Dominic's Nemesis (6 page)

Sitting in a steaming bath with her head
lolling on the rim of the tub, Eden let her eyes drift closed. If
he meant to avoid her for the duration of her stay, why
didn
’
t he simply send
for the Marquis and have her removed. She was fully recovered. Even
Dr. Raine ceased to treat her like a patient.

“Ya much too thin. Do they no
’
feed tha lasses in America?” Eden
opened her eyes to find Dr. Raine
’
s buxom, red-haired wife staring down at her. “Tis
no surprise ya are no
’
wed. Put some meat on those bones and you
’
ll be beating tha lads off with a
brick.”

Kathleen tended toward bluntness. Eden
learned quickly not to take offense.

“I haven’t been at liberty to socialize
much.” The truth was, she
’
d never met a man she found more than passably
interesting even before death and mourning limited her social
engagements. Her thoughts flicked to Dominic Ambrosi. Until now,
that is. There was something unnerving about him… and yet he still
appealed to her.

“I know dis must be a difficult time but
might I offer a word of advice.”

She nodded as Kathleen lowered herself
eye-level with Eden.

“Do no
’
grieve too long. Is no
’
healthy ta dwell upon death. And they would
no
’
want dat for ya.
”

The older woman went on to relate her own
experiences with tragedy. Settling into the steaming water, Eden
bent her knees so that they stuck up out of the water and slid down
to rest her neck back against the rim of the tub. Kathleen lectured
about the evils and expectations of the world. Eden heard only a
fraction of what she said, savoring her voice more than her words.
She almost felt home again. Her mother and aunts had often attended
her bath, to chat, gossip or impart cautionary advice.

* * *

Agitated, Dominic paced the length of his
bedchamber. He could almost smell her. Two days had passed since
she
’
d last occupied the
room. He
’
d instructed
the servants to discard the bedding and swab the chamber from floor
to ceiling. Yet, he still picked up minute remnants of her essence
in the room whenever he shimmered into the astral realm. The faint
colors he
’
d first
glimpsed with Cael had since blossomed into an intoxicating swirl
of lavender and twirling violets immersed within evolving geometric
patterns. Dominic felt the tug of her like a fish ensnared in a
lure. He
did
his best to
make himself scarce, but to no real end. She saturated his mind.
What was she doing? How did she fare? He yearned to be near her.
Unable to resist any longer, Dom shimmered into the astral plane of
the universe.

The astral plane did not exist in normal time
and space. Just as twilight marked the hazy time between day and
night, the astral marked the shadowy realm between life and
afterlife. The senses… sound, smell, touch, and taste were
meaningless. Mind-sight defined reality. Before learning of the
dangers of the astral realm, Dominic spent copious amounts of time
there. The ability to disconnect from his corporeal body afforded
him a measure of peace he never seemed able to achieve in the
physical world. He
’
d
once lost six months in the astral realm.

The passage of time was near impossible to
quantify. There were no landmarks, no buildings, no ground, sky,
water, animals, nor trees…only an infinite many body-less souls
dotted the airless void. A year, an hour, a decade might past in
the realm that time forgot. The traveler would be unawares and in
danger of being permanently disconnected from the physical world.
Dominic sojourned there when necessary and sometimes used the realm
as a rapid mode of travel, but he was careful never to linger.

At the moment, Dom
’
s jagged dance of dark and white light
sought out Eden
’
s
alluring purple-violet vortex. He halted a short ways from where
her essence hovered, watching the color patterns mingle in harmony
with a second essence he recognized as his sister-in-law. Curious,
Dom exited the astral world and slipped into invisibility. He stood
just inside her bedchamber, present in both body and spirit, but
not visible to either woman.

* * *

“Mama was afraid if we wrote to
papa
’
s parents in London
of his death, they would descend upon us and take me away. My
grandparents are powerful people from what I know of them and not
at all happy to have their heir married to an American nobody.”
Eden paused in her oration. Her hands stilled in mid-plait and she
turned her head slowly to scan the room.

