Refuge of Delayed Souls

Billy Part 24 - Under Control

Present Day

“You can hold my hand if you want, Bess,” Grispheran offered.

Elizabeth was infuriated with his butter-wouldn’t-melt attitude. “No, thank you very much!” She replied tersely, struggling to place one foot firmly over the over on the boggy landscape they were attempting to walk over. Her maglite had no problem picking out the trail, but the fact was, there wasn’t much of a trail to begin with.

“No? Well, I am surprised! Would you prefer to hold something else instead?” he asked flirtatiously, turning his back on her and carried on walking a few paces ahead.

Enraged, she stopped dead in her tracks and glared at his back. “I wouldn’t touch you with a flaming barge pole!” she blazed, her hair and pearl earrings positively bouncing in the cold dark air. “You are a conceited, chauvinistic, immoral --”

Grispheran spun around and placed himself right in front of her. “Agreed! Handsome, too -- even if I do say so myself!” He leaned in close, as near as practically touching her.

Elizabeth pulled her face and upper torso away from his. “Freak you!” she spat.

He laughed and shrugged his shoulders casually. “Well, if you insist...”

“Don’t. Say. Another. Word!” Elizabeth fought hard to keep her temper under control and adopt a professional manner. “Look. I have no idea why Stanley thought it would be a good idea to send us two out here but, he did. I, for one, think that we should just get on with it and...” she paused for breath, “get it over with as quickly as possible!”

“Agreed!” Grispheran adjusted the lace cuffs of his shirt and casually brushed a lapel of his malachite velvet coat. He raised his head slowly and ran his fingers through his long wavy hair almost lethargically. For a split second, Elizabeth noticed how very long his eyelashes were.

“You flatter yourself, madam. I offered to hold your hand in order that I might comfortably transport the pair of us to Heyleigh Stones in comfort. If you had accepted graciously -- not that such a thing is in your nature, mind you -- we could have already been there by now and possibly be on our way back!”

Elizabeth now felt rather foolish in the face of Grispheran’s matter-of-fact manner. Though she sometimes was certain that he was just manipulating her, this time she decided she had probably overreacted and read something more into it then was intended.

“My thoughts exactly, Madam!” Grispheran answered, holding his open left hand out to her. His long masculine fingers gave the impression of marble in the darkness and Elizabeth was surprised when she placed her hand in his and received a sensual thrill from his warm flesh encasing hers.

He pulled her closer to him gently and then casually slipped his arm around her waist. As Elizabeth felt her feet rise off the ground she instinctively placed her arm across his lower back. A breeze gently brushed Elizabeth’s hair and then they were standing on the top of Hades Hill within the avenue of Heyleigh Stones.

Elizabeth unconsciously contemplated Grispheran’s face as he delicately removed his arm from around her waist, making her feel as though she was a little china doll in the process. Her eyes traced their way across his full lips and upwards to lock with his alluring deep basalt eyes.

“Let go of me,” he ordered abruptly.

Elizabeth jolted into action and moved herself a short distance away from him.

“I...I’m sorry! I --”

Feeling her cheeks burn, Elizabeth put further distance between them and tripped over a stone.

“Damn!” she cried angrily and spotted the flame red eyes of the barguest watching them both from the cover of one of the upright stones.

Labels: Elizabeth, Present Day, Refuge of Delayed Souls, Web Fiction

posted by Miladysa @ 11:00

3 Comments:

At 21 March 2010 at 11:34, Miladysa said…

Volume Two concludes today with the final three chapters posted throughout the day.
At 30 March 2010 at 14:13, Melissa said…

Woo! I just love the banter between these two -- and I find myself getting as frustrated as Bess, and then Grispheran says something that makes me feel like *I* overreacted. :D What happens next ....
At 3 April 2010 at 11:57, Miladysa said…

Part of the editorial feedback from Jessica was that I needed to spice it up a bit between these two *blush*

My eldest daughter loves RoYds and begged me to read Volume II as soon as it was finished. After she read it she was a bit sheepish.

"Well?" I asked.

"Er...yeah...it's...good," she replied hesitantly. "It was a bit near the knuckle in parts though..."

Me, *blush*