“Have you seen something?”
“Nary a glimpse. For once in my life I want to see, want to ken what will be and it doesnae come. A curse on it. Still, I just cannae feel she’ll die. Not our Em. Not when she’s got all she’s ever wanted for the first time in her life.”
“She didn’t want much then, did she.”
“Arenae we feeling sorry for ourselves. She’s got a real family and folk what care for her, e’en ye, though why she’d be wanting that, I dinnae ken, seeing as you’re such a muir deil.”
“A what?”
“A dark devil. What with ye hanging o’er her and hanging onto her and Thornton keeping guard for angels, she’ll have no chance to slip away. Add to that her not wanting to go and I’d say the odds are in favor of recovery.”
“Why’d she do such a damn fool thing?” he grumbled as he set the now empty tray aside.
“For the same reason ye would’ve put yourself t’ween her and a bullet. For the same reason both of ye would hand yourselves o’er to the Grim Reaper in place of the bairns. Which ought to tell you clear that it isnae just your bonnie face and tricky ways what’s put her by your side. It wouldnae hurt to think on that some and on why it matters so to ye.” She stopped him from repossessing Emily’s hand. “I will set here. Ye will go and rest.”
Reluctantly, and after informing Giorsal of how obnoxiously domineering she could be, he did go to rest. Stripping off his clothes, he washed up and then crawled into bed. Although he had planned to do some soul-searching, he was asleep within minutes.
When he woke up, he knew he had slept far longer than he had intended to. Succumbing to a brief panic, he yanked on his trousers and raced back to Emily’s side. He was both disappointed and relieved to find no change. A weary Harper glanced at him as he moved to stand by the bed.
“You shouldn’t have let me sleep for so long.”
“Giorsal threatened us if we even thought of disturbing you. Very bloodthirsty and colorful threats they were too.”
“They usually are. No change?”
“None. Christ, I’ve been nothing but misery for the poor kid since she got here.”
There was too much truth in that for Cloud to even try to deny it. No matter how charitable he tried to be, he still found Harper at the bottom of all the trouble with Chilton. Cloud knew, however, that Harper had never been wholeheartedly behind the plan to wed Emily to Chilton. The man was also clearly tormented by the tragic consequences that association had led to.
“Emily would never blame you.”
“No, Emily never would, but that doesn’t clear me of blame. Perhaps if I hadn’t walked out on Dorothy—”
“Then you would’ve been a bigger fool than you were when you married her to begin with.”
“You don’t mince words, do you.”
“Never felt a need. The woman went mad. Simple as that. It ain’t something anyone can predict or stop. Your—” Cloud abruptly stopped talking, all thought of Harper’s concerns fleeing his mind as he looked closely at Emily.
“My what? Cloud? What’s wrong?” Harper looked at Emily in growing alarm. “She hasn’t—”
“No. Get that damned red-headed termagant. Now.”
As Harper raced off calling for Giorsal, Cloud reached out to touch Emily, noting idly that his hands were shaking. When he felt how soaked in sweat she was, he dared not believe it. The moment Giorsal reached his side, he grabbed her by the wrist and placed her hand on Emily’s sweat-dampened cheek.
“Sweat. It’s sweat, ain’t it.”
“God above, it is that. She’s soaked in it.” Giorsal gave a shaky laugh. “And she’s so blessedly cool.”
“What is it?”
“The fever’s broke, ye fool.” Giorsal squeaked with surprise when Harper impulsively kissed her. “Enough of that,” she admonished when Harper and Cloud heartily embraced each other. “We have to get the lass cleaned up.”
“She’s still unconscious,” Cloud murmured as he picked Emily up so that Giorsal and Harper could change the bed linen.
“Probably will be for a spell yet. Even though it seems a body’s sleeping a lot, when they’re fevered they’re still fighting, inside like. It wearies them, it does. I willnae get in a tiff if ye call the doctor in just to be sure.”
