Echoes of Tomorrow

by Jenny Lykins

  They stood frozen for a second, then Elise said the word "No." It was more a sob than a word. She spun around and ran, the hem of her gown bunched high in her fists.

  "Elise! Wait!"

  Reed looked at his boots several yards away, then back to Elise. The woman was running with the speed of a man, and if he didn't catch her soon he'd have no chance to talk to her. And they needed to talk.

  The floor of the forest held all sorts of painful, sharp objects, and it seemed every rock, acorn and thorn gathered itself under his bare feet. After several seconds of hopping from one foot to another, he gritted his teeth and took off at a sprint.

  Elise darted glances over her shoulder at him as she ran. Her speed increased when she saw him gaining on her. It wasn't until they burst into a small, grassy clearing that Reed was able to plant his feet firmly enough to catch up to her.

  By the time he grabbed her shoulders and spun her around she was crying too hard to put up much of a fight. She knocked his hands from her shoulders, then slapped them away when he tried to hold her.

  "Just leave me alone! Leave me alone!" she cried, and shoved him backward before running away again.

  He was not about to let her get away again. He caught up with her in seconds and threw both arms around her to pin her arms to her sides. The momentum of his body carried them both to the ground, and he threw himself under her to cushion her fall. They rolled for several feet over rocks and fallen twigs, and when they stopped they both lay there, catching their breaths and moaning in pain.

  Elise was the first to move.

  "Get off me, you big jerk." She shoved at his leg draped across her thighs. "Ow! OW! I think I pulled a muscle in my neck!"

  She tried to sit up but fell back, her hand massaging her neck while she glared at him. Each movement caused a wince when she gingerly worked her head back and forth.

  "Oh, God, I think you've broken my neck."

  Reed struggled to his elbows and stifled a few winces of his own.

  "Here, let me see." He leaned over her and tried to get a glimpse of her neck. Tugging at her hand only increased her anger.

  "No! OW! Damn you, leave me alone!" She shoved at his chest, but he refused to be budged.

  "Elise, stop being childish. If your neck is truly hurt we need to know. This could be very serious."

  She glared at him for an eternity, her green eyes vibrant behind unshed tears. Finally, she jerked her hand away and stared off into the distance.

  Reed knelt before her on one knee and laid his fingers against the warm, ivory column of her neck. His fingers tenderly massaged her skin, evoking in him happier times when he'd been free to touch her. Reminding himself that she might be injured, he rotated her head a bit with both hands. The examination lasted several minutes before he leaned back and stared at her, allowing a serious frown to crease his brow.

  "Show me exactly where it hurts the most."

  Elise still refused to look at him but reached up and outlined the tendon running from her ear to her shoulder.

  "Hmmmm. I see."

  He leaned forward again, savoring the feel of her hair as he brushed away any remaining tendrils. He placed his hands on the grass by each side of her head.

  "Tell me if this makes it feel better."

  His breath stirred her hair a second before his lips touched her neck. She stiffened as a white-hot fire exploded through his body. His lips worked their way up the sensitive tendon to the hollow beneath her ear. He stopped to sample the sweet taste of her earlobe. A burning river of passion snaked through his body when she arched her neck toward him and drew up one knee in a sure sign of pleasure.

  He followed the soft, heated path back down her neck, gently nibbling and tasting until he reached the outline of her collarbone. He could feel her pulse racing. Her sweet, salty taste lingered on his tongue.

  "Do you hurt anywhere else?" he murmured while his lips still caressed her skin.

  He felt, rather than saw, her head nod.

  When he lifted his eyes she was staring at him. She held his gaze while she raised her hand to unbutton her bodice and untie the ribbons of her chemise. She pulled the left side away and guided his head down to just above her heart. Her voice broke when she spoke.

  "I hurt here."

  A flash of pain and electricity coursed through him. He felt an unfamiliar burning behind his eyelids and a painfully familiar burning everywhere else.

