The Fragrance of Her Name (33 page)

“
We need….we need our own relationship, Lauryn. Apart from them. We need a friendship…an association, a connection of our own making if we’re ever going to solve this miserable situation.” Lauryn’s mouth was watering, her entire being trembling. She gasped as he kissed the corner of her mouth softly. She tried to focus on the pink petals floating down from the trees to land on Brant’s back and in her hair. “And the only thing I can think of at this point that you’ve never shared with him,” he continued. “That you can share with me…” He kissed her, but very carefully on the lips. It was like someone lit a fuse that traveled down her spine and into her arms and legs! Her fingers and toes tingled, and she felt faint from not breathing normally.

“
You may have been kissed before, sugar,” Brant told her as his mouth hovered just above hers. “But nobody
has
ever
kissed you the way I can.” And his lips captured hers in a long, hard-pressed exchange.

Brant was finished with his boyish flirtations. The man in him was too dominant. Lauryn knew it assuredly as molten warmth seemed to course through every vein of her body, threatening to melt away her flesh and bone and leave only her soul to savor the euphoric delirium! His kiss spun a sort of hallucinative atmosphere about her. She felt weak and yet more vibrant than ever she had before.

His arms banded around her possessively, so powerfully that Lauryn wondered for a moment, if he might simply pulverize her tender ribcage.

His kiss was not sweet and soft, gentle and proper any longer. It was hard and driven and exploding with passion. He broke from her for a moment and studied her intently. Lauryn could not take her eyes from his, which burned with an emotion that she could not quite identify. Still he held her face between his hands and she was at his mercy, body and spirit. His thumbs caressed her lips for a moment.

“
If I scared you before, sugar,” he mumbled. “You’re gonna be terrified by the time I’m finished.” Lauryn couldn’t stop the delighted grin that spread across her face. And when next he kissed her, his mouth seizing her own in a way she’d never dreamed of, she was astonished at her own response.

She entirely dissolved in his arms, her heart hammering so brutally within her chest that the ringing of it in her ears was almost deafening. Brant’s hands released her face, traveling caressively the length of her arms, leaving her flesh stinging blissfully as they came to rest at her waist holding her tightly and pulling her into an unyielding embrace. His embrace, coupled with the rapturous delirium evoked by his kiss, caused her to release some of her inhibitions and her arms slid around his shoulders, savoring the strength of his muscles. His strength and powerfully passionate kisses fed the fire of her own ardor as she stood wrapped in his arms, the dogwood blossoms raining down upon them.

She tasted like the sweetest ambrosia, and Brant knew he could never satisfy his craving for her. Her body fit perfectly to his and the sweet, ethereal fragrance clinging to her skin filled his senses with a fantastic satisfaction. He'd known she would be his undoing. He knew his desires for her would eat away at him, torture his body and mind. Why had he taken her to him? How would he now find the strength to give her up? To put her away from him when he so wanted to hold her, breathe her, own her? He kissed her harder, deeper. With an unquenchable thirst for her, suddenly feeling guilt rise within him in knowing that her tender lips had never before been so passionately assaulted. He tried lessening the demanding nature of their exchange, but the soft, moisture of her mouth, alluring, accepting…it all bewitched him, provoking his passion for her, and with a low, regretful growl escaping his throat he broke the seal of their mouths and held her to him for a moment, reveling in the scent of her hair in his nostrils, the silken texture of it against his face.

“
I’m in a lot more trouble than I thought,” he mumbled to himself.

Lauryn struggled to breathe calmly again. The flesh surrounding her lips prickled with the residual sensation that his roughly shaven face had caused there and the moisture in her mouth continued to intensify, longing for his kiss again.

“
What?” she breathed. He’d said something. But she hadn’t heard him clearly.

Unexpectedly, he released her and stood, rubbing his chin. Anxiety immediately rose within Lauryn’s bosom. Was he having some sort of violent regret?

“
It’s done,” he mumbled taking her hand and pulling her to her feet. “We crossed a certain bridge together and things will never be the same again.” He took her face in his hands and looked sternly into her eyes. “Do you regret it?”

