OnlyYou (7 page)

He caressed her cheek with the back of his hand, trailing
his fingers down her neck and between her breasts as he leaned toward her ear.
Placing a soft kiss on her earlobe, he whispered, “Will you come with me,
Katie?”

Kaitlyn breathed shallowly. The sultry, erotic promises
underlying his voice caused her stomach to flip nervously. She gasped audibly
as his hand came to rest upon her lower abdomen, right above her pubic bone.
She leaned toward him, resting the side of her head against his as she
attempted to catch her breath.

“I will not hurt you,” he whispered into her hair. “And I
swear to you I will make it right.”

Her eyes closed, her mind swirling in confusion and arousal.
His words made little sense to her but it didn’t matter as she felt his hand
move to her thigh. She licked her lips, barely aware of her legs instinctively
spreading.

Gabriel groaned lowly, rubbing her thigh as his thumb
rhythmically brushed against her pubic bone. “I need you, Katie,” he persisted.

“Excuse me, Captain O’Connor,” a young man’s voice came from
somewhere in front of them.

Kaitlyn jumped in surprise and Gabriel released his hold on
her thigh, turning casually toward the young soldier standing before them.

The young man was staring at the ground, his cheeks
reddened. “Pardon me, Sir, but the General requests your presence.”

Gabriel nodded curtly and watched as the young man spun
around to leave.

“Hell,” he muttered, turning back toward her. He leaned in
and placed a quick, soft kiss upon her brow.

Kaitlyn forced her eyes to meet his, despite the heat
burning her cheeks over her lack of self-control. His lips parted and he stared
at her momentarily, almost as though he wanted to say something but then a
sudden shadow of irritation crossed his face. He pushed himself up into a
standing position and walked away.

She didn’t realize she was holding her breath until that
moment. Exhaling heavily, she stared after him, wondering what had come over
him. Still not convinced that he liked her, she figured that he was simply
horny and she was fresh meat. The truth was that was exactly how she felt.
Between Gabriel, Alexander and James, not to mention the other soldiers who
openly gawked at her when she passed by, she was beginning to feel like a
choice steak on display at a supermarket.

Stranger still—she enjoyed every moment of it.

She smiled weakly to herself, embarrassed by feeling pleased
at being the target for so many men. It wasn’t something she was used to or
even something she thought she would ever want, that was for certain. In her
own time, men like Alexander and Gabriel would have typically ignored her and
focused on the “party girls”, not particularly caring if a woman had a brain in
her head. Kaitlyn, whose definition of makeup barely extended beyond mascara,
usually dressed conservatively compared to those women, with her long, straight
hair pulled back in a braid as she taught undergraduate history courses and
researched in libraries. Her focus had always been on academics, thanks to the
pressure put on her by her father but once in awhile she would secretly yearn
to be the center of attention for a man like Gabriel.

She sighed longingly as Gabriel disappeared from sight. She
had found herself physically attracted to men like him before but never
emotionally. What on earth was happening to her?

“You are in love with my brother!”

Kaitlyn gasped in surprise and looked up to find Eileen
staring down at her with an amused smile on her face and a sparkle in her
chestnut-brown eyes. The young woman immediately lowered herself into the grass
beside her.

Kaitlyn shook her head, certain that she felt no such thing
for a man who seemed to have trouble deciding whether or not she even existed.
“No, that’s absurd. I’ve known him for only a week.”

“He is in love with you too!” Eileen insisted, grabbing
Kaitlyn’s hands excitedly. “I see how he looks at you. And he absolutely hates
it when Mr. Ross and Mr. Clark come anywhere near you.”

Kaitlyn shook her head more forcefully this time. Men who
looked like they could be on the cover of
GQ
did not develop feelings
for a blend-into-the-wallpaper, aspiring college professor. “You’re wrong,
Eileen.”

The corners of Eileen’s mouth turned down into a half-pout
as she titled her head to the side. “Poor Katie. You honestly do not consider
yourself desirable, do you?”

Kaitlyn laughed nervously, embarrassed to be speaking about
such things with a teenager. After all, what would someone like her know about
such matters? Kaitlyn was older and wiser. And definitely more experienced with
men.