  He lowered his head and kissed the indicated area with infinite tenderness, forcing himself to be slow and gentle, no matter how torturous it was on him. His mouth lingered on the velvety swell until her shaking hands came up to drag the hindering fabric aside.

  A ragged moan tore from his throat at her gesture. He was wracked with an exquisite, pulsing ache. It was all he could do to keep from ripping the fabric completely from her.

  As he kissed away the pain as thoroughly as he knew how, soft, gentle hands cupped each side of his face and lifted his head. Her voice was so husky he barely recognized it.

  "Let's see if I can find where you hurt."

  She rolled to her side and pushed him onto his back. A little gasp escaped her when she saw his open shirt. Angry, red scratches from the bushes he’d chased her through zig-zagged across his chest.

  She brought her hand up to caress the line of his jaw, and her eyes spoke an apology for running from him. Her gaze never left his as she lowered her head to his chest to find each scratch with her lips.

  Her mouth traced the outline of every wound, and the heat of her tongue seared him like a branding iron. His fingers reached down to entangle themselves in her hair, the hair that fanned across his chest in an ever downward movement. He closed his eyes to keep them from rolling upward.

  After kissing and paying homage to every scratch she could find, she moved her hands over his body in search of more injuries. He wasn't sure how much more he could take.

  "Ohhh," she breathed in a whisper, "a massage might help you here."

  His whole body jerked at her exploring touch, and his breath caught in his throat. He tried to swallow but there was no moisture left in his mouth. The heat of her hand on him burned like a flame.

  "Then again," she teased, "I think you'd be better off to soak it in something warm."

  The thin thread of his self-control snapped with her words. A primal moan rumbled in his throat. He rolled atop her and yanked off his shirt.

  Her eyes were alive with the heat of desire, her hands busy with the waistband of his trousers.

  His gaze left hers only long enough to find her lacings. Elise worked as frantically as he, pulling and ripping at their clothing, desperate to remove all the barriers.

  Finally! His hand found the silky smoothness he sought. He rolled to his side only long enough to rid himself of his trousers.

  "Missss Elllissse! Helloooo! Misss Elllissse!"

  They froze, two statues lying on the grass with bits and pieces of clothing scattered around them like colorful leaves from the trees.

  "DAMN!" Reed roared. "Damndamndamndamndamn!" He slammed his fists into the earth, punctuating each and every curse.

  Elise simply lay there, staring at the sky, a look of pained defeat etched solidly into her features, one lone tear sliding toward the ground.

  It's just not meant to be, she thought. No, it was more than a thought. It was a feeling of certainty that dragged her down and held her pinned to the ground.

  Her body still tingled, every nerve ending alive with the feel of Reed. Her mouth still tasted his. His scent still lingered in each uneven breath she took. Yet she felt as though someone had tossed cold water on her, then laid the world on top of her.

  Reed brought what he could find of her clothing and laid the pile beside her. He knelt, ran the backs of his fingers along her cheek in a loving caress. Her eyes closed in a slow blink before she turned to him, expressionless.

  "Stay here, little one. That's Big John. I'll go find out what he wants before he gets here." His eyes
were apologetic beneath the tumbled waves of his hair, his voice husky with the passion he'd been unable to release.

  She watched him walk away, his shirt-tail crammed haphazardly into his waistband. He had to stop every few feet to knock something off the bottom of his bare feet before he limped on.

  His image blurred, then cleared when she blinked. Twin tears cut separate paths down her cheeks. Her heart felt like a balloon with a slow leak. She could feel it shriveling inside. Soon there would be nothing left.

  I have to get away, she thought. I can't stay here and torture both of us.

  She heard Big John's voice coming closer. Reed hadn't caught him soon enough.

  "Well, Mistah Reed, Belle done come back to the stables without Miss Elise. She have a piece of tree branch still tied in her reins, so I knowed Miss Elise be all right. I was just afeared she be having a long walk back to the house."

  She couldn't hear Reed's muffled reply. She knew though, that she couldn't go back to that house. It was time for her to leave, and now was as good a time as any.

