Light to Valhalla (22 page)

Charley’s
eyelids
fluttere
d
and half closed
.
A
sultry
haze glassed the surface of her eye
s
, and her
tongue swept over her lips, leaving them wet like dew on rose petals
.
N
ot a sound escaped her
, but her breath came in quick erotic pants, her bosom heaving up and down
.
W
hat he wouldn’t have given for a more revealing gown
, one that would afford an ample view of her quivering cleavage
.
Of course if he opened that first button
…

No, no, not yet
.
Wait
for it
.
Just wait
.

Charley leaned in
, eyes closing before she pressed her lips to his
.
Soft and warm, her mouth melded with his
in
equal parts
eagerness and
hesitancy
.

Encouraged Alex rolled to his knees
,
bracing his arms on either side of her, forcing her to lean back
.
A little cry slid from her throat as
she looped her arms around his neck to prevent falling backward
.
Not that he’d have let her fall
.
H
e stole an arm arou
nd
the small of her
back pulling her close
.
“I’ve half a mind to show you just how married we are.
”
He lowered her down
to the floor, using the crook of his elbow
to pad
her head from the harsh surface of the hearth
.

He settled over her soft pliant frame
, and her heat surrounded him in a way he’d never experienced before
.
It was as though a piece of her slipped beneath his skin, swam through his veins
and wiggled into
his heart
.
The stran
ge warmth flickering through him
was
downright frightening
and
so
utterly perfect all at the same time
.
“Oh, Charley,” he whispered, deepening the kiss, taking hold of her with
increased intensity
.
She kissed him back, her fingers clutching at his shoulders
.
He teased her lips, silently begging them to part, and
went for that first button at the front of her gown with his free hand
.
He just had to see more
.
Skim
his fingers across her soft bos
om
.

S
he stiffened
.
“
Alex, please don’t,” she whispered,
breathless
.
She made no physical move to stop him, and the feeble entreaty
would hardly gi
ve him pause
except that the
supple
vixen who’d been his partner just moments ago was gone
.
“
Please,
stop,
I am so confused.”

Confused? 
Alex st
ill
ed
.
T
hat wasn’t quite the response he’d anticipated
.
Confused about what? 
Us
?
  Sidney? 
The thought of Sid and Charley together
chilled the
warmth
inspiring his ardor
.
He rolled to his side, propped on an elbow facing her
.

Abruptly Charley stood, expertly avoiding eye contact, cheeks brilliant red, and bolted for the door
.

“
Is
Sidney
your lover
?”
he called after her.

Charley stopped dead in her tracks and whirled back to face him, jaw agape, utter shock playing across her features
.
“N
-no,” she spluttered, blushing to her ears
.
“Absolutely not.”

Alex
sat,
weighing the sincerity of her declaration
.
She hadn’t even hes
itated, not for a second, before saying
no
.
But, she had stuttered
.
“Then what are you confused about?
” he needled
.
“
Me? 
Some other
gent
taking up vocation in your bed?
”

Wrong thing to say
.

Charley bristled, spearing him with an arctic glare
.
Her chin
inclined
to a regal degree, making him feel two inches tall
.
“If you’re quite through insulting me, my lord, I’m going to see if my mother needs help with dinner preparations.”

E
xtending an arm
, he demanded,
“Charley, wait.
”

Shoulders squared, back ramrod straight, she continued marching toward the door
.
Goddamn, but he was used to having his orders followed
.
Immediately
.

“I shouldn’t have said that.”

Still nothing
.

Alex ground his teeth, sacrificing himself on the altar of dignity
.
“
Please?
”

Finally she
reached the doorway and tur
ned, frigid glare slicing clear through him
.
Now he felt an inch high
.

“
What you said upstairs, in the bedroom—” Alex hesitated, unsure how to broach the subject weighing so heavily on his heart
.
“I don’t hate you, Charley
.
I could never hate you.
”

T
hose oh so perfectl
y green eyes widened
and thawed just a fraction
.

