Midnight Pleasures

In the month it took Elise to reach Liverpool, she learned to cook, drive a wagon, and become independent. She danced when they found an audience, and always she danced only for Sterling.

She knew he watched her from somewhere in the night shadows. They were connected in a way only lovers understood. Mind, body, and spirit. Today Dawn rode with her as they approached the outskirts of Liverpool.

"Philip says you will leave us now," Dawn said, her young face solemn. "I will miss you."

Elise blinked back a sudden onslaught of tears. "I will go, but only because if I leave, Sterling might return. He needs a family to watch over him."

"I promise to love him unconditionally," Dawn said. "As you have taught me to do. My mother says that you are a good example of humanity."

"Your parents are good examples of humanity," Elise pointed out.

"Yes," Dawn agreed. "I will try to be more like them."

Dawn's admission lifted Elise's spirits. The girl had found the value of love, just as Elise told Sterling she would do.

"I predict you will be a fine lady someday," Elise said. "I have the sight, you know," she teased.

"I'm going to be a veil dancer like you," Dawn whispered. "But I haven't told my parents yet."

Elise would like to be around when Dawn did. She smiled; then her smile faded as Liverpool came into view. Her valise was packed, and she still had the coin to hire herself a hackney to take her to her aunt's address. Her adventures were over.

Once the wagons halted near an inn, Elise steeled herself for the sorrowful good-byes. Sarah actually cried over her. Philip told her that if things did not work out with her aunt, she always had a home among them. Dawn had disappeared, and Elise was thankful. She couldn't bear to say good-bye to her.

Sporting her best outfit, Elise waved good-bye. It was strange to again be in a city, where life teamed along at a fast pace, where people passed on the streets with no time to look around. The house the driver stopped in front of was in need of repair. Elise vaguely remembered it from her childhood visits. The woman who answered her knock did not look familiar.

"Aunt Silvie?" Elise ventured skeptically.

The old woman shook her head. "You'd be looking for Silvie Preston. She's been dead now for going on five years. I bought the house after her passing."

Elise was shocked. Her aunt dead? Elise had hardly known the woman, but still, she'd kept fond memories of her throughout the years. Her uncle must have surely known her aunt had passed, and he hadn't told her. He'd kept the truth from her as if her aunt's death were of no consequence. How she hated him in that moment. He truly was heartless.

With tears streaming down her cheeks, Elise walked back to the waiting hackney. There was only one thing she could do: return to the caravan. She couldn't say that she wasn't pleased to see her family again or that she wasn't welcomed home with open arms. But Elise still worried about Sterling. He'd no doubt be wondering why she had left, only to return. But would he have the courage to confront her for answers? Yes, she believed he would.

While she waited, Elise prepared for the coming performance. She dressed in her costume, then sat to wait for Dawn to come fetch her. The door suddenly opened and Sterling appeared. Her heart leaped with joy to see him. He did not look all that pleased to see her.

"Why aren't you with your aunt?" he demanded.

So much for warm reunions, Elise thought. "I have learned today that my aunt has passed away. Five years now she's been gone, and never a word of it from my uncle."

Sterling's expression softened. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry for me, or for yourself?" she challenged.

He smiled slightly. "You were never one to mince words, Elise."

"No," she agreed. "And I won't start now. Why are you here?"

He closed the door behind him. "To see you safely into another life."

She lifted a brow. "In this world, or in the next?"

Sterling threw back his head and laughed. It was good to see him laugh. It warmed Elise through and through. He needed her to lighten his darkness. If only she could convince him. He sobered a moment later.

"The road is no place for a woman without a mate to protect her."

Her arms ached to hold him. Her lips longed for his kisses. She had learned to be brave, to go after what she sought in life. "I have a mate," she said. "Even if he refuses to make an honest woman of me."

"Elise." Her name was half-sigh, half-caress. "You and I both know we could never live a normal life together."

She took a step toward him. "I never said that I wanted a normal life. I want the life of an adventurer, remember?"

"Don't," he warned when she took another step toward him. "You know that I cannot resist you, and tonight is not the night to tempt me. The moon will be full."

Ignoring his warning, Elise stepped up close to him. "I am not afraid of you. I know that you would not harm me, or any person that you care about."

"But I do not know that, Elise," he stressed. "I won't take that chance. I cannot."

