Moonlight Horizon
An Rini and Elios Love Story
By Lady M. Harris
Author's Notes: This is not an alternate reality.
Chapter 3
3085 Neo Tokyo...
"I'm sorry, Lady Alicia," Madam Horton began, "but I'm afraid we'll have to reschedule your appointment." She said, agitated. She looked back over her shoulders to watch her girls, who were busy scurrying about like busy bees. I have to help them, Madam Horton thought with dire urgency. We'll never be ready in time, especially if this woman before me puts up a scene.
"I can see that something important is about to happen, " Lady Alicia began icily, "however, it does not concern me in the least." Her ire was beginning to boil to a simmering point.
"I sincerely apologize, Lady Alicia, but I'm afraid that I'll have to reschedule your appointment until tomorrow." Madam Horton replied rising to the challenge. Her hand snapped forward and she quickly opened her appointment book, flipping through the used pages to the following day. Mrs. Harrington normally missed her appointments and so Madam Horton summarized, she could easily schedule Lady Alicia into the time slot.
Lady Alicia's eyes narrowed sharply over her dismissed statement. "I waited patiently for three weeks to get in, Madam Horton, and I won't any longer!" She huffed, throwing her weight into Madam's face.
"Be that it may, Lady Alicia, but the King's appointment is far more important than yours at the moment!" Madam Horton threw back at the offending lady; she relished the thought of using the King's title at this lowly aristocrat. Her opinion of Lady Alicia was slowly disintegrating into a pile of offending mush.
"The King?" Lady Alicia voiced with surprise. "Why would the King---"
Madam Horton became more agitated with each passing lost moment, and the fact that the royal house would arrive at any moment. To make matters even worse, she was not at all prepared for their arrival, she burst out, and "The King has requested a private showing. That is all I can tell you." Madam Horton huffed, "Now, I will see you tomorrow at 2 PM. Good day." She said snapping her appointment book closed, dismissing the lady as if she was royalty herself.
Madam Horton was certainly the most sought after custom, tailoring boutique in the Tokyo district. The elite rich paid large sums of money for her lavish and elegant designs. Her designs included many imitation designs from the world's best fashion designers, which made her a highly sought after seamstress as well. Herself and her staff of highly trained seamstresses personally attended their appointments. Despite the great imitation designs, the outfits were custom tailored for each individual and no two outfit were designed exactly the same.
Madam Horton turned her back on Lady Alicia, promptly dismissing her from her mind and rushed forward to help her girls.
Lady Alicia curled her lip in contempt, her eyes narrowing in cold fury. How dare that obnoxious woman dismiss her with out so much as the courtesy she deserved as a polite socialite? Her nose held high and her body stiff with anger, she left the small boutique, relishing the sound of the front door slamming in the process. She turned rather quickly and bumped into a large, solid male body, who in return nearly knocked her down.
The man turned around, apologizing at the same time about not watching where he was going. "Excuse me-I didn't see you there," came the deep reply.
"Darling, I'm sure you nearly bulldozed her down!" a light and airy voice announced from behind the man. The golden-haired beauty, unusual for Japan, was emerging from one of the white Royal Royce limousines, parked in front of the boutique.
"When she's around, I'm always running into something just to keep an eye out on her," the man apologized again, smiling in the process and nodding towards the lovely lady.
Lady Alicia felt her breath catch as stared in the man's handsome face. Although he was by means, one of best looking males that she had seen in a while, his carriage belied subtle power with an underlying touch of enigmatic to his outer appearance. She blinked her eyes rapidly, suddenly remembering that she had not said a thing to the man who stood politely smiling down at her from his tall height. The woman behind him was dismissed as unimportant as she finally found her tongue. "Oh no, that is quite alright. I wasn't watching where I was going either. No harm done," she added, lowering voice to a husky drawl and allowing her gaze to smolder.
"That's good to hear. Gotta go. A good day to you, milady," he bowed low to her, either not hearing the subtle change in her voice and gaze or choosing to ignore them all together.
"What did you say to the lovely lady?" Serena asked curiously, when Darien reached her at the doorway of the boutique.
Darien shrugged his broad shoulders nonchalantly, a grin alighting his face. "Just apologizing for running into her. All because I was trying to keep an eye on you!" He laughed when the feigned anger crossed her features.
Serena swapped her purse across his shoulder, chuckling along with her husband. "Keeping an eye on me, you say!" Thoughts of the woman and the incident completely gone from Serena's mind. She hadn't missed the great interest the woman had displayed for Darien. It wasn't the first time, nor was she sure it would be the last time a woman would make a play for her husband. Apparently, the lady had no idea who Darien was. She would soon find out, Serena thought.
"Well of course, I can't let my beautiful wife get distracted. Because when you're distracted, mischief is bound to appear." His deep blue eyes alive with warmth and gentle humor as he continued to gaze down at his wife, Serena.
