Moontide Embrace (Historical Romance) (23 page)

A sob escaped Liberty's throat as she moved her body
against his hand. He teased her with gentle massaging motions. Suddenly Liberty could stand it no more. She
begged him to go deeper, to put out the fire, to soothe the
ache he had built up inside her.

"Easy," he whispered hotly in her ear. "I do not want to cause you undue pain." Softly, his finger moved forward,
finding the barrier of her maidenhead. Momentarily, he
paused. Even in his fevered condition, he realized she had
never been with a man. "I have no right to — "

"You have a perfect right," she whispered in his ear. "I
will never allow anyone to touch me but you."

"My dearest, sweet love," he groaned. "I will die happy
if I can have one moment of paradise with you."

Liberty wanted to protest when he withdrew his hand,
and when he positioned himself between her legs, she was
puzzled as to what would happen next. She thought she
would faint from pleasure as his swollen member entered
her body slowly at first, until it broke through the barrier
of skin, then deeper, until an all-consuming passion shook her to the very core.

Judah pulled her close to him, kissing her lips, mur
muring an apology for any pain he might have caused her.
Liberty clung to him as his rhythmic movements set up a
tempo that echoed in her brain. The tempo became wilder, and wilder, as he penetrated her further.

Liberty's pleasure grew with each forward thrust he
made. Whimpering, she tried to draw him deeper into her, wanting and needing to make him part of her. She wanted
to give so much of herself that he would never forget this
night. Her skin was dewy with perspiration as she welcomed his forward thrusts, and her pleasure was building to a fevered pitch. Joy sang in her heart. All at once, she
drew in her breath, as a shock wave shivered through her,
alerting Judah that he was about to introduce her to a new and far more pleasurable tide of feelings.

Need and want fired her. Magic, beauty, everlasting joy
burst forth from their bodies. Judah had never known
such pleasure. This was the woman who had been created
to receive his lovemaking. This was his perfect love—the
other half of himself that made him a whole man. Never
had he felt this oneness with a woman, never had he felt so vulnerable. A shuddering release rocked both their
bodies, and Judah clasped her to him tightly while he
sprinkled burning kisses over her face. His mind was
playing tricks on him again, because he almost called out
Liberty's name.

"From this day forward, I will love no other woman.
You have given me joy beyond belief. I worship you—I
adore you," he murmured.

Liberty's heart took wing as he ran a soothing hand
over her tangled hair, brushing it from her face and then
kissing her swollen lips.

"I am a woman," she whispered. "Your woman."

His hand gently cupped her face. "Yes, you belong to me alone. No other man will ever touch you as I have."

Liberty felt her heart shatter into thousands of fragments. Judah didn't love her, she had almost forgotten
that he thought she was Bandera! He had taken her body,
believing her to be Bandera.

Tears ran down her cheeks, as she eased herself off the
bed. She had no one to blame but herself. She had left
herself open to this hurt. It was she alone who was to blame.

"Stay with me," he pleaded, reaching out to her. "I
never want you to leave me." He could see no more than a
vague outline, but he could tell she was slipping into her
gown.

"I must go. It would not go well if they came searching
for me and found you."

Already Judah was becoming drowsy. In his fevered state, he had been drained. "Will you come again?"

"I do not know. You must sleep now."

Judah's eyes fluttered shut, and Liberty bent to pull the
bedcovers over him. Placing a kiss on his cheek, she
discovered that he was still feverish.

With a heavy heart, she left the cabin and headed for the boat. Her life had changed dramatically in the last two days. Liberty doubted she would ever be the silly naive girl who had believed she could make Judah love her.

Liberty was now caught up in the middle of a whirlwind, with no way out. Her feet were set upon a path
from which there was no return. She would always love
Judah. Tonight she had given herself to him, while he
thought he was taking Bandera. Everything was in a turmoil, and she had a feeling that in the days ahead, Judah would need her more than ever. She hoped he
would soon be well enough so she would no longer have
to pretend to be her sister.

Zippora waited until Liberty was out of sight before entering the cabin. She had come too late to prevent the inevitable from happening. She saw that the flame in the
fireplace had gone out, and she bent to relight it. Then
she moved to the bed and felt her patient's brow, discover
ing that he was still feverish.

A scrap of brightly colored material caught her eye,
and she reached to the floor to pick it up. It was Liberty's pink satin ribbon. Zippora shook her head sadly. She had
seen the tears in the young girl's eyes when she had run off into the night. Liberty was hurting, and there was nothing she could do about it, because she knew what had taken place in this room.
Oui,
she had come home too late to keep it from happening.

Zippora's shrewd old eyes took in the condition of the
bed, and a sadness touched her. In his sleep, Judah reached out his hand. "Little one," he murmured. "You smell so sweet. Your lips are like honey. After tonight, you are a part of my body, Bandera."

"Be silent," Zippora snapped. "I do not want to hear this from you. You can't even decide which sister you
want. You do not deserve Liberty." She was quiet for a
moment. "But you do not deserve the black spider that is in her sister either. I should have seen this coming, but I
did not. You have taken Liberty and used her for your needs. It is my fault."

