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Her Awakening
(A working title - Novel in progress)
© H. Cooper
Prologue England - 18--
Elizabeth Corwell leaned down to hear
the energetic whisperings of her daughter, her gaze lifting over a
curly head to share a wink with her husband before returning her bright
gaze to the one demanding her full attention.
"Married? Already? Who are you going
to marry poppet?"
The cherub faced child beamed up at
her mother, twin dimples in pale cheeks lit up wide eyes. "Chris'tan
Mummy, Chris'tan!" she announced happily, wiggling between her parents
legs as her eyes alighted on the one claiming all of her tender affections.
"Marry me!? I'm never getting married!
Never in a million years!"
Those gathered at the small brunch
laughed uproariously at the outburst from fourteen year old Christian
Kennedy Filmont. The young man was trying to remain calm, but after
a long day of the same, he was finding his patience gone and his temper
in full force. "Cannot someone make that brat stay away from me?"
He demanded, an arrogant green eyed gaze sweeping the adults gathered.
Suddenly the brat was there in front
of him again. He glared down at the little baggage and the little
baggage gazed back up at him from beneath wild red curls with big
blinking eyes that at the moment threatened tears.
"You aren't my friend..no more!" she
spat the words as best any four year old might and followed up with
a well delivered kick to his shin. After the damage was inflicted,
she spun on tiny slippered feet and raced back to her mother where
she promptly broke down into tears amid the many folds of her skirt.
"Owwwwwwwwwww, little ...." and then
came a string of words that at once made his father laugh and cringe
as the ladies gathered gasped. Christian set his jaw and straightened.
Ignoring the pain throbbing in his leg, the sheepishly distressed
expressions his parents wore, most especially the whimpering bit of
a girl who was wailing in a most resounding manner, he proceeded to
walk with seething purpose away from the group.
It was as Christian stalked away vowing
loudly to never again set eyes on the "little monster" who had plagued
him all summer, following him like a little shadow or an annoying
puppy, that his mother, Helene, leaned close to a laughing Elizabeth
Corwell and whispered of years to come.
One day she assured her closest friend,
their children would give them beautiful grandchildren.
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Chapter One - England - 18--
The train moved nearly soundlessly through
the countryside. It had been a rather benign trip thus far and restlessness
was setting in. Bella shifted in her first class lounger and seated
a shoulder against the small window ledge to her right. Eyes that
swirled with a curious mix of rich azure, jade and a hint of mercurial
silver watched the lush green hillside zip past. The same sight that
had greeted her several hours before. A tiny dotting of villages here
or there, a larger house looming on the horizon. Not nearly unsightly
to the eye but neither a great deal to break the monotony of a long
journey alone, or to keep her mind from drifting back time and again
to the reason she was even on this train heading back to a country
she had not set foot in since she were five years old.
A small yawn was hidden behind a gloved
hand as her gaze moved to roam the inside of the lushly decorated
compartment. As usual, no expense was spared to pamper the rich. Thick
crimson silk lined the walls, complimented with patterns of wild flowers
in gold leafing. The seats, each in these first class compartments
large enough to fit four adults comfortably, were covered in decadent
brocades the same rich crimson as lined the walls of the train; Impeccably
dressed valets waited at either end of the hundred foot cabins to
fetch drinks or foods if one did not wish to journey the short distance
to the dinner compartment. The sleeping compartments were not overly
large, but the beds were dressed with silk sheets and heavy satin
comforters, fitted with feather filled mattresses that held a body
just right and buffeted the occasional smaller jolt of train.
There were no more than seven passengers
on this leg of the journey that would end in London. Bella's gaze
moved over a woman of advanced age sitting caddy corner to herself
a few aisles up. The woman obviously of the aristocratic set held
in her lap a small wicker basket. A dog of minuscule size and curious
breeding occasionally peeped over the edge, a tiny pink bow nestled
in its little tuft of auburn fur. Bella could not suppress a twitch
of lips at the poor things lot in life before her gaze lifted to meet
the steely gaze of the older woman. She nodded to her ladyship most
regally and turned her head towards the window, gloved fingers covering
the full pink lips that now quivered with amusement.
It was then that the door between compartments
was opened and two people entered. Two people who could not be overlooked
for the sheer physical beauty of each. A man well over six feet in
height with masses of ebony hair clubbed back at his neck. Darkly
complected, he had a body both broad and thick, seeming to strain
at the clothes upon it. All black clothing which had obviously been
tailored to fit him alone. Bella's curious gaze shifted over the features
of his face, no smile curving those lips. Gods teeth, she thought,
lips that any sane group of women should envy. She couldn't make out
the color of his eyes much to her dismay because he was glancing down
at the woman walking very close in front of him. She imagined them
to be dark considering the darkness of both his skin and hair.