"Oh!" Serena shook her head, smiling in exasperation, unable to comment to his jest. "And just what, I say, husband o' mine are we doing at Madam Horton's boutique?" Her golden brow went up in curiosity. "You haven't suddenly taken' a liken to women's clothing? I will surely despair if that is so!"
Darien barked with laughter at her remarks, admiring her at the same time. His eyes leisurely swept the length of her lovely form, basking in the warm glow of her love. She was certainly a fetching picture in her summer white, suite. The tailored, short skirt stopping high on her smooth, golden thighs and finishing her ensemble with white, strapped high heels. Limbered, trim legs still impressive enough to stop traffic, especially from the admiring glances of the men walking past them on the busy street. "If I did, little wifey," Darien paused wickedly, and tucking her hand into the crook of his arm, while opening the door to the boutique, "you would certainly be the first to know, luv!" He softly kissed the nape of her neck where golden-white wisps of tendrils of hair escaped from her pulled up hairstyle.
Her eyes flashed with smoldered, blue fire at him, the turn of her sultry lips warming his loins, instantly.
The sound of someone clearing their throat interrupted their private world of two.
"Welcome, your majesty," Madame Horton began graciously, a welcoming smile on her aging, kind face. They were such a lovely couple and obviously still very much in love with each other, she thought with insight. "The selection of lingerie that you've asked for are exquisite. The styles came straight from Paris, France. The materials imported from the Singapore, India and China. Hopefully, your majesty's queen will be pleased the selections as we are, your highness," she nodded towards the king, the returning nod barely indecipherable. "Come, your private show awaits your pleasure," Madam Horton turned away from the couple, leading them towards the shrouded, dark drapes in the back of the boutique.
"Private showing...?" Serena laughed quietly with surprised delight, her hands clutching Darien's arm closer to her.
Kissing the tip of her upturned nose, "Come on, we wouldn't want to keep her waiting, would we?" He asked, the indescribable feeling of satisfaction running through his veins that she was happy with his surprise....
*********************************
11 Months later...
"Lita! When did you get in?" Amy gasped, coming forth into the palace's immaculate, large kitchen. It was nearing midnight and Amy came downstairs to rummage through the refrigerator in hopes of finding the leftovers of dinner. The soft light underneath the kitchen door had alerted her of another midnight snacker. She found Lita chopping happily away on what she craved, fried chicken.
Lita chewed on a piece of fried skin and white meat, having missed Miriam's cooking. "About a half hour ago," she said through a mouth full of chicken.
"How was the trip?" Amy asked, opening one of the fridge's burnished, chrome doors. The light came on as Amy's gaze wondered over the contents.
"It was great! And Alex loved Europe. He's upstairs already asleep. Commuter lag." Lita smiled at Amy in the soft bathing light of the moon that filtered through one of the kitchen windows. "But there's no place like home."
Amy sighed, pouring some milk into a tall glass. "I know the feeling. I'm glad that you guys had fun. But it's good see you back too." She padded silently to one of the cabinets, opening it to retrieve a handful of cookies.
"Mina still in Central America?"
Amy nodded.
"The tour must be doing well. Mindy," Mindy was one of the main chamber housekeepers of the palace, "told me that Raye and Chad got back into town last week." Lita added as she placed her empty plate into the kitchen sink. "How'd the buying show go in Okinawa?"
"Good from-" the muffled sound of something falling to the floor above their heads interrupted Amy. She frowned looking up at the ceiling, her weary brows furring in worry. The King and Queen chambers were above them. She looked over at Lita and noticed the same worry in her face.
"I've heard the rumors. What's going on with them?"
Amy placed one of the cookies to her lips. "I don't know, Lita. But I'm very worried about Serena. After Rini left for the officer's training, things haven't been completely the same. I don't know what's changed between them, and this-this Alicia seems to be the cause."
"Lady Alicia Woodward? Of the late Gene Woodward?" Lita frowned. Gene Woodward passed away nearly a year ago. He was the Chairman Financial Officer of the Palace Holdings and oversaw many financial projects that were related to Crystal Tokyo and its commerce. He had also been a close and trusted friend of the King and Queen. His wife, Lady Alicia had not resided with him while he was alive, choosing to live in America istead. They had separated but never formally divorced a couple of years before Gene passed away. "I don't get it, what does she have that would make Darien even remotely interested her?"
"You'd have to ask Darien, I still don't know," Amy shuddered over the sudden chill in the air. In fact, Mina, Raye and herself had asked the same question of Darien. He had stared back at them with cold fury burning in his hard blue gaze, stating to them that they had trespassed into forbidden waters and that he did not answer his actions to them. Prying questions were squelched within an instance, and the ladies had dispersed realizing that they had overstepped their boundaries of friendship. Apparently, the situation was now in Serena's hands to figure out.
