by Laura Glenn
“Why then? And don’t tell me that you’re simply thinking with another part of your anatomy.”
He shrugged, flashing her one of his boyish grins as he sat back in the chair. He obviously knew exactly what she meant. “What is it that you wish me to say, Kaitlyn? I am a weak man, especially when it comes to beautiful, intelligent women.”
She laughed nervously, keeping one ear open for a sign that someone might be coming up the stairs. “Beautiful? Yeah, right.”
The baby squirmed slightly in her arms and she looked down into the sweetly sleeping face. All thoughts of Alexander floated from her head as her lips curled into a dreamy smile.
“I will leave you to caring for your child,” Alexander whispered, patting her leg affectionately as he arose. “I will let you know as soon as I have heard anything about your husband.”
Kaitlyn’s eyes filled with tears and her chest ached as the thought of Gabriel not coming home filtered back into her mind. She took a deep breath and nodded, quickly attempting to push the worry aside. He was coming home. She knew that. All she had to do was to keep reminding herself.
“As his friend, I would only ask that you consider him a suitable candidate should you find yourself without a husband. He nearly wore a hole through the floor of the hallway downstairs as he paced back and forth during the birth, without taking a moment out for one wink of sleep. He would take good care of both you and your child.”
Kaitlyn nodded, hoping that small action would suffice as an answer. Even if Gabriel didn’t come back, she knew she could never marry James—it wouldn’t be fair to either of them. But she couldn’t say that to Alexander.
And hopefully she would never have to.
Chapter Eighteen
Shaking hands were not something Gabriel had experienced before but, as he raised his fist to pound upon the door in front of him, he could not help but quiver over what—or more importantly, whom—he was to be confronted with.
To have received a message from Alexander Ross was enough to cause apprehension. However, when he read that his Kaitlyn was, at that moment, giving birth to his child in Ross’ home after having been forced to flee his, Gabriel was certain that his heart had ceased to beat. Learning that it was Clark who had rescued her and was now at her side was enough to drive him over the edge.
General Washington had understood and accepted Gabriel’s resignation. General Cornwallis had just surrendered two days prior to Gabriel receiving Alexander’s letter, so the main threat from the British was over. It was simply a matter of time until their forces would leave their land.
He had ridden for two days straight, only stopping long enough for his horse to rest and eat. His mind whirled the entire time, wondering if Clark would use his absence as an excuse to take Kaitlyn away.
Then he would begin to wonder if Kaitlyn would willingly go with Clark. After all, the man seemed to have a talent for being around when she needed someone.
He rapped his knuckles against the heavy wooden door and clasped his hands behind him. Muffled voices sounded from the other side and he thought he had detected a faint movement of the draperies in the window a few feet away.
Finally, the door opened. Alexander Ross threw him one of his infuriating grins as he crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Well, well, Captain. It is good of you to come by.”
Gabriel immediately stepped inside without waiting for an invitation. Normally he would not have been so rude as to barge into a man’s house uninvited, but his Katie was somewhere inside and he had to get to her.
“Where is she?” he asked, his eyes falling on James who was leaning against the doorway to the parlor.
James dropped his eyes to the floor, his scowl intensifying as he crossed his arms in front of his chest.
“My dear sir,” Alexander quipped, “are all the Irish as uncivilized as you?”
Prudence swept in from the parlor at that moment and playfully smacked her husband on the arm, flashing him a withering look. Her expression changed to one of sweetness and serenity as she turned to face Gabriel. “Kaitlyn will be quite pleased to see you, Captain O’Connor. Please follow me.”
Prudence turned and began climbing the stairs. At that moment, James walked toward Gabriel who simply brushed past him without a word as he followed Alexander’s wife.
“Your lovely mother and sister were here for most of the day. Apparently, they had lost your wife in the crowd of refugees. It took ages for my husband and Mr. Clark to find them,” Prudence commented. “My cousin, who lives on the north side of town, has been generous enough to take them in until you were able to come for them.”
