Snowfire

by French, Colleen

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Alex slipped the key in the hotel room door and turned the knob. Giving the door a push, he tucked the key in his pocket and turned to Gabrielle. He had never seen her so beautiful as she was tonight. Her dark eyes sparkled with happiness, her soft lips whispering silent promises of love. He bowed gracefully. "Mrs. Alexander?" His voice held a slight southern drawl.

  "Mr. Alexander." She mimicked his voice, then gave a giggle, curtsying in return.

  With one quick movement, Alex swept her into his arms, crushing his mouth against hers. Her arms slid up around his neck as she leaned into him accepting his greedy kiss. Their tongues met in a dance of love, with Gabrielle withdrawing only when she was breathless. Alex buried his face in the bodice of her gown, inhaling the sweet scent of her full breasts.

  "Alex . . ." she murmured in his ear, "will you strip me here in the hall?"

  "I could," he answered huskily, tugging at the tiny pearl buttons of her shirt waist with his teeth.

  Gabrielle threaded her fingers through his thick, short-cropped hair, nipping at his ear. "Inside, please. Before we embarrass ourselves and everyone else in the hotel. And put me down, you fool."

  Alex's laughter echoed in the hallway as he pushed through the door of their room and closed it with one polished shoe. "Come to think of it, you are getting a little heavy."

  Playfully, she beat him with her fist as he lowered her to her feet. "That's not very nice to tell your wife." Her fingers moved lightly beneath his coat, surveying his broad chest.

  His mouth came down on hers again. "And certainly not my rich wife," he murmured against her lips. Their breath mingled again, and Gabrielle molded herself against the length of his body, reveling in the feel of his hard, muscular frame pressed to her soft curves.

  Running her fingers over his lips, she stared up into his familiar blue eyes. "I can't believe you did it. You married me."

  His eyes drifted shut as her fingers moved over his cheekbones, the ridge of his nose, the arch of his eyebrows. Her movements were tantalizingly light, sending shivers of desire down his spine. "I told you I would marry you. I told you I loved you. . . love you."

  "I know," she whispered. "I guess I thought it was too good to be true. I love you so much. I never expected to be this happy." Alex lifted a hand to brush against her breast, and she smiled, covering his hand with hers. "What of our wedding supper?"

  He groaned, his nimble fingers starting down the line of buttons on her white shirt waist. "I forgot."

  "Well, I didn't. I'm starved."

  "You are?" He grinned boyishly. "For me or for supper?"

  "Both, but if I don't get something to eat, I'll be too weak to roll in that big bed with you. I haven't had a bite all day." He slipped his hand between the folds of her shirt waist, and she sighed, moving one skirted leg provocatively against the hard bulge of his rising manhood. "You're so bad," she whispered. "Can't you wait?"

  He lowered his mouth to her breast, his tongue darting out to dampen the filmy cloth of her chemise. "Do I have to?"

  His tongue made contact with the tip of her breast, and she groaned softly. "Yes, you have to."

  Just then a knock came at the door. "Yes, who is it?" Alex called, his face still buried in the fold of his wife's open shirt waist.

  "Your supper, Mr. Alexander," the voice replied from the hallway.

  "Couldn't you just leave it outside?" Alex asked.

  Gabrielle giggled, trying to push his head away. "Alex!" she murmured.

  "Sir?" The voice called.

  "Just a minute!" Gabrielle said. "We're coming." Her hands flew to her buttons as Alex reluctantly lifted his head. Taking care that she was covered properly, she went to the door. "Sorry," she apologized, swinging it open. "Just newly wed, you know how it is."

  "Ma'am?" the young gentleman said, his eyes widening.

  "Nothing." She winked at Alex, who stood in the parlor, his hands stuffed in his pockets, an amused smile on his face. "Just bring it in. The table will be fine." She pointed to a rosewood side table near the settee.

  The boy hurried to set down the tray and then darted back out into the hall to retrieve the bottle of wine he'd left outside the door. "Anything else?"

  "That will be all." Alex flipped the young man a coin, wrapping an arm around Gabrielle's waist.

  The boy stared at the coin and then broke into a grin. "Thank you, sir."

  "You're welcome. Close the door behind you." Alex smiled.