****
"Why must I constantly prove my trustworthiness to you?" Darien rasped out in leashing anger. He grabbed Serena's arm, causing her to loosen her grip on a rare and expensive, large vase that she had been about to throw at him. The vase landed on the thick, carpeted floor with a loud, muffled thud.
Anger continued to wash over Serena's face. "You! What about me? Why must you keep secrets between us!" She struggled fiercely against his strong hold on her arm, her creamy, silk robe coming undone in the process. "Tell me, what's going on? Why Alicia?" She pleaded with him.
"Alicia?" He blinked at her, his eyes unconsciously dipping to her exposed full breasts revealed by the deep vee of her nightgown. Her lovely eyes continued to accuse him. "As I've told you countless times before, nothing is going on between us!" He shook her slightly.
"That's not true! You're lying to me!" She shook her golden head not believing him, the tresses rippling like molten gold.
"I've seen the two of you together! Your conversation is quite intimate, her look adoring when she gazes at you!"
The motion of her hair caught his attention, reminding him that he had not touched her in a while. His nostrils flared, aware of her utterly tantalizing scent. She was the one who had pushed him away, forbidding him from her bed, he thought dismally!
"I'm not sleeping with her, Serena!" He bit out slowly, the anger still burning within him, his expression still hard.
"I don't believe you, Darien!" She cried out, desperate to find out the truth.
"What must I do to prove to you that I'm not seeing her," he asked her, pushing her up against their bedroom wall. "Huh? What does it take?" He empathized again, shaking her gently as if to prove his point.
She caught the sudden narrowing of his eyes as they studied her angrily squirming body, gasping in righteous outrage. The inexplicable warning of blue fire blazing through his slanted eyes, the breath that she so fervently fought for now seemed forced. His sharp gaze was no longer trained on her face, but now on her softly parted lips.
He fended off her useless punches against his shoulders with a lazy, almost insolent ease-finally gripping her wrists tightly until she cried out with pain. He pinned his body against hers, the lethal, hard length of him causing her senses to do summersaults despite her towering rage.
"Do you think I don't know what you're about, Darien," she gasped back, could feel the thick, hot brand of his desire laying against her soft stomach. Her body responded with its own ache. Her breathing shallow and tired from struggling. Even with the fury flowing through her, she could feel her body already beginning to betray her mind, always, always to him. The lingering sense of languor creeping steadily through her body, engulfing her within its own treacherous heat.
"I'm tired of fighting with you, Serena," he said through gritted teeth, his hands easily ripping the soft material of her gown.
"And at this particular moment, I don't give a shit what you're thinking." His mouth covering over her parted lips, hungrily, greedily. Blotting out any retort that rose to her mind.
She cried out softly when he finally lifted her naked body and dropped her on their bed, his fingers catching on the rippling, golden mass of her tumbled hair. Salty tears escaped from her clinched eyes, unable to stop them from flowing down her cheeks. She felt like...like a captive girl being taken by her conqueror. Sudden instinct caused her to struggle to against his domination of her, but her clawing against his arched back turned into a purring caress. He pulled cruelly at her hair or was it actually gently, she wondered? Pulling her head back so that he could press his lips at the base hollow of her neck. Her arms clasped against his body, pulling him closer, long limbs twinning around his hard-muscled thighs, arching her hips to meet his thrust into her welcoming, wanting body.
The soft light burning in the background cast a warm glow against their silhouetted, shadowy bodies. He moved steadily within her, her lips catching in her teeth wanting to cry out at the sheer pleasure of having him once again encased within her. Lips and hands reexplored each other, as their bodies moved apart and then rejoined as one, making new patterns against their crumbled bed sheets.
With his arm still holding her close, Serena dozed off and then was wide awake again, her voice huskily murmuring the sex words against his warm, bare shoulder as she exulted in the resurgence of his desire for her again.
After this-after it seemed as if they had found each other again, surely he wouldn't push her away. Something deep within him constantly gnawed at him, bothered him. This much she knew, she sensed. If only he would let her in!
"Darien...?" She began, tentatively. But he wouldn't let her finish. He rolled over her once more, the sheet haphazardly bunching across the lower half of him, surging deeply into her tight crevice with one smooth lunge. His hands threading into her tumbled hair. Twisting her body with mounting eagerness, stroking her fires with each driving motion of his body. He was kissing her again, fiercely, and possessively as if to ward off all questions, all thoughts except for this inexplicable passion they felt for one another. It was almost as if they both refused to consider the morning that lay crouched outside this night and that it could tear them apart again.
His hold on her was almost diabolical she drowsily thought some time later, snuggling deeper into his embrace. She was frightfully tired and exhausted, barely able to open her eyes. Hazy thoughts of passion swirled in her sleepy mind, of how many times Darien had taken her that night.
