Wanton Splendor

by Bobbi Smith

  Christopher lowered her hips and kissed the inner sweetness of each thigh before covering her sated body with his. He slid easily within her depths and waited until Katie began to move.

  Murmuring her love to him, over and over, she wrapped her legs around his slim hips and let him have his way with her, glorying in his driving possession.

  It was long minutes later, as they lay in each other's arms that she remembered his injury.

  "Your shoulder!"

  "I didn't feel a thing," he grinned and she returned his smile.

  "You may not have, but I sure did."

  "You're a wanton, Katie Fletcher."

  "If I am, it's because you made me into one!" she teased.

  "Yes. And I'm loving every minute of it." He kissed her deeply.

  Dee heard the knock and, busy with dressing her son, just called out, "Come on in."

  She was expecting it to be George or possibly Katie, although Katie would have no reason to knock. Hurrying to fasten Jebediah's clothes before he squirmed away, Dee cast a hasty glance over her shoulder to see who it was.

  Christopher paused for a moment in the doorway until Dee looked his way.

  "I'm back Dee." His tone was solemn.

  Dee stopped what she was doing and turned to face him, allowing Jebediah to escape her restraining clutches.

  "Christopher..." She was so happy to see him but so forcefully reminded of Joel that her pain and her pleasure mixed and she started to cry.

  "Dee, I'm so sorry." He came to her and held her tenderly, his own eyes burning with the long suppressed grief he felt over Joel's death.

  Their embrace went on for long minutes as they sought solace from each other. While many had known Joel, only Christopher and Dee had been truly close to him. They had suffered with him and rejoiced with him and they had loved him. Finally, Dee composed herself and drew back to look at him.

  "Where's Katie? Have you seen her yet?"

  "She's with her father. I wanted to see you alone."

  "Thank you," Dee understood. "Did Katie tell you about that day?"

  "Just what was in her letter..."

  "It was terrible. He came chasin' after her up the front drive, and Joel, he didn't even have a gun..." Dee trembled as she related the horrors of that fatal morning.

  "You don't have to talk about it," Christopher hugged her again.

  "I need to," Dee explained. "It helps me remember what a good man Joel was."

  "He was that." He could still recall Joel's reaction to the injustices of the slave pens that first time he'd seen him. It seemed so long ago. "He was a very good man. I miss him, Dee."

  "I know. I do, too." Putting aside her sorrow, she worried at his arm. "What happened?"

  "The patrollers caught up with me in New Orleans, but Mark and Cherie got me out." He minimized his brush with death.

  "I'm so glad. Katie's been almost sick worryin' 'bout you this past week. We didn't know where you were or ever if you were safe."

  "I had to hide. But it's all over now."

  Dee's eyes darkened with concern as she moved to pick up Jebediah who was fussing on the bed. "You ain't plannin' on goin' back, are you?"

  "No. We're not going back," he answered firmly and Dee smiled tremulously.

  "Good."

  "I haven't talked it over with Katie yet, so I'm not sure where we're going. But wherever it is, Dee, you are going with us."

  "Thank you," she murmured, her words heartfelt.

  "I've got to get back to George's suite. He's arranged for a doctor to take a look at my shoulder, so I'd better be there when he shows up. I'll see you later this afternoon."

  As Dee watched him leave, she felt a sense of peace and contentment wash over her, soothing her pain and lightening the burden of her grief.

  The doctor carefully cut the bandage away from Christopher's shoulder and tossed them aside before examining the ugly-looking wound.

  "How long ago were you shot, Mr. Fletcher?"

  "It's been a little over a week."

  "You're healing nicely," he told him. "If you take it relatively easy for another week, you should be fine."

  "Good."

  Christopher sounded excited and the physician quickly slowed him down.

  "If you try to do too much, you're liable to break this bullet wound open again... and it takes longer to heal the second time around."

  Christopher frowned, accepting that he still had some healing to do.

  "However, if it doesn't hurt, you can leave your arm out of the sling, now."

  Brightening at the chance to at least look normal, Christopher flexed his bad arm. While there was a tinge of pain, the discomfort was not unbearable.

  "I think it'll be fine."

  "Well, you're done then," he told him as he finished rewrapping the wound. "I believe you'll find this small bandage a little easier to live with, too."

  "It feels better already," Christopher responded as he managed to pull on his own shirt for the first time since the shooting.

  "Good. I'll check back on you toward the end of the week."

  When the doctor had gone, Christopher finished dressing and walked out into the little sitting room to find George there alone.

  "Where did Katie go?" he was curious.

  "I sent her out with Mark to get you a change of clothes. From the looks of things, I take it you didn't get a chance to pack when you made your exit."

  "You're right," Christopher grinned.

