Bradford shook his head. “He was holding it when we arrived here, and neither the doctor nor I have been able to take it from him. It must have some significance I’m unaware of.”
“We are greatly in your debt,” Jack said.
“Only Mrs. Sullivan owes me. The favor was for her and her alone.”
“Allow me to see you out,” Constance said.
“Safe travels, sir.” Jack nodded to Bradford.
“Give my regards to Mr. Ashfield when he wakes.”
***
“How would you have me repay this debt?” Constance asked Randall when they’d closed the bedroom door behind them.
“By giving me a chance.”
“At what?”
“Winning your hand when the war is over. I ask that we might start over, not as enemies, but—”
“I do not consider you my enemy. You saved Mr. Ashfield’s life when you had no reason—”
“I had great reason,” Randall said. “His life was important to you.”
“Thank you.”
He bowed. “You are most welcome. Will you do as I ask?”
“Allow you to court me when the war ends?”
“Yes.”
They’d both lied to one another, used one another, and yet, she loved him still. “Yes, I will grant your wish. I would grant you more right now if you asked.”
“No, I was quite truthful when I said I want you under honest and upright terms.”
“Randall—”
He shook his head.
She rose and gave him a chaste kiss. “Must you go?”
“I must.”
She fought the tears that stung the backs of her eyes. “Keep yourself safe.”
“I will endeavor to do so. I have much to live for.”
“Yes, you do.”
She leaned against the door after he left and let the tears spill over.
***
Jack sank onto the edge of Eli’s bed and studied his splinted hand, wondering how extensive the damage was. At least it was his left hand and he would still be able to write. He took Eli’s good hand in his, lifted it to his mouth, and kissed it. “I’m so sorry. I thought you’d be safe in the city. I should never have left.”
Eli moaned and stirred a bit.
Jack laid a hand on his forehead. He was burning up with fever. “Stay strong, Eli. I don’t want to lose you.”
The first tear landed on Eli’s hand. Jack stared at it as it was joined by others, some hitting the sheets, some his own hand. He’d told himself he wouldn’t cry, but he couldn’t hold his emotions inside anymore. If he lost Eli… If the last words he said to him were in anger…
He heard Constance return, but he didn’t move. She laid a hand on his back. “We’re going to make sure he gets well.”
“The doctor said—”
“The doctor doesn’t know what a fighter Eli is.”
“But—”
“If he managed to walk to Major Bradford’s carriage sick and injured like this, then he has something he wants to live for.”
Jack prayed she was right.
“I need to ride into town,” Constance said. “Mrs. Stephens needs to be informed of Mr. Ashfield’s condition and my success with Washington.”
Jack didn’t want to leave Eli, but he shouldn’t let Constance travel on her own. “Can you give me just a moment before we leave?”
“Stay with him.”
“You cannot make the journey alone.”
“Eli needs you,” Constance insisted. “The servants who accompanied me to Washington’s camp have arrived. They will go with me.”
“I doubt Eli will even want to see me when he wakes.” If he wakes.
Constance frowned at him. “Eli loves you as much as you do him. How can you not see that?”
“When I was last in New York, we argued, viciously. I said things to him that I didn’t mean; horrible things.”
“I’m sure you did. The man can be so provoking, but—”
“I was far worse.” It sickened Jack to think of what he’d said.
“All the more reason to be here. You can apologize when he wakes.”
Jack was still hesitant. “Are you certain you have an adequate escort?”
“Yes. I will return in a day or two.”
“Thank you for saving him.”
Constance laid her hand over Jack’s. “I would never leave a friend to a man like Stephens, not while I had breath in me to act.”
“Bradford’s a good man. The king’s soldiers aren’t all bad any more than we are all good.”
Constance smiled. “He said much the same thing.”
“I hope that you can…”
“I’m not giving up on him if that’s what you’re worried about.”
Jack was relieved to hear it. At least one of their number should have a chance at love. “I’m glad.”
“Take care of Eli.”
“I shan’t leave his side.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Eli squinted against the sun. Why did it hurt his eyes so? When he finally attempted to open them, he realized he wasn’t in his bedroom, nor the bedroom where he sometimes stayed at Constance’s house. How drunk had he been the night before? His whole body ached, and it was hard to breathe. What the fuck had he done?
“Eli?”
No. Not Jack. Jack was… Where? Not here.
“Eli, can you hear me?”
“I can see you too,” Eli mumbled. “Must be dreaming.” He closed his eyes again.
“Eli, please stay awake. Tell me you recognize me.”
“Jack?”
“I’m here,” Jack said. He squeezed Eli’s hand.
He tried to sit up, but it hurt too much.
“Don’t. You need to stay still.”
Eli blinked a few times. Jack’s hand was warm against his. He was so very cold.
“Where am I? Why are you here?”
“What do you remember?”
Eli tried to sit up again, and pain shot through his chest.
“Please don’t. You have several broken ribs.”
“Broken?”
“They’ll heal. You’ve been unconscious for days. I started to doubt you’d wake. Then your fever broke this morning, and now…”
Jack’s voice caught on the last word.
