Blood of the White Witch (10 page)

He shook his head with a grin.

“Not with the tint on the windows of this
car,” he said, his lips mere millimeters away from mine, his eyes
flashing with desire. “Now, are you going to kiss your husband, or
are you going to make him beg?”

“I think … beg,” I replied, and a playful
grin spread across my face.

“Wrong answer,” he said, and he crushed his
lips to mine, holding my head tightly to his as he slipped his
tongue into my partially open mouth.

I leaned into his embrace eagerly and
brought my hands up to his chiseled face, touching his cheeks
gently with the tips of my fingers. He twisted his mouth slowly and
heatedly back and forth over mine, tasting me from every angle he
could until I was practically smoldering with desire.

He broke away from me suddenly and stared
into my eyes, his breathing ragged as he looked at me.

“What are you doing to me?” he accused, and
I was completely perplexed by his meaning.

“Doing?” I replied.

“You’re intoxicating. I can’t get enough of
you. How can you seem so innocently unaware of your affect on me?
Surely you know what a seductress you are?” He pulled me up against
him again.

I would have laughed at his words had his
emotions not been overpowering me. I could feel his need as it
washed through him. He was very serious.

Wrapping my arms around his neck, I sighed,
and he suddenly leaned my body back against the seat, resuming his
intense kissing of me.

He pinned me there effectively, though I was
a willing prisoner, letting his hands caress down my arms, over my
face and through my hair.

After enjoying his attentions for several
moments, I pushed him away from me slightly.

“Vance, we’re on a street out in front of a
store. This is totally inappropriate,” I said, with a slightly
nervous giggle.

“Since when have I ever cared about
propriety?” he asked, and he pulled me back to him again, this time
kissing down the side of my neck.

“Never,” I responded to him, and I tipped my
head to the side while closing my eyes, enjoying the pleasurable
sensations he was creating. “But I can’t in good conscience do this
with that poor nice man standing right there against the door while
cars are rushing by him on the street!”

Vance let out a deep sigh as he rested his
head in the crook of my neck.

“Fine,” he said quietly, and I could clearly
hear the disappointment in his voice. “You’re right as usual.”

He lifted his head then to smile softly at
me.

“I’m sorry,” I replied.

He shook his head, grinning seductively at
me.

“I’m not,” he said. “And don’t think you’re
getting out of this that easily. I fully intend to pick up right
where I left off!”

He turned and knocked on the window of the
car, and I hurried to straighten my disheveled hair while the
driver opened the door.

I blushed furiously, unable to look at the
man while Vance helped me out of the car and then walked me into
the store.

Vance had several gorgeous items brought out
of the cases for me to consider, from the very simple to the
extremely extravagant. I had a very hard time deciding what to
purchase, mostly because he insisted on me trying everything on. He
would put the jewelry on me, and every time his fingertips slipped
over my skin I would recall our heated moments in the car, causing
me to blush once again and become distracted.

While I felt like a bumbling fool, I could
tell he was enjoying the display very much, so well that I became
convinced he was distracting me on purpose. He was constantly in
contact with my overheated skin, until I was sure the storekeepers
must have assumed I had some sort of prickly rash moving over my
body.

After all was said and done, I ended up
choosing a tasteful teardrop diamond necklace on a sparkling
platinum chain. Vance insisted I get the matching earrings
also.

He paid for the items, and we headed out to
the car.

“Thank you for the gift,” I said after we
were settled back into the vehicle.

“I like spoiling you,” he replied with a
grin as he traced one finger up my throat.

“So I’ve noticed. But you don’t have to. I
am completely happy with everything just the way it is.”

“I know,” he replied. “I feel the same way,
but I hope you won’t mind if I indulge you once in a while. I can’t
seem to help myself.”

“Well, I guess that would be all right,” I
replied, smiling, and I could see the laughter dancing I his
eyes.

He hooked his finger under my chin, lifting
it higher and bringing it toward him.

