Love Lasts Forever

by Dominiqua Douglas

  “It would seem so.”

  “Tell me about the work Brown had for you. He’s a nice enough man, but he’s involved in things that are best left alone. While you’re staying here, I’d rather you not take part in his other activities.”

  “Why not?”

  Anders broke eye contact with Thor. Looking away, he spit out the grass and then bent down to grab another blade. When he straightened, he gave Thor a hard stare. “Some things are best left alone. Only devilment befalls a man for treading where he doesn’t belong.”

  “But how can a man disregard souls screaming in agony?”

  “It’s not that simple,” Anders countered. “Things are boiling to a fevered pitch. I won’t be in the thick of it. With the baby coming, I have to put my family first and tend to their needs.”

  Thor sighed and ran a weary hand through his short mass of hair. Even if he disagreed with his great-great-grandfather, he understood the other man’s reasons. “There’s no point to arguing.”

  “No, there isn’t.”

  “Give Eva my regards. I’ll be over at the Browns.” Thor looked down at his shirt and pants. “These are yours. Mine got dirty in the pigpen yesterday. After I change, I’ll be going.”

  “Wait. Never mind about my clothes. They fit. Wear ’em. I can only wear one shirt and one pair of pants at a time anyway. We’ll take care of your clothes when we do the wash. When you see Willow, tell her I’ll take care of the chores here tomorrow and she can stay at home.”

  Anders’s attitude irked Thor. The other man spoke as if Willow was nothing more than Eva’s maidservant. His jaw tightened, and in a voice heavy with sarcasm, he replied, “Sure thing. Will do.”

  On the return trip to the Browns, he strode quickly through the woods. He slapped the overhanging branches and fading leaves off his shoulder. The nocturnal beauty of the woods went unnoticed. Annoyance and a slow building anger fueled his movements and came close to blinding him to the world around him. A few yards away, a twig snapped. Thor’s stride came to an immediate halt. He held himself still and listened.

  The game of watch and wait lasted for what felt like an eternity. Through narrowed eyes, he searched the woods for a sign of anything. Nothing stirred. When did I become such a wuss? Of course, nothing stirred! He was the only person fool enough to be in the woods at that late hour. He dismissed his overly cautious behavior and took a step forward.

  The evidence hit him. The fragrance of honeysuckles mingled with the scent of pine, oak and maple drifted to him. The delicate aroma assailed his nostrils and Thor breathed it in. A knowing smile spread across his face. He called out softly, “Willow.”

  No response, but he wasn’t surprised. Why was she in the woods at this late hour anyway? Why was she hiding from him?

  He planted his hands on his hips and looked around. “I’m not leaving until you come out, so if you’re prepared to stay out here all night, I’m prepared to wait. It may get awful cold, though. I hope you’re bundled up. I wish I was.”

  The rich timbre of his voice lingered with a sad note. She’d probably be unable to resist, but just in case, a little improvisation might be necessary.

  Balling his hands into fists, Thor blew into them. “Whew!” he exclaimed as he shivered. He then wrapped his arms around himself and rubbed briskly. “Yeah, it’s getting nippy out here, but I can handle it. I won’t catch a cold. Well, I hope I won’t.”

  More silence answered him. Giving up wasn’t an option. With bounty hunters running rampant, there wasn’t a snowball’s chance in hell of him backing off. He wouldn’t leave her out there alone, so if she wanted to play, he’d be her playmate.

  A fleeting image of passionate play flashed before his eyes. Hot bodies pressed together and slow, moist kisses came to mind. A sense of urgency rippled through him. His body hardened in response.

  Sudden anger at the direction that his thoughts took him flared deep within. Through clenched teeth, he bit out, “Willow! Enough’s enough! Come out now, or by God, I’ll come in there after you.” He paused a beat. “So, what will it be? Willow—”

  “Blessed be!” She stepped from behind the large trunk of an oak. “You’ll wake the dead!”

