Dare to be Mine (29 page)

The servants were buzzing about
excitedly. Food was plenteous and every sweet imaginable filled the tables.
There was a wide variety of drinks including champagne and holiday egg nog.

Elyssa's hands trembled in nervous
excitement at the sound of the first knock, and she was grateful for her
family's presence. Hopefully she would be able to pull off the ruse of being
interested in another man without actually giving him too much encouragement.
She'd decided on a young baron, Lord William Harrison. Tall and muscular, with
sandy blond hair, he was the stuff dreams were made of. Eyes so blue you wanted
to fall into their depths, he'd been the crux of many a wounded female heart.

She was a fool herself not to be
genuinely interested in him, Elyssa mused inwardly, for well
over
a year past he'd been at Greystone for a business deal with Percy and had
betrayed a more than passing interest i feel
of his tongue

Hurrying down the stairs to greet the guests,
Elyssa forced herself to slow down. She was no longer racing down the stairs
after her younger brothers like some hoyden, but was now the lady of a fine
home, and must act as befitting a young woman of her station.

Surprisingly, the first and only guest
so far, and fifteen minutes early at that, was William Harrison, the handsome
baron. The sight of him both calmed and frightened Elyssa. Calmed her in the
fact he was a friendly face and not one of the stuffy members of the
ton
she'd
invited. Frightened in that he was looking at her with something akin to pure
male admiration, and she feared that after putting her silly plan into motion,
he'd most likely expect Elyssa to plead with him to ravish her before he left
for the night.

Elyssa continued her careful descent,
the emerald gown cascading about her in a frothy sea of green. She'd chosen the
gown in honor of Christmas, though she was helpless to recall that Daniel had
said emerald green was her color, bringing out her magnificent eyes. The neckline
was rounded, the decolletage only slightly daring, and the long sleeves ended
in a point over her dainty hands. An emerald necklace adorned her slender neck
to complete the effect. Her black hair was pulled up and back, endless ringlets
cascading about her face and shoulders.

"Lord Harrison," she said
sweetly upon reaching the baron, extending her hand in greeting. He took her
hand, placing a brief kiss upon it, his eyes never leaving her face.

"I insist you call me
William," he replied, the deep timbre of his voice surrounding her senses.

Nervous laughter escaped her lips and
Elyssa said, "William it is then." Putting her plan into motion, she
continued, "Am I to assume you came alone, William?"

Taking a small step to close the
distance between them, he replied with a slight smile tugging at his perfect
lips, "Yes, that would be a correct assumption."

"In that case, I wonder if I might
have the great pleasure in your company during the gala tonight. To talk,"
she added, not wishing for William to get the wrong idea. Indeed, people tended
to mistake a young widow for a woman desperate to sully herself with whatever
handsome man propositioned. Elyssa did not wish to gain an indecent reputation
in the process, but merely to exact some tinIn between kisses, ishi d fy revenge upon Daniel.

"I would greatly enjoy that,"
he responded warmly.

Elyssa was grateful to hear the bell
sounding someone was at the door, giving her an excuse to leave William's side.
Already she scorned herself a fool for using a man like Lord Harrison in a
petty female scheme. She had best watch her step, else
become
a victim
of her own ploy.

Guests were arriving now, one after
another, and Elyssa's family was downstairs by that time. Elyssa's mother and
father helped greet everyone and the servants were quick to see to the guests'
comfort, taking their coats, hats, and gloves, and offering them refreshment.

As Elyssa turned from one guest to greet
the next, she faltered for a split second at the sight of Blake Edmonton.
Luckily, William was standing next to her at the time and although the sight of
Daniel's closest friend was nerve-racking, he was the one person at the ball
that would help carry out her plan. Pulling William familiarly by the arm, she
greeted Blake.

The gesture of closeness and the brief
smile of adoration Elyssa flashed up toward William
was
not lost on Blake. Indeed, he didn't particularly care for Elyssa already,
given the fact that she was responsible for his good friend's downfall over the
last year, but still he forced an air of strained friendliness.

