“I intend to.” He carried her across the tent. She swept the curtain out of the way, and he laid her on the bed. “Did you know you curled up beside me while you slept?” he asked, crawling in beside her.
“I dreamed you pulled me into your arms while I slept.”
“Did I?” he asked, pulling her into his arms.
“And then you ran your hands up my legs,” she whispered.
“Like this?” He slipped his hand under her gown and slid it up to her hip. “Then what?”
“Then I woke up.” Her voice was breathless.
He sighed. “Too bad. I was hoping to be your dream come true.”
“You are.” She brought her hands up between them and unbuttoned his shirt. “You really love me?”
“Don’t ever doubt it.” It was dark and he wanted to see her, but he contented himself with letting his hands explore her body. He had seen her once before and remembered every detail. In a moment she was pushing his shirt off his shoulders, and he was tugging at her gown. They traded chores and tossed all their clothes aside.
She seemed as curious as he and let her fingers trail over his back, his ribs and lower. She found his swollen member, her touch easing his longing and tightening the tension at the same time.
“Do you like me to touch you?” she asked.
“Yes,” he managed. He fondled a soft breast, feeling the nipple harden, trying to control the desire that was increasing rapidly with her touch.
She groaned and he echoed the sentiment. He wanted to plunge deep inside her. But he needed to be sure she was ready. He gently pulled her hand away. “We need to slow down a little,” he said.
“Was I doing it wrong?”
The worry in her tone made him chuckle. “You were doing it too well. I want you to catch up.”
He lowered his head and brought the peaked nipple into his mouth. She threw her arms back against the mattress and moaned. He lavished equal attention on the other breast while she arched against him.
When he was sure she was ready, he trailed his fingers down her belly. He stroked her curls for a moment before he sought entrance. He found her hot and wet
She gasped at the intimate intrusion, and he took her lips in a hungry kiss. He urged her legs apart and settled over her. “Trust me?” he whispered in her ear.
She didn’t answer but her arms wrapped around his neck and she clung to him. He eased into her, struck the barrier, and fought for control.
“Clark?” she whispered.
She was frightened, he thought. He had moved too quickly. He started to withdraw but she wrapped her legs around him. It was all the encouragement he needed. He thrust into her, heard her gasp, felt her nails press into his back.
“Did I hurt you?” he whispered.
“Hmm?” Her mouth was close to his ear. “I don’t think so. The pain’s gone now.”
She squirmed under him and he moved, slowly at first, mindful of her needs. When he felt her plunge over the edge the last thread of control snapped. She muffled her cries in his neck, and he did his best to swallow his own.
After taking a moment to catch his breath he rolled off of her, pulling her into the crook of his arm.
“What will the neighbors think?” she whispered.
“They’ll think it’s about time.”
“Oh, you,” She gave him a mock punch in the ribs. “They haven’t been listening for this. Have they?”
He laughed. “Maybe they’re thinking they should have let their wives come this summer instead of waiting for their quarters to be built.”
She sighed and snuggled closer. “Would we have done this sooner if I had flirted with you?”
“If you had so much as winked.”
“I’ll remember that in the future.” She yawned.
“Go back to sleep,” he urged softly.
“You won’t leave?”
“I’ll stay right here.”
He let her sleep until there was light enough in the room for him to admire the curve of her cheek, the swell of her breasts, the shade of her lips and her nipples. Then he woke her. She didn’t seem to mind.
They managed to spend the entire day close to the tent, a large portion of it in the bed. Rebecca sent Hank away, telling him Clark was exhausted from the recent campaign. Clark had chuckled over that, telling her campaigning wasn’t what was keeping him in bed.
The following day, the lovers decided to venture out. Rebecca wanted to see that Alicia was all right, and Clark was worried that there would be rumors that he was ill. The last thing he wanted, he told her, was to be hauled off to the quarantine tent.
The orderly that met them at the hospital asked them to wait outside while he went to find Alicia. Rebecca found herself growing nervous as she waited. A few minutes later, when Alicia stepped outside, Rebecca wanted to run to her. Clark’s arm, wrapped possessively around her waist, was all that stopped her.
“Are you all right, Alicia?” she asked.
Alicia nodded. “It’s hard work but I’ve found people who need my help. So in a way it’s wonderful.”
“Do you need anything?”
Alicia shook her head. “Your father came to see me yesterday and asked the same thing.”
Rebecca felt a pang of guilt. Yesterday, she hadn’t even thought of Alicia. “Should I come see you every day, in case you think of something?”
“Whenever you can. The days go fast here.”
Rebecca wanted to cry for the Alicia that seemed to be lost forever. But this new mature Alicia would find her own way.
“I need to get back to work,” Alicia said. “Thank you for coming.” She turned and disappeared inside the tent.
Rebecca looked up to find Clark watching her. She gave him a brave smile.
“She’ll be all right,” he said.
“If she doesn’t get sick.”
“You can’t protect her all her life.”
Rebecca nodded and they turned to find her father headed their way. They waited for him to join them.
“Forrester,” the colonel said, “it’s good to see you up and about again.”
“Thank you, sir.” Rebecca thought he did a wonderful job keeping a straight face. She didn’t even try.
“You looked pleased with yourself,” he said, turning to Rebecca.
“Thank you, sir,” she answered, mimicking her husband’s accent.
The nod he gave her was surprisingly approving.
“Telegram just arrived,” the colonel went on, turning back to Clark. “Congress approved the peace commission. We’re to call all the troops in from the field.”
“So the war’s over?” Rebecca asked.
Her father nodded and, with a squeeze to Rebecca’s shoulder, moved on toward the hospital tent. Rebecca and Clark turned toward home. They could bear the colonel ordering the soldier to find his niece and send her out.
“Do you think it’s safe to call back all the troops?” Rebecca asked as they walked.
“The Tenth is stationed all along the Smoky Hill and Santa Fe trails. They’re in defensive positions, and surely they’ll remain in place until the treaty is signed. Campaigns like Custer’s have been fairly fruitless anyway.”
“So, it means you’re going to be home,” Rebecca said, letting her voice turn seductive.
“I may get sent out in charge of a wood-cutting expedition.”
“You better not be gone three weeks.”
He turned her into his arms. “Sometime, I’ll have to leave you again.”
She looked up at him, and he buried his hands in her hair, framing her face with his palms. “You can take my heart with you,” she said.
He smiled at her and kissed her lips quickly. “All the time I was gone, do you know what I carried next to my heart?”
She shook her head.
“Your hair.”
She blinked up at him.
“After you talked me into cutting it, I wrapped it in a handkerchief and put it in the inside pocket of my uniform blouse.
I was already in love with you, I think. You can check when you get home if you don’t believe me.”
She couldn’t stop grinning at him. “If it’s so precious, why aren’t you carrying it now?”
“Because right now,” he said, drawing her closer, “I have you.”
Any other teasing comment slipped Rebecca’s mind as his lips descended to claim hers.
* * * * *
eISBN 978-14592-5077-2
THE UNLIKELY WIFE
Copyright © 1999 by Sandra Detrixhe
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, Is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
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The Unlikely Wife Page 21
