“Your body has filled out well in the last few weeks,” he whispered, as he looked at her, standing before him.
Her erect nipples called to him, and he could see her breath quickening already, as his eyes continued to feast upon her, while he slowly removed his shirt, kicked off his boots, and then allowed his trousers to fall to the floor.
Leatrisha’s own eyes raked over his body, admiring his rippling muscles, and the manliness of him.
“Any time you feel like touching me, I will gladly comply,” he whispered. “Unless you would rather have me touching you first, or perhaps together would be more to your liking,” he leaned in and nuzzled her neck on the last words.
“I like looking at you,” she whispered. “When I was with James, it was in the dark. I only saw him that once when I jumped the wall with my horse,” she admitted.
“But you have seen me before,” Rand reminded her.
“Only you would not let me touch you then,” she whispered.
She reached out her hand, and let it slide slowly down his chest, until it reached that apex of curls, and followed them down to explore the maleness of him.
The touch of her hand, quickened his breath, and he reached out his own hand to play against her breast with expert fingers, listening to her release a small sigh.
“The last time you touched me,” she whispered, as the tips of her fingers began to wander over him, delicately examining the texture and feel of him, “it was the most wonderful thing I had ever felt,” she admitted.
Her lips leaned against his chest, and made contact against his skin savoring the feel of his skin against those pouting lips. She savored the taste of him, as her curious tongue flattened against his chest, causing him to take in a deep breath.
“I like the taste you,” she murmured against his breast, as she slowly slid her tongue, lower, to explore the dip of his muscles, and the texture of his skin beneath her lips. Her hand continued to caress him, the way she had always wanted to do in the past, when he kept holding her off, gently exploring the feel of him against her fingers, remembering that first night on the ship, when her hand had touched him, and he had gotten upset about it.
“Lettie,” Rand, moaned, barely being able to contain his need of her, as he allowed her this new experience.
He wondered if she had pleasured James with such abandon, as her mouth skipped over his body, finding new places to explore, but he dared not ask. Instead he lost himself in her angle touch, vowing to stop her before she went too far, because he wanted this experience to last as long as possible. He thought about how she had told him that James said he never wanted her to stop touching him, and he was in agreement with James, he smiled to himself.
When he felt he could not hold his own excitement back, he pulled away from her, pushing her down against the bed, in order to explore her in turn, with his mouth. He was rewarded by bringing her to the edge of heaven, before slowly introducing himself to her, and capturing her mouth with his, muffling her cries of completion, as he began to bring her desires to the surface again, resulting in his own reverie.
Leatrisha rose to meet him, laughing and crying at the same time, as her tongue danced against his in a battle of dominance. And when the struggle of need and desire ended with their joint cries, Rand knew he could never be satisfied by any other person but Leatrisha, in his bed.
She was as wild and spirited in bed, as she was in every other thing she approached. He never wanted to dampen that spirit in her, even if it meant, letting her take all those risks she was so determined to take.
CHAPTER TWENTY
“Rand is away on business in Saint Louis, with his buyers,” Leatrisha, told Nat, as she joined him. It was a larger group, and so it was going to be slow going, she realized.
Theodore took the lead, since he knew the way, and could easily lead the group, and Leatrisha joined in the rear with Nat, considering there were more slave hunters out looking for the routs of the Freedom Train.
“We should get a pistol for Theodore to carry,” Leatrisha suggested. “He can shoot better than me, now, and I would feel safer with an extra gun, just in case.”
“You are probably right. I will see if I can get one for him,” Nat agreed. “How is married life?” he changed the subject, looking closely at Leatrisha.
Had she not agreed to marry Rand, he would have asked her himself, but then he would have had to wait for six years, or help her escape from Rand. It was hard riding with her, sharing this adventure together, without not wanting a closer relationship with her.
“Rand is treating me kindly, as usual. We still disagree on many things, but at least he has not forbid me to ride out at night. He knows I have the pistol, so he doesn’t worry as much, I don’t think.”
“And everything else is going well with you?” he asked, not wanting to be more specific.
“One enjoyable thing about Rand, is that he had many years with his quadroon to practice ways of pleasing a woman. I have no complaints,” she smiled, hoping that answered his question.
“Then you are learning to love him a little?” he asked.
“I can’t call it love. More like appreciation and gratitude. As long as we don’t fight each other in bed, he seems to allow me more freedom out of bed,” she informed him. “He wanted me to come with him to Saint Louis, because we had such a wonderful time there on our honeymoon. When I cried off, he was quite disappointed. Almost angry, but he did not make too big of a fuss. I will have to make it up to him, when he comes back.”
“Shhhh! I think I heard something,” Nat whispered, reining in his horse.
“Halt there!” they heard a voice call from behind them.
“Oh no,” Leatrisha cried, as she spun her horse around, and headed for the shelter of the trees, close behind Nat. “Theodore, try and hide the cargo,” Leatrisha called.
“Halt! I say!” the voice called again, and Leatrisha and Nat came out from the trees.
“What do you need?” Nat asked, as they met the same two men Leatrisha and Theodore had met before.
