Scarlet Fever

by Sable Hunter

  “Hey, sweet doll. I missed you.” Scarlet had lost her shyness, also. She turned and initiated a kiss that set off a chorus of catcalls.

  “I’m glad you’re back.” Tenderly, she laid her head on his chest, relaxing for a few moments in his arms.

  “Are you cooking again?” There was the slightest of censures in his tone.

  “I am. The chicken and broth is simmering, the dumplings are rolled out and a coconut pie just came out of the oven. Sit down and talk and we’ll eat soon. Right now, I’ve got to press the seams on both of the bridesmaid dresses.” Before, he could stop her, she had the ironing board out of the kitchen closet.

  No one else seemed to be the least bit concerned that Scarlet was cooking and ironing while everyone else sat on their rear watching her work. She seemed happy, so Alex let it go, for now.

  “When you go home, Scarlet, I want you to see if you can get Mother to go through her attic and she if she can find my senior prom dress. Maybe you ought to go over and hunt it for me, she’ll never get around to it.”

  “Sure. I’ll do that for you.” Scarlet couldn’t stand the thought of going home. For going home meant leaving Alex. But that was what was going to happen. She might as well get used to it. “What are you going to do with your prom dress?”

  “I was going to ask you to rework it for the neighborhood church bizarre. They are donating evening gowns to the less fortunate girls at the local Y.” Annalise helped turn Cecile’s dress inside out while Scarlet worked on her own.

  “Okay, I can do that.” After all, she would need as much busy work as she could get to make the days and nights without Alex bearable. Right now, she couldn’t even bring herself to meet his gaze. She was afraid of what she might see. He might look sad to think about her being gone, worse—he might not.

  “What about that dress that you made for your junior prom? I saw it once, and it was beautiful. Would you consider donating it?” Annalise asked and Scarlet lowered her head and answered.

  “Actually, I planned on wearing it to your rehearsal dinner. After all, it’s just like new. Remember, I didn’t have it on very long.” She looked at Annalise, trying to convey the message for her to change the subject.

  “That’s right.” Annalise winced. “What was his name? That guy that stood you up? I was out of commission for most of that year, I missed a lot.” When her sister said that, Scarlet mellowed. Her embarrassment over the prom fiasco was nothing compared to the pain and trauma of Annalise’s rape.

  “Rick LeBeau.” Scarlet’s quiet answer got everyone’s attention.

  Ethan asked. “Did you say Rick LeBeau?” He looked Alex full in the face.

  “What did LeBeau do?” Alex asked, he couldn’t help himself.

  This wasn’t something that Scarlet wanted everyone to know, especially Alex. She had no desire for him to know her shame. But the cat was out of the bag now, so if she didn’t tell it, Annalise would. “Nothing, really. He asked me to the prom and then he didn’t come pick me up.” She didn’t look up.

  Alex could picture her getting ready for the date, waiting, and then realizing that no one was coming to take her to the prom. “Bastard.”

  Annalise connected the dots. “Alex, is this the same Rick LeBeau that works for you? You said he was from our home town.”

  “Yeah, apparently.” Alex’s voice was low and hard.

  “He’s the one that told you about me, wasn’t he? It makes sense now. He always did get some type of odd thrill from making fun of me.” Scarlet looked at Alex sadly.

  “Yes.” Alex’s voice seemed filled with anger and shame.

  “What are you talking about?” Annalise asked, unaware of all that had transpired. And Scarlet planned to keep her that way.

  “Nothing, sweetie.” Quickly, she veered the subject to the first thing that she could think of. “I did find out something odd about him not too long ago.” She looked at her sister full in the face. “Did you happen to know that he’s Jeff’s half-brother?”

  Annalise went pale. Ethan leaned over and touched her hand. “You don’t mean Jeff Ramsey, do you?” Seeing, how her sister reacted, Scarlet was sorry she brought it up. Jeff was Annalise’s first husband. If he could be called a husband. Their marriage had only lasted one day, he had been an immature bastard who was turned off by the scars she had received at the hand of her rapist. Just a few months ago, he had turned up and tried to force Annalise to give him money. He had even attempted to kill her.