“Days? You’ve been here all that time?”
“Yes.”
Eli closed his eyes and remembered. Pain. Water. Dying.
“Stephens captured me.”
Jack brushed the hair from his forehead, and his touch warmed Eli.
“It’s best if you don’t remember. I’m so sorry I wasn’t here.”
Eli shook his head and then regretted it when pain echoed through his body. “It’s not your fault.”
“I left you on your own.”
“You did what was necessary.”
Jack sighed. “I did what was easy.”
Eli looked at him, and he held Eli’s gaze. Maybe Jack really wouldn’t walk away this time.
“Did Bradford really rescue me, or did I dream that?”
“He did, as a favor to Constance.”
“Where are we?”
“North of the city in a house Constance owns.”
More questions crowded his mind. “Where is Stephens?”
“Dead.”
“Bradford killed him?”
“Yes, though I wish it had been me,” Jack said.
Another horrible memory had him trying to sit up again.
“Stop. You’re going to hurt yourself,” Jack admonished.
“My shop?” He gasped, the pain in his ribs making it hard to breathe.
“Constance sent word a few days ago that Bradford had General Howe himself order the return of everything Stephens took from the store. Billy has been working to repair damages, which were minor.”
“So I won’t be charged with treason?”
“No,” Jack assured him. “The official word is that it was all a misunderstanding.�
�
“Quite.” Eli winced when he tried to laugh. “How does Bradford have that kind of sway with Howe?”
“He introduced Howe to Mrs. Loring.”
“Ah, that would do it.” Mrs. Loring had been Howe’s mistress since he settled in the city. “Is Mrs. Stephens safe? Did she leave town?”
“Thanks to Constance’s efforts, she’s back home, pretending to mourn her beast of a husband and readying herself to start a new life.”
How had so much been accomplished so quickly? “How long have I been here?”
“A week.”
Eli couldn’t have lost that many days. “Truly?”
“Your fever was quite high, and you were rarely conscious. It was all we could do to give you a little water.”
Before Eli could think more about the length of his illness, he remembered something else vital. “Howe intends to set a trap for Washington. We must get word to him.”
“Mrs. Stephens passed the information to Constance, who told Washington in person. You saved the army.”
Eli had done nothing but endanger everyone. “I deserve no credit.”
“If you hadn’t recruited Mrs. Stephens, you would never have found the information we needed.”
Eli took a long, slow breath. With no more pressing questions to ask, it was time to say what he’d been thinking since he’d accepted that Jack was actually there. “Jack…”
“I know how you won Mrs. Stephens’ confidence. I never expected you to—”
“I love you.”
Jack gaped at him. “Eli, you’ve been injured. You almost died. This isn’t—”
Eli would not let him dismiss that. “I knew after you left the first time, and then—”
“Don’t. I treated you dreadfully. It makes me ill to think of it.”
“I’m hardly proud of how I acted.”
Silence lengthened between them. Eli felt as though someone had stuffed cotton in his head. He couldn’t think clearly.
“What’s this?” Jack asked, fingering the material Eli held in his right hand. “You wouldn’t let anyone take it from you.”
Heat rushed to Eli’s face. What choice did he have but to confess? “It’s your cravat. The one you tied around my hand when I injured it.”
“Y-you still have it?”
“I kept it with me.” What must Jack think of him?
“Oh, Eli, I—”
Eli saw tears welling up in Jack’s eyes.
Before he could say more, the door creaked, and Constance stepped into the room. “How is— Eli, you’re awake!”
She ran for the bed and embraced him as Jack turned away and swiped at his eyes.
Eli gasped when Constance put pressure on his sore hand.
She jerked back. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“It’s of no consequence. You saved my life.” Eli reached out and took her hand. “And more importantly, Washington knows Howe’s plans.”
“I hated leaving the city before you’d been found.”
“You did the right thing, but how did you enlist Bradford? Had you turned him without telling us?”
Constance blushed fiercely. “No, not exactly.”
“Constance?” Jack was now watching her closely. “There’s more than what you told me, isn’t there?”
She nodded. “Major Bradford had complained to me about General Howe’s lack of energy for anything but gaming and bedding Mrs. Loring, about colonial officers receiving less pay and less respect. I knew he was discontent, but I had no proof he wouldn’t arrest me when I went to him.”
Jack blew out a harsh breath. “That was a hell of a risk.”
“I didn’t have anyone else to turn to, not anyone with a real chance of saving Eli.”
“Stephens kept asking about you,” Eli said. “He ordered me to tell him where you’d gone after you left town.”
“And when you didn’t tell him, he beat you,” Jack said.
“How do you know I didn’t tell?”
Jack stared at Eli like he’d lost all sense. “Because I know you. If Stephens weren’t already dead, I’d kill him myself.”
Constance smiled at Eli, and he knew she believed things would heal between him and Jack. He wasn’t convinced Jack would ever bend that far.
Then why is he here now?
Washington probably sent him to question me and Constance.
“What happened when you asked Bradford for help?” Jack asked.
“I discovered he already knew who you were.”
