Part 27 (1/2)
”I was about to gather a search party,” he said. ”I told you that I'd tend to the horse, Toni. And he's doing well.”
She nodded. ”Yes, thanks.”
She was still standing in the doorway.
”Are you coming in?” he asked her.
She nodded, but didn't move.
”Toni, what on earth is the matter with you?”
She swallowed. ”Bruce, you weren't standing at the foot of the bed in a kilt about fifteen minutes ago, were you?”
”What? I was out with the horses, with Ryan.” He sighed. ”You're dreaming again?”
She shook her head. ”No.. .no, I don't think that I'm dreaming. I think that I'm seeing the ghost of your ancestor.” She gritted her teeth, watching the astonishment and total incomprehension that spread over his features.
”Toni, ghosts don't exist,” he said.
”I'm seeing the ghost of your ancestor,” she said firmly. ”And he keeps taking me down to the crypts.”
”That door is bolted,” he said harshly. ”I keep the only key.”
”Come with me,” she told him.
”Toni, I'm wearing a towel. I'd have to get dressed. You're barely dressed yourself, you know. That thing is entirely see-through.”
”Come now,” she insisted.
”In a towel?”
”We're the only ones up,” she said, and turning, she went back down along the hallway.
”Toni, dammit!” he said, but followed behind her.
She realized she was almost running. He caught up with her on the stairway, swearing as he gripped her arm--he'd almost lost the towel.
”Toni, this is insanity.”
”I'll show you!”
She wrenched free, and tore through the main hall and the secondary hall. At the door to the crypts she stood dead still. It was closed.
She grabbed the handle and tugged, but it was firmly bolted. She felt him behind her, felt his doubt and skepticism. And then her own.
She turned into his arms. ”I saw him!” she insisted. ”He opened this door, I went down it!”
”Toni, please, let's go to bed?” he said.
She was shaking, cold as ice. He lifted her, hugging her close to him as they traveled back the way they had come. He tried to tease her. ”Don't wiggle too much. I'll lose the towel.”
She wasn't wiggling. She wasn't moving.
”Toni...!” he murmured, distressed by her fear. She shook her head, curling her arms around his neck.
He opened the door, still ajar, to the master's chambers with his foot, and closed it the same way. He laid her upon the bed and told her, ”I'll get you some tea.. .brandy? Something?”
”No!” she said, rising to throw herself into his arms again. ”No, no, don't leave me, even for a second.”
”Toni, it's all right here--”
”No, just hold me. Make love to me, be with me, alive, vital, flesh and blood. Do what you do so well, make everything else in the world fade away!”
”Toni!” he whispered again, his slate eyes searching her own.
”Now, please!” she begged.
And with that, he complied. His lips found hers, and tonight they were gentle, slow, even hesitant. But she wouldn't have it. Not that. She was fevered, clinging to him, pressing the kiss until it became one of the most volatile pa.s.sions. She ripped away his towel, frantic to be against him, to rid herself of every barrier between them. She was frenetic, electric against his flesh, needing every bit of heat and warmth, fevered, chaotic....
Until he caught hold of her, bore her down, gripped her wrists and began a far slower, far more sensual seduction, bathing her flesh with fire, with the brush of lips, teeth, tongue, hands, all eliciting a deep, slow hunger and anguish, and making her feel cherished, taken....
And as she had longed for, ached and needed, the world faded. Every thought was gone except for the perfect fit of his body to hers, the thunder of heartbeats, the drive of his s.e.x, his hips, the frenzied arch and writhe of her own.
She soared, flew and exploded beneath him, then felt the burst of searing warmth within her that was his climax. And still, there was the feel of him within her, growing softer, a part of her.. .his arms, holding her.
”Toni...”
”No, not tonight. Please, don't talk tonight!” she begged. ”Just...hold me.”
And so he did.
*Interlude*
”Bruce, please. Before G.o.d, I do not know what this man has said to you, but you are my life, and I'd not betray you, ever. Dear G.o.d! I love you, Bruce!” she whispered.
And looking down into her eyes, those pools of blue, sapphire with sincerity and the sweetness of the bond that had been theirs forever, he knew that she spoke the truth. He drew her to her feet.
”Ah, so he lied, and has not come as yet. But he will come, Annalise. Perhaps the Lord Cromwell has not taken to ordering the demise of the families of men such as myself, but neither would he punish a man, here, in what he considers the wilds of Scotland, a land of savages, who took a captive.. .and misused her. Our son is safe enough, following the young king in France. You can stay here no longer.”
”Where would you have me go?” she whispered.
”To the Highlands. To the clansmen there, honor bound to protect you, my love.”
”We could bring danger upon those men. And here, the castle--our son's inheritance--could fall to the enemy.”
”A castle is mortar and stone, no more. And though no troops have come, in their eyes, the property is confiscated by the government, as it was. Nae, our hope is in the return of the king. And whether we are here or not, the day the king returns in triumph as Charles II of England will be the day we are justified, and all is restored.”
She s.h.i.+vered suddenly. ”What if that day never comes?”
”It will,” he declared staunchly. He stroked her chin, reveled in the soft feel of her flesh and the beauty of her fine features. And more. Something that transcended anything mortal. The way that she looked at him. And all that they shared.