He was approaching the top. Just a turn to the right, and then five more steps, and he’d be directly outside her door. If she had locked it or tried to block him, he’d brought tools to take the door off at the hinges. Arlene wouldn’t hear. She slept soundly, thanks to that cough medicine the doctor gave her for that infernal wheezing of hers. It was probably put on to get sympathy, anyway, he figured.
He stopped just as he was about to round the corner, because he could hear the familiar sound, muffled, like when she’d stuff a handkerchief in her mouth to try and stifle the rasping that got on his nerves. It was Arlene, right outside Erin’s door!
Cautiously, he peered around the corner, and, in the shadowed darkness, could just make her out. It was then that he heard the laughing and giggling coming from Erin’s room, and furiously realized Letty was inside with Erin. It was all he could do to keep from charging up there to kick the door down and drag both of them out and give them a harsh whipping. Yet he fought for control, realizing Arlene would wonder why he’d been creeping up the back stairs in the middle of the night.
He began to retreat as quietly and stealthily as he’d advanced.
By the time he’d gone around and made his way up the main stairway, Arlene was on her way back to her room. He heard her coming down the hall, waited to take his final step up as she got right on him. She gave a soft cry, choked on a sudden gasp, and began to cough. He caught her by her elbow. She was wearing a woolen robe and slippers. He could feel her trembling as he silently guided her back to her room.
Once inside, he pushed her roughly down on her bed, and, as she stared up at him in the lantern’s glow, her eyes bulged with both fear and the effort to hold back the rasping pressure in her terrified lungs. “She was in there, wasn’t she? Letty.”
Arlene would not respond; she shook her head slowly.
“Yeah, she was there all right, and now I know what I gotta do.” He turned to go.
Arlene found her voice, dared to plead tremulously, “Don’t go down there, Zachary. Please. Not when you’re so upset.”
He turned to face her, gave a short, brittle laugh. “Oh, I’m not going to interrupt them right now. Let ’em have their fun…for the last goddamn time,” he added with a snarl. He continued on his way, closing the door soundly behind him.
Arlene stared after him only momentarily before reaching for the bottle of green horehound juice on the bedside table and taking a big gulp. Sometimes it helped soothe the coughing, and she leaned her head back against the pillows to take short, shallow breaths as the doctor had instructed.
Panic was a lump in her throat, even after the attack had subsided, because she knew what Zachary had meant when he said it was Erin and Letty’s last time together.
Nothing would stop him from selling Letty now.
Her teeth ground together so tight her jaws ached, and she shivered with the force of her determination.
It might be too late for Letty, but by God, nothing would stand in the way of ensuring Erin’s future by arranging her marriage to Ryan Youngblood.
With a chill of foreboding, Arlene knew it had to be soon. She was running out of time.
He was sitting beneath the weeping willow tree, absently chewing a blade of grass as he gazed toward the honeyed water. Erin watched him from the bank just above, struck once more by his stark good looks. He was wearing a pale blue shirt of muslin, and she feasted on his wide, masculine shoulders, the corded muscles of his arms, tanned to a golden bronze. Worn denim trousers molded tightly to rock-hard thighs. Sunlight filtering down through the gently swaying fronds dusted his hair with gold.
She could not deny being drawn to him. But while she had sensed warmth and tenderness, she also felt an undercurrent that he should not be pushed too far, not taken lightly. She had no intention of doing either, and, taking a deep breath and gathering all her courage, she urged her horse forward.
He heard her approach and quickly got up to meet her. Lifting her down from the saddle, he continued to clasp her waist with firm hands. Mouth curving in a teasing smile, he said, “It’s nice to know you decided I wasn’t such a monster after all.”
Unable to quell a sudden stab of uneasiness, she moved from his embrace, feeling her face grow warm.
She was wearing a pale-green riding habit. With gloved hands, she reached to remove the matching bonnet, and her hair tumbled freely about her shoulders. “I never thought you were a monster.” She finally trusted her voice to speak and turned to him once more. “I just felt things were moving too fast. We hardly know each other.”
