“Your life is in danger, Michael,” she quickly blurted, eyes wide, watching his expression changing to that of disbelief.
“What. .. ?” he gasped, pulling away from her.
“Nathan. He knows there is a man snooping in his community with the name of Hopper. He talked to me of this. I knew immediately that it was you, Michael.”
“He knows of my investigations? God. How could he?”
“His representatives. They are quite good at what they do. They have discovered that it is a man named Hopper dressed in disguise who is snooping for this thing called … the … union. What does it mean, Michael?”
Michael began to knead his brow. “Damn it all to hell,” he grumbled. “I belong to the union. We exist because of the need to better the conditions of the workers here in Saint Louis and all over the country. Damn. So Nathan Hawkins does know we have infiltrated his area, huh?” Then Michael swung around, studying Maria closely. “And it sounds as though you know more than what Nathan Hawkins revealed to you. How would you?”
Maria moved across the room, wringing her hands. Should she tell him? What would he think of her? She swung around, smiling coyly. “How did I know that it had to be you when the name Hopper was spoken to me? How would I know this man disguised would be Michael Hopper?”
“Yes. How .. . ?”
“Ruby so much as told me so,” she quickly blurted, turning her back to him, not wanting to see his reaction to such a confession on her part.
“Ruby… ?” he gasped. So much was becoming clearer in his mind. That night. The darkness of the room. The way that wench had made love with him? When he had returned the next night, requesting the girl who preferred remaining faceless and voiceless, Ruby had acted quite strangely when she had been unable to make this same girl materialize a second time.
Had it been because it had been .. . Maria . . . ? Hadn't she already left for Saint Louis to wed Nathan Hawkins … ?
Maria's gaze lowered. “Yes. Ruby,” she said softly. When Michael touched her and pulled her to face him, she smiled even more sheepishly, lowering her lashes to protect the truth that was so evident in the depths of her dark eyes.
“You. It was you, Maria,” he said thickly. “You were the one with me at Ruby's that night. Damn. I should have known.” He paused, eyeing her closely. “But how? Why . . . ?”
“Alberto saw you there. He came home gloating to me about how poor you looked. How down on your luck you had become since you were dressed so shabbily, like a bum. When he told me you had been at Ruby's, I just had to seek you out.”
“But… to … ?”
“To be in that room? Waiting?”
“Yes.”
“It was Ruby's idea. She said that it would work. I was willing to do anything to get to be with you. But since I had already been made to agree to my marriage to Nathan for fear of what would happen to Papa and Alberto, I couldn't reveal myself to you. Don't you see?”
Michael's fingers worked through his hair. “But, how did you even .. . know . . . Ruby . . . ?”
“We met. One day when I was taking a walk. The first day I was in Hawkinsville, when I just had to get away from that terrible house near the mine.”
“God, Maria,” Michael said, wrapping his arms around her, pressing his nose into her hair. “My sweet Maria. God.”
“But, Michael, what I said about you being in danger? Nathan Hawkins even said that.. . he . .. was planning to kill you … if he discovered your true identity.”
“He said that?” Michael said, pulling away from her, his expression troubled.
“He even said there were ways … of … of .. . hiding bodies in his coal mine,” she stammered, finding the words hard to speak, envisioning Michael being dragged into the bowels of the earth … and … left
“Well, we'll see about that,” Michael stormed, beginning to pace the room. “I see now that we at the union have to move ahead with our plans. We don't have time to fool around any longer. But I have to have me an ally. I need someone who is a part of the mines to help me. I need someone to help spread the word of the retaliation I have been planning.”
“Michael,” Maria said, rushing to him, clasping onto a hand. “Please. It all sounds so dangerous. Can't you just quit whatever it is you are doing? Don't you see? Nathan Hawkins means business. It is his coal mine. He says that no one can tell him how to run it. Isn't he right? How can anyone tell him how to run his own coal mine?”