“We’re looking for a group of slaves, roaming through these woods.” He stopped and looked at Leatrisha. “Where is your slave tonight, miss?” he asked.
“I didn’t need to bring him, since I was traveling with my brother,” Leatrisha responded. “My husband is away on business, so my brother came to keep me company while he was away.”
“You sure it is your brother, and not your lover?” the man laughed.
“I don’t have to take this kind of insult from you,” Leatrisha spit at him. “These woods are part of our plantation, and I will thank you to leave them immediately!” she ordered.
“Not when we are on the trail of run away slaves. You will be aiding and abetting if you allow run away slaves to hide in your woods,” he informed her.
“There are no slaves hiding here,” she insisted, “so please be gone with you!”
“Sorry, miss, but I can’t oblige you in that request!”
“Then I will have to order you,” Leatrisha said, pulling out her pistol. Nat had no other choice but to pull out his pistol as well.
“I suggest you respond to my sister’s request,” Nat, added.
“You must have something to hide,” the one who had been doing the talking accused.
“Then bring the sheriff, if you wish to discover it,” Leatrisha suggested. “It is against the law to come onto someone’s private property, and search without a warrant, or a sheriff present,” she educated him.
“We are bounty hunters, which means we have the permission of the sheriff to apprehend anyone involved with transporting slaves,” he told her.
“But as you can see, we are not transporting slaves,” Leatrisha stated. “Therefore I order you to leave!”
“Very well, but we will be sending the sheriff your way to question you about this,” he responded.
“I will be looking forward to it,” she smiled, standing her ground as she watched them turn and go th
e other direction.
“I don’t trust them,” Nat whispered. “They’ll double around and continue to follow us.”
“By then we can get the cargo to the cave, and if I run into them going back, I will demand them off Rand’s property!”
“Your property as well,” Nat reminded.
Leatrisha still had a hard time thinking of Rand as her husband, or that she shared in his land as his wife.
“Come on,” she insisted. “We had better hurry.”
Leatrisha and Theodore started to make their way back through the shadows of the trees that already held the white bite of frost on their bare branches. It was later than usual because of the size of the group, and the fact they had been stopped by the bounty hunters. Leatrisha was glad Rand was not at home to worry about her. She was not in the mood for answering questions or accusations. She just wanted to fall into bed and sleep until noon. Even the thought of a hot relaxing bath would take too much effort on her part, she realized. Because of her tiredness, she had not noticed the two bounty hunters, until they were almost face to face with them. Cautiously, Leatrisha pulled her gun from her pocket.
“I thought I told you to get off or our property?” she stated.
“Where’s your brother?” the tall one asked. “Looks like he suddenly turned into your slave instead.”
“Leave, or I shall shoot you,” Leatrisha threatened.
Just as she said the words, one of the men pulled his gun out and fired it. Theodore let out a scream of pain, and Leatrisha did not even bother to think. She pulled her own trigger, aiming at one man and then the other, shooting them both so suddenly she hardly realized she had done it. She watched horrified, when she saw them fall to the ground. She had killed two men!”
“Are you all right, Theodore?” she asked. She turned to look, and saw Theodore holding his arm.
“It’s not bad,” he whispered. “I think the bullet went clean through.”
Leatrisha, slid down from her horse, and pulled her sweater up, ripping a piece of the hem of her shirt off. She pulled Theodore’s jacket off and wrapped the make shift bandage around his arm.
“I’ve got to think,” Leatrisha cried. “We can’t just leave these men here on the path.”
“Why not?” Theodore insisted. “No way to prove you shot em. The master’s away. He don’ even knows we been out tonight. Anybody on the trail coulda shot em.”
“All right. All right. If anyone asks about your arm, we were practicing shooting and a bullet ricocheted and hit you in the arm.”
Leatrisha climbed back up on Black Magic, and kicked him into a gallop, with Theodore following close behind.
*****************************
Rand walked into the drawing room, where Leatrisha was sitting comfortably reading, her feet pulled up under her on the settee.
“The sheriff has come to pay a visit. He says he needs to ask you some questions. Something to do with some bounty hunters who were shot while I was away.” He looked closely at her.
“Mercy me! Who shot them?” she asked.
“No one knows. Since they were found in our woods, and I was not at home at the time, he would like to ask you some questions.”
“Well I don’t know what I could tell him. How would I know what was going on in the woods?”
“You were not out riding that night?” he asked.
“I was too tired,” she lied. “I told you that was the reason I didn’t feel like taking the long trip to Saint Louis with you.”
“Come along, anyway, and tell him that,” Rand stated, as he helped her up from the settee.
“Good morning Mrs. Huntington,” the sheriff, smiled, when she came into Rand’s study.
She was not used to being called Mrs. Huntington, and at first she wondered who he was talking to.
“How are you doing today?” He held his hat in his hand, and absently turned it as he spoke.
“Staying in from the chill. I declare, the weather is too cold for this time of year. But England is much the same in the late fall,” she smiled, making small talk.
“Do you recall hearing any gun shots a few days ago in the middle of the night?” he asked.
