Vivid (32 page)

“We could let the situation cool down a
bit, and see if it will burn itself out. You've stated your position on
marriage."

"Yes, I have. The logical thing to do
would be to let things cool down as you said. Who knows, maybe it will simply
go away."

"Uh-huh."

She looked over at him and wondered why he
was smiling.

"Well, Lancaster," he said,
stretching his arms and yawning, "for the first time in, oh, ten years,
I'm going to embark upon something totally illogical."

His sudden change of mood made her wary.
"Meaning?"

"Meaning I'm not going to let things
cool down, because I don't want them to. I'm going to pursue you, Viveca
Lancaster, in ways you've never been pursued before."

Vivid blinked. "Why?"

He smiled a knowing smile.

Vivid swallowed. "Nate, I admit I
enjoy your kisses, and until I met you I never knew a woman could have so much
fun taking off her clothes—'' Vivid could not believe the words that had
just come out of her mouth. He had her so confused she had to fight to regain
her train of thought. "What was I saying?"

"How much fun you had taking off your
clothes."

She cut him a look. "No, before
that."

"How much you enjoyed my
kisses."

"Stop it," she warned, trying to
hide her smile.

"Just trying to help," he said
reasonably.

"I was saying..." She couldn't
remember, so instead she asked, “Why in the world do you wish to court me, and
don't give me that pleased male smile again."

"Because each and every time I'm
around you, Viveca, the only thing I want to do is take you somewhere and make
love to you until they hear you screaming in Kalamazoo. Is that frank enough
for you?''

She swayed, slightly dizzy from his
confession.

"Now you may say you don't want to be
courted but your lips say different, so circle your wagons, Princess Hannibal,
the battles lines have been drawn."

Part of her was ecstatic at his
revelation, but the other part, the part that had studied and spent many nights
burning oil in order to become a physician, balked at the idea of her two
desires being able to coexist harmoniously.

But even as she stood there, her lips were
already anticipating his kisses and her nipples were tightening and raising
their shameless little heads. Her body's traitorous reactions were responding
to his devilish smile.

Slowly he walked over to her, his eyes
devouring her. Her blood began to pound fast.

"I know you didn't come here to be
courted," he said. He took her hand and urged her to her feet.

"No, I didn't."

"But fate sometimes changes life
around. I vowed to never risk my heart again, but for you..."

He reached out and gently traced a
crescent on her cheek. "Could it be because of the kisses we've been
sharing?" The velvet finger moved to outline her lips, making her tremble.
"Or maybe it's because of all that screaming you were doing last evening.
What do you think?"

Once again memories burned her cheeks. She
looked up into his handsome face and asked, “Have you always been so
seductive?"

"Not lately, no, and I'm way out of
practice..."

Vivid's eyes slid shut from the intensity.
Out of practice?
What would he be like when he regained his former
self—more importantly, where in the world would she find the means to
resist? "I need time to think about all this."

"I'll give you time and I'll go slow.
However, I mean to have you, Lancaster, and whenever I find you alone I'm going
to do my best to help you make up your mind."

Nate had already decided she would be
worth the chase, and he also knew she would lead him on a merry one. He found
the anticipation thrilling.

"What does that mean, exactly?"
Vivid wanted to know.

"Exactly this..."

He bent his head and brushed his lips
across hers, and Vivid didn't even try to resist. She wanted his kisses.

He kissed her softly at first, the tender
flick of his tongue against her parted lips. His palms began sliding up her
back, mapping the structure of her shoulders and spine beneath the thin cotton
gown. It was selfish, really, this slow tutoring, because it enabled him to
savor the tastes, scents, and feel of her at a lazy pace and to show her how
very serious he meant to be about this campaign.

He slid his lips up to her ear and nibbled
his way down the edge of her throat. "I mean to have you, Viveca, be it
today...tomorrow...or...a year from now. You are mine..." she heard him
rasp heatedly. And she was his, Vivid admitted to herself. Why hadn't her
professors told her about this passion? She'd learned nothing about the way her
nipples would blossom when his fingers played them gently, or how her senses
would bloom. When he dropped his head and brushed his lips across her breasts,
she moaned softly, and she caressed the back of his neck. Her medical books
claimed women did not enjoy this thick heady heat. The books were wrong.

Nate wanted her in all the ways a man
could want a woman, but because he'd pledged to proceed slowly in this, he settled
for stealing kisses and undoing the ribbons on the yoke of her gown. Her
breasts were beautiful, rich, dark, and so responsive. Filling his hands, he
flicked his tongue over one pebbled treasure and then the other. He thrilled
hearing the low moan slide from her throat as he suckled her.

Eyes closed, Vivid arched her back,
assaulted by dazzling waves of sensations, her dilemmas forgotten. His hand
wandered over her, setting off a glowing warmth with a plea all its own. He
answered the call by slowly raising her gown and sliding his hands possessively
over her bare hips.

He raised his head and stared into her
eyes, his slow explorations below her gown continuing, melting her like ice on
a summer's day. She keened for him, crooned, and all the while he held her
gaze, watching the passion play across her beautiful face.

"Do you still not want to be
courted?" he inquired. He was as hard as railroad iron.

"I didn't come here to be courted,
no," Vivid whispered through the haze of desire. She could feel the storm
gathering in response to his exquisite explorations.

Nate, unable to resist the parted bliss of
her mouth, kissed her sweetly, saying, "Such evasive little daisy-eyes..."

He increased the intensity of his touch
until lightning flashed behind her eyes and the thunder of the little death
echoed through her long and loud.

While she spun in the vortex of the
afterglow, he picked her up, carried her back to the bedroom, and seated her
gently atop her bed.

Still reeling and throbbing, Vivid looked
up into his amused features and remarked, "You don't plan on making this
easy for me, do you?"

