My Lady Vixen

by Connie Mason

  Alexa jogged behind Charles for over an hour until finally they came to a small house located on a deserted street on the outskirts of Savannah. He halted before the gate, untied Alexa’s hands, helped her dismount and pulled her inside the darkened interior. He left her for a moment or two while he lit a lamp, then turned back to study her features.

  “So it is true,” he muttered, eyeing her blond hair with barely concealed lust. “I could hardly credit it when Lady Gwen announced to one and all that the Vixen was alive and none other than Lady Alexa Foxworth.”

  “Why is it so difficult to believe?” asked Alexa curiously.

  “It seemed impossible that the bewitching lady who bested me in a duel could be the same woman I was once engaged to. I had no idea your body was so lovely until I saw you aboard your ship in that revealing costume. Even as I cursed you I wanted you. You were magnificent standing proud and defiant on the quarterdeck.”

  “The last I saw of you you were on your way north to prison,” Alexa said. “What happened to bring you back here? Did you escape?”

  Charles snorted. “I spent six miserable months incarcerated in New York before I was exchanged and returned to Savannah. During those bleak months I was unable to cast the Vixen from my mind. I vowed one day we would meet again and when we did I’d have her—in my bed, writhing beneath me.”

  Have her? Alexa asked herself fuming. My God, what did he intend? “I thought you hated me, Charles. You said as much when you visited me in my prison cell.”

  “That was before I knew you were the Vixen. I was devastated to learn Vixen was dead, but when Lady Gwen informed us otherwise! knew I could not let you hang. When I knew you as Alexa you were nothing to me but a contemptible traitor, unworthy of my pity. But then I met the Vixen, and though she defeated me I could not rest until I had conquered her just as she did me.”

  “If you have any feeling at all for me, Charles, let me go so I can help Adam. They’ll hang him for sure and I can’t let that happen. I love him.”

  “Of course they’ll hang him,” allowed Charles dryly. “I’m counting on it.”

  “What do you intend for me?”

  “My ship is being sent back to English waters and you’ll be on it. By the time we reach our destination the Fox, or Adam Foxworth, if you will, will already be dead. We’ll marry as we were meant to years ago.”

  “You’re crazy, Charles, I’ll never agree to marry you! Besides, you already have a wife.”

  “My wife died in childbirth recently,” Charles announced without remorse. “I am free to marry again.”

  “I won’t do it!”

  “Would you rather die beside your husband?”

  “Aye! There’s no shame in dying for something you believe in.” But then Alexa thought of the child she carried, Adam’s child. Could she condemn an innocent baby to death? Perplexed, she bit her lip, struggling for an answer.

  Charles must have gleaned something of her thoughts, for he asked, “What is it. Alexa? What is bothering you? Are you afraid to face death?”

  “N-no, it’s not that,” hesitated Alexa.

  “Then what? What is worrying you?”

  “Charles, I’m pregnant. I’m expecting Adam’s baby. I don’t mind dying for myself but to condemn an innocent baby …”

  Charles’s eyes gleamed as he silently appraised Alexa’s slim form barely concealed beneath the folds of the thin nightgown and robe. “Then it’s settled, we’ll marry after you’ve given birth. We’ll farm it out and one day have children of our own.”

  “No Charles,” Alexa resisted firmly. “I’ll not give my child up nor will I marry you, even if it costs me my life.”

  “And the life of your baby as well?”

  “Not even then. The Vixen has taught me a lot of things, one of which is to fight for the right to live as I see fit. Never again will I become a victim. If I must die for my convictions then so be it.”

  “Those are rather lofty words. Alexa,” Charles declared.

  “I mean them, Charles, so you may as well turn me in now if you intend to force me to marry you and give up my child.”

  Alexa has indeed changed. Charles mused silently when the stubborn tilt of her chin told him she was fully prepared to thwart his desires by going to the gallows. But there were more ways than one to change her way of thinking, he thought deviously. “What would you do to save Adam from the hangman? How far would you go?” he asked slyly.

