my hair spill across his chest like
he liked.

“I am perfectly content right where I am,”
he said while he drew his fingers through the dark strands, which
was giving me a very relaxed feeling. “I just thought you might be
getting bored with me by now.”

I snorted at that comment.

“Not likely.” I smiled a very satisfied
smile, and I lifted my head to look at him. “I’ve been having a
marvelous time thanks to you.” I had a thought which worried me
then. “Unless you’ve grown bored with me, that is.”

“I thought my feelings where you’re
concerned have been rather obvious,” he commented with a
chuckle.

“I just want to make sure you’re enjoying
yourself.” I settled my head back down on his arm.

“Well, apparently I’m not doing a good
enough job at showing you my intense pleasure at this whole
situation if you actually have to ask,” he replied, and he suddenly
rolled me over onto my back and began kissing me again.

“I believe you!” I said with a little
squeal, laughing, and he moved to trail his kisses down my neck to
where the slightly purpled scar still showed where he had bitten me
before.

“Too late,” he mumbled against my neck
before he licked and sucked at the spot. “I have to prove myself
now.”

I greatly enjoyed it as he proved himself to
me once again.

When evening arrived, we decided to go down
to one of the three restaurants on the premises.

We got dressed up nice, he in a suit and
tie, and me in a cocktail dress. After debating what we were in the
mood for, we finally decided to dine in The Red Room where we
enjoyed beef Wellington and a marmalade soufflé.

The atmosphere was wonderful as we listened
to the live music that was being played by a very accomplished
pianist on the large grand piano. After dinner, we strolled around
the castle enjoying the sights and history offered there. We ended
our little tour in the Great Hall next to the crackling fireplace,
where we enjoyed a glass of wine together as we continued to listen
to the lovely music floating in the air.

We socialized a little bit with other
guests, making friendly conversation with some who were local and
others who were visiting from around the world. Everyone seemed so
infatuated with the idea that we were there on our honeymoon, and I
was surprised by how many people gravitated to us throughout the
evening. We received a lot of well wishes from the people we met,
though I was amazed all through the night as I watched the unveiled
appreciative glances the women threw constantly in Vance’s
direction. I had to suppress a slightly nervous giggle of
discomfort for him, wondering if he felt like a prime serving of
meat set up on an auction block.

After much visiting, we eventually made our
way back to our room at a very late hour.

“Well, I’m glad that’s over with!” Vance
grumbled as he closed the door behind us. “I didn’t think it would
ever end.”

I let the laughter out that I had been
holding back.

“I wondered if you were feeling nervous at
all,” I said. “Those ladies were eyeing you up and down all
night.”

He looked at me like I had lost my mind.

“What are you talking about?” Suddenly I
wasn’t sure we were speaking about the same thing.

“What were you referring to?” I asked him
back, feeling completely confused at the moment.

“Those men out there!” he exclaimed while he
shrugged out of his suit coat. “I understand how easy it was for
them to be completely captivated by your charms, but did they have
to look like they were undressing you with their eyes every single
second? I was beginning to think I might need to knock a couple of
heads off or at least poke somebody’s eyes out!”

I looked at him, dumbfounded. Surely he was
just toying with me.

“Quit teasing me,” I finally said, mostly
for lack of anything else to say.

“Seriously? You didn’t notice anything at
all? I felt certain that was what was making you so uncomfortable
out there.”

“If I was uncomfortable, it was because of
all the women that were ogling you,” I replied. “I’m certain you
must have misread the men. As I’ve said before, you’re the
beautiful one in this relationship.”

He walked over to me then, grabbing my hand,
pulling me over to a mirror on the wall, and forcing me to stand
square in front of it.

“I want you to look at yourself, Portia.
Really look. It’s time for you to see yourself the way I see you,”
he said, his voice gruff with some emotion I couldn’t read.

I stared into my reflection, feeling very
self-conscious about what he was asking me to do, but then he
started speaking again.

“Look at your beautiful black hair,” he
said, and he pulled the few pins I had in it out so it was lying in
a thick curtain around my shoulders. Then he ran his fingers
through it. “I can’t stop touching it. It’s one of the most
luxurious sights I have ever seen, and it feels just like spun
silk.” He lifted a large strand, bringing it to his lips so he
could kiss it.

I watched him, my eyes wide in
amazement.

“I can’t stop with your hair, though,
because your eyes have me completely mesmerized,” he continued,
stepping behind me to place his hands on either side of my head
before he turned it slightly back and forth. “Look at them, Portia.
They’re like black onyx jewels that flash in the light. I’ve never
seen eyes the color of yours, and I constantly feel like I’m
drowning in the depths of them.”

I felt my skin heat up, blushing at his
words.

“Yes. That’s right, baby. Don’t let me
forget this beautiful porcelain skin of yours. Perfectly alabaster
in one moment and then flushed pink with desire in the next. You
have no idea what it does to me to see your skin react like
that.”

I figured this was a good thing since my
skin was currently flaming from the picture he was painting for
me.

“And then there are those ripe, full
delicious lips of yours. They’re like a plump fruit, just waiting
to be picked and promising to offer up the nectar of the gods to
whoever is partaking of it. I want to be the only one ever
partaking of it.”

My mouth was salivating at his comments now,
and I just wished he would kiss me already.

He slid my hair away from my neck then and
kissed the scar he had created there.

“This should be even further proof of my
desires for you. You fill me with a need and longing so great that
it’s been almost disastrous for you,” he whispered softly. He
sucked at the spot as his large hands slid down over my bare arms,
sending shivers over my body. “I want to touch, hold, and caress
every part of you until you understand completely what I feel for
you, that I won’t be whole until your entire soul, which is the
most beautiful part of you, is a part of me. You’re so
amazing…inside and out. Truly you’re the most breathtaking,
bewitching creature I’ve ever seen.”

I felt my eyes water at his sweet words, and
I felt overwhelmed by this glorious figure standing beside me as he
declared his love and desire for me. In that moment, I really saw
myself in his eyes, and it was a revelation to me.

I moved to turn around in his arms, but that
was when we both noticed the flashing light in front of us on the
telephone.

There was a message waiting for us.

He paused to look at me, neither of us
wanting to break the special moment we were experiencing.

“You should check it,” I encouraged him
after a few seconds. “It could be something important.”

Vance gave a disappointed sigh before he
answered it, listening intently to whoever was speaking.