He cocked his head to one side, amused by her reserved demeanor. “Some things don’t move fast enough, my dear.” Then, before she could dissent, he pointed to the basket she hadn’t noticed. “I thought a glass of wine might be nice. Some fruit.” He took out a linen cloth, unfolded it to spread in the shade.
They sat down, and, to make conversation, he complimented her fine chestnut quarter horse. She asked him about his own, a Morgan, and he proceeded to tell her a bit about the ones raised at Jasmine Hill. She was fascinated and began asking questions, which he eagerly answered.
As they talked and sipped the wine, Erin began to feel mellow, relaxed. She made a pillow of the bonnet she thought silly anyway, and stretched out beneath the swaying willow branches, enjoying the afternoon. Ryan lay on his side next to her, making sure to keep her glass filled.
They talked of any and everything, laughing together, just enjoying each other, losing all track of time. Eventually, Erin prompted him to talk about his travels once more, and he said his next trip would be to New Orleans in the fall. “There’s a big horse show and auction. I’ve been wanting to breed Arabians. They’re magnificent horses, so I thought I’d look for breeding stock at the show.”
“New Orleans,” she said in wonder. “I’ve always wanted to go there.”
“Then come with me.”
“Oh, I can’t do that, and you know it.”
“But would you like to?”
She was puzzled as to why he was pursuing something that was impossible. “It’s ridiculous to even talk about.”
Ryan bit back a smile as he poured more wine in her glass. “If you’d like to go, it can be arranged.”
“We’ll see.” She laughed softly, sure he was teasing.
He reached to brush back a lock of hair that had fallen onto her face, struck once more by her natural beauty. He moved closer. “Erin, I’ve learned that in this world, you have to make the good times yourself. You can’t sit back and wait for life to just hand them to you. If you really want to go with me, we’ll work it out, because I sure as hell would like to have you along.”
She knew he was about to kiss her and wanted him to, while at the same time becoming frightened all over again. “It’s—it’s getting late,” she said nervously. “I really have to be going.”
Almost roughly, he jerked her into his arms, and she gave a little gasp of surprise. He rolled over on his back, pulling her on top of him. He could feel her startled resistance melting as his mouth claimed hers in a smoldering kiss. Slowly, his hands began to move down her back, molding about her incredibly tiny waist before trailing downward to cup her firm, rounded buttocks. He wanted to touch her all over, kiss her all over, yet knew he had to move slowly. Despite her attempt at sophistication, he knew her for what she was—a naive girl trying to be a woman in the only way she knew how. He also found her innocence refreshing. It was nice to have a challenge for a change. Yet there was no denying he was nearly crazy with wanting her.
Erin was swept with overwhelming desire and struggled against rising terror at the same time. Commanding herself to relax, she tentatively parted her lips, allowing his tongue to meld against her own, then delighted at the sweetness. He had begun to run his hands up and down her body in exploration once more, and she was tingling, shivering at his touch.
He maneuvered to the side, and she felt as if she were being consumed, devoured, by his ravishing hunger. She co
uld feel the swelling of his desire, and with primal instinct, her body arched against his. Then, as though shocked by awareness of how easily they fit together, she stiffened and began to pull away. He wouldn’t let her go, but held her with one hand, while the other quickly began to shove her skirt up about her shapely thighs.
As his fingers began to move upward, Erin tore her mouth from his and gasped, “No, don’t, you mustn’t…” She grabbed at his hand, slipped, clutched at his wrist instead, attempting to stop his assault, but he continued to search for, and find, that nucleus of sensation that rendered her helpless to the sweet, hot needles of ecstasy that fired up into her belly. He caressed and squeezed, and she felt herself going limp in his arms, whimpering softly, deep in her throat. Maneuvering with his knee, he spread her legs, then reached up inside her to feel the moisture of her own rampant passion.
