Broken Legacy (Secret Lives Series) (19 page)

Her thoughts carried her back to that day and the memory chilled her. The terror of being locked in her bedchamber surged through her and the visit by the
marquis and his son. The sting of the slap that sent her sprawling across the floor frightened her, but nothing like the marquis’ grip upon her holding her against the wall with his hands on her person, feeling her body.

“Is this what you want, Eloise—to be treated as a whore? If you do not sign, it is what you will become
, I can assure you. I gained the rights to your guardianship from your uncle long ago. You must have understood that fact by now. Sign and you will become a lady.”

Contrary to the
marquis’ words, if Calognac hadn’t accompanied his father, he would have treated her as a whore at that moment. Even in her innocence, she felt the desire within Mortiere. Calognac would have none of it.

“Enough, Father
. Eloise will comprehend the ramifications of her refusal if she does not sign. She is intelligent enough to understand the consequences, not only to herself, but her family.”

The
marquis frightened her, but Calognac terrified her. It was as if he had no soul. His eyes held no light within them, but he was correct. In the end, she had signed the contract. Afterwards, Calognac made it his personal mission to ensure her complete obedience. The remembrance surged through her…his rules…his many rules in which he demanded total compliance, telling her in vivid detail his plans for his future wife…

“Eloise, your father allowed this?”

Lenister’s voice called her back to the present. She shrugged slightly, trying to distinguish the past and present, for the memories swallowed her.

“I had no contact with my father at this time, but it was he who I was running to when I escaped the chateau. Despite the
marquis’ insistence, I do not believe that Calognac was happy with me as his bride, but he seemed intent on the marriage. He conveyed his expectations quite clearly and harshly. Giselle understood my unhappiness and helped me to escape.”

“But instead you found yourself in another’s arms.”

“Please do not blame Luc. It was I that…that…” She could not find the words. How could she tell her husband of her wanton behavior and the manner she enticed Luc to make love to her?

“You seduced him,” he completed her thought.

She looked up at him, startled at his comprehension of her situation. She had. Luc would have never touched her in that manner before they married if she had not. “How would you know?”

“I remember your fear before our marriage. The loss of your virginity seemed to weigh heavy on you. I would surmise that it was
Calognac that instilled that fear within you. So I would deduce that you thought if you were not a virgin, he would not want you for a wife.” He said it as a statement, not a question. She gave him no answer.

“But he did marry you?”

She nodded. “All was so strange as a nightmare I could not wake from. He seemed eerily calm about the whole of the matter when he found me. He offered to claim the child as his own. Moreover, he demanded I tell his father it was his child. He would do no harm to any of my family…and Luc...if Luc left France and I agreed to become his wife.

“I had no choice. I had to do everything I could to protect the people I loved. It was only…I was so miserable. I thought I would have my child to give me comfort, but I soon learned that was not going to happen. I would pay and pay dearly for my betrayal.

“When Rosabel was born, she was taken away from me. My only comfort came with the knowledge that Giselle went with her. Three weeks after the birth, Calognac sent for me. I was prepared for…he…had not touched me, not while I was with child. I realized the time had come I could no longer deny him his… rights. He was my husband. But I was not taken to his bedchamber. Instead, I was led outside and down past the garden.

“A huge bonfire had been lit and then I saw. Luc was tied down on the ground by four stakes, spread eagle, naked…bruised and battered
.” Her voice became flat. “Calognac made me watch everything they did to Luc…every torture they could inflict…his cries, his pleas…his prolonged death. Then Calognac sent everyone away. He walked to Luc’s body and cut him from the stakes as Luc still breathed. I ran toward Luc, but Calognac grabbed me. He told me he wanted Luc’s last sight to be him taking me.

“I fought back, trying to get to Luc, but Calognac was stronger. He laughed as he ripped my gown and
told me what he planned to do with me and my baby. He told me I would live but I would wish I was dead. He taunted me, telling me how he was going to kill my daughter…rid the world of a lowly bastard and feed her to the dogs…He grabbed at me. I was frantic. I became hysterical. He was going to kill my baby. He slapped me and then I pushed back at him. It must have taken him by surprise. He stumbled back over Luc and fell on one of the stakes. I don’t remember anything else…”

Her words faded into the night’s air.

Within the darkness, within the stillness, he came to her side. He took her in his arms and laid down beside her in the bed they shared. He pulled her close and she accepted the comfort he offered. Time would swiftly dawn the morning.
Oh, what she would have given to stop the hands of the clock from chiming.

Never in her life had she ever felt the all
-encompassing feeling swelling in her heart. Outside the door lay a world in wait, but now at this moment, there was only the two of them.

“I won’t let you go, Eloise,” he whispered in her ear. “Don’t let go of me.”

“After losing Rosabel, I have not been afraid of much,” she said, grasping tighter to his arms. “But I’ve been so afraid…of losing you. It has been so long since I have felt anything. I didn’t want to, prayed not to. I told myself you would never understand my actions. I have lived my life feeling I don’t belong. I have tried to do the right thing, but nothing seems to have made sense…until you. Forgive me for not being honest with you…Now I have compromised your children.”

“Ssh…my love. You have done nothing to ask forgiveness. I regret only I could not have saved you for what you have endured. It angers me beyond measure.”

“You will never know what your words have done for me. I will hold them in my heart always. I want you to know that is how I feel. I want you to think of me with a fondness…”

“Fondness?” he questioned. “I feel a great deal more than a fondness for you. If you believe I’m going to allow you to simply withdraw from my life for some misplaced sense of sacrifice for the good of all, you are so wrong, my love
.” He reached over to her and lifted her chin upward to look directly into her eyes. “We may have been strangers when we married, but in many ways I feel I have known you for all my life.

