Premonitions
1824 Words
*Marsden*
I catch up with her at the bottom of the stairs, grab her hand, and begin jaunting through a warren of hallways. Her laughter follows in our wake, and I know I will forever hear it whenever I walk the corridors.
“How in the world do people not get lost in here?” she asks.
“You learn your way around, but the possibility of getting turned about does keep most guests from exploring on their own.”
“So you think we won’t get caught?”
I grin at her. “Rather sure of it.”
Finally, we reach the library. Normally a footman would be standing guard, ready to open the door for me, but tonight they are all needed to assist with the guests in one manner or another. Closing the door behind us, I lock it.
“Why did you do that?” she asks.
“Because if someone is wandering around, I don’t want you to be caught alone in here with me. It would send your reputation to the devil.”
“As though I care about my reputation.” She glides over to the windows. “I don’t know if I’d get any work done in here. I’d forever be looking out.” She spins around. “Or reading. My Goddess, where did you get all the books?”
They fill an abundance of shelves. “Bookshops. At least the ones I’ve added to the collection. Most were acquired by my ancestors. Some of the volumes are extremely rare.”
“All books are rare.” She approaches a shelf. “We have the Holy script and that’s about it. Do you have any notion as to how fortunate you are? All these treasures. The books, the paintings, the statues, the artwork.”
“They’re not really mine, Linnie. I’m more temporary custodian than owner. That’s the way it is in my world. You focus on the next generation and leaving them something of worth. Brandy?”
She smiles. “Yes, please.”
I want that smile captured on canvas. But she is correct. It wouldn’t do to be carrying around a miniature of her in my pocket. I will be as true a husband as possible to the she-wolf I marry. Unlike my father.
I walk over and pour the amber liquid into two snifters. When I turn around, it is to find her sitting on the floor before the hearth. “You can sit in a chair, Linnie.”
“I wanted to be near the fire and nearer to you. The chairs put too much distance between us.”
“I could move a sofa over.”
She pats the floor beside her. “Here is fine.”
I kneel. “You’ll get your pretty gown dirty.”
She laughs. “Marsden, I suspect I could eat off your floor. Now sit, with your back against the chair so you’re comfy.”
She takes a snifter from me and I settle in, not surprised when she pats my leg, nudging it as though she is hinting I should spread them. “I want to sit with my back to your chest like I did when we were children.”
Except then my back was against a tree, we were sitting in grass, and my c**k didn’t get hard with the mere thought of her nearness. “Probably not a good idea.”
“It’s a lovely idea.” Before I can object again, she works her way between my legs and snuggles in against my chest. “Cheers, Marsden.”
She sips, while I gulp a good portion and try to focus on the flames dancing on the hearth rather than the feel of her rounded bottom pressed so intimately against me. Even with all the petticoats and material of her gown, I am acutely aware of her shape. Near my mouth, the long nape of her neck tempts me. Her bared shoulders are a distraction.
“Do you know Miss Evangeline?” she asks quietly.
I’ve greeted all the misses as each has arrived during the past two days. Most I’ve been introduced to before, but a few are new to me. “Blonde, blue eyes, ruddy cheeks.”
“That’s the one. Greyfur introduced me to her after our dance, before Robbie made his appearance. You should marry her.”
I need to marry someone and quickly so I have a she-wolf to bed before I explode just thinking about bedding her. I can’t seem to tame the wild thoughts rioting through me that with a bit of vigilance and caution, I could actually secrete her into my bedchamber. And that would be so wrong. She is in my care tonight; I am responsible for her. I can’t ruin her when I know I can’t offer her a lifetime with me. “Why?”
“She has wide hips. She shouldn’t have any trouble at all giving you four strapping sons.”
“Four?”
Nodding, she wiggles against me until she is nearer when I’d thought it impossible for us to be any closer. “I see you with four boys. Two dark-haired and two blond. Rapscallions all.”
“No daughters?”
“Perhaps. I just don’t see them.”
“You can gaze into the future, can you?”
