He knew better than to start reasoning with her to dispel the fear. Instead, he held her very tightly so that she would feel secure. His lips brushed her temples, and he murmured gentle words to comfort her.
"Don't leave me," she begged.
"I'll hold you all night," he promised softly. Her closeness was playing hell with his senses. She'd never been more desirable than at this moment with her tawny hair in wild disarray and her golden eyes wide with fear. She was the classic maiden in distress and he felt a surge of strength arise within him to protect her always.
In the middle of the room she clung to him desperately, quick intakes of breath punctuating each crack of thunder.
Whether by deliberate design or by pure physical instinct, afterward he was never sure, he began to intrude himself upon her consciousness. He would fill her with his essence to the point where there was no room for fear or storms or any other thing. He would merge his body with hers until they became one, not only in body, but in mind and soul.
With deft fingers Nicholas undid her nightgown and slipped it from her shoulders. His head dipped to kiss the high curves of her breasts that swelled so temptingly, all velvet cream tipped with rosebuds.
For Amanda the fear of the storm began to recede as she became aware of her body and the pleasurable sensations Nicholas was provoking.
He shrugged off his robe and lifted her onto him so that his cock was between her legs and the filmy material of her nightgown fluttered down to cover their intimate parts.
She gasped with pleasure as the first little bit entered and caressed her woman's center. As he lowered her until her feet touched the carpet, his hands slipped down her body, taking the nightgown from her limbs so that it fell into a silken pool at their feet.
His mouth sought hers, and he tasted a tear, then a sigh, then the honeyed sweetness for which he'd thirsted so long. His kisses, gentle at first, deepened and began to take, then they plundered her mouth, and she thought she might die from the taste and the feel of him. His wide, bronzed shoulders blotted out everything in the room, everything in her mind, everything in the world, until there was just his aqua eyes blazing their desire for her, and his whipcord arms possessively holding her captive.
He went on his knees to her in an attitude of worship, and he drew her thighs gently toward his mouth. As his tongue began to trace the soft folds between her legs, she cried out in protest, but it was drowned by the tumult above them.
She gave herself up to Nicholas's demanding mouth, arching her neck backwards at the exquisite pulsations he aroused, and her fingers threaded wildly through his crisp, dark hair.
Nicholas withdrew, stood erect and drew her up beside him. She leaned against him drained of strength, her eyes closed and her rosy breasts quivering with each breath. He lifted her with infinite care and carried her to the bed.
When he stretched his body on the bed and drew her toward him, the contrast of their skin was erotically arousing. Hers gleamed like a pearl dusted with translucent powder, while his was burnished bronze.
She was aware of how she affected him by the way his hungry eyes ate her.
"My God, you are delicious as sin." His hands stroked her, arousing her until she thought she would scream from the bliss of it all. Then he was towering above her, unwilling to wait one moment longer to make her his.
A moment of apprehension rose up, but she forced herself to trust him totally. Then she felt his hard boldness as the fire in his loins raged out of control, and he slid deeply into her tight, scalding body.
They both cried out from the pleasure-pain. They were so hot, they almost burned each other. Then the heated waves of pleasure began to build and build, washing over them until they lost all sense of time and place. Their kisses became savage and wild, so that the storm that raged without paled in comparison as the lovers were consumed by a mutual passion.
Then came such a melting, flooding, overflowing sensation, Amanda thought she might drown. She clung to Nicholas and felt the pounding of his heartbeat against her naked breasts. She felt as if they were fused into one being that wished never to be separated.
Though he couldn't bear to withdraw from her, he relieved her of his weight and rolled until she was on top of him. He was exultant that she had responded to him so richly in their first sexual encounter. Her eyes gazed down into his with wonder.
"Golden witch," he murmured, "I'm mad in love with you." You're more woman than I ever dreamed. His breath came raggedly as his senses returned. "God help me for this night's work."
Mandy traced a loving finger along the strong line of his jaw. "Whatever are we to do?" she whispered.
"My love, I shouldn't have let it happen, but I did, and you know I have no regrets." He lifted a curl that brushed his chest and brought it to his lips. "Amanda, what has happened between us is totally private. No one will know, until you are ready to tell them."
"We broke our promises," she whispered. "We mustn't let it happen again."
"Too late," he said hoarsely, "it's already happening again." He pulled her beneath him and silenced her protests with his lips.
This time he made love to her slowly, tenderly, drawing out each moment and savoring it to the full. Every inch of her silken skin received his worshipful caress, and his lips played on hers until she was floating in a warm, sensual lotus lagoon on the shores of Paradise.
Long after, as she slept dreamlessly, Nicholas slipped from the warm bed and left by way of the gallery.
At dawn's first rays she was awakened by Cleo's presence in the room. As she came fully awake and realized that Nicholas was gone, she threw back the covers and retrieved her nightgown from its silken pool on the carpet.
Cleo said low, "Ah'll change yore bed linen, Miz Mandy, fore Mammy Lou come wid yore breakfast."
Amanda's eyes flew to the sheets with their tell-tale smears on the pristine whiteness. "Thank you, Cleo."