Although he had complete confidence in Giorsal, Cloud did bring the doctor in as soon as Emily was cleaned up. He stood by with ill-concealed impatience as the man examined Emily. The man’s report was well worth waiting for, however. Emily had passed through the crisis and was on the road to recovery.
For the first time since Emily was wounded, Cloud left her side to join the others for a meal. He did not linger, however, for he wanted to be with her when she first woke up to look around with eyes clear of fever’s delirium. Taking up his post at her side and holding her hand in his, he began to wait, growing tenser as she grew more restless.
Pain was the first thing Emily was fully aware of. As she slowly edged her way to consciousness, she wondered why she should be hurting. When the memory of the shooting came to her she struggled to escape the confusing, frightening pictures in her mind.
A deep, soothing voice began to banish her fretfulness, and she became aware of a gentle warmth enclosing her hand. When she tried to return the clasp she found herself too weak to do so very well, yet her weak grasp stirred a hint of excitement in the soothing voice. Suddenly she was able to put a name to the voice and fought to open her eyes.
Cloud carefully sat on the edge of the bed as Emily’s eyelids began to flutter. When she finally looked at him, he searched her eyes for any lingering sign of fever or confusion. Seeing none, he felt near to collapse as the tension drained out of him.
“Cloud,” she rasped and winced, her throat so dry it hurt to speak.
Carefully helping her to sit up a little, Cloud gave her a few sips of the honey and lemon mixture Giorsal had left. “Better?”
She nodded as he settled her back against the plumped-up pillows. Glancing around the room, she realized she was at Harper’s. It took her a moment to understand why she should be tucked up in Harper’s bed and not at Wolfe’s. She looked at Cloud in slight alarm.
He looked drawn and tired. There was a haggardness to his features she had never seen before. She could not, however, see any sign that he had been hurt in the violent confrontation with Dorothy. Slowly, she began to believe that he had escaped becoming a victim of the woman’s madness. She fervently hoped she had been the last victim, that someone had put an end to Dorothy’s rampage.
“You weren’t hurt? Someone stopped Dorothy before she could hurt you?” She wondered why he was looking at her so intently.
“No. I wasn’t hurt.” Cloud fought to keep the maelstorm of emotion he felt from overwhelming him. “What the hell did you do it for?”
“She was going to shoot you.” She smiled faintly. “I didn’t really think of what I was doing. I just didn’t want you to get hurt. How was she stopped? I can remember thinking that the shooting had stopped as I fainted.”
“It had. Giorsal killed Dorothy.”
“Oh, poor Giorsal. She can use her knife very well, but I know she doesn’t like to.”
“Nope, she doesn’t, but she’s a smart kid. She won’t dwell long on what couldn’t be helped. She did what she had to do and finds strength in that.”
“And Harper?”
“He’s fine, Em. Feeling guilty as hell because he had a part in all this.” He placed a finger on her lips when she started to protest. “He did. He’ll get over it though, especially now that you’re on the mend.”
“Am I? I feel so very weak.”
“It was a bad wound, Em. Then you were fevered for four days.” He could tell by the look on her face that that came as a surprise. “This is the first time you’ve been cool and sensible since you were shot.”
“The babies,” she croaked.
“Are fine. Skye’s taking care of them and Wolfe found a wet nurse. You can’t do it a
ny more, love,” he said gently. “The fever stole your milk.”
“Thornton?” She decided she would deal with that disappointment later.
“Thornton’s here. I know it’s not the best thing, but when he inadvertently heard you’d been hurt, he demanded to come. Wolfe tried to dissuade him, but Thornton suddenly revealed a skill at glorious tantrums. He wanted to be here to help keep the angels away.”
“Oh, the poor boy. I should see him so that he can stop being afraid.”
“Later. First me, then food, then Thornton. A short visit only. You’ve passed the crisis, but you need to get your strength back. You almost died, Em.”
Just speaking the words made it all come back to Cloud. Her eyes looked bruised and, even though her color was better, she was still heartrendingly pale. He could tell by the slight pinched look that her wound still hurt badly enough to distress her. Careful not to add to her pain, he drew her into his arms and held her close, burying his face in her thick hair, its limpness yet another reminder of her recent peril.
