Chapter 5

 

Emma spent the following morning agonizing over Bennett to Millie. At first, Millie opened her mouth in shocked silence and just stared.

“You think me mad,” Emma said between her tears.

“How can you even consider spending time with a vampire?”

“I know,” Emma wailed. “But I love him. Everything I loved about him is still there. His subtle wit, his gentleness, his goodness. Being a vampire hasn’t taken away any of that.”

“Emma, he kills people!”

“I don’t know that. Maybe he’s one of those vampires who only takes what he must have to survive and leaves his victims alive.”

“No, you can’t think of this. I can’t stand the thought of you getting hurt.”

“He won’t hurt me.”

“How can you know that?”

“Well…” How to explain it? “He didn’t last night at the ball. He could have and no one would have been the wiser.”

“There might have been witnesses.”

“No, we were alone.”

Millie let out a long-suffering sigh. “I’m coming back tonight with cloves of garlic and I’m going to sleep in your room with you so he doesn’t come and spirit you away or drink your blood.”

Emma burst into tears. “Oh, Millie. I wish it weren’t true. I don’t know what to do.”

Millie wrapped her arms around her and held her while she wept. “There, there. We’ll think of something.”

Emma rested against her friend’s shoulder, letting her warmth and friendship soothe her. “I agreed to go driving with him today. Nothing can happen while we’re in an open curricle. In fact, I need to get ready. I must look a fright.” She pulled out of Millie’s arms and straightened.

Millie rose and headed for the door. “Be careful, Emma. I hope you know what you’re doing.”

She hoped she knew was she was doing, too.

Bennett arrived at exactly the most fashionable hour to go driving at Hyde Park where one could see and be seen by the beau monde. Impeccably dressed in a royal blue frockcoat, a pair of cream knit pantaloons that hugged his well-formed body, and gleaming riding boots, he waited for her in the foyer. Emma nervously fingered the top button of her plum pelisse she’d put on over her afternoon gown as she limped to him from the front parlor.

He smiled brilliantly. Emma’s heart flipped over. Would she ever get used to that smile? And more importantly, did she dare risk all to see it every day of her life?

“Emma, you look positively radiant.” He stripped off his right glove, took her gloved hand, and pressed a kiss to it.

Heartily wishing she hadn’t yet donned her kidskin gloves so she could feel his touch on her skin, she quashed the voice of reason that suggested it was best she not feel his cold lips. She returned his smile. “You look dashing, too.”

In fact, he looked quite well. He appeared to have more color in his face. Was that a result of a recent feeding? She shook off the thought. They were going driving together and she refused to think about his dark secret. Today, she would enjoy herself.

“How is your ankle?” he asked. “You’re still limping.”

“Better, thank you.”

As they stepped out into the sunshine, he donned his unusual darkened sunglasses.

She paused at the top of the front steps. “Oh, dear. More stairs. Those are the worst. It took me half the morning to get downstairs from my room.”

He halted at the top, eyeing the steps. “Lean on me, and while you hold onto the railing, step down with your injured foot.”

She did as he direct. The pain wasn’t as bad as she’d feared.

“Now, bring the other one to that same step and shift your weight onto the good leg.”

“It worked.” She beamed up at him. “That didn’t hurt much at all.”

She repeated the process until they were down the stairs to the street. He led her to a gleaming new curricle drawn by a pair of beautiful, matched bays.

“Oh, my how lovely. Just look at those legs. And their eyes! I can always spot an intelligent horse by the placement of his eyes. They’re beautiful, Bennett!”

Grinning, he affected a brief bow. “I’m so glad to have won the approval of the most horse-mad girl in London.”

She giggled. Grinning, he lifted her carefully into the carriage, holding her steady until she was situated comfortably in the open carriage. He was steady, sure, strong. He held her gaze for a long moment, his open affection so pure and sincere that her throat tightened. She felt completely safe with him. She was safe with him, she no longer doubted that. There was nothing evil about this man, no matter what had happened to him.

After a quick snap of the reins, they were off, chatting about horses as he skillfully guided the carriage through the busy streets of London. She admired his profile and watched the sunlight gleam on his raven hair. How wonderful it was to have him back in her life! How much she’d missed him!

Wait. Sunlight? She looked up and squinted. The sun shone. Although Bennett wore his strange darkened glasses and his hat pulled down low, he was still out in direct sunlight. How could that be possible?

Their pace slowed once they reached the park and all her thoughts of his being a vampire momentarily fled. They enjoyed greeting friends, renewing acquaintances. More than once, she caught looks of envy tossed her way by young misses who’d hoped to capture the interest of the handsome Bennett Ashton, and she couldn’t help but sit up a little straighter and smile smugly.

They greeted an old acquaintance who proudly showed off her new collie sitting regally next to her on the seat. Emma smiled, remembering a childhood prank gone wrong that involved a collie.