Chapter Seventeen
All through the following day, Nicholas found himself lusting for Amanda. It was as if he'd been denied too long and now that he'd tasted her, he knew he'd never have enough.
Amanda floated about in a trance. Never had she felt so beautiful, so special, so beloved. The great storm had broken the heatwave and there was a definite nip in the air that sent everyone scurrying to bring out their warmer clothes.
It was a busy time on the plantation. The month before Christmas was devoted to providing for the winter. Hogs that were not to be carried through the winter had to be slaughtered, and the hams smoked and cured.
Nicholas was up at first light to hunt deer so the venison could be cured in the smokehouse alongside the hams. The day seemed endless and he anticipated the evening meal all afternoon, when at last he would see Amanda.
The moment she entered the dining room the acknowledgment of what had happened between them began. He told her with his eyes that he remembered last night's splendor and longed for tonight's possibilities.
Amanda glowed with the heady knowledge that she lingered in his consciousness. It was the epilogue that made their cycle of lovemaking complete.
As Nicholas observed her delicate beauty, he noticed the smudges of fatigue beneath her eyes and his conscience smote him. Selfishly, he had robbed her of her night's sleep.
After supper when she went upstairs, she found his love note on her pillow:
My heart's desire:
Though it will be difficult for me, I will leave you to rest tonight.
Nicholas forced himself to stay in his own chamber. He held himself in check with one word: Patience! No dreams came to assuage his sorely tempted desires, but twice he awoke in a cold sweat with the familiar ache gnawing at his belly.
The next day, clothed in a velvet gown against the wind's chill, Amanda went to the stables to take Miss Louise a fall apple from the orchards. Her eyes widened as she noticed her little mare seemed to be in foal. She ran her hand down the satin belly and was thankful the filly was in superb condition. I'll as
k Nicholas about it.
Outside she felt herself lifted bodily in strong arms as her husband took her up before him on Sunblood. He rode from the yard toward the cypress grove. "My God, I had to hold you, if only for a moment."
Her arms swept up about his neck and she lifted her face for his kiss.
"I must be with you tonight," he said with the intensity of a man in agony.
She whispered against his mouth, "I will come to you. Your room will be safer. By the way, did you know Miss Louise is carrying a foal?"
He nodded. "I'm pretty sure it was Sunblood here. I saw him serve her once, months before we were married. He's as hot-blooded as I am."
The trees soon swallowed them from view, but not before Jennifer, looking from her window, saw the possessive hand Nicholas placed on her sister's breast. As she watched with jealous, vindictive eyes, she knew them for lovers.
That night Amanda suffered Mammy Lou's nightly ministrations with an impatience she was very careful to keep hidden. She yawned through her unlacing, let heavy eyelashes brush her cheeks while lying in the bathtub, and pretended to fall asleep in the middle of having her hair brushed. Then, as a worried frown creased the old woman's brow, Amanda felt a quick stab of guilt at the deceit she was practicing on her faithful nursemaid.
"Mammy, I promise I'm not coming down with anything. I'm just sleepy."
The moment the lamp was turned down and the door closed, Amanda flung back the covers, threw on her bed-robe, carefully put the bar down across her door and went out to the balcony. The night was cold as she moved silently along to the west wing. She was just about to enter when she saw through the jalousies that Samuel was opening a bottle of wine with a corkscrew.
Nicholas, wearing a robe, rubbed his damp hair with a towel. She waited long minutes, lifting a very cold foot from the floor of the gallery, until her husband was at last alone. Suddenly, she felt shy and couldn't bring herself to enter without knocking.
He had the door open in a second, drawing her into his masculine world. "Come and be warm, love." He sat her before the fire, and knelt to rub her feet. He grinned at her. "Were you in such a hurry you forgot your slippers?"
"Yes," she admitted breathlessly, and the pretty pink color suffused her cheeks. She ran her fingers through his damp, curly hair, and he laughed softly, happy that she could not keep her hands from him. He arose and locked the door, pulled the drapes tightly shut, and poured them a goblet of delicious, smooth Chablis. He stretched his great length before the fire and pulled her down to him. They shared the loving cup, kissing between sips, tasting the sweet wine on each others' lips.
She heaved a great sigh and lay against his chest. "I wish tonight could last forever. Nicholas, promise me all our tomorrows will be just so."
As he gazed down at her, his heart constricted as he knew at his heart-root their time could be short. "Sweetheart, we must enjoy this moment. Is it not enough that we've tasted the forbidden fruit?" he teased.
"Don't say that, Nicholas. Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden of Eden. That couldn't happen to us, could it?"
"Enough fantasy." He laughed to lighten the mood. "This moment is very real. A fire like ours cannot go out, as I'll prove to you more than once tonight." He undressed them both and they lay naked in the fire's glow.
Amanda lay pliant to his hands and mouth, eager and willing to be taught what would give them pleasure.
Every inch of him responded to her delicate beauty inviting him to slake all his senses. Whenever she blushed, he almost melted with tenderness for her.
"Come, straddle me. Ride me," he urged.
"You are so big." She reached out curious fingers to encircle him.
