Moontide Embrace (Historical Romance) (40 page)

As Judah moved ever so slightly inside her, he felt her
hot silken skin caress his throbbing manhood. A kaleido
scope of feelings dominated his mind: feelings of death and rebirth, of eternal life and wisdom, and of such a strong love that he could not speak of it.

Then savage joy tore at Judah's heart as his sensuous movements brought Liberty to him in sweet union. She
clasped him to her, knowing that if she died tomorrow,
she would live fully on this night. And her love for this
man was so strong that she would gladly give her life for
him.

A tear slid down her cheek, and Judah gently kissed it
away, feeling its saltiness on his lips.

Both of them trembled as Judah plunged deeper and
deeper into her softness, and Liberty moaned and dug her nails into his shoulders as tremor after tremor shook both
their bodies.

Judah had never felt so satisfied when he, at last, drew
Liberty's head against his shoulder. Neither of them spoke
as they stared into the ebony sky and watched the stars
come out one by one. Gently Judah stroked her hair.

"I feel we are the only two people on earth, Liberty. It seems, if I wanted to, I could reach up and pluck the stars
right out of the sky."

She wondered what thought he was trying to convey to
her. It didn't matter. She had never known such happi
ness. For the first time in her life, she really belonged to
someone. She was Judah's wife, and there was such comfort in that thought. She dared not ask if he loved her, for the moment it was enough to know he desired
her. She knew he had been as moved by their lovemaking as she had been. But was that enough on which to build a
marriage? Would the day come when he would feel for her what he had felt for Bandera?

"Are you hungry?" he murmured against her ear.

"Out"

He sat up and gathered her clothing, dumping it onto her lap. "We had better get dressed first." He chuckled deep in his throat. "I suddenly feel the cold."

They dined on dried meat, bread, and apples. Not
daring to light a fire, Judah pulled the blanket over them
both and they enjoyed the close companionship that seemed to knit them together.

"Why did you do such a foolish thing, Liberty?" he asked at last.

She gave him a pixyish smile and asked innocently.
"What foolish thing are you referring to,
M'sieu?
Marry
ing you?"

He hugged her to him and laughed in amusement.
"That's not what I was asking, and you know it. I wanted
to know why you came along with me as a guide."

"With all due modesty, I was simply the best person for
the task," she said. "I believe you will have to admit I have gotten you through the enemy lines thus far."

"I am not denying that you know your way through the
swamp, and I am not belittling you because you are a
woman."

"What then?"

"You are my wife, and I do not fancy my wife running
through the swamp, in the middle of a war, and looking like a bedraggled young boy."

Laughter bubbled up in her throat. "It was not a boy you held in your arms moments ago."

He flashed her a smile. "You little devil. You do try a
man's patience. What am I to do with you?"

"I'm sure I don't know. I will probably always be a trial
to you. I have that reputation. Perhaps you should treat me like the fish that are too small and throw me back." Her eyes sparkled with laughter.

"I cannot throw you back," he said, straining to pull her
more tightly against him. "I seem to need you with me."

Again he was drawing her under his spell. Regardless of
the hard ground and the chill night air, Liberty could not
imagine a more perfect wedding night.

Later, both of them slept snuggled beneath the blanket
of stars, warmed by a closeness of body and soul.

*                                          *                                          *

The clicking of the hammer on a gun awoke Judah.
When he could focus his eyes, he found a rifle pointed at
his head. "Get up real slow, mister, and don't bat an eyelash," the man with the gun warned.

Judah glanced at Liberty. She must have heard the man
before he came up, because her hat was in place and she
looked like a young boy again.

"Who are you?" Judah asked, coming to his feet and
offering Liberty his hand so he might pull her up beside
him.

Now they were joined by three other men wearing
rough buckskin. Judah was almost certain they were
Tennesseans, but he couldn't be sure. There was a chance
they might be spies for the British.

"You ain't in no position to be asking questions, mister.
It seems kinda strange to find you sleeping out here in the swamp. Are you British or what?"

Judah decided, by the manner of their speech, that the
men had to be from Jackson's troops. "No man can ever
accuse me of being British," Judah stated flatly. "I am on
an important mission for General Jackson."

The man with the gun let out a long stream of tobacco
juice. "Now is that a fact? Well, I say you are a spy and you got lost in the swamps."

Liberty spoke up. "We are not spies. This is Captain
Judah Slaughter of the
Winged Victory
and I am ... I am his guide."

The man smiled and pulled at his beard. "This here young one's a Frenchy. Now I ain't heard tell of no Captain Slaughter. Suppose we just take you back to camp and see if you are lying."

"We will go peacefully, since that is where we were headed anyway," Judah said, reaching down and picking
up the blanket.

"If you are on a mission for General Jackson, you must
have met him," the man said, still suspicious.

"Yes, I have," Judah told him.

"Then, if that's so, mayhap you could tell me what color his eyes are."

"They are blue."

