Lord of the Wilderness Page 25

  The vow Joshua made not to touch her disintegrated like sand washed away in a river flood. She lay there soft…yielding, all for the taking, a fulfillment of every waking dream that had tormented him since the first time he clapped eyes on her at the Hayes’ farm.

  Her full ripe breasts thrust impudently like pink rose buds. Her trim waist melded down over rounded hips, revealing the dark red triangle of her womanhood where he eagerly explored.

  He nudged her legs apart, fitting himself snugly in the cradle of her thighs. He groaned as she worked her dewy entrance over the tip of his shaft, digging her nails in his hips. Fully aroused, desire pulsed through his swollen rigid flesh.

  His gut clenched tight, his reserve of willpower quickly dwindling. His head dipped toward her breast, he suckled and she moaned, and then he plunged into her, through her barrier, burying himself deep inside her as deeply as he could. He would not withdraw until he’d gotten his fill.

  She gasped and he covered her mouth with his, whispering reassurances. He plunged into her again and again, smelling her excitement on the crest of an incredible flood into womanhood. Past and future were obliterated; there was only the here and now for each moment stretching into an eternity of timelessness.

  Her whimpers, primeval, universal, wild…her body rose to meet his rhythmic thrusts and his control shattered. Nights of restraint, sleeping by her side, now unleashed, his ardor mounted as she rose to meet his scorching desire. Melding, merging, swaying with oneness, moving into rhythms as old and as enduring as time itself.

  Her fingers dug into his shoulders and he buried his face on the side of her neck, the pressure building inside him unlike anything he’d experienced. Joshua thrust his fingers into the flaming silkiness of her hair as she abandoned herself to him, and with every forceful thrust, he claimed her in a raw act of total possession, mindless of everything except the indulgence of granting them both complete satisfaction.

  As she peaked, she arched and vibrated with liquid fire. Joshua taut above her, emptied his seed into her. Breathing hard, he rolled her to the side, keeping her intimately joined to him, and reveling in the sensation of her wet warmth, and the brush of her lips against his chest. His chin nestled upon her head and his fingers buried in the fiery waves of her hair. For a moment, he abandoned the fears of the past and future, basking upon the wonder of the intimacy they had just shared.

  She ran a fingernail across his cheek. “Joshua…was it…like this for you?”

  He exhaled a long sigh of contentment, basking in male arrogance that she was shaken as much as he. He kissed her head, the scent of roses mixed with the musky scent of their lovemaking permeated the air.

  “You are exquisite,” he said. She was whirling through a haze of new feelings and desires, and she wanted him to explain what she was experiencing. “Rarely.”

  “I’m not going back to England.”

  “I suppose not.”

  “You’re a clever man to have come to that conclusion.”

  “And you are a stubborn witch weaving her spells.”

  “Stubborn? You’re the champion of mulish, pig-headedness.”

  “You might be right.” He nuzzled his chin into her hair while she stroked down his back.

  “I’m staying here in Blackberry Valley with you. My place is by your side. I’ll take the risk.”

  “Did I ever have a chance?”

  “No.”

  Latticed light penetrated the leafy bower high above, and rippled over her full ivory breasts. Her beauty was superb and regal, and in the glowing light of the forest glade, made her more ethereal than ever.

  Joshua thought of the million ways he loved her. He was proud of how she pitched in with the Bells, never complaining. Her laughter and the way the children cleaved to her touched his heart. And yes, he endured her flaws. She sharpened her wit on him and kept him guessing at times. He wanted a woman who would challenge him. Her unassuming nature, he found awe-inspiring, not like spoiled aristocratic women he’d met in England. With her steadfast heart, he begrudgingly admired her persistence in rebuffing his detachment.

  Juliet listened. To his dark moods, Juliet lifted him into her light. Her integrity, her spontaneity made him look forward to the magic of her every day. She trusted him.

  Something sprang free in his chest. Its newness at first, painful, but the feeling resolutely exploded forth with a life and vigor of its own. Something marvelous, implausible, and all-consuming.

  “I love you, Juliet.”

  “I know,” she said, and then cleared her throat. “Is it possible for you to…again?”

