AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Neither had we, nor have we any reports of others suffering in a manner exactly like this.” He tightened his fingers on Iris’ hands, and swallowed, pain shining in his eyes. “But the thing that worries me most of all is not the effect of the madness on her, terrible though it is, but the fact that the madness exists at all. I ask myself, over and over again – what if the madness is due to a corruption of the blood, the kind of thing that can pass from one generation to the next? What if a child of mine might be so afflicted?”
He looked stricken, and Iris felt equally so for a moment, before common sense asserted itself.
“Leon… in families where such things have passed from one generation to the next, there has usually been sign of it in multiple people, and in the record books. Unless that is true in your family, it seems very unlikely that it could afflict a child of yours.”
“But what if it does? How can we have children, if such a threat hangs over them?”
Iris swallowed, feeling shaken, but still shook her head.
“I do not know what it is that has done this to Maggie, but I cannot believe it a contamination of the blood. There must be another explanation of it. If no other in your family history has suffered so, then I am willing to think it unlikely that another will in the future. At this point, the history of it does not matter – what matters is now – and the fact that Maggie hates me and wants me gone. Yet she is your sister, and I know that you will not abandon her, as I would not abandon a sister of mine. I do not know how those things can be resolved in a manner that can let me live in this house with you.”
He looked at her, and for a moment, his feelings were clear on his face – he looked utterly hurt, as if she had thrust a knife into his heart. Then he turned his eyes away from her, and went to release her hands.
“I suspected that you would feel so. I cannot ask you to stay…”
“No! That is not what I meant. I do not want to leave you – far from it. I want to stay, I want to build a life with you – I am simply saying that, at this moment, I do not know how we will manage to do that.”
He stopped, mid movement, and she curled her fingers around his, pulling him back towards her. He met her eyes again, and what she saw there took her breath away. There was pure, naked desire, deep relief, and complete confusion, all entangled. It seemed that the desire won, for without another word, he pulled her to him, slipping an arm around her, and lifting the other to cradle the back of her neck as he brought his lips to hers. She went into the kiss willingly, her heart racing.
She was drowning in that kiss, pleasure flooding her veins as his tongue teased and explored, and she, greatly daring, explored him in return. Minutes passed, and nothing else mattered but the connection between them. This was how it was supposed to be – their bodies cleaving to each other, wanting to meld physically, as they did so easily musically.
When they drew apart a little, both breathing hard, Iris knew that she wanted more – more kisses, and more than kisses. Leon regarded her with something like wonder.
“We will find a way, I promise. I do not yet know what that way might be, but I will not let my sister destroy what we have between us.”
“I… I would like to explore more of what we have. More of… the physical…”
She felt her cheeks redden as she said it, but she wanted it said. He drew her closer again, and pressed a kiss to her forehead, then a trail of soft kisses down her face, until he found her lips. She parted them, and his tongue slid through that gap, caressing, exploring. She quivered. His hands caressed her neck, her back, her sides, and every touch was a trail of exquisite fire.
But, like everything where they were concerned, it seemed, the moment was shattered.
A pounding came on the door, accompanied by a high-pitched shouting. They jerked apart, startled to their feet, and for a moment Iris clung to him in fear. Then the words in the shouting became clear to her, and sense regained control of her mind. She pushed away a little, and stood straighter.
“Leon, let me in! Is that witch in there with you? Make her leave. She doesn’t belong here. Leon….”
Maggie.
The words tumbled from her, an ever-increasing tirade, damning Iris as a witch and worse. Any desire that Iris had felt left her, as sharply as if she had been doused with freezing water. Even this, a supposed moment of quiet intimacy between them, in their own rooms, had been destroyed by Maggie's madness. How could they ever risk such moments, when this could happen?
Leon gently lifted his hands from her, and went to the door. He did not open it, or move to unlock it, he simply spoke.
“Maggie, be calm. It is night, and time for you to rest. The whereabouts of my wife is not your concern. I will speak with you in the morning, but now, you must return to your bed.”
“I won’t – not until I know that she’s gone. Throw her out into the night. Do it for me, brother. She does not belong here, she is not family.”
“I will not. She is family, for I have married her. Now go to bed.”
At that point, hurried footsteps came along the hall, and Mrs Withercombe’s voice joined the conversation.
“Maggie dear, he’s right – you must come to bed now. Tomorrow is soon enough to talk about how you feel, once you are properly rested.”
“I don’t want to sleep!”
Maggie sounded, again, like a small child – the tiredness was in her voice, but her words were all denial. Mrs Withercombe spoke to her for some minutes, and finally convinced her, once Leon had promised to spend some time with her in the morning, to allow herself to be led away to bed. They stood there in silence, until all sound of footsteps had faded away. Then Leon turned back to face Iris.
“Leon, is that why you locked the door? Because you thought that something like that might happen?”
“Yes. I am sorry. I had hoped…”
