Beloved Forever (14 page)

With another sniff, Johanna left the kitchen. When she was gone, Elspeth laid the ladle on the wooden table and sat on a stool. She cast an anxious glance at the door leading out the back of the cross-plan house. She wondered if Nicholas would try to see her immediately. As much as her heart yearned for a glimpse of his face, she knew it would be too risky. If Lord Tremont caught them, he might extend the length of her contract as punishment for disobeying him.

She rose from the stool and went to the bowl of dough, lifting the cloth and removing the lump to knead it briskly. A small smile darted across her mouth when she imagined Johanna’s face on the bread dough. How satisfying it would be to pound her against the table a few times.

Nicholas didn’t try to see her before dinner, so Elspeth slipped from the kitchen to her small room on the third floor. She changed the plain black dress for a white one with small yellow flowers and tied a matching pocket to the waist of the dress. She had only the white apron she had worn during the day, so retied it around herself. As a final step, she brushed out her hair and redid the bun before securing the white mobcap over her hair. As usual, her hair was too thick and long to fit comfortably under the confines of the bonnet, and she knew Johanna would rebuke her for a messy appearance.

Tonight, she didn’t care. She had thoughts of soon seeing her lover to sustain her. It had been over a year since their last meeting, and she found herself impatient for the dinner to pass so she could be with him again.

She took the back stairs and reentered the kitchen to find Johanna sampling the stew. She stiffened when the other woman spat out the bite onto the floor.

“Terrible swill. It has no flavor.”

“You hold the key to the spice cabinet, Johanna. I cannot add salt if you will not part with it.”

She glared at Elspeth. “A good cook would not require such large quantities.”

She tried to let the insult roll over her as she busied herself with taking bowls from the cupboard and stacking them on a wooden tray. Johanna watched every move, as if waiting for her to make a mistake. She pushed past the other woman and lifted the ladle. Elspeth hissed and dropped it when it burned her hand. She whirled around to confront Johanna, who smiled. “Are you pleased, Johanna?” she made herself ask in a calm voice. “I assume you held the ladle to the fire in the hearth until it was sufficiently heated?”

Johanna nodded. “Aye.”

She closed her eyes and forced down her anger by picturing Nicholas’s handsome face. “Next year, when my contract has ended, I will say all the things I have saved these past three years, Johanna.” She kept her voice deliberately light.

Johanna’s spine stiffened, and her anger was palpable. It was disconcerting when her lips curved from an angry expression to a smile. “Lord Tremont will find a way to keep you bound. You know he will not let you go.”

She didn’t bother debating. Instead, Elspeth said, “And he will never look at you the way you wish him to as long as I am around. You are only the housekeeper to him.”

Johanna’s hand connected with her cheek with a resounding crack. “Bite your tongue, wench. I am a freewoman.”

Tears filled her eyes, and she winced at the throbbing in her cheekbone. “Now,” she bit out. “Two years ago, you too were indentured.” Elspeth took a deep breath. “Why do you not leave? You could have married long ago and collected your land when you received your freedom dues.”

Johanna’s chin raised a notch. “I will be mistress of Tremont Plantation.”

Elspeth sighed and lifted a cloth from the table before retrieving the ladle. She knew of Johanna’s aspirations. She hoped Lord Tremont would fall madly in love with his housekeeper—once her contract ended. As unpleasant as Johanna was as a supervisor, she couldn’t imagine tolerating her if she was mistress of the plantation.

She dished the stew into the serving bowl and set it on the tray. Johanna stood in her way, and she eased past her. “I must serve,” she said in a neutral voice, although her stomach churned with excitement. Nicholas was only a few feet away.

She hurried into the hall, where Lord Tremont sat at the head of the table. Elspeth kept her expression bland as her eyes danced briefly over Nicholas. His hair had grown longer, and he wore it confined with a leather thong. His buckskins were clean, but in need of repair. He looked as if he had spent the last year in the wild, trapping animals. In reality, he had probably returned to England, where sustenance was plentiful.

Bartholomew Tremont’s eyes followed her every move as she set the serving bowl on the imported French table and put bowls before the two men. Elspeth tried to ignore the way her skin crawled as his eyes bored into her. After three years of having the man visually devour her, she should be accustomed to it. Most times, she didn’t notice, but tonight she was keenly aware of Nicholas watching Tremont watch her. She could sense his anger, which frightened her. He could destroy Tremont easily, and she didn’t want that. She didn’t want Nicholas to be condemned as a murderer or recognized for what he was.

“Another excellent meal, I am certain,” Tremont said in a smooth, clear voice. His voice was just as handsome as the rest of him. He took pride in his neatly groomed blond hair, deep brown eyes, fine European clothes, and cultured accent. He was a tobacco farmer by trade, but retained the airs of the nobleman he had been when he lived in England.

Elspeth gave him a brief smile and curtsied to both of them before leaving the hall. She hid in the kitchen, waiting for the meal to end, and the house to retire. She could already feel Nicholas’s arms around her.

Griselda had quietly arranged to share a room with Agnes, the other household servant, so Elspeth had the bed to herself. She lay under the covers tensely, waiting for the sound of Nicholas at the door. Her heart stuttered when she heard him rap lightly, and she slid from the bed to let him in. Her nervous fingers fumbled with the latch for a moment, and then the door swung open with a creaking sound. They both froze for a second, waiting to see if anyone would investigate.

Finally, he moved forward and closed the door. He frowned. “I dislike the need for secrecy.”

She wrapped her arms around his waist and held him. “Please, let us not argue tonight.”

Nicholas frowned, but his arms encompassed her. “Aye. We have precious little time.”

“I have dreamed of you every night we have been apart,” she whispered, hiding her face against the scratchy wool of the shirt he had changed into.

