The Yankee Gentleman and His Southern Belle

by Tammy Lynn

  Kitten had tears in her eyes at the love she felt him speak of. So much so that when she put the diary down she could almost imagine the pain they were in when he left. Her cell phone rang as she readied for bed and instinctively she knew who it was. “EJ.” Kitten almost purred his name as she lay back on the bed, against the pillow she had leaning against the ornate headboard that had been passed down through generations.

  “Hey. I haven’t seen you in a couple of days, and wanted to say good-night, but also wanted to know why you’re avoiding me.” EJ stood in the middle of the room angry for some strange reason. Knowing exactly why she avoided him, but still wanting to know the answer.

  “You know why I’m avoiding you. You know why we can’t be together for too long. I’m not chancing it anymore.” Kitten’s breathing hitched just a tad when she heard his indrawn breath. “You don’t even have to be in the same room with me, but I know that you see the same things, feel the same things as I do, even just a thought connects the both of us right now, right?” Kitten had a surge of desire right then, so deep, so powerful, that it knocked the breath right out of her.

  “Right now you are laying there, remembering how it was between us, knowing that you want me so much, you’d give anything to have it back again for a second.”

  Kitten caught her breath again. “EJ, it’s not fair the way you can make me want you with just a voice or a look. You don’t know how I would love to just ask you to come to me. How much I want to come to you. There’s a fine line between flirting and sexual torture and it was crossed the day you and I made love. Anytime I see you or think about you, it’s sexual torture. What I want you to do to me, how I know it will make me feel, and God, how I want to feel that way again. I would love to be able to smile at you and wink and pretend I was flirting, like I have done for years, but you and I both know that it can never be. The smallest amount of flirting will have me or you flat on our backs, naked, with nothing between us but a thin slice of air, if even that.” Kitten stopped at just the image and cursed in her mind and then again when she heard him laugh. “Good-night EJ.”

  Kitten hung up the phone before she could hear the deep voice bidding her good-night also, but that didn’t banish the voice from her mind. Although the nightmares didn’t strike often, the sexual dreams did. Almost every night it was EJ and her in her dreams. Not only could she see them explicitly, but she could feel too. His hands running over her body, his lips kissing the same path that his hands took. Work roughened fingers giving her goose bumps and making the excitement become even more painful waiting for the consummation of their act of love. Right before the act took place, Kitten always woke up. Tonight was no different. Sweat slick body hampered by a sheet that was wound around her, aching, longing for release. She knew she could do it herself, but refused.

  Kitten knew that it wouldn’t help, but only intensify the longing for the real thing, so she went ahead, stripped down, standing by the window to catch a breeze. She didn’t see the male figure out by where the fence line used to be. Where the moonlight caught the reflection of a nude silhouette against the blowing gauzy curtain and that male gasped in at the spectacular sight before him.

  Closing his eyes, he knew he would never see a sight like that again. When Kitten raised her hands above her head to stretch her body he knew he was in serious trouble, and didn’t try to stop the desire that pooled in his stomach. Consequences be damned, he thought. Out of respect for Kitten, he raised the phone and punched in the speed dial button to her phone. Before she could answer he growled, “I’m giving you fair warning to back away from the window and lock the door because in less than thirty seconds I will be inside your room and inside you.”

  Kitten didn’t move for a second and EJ thought she would stand where she was. It was a good fifteen seconds before she moved and answered, a husky voice, with a trace of laughter. “How are you gonna check that door if you’re standing under my window?”

  EJ knew without a shred of doubt that the door was locked, but couldn’t stop himself from checking it a few minutes later, shocked to find it open. Standing inside her doorway he let his eyes adjust to the dim light from the moon coming through the window.

  Kitten’s aroused voice made his eyes unerringly go straight to her bed. “Come and get me if you want me.”

  EJ walked to her bed, stripping off his clothes, anticipating the moment his flesh would be in contact with hers. He knelt on the bed and just as his lips touched hers, he awoke, aroused as never before and wanting so bad to hold her. Hearing the ring of his phone, he picked it up to his ear, muttering an angry, “H’lo”

  A laughing ladies’ voice on the other end made his arousal even harder to get under control. “Got the same problem as me, huh? Sweet dreams, baby.” He heard the laughter as the phone went dead.

  Chapter Eight How EJ managed to go back to sleep he never knew, but woke out of sorts the next morning.

  Kitten, as usual, was nowhere to be found and Lissa’s explanation that she was “out” didn’t make him like it either. He didn’t know why he felt this way. He had just finished up the last interior wall in the kitchen with drywall when he heard the screams. EJ dropped the tools he had and ran out through the roughed in kitchen door. With fear in his throat and a sick feeling in his gut, he ran toward the source of the screams. Kitten was standing in the middle of the sunflower field. “Why on Earth are you screaming?”

