Rapture's Rendezvous

by Cassie Edwards

  Nathan shook Michael's hand cautiously. “And how do you know my wife, sir?” Nathan asked, licking his lips nervously.

  Michael's handshake went limp, as well as his knees. His heartbeat faltered. “Did you say . .. wife . . . ?” he blurted, eyeing Maria confusedly.

  “Correct. Wife,” Nathan said. “Now, how do you know her?”

  Michael's hand went to his hair once again, then to a suit pocket to remove a cigar from it. “Briefly, upon passing at the train depot in New York,” he quickly an-swered, lighting his cigar, still studying Maria with a raised brow. He could see the red rimming her eyes and knew that tears were near, so he knew that there was something sinister about this marriage. He knew Maria loo well. He knew her sweetness, her kindness. He knew that she wouldn't marry such a man willingly.

  Nathan laughed sardonically. “Yes. I can imagine a brief encounter such as that. No man could ever forget Maria,” he said, taking her hand. “Come, Maria. We must go to our room. I do need that rest I spoke of earlier.”

  “Nice to make your acquaintance, sir,” Michael said, then more softly, “and nice to see you again . . . Maria….”

  Nathan ignored Michael and began guiding Maria on up the stairs. “Yes, nice,” Maria said, glancing back at Michael, feeling her heart thundering inside herself, hating being led from the man she truly loved, would always love. When he turned his back to her and moved on down the staircase, she felt bits and pieces of her heart breaking, wanting so badly to run after him. She not only wanted to fall into his arms to profess her love for him, but she had to warn him against Nathan's representatives. Now it was even more risky for Michael to return to Hawkinsville. Nathan had seen him. No amount of disguise would keep the truth from Nathan Hawkins now. He was smart enough to put two and two together, if given even the smallest of clues.

  “Damn strange-acting man,” Nathan grumbled, readying his key as he and Maria moved toward one of the many doors that lined this long, narrow hallway of the second’ floor of the Planter's House Hotel. “If I didn't know better, I would think there was more than just a casual meeting in New York between you and that man.” Nathan eyed Maria with his gray eyes that were no longer empty, but accusing. Then he turned and thrust the key into the lock and opened the door with one quick turn of the knob.

  Maria moved past him, glad that they had left a dim light burning on the nightstand. She still dreaded dark rooms . .. and Nathan Hawkins. This was a combination she would never get used to. In the dark, he became all hands.

  Reaching up, she pulled the hatpin from the plaited chiffon folds of her hat, then lifted the lid of a hatbox and gently placed the hat inside it. She eyed the stacks of hatboxes next to her. At least she was proud to think that at least one of her dreams had come true. She could so vividly remember the many different styles of hats that she had seen worn by the women in New York. Now Maria felt she could look just as beautiful.

  Swinging around, she saw that Nathan was already unclothed to just his underthings and stockings, and moving toward the huge canopied bed. Maria didn't know what to do now. If she undressed, it would be more difficult to escape from the room when he was asleep. If she didn't undress, he would suspect something. So she went to the bed and stretched across it, sighing heavily. “Nathan, I am too tired to undress just yet,” she said. “After I get my breath, I shall then climb from the bed and unclothe.”

  She eyed him with fluttering eyelashes. Smiling enticingly, she said further. “And I shall be sure not to make any noise to disturb you. I promise.”

  Nathan leaned down over her, touching her brow. “Are you ill? You are so pale. Has the trip been too much for you?” he asked, surprising Maria by actually acting concerned about her welfare.

  “I am a bit exhausted,” she said, putting a hand to her own brow, closing her eyes.

  “Then you just lie still and don't worry about a thing,” Nathan said, climbing on the bed beside her. “Whenever you are rested enough, just you get up and undress and then turn the lights out. Tomorrow we will return home and I will show you the duties of a wife all over again.”

