In Rapture (Destined) (19 page)

The
top of her head just met his chin and her scent tickled his lungs. Honeysuckle,
sweet delicious nectar filled honeysuckle, teased his senses. Why had he never
noticed her scent before? That scent lingered somewhere deep in the recesses of
his mind. When the smell should have made him feel peaceful it disturbed him,
disrupted the stillness of the moment. His mind reeled, almost out of control,
before it lit upon the answer: Maria. Malinda smelled just like his dead wife
and the realization kept him frozen in place. The horse shifted beneath him,
almost as if to ask why they stood still, but Grant could not move forward. Her
long, dark hair, her smile, and her smell were so reminiscent of the one person
who had damaged him so irreparably; the one person who had taken him into her
web of deception, who had shattered the stillness within him, manipulating his
every thought until he had devoted every inch of his life to her. He had been a
puppet in her hands and she had pulled his strings so tightly that he had
forgotten everything he was. Even now his heart ached at the memory of her, the
chance of a life that had never truly been his destiny.

Maria
had never wanted children, never wanted to share his devotion to anything
around her. She had loved him, he knew she had, but she had loved herself more.
When Maria had become pregnant the first time she had done everything in her
power to end the life within her, and she had been successful. She had managed
to succeed in ending the life of three children before Grant had finally caught
on. His affection had faltered and she had campaigned to win his love back.
Grant had been a fool. He succumbed to her charms, much to the chagrin of his
ailing father who had wanted nothing more than to send Maria to a nunnery. When
his father passed Maria drove him deeper into her web and he had given her
another chance. This time when he had found out she was with child he had
watched her like a hawk. She had never been left unattended and that was partly
why she had become so unhappy toward the end of her confinement. When she had
given birth to the healthy little girl she had pushed her aside and demanded
that he hire a wet nurse. It had broken him in two to see a woman brutally push
away the life she had carried for so long. He had complied, for he feared that
she might hurt her child. And the rest…well, the rest was history.

He
shook his head in consternation. He wanted nothing more than to push Malinda
further away from him, but he felt such a magnetic pull in her direction. While
it was not the same pull he had felt with Maria, it frightened him even more.
Her smell, her taste, her touch, all of these were echoes of a woman who
haunted his past. He knew that she was not Maria, but the walls he had built to
protect himself from ever being taken in again were so wide and high that climbing
them would be impossible. He would never again lose himself the way he had;
however, when Malinda murmured against him and snuggled closer a peace he had
never felt before comforted his soul. He fought against the conclusion. It was
too late. He loved her. He loved every smile, laugh, and tear. He loved the way
she nurtured his child like her own and treated the world around her with a
true respect that reflected an honesty, a trusting characteristic that many
lacked. While he knew his feelings ran deeper than he liked to admit, he
promised himself that he would never utter them aloud for fear that they may be
used as a weapon against him. He nudged the side of the horse with his boots
and started his way slowly through the forest back to Wickford Manor, cursing
his weak heart that had taken over his life once again.

Chapter 24

Malinda
awoke to find herself in the middle of their bed with Grant’s hands tenderly
undressing her. She raised her hand to his face, sweeping it gently across the
beard that had tickled her senses many nights before. He caught her hand in his
and brought his lips to her palm. A sweet thrill of anticipation ran through
her body as it often did when he touched and tasted the most sensitive parts of
her skin. Malinda closed her eyes to let the moment linger in her mind like a
litany, its powerful chant working its way through her body. She opened her
eyes when his kisses stopped and found his golden eyes perusing her every move.
Before they continued she had to tell him how sorry she was for putting Sophia
in danger. “Grant. I’m sorry. I didn’t think.”

“Everything
is fine, Malinda. I shouldn’t have laid into you like that. You had the
situation under control. I realize that now. I know you would never let
anything happen to Sophia.”

“I
just wanted to get to know the people, Grant, to let them into my life the way
that you have. I thought Sophia should have that chance too.”

Grant
brought his hand to her face and gathered her close to him. “The people love
you, Malinda.”

Malinda
could not help but wish that Grant loved her too. She would fight for his love
with her last breath if that was what it took. She would not run away from it,
would not turn against it. She would accept it with open arms from the very
moment he professed it and forever after. Until then Malinda would take
whatever he offered and hold it close to her heart. When his lips brushed
against hers she arched her back into it. He moved away far too soon for her
liking and her lips pouted in response. He helped her into a sitting position
and slid around to her back. “What are you doing, Grant?”

He
never answered her. Instead he started to undo the laces at the back of her
dress, then the laces that held her shift. Both fell down to her hips. He ran
his hands along the base of her neck, down to the bottom of her spine, small
gentle movements that tickled her senses. He moved away from her and stood
before her. His hands then roamed from the top of her head, down to the bottom
of her stomach, and her breath caught in her mouth. “Grant? What are you doing?”

He
still did not answer her. Instead, he pulled her up from the bed and pushed the
dress down her body. His hands then slid from the top of her toes up to her
hips as she stood before him. “I just had to be sure.”

“Of?”

“You
were unconscious when I found you, Malinda. You ran right into the very woods
that the werewolves had entered moments before. I needed to make sure you were
unharmed.”

“Oh.”
Malinda turned away from him, walked over to the dressing room, and located a
nightgown to wear to bed. She had thought he was about to make love to her, but
he had only needed to make sure her body was not tainted by the werewolf’s
bite. Reality had infused itself into the moment and, while Malinda knew she
loved Grant, she would keep her feelings under wraps. She could not erase his
past, she could only live in the present and help to write the future. She
needed time to figure out how to successfully win his heart. She started to
pull the nightgown over her head, but it was yanked out of her hands and tossed
on the floor.

“What
are you doing?”

