The Spirit Within - A Derek Fanfiction
by Martine

Secrets? His mouth curled into a sinister smile as he remembered Jo’s earlier question. Did he have them? Of course he did, but his secrets were of the good kind, the kind that would provide her with sheer pleasure. He remembered that she had liked his answer. And even now as he wove through the tiny country lanes to their destination, again another secret, Derek Evans looked at her and smiled.

“Where are we going, Derek?” Her voice interrupted his thoughts.

He turned to her, albeit briefly, and smiled again. “I told you, a surprise. Of the best kind. And yes, we’re nearly there.”

“I do love surprises, especially yours, but...”

“I know you wanted to remain in Paris a little longer, and we are going back. I just wanted to share something very special with you, a place I haven’t taken anyone before.”

“Not even Ben?”

He could barely contain his laughter. “Especially not Ben. Until you and your friends arrived, Ben and I hardly spoke except in grunts.” He turned the corner. “But we’re not here to talk about my blessed brother. We talk about him far too much. Tonight we are going to experience the magic and mystery of the real France.” His eyes sparkled as he spoke. He felt as though he had experienced a rebirth on his wedding day. He felt alive, vibrant and very, very sensual.

“I know where you’re taking me, my darling husband. A murder mystery weekend in one of those beautiful French chateaus.”

“You’re only half right, Jo. We are going to a very old house, and there will be some mysteries, but I’m creating them myself.” He turned the car into a narrow lane. “Look ahead.”

She looked up and was over awed at what lay before her. It was, as he said, a very old house, but it was what the French termed, a chateau, spread over several hundred acres. It was extremely beautiful, the gardens landscaped with spring flowers everywhere. “Derek, it’s wonderful, breath-taking. Who owns it?”

“I do. No, that’s not strictly true, we own it. My dear father left this little place to me in his will. Do you really love it?” He asked, needing to be reassured.

“I truly love it! But why didn’t you tell me before?”

“Ah Jo, I’m a sucker for surprises, and I just wanted to surprise my lovely bride. Is that such a crime?”

“I suppose not. And this is the best surprise you could give me.”

“I thought you might see it that way, because there are plenty more where that came from. Our awesome chateau is only the beginning. I’ve got to keep up the reputation.”

She laughed. “What reputation?”

“I know what people say about me.” He said, the ends of his lips curled in a half smile. “That I’m mean, moody and dangerous to know, but that’s only a front. With you, it’s different. I’m different. I feel like a whole human being now.”

“Was it different with Janey?” She asked, immediately regretting the question, but he touched her tenderly, to show her that no offence had been taken. He wasn’t angry; he loved her far too much for that.

He pulled up in front of their house. “Extremely different. I was far too young, too immature to cope with the pressures of marriage.” He sighed deeply. “It feels right this time.”

“I’m glad, Derek. Now I can’t wait to see inside this beautiful chateau of ours.”

He jumped out and ran to her side to open the door. He held out his hand. “Step this way, Mrs Evans.”

“I like the sound of my new name.” She held onto his gentle hands as she stepped out of the car, and he led her up to his dream house, a place which hadn’t been a home, but Jo would change all that, after the initial shocks were over. “Derek, who lives here? I mean, it’s such an enormous house. There must be a caretaker.”

“Just the ghost, my darling.” He said as though it meant nothing. “But she keeps to herself most of the time.”

“I can’t tell if you’re joking or being serious!” But that was the appeal of Derek. She never knew what to expect next when he was around.

“Oh, it’s true enough. My father had a lover he used to keep here. It was all very legal, and a very British thing to do at that time.” He laughed. “Your face is priceless, Jo. You Kansas women are so easy to wind up, it almost takes the pleasure out of it. The truth is, there is a ghost here, but I haven’t seen her. I’ve never spent very long here, so she may have been hiding at the time. Are you scared of seeing her?”

“Never. There are worse things in life to be afraid of.”

He hugged Jo tightly. “That’s the spirit, if you’ll pardon the pun!” He knocked on the door. “There are caretakers living here, Ollie James and his wife Janet. They are good people. You’ll like them.”

Derek surprises me sometimes, and the more I find out about him, the more I find myself falling in love with him, she thought. She heard footsteps, and shivered, despite the unusually warm early spring sunshine. The door creaked open, to reveal an old man.

“Young Mr Evans, why we haven’t seen you for so long.”

“I haven’t had the opportunity to get away from the ranch, Ollie, I haven’t felt like it.”

Ollie shook his head sympathetically. “We heard about your wife. That was bad business.”

“It’s over now.” Derek said, as he cast a loving gaze in Jo’s direction. “This is my wife, Josephine Evans, the woman who literally saved me from self destruction.”

She blushed. “I think my husband is exaggerating.”