“Goodness, you do know I am expecting, sheriff. I usually retire early, and my husband was away, so I was snuggled in bed, reading, or sleeping, depending on when the shots were fired,” she simpered.
“There was a large group of slaves that escaped that same night, and two bounty hunters were on their trail. They never returned, so someone went out looking for them and discovered them on the path in your woods. Each shot in the head with a single bullet.”
“Who do you think did it?” she wanted to know.
“Probably who ever was helping the slaves to escape. There was no sign of a gun fight, though, so who ever shot them, must have been confronting them at the time. Only one bounty hunter shot his gun, with one shot. Who ever returned the fire, was a pretty good aim.”
“Murder in our own woods?” Leatrisha, whimpered, putting her hand to her mouth.
“Well if you didn’t hear anything, I suppose you can’t be much of a help in the investigation,” the Sheriff stated. “I will leave you to enjoy your morning, but if I were you, I would stay clear of the woods. It seems to be a dangerous place, with all the slaves that keep escaping lately. Have any of your slaves disappeared?”
“Heaven’s no! Our slaves enjoy their lives here,” Leatrisha informed him.
The sheriff bowed his head. “If you hear anything about it, you will be sure and inform me now,’ he said in parting.
Rand showed the sheriff out, and Leatrisha returned to the drawing room, trying to stop herself from shaking. A moment later, Rand came back into the room.
“No more riding at night,” he said sternly. “You heard the sheriff. It is dangerous!”
“Goodness, Rand. Shooting bounty hunters, is one thing. But no one is going to try and shoot me!” she insisted.
“Unless you happen upon some run away slaves,” he pointed out.
“The chances of me doing that, is…”
“Lettie!” Rand strode up to her and grabbed her by the shoulders, shaking her. “You cried off of going to Saint Louis with me. Why?”
“I told you. I was tired. I did just what I told the sheriff I did. Surely you do not think I had anything to do with bounty hunters in the woods, do you?”
“I don’t know what to think, Lettie. Your insistence on riding in the woods at night, is starting to look suspicious, considering that slaves keep escaping through our woods, and the man you had planned to marry was involved with run away slaves, and you were helping him.”
“Surely you do not think I have anything to do with run away slaves,” she said in a shocked tone, trying to twist from his grasp.
“Personally, Lettie, I wouldn’t put anything past you! But I am telling you right now. Whether you have something to do with it or not, you are not allowed to ride out at night, and that is final! Next it will be you dead in the woods, just like James!”
“I told you I could protect myself,” she hissed.
“Is that what you were doing the night the bounty hunters got shot?” he asked, putting his face close to hers.
“I told you I did not go out that night,” she cried.
“I only wish I could believe you, Lettie.” He abruptly released her arms. “The trouble is, I just can’t trust you. I have never been able to trust you!”
He turned and left her shaking in the drawing room, more out of anger, than fright. She had been able to protect herself, and Rand forbidding her, was not going to stop her from helping the Freedom Train, she resolved.
*************************
“What is all the fuss?” Leatrisha demanded, as she came into the entryway, where Rand was pulling Theodore through by the arm.
“I hads ta tell em, Miss Lettie. Sam was in the stable with his woman whens we come home. He heards me puttin’ the horses away!” the young man bellowed. “The maste
r seen my bullet wound, he wouldn’t believe what ya tol me ta say.”
“You can go, Theodore,” Rand ground between his teeth, as he let go of Theodore’s arm, “but you, my young wife, have some explaining to do!”
The look in Rand’s eyes, caused Leatrisha to stumble back, almost tripping, and he grabbed out and took her arm instead.
Rand propelled Leatrisha up the stairs and then pushed her into their room. His breath was coming fast, and the way he clutched his fists to his side when he released Leatrisha, put fear into her soul. At first he just stood there staring at her with his flaming blue eyes, that had turned so dark, they didn’t even look blue any longer. His brows were drawn, and his lips stretched into a firm line across his face.
“You are incorrigible,” he strained in a low, almost inaudible voice. “Nothing I say or do seems to phase you. No matter how many people you put in danger, including yourself, you are determined to march right ahead with your addlebrained occupation! I thought you would have a little self preservation, once you discovered you were carrying a child, but not even putting that child in danger daunts you!”
By this time, Rand had taken several steps towards Leatrisha and his face was level with hers as he glared into her wide green eyes, her lips trembling in fear.
“You have put Theodore in danger, yourself, your child, and myself, and now you have killed two men! Then you have the audacity to lie to my face about where you were the night of the killing, and encourage Theodore to lie! By God, Lettie! I have tried my darnedest to give you your freedom, but that is never enough, is it?
“Now you have to be involved in this underground railroad business! I am a slave owner, Lettie,” he roared. “I cannot be connected to helping slaves escape, let alone murder! You will ruin me, and yourself along with this entire plantation!”
He stood quietly, staring into her eyes that were starting to brim with tears, waiting for what, he didn’t know. She couldn’t deny what she had done, and apparently she was not going to justify it either. This quiet Leatrisha was someone he was not used to. He was waiting for her to rant and rave at him, and call him names, accusing him of something that would put her in the right, but she merely stood stoic, trembling, as she tried to hold back her tears.
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