by Kim Bowman
“Thank you, Mrs. Fields,” Carolina said uneasily, her gloved fingers making idle movements on the handle of her parasol. “I thought to come see you. I just couldn't think of what to say.” Was it just John, or did she seem slightly uncomfortable? She had no reason to be.
He was about to come to Carolina's defense and explain, as nicely as he could, why Carolina couldn't possibly have made a good wife to Charlie, but was spared when Mrs. Fields spoke again.
“I know.” She sighed. “It's best this way, I think. It might have pleased Charlie to no end to spend each day in your company, but I doubt that would have been quite as enjoyable for you.”
Carolina swallowed. “I'm sorry,” she said quietly. “I don't think I'm who he needs.”
“No, you're not,” she agreed, not unkindly. “Perhaps he'll find her one day. But it's most clear the two of you belong together.”
“Isn't it though?” Mrs. Ellis intoned. “I knew these two would make a match of it all along.”
John and Carolina shared a secret smile and then walked away without bothering to respond.
“May I have this dance?” he asked as the musicians strummed the first note of what would be the first song they'd dance to as a married couple.
“You remembered,” she marveled as the first song they'd danced to in Charleston began to play.
He squeezed her hand. “Of course I did. How could I possibly forget? A man always remembers what's going on around him during those life-altering moments.”
“Like when he realizes he's just fallen in love,” she teased as he spun her around to the music.
He cocked his head to the side. “I don't believe so, no.” He remembered music was involved when he first realized he was in love, but it certainly wasn't this song.
She swatted at his shoulder. “Say what you want, but you were in love long before the melody.”
“Let me guess; my eyes told you this in that stuffy Charleston ballroom.”
“Of course they did. When I could see them, anyway,” she amended. “Your long hair kept falling in your eyes, blocking my view.”
He shook his head. No matter what he said, he'd never get her to give up on her belief, nor would he want her to. That was just another thing about her that made her unique.
After the first song, a few of the neighbors joined them on the yard. “Who's that?” he whispered, spinning Carolina enough so she could see the young lady dressed in a faded purple dress, standing on the far end of the lawn.
She smiled. “Oh, that's my friend, Marjorie. She's the one who suggested I bring you lemon water for your sunburn.”
“I'll have to be sure to thank her,” John said.
“If you'd like, I can introduce you so that you can.”
The eagerness in her voice caught him unaware. “I'd be honored.”
Because she was Carolina and did not have a worry in the world of what others would think, she stopped dancing mid-step and tugged him by the hand toward the young lady in question. “John, I'd like you to meet my friend, Marjorie Reynolds.”
“It's a pleasure to meet you, and I must thank you for the brilliant advice you gave Carolina. I appreciated it very much.”
The young lady's eyes went wide and her cheeks turned crimson.
He turned toward Carolina who was on the verge of laughter. “Is something amusing?”
“He's not thanking you for that suggestion,” Carolina said, waving her hand through the air. “Although he should be; he enjoyed being sewn up in a bundling bag just as much as the lemon water. He'd just never admit it.”
John looked at the girl in amusement. Carolina was right, he'd never admit to enjoying the bundling bag—mainly while she was sewing it and right after it came off. But he had enjoyed it.
“I must be getting back before they notice I'm gone,” Marjorie said.
Carolina reached for her hand. “Thank you for coming. It means a lot to me that you came, even if it was just for a few minutes.”
Tears welled up in the girl's gray eyes. “I wouldn't have missed saying my goodbyes for anything.”
“Goodbye, Marjorie,” Caroline said, hugging her friend for what might very well be the last time.
“Goodbye, Carolina.” She wiped her eyes and turned toward John. “It was nice to meet you, John, and I wish you both the best of luck.”
John stood frozen as the young girl ran off. “Why is she in such a hurry?”
“Mother terrifies her.”
“Lina's not jesting, either,” Gabriel said from behind them.
John and Carolina turned around. “Do you lack the manners to know not to creep up on someone like that?” John asked, scowling.
“No,” Gabriel said without hesitation, an unusually blank expression on his face. “Mother asked me to come and collect you two. For some reason, all the neighbors gathered here today to see the two of you.”
“Mother doesn't like Marjorie, and I daresay the feeling is reciprocated,” Carolina confided as they made their way back to the small crowd of thirty neighbors who'd come out to witness their wedding.
“John,” Edward said, walking up to John and Carolina after they'd rejoined the crowd and were surrounded by their little group of guests. “We need to be leaving soon if we're to get a good night's rest before our ship leaves tomorrow.”
John nearly laughed at Edward's blatant lie. When they'd come by John's lodgings last night, he'd said they planned to stay in Charleston another week, at the least, while Mr. Rivet stuffed an opossum they’d trapped while exploring the lowlands. Another trophy to adorn their awkwardly decorated townhouse to symbolize their love and remember their adventures together, he supposed. Likely Edward's excuse was because he was ready to be away from Carolina's mother. He understood that.
“As I was saying, where would you like Regina to put it?” Edward asked, jerking John from his wandering thoughts.
“I can take it,” Carolina offered, extending her hand toward a very quiet Regina.
