Love's Fiery Jewel (14 page)

"Amethyst Greer, you will knock them back in their
seats tonight.. .yes, you will!" she mumbled under her
breath before turning to move quickly from the cramped
room. She would wait in the wings until the conclusion of
the first act in approximately ten minutes, and she would not miss the cue for her appearance this time.. .not this
time or ever again!

Moving uncomfortably in his seat, Damien stared
absentmindedly at the stage, his mind far from the
Othello who was emoting so eloquently to his enraptured
audience. But Amethyst would be appearing again soon,
and the fun would begin again. Managing to subdue the
laughter rising to his lips, Damien recalled with an almost
indecent pleasure the embarrassment reflected on that
small, lovely countenance. He was not quite certain why
he had been drawn here tonight when just a day before he
was certain he never wanted to look on the little chit's
face again, but he had enjoyed her mortification
immensely. It was almost worth waiting through the
damned boring performance progressing on stage, just to
see her expression when she came out again.

"Hell!" he thought, barely able to suppress a broad
smile, "I could not have conjured up a more enjoyable
evening if I had tried!"

The sudden volley of applause breaking into his
thoughts drew his attention back to the stage as the green
baize curtain moved to cover the frozen tableau for the
end of the first act. How much longer would he have to
wait... he was becoming impatient.

The audience was just beginning to mill restlessly
when the piano struck up a loud, attention-getting chord
before progressing a few seconds later into the first bars
of the hauntingly familiar melody of "Greensleeves."
The sound of short, shocked gasps jerked his attention to
the opposite side of the stage where a startling vision in
blue appeared, her sweet, true soprano ringing out melodically across the hushed theater. Amethyst walked
smoothly across the stage with mesmerizing grace, not a
trace of the clumsy creature of a few minutes earlier
remaining as the clear, bell-like tone of her voice wove a soft, hypnotic spell that brought all movement in the
audience to a complete standstill. The candles in the
chandelier overhead glimmered in the glow of her ebony
tresses, the sparkle of her radiant eyes and the natural
glow of her faultless vibrant coloring causing an
inexplicable knot to form in Damien's throat. The
footlights' glow danced in the brilliants on her dress,
their greatest blaze emphasizing the tempting white
swells rising above her decolletage. Her slender, graceful
arms moved faultlessly at her sides as she approached
center stage, her hands finally clasping together in gentle
supplication as the melody continued on.

Staring transfixed at the vision standing just a few feet
from him on the forestage, Damien's heart began an
accelerated beating, his eyes refusing to move from the
beauty of Amethyst's face, although the words she sang
were no longer audible to his ear. His eyes slowly moving
over her, the gradual joy of realization began to sweep
over him at last. This was Amethyst.. .the way he had,
in the dark, unconscious passages of his mind always
dreamed her to be. She was a woman grown at last ...no
longer a child.. .ready for the raw, violent emotion she
had stirred in him since the day of their first meeting. He
had been helplessly drawn to her when she was a child,
her memory refusing to leave his mind despite the
momentous events of the past seven years, creating an
indelible tie that drew him helplessly to the woman he
had dreamed she would someday become.

This then was his preoccupation with the surly waif
that defied him relentlessly and continued to defy
him...the reason for his inexplicable fury when she
had run him off... the cause of the undeniable wave of
growing warmth that had begun inside him the moment
she had stepped through the doorway of her room
yesterday. This was his Amethyst.. .the way he had
dreamed her to be...the reward of seven long years of frustrated dissatisfaction with the women that had filled
his time until now. His eyes caressing the soft line of her
cheek, trailed down the slender column of her throat, his
hands longing to touch the delicate white skin that shone
with virtual incandescence as his eyes swept her with a
soul-shaking longing that set his large, calloused hands to
shaking. "Amethyst. .my Amethyst," he thought
fiercely. "You belong to me, even if you have not yet
come to complete understanding of the course our
predestined lives have taken. But I will make you
understand, darling. I will teach you. You will give me
your purity of spirit, and I will give you all my lo..."

But Amethyst's gaze had stopped moving over the
audience and had become fixed on a fellow seated in a box
at the opposite side of the stage. The obvious warmth of
her gaze settling on him, she directed the verse of the
song to him as she sang,

Amethyst's singing continued on, her voice rising into
a gripping chorus that stole the hearts of the audience.
Her glance did not falter, remaining locked with that of
the unknown dark-haired young man who was the
recipient of many envious glances. A slow anger began to
build inside Damien, growing into a fury that sent the
blood rushing to his head. "No! She belongs to me," his
mind raged. "She is mine!"

She had been his since that day on the dock when her piquant little face had first stared up into his. He would
suffer no interruption in the mutual fate that was meant
to be theirs. He would put an immediate end to her
infatuation with the fellow in the box, and she would
turn to him. She would.. .she must turn to him...

Staring intently at Amethyst, Damien willed her to
turn, to return his glance, but the chorus continued on,
her eyes refusing to move from the fellow in the box,
refuting the power of his mental command. Overcome
with a deep, blinding rage, Damien closed his eyes for a
few, brief seconds, his hands knotting into heavy,
powerful fists which he brought down in furious
frustration onto the ledge of box. At the moment of their
encounter with the surface of the railing, a startling
cracking sound snapped open Damien's eyes in time to
view the rapid, hurtling descent of one of the battens
stretching a series of ceiling cloths from one end of the
stage to the other. Jumping to his feet as fear closed his
throat, Damien saw Amethyst glance upward and spring
to the furthest edge of the stage, just as the heavy wooden
pole struck and splintered the stage in the exact spot
where she had been standing. Shook to the very center of
his being by the narrowness of her escape, Damien leaned
forward to grasp the railing of the box and hurl himself
over its edge onto the forestage. In a few quick strides he
was at Amethyst's side to take her trembling form into his
arms, the frightened reaction of the audience escaping
his ears as he mumbled against her hair, "Amethyst,
darling, thank God you are safe."