Bella, who herself was no stranger to
open stares, was quite impressed with the loveliness of the girl walking
slowly towards her. Petite and dark with golden eyes that glanced
up briefly and seemed to lock with Bella's. There was something in
the depths of those eyes that she couldn't quite make out, but Bella
suddenly felt like a voyeur as her gaze slid to the girls arm, pressed
back towards the man; He had long fingers twined in a length of yellow
ribbon wound around the girls tiny wrist.
How curious and how much more curious
it should be that the sight should send the most delicious shiver
racing down her spine.
Her gaze was drawn back up to him and
she felt a rush of warmth in her face as she found his eyes were resting
solidly on her. Green eyes. Eyes that glittered like emeralds lit
by a shaft of winter sunlight. She shivered as if a blast of cold
air had been let in and she were unprotected against its icy fingers.
She watched, entranced, a large hand appear at the girls hip, the
tips of long lean fingers curling into the hollow of small pelvis.
Bella swallowed and ripped her gaze away, pretending sudden voracious
interest in the faint pearl pink of her nails. She could have sworn
she heard the faintest chuckle rumble up from his throat.
She dared not risk a glance up as they
passed just to the side of her chair, thinking to herself they were
on their way into dinner. Curiosity whispered into her ear to rise
and follow, to covertly watch the beautiful pair and see what might
occur with that ribbon around the girls wrist. She would not of course,
she was starting to realize to indulge her blatant voyeuristic nature
often resulted in reprimands that could either be humorous or quite
blistering. Father had been the absolute worst.
Her gaze dropped back to the passing
countryside, not really seeing it now, but it was effective in hiding
the tears that suddenly burned bright in pale eyes. Had it really
been just six weeks since they had been lost. Six weeks that felt
like six years. Her parents deaths in Italy had been needless, the
victims of armed robbers. Slender fingers rose to the scar just inside
her hairline over her right ear. She had nearly perished with them.
It should not have happened of course, but father had felt they were
safe in Rome and dispatched the body guard. "Give the bloke a night
off to enjoy the moonlight and lovely ladies" He had laughed, waving
the hulking man away with a wide grin. Bella had watched the jovial
man disappear down the street with trepidation, her usually devil
may care personality subdued for reasons she couldn't identify.
Mother had laughed and agreed, and it
was Bella they had to convince to come along on a moonlit walk through
the city. It had been a beautiful eve, the air just cool enough that
a shawl was needed, the sky clear and full of gleaming stars, the
moon whole and bright. They had walked over an hour when her mother
had begun to feel tired and suggested turning back and her father
had suggested a shortcut through a darker street. Not that at the
time the streets darkness had much bothered them. They were happy,
oblivious to anything but the warmth of their love and contentment
with the night surrounding them.
None had seen the attack coming, and
the men had obviously done such before were quick and well planned.
They swept in from nearly all sides, surrounding them. All Bella could
really recall was the feel of her mothers hand slipping into hers
and the flash of dark eyes in her face before the world was gone.
When she awoke in a hospital room, she was told that her parents had
both been killed by the bandits and that she herself was lucky to
be alive. All the men had gotten away with had been the equivalent
of a few dollars and her mothers pearl earrings and wedding ring.
She had stood it alone when released
from the hospital, six months short of her twentieth birthday, responsible
suddenly for not only making her way in the world, but dealing on
her own with the bodies of both her deceased parents. She had known,
though, what her parents wanted; cremation. Their ashes were going
to be scattered over the English hills where they had first met as
children and fallen in love. One of those rare couples for their time,
who had married for love and forsaken the comforts of aristocratic
boredom to journey the world, going on long excursions in far off
exotic locales before finally having Bella in their mid-thirties.
Her fathers "Bonny Bell".
If she hadn't experienced the proper
English upbringing for one of her "lineage", she had surpassed the
dreams of most children by living out what was for most, fantasy.
She had sailed the Nile, explored Pyramids, walked in a rainforest
and been to over ten countries, including the wilds of America. She
could speak in three languages and understand bits and pieces of three
more. While some were content to write out adventures, she had lived
them. She would always be grateful to her parents for that. It was
a gift, of that she would always be certain. Hers was never going
to be a stagnate life. Not even in dreary old England.
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She wasn't sure at all what time of
night it was, but a more jarring jolt of the train had awakened her
from sleep she had only just claimed. It had been the same all these
months now that sleep came fitfully and more often it was due to either
fear of the unknown happening in her sleep or an overwhelming loneliness.