Right?

As Kaitlyn opened her mouth to protest, Eileen placed her
finger on her lips to keep her from speaking. “I also see how the other men
look at you as well,” she dropped her hand into her lap, casting her eyes down
with it. “You speak with such ease and you carry yourself like a queen. I have
always wished to be beautiful and intelligent like you. But I am afraid that I
have come to be seen as more of a soldier than as a woman.”

Kaitlyn, stunned by Eileen’s picture of her, sympathetically
squeezed her new friend’s hand. “You are beautiful, Eileen. And courageous. And
intelligent. Henry certainly seemed interested in you a few minutes ago.”

Eileen forlornly shook her head. “He only wished to
interrogate me about the British troop movements I obtained.” She paused,
cautiously looking into Kaitlyn’s eyes. “I think I shall not continue with this
spy business.”

Kaitlyn released the younger woman’s gaze for a second,
remembering how, in her research, Eileen had seemed to drop off the face of the
earth until the record of her marriage to Henry Munroe. “Are you certain?”

Eileen nodded. “I do not wish to upset Mother any longer.
She is so worried about Gabriel as it is, especially in that big house all by
herself. She does not need to have to worry about me as well. Besides, I would
like to think that if Henry never again saw me dressed as a boy then perhaps he
might begin to see me as a woman. Do you think that might be so?”

Kaitlyn’s face broke into a slow secret smile as she nodded.
“I know it will be so.”

* * * * *

Gabriel clenched and unclenched his fists in frustration as
he walked in the direction of the young soldier who had interrupted them, not
certain if he was more irritated at not being able to quench his lust or at allowing
his lust to overtake his good sense.

Of course, he should wait until she was properly his by law
before spreading her legs and ramming his cock into her but he could think of
little else whenever she came into his view. Her soft, ample breasts fairly
beckoned to his hands and he had enough trouble keeping them off her let alone
preventing his lips from seeking hers.

The moment he kissed her the previous night was the moment
he realized how difficult staying away from her would become. Before this he could
hold her as they rode during the day, his pelvis gently cupping her backside
and pressing into it rhythmically as his horse trotted. Whenever she fell
asleep, he could not help but take the opportunity to caress her thighs and the
undersides of her breasts as he clasped her against his chest. Sometimes she
would moan lightly in her sleep and he would have to force his hands to be
still lest he grab his dagger to slice open her strange pants and allow his
cock access to her cunny. He seemed to be in a perpetual state of stiffness for
those four days. Either Kaitlyn never noticed or she was enough of a lady to
not mention his discomfort.

But, at that point, he had been able to rein in his desire.
Now, however, he knew the feel of her willing lips, the taste of her sweet
mouth. And he desperately needed to feel and taste her again.

He felt every bit the rogue for what he had been doing to a
perfectly respectable woman. She was sweet and trusting and all too weak when
it came to physical desire. How could he take advantage of that?

Damn it. He needed to fuck her.

“Captain O’Connor!” General Washington called out to him as
he approached.

Gabriel took a deep breath and pushed all thoughts of
Kaitlyn aside. As he looked ahead at the group of men around the general, he
noticed a large bundle lying at the general’s feet.

Captain Adam St. James bent over it and lifted a corner of
the coarse, woolen blanket covering it. Gabriel came to a stop next to him and
knelt down, immediately realizing that the bundle was the body of a dead
Colonial scout he had been acquainted with back in Pennsylvania.

“It is Michael Fitzpatrick, is it not?” Adam quietly asked,
looking at Gabriel expectantly.

Gabriel sighed heavily and rubbed his jaw with his hand.
“Yes, it is,” he answered flatly as he looked up at the general. “They are
getting too close.”

General Washington nodded. “We have sent three other scouts
out. God willing, they will be back tonight and we can discuss what move to
make next.”

“Did Mr. Fitzpatrick have any family to whom the general may
send his condolences?” asked the general’s secretary.

Gabriel nodded solemnly. “A mother. And a wife. She is due
to deliver their first child this summer. They reside on a farm outside
Philadelphia.”