Suddenly rigid in his embrace, Amethyst jerked
herself away, her pale face turned up to his accusingly.
"You! How dare you thank God for my escape from an
evil you planned with the forces of darkness? I could feel
your eyes on me.. .willing me to look back at you, but I
would not succumb. And you took your revenge..."

"Amethyst, what are you saying?" Startled, Damien stared down into the purple orbs reflecting her rage,
inwardly flinching at the hatred burning there. "Don't
you know... don't you realize that I'd never hurt you,
even if it was in my power to do the thing you accuse me
of? Good God, Amethyst, is that what you believe of me,
that I am..."

"Take your hands off me!" Jerking herself from his
arms, Amethyst turned and ran out the wings into the
arms of the fellow to whom she had directed her song and
who had just arrived backstage.

Shaking his head as a familiar fury swelled inside him,
Damien covered the distance between himself and the
embracing couple in a few long strides. Ripping them
apart, he pushed Amethyst to the side and faced the
startled stranger, his face a mask of vicious wrath.

"I do not know who you are, and neither do I care,"
Damien began in a low, measured tone, the intensity of
his expression and the barely restrained fury in the
tensing of his tall powerful physique an overwhelming
specter to behold. "But I will tell you this once and once
alone. You will neither go near Amethyst nor touch her
again. She is mine.. .she belongs to me. She is my
woman, do you understand that, boy? And you will either
heed my words now and forget Amethyst ever existed, or
as sure as I stand before you this night, I will see you
dead!"

At first startled into speechlessness, the young man's
astonishment turned gradually into outrage as he
demanded vehemently, "Are you insane, man? Who are
you anyway? Whatever makes you think you have the
right..."

Rudely interrupting his questions, Damien responded
in an ominous tone, "I am Captain Damien Straith. I
have the right of previous claim. Amethyst belongs to
me. She has been mine since she arrived in Jamaica as a
child, and as a woman still belongs to me."

The young man's eyes widened at the declaration of his
name, his glance shooting to Amethyst's face for
confirmation as her eyes grew wide in horror.

"No! No, William! Don't believe him! It's all untrue!
There was never a discussion of these things between us.
He is mad!" Her eyes imploring, Amethyst whispered,
"Please believe me, William!"

"William... William Sheridan, the plantation
owner's son. So now I understand," Damien muttered
darkly. The coldness in his voice sending a hush over
the small group that had gathered around them,
Damien continued softly, "I warn you now, William
Sheridan. Heed my words. Whatever plans you had
for Amethyst are finished."

Without speaking a word, William turned his back on
Damien, his glance efficiently dismissing Damien's
menacing statement as he turned silently to Amethyst.
William's hand had just touched her cheek in a soft
caress when a heavy hand closing on his shoulder jerked
him around to meet the power of Damien's closed fist as
it crashed against his face, knocking him senseless to the
floor.

"William!" Amethyst's wild dive toward William's
fallen form was halted by the same powerful hand as it
jerked her to Damien's side and held her fast.

"Leave him be! I warned him..."

"You warned him!" Amethyst's voice was a malevolent hiss. "What right have you to..."

"I have this right!"

Jerking her against his chest, Damien enclosed
Amethyst in a crushing embrace, his mouth closing over
hers, the power of his kiss forcing open her mouth until
he tasted once again the intoxicating sweetness within.
Deeper and deeper he pressed, subduing her struggles
effortlessly as he slowly overwhelmed her opposition
with the strength of his possession. When finally he drew away, his voice was deep, his glance steady as his eyes
held hers with the sheer power of his will.

"You are mine, Amethyst Greer. And you will be mine
as long as I wish you to remain mine!"

There was neither confirmation nor denial on Amethyst's face as she stared at him in a bemused fashion.
Noting the concern in her expression as her eyes
suddenly darted to William's prostrate figure, he
continued more softly, "It's best for him if you leave him
there, Amethyst. You will only do him harm with your
attention."

Amethyst's eyes moved to Damien's face in obvious
fear, and Damien felt a strange sense of unrest.

"Come with me now," he urged more gently. Shooting
a quick glance back to the stage where the debris caused
by the fallen batten and short cloths still lay untouched,
he said softly, "The performance will not resume
tonight. You are extremely shaken. I'll take you home."

Shooting one last, longing glance in William's
direction, Amethyst hesitated only briefly before
Damien's strong arm closing around her shoulders drew
her close to his side to urge her toward the exit door.

The night was fresh and clear, the infinite beauty of
the star-filled sky and balmy scented air escaping
completely unnoticed by the two that rode silently in the
open carriage. Amethyst's face was averted, her eyes
staring sightlessly away from Damien's troubled expression. He was aware he had not handled the situation well.
Amethyst was angry... angrier now than she had been
before. Perhaps his actions had been unwise this
evening, but the unexpected threat to her life, as well as
the jolting experience of seeing her in someone else's
arms had been more than he could tolerate. He longed
desperately to hold her but knew with a cold certainty
that they had much to settle between them before their relationship could progress past the reservoir of icy
silence Amethyst maintained. His arm sliding across the
back of the seat, he moved a bit closer, touching her chin
with his other hand, gently turning her face back in his
direction. She was startlingly close, breathtakingly so,
her eyes wide, staring up into his, her flawless
complexion illuminated by the bright, starlit night, her
soft appealing lips only inches from his.