Harnessed Passions (14 page)

The two women talked lightly while Julia
tried to swallow her food. The doctor had mentioned the shot he
gave her would make her 'queasy', but she didn't imagine it would
make her down right sick. She struggled to keep the food in her
stomach and quickly found her body accepting the offering; the
nausea dissolving to nothing more than a slight headache. When the
plate was clean and the teapot empty, she was able to broach the
subject most important on her mind.

"Do you remember anything odd about
yesterday mom?" she asked, leaning her sore head against the mound
of pillows behind her.

"Other than your fall? Not that I can think
of. Why do you ask?"

"I didn't fall mom," she told her, feeling a
strange tightening in her stomach. "Somebody hit me.”

“
Daniel was the one who
found you and shouted for help,” Louise said with a deep frown.
“The only thing near you was the pillow you had been
using.”

“
I wasn’t using a pillow.”
Julia fell silent as the feelings, the noises and the sensations
began to flood back to her. “Mom, did anyone see anything out of
the ordinary? A stranger, or someone who didn't seem to belong;
anyone who maybe have stood out? "

"Well, your Aunt Joyce did mention something
about a woman sticking close to the corners, but I didn't take it
serious. You know your Aunt Joyce; she’s prone to exaggerations. I
figured it was her way of eliminating the competition when it came
time for dishing out the inheritance."

"Please don't think I'm crazy, but I think
it was a woman who hit me. I fell asleep and when I woke up, I
heard a strange noise, like paper rustling. I just figured it was
birds outside the window, but the noise got louder and when I tried
to stand up..." she paused, as she realized the person who had
attacked her had been standing behind her the whole time. A chill
ran down her spine and a feeling of terror screamed a silent
warning between her ears.

"Are you certain about this Julia?" her
mother asked softly, a frown creasing her slender brows.

"That's not all," Julia continued; the need
to tell her story to its completion, felt overwhelming. "I remember
the scent of flowers and a sound of....scraping....like something
sliding across the carpet. No, not like that,” she frowned as she
tried to remember exactly what the sound was. “It wasn't rough or
hard, but it was definitely a scraping sound, and then I felt like
I was suffocating; I wasn’t able to breathe and I felt like a
weight was on my chest." Louise stood and paced to the open doors
of the veranda.

"Do you know what you're saying, child?" her
mother asked, softly.

"I know it sounds unbelievable, but it's
true. I heard someone and I remember the smell of lilacs."

"Lilacs? There are no lilac bushes around
the house." Louise turned and examined her daughter's tortured
features. "Could it have been perfume, perhaps?"

"Do you think I'm right? Do you think it
could have been a woman, mom?"

"Maybe the same one Joyce said she saw."

"But who could it have been, and why would
she attack me?"

"I don't know," she answered, then added
softly, "maybe I do." Louise turned as someone knocked on the door,
putting a stop to her thoughts. Daniel cautiously opened the wooden
barrier, poking his head around the corner and smiling softly at
the woman in the bed, then to Louise who stood by the patio
doors.

“
Am I interrupting?" he
asked, taking a step through the threshold. The feeling between the
two women seemed thick and tense and Daniel immediately remembered
the last time he had witnessed an argument with the two. Louise
forced a smile across her lips, and drew in a deep breath to steady
her nerves.

"Of course not," she answered. "I was just
making certain our patient here, followed doctor's orders and ate
some breakfast. Now that you're here, I'll leave her in your care.
I have some work to do anyway." She offered her daughter a brief
kiss and a gentle squeeze to her arm.

“
We’ll talk more later,”
Louise promised before turning and leaving the room.

"I didn't mean to do that," Daniel replied,
sitting on the edge of Julia's bed. She looked up at him and
frowned.

"Do what?"

"Chase your mother off," he explained,
gazing into the pale face that stared back at her. "I just wanted
to see how you were feeling. Is everything alright?"

"Yes, everything’s fine and I'm feeling much
better, thank you, just a bit of a headache."