Michael took both of Maria's hands in his and squeezed them. “Maria, you know the way you and the rest of your Italian friends are forced to live. And you don't even know the half of it. You don't know the conditions of the coal mines. They are death traps. Even much worse than that ship that carried you from Italy. Men are in danger each and every day. And only because Nathan Hawkins refuses to run his coal mine with the proper safety equipment and standards. The members of the union are going to see to it that the Italians get better wages and better working conditions. It is the American way. Most businesses are moving toward the ways of the union. Nathan Hawkins has no choice but to do so also, or it will be he who will suffer in the long run. Trust me, Maria. We know what we are doing.”
“But you are in such danger. I know it.”
“You must remember. Your father and brother are in even more danger. Each and everyday of their lives. When they are lowered into that mine, they never know if they will be raised to the top again. It is as dangerous as that.”
Fear grabbed at Maria's heart. She had suspected as much, but just hadn't let the reality linger in her mind. She had known that her Papa and Alberto had no other choice but to work in the mines … or be sent back to Italy. “He is the devil,” she murmured, biting her lower lip. “The man I married is the devil. Oh, how I hate him.”
“So you see what I have to do is quite necessary,” Michael said, pulling her into his arms once again.
Fresh tears wet her cheeks. She now did n't only have Alberto and her Papa to worry about, but also her dearly beloved Michael. “Yes. I do,” she sobbed, wiping her tears with the back of a hand.
“Maria, I even plan to find a way of releasing Nathan Hawkins's hold on you. I cannot bear to think of that man's hands on your body. How it sickens me.”
“He is most unpleasant. . . in . . . bed,” she murmured, looking up into Michael's eyes, then breathed deeply as his lips lowered to hers, making her mind turn into colorful swirls. “Michael, I love you. Oh, how I love you,” she whispered, pulling his lips even closer, tangling her fingers into his hair. When he lifted her up into his arms, she rested her cheek against his chest, sighing leisurely. She knew what was to soon follow. Her thoughts of Nathan were no longer. He didn't even exist. There was only Michael.
“If Nathan awakens and finds you gone . . . ?” Michael said, placing her atop the bed, already working with the buttons of her dress.
“I shall say that I was restless. That I needed a breath of fresh air,” she murmured, reaching up, stroking his cheek with the back of a hand. “I had admired the river earlier. I will say I had a carriage take me to the levee so I could look down upon its peacefulness.”
She closed her eyes, tremoring as he succeeded at revealing her breasts to his eyes. When his mouth lowered to her and began to suckle on a nipple, as a baby might do, Maria could feel it swelling with warmth. She reached upward, squeezing, kneading her breast, urging it further into his mouth, realizing that a throbbing was beginning deep inside her womb, awak ening, desiring, yearning for his manhood to enter her. With her free hand, she unfastened the buttons of his breeches and slid them downward.
“Darling,” Michael whispered. “We must undress. Fully. I must caress every curve of your silken body. If not now, I might just explode.”
“Yes, Michael. Yes,” Maria sighed, moving from the bed. Unable to keep her eyes from him, she removed her clothes in haste. And when he bared his full flesh to her, her heartbeat became erratic, as she saw once again the broadness of his chest that was d
ecorated so with curly, blonde hair. His hips narrowed and now revealed his fully distended manhood, and he knew that his passion for her had fully crested.
“Maria,” Michael murmured, moving to her. His hands traced her body gently. “My Maria.” He lifted her onto the bed, then stretched out atop her, nudging her legs apart with a knee. He didn't enter her, though. He didn't want to end this moment together that quickly. He wanted to move slowly. He wanted to enjoy caressing her body. He knew that this might possibly be their last time together. He knew that Nathan Hawkins stood between them now, even dangerously so.
Maria squirmed, moaning with lustful pleasure. His hands held a strange magic in them. Each finger was a wand, and as they touched her, sensual sparks were ignited to travel across her skin, upward, settling around her heart, making it to race even more.
His lips sought hers out in a soft warmth, making exquisite pleasure surge through her body. She moved a leg around him, urging him closer. Then she let a hand move downward to wrap around his manhood and guided him inside her.
