Romancing a Stranger (6 page)

Samson’s wise blue eyes danced with delight. “Thank you, and may I say you are a breath of fresh air. I’m delighted you are feeling better.”

Milli gestured to the chair across from her. “Please.”

Samson seemed shocked. She wondered how many times Warden shared a drink with his butler or offered him a comfortable seat. She might be from another time, but she knew butlers could always be trusted with their employer’s secrets. And they were probably the most unrecognized pillars of society.

There was so much to learn about Warden and Josephine as well, and how to carry on like a lady. What if time took her away just when she was beginning to like it here?

“Samson, how long have you worked for Mr. Blackwood?”

He took a sip of his drink and regarded her curiously. “Mr. Blackwood is the master of this house, Madam, but I was in
your
family’s employ since before your birth.”

She was about to have a drink, but her hand paused mid-lift. She stared at Samson, feeling a mixture of emotions. He’d been around since the beginning of the old Mrs. Blackwood. This would be the time to get some answers.

“So, technically, you work for me.”

The corners of his mouth tipped up, and his eyes glinted with amusement. “What is it you’re after, Madam?”

Milli looked around the room, taking in all of the objects and possessions, before looking back at Samson. “Warden thinks I’m crazy.”

He stared at her for a long moment before answering. “He does not think you are crazy, Madam, simply different. Sometimes things happen to a body that cannot be explained.”

Milli leaned forward in her seat. “Samson, what was I like before?”

His sharp stare softened. “You were always a troubled child. Terribly smart. Always searching for something more out of life. When your father forced you to marry Mr. Blackwood, you grew distant…quiet. It is an unfortunate thing when a child must pay for her father’s sins.”

“What sins?”

Samson looked away, his expression troubled. “Your father spent the family’s money building his shipping business. You were destitute.”

Milli burst off the chair, startling Samson. She paced around the room, fitting the pieces of her past together, or, at least, the pieces of the other Millicent’s past. She spun around, her eyes wide. “Are you saying my father sold me to Mr. Blackwood?”

He cleared his throat and looked down. It was all the answer she needed.

The heat of anger and resentment flared in her cheeks. “Did Warden know about this?”

Samson stood up and faced her. “Mr. Blackwood married you because he loves you, child. That is all that matters.”

Tears pricked her eyes, and her shoulders slumped. Poor, poor Millicent. Forced to marry a man she didn’t love. Maybe she loved another…

Her head snapped up as it dawned on her. “The note. The note said by dawn on the fourteenth day you must give your love to the right one, or everything will be as it was.”

Samson frowned, looking lost. “I beg your pardon, Madam?”

“The night of my birthday celebration, was I acting strangely?”

“Well, you did swoon—”

“No, before that.”

Samson thought for a moment then his eyes widened. “Why, yes. You asked for your luggage because you were going on a trip. I never did understand what you meant, and then during the party you fainted.”

“So she was leaving him.”

“Who are we speaking of now, Madam?”

Realizing Samson had no clue what she meant, she waved her hand in the air. “Nothing important. But I know what happened now.”

The old Millicent Blackwood gave her true love to someone else.

Warden walked along the harbor docks near the warehouse, his thoughts drifting to Millicent and their argument three nights past. He thought throwing himself into work, ensuring the liquor import and export was running smoothly, would gain him some measure of peace. He was wrong.

Yesterday morning, he had picked up the Boston Globe and nearly choked on his coffee. A team of horses had been electrocuted on Boylston Street.

Millicent was right, and it made him uneasy. How could she have known that would happen?

His thoughts drifted back to the day his father told him to marry Millicent Bishop because her father’s ties to the Middle East would be beneficial to the business. Then, shortly after the wedding, Mr. Bishop took his own life, leaving Warden and Millicent to care for her younger sister, Josephine.

He never knew why Bishop did what he did, but he was happy to save two others. Marrying Millicent was a duty, but he never expected to fall in love with her.

His anger and frustration over her unexpected actions the other night had simmered down, but he still did not understand why, after ignoring him for so long, she would suddenly act with scandalous abandon. Accusing her of being unfaithful was wrong, yet it was how he felt in the moment. It had nearly driven him to Vivian St. Claire.

Now he knew not what to do. He was not sure that he could trust her, though he had to admit her change in behavior was welcome and refreshing. At least she wanted his company now, but why? Had she had a change of heart? Did she simply lose her mind at the party and somehow transform into another woman?

He could not be sure of anything anymore. And her knowledge of those horses being electrocuted only deepened his curiosity tenfold. Was she telling the truth? Could she really have come from the future? But how was it possible? And why did she look exactly like his wife, if she was truly another woman?

Waves from the harbor lapped against the docks with a sound that soothed his soul some small degree. His cloak flapped against his legs as the wind picked up. A streak of light shot through the air and burst a few hundred yards away.

What the hell—?

He halted mid-step, staring at the spot where he had seen the flash. The sky was dark, the air quiet, as if nothing happened. What was the matter with him? First, the amethyst globe glowed on his desk and now fireworks were bursting before his eyes. Perhaps
he
was the one losing his mind.

A man stepped out of the darkness ahead of him.

Warden’s eyes widened as the familiar, long white hair of the Finnish Roma, Saska, came into focus.

“Blackwood,” Saska said, in his cultured accent and raspy tone. “You look troubled. Is your new wife not of your liking?”

His heartbeat quickened, and he drew in a sharp breath. “My new wife? What do you mean?”