  “It’s the living I’m more concerned with,” he retorted. His gaze roved over her, and he shook his head. Men’s clothing covered her from head to toe. The masculine garments did little to hide her femininity. He wondered why she wore the clothes in the first place. Thor moved to her and snatched the hat from her head. Holding it up between them, he asked, “What’s the meaning of this?”

  Her hand shot out to retrieve the hat. He held it over her head, just out of her reach. “Give it back!”

  “No. Not until you tell me why you’re dressed like that.”

  Irritation blazed in her eyes. “This is ridiculous and childish, too!”

  “I agree.” He tossed the hat to his other hand, still out of her reach.

  “Thor!” Her small hands balled into fists, but she made no move to strike him.

  Anger livens her up, he mused. Oh, she was a beauty no matter what expression she wore, but fury added another dimension to it. Black orbs glittered dangerously under the light of the moon. The usual soft tones of her voice gave way to husky indignation. Her breath came out in short gasps and drew his attention to her chest. Despite the bulky jacket, he remembered the round, ample curves that lay underneath.

  “Why must it always come down to this?” she asked.

  “To what?”

  “To using your manhood against me! You did it with the water buckets, and you’re doing it now! I thought you were different, but you’re not! You’re like all the rest. You take what you want, not giving a care to anyone else!”

  The hardness of anger slipped from her eyes. Thor caught a glimpse of hurt and disillusionment before she whipped away. Her words slammed into his chest and knocked the wind out of him. Tension crept in through the trees and became a long, thin cord between them. Words left him, but he refused to accept that excuse.

  He cleared his parched throat and went to her. “Here’s your hat.”

  She turned around to grab the hat before giving him a good view of her back again.

  Thor groaned. This would be difficult, and what’s worse, he deserved it. He swallowed hard and moved to stand behind her. Without a moment’s hesitation, his hands closed over her shoulders and gently squeezed the tight muscles they encountered.

  “I am so sorry,” he said with quiet emphasis. “I was only teasing, and it got out of hand. Seeing you dressed in these clothes threw me, and when you wouldn’t answer me, I lost it. Forgive me.”

  “Are you asking for my forgiveness or demanding it?”

  “Begging,” he said in a low, apologetic tone. “Please. I won’t make the same mistake again.”

  “I forgive you,” she murmured as she turned to face him.

  Eased by her forgiveness, his earlier curiosity returned. “What are you doing out here dressed like that in the middle of the night?”

  “I can’t exactly say.”

  “I suppose this means you lied to me then. You haven’t forgiven me.”

  “Blessed be!” she muttered. “What does one thing have to do with the other?”

  “If you’ve forgiven me, you would trust me,” he said sadly, spreading the guilt on thick for effect. “If you trusted me, you’d tell me. You’re giving me the run around again, so that can only mean one thing.”

  “No, please don’t think that,” she said soothingly. “I do trust you. It’s just that… Well, if I tell you, you may try to stop me, and I won’t be stopped.”

  An eyebrow raised in surprise. “Stop you from doing what exactly?”

  Her chin lifted in a gesture of defiance. “From doing what I must to preserve a family!”

  “A family?” Thor sputtered. “Whose family? What are you talking about?”

  “I’m talking about Nat, Charity, and Clay. They told me what happened to their mother. Her death was ho
rrific, and it’s abominable those children had to witness it.”

  “Yes, it was, but I don’t see how dressing like a man and running around in the woods in the middle of the night will change that—”

  “If you would hold your tongue and not interrupt.”

  “I won’t say another word.” He made a show of buttoning his lips and waited.

  “Their father is very much alive, and once I bring him back to them, their family will be whole again!”

  “I don’t believe it,” he said underneath his breath.

  “Believe it! Don’t try to stop me either because I won’t stand for it. I can do this, Thor. I know what it’s like to be without a mother and a father. Those children don’t have to experience that.”

  “Are you trying to convince me or are you just telling me?”

  She looked taken aback. “I’m just telling you. I will do what I set out to do! And you won’t stop me either!”