“Now, Michael. Please,” she cried. Her body ached for him. The tension and desire were mounting, making a slow, sweet pain begin deeply inside her. As he began to thrust, over and over again, she arched her back, meeting him. Then their bodies ignited, sending waves of rapture through them both.
Maria sighed languidly, now feeling so content and rapturous. She sought out his lips and pressed hers against them as his hands framed her face and let his manhood move inside her once again. “I love you, Michael,” she whispered, tracing his back with her hands, feeling the tautness of his muscles.
He continued to labor over her, kissing her still, first on the lashes, then nose, and down to the hollow of her throat. “There will never be anyone else for me, my darling,” he murmured, then kissed and nibbled a breast, making her moan anew.
“I could spend a night, a full night sharing this with you, Michael,” she panted, feeling the passionate desire racing through her once again. She wrapped both legs around him and closed her eyes to the spiral of colors that were flashing off and on inside her brain. He continued to press down inside her. . . deeper and deeper. .. .
“This can't, this won't be our last time together,” he said. He wanted to free her hair from its bondage, to pull his fingers through its softness, but he knew that to do so would cause her added stress when the time came to say goodbye, since she would have to work at it to-return it as it was when Nathan had last seen her. This wasn't the time to set Nathan Hawkins's mind to wondering about his new wife's possibly being in another man's bed.. ..
Thinking of Nathan Hawkins and Maria together made Michael thrust almost angrily inside Maria, causing her to let out a small cry, then together they climbed to the highest plateau of feeling until they both lay spent, panting, still clinging to one another.
“It's always so beautiful with you, Michael,” Maria purred, tracing his lips with a forefinger.
Michael's brows furrowed. “You should be set free from Nathan Hawkins's bonds.. . .” he said, then stopped when Maria covered her mouth with.a hand and gasped.
“Nathan,” she murmured, scampering from the bed. “I must return to Nathan.” Her face had paled. She began dressing, all the while wondering what Nathan would do if he discovered the truth about Michael and herself.
Michael rose from the bed and reached down to pull his breeches on. “If he so much as ever lays a hand on you, I'll kill the bastard,” he said icily. “Maybe I should anyway. Then all our problems would be solved. Just that quickly.”
Maria moved to him and placed her fingertips to his lips, sealing them. “Shh, Michael. Please don't talk of such violence. Things will work out. You'll see.”
Pulling her next to him, he studied her facial features, memorizing them. He knew that his dreams would be filled with only her. “You are so damn beautiful,” he whispered. He reached up and traced her birthmark, smiling amusedly. “Even your birthmark. It makes you even more unique, you know.”
Maria lowered her eyes. “You've never mentioned it before. I thought because you thought that thing of red was ugly.”
Michael's lips touched the birthmark ever so gently, then he ran his tongue over it. “Hmm. it not only looks like a strawberry. It even tastes like one. So sweet. So very, very sweet.”
Maria giggled, reaching up-to push his hps away. “That tickles,” she murmured. Then she grew serious. “You truly don't think it's ugly? Nathan said that it should be covered with a heavy makeup.”
Michael laughed hoarsely. “And what does he know? His scraggly face could use some of that makeup he speaks so freely of.” His face darkened with thoughts as he turned to walk away from Maria. He went to a window and pulled a drape aside, looking downward onto the nightlife of his great city of Saint Louis. Only recently the gaslights had begun to be replaced by electric, which lit the streets in a more cheerful fashion, encouraging shoppers to be less afraid of the city streets after night had come. And now, both women and men were strolling along, staring into the pane glass windows of the most elaborate shops.
Turning on his heel. Michael suddenly blurted. “How can you stand to let that man's lips … touch … you, Maria? How can you . . . ?”
Maria fastened the last button of her dress, then pulled her cape around her shoulders. “I have no choice, do I, Michael?” she whispered, then rushed to his arms and fell into them, sobbing weakly. “As I have no choice but to take my leave of you now, darling,” she whispered. She raised her lips to his and moaned as his crushed downward.
Then when he pulled away, he held her at arm's length. “When are you returning to Hawkinsville, Maria?” he asked, furrowing his brows.
