Rare and Precious Things
The BLACKSTONE AFFAIR
BOOK 4
RAINE MILLER
THIS book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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THE author acknowledges the copyrighted or trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction: Land Rover; Range Rover; BMW; Dos Equis; Van Gogh Vodka; Biondi Santi; Ferragamo; Rolex; Gucci; Djarum Black; Guinness; Nurofen; Harrod’s; FIA Formula One World Championship; What to Expect When You’re Expecting; Pretty Pretty Princess; Barbie; TheBump.com; CNN; Jimi Hendrix; Rihanna; Stateless; Daughtry; Mumford & Sons; Jethro Tull, Manchester United F.C.; Newcastle United F.C.
Rare and Precious Things
Copyright © 2014 by Raine Miller Romance
All rights reserved
Cover Design by Marya Heiman at Strong Image Editing
Editing by Marion Making Manuscripts
DEDICATION
TO
Valor —and to soldiers fighting the good fight.
All things excellent are as difficult as they are rare.
~Baruch Spinoza, 17TH century
Table of Contents
DEDICATION
PROLOGUE
Part One
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
Part Two
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
Part Three
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
Part Four
CHAPTER 20
EPILOGUE
FROM THE AUTHOR
The Passion of Darius ~ excerpt
Cherry Girl ~ excerpt
RAINE MILLER
PROLOGUE
7th May, 1837
I visited J. today. I talked to him and shared my news. More than anything I would wish to have his understanding of my regret, but I know it is out of the realm of possibilities until such a time as I meet my maker. Then I may know his feelings on the matter.
What shall be the price of Guilt? Just five letters in a word which buries me with its weight. I live, but yet I do not deserve the gift. I can go through the days, and the motions of daily life, but for what purpose? What good can I bring to those I love, and who would love me in return, if they should know my secret? I did not act with correctness when the ability was within my power to do so. I kept silent because I was afraid to curb the one whom I loved more than any other. My bitter regret now must always be born in an endless silence that has broken the hearts of all those I ever loved.
Today I also gave my agreement to marry a man who says he wants nothing more than to care for me and to allow him to cherish me. He looks into my eyes and touches a part of my soul in a way that terrifies me, yet at the same time draws me in deeper to understand his motivation. I believe he can see into part of my secret. He understands me, because his words cut right to the essence of my problem, leaving me no choice but to give in to his demands.
So I will go to live at Stonewell Court and make my life with him…but I am very afraid of what awaits me. How will I ever rise to the standard of what is expected of me? I am not worthy, and I fear my carefully guarded heart is in great danger of being shattered beyond the ability for it to continue to beat within my breast. Darius Rourke doesn’t yet understand that I do not deserve to be cherished by any man. I am torn, and yet he is persuasively persistent in continuing to assure me all will be well, and to trust in him.
I find myself unable to deny Darius in his wishes for me, just as I was unable to deny my beloved Jonathan…
M G
Part One
SUMMER
So shine bright, tonight you and I
We’re beautiful like diamonds in the sky
Eye to eye, so alive
We’re beautiful like diamonds in the sky
Rihanna ~Diamonds
CHAPTER 1
24th August
Somerset
“I can hear the ocean,” she said up against me, her hand on the back of my neck lightly caressing back and forth, the soft floral scent of her driving me crazy.
“Mmm hmm.” I stopped at what I felt was the perfect place for the unveiling. “We have arrived at our nuptial destination, Mrs. Blackstone. I’m going to set you down so you can get the full effect,” I warned, before tilting her down to stand on her own. I faced her toward the house and covered her eyes carefully with my hands.
“I want to look. Are we sleeping here?”
“Not sure how much sleeping we’ll be doing…but we will be here tonight.” I kissed her on the back of the head and took my hands away. “For you, my beauty. You can open your eyes now.”
“Stonewell Court,” she said softly as she took in the view of the great house all lit up from entryway to roof. “I thought this is where we were. I remember the smell of the sea and the sound of the gravel when we walked here that day. It’s so beautiful. I—I can’t believe we get to actually stay here.” She opened her arms wide. “Who did this, Ethan?”
She still doesn’t understand. I brought my hands to her shoulders from behind and kissed the side of her neck, my need to have my lips on her skin ruling me for the moment. “Hannah mostly,” I murmured. “She’s been trying to work a miracle for me long-distance. Thank Christ for virtual meetings and e-signatures on legal documents.”
“What?” she asked, turning to face me with a puzzled look breaking over her beautiful face. I loved surprising her, and so far this one seemed to be something she was going to be pleased about. Making Brynne happy made me happy. End of story. We’d both done the second and third shifts manning the check-in desk at Heartbreak Hotel in the last months, and anything that could ease some of that suffering, was long overdue. That’s how I rationalized it at least.
