Happy Halloween! New chapters of Spellbound with a Kiss posted

Good evening to you who follow this blog.

I have posted two new chapters of Spellbound with a Kiss, my Halloween story featuring the bewitching Cassandra Harper.  Young Nathan Brown falls under Cassandra's spell in Leather Coat Desire https://lctdadrms.blogspot.com/p/vi.html and then realizes that she may not be the wholesome lady she seems in https://lctdadrms.blogspot.com/p/demented-beauty-nathanopened-his-eyes.html

This story has been years in the writing due to the many constraints on my time, but I hope readers find these installments to my autumn tale enjoyable.

Also: All chapters of Spellbound with a Kiss have been REVISED.  The core of the text is mostly the same, but I have edited and cleaned it up so that the story flows better than before.  Refresh your memory before you read the new chapters and see what you think.

As always, feedback is much appreciated.

Excerpts:

From the Prelude https://lctdadrms.blogspot.com/p/prelude-sleek-new-2007-black-raven.html

- "The more I think about it I really do feel it is best that I should go to this party.  My intuition is telling me it is the right thing to do,” she declared resolutely.

Her leather coat creaked softly as she buttoned it down the single-breasted placket.

“Well, I guess that settles it then!  I know better than to question your woman’s intuition!” he chuckled.

“You’ve predicted the future correctly too many times for me to argue with you about that!”

Her emerald eyes sparkled at him with amusement in the mirror.  She finished buttoning her coat and rolled the notched collar halfway up behind her neck in her signature way.  She plucked the collar of her white blouse so that it stood crisp from her lapels and tugged the shirt cuffs to her wrists inside her coat sleeves.  Sliding her hands down her flat abdomen she turned from side to side, admiring her svelte figure as it gleamed in the black leather.

She looked like she was going to an art gallery or the symphony, not to an outdoor Halloween party on a farm.  Marvin was not about to tell her she was overdressed, though.  Any less formal outfit would be out of character for her.  Cassandra was just being herself and he liked her that way.     

He approached her from behind and placed his hands on her shoulders.  Her supple lambskin coat felt like cool butter beneath his fingers.

“You’re just as beautiful as the day I married you,” he crooned in her ear, nuzzling her silky red hair.

The floral scent of her perfume filled his nostrils.  He recognized from familiarity that it was Timeless by Avon and it was certainly an appropriately-named fragrance for her.

“That is because I have a wonderful husband who provides so well for me,” she responded sweetly, gazing contently at her reflection.

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I.  An Unexpected Admirer https://lctdadrms.blogspot.com/p/i.html

- “Cassandra, you remember Nathan don’t you?” Marvin asked rhetorically.

Judging from her response Nathan guessed that she had not noticed him until that very instant.

“Oh my!” she exclaimed.

Her lovely green eyes widened and her crimson lips parted as her jaw dropped.

She demurely placed her gloved left hand on her breast.

Somehow it was an immediate turn on for him to see her touch her leather-coated bosom with her leather-gloved hand.

Nathan mentioned to Marvin at work that he was going to wear his armor that afternoon.  Marvin said he would be sure to tell Cassandra because she liked history and she might enjoy seeing his costume.

Apparently she liked his costume far more than Marvin expected.

Nathan had probably met Cassandra a dozen times over the years.  She never greeted him with anything more than cordial politeness.  She gaped at him now as if she had never seen him before.  She almost acted like she was in a trance.

Taking advantage of the moment, he thought he would play the role of the chivalrous cavalier.  He removed his helmet and tucked it under his left arm.

Summoning up his nerve, he then took up her small right hand and kissed it with a courteous bow.

“A pleasure M’lady,” he said with a grin.

Her delicate hand was incredibly soft and dainty.  Her smooth black lambskin glove was cool and slick against his lips.

Her leather coat sleeve slid back from her wrist as her arm extended.  The top edge of her glove crinkled against the buttoned white cuff of her blouse.

Cassandra didn’t resist him or pull away.  Her emerald eyes sparkled with delight.  She clearly liked such treatment.

