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LENGTH: Short Story
SENSUALITY: Spicy/Carnal

Cover art (c) Eliza Black 2004
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Hurtled through the mists of time, Joanna Fleming finds herself thrust into the arms of the irresistible Lord Garret, the Master of Mistmere--a man she'd loved and lost nearly a thousand years before. For their love to triumph, they must find a way to break the ancient curse that separates them.

Rating: Contains explicit sex and graphic language.

MASTER OF MISTMERE

By

Fiona Neal

© copyright October 2004, Carolyn Rickenbaker
Cover Art by Eliza Black
New Concepts Publishing
Lake Park, GA 31636
www.newconceptspublishing.com

This is a work of fiction. All characters, events, and places are of the author’s imagination and not to be confused with fact. Any resemblance to living persons or events is merely coincidence.

Chapter One

"Isn't this exciting? We're actually going to a Halloween party in a real English castle, and one that's supposed to have a sexy ghost, too," Tessa Collins whispered, her dark eyes sparkling with enthusiasm.

"They all have ghosts, Tessa. It's a gimmick to entertain us tourists," Joanna Fleming murmured back as the tour guide led their group beneath the arch of the gatehouse.

"The castle is amazing," Tessa added, peering at the stone structure looming in front of them. "And the Elizabethan wing, with all those leaded glass casements, is spectacular."

"I'd appreciate all of this better if I weren't still recovering from jetlag," Joanna remarked, sighing.

"How can you still have jetlag?" Tessa asked as they approached the entrance of the Elizabethan section. "We've been in England three days."

"But I haven't been able to sleep because of that weird dream that keeps recurring," Joanna answered, her footsteps crunching on the pea gravel path.

"The one about the handsome, sexy knight?" Tessa asked, brushing her black wind-tousled hair from her face.

"Yes, I've had it every night since we've been in England, and it's so real, that even after I've been awake for a few minutes, I still think I'm dreaming. Besides that, we've been working non-stop, buying those antiques to ship back to the States," Joanna replied.

Their purchases would really sell in the shop in Charleston, where she and Tessa worked, but somehow, Joanna's home in South Carolina seemed a very long way off just now. Strangely, this castle seemed more genuine to her.

"That's why I booked this short tour," Tessa drawled in her musical low-country accent. "You need a rest, girl."

"I do, but a tour isn't really rest--it's recreation. I think I'd rather stay in bed for the next twenty-four hours."

"That's not a bad idea if you'd be between the sheets with a hot partner." Tessa giggled.

"That's still recreation, not rest," Joanna replied. "And we'd better be quiet, or we'll miss what our guide has to say. After all, you're the one who wanted to come on this excursion."

"Well, it's better than staying in our hotel room in London for the weekend and watching you mope," Tessa retorted. "This trip was supposed to be work and pleasure. Besides, I want to meet some really hot Brit, like I've read about in my romance novels. I need some fun and excitement in my life and so do you."

"Can you stop thinking about men for five minutes?" Joanna pushed back the flyaway strands of auburn hair that the cool October winds were whipping across her face.

"I might be able to stop talking about them for five minutes." Tessa smiled mischievously. "After that, my mind just wanders back to the opposite sex like a compass needle pointing north."

"No kidding." Joanna rolled her eyes.

The middle-aged tour guide, dressed in a tweed suit and ugly shoes, looked more like the dour headmistress of an all girls' private school. A severe expression on her long horse-like face, she shot a baleful stare in their direction.

"We'd better shut up, or Miss Congeniality over there will chew us out," Joanna warned in hushed tones.

Tessa pursed her lips. "Her problem is that she probably needs a good roll in the sack."

Joanna shook her head. "Back to sex again. You're as bad as my brother is. He thinks sex and golf cure everything."

"Don't they?" Tessa asked, mock surprise on her heart-shaped face.

Joanna gave her friend a skeptical look. "Well, you're not going to see much action with this group of elderly couples, Tessa. Excluding us, the average age of this crowd must be sixty-five."

"No problem. I plan on looking around and letting the local color rub off on me--literally, that is." Tessa chuckled wickedly. "I'm sure some cute guys work here. We're bound to meet some of them tonight at the Halloween Ball."

"If I don't fall down from exhaustion first," Joanna answered, sighing.

Their footfalls echoing on the marble floor tiles, they entered the enormous paneled foyer in the Elizabethan wing of the building, and a tall dark-haired man came out of the room on their right.

"This is Garret, Lord Easton, your host and master of Mistmere Manor," Miss Congeniality announced, finally smiling. "He'll conduct the rest of the tour and take care of you. I will say good-bye and return to London, but I know that I am leaving you in good hands."

"I'd volunteer to be in those hands anytime," Tessa remarked. "His bed would be even better," she added, turning to Joanna. "See what I mean about local color? And he's a lord and owns this whole place!"

Joanna just stared at him, unable to move. The man had the face of a movie star, the body of an athlete in prime condition, and he had a dark brooding air about him that made him devastatingly attractive.

Furthermore, there was something more about him that positively stunned her. Joanna had the strangest impression that she knew him--knew him well.

Moreover, she forgot about her fatigue as desire engulfed her like a sphere of flames. She stood still, immobilized by the intensity of the feeling and drew in a deep breath.

This is absolutely insane, Joanna. This guy could be a real creep.

Nevertheless, reason drowned in a sea of longing. Besides, she told herself, he could also be a nice guy.

But he's probably married.