  "How about a drink?"

  "Bourbon will do fine, thanks," he replied as George poured the liquor into two glasses.

  Handing Christopher his glass, George waved him to a chair and they both relaxed, savoring the smooth taste of the expensive whiskey.

  "I'm glad you're not going back," he said seriously. "For although Emil will, no doubt, be able to clear your name, I would still be concerned that the seeds of distrust had been planted. You might never really be safe there again."

  "I know. And I have other friends in the area whom I want to protect. If I returned, someone might decide to do a little more investigating and end up causing all kinds of trouble."

  George nodded. "How did you get involved in the Underground in the first place? I've always been fascinated by it, but I've never had the opportunity before to meet someone who was actually active in the movement."

  "You probably have met them, all right, it's just that nobody talks about it. The risks are too great."

  "But what encouraged you?"

  "I went to my first, and I hope my last, slave auction," Christopher would never forget the terror and heartbreak of that day under the blistering summer sun. "I bought Joel that day...he had been beaten and abused."

  "Who was his owner?"

  "Montard. In fact, I found out later that the reason he was being sold was because Andre wanted Dee."

  George was beginning to understand everything much more clearly. "So Andre got rid of Joel to have free access to his wife?"

  "Yes. Plus, Joel and Dee had tried to run...Dee couldn't tolerate the things Andre was doing to her and she wanted to get away from him."

  "No wonder they were so furious when you won Greenwood."

  Andre tried to send Dee away before we took possession, but luckily we got there in time."

  "Which only served to make Andre even more furious."

  "Right. And then there was Katie."

  "Katie?"

  "Andre was trying his best to win her, but she didn't want anything to do with him. From the way things turned out it seems he was almost obsessed with having her. And, if it hadn't been for Dee, he would have. I hate to think of what might have happened to them if Dee hadn't had sense enough to go for the gun." Christopher suppressed a shudder.

  "I'm glad things worked out as well as they did, although, I am sorry about Joel. Were you involved with the abolitionists before you bought him?"

  "No. We went North later so I could free him more easily and I got him a tutor so he could lear
n to read and write. But he didn't care much about all that, all he wanted to do was go back and free Dee and Jebediah," Christopher paused. "I made the necessary contacts. It took quite a while, because everyone was so suspicious, but eventually, we knew what we had to do and we headed back South."

  "Were you planning on using Greenwood as your base?

  "No. It was just luck that I won it in that poker game. Joel and I had originally planned to get Dee and Jebediah out on the Underground."

  "So, what will you do now?" George asked as the conversation lulled for a moment. "Have you made any plans at all for the future?"

  "No. I haven't thought much beyond today."

  "Do you need to work? I can get you a job with the Pacific, if you're interested."

  "Where are you building?"

  "We're heading west. The going is slow, but it's where the future is for this country."

  "I know. I don't think that the North and South can go on much longer without coming to violence. It's such a tense situation..." Christopher was torn between resuming his structured life in Philadelphia or heading west into the unexplored wilds of the Rockies.

  "You don't have to make any decisions right now. Take your time. But, remember, you'll always have a job with me if you need One."

  "Thank you."

  "Your father's offered me a job on the railroad," Christopher told her as they dressed for dinner that evening.

  Katie smiled at the thought. "What did you tell him?"

  "Nothing, really, just that we hadn't made up our minds about the future yet." When she didn't respond, he went on. "What would you like to do, Katie? Do you want to go to England? Or maybe the Continent? You name it. You know that money's not a problem."

  She looked at him affectionately. "I'm happy here. You don't need to take me to Europe."

  "All right, then, pick a city. I still own the family home in Philadelphia, so we could move back there if you like. Or..."

  "Christopher?" she interrupted him.

  "What?"

  "Are you sure that you're finished with your abolitionist work?"

  "Yes."

  "Is there any place that you particularly want to goT"

  "No.

  "Then I want to go west."

  "West?"

  "I had my fill of putting up with the dictates of society. I want to go where people accept you for what you are, not for what your family owns or doesn't own."

  "Do you want to stay with the railroad? I have no objections to doing some honest labor for a while." He smiled as he pictured himself toting the huge railroad ties and driving the spikes deep with sledgehammers.

  "We could try it just to see if you like it..."

  "All right. We'll do it."

  Katie hugged him excitedly. "Do you know, when we lived at Greenwood, I was so afraid that I'd never get back here..."

  He kissed her gently and pulled her close. Katie was wearing only her chemise and she wriggled her hips invitingly against him, stirring his blood.

  "I like the feel of both your arms around me," she said in a sexy voice, kissing his neck.

  "Katie!" he pushed her firmly away. "We're due to meet your father and Mark in ten minutes. You'd better get dressed."

