Chapter 33

Out of curiosity, Lucian wandered back to the parlor where Eliza wrote and picked up the manuscript that she had been editing and laughed when he read the title: Cursed: A Mummy’s Tale.

Lucian chuckled further as he lifted the documents and took them with him to the settee where he took a seat, set them on the table and started reading.

“What are you doing?”

Lucian glanced up to find Eliza standing at the end of the table, fisted hands on her hips, mouth pinched with irritation.

“I told you that I wanted to know what the story was that you are now writing.”

“I did not give you leave to read it.” She marched forward and picked up the stack of parchment then returned to her desk. “Why is it so important to you?”

“Does it have an auburn-haired, grumpy earl?” he asked, no longer disturbed by her portrayal of him because Lucian was confident that he was changing her opinion.

“Of course it does.” She laughed as she returned and took a seat across from him.

“Is he the hero or the villain?”

She cocked her head and smiled. “I shall not tell you.”

“If you do not, I will simply sneak down here while you are asleep and read it myself,” Lucian warned and did have half a mind to do so.

“Such a threat will cause Miss Weston to take the manuscript with her to her chamber each evening when she retires and force her to lock her chamber door again,” Stella said as she entered with a tea service.

After last evening, he hoped that her chamber door was no longer locked to him as he had every intention of visiting her again and sleeping by her side. However, as he could not share such information with her maid, Lucian tried to appear serious and ponder her statement. “That could be a deterrent,” he offered. “However, my housekeeper does have keys to every room and she could simply go in and take it once Miss Weston is asleep.”

Eliza gasped. “You would not dare!”

Lucian arched an eyebrow. “Why would I not? I do have a right to know how I am portrayed.”

“Nobody knows that I may have used you as an inspiration,” Eliza argued.

“You already admitted that you have done so,” Lucian reminded her.

“It is his home, Miss Weston,” Stella reminded Eliza. “He is our host and he’s keeping you safe. Is it fair to write a certain character in an unpleasant light?”

“He is not necessarily presented unfavorably,” Eliza argued.

“So, you did put me in your current book!”

“Oh, very well. I will tell you what it is about.”

Stella nodded in approval then left them alone.

Eliza blew out a sigh and poured them both a cup of tea. “A brave woman, on a quest, is captured by a lord and held at his castle. He forbids visitors and she has trespassed on his property looking for a mummy that could reverse the fortune of her family.”

Lucian frowned. “How?”

With that question Eliza spun the tale of two neighboring families. “One held a mummy and the other a goblet covered in jewels that had been taken from the same grave in Egypt by their grandfathers during an excavation. When kept in close proximity, they brought wealth and abundance to both. When the mummy was taken, both families fell on hard times. The family that once had the mummy also had a son, and he did not believe in such nonsense. The other family had a daughter who believed it to be true and she set out to find the mummy, only to be captured by the lord and kept a prisoner at his estate and her only freedom was walking in the gardens.”

Lucian snorted and was certain the part of her only being allowed into the gardens was influenced by his dictate that she do the same here.

“Learning that his neighbor was imprisoned, the son of the other family went to rescue her from the lord and her foolishness, not the mummy.”

Either one of the male characters in her story could be influenced by him.

“What happens next?” Lucian asked when she did not continue.

Eliza shrugged. “I will not know until I find the mummy.”

“How can you not know since even if the mummy was hidden here, which it is not, it will make no difference to the fictional story.”

“Sometimes I do not know until I do. The ending will come to me when it is located.”

“If it is not?” Lucian asked.

“It will be,” Eliza insisted.

He decided not to argue the matter with her further. She was too stubborn to admit the impossibility and only after she had searched everywhere and not found the mummy would she finally admit she’d been wrong. “Which one is the auburn-haired, grumpy earl?” he asked.

“That, I will not tell you.” She laughed.

“It must be the lord, of course, since the other one is a son and his father still lives.” Besides, it was the lord who wouldn’t let her walk beyond the gardens.

“How do you know that the son’s father did not die?” Eliza countered.

“You did not claim that he had.”

“You are assuming I told you the whole of the story when I have not.” She grinned.

“Eliza!” Lucian warned.

“I will tell you when the story is complete,” she promised.

It really did not matter as it was a fictional story, but Lucian did find himself wanting to know, and how it ended.

Maybe he would sneak down and read it after she slept, if he could pull himself from her bed.

Lucian had left Eliza after she refused to tell him any more about the book and she did not see him again until it was time to dine.

She asked him if there was anywhere else a mummy could be hidden besides a cave or an old mine. He assured her that there was not.

“Does Wyndhill Park possess a dungeon?”

“No, Eliza, it does not.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Are you certain?”

“This manor was built during the reign of Queen Elizabeth. It is not a castle and has no need for a dungeon.”

