Authors: Traci Harding
Something rather amazing that we did discover was that we both had the same birthmark, although in different places. It took the form of a small red cross: mine in between my shoulderblades and Devere’s in the middle of his chest.
It was hardly surprising that we slept away most of the carriage ride the next day, ate dinner with our hosts in Tunbridge, retired early and did the same thing all over again.
Upon arriving in Dover the next evening, after sleeping away the journey once again, Devere and I spent a third night wide awake. Had it not been for Nanny Beat, and Mr Devere’s faithful manservant, Mr Tibbs, dressing, feeding and packing us up, we would have missed the ferryboat to Calais.
I really enjoyed the passage across the Channel. The weather was fine and cool, and my husband and I were forced to be more sociable. Mind you, the couples we were with hadn’t been any more eager to socialise than we were. I couldn’t help but notice how well we all looked for our confinement, how content and happy. It was quite apparent that we had all made a good match and were very much in love.
The night we spent in the port of Calais was the evening Devere came to visit me while I bathed. He dismissed Nanny and stood gazing at me from the door.
‘What can I do for you, Mr Devere?’ I did not feel anywhere near as inhibited by my nakedness as I imagined I might be: the water was rather soapy, and due to Devere’s obsession with my breasts, I’d become quite accustomed to being half naked in his presence.
‘I’ve come to get you drunk, Mrs Devere, and to give you pleasure.’ When he approached I noticed he had two glasses and a bottle of Champagne. ‘When in France…’ he explained, as he knelt by the bath and placed the bottle and glasses aside on the floor.
‘That sounds wonderful, but I’ve told you, I don’t partake of impure substances.’
‘I’ll just move straight on to the pleasure then, shall I?’ He removed his shirt, tossed it aside and then kissed me gently.
Devere’s right hand caressed my breasts a moment and then diverted very directly to the one region of my body he’d yet to explore. The pleasure took me far away, not into Devere’s body but deep inside my own. I heard groans of pleasure, and was completely oblivious to the fact that they were emanating from me. Devere’s lips had left mine and were now enveloping my left breast, as his fingers continued to weave their magic between my legs. I’d never imagined that any feeling could be so overwhelming that I would lose myself entirely within. I have never been more in the moment, more content to be my own being; it was intensely delicious, intimate and empowering. When I thought I could stand the pleasure no more, my body rose and with a shuddering heave I collapsed into rapture.
I heard the sound of smashing glass close by, but even that could not draw my focus from within my being. I do confess that for several moments I could do little more than breathe and enjoy the revelation of liberation, relaxation and elation I was feeling.
Devere kissed my forehead and withdrew his arm from my bath. ‘Oh dear.’ He collapsed to a seat on the tiled floor, and gazed at the broken bottle and accompanying glasses shattered on the floor amid the bubbly liquid.
I sat up to view his distraction and was amused by it. ‘How did that happen?’
‘I’m not entirely sure…I spied it floating and then…’ He dropped his hands and spread his arms
apart, wearing a delirious grin on his face. In fact, he appeared to be a little lightheaded. ‘Are you all right?’ I reached over and took his head between my hands, and kissed him with all the passion I could muster. ‘That was simply wonderful.’
‘I agree!’ He put a hand to the floor to push himself up to standing and he managed, albeit with a bit of a stagger.
‘Devere?’ I was concerned now, despite the grin on his face.
‘I’m good,’ he assured, squinting and then opening his eyes and glaring at the plant in the corner, ahead of squinting again.
I climbed from the bath and threw on my robe. ‘Tell me what is amiss with you?’ I carefully avoided the glass to get to his side.
‘That plant is glowing.’ He pointed to it.
I looked at the healthy specimen and saw that its light-body was very prominent. ‘Yes, it is,’ I confirmed, ‘but usually I would be the only one to notice.’ I walked toward the candlelight and away from Devere. ‘And what about me?’
‘Oh, my Lord.’ He shielded his eyes with one hand. ‘Colours! You look like an angel!’
He collapsed onto his knees, not out of reverence or awe but from lack of stability.
I rushed back to his side and knelt to address him. ‘I gather that this is not a normal byproduct of sexual relations?’ At this, Devere laughed and shook his head. ‘I’m so sorry,’ I said.