  Scarlet answered softly, “Yes. They have the same mother, but different fathers.”

  Annalise looked at Alex. “Be careful of Rick, if he’s as crazy as his brother, he’ll bear watching.”

  “Don’t worry about that, I will.” He couldn’t imagine that he was actually dangerous, but Alex had already decided to keep an eye on him, anyway.

  Scarlet was having trouble with subject changes. Time to try again. She needed to learn to keep her mouth shut. “Do you have anything else that needs ironing? Do you Ethan? Alex?” Scarlet quickly changed the subject, not wanting her sister to dwell on all the painful details. Annalise was easily distracted, heading to her room and retrieving four pieces of clothing that could use a touch up.

  “I think Bobby has some shirts, too. Alex, how about you?” Annalise was still looking for garments for Scarlet to iron.

  “No! No! No!” Alex shouted, standing up and walking over to Scarlet. “You’ve done enough. You cook for everyone. You sew. You still have to bake the cakes. You are not going to do everyone’s ironing. And to make matters worse—” Scarlet realized that Alex was about to tell everyone about her illness. She stopped him. With her mouth. She kissed him long and hard. When they separated, Annalise and Ethan was nowhere to be found.

  “I like the way you shut me up.” Alex smiled.

  “Well, I couldn’t very well let you tell Annalise about my kidneys. But, mainly I kissed you because no one has ever stood up for me like that before. Nobody.” She held him tight.

  Annalise came back in, and without a word, went right to the ironing board. Alex kissed her on the forehead and left the two sisters to work out their differences.

  “I’m sorry, Scarlet. I didn’t intend to take advantage of you.”

  “It’s okay, Alex is just over-protective.”

  Annalise giggled, “That was the sexiest damn thing I’ve ever seen. You are one lucky girl.”

  Scarlet finished up the chicken and dumplings and listened as her sister shared what her next romance novel was going to be like.

  * * * *

  Alex walked off his angst. He was so angry. At himself. At Rick. At life. Ethan joined him.

  “So, that’s how it is, huh?”

  “Yeah, that’s how it is,” he said gruffly. “I love her, Ethan. Completely. Irrevocably.”

  “Does she know?”

  “No. I mean, we haven’t said the words.”

  “What are you waiting for, brother?”

  “She’s sick.”

  Ethan stopped in his tracks. “What did you say?”

  “She has kidney failure. She’s had it since the operation on her foot. Time has run out for her. She’s either going to need dialysis or a transplant and it doesn’t look like she will get either. She has no health insurance.”

  “What about…” Ethan couldn’t bring himself to say it.

  “Neither Annalise nor her mother have the right blood type. Her dad did, but he’s dead.” Alex could see the relief in his brother’s eyes. He didn’t like it, but he understood it. “I’m compatible, I don’t know if I’m suitable for a transplant, but my blood type is right and I’m going to get the rest of it checked out. Soon.”

  “Wow. I don’t know what to say.” Ethan was stunned.

  “She has a problem with taking a kidney from a living donor. We’ve got to work that out.” Alex was talking fast now. He was so desperate to help Scarlet that it was physically getting to him. He wanted to bellow in frustration. He wanted to hit something.
r />   “How?”

  “I’m going to marry her.”

  “What?”

  “I don’t know how I’m going to convince her or what I’m going to do. She’s not going to go along with it, she has this stupid idea that she would be a burden. And she never wants to be a burden to anyone.”

  Alex looked so sad, that Ethan racked his brain for an answer. Suddenly, he had an idea. A crazy idea. “Alex, marry her at the wedding rehearsal. You’ll be standing up for me and Scarlet will be standing up for Annalise. You can get a special license, marry her, then, when you have her bound to you for life, you can convince her it’s a good idea.”

  “What you said started out sounding like a good idea, but the longer you talked, the scarier it got.” Alex was actually laughing. Ethan had accomplished his goal.

  “I’m really not kidding.” Ethan was serious.