Gently she touched his face. "You must trust in yourself, Sterling - in your goodness."

For a moment their eyes held and she thought he would kiss her; then a knock sounded upon the door. Elise peeked out and saw Dawn.

"Philip says I'm to rouse everyone," she said, then stretched her neck to see past Elise. "Is Sterling with you?" Her eyes brightened. "He is here."

Sterling smiled at the girl. "Hello, Dawn."

"I knew you'd come back to us," the girl said. "Philip says no matter how different we may seem to the rest of the world, when we're together, we are a family."

Elise swore that Sterling's silver eyes misted over for a moment. "Philip is a good man," he admitted. "But aren't you afraid of me, Dawn?"

She shook her blond head. "Not if Elise isn't. She and I are best friends, you know?"

"Elise is a good friend to have."

Again Elise's and Sterling's gazes locked.

"I hope you'll stay with us," Dawn said, breaking the spell. "You and Elise together, as part of our family."

Sterling reached out and mussed the girl's hair. He did not commit to staying. Still, Dawn smiled, then scampered away.

"I must go," he said abruptly.

"Not yet," Elise pleaded. "Stay and watch me dance. I'll tell Philip I want to perform first, before night falls."

"I like to watch you dance," Sterling admitted. "I always feel as if you're dancing for me alone."

"That's because I am," she said, and kissed him.

He resisted, but only for a moment. They melted into each other, a fusion of warm, seeking mouths and bodies straining against each other. Elise was breathless and dazed when he broke from her. By the time she roused herself, he was gone.

She sighed, then said a prayer that Sterling would come to his senses and realize that he belonged with her and the caravan members. The crowd was small, and Elise was more self-conscious because she danced when night had not yet fallen. She felt eyes boring into her and wondered if Sterling had stayed to watch her. Hoping that was the case, she danced her most sensuous dance. A dance to inflame the passions of her own sultan. She became so caught up in the dance, she hadn't realized that a man had stepped into her circle and stood arguing with Philip. The stranger's voice stopped her dead in her tracks.

"Unhand me, you idiot! That is my niece parading herself around like a whore for all to see!"

"Uncle Robert," Elise gasped.

He marched forward and grabbed her arm. "How dare you embarrass me in this manner? Your future husband will have to beat some sense into you."

Fear paralyzed her for a moment, but Elise dug in her bare heels. "My future husband is not Sir Winston Stoneham," she snapped. "Take your hands off of me!"

"Ungrateful brat," her uncle sneered. "I took you in even though you were an embarrassment to my family name. I gave you fine clothes and an education. You belong to me, and I will have the bride's price for all my trouble!"

"Release Elise this instant," Philip warned her uncle. "She obviously has no wish to accompany you."

The troupe members now stood in the circle, rallying to her cause.

"I can make trouble for you," her uncle warned. "For all of you," he added, his gaze running coldly over the ragtag group. "My name and my influence will see you all hanged for kidnapping."

"No one kidnapped me," Elise protested. "I stowed away upon one of their wagons in order to escape you. They are guilty of nothing but kindness to me!"

Her uncle's grip tightened around her arm. "If you care about what happens to them, you'll come along as you've been told to do."

The last thing Elise would do was cause trouble for the troupe members. "I'll go with you," she agreed. "But leave these fine people alone."

Her uncle smiled coldly over his victory and jerked her toward the crowd. A tall figure suddenly blocked their exit. Elise's heart flip-flopped inside of her chest.

"You, sir, are not taking Elise anywhere," Sterling said. "Least of all back to the monster you sold her to."

"You," her uncle snarled. "You led me to believe that the woman I saw outlined inside the wagon that day was your wife. I should horsewhip you for lying to me!"

"Try it, if you're brave enough," Sterling goaded. He stuck his face close to her uncle's. "But know this: There is nothing short of killing me that will make me allow you to take Elise with you. She belongs here, among people who love her."

"Get out of my way!" her uncle shouted. "I'll not stand here and argue with a vagabond. That handsome face has given you airs, boy. You have no right to tell me what I can or cannot do with my own flesh and blood."

Sterling suddenly grabbed her uncle by his collar. "I love her. And I am much worse than a vagabond. Now, release her!"

Elise might have felt a wonderful warmth spread through her when Sterling publicly declared his love for her, but now she went cold with dread. Sterling's eyes glittered dangerously in the coming dark. In a matter of moments, the moon would rise and her uncle would have far more to deal with than an angry man.