Two other soldiers interrupted their conversation,
explaining that they had come to dispose of the body. Gabriel turned his back
on the men and began walking toward the farmhouse. In the distance, he could
see Kaitlyn and Eileen strolling arm in arm toward the front door of the house.

He shook his head at his licentious behavior toward Kaitlyn.
At any time he could be the one lying dead at the general’s feet and then where
would Kaitlyn be? Would she find herself in the same position as Michael
Fitzpatrick’s wife? Pregnant and alone? And what if he did not have the chance
to marry her before he died? She and his child would then carry the stigma of
an illegitimate birth for the rest of their lives.

No, he could not risk condemning her to that sort of life.
Kaitlyn deserved better.

If only she were not so damned appealing.

He continued walking, lost in his thoughts. As he reached
the house, he climbed the steps and nearly tripped over someone in his path. He
looked down and saw Kaitlyn kneeling on the porch floor, gathering shirts she
had obviously dropped. Instinctively, he knelt down beside her and began
helping.

Their hands brushed as they both reached for the last shirt.
Kaitlyn withdrew her hand in surprise and looked up at him, flashing him one of
her brilliant, shy smiles before licking her lips in obvious nervousness.

Her tongue darting out of her mouth so innocently
immediately caused his cock to spring back to life and he gritted his teeth.
Taking a deep breath, he handed the shirt to her and helped her to her feet.

“Madam,” he said as he took a stiff step back and bowed
slightly before her.

Chapter Five

The lamplight flickered, throwing dancing light beams
against the window of Kaitlyn’s bedroom. She yawned sleepily as she gazed out
the window, noticing three men walk away from the house. With a long, drawn out
sigh, she placed the quill back in the bottle of black ink and opened the
drawer in the desk. Slipping the papers she had been writing on inside and
carefully closing the drawer, she glanced over at Eileen who was sound asleep in
the bed they shared.

Her shoulders slumped. She should have taken Eileen up on
her offer to unlace the stays of her bodice and corset for her before the
younger woman went to bed. Kaitlyn had insisted that she would be done quickly
but then her mind wandered and Eileen fell asleep. Now what was she supposed to
do? Kaitlyn simply could not reach them but her tolerance of being bound in
such an unnatural way was quickly wearing thin.

Only the rustle of her skirts could be heard as she silently
scooted the chair away from the desk and arose to walk across the room. Surely
someone would still be up to help her, she thought.

Kaitlyn turned the doorknob slowly and walked out into the
dimly lit hallway, turning quickly to silently close the door behind her. As she
spun back around, she collided with something tall, warm and hard.

She stammered out an apology as she stepped back to find
Gabriel standing before her with an amused grin playing on his lips. Her
imagination replayed the icy expression spread across his face earlier that
afternoon as he had quickly retreated from her. Numbness began to creep into
her heart. She was not certain how much more of his ebbing and flowing interest
in her that she was willing to put up with.

“Pardon me, madam,” he said, his voice low with a hint of
laughter.

She smiled weakly, determined to keep her conversation with
him brief despite the way her heart began pounding at the very sight of him.
“Are any of the women still awake? Harriet perhaps?”

He shook his head and tilted it to the side as he measured
her for a moment. “All said their goodnights over an hour ago.”

Kaitlyn’s shoulders slumped in defeat.

“What is the matter? May I be of assistance?” he asked, his
tone formal.

Yes, take off my clothes…

She shook her head and absentmindedly rubbed her forehead in
weariness. “It’s just that Eileen is asleep and I…uh…my…uh,” she stammered,
quickly forgetting the term for what it was that she needed unlaced. She turned
slightly and pointed at her back and shrugged, offering him a feeble smile.

Understanding immediately dawned on his face. “Do you need
your stays unlaced?” he offered.

She nodded, desperate to end the awkwardness stretching
between them. “Yeah but that’s okay,” she replied with a wave of her hand.
“I’ll just sleep in my clothes.” Quickly excusing herself, she whirled around
and opened her door. Slipping inside silently, she closed the door behind her.