He quivered at the very first touch of her tongue against his ear. She was welcoming him again into that netherworld where only the ecstasy he created and his mouth against her skin were real.
“Oh,” she breathed against his ear, “you make me feel so wonderful.”
“Do I, honey?” he whispered as his fingers curved up her back, pressing her closer.
“Yes. When you hold me, I can forget everything but how splendid this feels.”
“Then forget everything now except how much I want you.”
He claimed her lips again as he impatiently loosened the hooks along her gown. He pulled her clothes from her and tossed them to the deck. When she was as eager, he helped her rid him of his clothes and leave them atop hers.
With an amused chuckle, he pinned her against the pillows. He gave her no time to say anything as he tasted her skin again. Inside him grew a compulsion to find satiation for this craving that seemed to know no bounds.
He shivered with the uncontrollable sensation of his skin against hers. As her fingers drifted along him, maddening him with this blinding desire, he sought his own fantasies by letting his lips explore her beguiling curves. The essence of her skin and the silken texture of it against his mouth immersed him in a flood of craving.
When she breathed his name and drew his mouth back to hers, he lifted her over him. Her skin brushed against him, and he knew he could not wait much longer to be inside her. Framing her face, he stared into her eyes. They were glazed with her yearning. Slowly he guided her lips to his as her hands slid along him, firing his skin with their lustrous heat. He grasped her hips as his tongue probed deep into her mouth at the very moment he delved deep within her body.
She gasped as they were melded together by the craving racing around and through them. As she moved over him, the lightning-hot yearning became a desperate need, the ecstasy became torment. It whirled through him, exploding as she quivered against him, lost in the tumult that swirled within them and beyond the bed where they could pretend that they would have this forever.
Twenty-two
Rachel lifted Kitty Cat into her arms and cradled the child against her as she stepped around a puddle in the road between Haven and the River’s Haven Community. Bright moonlight sparkled on the wet grass and trees even as a miasma of fog was once again crawling up from the river.
“Do you want me to carry her?” Wyatt asked.
“I have her.” She would have gladly handed Kitty Cat to him because they still were almost a mile from River’s Haven, but the little girl clung to her and coughed. She hoped Kitty Cat was not sickening with a summer cold. “You didn’t have to walk all the way out here with us tonight, Wyatt. I heard Horace saying how early he planned to get to work in the morning.”
“I’m like K. C. I don’t want this day to end.” He mussed the little girl’s hair as she gave him a smile.
“My birthday and the country’s,” murmured Kitty Cat. “Isn’t it wonderful that the country has its birthday on mine?”
Rachel laughed softly. “It’s just perfect.”
“Will they have a party for both of us again next year?”
“Every year, from what Mr. Sawyer told us.”
“Good. Next year, I want—”
“Hush!” Wyatt put his hand on Rachel’s arm.
Rachel stiffened. “What is it?”
“We aren’t the only ones here.”
She strained her ears, but she could not hear what he had. Stepping nearer to him, she silenced Kitty Cat as the little girl started to ask a question. The moonlight no longer washed over the countryside, but instead seemed to conceal too much in its sharp shadows.
She never did see where the ambush came from. Suddenly hands were grabbing at her. She kicked at someone and heard Kitty Cat shriek. She tried to hold on to the child, but Kitty Cat was ripped from her arms. She leaped toward the shadowed man who was holding the little girl.
“Run, Rachel!” Wyatt shouted. He groaned, and she heard a fist strike him.
“Wyatt!” she screamed.
If he answered her, she never heard his voice beyond the thump of something against her skull. The moonlight vanished, and the shadows washed out from beneath the trees to sweep over her like a flood.
Water splashed on Rachel’s face, then someone slapped her cheek. Not too hard, but enough to make her aching head spin. She heard someone crying. Kitty Cat!
That thought brought her eyes open. She looked around in amazement. She must be lying on the floor of a small chamber off the Community room in the River’s Haven’s common house.
“If she’s awake,” came a strident female voice, “get her on her feet, and let’s be done with this.”