Yet, when the filtering gray light made its way through the carelessly drawn drapes, how was she to know that the new day would wipe away the night of passion as if it had never happened? Again, tearing them apart as the insistent knocking on their door woke the both of them.
There she was on the docking grounds, dressed warmly against the chilly morning in her gray suit, black nylon stockings and black, suede high heels. Her attired matched her mood and the misty morning that sleepily touched the commuter ship and its surroundings.
Serena was once more reminded of the morning Rini left for her officer's training so many months ago. Then she had not been able to think coherently, only of her baby finally leaving their nest. What a dismal day, she thought turning her musings away from Rini! Her gaze roamed over the important officials ready to leave for Europe. If only Darien did not have to take this trip. It would have given them the time to talk, to sort things out between them.
Lita stood quietly behind her, realizing her melancholy mood. Her hooded emerald gaze seemed fixed on a particular individual emerged in a deep conversation with Darien.
Serena's eyes sparked with anger. That woman-Lady Alicia, smiling so flirtatiously even in the gloom of the morning, up into Darien's face. Why did she always have to one of the officials accompanying them? If Serena did not have important matters to attend here, she would getting on that commuter ship as well. If only to keep an eye on her! How dare she flirt so openly, before her, his wife?
Quite suddenly, almost as if he sensed her look, Darien glanced in her direction. His eyes dark, an inscrutable blue, half-hidden and shuttered against his thoughts. She stared back, her expression, unlike his, open. Lady Alicia looked back up into Darien's face, and then at Serena's. A small, ugly sneer appeared on her glossy, red lips, almost like a warning.
Darien had already forgotten the woman standing so close to him as he stared back at his wife. How angry, but exhilaratingly beautiful she appeared at that moment. He mocked her by the half smile that perched on his lips. But she had more courage then he, to allow him to glimpse straight into her soul. As she had hours before, remembering all too well, her frantic beating heart against his chest as he made love to her again and again. Serena-his siren, he thought diversely. If only he could open his traitorous thoughts and allow her in as it was before. Alas, he could not. For her own sake and for his own piece of mind, he could not let her see the turbulent waters they treaded on.
As if she could not continue to gaze at him with her heart still in her eyes, she turned away sharply. She walked away from the group she was standing near, letting the chilly draft of the cool morning take its shivering toll on her.
"Excuse me..." Darien replied mechanically to Alicia, a disappointed look spreading across her face.
Against every practical, rational warning going off in his head, he followed her. Walking up to her, he followed her gaze on the seagulls that floated above them and near the runways. He was on the point of saying something casual, in light of the night before still filtering across his ramshackle thoughts. Her face was still turned away from him, when he heard her say his name aloud.
"Darien..."
And now, it seemed as if the veil of doubts and misunderstandings that had existed between were suddenly lifted for an instant. He could see the tug-of-war between pride and emotion play across her lovely features, still keeping her face away from him as if not daring herself to see the answers in his damnable eyes. The same seesaw emotions he wanted to deny himself, but found wanting. He could not continue to keep up this farce.
"When I get back..." he hesitated, for an instant.
Serena swung her face forward, wanting to see his eyes and finding them for once, after so many months, now unguarded. "Is it so hard?" She said carefully, quietly.
He let out a deep sigh. His answer, surprising her, "yes, for you. Always."
So many things still not said, she thought staring deeply into his eyes. "Just come back to me, Darien-if you still want me, if you still care..." and for a moment, she thought he looked angry at her words, frustrated.
"Serena..." he put his hands on her shoulders.
She shook her head at him. "Please-don't! If you can't tell me-if you can't say the words anymore...then show me! Show me the truth, damn you, Darien!" Without caring that the deck was crowded with people, Serena flung her body against his, arms reaching up to clasp around his neck as she stood on her tiptoes; lips already parting as they hungrily reached for his.
He wasn't able to resist her. How could he--she was his, for as long as he could remember and before--in another time, in another body. His arms crushed her against him, his mouth greedily slanting over her mouth. His tongue delving savagely into her mouth, causing her to moan softly against his lips. He might've pushed her away in the past months, but now she knew the truth! Could feel the truth bearing a heavy weight against her soft stomach. What a fool she had been! He could not have had an affair with Alicia and then make so passionate love to her, several times over as he had last night. He could not, she thought desperately. It was almost as if he had been celibate, her mind whispered.
"The ship is boarding, your majesty," came Lita's embarrassed cough behind them.
They broke away, almost reluctantly.
Tenderness and frustration etched Darien's strained face as he stared down into Serena's white, tearstained face. He looked up into Lita's flushed face, his composure back in place, his eyes unreadable again. "Take care of her.... Don't let anyone hurt her," his voice low and concerned, but there was an underlying steely warning to the words that Lita didn't miss or comprehend.
Fortunately, Lita thought as she nodded back to Darien acknowledging his statement, Serena completely missed the veiled meaning.
Stay tuned for chapter 4...Lady M. Harris.