  But Katie enjoyed playing the temptress and she embraced him from behind, rubbing her hard-tipped breasts against his back and slipping her hands inside the waist of his pants.

  "We could be a few minutes late, don't you think?" Katie sat down on the edge of the bed and gave him a heated look.

  "I guess they won't really worry about us right away. Will they?" he agreed.

  Katie gave a throaty chuckle as she realized her vic tory and she pulled off her shift in eager anticipation of his coming. Christopher quickly undressed himself and joined her on the soft mattress.

  "You know, beds are nice, but there was something so special about our night together on the beach..."

  "Ummmm," Katie agreed pulling his head down for a kiss. "Maybe we should forget about going west and find ourselves a desert island somewhere."

  "I think I've had my fill of islands for a while," he told her wryly.

  "I can't imagine why," she teased.

  "I think it was the weather," he murmured before kissing her again.

  Christopher took her quickly then in a rush of unexpected passion that swept them both along like wildfire and left them breathless and sated in its aftermath.

  George had arranged for dinner to be served in his suite and he was waiting with Mark, Dee and Jebediah when Katie and Christopher finally made their appearance.

  "Glad you could make it," Mark teased Katie in a low voice and she blushed guiltily. Then turning to Christopher he said, "I've been trying to come up with the best idea of what to do with Greenwood's slaves."

  "Have you hit upon anything yet?"

  "Father has made a sensible offer that sounds good to me, but I wanted to know what you think about it."

  "What?"

  "He's offered to give any freed man a job with the railroad if they are willing to work for wages."

  "Good. Present the offer to them, and then make arrangements for the ones who are interested to be shipped to the camp."

  "I'll take care of it as soon as I get back."

  "Well, that's one major problem solved." Christopher was relieved that they had figured out a workable solution so easily. "And, George?"

  "Yes?"

  "I think Katie's got something she wants to tell you."

  "Katie?" he looked at his daughter.

  "Christopher and I have decided to go with you. Christopher will take the job with the railroad."

  George beamed his pleasure. "That's wonderful! I hate to admit it, but it's been damned lonely in camp since you two left."

  "I've missed you too, Papa. But I have to admit in the beginning I was really angry with you for making me go...And then when Mark got into the fight on the boat..."

  "Mark? You didn't tell me about any fight."

  "That happened a long time ago and..."

  "And, besides, he lost!" Katie teased.

  "To whom?"

  "Christopher," Katie answered, laughing.

  George looked at Christopher with open admiration, but Mark took advantage of Katie's omission.

  "Just ask Katie what happened next!" Mark egged him on.

  "Katie?" George raised an eyebrow and Katie blushed. "What did you do?"

  "Well," she hedged. "Well, I defended my poor little brother from this big bully," Katie gave Christopher a smiling glance.

  "She hit me, George. She blackened my eye," Christopher added cheerfully.

  "Katie! I thought I told you to behave yourself on this trip," he scolded lovingly.

  "I was, but when I saw Mark get knocked out, I lost my temper," she defended her own actions.

  "Besides, George, if she'd behaved herself, we would never have met," Christopher put in candidly.

  "That's true," he agreed. "I suppose everything always does work out for the best." Looking over at Dee, he drew her into the conversation. "Will you have any objections to living in a camp, Dee? I know it will be a little rough with Jebediah, but I think you'll do well."

  "Ah'm lookin' forward to it," she said enthusiastically. "Ah'm beginning a whole new life."

  "And it'll be a better one, I assure you," Christopher told her earnestly.

  "Ah know. For me and my baby..."

  When the supper had ended, everyone retired for the night, exhausted from the long excitement of the day.

  Hours later, Christopher and Katie lay close together, enjoying the peace after having shared passion's delight.

  "Do you know that the whole time you were missing, I was jealous of Dee?" Katie confided.

  "Why?„

  "Because she had Jebediah. I wanted your baby so badly..."

  "You'd like to have a child so soon?" He was surprised.

  "A baby would be the most perfect gift I could give you."

  "Give us," he corrected,
liking the idea of starting a family.

  "Us," she smiled and her eyes were luminous with her love for him.

  Lifting herself over him, she kissed him deeply.

  "I've heard," he grinned mischievously, when the kiss ended. "That it takes a lot of practice to get it right."

  "What?" Katie was confused by his statement.

  "Making babies, of course," he replied, gazing at her warmly. "Would you like to start?"

  "I'd love to," she told him and met him in a wanton embrace, eager to share in the wonder of his love once again.

  In December of last year we lost our home to a fire. Luckily no one was injured, but that was only because we had a working smoke alarm. Please, if you don't have one, get one. If you do have one, check your batteries. It's a matter of life and death.

  Thanks,

  Bobbi