It was with a soft sigh she slipped out of the small bunk, blinking
softly to adjust her gaze to the pitch black of the room. She felt
her way to the door, turning the brass knob slowly. Peering through
the tiny crack, she could see the flame in the hurricane lamps lining
the upper walls of the hall were nearly extinguished.
It must be very late.
She pulled her silk robe from its hook
and slipped into it, drawing the thin fabric tight around her body
as she crept into the silent hall, deciding a quick walk about the
train might cure her insomnia this time round. She kept her palm flat
to the wall as she walked with stealthy attention to remaining silent,
not wishing to wake up anymore of the passengers.
"Christ's teeth!" Pain shot through
her smallest toe as she came in contact with a low dark table not
easily seen in the waning light. She heard the soft nick of a lock
tumbling and a door opening just ahead. She could not see the person
but she felt awful for creeping about and waking someone.
"Just an accident, everything's fine.
Please forgive me" She whispered furtively. There was nothing but
silence and then she heard the door pushed close once again. Well,
that's a fine how do you do, She thought. She continued on down the
hall, and when her fingertips slid against the door she knew was the
one that had opened, she paused. She could hear the faint joining
of voices, one male and one female and it was as her eyes adjusted
further, she could make out the slight parting of the door and its
frame. Left open just a fingers width.
Left open just enough for her to lean
in, She thought. Bella, go on by, keep going. But she didn't, she
couldn't. She was by her very nature..curious and could not resist
the temptation to press close to the door. She trembled as she could
hear her own breath move in and out over softly parted lips, certain
the pair could hear her too. She stood still as death, straining an
ear to the slender part of door and jamb. She could still only make
out bits and pieces.
"..like it......"
"...ohhh...no..noo..." the woman's
voice was hoarse, and Bella startled as she heard the distinct fall
of something that sounded as a heavy thudding against the woman skin
right before gasping loudly. "Pleaaase.....!"
"Please..what.." He demanded, his voice
low and controlled, dark promises of things to come held there.
"Master, please" the woman was whimpering,
and Bella could picture her torn body. The man was a monster! He was
going to kill her!
She was resolved to find help, unaware
her own gasp had alerted the pair to her presence just outside the
door. It was swung wide and candlelight spilled from the room outward.
She caught a glimpse of the like she had never seen before.
The woman was naked, her arms stretched
high above her body, bound with torn sheets that had been looped through
a chandelier. Bella's gaze was caught. The woman was small, very petite,
hardly a flare to tiny hips, and her honey color flesh was whipped
red. By what, Bella could only guess.
But one thing was for certain, the woman
was not being held captive against her will. There was a high flush
of arousal on her cheeks, and her warm gold eyes were molten with
lust. Bella felt her own flesh staining flame as she tipped her head
back. And that in itself was unsettling, Bella was extremely tall
for a woman and not used to tipping her face up to meet a gaze. Green
blazed down at her.
And he was smirking.
And he was........She swallowed hard
as her gaze fell from green eyes down the length of broad chest. Each
muscle defined, and from the faint light she could still make out
the damp sheen of exertion on his body. Oh God, he was beautiful!
She felt her heart began to slam against the fine bones of her chest.
She could scarcely breath as he began to slowly bend forward. Was
he going to...
"Little girl" He whispered. His voice
deep, rumbling; His accent English but tinted with something else
she couldn't quite define. "Do you seek trouble?" Asked so soft. She
trembled as his breath slid against her mouth, lashes became heavy
and threatened to flutter down to fan against the curves of high cheekbones.
God.
There was something happening insider
her so deep. Ache. A quickening of pulse that fluttered erratically
at the very core of her body.
It was the touch that brought her back
to her senses and the calculating look in the depths of those smouldering
eyes. The brush of his thumb against the outer curve of her left breast.
Searing fair skin through the two layers of robe and nightgown. She
jerked, sucking in a harsh breath and without a word of answer, turned
and ran back down the hall, her heart a roar in ears.
He smiled, lingering until the last
faint image of rippling silks and rivers of flame flying out behind
her faded from view. Thumb and forefinger slid together, catching
for a breath the feel of full flesh beneath his touch before turning
and returning to the woman watching him with narrowed golden eyes.
A flick of the crop as the door closed
softly. "Oh now, don't be jealous of a nosey little virgin"
"A nosey little virgin who seemed to
catch your interest well enough" Came the sullen reply, the golden
body so slender and reddened at his hand undulated as bonds were tugged
at.
"I have an answer for that bit of snit
I hear in your tone....pet"
Her cry as the crop landed to her backside
nearly awoke the entire train.
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