He wanted her as he’d never wanted another. Yet, even in the sweet anguish of maddening hunger, he knew once would never be enough. Not with Erin. She was the personification of everything he’d dreamed of in a woman but never found. As he held her, stroked her, reveling in her shudders of pleasure beneath his touch, he knew he had to have her at his beck and call. She was all he needed to make his life complete, the perfect mistress.
Despite the liquid fire coursing through her veins, Erin knew she had to turn back before it was too late. He was confident of her surrender, and she mustered every ounce of strength and determination to take him by surprise and tear from his grasp.
Quickly, she scrambled to her feet as he stared up at her in anguished disbelief.
“I can’t!” She shook her head wildly as she backed away from him, raven hair whipping about her face. How could she explain what she was feeling? To hell with what Letty said about making him want her so desperately he’d marry her despite everything. She didn’t want to cajole or bewitch any man. If it was meant for them to fall in love, so be it, but she’d not be a party to deception “I’m sorry, Ryan, but I can’t. Not like this.”
He stared after her as she headed to where she’d left her horse. Damn it, he fumed, he’d never forced himself on any woman and never would, but he hadn’t been turned down by one, either, especially when things had reached the point they had only seconds ago. He leaped up to follow her, grabbed her, and spun her about. “If you say you don’t want me, Erin, you’re lying. To me. To yourself. Why are you torturing both of us this way?”
How could she explain her anguished shame? She’d actually set out to seduce him, to make him want her so badly he’d stop at nothing to have her. But the reality was, she didn’t want it that way. She knew no matter what her motive, she’d never be able to live with herself if she cajoled him into marriage. “I’m sorry,” she repeated, closing her eyes because she couldn’t stand the way he was looking at her with such blazing contempt. “I didn’t mean it to be this way.”
“What did you mean?” He gave her a violent shake that sent her head bobbing to and fro. “What’s this all about? Why did you even meet me here?”
Her own ire started to rise. Her eyes flashed open and she fired back, “Why did you ask me? Was this all you wanted? To take your pleasure on the ground like a—a rutting animal?” she stammered indignantly.
Despite the wrenching pain in his gut from being set on fire and then left to smolder, he thought how lovely her eyes were when angry, like brandy laced with raging splashes of claret. Recovering some of his wit, he gave a taunting smile and told her, “Well, frankly, I prefer to make love in a real bed, my dear, but that’s kind of difficult to arrange under the circumstances. I can’t take you to my house, not when you’re still living at home under your mother and your stepfather’s protection. A man can get killed for that sort of indiscretion, you know, and the same holds true if I take you to a hotel. So until we knew for sure this was what we both wanted and dared to go on and make arrangements to get you set up, what in hell did you propose we do?”
Erin’s eyes had grown wider with each word he spoke, and, at last, she was able to demand past her constricting throat, “What are you talking about? What kind of arrangements? Set me up to do what?”
He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Erin, you know damn well what I’m talking about. I want you to be my mistress.”
“Your—your mistress?” she echoed, aghast, then shook her head furiously, wildly, and exploded, “You bastard! You think that’s why I came here? Because I want to be your—your paid whore?” Tears stung her eyes, and she bit down on her lip hard enough to taste blood, fighting to hold them back. She’d be damned if she’d let him know just how deeply she was wounded by his callous reasoning. Mustering as much dignity as possible under the circumstances, she rushed on, “I thought we enjoyed each other’s company. I liked you. I wanted to get to know you better. Maybe I even dared to think that somewhere down the road our feelings might grow and you’d court me. I was wrong. I was a fool.”
He could only watch, stunned by her outburst, as she mounted her horse, then, reining about, she fired her parting shot. “I think, Mr. Youngblood, it would be best if we just forgot we ever met. And I’ll thank you to stay off this property in the future.”
Ryan stared after her as she urged the horse into a full gallop, disappearing around a bend in the road in a cloud of dust.
Never had he felt such frustration.