“
Never,” she whispered. And as his smile returned, he took her mouth again with his. Burying his fingers in her hair for a moment, kissing her thoroughly, forcefully, impassioned.

Her knees again weakened, but his arms were around her immediately holding her close against him as he adored her, unlike anything her young, romantic mind had ever imagined. In her wildest dreams, and she’d enjoyed some wild ones where Brant was concerned, he’d never kissed her as perfectly as he did now, in an actual moment of reality. She’d never considered that, maybe, reality could be better than a dream. But it was! At least, with Brant Masterson it was.

Eventually, their passion softened and Lauryn found herself sitting in the grass, leaning back against a dogwood tree, Brant’s head in her lap as he told her about his family back in Vermont. Still, it wasn’t long before he sat up and kissed her again, softly on the lips, tucking his hand in her hair before scattering moist, gentle kisses up and down her neck.

“
You’ll be shy next time, you know,” he told her.

“
What do you mean?” she asked innocently, all the while thrilled that he had implied he would kiss her again, in some other circumstance.

“
When we get back to Connemara…when we’re surrounded by people and pressures again. We’ll both feel this freedom slip away.” He smiled and twisted a strand of her hair around his finger. “For one thing, you’re mother would have me tarred and feathered if she knew I’d paddled you out to an island to corrupt you.”

“
You haven’t once corrupted me,” Lauryn told him with a smile, as she looked up into the blue of the sky.

“
Maybe not,” he chuckled. “But I’ve spent three hours kissing you…”

“
Three hours?” Lauryn exclaimed. She fairly jumped to her feet. “What will people think?”

“
About what?” Brant chuckled.

“
About….about…” Lauryn stammered.

Brant shook his head, obviously amused. He stood slowly, rather unwillingly and began gathering the picnic blanket. “Do you think the peacocks will rat us out to your mama and the rest of the town? All the same, I had better get you back to safety. Much more of this and I’ll have to make an honest woman of you.”

Lauryn’s mouth dropped open in astonishment at his insinuation. She was speechless and could only stand before him, stunned.

Brant chuckled and then mumbled, “Lauryn! I thought you said three hours were shocking enough. But I’m not one to pass up an invitation like this one.” He reached out quickly and pulled her head to his savoring the flavor of her kiss one last time.

He smiled at her when their final embrace was over, held her cheek tenderly in one hand and grinning said, “Oh, by the way….sorry—for molesting you in the attic, I mean.”

Lauryn smiled, completely enslaved by his charms. “It’s all right. I don’t mind.”

“
You should,” he chuckled as he bent over retrieving the food basket and starting toward the canoe. “You should be spanking my behind pretty soundly for that.” Lauryn smiled, delighted at the knowledge he’d ‘molested’ her, as he put it.

As she watched him put the picnic things in the canoe, as she studied him while he was paddling back to shore, she began to feel renewed, newly motivated about solving the miserable enigma that was before them. Finding Laura would free them all. And, just maybe, with Laura at peace…well, maybe Brant would…. Her heart soared for a moment as she tried to squelch her secret hope. For that present instant, she would thoroughly relish the memories of their time alone on the millpond island.

Brant Masterson had kissed her, Lauryn mused. No, no, no. Brant Masterson had far more than simply kissed her. He’d thoroughly kissed her! For hours upon hours! As Brant paddled for shore, each time she lingered on the memory of their…their…their liaison, she felt weak and tingly all over again. Each time she looked at him, watched his muscles work to move the canoe through the water, she thought of the way his kiss tasted and the imaginary butterflies that dwell in every woman’s stomach would take flight causing a mad fluttering sensation in her bosom.

Her zenith met an abrupt end, however, when they reached the dock to find villainy at work. Two very dirty, villainous-looking men were harassing Mr. Jackson. Far more than harassing him! One of the men held Mr. Jackson’s arms at his back while another prepared to bury his fist in the old man’s stomach. Immediately, Brant realized what was happening and leapt from the canoe to shore.

