"Yea. I guess I am." She covered her mouth with her palm, stifling a giggle. "I've never heard of anyone stripping their clothes off outside. What if someone sees us?" She wiggled her arms, letting Gabrielle slip the dress to the ground.
"Those other people are up around the bend, but what if they do? We're not naked are we? Where I come from, we swim without a stitch on." She dropped a kiss on the end of the little girl's nose. "Now come on, last one in is a sour scrap of moose meat!"
Diving into the water, Gabrielle surfaced and reached out for Alexis. The child came to her without hesitation, and Gabrielle smiled. Alex would be so pleased. His daughter was going to be just fine. All she needed was a little attention, a little love. Gabrielle waded into deeper water with Alexis beneath her arm. "Just wait until your papa sees you tonight," she told Alexis. "Boy is he going to be happy with us!"
Chapter Twenty-Five
"Gabrielle, what the hell happened? I thought you took a driver." Alex looked from his dirty-laced wife to his mud-splattered daughter. "Where have you been? Clarice expected Alexis to be home hours ago!"
Gabrielle clutched Alexis's hand tight in her own. "We went fishing, then we went swimming, and then after we got dressed we had a mud fight." She smiled, then became indignant when he refused to do the same.
"I was afraid something had happened to you," he said through clenched teeth.
Gabrielle could feel the anger rising to color her cheeks. "I told you I could take care of myself didn't I?" She wiped at her muddy cheek.
"And my daughter, what of her?" He rested his hands on his narrow hips. "Just because you're fool enough to risk your own safety doesn't mean you have the right to risk hers! Didn't you understand me this morning when I told you I thought someone started that fire? Gabrielle, I think someone might be trying to kill you."
Gabrielle could feel Alexis's small hand trembling in her own. "That's enough, Alex," she said stiffly. "I'll put Alexis to bed, and then we can talk about it."
"To bed? She's got to be taken to Clarice's. My sister's worried sick."
"So, send one of those servants of yours over with a message. It's time Alexis started living here, here with her father," she told him tersely. Before Alex could say another word, Gabrielle pushed past him, leading his daughter up the front steps.
Climbing over a pile of lumber, she led Alexis into a small bedroom on the south side of the house, just across the hall from where she and Alex slept. "The hall's still a mess," Gabrielle said soothingly, as she began to help Alexis out of her mud-stained dress. "But I had your room finished first."
Alexis gave a gasp of wonderment. "It's beautiful, Gabrielle." She beamed, staring at the freshly papered walls. "Is that my bed?"
"Certainly is, picked it out myself." She went to the small nightstand and lit a lamp. "I found it in the attic. It was your papa's bed; I thought you'd like it."
Alexis bit down on her lip, the smile falling from her face. "He didn't want me to come, did he? Nobody ever wants me around," she said quietly.
"No. No, that's not true." Gabrielle got down on her knees, taking Alexis by the shoulders. "He's mad at me because he told me not to go out alone. But he wants you here. The only reason he left Alaska was to come back to you." She slipped off the little girl's damp chemise. "You have to believe me."
Alexis lifted her heavy eyelashes. "I wanna believe you, Gabrielle. Nobody's ever been nice to me like you, not even Nurse."
Gabrielle's chest tightened. Alexis's eyes mirrored her father's; they were the same clear blue with the same streaks of soft grey. "I love you, Alexis," she murmured, hugging the child against her.
Hesitantly Alexis lifted her arms, wrapping them around Gabrielle's neck. "Can I stay? Are you sure I can stay?"
Gabrielle brushed Alexis's dirty hair off her face, smiling. The perfect sausage curls were damp and stringy, and her tiny pert nose was smudged with mud from the river bank; but her eyes held a sparkle in them that Gabrielle had never seen before. "I said you could, didn't I?"
"I wouldn't want Papa to be angry with you." She spoke the word "Papa" carefully, as if frightened by it.