  She squirmed closer to him. The woman had no idea how much lust she kindled. “We must make love again to ward off the coming cold of Hó-thó,” said Joshua.

  “I’m all for that.”

  In answer, he grinned and rolled her onto her back.

  * * *

  They took their time returning to the Bells home, lingering on the mountain.

  Once on lower ground, they hiked across a boggy shore as a blue jay called to its mate, then up on the drier hillside, where clumps of barberry, spikes of steeplebush, and sweet fern grew in a tangle of undergrowth that led to massive rocks clawed with tree roots. The wind whistled from breaches of stone, lifting a tent of grapevine.

  “A cave.” Juliet’s eyes widened.

  Joshua swept back the foliage, grabbed her hand, and pulled her through the concealing vegetation. A small animal skittered away in the darkness. Juliet reached out and felt moisture dripping down the wall, and the buffering softness of lichen and moss growing through the cracks. Twelve steps into the interior was the back wall of the cave. She turned around. “One can be completely concealed from the outside.”

  “You must remember this place, Juliet. You never know if your survival will necessitate its use.”

  She shivered from the dampness and heard the warning snort of a buck in the denser brush.

  He guided her out and at a ridge was a wide impenetrable thicket of blackberries. Juliet clapped her hands and greedily partook of nature’s bounty.

  When she turned, she caught Joshua staring at her—intent, unblinking, hungry. He swung her up in his arms and carried her into the cool of the woods. There, on a bed of soft mosses, he made love to her again.

  Afterward, Joshua picked up a colorful leaf that had floated down. Summer was fat on its eve and soon the seasons would be changing. He ran the leaf around her breasts and down her abdomen, then cradled her in his arms.

  She gazed at the thick darkness of the surrounding trees, and the twinkling darkness where soundlessly, one by one, the vast fields of heaven flowered splendid stars, the forget-me-nots of the angels.

  “You see that constellation?”

  “Um-m. The Big Dipper.” She snuggled closer to his warmth, the scent of their lovemaking permeating the air.

  “There were seven brothers, one was fat and lazy. They set out to overtake the Great Bear. The slothful brother became incapacitated, forcing the group to cater to his demands. He was abandoned but found his redemption when he leaps and kills the Great Bear with the powers he absorbed from the rest of his brothers. The men consumed the bear’s meat and rose into the sky where they remain to this day and can be seen any starlit night as the Big Dipper constellation.”

  Juliet stroked his chest. “Like the Greeks who believed Zeus changed Callisto back into a bear and making her the largest constellation in the sky.”

  “As the blood and oil drips down from the carcass, it stains the leaves that form the autumn landscape,” he said. “The bear mysteriously reassembles itself, rises from the earth, and becomes the Great Bear in the night sky every fall—the seasonal bloodshed of the bear forever evident with the changing trees.”

  Juliet shuddered. Would there be more bloodshed with the changing of seasons?

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  The Powers’ had opened their home for a grand reception. Furniture had been removed and rearranged from the rooms,
accommodating a wide space for dancers and guests. Two round-faced, grinning violinists tested their bows on their instruments and commenced to play.

  Joshua had received a missive with orders from Colonel Putman at Fort Clinton and was in a quandary about leaving Juliet. He’d delayed long enough. As a going away gift, he’d given her satin he’d bought from Crims’ late wife’s bridal chest. He couldn’t have been more pleased with Juliet’s reaction, earning him a long slow day of lovemaking beneath a grove of maples on the mountain.

  Juliet and Caroline had pored over an older issue of The Ladies Magazine and shooed him from the room, keeping everything secret. Now he couldn’t wait to see Juliet.

  Crims sidled up to him, the stump of his wooden leg making a thump against the polished cherry floors. He thrust a cup of punch into Joshua’s hands. “The Powers’ sure give out the best rum punch. Where’s Juliet?”

  “Since it was raining, the women packed their gowns and arrived earlier. They are upstairs dressing.”

  A violinist scraped his bow in accidental discord, and then stopped. Joshua’s attention was half-focused on what Thomas Starring, a neighbor of the Bells, was saying to him on planting a late crop of wheat. He glanced left. Crims possessed a sappy expression on his face. He didn’t have that kind of face for anyone but his horse.

