The Last Kiss

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen

The next few days went by like a huge whirlwind, traveling all night and sleeping all day. During the day, while she was suppose to be sleeping, Lindsey could only think about the rocking of the coach. It was different for her to make the change from sleeping at night to the day. Even though it was only two days of traveling, it almost felt like a week of bumpy muddy paths. The trip felt like it took even longer mostly because Ashton really hadn’t said more than a few words to her. She got a strange feeling, a cold dark feeling, as if something was very wrong but Ashton was keeping it to himself. Lindsey could only hope that once they arrived at his country home that his mood would change or he would trust her enough to let her in on his secret.

Thankfully it wouldn’t be much longer before they would finally arrived at Ashton’s country estate. Much to Lindsey’s surprise the carriage turned off what seemed like the main path onto a much less traveled path. The sounds of the wheels turning and the harnesses of the horses made such a cluttering noise it was hard enough to even think. But now there was a new soft noise added to the others. It sounded much like high grass being swept aside by the carriage wheels, almost as if the path was too small for a carriage. Lindsey could only hope that they would arrive soon, where ever it was they were going.

Watching out the window really didn’t do much good, the clouds covered the full moon that hung over head. It had been raining when they awoke and started another night traveling. To the greater luck, it had stopped and was clearing into a beautiful but chilly night. Without any sign of warning the moon finally made an appearance, shining brightly as the clouds cleared away. Lindsey could finally see the surrounding area, the land had many rolls of hills and the pastures were full of tall grass. There was a enormous house off in the distance, just barely out of view.

As the carriage pressed on it rolled closer toward the estate that began to take up most of the background. Lights shown from the windows, much of the entire house had been fully lite, it took Lindsey’s breath away. She had seen many homes in London that were what she would have called grand, but this place took on an entirely different side of the word. Everything about the place seemed to be in perfect place, so organized and perfect. Lindsey was absorbing everything she could possibly see at this time of night. She was very much in awe of everything she was now seeing, almost as if she was mesmerized of under some sort of spell.

Looking back at Ashton, much like some sort of child in a candy store, she asked, “this is yours?”

Seeing the way Lindsey looked shocked Ashton, he had never seen a grown woman act like this, stifling a small chuckle, “yes, this is my humble country home.”

“Are you make fun of me, sir?” she asked sternly.

“No,” not able to hide is amusement, “I would never dare to make a muck of you, my dearest lady.”

The carriage pulled to a stop and a footman quickly opened the door. Ashton stepped down then turned to give Lindsey a hand down. Stepping out of the carriage, she could almost swear that she was in some sort of a fairy tale. They made their way up the stairs and into the front hall of the house. Once inside Lindsey acted much like a child in a museum, glancing around at the paintings that hung on the walls and the finery of the furniture. It looked like everything was updated to the most currant fashions and perfectly placed to enhance its beauty.

Then a man approached Ashton with a very stern look on his face. Lindsey had no trouble guessing that it must be the butler of the house, no one could possibly look that unhappy without being a butler. She quickly turned her head and started to study the painting on the wall so she could hide her amusement.

“My lord, you rooms are ready,” the man said with a very stuffy tone.

“Very good, Judd.”Ashton turned and looked at Lindsey, who was now slightly covering her mouth, “I shall show you to the rooms you will occupy. Shall we?”

“Of course,” as she took Ashton’s arm and they started to walk up the stairs.

Leading Lindsey upstairs, Ashton pointed out a few of the paintings on the walls as they made their way to what would be Lindsey’s new chambers. After passing through many large hallways, Ashton opened a door and gave a bow much like a butler would causing Lindsey to laugh softly. He had made perfectly sure that their chambers would be fairly close, since the entire purpose of this time alone was to be just that, alone. She entered the room and began to look around, it was huge, no mistake about it. The bed itself was bigger than anything she had ever seen and she thought the one at his London home was too big for her.

Turning to look at Ashton, she said, “my sir, I do fear that I will get lost in here. Surely all of this can not be for me?”

“Is there something wrong with it?”

“No. Oh, dear me, no. It’s just that this room,” she paused for a moment trying to think of what to say, “the room is just more than I would have imagined myself using. Ever.”

“I see,” he said plainly. “Well, I suppose we could,” he emphasized the could with a bright smile, “find a different room for you. That is, if this one is not up to your good standards.”

Looking at the fine things that Ashton’s tone caused Lindsey to whirl around and face him. Trying to defend herself she quickly shot off, “I beg your pardon, sir?”

Smiling brightly at her, he gave a small chuckle, “sorry, my sweet, I was teasing you nothing more. I’m sorry if I have offended you in any way.”

“Huh, oh no, you haven’t offended me but I thought you were being serious about the room not being grand enough for me.” She glanced around the room, “no, this room is more than I could have ever possibly have hoped for, in truth.”