Malinda
looked up and saw that Grant had undressed down to his waist. Her eyes lingered
on his well-sculpted abdomen, the well-defined pectoral muscles, and the tight
shoulders that were strong enough to carry the largest of burdens. She turned
away from him and bent down to pick up the nightgown. “I’m going to bed, Grant.
Good night.”

“It’s
not yet, but it could be.” He grabbed her from behind and pulled her tight
against his erection that was bound tightly in his breeches. One hand crept
down her pelvis to the nest of dark curls that hid away her most intimate
areas. The other crawled up her stomach slowly, and she felt a trail of fire
follow in its wake. His touch burned her like no other, and she leaned back
into him. When his fingers glided further down he created a sweet rhythm that
made her body dance against him. Her whole world started to spin out of control
and she mentally cursed him for how easy it was to manipulate her. When he stopped
and moved his hand away from her she desperately missed his touch. Malinda
turned to face him, but he held her tight against his body. His hands captured
her breasts within them and his mouth began to move down her neck, alternating
between hot kisses that made her tremble and tiny nibbles that sent jolts of
electricity through her. All the while, his hands massaged her breasts and,
every few seconds, his fingers would tweak the tight buds of her nipples. Her
moans became louder as the momentum picked her up and tossed her like debris
into fierce gale winds.

When
he finally allowed her to turn around she was wild with desire. She wrapped her
arms around his neck and twined her fingers into his hair. She arched her back
to his kiss, and when his tongue entered her mouth she sucked it in so far she
thought neither one of them would be able to breathe. She backed away from him
and let her hands run down his body. When her hands reached his pants she undid
the laces and slid them slowly down his hips. She bent down to push them all
the way down his legs, and when she looked up his erection was just above her
head. She had never really looked at it before, and now that she did it was
pure perfection. The shaft was strong, hard like a rock, yet pure silk when she
reached out to stroke it. When her fingers crept over the swollen head a drop
of moisture sprinkled at the tip. She looked up to see that Grant was bracing
himself against the doorway, his face scrunched into a fierce grimace that made
her pause. She wrapped her fingers around him and squeezed him softly. She
heard a loud breath leave his mouth, a gasp that sounded almost hurt, yet
exquisitely aroused at the same time. She removed her fingers at once and moved
a little further way from him. “Does that hurt you?”

“Only
if you stop.”

Malinda
looked back to his cock, and while it had been large before it seemed to have
swollen even greater. She crept forward, wrapped both of her hands around him,
and brought her tongue forward to lick the drop that had pooled at the tiny
lips at its tip, but she did not stop there. Her lips ran tiny kisses up and
down its length, before they wrapped around the swollen head. She pulled him
into her mouth, and when she felt him move into her mouth a little before
pulling out she moaned against him. There were many things she did not know
about lovemaking, but she was a fast learner. It was like a game, a slow
sensual game. When he withdrew from her, she would take him back in her mouth.
She longed to inhale every inch of him, but before she could he pushed her
away.

“That’s
enough of that for now.” He reached down to pull her up to him, kissing her
hard on the mouth as he raised her body up to meet him. Her legs wrapped around
his waist and he stood with her body cradled against his, her entrance close to
his swollen member. He carried her to the bed, their tongues intertwining like
flames of a fire that danced before it dissolved the world around it into
nothingness.

Their
bodies crashed onto the bed, but neither one of them seemed to notice as they
fell into each other. Malinda wrapped her legs tighter around Grant as he
entered her. She yearned to pull him in so far that there would be no time and
space separating them. They rode the waves together, a fast wild ride that sent
them both careening into the night.

Malinda
lay cradled in his arms in the aftermath, her feelings for him so intense that
she almost shouted them to the world, but she fought the battle to keep them
secreted away. She could not reveal herself to him; it was not safe, not yet.
She snuggled into his arms until he fell asleep, but her thoughts were racing
like a fox running from the hunt. When soft snores filled the air she moved
carefully away from him and pushed herself up off the bed. Malinda walked across
the room and found the nightgown that had been tossed to the floor. She put on
her white robe over her nightgown and turned to leave the room.

Malinda
grabbed an oil lamp and walked into the hallway as she tried to gather her
thoughts. She could love him from afar, keep it locked secretly in her heart.
Would that be the same as denying love? She did not think it was the same
thing, for she at least opened her mind to the possibility that some day he
would feel free to love her back. If she uttered a word to him she ran the risk
of pushing him further away from her. She knew that his first wife still had
some mystical hold over his emotions and this was compounded with the fact that
her spirit still haunted him, haunted his house, haunted little Sophia.

Malinda
retreated to the library hoping to find a book to fill the long hours of the
night, as she often had when Grant was away. She walked toward the door and
froze in place. A haunting glow of light filtered through the cracks of space
between the door and the floor. She knew this glow, for it sent a chill down
her spine. She took a deep breath and created her shield around her before she
opened the door.

Maria
floated inches from the ground, her white dress fluttering around her, and her
hair flowing gently behind her with the cold winds that seemed to follow her
everywhere. The ghost turned to her when the click of the door closing caught
her attention. Malinda’s breath caught in her throat when she saw the tiny doll
cradled in her hands. Sophia must have left the doll somewhere in the house if
Maria had gotten a hold of it. How did something from the spiritual realm have
any control over an object in the physical realm? “Maria. You have to let them
go.”

A
mad shriek pierced the silence and a knife floated from the desk below. The
light from Malinda’s lamp made the silver blade gleam against the shadows. She
watched as the blade ripped into the doll and severed its head from its body,
making it bounce on the floor before rolling to Malinda’s feet. Malinda squared
her shoulders and glared at Maria. “You do not scare me, Maria. There is
nothing you can do to me.”