Rachel recognized that voice, too. It belonged to Miss Stokes, the sole woman on the Assembly of Elders.
Hands grasped her arms and pulled her up. Her head spun worse. When Kitty Cat rushed to hug her, Rachel backpedaled, almost falling. The wall behind her kept her from collapsing.
“I’m fine,” she whispered, wanting to calm the hysterical child. She wondered what Kitty Cat had witnessed after Rachel was knocked senseless. Her head jerked up. Where was Wyatt?
Other than her and Kitty Cat, the Assembly of Elders were the only ones in the huge room.
“Where’s Wyatt?” Rachel asked. “What have you done to him?”
Miss Stokes motioned to someone who must have been outside the room.
Rachel gasped when Miss Hanson came in, the gray-haired woman’s gaze focused on the floor in front of her feet.
Miss Hanson shuffled over to Rachel and said in a whisper, “I warned you, Miss Browning, that you were bringing trouble on yourself.”
“Do you know where Wyatt is?”
“Don’t ask me anything. I’m just here for the child.” She held out her hand and raised her voice. “Come with me, Katherine. I’ll show you where you’re going to live now that you’re a big girl of seven.”
Kitty Cat would not be fooled, Rachel realized, when the little girl spat, “I live with Rachel.”
“You’re seven now,” Miss Stokes intoned. “You’ll live with the other children. Miss Hanson, if you please.”
Miss Hanson pulled Kitty Cat away from Rachel. When Rachel reached out for Kitty Cat, her arms were grasped, keeping her from helping the child.
Kitty Cat screamed and tried to escape. Something hit the floor as she was dragged to the door. The tiny steamboat! Kitty Cat cried out again when Miss Hanson lifted her and went out, closing the door behind her.
Rachel yanked her arms out of Mr. Foley’s. She took one step toward the door, but Mr. Carpenter’s sharp voice ordered her to stop. She ignored it.
Her shoulders were grasped again. She was whirled to face Mr. Foley. Her hand struck his face before she had a chance to halt it.
He cursed, but did not release her as he pulled her back toward where the others waited. When her skirt brushed Kitty Cat’s steamboat, sending it skittering a short distance away, he raised his foot and, with a smile, crushed the toy beneath it.
Rachel raised her chin. If he thought he could squash her will as he had the steamboat, he had something to learn. She pushed past him and walked to the other Elders.
Miss Stokes pointed to a spot directly in front of her. Rachel recognized it as an order, and she went to stand before the Elder in the exact spot Miss Stokes indicated.
“We are very disappointed in you, Miss Browning,” Mr. Johnson said, startling Rachel, for she had never heard him speak while with the other Elders.
“Why are you disappointed in me? I wasn’t the one who arranged an ambush on three innocent people.” She frowned at Mr. Foley, whose left cheek bore the bright pink imprint left by her hand. “Where’s Wyatt Colton?”
“You know our laws, and we believed you to be willing to follow them.”
She did not answer. Anything she said would be used to prove how far she had strayed from the Community’s tenets.
Miss Stokes said, “It’s
time for you to do what you must for the benefit of the Community.”
“I’ll be glad to listen to what you have to say if you will tell me what has happened to Wyatt.”
“Mr. Colton needn’t concern you any longer,” Miss Stokes replied. “As the wife of Mr. Foley—”
“I won’t marry Mr. Foley!” She planted her hands on her hips and scowled.
“And whom will you marry? Colton?”
“If he and I wish. Tell me, someone, please. Where’s Wyatt?”
The door opened, and Rachel looked over her shoulder. Her brother strode into the room. He said nothing as he came to stand beside Mr. Foley.
Mr. Carpenter stepped forward, his eyes as sad as a parent dealing with a naughty child. “Miss Browning, since your arrival, you’ve faithfully followed the ways of our Community. Until now. Do you want to destroy what we have?”
“I’m not destroying anything.” She looked to her brother, then quickly away. Merrill was even more furious than Mr. Foley. “I’ll be honest with you as I always have been. River’s Haven is my home, and I wouldn’t do anything to cause trouble. But you’re asking me to marry a man I don’t love. No one else has been asked to do that.”