Ashton couldn’t help himself, her sweet honesty was more than he could withstand. Closing the space between them, he quickly had his arms wrapped around her narrow waist. Ashton’s actions took Lindsey by surprise, she found herself not knowing what to think or what to do. She was lost to him and as if that wasn’t asked enough of her, he leaned down brushing his lips softly across hers. Her body felt as if it were on fire, consumed by his passion.

Unfortunately, a soft voice broke the spell of Ashton’s kiss. There in the doorway stood an older maid, Lindsey guessed it was the one that would be her ladies maid coming to make her introductions.

“Evening, m’lord and m’lady. I came to turn the blankets down for m’lady. I can come back at a better time if you wish,” the old woman said.

“No, now is fine, Manda,” Ashton said not even asking Lindsey.

The maid rushed over to the bed and started in on her chore. Folding the blankets down perfectly, she asked, “would you be wantin’ them heated?”

“Yes, please,” Ashton spoke again before asking
Lindsey, but then again he knew the place better than she did. It didn’t bother her, she thought, it was better that he did answer for her in any case.

Taking her leave, the maid went in search for the heating brick to warm the bed giving Ashton a few moments alone with Lindsey. Still looking around the room, Lindsey figured she would use the time to adjust herself to her new surroundings, so she might not trip over anything during the night. She laughed inside at the though of tripping over things, much like she did when she was a small child visiting a relatives home. Sighing, she recalled the last time she went for any sort of visits, it was just before her parents died. Tears started to form in the corners of her eyes. Not wanting to cry in front of Ashton she centered her
thoughts on the paintings that graced the walls.

A quick feeling of sorrow filled Ashton but just as quickly turned back to wonder and curiosity. He knew he shouldn’t be reading what she felt but he couldn’t help himself. She had turned to face the windows and he wasn’t sure of her feelings toward him yet. In any case, he felt sorrow from her, even as brief as it was, he wondered what was causing her to be sad.

Surely she didn’t know about the house being burned down, he had made quite certain that not even her staff knew about the fire. He wanted to ask her but wasn’t sure how to approach the question, thankfully he wouldn’t have to break the silence.

“Found one,” the old lady said as she entered the room again. The way that both Lindsey and Ashton turned their attentions quickly to her caught her by surprise. “Oh! Is something wrong?”

“No,” the pair both answered at once.

Everyone in the room could feel the tension in the room and it was only a matter of time before someone broke the odd silence. Lindsey wondered if she should say something but instead held her tongue. Ashton, on the other hand, wasn’t sure what he should say, just then it came to him.”

“Shall I show you around the house while Manda is preparing your bed?” he asked stiffly.

All to eager to be doing something other than standing in the middle of the room doing nothing, she agreed. It’s not like it was any bother to her, she wanted to see his home anyhow. Plus, it gave a good excuse to get her mind off of the past with her parents and off of his lips. Glancing at Ashton as they stepped into the hallway, no she was only fooling herself, there was no way she would be able to get that thought out of mind. At least not anytime soon, even more so with him standing right at her side. She sighed again, this weekend might help take her mind off of a few things but she doubted she would have even thought of them in any case. Instead she would be fixed on the sights of Ashton, his lips and the most powerful of them all, his kisses.

Reading Lindsey’s thoughts again almost caused Ashton to trip over his own feet. Her thoughts were of him and even better they were of his passionate kisses. Looking inside her thoughts only made Ashton’s lust for her grow even more. It was all he could do to restrain himself from pulling her into one of the guest chambers and make love to her. Showing her around the house, he pointed out a few things here and there before they reached the gallery room.

Wondering through the house had proven to be a very long stroll, almost like taking a walk in the park. Ashton’s house was quite large in size and from what she guessed she had only seen a small portion of it. They entered a grand room filled with paintings of people, Lindsey guessed they were all of family members and then wondered were Ashton got his handsome looks from. Walking past the first few Ashton pointed out the names of a few of them but not much on the details of who they were or even what their relation had been to him.

Until they reached a beautiful painting of a woman with long blonde hair with green eyes and a very fair complection. There was no name plate on who she was but Lindsey knew she was of some sort of importance to Ashton. He just stood there staring for a few moments not even noticing that Lindsey was still by his side.

“There is no name, might I ask who she is?” Lindsey said in a soft voice.

“She was my mother,” he said turning his attentions to Lindsey’s face. Turning to walk away he continued, “she was nineteen when this was painted, I do believe.”

“She’s beautiful. I see where you get your brilliant green eyes from,” she said following his lead to move on.

With their pace still slow Lindsey glanced at the rest of the paints and noticed that their was no picture of Ashton’s mother after that. She also noticed that he gave no mention of his father at all. There was no way to be sure he was even pictured in any of the paintings. Her head filled with wonder, she wondered why Ashton’s mother was only had one painting and why there was no mention of his father.

