by Diana Ballew
With a mischievous grin, she wiggled away from his embrace and stood before him at arm’s length.
The naughty vixen was up to something. He grumbled in reply and took a seat, watching as she leisurely pulled the tortoiseshell pins from her hair. Her golden mane tumbled down her back like sweet, creamed honey slowly dripping from a jar. By God, how he’d been waiting for this moment for what felt like an eternity.
All those lonely nights, sleeping in military camps and on damp forest floors, his mind had gone crazy with visions of being with her again. Night after night, he imagined himself lunging forward, tearing her clothes off, and making wild love to her on the spot. Sometimes he imagined it happening under the improvised tent he occupied that night, or on the dirt ground surrounded by thick pines, and sometimes in this very hotel room.
He twisted uncomfortably in his seat. Having her standing before him like his very own Aphrodite, was more than any man should have to bear.
Eden saw the smoldering glow in his eyes when he stood and took a step forward. She shoved her hand out and tried not to smile. “Oh, no, you don’t...not just yet, big boy.”
He stopped in his tracks, and arched his brows high. “You, my dear, are the devil in disguise.” He plucked a thin cigar from his pocket, lit it, and plopped back down in the chair. “But I must confess, you do have me intrigued.”
She stood before him and slowly unfastened the buttons along the front of her dress. Slipping her arms out of the long sleeves, one by one, she let the mass of blue fabric drop in a delicate puddle to the floor.
His gaze drifted leisurely from the discarded dress, wandering up her full length. “Looks like I have the best seat in the house,” he mused. “Do continue, Miss Blair.”
She looked him square in the eyes and placed her boot upon the chair between his legs.
He cleared his throat and said, “You have my attention.”
She smiled, unlaced her right boot, and removed it. Little by little, she rolled her cotton stocking down to her ankle, her fingers gliding gently across her bare legs, then letting the dainty material float to the floor.
She heard the breath catch deep in his throat, emboldening her further. She did the same for the left leg, but this time she tossed the stocking toward him, and he caught it in his hand. His dark gaze glowed, hot as the embers of the burning cigar.
With her eyes fixed upon his, she leisurely unhooked the front of her stays and laid the garment next to her dress. Next, she loosened the petticoat and pantalets, slipping out of them, one foot after another, and dropped them to the floor at his feet. Finally, she stepped back, moving out of his reach, taunting him as she stood in only her skimpy chemise.
His raven eyes narrowed, following her every move. “Woman, if you don’t hurry up, I’m going have to pull my gun on you.”
“Is that an order, Major?”
“Oh, that’s most definitely an order.”
She pondered his “order” playfully with her hand upon her chin.
He warned her again with a single raised eyebrow as he tapped his fingers on the holster.
Summoning a teasing smile, she stood in front of him, holding her chin high, ignoring his direct order.
He blew out a ring of smoke and extinguished the cigar. In one fluid move, he rose and scooped her over his shoulder. “If you’re the devil, woman, then let me be damned!” He spanked her bottom and tossed her on the bed.
Through the sheer fabric, he could see her pert nipples and the golden triangle between her thighs. Her lithe legs slid across the blanket like silky cream, and she summoned him with a single finger to join her.
“Now it’s your turn to wait,” he said, removing his holstered gun, and setting it on the bedside table. He unbuttoned his shirt and flung it across the top of the chair. After climbing out of his trousers and drawers, he slipped into bed next to her.
She lay gazing at the portrait over the hearth, gnawing on her bottom lip.
He frowned. “You look deep in thought.”
She rolled to her side and faced him. “Oh, I'm...I'm just so happy to see you—to be with you again, Rayce. I’ve missed you so.”
“That makes two of us.” He slid his fingers under her chemise, moving his hand across her velvety skin. “You smell wonderful, and you feel divine.”
She sighed. “Rayce, promise me something.”
The anxious tone in her voice caught him by surprise. He brushed an errand strand of hair from her cheek. “Anything.”
“Promise me you’ll stay safe,” she said. “I don’t care what it takes. Just promise me you’ll always come back to me.”