Her fingers gently clung to his for a moment as he let go of her.

“Oh my!” she repeated again, fanning herself with her hands.

Her cheeks blushed a warm peach hue.

“That... is a remarkable costume!” she gasped.

“I have not seen a man dressed like that in many, many years…”

Her voice trailed off as if she was talking to herself.

She plucked at the top button of her coat nervously.  The collar of her blouse quivered about her throat.

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II.  A Gallant Cavalier https://lctdadrms.blogspot.com/p/ii.html

- She turned to face him directly.  The curved brim of her hat and the splayed collar of her coat framed her placid, porcelain visage indelibly in sleek black leather.  Her mesmerizing green eyes arrested his attention, virtually exploding into his mind.  An exquisitely fine lacework of turquoise radiated through her brilliant emerald irises, highlighted with golden shades of amber around her pupils.  

“I shall have need of you shortly, Nathaniel,” she intoned.

All other sound around him faded into silence except for her siren voice.

“I will call for you.  If you come for me you may be the man I have been waiting for these many years.”  

She paused dramatically.

“If you do not respond to me, then I shall know you are not my Nathaniel.”

The mystifying words that flowed from her mouth registered to him seemingly at a subconscious level.  Her succulent red lips articulated soft, lovely shapes about her white teeth.  Glistening, hair-like tendrils of saliva spanned from her liquid, pink tongue to her palate. 

“Please,” she implored softly.  

“Do not leave me waiting any longer.”

Then she batted her thick eyelashes at him and the background noise of the party invaded his ears once more.  He flinched and shook his head as if snapping out of a trance. 

“Wait.  Did you say you’re going to call me, Mrs. Harper?” he sputtered.

Did he hear her right?  The idea of Cassandra calling him on the phone took him completely by surprise.  He was pretty sure that was what she just said to him, though.

She did not answer his question.

Her face disappeared behind a wave of burnished hair and the brim of her leather hat.  Shiny black leather rippled across her back as she turned and took her husband’s waiting hand.

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III.  Spirited Away https://lctdadrms.blogspot.com/p/iii.html

- “Here you are Mrs. Harper,” he announced.

He leaned back in his seat and sighed.  The imminent disappointment of her departure cloyed at him.

“Will you not come inside and visit with me for a spell?” she asked.

“You want me to come in?” he stammered.

His heart leapt at the prospect of spending some more time with her!

“Of course!  I must repay your kindness for bringing me home Nathaniel,” she offered.

“Are you sure Mrs. Harper?  Marvin wouldn’t care?” he asked politely.

“My husband is not here nor does he govern what I do in private,” she assured him evenly.

Her demeanor was uncharacteristically assertive.

“I have some warm apple cider simmering in the kitchen.  I would be delighted to pour a mug for you while we talk some more,” she tempted him further. 

“I am curious to hear about this guy I remind you of,” he admitted.

“I promise to answer all of your questions,” she continued.

“If you allow me to explain, I believe you will understand where your historic passion comes from, and maybe even realize who you really are.” 

He hesitated for a moment longer.

Her leather coat creaked as she leaned toward him and placed her hand upon his!  The touch of her cool, buttery glove on his skin sent an endorphin rush through him!

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IV.  A Picture-Perfect Housewife http://lctdadrms.blogspot.com/p/iv.html

- “Is this your wedding picture?” he exclaimed, referring to the large portrait in the center.

“Why, yes.  It is,” she affirmed.

A notably younger, thinner version of Marvin in a tuxedo stood next to beautiful redheaded Cassandra in a traditional white wedding dress and veil. 

“What year did you folks get married?” he asked.

“Marvin and I wed in 1985,” she answered. 

“It seems like only yesterday.  Time truly does fly.”

The office rumors were right about one thing at least.  Cassandra had not aged a day!  Aside from the big 1980s hair she didn’t look any younger, thinner, or prettier in the wedding picture; just the same.

He scanned through the dozen other photos quickly.  Marvin was in few of them.  Cassandra was in all of them... 