“What is it, lass?” Kathleen followed her
gaze, puzzled.

“Nothing. I just felt a…draft.” Her brow
furrowed as the ‘draft
’
sent a prickling sensation over her skin. She jerked as a
disturbing notion occurred to her. What if they were no longer
alone? “Papa…and mama would always say that that was the reason
they had made the choice to live in Boston, to avoid their
controlling ways. Ironic it seems that in the end, mama blade me to
seek refuge with them.”

“How then did ya come ta be with tha St.
James
’
?”

“I could not face turning up on their
doorstep, begging for sympathies from two people I would not
recognize if I stumbled over them. Instead, I threw myself on the
mercy of Millie and Reginald.” Unnerved still, Eden shivered and
sunk lower in the tub.

“Is tha water cooling off, then? Let me see
wat is keeping Nell.”

“No, no, please. There is no need.”

“Nonsense. We canna have ya catching a chill.
One more ordeal might just finish ya, wee one.” Allowing no further
argument, Kathleen excused herself. Eden found herself alone… with
the unseen conjuring of her mind.

It approached from the side of the bed,
watching her as she drew herself into a tight ball and cowered so
low that her nose hovered just above the waterline. It slowed the
approach to a crawl. Why was it here? What did it want from her?
The most terrifying question of all, what would it do once it
reached her? Eden cringed as the presence stalked closer still.
Every muscle in her body grew taunt with fear and dread. Inch by
inch it came, feeding off her stark emotions and pinning her to the
spot. Her breath hitched. Eyes wide and staring, stiff fingers
clutched the sides of the porcelain tub…

When at last the thing reached the far edge
of the tub, Eden opened her mouth to scream. The next instant she
felt the gentle touch of …hands, reaching beneath the water,
fingertips fluttering against her skin. They applied a soft
pressure to the sole of her foot, in vague circular motions. The
administrations were smooth, unhurried, and pleasant even. She rose
a little, eyeing the foot in question, with a disbelieving hazel
gaze. Her fear dissipated.

The presence pulled a little at her foot and
she complied. He (it must be a ‘he’ she reasoned) set the right
foot over the edge of the tub at the knee and stepped closer to
grasp her left foot from beneath the water. She felt the brush of a
body between her legs at the knee. Languid she became aware of an
odd tingling blossom in the pit of her stomach. Eden allowed her
left leg to be lifted high on the diagonal, unperturbed by the
intimate view of her person this position gave the unseen him.
Could a virtuous woman be ruined by a figment of her
imagination?

She must be losing her mind. A sane woman had
no cause to ask such questions. The fact that she conjured up a
seduction-bent presence to raid her bath and do wicked things to
her feet was probably proof enough of escalating madness.

Lulled into a sensation-seduced daze, Eden
closed her eyes and slipped beneath the water
’s surface
…lay with her torso flush against
the bottom of the tub. Taking full advantage of the extra leverage,
the hands slid further to kneed her calf with the same soft,
soothing motions. The tingling in her stomach sharpened to a vague
longing for something she could not name. Her hands clutched at the
sides of the tub. This time the action born of yearning, not fear.
Images of herself in a similar position flashed in her mind.

At first, they came as staccato flickers of
her body. She was unclothed, but not in the bath…somewhere else.
The second wave of images lingered longer, were clearer, like
photographer
’
s stills
running one after the other to produce disjointed motion. She
occupied a bed, her pale naked skin and flaxen hair at a drastic
contrast to the ink-black sheets. Her head arched backward, hair
lay fanning the pillow, her mouth open in a pose of sensual fusion
of pleasure and pain. A dark figure loomed over her, his face
hidden in shadows…

His chest bare, as broad as she was narrow,
undulated above her. His voice moaned in what could only be
described as ecstasy. “E—DEN…”

That voice! She recognized it even in her
head. Eden shot up so fast the movement sent choppy waves splashing
over the tub
’
s edge. She
sat ramrod straight breaking contact with her unseen molester, as
she realized what the images likely represented…and with whom.