He looked about thirty years old, and Brits with titles usually married by that time because providing heirs was very important to members of the nobility.

Craning her neck, Joanna looked to see if he was wearing a ring A feeling of relief swept over her when she saw he wasn't ... until she realized that some men took off their rings if it suited their purpose.

But why did she feel she knew him--and so intimately? She had never seen this guy in her life.

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen," he began.

The timbre of his voice was so sexy Joanna thought she would swoon.

"I think it would be wise to tour the gardens first, while it's still light outside," he continued. "After that, we'll take a walk about the inside of the castle, and we'll conclude with high tea in the great hall."

"I could go for a cup right now," Tessa divulged. "I love scones and clotted cream really is yummy."

"I thought you wanted to lose ten pounds," Joanna answered.

A sheepish look flickered over Tessa's face. "Well, I've lost five. I can afford to ease up on myself."

"If you will just follow me, we'll stop at the Elizabethan knot garden first, then we'll go down to where our resident ghost likes to make an occasional appearance," Garret, Lord Easton instructed.

They followed the tall gorgeous specimen of British manhood out the front door again and took the gravel path to the left.

A combination of boxwoods and other evergreen shrubs appeared to be braided in a circle around a sundial that indicated it was close to four p.m.

They left the area and descended to the formal terraced gardens at the back of the stately home. The lowest level served as a bank for the large lake, its most conspicuous feature being a whirlpool swirling vigorously in its middle.

Joanna shivered. She had always had an unexplainable fear of drowning, and this place just reinforced her apprehension-- tremendously.

"And this lake is Mistmere, the place from where the estate takes its name and the legend began," Garret, Lord Easton announced. "On this very spot, almost a thousand years ago, the wicked witch, Lilias, put a curse on my forebear and namesake, the first Garret, Lord Easton, and separated him from the love of his life. At certain times of the year, like Midsummer's Eve and Halloween, he sometimes makes an appearance here."

"Why did the witch put a curse on him?" Tessa asked.

"Because he wouldn't succumb to her seduction. He loved his wife."

"Hell hath no fury, huh?" Tessa poked her elbow into Joanna's ribs.

"Apparently not," he answered.

Suddenly, his gaze locked with Joanna's so intensely she felt as if it burned into hers. That wasn't all. The notion that she knew this man became even more powerful. She felt certain that they shared a deep bond--a carnal one. That idea caused desire to flare and sweep over her again. Beneath her bra, her nipples drew into tight buds.

Get a grip, girl.

"How romantic and how sad for the poor couple," one of the elderly women remarked.

Joanna couldn't look away from him. His dark eyes mesmerized her, and another wave of hot need crashed over her, while strong spasms of pleasure clenched in her lower abdomen.

You have to stop this. With your track record for having your heart broken, you should be in the Guinness Book of World Records.

"In most legends, there is usually a way to break the spell," an older man with a Midwestern American accent commented.

Clearing his throat, Garret broke eye contact with Joanna. "Well, according to the legend, there are several nearly impossible conditions that would have to take place. The first is that Lord Garret and his wife would have to be reincarnated and meet in the same time frame. The second is that he must retrieve Osric's Eye from Mistmere."

"What's that?" another elderly woman asked.

"The large emerald that Lilias hurled into the depths of the lake when Lord Garret spurned her," he answered. "She stole it from Osric, the mightiest wizard in the world. Supposedly, you could see the future when you looked into the gem."

"Then why did this witch offer it to the first Lord Garret?" another woman asked.

"As a bribe, to leave his wife and marry Lilias. When he refused her, the witch became quite mad and threw it in the lake," Lord Garret explained.

"The first condition of the curse is impossible, but retrieving the emerald should be feasible with modern diving equipment," Tessa proposed. "The water is very clear, too. How come no one has gotten it?"

"The task isn't as easy as one would think," Lord Garret revealed. "There's the whirlpool, as you can see, and it's extremely dangerous The emerald is supposed to be at the bottom."

"Just another story," someone said. "There is no emerald."

"Perhaps not," Lord Garret replied, the wind ruffling his luxuriant black mane. "But since my ancestor died trying to retrieve the emerald, a number of divers have drowned over the centuries. Even the ones with modern equipment have failed A horrible accident always befalls them."

"This is getting weirder and weirder," a guy with a New England twang scoffed.

"What's the third condition?" a tall, thin lady asked.

"That one is the most difficult condition to achieve of all. Lord Garret and his wife will be able to recover the stone only when time stands still yet runs in both directions," Garret answered.

Comments of skepticism rumbled through the crowd.

"I don't believe in legends," someone remarked. "Besides, time waits for no one. It just keeps ticking away."

"I don't believe anything I can't touch," the man from New England answered.

"It is a little farfetched," Tessa whispered.

But somehow, Joanna felt that the legend was true. To her, it seemed so real that it frightened her.

"Well, I can understand your skepticism," Lord Garret replied. "However, one man, whose dive I refused to authorize, went ahead and attempted to reclaim the stone anyway, and he was found dead just last month"

A chorus of gasps erupted as a gust of cold wind blasted them.

"But enough dreary stories for today." Lord Garret smiled, obviously trying to break the dismal ambiance. "I think it's time to finish the tour and have our tea. Then you'll have a chance to rest before dinner and the Halloween Ball tonight."

Joanna was glad to be going inside, for dusk had finally fallen over the landscape like a brooding dove, and Mistmere's gloomy atmosphere gave her the shivers.