Forever, For Love

by Becky Lee Weyrich

  After the Saengers left, Pandora drifted in and out between napping, nursing, and just smiling down into the adorable faces of her two little girls. She couldn’t make herself believe that they were real and all hers.

  What a joy it would be when Ward returned and she could present his two daughters to him for the first time.

  The late afternoon sun warmed the room. The sweet scents of flowers drifted in through the open window, and the soft drone of bees at work on the jasmine-covered trellis lulled Pandora into a half-sleep.

  Suddenly, the room was filled with shadows. Pandora’s eyes flew open. A tall man stood at the foot of her bed. She sat up from the pillows. “Ward?” she whispered, but she knew better.

  Another man who loved her had come from far, far away in time and space to pay his respects to her and her beautiful daughters. The twins were a part of him even as they were a part of her husband.

  She relaxed against the pillows and stared at him—his big, rough form, his wind-blown hair, the shining green of his eyes.

  “You’ve done well, madame,” he said at length. “Well, indeed!”

  “Thank you.” Pandora wasn’t sure if she said the words aloud or only thought them.

  “Our Jeannette and now Miriam and Meraiah. All lovely little ladies born to the most beautiful woman in the world out of the greatest love any man could ever know.” He bowed to her. “I salute you!”

  She held her sleeping daughters toward him. “They are as much yours as mine. Your love helped create them.”

  He nodded and smiled, then walked to the side of the bed. Fishing into the pocket of his canvas britches, he brought out two necklaces of tiny, delicately carved beads. “To tell them apart,” he explained. “I think pink coral for Miriam. Yes, she will be as gentle and soft as an angel’s wing. And for Meraiah, who bears her mother’s spirit and fire, turquoise to match her eyes and to protect her.”

  Gently, he fastened the necklaces about the sleeping infants’ necks. He seemed to know which child was which. He leaned down and kissed the twins on the soft, fiery down of their heads. When he rose, his eyes met Pandora’s. She felt his loving gaze warm her through. A moment later, she felt his kiss on her lips, stirring long-slumbering embers to flame.

  “I must say good-bye now,” he whispered. “But I could not let you be alone when our babies came.”

  “Wait!” Pandora cried. But he vanished as quickly as he had appeared.

  Hours later, she awoke as dawn was coloring the room. She lay very still, staring out the window, thinking of the strange dream. Had it been real or only another vision?

  When Cassie brought the twins in for their early morning feeding, Pandora’s heart sank. Jean Laffite’s gifts had vanished; the necklaces were gone. Did she imagine his visit?

  “No,” she whispered to herself. “I know he was here. I can still feel him near me.”

  Pandora smiled; for the first time, Jean Laffite had actually kissed her lips, not Nicolette’s.

  Chapter Nineteen

  “No, don’t tell me, darling! Let me guess.”

  Ward Gabriel, still travel-dusty and unshaven, stood with his arm around his wife’s slim waist. He was gazing down at his week-old daughters as they slept in their cradle under the merry, watchful eye of the fat-cheeked cherub their mother had painted for them.

  “That has to be Meraiah on the right and, of course, Miriam on the left.”

  Pandora, still not quite able to believe that Ward was really home, looked up at him with a twinkle in her green eyes. “A lucky guess!” she answered with a laugh.

  Suddenly, Ward’s face clouded. “No!” he said emphatically. “Oddly enough, it was no guess at all. I don’t know how, darling, but I knew for certain. I had the oddest dream the night they were born. It seemed as if they came to me and told me their names. The next morning I went out and bought these so other people can tell them apart.”

  Pandora gasped aloud when he fished the two necklaces out of his pocket.

  “Turquoise for Meraiah because she has her mother’s spirit and fire,” he explained, “and coral as soft as an angel’s wing for sweet little Miriam.” Ward shook his head in wonder. “I don’t understand it. But I knew exactly when they were born and that they were girls. I was here in spirit when you gave birth to them, darling.”

  So you were, my love! Pandora thought. She dared not mention her odd dream to her husband. He would not be pleased to hear that Laffite had paid a personal call while he was away.

  She squeezed his arm affectionately. “I’m so glad you’re home, Ward.”