Oliver smiled. “He does have a gift for spinning a tall tale, but simply from looking at you, I’d say he was telling the truth. He’s been alone for far too long, but you don’t want to hear all this now.”

“I love hearing stories about Derek.” She whispered shyly. Derek laughed at this new side of Jo.

“Ah, there’ll be plenty of time for all that later.” Ollie’s soft Irish brogue was more noticeable now. “Come through to the parlour for a cup of hot tea or coffee before supper is served.”

Derek squeezed her hand tightly as they followed Ollie through the panelled corridors. For such an old house, it was in extremely good condition. Pictures of the Evans family lined the walls. “Is that your father?” Jo asked. He nodded. “Wow, he looks just like you. Only older. You are going to be a very handsome man when you grow up.”

He laughed. Ollie heard what she had said and smiled. “Old Mr Evans was adored by the ladies. They used to swoon over him.” Jo suddenly had a vision of this very old man attracting beautiful women from all over France. “Here’s the parlour. I’ll bring you in some coffee.” At this point, Derek turned to Ollie and whispered something. Jo strained to hear, but he spoke in unusually low tones. Was her husband plotting something? Another surprise?

He caught her eye on his return and winked at her. “Wait and see, my sweetheart. Didn’t I promise you a lifetime of surprises?”

“I expected good surprises.”

“Now, would I give you a nasty surprise?” He asked. “The last time I looked you weren’t my brother. He’s the only person I give those kind too.”

“I thought you and Ben had worked through your differences.”

“Let’s just say Ben is my nemesis and leave it at that.” His tone of voice was clipped and she knew it was pointless saying anything further at this moment. Then he turned to her, his expression softer. “I can think of better things to do for the next few days.”

“Have I ever told you that you have a one track mind?” She smiled as she examined her husband. Here was a complex man, and yet all he needed was love and understanding. Maybe she could help heal the rift between the brothers. Stranger things had happened. But there was no time to hear Derek’s reply as Ollie came back with steaming mugs of coffee, and generous helpings of cake.

Jo took her mug from the old man. “Thanks Ollie. So tell me more about this ghost.”

“I think young Mr Evans has been exaggerating a little.” Ollie sighed, but as she looked at him carefully, she saw his eyes dancing around. He was obviously attuned to Derek’s sense of humour! “There is a ghost, although we haven’t seen her lately...”

Jo’s eyes widened. “You’ve seen her?”

He nodded his head. “Many times. I thought it was my old mind playing tricks on me at first.”

“Your mind is as sharp as a pin!” Derek exclaimed, obviously enjoying the banter.

“Thankyou, sir.” Ollie laughed. “Her name was Eleanor Jones, and she was a pretty girl. She used to work here in the late fifties, and she caught the master’s eye with her exceptional beauty. He put in a swimming pool for her, and she drowned shortly after that day. I don’t think your father ever got over it, did he?”

Derek shook his head. “He loved little Ellie. Now her ghost wanders around the halls at night, searching for her lover. She isn’t dangerous, except to...” He paused with a gleam in his sparkling blue eyes. “No, I don’t want to worry you.”

Jo’s green eyes sparkled with fire. “Tell me, Derek. You can’t begin a story and not finish it.”

“Young Mrs Evans is right.” Ollie said. He felt he knew the young master well enough to speak his mind. He was very much like Mrs Barrett in that respect. Both of them loved the two men as if they were their surrogate parents. “I think she can handle the truth. Tell her.”

“Derek, I can damn well handle the truth. I handle you well enough, don’t I?”

“Touche.” He laughed. “Ellie is only dangerous to women who marry men resembling my father. But I think you‘ll be okay, Jo. You can handle yourself.”

“I’m not afraid of a ghost.” She held her head up high. “That’s if there even is one.” Derek must not see that I’m scared, she thought. Her subconscious mind flashed back to a summer’s day fifteen years earlier. She was playing in the barn with Meg. Tim had been teasing them about a ghost that lived upstairs among the hay and straw when suddenly a bale of hay came out of the sky. Her mind came back to the present day.

“Are you sure you’re fine, Young Mrs Evans?” Ollie asked. “You look very pale.”

She nodded her head. “I’m fine, Ollie, I’m just a little tired from the trip.”

“I’ll leave you both alone for a while. Perhaps you’d like a nap before supper.” He wheeled the trolley out of the room.

Derek held Jo’s hand tightly. He hoped he hadn’t over-dramatised the ’Ellie’ story, but she had to know. She looked into his eyes. “I guess your story got to me a little, about the ghost. You see, I want to be close to you on our honeymoon.”

“We will be, my darling.”

“I want to enjoy being next to you without sensing there’s someone watching our every move...”

