A/N-I want to thank a special friend Bekki for being an amazing beta, a great ear. Thanks so much boo. Also want to thank all who read, review, follow and fav.
The count straightened from his introductory bow. His eyes were so dark that he appeared to have no pupils making it hard to judge the precise direction of his gaze. She knew without a shadow of a doubt, that his eyes were fixed on her face. She felt his gaze travel slowly down her cheek, lingering for several agonizing seconds on the pulse throbbing in her throat, and come to rest on her breasts.
Wherever his gaze touched, her skin burned with heat. The effort of keeping her eyes averted caused her physical pain, and her stomach churned with a sensation that teetered somewhere between terror and intense yearning. The yearning grew, swamping the fear, until the urge to reach out and take his hand became almost irresistible. She shut her eyes, fighting off the compulsion to seek his touch. As soon as her eyes closed, she was assailed by the shocking image of the count lying next to her, his head resting against her naked breast, his mouth moving to suckle at her breast...
Regina snapped open her eyes and was appalled by the indecent train of her own imaginings, she realized too late that she had already acted upon one of them. Without conscious awareness, it seemed that she had reached out her hand toward the count and he had taken it into his clasp. He was now gently stroking her fingertips with his thumb, tracing caressing circles around her knuckles.
A kaleidoscope of sensations burned inside her, all of them new, all of them overwhelming in their intensity. She wanted him to carry her hand to his lips and press a passionate kiss into her palm. She wanted him to stroke not just the tips of her fingers, but every inch of her flesh. She wanted to unfasten her gown and bare her throat, her chest to his caress, his lips. She wanted...so many things she had never before dreamed of wanting.
"Milady?" his voice made her snap out of her fantasy.
"I prefer Regina," Regina said.
"Lady Regina," Robin said as his fingers stilled, then closed around her hand.
"My lord, pray release my hand." Regina murmured, her voice hoarse. Her pulse rapid.
For a split second, she thought he would ignore her request. Then he smiled slightly and let her hand down. He shut his eyes, and grabbed a handkerchief from his pocket and pressed it against his mouth as if to assuage a sudden burst of pain.
Regina winced in sympathy, "Is there something I can do?" she asked in a low voice.
"No, nothing!" The count opened his eyes again, and looked at her. "I apologize. That was uncalled for."
"It's alright," Regina murmured.
"You have the most beautiful hands. Did anyone ever tell you that?" he asked.
"No, your Excellency," Regina looked away, striving for composure. The warm glow of desire began to spread over her again.
The count muttered something she couldn't quite hear. Regina thought it might have been "I mustn't do this." Do what? she wondered.
The strange longings she had been experiencing stopped as abruptly as they had began. She drew in a shaky breath, and the beat of her heart gradually slowed to normal. When she finally felt courageous enough to look at the count again, she discovered he had once more standing by the fireplace, his booted foot resting casually on the brass hearth rail, his attention fixed on his watch chain.
"It has been too many years since this house has enjoyed the pleasure of such a charming feminine presence," he said.
"Thank you, Excellency, I am delighted to be here," Regina accepted his praise with a gratified toss of her hair. She looked around sleepily. Goodness, she was tired! She yawned behind her hand and wished she could excuse herself from the room. She visualized herself in the comfort of her room, wearing only her nightgown, and lying down on the smooth linen sheets of her bed. Instantly, the count came and lay down beside her on the bed, his hands cool against her heated flesh. She reached out to stroke his silky hair and felt his body press against hers, warm and comforting. She sighed with sleepy pleasure.
Despite the darkness of their room, she could see that he was smiling, his teeth gleaming strong and white in the glow of the fireplace light. He was smiling as if he could read her thoughts! Sleepiness gave way to desire and she shivered with anticipation as his mouth lowered toward her breasts. His lips brushed her shoulders in a tender caress. She moaned with pleasure. Her skin began to burn as she felt the count's heated flesh press ever more closely against her. His mouth trailed kisses in a slow path leading toward her throat, and she ripped at her nightgown, tearing it open and baring her neck to his pleasure. His lips touched the pulse beating at the base of her neck and he pressed his mouth hard against her flesh.
For a moment, she was bathed in a peace more complete than anything she had ever known. Then, horrifying she felt the slash of a knife blade slicing into her neck. Heat and blood drained from the wound that she suddenly realized the count had inflicted. In an instant, she was deathly cold. Her teeth chattered from the cold. Dear God, she was dying!
She tried to tell the count that he was hurting her, killing her, that he must stop what he was doing, but her throat was paralyzed and she could make no sound at all. Her hands reached up, clawing at her neck, pushing the count away. The blood gushed from her wounded neck, and a dark curtain started to fall in front of her eyes. Just before the curtain cut out all sight and sound, the paralysis of her throat muscles relaxed for a fraction of a second and Regina screamed: a high, petrifying scream of pure terror.
Her father, out of his room because he couldn't sleep, heard his daughter screaming and was at her side in an instant, "Regina, what is wrong? In God's name, what happened?"
Regina blinked, then rubbed her eyes, feeling dazed and totally disoriented. Where was she? Surely to goodness she hadn't been in bed with the Count? She looked around and realized to her mortification that she was in the study, that her father was patting her hand in a vain attempt to soothe her. She looked at the count, who had walked over to one of the windows and seemed to be staring out into the gardens.
For a frightening moment as she looked at the rigid line of the count's shoulders, her vision blurred and she saw again the bed and its lacy linen pillows and their heads resting in close proximity. She fought hard for control, and the debilitating vision disappeared.
"I'm fine, it was but a passing moment of weakness, I'm sorry for scaring you," she searched for some acceptable excuse to explain her scream. "I thought I saw a mouse. It was foolish of me to make such a fuss about something so trivial."