  Staring down at her, his dark eyes gleaming, he whispered, “I’ve been gone too long. From now on, I’m staying here with you and our girls where I belong.”

  Then closing his arms around the woman he loved more than life itself, Ward pressed her close and sought her lips for a real welcome. He felt his body harden as he held her, and he was pleased when Pandora clung to him as if she never meant to let him go again. She had missed him, he could tell. Almost as much as he had missed her.

  They were together again, and their daughters were with them, and all was safe and secure and right with their world. In a few weeks, they could make love to each other again. Oh, what a glorious time that would be!

  Pandora, luxuriating in her husband’s embrace, became instantly aware of his arousal. She smiled. How good it felt to be held and kissed and desired again.

  Secure in Ward’s love, she almost told him of her vision of Jean Laffite. No, it was no vision, she corrected in her mind. Phantoms did not kiss that way! Her husband was not likely to take kindly to another man in their bedroom—real or imagined. She decided against telling Ward. Things were good between them now; there was no need to stir up trouble. He would never understand what she had seen; she wasn’t sure she understood it herself. Talk of Laffite at such a tender moment would only hurt Ward’s feelings and spoil his homecoming. She was determined not to let that happen. There would be plenty of time later to discuss the matter.

  When Ward drew away at last, he looked down into his wife’s face with concern. “Shouldn’t you be in bed? You’ve had quite an ordeal; giving birth is no easy task.”

  Pandora laughed. “And how would you know?”

  “Well, it just seems that you ought to be resting.”

  She shook her head and smiled to reassure him. “Jacob says I’m in tip-top shape. He told me that I would know when I needed to rest; he doesn’t hold with new mothers being totally confined to their beds and waited on like invalids.” She laughed and tossed her long, bright-coppery hair.” Goodness knows, darling, I had enough of that before the twins arrived. Besides, Jacob stops by every day on his way to the office to see that all three of us are behaving ourselves.”

  Now Ward was truly frowning. His whole face took on a menacing expression.

  “What’s wrong, darling?” Pandora demanded.” You look like a hurricane about to roar in over the Gulf.”

  Ward waved her question away. “Nothing, nothing at all, Pan.” Then he confessed, “It’s just that I wish old Doc Saenger had been here for the delivery.”

  “Well, of course, we all wished that. Poor man, he’s much better now, thank goodness.”

  Pandora had missed his meaning, but it was just as well, Ward told himself. Better that she not even suspect how the news of Jacob’s tending her at the births had affected him. Jealousy was not his most endearing trait, but he could do nothing about the way he felt. After all, Pandora and Jacob Saenger had planned to marry and have a family of their own. The thought of his wife’s former fiancé presiding at her delivery seemed almost indecent to him.

  “I’m glad to hear the old man’s doing well,” Ward answered. “When will he be able to leave the hospital?” He left the rest of his question unstated: And when will he be able to take over your care from his son?

  “Jacob said he’ll be released by the end of the week. He’s going to stay with Jaco
b and Angelica for a time. She’ll nurse him until he’s able to go back to his own home.”

  Ward bellowed a laugh. “Angelica? Nurse her father-in-law? I thought she despised him; I can’t imagine her taking decent care of anyone.”

  Arm-in-arm, they quietly made their way out of the nursery and down the hallway to their bedroom as they talked.

  “You are in for another fine surprise, my darling,” Pandora said. Her voice promised him exceptionally good news, but even as she spoke, her face betrayed her misgivings. “Angelica, it seems, is a changed woman.”

  “It seems?” Ward repeated suspiciously.

  She waved her hand in the air as if to dismiss her doubts. “I shouldn’t have said it that way. She has changed, Ward. I think it has something to do with her losing the baby. Perhaps she’s mellowed from that tragic experience. At any rate, she has been a perfect dear since our girls arrived. She’s over here every chance she gets, helping me and Cassie with the twins. She’s really going to make a wonderful mother someday, and already she’s like a dear aunt to our babies.”

  Ward knew his wife too well not to sense her lingering distrust of her cousin. “But all the same, you suspect her of ulterior motives, eh, darling?”