  With wearying effort she sat up and slipped on her bodice. The tiny buttons were a hassle to deal with now, when only minutes ago she hadn't even noticed them. She'd skipped one somewhere in her buttoning, but what difference did it make?

  When she rose to fasten her waistband, a knifing pain shot through her ankle. She caught herself before she fell, but sank to the ground when she tried a second time to put weight on her ankle.

  "Damn."

  This was definitely not her day.

  *******

  "Nothing broken, little lady. Just a bit of a sprain. Why, with ankles that tiny it would take very little to turn one." Doctor Freeport peered at her over his rectangular glasses, then raised his head and looked down through the lenses at the ankle in question.

  She heard Angeline "hummph."

  Elise didn't know what kind of story Reed had told them about what happened. And she didn't care. She'd already come back to the house once today looking like a drowned rat, her gown plastered to her body. Luckily Marisa had been with her to sing her praises.

  This time she was carried in by a frantic Reed. Both of them had stains of grass and dirt all over them. Oh, well. Let the gossips make of it what they will.

  A twinge of pain brought her attention back to her ankle.

  "Should she not be in bed, Doctor Freeport?" Angeline's voice interrupted the examination. "Big John can carry the poor thing upstairs to her room, where she belongs."

  "Nooo, noooo. Not necessary. No need for Miss Gerard to miss the festivities." He placed another cool cloth on the swollen limb. "Just keep it elevated and cool."

  He turned his attention to Reed. "Have Tessa mix a lump of alum about the size of an English walnut with the whites of two eggs and stir that until it jellies. Then have her soak a cloth in it and apply that to her ankle. Just put a fresh one on when it starts to dry, and do that for at least two days."

  His glasses crept down while he spoke until they were barely perched on the tip of his nose. He eyed Reed over them, then shoved them into place with his index finger. He shook his head and spoke to Reed in a low voice.

  "And as for what ails you, son, I'd be a rich man if I could come up with a remedy for that."

  Elise heard the comment, even though she was sure she wasn't meant to.

  She glanced at Reed and saw that he was in worse shape than she was. Bits of dried grass and dirt clung to his hair and arms where his skin was sticky from chasing her. An occasional dot of red marred his shirt from the many scratches on his chest. At least his clothes were in order, thanks to Big John.

  The huge black man had had no problem sizing up the situation. He'd probably already known before he ever stepped into the clearing.

  Reed had been so upset when he'd seen her ankle he would have carried her to the house then and there. But Big John's low voice had cut into Reed's plans.

  "Now Mistah Reed, you knows you can't be walking into the big house, carrying a lady in the shape you in. Why, people get the wrong idea."

  He'd had Reed's boots retrieved, the worst of the grass knocked off, and his shirt properly tucked in, in no time.

  Too bad he couldn't have done something about Reed's face. If it had been haggard before, now he looked positively tormented.

  Elise felt a little of the numbness begin to fall away from her heart and a warmth steal in when she looked at Reed. She struggled against the warmth. It was easier if she stayed numb.

  "Yessir, just keep it elevated and use that poultice. I'll come around tomorrow for a look see. No need for bed rest unless the little lady is tired." Doctor Freeport pumped Reed's hand and gave him a sympathetic pat on his shoulder before leaving.

  Lil fussed with the cushions and pillows. She fluffed and pounded and rearranged them while she mumbled to herself. "If one is plump, one does not run. There are distinct advantages to being voluptuous."

  Angeline glared at the doctor's back, then flicked a disgusted look toward Lil.

  "What does he know? He's not much better than a horse doctor." She swung around to Reed after the doctor had left the room. "I still think you should have Big John take her upstairs."

  Elise's voice stopped Angeline's whining.

  "Oh, Angeline."

  The woman turned to look at Elise.

  "Butt out." Elise filled her face with as much sweetness as Angeline's was filled with hate.

  "Why, you common little..."

  Reed opened his mouth to cut off Angeline's outraged attack, but Nicholas came bounding into the room to effectively do the job.

  "Miss Elise! Golly, look at your leg! It's so big. Does it hurt?"