An Rini and Elios Love Story
By Lady M. Harris
Author's Notes: This is not an alternate reality.
Chapter 3
3085 Neo Tokyo...
"I'm sorry, Lady Alicia," Madam Horton began, "but I'm afraid we'll have to reschedule your appointment." She said, agitated. She looked back over her shoulders to watch her girls, who were busy scurrying about like busy bees. I have to help them, Madam Horton thought with dire urgency. We'll never be ready in time, especially if this woman before me puts up a scene.
"I can see that something important is about to happen, " Lady Alicia began icily, "however, it does not concern me in the least." Her ire was beginning to boil to a simmering point.
"I sincerely apologize, Lady Alicia, but I'm afraid that I'll have to reschedule your appointment until tomorrow." Madam Horton replied rising to the challenge. Her hand snapped forward and she quickly opened her appointment book, flipping through the used pages to the following day. Mrs. Harrington normally missed her appointments and so Madam Horton summarized, she could easily schedule Lady Alicia into the time slot.
Lady Alicia's eyes narrowed sharply over her dismissed statement. "I waited patiently for three weeks to get in, Madam Horton, and I won't any longer!" She huffed, throwing her weight into Madam's face.
"Be that it may, Lady Alicia, but the King's appointment is far more important than yours at the moment!" Madam Horton threw back at the offending lady; she relished the thought of using the King's title at this lowly aristocrat. Her opinion of Lady Alicia was slowly disintegrating into a pile of offending mush.
"The King?" Lady Alicia voiced with surprise. "Why would the King---"
Madam Horton became more agitated with each passing lost moment, and the fact that the royal house would arrive at any moment. To make matters even worse, she was not at all prepared for their arrival, she burst out, and "The King has requested a private showing. That is all I can tell you." Madam Horton huffed, "Now, I will see you tomorrow at 2 PM. Good day." She said snapping her appointment book closed, dismissing the lady as if she was royalty herself.
Madam Horton was certainly the most sought after custom, tailoring boutique in the Tokyo district. The elite rich paid large sums of money for her lavish and elegant designs. Her designs included many imitation designs from the world's best fashion designers, which made her a highly sought after seamstress as well. Herself and her staff of highly trained seamstresses personally attended their appointments. Despite the great imitation designs, the outfits were custom tailored for each individual and no two outfit were designed exactly the same.
Madam Horton turned her back on Lady Alicia, promptly dismissing her from her mind and rushed forward to help her girls.
Lady Alicia curled her lip in contempt, her eyes narrowing in cold fury. How dare that obnoxious woman dismiss her with out so much as the courtesy she deserved as a polite socialite? Her nose held high and her body stiff with anger, she left the small boutique, relishing the sound of the front door slamming in the process. She turned rather quickly and bumped into a large, solid male body, who in return nearly knocked her down.
The man turned around, apologizing at the same time about not watching where he was going. "Excuse me-I didn't see you there," came the deep reply.
"Darling, I'm sure you nearly bulldozed her down!" a light and airy voice announced from behind the man. The golden-haired beauty, unusual for Japan, was emerging from one of the white Royal Royce limousines, parked in front of the boutique.
"When she's around, I'm always running into something just to keep an eye out on her," the man apologized again, smiling in the process and nodding towards the lovely lady.
Lady Alicia felt her breath catch as stared in the man's handsome face. Although he was by means, one of best looking males that she had seen in a while, his carriage belied subtle power with an underlying touch of enigmatic to his outer appearance. She blinked her eyes rapidly, suddenly remembering that she had not said a thing to the man who stood politely smiling down at her from his tall height. The woman behind him was dismissed as unimportant as she finally found her tongue. "Oh no, that is quite alright. I wasn't watching where I was going either. No harm done," she added, lowering voice to a husky drawl and allowing her gaze to smolder.
"That's good to hear. Gotta go. A good day to you, milady," he bowed low to her, either not hearing the subtle change in her voice and gaze or choosing to ignore them all together.
"What did you say to the lovely lady?" Serena asked curiously, when Darien reached her at the doorway of the boutique.
Darien shrugged his broad shoulders nonchalantly, a grin alighting his face. "Just apologizing for running into her. All because I was trying to keep an eye on you!" He laughed when the feigned anger crossed her features.
Serena swapped her purse across his shoulder, chuckling along with her husband. "Keeping an eye on me, you say!" Thoughts of the woman and the incident completely gone from Serena's mind. She hadn't missed the great interest the woman had displayed for Darien. It wasn't the first time, nor was she sure it would be the last time a woman would make a play for her husband. Apparently, the lady had no idea who Darien was. She would soon find out, Serena thought.
"Well of course, I can't let my beautiful wife get distracted. Because when you're distracted, mischief is bound to appear." His deep blue eyes alive with warmth and gentle humor as he continued to gaze down at his wife, Serena.