As they ended their conversation and Bennett moved the carriage forward, he smiled sideways at Emma. “Remember when we snuck in through the window at the spinster’s house to see if she really did have a wooden leg?”

Emma laughed. “I was just thinking the same thing—her collie chased us off!”

Nodding, he chuckled. “That nasty dog tore a hole in my breeches.”

Emma giggled and put a hand over her face at the memory of Bennett’s smallclothes peeking out from the hole. He’d been two parts sheepish and one part indignant.

“My father took exception to my coming home in such a fashion.” Bennett winced as if remembering his father’s punishment. “But I suppose I deserved it.”

“It was a naughty thing for us to do,” Emma agreed.

“We never found out about her leg,” he mused.

“I did. She does have a wooden leg. Apparently, she had a terrible sickness in it when she was but a child and the surgeon had to remove her whole leg or she would have died. Poor thing. I almost burst into tears when I found out about it.”

As usual, Bennett listened intently as if she were the only person in the world. His expression grew very soft. “I love how deeply you feel everything.”

“You don’t find me silly and dramatic?”

“I find you passionate and vivacious.”

Her heart swelled and she wanted to throw her arms around him.

All too soon, the afternoon ended and he turned his carriage around to take her home. In front of her family’s London house, she leaned on his arm as she took the stairs up, repeating the process in reverse. Inside the doorway, he gave her arm a tug and pulled her into a recess where they wouldn’t be seen. He swept her into his arms. She let out a little gasp at his bold move.

“Blast these things.” He tore off his darkened glasses, and tossed them aside. “Now I can see you better.”

She looked up at him while her heart throbbed. The excitement of being in his arms far surpassed her imagination. A moment later, his gloves came off and he dropped them on the floor behind her as he pulled her into him. His nearness shot little quivers down to her toes.

“Emma, I promised myself I’d take this slowly. I know we’ve been apart a long time, and I know we’ve changed over the time we were apart, so I didn’t want to rush you. But you are the reason I’m alive. Thoughts of you kept me warm during those dark times, those cold nights, those hours when I thought I’d die. I got hurt and sick more than once while I was away, and each time I fought my way back because I had to come home to you.”

She forgot how to breathe. Her gaze remained fixed on him, heart pounding in her ears and the earlier tingles turning into rapids.

“I can’t bear to wait another moment. I want you in my life and in my arms every moment of every day. Marry me, Emma. I’m not perfect, and I’m not sure I’ll ever fully recover from what I suffered in the war, but I vow to do everything I can to make you happy. I love you. Please, will you have me?”

Tears welled up in her eyes until his face faded into swirls of light and dark. As tears trickled down her face, she nodded. “I love you, too. Yes, I’ll marry you. Of course I will. I’ve been waiting for you for years to ask me that question.”

He laughed and pulled her in tighter. Slowly, he leaned his head down, closer, closer, until she thought she’d faint from anticipation. He kissed her gently, softly, and oh, so tenderly. Every nerve in her body sprang to life. She kissed him with an eagerness that surprised her. He responded, his tenderness evaporating into hunger and he devoured her lips as if he were starving. Her knees wobbled, and he tightened his grip until she could hardly breathe.

She soared into a realm of joy. She buried her roots deeper into a sense of permanency.

She was safe. She was home. Bennett was here with her, and nothing else mattered.

When he finally released her, he pressed her against his chest and kissed the top of her head. He let out a pained groan, his breathing ragged. “I’d best find your father fast and ask his permission lest I give into temptation to ravish you right here.”

She laughed weakly.

He cupped her cheek and kissed her again, carefully guiding his passion back to his previous tenderness. After ending the kiss, he buried his face in her neck. “Oh, how I love you.”

As he pulled back to look at her, she smiled up at him and traced his cheek with her fingers. Her other hand rested on his broad chest right over his heart which beat as rapidly as hers.

Then, it dawned on her.

His heart beat under her hand, hard and steady. Heat seeped into her skin from his face.

He was warm.

Warm!

He couldn’t be a vampire if he had a heartbeat and was warm. Then, that meant…she’d been wrong about him.

He wasn’t a vampire.

Oh happy day! Relief flooded her with such force that her knees wobbled. Her heart nearly leaped out of her chest and she wanted to sing and dance in pure joy.

But what about all those things that had led her to believe he was a vampire?

He chuckled softly. “What is it? You have the most adorable little frown on your face.” He kissed the tip of her nose with his warm, soft lips.

Her face hot with embarrassment, she laughed softly and bit her lip. “Ahhhh, you’re not going to like this, but er…well, for a while, I actually thought…” she cleared her throat feeling supremely childish. “I though you might have been…well…a vampire.”

He blinked. “A what?”

“You know, a vampire, like in the legends.”

He pulled away a little, looking at her as if she’d grown a second nose. “You jest.”