He pulled her close to him, his mouth joined to hers, she needed him so much, to be joined with him was all she desired at this time. Derek was completely different. He loved the thrill of the chase and it turned him on, but now with Jo he had learnt to settle down, to compromise. He pulled away slightly. “Jo, if you like I’ll drive you back to Paris tonight.”

“You’d do that? For me?”

“I’d give you the world if I had it. I may not know the fancy language of romance like my brother does, but I love you with all my heart and soul.”

“That’s all I needed to know, Derek.” She kissed him lightly. “I’m staying here, because I want to know everything about you. And tonight we’re going to have the most passionate night of our lives.”

“I can’t wait.” He hugged her, and sighed with relief. He should have told her, but his father’s will had instructed him not to. She would have run far away from him if she had known. “What about a taster now of what is to come?” He nuzzled into her tender neck, and she smiled, loving every minute of this. Suddenly she felt a chill going through her, but she dismissed it. This was an old house and ghosts didn’t exist, she was happy to have Derek with her in case anything were to happen. He pulled himself away from her, and shivered. “Do you feel cold, Jo?”

She nodded her head. “It’s the middle of March and it’s nearly eight o’clock. And there are no such things as ghosts, Derek.”

“Did I even mention a ghost?”

“I’m being paranoid.” She gazed at him sheepishly. “I guess I took the Ellie story too seriously. I come from an old superstitious community. I’m sorry.”

“No, I’m sorry.” He held her close. “I crave excitement, any kind of excitement, so I made up the ghost story to help our honeymoon along, but I didn’t mean to scare you. You mean the world to me.” He was an extremely professional liar, and behind his back, he was crossing his fingers, hoping that she’d relax and forget about the ghost.

She picked up a cushion and started hitting him playfully. “You what? You put the fear of God into my very soul so you could have your fun? What kind of man are you? A monster?”

Derek fell onto the floor, laughing. He couldn’t help himself. Her face was a picture, and as soon as she saw his face, she collapsed on top of him. He was too damn irresistible for his own good. “Oh Jo darling, I do love you.”

“I shouldn’t forgive you, but I can’t help myself.” She sighed, cupping his face in her hands and bending over to kiss his lips. For a moment, they were so lost in each other’s gaze that they almost didn’t hear Ollie enter the room to announce that it was time for supper.

*************

Jo sat in front of the mirror five hours later, brushing her hair. She was so tired, and every so often kept glancing over at Derek, who was in bed, waiting for her. He watched her brush her hair, memorizing every move she made. She was an incredibly beautiful woman. He wished he had a sketch book with him so he could capture her beauty on paper.

He smiled at her. “Come to bed, my love. I can’t wait any longer for you.”

“I’ll be a minute. It was a good day, wasn’t it?” She slid her robe off and crept into bed. She was still shy in front of him, she didn’t know why.

“It was the best day.” He moved to his side of the bed and gazed at her. “I’ve been alone for too long, I had no-one to share all this with and now I do. I’m so glad that you’re here with me.”

“There’s no-where else I’d rather be.” She forgot her fears, and moved closer to him, her head now on his chest. She berated herself for her shyness, he was her husband now. Meg would probably laugh at her. Yet Derek was this amazing, incredibly gorgeous young man who was in love with her, a simple girl from Kansas. She could hardly believe it. She looked up at him. He was real enough. “Derek, will you do something for me?”

“Anything.”

“Will you make love to me?” She asked, surprised at her boldness.

“I’d love too.” He rolled on top on her, his mouth at its starting point, her lips. He kissed her tenderly, his tongue meeting hers. He had so much passion inside of him, which had not been expressed for so long. He moved down to her neck. She arched her body and her neck became longer, more accessible. He loved that long neck, and the way it was so open to his wishes, and his desires.

She shivered underneath his warm body. He felt so good. She had never known passion before, true unadulterated passion that fired her soul. She ran her fingers through his chest hair. He moaned.

Suddenly the door burst open. He sat up. “What the hell was that?”

“I think it was the wind, Derek.” She said. He got up and closed the door. “Come back to bed.” And with outstretched arms, it was Jo who was the initiator, the coaxer, the comforter. He wanted her so much that he crept back into bed, into his wife’s loving arms, and made love to her slowly, passionately, wantonly. She fell asleep in his arms truly satisfied.

“Derek” Jo awoke to hear a woman’s voice, calling her husband’s name. She looked at him, he was in a deep sleep, snoring lightly. She got up, slipped on her robe and went to the window. The sky was pitch black. I must have been dreaming, she thought to herself. Then she jumped, she saw a single flash of light suddenly illuminating the darkness. Was it Ellie come to claim her man?

She felt a warm hand on her shoulder and turned around. “Jo, what’s the matter? You should be in bed with me.”

“Derek, I saw her.”