"Oh!" Serena shook her head, smiling in exasperation, unable to comment to his jest. "And just what, I say, husband o' mine are we doing at Madam Horton's boutique?" Her golden brow went up in curiosity. "You haven't suddenly taken' a liken to women's clothing? I will surely despair if that is so!"
Darien barked with laughter at her remarks, admiring her at the same time. His eyes leisurely swept the length of her lovely form, basking in the warm glow of her love. She was certainly a fetching picture in her summer white, suite. The tailored, short skirt stopping high on her smooth, golden thighs and finishing her ensemble with white, strapped high heels. Limbered, trim legs still impressive enough to stop traffic, especially from the admiring glances of the men walking past them on the busy street. "If I did, little wifey," Darien paused wickedly, and tucking her hand into the crook of his arm, while opening the door to the boutique, "you would certainly be the first to know, luv!" He softly kissed the nape of her neck where golden-white wisps of tendrils of hair escaped from her pulled up hairstyle.
Her eyes flashed with smoldered, blue fire at him, the turn of her sultry lips warming his loins, instantly.
The sound of someone clearing their throat interrupted their private world of two.
"Welcome, your majesty," Madame Horton began graciously, a welcoming smile on her aging, kind face. They were such a lovely couple and obviously still very much in love with each other, she thought with insight. "The selection of lingerie that you've asked for are exquisite. The styles came straight from Paris, France. The materials imported from the Singapore, India and China. Hopefully, your majesty's queen will be pleased the selections as we are, your highness," she nodded towards the king, the returning nod barely indecipherable. "Come, your private show awaits your pleasure," Madam Horton turned away from the couple, leading them towards the shrouded, dark drapes in the back of the boutique.
"Private showing...?" Serena laughed quietly with surprised delight, her hands clutching Darien's arm closer to her.
Kissing the tip of her upturned nose, "Come on, we wouldn't want to keep her waiting, would we?" He asked, the indescribable feeling of satisfaction running through his veins that she was happy with his surprise....
*********************************
11 Months later...
"Lita! When did you get in?" Amy gasped, coming forth into the palace's immaculate, large kitchen. It was nearing midnight and Amy came downstairs to rummage through the refrigerator in hopes of finding the leftovers of dinner. The soft light underneath the kitchen door had alerted her of another midnight snacker. She found Lita chopping happily away on what she craved, fried chicken.
Lita chewed on a piece of fried skin and white meat, having missed Miriam's cooking. "About a half hour ago," she said through a mouth full of chicken.
"How was the trip?" Amy asked, opening one of the fridge's burnished, chrome doors. The light came on as Amy's gaze wondered over the contents.
"It was great! And Alex loved Europe. He's upstairs already asleep. Commuter lag." Lita smiled at Amy in the soft bathing light of the moon that filtered through one of the kitchen windows. "But there's no place like home."
Amy sighed, pouring some milk into a tall glass. "I know the feeling. I'm glad that you guys had fun. But it's good see you back too." She padded silently to one of the cabinets, opening it to retrieve a handful of cookies.
"Mina still in Central America?"
Amy nodded.
"The tour must be doing well. Mindy," Mindy was one of the main chamber housekeepers of the palace, "told me that Raye and Chad got back into town last week." Lita added as she placed her empty plate into the kitchen sink. "How'd the buying show go in Okinawa?"
"Good from-" the muffled sound of something falling to the floor above their heads interrupted Amy. She frowned looking up at the ceiling, her weary brows furring in worry. The King and Queen chambers were above them. She looked over at Lita and noticed the same worry in her face.
"I've heard the rumors. What's going on with them?"
Amy placed one of the cookies to her lips. "I don't know, Lita. But I'm very worried about Serena. After Rini left for the officer's training, things haven't been completely the same. I don't know what's changed between them, and this-this Alicia seems to be the cause."
"Lady Alicia Woodward? Of the late Gene Woodward?" Lita frowned. Gene Woodward passed away nearly a year ago. He was the Chairman Financial Officer of the Palace Holdings and oversaw many financial projects that were related to Crystal Tokyo and its commerce. He had also been a close and trusted friend of the King and Queen. His wife, Lady Alicia had not resided with him while he was alive, choosing to live in America istead. They had separated but never formally divorced a couple of years before Gene passed away. "I don't get it, what does she have that would make Darien even remotely interested her?"
"You'd have to ask Darien, I still don't know," Amy shuddered over the sudden chill in the air. In fact, Mina, Raye and herself had asked the same question of Darien. He had stared back at them with cold fury burning in his hard blue gaze, stating to them that they had trespassed into forbidden waters and that he did not answer his actions to them. Prying questions were squelched within an instance, and the ladies had dispersed realizing that they had overstepped their boundaries of friendship. Apparently, the situation was now in Serena's hands to figure out.