“Now, where were we?” he whispered against
my lips before he wrapped his arms around me, kissing me hotly for
many miles as we sped back toward Bell Tower Hall.

The next morning I woke to find myself alone
in the massive bed of our suite.

“Vance?” I called out softly, glancing
around the empty space.

There was no answer.

I swung my legs over the edge of the bed,
pulled on my robe and walked toward the bathroom.

“Vance? Are you in here?” I said, entering
the room.

My heart leapt up in tempo when I realized
he wasn’t here either. I turned to go back into the other room, and
there was a soft knock on the door.

I tightened the knot on my robe and went to
answer it. I found Colin standing on the other side.

“Good morning, Colin,” I said with a small
smile.

“Good morning to you, Madame,” he replied
with a slight bow. “Mr. Mangum requested that I please remind you
that he is fencing with Mr. Cummings this morning. He said to
invite you to take your breakfast with him in the gymnasium unless
you would prefer to have it here in your room instead.”

I suddenly recalled our after-dinner
conversation with Douglas and Fiona from the evening prior. Douglas
had asked Vance if he knew how to fence. When Vance had replied in
the negative, he had offered to give Vance a lesson in the
morning.

“Thank you, Colin,” I said, my thoughts
returning to the present. “Would you please tell Vance that I’ll
join him shortly and I’ll eat my breakfast there with him?”

“As you wish,” Colin said with a curt nod of
his head before turning to walk away.

I closed the door behind him and meandered
over to the closet. I pulled out a pair of comfortable black jeans
and a teal-colored shirt before heading into the bathroom.

After I was done showering and getting
dressed, I opted to go casual for the day, knowing we would be
getting fixed up for our reception this evening. I pulled my hair
back in a ponytail and lightly used some mascara and a pale lip
gloss to give some shine before I headed down to the gymnasium.

Colin appeared magically, as usual, at the
bottom of the stairs and led me through the massive house and into
the gigantic room.

I tried to keep my jaw closed when I cast my
gaze around the ornate space. Large white pillars graced each
corner, twisting up to a domed ceiling with a grand mural that
depicted ancient dueling scenes from eras gone by. My eyes flitted
back down over mirrored walls to the outer wall which was covered
in closed French doors that led out to a beautiful fountain area
and then out to the rolling grounds beyond. It was
breathtaking.

Colin cleared his throat slightly, catching
my attention once again and gesturing for me to follow him over to
where Fiona was sitting at a round white table with a delicious
looking breakfast spread in front of her.

I sat down in one of the three vacant chairs
at the table next to her.

“Good morning, dear.” She smiled while Colin
placed a plate in front of me and poured me a glass of orange
juice.

“Good morning to you,” I replied smiling
back before turning to follow her gaze out into the middle of the
floor, where Vance was standing on a mat with his grandfather.
Douglas was explaining something to him. “What’s going on?” I
asked, thinking how good Vance looked dressed up in the white
protective clothing.

“Douglas just finished showing Vance the
three main weapons used in fencing: the foil, the epee, and the
saber,” she explained. “They’re going to use the foil for their
match.”

Another man approached Vance and Douglas
then, dressed in similar attire, though he was all in black.

“Who’s that?” I asked Fiona.

“That is Armell, Douglas’s fencing
instructor. He’s here to teach Vance some of the moves and rules,”
she replied.

“That’s good,” I said, my heart leaping up
as Vance picked a foil and stepped into the center of the mat. I
was suddenly concerned for him. “This is a safe sport, right?”

Fiona laughed gently and reached over to pat
my hand.

“Don’t worry, dear. The suits are
electronic. The end of the sword is actually a push button which
will register the official hits each opponent makes on one another.
The vest, or jacket as it is called, has sensors in it which are
triggered when the tip of the foil presses against it, thus
registering the point and sending it to the electronic scoring
apparatus.”