Gabriel nodded though Prudence was turned away from him. They finally reached the top of the stairs and he followed her down the hallway to a closed door.
She turned and tilted her head as she smiled up at him. “Kaitlyn might be asleep.”
His chest felt tight. “Thank you, madam, for all of your assistance. We are indebted to you.”
“Just promise to bring your wife to Philadelphia more often. I would adore seeing her again.”
He nodded again and Prudence slipped quietly away. He grabbed the doorknob, pausing briefly to take a deep breath and calm his nerves. His stomach tensed as he turned the knob and quietly pushed the dark, wooden door open.
His eyes were met with darkness and he stepped inside, silently closing the door behind him. Little of the early evening light filtered in from between the curtains and he stopped momentarily until his eyes adjusted. Soft, rhythmic breathing reached his ears and he turned toward the sound. His eyes fell onto a large bed and a still form tucked beneath the covers. He strode over to the window and quietly opened the curtains, careful to keep the light from falling directly on Kaitlyn.
He could not seem to take his eyes off her as he slowly made his way to the side of the bed, noticing the tiny bundle tucked into Kaitlyn’s chest as she lay sleeping on her side.
His heart felt heavy as he gently brushed a strand of hair away from her face with shaking fingers. Dark circles rimmed her eyes and her breathing was shallow. He could tell from a single glance that she had been through a harrowing ordeal and was now completely spent.
Though his arms ached to take her and their child into his arms, he instead walked around to the other side of the bed and slumped into the chair. The last thing his Katie needed was to be woken up when she was so obviously exhausted.
* * * * *
Squirming in the crook of her arm, the baby emitted a small whimper, pulling Kaitlyn into consciousness. Her eyes slowly fluttered open, looking down at her child who was turning his little head toward her. His mouth was wide as he opened it, arching his back.
Though physically still weary and unable to see very well in the dim light, she was somehow able to free her left breast from the nightgown and guide the baby’s mouth toward it. Running through the midwife’s instructions in her mind once again, she waited until her son’s mouth was as wide as possible before bringing him on to suckle.
She gasped as the strange sensations of an eager newborn tugging at her nipple and areola shot through her breast. She had done this numerous times over the past four days but each time felt as surprising as the first. Laughing softly, she said, “Take it easy, little one. You’ve got another one waiting for you on the other side.”
A low, familiar voice sounded in the darkness. “Katie?”
Craning her neck so she could peer over her shoulder, her eyes widened in disbelief, finally coming to recognize the face that she could never seem to get out of her mind.
But it couldn’t be him. Could it? Perhaps her exhausted and emotionally raw state was causing her to hallucinate.
She breathed deeply and his earthy, masculine scent surrounded her, causing her heartbeat to quicken. Her limbs, previously cold and limp suddenly felt warm and energized and her stomach flipped.
The face moved toward her and the mattress sank beside her. Heat and solid muscle stretched out against the length o
f her body and she gratefully leaned against the sudden support.
He felt too real. But, still, her mind refused to accept it. Her lips were dry, her throat threatening to close up on her as she whispered, “Gabriel? Is that you?”
“Yes, Katie. I have come for you,” he throatily replied as he softly, almost tentatively, brushed his firm lips against hers.
Tears burned her eyes as sobs of relief swept through her. It was him. After months of cold, lonely nights and the arduous journey to get herself and their child to safety, he was finally here by her side.
“Shhh,” Gabriel crooned, slipping his hand around her waist and holding her tightly against him. “I resigned my commission and I will not be leaving your side again. This I swear to you on my father’s grave, Katie.”
He caressed her hair as she turned toward their child. Hot tears rolled down her cheeks as she kept the sobs in check so as not to disturb the baby contentedly nursing at her breast. It was over.
She was safe. And he hadn’t forgotten about her.
Several minutes passed as they lay together in the darkness, only the rhythmic suckling of their babe breaking the silence. Kaitlyn’s tears finally slowed to a halt and she allowed her body to relax against Gabriel’s, almost melting into his heat.