Nathan eagerly examined the snapshots of the woman who fascinated him.

It was no wonder that his coworkers did not like her.  The pictures showed pretty plainly that Cassandra did not fit in with the middle-class people her husband employed.  She associated herself with the country club elite.  She sported monogrammed navy blue blazers with gold buttons in two of the photos and her shirt collar was almost always popped.  Her snobby-looking friends truly fit the stereotype of rich middle-aged women who frequented the plastic surgeon’s office to reclaim their youth.  Their faces looked craggy and botoxed compared to Cassandra’s naturally smooth complexion...

Sometime in the 1990s Cassandra’s red hair evolved into the classic side-parted flip that she still groomed.  She smiled contently in every frame, buttoned up demurely in crisp, tailored shirts and silk blouses at most every occasion.  A different full-length black leather coat with raglan sleeves and a stand-up collar shined on her as she posed in front of the christmas tree in Rockefeller Center.  She looked stunning beside Marvin in one shot with her red hair pulled up and a turquoise silk evening gown shimmering on her slender figure at a formal event. 

She reminded him of Jacqueline Kennedy in another picture, posing proudly on the prow of a luxurious-looking sailboat wearing a pair of sandals and black capris.  The collar of a crinkling white shirt fluttered about her neck and her red hair tossed in a gale.  The name printed on the side of the ship was Desire...

“Where did he come up with the name Desire?” Nathan asked as she led him to the end of the hallway.

“Oh.  Desire is my middle name,” she answered.

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V.  Puritan Witchcraft http://lctdadrms.blogspot.com/p/v.html

- Cassandra truly was the most captivating woman he had ever met.  Why did she have to be a married older woman?

“To be honest, I really wish I could meet a girl like you my own age.”

“Oh!  But, why would you need another woman if I am the one you desire?” she quickly interjected in a seductive tone.

“Because it doesn’t matter how much I like you.  You are married to my boss and you are twenty years...”

“Nathaniel,” she hushed him, placing a small, cool fingertip on his lips. 

“Remember.  None of that matters anymore.”

He did not flinch from her touch.  His resistance was fading fast, but the rational part of his brain was urging him to get away from her.

“How can it not matter?” he argued.

“Because love is not governed by any of those things.  Love is not dictated by marriage.  Love does not obey social custom and it is blind to age,” she intoned. 

His breath caught in his throat as she picked up his left hand and slid it inside her coat and sweater, placing it over her left breast!  Her crisp cotton blouse crinkled under his fingers and buttery, cool leather swiped over the back of his hand.  He could feel her heart thumping in her chest.  Her body radiated warmth through her clothes.  The soft plumpness of her breast pressed against his palm above the edge of her bra.

“Because the love beating in my heart will never die.”

He noticed that her diamond-encrusted wedding ring no longer glittered on her left hand.  A snow-white band of skin marked its absence on her ivory ring finger.

“Cassandra!  We really should not be doing this!” he protested, pulling his hand away.

He leaned forward to stand up only to discover that he was too wobbly to do so.            

She halted him easily with a delicate hand on his chest, easing him back onto the couch.

“Wow!  Whatever those herbs are you put in your cider, they must be strong stuff!”

A pleasant, but profound intoxication permeated his senses.  He had difficulty focusing his vision on anything else in the room except Cassandra.  His arms and legs felt rubbery.  His fingertips tingled.

“I’m not even sure I can drive home anymore!” he exclaimed.

“There is no need for you to drive home tonight.  You must stay here with me,” she smiled, speaking in a low tone.

“I can’t stay here with you tonight!  That’s just asking for trouble, Cassandra!” he argued somewhat frantically.

“Calm yourself Nathaniel.  I do not lead you astray,” she told him hypnotically, her sweet breath blowing on his ear.

Her leather coat creaked and her clothes rustled as she leaned toward him. 

“I am not a wicked woman, nor am I a bad wife.  I have loved Marvin and I have always been faithful to him.  But... what happens here tonight is meant to be.”