“What?” Jack’s eyes widened. “How?”
“He’s a spy.”
“So he’s on our side?” Eli asked.
“No, he’s a spy for the British. He’s been watching Jack.”
“Dear God,” Jack said. “What will happen now?”
“Nothing. We will go on with our work. He will go on with his. None of us will tell what we know.”
“But… Why?” Jack asked.
“Because he…loves…Constance.” Eli could barely get the words out. His tongue had grown thick, and his eyes were too heavy to keep open.
“Eli, are you all right?” Jack asked.
He nodded, or at least he thought he did. “Tired and…a little out of it.”
“We’ve been giving you laudanum to help you sleep,” Jack said.
Constance rose. “We should go so Eli can rest.”
Jack moved to follow her.
“Don’t go.” Eli hoped he didn’t sound as desperate as he feared.
“It’s best,” Jack said. “You need to rest.”
Eli didn’t want to rest. He wanted to hold Jack against him. Fantasies of what he wanted rolled in his head. Then his eyes closed as he fell into his obscene thoughts and slept.
***
When Eli woke, he no longer felt as groggy as he had before. Someone took his hand, and he opened his eyes. Jack was sitting on the side of the bed. “You’re still here?”
He nodded. “I won’t leave without telling you.”
But he would leave. “You have to go back to the army.”
“Not yet. I’m on leave for a few days.”
Eli didn’t know what to say then. A few days wasn’t much. He doubted he’d be out of bed before then.
“There’s a tray here. Are you hungry?”
Eli started to say no. Then he realized that despite being anxious about where things stood with Jack, he was starving. “Yes. Very.”
“That’s a good sign.” Jack handed him a cup. “This is broth. Go slow. You’ve hardly eaten in days.”
Eli took a few careful sips. Then Jack took the cup and set it on the tray. “Would you like a roll?”
Eli nodded.
Jack watched him intently as he took a bite, and heat crept into his face.
“I could help you sit up more,” Jack said. “You might be able to eat more easily.”
“Please.”
Jack wrapped an arm around him and lifted him. Eli gasped as pain sliced through his chest. Jack quickly stuffed pillows behind him, and he lay back, out of breath. “I can’t believe it’s so tiring just to sit.”
“It’s going to take you a while to recover. Your injuries were… I’m just glad you’re alive.”
Eli fought the memories that came when he thought of Stephens. “Thank you for helping me. I never thought you’d be…that you would…”
“I want to take care of you, Eli. I thought you understood that.”
“No. I thought you wanted to be far away from me.”
“I never…” Jack rose and walked to the window. He stared out at the hills. “I thought I had to leave to protect you.”
Eli rolled to his side and levered himself up. When he stood, the room spun, and he had to grab the bedpost.
You can do this.
He took a step. Were his legs now made of lead?
Jack turned around. “What the hell are you doing?”
Eli knew he’d made a mistake getting up, but now he was too f
ar from the bed to reach it easily. Dizziness assailed him, but then Jack was there, wrapping an arm around him.
“Why did you stay with me?” Eli’s voice cracked on the words.
Jack held him close. “I love you.”
Tears ran down Eli’s cheeks. “When Bradford found me, I was ready to give up. He told me to focus on the thing I most wanted to live for. That was you, Jack.” Eli needed to lie down, but he wasn’t about to let go of Jack when he was right here, finally admitting what he felt.
JACK HADN’T DARED consider that Eli still cared for him that much, that thoughts of him could keep Eli alive. Eli swayed on his feet, and Jack pulled back enough to look down at him.
When he saw the smile on Eli’s face, he couldn’t help himself. He kissed the man he loved, and Eli returned the kiss with more fervor than Jack expected. He groaned against the softness of Eli’s lips, realizing how much he’d missed Eli’s mix of aggression, tenderness, and desperation.
“Tell me if I hurt you,” he murmured when they stopped for air.
“Everything hurts right now,” Eli said. “I don’t care.”
“We need to get you back to bed.”
“Lie down with me. Please,” Eli begged.
Eli was trying to seduce Jack when he hadn’t the strength to stand on his own? “You’re not in any shape to—”
“Just hold me.”
Jack helped Eli lie back against the pillows.
“First I must make sure the door is locked.” Was he really considering climbing into bed with Eli?
Yes, he was.
Jack slipped under the covers and very gently pulled Eli against him, turning onto his back so Eli could rest his head in the crook of Jack’s arm.
“I missed you so much,” Eli said.
“I missed you too. I was going to come see you. When I rode back into headquarters, Constance was there. But I’d already intended to beg a few days leave and find a way into the city so I could apologize.”
“Really?”
Jack nodded. He was hit with a wave of emotion so strong he felt it like a blow. “You. Almost. Died.”
“I wanted to when Stephens had me. He refused me water. I thought he’d leave me there to die, and I wanted to be put out of my misery. Then I realized I couldn’t die because I loved you, and I’d never told you. Please don’t walk away again.”
“I won’t walk away from us, but I can’t resign from the army. I’ve made a promise to keep fighting.”
Revolutionary Temptation Page 22