"I love you," Judah muttered in his delirium.

Zippora seated herself beside the bed, and stared into
the flickering fire. "I must fix this. It wasn't supposed to
happen like this. I do not want Liberty to be hurt."

"Bandera," Judah rambled on in his sleep, until Zippora clamped a hand on his arm.

"You are most fortunate that you did not bed that
hellion,
M'sieu,
but you do not know it yet. Soon enough
you will remember that it was your precious Bandera who
betrayed you." She chuckled. "Already you do not want
to admit that you love Liberty. Your mind will not let you
accept that you love one so young. You call for Bandera,
but you desire Liberty."

Zippora knew Judah couldn't hear or understand her.
Her eyes glowed yellow in the firelight, and a smile parted
her lips. Reaching into the leather bag she wore at her
waist, she removed a powder and sprinkled it over Judah's
face.

"You will remember this night you lay with Liberty. No
matter where you go, you will remember everything that
happened here tonight. No woman will satisfy you. No
woman will ease the hunger and need that will burn within your body like a slow fire. You will know no
easing of that need until you again lie with your one true
love."

With a crackling laugh, she rose and padded across the
floor. "That should give you many sleepless nights,
M'sieu.
I'll teach you to hurt the little one."

But as she turned back to Judah, Zippora's face softened with pity for the man who had been so ill used.
"You will travel a long way before you finally find that
which you seek. May God in his mercy give you a helping
hand, for I will be unable to smooth your pathway."

Liberty climbed up the magnolia tree and slipped in through her bedroom window just as the sun was rising
over the Mississippi like a giant ball of fire. She removed
her wrinkled gown and quickly slipped into her nightgown. She hastily ran a brush through her tangled hair
and glanced in the mirror. Whose was the face that stared
back at her? With the soft flush on her cheeks she was
almost pretty. Her lips were still swollen from Judah's
kisses, and she touched them, remembering those burning
kisses.

Inhaling deeply, Liberty crossed the room and stepped
out into the hallway. The time for playing games was over.
It was time she did something to help Judah. She entered
Bandera's bedroom without knocking. She had to find out what had caused the fire.

Liberty found Bandera's room empty and went down
stairs, walking across the threadbare rug in the hallway and into the dining room. She let her breath out slowly when she found Bandera alone at the table.

"Liberty, are you feeling better? I know you have been
ill. I would have looked in on you, but I didn't want to
disturb your sleep."

"Spare me your concern, Bandera. I know you tried to
keep me drugged." Liberty seated herself across the table
from her sister so she could watch her eyes. "And I know
why you drugged me. You wanted to keep me from talking."

Bandera smiled. "No one will believe that. Are you not
even the least bit curious as to what has happened in the
two days you have been . . . ill."

"Suppose you tell me."

"So much sadness. Poor Sebastian is beside himself with grief."

Liberty felt as if something was dreadfully wrong and
Bandera was merely playing with her. "What sadness? Do
you mean the house at Bend of the River burning, or the
fact that Judah Slaughter-?"

"Do not speak his name in this house. He is the devil
come to earth in human form. I hope they catch him and
hang him or throw him into quicksand and let the alligators wrestle for his remains."

Liberty grabbed Bandera's hand. "You do not have to
pretend with me, sister dear. I know you and Sebastian lied about Judah, and I intend to prove it."

Bandera looked into her sister's eyes for the first time.
"You couldn't know what that man has done. You were
too ill." She dabbed at her eyes. "Prepare yourself for a
shock. That madman—that American —set fire to the
house at Bend of the River. It is believed that his grandfa
ther and his mother were killed in the blaze!"

Liberty came quickly to her feet. "Dear God, no! How
can that be?" Grief tugged at her heart. "Surely there is
some mistake. Judah doesn't even know about it."

Bandera's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "How would you know? You have been in your room. Has he come to your
bedroom?"

Liberty realized her mistake. In her grief, she had
almost given herself away. "Of course not. You should
know —I am sure you have had me watched."

Bandera studied her face with a long and hard look. "You are always against me, Liberty. It is my hope that you will stand by me in my hour of need.
Maman
isn't
here, and I need your support. I have sent word asking
Maman
and Papa to come home at once. Let us hope they will be more understanding than you are."

Liberty hardly heard her sister's words. She was think
ing about Judah and the grief he would feel when he
learned about the fire at Bend of the River, and the death
of his gentle mother and his grandfather. The web of
treachery was closing in on Judah, and he was too ill to
defend himself.

She knew that Sebastian was behind all the trouble.
Couldn't everyone see that Sebastian had made it look as
though Judah were guilty, when all along it was he who
was the guilty one. Liberty wondered how deeply her
sister was involved in the plot. Would she go so far as to sanction the burning of Bend of the River to get what she
wanted?

"You said it was believed that Judah's mother and
grandfather were killed. Is there any doubt that they are
dead, Bandera?"