Blood of the White Witch (9 page)

I was completely absorbed in my little game
when Vance came to join me on the rug, setting his empty glass on
the table behind me.

He lifted my damp hair away from my neck,
leaning in to kiss me there.

“You look enchanting sitting here in the
firelight,” he whispered, and he nibbled and licked my skin.

As usual, I tipped my head back to give him
better access to the spot.

“So beautiful,” he said while he ran his
fingers through the wet strands of my hair.

I closed my eyes, just enjoying his touch
and the magical moment he was weaving around us.

He turned my face toward his and kissed me
gently on the lips, parting them with his tongue, before he wrapped
an arm around my waist and carefully laid me back onto the rug.

He kissed me like that for several long
minutes, holding me softly, looking into my eyes. The rest of the
room began to melt away until all I could see was him.

I reached one hand up to thread it through
his hair, and the other I placed on his sculpted cheek allowing my
fingers to trail lightly over the surface.

“I love you so much, Vance,” I whispered to
him, completely wrapped up in his spell, always his willing
captive.

“I’m glad. Loving you makes me happier than
I could’ve ever imagined,” he replied as his eyes traveled over my
face. “You cannot possibly know what it means to me to have you as
my wife.”

“Then why don’t you show me,” I suggested to
him, as I moved my fingers up to trace over his brow.

I felt the pull almost instantly, as his
mind opened up wide and linked with mine. All of his thoughts and
emotions poured into my head, causing a rush of sensation to move
throughout my body. The feelings he gave me were so intense that I
gasped out loud.

He chuckled softly at my reaction.

“You asked for it,” he said, a seductive
grin lighting up the masculine dimples on his face.

“Yes, I did,” I replied, my breath
quickening as sensations I had never felt before danced through me.
“Whatever you’re doing, please don’t stop!”

“We’re doing this, Portia, both of us,” he
explained as he sucked at my neck and my breath caught in my throat
again with the intense emotions he caused by adding that physical
touch. “This is my passion reacting to yours, each of us echoing
back and forth off one another.”

“But I have no idea what I’m doing! Why
hasn’t it been like this before?” I asked. I threw my head back, as
he licked up the side of my throat.

“I guess because we were never mentally
linked during our previous times together,” he mumbled against my
skin.

“For heaven’s sake, why not?” I exclaimed in
exasperation, wondering if he had been holding out on me on
purpose.

“Too preoccupied … didn’t think of it …
didn’t want to rush you,” he spoke in between kisses. “And I’m
learning, too,” he whispered in my ear right before he nibbled at
my earlobe, sending little waves of pleasure over me.

“Teach me everything you know. Don’t leave
out a thing,” I begged him, wanting to make him feel exactly as I
did.

“That could take a while,” he laughed
softly.

“I don’t care,” I replied, right before he
took my mouth with his.

We ended up spending the whole night right
there on the floor in front of the fireplace.

We awoke in the morning to a soft knock on
the door to the suite.

Vance quickly jumped up, pulling me with
him, swinging me off my feet and carrying me over to the bed. When
I was safely tucked in with the covers up to my chin, he donned his
robe from the night before and opened the door.

Colin was standing outside with a tray of
food.

Vance stepped aside to let him enter.

“Thank you, Colin,” he said while watching
Colin carry the tray over to the area we had just vacated. “We
would’ve come down for breakfast, though.”

Colin gave a small smile.

“Madame has ordered breakfast for your room
during your stay here. She said that was most appropriate for
honeymooners.”

“Ah, I see,” Vance said with a knowing grin
as he winked at me. “Please tell her I said thank you.”

“Is there anything else I can get for you
this morning, sir?”

“No. I think we’re good,” Vance replied, as
he followed Colin back over to the door, closing it behind him.

I blushed a thousand shades of red at the
thought of us nearly being caught sleeping together on the rug.

Vance laughed as he retrieved my robe for
me, bringing it over to the bed and laying it next to me.