“No, I’m in earnest.”

He shook his head, his brow forming a crease, and let out a half laugh. “Wha…?”

“Oh, dear, it all sounds so ridiculous now. But whole time I was absolutely miserable because I thought I’d truly lost you.”

A slow smile curved his lips. “You read that vampire book all the young ladies are talking about, didn’t you?”

She ducked her head. “Miss Vernon and the Vampire. Yes. And I admit, that may have been what planted the seed of the idea in my head. But I thought I’d found so much evidence that I couldn’t doubt.”

He led her to a divan in the front parlor, keeping the door properly open, and sat her down. He sank next to her. “What evidence?”

“Well…” she moistened her lips. “When you kissed my hand at the Smythe-Buchanan’s party, you were cold. Ice cold.”

His eyes took on a faraway look as if remembering the details of that day. “At the garden party? I’d just eaten an ice, which was silly because it was such a chilly day. It made me cold through and through.”

“So, your hands and your mouth were cold from the ice.”

“Numb, in fact, and I realized I was speaking strangely because my mouth was a little numb, too. When you looked at me so oddly, I wondered if I sounded worse than I thought.”

“And you were so pale. Are so pale”

He nodded. “I’ve been ill. Did I mention that?”

“Yes, but I thought you were referring to your transformation as an illness.”

He smiled and kissed first her brow, then her temple with his warm, warm mouth. “You really do have a vivid imagination. No, I had scarlet fever. I was ill for a long time. I nearly died, I’m told.”

She drew in a breath at the thought of him dying and touched his face. “I wish you’d sent me word.”

“There was nothing you could have done. And I would never risk exposing you to such a serious illness.”

“Still, to have been kept in the dark about how bad off you were…” She gripped his hands. “Bennett, you mustn’t keep shutting me out like that. I need to be a part of your life, the good as well as the bad.”

“I know that now. It does make the burden lighter.” He pulled her in close to him.

She rested her head on his shoulder. “Why do you wear darkened glasses?”

“The fever settled into my eyes. I fear I don’t see as well as I once did, and my eyes are very sensitive to bright light.” He cupped her cheek with his hand and smiled down at her tenderly. “What else made you believe I was a vampire? Surely, those weren’t the only things.”

“No, I also noticed there were no mirrors at your house.”

“There are mirrors.” He narrowed his eyes in thought. “The large mirror in the foyer got broken recently. I believe it was just before you and your mother came calling. My mother has since replaced it.”

“And I saw you in the graveyard in the middle of the night.”

“Graveyard?” His eyes moved as if viewing a scene from the past. “Oh, yes, I’ve been taking a flower to the grave of a friend every Monday. He saved my life on the battlefield. I’d remembered after dinner that I’d neglected to do that, so I went rather later than usual. It’s actually quite peaceful at night.”

“And I suppose that night you and I were in the garden at the ball—the night I twisted my ankle—it was a mere coincidence that a bat flew behind the bushes and you walked out the other way.”

He chuckled. “I was sitting there, enjoying a moment of quiet, when the bat nearly bumped into me. I jerked out of the way and decided I’d had enough of the cold night air. I was returning to the party when I came upon you.”

She nodded silently. How could she have let her imagination rule her head and her heart like that?

He smiled and traced her cheek. “Besides, so many couples had walked past and found a quiet spot to be together, that I’d begun to feel rather lonely. I went to seek you out. Then, there you were.”

She let out her breath in self-deprecating amusement. “I was terrified. I thought the bat was you.”

“So you ran and fell and twisted your ankle, all because you thought I was going to pounce on you and drink your blood.” He grinned wickedly. “I admit, I’m a little glad. I got to pick you up and hold you in my arms.”

“You touched me so gently I’d almost decided right then and there I didn’t care if you were a vampire. I loved you even more than I did before you left.”

His smile faded and he blinked slowly at her. “So you accepted my proposal, all the time believing this of me?”

Silently, she nodded.

“Oh, Em. You were really willing to take that chance?”

“I trust you. I know you’d never hurt me. And if you decided to change me into a vampire, then we’d be together for all eternity.”

“We will. But we’ll start as mortals, and finish it in Heaven.”

“That sounds perfect.”

“Are you disappointed I’m just an ordinary man?”

She put and hand on either side of his face and gaze up at him with all the love in her heart. “Nothing about you is ordinary. You’ve always been remarkable.”

A devilish light danced in his dark eyes. “Very well, I confess; I really am a vampire. Prepare to become my victim.” He pounced on her, knocking her over onto the soft cushions on the divan, and proceeded to kiss and nibble her neck.

Giggling, she shivered as pleasure rippled over her skin everywhere his mouth touched her. As he kissed her lips again, possessively, tenderly, she knew their love would transcend all time. And they would fill the darkness with warmth and love.