Lady of the Night Ch. 03

She sighed and stretched as she opened her dark jade eyes. She looked around the room noting the subtle elegance of the decorations in black and silver wondering where she was.

Surely I have never stayed in an inn as sophisticated as this,she thought to herself before she noticed the stranger standing by the door. That man, who looked like a mixture of a demon and an angel with his long flowing black hair and dark brown eyes, was standing against the wall, and looking like a contented cat.

She opened her mouth to ask where she was, but he shook his head and walked towards her. She sat up eyeing him warily. Upon reaching her, he bent down and kissed her holding her head and tangling his fingers in her long loose hair. He pulled her head back and ran his tongue along her lips asking for entry. She sighed into his mouth, and he thrust his tongue into her mouth and tasted her, bringing feelings to life in her body she had never before experienced. She wrapped her arms around his neck melting against his body.

Suddenly, he disappeared from her arms and she felt bereft, looking around the dark room for him. The room was no longer there, and in its place was the alley. The man who had attacked her was there again with the knife and he began to attack her driving the knife into her over and over. She attempted to scream, but no sound came out.

"Chère, wake up!" Darien said as he attempted to awaken her from her nightmare. She struggled against him even as she woke up, and he had to pin her hands above her head with one hand the other holding her ankles to keep her from thrashing out and hurting him. "Chère, wake up you are safe here. No one is going to hurt you."

She started awake from the shaking and looked around blindly for a moment, fighting the bonds holding her. Confused, she starting striking out with her feet, kicking free from his grasp, panting with the effort,

"Chère,I promise, no one is going to harm you here. You will only hurt yourself thrashing about like that. You wouldn't want me to have to tie you down would you?" he said his eyes laughing as he released her adding, "It was only a dream," he stroked her hair which was coming loose. She blushed, wondering who this gentleman was kneeling by her on the settee in a place she had never been before. When he saw that she was awake he released her hands and stroked her face gently.

"My name is Darien," he whispered huskily in her ear, answering her unanswered question, as he sat her up moving behind her to unbraid her hair and rub it between his fingers, "May I have the pleasure of knowing yours?"

"My name is Marcille, if it pleases you, Milord," she responded demurely, her language reverting to how it was before poverty had overcome her. She was confused by his behavior; no one had ever treated her this way. "May I ask you a question Milord?"

"Most certainly, you may ask anything you wish, as long as you call me Darien."

She looked into his eyes and nodded slightly, "Then, Darien, I wished to ask if I am in heaven."

He threw back his head and laughed, and she got her first good look at his face. She blushed as she realized that his face was fiercely beautiful, with his flowing black hair going just past his shoulders which he kept held back with a red silk ribbon in the current fashion. His eyes, though they were closed now, she had noticed were the darkest brown she had ever seen.

"Why would you ask a question like that, Marcille?" he asked her after he had regained his composure.

She smiled, "Merely because you look so like an angel, Milord."

The shock on his face from her blatantly innocent explanation took him a moment to overcome before he could answer her.

"No, sadly you are not in heaven, but if you were you would be the angel, not I."

She smiled at him as she tried to rein in her turbulent emotions.

What caused me to ask a question like that?She wondered to herself before she asked him a more logical question.

"May I ask where I am then Darien?"

"You are in my home the Villa Hadean where I brought you after I found you injured in an alley," he smiled gently moving from behind her and gently laying her back against the settee as if she was made of porcelain.

"You are still very weak from the attack, so please, chère, rest here and feel safe. I will come back around to check on you before I head to bed for the night."
She nodded as she let him lay her back and cover her gently with the light blanket that had been placed at the end of the settee. As she watched him walk away she frowned slightly reaction to him. When he was near her she felt confused, but when he went away, like he was doing now, she wanted him to come back.

Why, she thought,was he being so nice to her? Most people would have just left her to rot in the gutter...; she pulled herself from this thought by taking her first really good look at the man since she had awoken.

He was a tall man, with a cloak of confidence surrounding him with every move. His brown eyes seemed to take in everything in his surroundings, and when he was talking to her his eyes were only for her, making her feel precious and wanted; a strange feeling for a Lady of the night who only relied on herself.

As if he was reading her mind, he turned around and strode back over. As he stood over his hunger for her was evident in his eyes. She sat back up, and suddenly realized that she was not wearing anything under the blanket which suddenly seemed far too small. She held it around her like a shield suddenly wondering why she wanted him to return, "Was there something you required, Milord? I mean Darien," she added quickly remembering his earlier request.

He smiled and gently shook his head, as if to dislodge some errant thought, and stood silently looking down at her. Suddenly, he bent down closing the distance between them until only a few inches separated them, and she could feel his breath warm on her cheek.

He remained right where he was for what seemed an eternity. She could feel the heat from his body, though he was not overtly close to her. Her tongue darted out and ran over her bottom lip in an unconscious gesture that was innocently erotic.

His smile widened and she noticed his strong white teeth as he made the final move to kiss her. As his lips touched hers she felt the world tilt and grabbed his shoulders to keep from falling off. His lips were warm and strong against hers as he ran his tongue on the crease of her lips, as if asking for entrance. She parted her lips and sighed into his mouth as his tongue entered her mouth. His arms felt like steel as he held her to him making her feel protected. She wrapped her arms around his neck and tangled her tongue with his.

He had never experienced anything like it. Her mouth tasted like honey and her tongue stroking his sent flames trailing down his body into, it seemed, in his growing manhood. He ran his fingers through her silk fine hair and kissed his way to her ear nipping it lightly and listening to her gasp at the sensation. He smiled and sat back on his heels and looked into her eyes. He looked at her for a long moment before he turned off the oil lamps, "Goodnight Marcille."

Her eyes were dazed and half closed as she smiled at him as she responded, "Goodnight Darien."

He walked over to the table by the door wondering what he was going to do with this strange woman. After donning is top hat, gloves and cloak he silently opened the door and stepped into his carriage that would take him back to London.

What were you thinking?He said to himself,with this entire Jack the Ripper hysteria going on it has been hard enough to get a decent meal after sundown, but no... You had to go out and play the knight in shining armor to a woman who is obviously not a damsel. now it is very likely now that we will go hungry tonight.

But,he argued with himself,there is the girl in the house. If we can't find a meal we can always finish off what that man started...

"No!" he screamed as he stepped out of the carriage and into the London night, "I won't kill her!"

Right then a well dressed gentleman walked past. As he thanked his lucky stars he began to stalk the man silently.

As he followed the gentleman he soon realized that something was wrong... He seemed to look a lot like the man that he had thrown off of Marcille earlier that evening...

But how is that possible? He wondered,the way I threw him against the wall would have killed anything but a...He stopped that thought,no, it couldn't be... No one was that stupid. After all, there were rules to this game.

With his hunger forgotten for the moment he began stalking this man, this Jack the Ripper. He followed him all throughout London into the Predawn hours of the morning. When he lost the Ripper among early morning traveler's he decided it was time for him to go home. He called his carriage and stepped lightly into it. He knew he would shortly return to his home and to Marcielle.

When he returned home he walked to the study door and listened to her breathing for a few minutes. He knew little of what he was going to do with her at the moment, but one thing was for certain. He would protect her.