Possession by Mardi Ballou
I love this novella. I cannot express enough how beautiful this story is. I cried while editing it. Just gorgeous. A warning--it's billed as horror/paranormal romance, but really it's like a dark, lush fairytale. It does have some graphic scenes. And it's only $3.15--how can you beat that?
When love binds two souls together, what can tear them apart?
Anna Clarke lives in the moors of Northern England. Some may find the landscape bleak, but Anna knows the truth-magic and beauty flow among the heather on the softly rolling hills. She weaves by night and day, aching to capture an echo of the land’s magic and trying desperately to escape, even for a short while, the brutality she endures at her father’s hands.
Nicholas Durand comes to the moorlands with dreams of writing a book, but his hopes are dashed by the hostile treatment he receives from the villagers. He is a stranger, and in this strange and insular land, that is a sin above all others. Only one thing keeps him from returning to London-Anna, the beautiful woman who has woven a spell around his heart.
Though their love is forbidden, Anna and Nicholas determine that no one and nothing-on Earth or in the heavens-will keep them apart. Too bad Fate and Anna’s father have other plans in mind…
A dark, uncanny tale set at the end of the nineteenth century.
Warning, this title contains the following: explicit sex, forced sex, graphic language, violence.
So many questions. There was so much to say, but first she wanted only to feel him near her. Impulsively, she threw her arms around him and marveled at the comfort of his strong chest beneath her cheek, and the steady pumping of his heart. She longed to linger where she was, letting his warmth caress her, and not face the cruel demands her father had made. But they had to find a way out of her dilemma or their moments together would end-and her life would become one of unending misery.
“Oh, Nicholas. I must talk to you.” She took him by the hand and drew him into the dark room.
“Of course, Anna. What is wrong?”
“It’s Papa.”
He laid his hand against her cheek, and his other hand went to his throat. Anna pressed her face into his palm.
“What’s your father done? Has he bullied you yet again to stop us from being together? Or has he hurt you?” His gaze raked her in search of any mark. “I shall not tolerate his hurting you,” he hissed. His anger, a quality she’d not seen before, startled her.
She shook her head. “Nothing so simple this time. Far worse than anything he’s ever done before. Oh, I’ll tell you everything. But first, let’s make a fire. It’s so cold and dark in here.”
In the few minutes they took to start a blaze in the fireplace, Anna grew calmer, more in control and more determined. They sat on the only furnishing in the room-his bed, now covered with her special blanket. He appeared to take no notice of her gift. Later, she would tell him about how it came to be on his bed, about the special light that shone all the while she wove for him.
Now she took both his hands into her own and clutched them as if she’d never let go. “Papa has made plans for me to marry.” She nearly choked on the words.
Under her love’s attentive scrutiny, the story of Jack Clarke’s plan to wed her to Frank Bickham poured out. Anna spoke of her father’s greed to possess more land, his belief that she was little better than chattel he could control to achieve his ends.
Nicholas shook his head. “Anna, this is impossible.” His words came with a rush of passion, and once again the anger she sensed in him surprised her. He paused and took a deep breath before he continued. “He’s gone too far. I know you’ve tried to be a dutiful daughter and have never defied him or disobeyed him. Well, you hadn’t until I came along and he forbade our being together. I’ve planned to make that right, to ask him for your hand. Now that has become impossible, especially after what…” He took another pause and looked at Anna with soul-searing intensity. “What your father demands from you is totally beyond reason. You must tell him no. He can’t force you to marry anyone against your will. After all, it’s nearly the twentieth century, and we are in England. There are laws.”
Anna had more than once experienced the reality of her father’s temper and strength and knew his opinion of any law he disagreed with. She shook her head at the depth of Nicholas’s misreading of her father and shuddered at the prospect of the confrontation looming before them. At the same time, his fierce determination to defend her made Anna love him all the more. She laid her hand alongside his cheek and gazed at him. “It’s not so simple as you might think to go against him-even on the eve of the twentieth century. There are many men in the moors who would side with his idea of laws, of the rights of a man in his own home, in his own family.”