  Maria turned her eyes from him, knowing just exactly what he was speaking of. She so hated being his wife. She so hated his touch. Oh, Michael, she thought to herself, hungering so for him now. Being near him for only that brief moment had rekindled her passion for him. She set her jaw firmly. She would succeed at being with him this night. She had to. Not to do so meant further unfulfilled desires for her and possible death for Michael. No matter what, she had to succeed in finding out where he made his residence.

  Lying quite still, Maria listened for Nathan to slip into a deep sleep. His breathing had become more shallow and his hands had become limp as they lay by his side. Then when he began his long overtures of snoring, she knew that he indeed was fast asleep. From her only brief acquaintance with him, she knew that nothing would awaken him now. Only a clap of thunder shaking the bed could do it. So barely breathing, she crept from the bed, going to the wardrobe to whisk a black velveteen cape from it and throw it around her shoulders, lifting-the hood upward to hide her hair and most of her face.

  She glanced quickly around the room, seeing it as she had the first time she had entered. It was a warm, inviting room, with brightly designed wallpaper gracing the walls, and curtains hanging in deep pleats at the windows, the furniture consisting of the grandest of beds, with a nightstand by its side, and two matching gold velveteen chairs positioned again'st the far wall. The room smelted of roses from a large bouquet of opening petals that sat on the nightstand, next to a basin that was always filled with fresh water. It was Maria's first visit to a hotel, and hopefully not her last. The only thing among these comforts that was missing was being with the man she loved.

  Tiptoeing, Maria moved toward the door, watching behind her for any movement on the bed. With one hand, she lifted the skirt of her dress and tail of her cape up into her arms, and with the other she turned the knob on the door, making sure that the bolt lock was slipped back so that a key wouldn't be needed to return to the room.

  Then, breathing more easily, she moved on out into the hallway. She stopped, shutting the door as quietly as possible, then looked around her, making sure no one saw which room she moved from. She had to be discreet. She had to be sure no one would later tell Nathan that his wife had sneaked from his room while he had been sleeping.

  She feared him as a violent man .. . even with women. She still didn't know the fate of his previous wives. Had he done away with them? Possibly in the depths of his coal mine, as he had mentioned possibly doing to Michael, if Michael's identity was ever revealed to him. Thinking such devious thoughts made her shiver and move even more anxiously away from the door.

  When she reached the staircase, she moved swiftly down the steps,, then stopped, breathless, looking around her. A movement next to her drew her quick attention, and turning, she found Michael moving toward her. She was consumed by her heartbeats when he reached a hand toward her, then pulled her into his arms as he moved next to her.

  “Maria. Maria, what does this all mean?” he whispered, hugging her, whispering into her ear.

  “Michael, oh, Michael,” Maria sighed, clinging.

  Michael's hand reached up and traced her facial features as he stepped back away from her. “I can't believe it is really you.. You are shatteringly pretty in your new attire. So damn beautiful.”

  “And you even recognized me hidden beneath the hood of this cape?” she said, pulling the cape more around her face, looking quickly around her. She couldn't be recognized by anyone else. She just couldn't. It was too dangerous for both her. . . and Michael….

  “I would know you anywhere. Don't you know that?”

  Maria continued to search around her. “Michael, we mustn't stand here talking,” she whispered, tensing when two men moved past her, staring at her, then at Michael. “It is too dangerous. Where can we talk?”

  “You are so afraid. What has Nathan Hawkins done to you?” M
ichael snarled, doubling his fists at his side. “And how in the hell did he get you to accept his hand in marriage when you refused my offer? I don't understand any of this. You are in Saint Louis? How? Why . .. ?”

  Maria took one of his hands in hers, pulling him to a dark corner. “Michael, please. We must find a private place. We have to talk. I am so afraid for you,” she whispered, reaching up, touching his lips, so wanting those lips to cover hers … to send her into another world that only existed when she was in his arms.

  “My house is many blocks away. I sense you should not stray too far from this building. Am I right?”

  “Yes. If Nathan should awaken….”

  “Then I shall get a room here. Just you wait here. I will be only a moment.”

  “You will… get… a room . .. ?” Maria's heartbeat quickened. “Does that mean you don't already have a room? Why were . .. you . . . here . . . ?”