  Elise smiled at Nicholas's concerned little face and stifled the urge to wince.

  "Only when I laugh, Nick." And she didn't expect to do a lot of that. When the throb grew worse she fought a grimace. What I wouldn't give for a handful of painkillers.

  Nicholas studied the swollen appendage with awe. A pudgy finger hovered in an apparent urge to touch it. He somehow managed not to. Instead he rammed his hands into his pockets and shook his head.

  "It's too bad you are grown, Miss Elise. Or else someone could kiss it and make it better. At least that's what Momma does...used to do when I was small."

  It was all she could do not to look at Reed. She willed her gaze to the floor and tried not to think about the last time - only hours ago - someone had kissed her hurts. Several seconds of uncomfortable silence passed. Just when she thought she was safe, her traitorous eyes glanced up at Reed and locked with his.

  His discomfort was almost tangible. Every emotion played across his face, and Elise could read every one - guilt, love, lust, pain, guilt again. It finally ended with a look that said he would give anything to be able to do as Nicholas said.

  "Do you suppose it would work on grown people, Miss Elise?"

  Her gaze flew back to Nicholas with his innocent question. She blinked and looked back at Reed.

  And then she lost control.

  The first giggle sounded like a snort. She laughed out loud at the obnoxious noise. Before she knew it she was so hysterically tickled she had tears running down her face and was holding her sides. She fought for control, only to lose it again when she looked at the four people, three of whom stared at her as though she were mad.

  Angeline's eyes glittered with vengeance. She rounded on Reed, and Elise overheard the word "hospital." That did nothing to quiet her hysterical laughter.

  Lil, on the other hand, patted Nick's head and smiled.

  "Of course kissing a hurt away works on adults, dear boy. And I shall endeavor to find someone to do just that."

  *******

  Jeffrey sauntered into the dimly lit parlor, the last of the guests to leave.

  His arrival strengthened Elise's decision that it was time to go upstairs. If she listened to Angeline rub in one more wedding plan, she would go for her throat, sprained ankle or no sprained ankle.

  She began to
gather up the odds and ends within reach that had been left for her by the handful of the people who had not chosen to avoid her like the plague. She had invitations, calling cards, and a bird's nest scattered around her. The latter had been brought to her by Nicholas and Cyprian with the assumption that any type of gift would cheer her up.

  Her eyes narrowed when Jeffrey bent to pick up a card that had fluttered out of her reach. Her expression didn't change when he went down on one knee, ignoring the fact that Reed and Angeline sat across from her. He took her hand.

  "I've come to say good-bye. But before I go, I have been instructed by Lilianna and two dwarf dictators to come and kiss away the pain that has been inflicted upon you." He leaned toward her. His eyes trickled down her body to her ankle. "I assured them it would not be a hardship for me to do so."

  A masculine choking sound came from behind Jeffrey. When Elise looked up, Angeline was staring daggers at Reed.

  "Now, which one of your delightful ankles is giving you a problem?"

  "Really, Vancoeur." Reed sprang out of his seat. "You can't mean to actually kiss...Lilianna didn't mean...well, it just isn't proper, man."

  Jeffrey swiveled his body to face Reed and shrugged.

  "Just an attempt to be accommodating, old man. But you're right. Kissing a lady's ankle could be viewed as ungentlemanly behavior. Might I settle for a hand?"

  Before Elise could react, Jeffrey had his lips on her knuckles. They lingered there even though she was playing tug-o-war for her hand. Reed paced the length of the parlor.

  Angeline grabbed Jeffrey's hand and pulled him away from Elise.

  "So wonderful of you, Cousin Jeff, to plan to come all the way from Baton Rouge for the wedding. You must stay at Mon Coeur when you come."

  Elise knew Angeline's actions were in no way an altruistic rescue from Jeffrey's attentions. It was just that the bitch couldn't stand for another woman to be on the receiving end of a man's regard while in her presence.

  Before Jeffrey turned, he tipped an imaginary hat in farewell and winked.