  “Did I say I wanted to? It sounds like a good idea. In fact, I like it so much that I can’t think of anything I’d like more than to join you.”

  “But you can’t! You can’t sneak on and off a plantation like I can!”

  “No, I can’t. I can take us right up to the front door.”

  “I’m not sure about this.” Uncertainty clouded her expression.

  “I wasn’t asking you.” Thor shrugged. “Either I go with you, or you don’t go at all. The choice is yours. I’ll wait right here while you make your decision.”

  Chapter Seven

  The smirk on Thor’s face was maddening. You are truly an insufferable man! Willow’s breath came in huffs, and she turned away.

  She paced from one large oak to another. Her mind wrapped around him and his proposition. The nerve of him! He certainly leaves me with few choices. Just when she believed he was unlike all the men she knew, he proved there were some things about men that never changed. They all believed they made the rules and that was that. She was mad enough to spit.

  “What’s it gonna be, Willow?” he asked in his deep, soul-stirring drawl. “Time’s a-wastin’.”

  “I know it is,” she mumbled. A twig snapped in two beneath her foot. She furiously kicked the remainder of it as hard as she could.

  Her bottom lip trembled with agitation. Truly, her choices were limited. No child should be without a parent. Sparks of excitement rippled through her at the thought her planned rescue mission. She had to agree to his terms. Her shoulders slumped in defeat. She had no choice.

  “Time’s a-wastin’,” she muttered, throwing his words back at him. “Let’s go.”

  She stomped through the woods without sparing him another glance, but still felt his steady gaze on her. Her heightened sensations told her he was fully aware of her anger, and it bothered him. Of course, it didn’t bother him enough to change his mind and let her go alone.

  “Willow.” His low voice interrupted the terse silence. “We’re partners on this.”

  “Partners?” She sniffed in disdain.

  “Yeah,” he replied. “Of course, it wouldn’t be right for me to just let you go off all by yourself, but that’s not the only reason for me going with you. I believe in your cause. I know what the future will bring and…well, even if I didn’t know, I’d still want to help you.”

  His stalled comment about the future made her breath catch. She desperately wanted to know. Against her resolve to limit civil conversation with him, she spared him a glance. “What will the future bring?”

  “I thought you understood. I can’t tell you.”

  “Telling me won’t change a thing. I promise. I won’t mention a word to a soul.”

  “It doesn’t matter. Besides, the future has already altered. Going with you now is a big risk, but it’s about the only one I’m willing to take.”

  “It’s because you don’t trust me.” She directed her gaze back to the dark path before them.

  “That’s not true. I trust you, Willow. It’s just that I’m not sure how this time travel thing works, and then in that movie…” A loud sigh passed from his lips. “Well, it feels like I’m running a play without a playbook. I’m playing everything by ear here, and I don’t want to mess up. It’s not just my future I’m thinking about. So many little things can be affected just by telling you something that I consider to be insignificant.”

  “You said the future’s been changed. How do you know? What happened to change it?”

  “I think I saved your life.”

  The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. “When?”

  His large, warm hands closed over her shoulders. He bent slightly until their eyes were level. “This afternoon on the trail, an armed bounty hunter roamed the woods. If I hadn’t been here, you would have been with the children instead of me, or maybe you wouldn’t have been there at all. You left the lantern on the porch because of me, but they would have been in the woods alone anyway because their shepherd left them. Who knows if they would have found the reverend on their own? Maybe my being here saved you all. Maybe that’s why I’m here, to keep you safe. In all honesty, I don’t know if my presence is making things better or worse, but I do know that the bounty hunter wouldn’t have let any of you go.”

  “He would have killed us.” Her blood ran cold at the certainty of it. Anders’s warning about strangers and the reverend’s latest restrictions came together in one bone-chilling whirlwind. While she initially fought Thor’s participation in her quest, she was certainly glad of it now.