  Kitten looked up and saw EJ. She was lucky she was so near the house instead of out in the middle of the 300 north acres where she was going to go. “I’m in a nest of canebrakes. If I try and get out, they will strike. Living in Maine you know the toxicity of them. They usually live in the cane fields, or in forests, but once in a while I find them here. There’s at least 7 or 8 of them. EJ, you need to get me out of here!”

  EJ looked at the real terror in her face. “Are you kidding? Canebrakes? If this is a joke, so help me.”

  “Dammit, EJ, I’m not joking. If you listen you can hear the rattling. Get me out of here, now!”

  EJ knew at that moment she wasn’t kidding around. “Hang on baby. I’ll get you out.” He jumped the fence and walked toward the tractor she had been on. He heard the rattles going off and went around to the other side slowly as not to disturb them.

  “What are you going to do?”

  EJ honestly didn’t know until he saw her standing in the middle of the canebrakes. “I’m grabbing your wrist to steady you. I want you to slowly, very slowly put one foot on the tire, and then on the count of three I’ll pull and I want you to get up as fast as you can.”

  Kitten looked at him. Was he serious? It sounded like some sort of movie stunt that she knew was going to go horribly bad.

  “Are you ready?”

  Kitten shook her head and looked him square in the eye. “I know that there has only been one death by canebrakes, but it’s serious. Before you do this, call Doc and tell him what’s going on and we might need the CroFab antivenin.” Kitten rattled off the number. She saw the snakes doing their warning dance of rattling and feinting. She heard EJ curse and hang up.

  “He doesn’t have any, they haven’t had a need for it. The nearest one that has anything is Concord at their EMT station which is about 40 minutes away. If we call for it now, to be put on standby they can helo it in. It’s up to you.”

  Kitten thought about the possibilities. On one hand, she gets bit, needs antivenin, waits for helo, can go into cardiac arrest, on the other hand, she gets a dry strike and can clean it up herself with soap and water, and the other possibility, nothing happens and she’s back on her tractor and ends up either killing every snake there is there, or calling back Doc so he can get out here with his son and get the bothersome snakes. “Call them up. I’d rather be safe.”

  EJ made the call and looked down at the snakes who were starting to calm down a little. Maybe waiting a while would calm them even more.

  “I know what you’re thinking EJ, and I’m not standing here any longer.
Get me out of here.”

  EJ made the call and when he hung up he looked at Kitten. “Just in case, you know, just know that I’d do anything for you. I love you, Kitten.”

  She looked at his face, saw the fear, the desperation, and the love in his eyes. “I love you, too. If anything does happen, tell Mama I loved her and find a way to keep Tara going. Promise me.”

  EJ saw the stark terror on her face and promised her. “Give me your hand, baby.” EJ locked his hand around her wrist and nodded.

  She slowly lifted her foot to the top of the hub, which made the snakes go a little crazy for a second. One struck, but missed her raised foot. “Oh God, I’m not making it out of here alive EJ.”

  EJ looked down and saw the canebrakes get into a tighter nest of coils, almost right on her boots. “On the count of three, the foot on the ground goes to the top of the tire. Do you understand?” Kitten nodded, praying that this was going to work. “One…..two….three!” EJ jerked as he said the final number and she pulled her foot up to the top of the tire almost without the snakes knowing she was gone. The one canebrake that was on her boot attached itself with a massive strike. Knowing their fangs were the longest out of any of the snakes, he knew she was struck. EJ pulled her on the tractor and kicked the still attached snake off her boot.

  Getting the tractor to the edge of the fence and Kitten onto the driveway was a chore in itself as she was trying to see if she had been bit. When she finally reached the ground, ripped her boots off, she saw the telltale sign of blood running down her leg. “Oh, God, EJ, call them back. I’ve been struck.”

  EJ hurriedly called Doc, who made the call to Concord EMT. “Get her to the clinic in town, they’ll meet you there in less than twenty.” Kitten’s eyes rolled to the back of her head as she passed out, EJ catching her before she hit the ground. “Avery, Randall!” EJ called to the guys he knew were somewhere by the house. They came running hard when they saw Kitten laying on the ground. “Help me get her to the SUV, backseat. Try not to move her much. She was struck by a canebrake.” The two men held her steady while EJ opened the door and helped pull her in. He knew he was going to jostle her going down the half mile dirt drive, but he couldn’t help it.