  The boy stood frozen for a moment, then his face reddened and he backed out the door. "Good night," he called, pulling the door closed.

  Gabrielle burst into laughter, spinning around to face Alex.

  "What's so funny?" he asked, taking her hands.

  "Nothing. I'm just happy."

  "Well, let's quench your hunger, so I can quench mine." He tweaked the end of her nose playfully and then went to uncover the huge supper tray.

  Gabrielle and Alex dined on roast beef, thick slices of sourdough bread spread with sweet butter and fresh ripe peaches. Sitting on the floor of the parlor, they ate their wedding picnic on the plush oriental carpet, laughing and talking as they took their fill. Finally, when their supper was finished, Alex stretched out, resting his head on Gabrielle's lap, nestled in her abundant skirts. He had stripped off his coat and neck scarf and now was content to bathe in his new wife's beauty, watching as she finished the last of the peaches.

  "What are you looking at?" Gabrielle smiled, wiping her mouth with her sleeve.

  "Just your lovely face." He grinned, handing her a linen napkin off the floor. "Use that."

  She stuck her tongue out at him but did as he told her. "I told you I wasn't very civilized."

  "Sometimes I think it's part of the act."

  "The act?" She took a sip of wine from a hand-blown glass.

  "You know what I mean, Gabrielle Alexander. You like to goad me. You know better than to wipe your mouth on your sleeve."

  Her mouth twitched at the corners. "It was closer than the napkin."

  Alex growled, sitting up to push her over. Laughing, she struggled to escape, but he pinned her down, pressing his damp mouth to the hollow of her neck.

  "Enough chatter. You've had your meal, and now I'm going to have mine."

  Gabrielle relaxed beneath him, threading her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck as she parted her lips to welcome his probing tongue. He brought his knee up between her legs, and she moved against him as his searing mouth sought the valley of her breasts. Pushing roughly at the material of her bodice, Alex fought to release her straining breasts. "Damned buttons," he muttered.

  Gabrielle laughed at the sound of tearing material as she ran her hands over the broad expanse of his back, kneading the hard line of his muscular shoulders. She arched her back, groaning as his hot, wet mouth made contact with her bare breast. Moving beneath him, she slid her hands over his buttocks and down his thighs, her breath coming faster as his tongue lathed her budding nipple.

  Rolling onto their sides, their mouths met fiercely as Gabrielle fumbled with the buttons on his trousers. Driven by the caress of his hand beneath her skirts, she released his throbbing loins, making him moan with pleasure as she fondled him. Slipping off her lacy drawers, Alex planted fierce, maddening kisses to the delicate folds of her womanhood. All conscious thought slipped from her mind as she guided him over her, parting her legs to accept him.

  With a single thrust, Alex entered her, and she cried out with sudden fulfillment, laughing in his ear as he moved against her. Lifting her hips to join in his rhythmic dance of love, she moved faster, calling his name. With a quick and final thrust, he spilled into her, collapsing with a groan.

  When Alex's breath came evenly again, he lifted his head to take in her dark eyes. "I hadn't meant for our first time as man and wife to go so quickly."

  Gabrielle laughed, wiping his damp brow with her palm. "Guess we could have taken off the rest of our clothes." She rustled
the skirts of her cordelette, with a giggle.

  Alex rolled off her and onto his side, pushing back the plate the roast beef had been served on. "You make a man forget himself." He stared up at the ceiling with amusement. "At least I could have taken you to the bed."

  "Well," she whispered seductively in his ear. "I'll give you a few minutes, and then we'll try again. I'll make it slow this time, I promise."

  On Tuesday morning Gabrielle and Alex boarded the Union Pacific train for the long cross-country trek to Richmond, Virginia. With their money safe in one of the boxcars, guarded by an armed man, they embarked on their journey with lighthearted exuberance. Gabrielle was so delighted to be married and know that Alex would be hers forever that she refused to allow herself to worry about what their life would be like once they arrived in Richmond. For the present, she wanted only to be at his side and to be happy.