"Anyone could know that," one of the other men put
in. "Ask him the address of Andy's headquarters. No one
could know that unless he's been there."

"That's easy," Judah said, hoping he could remember. "It is on Royal Street."

"He's right. A smile spread over the men's faces. "Sorry
about the rough treatment, but one can't be too careful
with them English milling around everywhere. I heard tell
they have a few American spies helping them."

"What is the news of last night's battle?" Judah asked.
"Did we win?"

"Well, we didn't 'zackly win, and we didn't 'zackly lose. I'd say it was kind of a standoff." He patted his gun. "We
introduced them British to the long rifle last night, and they ain't anxious to renew the acquaintance."

Judah smiled at the man's colorful speech. "What is our position?"

"Now that's the problem. It's one of them damned French-sounding name, like De la . . . something or the
other."

"De la Ronde?" Liberty supplied.

"Yep, that's right. We got separated from our outfit last night and can't find our way out of this damned
swamp. Even if you was spies, we couldn't have taken you
prisoner, 'cause we don't know where we are."

Liberty laughed and started walking in the direction of
the boat secured nearby. "Follow me
M'sieus,
and I will
have you out of here in no time."

With four more people to take turns in rowing the
boat, they soon left the swamps behind and moved down
a wide bayou. Luck was with them because they did not
encounter any English troops, and by noon they stepped
ashore and were greeted by Jackson's army.

Judah and Liberty were immediately escorted to An
drew Jackson's headquarters. When they entered the tent,
the general was bending over plans that had been spread
before him. He looked up, and his eyes moved from the
young boy to Judah.

"What happened to you? You look like you spent the
night in the swamp."

"I did," Judah admitted, pressing Liberty down on a campstool so she would be less conspicuous. "It wasn't as
easy as I thought to bring the cannons downriver. We were forced to take a back way."

"I didn't expect it would work, but I must try to acquire
guns and ammunition from any source I can. Too bad you lost your cannons. We could have used them."

"Oh, the cannons are safe, sir. I can bring them to you
right away."

Jackson's voice thundered out. "By, God, you did it, son. We need all the weapons we can get our hands on.
For a while last night I thought all was lost. Now I realize
we scored a decisive victory. Had we not struck the enemy
when we did, they would have pressed their advantage and would probably be dining in New Orleans tonight."

Judah smiled down at Liberty. "I couldn't have done it
without this lad, sir. He guided me through the swamps and helped me evade the British."

The general stared at the lad. "Good. Have him-report to my orderly. We can use him."

Judah shook his head. "Not this lad, sir. He is going home, where he belongs."

Jackson again scanned the young boy's face with the
practiced eye of an old solider. He was taken aback when
he saw that this wasn't a boy at all, but a girl! "Perhaps you are right, Judah. Why don't you see h —See the lad
home and then report back to me as soon as possible with
those cannons. We have desperate need of them."

Liberty caught the smile that etched the rough planes
of Jackson's face. "Thank you for all your help, lad. We
could sure use more like you."

Judah pulled Liberty to her feet and pushed her out of
the tent. With long strides, he led her toward the boat.
He was going to get her way from there before anything
else happened.

When they were in the boat and moving with the
current, Liberty tapped Judah on the back. "I will have to
take you back to Zippora's cabin. You will never find it on your own."

His jaw clamped shut, and he suppressed the angry
words that came to his mind. "I suppose you will have to
do that. But then I want you to go home and stay."

She laughed at his anger. "General Jackson knew I was
a girl."

"Yes, I know. It would seem I am the only fool around."

"Oh, I don't know," she mused. "Those Tennesseans
didn't know I was a girl."

With the map Liberty had drawn for him in hand, Judah and his three crew members pulled away from
shore. Liberty watched him depart, hoping he would look at her, but he didn't. How could he so easily dismiss her from his mind? she wondered. Her heart ached for him
already and he wasn't even out of sight.

"Judah Slaughter has changed," Zippora observed. "It
would not be easy for a man to get the better of him now."

"Oui.
He is master of himself and of every situation he
comes up against."

Zippora chuckled deep in her throat. "I do not believe he has yet mastered you,
ma petite."

Liberty turned worried eyes to her friend. "Zippora, Judah and I are married."

"Ah, so it has begun. I thought this might happen." Her laughter filtered through the air. "That is why his blood burns. I saw that he could not take his eyes off you."

"I wish that he loved me, Zippora. I want his love more
than I have ever wanted anything."

The wise yellow eyes sparkled. "Sometimes when one is
in the middle of a thing, one cannot see it clearly."

Liberty shrugged her shoulders. "Sometimes one can
not see because one does not want to."

"That is so,
ma petite.
That is so."

Liberty watched the pontoon boat disappear around
the bend, wishing she could have gone with Judah. There
was such an emptiness in her heart, such a loneliness, that
she wanted to cry out in agony.

Zippora took Liberty's hand. "It is not long until dark. I am going to get you home so you can rest. You look ready to collapse."