"Elyssa," he said, taking her
hand briefly, "it is good to see you. Indeed, I feared you might not be
present tonight, but rather send a note advising you were unable to host the
party."

Elyssa's smile faltered more than a little,
and she could not help but notice the anger lurking in his eyes. Of course he
would blame her for calling the wedding off, but he had no idea of her side of
the story.

Compelling herself to proceed with
introductions, Elyssa said, "Blake, this is William Harrison,
my....friend."

"We know each other,
dearheart," Blake responded, shaking William's hand enthusiastically as he
added, "We've shared more than a whore or two, eh, Harrison?"

Stunned, William scolded,
"Edmonton, there is a lady present!" romantic onslaughtchance second

"Indeed," Blake muttered as he
walked away into the crowd just after his female companion joined him. Elyssa
forced the tears back, her gaze faltering downward as she struggled to maintain
calmness.

"I must apologize profusely for
Blake's behavior," William exuded in sincere sympathy, and not a little
perturbed that Blake had mentioned whores in front of the woman he planned to
begin courting as soon as possible.

"No matter," she replied,
forcing a smile, "he is probably into his cups already. I know Blake meant
no harm."

A moment later William left to talk
business with a group of men across the ballroom. Elyssa counted the gathering
a success already, for the mansion was verily crowded from one end to the
other. She was correct in assuming most of them had come purely out of
curiosity. She was not oblivious to the covert stares, the veiled whispers, and
did her best to ensure that everyone would leave that night thinking well of
her.

It seemed everyone that was coming had
already arrived and Elyssa was walking away from the foyer when she heard her
name called. Turning about, she saw Catherine Edmonton and wondered of a sudden
why she'd invited Daniel's former lover to her party.

A coy smile graced her lips and the
petite woman allowed the butler to remove her lavish fur before leisurely
making her way toward Elyssa. "Darling, I never got to express my
gratitude at your taking my sage advice last year. It was for the best, you
know."

Though it nearly killed Elyssa to speak
the words, she softly uttered, "Thank you for being honest with me."

"But of course," came the
short reply, Catherine's eyes betraying the same dislike Elyssa had seen in
Blake's. "Dear Daniel did need comforting after you abandoned him, and I
was more than happy to provide it." The woman's taunting smile was meant
to hurt, and it did.

"I am sure you were," Elyssa
managed as Catherine's escort approached, and she turned at the sound of
William's voice. She allowed him to sweep her out toward the dance floor, happy
at least that Catherine had seen her whisked off in the arms of a gorgeous man.
That she was not a lonely, forlorn widow, in spite of Daniel. romantic onslaughtk hi d f

The hours wore away quickly, the evening
a huge success. Sophie was having a marvelous time with the gentlemen, her
French accent an alluring thing to them all. Elyssa's younger brothers had long
since retired to bed.

Elyssa could fairly see the wheels
turning in her parents' heads over the prospect of marrying their younger
daughter off. Quelling any such notion, Elyssa told them, "Please don't
even allow the idea of marriage for Rachel to enter your minds, Mother and
Father. She is only fifteen."

At their initial objections that Rachel
was quite mature for her age and well able to make up her own mind about such
matters, Elyssa insisted she would cut off the generous monthly allowance she'd
been sending them did they not stop pursuing such ideas. Finally, they gave in
and Elyssa was pleased to have gotten her way. She would never allow Rachel to
be forced into an unwanted marriage as she had been.

Later Elyssa excused herself for a
moment, William urging her to hurry back. She went upstairs to check her
appearance, touch up her makeup, and gain a moment's reprieve from the
evening's constant demands. Leaning back against the closed door, Elyssa closed
her eyes, a smile curving her lips upward. The peace and quiet was heavenly but
Elyssa dared take no more than ten or fifteen minutes before returning
downstairs.