The baby’s eyes closed and after several moments, he allowed his mother’s nipple to slip from his mouth as he fell back into an easy sleep, satiated and warm.
Gabriel’s lips pressed firmly against Kaitlyn’s cheek.
She smiled to herself in the darkness as she gazed into the peaceful face of their child. “It’s a boy. I thought I’d call him Jonathan,” she whispered.
Gabriel remained silent as he laid his head upon the pillow, resting the side of his face against the back of her head. He reached out to softly caress his son’s soft, dark hair.
After several moments slipped by, she worriedly whispered, “We can change it if you don’t like it.”
“No. Jonathan suits him. ’Tis the very name I had thought of.”
“Then why are you so quiet?”
He sighed heavily, his hot breath stroking her ear. “I was just lying here wondering how I should tell you that I love you.”
Kaitlyn froze, barely daring to breathe. “What?” she timidly asked, afraid that perhaps she had misunderstood him.
He chuckled into her hair and squeezed her impossibly tighter. “I love you, Katie. I have since the moment you gave up your boots for one of my soldiers.”
Her heart ached. Though she hadn’t allowed herself to think about it, she now knew that she had always loved him. Too afraid to get her heart broken, she’d silently longed for him to utter those words. And now here he was, saying them while she had their baby snuggled up against her side. Her mind whirled at how strange her life seemed and yet oh-so-right at the same time. She closed her eyes for a brief moment, thankful that whatever it was that ripped her from her dreary life in the future had brought her here to this moment in Gabriel’s arms.
“Why did you never tell me?” she whispered.
“I do not know.”
For the first time since she had met him, he sounded vulnerable and confused. She threaded the fingers of her free hand through his and squeezed them tightly to reassure him. “I love you too.”
Gabriel nuzzled her neck lovingly. “As soon as you are strong enough, I will take you home.”
Home. Unexpectedly, that word now had new meaning for her. But was anything left of the house? Did they even have a home to go back to?
As if he could read her thoughts, he stated, “Everything is fine. The retreating British veered north and missed our land by several miles.”
“You were there?”
“I passed through on my way to you,” he explained, placing a soft, comforting kiss upon her neck. “I cannot say if looters have ransacked the house. It was not something I was concerned with. I could only think of getting to you. And to our child. For all I knew, Clark had you halfway to Virginia.”
The irritation in his voice was not lost on Kaitlyn. She laughed softly and pulled his hand up to her mouth to kiss it.
Yes, this felt right.
Chapter Nineteen
“Did you know that Munroe had the intention of asking Eileen to marry him?” Gabriel asked, tossing a book onto his desk in annoyance as he stared out the window at Henry Munroe riding away from the house on horseback as light February snow danced around him.
Kaitlyn laughed. She should have known by now that she couldn’t sneak up on him. She quietly locked the door of the study and silently padded her way toward him, slipping her arms around his waist.
Pressing her cheek against his broad back, she breathed in the woodsy, masculine scent she loved so much. “Yes, I did know.”
“Why did you not warn me?” he asked, twisting in her embrace until he had her pressed intimately against his hard chest.
She had to tilt her head all the way back to gaze into those wonderfully warm brown eyes. “I didn’t know when it would happen. All I knew was that they would get married. I told you not long after we met that she would marry.”
“You did not mention Munroe,” he grumbled, contradicting his sour mood by placing a gentle, loving kiss upon the tip of her nose.
“And what’s wrong with him?”
“He is a man.”
Kaitlyn couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity of his statement. She knew it to be a simple fact that he didn’t think anyone was good enough for his baby sister but she couldn’t help but tease him a bit. “Would it be better if he were a woman?”
Gabriel cocked an eyebrow at her. “A woman?”
She nodded, attempting to keep at bay the smile threatening to spread across her lips. “Two female friends of mine from college got married in Massachusetts a few years after we graduated.”
