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Chapter 13
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2021-09-02 07:28:51The first thing on my agenda was to correct the oversight that I’d made about how I was to return. I’d paid minimal attention to his instructions to Nora, but I did hear something about the necklace vibrating when it was time to bring me back to the future. I needed to find out what would make that necklace vibrate.
I was the first to make my way to the dining room where a breakfast buffet had been set up on the oversized mahogany sideboard. My stomach shouted its need for sustenance as I lifted the covers off the dishes to investigate their contents. It reminded me of an elaborate brunch buffet at a five star restaurant.
“Good morning, my love,” Lance said as he strode with regal confidence into the room and stood beside me. He looked surprisingly fresh after such a long night of love making. Kissing me on the temple, he asked, “Did you have a good night?”
I was speechless.&nbs
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I’d just settled into a soothing hot, lavender scented bath when, instead of relaxing, my stomach suddenly churned like it was making butter and my brain tried to beat its way out of my skull. I thought back over my day and realized that I hadn’t eaten since breakfast. Even breakfast wasn’t the usual for me. I’d had such a rigorous night of love making with Lance that I was almost too exhausted to lift my fork to my mouth.Because he enters my room after I’ve fallen asleep and wakes me with his lovemaking, my body and my mind don’t connect enough for me to have the presence of mind to speak to him about overdoing things. Especially because my fickle body tended to encourage him to do more and more. I needed to broach the subject when his hot, tantalizing nakedness wasn’t coupled with mine and I could think more clearly. I needed to speak with him in the light of day.It was my intention
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I was bedridden well into the afternoon before my limbs were steady enough to support me. Lance was good enough to carry me to the tub so that, with Jasmine’s help, I could bathe away the sweat and vomit in a most welcomed rose scented bath. He surprised me by depositing me into the tub and then leaving to wait outside of my bedroom door until Jasmine called him back in to carry me back to bed. After so many nights of passionate love making, I was sure that he knew every inch of my body. His display of polite chivalry where my modesty was concerned felt out of place.He sat with me for a while during the day and even played a few games of checkers with me.To both my surprise and annoyance, Jasmine never left the room. I longed for the privacy needed to speak on certain topics with him. At one point, I suggested that she go rest while Lance was with me, but he claimed the necessity to exercise propriety for his mother&rsq
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I stood on the opposite side of the drawing room door and debated on what to do. In the short time that I’d allowed her, Jasmine had done her best to get me dressed in something easy to put on, but presentable as well as fashioned a hairstyle that was passable for daytime entertaining. After peeking through the crack of the not fully closed door and seeing how glamorous Lilith looked from behind, I questioned my wisdom in hurrying downstairs.I put my ear close to the small opening to listen to their conversation.“My dear Lance, we would have made such a wonderful couple,” Lilith said in a pouty voice that made my skin crawl.I could have sworn that I saw Lance shudder. “I am sure that we would have, Lilith, my dear, but you know that my heart has always been with Esmerelda.”“Is it your heart?” she asked, “Or, is it the fact that the Sleuth family carries powerful magic?
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Jasmine timidly roused me from my getaway slumber to dress for dinner. Part of me wanted to send her away, but my mind wouldn’t release the last sentence that I’d heard Lilith speak. Just what family secrets was she talking about? I groaned as I pulled myself off the bed to freshen up before she assisted me with attire that was suitable for attending the evening meal. I’d never find out the truth about this family and what they were up to if I didn’t go down to dinner and mingle with them.Since Jasmine was the only person who knew that I’d slipped downstairs and eavesdropped on Lilith and Lance’s conversation, I could carry out the ruse of being ignorant about it all while I sought out the information that I needed.She’d supplied me with warm water in my wash bowl. Unfortunately, by the time I’d managed to get my reluctant body off the bed and functioning enough to walk to the w
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The guests were all abuzz with excitement and anticipation of an impromptu wedding ceremony. The only guest not in attendance was Lilith. Jason was missing amongst the crowd, but, then, I didn’t consider him a guest. He was family, after all. It was just as well that he wasn’t kept abreast of what was happening. I wouldn’t put it past him to challenge Lance right there in the middle of the ceremony.Even though I came from a time where pre-marital sex was accepted. Loose sexual behavior was still frowned upon. The fact that I’d been sleeping with one brother while bonded by a marriage contract to another being openly discussed by strangers was completely humiliating. I hated Jason Northrup for playing such a dirty trick on me. I hated him even more for going public with it. I hoped that my sudden wedding totally destroyed his plans and knocked him right on his ass.Lance was waiting at
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I was eager to be alone with Lance. Not only because it was our wedding night, but because I wanted to speak with him in private about what I suspected was going on between his mother and his uncle. I also wanted to run my theory about Lilith’s gift of poisonous bath salts past him.Since I had no desire to ruin the mood for the evening, I decided to wait until after we’d exhausted ourselves by making love before broaching my theory about his brother being sired by his uncle with him.“If what you are saying is true,” he mused, “it would answer a lot of questions.” He sat up and ran his hand through his thick hair. “I cannot believe that my father and I missed this. Now that you have shed light on the matter, it is obvious. There have been so many signs. The most prominent one is the way my uncle favors Jason over me for no apparent reason.”“Now, you know the r
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