"You don't sound better. What's wrong?"
Julia smiled softly, aware of how easy it was for him to read her
mind.

"I'm fine Daniel, I promise. I just need a
bath and a brandy, but I don't think my mother will accommodate me
on the brandy part."

"Then perhaps I can," Daniel winked, pulling
a small silver flask from his jacket pocket. He offered it to
Julia, who took it with a frown. She twisted off the top and
sniffed it gently and stared at the man with wide eyes.

"It's for emergencies," he told her with a
grin.

"Such as?" Julia couldn't help but smile as
she put the silver flask to her lips. Daniel watched silently for a
moment as she tipped it up and took a long drink.

"Beautiful, accident prone women,
mostly."

"I'm not accident prone," she defended
herself, handing the man back his brandy.

"Then how do you explain last night?" He
knew this wasn't the right way to approach the subject, but now
that he had, there was no turning back.

Julia stared at the man for a long moment,
before lowering her eyes. "I can't," she told him, briefly. Just
when he would have pushed the subject further, the door opened and
Louise hurried through followed by three maids. She pointed them
towards the wash closet, turning an apologetic grin to the
couple.

"I thought perhaps you would like a bath,
while you're still awake and feeling up to it."

"She was just saying that same thing."
Daniel said as a wicked smile curved his full lips. "I didn't know
you two were gifted with mind reading abilities?"

"It's not being gifted, it's called woman's
intuition," Julia replied, listening as the maids poured water into
the freestanding tub in the adjoining room. Louise cleared her
throat, watching the three leave the room before following them
out, a sly smile caressing her lips.

"I promise, you won't be disturbed again,
dear," she assured them and with that said she left, closing the
door tightly behind her.

"Sounds like an invitation if ever I heard
one," Daniel whispered, leaning across the slender brunette. Julia
tried to scoot away, but was trapped by the man's hand holding the
blankets taunt across her legs. She couldn't squirm or move, and
once his lips met with hers, she no longer wanted to.

His kiss was tender and filled with a
promise Julia couldn't quite comprehend. She cursed herself
silently for her lack of experience when it came to men, yet she
found her curiosity and desires rising. This man proved to be an
excellent instructor. How could he do so many wonderfully wicked
things to her heart and mind? She had never known a man, who
induced such passion from her with just a kiss.

As she felt his hand gently edge its way up
the front of her nightgown, she sighed; his nimble fingers slowly
caressing and teasing her erect breast that begged for his
attention. Her body responded automatically arching upwards, daring
him to going further without knowing what exactly that mean. Her
lips parted and Daniel immediately accepted her invitation and
deepened his kiss. She knew she shouldn't be doing this; it wasn’t
proper. He was her father’s lawyer, a paid employee, but the sudden
urge to know as much about these feelings as she could began to
heighten her curiosity, begging her to experience them fully;
making her feel daring and wanton.

Daniel heard a soft moan escape Julia's
throat and knew he was nearing the edge of a dangerous cliff. He
had to pull back, he had to push her away, but his body had its own
ideas. Instead, he pulled her closer, his tongue darting between
her lips, teased and tormented her with unspoken promises as his
free hand held her gently behind the neck. His other hand slowly
slipped the strap of her gown from her shoulder, allowing her full,
firm breast the freedom of clothing. He moved back to her nipple,
his hand warm and slightly rough against her tender skin, making
the sensations all the more erotic.

He moved his hand behind her head just
enough that her head was tilted upward as he deepened his kiss even
further. He pinched her nipple softly, rolling the pebble-like
flesh between his thumb and forefinger until she moaned. His
desires to know her deeper, to explore her more fully was becoming
a controlling factor of his mind, forcing him to obey.

He eased the pillows from behind her head,
laying her against the mattress gently until she was flat on her
back, never breaking his contact with her lips. He stretched out
beside her, his long legs pinning her beneath the blankets, as his
mouth roamed eagerly across her face and neck. He burned a searing
path of heated desire along her collarbone and down her sternum
then slowly across her breast to the nipple he had been silently
torturing. It was a sensation that made her head spin and she
closed her eyes to it, absorbing it fully as she basked in the
warmth that spread from the roots of her hair down to the tip of
her toes.