  Michael's face paled. “That's not of importance, Maria,” he said. “What is … is that I get you safely to a room where Nathan can't find you.”

  “All right, Michael,” she whispered. Would she and Michael truly get to be alone … in such a room . . . with such a bed … as she knew each room of this hotel had to have?

  “I shall be only a moment. Trust me,” he said thickly, turning to walk quickly away from her.

  Maria's eyes continued to dart around her, watching for anyone to stare openly at her, to possibly recognize her as Nathan Hawkins's new bride. And when Michael moved back in her direction, she accepted his arm as he swooped her next to him to guide her back up the steep staircase.

  “We will have a room on the third floor,” he said, pulling her closer to him. He had dreamed of this moment. He could feel the heat in his loins already. God! She had such an effect on him. But now?She was another man's wife. How? Why? He eyed her with wavering eyes. Oh, God, how he loved her. She would always have his heart. No other woman would ever take her place. Never. But how had Nathan Hawkins succeeded, where he . .. hadn't. . . ?

  “Another flight of stairs, Michael?” Maria said, breathing hard.

  “We could have taken the elevator,” he said,guiding her around the corner that led upward to more steps. “But too many people take the elevator. If you must be discreet, the stairs are the safest. I hope you under-stand.”

  “What is an elevator, Michael?” Maria said, eyes wide, lifting the skirt of her dress and the tail of her cape as she proceeded to move upward.

  “Nathan Hawkins… your … uh … husband hasn't taken you on the elevator of this building yet?”

  “No. He has not. What is an elevator . .. ?”

  Michael laughed amusedly. “It is a box that is run by pulleys and takes people from one floor to another in such fabulous buildings as this. I plan to have one installed in my new building that is now in the process of being erected.”

  “You will own such a building… as this one?” Maria gasped, putting a hand to her throat.

  “It will be even more marvelous,” Michael beamed. “And one day I hope to take you to my penthouse. You will have to sneak away from Nathan Hawkins to see the magnificence of my penthouse when the building is completed.”

  “And what is a .. . uh . .. penthouse, Michael?”

  “I plan to have one of the first in Saint Louis,” Michael boasted. “It will be my dwelling unit on the roof of my high building. The name ‘penthouse'comes from the Latin words pendere, meaning ‘to hang,’ and ad, meaning ‘to.1 It will be a residence much whispered about in the social gatherings of Saint Louis.”

  “It sounds very exciting, Michael,” Maria said, relieved to step onto the landing that led down another narrow hallway with doors on each side.

  “Over here,” Michael urged, releasing his hold on her. “This room is ours for the few moments we will have with one another.”

  Tremulously, Maria waited until Michael had fitted the key into the lock and had opened the door. She waited until he had turned a light on that lighted the room in dim shadows. She then moved on inside, seeing the familiarity of it. It was the same as walking into the room that she had just left behind, except for the lack of the roses that she had found awaiting her arrival when she and Nathan had walked into the room.

  “Roses for my new bride,” Nathan had said, then had rushed her right to the bed and had taken her sexually even before she had been able to fully unclothe herself.

  She trembled now, thinking about it. But she soon put it from her mind when she heard Michael close the door behind them and then had her in his arms, crushing his lips against hers, making her insides begin a slow melting.

  “Maria, I must have you,” Michael said thickly, moving the hood from around her face, then the full cape from her shoulders, letting it drop to the floor. His lips covered her face in feathery kisses.

  “But, Michael. I don't have . .. time. . . .” she murmured. “What. . . if. .. Nathan . . . ?”

  Michael quickly withdrew from her and moved across the room, standing with his back to her, staring out the window. “Yes. Nathan,” he mumbled, clasping his hands behind him. He turned on a heel, staring at Maria with his eyes changing colors to deeper blues. “How is it that you have become his wife? How could you marry such a man as Nathan Hawkins? You refused me. Why not him?”

  Maria stooped to rescue her cape, then carried it with her and placed it on her lap as she moved onto the softness of a green velveteen chair. “There is much that needs to be said, Michael,” she said, clearing her throat nervously.