****
"Why must I constantly prove my trustworthiness to you?" Darien rasped out in leashing anger. He grabbed Serena's arm, causing her to loosen her grip on a rare and expensive, large vase that she had been about to throw at him. The vase landed on the thick, carpeted floor with a loud, muffled thud.
Anger continued to wash over Serena's face. "You! What about me? Why must you keep secrets between us!" She struggled fiercely against his strong hold on her arm, her creamy, silk robe coming undone in the process. "Tell me, what's going on? Why Alicia?" She pleaded with him.
"Alicia?" He blinked at her, his eyes unconsciously dipping to her exposed full breasts revealed by the deep vee of her nightgown. Her lovely eyes continued to accuse him. "As I've told you countless times before, nothing is going on between us!" He shook her slightly.
"That's not true! You're lying to me!" She shook her golden head not believing him, the tresses rippling like molten gold.
"I've seen the two of you together! Your conversation is quite intimate, her look adoring when she gazes at you!"
The motion of her hair caught his attention, reminding him that he had not touched her in a while. His nostrils flared, aware of her utterly tantalizing scent. She was the one who had pushed him away, forbidding him from her bed, he thought dismally!
"I'm not sleeping with her, Serena!" He bit out slowly, the anger still burning within him, his expression still hard.
"I don't believe you, Darien!" She cried out, desperate to find out the truth.
"What must I do to prove to you that I'm not seeing her," he asked her, pushing her up against their bedroom wall. "Huh? What does it take?" He empathized again, shaking her gently as if to prove his point.
She caught the sudden narrowing of his eyes as they studied her angrily squirming body, gasping in righteous outrage. The inexplicable warning of blue fire blazing through his slanted eyes, the breath that she so fervently fought for now seemed forced. His sharp gaze was no longer trained on her face, but now on her softly parted lips.
He fended off her useless punches against his shoulders with a lazy, almost insolent ease-finally gripping her wrists tightly until she cried out with pain. He pinned his body against hers, the lethal, hard length of him causing her senses to do summersaults despite her towering rage.
"Do you think I don't know what you're about, Darien," she gasped back, could feel the thick, hot brand of his desire laying against her soft stomach. Her body responded with its own ache. Her breathing shallow and tired from struggling. Even with the fury flowing through her, she could feel her body already beginning to betray her mind, always, always to him. The lingering sense of languor creeping steadily through her body, engulfing her within its own treacherous heat.
"I'm tired of fighting with you, Serena," he said through gritted teeth, his hands easily ripping the soft material of her gown.
"And at this particular moment, I don't give a shit what you're thinking." His mouth covering over her parted lips, hungrily, greedily. Blotting out any retort that rose to her mind.
She cried out softly when he finally lifted her naked body and dropped her on their bed, his fingers catching on the rippling, golden mass of her tumbled hair. Salty tears escaped from her clinched eyes, unable to stop them from flowing down her cheeks. She felt like...like a captive girl being taken by her conqueror. Sudden instinct caused her to struggle to against his domination of her, but her clawing against his arched back turned into a purring caress. He pulled cruelly at her hair or was it actually gently, she wondered? Pulling her head back so that he could press his lips at the base hollow of her neck. Her arms clasped against his body, pulling him closer, long limbs twinning around his hard-muscled thighs, arching her hips to meet his thrust into her welcoming, wanting body.
The soft light burning in the background cast a warm glow against their silhouetted, shadowy bodies. He moved steadily within her, her lips catching in her teeth wanting to cry out at the sheer pleasure of having him once again encased within her. Lips and hands reexplored each other, as their bodies moved apart and then rejoined as one, making new patterns against their crumbled bed sheets.
With his arm still holding her close, Serena dozed off and then was wide awake again, her voice huskily murmuring the sex words against his warm, bare shoulder as she exulted in the resurgence of his desire for her again.
After this-after it seemed as if they had found each other again, surely he wouldn't push her away. Something deep within him constantly gnawed at him, bothered him. This much she knew, she sensed. If only he would let her in!
"Darien...?" She began, tentatively. But he wouldn't let her finish. He rolled over her once more, the sheet haphazardly bunching across the lower half of him, surging deeply into her tight crevice with one smooth lunge. His hands threading into her tumbled hair. Twisting her body with mounting eagerness, stroking her fires with each driving motion of his body. He was kissing her again, fiercely, and possessively as if to ward off all questions, all thoughts except for this inexplicable passion they felt for one another. It was almost as if they both refused to consider the morning that lay crouched outside this night and that it could tear them apart again.
His hold on her was almost diabolical she drowsily thought some time later, snuggling deeper into his embrace. She was frightfully tired and exhausted, barely able to open her eyes. Hazy thoughts of passion swirled in her sleepy mind, of how many times Darien had taken her that night.
Yet, when the filtering gray light made its way through the carelessly drawn drapes, how was she to know that the new day would wipe away the night of passion as if it had never happened? Again, tearing them apart as the insistent knocking on their door woke the both of them.
