The Proud and the Prejudiced (21 page)

He walked the few steps to stand beside her chair.
“What was it? What did you want to say?”

“If you thought I hated you, why did you come
back?”

“Giselle said you would forgive me, but you are so
passionate in everything, everything you do, everything you feel – whether it’s
saving the soap or defending your friends or hating the heat or loving guitars
or the way that you sing or the way you kiss me – I didn’t believe it. Then
Jack told me how you reacted to that engagement story when you thought I was
marrying someone else. So I told my attorneys that you had to agree to the
settlement. When you didn’t, when you said there was a place for me in ‘All
Your
Tomorrows,’ I began to hope.”

He extended his hand and she took it and let him
bring her to her feet before him. “But you’ll do the show?”

“You said something to me that night that made me
ashamed. You didn’t just talk about saving the show – you talked about saving
jobs. I had not ever even considered it – all the people depending on this soap
for their livelihood. How self-centered is that? I’ll stay through sweeps or a
full story arc or whatever you need to save it.” Taking her other hand, he
pulled her closer. “What did you want to say to me?”

He touched her face, and every place his flesh met
hers sparked with electricity.

“Would you…would you rather be murdered or be a
serial killer?” she asked.

“I don’t care. Tell me. What were you going to
say?”

“What about your film career?”

“I’m cutting back. Alice, I put my house on the
market. I want to find a place up in Napa like we talked about. I want to get
away from Hollywood and all the people here. You were right about everything
you said – ever since I made it, I have been so arrogant and conceited and
superior, and I’ve been surrounded by people who feel the same way. I want to
move somewhere where I can become the person I want to be, for you. I want to
be able to see my daughter and never neglect her like I did before. And I want
us to go together, once you can give up the soap. You can write your novel or
just drink wine and eat figs or whatever you want to do.”

He pushed his fingers into her hair and held her
head in his hands so she couldn’t look away. “What did you want to say to me
that you didn’t because of my stupidity?”

She couldn’t look away, so she closed her eyes,
and he brought his face close to hers, his breath against her lips. She hadn’t
thought she could say it, after this long, torturous month, but he had always
known how to seduce her. With her heart pounding and as she struggled to catch
her breath, she couldn’t
not
say it.

“I love you.”

She spoke so softly, releasing the words on an
exhalation, she thought he couldn’t possibly have heard; but he must have
because then he was kissing her, his lips moving against hers with gentle
passion, which she returned. He stopped a moment and said, “I love you, Alice,”
then kissed her again and again. “When did you know?”

“That night in Napa, the moment you…” His lips
saved her from finishing the sentence.

“Yes. I saw it in your eyes. We’re a perfect fit.”
The memory of that moment scorched her to her core as much as his mouth.

“What were you going to tell me?” she asked
between kisses. “That night in New Orleans.”

He pulled back enough to gaze into her eyes. “I
was going to ask you to marry me.”

“No, you weren’t.”

“Yes…I was,” he said, punctuating their words with
kisses.

“That’s crazy...You hardly knew me.”

“I’d worked with you here almost every day for
weeks, and before I knew it was happening, I had fallen in love with you… I was
in the middle before I knew I’d begun....I knew I wanted you from the moment I
tried to kiss you on the set that first day…You were the only woman I wanted.”

“But I didn’t even like you…I put you in an
incestuous relationship.”

“I took it as encouragement…I thought you didn’t
want me kissing Giselle.”

“How could we have gotten married? We hadn’t even
slept together.”

“It has been done before…and I did try to remedy
that.”

“And you thought I would jump at the chance at
marrying a movie star.”

“I cannot believe my own vanity. I want the chance
to redeem myself in your eyes. I want to prove that I have become worthy of
your love.”

She smiled. “Where have I heard that line before?”

He wound an arm around her and pulled her tight
against him as he brought their mouths together and let their tongues tangle.

“Will you?” he said when he came up for air.
“Everyone already thinks we’re engaged. We shouldn’t disappoint them.”

As he kissed her again –
Oh, yes, please. Kiss
me just like that
– she couldn’t believe she actually considered it; but as
he kissed her, she couldn’t imagine saying no.