“Who?”

“Ellie.” Jo said gently.

He took her hand and led her back to their bed. “Jo, there’s something you need to know about Ellie. She was real enough, but she was vanquished a long time ago.”  He hoped that she wouldn't see he was lying.  He knew that Ellie was real, but hopefully they wouldn't be there long enough to be haunted by her.

“Why did you tell me that elaborate story?” She asked. “To scare me?”

He shook his head. “Evans’ tradition demands that we test our wives, especially if we’re in an ancestral home. There are more frightening ghosts inside my head, and I had to know that you could cope with whatever issues came up in our marriage.”

“Derek, don’t you know by now that I love you? More than life itself? I know I should be mad at you, but you look so pathetic...”

“Pathetic, moi?” He said as he looked at her with his puppy dog eyes. All she could do was lean forward and hug him.

“When I’m finished with you, there will be no ghosts inside you. You’ll be so tired you won’t be able to remember what ghosts are.”

“Is that a threat or a promise?” He asked with a gleam in his eyes.

“Most definitely a promise, my Derek.” She said. “But you have to promise me that you will tell me if anything is wrong. I’m not a mind reader, you know.”

“Jo, just shut up and kiss me.” He whispered. He felt as though a giant weight had been lifted from him. There was no need for pretence any longer. The only thing she wanted from him was love, and he suddenly found an unlimited store inside his heart.

The sound of his voice gave her a thrill of feminine triumph. For him, she was the only woman in the world. When she saw him, a delightful tremor grew inside her. She wanted to give him everything, to ease his pain and make him whole again. His intense gaze burned with the same conflicting emotion she had seen the first day they had met, and she longed to assuage it.

But silhouetted against the darkness, Derek’s face soon began to swim in a haze of sensual pleasure. Jo lifted her fingertips to his cheeks, then had to close her eyes as waves of delight racked her body. Tears of joy and release burned behind her lids. Over and over, she felt Derek find the sweetest spot inside her - sometimes tenderly, sometimes sharply. How could a man who had known such intense suffering give so much pleasure? How had he learned so quickly the things she loved the most? Jo lay snugly with him, listening to Derek’s breathing and wondering if he’d been as racked by emotion as she had been. Her whole body still throbbed with pleasure and unshed tears filled her eyes. Puzzled, she tried to remember if she’d ever felt such deep emotion before. Perhaps it was the intensity of the night that had heightened their lovemaking, and her reaction to it.

She shivered, and he mistook that reaction. He left her for a few minutes to light a fire, then returned with the worn afghan from the couch. He wrapped her in the warm folds and held her for the longest time as the flames sprung higher and higher. Jo hugged him tightly. She didn’t dare look at his face for fear he would see how profoundly their lovemaking had affected her, but she relaxed into his arms and marvelled how natural it felt to be intimate with Derek. When she had met him, there seemed to be a wall around his heart. He covered himself behind a facade of bitterness and sarcasm, but now that was gone. He was finally just Derek, a little rough around the edges, but she loved him just as he was.

“What are you thinking?” He asked, as he played with her hair.

“Huh?” She was lost in her own world.

“You look very intense, Jo.” He whispered into her ear. “I was wondering what was going on in that exquisite mind of yours.”

She laughed. “I feel so peaceful, and blessed to be here with you. Your love is so amazing.” She blushed, as she wasn’t used to talking quite so openly about lovemaking before. “Maybe it was the ghost that intensified the night for us.”

He shook his head. “Jo, it was you. You bring out the best in me.”

“I felt the connection so strongly tonight, Derek. It was as though we were coming together for the first time, and I don’t feel so scared any more. I know everything is going to be okay.”

“Darling, there’s no need to be scared.” He kissed her forehead very gently. “I know there’s always going to be part of me that’s intrinsically evil, but I will protect you.”

Her eyes met his in a loving gaze. “I love that part of you. You’re so passionate and unpredictable, exactly what a lover should be. I knew that the first time I saw your paintings.”

“I’m glad you said that. Because I have been offered a job at the college in town to lecture in art and you helped me to make up my mind to accept the position.”

“I did?”

“Jo, you inspire me in ways you’ll never know.” He sighed. “But you look tired. We have a whole lifetime to talk.”

She placed her head on his chest and closed her eyes. “I love you, Derek.”

“I love you too, Jo.” He watched her until the fire’s embers had burnt out. He was finally free, of Janey, and of Ellie. Jo’s love had freed them all, and there was no need to be afraid anymore. He closed his eyes and fell asleep, secure in the knowledge that she would be there when he awoke, and he would never have to prove himself again. He was finally free.  He could finally be himself.

But in the attic, Ellie laughed at their naivety.  Her day would come, she was sure of that. She would get her man....

 

THE END

 

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