Wicked Deception (54 page)

“
Be still, you naughty
little minx, I’m not finished,” Caspian argued, producing another
litany of giggling from his lovely companion.

His lips curved into a smile of
appreciation as he eyed his muse, lying naked across the top of his
piano as he wrote the final chorus. The inspiration had come to him
at the worst possible time. She leaned up on an elbow and sent him
smoky looks, making him despair if he could finish it.

“
Do you make all your women
do this?” Catherine complained as she looked over the pianoforte’s
edge. “This is not the most comfortable position, you
know?”

Caspian quirked a brow, lips twitching.
“Just do not move, sweets. I’m almost finished.”

“
I feel ridiculous!” she
exclaimed and sighed as she lay back down.

“
You look stunning,” he
murmured as he wrote avidly, his eyes never leaving the page of
sheet music. “I apologize for the timing. One cannot waste such an
opportunity.”

“
No, by all means, finish
your music,” she was saying as she lay upon the instrument, hardly
complaining of his dragging her out of bed in the middle of his
torrid lovemaking to finish the piece he worked on since they
arrived.

Caspian frowned as he added several
more notes, his eyes sliding up to trace the perfect lines of
Catherine’s body, nude and reclined before him. Renewed desire
flared in his gaze a she flopped back down with another adorable
sigh.

He felt himself responding to the music
in his head as he lavished every bit of skin revealed with a look,
longing for her to hear it as he did. Several more minutes passed
of his scratching and he looked up, a smile curving his lips to see
the petulant pout.

“
There now, that wasn’t so
bad, was it?” he asked as his hand slid up and stroked along her
calf, capturing a trim ankle to jerk her forward, making her cry
out in surprise. He stood up from the bench, overturning it, and
scooted her down to sit upon the ivory keys, her bottom making the
sweetest of all music. His hands kneaded both knees as he pushed
them open. He stared down at her, heavy-lidded eyes dark with
desire. His eyes held hers.

Catherine stared at him in surprise
first and then her eyes darkened. He kissed her slowly, softly, his
hand sliding along the base of her neck as he positioned himself
against her, pushing inside her then.

She gasped, her arms wrapping around
his neck as she moved with him. He closed his eyes as he thrust
within her, the clanging of the keys under her filling his head as
he finished what he had so rudely interrupted.

Caspian knew heaven only existed with
the woman in his arms at that moment. Seeing her lovely face
flushed with pleasure as he took her upon the keys made him even
more determined to please her.

Soft cries escaped her lips as the keys
jumped beneath her, her legs wrapping about his pounding hips, eyes
filled with need. Caspian felt her tightening around him like a
wire and moaned, eyes closed as he moved faster.

Catherine shook in his arms as her body
stiffened, her eyes meeting his as she climaxed, her lips finding
his. He joined her, his body emptying into hers, refilled and
shared as they cried out against each other’s lips.

He kissed her temple, breathing
raggedly. The woman in his arms snuggled against his chest in the
aftermath of their passion, eyes dazed. He lifted her up and
carried her to the huge four poster bed in the ancient tower
chamber he shared with her.

The days spent here with her were the
happiest in his life, reminding him of all he could lose in weeks.
A rueful smile curved his lips. Caspian lay her down and joined
her, holding her close to him as he stroked her long raven tresses,
a slight frown on his face as she slept.

The emotions inside him were not ones
he knew or even understood. Like it or not, he felt something
powerful for this charming creature in his arms, enough to do what
he must.

After five days of her company alone at
his private retreat, he had fallen madly, unequivocally in love
with her. He shared that with only himself. The promise he gave her
of only passion and music came to mind and was forgotten by him
until now. He broke the rules by bringing her here at
all.

None knew of this place but his private
guards. He bought the property for a song from a nobleman down on
his luck at the gaming tables. The place was a rundown ruin when he
arrived. After he restored it over the years, it was like stepping
back into time.

The medieval castle had the look and
feel of its sixteenth century conception. He modernized the
interior over the years. It cost a bloody fortune, but it was worth
it the minute he saw her stunned expression. He had never brought
another woman here before.

He knew why he bought it, knew why he
brought her here to see it, despaired that he had to leave her and
return to his life at all these days. But he must. The tenuous hold
he had slipped the moment his back was turned. He longed for the
peace she offered.

This place had made him realize much.
It was the one place in his world where he could believe in magic
and goodness. His hands stroked her hair as he pressed close to
her, inhaling her sweet rose fragrance, intoxicated by
her.

Watching her and her children playing
on the grounds or picnicking was the rarest of treats for him after
they arrived. Exploring the forest nearby with his lady riding at
his side on the snowy white mare he gifted her with was all he
could have ever dreamed.

Making love to her along a clear
running stream as their horses grazed nearby made his eyes darken.
With only the sounds of her impassioned cries and the woods around
them, he made his decision.

He treasured these moments, knowing he
would never likely have them again.

The thought of her leaving made him go
rigid. The wish she would stay with him echoed in his mind and was
dismissed at once. She didn’t belong in his world any more than
Elise had. This was all they could ever have.

Caspian never wished for anything in
his life. What was the point of it? Even a fairytale castle could
not change his inevitable destiny. He would die one day by the hand
of a nameless, faceless assassin and another would take his place.
His time was coming to an end and he faced it with little
bitterness. This time with Catherine taught him the meaning of
life, and love.

Crystalline green eyes traced the
flushed beauty at his side, memorizing every lush, vivid detail to
mind. He leaned down and kissed her forehead. He got up and
returned to his pianoforte across the room. He put his new piece
aside. He wrote it for her.