  The days that passed were a pleasant blur for both Gabrielle and Alex. Though the trip was long and the traveling dirty, they spent the hours reveling in each other's company. Twice they got off the train and took a stagecoach to the next train station, their money and the guard remaining with them. Seated side by side on the hard benches of the train and stagecoach, they ate picnic lunches and laughed away their afternoons, watching the countryside as they moved eastward.

  It wasn't until the afternoon that they were to arrive in Richmond that Gabrielle suddenly became quiet and withdrawn.

  "What's the matter, love?" Alex tugged on the sleeve of her brocade traveling suit. She'd dressed carefully that morning, changing outfits three times. She wanted to look right for his family; she wanted to make a good first impression.

  Gabrielle swallowed against the rising lump in her throat. "What if they don't like me, Alex?" She looked up at him with dark anxious eyes. "I'm not your wife Amber."

  He smoothed the chestnut hair that peeked from beneath her fringed capote bonnet. "No one expects you to be Amber."

  "But you said yourself everyone liked her." She gave a sigh. "She was such a lady and all."

  Alex took her hand, pressing it to his lips. "I love you Gabrielle, and you love me. That's all that matters. They're going to like you, but even if they didn't, it wouldn't matter. You and I, that's what's important."

  "And your daughter."

  He squeezed her hand. "She's only a little girl. She'll love you as much as I do. You'll see."

  Gabrielle looked away, staring at the passing wheat fields, doubt still clouding her mind. "I sure hope you're right, Jefferson Alexander the fourth, because if you're not"—she shook her head—"you and I, we're in trouble."

  When the train pulled into the bustling station of the Richmond Potomac Fredericksburg Railroad, Alex hurried Gabrielle off. After speaking briefly with the man who had guarded their money coming east, Alex hailed a hired carriage and they were off.

  Sitting beside Alex in the open carriage, Gabrielle tried to forcibly slow her pounding heart. She didn't know why she was so nervous. After all, if she could face Alice LeBeau, she could take on anyone, couldn't she?

  "I've had the money transferred to our family banker." He patted her knee. "I still can't believe my luck. When I left here more than a year ago, I had nothing but my daughter, and she wasn't really even mine. I mean, I'd visited with her, but I was never able to care for her. And now look at me, a rich man able to care for his child and home, and a beautiful wife to boot."

  Gabrielle smiled grimly. "I feel like I'm off to a hanging . . . my own."

  He laughed, wrapping an arm around her waist. "Don't be silly. You're going to be fine. We're going to be fine." He looked out over a rolling field of corn. "I had your money put in a separate account. You can withdraw from it freely."

  She looked over at him. "You didn't have to do that. We're married; as my husband the law says everything I own is yours." As the words slipped from her mouth, her chest tightened with pride. He understood how important it was for her to still be herself, to be Gabrielle and not just Mrs. Alexander. He understood that she still needed to feel like she was in control of her life, even in this strange new land.

  "I did have to do it that way. You're not like the women who grew up here, or in New England. You've tackled more than most men do in a lifetime. The money you earned is yours. I'll not take it."

  Gabrielle slipped her hand in Alex's. "Thank you," she whispered. "I love you."

  "And I love you; now let me see a smile. We're almost home."

  "This is it?" She studied the small fields on each side of the dirt road that they had turned onto. Some fields were planted in crops Gabrielle didn't recognize, while others were just overgrown in weeds.

  The carriage moved up a long driveway which was lined with ancient elm trees. It was dark and cool beneath the heavy shade of the trees, and it smelled of green leaves and dark humus. "It's very pretty," Gabrielle murmured.

  "Wait until you see the house. It needs some work, but you'll see, it's going to be beautiful."

  A moment later she gasped as the manor house came into view. It was a giant, three-story antebellum-style structure with intricate woodwork framing the windows and skirting the roof line. It was also sadly in need of repair. Several shutters on the front windows were missing. The brickwork was cracked, the paint was peeling and weeds grew where flower beds had once flourished.

  "He wasn't kidding," Gabrielle murmured beneath her breath. It looked to her like the whole place needed to be burned to the ground!

  The carriage pulled into the rutted circular driveway, and the minute it lurched to a stop, Alex leaped out. Gabrielle got to her feet, handing him his bowler hat. "How do I look?" he asked, handing her down.

  She laughed nervously. "I'm supposed to say that, not you." Just then the front door creaked open, and Gabrielle took a deep breath, turning to face her new family.

