DeButy & the Beast (34 page)

Betsy sighed and relaxed. "It sounds so beautiful."

"It is."

"Are there flowers?" she asked breathlessly.

"Hundreds. No,
thousands
," he whispered, "Flowers in every color you can imagine, and some you cannot. Would you like your bed to be made of the petals of these flowers?"

"Yes," she whispered.

"It is done." Finally, he reached out and touched her, tracing the lines of her face with his finger, trailing that single finger down to her neck. "When the sun becomes too warm, the shade of a nearby tree travels our way to cool us. Do you feel it?" he asked. "The shadow that covers us?"

"Yes," she whispered.

"Do you feel the soft petals beneath your back?"

"Yes." The word was so low it was less than a whisper.

He unfastened the buttons of her bodice and slipped his hand inside the opening in her blouse to touch her sweet, bare skin. Her eyes remained closed. Her breasts rose and fell with each deep breath she took. "The breeze that washes over us smells of the ocean. Can you smell it?"

"I do," she said, her voice touched with wonder.

He caressed her breasts with one hand, while with the other he unfastened every blasted button and tape he found. There were many, on her unnecessary layers of clothing. When her breasts were bared, he leaned over and took one nipple into his mouth, suckling deep, tasting without hesitation. Betsy breathed deep and arched her back, but she did not open her eyes.

"Oh, my," she whispered as he moved his mouth to her other breast. Her hands reached out to find and grasp his head. Her fingers threaded through his long hair and she held him tight.

"Day turns into night," he whispered when he took his mouth from her and rolled her onto her side to push some of her clothing down and aside. "Do you see the stars? They shine so bright, just for us."

"I do," she said with wonder. "I do see them."

"They are beautiful," he said as he slipped her already unfastened skirt down. "And so are you."

She shook her head. "I'm not—"

"You are," he interrupted. "By the light of a full moon, you are the most beautiful sight I have ever seen." One by one, he discarded the unnecessary pieces of clothing she wore. Her skin had never seen the sun, it was pale and soft, silky and inviting. He touched her, always gently, always with a wonder he had never felt before.

"And while the moon and the stars shine down on us, I make love to you." He rolled her onto her back again, and his hand raked down her chest to her flat belly, and then lower to cup her where no man had ever touched her before.

"Yes," she whispered.

"The pleasure is so great we scream at the night."

"Yes."

He moved to tower above her, parted her thighs with his hands, and then laid his mouth against her, tasting her innocence and her passion. His tongue flickered, his fingers aroused. He toyed with her, bringing her close to completion and then backing away to whisper against her. "The pleasure is so great, it is an ecstasy you cannot live without. A pleasure like no other."

She moaned, and he took her hips in his hands and laid his mouth on her again, flicking and fluttering his tongue against her. She shattered, with a moan and an arching of her body. With her hands grasping the sheets and a scream caught in her throat, she found fulfillment.

When Betsy came to her senses she opened her eyes, and found herself not on Puerta Sirena but in her own bed. Sebastian moved so that he again laid beside her, stretched on his side, staring at her with a wide smile on his face.

"Oh, my," Betsy said, and then she glanced down and squealed. "I'm naked! How did I get naked?"

Sebastian gave her his most innocent look, as she tried to cover herself with hands on her breasts and her legs clasped together. "I made you naked," he said. "It was not necessary, but... preferable."

She was different from the women he knew, and he wondered how she would react to what she had just experienced. Would she cry? Be angry? Would she thank him?

She surprised him. Her hands reached out to touch his face. "More," she said. "I want more."

He smiled, caressed her bare hip, and left the bed. "Not today,
querida
."

"Why not?" she asked, sitting up in her bed. "Don't you want me?" There was real hurt in her eyes.

Sebastian turned about and faced her. "All you have to do is look at me to know that I want you." His loincloth did little to hide his condition. "But when I came to your bed I promised that when I left the room you would still be a virgin. I am a king and a man of my word."

"Oh."

The disappointment in her voice was almost enough to make him break his promise. "Tonight, if you still want me, come to my room."

"I can't—"

"If you come to me, you needn't worry about finding yourself with child," he said, telling his secret at last. "It appears that I cannot father a child."

Another man's child would be his heir. A woman who loved that man would be his wife. A couple of days ago he had not minded that prospect, but now... it seemed he was being cheated out of something. Something intangible.

"If you come to me tonight, I will give you more," he promised. "I will give you everything."

Betsy's answer was a nod.

Chapter 21

Dinner had been strained, at best. Queen Carola had been oddly quiet. She normally voiced her opinions on everything, so Julian had to wonder if she was ill. Sebastian had seemed distracted as well. He'd barely eaten two plates full of chicken and potatoes. Seymour had whined loudly because he'd lost a bundle at cards the night before, and his grandmother had finally told him to shut up. Ellis was obviously anxious to return to sea.

Even Betsy, who was always reserved and rarely spoke, seemed different tonight. She tripped over her own feet while carrying a tray of chicken to the table, and barely saved their dinner from being thrown about the room. Once she'd recovered and placed the tray on the table, she'd blushed and stammered an apology. Her eyes only left the floor once, to sneak a peek at the king who was usually so hungry he demanded more and more and more. Julian imagined poor Betsy was tired of trying to feed the great ogre.

Anya, who had dressed in a very nice blue gown for dinner, was quiet throughout the meal. Julian wondered if Mrs. Sedley noticed that her granddaughter barely glanced her way during the long, torturous meal. Julian had wished, more than once, that Valerie and William had made the trip over for dinner again. They had not, and their absence left a noticeable chasm at the table.