Edward stood back and gave a pointed look to Regina, who blushed a little, then handed Carolina a little parcel wrapped with brown paper and white twine.
“You might wish to read the note before you open it,” Regina said quietly.
Carolina plucked the note off the top and held the parcel in one hand as she lifted the note closer to her eyes with the other. Color rose in her cheeks. How unusual. He glanced to a seemingly disinterested Regina and Edward and then leaned over her shoulder to read what they could have possibly written to make Carolina's face grow redder by the second.
Dearest Carolina,
He'd recognize Regina's writing, full of soft swoops and gentle curves, anywhere, and his body relaxed considerably. She was one of the most respectable ladies he'd ever met, but that still didn't explain Carolina's reaction, so he continued.
Having not known you very long, we weren't sure what we should get you for a wedding present. But having been a new, inexperienced bride myself, I realized what I needed most wasn't dishes or silver, but some instruction when it came to certain matters... such as that of the duties of a wife.
Now, I know you're entering into this marriage a little better prepared than I was when I married Edward; however, a lady can never have too much knowledge when it comes to certain aspects of her marriage. So yesterday, when I was at a bookshop in Charleston and found a copy of the very book I found so… shall we say… enlightening that Edward keeps a copy in his study and I keep a copy by my bedside, I knew exactly what a blushing bride, such as you, needed more than anything else.
I hope you enjoy the book and the wonders it will do for a certain aspect of your marriage.
Regina
John had barely reached the end, when Carolina's startled cry rent the air. John snapped his head up and caught a glimpse of his brother's broad grin just before narrowly missing the opportunity to take hold of his wife as she darted toward four-year-old Alex who had managed to take the book from Carolina's grasp and was now running through
the yard, ripping the paper off and hollering, “A present! A present!”
Chapter Thirty-Two
“Now I have you all to myself,” John whispered as he carried Carolina over the threshold to the little room he'd rented in Charleston until he could afford something better.
“Yes, and we can use the present from your brother and sister-in-law to help us decide how we should spend our first evening together,” she teased.
John set her down and plucked the book from her hand. “As long as the ideas come from Song of Solomon, I'm agreeable.”
She laughed. “You're incorrigible.”
“I know.” He moved his lips to the crook of her neck and between kisses said, “That's why you love me.”
“Indeed it is,” she agreed.
“You're not angry with me about that are you?”
Carolina shook her head and ran her fingers through his blond locks. “Why would I be angry with you because Edward and Regina gave me a Bible?
“Because it's my fault there was a scene,” he said sheepishly.
“You mean you told them to buy it and then bribed Alex to take it from me and start running around unwrapping it?”
“No. But I might have issued a challenge from which Edward had no intention of walking away.”
Ah, that explained it. “No. I'm not upset; nor was I embarrassed. I actually thought it was quite comical once I realized what it was; clever, too.”
“Clever? Edward?”
“Actually, it was from Regina,” Carolina corrected, pushing his coat off his shoulders. “The note only implied the book was inappropriate. But once I learned what it was, I realized her wording fit perfectly to lead me to think one thing, when it was actually something else. As I said, it was very clever on their part.”
John shook his head at her logic. “I have no idea what I did to deserve a woman like you, but I sure do love you.”
“I do believe I shall never tire of hearing you say that,” she said, pulling his shirt free from his breeches.
“Oh? And how do you feel about me showing you?” he asked, making quick work of the row of buttons that went down the back of her gown.
She shivered. “It's been a while. I might need to be reminded.”
His eyes darkened, and he pressed his lips to hers, his hands moving at a harried pace to remove her gown and untie her corset.
She sighed his name against his mouth, curling her fingers into his hair and pushing her body against his.
“Carolina,” he rasped. He pulled back long enough to undress her and then himself. Then his lips were back on hers, and his hands were gliding up and down her body.
She felt boneless in his hold and offered no protest as he carried her to the bed. He kissed a path down her neck and across her collarbone, his hands freely roaming her naked body. Her skin, which was already warm, heated to new heights when he bent his head and drew one of her nipples into his mouth.
She arched her back, offering him more.
But he didn't greedily take more of her breast into his mouth; instead, he went slowly, driving her mad with want. “You wicked man,” she said on a sigh.
He flicked his tongue across her nipple as if to acknowledge he understood her meaning perfectly, and he hadn't forgotten what it took to send her into a frenzy of need.
“Oh, you think to torment me?” she breathed, moving her knee to rub ever-so-lightly against the inside of his thigh and all the way to his—
“You minx,” he growled, leaving behind her right breast and turning his attention to the other. This time, his wicked ministrations were not so soft and gentle, as he sucked the crest of her breast fully into his mouth and began plying its budded peak with his tongue.
She cried out, and his only response was to bring his hand up to her right breast and cover it with his large palm.
Carolina's body reeled with excitement under his touches, and she tightened her grip on his hair when his mouth released her swollen breast and he pressed open-mouthed kisses down the bottom curve and to the top of her ribs, then down her abdomen. He guided her body down to the edge of the bed, leaving her legs to hang off the side, and then moved to stand between her parted thighs.