He pursed his lips. “You are shaking,” he muttered, laying his large hand over her smaller one. At his touch, the troubles that brought her to him began to fade, and she started to believe in the future he painted with his words. Her hesitation gave way to her awareness of rising warmth, a desire stronger than any duty or fear. All she knew was that she wanted him to touch her more, hold her to him more strongly, to envelop her in his arms so no man or any beast could ever induce him to let her go.
“This place,” he muttered. “Sometimes I wonder if I’m still really in England. I could kill him for frightening you and putting you in harm’s way.”
“What do you mean?” she whispered. His vehemence shocked her, and yet Anna could imagine a knight from ancient times protecting his lady with such extreme violence.
He shook his head. “Until I came here, I never had such barbaric thoughts-never thought I would. To imagine myself killing a man, never… But here…” He glanced away, then looked levelly at her. “I didn’t want to tell you, but now I must. Tonight he attacked me to warn me off seeing you.”
She gasped, shocked that her father had taken his plot so far. “What did he do?” She drew closer to Nicholas, and the heat of their being together on his bed rose. Warmth radiated from deep inside her.
“More bluster than anything else.” He shrugged, but Anna knew her father’s action could not be so lightly dismissed.
“What exactly did he do?” She needed to know the full extent of her father’s act.
“It’s not important. I don’t want to waste our time together speaking more of it, and I don’t want to upset you with the details…” He touched his throat again, and she shivered at the implied physical menace of her father’s attack.
She shook her head. “Nothing you might say would surprise me-only bring me closer to despair.”
“I never want to do that. Surely there’s a way to reason with the man.” He took her hands in his, and Anna wished she could bury her face in his broad chest.
Her laugh sounded harsh and rusty to her ears. “My father listens to only one voice-his own. He considers himself the only authority I must obey.”
He nodded. “He’s not alone in that. Anna, now that you’ve told me his plans, it’s clear he doesn’t understand about us. I’ll go to him and explain how close we’ve become, how much we care for each other. Then I’ll do the right thing and ask him for your hand in marriage. Once he knows my intent is honorable, surely he will relent in his opposition. After I’ve explained everything, we both shall talk to him together.” He jutted his chin out with determination. “When he sees us and hears us and knows of our love, he’ll have to understand.”
She took his hands to her mouth and brushed her lips along his long, strong fingers. “You are indeed a dreamer, my love. That’s only one reason why I adore you. Sadly, dreaming is not going to change our situation.”
He tenderly stroked her face as he lowered his lips to hers. They had kissed before, but now he captured her lips with an urgency unlike any she’d ever experienced. As their mouths joined, his breath mingled with hers like a wish exhaled. When they broke apart, he drew her face to his chest. His heart beat so quickly, as if he’d been running across the moors to be with her. “Surely your father wants what is best for you. Once he knows the truth…”
She lifted her head and laughed derisively. “Oh, my darling one, you are not listening with your head-only your heart. The truth. What counts is his truth begins and ends in the land. Owning the land. That is how he justifies everything he does to me, even making these so-called marriage plans without asking me my thoughts or giving me any choice. ‘Whatever a body needs to do to possess the land is right’. That’s Jack Clarke’s god and bible, the ultimate law and belief. Give him his land and his whiskey-nothing else matters.”
He slowly stroked her face, and she longed to have that same touch everywhere. “The situation is insane. Surely he can’t mean to sacrifice you to a voracious deity like in some ancient ritual?”
“You don’t understand.” She drew away so she could think clearly how to express her ideas, and began to pace. “He worships the land like many ancients worshipped their voracious deities.” She shook her head. “No use trying to convince him anything else matters. There’s only one way to make him change his plans.” She swallowed hard at the audacity of her scheme.
He stood behind her. “Tell me. I will do whatever you think will make things right for all of us.”