Determinably he plunged on
.
“I hate the circumstances that brought us together.”

Her
face fell
and his heart
dropped
with it
.
He could take her anger
.
Hell, he deserved it, but the hurt on her face… hurt that he’d caused… was almost too much to bear
.

“I wonder
if there is there much difference
,
”
she
murmured
.

“There is a world of difference,
Charley
.”

“How, Alex?  The day before we married I heard eve
ry word you said to my parents.
Every
.
Word
.
You never wanted me and I cannot believe you want me now.”

He swallowed, hard, beating back all the feelings of resentment he’d battled these last few years
.
He raked both hands through his hair, struggling for words
.
How could he explain his change of heart? 
“I don’t hate you, Charley, quite the opposite in fact, but three years ago,” he digressed, because, really, there was nowhere else to begin,
“I lost everything… my brother
s, my freedom
.
My world fell apart
.
I was ordered home for family emergency, but given no specifics
.
At the door of
Coverstone
House
Hastings called me Lord
Beringworth
.
”
Alex woul
d never f
orget looking over his shoulder
certain Richard was standing behind him
.
“I knew then that not only Richard, Earl of
Beringworth
,
was dead, but my other brothers as well.

Tears glittered ominously in the corners of her eyes
.
“It was a horrible time, Alex
.
I know that
.
I was there, but…
”
She shook her head, rolling her eyes to the ceiling
.

“I severed your trust, Charley
.
I realize that, but you
must
understand
in part
why everything surrounding our marriage seemed a bit—”

“Tainted?”

“
O
ff
.
”
He offered a tentative smile of friendship
.
“
But only
at the start
.
A lot of time has passed
and I don’t resent or even regret marrying you.
”

She watched him
with
guarded eyes
.
No doubt wondering if their circumstances were a thing they’d ever manage to overcome
.
Truly l
ive without regret
.
“What do you want from me
, Alex?”

“A chance
.
”

Slowly, contemplatively she nodded
.
“I need to think.
”
Charley
dashed from the room in a flurry of skirts
, thick braid flying behind her
.
Alex made no move to stop her, merely sat before the hearth frustrated in more ways than one.

The fact h
e may have
been cuckolded by his wife and best friend
—or some other conveniently available gent—
gnawed at his gut
.
True she’d seemed sincere in denying the accusation, but who was to say she wasn’t
lying
?

Steeling his nerves he stood,
the sideboard littered with bottles and brandy decanters catching his eye
.

A
drink
, that’s what he needed
.
T
he stiffer the better
.

Hell he needed to get
bloody
foxed
.
Exhausted to the point of physical illness he
stumbled
toward the cupboard,
but stopped
short beside the pianoforte, another vision haunting his mind
.
Charley dressed all in
white,
perched on the
bench,
happily banging away on the keys… she
loved the damned instru
ment
.
How many times had he,
his brothers
,
and Thomas begged her to stop playing as children? 
With a heavy sigh he t
apped a few of
the ivory keys
.
W
ithout Charley’s youthful enthusiasm the chords echoed hollow and empty off the walls
.
Ruefully, Alex shook his head
.
What he wouldn’t giv
e to hear her play today
.
He struck one last note, holding it out, letting the sound fill the room
.

“
I’ve hardly heard her play since
the day you left.
”
The soft voice of his mother-in-law mingled with the waning note.

“Which time?” Alex aske
d without looking up
.
H
e sat on the bench fe
eling somehow closer to Charley
.

Gentle footfalls padded across the room
.
“The last time I heard her play was
the day she turned
seventeen
.”

Ah, yes, that fateful day…
  An image of the carved knight burned before his mind’s eye
.
Something in the universe had shifted that day, between he and Charley, around them, mayhap even
for
them
.
“Why did she stop?”

“True talent
stems from the
heart.
”
A thin s
mile touched Evelyn’s lips
.
“W
hen the heart is broken
,
joys of the heart, like music,
tend to
disappear.”