  Less than ten minutes she was in the clinic, her pants cut off and the bite washed out. A blue marker was brought out to circle the bites to see if the redness or swelling would extend beyond what was already there. Within the next five minutes a Concord EMT worker rushed down the hall with the antivenin kit. A doctor met him in Kitten’s room and saw the bite.

  “This is the newest antivenin, with sheep enzymes, makes it easier to get out of the system than others. Since this bite was from a canebrake rattlesnake, it’s a neurotoxin and can affect the spinal cord or the brain. I want to get this administered as soon as possible.” Within a minute or two, it was injected into Kitten’s vein. “Now, gentleman, it’s a waiting game.”

  EJ took a seat beside the bed, holding her hand, not wanting to be let go. Doc came in and offered to fill out the paperwork since EJ didn’t know all the details. To be on the safe side of things he told Doc to sit with Kitten while he made a few calls. The phone rang a few times until it was finally picked up. “Jaret, here.” “Dad, it’s EJ. Is Miss Alysia with you right now?”

  “No, son, she’s with Candra actually, why?”

  “It’s not good Dad. You’ve heard of canebrake rattlers, right?”

  After Jaret acknowledged he did, EJ went on, “Kitten was in a nest in the sunflowers. I got her out, but not before she was struck. They’ve administered CroFab, a new kind of antivenin, with sheep enzymes that get out of the system faster. They’re watching her right now. Tell Miss Alysia that I’ll keep in touch. And what is she doing with Candra?”

  Jaret laughed. “She wanted to meet her. I took her over there and told Candra I was going to marry Miss Alysia as soon as I get back to Albemarle. I’ve waited sixty years, I’m not waiting any more.” At that moment he heard his name being called over the PA system. “Gotta go Dad, they’re paging me.” EJ ran into Kitten’s room and saw her eyes open. “Is she okay?”

  One of the clinic nurses was writing something on paper. “Her heart rate is a bit fast, her pulse a little high, but so far everything is okay. She wanted you.”

  While Doc went out and talked to the EMT’s that brought the antivenin, EJ sat on the chair and took Kitten’s hand. “You can’t leave me Kitten. You need to fight this.” Looking at the lady laying in the bed with her face as pale as the sheet she was half covered with.

  “EJ, I’m not feeling too good. I’m going to be sick.” Kitten covered her mouth and lay back to try and ward off the sickness, closing her eyes in the process.

  EJ went and called in a nurse who brought in a bag for her if she continued to be sick. Hour after hour went by, a doctor or a nurse measuring the bite marks and smiling bigger and bigger each time as they saw the swelling go down. While Kitten slept, EJ continued to stare at her. How was he going to be able to say good-bye? He loved her so much. He understood how his dad felt all those years ago when he’d talk about Miss Alysia. Remembering how his dad said he needed to go home one night and he had tears in his eyes. He didn’t know that Jaret had meant Miss Alysia as home.

  Kitten slowly woke up and looked at EJ. “Am I going to survive?”

  EJ laughed and hugged her close. “Yes, baby. You’re going to survive.” Hours later as they finally signed her release papers and was told to take it easy, EJ held her close in the SUV and kissed her. “I thought I was going to lose you. I won’t and can’t let that happen.”

  During the ride home Kitten thought about that remark. She fell asleep still thinking about it and as EJ pulled into the long drive and finally to the front door, she still didn’t understand his remark. She went to get out, but his hand on her arm stopped her.

  He carried her to her room, undressed her out of her clothes and put on the nightgown that was laying on the bed before picking her up and laying her back down. “Rest, love. I’ll be here in a few minutes. I want to check on a few things and I’ll be back.” He went down stairs and realized the power was back on, finally. He phoned Avery and Randall and told them she would be fine, called Jaret back and told him the news and then phoned Candra, telling her everything.

  Candra also caught something in his voice and brought it to his attention. “EJ, I know you’re in love with her, and I have a simple question. Are you coming back home or are you staying with her?”

  EJ didn’t have to think, he already knew the answer to that. “As much as it will hurt me to tell her good-bye, my life is with you. Candra, I didn’t want to fall in love with her. My history with her has been written about for over a hundred years and will continue to haunt the Chambers women and the Chamberlain men. You read Josh’s, Elijah’s, and Jaret’s accounts of meeting the Chambers’ women and they all have the same effect as soon as they see the other. It’s a deep abiding love right at the start that doesn’t go away through time, only intensifies, but we also have a deep love for the women we married. There is room for two loves in one life. I never thought I would ever say that, but there is.” EJ looked around the kitchen as he talked to his wife.