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Chapter 53 For the love of Joyce.


AN* Please keep reviewing. I will bring Angelus in to the mix soon.


Joyce rose from her bed almost before the dawn. She was restless and concerned. Worried that Henry would try and stop the marriage, she wondered what she could do. Although most of the house was asleep, Joyce felt she needed to talk to someone. The only person under her roof who understood her husband as well as she, was Annandale.

Taking her courage in both hands, she wrapped her dressing gown tightly around her body and made her way to Annandale’s room. As she passed William’s bedroom she could hear muffled voices and she was sure one of them was Buffy. Shrugging her shoulders against the knowledge that her daughter was with William alone in his bedroom, she continued down the corridor towards Annandale’s room.

Knocking softly on his door, she was surprised when she heard him bid ‘Enter’.

Annandale was sitting by the fire with a brandy in his hands. When he had heard the tentative knock, he had assumed it would be William. When Joyce entered the room, he stood up in shock. She looked so beautiful to him, wrapped in her night clothes and her dark blonde hair flowing around her face.

“Your Grace,” he nodded in greeting as she closed the door. “What brings you here at this time of night?”

Joyce smiled at him as she walked over to one of the chairs by the fire and sat.

“Thomas,” she began. “You and I have known each other many years. I know that our friendship distanced because of Henry’s actions, but I think we have healed that breach now.”

Walking to the chair opposite Joyce, Annandale nodded his agreement.

Joyce took a deep breath and continued. “I need to talk about Henry, Thomas, and you are the only person in this house that will understand my fears.”

Annandale looked with concern at Joyce. There were dark circles under her eyes and she looked to be in pain. His feelings for her were starting to run deep and he would move heaven and earth to ensure her happiness.

“What fears do you have, Joyce?” He asked gently as he leant forward in his chair. “You are not afraid Henry will come back to the house, are you? He would not dare since the Prince himself has forbidden it.”

Joyce nodded her head negatively. “I am not frightened of Henry, Thomas. I am frightened of what he might decide to do to stop this marriage.”

Thomas could see her point of view very clearly. Henry would reap his revenge in some way before or after the marriage. The fact that he had brought this disgrace upon his own head would not occur to him. Henry liked to apportion blame, and he would lay his troubles at the couple’s door.

“I see your point, Joyce” he solemnly agreed. “You husband can be an evil bastard and at this moment he will see his banishment as the fault of William and maybe Buffy too.”

Quick to agree, Joyce continued to voice her fears. “I don’t know what he will do now, Thomas. He hates the country and to be forced into exile at Craven Hall will not sit well with him.”

Suddenly finding the carpet under his feet interesting, Thomas did not know what to reply. William and Buffy would not be safe until their marriage and had removed themselves out of London. He was also worried that Angelus would do his best to interfere in the couple’s lives and Liam was known far and wide for his grudges. Thomas was afraid that Buffy would be a widow before she became a wife. He had decided that Clem could help in this regard. Clem understood how dangerous Liam Angelus could be. William simply did not.

“Joyce, my dear, please try not to worry. I doubt Henry would be stupid enough to try anything when the insult to the Prince of Wales is still fresh. It would be tantamount to signing your own death warrant. Prinny would insist he left the country, and we all know Henry hates foreign soil more that his estate.”

Laughing at his comment, Joyce had to agree. Thomas had managed to allay most of her fears, but she was still worried about Angelus.

“What do we do, Thomas, when Angelus comes home to find his wife in Bedlam?”

Annandale smiled at Joyce and shrugged his shoulders. “All we can do Joyce is wait for him to return and try to work out his next move.”

“Yes, Thomas.” She agreed. “That is all we can do.”

She rose from the chair to take her leave. Thomas rose from his and gently took her hand in his.

“I will not let anything happen to the children, Joyce.” He promised as he kissed her hand. “Nor will I let anything happen to you.”

Joyce was stunned by the intensity of his voice. He sounded as if he really cared for her family, and caring was something she had lacked in twenty five years of marriage to a man who never loved her.

“Thank you for caring, Thomas. Anne found a real treasure when she found you.”

Thomas had not yet let go of her hand. Using little strength he pulled her towards him. As she drew close, he wrapped his free arm around her. Transfixed by the look in his eyes, Joyce followed where he led. Lifting their joined hands to his lips, he softly kissed each knuckle.

His voice, soft and sultry played with her senses. “I am going to kiss you, Joyce. If you don’t want me to then tell me no.”

She felt caught in a trap. His arm was wrapped around her waist and he had drawn her towards the full length of his body. She may not have lain with her husband on many occasions, but there was no doubting his arousal. This man made her feel more sensation in the last few seconds that Craven had done in all the time they were married.

Thomas slowly released her hand and ran his fingers through her hair.

“You are so beautiful, Joyce. I have wanted to hold you like this for at least five years.” He pulled her un-resisting body closer to his and moved has hands to her hips to pull her closer to his hard length.

“Do you feel what you do to me, Joyce? Can you not know how much I want you?”

Joyce continued to stare into his eyes. She could not mistake the depth of feeling there, and she started to tremble. How could she feel this way when he held her so lovingly? She was a forty-four year old matron, not a green schoolroom miss in the first throes of infatuation.

Henry’s words came unbidden to her mind. He had accused of her lying still beneath him while he took his pleasure. Joyce knew he had not lied with his remarks. She had been taught that a wife let her husband have his pleasure and it was ladylike not to respond, yet this man made her want to hold him they way he was holding her.

“I…..don’t…know what …to…do, Thomas” she admitted in small voice. “Henry never kissed me much and he said….” She did not know how to tell him more.

Anger at Craven swelled in his breast. He could imagine the evil words the man would have said to his wife. To save her more embarrassment, Thomas asked. “Did he tell you that you were no good between the sheets, Joyce?”

She stared at him in shock. How could he know the type of conversation she had had with Henry.

Thomas could see immediately that he had guessed what lay behind her reluctance to kiss. Craven had really used his words to wound her deeply. He swore then that if he ever saw him again, he would kill him.

“Let me show you how wonderful it can be with a man who cares for you, Joyce. Let me take you to the stars and back.”

He lowered his head and gently nipped at her lips. He used his tongue to sooth his bites and when she gasped, he kissed her with all the experience he had. It was like kissing a virgin, he thought as he held her close to continue his assault on her lips. Craven had not taught her anything.

Tentatively, Joyce allowed her tongue to play with his. Craven had only ever kissed her for a few moments at a time and had never used his tongue the way Thomas was. She felt herself start to melt into his embrace and before she could gather her thoughts, he had led her to the bed and was lying next to her.

“Before this night is over, Joyce, I am going to show you pleasure like you have never known. Even if you never come to my bed again, I want you to feel tonight everything I have to give.”

And with that, he lowered his head and captured her lips with his.





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