“Is your this your father’s painting?” she asked as she pointed to a painting of a man that had none of the same features as Ashton.

“No, I’m unsure of who that person is, if truth be told,” as he looked at the painting a bit more.

“Oh,” she softly laughed.

Giving a small chuckle himself, Ashton said, “there is no such luck when a man can’t even name the people in his own gallery.”

This causes Lindsey to laugh even harder but he spoke the truth, she had never met a person who couldn’t name the portraits they had in their homes. Even of the none-family paintings most people knew who had created the painting. Ashton walked over closer to the painting to see if there might be a name plate but instead there wasn’t one.

“Hm. Well, I suppose I shall have to figure out this great mystery of who this person is that has found his way onto my wall,” Ashton teased, tossing his hands into the air as he walked back to Lindsey’s side.

With a smile still on her face, she said, “that would be the sensible thing to do, my lord.”

Just as the words passed Lindsey’s lips, Ashton took hold of her, forcing her body to press hard against his and kissed her. All of Lindsey’s senses soared until she could have sworn she saw all the stars in the heavens descend upon the earth within her mind. Freedom swept through her like she had never felt before, not even with her husband Robert. She couldn’t help but wonder if it was all real or just some sort of dream. Feelings of hot passion pasted from Ashton’s body to hers with just the soft touch of his tongue against hers.

Even though she felt as if she were floating, Lindsey knew that Ashton was slowly backing her against a nearby wall. Feeling the light pressure of the wall press on her back, she never once even thought about breaking the hold Ashton had over her. Ashton’s hands roamed over her body as if he were searching for something that might be impossible to find, a treasure of sorts. Lindsey could feel the soft thin material of her skirts being raised by Ashton’s hands. She wondered if she should start to resist and make him stop or let herself sink with the flood of passion.

Not able take a step back, she wondered if she should even try to play hard to get or just enjoy the lust that had consumed her body. Pulling back a bit, she looked into his emerald eyes and was shocked. Even though she had read a bit about vampires, she was not ready for what she saw deep within his eyes. There were the fires of passion and lust but there also seemed to be a soul hidden behind everything else. Was it possible for a vampire to have a soul?

Still engulfed with need, Ashton started to place hot kisses of fire on the soft skin of Lindsey’s neck. Each kiss brought forward Ashton’s other needs as well. The needs of a darker sort, the hunger of a vampire that needed to be fulfilled. Kissing her more and more the monster within started to take over and Ashton knew that if Lindsey saw this hunger it would surely frighten her away from him forever.

The love Ashton had for Lindsey was and would always be tainted by the stains of blood. Removing his hands from folds of Lindsey’s skirts he turned and took a few steps away. If not to just release him from his fear but also to protect Lindsey from seeing the monster that was now showing itself. He would not allow her to see a site such as this, she did not deserve to be treated like a food source. The passion Ashton had just felt was now gone and replaced with utter hatred, not at Lindsey but at himself for not being able to control himself with her.

Coming to her senses once again Lindsey noticed that Ashton’s mood had changed. She wondered if she had done something to upset him. Her stomach dropped into the shallow depths of her being at the memories of Robert. He had once told her that she would never be able to please any man with her love making and that she was just too plain and that no one would be capable of loving her. That was it, she didn’t meet the Ashton’s needs to the fullest standards. Ashton had surely had many lovers over the years and who was she to even try to compare herself worthy enough to please him. She would never be enough woman to make Ashton happy. Tears started to burn her eyes as they grew full and not wanting Ashton to see her cry, she turned and ran out of the room.

Hearing the patter of Lindsey’s slippers Ashton turned just in time to see her leave the room, slamming the door behind her. All the compassion that had filled him left his body and was replaced by anger. Not at Lindsey but once again at himself. He knew that she had ran from the room in terror, there was no other reason. She had seen the monster that he had tried to hide and in turn it had scared her away from him. Right then he didn’t even blame her if she had ran to her rooms and ordered her belongings to be re-packed so she could make her way back to London with great speed.

Yelling at the top of his lungs, Ashton cursed, “Die you damn monster. I wish you dead, do you hear me?”

The sound of his voice echoed into the halls causing a few of the staff members to pause with wonder. Calming down a bit, Ashton quickly decided that he had better go see if Lindsey needed arrangements to be made for her passage back to London. Determined that she had set her course to leave Ashton wasn’t sure if he had the will to even try and keep her here. He would never force a lady to stay with him especially since she had seen the monster within him and ran from it. Of course he would try and talk with her and make an attempt to explain. It would be left to her after that, if she still wanted to leave there would be nothing for him to do to stop her.