  “Charles! My God, can you do that?”

  “For you I would do it, Alexa. The thought of possessing the Vixen excites me beyond bearing. My dreams are filled with the sight of long blond hair and a body more enticing than any I have ever known.”

  Alexa was stunned by the depth of Charles’s desire for the Vixen. In fact, it went beyond desire, into the realm of enchantment. But there was no doubt in Alexa’s mind. She would risk anything, sacrifice all for Adam. Even her own happiness meant nothing in comparison to the life of the man she loved beyond all reason. “How do I know you’re telling the truth, Charles?”

  “To prove my words I’d bring your husband aboard my ship so you might see him before we sail. With your own eyes you can watch him leave so you’d know and be satisfied that he is free to go where he will.”

  “It’s a big risk, Charles,” Alexa said doubtfully. “What makes you think you could free Adam so easily?”

  “I have my ways,” Charles hinted mysteriously, but did not elaborate.

  “If you could truly free Adam, Charles, I would go with you, willingly. But first you must agree to two stipulations.”

  Charles’ shaggy brows lifted suspiciously. “What stipulations, Alexa?”

  “First, I absolutely refuse to give up my baby, and … and second, you must agree not to touch me in … in that way until after my child is born.”

  “You’re in no position to dicker, my dear,” Charles hissed angrily.

  “It’s the only way I’ll agree,” declared Alexa belligerently. “If you want me badly enough you’ll wait.” To Alexa’s way of thinking, once she got Charles to agree to her demands any number of things could happen between now and the actual time she must capitulate. Besides, there was no way they could marry as long as she had a living husband. She told him as much.

  “I’ll admit that having your husband alive does complicate matters, but nothing is insurmountable when my uncle is a member of parliament and can easily obtain your divorce from a man who is a known traitor.”

  How easily he made things sound, Alexa thought, still unwilling to trust him. “Then you agree to my terms?”

  “With one exception, my dear. As long as you are demanding, I shall make two demands of my own. One, you must keep your hair blond, it excites me.” Alexa nodded warily. “And when you see your husband you must promise not to tell him about our agreement. You are to tell him that you are going with me of your own free will and that you intend to divorce him and marry me.”

  “My God, Charles, he’ll never believe me!” exclaimed Alexa, anguish creasing her lovely features.

  “Then you must do all in your power to make him believe it.”

  “I can’t, he’d know I was lying!”

  “Do you want him to die?”

  “No, of course not.”

  “Then what is your answer?”

  “You agree to my terms?”

  “Aye, I give my word, you can keep your child and I’ll wait to take you to my bed. I’d not enjoy it anyway knowing you had another man’s brat in your belly.”

  A long, painful silence ensued. A silence in which Alexa carefully considered all her options. Even if she agreed to all Charles’s terms, it did not mean she intended to live by them. Anything was possible once Adam was free. She’d make him believe she no longer loved him but she knew in her heart that once he was free he would come looking for her, and when he did everything would be explained. In the meantime she would hold Charles off indefinitely. Once she was back in England maybe she could enlist her fa
ther’s help. He owed her. Her own happiness meant nothing as long as Adam and her baby were safe.

  “You win, Charles, I’ll go with you. After I’ve seen Adam and know he’s safe.”

  Alexa spent a long miserable week in the house Charles had rented for his foul purposes. He was making arrangements, he told her, for Adam’s release. She was aghast when he informed her how much it was costing him for bribes, but she knew money was no obstacle for him. She was giving up more than money to see Adam free. He would probably end up hating her without ever knowing just how much she was giving up for him and the suffering she would endure because of it.

  It seemed that Charles was full of surprises. A trunkful of her own clothes appeared at the house the day after she arrived. Charles told her all Adam’s property had been confiscated in the name of the crown, and that he had gone to the house himself, which was locked and deserted, and packed her clothes without anyone the wiser. She was grateful to him for he had thoughtfully included those gowns that were designed for her during her last pregnancy, but she was not gulled by his attempts to please her.