‘Don’t be sorry,’ he was quick to say. ‘I feel amazing…as if I’ve connected with something divine within myself that I never even knew was there.’
I frowned, bemused. ‘But it was you who pleasured me.’ I might have understood this transformation
had it been the other way around…or mutual elation?
‘I admit I am baffled. Each time we’ve kissed I’ve felt an inkling of an awakening. I have had lovers in the past,’ he confessed a little shyly, ‘and I know how euphoric intimate relations can be.’
This came as no surprise to me. Judging from that little seduction, he knew exactly how to please a woman.
‘But this…’ He breathed deeply, so overcome that I feared he might pass out. ‘Wow! I feel like I’ve just been shot into the cosmos.’
I looked to the smashed bottle and glasses. ‘If I caused them to levitate—’
‘Well, I can assure you that I didn’t,’ Devere said with amusement.
I cocked an eyebrow to accept his point. ‘Then my psychic energy was stimulated by my arousal, and being so close to me, perhaps some of it transferred and was absorbed by you.’
‘Like a chemical chain reaction?’ Devere was beginning to see where I was coming from.
‘Yes, exactly.’
‘I can honestly say that I could feel energy emanating from you.’ He pulled me onto his lap. ‘It felt every bit as empowering as it obviously was.’
‘Not really what you bargained for when taking a wife, I suspect?’ It was scary to imagine how inheriting my talents in adulthood would affect a psychic novice; I suspected it could be a very adverse and overwhelming experience indeed. ‘I’ll understand completely if this is just too weird for you.’
‘I love weird. I love you.’
I hugged him for the reassurance, thinking that any other man would have disowned me, or had me
committed. ‘That is well, Mr Devere, for it seems I am falling in love with you too.’
We slept that night, and the next day Devere was like a child walking around in an entirely new world. During the carriage ride that marked the final leg of our journey to the Chateau de Vere, my travelling companion was wide-eyed and full of questions. His new talent of seeing etheric energy had not ebbed at all and he marvelled at everything he saw—and everyone! Whirling chakra centres, auric hues, light-bodies, and elemental beings: it was all incredibly fascinating for him. Subsequently, Devere was doubly excited about our liaison this night; I’d opened the door to another world and he was more than ready to step right into that new dimension.
It was wonderful to finally arrive at the chateau. The stately country manor had fallen out of the hands of the Devere family late last century. The place had been looted and gutted during the Revolution, and then fully restored after the fall of Napoleon. This was where Lady Charlotte had been basing herself before she’d been my governess and I could tell she’d had a hand in the refurbishment of the structure. The artworks were strong with hidden esoteric content, and the decoration of the chateau reflected the harmony and beauty of the Dowager Countess herself.
It was also a real blessing to be coming to a stop for a while and to have accommodation of our own. All the way here we’d been somebody’s guests by arrangement, but this night we dined only with our brothers and sisters and it was a very merry meal. Everyone was in such fine spirits that no one noticed that my husband was observing everything a little
oddly, nor that he was in an especially expansive mood.
When dessert was polished off, Lord Devere posed a poignant question. ‘So, shall we adjourn to the drawing room?’ Everyone went silent and looked at someone else to make the decision. ‘Or are we all so weary from our journey that we are ready to retire at this unfashionably early hour?’
The ensuing laughter and garbled confessions of fatigue indicated a unanimous response to the latter suggestion.
Once it was agreed, Devere and I wasted no time in bidding all goodnight. We raced each other up the staircase and, at the top, he swept me up to carry me into our quarters. We encountered Nanny Beat in our boudoir, stoking up the fire. She was quick to rise, bid us goodnight and make an exit. She knew as well as I did that my monthly dilemma was over and that tonight I would lose my virtue.
‘I’m quite sure she’s psychic too,’ Devere uttered with good humour as he watched Nanny close the door behind her and he continued into the bedroom.
‘Just observant,’ I assured him.
Although the bed was turned down, Devere laid me on the lounge chair in front of the fire and then sat on the floor beside me. ‘Are you apprehensive?’