“My life was not complete before you. Whatever my life holds, you have to be there beside me. I won’t allow it to be otherwise. I can face the world knowing you love me, but I won’t last a day if you leave me. Noble intentions or not. Try as you might to deny it, you love me. I beg you
, don’t let go of me. Admit that you do and live the rest of your life smothered in the shelter of the love we share. I love you for always.”

His eyes beseeched her, weakening her resolve. He was asking too much. She could not bear to lose him as she had lost Luc…as she had lost Rosabel…Her heart would not survive. Yet as she breathed, she could not bear not to love him.

She wanted nothing more than to have been left alone to live her life out with her memories. He had interfered with that. He had intruded into her world, forced her into feeling again, living again.

He kissed her. “You have bewitched me, my lady.”

His words rang in her ears.
I love you for always
. She wanted nothing more than to believe him. Searching his eyes, her heart surged with hope he spoke from his heart. She wrapped her arms around his neck and returned his kiss with an intense fervor exploding inside her.

Her resolve weakened and she exposed her heart. He demanded it. Here and now, she gave it to him without reservation, abandoning her fears. The barrier between them crumbled. No lies, only the acceptance of the truth of the need between two lost souls
who had found each other. The void that had so long lived within her evaporated.

He reached through her remembrances, her pain and touched her heart. His arms pulled her closer to him. His kisses became ravenous and lit a fire that needed nothing more than his lips on hers to ignite. He embraced her, claimed her, and controlled her as his
, and she gave him all she had—her heart and soul.

The passion built in
a rush of fervored kisses and intimate caresses. He assaulted her with an overwhelming emotion that rushed through her, a warmth of sensations born with the confidence of lying in the arms of one who she loved and was loved in return.

His kisses told his intent to claim every part of her. He breathed against her lips. “Take it off. Everything. I want to see all of you.”

At that moment, she realized she had never changed into her nightdress. Neither had he. She fumbled with her buttons as he swung his shirt on the floor with an eagerness that bore his impatient desire. Soon, nothing separated their bodies. Her own deep, low pulse surged at the anticipation of what was to come.

His hands moved all over her, gentle and tender. She didn’t want to be treated as if she
were a china doll. “I won’t break. Take me,” she urged him on, relinquishing all control.

He lifted himself on his arms and stared down at her. His gaze brought a heat that flamed. He said, “You’re beautiful.”

The heat of his naked body taunted the warmth of hers. He ravished her. Luscious caresses of her breasts led his tongue to tease her nipples, edging her pulse to the point of unbearable agony. She arched her body against him without restraint.

He touched, moving over her hips, thighs to the core of her. He slid his finger into her, slick, warm and inviting. He stroked her with firm, vigorous strokes. Her body quaked. She moaned with pleasure as wave after wave cascaded through her from his devastating caresses.

He eased over her body and mounted her before she had time to recover. He pressed into her and she faded into a daze of euphoria. Her throbbing burst as his release filled her and they merged together as one. Their union, so intense, shattered into a climax…a union of not only of a man and woman, but a binding of souls.

Lenister
rolled over, taking her with him. His arms still wrapped around her, she lay across his chest. Stroking her head tenderly, he did not sleep. Instead, he talked to her of his home…their home.

She listened and pictured their home in her mind. A large house sitting within a meadow. A magnificent landscaped garden of multiple flowers, but the fragrance of roses. A pond where her husband planned
to show their sons how to fish. Within the house, it would be a home filled with children’s voices and laughter…lots of laughter. And he would be there by her side, always by her side.

She pondered all within her heart. Clinging to the hope of forever, but knowing if this was their last night, she would cherish the moment she lived, truly lived. The reservations of what the next hours held were pushed back, replaced for the moment with the dream of the life they would share. She hugged tight
ly to the dream until the sunlight stole through the night and morning dawned.

Lenister leaned back against the wall of the chamber they
shared and watched Eloise finish dressing. She looked lovely, lovelier than he had ever seen her. She glowed in the morning light. Her eyes shone, reflecting the love they had shared.
Oh, God, he couldn’t let her go
.

As if she read his mind, she rose and walked to
his side. She raised her head and kissed him. “I will be perfectly safe. It is not like I have not done this before, sneaking out of Paris. I will be fine. It is you who worries me.”

Ignoring her concern for him,
his thought at the moment lay only with her. He slid his arm around her and embraced her. “Perhaps we should rethink our plan. You are sure that you know what to do?”

“Yes. I
get into the carriage with Seamus. If we are questioned, I will say I do not feel well and you want me home. It is not hard to believe that you would do so, especially after your display last evening. I do not want you to worry about me,” she soothed him. “You have enough upon you. Your children come first.
Our
focus is on them. This is not difficult. I will simply ride out of Paris. There should not be any interference. We have all the proper paperwork.”

“It should suffice. It is only I don’t trust this
Gairden. Marc Pierre says that the man is extremely ambitious. He feels there is an underlying unrest among the Tribunal. I suspect power plays are in place. We do not want to be placed in the middle.”

“I promise, my darling, I will behave.”

“Marc Pierre has sent word to Andre to meet up with us. We are going off course, taking longer to get to the coast, but it should be a safer route.”

“Gerard, I will be fine,” she repeated with patience. “You
are the one who faces the hardest obstacle, obtaining your children’s freedom. Know also, you can trust Marc Pierre. If he has given you his word, he will keep it. He is bluntly honest.”