  “No, Ward!” she said flatly, trying to make herself mean it. “I will not allow myself to continue doubting Angelica. I think that for whatever reason she has finally decided to grow up. She’s even confided in me that she and Jacob are sharing their bed again.”

  “Sharing a bed, eh? Now there’s a thought to savor!” Ward stood in the middle of their bedroom, looking about him, caressing his wife and the room he loved most with warm eyes. “Ah, it’s good to be home!” he sighed.

  Pandora went to him and slipped her arms about his waist, laying her head on his chest. “I’ve missed you so!” she whispered. “There is no home without you, my love.”

  She knew the effect she was having on him. Ward could take little more of holding, kissing, touching his wife; he strained to keep himself in check. He needed a bath desperately. He would make it a cold one, he decided.

  “How’s that newfangled bathtub working?” he asked.

  Pandora laughed. “How would I know? It’s been so long since I used it. I certainly couldn’t get down into it before the twins came. I must do with sponge baths for another five weeks, Jacob tells me.”

  Jacob again! Ward moaned inwardly.

  Aloud, he said, “Well, I’m about to find out how it’s working, and not a moment too soon. I must smell like a Mexican mule.”

  Shedding his coat and shirt as he went, Ward headed for the marble and tile bathroom off their dressing room. To both his pleasure and his dismay, Pandora followed, saying, “I’ll scrub your back for you, darling.”

  It seemed to Pandora that she had been waiting months to see all of her husband again. Her eyes misted as she caressed his naked torso lovingly with her warm gaze. She felt herself blush when he shucked off his trousers. He turned his back to her, but not before she saw his full, pulsing erection.

  “Here, let me turn on the taps for you,” she offered.

  “Make it cold!” he commanded, setting her cheeks burning again.

  They both stood watching the faucet like nervous children. The pipes gurgled and sputtered for a time. Finally, a thin stream of water from the cistern trickled into the claw-footed, porcelain tub. Ward eased himself down, gritting his teeth against the first shock. The tepid water had the desired effect. Ward pretended not to hear Pandora’s sigh of regret as he shrank before her eyes.

  Cool water could not dampen his desire for long… not with Pandora’s gentle hands smoothing over his back and shoulders, around his neck, and down his chest. He leaned his head back and let out a long, pleasured sigh.

  “There’s not another woman on earth with hands like yours, Pandora. Do that again. Yes! Lower… lower. Ah-h-h!”

  By the time Ward’s bath was finished, Pandora’s loose gown was drenched. Her hair was damp and her nose tipped with soap. Her whole body tingled for her husband, but she knew she would have to wait. However she had taken care to relieve the need that plagued him. She felt it her duty and her joy to satisfy Ward as best she could—with slick, soapy hands and deep, probing kisses.

  Jacob shared Pandora’s suspicions concerning the change in Angelica. There was a change, too, in the way she gave herself to him in their bed. Before she had deserted him for the gardener—oh, yes, he knew all about that!—Angelica had been at best a reluctant partner; now she seemed insatiable. Almost every night and morning… and when he hesitated, she went out of her way to seduce him into taking her. Jacob couldn’t decide if he should be flattered or alarmed. He felt like a greedy child turned loose in a candy store. The variety of sweets she used to tempt him was beyond his wildest imaginings. Where on earth, he wondered, had she learned such erotic tricks?

  A month after the twins’ arrival, Jacob awoke on a steamy May morning to find Angelica, naked, her body poised over his. Her hair was a wild mass of silver, spilling over his belly and thighs as she took him, deeply, into her mouth. He lay rigid, willing control over his body. Flames seemed to shoot from her tongue, consuming him totally.

  “Oh, God, Angelica!” he moaned. “What are you doing to me?”

  When he felt himself about to explode, she lifted her face and stared directly into his eyes, her own heavy-lidded, her lips puffy, her delicate nostrils flared. For several moments, she stared at him, a vacant expression in her pale eyes. Then with movements as swift as those of a striking snake, she stradled him and let his hot, moist member glide into her. Hair flying, head thrown back, hands clutching his hips, she rode him frantically to the finish.