“Dominic.”

And then, she was alone.

* * *

She sensed him. She’d known he was there the
instant he’d materialized from the astral realm and cloaked
himself.
Amazing
. Seeing Eden as he had imagined so often,
languid in a scented bath, aroused him to the degree of pain.
Touching her was a mistake, he knew it the second his fingertips
brushed against the slight curvature behind her ankle. Temptation,
once realized only intensified. The throbbing fullness between his
legs only ached more, not less.

He froze when he heard the door of his music
room open. He waited, watching as Ethan walked into the circle of
light.

“Dom?” His brother eyed the empty pianoforte,
almost as if he expected a response. But how could he? His
attention dotted along the black-lacquered surface following the
tiny rainbows dancing in the light. “Dominic, I know you’re in this
room somewhere.”

With a muffled curse, he uncloaked himself.
“How the devil can you possibly know that?!”

Ethan stepped onto the raised area. Dom was
seated on the bench with his head bowed over the keys, sans his
spectacles. He did not look up.

“I know because you refract light when you’re
invisible. The next time you
have
a mind to avoid me, hide in a hall of
mirrors.”

“And where did you pick up that
tidbit…Cael?”

The good doctor smiled, proud of himself. “He
and I attended a lecture series a few months back. Physics is such
a fascinating topic. I wonder now that I chose to study
medicine.”

“Why is he so damned anxious to explain away
my… abnormalities… with science and natural law?”

“Perhaps, because you still think of them as
abnormalities, while he thinks of them as characteristics that make
you unique. He and I are in complete agreement on that front.” His
brother laid a reassuring hand on his shoulder as he spoke. “Do not
isolate yourself so much and maybe you would see that you’re just
another person, born no better and certainly no worse than any
other.”

Frustrated and angry with himself, Dominic
struck the keys with a fisted jab. The brief cacophony voiced the
turmoil warring between his struggle for self-preservation and the
new and overwhelming desire for intimate contact. “Tell me what you
bloody well want and get out of here!”

“Is it such an annoyance conversing with your
own brother?”

“Forgive me, Ethan.”
Dominic sighed.
“I am not used to stumbling
over so many people. I prefer solitude. You know that.” His
agitation had nothing to do with the doctor or his wife and
everything to do with a certain blonde. How the bloody hell could
she both
see
and
recognize
him? First
her
. Now
Ethan, and probably Cael too. He was beginning to feel exposed,
vulnerable to prying eyes…in his own sanctuary.

“It was not my intention to intrude but
circumstances being what they were…” Ethan trailed off and began
anew. “Actually, this might come as a relief. I came to tell you
that I would be detained for several days in town. So, there will
be one less person to despoil your peace.”

“Ethan, do not go.”

“You just said you were bothered by too many
people milling around your house. I would be one less.”

“Take Kathleen and the woman with you and
there would be three less.”

Ignoring
Dominic
’
s almost
comical spite, he continued. “
Our patient is—
”

“
Your
patient.
”

“Our
guest
then.”

“
Interloper
works best, I think.” Dom
said with an acid smile. “Now, what is this pressing matter in
town?”

“House calls. Several of whom are
long-standing patients.”

“Put them off.”

“I cannot put them off any longer. Plus, it
might interest you to know that Cael is back in town with
Stephan.”

He swiveled around, surprise etched on his
face. “How do you know that?”

“If you ever bothered to stir from your
hidey-hole, you would know it too. Cael sent a message this
morning.”

Dominic had the decency to grimace before he
snatched his face away. Ethan’s serene expression hadn’t changed in
the brief moments when their eyes met. It never did. But then,
Ethan was one of very few people whom he occasionally allowed to
see him sans his spectacles.