The Queen of Diamonds

by Moore, Juliet

  He grabbed the side of the wagon. "Listen to me, Catherine. I promised I would get you to Cape Town safely, didn't I? No, it was more than that. I pledged I'd get you on a ship headed for home. I'm sorry, but you are stuck with me."

  "Stuck with you is not how I'd describe it. Forever indebted is more like it."

  His grin lit up his face. "I once made a promise to a sad, little girl. I intend to keep it."

  She blinked back more tears. "You remember that?"

  "Somehow that day stuck in my mind. A part of me knew it was important."

  "Important how?"

  "I'm still trying to figure that out." Harrison climbed up and patted the seat next to him. "Sit up front for a bit?"

  Eyes clouded with tears, Catherine carefully climbed in and sat by his side. Her journey wasn't over just yet.

  * * *

  Back on the road to Cape Town, Catherine had time to think. Too much time.

  She had started her journey with Harrison as a married woman. Now she was a widow. She needed time to process all of it, time to think of how Harrison fit into her new scenario. Unfortunately, time was one of the many things she didn't have. Soon they would reach Cape Town and she would be leaving on the first ship to England. That wasn't much time to rethink her life.

  After about three hours on the road, Harrison asked if it was all right to stop. He gestured to an open area of grassland nearby. "This looks like a good place to make camp. We can rest for a few hours, then be on our way again by dawn."

  She looked at him and saw dark circles under his eyes. "Of course, Harrison. You need your rest."

  As they dismounted, he said, "You need your rest as well."

  "I very much doubt I can sleep." During the previous few hours, she'd closed her eyes a couple of times, as though to test how it felt. That's when the pain was the worst. She couldn't bear to think of what had happened to Marcus, and when she closed her eyes, she couldn't help it.

  Harrison shook his head. "Don't make yourself sick."

  They quickly made camp and ate a small meal. The waistbands of her skirts were feeling looser and looser. Even so, she could barely touch her food. She offered the remains to Harrison, but he shook his head.

  "Maybe you will finish it later," he said sadly.

  They retreated to the wagon, by far the safest place to spend the night. It felt different without David there to chaperone. When they'd broken off from the main group, she hadn't considered the ramifications.

  "How are you feeling?" Harrison asked, mercifully cutting off her train of thought.

  "I feel like after everything I've been through, everything he put me through, I can't believe it ends like this." She leaned against the wall of the wagon and pulled her blanket across her lap. What was it about a blanket that seemed to comfort, regardless of the weather?

  "Yes, it feels wrong to me as well."

  "I never imagined Marcus would be… killed." She took a deep breath, trying to hold back the tears. She knew it was all right to cry and that Harrison understood the temptation to do so, but she didn't want to right then. She feared that if she started, she would never stop. "Even when we were considering the possibility that he wasn't missing at all, that someone had hurt him, I don't think I ever truly believed it."

  "I know."

  "I'm a widow, Harrison. A widow at only twenty-two years old."

  "Yes," he said, stretching his long legs out towards the back of the wagon. "There have been times when I've wanted you to belong to me and me alone."

  She looked at his lips and remembered the way he'd kissed her. He kissed her as a married woman. What about now? She was afraid to think about it.

  "But I never wanted it to happen like this."

  The knowledge he wanted her set her entire body on fire. She looked at the handsome man sitting next to her, virile and magnetic, the most exciting man she'd ever met, and couldn't believe that he wanted her. She didn't know what to say to him then and she knew he was waiting for a response. Catherine pulled the blanket up higher, over her chest. "You're right. It shouldn't have happened like this."

  He shook his head, a pained expression on his face. "But perhaps this is the only way it could have happened. Why were you so quick to run back into his arms? I'll never understand it."

  "I thought it was the right thing to do."

  Harrison turned away. "I don't want to be your second choice. I don't want to win you by default."

  She let the blanket fall out of her hands and leaned forward to run her fingers down his back. "I'm sorry."

  "You are both the most loyal and the most foolish woman I've ever met."

  "You are right. I am."

  "Don't agree with me," he said, turning back to her. "Give me a good reason for it."

  She sighed. "You're right. I'm loyal to a fault. He probably didn't deserve that kind of loyalty, but I was thankful that someone had finally chosen me. It was foolish, and if I had to do it over again, I would choose differently."

  He frowned. "I suppose we'll never know if that's true. Isn't that right, Catherine?"

  "Believe me, Harrison." She gripped his hands tightly and boldly pulled him towards her. "Look into my eyes and believe me when I say I'd choose you. I'd choose you again and again and again-"

  "What changed?"

  "My husband died today. Just like that, without any warning. It puts things in perspective."

  "I see." He reached out for a lock of her hair, from where it lay slightly curled on her breast. "I like you like this."

  She blushed, remembering their day in the lake. "You mean clean?"

  He shook his head. "With your hair down, the moonlight making it glow."

  "And I like it when you look at me like that," she whispered.

  "I want to do much more than look," he said, voice deep.

  Her lips parted with want and she leaned forward, unable to stop herself.