“Just a premonition. I get them now and again. Do you remember when those travelling rogues passed through one summer?”
“Of course. They put on a show with their jugglers and knife throwers. My uncle forbade me to go because he believed they only wanted to pick our pockets.”
“But when I came for you, you went with me.”
I can’t help myself. I trail my gloved finger from the area above her elbow along her bare skin to the short sleeve of her gown. “You’d have thought me a coward, otherwise.”
“I went back the next day. An old she-wolf read my palm.”
“Did she promise you a lifetime of happiness?”
“An eternity of it, actually, but even so, she said I wasn’t long for this world.”
I still my finger, ceasing its stroking. I can’t imagine a world without her in it. Yet she’ll be leaving my world when she moves to Blackrock city. Once I marry, I’ll have to avoid her. No more laughing with her, no more conversations. No secrets shared. No more confessions. No more doubts and fears given over into her keeping, knowing that with her all would be safe. “Why would she tell a little girl something stupid like that?”
“Because she had the sight; she wanted me to make the most of what time I had remaining to me.”
“That’s ridiculous, Linnie. She was a stupid old hag who knew nothing.” I place my hands on either side of her shoulders and turn her slightly so I can look into her blue eyes. “You can’t have believed her.”
“I don’t know that it matters. I don’t fear dying, Marsden. I fear not living life to its fullest. I have strived to make the best of every day. So perhaps it’s not such a bad thing to acknowledge that tomorrow is not a guarantee. It makes us appreciate what we have right now and to make the most of it.”
At that moment, I have her. “If I’d known we were going to escape to this room, I’d have had a basket with your bread and some cheese waiting for us so we could have had a picnic in here.”
“Ah, so that’s how you do it in winter. Inside.”
“Exactly, although I’ve never done it before.”
“That’s how you can court Miss Evangeline.”
I press my lips to the curve where her neck meets her shoulder. “I don’t see myself courting her.”
“You promised your mother you’d court someone.”
“I promised I’d choose.”
“If you don’t court her, she’s not likely to say yes.”
Grinning, I shrug. “But my promise is kept even if she says no.”
“Your poor mother. You must be a trial as a son.”
“I try.”
Laughing, she settles back against me. “I like your house.”
“You haven’t even seen all of it.”
“I don’t suppose we can stay in here very long. They’ll start missing you.”
After removing my gloves, I trail my finger along her spine, from her neck to where the material gathers partway down her back. “We can stay as long as you like.”
It is peaceful here, with the fire crackling, sending off its warmth. I finish off my brandy in one long swallow, watching as she occasionally sips on hers. One of the things I like about her is that we don’t always have to converse. I can enjoy her company in the silence and not feel odd about it.
She sets her empty glass aside.
“Would you care for some more?” I ask.
“No, I don’t think so.” She shifts her position slightly, her backside rubbing against me provocatively, and I bite back a groan as my c**k immediately jumps to attention. I’ve been having such great success keeping it reined in, and all it takes is one little movement from her for me to lose complete control. She turns, presenting me with her profile as she raises her arm. Between her fingers, over her head, dangles a sprig of green. “Your cousin said if I don’t kiss a fellow when I’m beneath the mistletoe, I’ll end up an old maid.”
I never thought I’d be grateful to my cousin for anything. “The day we met you announced that you’d never marry.”
“I was a child then. Now I suppose if the right gent asked, I might change my mind.”
“Well then, we can’t risk turning the fates against you, can we?” Taking her hand, I begin peeling off her glove.
“What are you doing?”
“You might decide, during the kiss, that you want to touch my cheek or run your fingers through my hair. It’ll be more pleasant for us both if you’re not wearing gloves.” The pleasantness has already begun with the revealing of her skin, flawless except for a small scar near her littlest finger where she once burned it on the oven. Now, I press a kiss to it before taking her other hand and patiently removing the kidskin.
Placing my hands on her shoulders, I turn her a little bit more before taking her face between my palms and claiming her mouth as mine.
- Writer