  Though Alexa was technically not Charles’s prisoner, she was not allowed to leave the house. When Charles told her why she agreed with him totally. “All of Savannah is looking for you. There are patrols out searching the entire area and environs. For your own safety you must remain hidden.”

  “Charles, what about Adam? Are you seeing to his release?”

  “These things take time, my dear, but the arrangements are nearly complete. The bribe has been settled and both Bates and Grubbs agreed to bring him out to my ship. After you’ve spoken with him the rest will depend on his own ability to leave the city undetected and make his own way.”

  “Bates and Grubbs! My God!” Alexa cried, distraught. “How can you possibly trust them? Bates tried to rape me while I was a helpless prisoner, and would have succeeded had Adam not intervened.”

  “Don’t worry, Alexa,” Charles assured her, “there is too much involved here for them to betray me. I am making rich men out of them.” Charles fidgeted nervously as he talked, shifting his eyes often from Alexa’s searching looks, but somehow he managed to convince her everything would take place as planned. It’s too bad she wasn’t present to overhear the conversation between Charles and the two disreputable guards later that night.

  “Is everything all set, men?” Charles asked as they sat at a table littered with empty bottles in a shabby dockside inn.

  “Tomorrow night,” Bates answered in a low voice. “Are you sure we won’t get in trouble for this? The Governor is set on hanging the man.”

  “What does it matter how he dies as long as he no longer lives to harass us?” Charles scoffed.

  “I don’t understand why we’re to bring the Fox aboard your ship,” Grubbs grumbled, scratching his thatch of shaggy hair.

  “You don’t need to understand,” shot back Charles sharply. “I’m paying you enough to do as you’re bid and ask no questions. You are to row Fox to my ship and leave, but remain hidden near the docks where you can watch and wait for him to return.”

  “Then we’re to follow him and kill him,” grinned Bates evilly.

  “After he’s out of sight of the ship,” added Charles, exasperated by the low mentality of the men he had chosen to do his bidding. “That’s very important. Wait until he turns the corner before you attack him. Are you certain the two of you can handle him?”

  Grubbs snorted gleefully. “Are you kidding? The man is weak as a kitten. He’s still recovering from the wounds he received when he was taken and he’s been beaten daily besides. The man can barely walk.”

  “Ease up on him, men,” Charles advised thoughtfully. “I want him on his feet and fairly lucid when you bring him to me.”

  “I can’t see …” complained Bates bitterly.

  “Don’t question me, Bates,” Charles warned icily. “You’re not being paid to understand. In keeping with our agreement you’ll receive half of your money now and the rest after the job is done. You are to collect it from my lawyer whose name you already know. There will be no problems or questions from him for he knows the money is to go to you.”

  Bates grumbled crossly and Grubbs complained about the arrangements, but Charles was adamant. “What if neither the Governor nor the General believe Fox was killed trying to escape?” Bates was emboldened to ask.

  “You’re being paid to make them believe it.” Charles snapped disgustedly. “Must I do your thinking for you? Tell them anything, but that bastard better be dead or I won’t sail until the both of you are made to pay for bungling the job.”

  “Don’t worry.” Grubbs flushed angrily. “The man is as good as dead. The moment the deed is done we will signal the ship with the lantern just like we agreed.”

  Charles smiled slyly. He was going to a lot of trouble just to possess a woman he lusted after, but in truth all he was doing was cheating the hangman out of his due by hastening the Fox’s death a mere day or two. He dared not risk leaving Fox alive for fear he might by some miracle escape the gallows and find his way to England where Charles expected to be living with Alexa.

  “You won’t forget the words you’re to say to Fox before you kill him, will you?” he asked anxiously.

  “We remember them, word for word,” promised Bates, “you can depend on us. We won’t fail you.”

  A few minutes later Charles handed over a heavy bag to Bates, shook hands all around and went back to his rented house where Alexa anxiously awaited word of Adam’s release. That night he told her all the arrangements except for the cruel ending he had planned for Adam. Charles sounded so sincere that Alexa did not doubt him, accepting everything he told her as the truth. Had she bothered to examine her conscience, Alexa would have realized that she did not want to suspect that Charles might betray her, or that he might wish Adam dead. She effectively blocked out all but the thought that Adam would live as long as she did as Charles wished.

