The Fire's Center (36 page)

Riona continued to flip through the pictures as Lucien spoke, more absorbed in the tale Lucien was telling than in the landscapes, though they looked vaguely familiar to her the more she went on.

Suddenly Riona’s mouth went dry, and her heart began to hammer in her chest.

She stared at the portrait, and the name and date underneath.

Just then Lucien looked over at her, and she snapped the portfolio shut, feeling almost guilty, a hot blush flooding her cheeks.

"Just a load of rubbish, is it?" he said with a tight smile.

"On the contrary, they’re very good," Riona muttered hastily, putting the sketch books safely off to one side, to examine them more closely later on.
 
It couldn't be, could it?

"Anything worth selling?"

She shook her head.
 
"You should keep them as a family heirloom. But these other things in this trunk can all get sold at the fete, while the things in these piles here, we can give away to the poor right now."

Lucien saw her she seemed upset by something, and put his arm around her. "I’m sorry, Riona, all of this must be making you feel gloomy."

"Not at all," Riona denied quickly. "Perhaps a bit sad thinking about my own family, wondering where my father is, that’s all." She shrugged. "I wish I had heard something back from him by now, and we've been so busy, I've been remiss. I really should send another letter to Dunfanaghy soon."

"Time enough for your duties when we return to the capital," he said, sounding almost weary.
 
"In the meantime—"

He drew her into his arms for a kiss, and then drew back, stroking her cheek.

"Mmm, nice, but don't you think the bed downstairs would serve a bit better?" she asked softly, cradling
 
her head against his lapel.

"Aye, that it would, but that's not the reason I brought you up here, my dear."

She blushed again.
 

He reached to open a trunk he had been standing in front of almost the whole time while she had been rummaging through the items.

"Here's something which ought to cheer you up. I thought of it when the costume ball was first mentioned. We always had a sort of dress up trunk for parties, and there's a gown in here which belonged to my mother, and her mother before her, which would be perfect for you," Lucien informed her as he fished through the box.

 
He first pulled out several pairs of thigh-high boots, and a velvet doublet, hose and trunk hose, as well as a sword.

"I found my costume too," he said holding, them up for her perusal. "But this is what I had in mind for you."

He lifted the gown, and Riona gasped. Though crumpled, it could only be described as exquisite. It was mid-eighteenth century, with a huge billowing skirt, and a low cut bosom with a thin strip of lace around it, in an unusual shade of blue.

"I think it matches your eyes, Riona," Lucien remarked, holding it up to her. "There should be a hat here as well, and some shoes."

"Thank you for thinking of me. It’s wonderful," Riona breathed as she held it up to herself.

"The ribbon is a bit old, frayed and faded, but it is easy enough to replace it."

"It looks like a gown from one of the portraits downstairs," Riona observed.

"Yes, I believe this is a copy of what belonged to one of our ancestors. Will you wear it?"

"I will indeed. Thank you." Riona smiled shyly.

Lucien pecked her on the cheek by way of reply, and then handed her the other items he had fished out of the chest.

"Right you take those things down with you, and I’ll make a start on the trunks," Lucien instructed.
 

"I’ll go get the servants to help you. Don’t strain yourself, and watch the stairs. You said yourself they're a bit rickety."

Riona began to descend to the lower floor, pausing only to put the things in her room. She was just about to pull the bell to summon a servant when she heard a crash.

A moment later, Lucien came slithering down the stairs outside her door.

"Lucien! Lucien, are you all right?"

"The only thing bruised is my dignity." He grinned ruefully, grimacing as he rubbed his posterior, and began to try to rise.

"Careful, you might have turned your ankle. Are you in pain?" Riona asked worriedly, her sapphire eyes locking with his golden ones.

"In agony," he murmured, before suddenly taking her lips in a smouldering kiss. Then he rose up, scooped her into his arms, and headed for his own bedroom.

Lucien kicked the door shut behind him, and plopped her down gently on the bed, before starting to strip his clothes off.

 
"It’s the middle of the day," Riona whispered, a trifle shocked as he began to unfasten his trousers and she saw him standing over her, his masculine glory fully revealed by the sunlight streaming through the window.