  Then, to Jacob’s total amazement, she rolled off of him, curled in a fetal position at this side, and wept. When he tried to soothe her, to thank her, she became almost hysterical. It was as if she had enjoyed none of the performance, as if he had forced her into her wanton acts for his pleasure alone.

  Finally, he gave up trying to talk to her. He rose and dressed silently, feeling guilty as hell. But why? It had been all her idea. Granted, he had enjoyed it, but he would never have suggested any such thing to his wife.

  “I have to go to the office now, Angelica,” he said at last.

  No answer.

  “That was nice… what you did.”

  A sob.

  Jacob reached out to touch her quaking shoulder, but she shrugged away. He gave up.

  “I’ll be home around six.”

  Angelica, to be on the safe side, kept up her sobbing until she heard the front door slam shut. Then she sat up in bed and wiped away her tears, smiling at herself in the mirror across the room. She smoothed her damp palms down over her breasts and felt her nipples tingle.

  Jacob must never know that she actually enjoyed their lovemaking. Let him think that she gave in to him only as a humble, repentant wife—a servant to her master.

  “Let them all think what they will about me and be damned!” she told the smiling image in her mirror. It was enough that she knew the truth. Jacob Saenger was only a tool to be used until she had what she wanted.

  She half-closed her eyes and continued staring into the mirror as she reached under her pillow and drew out a dark curl tied in faded scarlet ribbon. She kissed the coarse lock, cradling it gently in her palm. This was her talisman, her charm. She had slipped upstairs and taken it from the box in Pandora’s studio that night of the dinner party back in the fall. A lock of Ward’s hair. For now, it was all that she possessed of him, but soon…

  She stared at the dark curl, visualizing Ward’s strong, determined face, his muscular body. She tried to imagine how she would feel the first time they made love. She flung her head back, closed her eyes, and sighed. Jacob had never satisfied her, but Ward would! Ward Gabriel was more than man enough to tame her; very soon now she would give him his chance.

  Smiling to herself, Angelica thought through her plans. How clear he
r thinking had become these past weeks! Her whole childhood had been spent in Pandora’s shadow, but no more. Now, she knew what she must do. Ward Gabriel was the key to everything—her happiness, her life, her very existence.

  She had watched him closely since his return from Mexico but had done nothing to arouse his suspicions. She would never get him away from Pandora by flaunting herself as she had in the past. She realized that now. Ward was a man of deep loyalties and still deeper emotions. He loved with all his heart and soul. Only one person in this life would ever challenge his love for Pandora—his little daughter Meraiah. Angelica had seen the way he looked at her, the gentle way he held her. He loved Miriam, too, but not with the depth of feeling he had for the bolder of the twins.

  “So-o-o,” Angelica sighed, lolling back against her pillows, “where Meraiah goes, Ward Gabriel is sure to follow.”

  She thought back to the morning she had visited old Dr. Saenger—the morning of his attack. How like Pandora to ruin her plans! As soon as she heard about the expected twins, a new scheme had taken shape in her mind. She had meant for Jacob to deliver the babies, she had planned to be there, and to take one for her own. Damn Pandora for coming early! By the time she found out that Pandora was in labor, with Jacob at her bedside, it had been too late. She smiled, thinking of her new and better plan.

  Angelica rose and dressed in a demure pink dimity morning gown. She would go to the castle on Broadway to take the twins for their stroll as was her custom of late.

  “How nice that they trust me so,” she said to her scheming image in the mirror.

  The bright spring turned to the brassy heat of summer; the hot Gulf breezes blew the sweet scent of oleander about the island. The tiny spit of sand that was the greatest city in Texas took on the lush green of the tropics. Life slowed to a lazy pace. Offices closed in the heat of the afternoon. Adults and children alike napped after dinner at noon. Then as the sun sank with blazing glory into the Gulf and the sea air cooled in the evening, Galveston came alive. Carriages and bicycles cluttered the streets. Servants pushed their masters and mistresses along the beach in great, wheeled wicker chairs. Laughing children played in gardens. Mr. and Mrs. Ward Gabriel proudly strolled their twin daughters up and down Broadway, greeting friends and neighbors and basking in the compliments paid Meraiah and Miriam.