“You’re wrong,” Mr. Carpenter said in his hushed voice. “You aren’t the first, nor will you be the last. Miss Browning, you are a great asset to this Community. You’ve proven your intelligence with your work and have built financial security for River’s Haven. That intelligence is something we wish for our future generations.” He looked past her. “Mr. Foley also is very smart. Your child will be another asset to the Community.”
“You make it sound as if we are beasts to be bred.” She looked from one face to the next, wanting one of them to deny her words.
Mr. Carpenter frowned. “You should be as eager as the rest of us to bring the very best to River’s Haven. Mr. Foley has agreed to this marriage wholeheartedly.”
“That’s no surprise.” She turned to face Mr. Foley as she asked, “Has he told you that he has agreed wholeheartedly to sleep with Miss Turnbull as well as me?”
The Elders, save for Mr. Foley, gasped.
Mr. Foley’s face bleached for a moment; then he smiled coolly. “Really, Miss Browning,” he said in his most condescending tone, “I expected better of you than these groundless accusations.”
“Groundless? I saw the two of you kissing in the stables only days ago.”
He laughed as he shook his head. “I believe you’re mistaking your sins for mine.” His face grew hard. “How many saw you kissing Colton on his steamboat this afternoon? What more have you shared with him?”
“That, Mr. Foley, is none of your business.”
“It is when I’m your husband.”
“But you aren’t my husband, and I don’t wish to marry you … not ever!”
Merrill pinched her face between his hands as he growled, “That’s enough, Rachel. You’ll do as you are told, and you’ll do it without any more mewling.” He released her.
She put her hand up to her right cheek and stared at him in disbelief. “Merrill—”
“I’m her brother,” he said, looking past her, “and I give you permission, Mr. Carpenter, to wed her to Mr. Foley now.”
She shouted, “I won’t—”
He put his hand over her mouth. “Go ahead.” Lowering his voice, he growled, “Cooperate, Rachel, if you value Colton’s life.”
She froze. What did Merrill know about Wyatt’s whereabouts? She could not ask when his hand silenced her.
Mr. Carpenter looked troubled, but opened the book that contained the wedding service used at River’s Haven. Again and again, he hesitated as he glanced at Rachel. Each time, Mr. Foley urged him on.
“Will you take Calvin Foley for your husband,” asked Mr. Carpenter, “to have and to hold, through sickness and health, through richer or poorer, for the next year?” He frowned. “Mr. Browning, you must allow her to speak.”
“Take care what you say,” whispered Merrill close to her ear. He withdrew his hand from her mouth.
Rachel looked back at her brother. So many things she wanted to ask him. Why had he brought her here? To remain a family or to benefit this Community he wanted to belong to by using her skill with numbers? Why was he forcing her to marry Mr. Foley? What was Merrill hoping to gain from this? A chance to marry more young women and have them in his bed for a year? Her stomach cramped with disgust.
“Miss Browning,” Mr. Carpenter said, looking more and more unsettled, “you must answer the question.”
The door crashed open.
Mr. Foley glanced over his shoulder and ordered, “Keep going!”
When Mr. Carpenter looked past her, Rachel tried to turn to discover what had caused the Elder’s face to grow ashen. Merrill gripped her arm, holding her in place.
“Stop this travesty!” came a shout.
Wyatt!
She was not sure if she had shouted that or cried out only in her thoughts. Jerking her arm away from her brother, she saw Wyatt shove his way past two men who were trying to halt him. She winced when she heard a fist drive into a man. Which one? Was Wyatt the one struck or the one hitting someone else? If he had been hurt during the attack on them, he might be injured worse now. She could not let that happen.
With a screech, she drove her elbow back into Merrill’s stomach. She had wrestled with him often when they were children, but this was the first time she had struck him in anger. His breath exploded out in a cough. As his grip loosened, she pulled away and ran to where Wyatt was standing over two men who were lying facedown. He wiped blood from his cracked lip, and she saw his left sleeve was ripped and bloody.
“Wyatt, are you badly hurt?” she gasped.