He cupped her chin and tilted her face toward his. “Why so serious tonight? I’ve come back to you unscathed for the most part.”
Heavy footsteps followed by a swift knock at the door interrupted them.
“Do you have to answer it?” she asked in a choked whisper.
“I do, honey. Stay right where you are. He called toward the door, “Be right there.”
He quickly donned his shirt and drawers. As he walked to the door, he glanced back just in time to catch her yanking the blankets over her head and heaving a dramatic sigh.
He opened the door a crack. “This better be important.”
The wide-eyed officer blushed. “Uh...yes, sir, I believe it is. The general requested I come get you for an emergency meeting, sir. Here. I have a note.”
Rayce read the folded paper. I knew it.
“Tell him I’ll be there.” He closed the door.
Eden tossed the covers from her head and sat up. “You have to go now?”
“Duty calls, Sweetness.” He removed his clothes and slipped back into bed. “I don’t have long. Perhaps fifteen or twenty minutes at the most. “Let’s make it count, shall we, my love?”
He kissed the hollow of her throat and gently slid his hand between her legs, stroking the soft, warm flesh of her inner thighs.
“Oh, Rayce, I...I don’t want you to go.”
He sat up, trying to ignore the unease in her voice. “Shush now, darlin’. I’ll be back. You know I will.”
He gently lifted her up so she sat on his lap, straddling him. He gazed into her emerald eyes and ran his fingers through her hair, hanging long and wild down to her curved waist. In a flash, he grew harder than a musket on the battle line. She draped her arms around his neck, and he kissed her, his tongue searching her mouth, feeling her, tasting her.
He slipped his hands under her bottom, hoisting her up just enough to enter her. Slowly, he slid his rigid shaft into her warm slickness, and a deep groan of pleasure involuntarily escaped his lips. “Dammmmit,” he moaned against her throat.
She held him tightly, kissing his brow, and he felt the waves of desire rise within her, moistening her instantly.
“Oh, Rayce,” she breathed.
She moved rhythmically, her sweet moans of desire, bringing him to the very edge. Being inside her was just as he had remembered each of those lonely nights without her, and every inch of his body responded.
“I’m afraid this isn’t going to take long, Sweetness. I’ve missed you too damn much.” He kissed her neck, his teeth grazing her skin. “Lord, I wish I didn’t have to leave you.”
The moment he spoke against her throat, Eden’s body answered with a shuddering climax, practically taking his breath away. Instantly, his body responded to her rising passion. He drove in faster, deeper, sliding against her moist pebble. She moaned and tossed her head back, her long hair brushing against his thighs like silken fingers, just as his body stiffened with spasms of pleasure.
He listened to the seconds tick by on the clock as they held each other in silence, their moist, naked bodies gleaming in the soft glowing candlelight.
“I have to go,” he whispered.
She buried her face in his neck and dug her nails into his back, pulling him in closer. “Are you coming back tonight?”
He kissed her forehead. “Most assuredly. Now get some rest. I’l
l return as soon as I can.”
He dressed quietly, listening to the soft sounds of her breathing as she fell asleep. He draped the quilt over her bare shoulders and whispered, “Sleep well, my love.”
Returning to the room, he tread lightly, trying not to wake her. He stopped in his tracks when she stirred.
“What time is it?” she asked, yawning.
“Go back to sleep, Sweetness. Everything’s fine.”
He sighed with relief when she instantly fell back asleep. Had she looked into his eyes after the meeting tonight, she would have known everything was not “fine.”
After he had been briefed about the meeting held earlier with the generals, it was obvious a grand battle for Richmond was about to unfold.
In his younger days, the thought of impending battle and doing his part for the Cause would have excited him, heightened and stimulated his senses. If he made it through the battle unscathed, great. If not, so be it. But tonight, while coming back to Eden, it felt as though he’d taken a hard blow to the gut. The woman in his bed had changed his life and altered the way he valued his own.