Saska smiled, making the wrinkles all over his leathery face more prominent. His ice blue eyes twinkled like a sorcerer’s. “When you came to me many weeks ago, you wanted true love, yes? I read it in your eyes…your heart. Has she not given hers in return?”

The old man must have lost his marbles. “How…what…?” Yes, he had wanted Millicent to love him, but how could the old gypsy know that? As far as he was concerned, he bought an amethyst globe as a birthday gift, but did not really believe in the powers it supposedly held. “I do not understand.”

“You are not meant to. Men are not meant to understand a woman, just as a woman is not meant to understand us. But she is pure in heart and soul. She comes from a place where good men are few and far between. She comes from a place where people fly!” He raised his hands in the air, dazzled by his own words. “I’ve seen her. The change has already begun.”

“What change? Do you mean the way my wife has been acting?” Warden grabbed the lapels of Saska’s bright plaid coat and yanked him close. “What did you do to my wife?”

Saska didn’t seem at all threatened by Warden’s roughhousing. In fact, he smiled, displaying a shiny gold tooth that sparkled under the harbor lights. “Which one? The woman who could not love you or the one who took her place?”

Warden’s eyes bulged, and he stepped back, releasing his grip on Saska’s coat. “Impossible. She appears as she always had…”
But she did not recognize me or Josephine, the house, the servants. And she knew things she had no right knowing
.
My god! The woman in my home is a stranger.

But she was a stranger he loved. No matter where she came from, or how she got here, he still loved her with every fiber of his being.

“How did you know this would work?”

Saska grinned, clearly pleased with himself. “The amethyst ball is blessed and given to the bearer to give to his love. If that love is returned by dawn on the fourteenth day, their love will stay true forever. If it is not, all will be as it was.”

As it was. Lonely nights. Separate lives. Bitter silence.

He calculated how many days had passed since he handed Millicent the globe and cursed. “That’s less than two days away.”

“Then you better hope you have not given her reason to turn away from you.”

Warden balled his fists and nearly pummeled Saska to the ground. “You could have mentioned the time frame to me in the beginning,” he growled.

“And I did not have to come to you now,” Saska replied. “Go home and give her a reason to stay, for this girl is your fortune.”

Warden pushed past the old man and ran for his carriage. He shouted instructions for John to drive home as quickly as the horses would take them. As the carriage lurched forward, he glanced back to where Saska stood.

The old gypsy was gone.

* * * *

Milli rolled onto her side. “Mmm…” The pillow felt so soft, and the mattress cushioned her body like a warm cloud. Delicious heat pressed against her back. She shifted and wiggled her butt against the comforting warmth. The distinct shape of a hard cock nudged her ass.

Her eyes whipped open.

A manly groan stilted the silence and the erection against her ass shifted. Instant pleasure singed a path between her legs. She sighed, happy that he had come to her. Maybe he’d had a change of heart.

Her immediate surprise shifted to something else, something sexual. A big hand skimmed up the curve of her hip, around her rib cage, until it palmed her breast and squeezed. His bold touch created little goose bumps everywhere. Nimble fingers tweaked and toyed until the little buds perked, aching for something more tangible. She pushed back against his morning wood.

“Good morning,” Warden said in a sleepy voice. “I’m sorry for walking out on you, and for the things I said.”

She smiled, relieved their fight was over. “It’s okay, and I’m sorry too.”

Milli reached back and gripped his shaft, delighting in his deep groan. He trailed the rough tip of his index finger up her throat until it paused at her mouth. She licked and suckled his digit, drawing it deeper in her mouth.

Warden pumped his cock in her hand as his moved back down, all the way to her pussy, feeling the wetness he’d created. He pressed harder, more forcefully into her palm.

They needed to take this further.

She lifted her thigh and guided his cock to her wet sex.

He surged forward, sliding his thick cock teasingly between her folds. She moaned, moving with the surge and pull of his body. He gripped beneath her thigh and entered her slowly, purposefully, driving deep, as if they had all the time in the world. Milli let her head fall back, and Warden branded kisses over her shoulder and neck.

“So tight, so perfect in the light of morning,” he murmured while his pelvis grinded against her, owning her.

The heat of his sharp breath fanned her neck, and his dirty words excited her.

“My naughty wife.” He surged deeper, harder, making her cry out, “I’m going to fuck you till you scream.”

“Yes, please…” She pressed against him, meeting every one of his thrusts with her own passionate demand. Caught in their delicious moment, Milli guided his hand to her clit, and he slid his calloused digit over her sensitive nub, toying and tapping until little spasms rocked her body.

“I want to look at you. I want to see you touch yourself.”

In a fluid move, Warden twisted himself around her to take position between her thighs, his dark eyes staring into hers as he drove into her again. His long, deep thrusts stroked her to a fever pitch. She clutched his ass, digging her nails into his sexy globes, pulling him deeper and deeper still.

She quivered and cried out when he angled his hips, increasing the friction.

“Touch yourself,” he coaxed.

His black hair hung over his eyes, making him look dark and dangerous, like a thief bent on stealing her pleasure.

Milli reached down and played with her clit, just as he’d commanded, thrumming the sensitive bud to heighten her pleasure. The lust in his eyes and wonder on his face made her feel powerful. Desirable. She was making him feel this way. She was making him lose control, and for the first time in Milli’s life, she felt like she belonged to somebody. The things he said the other night didn’t matter. He had come to her, and that alone was good enough.

“Come for me.” He drove into her harder.

Milli rested her feet on his hips and rode his thrusting body. She pushed when he pushed. He groaned when she moaned, and suddenly her hips arched off the bed in delirious orgasm, and her ragged cry was met with his deep groan.