“That’s interesting,” I said while I watched
the instructor coach Vance on the proper way to hold his foil
before he proceeded to show him some moves, like advancing forward,
lunging and so on.

It was amazing for me to observe Vance,
watching the ease and speed he seemed to be learning with. He
should have been a dancer; he was so graceful in his movements. If
it had been me out there, I would have looked like a bumbling
fool.

When Vance looked fairly comfortable with
the footwork, the instructor moved on to blade work, showing him
several different moves with his weapon.

“Are you going to eat, Portia?” Fiona’s
voice broke into my thoughts, and I looked down at my empty
plate.

“Sorry,” I replied. “I’m afraid I completely
forgot about the food, this is all so interesting.” I reached over
to pull some warm muffins and fresh fruit off the tray in front of
me. “Do you watch Douglas often?” I added.

“Goodness no!” she replied with a laugh.
“I’d be down here all the time! Douglas is very fond of the sport
and has become quite the master of it. He often competes.”

“Really?” I said, feeling surprised at this
revelation, though I wasn’t sure why. It was clear that the
Cummings men had a natural ability toward athleticism. “How long
has he been competing?”

“Oh for several years,” she answered with a
wave of her hand. “We’ve even hosted some events here.”

I could believe that easily as I took in the
size of the massive room once again while I bit into a muffin.

“I hope Douglas will take it easy on Vance
then,” I said when I finished chewing. “He can’t possibly learn
enough to be good competition to Douglas in one day.”

Fiona laughed. “That’s true, but they
decided earlier to teach him a few basic moves, and Douglas will be
restricted to those same moves as well. That should help even the
playing field a little for him.”

This was an interesting scenario for me to
consider. I had never considered Vance to be a weak opponent in any
type of situation. He had always seemed strong and formidable in
situations that had required aggression in the past. I found it was
hard for me to envision him as the underdog here, and it was making
me feel slightly nervous for him.

I was finished eating my breakfast when the
instructor finally finished warming up with Vance and he stepped to
face Douglas on the mat. Suddenly, I found myself wishing I hadn’t
eaten at all as a case of the nervous butterflies attacked my
stomach.

Vance dropped his protective mask into
place, lifted his foil and waited. Douglas stepped forward and
began the attack, thrusting in a forward motion. Vance moved
backward in reaction, parrying against Douglas’s foil at the
appropriate times.

I found myself biting at my lower lip, and I
could hear Fiona chuckle lightly beside me when Douglas continued
to force Vance farther backward down the long mat. I began to
wonder if Vance was just too overwhelmed to even remember what he
was supposed to do. Suddenly Vance lunged forward, catching Douglas
off guard, landing the tip of his foil squarely against Douglas’s
chest, registering a point.

Douglas lifted his mask and looked down at
his chest in complete shock, and I couldn’t help the grin that
spread across my face as I watched.

“Point to Mr. Mangum,” the instructor called
out.

The two men walked back to the center of the
mat and began once again. It soon became clear that Vance was
allowing Douglas to beat him back while he studied his moves when
he landed another point in similar fashion.

Douglas didn’t remove his mask this time,
but I could tell he was not very happy by the way he strode back to
the center of the mat, abruptly lifting his foil as he waited for
Vance to join him.

This time, however, Vance was the one who
attacked, and he successfully forced Douglas backward. Their
weapons clashed loudly together, sending the sound of clinking
metal throughout the room.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Fiona
said, her eyes dancing as she watched with her hands clasped in
delight. “The boy is a natural.”

It was clear that Vance’s extreme speed was
giving him a definite advantage. Douglas fought desperately to keep
up with him, and in the end they both thrust at the same time,
landing equal blows on each other’s chests.

They lifted their helmets, laughing
together, and the instructor said it appeared that Douglas had
landed the point first, barely.

Douglas clapped Vance on the back before
pulling his mask off his sweat-drenched head. Vance followed suit,
and soon the two of them made their way over to the table while the
instructor was gathering up the weapons.