“I must say I’m thrilled to see that I still
have a blushing bride this morning. Especially after her wonderful
displays of affection last night.” He grinned, and I knew he was
baiting me.

Having him call attention to last night
certainly did nothing to ease the state of my flushed skin, and I
blushed even harder.

“Don’t be embarrassed,” he said and he
kissed my flaming cheek. “Last night was amazing, and I loved every
second of it.”

“Me too,” I admitted softly.

“Glad to hear it, because I’m greatly
anticipating a repeat performance sometime in the near future,” he
replied with a wink, and I wondered if my skin would forever carry
the stain of this color.

“Would you care for a drink?” Vance asked,
and I looked to see a carafe filled with orange juice on the tray
as well as another bottle of chilled champagne.

“They sent champagne for breakfast? Isn’t it
a little early in the day for such a beverage?”

Vance laughed slightly while he poured a
glass of orange juice and then turned to hand it to me.

“I think Fiona is enjoying celebrating our
nuptials with us,” he said with a slight shrug, and he turned back
to pop the cork on the bottle before proceeding to pour himself a
glass. “And I can’t think of anything else in the world I’d rather
celebrate!” he added with a grin and a wink before he clinked his
glass with mine then quickly downed the contents.

Smiling at him, I took a swallow of my
fresh-squeezed orange juice, happy that he was so content with me
and wanting to celebrate.

After we had eaten breakfast, we got ready
for the day and ventured back out into the long hallway.

Vance had previously discussed the
possibility of touring the grounds of Bell Tower today and perhaps
finding a place where we could work on practicing our magic
together.

I had agreed that those did sound like fun
things to do, and we set out to find Fiona to see if we could make
the arrangements.

Vance reached over and grabbed my hand,
linking our fingers together as we made our way down the
stairs.

Colin met us at the bottom and led us into
the morning room where Fiona sat at a table, drinking a cup of
tea.

Her head popped up at our arrival, and she
closed her planner that she was working on.

“Good morning!” she said with a happy smile
as she stood to greet us. “Come join me!”

We sat at the table with her, while Colin
poured us two cups of tea.

“Thanks for the wonderful breakfast this
morning,” I said, tipping my cup to take a sip of the steaming
liquid.

“My pleasure,” she said, looking back and
forth between the two of us. “I actually had a proposition for the
two of you.”

“Okay,” Vance said, “tell us about it.”

“I was wondering if you’d allow your
grandfather and me to throw a reception for you here. We’d love to
introduce you to our friends and family, plus it would give us the
opportunity to celebrate your nuptials with you.” She held her
breath in anticipation of the answer.

Vance looked over at me with a smile,
reaching out for my hand.

“Well, I always love an opportunity to show
off my beautiful wife, but you don’t have feel obligated to do
something like that for us,” he said, and he gave my hand a quick
squeeze.

“Nonsense, I want to do it. We are family
after all,” she replied, and I could see that she wasn’t going to
give up on the idea easily.

“What do you thing about it, baby?” he asked
turning to look at me.

“I think it sounds kind of fun actually,” I
replied with a smile.

“Wonderful!” Fiona said, clasping her hands
together in delight. “I’ll have it set up for tomorrow night if
that’s all right.”

Vance nodded his head. “That should be
fine.”

“Is there somewhere we could go shopping for
some new clothes, though?” I asked. “I don’t know that we brought
any proper evening attire with us.”

“Absolutely!” she exclaimed and stood up. “I
can have a car brought around right now to take you to Inverness
this morning, unless you have other plans?”

“Nothing we can’t put off until later,”
Vance smiled at her before turning to squeeze my hand again. “We
can go now.”

“I need to grab my bag, though,” I said. I
stood removing my hand from his. “You visit with Fiona. I’ll be
right back.”

I left Vance with his grandmother as I
slipped back out into the hall, hurrying up the stairs.

As I entered our room, I heard a sound and
turned to find Colin coming out of the closet. I stopped in
surprise.