“Early tomorrow morning.”
“I plan to be in Hawkinsville day after tomorrow,” he said. “Isn't there some place we can meet?”
Maria's eyes faltered. She was not yet familiar with Nathan's house, or his schedule of coming and going. She suddenly thought of Ruby. Could . . . they . . . ? But no. Too many eyes were there. She couldn't take that chance. “I don't know, Michael,” she finally said. “Maybe it's too .. . soon. .. .”
He held her shoulders more tightly. “No. It isn't,” he demanded. “By God, I will see you. Day after tomorrow. More than likely, Nathan will have business to’ attend to after being away, so you should be free to come and go as you please.”
“But. .. how . . . ? Where . . . ?”
“You're familiar with the iron bridge that leads from Hawkinsville to Nathan's estate and Ruby's house?”
Blushing, Maria's eyes lowered, remembering her night with Michael at Ruby's house. “Yes, I know.”
“We can meet near the grove of trees and hide in that deep Indian grass. Around noon. When everyone will be too busy to catch two lovers in the grass.”
Maria's pulsebeat raced. She gazed upward into his blue eyes and clung to him one more time, then pulled the hood of her cape over her head. “I will try to be there, Michael,” she said. “You know I will try.”
Michael walked with her to the door and opened it and kissed her briefly. “Be careful, darling,” he whis- pered, reaching a hand for her as she hurried on away from him. He watched until she disappeared down the staircase, then closed the door and leaned heavily against it. He hung his head, kneading his brow. “Damn that bastard Nathan Hawkins. Damn him all to hell“
Chapter Fourteen
Having just returned from Saint Louis, Maria was exhausted and glad when the carriage moved in front of Nathan's house. Her corset felt as though it had been laced too tightly and she was ready to shed her dress of London Smoke Cloth with its embroidered silk braid. She was anxious to change into one of her new skirts and shirtwaists. When she had tried them on at Nugent's, she had noticed that they felt quite a bit more comfortable than the fancier dresses chosen by Nathan.
She knew that she was a picture of style, in her hat with its egret plume and satin-faced brim. But all these changes had been thrust on her much too quickly.
She only wished to be simple again, to be the Maria her Papa and Alberto would know.
“Maria, I have many things to attend to in Creal Springs,” Nathan said, tipping his hat to her. “I may be gone for some time. Maybe even overnight. I have another house in Creal Springs where I can stay. If my meetings go too much into the late hours of the night, I shall stay there. Mama Pearl will see to your comforts.”
Maria's eyes widened. She placed a gloved hand to her throat. “You have another house? Besides this one?” she gasped. Was Nathan even wealthier than she had at first thought? This could cause Michael to have an even harder time succeeding with his plans for his union organization.
“Yes.-Someday I shall take you there. But now I must take leave of you. You appear to need a bit of rest anyway. You are a bit pale.” He reached in front of Maria and opened the door for her. “And your things should have arrived ahead of us. I saw to it that they were whisked from the train and taken to our house so you would be able to change into something more comfortable upon our arrival.”
“Thank you, Nathan,” Maria said, lifting her bead-covered clutch purse, scooting toward the opened door. She felt a bit in awe at hearing his house now being also referred to as hers. But it was indeed a truth. She was now Mrs. Nathan Hawkins. Oh, how that name caused a bitterness to rise in her throat.
Nathan lifted her free hand and kissed it almost gallantly. “You will be all right, Maria?” he asked.
“Yes. Quite,” she answered, pulling her hand free from his. Stepping from the carriage into the fading rays of the late afternoon sun, she moved toward the house, not stopping to look back at Nathan. It was such a relief to be away from him. How could she bear a lifetime with such a man?
A sense of remorse tremored through her, then she tensed when the shrill whistle from the coal mine reverberated through the air. It was a reminder of her Papa and Alberto. What would they think when they saw her so changed? Shame caused her face to burn. But surely they would understand. She had done it for them. For the whole Italian community. She would seek her revenge. Hadn't she already begun?
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