“Talk to me, Em.”
“About what?” She wondered at the odd tone to his voice.
“Anything. I just want to hear you talk. Just for a moment, then I’ll let you rest like you need to.”
“I think you need some rest too, Cloud.”
“I’ll get some.”
“I must look a sight.”
“Wretched.”
“Thank you. Since we’re in the mood for flattery, let me say that you have looked better. I have been a trial, have I?”
“You don’t know the half of it.”
He still sounded strange and she was having some difficulty trying to think of something to say. “Cloud?”
“Mmmm?”
“I’m sorry, but I broke another parasol.”
She felt him begin to shake and frowned. The subject of her parasols was usually only mildly amusing to him, not laugh-provoking. Tentatively, and cursing her weakness, she reached up and touched his cheek. The dampness she felt there stunned her.
“Cloud?”
“Shut up, Em.”
Despite her weakness she hugged him as best she could and decided that, for now, she would obey that hoarse demand.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Her breath suspended with the fear of making a sound, Emily made her way to the nursery. She was anxious not to be seen, for whoever did so would be bound to start hovering around, making sure she did nothing they considered taxing. After a month of such mothering, Emily was more than a little fed up, but her objections were ignored. With a final look to be sure no one was around, she darted into the nursery, quickly signaling Peggy, the woman hired to be wet nurse to the twins, to be quiet. Smiling with delight over her success, she sat down on the floor of the nursery and began to romp with the twins. “I thought you said she was asleep, Wolfe,”
Cloud drawled as he stepped out of the doorway he had ducked into with his brothers when he had first seen his wife creeping down the hall. “She doesn’t even look drowsy.”
After glaring at Thunder, who snickered, Wolfe grumbled, “She looked asleep to me and I didn’t take her to be the devious sort.”
“She isn’t usually. She clearly felt that this time the ends justified the means. It doesn’t matter. She’s healed.”
“Oh, she is, huh? Well, she didn’t just up and get healed in the last half hour, which means she’s been better for a while. If that’s so, then why the hell have we been watching her so close?”
“I felt that, even though she seemed fine to me, she might need more time. I figured that was true as long as she didn’t really fight the restrictions on her. If she’s up to creeping about so nimbly, then she’s cured. I’ll get Little Red to pack some food.”
Hurrying after Cloud as he strode down the stairs, Wolfe said, “Are you planning on leaving us with your brood?”
“Peggy takes care of my brood, as you call it.”
“Going to leave us alone with Little Red?” Thunder eyed Giorsal warily as they entered the kitchen.
“Ah, she’s up and about, is she?”
“She is, Giorsal, so pack up the food and don’t torment my poor brothers too much while we’re gone.”
“I’ll be gentle with them. Best I pack up some clothes too. Or will ye do it?”
“Clothes? Whatever for?” Cloud started out of the kitchen, smiling faintly when Giorsal giggled.
As he quietly passed by the nursery he peeked in and had to smile at the way Emily was playing with the twins. She was definitely ready for what he planned. He was not being falsely led by his need for her, a need unfed since the shooting.
Despite what he had said to Giorsal, he stopped in their room to pack a few clothes. As soon as he had finished that, he hurried away to get the carriage ready. He knew Emily would not appreciate the way she was going to be handled in the next hour or so, but he felt sure that the surprise he would give her would soothe those injured feelings.
Emily frowned when Peggy suddenly went still and looked shocked. She was just about to ask what troubled the girl when she was enveloped by a blanket. Peggy’s gasping Cloud’s name was not really necessary to tell Emily who had accosted her. Instinct told her that. What she could not understand, as she struggled vainly to free herself from the bonds Cloud was gently tying around her, was why he was doing it. She cursed him as he picked her up and put her over his shoulder, but the blanket, though loosely tied to allow her to breathe freely, muffled her words.
