Demon of Mine (24 page)

The way he
said it made it easy to believe. Nodding, she let him lead her out
of the surreal-looking garden and into the brightly lit room where
the party was now in full-swing.

Guests
clamored as politely as possible to speak with Damon, who was
naturally the dark star of the Remington family. Young, remarkably
handsome and one of the richest heirs in London, none of them dared
to say to his face the things they whispered behind his back. Not
so much as a mention of the murder trial made it into conversation.
Damon accepted and returned the first group’s greeting with a
polite nod and a barely-there smile. “Let me introduce you to my
wife, Elsie.”

The
expressions of shock that appeared on the group of four’s – two
gentlemen and two ladies – faces were every bit as incredible as
Elsie had feared. Even after they schooled their features, their
eyes glittered with gossip-lust. “We hadn’t heard that you’d
married!” exclaimed one of the young lords.

“
Yes, just recently,” Damon said smoothly, showing no sign of
disconcertment.

“
And I don’t believe any of us have had the pleasure of meeting
the new Mrs. Remington at any other functions,” one of the ladies
said, exchanging quick sideways glances with her companions. “Why,
we hadn’t even heard news of your engagement.”

“
It
was a short engagement,” Damon conceded, favoring the girl with a
modest but charming smile that didn’t come anywhere close to
exposing his teeth. “I simply couldn’t bear waiting.” He flashed
the young ladies just a hint of a wink. “You’ll see what I mean one
day when you fall in love.”

The young
women burst into fits of giggles, shooting each other wide-eyed
glances as their bosoms heaved with hilarity. The gentlemen at
their sides looked as if they didn’t know whether they should be
bewildered or bemused.

Damon was a
skilled conversant. Whenever anyone tried to pry information about
Elsie’s background out of him, he seamlessly steered the talk
toward his love of Elsie – a topic that was sure to make the young
ladies interrupt everything with their giggling. After answering a
couple more questions, he artfully extricated himself and Elsie
from the conversation. Scarcely half a moment passed before they
were set upon by the next group, and the former could easily be
seen chatting excitedly with whoever happened to be near, ensuring
that the entire room would know of the marriage within five
minutes.

The
conversations were tiring, even for Elsie, who was saved from
having to say much by Damon’s skillful banter. When at last a
familiar face appeared before them, she breathed a sigh of
relief.

“
I
suppose half of London knows of your marriage already,” Lucinda
said, hiding a grin with a fan much like Elsie’s.

“
I
thought you were in Hertfordshire,” Elsie said.

Damon
chuckled. “The mere mention of a party will bring Lucy to London
within an hour’s time.”

“
Ridiculous,” she declared, though she was concealing a smile
behind her fan again. “It takes much longer than that to look like
this.” She gave her perfectly curled hair a light pat. “And
speaking of appearances, that gown really does suit
you.”

Elsie hid a
sheepish smile. “I hope you don’t mind that it was borrowed from
your wardrobe.”

“
Not in the least, but I do hope that my dear brother realizes
that you deserve a new wardrobe of your own.”

“
Perhaps you could oversee that, Lucy,” Damon
suggested.

She hid
another grin behind her fan, looking very much as if she’d hoped
Damon would suggest that all along. “Of course I will. It’s
wondrous to have a sister now.”

“
Yes, it must have been dull for you to go all those years
commissioning the latest fashions for only yourself. Now you’ll
have a living doll to try out new fabrics on.”

Lucinda
continued to look like a cat that’d gotten into the cream. “Indeed,
having a sister will please me to no end. But what about mother and
father – how did they receive the news of your
marriage?”

Damon frowned.
“It could have been worse,” he said, and then added under his
breath, “and it sure as hell could have been better.”

“
Are they angry?”

“
Are they ever not irritated with me? They don’t understand why
Elsie and I married.”

“
Their anger will fade over time,” Lucinda assured
him.

Damon nodded
slowly. “It will have to.”