  Joshua glanced right. Thomas Starring gaped. Joshua followed the source of his friends’ interests, looked higher, toward the oak staircase. He froze, eyes glued to the woman on the upper landing.

  Above the gleam of tapers, Lady Juliet Faulkner stood at the top of the staircase and like a siren, ensnared every mortal man in the room. Even he might wreck upon the shoals to get to her.

  Her striped blue satin gown matched her eyes, and the lace of the ruffles was as fine as any he’d seen in England. Her breasts rose and fell with every breath she took, and her red hair was caught up in an elegant coiffure, entwined with tiny dried white flowers. She was a breathtaking vision of beauty and breeding.

  With grace, she started her descent and confidently glided to the bottom to greet the rush of young soldiers and local bachelors vying for her attention.

  Joshua’s eyes fastened on his quarry.

  “Since you ain’t moving, Joshua, I’ll extract the poor girl from these idiots.” Crims stumped ahead and offered his arm to Juliet.

  Rudely dodging the eager Crims, Joshua pushed everyone aside and took Juliet’s arm, sweeping her to the appetizer table where they could be alone.

  She was his, not these wet behind the ears swains.

  She laughed. “Captivating everyone with your company, I see. You look very patrician tonight, a scion of some aristocratic dynasty.” Her gaze roved over his body inch by inch, from head to foot enough to harden his loins and roast his wits.

  “Wait ’til I get you alone…” To repay her for the lingering glance she’d subjected him to, he whispered many wicked things he’d do. “I will caress and stroke and taste—” He was rewarded when her breaths rushed out of her in short pants.

  Her fingers dug into his sleeves. Good. He quirked his mouth into a wolfish smile, dipping his gaze to linger on the rounded fullness of her breasts where they pushed up against her décolletage. “I’ll strip you naked, suckle your breasts…ravish you with my mouth…until I stroke a hot fire in your loins and have it wrapped around my—”

  Caught between a sigh and a moan, she said, “You are sinful, my lord. You will be punished.” Her eyes lit with challenge and she ran her tongue across her upper lip with a soft sensual lick. “What if I repay you in kind?”

  How he wanted to sweep her away, throw up her skirts and…she was far too knowledgeable for her own good. “A dangerous game you play, Lady Faulkner Rutland.”

  She turned away from him, inspecting the table of delicacies, and delicately spooning a spiced peach on her plate. With dainty fingers, she picked up the slick confection and stared at him. She held it to her lips, hovering…drawing and nibbling between her perfect white teeth, and then sucking until nothing of the fruit remained. Her voice came full-throated and carnal. “Delicious.”

  He growled. “I warn you, Juliet. You are making a grave error.”

  “I hope so.” Her laugh escaped low and seductive. “I hope I can keep you here and away from the war.”

  “It won’t work, Juliet. I have my duty to perform.”

  “Fools and duty,” she hissed. “You will get yourself killed.”

  Worry darkened the color of her eyes. His muscles tightened. They had engaged in many arguments regarding his leaving.

  “We will discuss later—” He stopped when Crims and Thomas Starring joined came up to them.

  “You are mighty fine on the eyes, Miss Juliet,” said Crims. “I even shined my pewter buttons to impress you.”

  A blush stole across her cheeks matching her fiery hair. Their tentative game playing might have been witnessed. Joshua smiled, a jaunty, arrogant smile that never failed to disarm her. He wasn’t going to let her get away from what she all but promised.

  “The town sure has taken a shine to you, Miss Juliet,” said Thomas Starring. We don’t know what we have done without you all this time. Everyone talks of your kindness. Your help in delivering my neighbor’s baby. And then my wife genuinely appreciated your help with the young ones while she was busy with her sick mother.”

  “The young ones loved playing with the Bell children. How is your wife’s mother?” Juliet asked. “Did she use medicine for her legs that I boiled for her?”

  “She did and her mother is so well-relieved she may be here tonight to dance,” Starring laughed. “And that drawing salve you gave Mrs. Osterhout for her canker cured it up real fast. Folks say you are an angel of mercy.”