“I’ve been worse off.” He put his arm around her shoulders. “Who’s in charge here?”
Miss Stokes answered, because Mr. Carpenter was slowly lowering himself to a chair by the wall. “The Assembly of Elders is in charge of everything within the River’s Haven Community. What’s the meaning of this intrusion?”
“I’m here to stop this absurd wedding.”
“Who are you?” Miss Stokes asked. When Mr. Johnson hastily whispered in her ear, she said, “Mr. Colton, your business with River’s Haven was completed some days ago.”
“Not as long as Rachel and the child are here. I wish to arrange for them to leave River’s Haven.”
“Impossible,” Miss Stokes announced.
“Why?” Wyatt’s voice was as frigid as the Elder’s, and Miss Stokes’s lips tightened. No doubt in exasperation because she could not order him to follow the Community’s rules. Wyatt followed only his own.
“You’re an outsider. You dictate nothing here.”
He turned to Rachel, taking her hand. “Honey, you aren’t an outsider.” He gave her a fleeting grin as he added, “Yet. Do you want to marry Foley?”
She did not hesitate. “No.”
“Your marriage has been approved by the Assembly of Elders, Miss Browning,” Miss Stokes said. “You’ve agreed to abide by the tenets of River’s Haven and the ruling of the Assembly of Elders. You must do so now.”
“Or you could come with me, Rachel,” Wyatt added.
“With you?” she whispered, wondering how much joy her heart could hold before it burst.
“If you stay here, you’ll have to marry this hypocrite who’s going to do more damage to River’s Haven with his lusts for his former wife than you could ever do.”
Mr. Foley took a step forward but stopped when Wyatt drew a gun from his belt.
“The decision is hers, Foley, not yours.” Wyatt asked, “What’s your decision, honey?”
“Kitty Cat and I will leave, and go with you.”
His eyes widened before he looked past her to the Elders. “You heard what she has decided.”
“Yes.” Mr. Carpenter shoved himself to his feet. “You’re banished from River’s Haven Community, Rachel Browning. You must leave now.”
She trembled, overwhel
med with how she had changed her future with one moment of rebellion. “As soon as I get Kitty Cat … Katherine.”
“You are banished. She’s still a member of this Community!”
“No!” she cried. “You can’t take her away from me.”
Wyatt said quietly, “Let’s go now, honey.”
“But, Kitty Cat …”
“You first, honey.” He gave her a bolstering smile. “If you stay here, you’ll end up married to Foley. You’ve got to leave now. We’ll get K. C. later.”
She knew he was right, but every instinct told her to keep arguing. If she left Kitty Cat here … No, she must not panic. Miss Hanson was kindhearted, and Kitty Cat had always adored her.
Turning, she squared her shoulders as she said, “Goodbye, Merrill.”
“If you leave with him,” her brother retorted, “don’t think you’ll be welcomed back. Spend the rest of your life alone!”
Wyatt herded her out of the Community room before her resolve could crack. Her brother had known the exact words to say to wound her and make her reconsider her rash actions.
“Ignore him, honey,” Wyatt said as he led her onto the grass of the common area. “Stop worrying about what your brother thinks! You should be ecstatic that Foley can now remarry his Miss Turnbull instead of making you miserable!”
“You would think so, wouldn’t you?”
“But you aren’t.”
“No, for this could—”
“Make trouble for Merrill. Why don’t you think of yourself for once?”
“He’s my brother. I love him.”
“Does he still love you?”
“I don’t know.” Rachel paused on the wet grass and looked back at the windows of the children’s dormitory. If Kitty Cat happened to peek out, what would the child think to see Rachel leaving without her?
“K. C. knows you love her”
She rested her head on his shoulder, so glad he understood what would be too painful to speak. “Thank you, Wyatt. Let’s get my things.”
“Leave them for now.”
“All right Let’s go … wherever.”
Wyatt nodded, putting his arm around Rachel. He had not said anything about the tearstains on her face or how her voice quivered on each word. As she leaned more heavily on him with every step they took away from the dark heart of River’s Haven, he lifted her into his arms and against his chest.
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