How could he ask after our previous passionate encounter? ‘I am far more concerned about how you will survive this union…for myself, I am determined.’ I lured him to a long and luscious kiss.
My breasts were bypassed altogether this night. His hand was already clearing a trail through my petticoats, up my inner thigh and straight to the site of my elation yesterday. His lips left mine,
though I barely noticed until his mouth, and the kisses therefrom, replaced his fingers in the exploration of my most private places and his hands were thus at leisure to part his target wide. I died and went to heaven in that moment—that powerful place inside myself, deep and dark like an abyss, and yet full of cosmic promise and my own infinite possibilities. The pleasure in my body eventually drew me back to my conscious self; the physical sensation was so intense, but release was imminent.
Devere emerged from my skirts and slid himself between my open legs. We made eye contact and it was plain that he was off in his own little world too. I hoped that I would make this experience as pleasurable for him as he was making it for me.
Unlike the day before, Devere proceeded with painstaking care and by the time he was fully inside me, we both collapsed into rapture at once. The mirror over the fireplace shattered and various pictures and ornaments around the room came crashing to the floor.
I would have laughed if I hadn’t been so otherwise emotionally detained. ‘I can see we are going to have to nail down our bedroom furniture.’ I kissed Devere’s neck.
He chuckled, but as he’d yet to recoup his sensibilities he didn’t raise himself.
‘Are you still with me, Devere?’ I brushed the blond curls from his face, hoping to find his eyes.
‘Only just.’ He drew a deep breath, and attempted to stir himself from his euphoria.
‘Shall I help you over to the bed?’ I did hope that was not going to be the end of our fun and games this evening.
The suggestion made him smile. ‘How about I help you?’ He rose to meet the challenge and swept me up with him.
By the time the candles and the fire in our room were burning low, Devere was unconscious and I found myself alone and wide awake. I was lying beside him, admiring his beauty as he slept. His light-body was ablaze with activity, so clearly our physical relations had triggered some energetic reaction in him—the spinning vortexes of his subtle body whirled ever faster. My eyes became transfixed on his third eye area as the energy centre there pulsed silver and faded to indigo by the time the life force was absorbed by the coiling serpent of his kundalini. I wondered how he fared and a vision filled my eyes.
The imposing fellow who had confronted Lord Hamilton over his marriage to me was addressing me directly.
Your personal power will only be realised upon her pleasure.
I sat up, startled from my concentration as I realised this was Devere’s memory. ‘He lied,’ I muttered under my breath, unable to believe it.
Don’t be hasty,
I warned myself, recalling how Lady Charlotte had advised me not to doubt my husband’s devotion to me. I relaxed onto the bed beside him, to regain my focus. Once I was calmer, the impression of the unknown gentleman returned.
Keep her safe, Devere,
he instructed sternly.
Learn about her, learn from her and keep me posted. If you can please this woman, you will become a very powerful man indeed. And, with any luck, you’ll have many, many adept offspring.
Tears were rolling down my face for I’d always considered that Devere’s love was too good to be true.
How do you know this man?
I queried his subconscious directly, and I perceived something then that I did not expect.
It was Lady Charlotte, just as I’d seen her in Devere’s memory that night at Hartsford Manor. Speaking to me from her quiet corner, the oracle had my undivided attention, even though I was vaguely aware that someone else had entered the room in which she sat.
And to better prepare the way for this woman coming into your life, you might want to speak with this gentleman.
I turned and there he was. He had a little more hair and was minus a few pounds, but this was definitely the fellow who had threatened Lord Hamilton.
‘Not only did Devere lie to me about that man, but they have a long acquaintance!’
I had grabbed my treasure stone and summoned Albray to the boudoir, so I could pour out my woes to him.
‘What if Devere had a hand in killing Lord Hereford?’
We never established without a doubt that Lord Hereford was murdered,
my knight suggested in a reasoned and calm tone.
‘Even Lady Charlotte seems to have had more of a hand in manipulating my destiny than I had otherwise imagined…can I trust no one?’
You can trust me,
Albray stated consolingly, although I was not really listening.
I was furious when I thought about my intimate encounters with Mr Devere over the past few days. ‘Learn from me, protect me, please me…Oooooh!’