He sat in the bedside chair and watched her sleep. Tonight, for the first time, he realized how much he truly cherished the life he had begun to make with her. There was no use denying it any longer. Falling in love with Eden Blair was the best thing to ever happen to him.
Quietly, he gathered his belongings, and she stirred awake.
“Tell me you don’t have to go right now.” She sat up, rubbing her eyes.
He adjusted the belt around his waist. “I can tell you that if you’d like, but it wouldn’t be the truth.”
She rose from the bed and walked toward him. “I don’t think I can bear to say goodbye to you again.”
God, this is hard.
He pulled her close. “Over the next days and weeks I want you to be mindful of everything around you. Stay at Aunt Martha’s. I’ll send word to you there as soon as I can.”
“You promise?”
He nodded. “I promise.”
She looked into his eyes. “What’s wrong, Rayce?”
He paused, choosing his words carefully. “Remember I told you this war would get worse before it got better if the South were to have a chance? That time is now, my dear.”
“Oh, Rayce, I’m frightened.”
“I don’t wish to frighten you, quite the contrary. But I do want you safe. You’re a smart, resourceful woman, Eden. I want you to trust your instincts.”
“What of Isaac? Will he be involved in this, too?”
He lowered his head. “Without a doubt, my dear. Without a doubt.”
She sighed, resting her head upon his chest, clutching his thick jacket in her fists.
“I have to go, darlin’. They’re waiting for me downstairs.” He lifted her chin, turning her face up to his. “Kiss me, sweet Eden. Kiss me as if there’s no tomorrow.”
“But—”
He silenced her protest with his mouth. She stood on her tiptoes and wrapped her arms around his neck, grasping his hair in her hands.
She pulled back, tears streaming down her cheeks. “Goodbye, my love,” she whispered.
His mouth descended upon hers again. He tasted the tears on her lips, and it took all of his energy to leave. He opened the door and looked back. “Goodbye, Sweetness. Until we meet again.”
Chapter 16
Eden felt the intense summer heat as a wave of dizzying nausea that came and went throughout much of the day. A soft buzz of steady chatter among the men filled the hospital wards, and nurses and doctors talked in hushed whispers of events rapidly unfolding.
While changing the dressings on an unconscious Rebel soldier, she overheard two women talking about their sons who were local soldiers. They had just been issued two days’ rations of baked biscuits and bacon for their haversacks, which usually meant they were preparing for battle. She recalled Rayce’s cautionary words.
“It’s all gonna be all right, Miss Eden.”
Startled by the voice coming from the next bed, she flinched and turned toward the young private, brought in a few days earlier with a bullet wound to his arm.
“Why, you gave me start, Private Tracey. I checked on you only a few moments ago, and you were sound asleep.”
“I’m sorry, Miss Eden.”
She moved to his bedside. “Let’s take a look under those bandages, shall we?” Gingerly, she lifted the dressing. There was no doubt about it; infection had begun to take hold.
“I was just sayin’ I think everything’s gonna work out fine soon enough,” he offered.
“Well, of course it is.” She leaned over to fill his glass with fresh water. “What can I do for you today, Private? Would you like me to write another letter to your mother or perhaps a sweetheart back home?”
“Naw, there ain’t nothin’ to write home about just yet. But that’s all gonna change.”
Eden squeezed out a cloth in cool water and placed it on his sweltering forehead. “Well, of course things will change. You’re going to get better.”
“I don’t mean that, Miss. I mean this war is openin’ up like a can of corn on the fire about to pop. You can smell it in the air.”
“Well, if all the whispering around here is any indication, then I think you might be right. I’ve been hearing talk all morning myself.” She furrowed her brow. “But you shouldn’t trouble yourself with such things right now. You need to get better.”
“Well, you just looked kinda worried. I don’t want you to fret, Miss Eden. I hear tell ol’ General Jackson and his men will be behind them Yanks soon.” The gangly soldier offered a feeble smile and pointed at his arm. “I just wish I wasn’t feeling so poorly. I’d like to give them boys in blue a real Rebel whuppin’ myself.”
