“I also possess your body,” the Marquis said, “and it is the most alluring and perfect possession I have ever had.”
“Perhaps when you get used to it you will put it on a – shelf and – forget it.”
The Marquis’s hands were touching her as he replied,
“I think that is very unlikely and, if I tried to put you on a shelf, my naughty one, I cannot believe you would stay there!”
He paused before he went on,
“I think really I am rather apprehensive about what surprises you have for me in the future. You have already told me that you never repeat your tricks, so I need not be afraid of being drugged with laudanum or murdered by bandits. But there are quite a number of other atrocities in various parts of the world!”
Ola gave an exclamation of sheer indignation.
“How can you be so unfair?” she asked. “The bandits had nothing to do with me and I did save you. Oh, darling! – I am so glad I did! Suppose – you had – died?”
The Marquis pulled her a little closer.
“I am very much alive,” he said, “and at the moment determined to make the very best of it!”
His lips found Ola’s as he spoke.
He kissed her until she felt the fire that was burning in him light a response within herself, which felt like a flame flickering through her body.
She put her arm round his neck, pulling him even closer.
“You are so – magnificent – so wonderful,” she whispered. “Please – teach me to love you as you – want to be – loved.”
“I don’t think you need many lessons, my precious,” the Marquis replied, “so all I want is to teach you to love me as much as I love you.”
“How can you love me after the way I – behaved?” she asked, “and when did you first – think you – did?”
“I knew I loved you when you threw yourself in front of me to save my life,” he replied. “But before that I found myself fascinated by your looks, by your clever little brain and most of all by the magic that makes you different from any other woman I have ever known.”
Ola gave a sigh of happiness.
“How could you say anything so marvellous,” she murmured.
“As I sat by your bed when you were unconscious,” the Marquis continued, “I knew that I wanted to look after you and protect you in a way I had never felt about anyone else. And what was more I wanted you to stimulate my mind and inspire me, which I never thought any woman could do!”
He smiled as he said,
“Before I had felt myself completely self-sufficient as a man, but now I know you have so much to give me that is mental as well as physical and that is something I had never even thought of until now.”
“Suppose I – fail you?” Ola asked in a frightened little voice.
“You will not do that,” the Marquis assured her positively, “because I believe we were intended by Fate for each other long before we met.”
He thought, as he spoke, that it was Fate that had prevented him almost at the eleventh hour from marrying Sarah, Fate that had made him find out about her treachery, Fate that had sent him running away as a solution to his problems and Fate that had taken him to The Three Bells in the thick fog to meet Ola.
From that moment everything that happened seemed, in retrospect, incredible and yet Fate had meant it to culminate in this moment, when the Marquis knew he was happier than he had ever been or ever expected to be in the whole of his life.
This was love, yet he had the feeling that he and Ola had only touched the fringe – there was so much more to discover and savour.
He had known when he made love to her last night and made her his, that Ola was different from any other woman he had ever known and the feelings she aroused in him were not only the rapture of desire but something far more ecstatic and sublime.
Because he had loved her and had remembered her youth and innocence and had been very gentle and controlled so they had both touched the Divine and become for the moment like the Gods themselves.
He felt a surge of gratitude sweep over him because, when he had least expected it life had brought him the greatest reward possible for mankind to have.
A true and perfect love!
Then, because the softness and the beauty of Ola aroused him, because his body was throbbing and burning for her, his lips sought hers again.
As he kissed her, he knew that she too desired him and, innocent and inexperienced though she was, she had an instinct that made her respond to everything he asked of her and give him not only what he sought but so much more besides.
“I love you, my darling,” he breathed, “and we will spend our lives finding a happiness that is greater than anything we have even thought of or imagined.”
“That is the – happiness I want to – give you,” she whispered.
And then, as the Marquis took the words from her lips, she felt them merge together into one person.
She knew that the voyage ahead of them towards an indefinable horizon would carry them over an unknown sea that was sometimes smooth and sometimes rough and tempestuous.