****

“
Elsie.”

Elsie turned,
surprised that someone other than Damon or Lucinda had addressed
her by her given name. When she saw the man who stood scarcely two
feet from her, her breath froze in her lungs.

“
So
you’re not too changed to recognize me,” Lord Wilkes said, a
twisted smile playing across his face. “But of course you’re not…”
He stood a good head above Elsie, and used his height to his
advantage. His pale blue eyes widened with lust as he shamelessly
eyed the creamy swells of her cleavage. “I dare say you shall never
forget me.”

Elsie stared
in mingled horror and disgust at the man who stood before her, well
into his thirties but clad nonetheless in a flamboyant purple
tailcoat that might have belonged to a much younger dandy.
Suddenly, slipping away from Lucinda, who had been subtly teaching
her how to socialize with the affluent party-goers while Damon
chatted with a few gentlemen, seemed like a very unwise idea
indeed. Elsie snapped her fan shut in irritation, returning Wilkes’
lavicious stare with a cold look that hopefully disguised the
unease that was churning in the pit of her stomach. She hadn’t
known he was present at the party until now. How could she have
missed him? “You’ve had far too much punch.” That much was
painfully obvious – his breath reeked of alcohol and there was a
certain unsteadiness to both his gaze and his gait that gave him
away. “I suggest you leave before you embarrass yourself.” She was
the embarrassed one, but if she could manage to make him feel at
least a little of her shame, he might leave her alone.

He continued
as if he hadn’t heard a word she’d said. “Everyone is gossiping
about who you might be,” he slurred, donning a smile that would
have been cruel if the unfocused look in his eyes hadn’t rendered
it so ridiculous. “But I know exactly who you are.” He chuckled to
himself, releasing a puff of stale, alcohol-saturated breath. “And
it’s certainly no mystery to me why Remington married you.
Surprised he didn’t do it sooner, really. You’re a rare beauty, you
are.”

Trying to
imagine how her mother-in-law might handle the situation, Elsie
summoned what was hopefully a cool expression and stared down her
nose at Wilkes. “I—” she began, but was quickly cut off.

“
Beautiful,” he gasped, flashing what might have been intended
to be a seductive smile in her direction.

She took a
step backwards but was too slow. He laid one hand on her shoulder
and pulled her close, using too much force and knocking her
temporarily off balance. As she struggled to straighten, she
wrinkled her nose and gasped in disgust as his breath assaulted
her. She glided backward just in time to avoid what surely would
have been a very unpleasant kiss. “How dare you!” she exclaimed in
a low but furious voice, loath to call any attention to
herself.

He lowered his
voice to a harsh whisper that was still too loud. “I shall do
whatever I want, unless you wish me to inform everyone that you are
but a housemaid who’s as quick to jump into a stranger’s bed as to
marry the Remington heir.”

Elsie gasped
in disgust, batting his hand off of her shoulder with an effortless
gesture that reminded her just how much stronger she was now than
when she’d been human.

Surprisingly,
Wilkes’ eyes widened in – could it be fear? Yes, it was. Perhaps
he’d finally remembered exactly who Elsie’s husband was. Just as
she was straightening, preparing to tell him off and stalk back to
the party, a terrible realization struck her: she’d exposed her
teeth.

Of course that
explained the look of terror painted across Wilkes’ face. He was
too drunk to remember the considerable threat Damon posed to him,
but a set of long, tapered fangs set in the mouth of the woman he’d
just tried to kiss was impossible to ignore. Elsie clutched her
closed fan, but it was too late – opening it would do no
good.

“
What in God’s name…” Wilkes stood frozen before her, his eyes
bulging and then narrowing. “Demon! You’re a bloody demon, just
like the rest of them…”

Elsie couldn’t take back the mistake she’d just made. She
could only hope that he wouldn’t remember what he’d seen in the
morning. Flashing him a smile specifically intended to reveal her
fangs, she took half a step toward him. “I don’t think you know me
as well as you think you do,
William
.” It was the first time she’d used his Christian name. He’d
never invited her to call him by it before, even when they’d been
in bed together. “But if you know what’s good for yourself, you’ll
never dare speak to me again. I have a feeling my husband will be
very displeased if I tell him what just transpired between
us.”