She was faintly aware of others assisting him and decided she would find out just who had as soon as she got free. That proved impossible, although she struggled from the moment she felt herself set in the carriage until Cloud took her out and set her on her feet again. Her mind was crowded with various means of revenge as she waited impatiently for him to free her—until he finally removed the blanket and she saw where she was.
It was not necessary for her to look at the outside to know that she was in the house Cloud had been building for them. The few pieces of furniture they had managed to gather together told her that. Spellbound, she walked from room to room with Cloud following close behind, finally ending up in what was clearly meant to be the master bedroom. She had to smile when she saw that the only piece of furniture in it was a very large bed. That did not surprise her at all, for it had been the one piece of furniture Cloud had shown any interest in looking at and buying. She quickly turned and hugged Cloud.
“It’s perfect. But did you have to kidnap me to show it to me?”
“I wanted it to be a surprise. You like it then?”
“I told you, it’s perfect. Ready to be lived in. So, when do the children get here?”
Smiling slowly, he picked her up, walked over to the bed and gently dropped her onto it. “Monday.”
“But that’s two days from now.” She watched a little dazedly as he sat down on the edge of the bed to take his boots off.
“Sure is. Two glorious days with just the two of us. Seems like years since I’ve had you all to myself.”
Since he was methodically removing his clothes, she knew full well what he planned, but she had no objections. Crossing her hands beneath her head, she lay watching him undress. It was enough to stir her too-long ignored passion to a near fever pitch.
“You have me to yourself every night. We are alone in our room.”
“Oh, right. Just you and me and the twins and, quite often, Thornton.” He gave her a mildly admonishing look when she giggled. “I thought that feeling of being surrounded would fade when Skye and her family left last week, but I’d forgotten how three children, Peggy, Giorsal, and my brothers can fill a place up.” Stripped to his undershorts, he turned to take off her shoes. “Then there’s your brother, who seems to visit near every day.”
Watching idly as he tugged off her shoes and stockings, she wondered if he thought Harper spent too much time with them, though she heard no censure in his voice. “You could tell him not to come around quite so often.�
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“Nope. I don’t really mind it and the kids love to see him. I think he needs that feeling of family too.” He looked at her. “Emily? I think you’d better lend a hand here. I’m beginning to feel a mite impatient.”
Laughing softly, she sat up to undo her dress. When she lowered her bodice Cloud lost what little restraint he had. Emily found herself caught up in what could only be termed a ravishment. Before passion seared all clear thought from her mind, she decided she quite liked being ravished by Cloud.
When Cloud was finally able to make his sated body move, he did no more than lift his head from Emily’s breasts to look at her. She looked at him from beneath half-lowered eyelids and smiled. He decided there could not be any woman as lovely as Emily after she had been made love to. Reaching out, he gently brushed a few stray wisps of hair from her still lightly flushed face.
“A little more rushed than I’d planned it to be.”
“You mean you didn’t bring me to show me the house?”
“I showed it to you. You said it was perfect. Such compliments deserve a proper thank-you.”
She laughed and draped her arms around his neck. “This was proper?”
“They don’t carry on so like this in Boston, huh?”
“They must do. Babies keep being born.”
He suddenly tensed, realizing that he had recklessly spilled his seed into her obviously fertile little body. “Oh, hell, babies. I didn’t think …” he faltered.
“That’s all right. Giorsal did. I know how to—er, slow down the growth of our family. You needn’t look so worried. You won’t find yourself knee-deep in babies.”
“I don’t mind being Knee-deep in babies. What worried me is that it’s not good for you to have too many too quickly. I’ve seen what that can do to a woman. Hell, it’s written on headstones across the country.” He held her tightly. “I came too damn close to losing you once.”
Holding him a little more tightly, Emily wondered what to say or if she should say anything. Cloud was acting positively emotional again.
“Poor little Emily.” He lightly kissed her mouth. “Sometimes I get the feeling you don’t quite know what to do about me. I’m only a man, Em. No great puzzle.”
Compromised Hearts Page 27