  “I know.” Alex was deep in thought. “And that’s why I’m going to do it.” He put his arm around his brother. “I need for you to pull in every favor you can. Here’s what I’ve got to have…”

  * * * *

  “Can you imagine how happy Annalise and Ethan are going to be?” Scarlet held herself around the waist and twirled around. “Just imagine. Getting to marry the one you love.”

  As she said the words, she looked at him intently. The one he loved was standing right in front of him. “I can imagine,” Alex said quietly. “Come here to me, Scarlet.” He held out his hand.

  Without a moment’s hesitation she went to him. He began to slip her dress over her head. She let him do what he wished with her. When her arms were free, she unbuttoned his shirt, pushing it from his shoulders. “Alex, will you teach me how to please you?” She reached out and placed her hand over his already engorged cock.

  He let out a half laugh, half gasped as the reality of what she was asking sank in. “Baby, anything you do excites the hell out of me.”

  “Show me how to touch you,” she insisted. Unzipping his pants, she urged him to completely undress. He sat on the edge of the bed and she settled herself between his legs. Alex hesitated. He wasn’t shy, but the mental image of Scarlet pleasuring him was paralyzing. “Show, me Alex. I want to know.” She looked up at him with such sweet sincerity, that he could deny her nothing.

  He stroked himself a few times, then stopped. “Scarlet, it’s your touch that sends my blood pressure through the roof.” She took him at his word, and replaced his hand with her own, moving it up and down his shaft, the way that he had done. He leaned back, closing his eyes, enjoying her touch. In a few moments, a new sensation was added, one that felt like the brush of an angel’s wing. Unable to deny himself the sight, he watched as she swirled her soft pink tongue around the head of his penis. Taking the initiative, her other hand cupped his balls, massaging and cupping, completely eradicating the air from his lungs. “Is this good?”

  “God, yes,” he groaned.

  “How far should I take him in my mouth?”

  “Only as far as is comfortable for you,” he was struggling to talk. “I have to lie down.” Alex collapsed backwards, unable to think or breathe.

  With finesse she shouldn’t have had, she brought him to a raging climax, loving him until he was completely drained, making his toes curl with the kind of satisfaction that he had rarely achieved in any sexual experience. Except with Scarlet.

  “Baby, I have to ask. I know that up until a few days ago, you were an innocent. How did you do that? How did you know what to do?” His voice and tone was one of awe and amazement.

  She rose up, propped her chin on his middle and answered him primly. “Alex. Why are you surprised? After all, I am a librarian.”

  He laughed. “You are a mess and a half.” He grew serious. “Now, tell me what you have against accepting a kidney from a living donor?” He had covered her with a quilt, holding her close. Just as soon as he regained his strength, he planned on loving her till she screamed, but right now he needed to understand.

  “My friend Angie was sick and needed a kidney, her brother donated one of his. He died on the operating table. She lived, he didn’t, it haunts me to this day.” Turning to face him, she pressed her face to his chest, listening to his heartbeat. “I could never put anyone I loved in jeopardy like that. Not for me. I would rather die any day, than risk the life of someone I loved. It’s just not worth it.” She kissed him on his collar bone, loving the feel of his hard muscles against her cheek.

  “You do realize how rare that is. Ninety-nine point nine percent of the people who donate their kidneys make it through the operation just fine. And they go on to live full and active lives.” As he talked, he felt Scarlet draw back. He pulled her up against him, even closer. “Don’t you know how precious you are?”

  “Alex, I told you that I don’t have anyone to ask. Besides, do you know how much a kidney transplant would cost?”

  “How much?” He knew, but he wanted to see what she would say.

  “Three hundred thousand dollars,” she said flatly. “It might as well be three hundred million dollars. I don’t have any way of getting that kind of money.”

  “Annalise is a writer, a successful author. She has that kind of money.” He had no intention of Annalise paying for Scarlet’s operation, but he was testing the waters.