But Fate had saved them for each other and Fate had brought them together. It was also Fate that would bring them safely into harbour because their ship was guided by love.
OTHER BOOKS IN THIS SERIES
The Barbara Cartland Eternal Collection is the unique opportunity to collect as ebooks all five hundred of the timeless beautiful romantic novels written by the world’s most celebrated and enduring romantic author.
Named the Eternal Collection because Barbara’s inspiring stories of pure love, just the same as love itself, the books will be published on the internet at the rate of four titles per month until all five hundred are available.
The Eternal Collection, classic pure romance available worldwide for all time .
Elizabethan Lover
The Little Pretender
A Ghost in Monte Carlo
A Duel of Hearts
The Saint and the Sinner
The Penniless Peer
The Proud Princess
The Dare-Devil Duke
Diona and a Dalmatian
A Shaft of Sunlight
Lies for Love
Love and Lucia
Love and the Loathsome Leopard
Beauty or Brains
The Temptation of Torilla
The Goddess and the Gaiety Girl
Fragrant Flower
Look Listen and Love
The Duke and the Preacher’s Daughter
A Kiss for the King
The Mysterious Maid-servant
The Wings of Ecstacy
Mission to Monte Carlo
Revenge of the Heart
The Unbreakable Spell
Never Laugh at Love
Bride to a Brigand
Lucifer and the Angel
Journey to a Star
Solita and the Spies
The Chieftain Without a Heart
No Escape from Love
Dollars for the duke
Pure and Untouched
Secrets
Fire in the Blood
Love, Lies and Marriage
The Ghost who Fell in Love
Hungry for Love
The Wild Cry of Love
The Blue-eyed Witch
The Punishment of a Vixen
The Secret of the Glen
Bride to the King
For All Eternity
King in Love
A Marriage made in Heaven
Who can deny Love?
Riding to the Moon
Wish for Love
Dancing on a Rainbow
Gypsy Magic
Love in the Clouds
Count the Stars
White Lilac
Too Precious to Lose
The Devil Defeated
An Angel Runs Away
The Duchess Disappeared
The Pretty Horse-breakers
The Prisoner of Love
Ola and the Sea Wolf
The Castle made for Love
A Heart is Stolen
The Love Pirate
THE LATE DAME BARBARA CARTLAND
Barbara Cartland, who sadly died in May 2000 at the grand age of ninety eight, remains one of the world’s most famous romantic novelists. With worldwide sales of over one billion, her outstanding 723 books have been translated into thirty six different languages, to be enjoyed by readers of romance globally.
Writing her first book ‘Jigsaw’ at the age of 21, Barbara became an immediate bestseller. Building upon this initial success, she wrote continuously throughout her life, producing bestsellers for an astonishing 76 years. In addition to Barbara Cartland’s legion of fans in the UK and across Europe, her books have always been immensely popular in the USA. In 1976 she achieved the unprecedented feat of having books at numbers 1 & 2 in the prestigious B. Dalton Bookseller bestsellers list.
Although she is often referred to as the ‘Queen of Romance’, Barbara Cartland also wrote several historical biographies, six autobiographies and numerous theatrical plays as well as books on life, love, health and cookery. Becoming one of Britain’s most popular media personalities and dressed in her trademark pink, Barbara spoke on radio and television about social and political issues, as well as making many public appearances.
In 1991 she became a Dame of the Order of the British Empire for her contribution to literature and her work for humanitarian and charitable causes.
Known for her glamour, style, and vitality Barbara Cartland became a legend in her own lifetime. Best remembered for her wonderful romantic novels and loved by millions of readers worldwide, her books remain treasured for their heroic heroes, plucky heroines and traditional values. But above all, it was Barbara Cartland’s overriding belief in the positive power of love to help, heal and improve the quality of life for everyone that made her truly unique.
OLA AND THE SEA WOLF
Barbara Cartland
Barbara Cartland Ebooks Ltd
This edition © 2013
Copyright Cartland Promotions 1980
eBook conversion by M-Y Books