He smiled. "No."

O
n Monday morning, Miss Edna, who served as the Grove's
postmistress, brought the mail to Nate's office. Nate flipped through the small
stack and was about to set it aside for reading later when one letter with the
word
urgent
penned across the
bottom caught his eye. He opened it to find a small sheet of paper which said:
Majestic
in danger. Miss Satin and I arriving soon. Please prepare accommodations. Holly
Rand.
The writing appeared scrawled, as if it had been penned in a haste.

He went still, then read the words again.
He turned the penned warning over to see if there might be anything else
written that would provide a clue to its meaning or sender. Nothing. He read
the words again, but knew no more than he had the first time. What kind of
danger? And who were Miss Satin and Holly Rand?

Nate strode into the office of the
Grayson
Gazette.
He tossed the mysterious note atop Eli's desk and waited for his
cousin to read it. Eli's face went grim. "Is this someone's idea of
humor?" Eli asked, turning it over in his hand just as Nate had done.

"I've no idea, but I don't find it
funny. It came with the morning post."

"And you've no idea who this Holly
person is?"

Nate shook his head.

"Miss Satin sounds like the name of a
cathouse queen. The handwriting doesn't look familiar, which means we can just
about eliminate anyone local."

"I have a real bad feeling about
this, Eli."

"So do I. I wish we knew more about
Magic's mother."

"I wish we knew
anything
about
her," Nate said.

"Well, you and I may have our
differences, but we're united on this one. Anyone threatening Majestic will
have to deal with us first."

Nate nodded. "Thanks, cousin. I'm
going to let Abigail, the Crowleys, and a few others in on this so they can
keep their eyes open. Dammit, I almost forgot about the convention in
Indianapolis in three days. I'll have to miss it. I can't leave Majestic here
unprotected."

"That meeting is important, Nate."

"I know, but Majestic is my life. If
anything happens to her while I'm gone—"

"I'll take care of things until you
return. Go to Indianapolis."

They eyed each other.

Eli said softly, "I failed the last
time, I know. I'm older now, Nate. This isn't Cecile we're talking about, it's
Magic, and I love her very much. Go to the convention. I'll keep her safe, or
die trying."

Nate looked into Eli's eyes and saw, for
the first time, not the sixteen-year-old youth who'd committed the ultimate
betrayal, but the man Eli had become. When had it happened? When had he grown
up? Had Nate's inner pain really been so blinding, he hadn't notice the passing
years? Nate observed his cousin a moment longer, then nodded his acceptance of
Eli's offer. "You should move back into the house."

Eli stared. "Are you sure?"

"Yes."

Nate and Eli spent a few more moments
discussing details before Nate crossed the dirt street back to his office. He
wondered what kind of threat would Magic be facing. He had no answer, and
because he didn't, the father in him was terrified.

After dinner, Nate took Abigail and Vivid
into his study and let them see the note. Vivid felt a frisson of fear course
through her as she handed the note back to Nate.

Nate asked, "Do you think I should
tell her?"

Abigail spoke first, "I believe you
should. She's not going to be happy being confined to the house without being
told why."

Vivid agreed. "If it were me, I'd
want to know. It would probably scare me, but it would make me more careful
when I went out."

Nate called Majestic into the study.

"What's the matter, Pa?" Magic
looked at Abigail and Vivid, then wanted to know, "Am I in trouble?"

Nate smiled. "No, sweetheart, you're
not."

She seemed to relax.

Nate thought it best he get to the heart
of the matter. "Majestic, I received a note in the post today, saying
you're in danger."

She stared at her father for a long
moment, then asked softly, "What type of danger?"

"We don't know."

"That's kind of scary, Pa."

"I know it is, sweetheart, it scared
all of us."

Magic swung her head around to Abigail and
then to Vivid. Both women nodded.

"So what do we do?" she asked.

“All we can do for now is be especially
careful until we find out what the note means."

"Will I have to stay indoors?"

"No, but I do want you to stay out of
the woods, and no fishing."

"No fishing?"

"Or rabbit trapping, or frog
catching."

"But—"

“Majestic, your safety is the most
important thing in the world to us."

"Can't I even play over at Mr.
Crowley's or Mad-die's? Maddie's dogs wouldn't let anything happen to me, and
neither would Mr. Crowley."

Abigail said, "She has a point,
Nate."

Vivid had never met Maddie or her dogs,
but knew Mr. Crowley and his giant sons would put holy fear in anyone
attempting to do Magic harm.

"Pa, I'll be real, real careful. I promise."

Nate looked into her topaz eyes and knew
his heart would shatter if anything should happen, but as Abigail pointed out,
neither Maddie nor Adam would let her come to harm. "Okay, Majestic, you
can go to Adam's and Maddie's
only.
You come home for lunch and never
ever leave the house without letting someone in the house know where you will
be. Agreed?"

Magic smiled. "Agreed."

Eli moved into the house the next morning,
much to everyone's delight.

The day after, Nate very reluctantly left
for Indianapolis.

Vivid spent the day at the church
overseeing the weekly children's clinic. She missed him already, but the
children made the day enjoyable. That evening when she and Michigan turned into
the long tree-lined track that separated the Grayson house from her own, she
was surprised by all the activity in the yard. Wagons were lined up as if
church were being held. Men, many she didn't recognize, were swarming over the
place like ants, carrying wood to and from a spot across the yard where a bunch
of sawhorses had been erected. Men were on the roof of her cabin while others
were on the ground hammering nails into the skeletal wood frame. She tied up
Michigan and walked the rest of the way. Many of the men stopped what they were
doing as she approached. Those wearing hats tipped them politely in her
direction while others nodded their greetings. She met each man's smile with
one in return while she wondered why all these men were gathered in the yard.