  Harrison seized her with unrestrained need and kissed her lips hard. He moved his lips in a slow dance of seduction and she let him sink into her, offering no resistance. His hard body felt heavy as they fell onto the floor of the wagon. The conveyance creaked at the forceful movement and it sounded fuzzy over the blood rushing through her head. She reached up and sunk her fingers into his hair, gripping the blondish strands with force and pulling him closer to her as they kissed. All her clothing suddenly felt restrictive.

  She reached around his back and felt his muscles tense. She ran her fingers underneath his suspenders, playfully pulling them out and snapping them against his back. In response, he pushed down on her with his lower body. She pushed up against him and ached at not being able to feel the hardness of his muscular form. She knew he had thick, muscular legs and she wanted to feel them. And she wanted to feel the press of his arousal against her most womanly parts. To encourage him, she moved her hands down to his waist and hooked her thumbs into the waistband of his pants. She pulled down on them until she met resistance.

  Harrison didn't need more of an invitation than that. He stopped kissing her long enough to pull back and unbutton his pants. Then he teased her by not taking them off. He met her gaze in the moonlit wagon and glanced down at her clothing.

  In response, she started to undo her bodice. As the layers came off, she started to tremble.

  "Are you cold?" Harrison grabbed the blanket she'd left on the other side of the wagon and partially covered her.

  "I'm not cold," she said. "I've just never been this exhilarated before."

  "Not even when you came out here and thought you might make your fortune?"

  "That was what my mind wanted. This is what my heart wants. My heart is clearly the more forceful of the two."

  He grinned, helping her untie her skirt and slip it off.

  She lay before him in just her chemise, her breasts full beneath the thin cotton and her nipples erect enough to create small peaks through the fabric.

  Harrison ran his hands down her body as he gazed fondly at her. He started
from her shoulders and slowly caressed down over her breasts, briefly cupping them from their underside before continuing to her waist. He gripped her waist firmly with his large, strong hands for a moment, then down they went, glancing by her hips and then her upper thighs. When he got that far, she realized she was subconsciously squeezing all of her muscles the lower he got, especially between her legs.

  He moved forward again, hands on her hips, and resumed his expert kisses. She felt dizzy from all the attention, all the care he took in pleasuring her body. She wasn't a virgin, but she'd never been given such undivided attention before. In a way, it felt like her first time.

  "Aren't you forgetting something?" she gasped into his lips. She pulled him against her again before trying to pull down his pants.

  "We have the entire night," he responded huskily.

  "I've already waited eight years."

  "Catherine," he said simply, then leaned onto his side and removed his pants.

  She pulled at his shirt then. "I want to see all of you. Like at the lake."

  He nodded and quickly unbuttoned his shirt. One of the buttons came off in his haste and fell onto the floor of the wagon with a clink. Then he was in all his glory and she couldn't look away. He was magnificent.

  "You are so beautiful," he said and seized her again. Now she felt the length of him against her and she squirmed with anticipation.

  She wrapped her legs around his hips, which exposed her to him, and now they were bare to each other completely. She could feel him between her legs, waiting and ready. She arched her back, hoping to give him the right message, and it worked.

  Harrison continued to kiss her, but now he reached around her back and grabbed her and sank into her, slowly, but deliberately.

  "Oh, Harrison."

  He groaned and went deeper until their connection was forged. Then he started to move and she almost lost her mind.

  She couldn't believe how right it felt to have him connected with her in the most intimate way. It felt so right and it surprised her how much joy coursed through her body at his movements. She had always felt safe with Harrison, in his arms or even just at his side. Nothing could hurt her when she was with him. This was the pinnacle of everything, and it made everything in the world suddenly clear.

  He whispered sweet words to her as he moved, sometimes seeming to hold back, and other times seeming to speed up.

  Soon, things were moving with a feverish intensity, until she couldn't take it anymore and she felt like she would pass out. Then her entire body seemed to explode from the inside and she experienced something she could never describe in words. It made her grip him tightly as the waves went through her body. Moments later, he joined her in a satisfying release that made him whisper something indecipherable into her shoulder.

  Harrison rolled onto his back and pulled her onto his chest, now glistening with perspiration. "You're an amazing woman. It kills me that there could be anyone who doesn't see that."

  "Hush. I just want to listen to you breathe for a while." She knew what he was referring to and it was the last thing she wanted to think about at that moment.

  So instead of talking, she lay in his arms and listened to the distant calls of the baboons until they both fell asleep.

  Chapter Thirteen

  They traveled on towards Cape Town.

  Every night they spent in each other's arms. Catherine dared not speak of the future. In the front of her mind was the memory of Harrison leaving behind much of his belongings in Kimberly. When they'd left there, he had intended to come back. Of course, many things had changed since that day. The biggest of which was that she no longer had a husband.

  Before she knew it, they had arrived. They checked into a hotel called the Masonic and Harrison went off in search of details. He found out that the ship to England was leaving in five days.

  They spent those last days in bed, days that she would never forget for the rest of her life. She was carefree, choosing to live in those stolen moments. Much later, she wondered if there had been a part of her that had known what the future held and had been trying to hold on to the joy of him as long as possible.

  Cape Town had some attractions for them and they explored with gusto. They even went to a couple of dignity hops and danced the night away in smoke-filled lofts.