Daniel suckled and nipped at the delicate
skin until she moaned again, his hand slowly, cautiously moving
over her abdomen to the indent in the blankets between her legs.
The tight cocoon that encased her became unbearable and Julia found
herself struggling to gain freedom from its confines. Daniel
misunderstood her actions and quickly broke his contact with her,
easing his long frame off the bed. He ran a large tanned hand
through his blondish-brown hair, trying hard to pull himself under
control.

"I'm sorry Princess," he told her in a deep
husky whisper, still looking down at her; his eyes absorbing the
sight of her breast, pink from his assault on it. "I had no right
to do that."

"I didn't mind," she said, hearing the husky
shake in her own voice.

"Go take your bath," he ordered, his voice a
soft growl. "I'll give you some privacy."

"No!" Julia started at her own desperation,
but couldn't stop the panic from tearing through her voice. She
stood up out of the bed so quickly; she nearly toppled back down,
her head spinning, her eyes distorted for the briefest of
moments.

"What is it?" Daniel came back to her,
putting his hands firmly on her shoulders as he raised the strap to
hide her chest from his eager eyes.

"Julia, what's wrong?"

"I...just don't want...to be alone," her
hesitation made the frown he wore, deepen. "Please stay. I won't be
long, just please don't leave me."

"I won't go anywhere," he assured her with a
suspicious expression etching his handsome features. The need to
protect her outweighed his present need to seduce her, as the only
thoughts that he could envision was her lying on the floor
unconscious, blood dripping down her forehead. He groaned inwardly,
his emotions were a jumbled mess, tangled between desire, passion,
confusion and the urgent need to comfort and protect. God, what she
did to him was lethal.

"I'm sorry," she apologized, after a moment.
"I guess I just over reacted."

"Are you ready to tell me, what it was all
about?" He slipped his hand around her cheek, tipping her face up
so he could look into her tear filled eyes.

"I just didn't want to be alone, that's
all," she lied, with a soft blush. "Besides, I thought all men
wanted see women undress?"

"Not when the woman is terrified of her own
shadow and not when the man is in another room," he told her. "But
I'll stay all the same. You go on in and take your bath and I'll
wait for you here." Julia sighed. She really didn't want him to
leave and was relieved when he agreed not to. She felt safe
whenever he was around, even if he was in the next room.

She walked slowly to her washroom, the
thought of Daniel waiting for her made her feel courageous and warm
all over. She heard a quiet little voice inside her head, warning
her against falling in love with this very masculine man, but the
voice that screamed from within her heart told her to ignore logic
and follow her desires.

She closed the door to her washroom and
quickly disrobed. The tub was filled only half way with warm water
and scented oil, yet it was enough for her to wash in. She wanted
to relax, to just allow the water to engulf her, but the thought of
the man in the next room made her dispose of the idea.

Julia quickly washed her hair before piling
it up on her head and reaching for the small barrette she kept on
her wash table. Her fingers brushed the jewels that decorated the
top, flipping it over, causing it to tumble onto the floor. With a
silent curse, she leaned over the edge of the tub, ignoring the
soft pounding sensation in her head as she tried to find it under
the foot of the tub. Water splashed out onto the pink carpet and
she again cursed, feeling around the carpet until her fingers
brushed the jewels, but she succeeded in pushing it further away.
She groaned softly and tried again, leaning a little further out of
the tub.

"Oh, for heaven's sake," she complained,
stepping out of the tub completely and kneeling on the rug. She
reached her hand under the porcelain basin and felt around for her
barrette; her long hair falling in wet ringlets across her face,
making it impossible for her to see. She brushed an object, cool
and long like a handle to a broom, but when she tried to pull it
out, it moved away, slithering from her grip.