"That is fine, now I suggest we all get back to bed," Henry said, relieved that Regina was alright.
"I wish you both a pleasant evening and a night of restful sleep," Robin said.
Regina stared for a few moments at him, before going out of the room with her father. As they made their way back, she saw Anna heading into the study they had just vacated.
"You should have left earlier," Anna said as she walked in, closing the door behind her.
"You are exhausted. You need rest. Look at you, running and fever and trying to handle those pushy visitors," Anna broke off abruptly. "How are you coping with the women? Will it be a problem tonight?"
"I'm coping...just. Fortunately, only one of them is a virgin."
"Only one. Ha! Just our luck that one of them had to be a virgin. Which one is the virgin? Not the blonde maid?"
"No, the one with brown silky hair and beautiful dark eyes."
Anna looked at him sharply. "It would be that one. She's more your type than the blonde. Are you in pain, lord?"
"I will survive. Don't fuss, Anna." He said.
"Why are they here?" Anna demanded.
"They are just stranded travelers. Nothing more, I'm sure of it." He said.
Anna only shook her head and said, "You believe the best of everyone. That's your problem."
He smiled. "I have so many problems, according to you."
"You're too trusting. The men are a danger to you," she said. "I'm sure they brought the women to test you. Get rid of them. I don't like that lieutenant."
Robin only chuckled lightly, "Anna, enough. They will all be taken care of."
Anna walked up to him and said, "Promise me something."
Ten minutes later, Regina was just getting back into bed when she heard a knock on her door, she went to open it to find Anna there, "Can I help you?"
"I have come to make sure you sleep tonight."
"Excuse me?" Regina asked.
"I'm here to sleep at your side for this night." Anna said.
"I see," Regina said quietly. "And if I wish to leave the room for any reason?"
"That won't be permitted." Anna said.
"How about tomorrow?" Regina asked.
"Tomorrow, there will be nobody more anxious to see you out of this bedroom and off the premises than me," Anna said, "Now get into bed."
As she was about to, there was a knock on her door. Scrambling to her feet, Anna pressed herself against the door, "Who is it?" she asked brusquely.
"Tis I, Hood. Let me in."
Anna shot an anxious glance toward Regina and then quickly turned her back, so that her face couldn't be seen. To Regina's amazement, the servant still didn't open the door, but spoke to the count through the door.
"No, master, you cannot come in. You know that I will not permit you to enter this bedchamber," Anna said.
The count's response was low and soft, but to Regina, his voice seemed laden with the threat of violence. "Anna, I am your master. You will obey me. Open the door!"
"No, lord." Anna's voice trembled. "I'm very sorry lord, but you must go back to your room. You promised me you would not leave your bedchamber tonight."
Silence fell thick and heavy with tension. Finally the count spoke again, his voice racked with anguish. "Anna...I can't...bear it...any...longer."
"Yes, you can, lord. You are strong." Anna spread her hands against the panels of the door, almost as if she wished she was touching her master through the wood. She spoke gently, soothingly. "Where is John, lord? Why has he left you alone?"
A second long silence ensued. "John is...sleeping."
Anna drew in a sharp, frightened breath. She shot another nervous look over her shoulder toward Regina, then leaned even closer to the door. This time, she spoke so quietly that Regina could scarcely hear the question, "Are you sure John is sleeping, lord?"
"Yes. I am sure. He sleeps, that's all. Nothing more, I swear it."
"When he wakes up, what will be remember, lord?"
"Nothing," the count snapped as if he resented being questioned. "There is nothing for him to remember," he added more temperately. "After all these years, Anna, you should know that there is nothing to fear with the men."
"Go back to your shoulders," Anna said. "Please lord, do as I say and no harm will be done this night."
"Will you come to me? Help me stay away from her?" he asked.
"Yes, lord. I will come to you." she promised.
Regina listened in disbelief the conversation she had just heard. The count demanding entrance into her bedchamber, a moment later he had pleaded with Anna like a child seeking comfort from a nightmare.
She didn't have many seconds to mull over what she'd heard. Anna swung around, her face flushed, "Well now you know the truth. My master is not well."
"I don't know anything except it seems the count suffers from um...a form of mental indisposition," Regina said.
"He suffers from a most unfortunate...mental indisposition. That is all, nothing more." She continued quickly, before Regina could interrupt with a question. "Alas, when my master succumbs to one of his spells, he cannot be trusted to behave himself as a gentleman should, when in the presence of a young lady."
"The count sounded as if he were in great pain," she said, surprised to find herself feeling an odd sympathy for him.
"He is in pain." Anna answered. "However you need not worry, his bouts of sickness last no more than a couple of days. Now I must go to him, I need you to bolt the door behind you and not leave the room."
Regina walked her out and bolted the door before Anna would leave her door. A few minutes passed and she thought over what had just happened. She felt the need to go and check on her maid Sharon, making sure she bolted her own door after she explained. Her decision made, she grabbed a robe and threw it on and headed for Sharon's room.
As she neared her room, she drew her hand up to knock on her door when a strong masculine hand reached out and grasped her wrist, holding her in a grip that was at once caressing and imprisoning. Regina went very still, then wondered fleetingly why she didn't scream. She turned around to face him.
"I knew that you would come," the count said, his voice low and husky, rich with satisfaction. "I knew that you would come to me. I have waited twenty three years. Is that not long enough to expiate my sins?"
Regina swallowed hard, "I don't understand what you are talking about, Excellency."
"You are here now, and that is all that matters. I must taste you," he said, reaching out with his other hand, Regina saw he trembled. She knew, with an instinct that went beyond reason, that he shook with the intensity of his longing for her.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN ALL! ALMOST :)