“I’m sure you would. But for now, you need your rest, Private.”
“Call me Robert.” He paused and tilted his head. “Frankly speaking, Miss, I thought them big skeeters in the swamps woulda been what got me. Never in my life have I been bitten like that. I itched so bad I thought I was gonna die. It was downright miserable, almost worse than this here arm being shot.”
Eden nodded. “If it makes you feel any better, I can tell you a lot of the boys have been saying the same thing. This place is full of soldiers with swamp fever. Some worse off than others.”
He smiled. “You got a special someone in the war, Miss Eden?”
“Hey, Robby!” came a voice from the next bed. “What you doin’, making a play for Miss Eden? I heard her talking to the other nurse earlier. She’s already got a beau, and he’s a major in the war—Major Hampton, one of General Stuart’s men, so you ain’t got a chance.”
“Hush yourself, Sam, you durn know it all,” Robert sneered, his cheeks flushing red. “That right, Miss Eden? You got a beau already? I guess I shoulda known someone as pretty as you would have been spoken for.”
“Oh, you two boys should mind yourselves,” Eden chided.
“Ah, come on, Miss Eden, you can tell us,” Sam toyed. “We get right bored lying around here all day long. Tell us about your beau.”
“Yeah, tell us Miss Eden,” said Robert.”
She rolled her eyes heavenward and sighed. “I’ll tell you more if you both promise me you’ll try to get some rest.”
The two men nodded.
“Well, yes, I do have a beau, just like Sam overheard. And yes, he’s a major in Jeb Stuart’s cavalry.” For an added touch of entertainment, she placed a splayed hand across her chest and summoned up her most dramatic demeanor. “He’s terribly brave and incredibly handsome, and I daresay I’m madly in love with him.”
“Ah, shucks, Robby, she’s taken, all right,” Sam whispered.
Eden couldn’t help but smile. “And that’s all you boys need to know. Now, get some rest.”
“Eden Blair? Why, I thought that was you.”
Eden spun around to see her childhood friend, Amelia Honeycutt. Before moving to Richmond, the Honeycutt family had owned a love
ly home not far from Oak Hill. Amelia was a few years older and had always been a sight with her clear, bright eyes and vivid shock of red hair contrasting against her marble-like pale skin. Amelia looked especially pretty in her smart dress, and Eden instantly sensed how soiled her hospital apron and gingham dress must appear.
“Amelia Honeycutt, why, don’t you look fabulous.”
“It’s Amelia Wyeth now.” She removed a glove and extended her hand, revealing an elegant gold wedding band below a large diamond ring. “I’m an ol’ married lady now,” she gushed.
“Why, that’s wonderful,” Eden beamed, truly happy for her friend.
“Thank you, honey.” Amelia’s smile faded. She leaned in closer, whispering, “Eden, can you believe this war? I’m just sick to death with worry all the time. And I can’t sleep a wink with this constant fear and dread upon me.”
“Perhaps a nip of spirits before bedtime might help,” Eden offered as a solution. “A sip of brandy can work wonders to induce a restful night’s sleep.” She glanced down at Robert, who appeared to be falling asleep. “I imagine you’re terribly worried for your husband. He’s in the war?”
“I worry for him, my cousins, even my father enlisted—and practically every boy is off at war now since the conscription.” Amelia pursed her pouty lips. “I do so detest bringing this up, but I heard Patrick McDowell joined with the Yankees. Tell me that’s not true.”
“It’s true and I—”
Shots rattled in the distance and everyone in the room paused for a moment to listen.
“Do you know someone in here?” Eden asked, changing the subject.
“Sadly, yes, my sister’s husband is over there.” Amelia pointed at a nearby bunk. “Lieutenant Wilcox—poor man. The doctor said he’s not sure if he’ll make it unless his leg comes off. Gangrene, I’m afraid. My sister, Ellen, is beside herself with worry. She has a baby due this month, too. I just feel so helpless.”
“Poor thing. It must be mighty hard on her. Now, you be sure to let me know if I can be of help. The doctors are terribly busy these days.”