“
Come back to bed, Caspian,”
she called to him, her tone telling him without words she wanted
him again.

He padded across the stone floor naked,
his eyes twinkling to see his lovely muse awake. Now her face was
flushed and her eyes were bright. She held out her arms to him and
he went to her.

~ ~ ~

Catherine watched her children
frolicking on the lawn. She reclined on a chaise on the terrace
overlooking the back of the property. Caspian was riding on the
grounds with his guards. She enjoyed the peace. Her cheeks flushed
to think of how much she enjoyed their time together. Her lover
knew exactly what she needed when she needed it.

How she needed him often made her burn
with a bit of embarrassment. They could be quite scandalous in
their passion. Thoughts of how he joined her in her bath the night
before came to mind. A delicious thrill shot through her of how
thoroughly her lover washed her.

Their discussion became serious all too
soon and she regretted it now. She bit her lip and felt a pang of
disappointment. She asked him to leave with her. He regarded her
with a raised auburn brow and ridiculed her offer.

A feeling of desolation swept through
her that he would prefer to stay here and risk his own inevitable
assassination than leave with her and live in peace. He refused to
consider it, saying she was trying to replace him with Nicholas in
her life. He even suggested she threw herself into such thoughts
out of jealousy of Gabriel’s marriage.

Hurt filled her to know how wrong he
was. True, she hardly knew him. They came from very different
worlds. The feelings he aroused in her were real, despite his
assertions otherwise. With any encouragement from him she could
willingly give him her heart, and feared she already
had.

It was laughable to think they had any
kind of a future together. Yet when he slept at her side and she
looked at him, so vulnerable and unaware, a wave of such poignant
longing filled her.

Giles waved at her from the grounds and
she waved back. Devlin sat upon a blanket and Mrs. Gates held
Aidan. Brionne tackled her brother while he wasn’t looking and she
chuckled. The girl had the very devil in her like her father. Giles
went down and a fight ensued. Mrs. Gates put a stop to it and the
pair made a truce.

Her children seemed to adore Caspian,
following him around and gazing at him wide-eyed. He had a way with
children, though he would have mocked her for saying so. They hung
upon his every word. Their easy acceptance only encouraged her
persistent offer he go with her.

He said she was being a coward to ask
him. She finally stopped asking, knowing he could not change for
her. The life he led was his own and he claimed he would be bored
to live such a tame existence.

No, her lover would not go with her.
She would leave him as well. Disgusted at her dwelling upon her
upcoming departure, she left the terrace for their room. She passed
many guards on her way, used to them by now. They were all heavily
armed and nodded to her politely as she walked past.

This was a necessary part of his life
she wasn’t comfortable with. The security dogged their every step,
even here. Caspian claimed one could never be too sure they weren’t
followed when they left London.

She was at the top of the stone stairs
that led to their suite when she heard shouts from the outside. She
turned and looked down as the heavy iron door was thrown wide. Ty
entered and was white-faced. She knew that look, having seen it
enough.

He looked up at her and she flinched
from the devastation in his expression. “Caspian has been killed,
my lady. We must leave at once.”

The unreality of it unnerved her as his
men hurriedly left to prepare for their departure. She flew down
the stairs, her eyes filled with horror.

“
Where is he?” she demanded
as she rounded on Ty.

He gazed at her in despair. “He was
shot in the woods. There wasn’t a thing we could do for him. The
assassin got away. There may be more with him. We must leave, my
lady. Get your children ready at once.”

“
No! No, I want to see him!
Please!”

Ty gazed at her sadly. “He is gone. Why
would you have to see him like that?”

She was tearful then, sobs shaking her
to think of his murder. “We cannot just leave him here!”

“
Then men stay behind to
handle his burial,” the guard replied. “If word of his death is
known every criminal in the city will be fighting to take over. We
haven’t much time. Please, you must hurry.”

Catherine was dazed as she returned to
the terrace to call them all inside. Mrs. Gates looked confused and
questioning as she got the children ready to return to London, not
asking why their holiday was cut short.

The trip back to London in the coach
with her children didn’t give her the opportunity to weep for him
and she was relieved. The dam of misery she felt to know an
assassin had at last got to the crime lord saddened her.

Ty and a handful of guards accompanied
her. She watched the castle out the window of the coach as it made
its sad track back up the winding hill with a hollow feeling
inside. A place that she had found so much joy had brought
loss.

~ ~ ~

Catherine was shaken and dazed as the
coaches arrived back at her home, too horrified to comprehend her
lover was dead. Ty opened the door and helped her down. The grief
she felt to know Caspian was killed was nothing next to
his.

The servant wept brokenly before they
left. Catherine was hysterical and in shock, unable to believe it
was happening. She was too stricken and unable to comprehend the
horror and reality of his world. The beauty he created hid the
ugliness that was his everyday life. Tears seemed to spring at the
thought of the blissful days they spent together, only for life’s
cruel lessons to intervene.

Ty handed her Caspian’s satchel. She
shook her head furiously. He tried more than once to give it to her
the trip back from the castle.

“
I can’t take these from
you,” she whispered and looked ashen as she looked up at Ty. “He
would have wanted you to have them.”

“
No, I think it is you who
deserves them, Catherine. He wrote them for you. His work is highly
sought. They will be worth something now,” the guard replied,
smiling sadly. “I have no need for them where I go. This is what he
would have wanted.”