He groaned aloud at her touch. "When you mount me, you can take as much of me, or as little as you desire. You can control it."
Her tawny hair cascaded onto his chest, and her breasts lifted and fell with her movements. The firelight turned the color of her skin to golden flame as they performed what seemed a pagan rite.
Spent, she lay prone on his muscular body, her lips pressed to the column of his neck.
Nicholas swept her into his arms and carried her to his bed, knowing all her strength had been expended in the loving. For a time they slumbered, each secure in the knowledge that she was there in his arms.
Later she awoke to find his lips brushing her eyelids, kissing away the sleep.
The corners of her mouth went up in delight as she knew the power she had over him. She sprang up like a savage lioness and crouched above him, taunting him with her tawny beauty, and he responded wildly, as she wished him to. She playfully bit and scratched him until he mastered her in sweet submission.
Before dawn streaked the sky, he carried her back along the balcony to her own room. He left her with a lingering kiss that must suffice until the next time they could steal a night together.
Christmas was almost upon them. Paradise was decorated with holly and mistletoe, and although their holiday festivities would be at a minimum this year, there would still be a great deal of visiting and visitors.
Rafe Collins stepped off the paddle wheeler at the newly built water steps of Paradise. Although he had crossed and recrossed the Atlantic in record time, he was not smiling. He told Nicholas the grim tidings. "South Carolina has just seceded from the Union. The Ordinance of Secession was signed at Institute Hall in Charleston, yesterday, December 20th."
"Jesus Christ it's begun," Nick swore. "Come and have something to eat, then we'll ride out to the other plantations and give them the news."
"Everybody in Charleston's acting like crazies, as if they were celebrating a holiday or a great victory." Rafe shook his head.
"What cargo did you bring back from England?"
"Furniture, silk, tea, and champagne for weddings."
"Damn! Next shipload must be gunpowder, rifles, cannon, any medical supplies like quinine and chloroform."
"You think it'll come to war?" Rafe asked.
"I know it'll come to war," Nicholas said grimly.
The reaction Nicholas got at each plantation was identical and it greatly surprised him. The young men almost lusted for war. They needed only sword and horse, to hear them talk, to teach the damn Yankees a lesson they'd never forget. The older men were not much different. They thought they could stop the North from swarming over the South, freeing the slaves.
By the time Nicholas arrived at the Vickers, he expected Duke and King to become instantly intoxicated with the excitement of war. "It will give them targets to shoot at other than themselves," he told Rafe.
Nick was slightly alarmed when Beau Hampden's father, Wade, started to draw up plans for a cavalry unit.
"Each man will provide his own horse, equipment, uniform, and body servant," Wade declared. "Arms will consist of a pair of pistols, a saber, and a Bowie knife."
Back at Paradise, Nicholas told Rafe about plans he'd been considering to start up a brick and tile yard. He realized the time was right. Up river toward Columbia, he'd spotted the perfect red clay along the riverbank. "I've decided to buy the land and set up Jason and Solange in what should prove to be a profitable business."
The men made plans to sail their two vessels up to New York to trade wood and tobacco for guns, woolen goods, leather, and medical supplies. "The North is filled with factories, foundries, mills, and tanneries," Rafe remarked.
"All the South has is cotton and slaves," Nick declared. "You captain the Hornet, and I'll command the Rattlesnake."
The State of Mississippi followed South Carolina's lead, and seceded on the ninth day of January, 1861, and Florida seceded the very next day. Then came Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas. Christmas had slipped past almost forgotten in all the hoopla.
When Nicholas returned from New York he found a letter awaiting him from Bernard Jackson. It informed him that though Congress in Richmond, Virginia was holding out against secession, events were going forward at breakneck speed, and war looked inevitable.
He wrote that a Confederate Provisional Congress had formed in Montgomery, Alabama and they were determined to name Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States before Lincoln was inaugurated as President of the United States on February 11th.
Bernard promised he would make a speedy journey home the moment he knew war was to be declared.
A Confederate flag was raised at Montgomery, Alabama, and the South went wild with patriotism. Wade Hampden's South Carolina Cavalry was attracting young men from the area, all of whom were ripe for adventure.
When the usual group gathered at Paradise for their weekly poker game, Wesley Davis and Stuart Beverly were both wearing their brand new cavalry uniforms. This produced such a degree of envy in the Vickers boys that the very next morning they, along with their friend Ty Caldwell, joined Hampden's Legion without even talking it over with their fathers.
Amanda's heart was filled with dread. Just as she and Nicholas had begun to explore their love for each other, she feared he would recklessly join the army and thrust himself to the forefront of the danger."
Brandon came to talk with Nicholas, and before half-an-hour had gone by, Beau Hampden arrived on the scene and the talk was all about which regiment they would join. War was men's business and they tried to shield their womenfolk from talk of it. Nicholas however realized that whispers and secrets would cause more terror than openly discussing things and letting the ladies voice an opinion.
All were gathered in the comfortable living room at Paradise. Samuel splashed bourbon into glasses for the men and poured sherry for Amanda and Jennifer.
Brandon downed his in one gulp. "I've decided to join you and your daddy's cavalry troupe, Beau."
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