“Such a pity,” she sighed.

“Why is that?” he asked.

“Because I have never seen a real dungeon and would like to.”

“All I can offer is a cellar where we keep wine.”

Their conversation then continued on to other matters, such as what she might write when she finally finished her current book, to which Eliza could not answer.

In fact, as the evening progressed, she realized that she did not have any ideas when she usually had one story in her mind while she wrote another. Such was not the case now and she only had a sheet of parchment on which she had written an idea.

Once she finished the mummy novel, did that mean she would be done being an author? What if no other ideas came to her? What was she to do then? Her writing was her income and why she was able to remain independent.

The more she thought about it the more panicked she became. Eliza did not want to have to rely on her family for assistance, nor did she want to have to beg her brother to release some of her inheritance.

Her fears accompanied her to her chamber, while she changed and after she’d crawled into the bed. She was so preoccupied with her thoughts that Eliza was startled when her bedchamber door slowly opened.

Her heart nearly seized and her breath lodged in her throat with fear that the unknown man had found his way into the manor. That is, until she finally saw the previously shadowed face of Lucian and blew out a sigh.

“Why are you here?” she whispered.

He arched a brow. “Do you wish for me to leave?”

“No. I just…” She wasn’t certain what she had expected. Earlier in the day she had hoped that he would come to her chamber but that was before she became panicked over having no more ideas.

He crossed to the door to the corridor and turned the lock, then stalked to her bed.

A sudden thrill coursed through her body in anticipation of what they would enjoy.

Lucian stopped by the side of her bed, then pulled the covers completely off her leaving them hanging over the footboard of the bed.

She shivered with anticipation. His eyes grew dark as they studied her body. The corner of his mouth tipped.

Eliza’s breast tightened at his perusal, yet all he did was stand there.

She lifted her arms out, welcoming him into her bed. Instead of joining her he grasped her wrists and pulled her to a seated position and then turned her so that her legs were over the side of the bed.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“There is more than one way to find pleasure,” he murmured as he dropped to his knees. “Was that not proven in the cave earlier today?”

“Seated on the bed?” she asked. How was it possible for him to join her in this manner?

“We are exactly as we should be,” Lucian said before he took her lips.

Eliza sighed and grasped his shoulders. When his lips left hers and trailed down her neck and then to her chest, she realized that he had untied the top of her night shift and had shoved it open so that her sleeves slid down her arms and soon her breasts were exposed.

When Lucian took one peak into his mouth, she groaned and let her head fall back.

She would never get used to such pleasure. Each time it was more heightened than before and likely because her body knew what was to come and was anxious for the release that he so expertly delivered.

While he kissed both breasts, taking turns between the two, he slowly pushed her nightshift up her legs, his thumbs caressing her inner thighs until her nether regions were completely exposed and she waited for him to finally touch her there, but he didn’t. Instead, he kissed her deeply and before Eliza knew what he was about, she was on her back, her legs over the side of her bed and her buttocks at the edge.

When she reached for Lucian, he pulled away and trailed kisses once again to her breasts and then to her stomach which was more sensitive that she ever anticipated as his fingers caressed her inner thighs coming ever so close to the most sensitive area on her body but not quite touching her there. It was all she could do not to squirm while she waited for Lucian to end this torture.

When he dropped to his knees again, his shoulders pushed her legs further apart. Eliza nearly sat up to demand to know what he was doing but didn’t get the chance because then he kissed her there.

Goodness.

Was this even proper?

Eliza was certain that it was not, but between his fingers and his tongue, her world started to spin with the most delicious sensations.

Magic. He was working magic and as the coil began to tighten, he pushed her to the edge then back, closer again, then eased away until she finally had to beg him to let her go.

“Please,” she cried. And with that word Lucian set her free as the explosion of a release spread through her entire body with the most exquisite pleasure. So powerful that there were stars within her vision.

She thought he would give her a moment to recover. Instead, he stood, grasped her hips and lifted her slightly before he filled her completely.

From her place on the bed, all Eliza could do was lie there and watch, barely able to reach his arms as he filled her over and over, his eyes staring into hers.

With each thrust, she gasped as her pleasure built once again as the intensity of his stare and determination filled her entire being.

He was claiming her. He had the power, not her, and Lucian was making certain she realized he was the one in charge.

She was his. That is what he had said the night before and she now understood more completely.

Further, she did not care. She wanted him to take her and keep her.

He lifted her further and when he rubbed a secret spot deep inside, the tightening of a release began again.

Over and over, he thrust, taking her on this ride until she could not hold back as an intense release swept through her entire body and only then did he hasten his movements before he stiffened and groaned, holding himself deep inside her before he finally relaxed and then fell on the bed beside her.

Goodness!

He said there were several ways to find pleasure and Eliza was beginning to wonder if she would survive them.