A feeling of
accomplishment rose up in Elsie as William Wilkes stumbled
backward, disappearing behind a rosebush as he alternately muttered
curses and implorations for divine aid. She was even able to summon
a genuine smile of triumph – though one that didn’t show her teeth
– when the double doors opened and Lucinda appeared in the
threshold, calling out to her. “There you are! What are you doing
out here all alone?”

“
I
slipped away for a bit of fresh air,” Elsie said, strolling toward
Lucinda and feeling much more like her sister-in-law than she had
before. Perhaps she really would be able to live up to the name
Mrs. Damon Remington – a ‘demon’ in her own right.

Chapter 14

“
Tired already?” Damon asked as he peeled off his
jacket.

“
It’s nearly three in the morning,” Elsie pointed out from
where she lay sprawled on the huge bed in Damon’s rarely-used
London bedroom. The party had lasted late into the night, as
Remington parties always did.

“
Yes, but nighttime is our time.” He smiled at her – a full,
genuine smile, unlike the modest imitations he’d given the
guests.

“
It’s not really the hour,” Elsie admitted. “It’s the strain of
socializing. Rubbing elbows with the wealthy is more tiresome than
being outside on a sunny day.”

“
I
agree.” He smirked.  “Though I suppose that only highlights
what a very odd couple we are.”

She
sighed. “I certainly
feel
odd after
that exposition. I don’t think I’ll ever fit in with such
people.”

“
We
Remingtons don’t really fit in,” he assured her, “least of all me.
And my parents rarely throw parties, thank God.”

Elsie ignored
his first comment, suppressing the urge to roll her eyes. Whatever
people might whisper about behind his back, he was certainly adept
at charming them in person – especially the young ladies. “What do
you suppose the occasion was?”

Damon shrugged
and directed a dark look at nowhere in particular.

Elsie voiced a thought that had been nagging at her for some
time now, her voice quiet. “Do you think they meant
to announce your
engagement to Véronique?”

The shadow
that passed through Damon’s eyes said that he’d already considered
the possibility. “The thought had crossed my mind.”

Elsie looked
down at her tired, prone body, and her gaze settled on her hands.
Her palms and fingertips were calloused from her childhood spent in
the textile factory and her subsequent time as a housemaid. Damon
had told her she had the face of a princess, but there was no
question that her hands belonged to a common laborer. “Do your
parents hate me for marrying you, Damon?”

He shook his
head. “They do not hate you. They simply…”

“
Go
on,” she prompted. “You needn’t spare my feelings.”

“
I
care very much for your feelings.”

She shot him a
level look. “I’m no shrinking violet, remember?”

A wry smile
curved the corners of his sensual mouth. “All right then. I was
going to say that they simply don’t appreciate you. As far as
they’re concerned, life is one huge business arrangement, and they
fail to see what I’ve gained by marrying you.”

“
Do
you think they will always resent me?”

“
No. Lucy may be overly concerned with fashion and social
events, but she’s not unintelligent. She was right when she said
that their anger will fade in time.”

She shot him a
doubtful glance.

“
It
will. Like a true businessman, my father will eventually forget
about the disappointments of the past and occupy himself with the
hunt for future opportunities. So will my mother.”

“
All the same, I’m not fond of being a
disappointment.”

“
Elsie.” His dark eyes were soft as he settled onto the bed
beside her. “You are not a disappointment to me, and that is all
that matters, for you are
my
wife.” He picked up one of her hands and began to massage the
back of it, working magic over her knuckles with his fingertips.
“After what I’ve told you about my parents, you should know that
their judgment is skewed and that their approval is not necessarily
a good thing.”