  "Jefferson!" A large, dark-haired woman dressed in black came hurrying out the door. "Son! Son! You've finally come home."

  Alex released Gabrielle, going to the woman. "Mother, could you just once call me Alex? You know hate Jefferson." He hugged her, kissing her on the cheek. Stepping back, he held out his arm to Gabrielle. "Mother, I want you to meet someone." He grinned. "This is my wife, Gabrielle."

  His mother's face fell. "Your wife? Your message didn't say you had a wife."

  Gabrielle had a sudden urge to turn and run, but instead, bravely she stepped up, offering her hand. "Mrs. Alexander, it's nice to meet you finally."

  Margaret Alexander hesitated for a moment, then put out her arms. "You must excuse me; I apologize. Just surprised, that's all." She hugged Gabrielle. "We never expected Jeffer . . . Alex to remarry, not after he lost his Am—" She cut herself off, her cheeks reddening.

  Alex gave her a pat on the back. "It's all right, Mama, Gabrielle knows all about Amber as well as Alexis." He offered an arm to each Mrs. Alexander and then started for the front door. "Now where is that daughter of mine?"

  "Well, dear, we weren't certain what day you'd arrive, so of course she's at Clarice's home in town. Alex's mother turned to Gabrielle. "My daughter's house is far more suited to raising a child than this drafty place."

  Gabrielle gave a nod, followed by an unladylike gulp. If possible, the interior of the house was in worse shape than the exterior. The wallpaper in the entryway was torn and water-stained, the plaster on the ceiling damp and crumbling. A three-legged table leaned pitifully against one wall, a candle sitting in its center, the wax having melted and congealed down one side. The room was otherwise void of furniture. Just ahead and to the left loomed a winding staircase sporting missing banisters and uneven steps.

  Alex pressed his hand to the middle of Gabrielle's back, clearing his throat. "Gabrielle, Mother asked if you'd like a mint iced tea."

  Gabrielle's head snapped up, her cheeks coloring. She was so shocked by the state of Alex's "estate" that she hadn't heard what her mother-in-law had said. "Why, yes. I would, Mrs. Alexander."

  "Now, now, we'll have none of that
." She took Gabrielle's arm, leading her to the right. "I'm Margaret to you. All of my friends call me Margaret, and I do hope we'll be friends."

  Gabrielle smiled genuinely. She laughed to herself as they made their way through a sparsely furnished room into another. What was wrong with her to be so nervous about meeting Alex's family? His mother was being far nicer to her than her own mother had ever been!

  "Now I want you to tell me all about you and Alex, how you met, when you were married . . ." Margaret indicated a worn horsehair chair. "Sit. You must be exhausted from that nasty, dirty trip."

  "No. Actually, I'm not. It was very nice. I'd never been on a train before." Gabrielle sat down, reaching up to take off her capote bonnet.

  "Well, ladies, while you have your tea, I think I'll see to our baggage. It should be arriving any moment." He leaned to give Gabrielle a peck on the cheek. "I'll be back shortly."

  She smiled up at him. "Take your time. I'll be fine."

  Alex slid his hat next to Gabrielle's on the table beside her chair. "If it suits you, Mother, I thought we'd go to Clarice's after our baggage has arrived. I'm anxious to see my Alexis."

  "Fine, dear. Whatever you say." Margaret clutched her hands. "I'm just so happy you're safe and home, son."

  Alex's blue eyes sparkled. "I'm glad to be home."

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Gabrielle sat stiffly on the velveteen settee, a china tea cup and saucer balanced in her hand. Alex sat beside her, fidgeting nervously as he spoke with his sister Clarice and her husband Edward.

  "We're so pleased you've returned, Jefferson. Mother's in desperate need of a man around the house." Clarice smoothed the dowdy grey-checked material of her walking skirt, pointedly ignoring Gabrielle. Other than a curt "good evening" she had not spoken a word to Alex's wife since she arrived.

  "Yes, we're glad to be here, Gabrielle and I both." He leaned forward, trying to peer into the hall. Clarice's townhouse was not overly large, but it was new and furnished lavishly. "Alexis is coming down, isn't she?"