Riverbreeze: Part 2 (41 page)

“Because she might have pursued you and you might have married her. And you would have been unavailable to marry me.”

Robert laughed lightly. “I didn’t think you cared that much. As I recall, only this morning you called me a sinner!”

“I’ve already apologized for that!” She declared heatedly. But then her voice softened. “I was wrong to say that. You are a gentleman and I am honored to be your wife.”

Robert stood stock still, staring at her for a moment. She was always surprising him. He could never predict what she was going to say or do next. Recovering quickly though, he said, “Even after I took matters into my own hands and nearly killed a man?”

She walked up to him and took his injured hand into hers. She tenderly kissed his knuckles. Then looking earnestly into his eyes she said, “Yes. What you did was chivalrous and necessary. From what you told me about that odious man, he needed to be punished and the law would not have done it.”

“No, they wouldn’t have, and I couldn’t have lived with myself if I hadn’t done something to insure Abigail’s safety.”

“Do you really believe he will leave Virginia for good?”

“I can only pray that he does.” He said, stepping back and taking off his shirt. He stood naked for a second, shivering in the cold while he threw the shirt over the trunk. Then he quickly jumped into bed and huddled under the covers.

“Pray?” She questioned, a twinkle to her eye. She started to unfasten her gown. “I thought you didn’t pray. Did going to church today renew your faith?”

“Not really, but I decided it wouldn’t hurt to ask God for help in keeping Burnett away. After all, the man is a murderer and a rapist. He should go to hell, as far as I’m concerned.”

“He will, when his time comes.” She said, removing her gown and carefully draping it over Robert’s clothes in the trunk.

“Hurry up, and come to bed. I need your warmth.” Robert said, watching her with regret. He silently said another little prayer, asking for help to get through this week.

She climbed in beside him, wearing her chemise and snuggled next to him. He put his arms around her and she laid her head on his shoulder. He kissed the top of her head, then yawned hugely. “I’m beat.” He said tiredly.

She laughed a little. “You’re soooo funny.” She said blandly.

He chuckled also. “I meant, I’m tired. This has been a long day.”

“Then I’ll say good night. You need your rest.”

“We can’t do anything anyway.” He grumbled.

“My poor darling.” She said, caressing his face. “’Twill be over before you know it.”

“That’s what you think.” He said, under his breath.

“Good night, Robert.” She said with a sigh.

“Good night, Lily.” He kissed her long and tenderly.

When they parted, she whispered, “Sleep tight
, mon amour
.”

But Robert didn’t hear her; he had already fallen asleep.

Chapter Thirty: Emergency

He began at her feet, clean and fresh-smelling from her bath, kissing the tips of each toe, then biting each little fleshy pad. She giggled and tried to pull away, but he held her slim ankles fast. He moved his lips along the side of the big toe on her right foot, placing little kisses until he reached the middle of her foot where he licked the entire length of the arch, causing her to squirm and let out a little screech. He smiled to himself, loving her reaction, loving the fact that she wasn’t shy or frigid; and he lifted his eyes so he could watch her face. He continued onward to her ankle where he stopped to run his tongue along the round bone, smelling the scent of lavender water that she had dabbed there.

She writhed on the bed, clutching the sheets with both hands on either side of her naked body. Her breathing had sped up in anticipation of his approaching mouth. And he did not disappoint. He moved up her calf, caressing her leg with one hand, feeling the soft, pale, almost white, little hairs, while he laid kiss after kiss upwards until he reached her knee. There was more lavender scent at her knee and he breathed it in deeply along with her own natural musky odor.

She was nearly panting with arousal, her small, perfectly round breasts rising and falling with each breath. He wanted to touch those breasts, cover them with his big hands, cup them in his palms, squeeze them, knead them, suck them, but that would have to wait. There were other delights awaiting him.

He moved up between her legs, kissing the inside of her quivering thighs. She was making little gasping noises and then when his fingers touched her sensitive petals, her body bowed off the mattress. And then his tongue licked along the crease where her
thigh met her pudenda, and the soft, springy hairs tickled his cheek. “Robert! Robert!” She screamed.

He chuckled to himself, spread her open with his thumbs and lowered his mouth to taste of her essence. He would bring her to the heights of glory; he would love her until she wept; he would…….

“Robert! Robert!”

He jerked awake, but continued to lie still in that dream haze. His heart was pounding, but no more than during that dream. He opened his eyes; all was quiet and the room was still dark, with just the palest show of light through the cracks of the shutters. A few coals in the fireplace still glowed a soft red. Even the dogs were quiet, but wait, he suddenly remembered that they had spent the night in Jamie and Evelyn’s room.

There was no need to get up this early; and he was still so tired. Why had she woken him up?

Elizabeth pushed at his shoulder again with almost enough force to shake the entire bed. “Robert, wake up! You must wake up!” She cried. There was panic in her voice and she was nearly breathless.

He heard that note of panic and sat up quickly. “What is it?” He asked, turning to face her and then he gave the room a quick scan to try to see what had frightened her. He hadn’t liked being woken up from his dream; he had been enjoying it tremendously. But she had sounded so urgent he couldn’t ignore her. Had she heard something? Had she seen something? Had Burnett come back and broken into the house? A surge of adrenaline shot through his body at that thought.

“Robert, I had a dream…” She said quickly.