  “I’ll take you aboard my ship late tomorrow night. Alexa,” Charles confided. “In a closed carriage. You’ll be heavily veiled. I don’t want anyone to see your face, not even my own men.”

  “When will I see Adam?”

  “Around midnight. Are you certain you can convince your husband you no longer love him?”

  “I’ll do what I must,” Alexa gritted out from between clenched teeth.

  “I’ll make it up to you, Alexa, I swear it,” Charles promised. “I’ll make you happy, you’ll see. You were prepared to marry me once.”

  “So I was, Charles, but you wouldn’t have me.”

  “I must have been crazy. You’re the loveliest, most exciting woman I know. I want you, Alexa, any way I can get you.”

  Charles had deliberately kept his distance from Alexa these past days for he did not trust himself around her. He had given his word he would not touch her until after her baby was born and the only way he could honor it was by remaining apart from her. He did not wish to destroy the fragile beginning they had made by forcing her, but she looked so appealing standing before him, so soft and feminine, he could not resist her.

  “Alexa,” Charles groaned hoarsely, pulling her clumsily into his embrace, “I want you now. I can’t wait.” His lips were soft and fleshy and Alexa nearly gagged when he kissed her, wondering how she could have ever considered marrying him and how terribly young and inexperienced she must have been at the time.

  Alexa struggled, pushing against his chest with all her strength. “You promised, Charles! Surely you can’t want me now that I’m carrying another man’s child!” she temporized, playing for time.

  At the mention of the child, Charles’s ardor cooled perceptibly. His pride would not allow him to take a woman with another man’s seed growing in her belly. And since the man was the contemptible traitor, Fox, the act was even more reprehensible to him.

  “You are right, Alexa,” Charles uttered disdainfully, shoving her aside rudely. “I wouldn’t have you now. I can wait, but once you�
��re free of that bastard you carry you won’t find me so easily appeased. And don’t think you’ll escape me once we get to England,” he added nastily, “for I can still turn you in to the authorities. Then what will become of your precious brat?”

  “My baby is no bastard!” Alexa defended hotly. “He has a father. My marriage to Adam is legal and binding.”

  “Until death do you part, eh, my dear?” He laughed with malicious humor. “Or divorce. Whichever comes first.” His laugh chilled Alexa to the bone.

  “So help me, Charles, if you fail to keep your word, you’ll live to regret it. I was the Vixen far too long to be taken advantage of by the likes of someone like you. I’m doing what I must for Adam, and for no other reason. I’m giving you fair warning, don’t even think of betraying me.”

  Charles experienced a shiver of apprehension. They fury that filled her violet eyes was not one he cared to see directed at him should she find out what he really intended for her traitor husband. Composing himself, Charles lied smoothly. “I’ll keep my part of the bargain as long as you keep yours. It’s up to you. You must convince Fox you no longer care for him and never want to see him again.” Alexa nodded grimly, her eyes bright with unshed tears.

  The night was moonless, as dark as the deepest Hell. A storm was brewing offshore, perhaps one of those damned destructive hurricanes so prevalent this time of year. It was nearly midnight, the watch had just disappeared around the corner of the Governor’s mansion and the lights in the barracks housing the guards had just winked out. All was quiet.

  Dressed all in black, their faces and hands darkened with charcoal, hats pulled low, Mac, Drake, and six of their strongest and most trustworthy men hugged the shadows. Mac had found out only today that Fox was being held in the same dungeon-like cell that he had occupied months ago. For nearly a week Mac’s men, those he knew wouldn’t be readily recognized as privateers, prowled Savannah for some word of Fox. Nothing had been heard about him since he was taken from his home by soldiers. Nor of Alexa. Mac began to fear that they were both dead, executed immediately by the vindictive English in fear that they might escape the hangman once again.