"It’s the dress. I can’t help myself," he whispered as he planted kisses all over her face and throat, and began stripping off the garments underneath her skirt.

"Which? This one," she asked, fingering the flowered calico, "or the blue one you just gave me for the costume ball?"

"Both, my dear. You're the most alluring creature, no matter what you wear," Lucien teased as he stripped her stockings down her legs in a single long caress, and took her with a fierce eagerness that shattered any reserve she might have felt over making love with him in broad daylight in earshot of the servants.

In fact, watching his passion-etched features as he reveled in her body only added to her arousal as she opened to him, heart and soul. They rode the waves of his tempestuous passion, until the storm at last gentled to the rippling eddy of tender satisfaction once more.

Riona smiled to herself as she lay there in his arms drowsing. They might well cause a few tongues to wag once their relationship was made known, but she had no doubt that they were well on the road to a happy married life together. His having her here at one of their family homes, Quentin being so welcoming, him giving her his mother's gown, it was all so perfect.
 

Many couples made do with a great deal less than they shared, but Riona was never one for half-measures.
 
She had no illusion that she would ever be welcomed by Antoinette. But whatever barbs she might have to suffer would surely be as nothing compared to the glorious life she and Lucien would share, in bed and out.

She just hoped Lucien would stop being so hide-bound and rigidly moralistic, and see it all for himself soon too.

Much later, after their tempestuous lovemaking, Lucien tried on his Renaissance costume for Riona, striding up and down with a most arousing swagger.

"What do you think?" he asked, as he paused to pose in front of her with one hand on his sword hilt.

"I think with your physique, Lucien, which is plain for all to see in those hose, you might shock every woman in the place. And the cod piece certainly doesn’t exaggerate your attributes," she proclaimed with a giggle.

 
Lucien laughed self-consciously. "I think we’ll go for the King Charles idea, then. I wouldn’t want to spoil the party."

She fluttered her eyelashes.
 
"You might just make it in that Renaissance outfit, my dear."

He laughed heartily, and gave her a smacking kiss.

"What do you think of the dress?" she asked, twirling for him to show it off.

"It’s a bit big around the waist, and that bosom is definitely going to need to be covered over with a shawl lest every single bachelor in the place trail after you all night.

"But with a new ribbon, tied tightly, it should be perfect, and that hat is divine. In fact. you're absolutely ravishing, my girl. Come give me a kiss," he coaxed, opening his arms wide.

When Riona finally managed to tug her lips away, she asked, "Are you sure you don’t mean ravished?" as his long fingers began divesting her of the gown with unmistakable intent.

"Well, I’m certainly ravished by you, Riona," Lucien laughed, as they tumbled onto the bed, and Riona proceeded to enjoy herself enormously by taking his words quite literally.

But despite the bliss they shared in the afternoon, later that evening, they rose all too soon and began to pack up their things, getting ready for their inevitable departure.

"Duty calls, my sweet."

"I know." Riona nodded, hugging him close.

"Shall we go now, or in the morning?" he asked.

Riona, though reluctant to let their rural idyll come to an end, shrugged. "It’s up to you, Lucien."

Sensing her unspoken thoughts, Lucien sought to reassure Riona with another kiss.

Lucien couldn’t put into words what her being there, what the time they had spent together, had meant to him. All he knew was that he didn’t want it to end either.

But nor did he want to persist in treating her unfairly. It had been sympathy, plain and simple, which had caused her to take him back into her bed, hadn’t it?

But now the reality of Dublin beckoned.
What should he do?

"Well, if we go back now, we won’t have to have such an early start in the morning, all right?"

"Fine." Riona nodded, making an effort to smile. "There’s that surgery demonstration tomorrow at eleven I really ought to attend, that is, if you can manage at the clinic without me for a few hours."

"Of course, it sounds just the thing to get you back on track with your studies," Lucien assented, trying to be reasonable, as he gathered up the last of his shirts and took a final look around to make sure they hadn’t left anything behind.

"On the other hand," he said, looking at her lovely profile, "we could always leave early in the morning."

"It's up to you, darling."

"I leave the choice to you, my dear," he said, his eyes never once leaving her face.

"Yes," she breathed.

He bundled the shirts on top of the last open valise, and reached for her with an agonised groan.