“You could have been with me,” he said, with a trace of bitterness.

Elspeth groaned. “We agreed not to argue.”

He tilted her chin and kissed her lips. His tongue darted into her mouth, and he moaned. “You taste like Heaven,” he said when he lifted his head. “How can I bear to part from you tomorrow for months on end?”

She closed her eyes, briefly tempted to run away from her obligations so they could be together. For fear of recklessly giving in, she said only, “Let us not think on this now. Make love to me, Nicholas.”

His hands were warm when they pulled at the ties on her chemise, indicating he had recently fed. A flush of desire on his cheeks was more proof. She wondered who had been his victim, but her thoughts wandered from Nicholas’s dinner to what his hands were doing at her breasts. She arched her back as she pulled at the buttons on his shirt. A year of abstinence lent her fingers an urgency that allowed her to have him stripped of the garment in seconds. Even the burn on her hand didn’t impede her ability.

She ran her uninjured palm down his chest, tracing the line of his ribs where they poked out slightly. “You have grown thin, my love.”

“I pine for you,” he said against her mobcap.

Elspeth hid her smile of pleasure against his chest, while continuing to stroke him, letting her hand slip lower. His hands were equally busy. “I have missed you,” he said as he removed the mobcap to reveal her long fall of auburn hair. “I ache for you.” Nicholas ran his hands through her hair, lifting strands to his face to rub against his cheek. Her chemise and petticoat quickly followed the route of the hair covering.

She brushed against the placket concealing his cock, although it pushed insistently against the fabric of his knee breaches. Elspeth palmed him, while letting her other hand drift to his buttocks, where she squeezed lightly.

He growled low in his throat before tipping back her head to claim her mouth. His kiss was urgent, but tender, coaxing her mouth to soften as her lips parted. She met his tongue eagerly with her own, engaging his in a duel for supremacy that ended only when she pinned his tongue between her cheek and teeth, before nipping him.

He jerked in reaction, swatting her on the buttocks, as he disengaged her tongue. “Minx.”

“You bring out the animal in me,” she said against his lips, nipping him again. She ran her tongue across his teeth, pausing to flirt with his fangs. A shiver ran down her spine, anticipating the day she would be free to allow him to change her to a vampire so they could live together forever.

“I would rather bring something into you.” Nicholas cupped her pussy in his palm, caressing the outer lips, where moisture dripped from her. “I thought I would die without you.”

She nodded, equally anxious for his possession. It had been too long since the last time he made love to her. He paused only to strip off his knee breaches before lifting and carrying her to the narrow bed.

“As did I. I cannot wait, my love.” Once on the bed, Elspeth spread her legs for him, welcoming him with little preparation. Her body was wet and waiting for his cock. Later, there would be time for slow loving and whispered words. Right now, she wanted to feel him inside her.

She had almost forgotten how big he was. A gasp escaped her when his cock filled her pussy, stretching her almost beyond endurance. As her sheath relaxed, accepting the unaccustomed presence of him again, Elspeth pulled him tightly against her, listening to his heart race against her ear. He whispered her name several times as he thrust in and out of her. She met his thrusts with her own, straining for fulfillment. When his hand slipped between their bodies to stroke her clit, swollen with need and begging for attention, she barely bit back a cry.

He massaged her clit in rhythm with his thrusting hips, making it difficult for Elspeth to remember to thrust in time with him. She closed her eyes and held onto him, counting on Nicholas to guide her to the peaks of pleasure. Her pussy throbbed with spasms, mirroring his, and release was near. She almost didn’t want it to come, preferring to stay just like this with her lover forever.

As an orgasm swept over her, seconds before he found satisfaction, her eyes pricked with unshed tears. She didn’t know how she would stand to watch him ride away tomorrow. Her only consolation was, at their next reunion, she would be a freewoman. She would have fulfilled her contract and received her freedom dues. As soon as they married, she could get her land, and they would have the life she dreamed about. Nicholas would realize she didn’t want to return to England when she maintained her resolve to stay in the Colonies.

Near daybreak, when their passion had faded in the aftermath of physical exhaustion and temporary emotional fulfillment, Nicholas held her in his arms. “Come with me to England.”

She sighed and rolled over onto her side. “Must you ask every time when you know my answer?”

He nodded. “I cannot stand to see you here as a slave to Tremont.”

“Griselda and I made a bargain, love. I must uphold my end.”

“You are not his property, Elspeth. The way his eyes follow you…” He trailed off, looking grim. “He wants you.”

She touched his cheek. “He will not have me. I belong to you, Nicholas.”

A short laugh escaped him. “You are no more my property than his, beloved. If you were, you would listen to me.”

She shrugged. “I cannot do less than honor my word. Besides, if I left with you, what would happen to my sister?”

“She would come with us.”

Elspeth shook her head. “No, she would not. You already frighten her, Nicholas, and she does not know what you are. She would not come.”

“Let her make her own decision. We could be gone before anyone knows. I have a ship waiting. We could be sailing down Chesapeake Bay before Tremont could form a search party.”

She pulled away from him and sat up. “I do not want to return to England. I love the Colonies, Nicholas. There is such open space here in Virginia. Trees stretch as far as the eye can see, and there is not the bustle you find in London. I cannot imagine returning to that barren place after living here. The land is a part of my soul now.”

His mouth twisted. “Perhaps I should leave you to Tremont. As his wife, you would have everything you seem to want.”

She bit back a giggle at his petulant words, touching his arm. “I would have everything but that which I want most.”

His expression softened as she rubbed his arm. “What is that?”

She smiled. “You. I have loved you since you first found your way to Tremont Plantation two years ago.” She had met his eyes as he rode across the rolling green hills on his magnificent black stallion, and she had been lost. Struck by the eerie sensation of already knowing him, she had found herself in his arms in less than two days.