She watched him as he straightened and let his eyes linger slowly down her body, taking a measure of pride at the way his throat worked and his body reacted to the sight of hers. She loved that she could be the one to do this to him.
A slow, wolfish smile bent his lips. “Most people don't get a second wedding night. I'll have to be mindful to take full advantage of this rare opportunity.”
Carolina wrapped her legs around his waist and drew him closer to her, then reached up and pulled him down to her. “I'm sure you will. But have you forgotten that your bride isn't a missish virgin, and she might end up being the one to take advantage of you?”
“Don't make a promise you don't mean to keep, love,” he said, his voice raw and his eyes full of challenge.
Carolina tightened her legs around his waist and made a rolling motion with her hips, a silent acknowledgement that she'd accept his challenge.
He groaned and followed her lead, rolling onto his back and bringing her to sit on top of him.
She placed her hands on his shoulders and leaned forward, pressing kisses all over his hard, muscled chest.
“Carolina,” he breathed, bringing his callused hands up to glide along her back.
Her skin tingled and she continued to kiss his chest and then his neck. She nipped his shoulder in the way he'd done to her so many times when they'd first married.
He groaned and she pressed her bare breasts flush against his abdomen. “You temptress.”
She slid farther up his body until her lips were on his and her breasts were pressed against his chest.
He moved his hands up to her shoulder blades and used his thumbs to gently rub the sides of her breasts while she kissed and nipped his soft lips. He kissed her back, startling her. His hands stilled and he brought his right hand up to her cheek, digging his fingers into her hair.
She sighed his name against his lips and then broke their kiss, forcing herself to sit up. “Do you suppose...”
“I do,” he rasped.
She grinned and moved her hips down his body until she was straddling his erection. Using her left hand on his shoulder for leverage, she lifted up on her knees and moved him into position, then slowly sank down.
“Carolina,” he grunted, moving his hands to her hips.
She covered his hands with hers and pulled them away. “I said I planned to take advantage of you, and that is exactly what I'm doing.”
“No, you're torturing me,” he corrected, bucking his hips to push himself further inside.
She rose up on her knees just enough to almost separate them, but not quite. “That'll be enough of that, Mr. Banks,” she warned with a shake of her head.
He groaned again and threw his arms over his head.
Slowly, she sank back down, taking every delicious inch of him inside her, then rose back up on her knees again, repeating her movements. She had no idea who was tormented more by this and frankly didn't care. She leaned forward and placed her hands on his shoulders, her hair now falling down to drag across his abdomen and chest with each of her movements.
She locked her eyes on his face as she continued to move over top of him. She increased her pace and his face hardened, his eyes traveling back and forth from hers to her breasts, that bounced with every movement she made.
She bit her lower lip and sped her pace again, that familiar fluttering in her abdomen forming. John lifted his hands and cupped her breasts, shaping and caressing them in time with her movements. He moved the pads of his thumbs across her hardened nipples, and she cried out his name.
Carolina lowered her upper body closer to his, her energy waning but her desire still strong. As if he knew what she wanted but realized she might not be able to achieve it on her own, he slowly moved his hands to her hips and held her tightly as he bega
n meeting her movement, pushing himself further into her than she'd been able take him on her own.
His shoulders grew tight under her hands, and his face contorted in what she might think was pain if she didn't know any better. “Now, Carolina.”
His ragged command was her tipping point and suddenly wave after wave of delicious euphoria came over her as she continued to move her hips in time with his. Somewhere through the fog, she heard herself give her husband the same raw command he'd given her, followed only a second later by a savage shout filling the air as John slowed his movements to a stop.
Breathlessly, Carolina collapsed on his broad chest and pressed her ear against his heart that was beating as rapidly as her own. “Perhaps next time my plan for torture will work,” she whispered.
John's big hand came up and pulled her hair away from her damp face. “You always have a plan, don't you?” he teased.
“Yes, and it always goes the opposite way I want it to,” she confided, repositioning herself to be more comfortable.
He idly ran his knuckles against her cheek. “How so?”
“I wanted to drive you mad with need, but it was me who ended up mad and you had to help... you know...”
He lifted one shoulder up in a lopsided shrug. “I don't see a problem with that. In fact, I think it's a good thing we both need the other's help in order to find our own satisfaction.”
“Perhaps so,” she acknowledged, seeing the logic behind his words. “But that still doesn't make me feel better about all my failed attempts to gain your attention.”
He laughed. “Do you mean bringing me the water while I was working or having me find you swimming naked?”
She sat straight up. “W-what? You saw me swimming naked?” The memory of the day her mother had hosted that wretched supper and how she'd gone swimming earlier that day to forget about her anger over her mother's wish for her to marry Charlie flashed in her mind. “Is that why you decided to marry me? Because you'd seen me naked?”
“No. I've already told you. I didn't decide to marry you until just hours before I came to your room that night. But—” He rolled her off of him and turned on his side to face her. “—my decision had nothing to do with seeing you naked. I'll admit it didn't deter me, but I was already in love with you before then — I just hadn't realized it yet.”