  “And Mr. Hansford,” Starring continued, “we’d feel safer with your presence and your rifle skills. Rumors abound of Indian unrest. Blackberry Valley would be ripe for plunder.”

  “Unfortunately, I won’t be here for long,” Joshua said. “I received a message and must leave.”

  Juliet’s hand worried the lace at her sleeve. “When?”

  “Tomorrow.” He had not told her. Tension tautened the delicate features of her face. He hated that fear.

  “I don’t know how you can leave a young beauty behind, Joshua. If that were me—” said Crims.

  “You better watch your step,” said Starring. “I don’t think Joshua—”

  “By the time a man is wise enough to watch his step, he’s too old to go anywhere,” winked Crims. “I had my wife and those were good years. All I have left is my horse.”

  “Look at Bethany Powers,” said Crims. “Old Hatchet Face, the belle of the ball, eating up the attention she craves with that ridiculous pink confection she’s wearing tonight. Not for an old woman. She crossed my path the other day and told me I must be drunk giving my time to my stupid horse. Nobody insults my horse. I told her she was ugly and when I woke up, I’d be sober.”

  Juliet laughed. How Joshua loved to hear her merriment.

  Crims grabbed another glass of punch off a tray from Grace as she wove through the guests bearing a serving tray. “Bethany has sure taken a dislike to Miss Juliet. She has the tongue of a rattlesnake. And those girls of hers are as mean-spirited as their mother. Even Maybelle throws up her tail and races to the other end of town when they stroll by. Caught those demons throwing rocks at her.”

  Juliet leaned into Joshua, her rose scent beckoning. “Do you see how Thomas Bell’s gaze follows Grace?”

  Joshua peered at the lanky thirteen-year-old boy holding up the wall. A picture of misery. “Do you think Grace knows?”

  “I’m sure she is very much aware but afraid to say or do anything that will provoke harsh reprimand.” Juliet straightened. “And the deliverer of that punishment approaches.”

  Beating a wild tattoo on her silk fan, Bethany shoved Juliet aside. “Oh, Joshua dear, could you do me a favor and dance with Charity? She has had the megrims lately, and it would lift her spirits.
And don’t forget Comfort, Cornelia and Chastity.”

  Juliet looked heavenward and Crims spoke overloud. “Bethany named them all starting with a ‘C’. I’m thinking Cuckoo or Crazy, the way those spoon-fed terrors carry on.”

  Bethany sneered at Crims whom she had chosen to ignore, and then, holding a hand over her heart, she gawked fawningly upon her brood. “I had the finest of satin brought in from Albany. Aren’t they lovely flowers, Joshua?”

  Joshua examined the primped, trussed-up, tittering girls with overlarge mouths. He shuddered. Nothing compared to the liveliness and loveliness of his Juliet with her red hair and, annoyingly, it was attracting the attention of every male in the room.

  “Oh, Juliet, I’m so glad you came.” Bethany’s words dripped the opposite intention. “Someone said you were ill, even suggesting the pox. Of course, you would not have come to my party with an infliction?”

  “I’m hale and healthy,” replied Juliet. “Which begs me to ask of your servant girl, Grace. Caroline will be heavily involved in dyeing flax and wool and we require all possible hands. There is of course, some extra wool yarn that you might find given in return for services rendered.”

  “I’ve always admired Caroline’s yarns. Grace will be there early tomorrow.”

  The dyeing took Caroline a matter of two hours. Grace would be free to spend the day with Thomas. Juliet looked to Joshua. Her eyes twinkled, and he held hers in frank approval. For a moment, he let play the slightest corners of his mouth, owning a secret camaraderie then hid it quickly to show perfect sincerity. The old harridan turned her back on Juliet and again placed her attention solely on Joshua.

  Crims stumped his wooden leg. “Why Bethany, your complexion is perfectly pale. What is your secret? Leeches? The bloody flux?”

  Bethany opened her mouth in an apoplectic rage. “How dare you, Crims!”

  “Didn’t know you knew I was here.”

  “An unfortunate circumstance. If you were my husband, I’d poison you.”