William had been quite the willing
partner in her scheme, however unwitting, and Elyssa thought she might perhaps
allow the baron to court her after all, for he'd hinted at such intentions
throughout the evening. Indeed, he was an excellent conversationalist, a fine
dancer, and quite easy on the eyes.

Her thoughts rudely interrupted,
Elyssa's eyes flew open at the sound of someone's footsteps in the room. Before
she could even think to scream, her mouth was covered and Elyssa looked up
fearfully into his eyes.

Daniel! How in the world had he gotten
into Greystone? Into her very bedroom without anyone having seen him? She hated
the way her body was reacting to his mere touch, impersonal as it was. An
entire year she’d spent trying her damndest to forget Daniel, and just the feel
of his hand upon her mouth made her want to beg him.
To offer
herself to him, to do with as he pleased.
His harsh voice ordered her
not to scream and Elyssa reluctantly nodded her head in acquiescence.

True to her word, Elyssa remained silent
though her chest heaved in utter fear. He looked stunning in all black.
Dangerous.
His hair was longer romantic onslaughtchance second than she remembered, blacker
than she recalled, the day's growth of whiskers on his face adding a sinister
look to his already angry appearance. The gray of his eyes was turbulent, yet
in them a sign of loneliness. The vibrant life that once shone in them was now
gone.

As if wanting to avoid any physical
contact with her, Daniel moved away from her. He paced the room like a caged
animal, though his gaze never strayed from Elyssa. He saw her hand on the
doorknob, noted the slight turn of it and Daniel was on her at once. He yanked
Elyssa away from the door and threw her onto the bed. Turning the key in the
lock, he placed the key in his jacket for safekeeping.

"Now, where were we?" he
sneered, returning his full attention to Elyssa as she reclined uncomfortably
on the bed. The woman he believed to have killed his father. The scheming bitch
that had gotten his inheritance and left him with nothing save his father's
business and the small home left him by his mother. "Oh, yes, we were
supposed to be speaking vows the last time I expected to see you, darling,
weren't we?"

Stalking slowly toward her, the feral
smile on Daniel's face made Elyssa shiver, his straight, white teeth showing as
he chuckled at her obvious fright. "The last time I saw you was at a ball
not unlike this one, wasn't it?" Sitting on the bed next to Elyssa, he
reached out and stroked the curly ringlet lying across her forehead. "I
made the mistake of going to get us drinks and that was the last I ever saw of
the mysterious Lady Elyssa Fredrickson."

No matter that she was the one that had
been wronged, lied to and used by
Daniel,
Elyssa was
still helpless to feel frightened of Daniel. His touch was cold, his expression
grim, and she feared he meant to do her harm. Surely if she didn't reappear
below stairs shortly, someone would come looking for her.
Her
mother, perhaps, or Sophie.
Of course by that time, it might be too
late. Of what, she wasn't sure.

He leaned closer to her. His lips neared
hers slightly and Elyssa's heart began to beat furiously. Dared she hope Daniel
had missed her, though why that should matter in the least astounded
her.
The flat look in his dark eyes would deny that wishful
thinking. Their mouths a whisper apart, he ignored her tempting lips. He
reached his hand about her, his fingers toying with the tiny buttons on the
back of her gown as he stared into her wary eyes. He leisurely undid the top
few in an agonizingly slow manner, his cynical smile daring her to try and stop
him. He was pleased to note the slight look of disappointment in her eyes that
he’d not kissed her. It was taking everything in him not to kiss her, but he’d
be damned if he’d let Elyssa know how seeing her was actually affecting him.
How it had been killing him to spy on her from above, watching as she plied her
adoring smiles and discreet touches to William Harrison. romantic onslaught,thi

His smile faded at the remembrance of
holding Elyssa in his arms, of the immense hurt she'd caused him that long ago
day, and Daniel wanted to punish her.
To hurt Elyssa like
she'd never been hurt before.
Still, his body was unable to remain
immune to hers and he cursed her for his weakness. Her faithless beauty should
have left him cold. The faint look of longing in her eyes, though she would
deny it, left him feeling bitter.
Soulless.