“
What are you doing?” Brant shouted as he strode over to the men and stepped between Mr. Jackson and the degenerate preparing to hit him.

“
None of your business, purty boy,” the stranger growled, grinning demonically and displaying a smile void of several teeth.

“
Brant?” Lauryn called out. Brant shot Lauryn a warning look before turning his attention back to the matter at hand.

“
It
is
my business!” Brant assured the men. Lauryn saw Brant’s hands tighten into fists, saw the muscles of his chest and arms tense, and she knew the situation would not be remedied easily.

“
I’m gonna ask you again,” Brant warned. “What the hell are you doing?”

Missing Teeth chuckled. “Well, this ol’ piece a negra won’t give over his gold money clip…and we’re in far more need of it than he is.”

“
So,” Brant said frowning. “You’re just a regular old piece of…” Brant glanced at Lauryn quickly, still a bit mindful that a lady was present and continued, “lazy trash that’s out robbing good people. Is that it?”

The man scowled. “You’re half right, purty boy.” He glanced at Lauryn and her own stomach churned at his lustful appraisal of her. “But I ain’t lazy…or trash,” the man growled. “So, I’ll tell you what…” he continued. Lauryn began to weep as she looked at Mr. Jackson who had obviously been at the men’s mercy for sometime before she and Brant arrived. His lip was bleeding, and he looked otherwise near to collapsing. “Let’s strike us up a deal, purty boy,” the criminal continued, “I need me somethin’ today. And I figure….it’s either whatever money this ol’ bag a bones has…you too, for that matter…or your little sweet bite there.” He smiled at Lauryn again, nodding and licking his lips. “Yep. I figure we can strike us up a bargain.”

Brant nodded and pretended to be thoughtful. Lauryn saw his jaw clinch, his chest rise and fall with barely controlled rage. “Well,” he began. “It’s out of the question…you can’t have the little sweet bite. And, as far as my friend Mr. Jackson…well…I’m afraid I’m just gonna have to kill you.”

Before Lauryn could blink, Brant buried his fist deep in the man’s mid section. The man behind Brant released Mr. Jackson and taking hold of Brant’s arms pulled them backward in an attempt to hold him. As the toothless degenerate recovered and aggressed, Brant braced himself against the man behind, raised one foot, and kicked the approaching attackers squarely in the chest, sending him stumbling backward.

Brant threw his head back, brutally striking the forehead of the man behind. The man released his hold on Brant who turned and planted a powerful fist on the villain’s jaw.

“
Brant!” Lauryn yelled, watching in helpless horror as the toothless villain recovered. He lunged at Brant with a knife he’d pulled from his waistband. Brant turned receiving a severe cut in the chest as the man attacked him. Lauryn screamed as blood soak his shirt. Brant didn’t seem to notice the wound. He grabbed hold of the man’s wrist and elbow. Swiftly raising his knee, he slammed the man’s forearm across his thigh. Lauryn winced when she heard the crack of splitting bone and the man’s shout as he dropped the knife and fell to his knees in agony.

Turning to the second man, Brant growled. “Come on! If you’re gonna start something…you need to finish it!”

The villain looked from Brant to his injured cohort and back, and sneered arrogantly. “You like pain then, purty boy?” the man asked.

“
No,” Brant growled. “But I sure like to hand it out.” The man lunged at him. Brant maneuvered swiftly, catching him by the shoulders and burying his knee in the man’s midsection. The man doubled over, Brant grabbed his hair, raised his face and landed a brutal punch to his nose. He fell to the ground. Once more Brant hit him, rendering him unconscious. Turning to the first man who was helpless, and still writhing in pain and disbelief, Brant kicked him mercilessly in the jaw giving him a reprieve from his pain as he, too, passed out.

Lauryn looked about slowly, stunned by what had transpired, and how fast it all had happened. The two degenerates lay beaten and unconscious. Brant came to her, hunkering down and searching her face intently. Lauryn hadn’t even realized until that moment that, at some point, her legs had given way beneath her and she now sat in a heap on the ground.

“
Are you all right?” he asked. His frown, his expression of complete concern was genuine and selfless.