"Sterling," she warned, glancing up. "The moon. You must go!"

He ignored her, his silver gaze locked with her uncle's haughty one. Then he did something that wiped the smug expression completely from Lord Robert Collins's features. Sterling growled low in his throat. The sound was that of an animal, defending his territory, defending his mate.

Her uncle's grip loosened upon her arm and he stumbled back a step, allowing Elise to twist free.

"Sterling," she tried again. "Go now, before it's too late."

But even as she spoke the warning, she saw Sterling changing. Thank goodness the crowd had slunk away into the shadows, wanting no part of a nobleman's personal squabble with a troupe of performers. The more who witnessed Sterling's curse, the more danger he placed himself in.

"What the bloody hell," her uncle whispered, still backing from Sterling. "What have you gotten yourself involved with, Elise?"

Sterling was still enough of a man to register her uncle's words, because he glanced at Elise, sudden hurt shining within the glowing depths of his eyes.

"The man I love," she answered. "Regardless of what he is." She glanced around to include the troupe members. "A man we all love."

"He's a monster," her uncle croaked.

Sterling's teeth had become pointed and now hair covered his cheeks, but Elise felt no fear of him. "No, Uncle, you're the monster. You have no heart. You care for no one save yourself. It is the heart and the ability to love that makes us human."

Elise expected the pain to rip through Sterling as it had the last time she saw him change, but the transformation came within the blink of an eye. She supposed because he did not fight it, but seemed to embrace it under the circumstances. His clothes fell away and the great wolf appeared in his place.

The beast bared his fangs and stalked toward her uncle. Elise knew Sterling's intent. He planned to rid them of Lord Collins once and for all. Her uncle had backed up until he'd tripped over his own feet and lay in the dirt. He clutched his chest, gasping for breath, his eyes huge.

Elise stepped between them, the man she loved and the uncle who had raised her. "No, Sterling," she said. "He has no heart, but I do. I cannot allow you to kill him. He is my flesh and blood, my father's brother, and out of love for one man, I must ask you to spare this one."

The wolf with Sterling's eyes stared at her for a moment, glanced at her uncle, and growled again, but made no move toward the fallen man.

"Leave while you can," Elise instructed her uncle. "And never come looking for me again. Next time, I may not have the heart to stop him."

Her uncle needed no further prodding. He was up and running for his coach in an instant. Elise watched him go, saddened that their relationship could not have been more than it was. The coach drove away at breakneck speed. She felt certain that she would never see her uncle again.

The wolf stood staring at her. Elise didn't know if Sterling understood her while in animal form, but she said, "Go now into the night, but come daylight, return to us. We love you. I love you."

For a brief moment, their eyes held and Elise felt that Sterling could understand her; then he was gone. An arm went around her waist and she glanced down at Dawn.

"He'll come back," she said, then motioned for her parents to join them, and the girl slipped an arm around her mother's small shoulders. They formed a circle, the ragtag group of misfits. They stayed that way for a long time; then, as if all understood that, due to the night's events, they could not stay, they began to pack up their wagons.

Morning broke in a display of pink and purple, a glorious day to be alive and traveling the road. Elise stood by the wagon, her insides twisted, heart pounding. She stared at the woods, silently praying.

The other members joined her. A blond head appeared, a man wearing the clothing Elise had left in the woods for him. He glanced up at them and smiled; then his eyes found hers and his smile widened.

"Hurry it up, Beast Tamer!" Philip boomed in his big voice. "We need to get down the road!"

Raja and Leena both growled a greeting to the approaching man. Elise felt that the cats had come to accept their changed master, even as the troupe had come to accept him. Nowhere on earth could Sterling fit in among humanity more than with his troupe of misfits. The others melted away, and then it was only Elise and Sterling, staring into each other's eyes.

"Have you come home?" Elise asked.

Sterling reached forward and pulled her to him. "If a man can love and be loved in return while cursed, is he really cursed at all?"

She smiled up at him. "I would say we are blessed. Few find what we have found together."

"Will you stay with me, Elise? Be my love? Be my life?'

In answer, she leaned forward, brushing her lips over his. "Yes, Sterling," she whispered. "I will have you by my side until we are old, and I will have my adventures, and then some."

Theirs lips met, sealing the bargain.