She whirled to face him and prayed not to lose her courage. “Make love to me. Take me now, tonight. Make me your bride.”
Please, please, please buy! :)
When love binds two souls together, what can tear them apart?
Anna Clarke lives in the moors of Northern England. Some may find the landscape bleak, but Anna knows the truth-magic and beauty flow among the heather on the softly rolling hills. She weaves by night and day, aching to capture an echo of the land’s magic and trying desperately to escape, even for a short while, the brutality she endures at her father’s hands.
Nicholas Durand comes to the moorlands with dreams of writing a book, but his hopes are dashed by the hostile treatment he receives from the villagers. He is a stranger, and in this strange and insular land, that is a sin above all others. Only one thing keeps him from returning to London-Anna, the beautiful woman who has woven a spell around his heart.
Though their love is forbidden, Anna and Nicholas determine that no one and nothing-on Earth or in the heavens-will keep them apart. Too bad Fate and Anna’s father have other plans in mind…
A dark, uncanny tale set at the end of the nineteenth century.
Warning, this title contains the following: explicit sex, forced sex, graphic language, violence.
So many questions. There was so much to say, but first she wanted only to feel him near her. Impulsively, she threw her arms around him and marveled at the comfort of his strong chest beneath her cheek, and the steady pumping of his heart. She longed to linger where she was, letting his warmth caress her, and not face the cruel demands her father had made. But they had to find a way out of her dilemma or their moments together would end-and her life would become one of unending misery.
“Oh, Nicholas. I must talk to you.” She took him by the hand and drew him into the dark room.
“Of course, Anna. What is wrong?”
“It’s Papa.”
He laid his hand against her cheek, and his other hand went to his throat. Anna pressed her face into his palm.
“What’s your father done? Has he bullied you yet again to stop us from being together? Or has he hurt you?” His gaze raked her in search of any mark. “I shall not tolerate his hurting you,” he hissed. His anger, a quality she’d not seen before, startled her.
She shook her head. “Nothing so simple this time. Far worse than anything he’s ever done before. Oh, I’ll tell you everything. But first, let’s make a fire. It’s so cold and dark in here.”
In the few minutes they took to start a blaze in the fireplace, Anna grew calmer, more in control and more determined. They sat on the only furnishing in the room-his bed, now covered with her special blanket. He appeared to take no notice of her gift. Later, she would tell him about how it came to be on his bed, about the special light that shone all the while she wove for him.
Now she took both his hands into her own and clutched them as if she’d never let go. “Papa has made plans for me to marry.” She nearly choked on the words.
Under her love’s attentive scrutiny, the story of Jack Clarke’s plan to wed her to Frank Bickham poured out. Anna spoke of her father’s greed to possess more land, his belief that she was little better than chattel he could control to achieve his ends.
Nicholas shook his head. “Anna, this is impossible.” His words came with a rush of passion, and once again the anger she sensed in him surprised her. He paused and took a deep breath before he continued. “He’s gone too far. I know you’ve tried to be a dutiful daughter and have never defied him or disobeyed him. Well, you hadn’t until I came along and he forbade our being together. I’ve planned to make that right, to ask him for your hand. Now that has become impossible, especially after what…” He took another pause and looked at Anna with soul-searing intensity. “What your father demands from you is totally beyond reason. You must tell him no. He can’t force you to marry anyone against your will. After all, it’s nearly the twentieth century, and we are in England. There are laws.”
Anna had more than once experienced the reality of her father’s temper and strength and knew his opinion of any law he disagreed with. She shook her head at the depth of Nicholas’s misreading of her father and shuddered at the prospect of the confrontation looming before them. At the same time, his fierce determination to defend her made Anna love him all the more. She laid her hand alongside his cheek and gazed at him. “It’s not so simple as you might think to go against him-even on the eve of the twentieth century. There are many men in the moors who would side with his idea of laws, of the rights of a man in his own home, in his own family.”