“A dream? Is that all?” He said, relief spreading over him. He sagged back down onto his back and rubbed a hand over his face. “Why did you have to wake me up to tell me that?” He added, grumpily.

“You forget.” She panted, still panicky. “I had a dream about Robin. He’s in danger. You must go to Maureen’s right now and save him.”

“What
?” He gasped. “You’re speaking nonsense. Go back to sleep.” And he started to roll over, showing her his back.

She slapped the bed, furious. “’Tis no nonsense! Robin is in danger. You must go to him right now and save him!” Her voice was very insistent, so insistent that Robert finally started to listen to her.

He turned back to her, frowning. “Are you sure?” He asked, peering into her worry-filled eyes. “Maureen would never let anything happen to Robin.” He added with conviction.

She nodded aggressively. “I’m absolutely sure.”

He should be jumping out of bed, pulling on some clothes and charging out of the house this very minute. Her dream had involved his son after all, but the fact that he wasn’t doing all that revealed his doubt in her. He remembered what she had told him the night before they were married, how she and Evelyn had dreams that came true, and while it all sounded like a fairy tale, he hadn’t downright disbelieved her. But to have such blind faith was difficult. No one could predict the future, he thought. But what if he didn’t heed her warnings? What if he ignored her pleas? It would be at the cost of his son. Was he willing to take that chance?

“Please, Robert, listen to me.” She begged. “If you do not leave soon, I do not know if you’ll make it in time.”

“You mean he might die?”

“I do not know.” She whispered.

A chill ran down his spine, but he still didn’t know if he should believe her or not. In the end though, he decided to comply. “All right. I’ll go.”

Reluctantly he rolled over and threw the covers aside. The room was freezing cold and goosebumps broke out all over his body. He sat up slowly, almost as slow as an infirm person, groaning and rubbing the small of his back. His back and buttocks ached from falling backwards yesterday when Burnett had tackled him and his hand was still sore too.

He perched on the edge of the bed for a moment with his elbows on his thighs, trying to fully wake up. He rubbed his face, then raked his fingers through his tangled hair and finally scratched at his scalp for a minute.

It was obvious that he wasn’t moving fast enough for Elizabeth because she scrambled up onto her hands and knees to follow him and once behind him, she began to push on his shoulder again. “You must hurry, Robert.”

“Yes, you must hurry, Robert. Your son is in danger.”

Was there an echo in the house? But Robert recognized that voice and it wasn’t his wife’s. His head jerked up and he glared at Evelyn. It was all right for his wife to wake him and order him about but not Jamie’s wife.

She was standing just inside the doorway of his bedroom, still in her nightgown, and it made him angry that she was there. And how did she even get there without him hearing her approach? Jamie was only a few steps behind his wife, looking completely confused, his nightshirt askew and his hair all tousled. It looked like he had just fallen out of bed, then dragged the nightshirt on in a hurry.

Robert’s anger almost turned to amusement when he saw Jamie’s reaction to finding his wife staring at his naked brother. First his mouth dropped open and his eyes widened, but then his face turned as dark as a storm cloud. “What are you doing here?” He hissed into Evelyn’s ear.

“Jamie, take your wife back to your chamber.” Rob said in a rather rude voice. He glared at them as Jamie gently took Evelyn’s arm and tried to pull her back.

“Sorry, Rob.” Jamie muttered, throwing his brother an embarrassed look. He and Evelyn turned to leave, but at the last second, Jamie turned back and said, “Next time, please cover yourself.”

That really set Robert off. “There won’t be a next time, Jamie, because I trust you to keep your damn wife out of my bedroom!” Robert shouted.

From behind, Robert felt Elizabeth slap him across the back of the head. He couldn’t believe she had hit him. It infuriated him. It hadn’t been a hard slap, but a slap nevertheless. “That is my sister you’re talking about!” She said.

He surged up and whirled around, so incensed he could almost hit her back, but instead he grabbed her arm and squeezed hard enough to bring tears to her eyes. He yanked on her arm and she flinched as he lowered his face closer to hers. His eyes boring into hers, he ground out, “First of all, you will never, ever…” Here he shook her with each emphasized word. “…hit me again. And second, I can speak about your sister any damn way I please.”

“Oh please, Robert.” She cried, tears running down her cheeks. “I’m sorry. You can beat me if you want, but, please, you must listen to me. You must go. You must hurry. We’re wasting time.”

Robert stared at her, his mouth hanging open a little. She wasn’t giving up! He was amazed at her determination. She met his eyes without flinching or looking away. He felt another shiver run down his spine. Perhaps he had better listen to her after all and leave quickly.

“All right, damn it!” He snapped, finally letting go of her arm. He saw her rub the spot where he had gripped it so tightly, but if he took the time now to express regret she would only remind him again to hurry. So he turned quickly to the trunk to pull out his buckskin trousers and shirt. He had to shove all the clothes from the night before onto the floor, including her gown. Let her pick them up and put them away again, he thought crankily.

He donned his clothes, laced his trousers, then pulled on thick wool socks and soft, knee-high deerskin moccasins. He strapped on his big hunting knife and he was set to go. And looking more like a native savage than a proper English gentleman, he gave her a parting touch on her shoulder and strode from the bedroom, leaving her sitting on their bed among the disheveled bed clothes, rubbing her left arm, an anxious but hopeful look on her tear-streaked face.