Cold Gold Page 10
Tears stained her cheeks as she listened to his story. An anguished sob tore from his throat and the face he turned to her was tortured and alien.
He wrapped her in his arms and she felt his tears in her hair. “I want nothing more than to sink into your body and love you, but I can’t risk losing you. I won’t risk losing you or any child we might have.”
Serena cradled him in her arms, her heart full, her mind racing. He loved her. He wanted her. It was his fear of getting her pregnant that kept him from fully making love to her. She loved him, would always love him and for now that was all that mattered. She blinked back her own tears, trying to find words with which to comfort and reassure him, but she could not speak for the sob in her throat. She stroked the back of his head until she felt him relax. He looked down at her with a silent plea in his eyes. She stood on tiptoe, pulled his head down and kissed him.
The soft, warm pressure of her lips on his uncoiled the serpent that slept around his heart. He swept his tongue over hers, tasted her, teased her. She felt his body respond and then, instantly, she felt him tense and hold himself in check.
“No, Randolph,” she whispered. “Not this time. I am not your mother. I am a young, healthy and strong woman who loves you and wants your child. This time,” she undid the sash on her robe and let it fall away revealing her full breasts and flat stomach, “you will love me as you want to, as I want you to.”
She twirled naked in the firelight and saw the love shining in his eyes. She sank to her knees in front of the fire and beckoned to him.
“I think it’s time to feed the dragon,” she whispered.
Her eyes glowed with mischief as she watched an expression of amazement bloom on his face when she told him what she was going to do.
Thank you, Maggie, thank you Lorelei, she thought.
“But if you don’t want to do that,” she added casually, “if you think it unladylike behavior, then perhaps we should just eat Lucy’s bread and cheese and talk about the weather.”
Serena lay back with one arm behind her head and watched the beginnings of a smile curve Randolph’s mouth. The smile spread to his eyes, lit the golden tints in his brown irises so they reflected the firelight. He began to laugh until it boomed in his chest and echoed around the room. He joined her on the floor, rolled her into his arms and kissed her.
“Damn the weather,” he growled. “And you, Serena my darling, will always be a lady.”
The End
Also published by Books We Love
His Dark Enchantress
A Victoria Chatham Regency Romance
AUTHOR’S NOTES
Before there were tablets, iphones and ipods, laptops and computers, television and radio, the only entertainment available was that performed at home or at the theatre. Theatre was beyond the pocket of average working people, so they flocked to the music hall, or vaudeville as it was known in America. The biggest stars, performers like Marie Lloyd and Florrie Forde (who was born in Australia), were well known in both England and America.
Because miners and the services they needed, popped up wherever gold was found, or rumored to be found, it is quite likely they would have known these songs. They might even have heard of Gilbert and Sullivan, whose HMS Pinafore opened in London, England, in 1878. It ran for 571 performances, the second-longest run of any musical theatre piece of the time and became a world-wide sensation.
If you wish to listen to some of these old songs, many of them can be found on YouTube, particularly in performances from BBC TV’s ‘The Good Old Days’.
SONG LIST.
1843 I DREAMT I DWELLED IN MARBLE HALLS – aria from The Bohemian Girl by Irish composer Michael William Balfe.
1885 THE BOY I LOVE IS UP IN THE GALLERY – written for Miss Nelly Power by George Ware and made famous by Marie Lloyd. (UK)
1885 THREE LITTLE MAIDS – from The Mikado by Gilbert and Sullivan. (UK)
1891 TARARA BOOM DE AY - written by Henry J. Sayers, sung by Miss Lottie Collins in “Miss Helyett”. (US)
1895 WALTZING MATILDA – written by Banjo Patterson. (Australia)
1905 WAIT TILL THE SUN SHINES, NELLIE - written by Andrew B. Sterling / Harry von Tilzer. (US)
1906 WAITING AT THE CHURCH – sung by Vesta Victoria. (UK)
1907 DOWN AT THE OLD BULL AND BUSH – written by Russel Hunting, Percy Krone, Andrew B Stirling and Henry Von Tilzer and recorded by Florrie Ford. (UK)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Victoria Chatham's first writing mentor predicted that she would write historical fiction. Having disliked history at school because she could never remember dates, Victoria vetoed the idea. But then a scene popped into her head and she sent it to her critique partner, A.M. Westerling to ask if it had merit. That scene grew into her first Regency romance, His Dark Enchantress. There will be further Regencies, but Victoria is currently working on The Buxton Chronicles trilogy. Book 1 is set in 1907, Book 2 in 1913 and the final book in 1918.
Apart from her writing, Victoria is an avid reader of anything that catches her interest, but especially Regency romance. She loves all four-legged critters, particularly dogs but it’s her passion for horses that gets her away from her computer to ride when she can and volunteer at Spruce Meadows, a world class equestrian centre near Calgary, Alberta, where she currently lives.
You can follow Victoria on:-
www.bookswelove.com/chatham.php
www.facebook.com/AuthorVictoriaChatham
NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER
Thank you for purchasing and reading this Books We Love eBook. We hope you have enjoyed your reading experience. Books We Love and the author would very much appreciate you returning to the online retailer where you purchased this book and leaving a review for the author. Best Regards and Happy Reading, Jamie and Jude
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