He tossed her a skeptical look and rolled his eyes. “Sometimes I just cannot believe the things you tell me about the future, Katie.”
She laughed again. This time, however, it was sultry. Mary had Jonathan and Eileen was busy naming her future children. For the first time in three months a crying baby couldn’t interrupt them and Kaitlyn wasn’t about to let the moment pass by.
Neither was Gabriel. Hauling her up against his chest, he brought her eyes to his level and hungrily pressed his lips to hers, smothering the low, animalistic groan rumbling in his chest.
She fought back the smile of pleasure at how quickly he had read her mind. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, her feet dangling in midair and lightly swept the tip of her tongue across his lower lip. He shuddered in response and whirled her around, depositing her upon the top of his desk.
Quickly finding the hem of her skirts, he shoved them over the tops of her creamy thighs.
“I do not care what you hear outside this room,” he growled, grabbing her bare hips forcefully. “My son will not starve if you are absent from him for a few moments.”
Her eyes turned smoky as she locked onto his stare. Pleasure rippled through his stomach to his straining shaft as she parted her legs widely, exposing the glistening, pink lips of her pussy to him. He had never thought a woman to be capable of surprising him over and over again, causing him to want her more each day.
“I do hope it lasts more than a few moments,” she replied, her voice husky as she tucked her slender fingers into the waistband of his breeches and began pulling them down over his hips.
Kaitlyn could hardly believe that her lust for this man had turned her into such an aggressive woman. Back in grad school, she’d never have dreamed she could ask a guy out, let alone seduce him. And now, here she was, practically spread-eagled on the man’s desk in the middle of the day, desperately trying to get at his cock.
Gabriel’s chest rose and fell heavily as his pants fell around his ankles. “It has been almost a week. I cannot make any promises.”
She laughed quietly, licking her bottom lip as she stared down at the purplish head of his cock peeking out from
under his shirt. A drop of pre-cum oozed from the tip. “Well, then I guess you’ll just have to make me come first.”
His eyes blackened as he dug his fingertips gently into her flesh and yanked her forward until her butt was on the edge of the desk. “Damn, woman, I love you,” he hissed through gritted teeth as he pulled a chair up between her legs.
Kaitlyn threaded her fingers through his thick, coffee-colored hair, her clit aching as his hands pushed her knees even farther apart. The calluses on his large hands tickled her inner thighs as he slowly drew them up toward her. He tore his eyes from hers and licked his lips as he began gazing at her pussy as though it was the most wondrous treasure a man could ever find.
His fingers lightly traced her slick labia, drawing a shivered breath from her lungs. She tossed her hair over her shoulders and dropped back onto her elbows. She had never felt so sexy in her life.
Gently pulling her open even further with his fingers, he slid his thumbs up and around her inner pussy lips, barely touching her now-throbbing clit. Her pussy contracted hard and she bit her lower lip to keep her moans from becoming too loud.
“I love how wet you get for me,” he murmured as he slowly, torturously slid both of his thumbs simultaneously into her.
He leisurely massaged the inner walls of her vagina, causing little jolts of electricity to shoot from her clit to her nipples, which were now taut and straining against the bodice of her gown. Breathing heavily, she sat up and yanked the neckline of her bodice down and exposed her full breasts to the cool air of the room.
Her pussy clenched down on his thumbs as he attempted to withdraw them from her. He chuckled and quickly replaced his thumbs with three fingers, shoving them roughly up into her.
Kaitlyn fell back onto the desk, the top of her head barely brushing against the cold windowpane. She arched her back, dragging her palms up her sides to her breasts.
Mesmerized, Gabriel continued to pound her pussy with his fingers as he hungrily watched her knead each milky-white globe. He clenched his thigh muscles in an attempt to stay seated when she took each of her nipples between a thumb and forefinger. Pulling and rolling the rosy, erect nubs, her breasts and cheeks flushed hotly as the color of her nipples deepened.