He pursed his lips. “You are shaking,” he muttered, laying his large hand over her smaller one. At his touch, the troubles that brought her to him began to fade, and she started to believe in the future he painted with his words. Her hesitation gave way to her awareness of rising warmth, a desire stronger than any duty or fear. All she knew was that she wanted him to touch her more, hold her to him more strongly, to envelop her in his arms so no man or any beast could ever induce him to let her go.
“This place,” he muttered. “Sometimes I wonder if I’m still really in England. I could kill him for frightening you and putting you in harm’s way.”
“What do you mean?” she whispered. His vehemence shocked her, and yet Anna could imagine a knight from ancient times protecting his lady with such extreme violence.
He shook his head. “Until I came here, I never had such barbaric thoughts-never thought I would. To imagine myself killing a man, never… But here…” He glanced away, then looked levelly at her. “I didn’t want to tell you, but now I must. Tonight he attacked me to warn me off seeing you.”
She gasped, shocked that her father had taken his plot so far. “What did he do?” She drew closer to Nicholas, and the heat of their being together on his bed rose. Warmth radiated from deep inside her.
“More bluster than anything else.” He shrugged, but Anna knew her father’s action could not be so lightly dismissed.
“What exactly did he do?” She needed to know the full extent of her father’s act.
“It’s not important. I don’t want to waste our time together speaking more of it, and I don’t want to upset you with the details…” He touched his throat again, and she shivered at the implied physical menace of her father’s attack.
She shook her head. “Nothing you might say would surprise me-only bring me closer to despair.”
“I never want to do that. Surely there’s a way to reason with the man.” He took her hands in his, and Anna wished she could bury her face in his broad chest.
Her laugh sounded harsh and rusty to her ears. “My father listens to only one voice-his own. He considers himself the only authority I must obey.”
He nodded. “He’s not alone in that. Anna, now that you’ve told me his plans, it’s clear he doesn’t understand about us. I’ll go to him and explain how close we’ve become, how much we care for each other. Then I’ll do the right thing and ask him for your hand in marriage. Once he knows my intent is honorable, surely he will relent in his opposition. After I’ve explained everything, we both shall talk to him together.” He jutted his chin out with determination. “When he sees us and hears us and knows of our love, he’ll have to understand.”
She took his hands to her mouth and brushed her lips along his long, strong fingers. “You are indeed a dreamer, my love. That’s only one reason why I adore you. Sadly, dreaming is not going to change our situation.”
He tenderly stroked her face as he lowered his lips to hers. They had kissed before, but now he captured her lips with an urgency unlike any she’d ever experienced. As their mouths joined, his breath mingled with hers like a wish exhaled. When they broke apart, he drew her face to his chest. His heart beat so quickly, as if he’d been running across the moors to be with her. “Surely your father wants what is best for you. Once he knows the truth…”
She lifted her head and laughed derisively. “Oh, my darling one, you are not listening with your head-only your heart. The truth. What counts is his truth begins and ends in the land. Owning the land. That is how he justifies everything he does to me, even making these so-called marriage plans without asking me my thoughts or giving me any choice. ‘Whatever a body needs to do to possess the land is right’. That’s Jack Clarke’s god and bible, the ultimate law and belief. Give him his land and his whiskey-nothing else matters.”
He slowly stroked her face, and she longed to have that same touch everywhere. “The situation is insane. Surely he can’t mean to sacrifice you to a voracious deity like in some ancient ritual?”
“You don’t understand.” She drew away so she could think clearly how to express her ideas, and began to pace. “He worships the land like many ancients worshipped their voracious deities.” She shook her head. “No use trying to convince him anything else matters. There’s only one way to make him change his plans.” She swallowed hard at the audacity of her scheme.
He stood behind her. “Tell me. I will do whatever you think will make things right for all of us.”
She whirled to face him and prayed not to lose her courage. “Make love to me. Take me now, tonight. Make me your bride.”
Please, please, please buy! :)