Miller's Crossroads was several hours away, by horse, but it was a bit closer to the Mathias farm than the Sedley house. Once they were settled there, he'd make sure Anya and Valerie had time to visit with each other, to maintain the kinship they had recently rediscovered.

When the strained meal was blessedly over, everyone gratefully went their separate ways. Mrs. Sedley pleaded a headache and retired to her room. Seymour declared he was off to win some of the money he'd lost the night before, and Ellis simply wandered off. The queen started to follow her son to the south parlor, his favorite room and the one he had all but taken over, but at the last minute she sighed and pleaded a headache herself. The queen, flanked on either side by the two island girls, walked up the stairs without looking back.

Julian followed Anya toward the south parlor, where she was headed to break the news to the king that she would not be returning to Puerta Sirena, when Peter waylaid Julian.

"Sir, there's a gentleman here to see you."

Julian reached out and touched Anya's arm. He didn't want her to deliver this news alone. To be truthful, he didn't want her alone in the same room with Sebastian, not ever again. She stopped and waited while an exhausted looking Peter delivered the message.

"I use the term
gentleman
loosely," the butler said in a lowered voice. "I suggested that he wait in the garden, as I feel quite sure the silver would not be safe if I invited him indoors. And," Peter added with an upturned nose, "the creature smells."

Jeremiah
. Julian shook a finger at Anya. "Wait for me. I'll be right back."

"But..."

He grabbed her by the shoulders and faced her head on. "Wait for me." With that, he lowered his head to give her a quick kiss. Peter did not seem at all surprised, and Anya promised. As he left, she perched on a delicate chair that had been placed in the foyer.

By the dying light of day, Jeremiah paced on the garden path. He lifted his head when Julian appeared, and stalked with long, swaggering steps in the direction of the house. Julian met him halfway.

"Sorry I took so long, doc," the big man said in a lowered voice. "Turns out the man who hired me and Milton was hired by someone else, and I had to track him down before I knew for sure who was behind it all."

Julian nodded his head. "Go on. What did you find out?" He knew what the answer would be, but he needed proof. He had to be certain before he confronted Mrs. Sedley.

"You're not going to like it, doc," Jeremiah said, leaning slightly forward. "I was kinda surprised myself."

Julian didn't think he would be at all surprised.

"I mean, the man lives right here in this very house!"

Julian began to nod, then stopped. "Man?"

"Seymour Sedley," Jeremiah whispered. "Your wife's own cousin!"

"Seymour." He shouldn't be surprised, not knowing Seymour as he did. But he had been so sure Anya's grandmother was behind it all. After all, she was willing to kill Sebastian to keep Anya here! No, she was willing to allow Julian to kill Sebastian. It had, after all, been his idea.

"Thank you."

Jeremiah shuffled his big feet. "I decided you were right," he said.

"About what?"

"About... farming. I've had enough of this. I just don't make a very good criminal!"

"I think you'll make an excellent farmer," Julian said with a small smile.

"When are you coming back?" Jeremiah's half-smile faded. "I told Nellie you'd come back, and if you don't she'll have my hide."

"It won't be long," he said. "How is everyone?"

"Old Mrs. Blythe has the croup, and Jim McConnell has a frightful rash."

Julian gave Jeremiah instructions for both patients, then promised to be in Miller's Crossroads in no more than a few days. As Jeremiah ambled toward his horse, Julian headed for the big house. It was grand, it was beautiful. And he couldn't wait to get Anya out of it.

* * *

Anya waited, as Julian asked, but she was anxious to tell Sebastian that she would not be returning to Puerta Sirena with him. He might be angry at first, but she would make him see the right in her decision. But before Julian returned, Queen Carola waltzed down the stairs and toward the south parlor, alone. She had left her companions above stairs.

Sebastian and his mother were very close. He often sought her counsel on island matters, and she did truly seem to have his best interests at heart, always. Anya laid her hand over her own flat belly. She understood that, now. She only wanted what was best for her child. Julian was best, for her and for the baby.

But she wanted to tell Sebastian of her decision in private, and Carola went into the south parlor and closed the door behind her. The queen would be angry when she found out that Anya's child would not be Sebastian's heir. They would have to find another solution to their dilemma.

Julian came up behind her, assisted her to her feet, and practically dragged her out of the foyer and toward the stairs. He glanced around, checking to see if anyone else was about. They were, of course, all alone. "It wasn't your grandmother," he said lowly. "It was Seymour."

She sighed in relief. "Thank goodness. Of course it was Seymour," she said. "He is such a terrible person. But why?"

"I suspect it was your comment about having a dozen children," Julian snapped.

"Why should he care how many children we have?" Anya shook her head. "It makes no sense."

"Money," Julian said. "He didn't want to have to divvy up the Sedley fortune into such small pieces."

"Money? Money means nothing." She didn't like Seymour, and she knew darn well he had never liked her. But to have Julian taken from her for money... The news raised her ire to new levels.

Julian took her hand. "Let's go tell that blasted king now that you're not going back with him. Then we'll kick him out of the house."

"I have a better idea," she said. "Let's just leave. We can pack our bags, sneak out of the house, and go to this horrid little town you told me about."

Amazingly, Julian smiled. "Feeling cowardly?"

"A little." She rose up on her toes and kissed his cheek. "We cannot tell him now. He is with his mother."

She laid her head against Julian's chest. Queen Carola had declared her marriage undone. Julian said the island queen did not have the authority to declare their marriage void, but still... She did not like that declaration hanging between them. She had lived too long on the island to completely disregard the dictate of the queen.