  After a day of sightseeing, they arrived in the lobby of the hotel and the proprietor of the place had the news they'd been waiting for. "Your ship has docked."

  Harrison walked her towards the stairs and gestured. "Why don't you get some rest? I'll go look into getting a ticket."

  "Thank you," she said and squeezed his hand before backing away.

  He left.

  Catherine walked up the stairs and it suddenly hit her. Harrison had spoke of getting a ticket. One ticket. Not tickets. She bit down hard on her lip, her stomach turning over with nausea. She walked slowly up the stairs, trying to convince herself that he had misspoke or that the way he'd said it didn't have any meaning at all. But she knew she was right.

  Her heart knew it was over.

  It was the confirmation she'd been dreading. The thought of finally asking him directly about it that night made her want to lose her breakfast.

  Catherine made it onto the top landing, despite having weak knees and slightly blurred vision. She took one step towards her room door before stopping dead in her tracks and almost stumbling over the runner to fall flat onto her face. It wasn't true. She couldn't be seeing what she thought she was seeing. She rubbed her eyes hard and listened to the heavy footsteps approach. Then she opened her eyes wide and stared, aghast, at the man standing in front of her.

  "Marcus," she said, an electric shock running down her spine.

  Marcus stood in the hall. He was thinner, with sun-darkened skin. But it was him, nonetheless. "Catherine, I can explain everything."

  "You son of a bitch," she cried and ran at him. She reached him in but a moment and pounded at his chest with closed fists.

  He flinched from the attack, but didn't fight back.

  Catherine continued to hit him until her tears flowed like the Victoria Falls. Then she stopped and cried in big gulping sobs. Right there in the middle of the hotel hallway.

  "Please, Catherine, people will hear you," he said.

  "You are the worst person I've ever met," she replied.

  "Just allow me to explain."

  "There is nothing you could say that could ever fix this. Nothing you could say that would erase what you've put me through."

  "What does that mean? Do you want to turn around, then? Pretend like you never saw me?" He stood there, arms crossed, waiting for her answer.

  That thought turned the pain to anger and she stopped crying long enough to glare at him. "No. You are going to tell me everything."

  He nodded.

  She gestured to the door to her room. "You will explain it all and not leave anything out. I want the truth this time."

  "You had most of the truth when we last met. It was what happened afterwards that wasn't so honest."

  She brought him into her room, catching sight of the bed she'd been sharing with Harrison. She surprised herself by having no regrets. More so, she was so disgusted with Marcus that she was happy she'd found at least a semblance of happiness. Even if it would turn out to be but a brief respite. "David said you were dead. He said he buried you. Obviously, he is a part of this whole deception."

  Marcus was pacing, as though he wanted to get away from her still. When she walked in his direction, he walked farther away, and on and on repeatedly. "It was something we planned together. We are going to split the money I make from selling the diamonds. David will tell Trenton I'm dead so he doesn't keep looking for me, and I can continue to build up my reputation as a reliable dealer."

  "A reliable criminal."

  "I can really make a fortune doing this, in a very short amount of time. Then I can return to England as a winner! Can't you see the faces of my family when I show them how rich
I've become? What about your family? Don't you want to shove it in their faces?"

  She dried her tears as she spoke to him, feeling like he was a stranger to her. It was as though she knew him much less than she ever had. She felt closer to him on that first night they met than she did right now. "It was never about showing anyone anything, not for me. Yes, I wanted to come out here to secure our future. But I wasn't out to prove anything to anyone. It was for us. For our future. For our children." Her eyes welled up against her control. She hiccupped over a sob and tried to hold it back.

  He rushed forward and grabbed her hands. "We can still have that."

  "No, we can't."

  "Why not?"

  She ripped her hands away in disgust. "Have you already forgotten what you did to me? You've tricked me not once, but twice."

  "I thought you'd understand. I did it for us."

  "You did it for you."

  He shook his head. "No. I know my methods leave something to be desired, but the end result can be wonderful. If you can just move past the details-"

  "Leaving me alone in a foreign country is not a small detail, Marcus. My God, David wasn't even around after you ran off! I didn't know what to do. If it weren't for Harrison…"

  "Oh, this is about Harrison, then. I see."

  She wasn't looking at him anymore, having turned her back, but she heard him pacing, stomping across the room back and forth. "You see nothing! Harrison was my savior and I don't know how I could ever repay him." She took a deep breath, hardening her resolve. Wanting him to know everything. "Do you know what happened the second night you were missing?"

  He shook his head.

  "A man came to our house, looking for me. First, he banged on the door, and when I didn't answer, he tried to force his way in. I had to push the chest up against the door and hold it there with all of my might. All night long! I wasn't safe living there by myself. I had to move in with Harrison."

  "You lived with Harrison? In his tiny shack? Just the two of you?" He looked shocked. Surprised. "Why didn't you mention this when we spoke in David's tent?"

  "I don't owe you any explanations." Catherine eyed the fireplace poker where it leaned innocently against the wall. She was sorely tempted to pick it up and whack him with it. "I had to live with Harrison. My safety depended upon it."