What the hell did she want from him? Surely, she didn’t expect him to pursue her with the idea of matrimony—did she? Or was she actually attempting to make him so crazy with wanting her that he’d do just that?
He picked up the empty wine bottle and sent it sailing through the air to land with a loud splash in the middle of the stream.
Never again.
Never again would he allow himself to become so bewitched by a woman that he’d lose all control. Yet he knew he had to have Erin Sterling, and by God, he’d find a way to do so.
He returned to where he’d left his horse, rode away so deep in thought he didn’t notice the Negro boy and the white woman watching from the wagon at the edge of the woods.
Arlene Tremayne withdrew the handkerchief she’d been pressing tightly against her lips for long moments to stifle the sepulchral cough. Despite her misery, she managed a wan smile.
She motioned to Ben to start the horses for home.
She’d seen everything she needed to see.
Now she could begin to make her wish come true—if God would spare her a little bit longer.
Chapter Six
“He knows Letty has been sneaking up to your room,” Arlene bluntly informed Erin, not looking up from her tatting. They were in the sewing room, and she’d seen Zachary ride out earlier and knew they could talk without him eavesdropping, as he was prone to do.
Defiantly, Erin replied, “So what? I invited her, Mother. Letty is my friend. There’s nothing wrong with her coming to my room and talking.”
“You know it’s forbidden.”
Erin had been standing at the window, gazing out at the rolling green lawn dotted with leafy pecan and magnolia trees. Billowy clouds in a turquoise sky provided a canopy for the perfect afternoon. She wanted to go riding, but where? She’d have to find a different trail, because she wouldn’t be at all surprised to find Ryan waiting for her at the millstream, despite her explosion yesterday. She sensed he was the kind of man who was used to getting what he wanted, and after a sleepless night of tossing and turning, she had to admit she was afraid—not of him, but herself, because when he held her, kissed her, it was all she could do to resist, and—
“Erin, are you listening to me?” Arlene asked sharply.
Torn from her agitated thoughts, Erin looked at her mother and shrugged. “What do you want me to say? Letty is my friend, and I don’t think it’s right that Zachary objects, just because she’s colored.”
“It’s not only that. She’s a servant, dear, and she has to remember her place, just as you should remember yours.” Arlene hated having to talk that way, because she certain
ly didn’t feel that way, but for Erin’s sake, and also for Letty’s, she had to try and make her understand the social impropriety of their relationship.
Stubbornly, Erin persisted, “I still don’t see anything wrong with it.”
“Zachary does, and I hate to tell you this, but I think he’s determined to put a stop to it, which means he’ll sell Letty.”
“No!” Erin cried in horror as she hurried to kneel before her mother. “You can’t let him do that! Not Letty!”
“There’s nothing I can do to stop him.” She laid aside her tatting to reach and cup Erin’s face with loving hands. “But if you’ll promise me it won’t happen again, that you’ll forget about being friends with her, regard her as a servant and nothing more, then I’ll do my best to persuade him to give you one more chance to obey his wishes.”
Erin clasped her mother’s hands, pressed them against her lips, then stood and moved to the window once more as she thought about the futility of it all. If Ryan’s interest had gone beyond his lust, and he had eventually proposed, a lot of problems could have been solved. Now, sadly, that hope was dashed. So what did the future hold? Everything suddenly seemed bleak, dismal.
Arlene was watching her intently. When she’d overheard her telling Letty of her planned rendezvous with Ryan Youngblood, she’d had Ben take her to spy on them in hopes of confirming they were falling in love. Instead, though she couldn’t hear what they were saying, she knew she had witnessed an argument of some sort. Erin had left in a huff, and Ryan appeared vexed. But Arlene wasn’t giving up. Oh, no; she had the ammunition she needed to induce him to propose to Erin, and that’s exactly what she intended to do—after she attempted to save Letty from the auction block. Gingerly, she prompted, “If you don’t promise, then Letty is as good as gone.”
Midnight Rose Page 7