“Are you willing to give up being Miss
McGillicutty?” The question came out as a rasp, and as he had his way with her
mouth, his hands roamed out of her hair to her neck and over her shoulders.

“I have a confession to make,” she said against
his lips then resumed the kiss.

“Oh?”

“My name is not McGillicutty…That’s just my pen
name.”

“Mmm?...So what’s your real name?”

Does he think his kisses will distract me from
his unbuttoning my blouse?

“Bristol,” she managed to say as she started on
his buttons, but the exertion of all this kissing and talking and unbuttoning
made them both out of breath.

“And you changed it to McGillicutty?” He pulled
her blouse free from her skirt.

“I couldn’t think of anything else.”

“Alice Bristol McGillicutty, say yes.” But how
could she speak with his mouth over hers?

“Yes,” she said quickly before he claimed her lips
again, then he backed her up against the desk, pushed papers to the floor, and
tugged at her skirt.

“No more misunderstandings. You will marry me?” He
pushed her skirt up as he lifted her to the desk, and she ran her arms around
his neck as they continued to kiss.

“Yes.”

“I’m willing to wait if you want a big wedding…
but after these many months’ suspense, I thought we could go to Vegas.” His
hands slid up her thighs as their tongues whirled around each other. “Today.”

“Yes,” she said, which incited another frenzied,
deep kiss from him.

“And do you know what I’m going to do to you now?”

Oh, yes.

Life is too short and precious for no.

The end

Also From This Author

Pulse and Prejudice
– A tale of love,
blood, and desire; the definitive vampire adaptation of the Jane Austen
classic.

This compelling paranormal
adaptation of
Pride and Prejudice
tells the story of Mr. Darcy, vampire,
as he endeavours to overcome both his love and his bloodlust for Miss Elizabeth
Bennet.

When the haughty and
wealthy Fitzwilliam Darcy arrives in the rural county of Hertfordshire, he
finds he cannot control his attraction to Elizabeth Bennet – a horrifying
thought because, as she is too far below his social standing to ignite his
heart, he fears she must appeal to the dark impulses he struggles to suppress.

Praise
for
Pulse and Prejudice

“Author
Colette Saucier has put a fun, thrilling twist to Mr. Darcy in this engaging
adaptation. She has obviously done her research and the Regency world inhabited
by Elizabeth and Darcy comes vibrantly alive.

—Z Hayes,
Amazon
Hall of Fame
Reviewer

“I cannot
express enough how sceptical I was upon starting this book. But, within only
the first chapter, I found myself strangely drawn to the story. The vampire
Darcy weaves his spell quickly.”

—Austen
Prose

“Saucier's
eroticism between Darcy & Elizabeth exploded off the pages.”

—Angie
Kroll, Goodreads

“Saucier
uses Darcy’s emotions as a most effective way of expressing his vampire side.
His dark desire mixed with his haughty personality and shortening temper make
him an extremely exciting character to follow. Once he is rebuffed for his
demeanour to Elizabeth and reveals his true self, his demise and subsequent
‘rebirth’ are written to perfection. It has renewed my faith in the sub-genre.”

—Reflections
of a Book Addict

“I
completely enjoyed this version and fell in love with Mr. Darcy all over again
as a vampire. I think all paranormal and romantic fans will enjoy this tale.
Excellent read!”

—Close
Encounter of the Night Kind

“Saucier's
language follows the style of 19th century literature, while adding the
necessary imagery to engage the 21st century reader. She also appeals to the
modern reader with a more satisfying conclusion in the final section that is
all her own—Beyond Pride and Prejudice.”

—Stephanie
Judice, A Writer’s Rest Stop

“Combined
the traditional beloved Austen novel with Darcy being a vampire trying to
control his thirst for human blood, in particular Elizabeth Bennet's. It
followed the novel pretty religiously, while throwing in the Darcy vampire plot
line. It bends here and there to accommodate the new paranormal twist and the
reader is rewarded with a passionate ending between Darcy and Elizabeth. I
loved that I felt like I was re-reading Austen.”