“The house is for us tonight,” I said, bringing a stray curl of her silky hair to tuck behind her ear as I inhaled some more of her intoxicating scent, and allowed myself the acceptance and contentment of knowing we’d really up and done it. We’d actually managed it. We’d survived and made it to this point right here, right now.
Married. Husband and wife. Baby on the way. Homeowners of a big fucking house in the country. Hard to believe all of those things could be written under my name, true, but I was standing here looking at the tangible proof of it.
One thing was for certain. I wanted it all. No doubts. Not a one.
All mine.
Brynne pulled her bottom lip in between her white teeth and bit the side of it. I had to stifle a groan at the sight of her when she did it. That luscious mouth… I needed that mouth on me. Badly. As pornographic images rolled through my head for how the next hours would play out, she said softly, “Well, I think your sister has succeeded, and then some. It takes my breath away, Ethan. This is the perfect place for us to spend our wedding night…nothing could be more perfect to me.”
“You’re more perfect.” I took her face in my hands and leaned in, putting my lips on hers, pu
shing my way in for a sweet taste as we stood in front of the house surrounded by the glow of torches and the summer nighttime sea breeze. I coaxed her to open up for me, and of course she did. I took a good, long, and thorough taste of my girl, staking my claim of possession as I had always been driven to do with her from the very start. My wife.
So. Goddamn. Sexy.
“You like it?” I asked when I could manage to pull my tongue out of her. It had been far too long since I’d had the pleasure of getting carried away without having to rein it in. And my balls were the perfect shade of blue to prove it. She’d been sleeping at her Aunt Marie’s house in preparation for the wedding. I was left wondering how in the goddamn hell people managed to be celibate and still function normally. Well, actually I did know. It sucked massive bollocks and I was barely able to.
“I more than like it, Ethan. I love it here.” She turned back around and faced the house again, fitting her luscious curves right into my hips. Oh, fuck yes! She was going to feel how rock hard my cock was against her lovely arse beneath the lace of her pretty wedding dress in another minute, too. I was beyond the ability to curb things by this point. Two weeks was a fucking long time to go without her…especially when I had grown completely and utterly addicted to her being in my bed. I didn’t sleep well without her anymore. It just didn’t work for me now if Brynne was not right beside me in the bed…to breathe in, and wrap myself around.
And if I had one of those motherfucking dreams.
As much as I hated for her to be burdened by my emotional train wreck of fucked-up personal baggage, the vulnerable part of me realized that only her presence beside me would ever do anything for soothing away those cocksuckers. Brynne was my only comfort, and yet, as I agonized over scaring her with all that horrible shit, I tried my damnedest to prevent the night terrors from happening. Sometimes I got away with it. Sometimes I didn’t. So far I’d managed to avoid another bad one like the night before she was taken by Karl Westman.
Him. I felt my blood boil at the merest suggestion of him. That wankstain wouldn’t ever be back to hurt her, or anybody else for that matter, but even the thought of how he’d tried to take her away with him made me physically ill—
“Ethan? What’s wrong?”
I shoved my thoughts away and shook my head, holding her a little tighter. “Sorry. I was—I—nothing’s wrong, baby.” I nuzzled behind her ear.
“I was telling you how much I love that we get to stay here tonight and you didn’t answer—”
I cut her off before she could delve any further. My girl was very intuitive with me. She would sense where my head was at and worry. Brynne knew more about my dark place than anyone else, but at the same time, I couldn’t bring her into it any further than I already had. I just couldn’t do that to her—not my sweet, innocent girl, now my lovely wife, and the mother of my child. And certainly not right now, not with our honeymoon before us. I was going to enjoy our time together. Or die trying. Most fucking definitely.
So I smoothly distracted her instead.
“I’m very glad about that, Mrs. Blackstone, because after we were here together, I couldn’t get this place out of my head. I wanted to bring you here. The inside needs some attention, but the bones are good and the foundation rock solid, perched up here with the sea below. This house has been here a very long time, and hopefully it’ll still be here a long time from now.”
I slipped the small envelope from my pocket and brought it around to hold in front of her so she could see it.
“What’s this?” The gentle sound of her voice when she asked the question made my heart thud inside my chest.
“It’s your wedding present. I want you to open it.”
She lifted the flap and tipped the odd assortment into her hand—some modern, some very old. “Keys?” She whipped back around to me again, her face transformed into one of awe, her lips parted. “You bought the house?!”
I couldn’t hold back a grin at her reaction. “Not exactly.” I turned her to face the house once more and drew my arms around hers, resting my chin on the top of her head. “I bought us a home. For you and me, and for peaches, and any other raspberries or blueberries that might come along later. This place has plenty of rooms to put them in.”