  During her talk with the children, they mentioned nothing about a slave patroller. She knew of the godless men who hunted Negroes like animals. Many of the precious cargo passed through the Browns’ home spoke of the narrow escapes they had. Her hatred ran deep for the men who relentlessly pursued runaways. With guns, dogs, and whips, they exercised horrific tactics. If somehow she had discovered those children wandering in the woods and been alone on the trail with them instead of Thor, only God could have saved them.

  “Times are changing.” His hand gently caressed her cheek. “Everybody’s getting desperate.”

  Willow nodded. Change stirred in the air. Brown and his followers moved with untold necessity. The same urgency fueled her desire to help. “You didn’t answer my question. Would he have killed us?”

  “There’s no real way for me to know that, but it’s possible. I didn’t like the way he looked at Charity, and I know he would have…” The muscles in his jaw clenched. “Whatever would have happened wouldn’t have been good. If he hadn’t hurt you then, he would have sold you somewhere, and I don’t think you would have survived that.”

  She bristled. “I’m not weak—”

  “That’s not what I meant,” he growled as she tried to jerk free of him. “You’re so stubborn and willful! It drives me nuts, but I wouldn’t harm you because of it. I can’t say the same for slavers.”

  Willow nodded. She wouldn’t have kept quiet if somehow she landed on an auction block. There was too much of her parents’ passionate nature inside her. Reverend Brown tried to mold her into a docile young woman, but a part of her refused restraint. She was usually able to hide it, but not with Thor. He saw through her defenses and broke down her walls without any difficulty. His ability made no sense to her, yet, she wasn’t afraid of it.

  He continued to stare at her. “Now do you see why I couldn’t let you go alone? If something happened to you, I wouldn’t be able to stand it.”

  His voice made her insides melt. The heat from his hands burned through the layers of wool and cotton to scorch her flesh. She moistened her bottom lip with the tip of her tongue. His responding groan vibrated through her. Her mouth hastily slanted across his.

  He closed his arms around her, crushing her to his chest. The wild thud of his heart beat in unison with hers. When his tongue parted her lips, she gripped his shirtsleeves. Her knees weakened as he explored her mouth and overpowered her senses. She never wanted the kiss to end, but far too quickly, he pulled away.

&nb
sp; “We can’t keep doing that.”

  Her mouth still tingled, and an ache throbbed in her lower belly. These sensations were dangerous but too tempting to resist. Thor and the longing he created within her were too powerful to deny, yet too consuming for surrender. In order to rescue the children’s father, they would need their wits about them. Submitting to desires of the flesh was not an option. She couldn’t lose control like that again. Too much was at stake.

  “It’s not that I don’t like kissing you,” he said while she remained quiet. “God knows, that’s not the case. I like it too damned much if the truth must be told.”

  “I understand. We’d better keep going.”

  * * *

  Shit! Why is she so damned understanding? Thor fell into step behind Willow, and her rounded backside immediately drew his attention. Baggy trousers did little to lessen her rear’s appeal. His hands itched to mold themselves to the curves brushing against the worn material. During their embrace, her slender thighs pressed hard against him and created a yearning to the depths of his soul. Her unintentional sexiness put all of Calvin Klein’s models to shame. Willow Elkridge simply drove him wild.

  The Magnusen cabin appeared in the clearing. He caught her hand as she moved to go past it.

  “What?” she whispered. “Did you change your mind?”

  “No, but I wanna stop here. We’ll need money.”

  “Mr. Anders won’t give us any.”

  “Maybe; there’s only one way to find out for sure. You can stay out here. I’ll be right back.”

  “I’ll go with you if you don’t mind. I left a note for the reverend and Miss Olivia. I may as well tell Miss Eva good-bye just in case…”

  Thor nodded. The danger of their adventure couldn’t be forgotten or ignored. This was definitely a life or death mission.

  “Maybe. She was asleep when I left, but I’m pretty sure Anders won’t keep quiet when he sees us at his door. She’ll wake up and you can say what you need to.”

  As they approached the cabin, he reluctantly released her hand. He rapped his knuckles against the door. “Anders, it’s Thor.”