He looked at me with only a second of shock
registering in his eyes before his artful mask slipped back into
place.

“Pardon me, Madame,” he said standing
straighter. “Mrs. Cummings wanted me to check on the possibility of
having the clothes in this closet removed for your
convenience.”

“Oh,” I said. “I noticed the items in
there.”

“Mrs. Cummings has a dear friend who comes
for frequent visits. She has become accustomed to leaving her
things here as a matter of convenience,” he explained to me.

“We can move to a different room,” I
suggested to him. “I wouldn’t want our stay here to put anyone
out.”

“You are not causing any problems,” he
replied. “Mrs. Cummings is quite partial to this suite, which is
why she put you here.”

“Oh, okay,” I said. “Well, unless you’re
expecting Fiona’s friend soon, you really don’t need to trouble
yourself about the items on our account. Vance and I don’t need
that much space.”

He smiled and gave a curt nod of his head
before he headed toward the door.

I went into the closet, grabbed my bag and
both of our coats before heading back down the stairs.

Vance met me in the foyer, taking his coat
from me before helping me into mine, and we stepped outside just as
the car pulled up front. A smartly tailored driver stepped out and
opened the door to the black luxury sedan with its dark-tinted
windows, and we climbed inside.

The drive through the countryside was
relaxing, and when we arrived in Inverness, the driver maneuvered
with ease through the traffic, safely delivering us to the store
Vance’s grandmother had recommended to us.

The sales people met us at the door,
apparently having been informed of our impending arrival.

We were shuttled to a private viewing room,
and our every need was catered to as we looked over several outfits
the staff had already pulled for us before we had arrived. I
realized then that Fiona must have called ahead to describe us in
detail to the educated staff.

After trying on several different things,
Vance settled on a lovely black tuxedo, with a white tie and vest,
while I chose a long black satin dress, with a scooped neck and a
dropped back that hugged every curve of my form. There was a slit
up the back that went up to my mid thigh, and the edges of the
dress were lined in silver threads.

I picked a pretty pair of black heels with a
tiny silver buckle to match.

Vance paid for our purchases and walked with
me out to the waiting car while our things were put in the trunk by
the driver.

Vance spoke briefly with him outside the
door before sliding into the seat next to me.

“What was that about?” I asked, curious
about what they had been discussing.

“You’ll find out.” He smiled
mischievously.

A few minutes later we pulled up in front of
a fine jewelry store.

“What’s this?” I asked suspiciously, when
the driver got out coming to hold our door open for us.

“You need something pretty to wear around
your neck with that dress,” he said, and his gaze glanced down to
my throat.

“But I already have something,” I said and I
fingered the chains that held the silver locket containing the
clippings from his hair, as well as the one to my beautiful purple
amulet.

“I love those on you,” he said reaching out
to run his own fingers over them lightly. “But I want to give you
something special for tomorrow. Is that okay?” he asked while he
continued tracing a finger down toward my chest. “Would you mind
taking them off for the evening? I’ll be right by your side, so you
won’t need the silver locket, and as far as the amulet … well, I’ll
do my best to protect you should the need arise.”

I nodded and kissed him lightly on the lips.
He quickly threaded his hand behind my neck, pulling me closer and
deepening the kiss, not caring that the chauffeur was standing
right there.

When he stopped, I was breathless once
again, and I blushed as I realized the driver was purposely
occupying his gaze elsewhere to give us some privacy.

Vance chuckled at my reaction and turned to
look at the driver.

“Give us a minute, will you?” he said,
glancing out at him.

“No problem, sir,” the well-mannered man
replied, and he shut the door.

“What are you doing?” I asked incredulously
when Vance turned back to face me with a wicked glint gleaming in
his eye.

“Finishing what I started,” he smiled, and
he pulled me back to his lips.

I laughed and pushed against him, feeling my
flaming skin rising in temperature.

“People will see!” I said, nervously turning
to glance over my shoulder toward the sidewalk outside.