Reckoning Read Free

the silk of her stockings swish as she moved. “We can walk if you like—it’s not far,” I said.
    “Oh, good.” She smiled and handed me her other bag.
    My small talk as we made our way to the hotel was, I’m sure, rather inane. I could not take my eyes off her. Though I tried my best to be charming, I was relieved when we reached our destination.
    “Thank you, Quincey,” she said as we made our way intothe foyer. “I presume you’ve made a reservation in my name?”
    I nodded and then informed reception of her arrival. The bellboy hurried over to collect Rebecca’s luggage and show her to her room.
    She turned to me with a languid smile. “Come up with me,” she invited. “Keep me company while I settle in. I hate that desolate feeling one encounters when first entering an unfamiliar room—especially when alone.”
    I could tell she knew I would agree without hesitation.
    After tipping the bellboy, I sat down to wait in the parlour of Rebecca’s suite while she unpacked in a bedroom leading off it.
    Her presence agitated me, but not unpleasurably so. . . . I felt a curious urge to be out in the night, breathing the sharp air and striding through the shadowed streets.
    Rebecca came back into the parlour. My throat tightened as I saw she had changed into a silken lilac gown that betrayed every curve of her body beneath it.
    I watched silently as she bent to take a cigarette from the silver box on the table, pushing away the lock of auburn hair that fell across her face. She pressed the cigarette into a long platinum holder and lit it.
    I heard the whisper of her robe against the velvet upholstery as she sank down onto a plump green sofa. The soft sound thrilled me.
    “Your father tells me you’re a bright young man,” she commented, looking up at me. She patted the empty space next to her.
    Heart pounding, I walked slowly across the room and sat next to her. She smelled exquisite. “I suppose I am,” I answered. “The work here isn’t difficult. I’m told I shall graduate with honours next summer. Do you know my father well?”
    “Not very well,” Rebecca replied, “but he was eager we should meet while we were both in England.”
    “Oh?” I was intrigued. “Where do you usually live?”
    “Nowhere for long. I tend to keep on the move.” Rebecca turned and stubbed out her cigarette in the ashtray behind the sofa. Her movement revealed the smooth outline of her breasts and belly, pressing against the silk of her gown. My mouth went dry.
    She turned back to see me staring at her and gave me a gratified smile. “I think we shall have fun together, Quincey Harker,” she said.
    Anticipation caused my heart to race, my skin to tingle. Did Rebecca plan seduction?
    “But for now . . .” she added, a trace of apology in her tone, “I must rest.”
    Disappointment coursed through me. “Of course,” I replied politely, and immediately got to my feet.
    Rebecca’s smooth fingers touched mine. They felt chilled,like highly polished marble. “You’ll come again tomorrow evening?” she asked. “I shall be waiting for you, Quincey. . . .”
    Her tone was anything but familial. I felt my body tighten with desire. “Yes,” I replied.
    I saw something glint within the depths of Rebecca’s cool green eyes. A fiery glow I had seen before—at the castle on Saint Andrew’s Eve.
    A delicious suspicion began to stir in my mind. The time of my initiation had finally arrived.
    With reluctance, I broke my gaze away from hers and strode toward the door.
    7TH N OVEMBER 1908
    Yesterday I celebrated my twenty-first birthday and, in the depths of night, my true coming of age.
    I had made my excuses to the university crowd so that I could spend the evening with Rebecca as promised. And from the way we had left things the day before, I half hoped, half expected that Rebecca would lead me straight to her bed.
    To my surprise, she suggested we leave the sensual haven of her hotel room to venture out for a walk