  “Alex.” Scarlet propped herself up on him, completely oblivious to the way her plump little breasts looked pooled on his chest. “When I was growing up, I had to accept help from people. I was clumsy and awkward. I couldn’t carry anything or open doors for myself. For sixteen years, I was a burden to my family.” He started to speak, but she put a hand over his mouth. “I will never be a burden to anyone I love. Ever again. No. I can’t ask Annalise for anything. I don’t want her to even know that I have a problem. I want this week to be perfect, it will probably be the last time that I see her. Please.”

  Alex’s heart felt as if it would break in two. “You’re wrong, baby. So wrong.” He wanted to tell her that there was no way he was going to let anything happen to her, but now was not the time. She was in no mood to listen to reason. So he comforted her in the only way that she would allow. He made love to her.

  Lord, in heaven. She was like a fever in his blood, the taste of her kiss, the feel of her skin, the way that she whimpered so sweetly when he entered her body—all of this combined to bring him to the point of obsession. “Turn over, precious.” She was always ready for him, he didn’t even have to ask. Eager to please him, she turned her bottom up and made him welcome. He fitted himself to her, into her, pistoning home with each stroke of his body. Leaning over, he clasped her sweet breasts, causing her to moan at the caress of his hands. “You’re a fever in my blood, Scarlet.” He kissed her on the shoulder. “I have Scarlet Fever.” His words seemed to set her on fire, she pushed back against him, wanting to feel every inch, every thrust. “Come up here, love.” He pulled her up and back against him, so that her back was against his front.

  “Touch me here, please.” She guided his hand to her mons, eager for him to stroke her clit. He swirled and petted her pearl of passion, causing her to writhe in ecstasy.

  He watched her come apart in his arms, her hand reaching behind his head to pull his lips down to hers. Alex didn’t last but a stroke or two longer, the pleasure was just too intense. He held on to her though, not letting her separate from him.

  * * * *

  Scarlet wasn’t trying to get away. She was doing her best to absorb every sensation, every touch, every kiss so she could replay it later like a precious recording of a blessed event. Laying her head back against him, she spoke before she thought. “I love you.” The words had no more left her mouth, before she realized what she’d said. What had she done? Tearing herself from his embrace, she grabbed her robe. “I didn’t mean to say it, Alex. I’m sorry.” He tried to grab her hand, to stop her.

  “Scarlet, wait!” Refusing to look at him, she fled the room. It was late enough that everyone else was in their rooms, she wouldn’t have t
o explain. Blindly seeking the door, she ran from the inn, seeking the cover of darkness. Tears were streaming down her face, adding to her inability to see where she was going. Dashing them away with her hand, she glanced back, hoping that Alex wouldn’t follow her. What would she say? They had no future, she had no right to say those words to this wonderful man. Running to the back of the main house, she headed for the grove of trees that grew along the side of the rushing stream. The sound of the water hid the approaching footsteps, and Scarlet did not know Alex had followed her until he swept her up in his arms.

  “Don’t ever run away from me, Scarlet. Run to me. Always. Run to me.” He cradled her against him, placing kisses all along her hairline and across her eyelids. “I love you, baby. I love you more than you could ever know. We are going to work this out. Trust me, Scarlet. I will make all this okay for you.”

  Holding on to him, she wanted to believe his words more than anything. “I wish you could. But you can’t.” She put a small hand to his cheek. “And it’s all right, Alex. It’s all right.”

  “I love you, Scarlet.” He said it again, just in case she missed it the first time.

  “And I love you, Alex.” He let her slide down his body, so that he could envelop her in his arms, kissing her passionately.

  “You are mine. You belong to me. I will take care of you.” Scarlet let his words nourish her soul. He meant them. He really meant them. That it didn’t matter in the long run was of no consequence. They might not have forever, but they had the here and now. And the here and now was the sweetest place that Scarlet had ever been.

  * * * *

  “I want to make love to you, Cecile.” Bobby caught her hand, pulling her toward the bed.

  Cecile looked at the broad shoulders and perfect abs of the young Adonis that lay across her quilt. “I want to. I really do. Actually, I’m shivering just thinking about what you might look like under those jeans, but I can’t.”