  Michael pulled a cigar from his inside suit pocket and lit it, moving to sit across from Maria. “Yes. I do believe so,” he said, leaning forward, one foot placed ahead of the other. He so ached for her, but he knew that she was, yes, indeed married. She belonged to another man. Only she could make the choice as to whether or not to move into a bed with a man other than her husband.

  Maria's fingers worked with some loose strands of hair, trying to fit them back beneath her comb at the side of her head. “I do not like being married to Nathan Hawkins,” she confessed, blushing. “It is only because of my Papa and Alberto that I have done this ugly deed. Please try to understand, Michael.”

  “I don't understand, Maria.. . .”

  “Nathan Hawkins singled me out even before I arrived in America,” she said. Her gaze lowered. “It was sort of an agreement between Papa and Nathan Hawkins.”

  Michael paled. “Good Lord. Your father made an agreement with Nathan Hawkins for you to wed him when you arrived?”

  Maria's eyes shot upward. She gasped softly. “No. Nothing like that,” she said. “The agreement? It was such an innocent gesture on my Papa's part. He had been told by Nathan Hawkins that Alberto and I would get special treatment aboard the ship, after Papa had begged Nathan Hawkins that Alberto and myself not be told that it wasn't Papa who was paying our passage to America. He didn't want us to know that Nathan Hawkins was doing the paying. You see, Papa had his pride to protect.”

  Michael rose, his face showing shock. “Then you are . .. of Nathan Hawkins's Italian community, Maria?” he stammered. “You are a part of Hawkins- ville … ?” “Yes, Michael“

  He ran his fingers through his hair, murmuring, “God. God.” He slumped down onto the chair once again, leaning heavily against its back. “And the ship? Special privileges? God. I didn't see you get any special privileges aboard that death ship,” Michael grumbled, chewing angrily on the tip of his cigar.

  “No. We did not. The only special privileges was the fact that Nathan did agree to let it look as though Papa was the one who had paid the passage. That was the only privilege he granted. And this was only agreed to because Papa had described in such fine detail to Nathan Hawkins my … what… he called … innocent beauty. .. . And Nathan Hawkins decided to have my hand in marriage once I arrived. Don't you see? Nathan had it planned from the very first mention of my name to him from Papa's lips.”

  Michael placed his fingertips together in front of him, glowering. “An
d you have been in Hawkinsville all this time? Up to this time of your .. . uh . . . marriage . . . ?”

  “Yes, Michael.”

  “I didn't know“

  “I wish that I had told you while we were on the ship.”

  “I should have insisted,” he said. “But all of this that has happened. All of this between Nathan Hawkins and your father? It didn't mean that once you did arrive that you did have to go through with such a mockery of marriage. Why did you go ahead and marry such a man? He's not worth the spit from my mouth. And you know that.”

  Maria felt the need to cry. She turned her gaze from Michael, swallowing hard. “Nathan Hawkins said that he would force Papa, Alberto and myself to board the next ship back to Italy if I refused him,” she said sullenly. She wiped a tear away, sobbing softly. “You see? I had no choice. The ship's condition? Don't you remember? My Papa wouldn't live through such a voyage. I know it.”

  Michael rose and stamped his cigar out in an ashtray. He went to Maria and pulled her up into his arms. “God, Maria. I should have known. I could see the fear in your eyes when I saw you with Nathan on the stairs. And when you chose to address me by a different last name, I suspected even more. That is why I waited in the lobby. I knew you would seek me out. I would have waited all night, if need be.”

  Maria rested her head against Michael's chest, smelling the familiarity of him, his expensive male cologne, the aroma of cigars, and she could feel the haste with which his heart was beating against his chest. “And, Michael,” she murmured, clinging to him. “That is not all. There is so much more you need to know.”

  He reached and tilted her chin up with a forefinger, their gazes meeting and holding. “What more is there to tell? What is it, Maria?” he said thickly, being suddenly possessed once again by her beauty .. . her nearness. …