Their faces fell, for which I was grateful. I'd never considered myself noteworthy-except that I was the only lawyer living here. How gratifying, to learn these men wanted me to serve in a more responsible capacity.
As I showed them to the door, however, my mind whirled with the complications that sitting on Redemption's bench would pose. This little burg was NOT ready for a female magistrate! Nor was I inclined to forego my true identity for the next several years…what a constant effort, to maintain myself as a male, once I was on display in the courthouse. And to accept the job without admitting my gender would make me an impostor of the highest kind.
And-considering the eight little bank books I'd just opened-I could live like a proverbial queen without ever working another day in my life! What a liberating thought!
I grabbed my coat, needing to clear my head with a walk-vowing I would NOT venture near the mortuary. I'd learned who my parents were only moments ago, and had come into a considerable fortune without lifting a finger, so I had a lot of mental sorting out to do.
The moon beamed serenely in the night sky, casting the common homes and surroundings in an ethereal, magical light. A cold wind clicked in the icy trees, and my steps fell into a quick, purposeful rhythm. Perhaps I should've refused the magistrate's position immediately-sent those three men on their way before they could ask any questions. But that would only postpone the inevitable revelations about a past that had vanished like a vampire. And if they found out I was a woman, I'd be out on my ass in a heartbeat.
I'd raise enough eyebrows cashing in my inheritance-or just a part of it-because even the decorous Miss Pritchard couldn't keep my secret if I bankrupted the bank! Everyone would be happy I'd discovered my parents, and that they'd left me a fortune like the kind in fairy tales. But if they learned my mother was a vampire- This thought stopped me in my tracks. Even though Evangelica Halliburton had become Miss Pink after my birth, I couldn't discuss the orphanage that no longer sat on the hillside, nor the creatures who'd played a part in Redemption's everyday life for years. Those who feared vampires would have me constantly looking over my shoulder-and those who didn't believe in such creatures would get me committed. Even if Miss Pink had erased the memories of those Gypsies and that fateful evening with Judge Legg, the deputy and Dammet would rescind their offer if they had an inkling I was related to that femme fatale…
I found myself on the other side of town, in sight of the Redemption Cemetery. By the light of that full, pale moon the tombstones glowed and the ice-coated trees seemed to whisper my name in the wind. While I was determined to steer clear of the mortuary, I sensed an entirely different force drawing me through the iron gates of the graveyard.
I told myself there was nothing to fear: no one else would be visiting at this late hour. The people here were dead! Resting in peace! Yet my pulse raced in a way that was anything but peaceful. I really, really didn't want to be walking here, yet my legs took me of their own accord.
An unexpected movement made me cry out. From the shadow of an ancient oak stepped a mysterious man, clad in a silk top hat and a cape that draped alluringly around his athletic form.
'Alexandrea! I've been waiting, my dear.'
Whose voice was that? I couldn't utter a sound-much less turn around and run! In the eerie light, I couldn't be sure he had form and substance. He emanated an oddly Continental air…seemed dangerous yet downright dashing. Was it the ghost of my father, the Earl of Lustingworth? Come to introduce himself, now that I knew the truth?
He extended his arm with a sleek male grace befitting a panther. His white gloves glowed in the rising mist, and his gold-headed walking stick tapped out a haunting song as he slowly walked my way.
He was nearly upon me, and still I couldn't speak-couldn't move, except to step backwards. He knew me as Alexandrea, rather than Alex Moore, so I dropped all pretense at being a male able to defend myself. His hat angle hid his face: I could see only his chiseled lips and chin…and a smile that would beguile me if I stared long enough.
When he raised his arms-did he wish to kiss me or kill me?-that fascinating cape flared open. Its flame-red lining glimmered like coals of the Devil's own fire and I cried out, caught up in an imagination fueled by the vampires who'd raised me. My scream bounced between the trees. I beheld his bottomless black eyes-and then there was silence- And I lost myself in a kiss that stole my very soul. Beneath that seductive cape, the air felt almost tropical-or was it a blast from hell?-but with this man's lips locked over mine, and his muscled body holding me against a tree, I could only whimper and face my fate.
My God, this man could kiss! His tongue danced with mine, and his hands had found their way beneath my clothing. As my trousers slithered down, I sank deeper into his spell. What a fantasy, to relinquish control to an oh- so-perfect stranger…to feel the need in those gloved hands as they cupped my breasts. After the day I'd had, I deserved to be ravished by some otherworldly lover!
He held me to the tree with that magical mouth, running a hand over my feverish body while he unfastened his pants. His belt buckle clinked. I glanced beneath his fire-lined cape to behold a stunning body-and the most prodigious cock I'd ever seen.
'Billy!' I squealed. 'My God, I-'
'Took you long enough.' He pinned me fiercely to the tree. 'You would've let some total stranger grope you this way?'
His midnight eyes riveted mine and I had no answer. His face, as dusky and handsome as I remembered, was limned with a lust every fiber of my being responded to. I had no choice! While he was the same magnificent Billy Tripplehorn I'd taken away from Lucy Legg, he was different somehow. Man, yet animal. Familiar, yet filled with an elemental power I'd never felt before.
And why would I have expected him to show up in formal attire, looking decidedly debonair and European?
I licked my lips, desperate to answer him. 'After the way you abandoned me-again!-I thought you'd never be back. And I-I was afraid Perfidia had killed you.'
'Do I kiss like a dead man?'
Only when I saw the flicker of his grin did I laugh. And when Billy joined me, I felt the prodding of that eager erection against my middle. It made the heat between us surge all over again, and before I knew what he'd done, Tripplehorn scooped me up so my legs splayed in surprise. He paused with his thick head at my entry, wetting himself with my dew…making me wait…
'Do you love me, Alexandrea?' he whispered, his tone teasing yet utterly serious as he gazed into my eyes. 'Will you be my woman? Forever?'
'Lord, yes-I've loved you since-'
I cried out with his surge of passion, even more excruciating than I remembered before. What a sight we must've made there in the graveyard, rutting against that tree beneath the cover of his shimmering cape! But I was too filled with Billy Tripplehorn to care. My hips thrust to meet his every plunge. We were going at it like beasts in the wild, oblivious to decorum and the weather. All I knew was that I felt complete at last-not to mention ready to explode with heat and white light and excitement.
At my first convulsion, Billy drove deep. I quivered, lost in my climax, glad for the padding of my overcoat and those strong arms that kept me from falling to the ground. With a grunt, he shot me so full of cream it splattered onto his pants. Still he pumped me, as though driven by some force even he couldn't identify, until I clenched my teeth to keep from blacking out from another orgasm.
Billy rested against me then, until he caught his breath. Then he tweaked my mustache. 'We've got to stop meeting like this, Mr. Moore. If folks find out, you'll never practice law in this town again.'
He was teasing me, of course, but I wanted answers. I suspected there was more to this Billy Tripplehorn than the one I'd known before, and that he'd dance around my questions unless I kept him…naked.
'That's exactly why I believed you'd never come back,' I said sadly. 'When I saw the disgust on your face, when you discovered these male clothes in Andrea's closet, I knew I'd lost you.'
'Oh, no. I'd have been back.' He settled against me so we could talk seriously-if that's possible when two lovers are still joined at the hip, dripping. 'I realized Perfidia was using her wiles against you while I was weakened, and frankly, your dual identity was what fascinated me most. Gave me something to puzzle over as I…regained my strength.'
'But I took you to the mansion under false pretenses! And then I deceived you again about who I really was-'
'I was too damn cocky to thank you then, but you saved me from claiming Lucy Legg's baby,' he replied, gently