There she was on the docking grounds, dressed warmly against the chilly morning in her gray suit, black nylon stockings and black, suede high heels. Her attired matched her mood and the misty morning that sleepily touched the commuter ship and its surroundings.
Serena was once more reminded of the morning Rini left for her officer's training so many months ago. Then she had not been able to think coherently, only of her baby finally leaving their nest. What a dismal day, she thought turning her musings away from Rini! Her gaze roamed over the important officials ready to leave for Europe. If only Darien did not have to take this trip. It would have given them the time to talk, to sort things out between them.
Lita stood quietly behind her, realizing her melancholy mood. Her hooded emerald gaze seemed fixed on a particular individual emerged in a deep conversation with Darien.
Serena's eyes sparked with anger. That woman-Lady Alicia, smiling so flirtatiously even in the gloom of the morning, up into Darien's face. Why did she always have to one of the officials accompanying them? If Serena did not have important matters to attend here, she would getting on that commuter ship as well. If only to keep an eye on her! How dare she flirt so openly, before her, his wife?
Quite suddenly, almost as if he sensed her look, Darien glanced in her direction. His eyes dark, an inscrutable blue, half-hidden and shuttered against his thoughts. She stared back, her expression, unlike his, open. Lady Alicia looked back up into Darien's face, and then at Serena's. A small, ugly sneer appeared on her glossy, red lips, almost like a warning.
Darien had already forgotten the woman standing so close to him as he stared back at his wife. How angry, but exhilaratingly beautiful she appeared at that moment. He mocked her by the half smile that perched on his lips. But she had more courage then he, to allow him to glimpse straight into her soul. As she had hours before, remembering all too well, her frantic beating heart against his chest as he made love to her again and again. Serena-his siren, he thought diversely. If only he could open his traitorous thoughts and allow her in as it was before. Alas, he could not. For her own sake and for his own piece of mind, he could not let her see the turbulent waters they treaded on.
As if she could not continue to gaze at him with her heart still in her eyes, she turned away sharply. She walked away from the group she was standing near, letting the chilly draft of the cool morning take its shivering toll on her.
"Excuse me..." Darien replied mechanically to Alicia, a disappointed look spreading across her face.
Against every practical, rational warning going off in his head, he followed her. Walking up to her, he followed her gaze on the seagulls that floated above them and near the runways. He was on the point of saying something casual, in light of the night before still filtering across his ramshackle thoughts. Her face was still turned away from him, when he heard her say his name aloud.
"Darien..."
And now, it seemed as if the veil of doubts and misunderstandings that had existed between were suddenly lifted for an instant. He could see the tug-of-war between pride and emotion play across her lovely features, still keeping her face away from him as if not daring herself to see the answers in his damnable eyes. The same seesaw emotions he wanted to deny himself, but found wanting. He could not continue to keep up this farce.
"When I get back..." he hesitated, for an instant.
Serena swung her face forward, wanting to see his eyes and finding them for once, after so many months, now unguarded. "Is it so hard?" She said carefully, quietly.
He let out a deep sigh. His answer, surprising her, "yes, for you. Always."
So many things still not said, she thought staring deeply into his eyes. "Just come back to me, Darien-if you still want me, if you still care..." and for a moment, she thought he looked angry at her words, frustrated.
"Serena..." he put his hands on her shoulders.
She shook her head at him. "Please-don't! If you can't tell me-if you can't say the words anymore...then show me! Show me the truth, damn you, Darien!" Without caring that the deck was crowded with people, Serena flung her body against his, arms reaching up to clasp around his neck as she stood on her tiptoes; lips already parting as they hungrily reached for his.
He wasn't able to resist her. How could he--she was his, for as long as he could remember and before--in another time, in another body. His arms crushed her against him, his mouth greedily slanting over her mouth. His tongue delving savagely into her mouth, causing her to moan softly against his lips. He might've pushed her away in the past months, but now she knew the truth! Could feel the truth bearing a heavy weight against her soft stomach. What a fool she had been! He could not have had an affair with Alicia and then make so passionate love to her, several times over as he had last night. He could not, she thought desperately. It was almost as if he had been celibate, her mind whispered.
"The ship is boarding, your majesty," came Lita's embarrassed cough behind them.
They broke away, almost reluctantly.
Tenderness and frustration etched Darien's strained face as he stared down into Serena's white, tearstained face. He looked up into Lita's flushed face, his composure back in place, his eyes unreadable again. "Take care of her.... Don't let anyone hurt her," his voice low and concerned, but there was an underlying steely warning to the words that Lita didn't miss or comprehend.
Fortunately, Lita thought as she nodded back to Darien acknowledging his statement, Serena completely missed the veiled meaning.
Stay tuned for chapter 4...Lady M. Harris.