—My Little
Corner of the World

“5/5
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 —The
Right Words in the Right Order

Darcy leaned in with his hands on either side of
the doorframe and let his forehead fall against the door. He closed his eyes
and imagined her lying on the bed, her hair splayed out on the pillow, the eyes
that had challenged him so brightly just that evening now closed in repose.
What little effort, how few steps it would take, for him to be upon her, taking
what he needed, sating his thirst.

He pushed himself away from the door and leaned
back against the wall beside, despair filling him. He had stood watch over
Elizabeth and her sister for two nights and had come back to do so again, to protect
them from the very thing he now ached to do himself. The irony sickened him but
did not staunch his desire. Gathering all the resolve he knew it would require
to return to his room, he stepped away from the wall.

Darcy turned just as the door opened and Elizabeth
appeared. They cried out in surprise simultaneously.

“Mr. Darcy!”

“Eliz-a-Miss Bennet!”

She was dressed in her night-rail and wrapper;
and, though more modest than even her day dresses, the sight set his nerves on
edge. Her hair hung down as he had imagined. She held one hand to her heart as
the other gripped a candlestick.

“Mr. Darcy, you frightened me! What do you mean by
all this skulking about in the dark? How can you even see where you are going?”

He steadied himself before speaking. “I seem to
have mislaid my book. I was unable to sleep and thought to read.”

“The Lord Nelson? I believe I saw it in the
library on the sideboard.”

He nodded. “That would be a good place for it.”

She smiled. “Indeed. Although if you are looking
for the second volume, you may have to wrest it away from Miss Bingley,” she
said with a glint in her eye. He smiled at that; but then they both became
sensible to the impropriety of their current circumstance and their close
proximity. “I was on my way to check on Jane.”

He knew he should step aside, but he did not. He
knew he should look away, but he did not. He held her eyes in his stare, his
resistance faltering. Another moment and he might have moved towards her,
reached his hand to hold the nape of her neck, pierced her flesh with his
aching teeth, pressed his mouth upon her lips; but the light from her candle
illuminated his face, and he saw his wan reflection in her eyes. As with all
those with his curse, he could not bear the sight of his own reflection, a vision
of death itself. Her candle flickered out in an instant, and she gasped and
broke her gaze.

Available now in print, audiobook, and all eBook formats.

Alicia’s
Possession
– Will Alicia surrender to the demons that torment
her day and night, or to the man who wants to possess her, body and soul?

After recovering from a freak car crash that put
her in a coma and left her with no memory of the accident, wealthy socialite
Alicia Pageant becomes convinced there is a connection between the mysterious
disappearance of her neighbor and a series of bizarre occurrences inside her
own house; but everyone – including the detective called to investigate –
thinks the woman’s head injury has left her unable to distinguish reality from
fantasy.

As Detective Mason Crawley investigates this
“suspicious incident,” Alicia’s palpable sadness and vulnerability awaken his
instinct to protect her and lead her into the light; but when her story begins
to unravel, each new piece of information creates more questions than it answers.
He begins to wonder if he is falling in love with a woman who is a witness to a
cleverly-concealed crime, dangerously delusional, or a murderer.

Praise for
Alicia’s Possession

“It grabbed my attention
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everything: romance, sex, BDSM elements, crime, mystery, compelling characters,
and a gripping plot. I read the novel in just a couple of hours, never putting
it down.”

— Masquerade Crew

“Murder, Mystery, love,
BDSM, and some great sex. When I read a book and I can feel the characters
emotions, then I know it’s a good book. That’s what we have here.”

—Between the Sheets Book
Reviews

“A good read for both the
love story and the mystery. Saucier has blended together a very interesting
mystery with a BDSM relationship in its infancy. As the relationship between
Alicia and Mason deepens, and he teaches her about his lifestyle, she is
intrigued, but still troubled about losing her mind. In the end, the bad guys
are found out, although there is a twist I didn't expect.”

 — Manic Readers

“Captivating: the
characters also had that instant connection and you could feel it. There is
also murder and mystery involved and keeps you guessing until the last page. I
started reading it last night and was done this afternoon.”

— Simply Southern
Couponers

“A great story. It's got
everything—sex, crime, cops, more sex, a twisted mystery, knot tying, and a
superb denouement.”

— Chuck Hustmyre,
screenwriter and bestselling

author of THE AXMAN OF NEW
ORLEANS