“How many blueberries are we talking here, because I’m looking at a really big house that must have a lot of rooms to fill.”
“That, Mrs. Blackstone, remains to be seen, but I can assure you that I will give you my very best efforts at filling a few.” Oh, yeah I would.
“Ahh, then what are you standing out here for? Hadn’t you better get cracking?” She sounded very smug now and I sure liked the sound of that.
I swooped her up, and started walking. Fast. If she was ready for HoneymoonLand then I was not the bloke dense enough to be delaying matters. Again, not a moron.
My legs swallowed up the rest of the path quickly, and then the stone steps of our new country house. “And the bride goes over the threshold,” I said, pushing the heavy oaken door with my shoulder.
“You’re getting more and more traditional all the time, Mr. Blackstone.” She laughed softly up at me.
“I know. I kind of like it.”
“Oh wait, my package. I want you to open your gift too, Ethan. Set me down. The lighted foyer will be perfect for you to see it with.”
She handed me the black box tied with silver ribbon she’d been clutching so carefully, looking very happy, and very lovely in her wedding lace, wearing the heart pendant at her throat. I had a small flash of what she’d endured with Westman when he took her, because I remembered she was wearing it when I got her back and checked over every inch of her body for any sign of injury or abuse. It was the only thing she wore by the time I took us into the shower. Just a jeweled heart on a chain adorning my beautiful American girl… I mentally kicked myself and shook it off, angry that I had allowed bad thoughts in again. I pushed the memory down as far away as possible into the recesses of my psyche. There was no place here for anything ugly tonight. This was our night. Only good and wonderful was going to be allowed in with us in this special moment right here.
I lifted the lid off the thin box and pulled back some black tissue paper. The photographs revealed underneath stopped my breath. Brynne beautifully naked in many artistic poses, wearing nothing but her wedding veil.
“For you, Ethan. For your eyes only,” she whispered. “I love you with all of my heart, and all of my mind, and with all of my body. It all belongs to you now.”
“The pictures are beautiful,” I whispered as I studied them in detail. I think I finally understood her as I looked at the images. I was really trying my very hardest to understand her motivation at least. “They’re beautiful, baby, and I—I think I can see why you want to have them now.” Brynne needed to make beautiful pictures with her body. It was her reality. I needed to possess her, and take care of her in order to fulfill some dominant requirement within my consciousness—my reality. I knew I couldn’t help it, either. I only knew that there was no other way for me to be with her. I was who I was and couldn’t change myself to fit into any other slot in regards to Brynne.
“I wanted you to have these pictures. They’re for you only, Ethan. Only you will ever see these pictures of me. They are my gift to you.”
“I hardly have words.” I looked through the poses more slowly, soaking up the images and savouring each one. “I like this one where you’re looking over your shoulder, and your veil is down your back.” I studied the photograph some more. “Your eyes are open…and they are looking at me.”
“They are, but my eyes have only really been opened since we met. You gave me everything. You made me really want to open my eyes to what was around me, for the first time in my adult life. You made me want you. You made me want…a life. You were my greatest gift of all, Ethan James Blackstone.” She reached up to touch my face and held her palm there, her clear brown eyes showing me so much of what she felt. She loves me.
I covered
her palm on my cheek with my hand. “As were you…for me.”
I kissed my bride in the foyer of our new, old, stone house for a long time. I wasn’t in a hurry and neither was she. It felt like we had the luxury of forever.
When we were ready, I picked her up again, loving her soft weight against my body, and also the tensing of my muscles as I carried her up the stairs. Holding onto her in order to hold me up. The concept just made sense for me. I couldn’t explain it to anyone else, but then, I didn’t need to. It was something for only me to know.
Brynne was my greatest gift. She was the first person to really see inside me. Only her eyes seemed even capable of doing it. Only my Brynne’s eyes.
CHAPTER 2
ETHAN carried me up the stairs, his strong arms holding me securely. The spicy scent and hardness of his muscles filled my senses with his maleness, making me ache terribly with wanting. Wedding night jitters? Maybe a little, with some healthy emotional exhaustion sprinkled on top. We hadn’t been together in over two weeks and I missed the intimacy. After all, making love with Ethan was part of our grounding connection. I was honest enough to admit that our first explosive attraction to each other had been all about the sex…and there was nothing wrong with that.
The expression on his face right now was different though, as he carried me along. I wondered what was going on in that head of his behind the carved handsome face. The man behind the mask. My man. My husband.
I wasn’t concerned though, because I knew he would tell me exactly what that was. Ethan usually had no trouble telling me what was on his mind. Part of his special charm. I had to smile at the thought of some of the crazy things he’d said to me since I’d known him.