"You let me worry about Papa, and you worry about Alexis. All right?"
Alex's daughter grinned. "Boy, is Aunt Clarice gonna be mad. She said I was livin' with you over her dead body. Said you weren't fit to raise puppies!"
"Let her be mad. Now you wait right here while I fetch a wash bowl. Then you clean up and get into bed, and I'll bring you something from the kitchen." She gave Alexis a wink. "Be right back. . . ."
An hour later Gabrielle had tucked Alexis in for the night and had bathed herself in an old tub she'd had one of the servants fetch from the cellar. Wrapped in a soft flannel dressing gown, she sat at the end of the bed she and Alex shared, a thread and needle in hand trying to sew the ruffle back on Alexis's new frock. Alex hadn't come upstairs yet, but she knew it would only be a matter of time before he came storming in. When the door to their bedroom finally opened, she resisted the impulse to look up.
"I can't believe you did this. I was scared out of my wits, Gabrielle." He slammed the door shut, yanking at his neck cloth. "Well?"
She looked up, lifting an eyebrow. "Well what?"
"What have you got to say for yourself?"
"Nothing to say. I'm sorry I scared you, but I'm not sorry I went. You can't keep me locked up here forever."
"If someone is after you, you or Alexis could have been killed!" He pulled off his dark tailored coat and tossed it onto a chair.
Gabrielle dropped her attention to her sewing as she tried to suppress her anger. "I won't take her out anymore without a driver."
"That's not good enough!"
She shot him a dark, warning gaze. "It's going to have to be. I told you I can care for myself. I always have, and because I married you doesn't mean that's going to change." She got to her feet, moving to the window, the sewing scissors in her hand.
"You've got to start acting like a young woman! You're a wealthy married woman with a position as my wife. You can't traipse about like you were a man. The next thing I know you'll be wearing breeches again."
Moisture formed in the corners of Gabrielle's eyes as she lifted the scissors to her hair, combed out like a halo on her shoulders. "You have no right to say these things," she murmured as the scissors opened of their own accord.
Suddenly Alex's hand was on hers, his voice deep and foreboding. "You cut one hair from your head and I'll—"
"You'll what?" Gabrielle flung, spinning around. The scissors clattered to the wooden floor. "You'll spank me? You'll lock me up?' Her stricken face was colorless. "You'll stop loving me?" She turned and ran for the door. "I knew I never should have come here," she shouted. Slamming the door behind her, she raced down the front steps in the darkness, ignoring Alex's pleas as he called her name.
Leaning his head against the closed door, Alex sighed heavily. She is right; she should never have come, he thought to himself. But I shouldn't have, either. "Why did I ever think this place would make me happy?" he said aloud to the empty room. "Why did I ever think I would make a difference to Alexis?" Because she's your daughter, his mind responded. Because she's your responsibility.
Turning, he took a deep breath, debating whether or not he should go after Gabrielle. Then, hearing a small voice, he opened his bedroom door. It was a soft sound, barely audible, but it was coming from the room across the hall. Hesitantly he opened the door. "Alexis?"
"Yes . . ." the tiny voice answered.
"What's the matter?" he called through the darkness.
"I'm. . . I'm afraid," she whispered.
Alex came and sat down on the corner of her bed, reaching to light the lantern. "Afraid? Afraid of what?"
"What's the matter with Gabrielle?" Alexis sniffed, trying to be brave.
"Nothing, we just had a fight." He pushed a lock of honey-colored hair off her cheek. Light from the lamp threw a circle of golden rays across the bed, illuminating his daughte
r's angelic face. "She'll be all right."
"You certain?"
"I am because I'm going to make it better. I love her you know, just like I love you." He smoothed the light blanket that covered her.
"You do?"
"Um hmm. You two girls are the most important people in my life. The only people I care for." His words brought a lump to his throat.
Alexis pulled her hand from beneath the covers and slipped it into her father's. "I'd like to stay with you and Gabrielle."
"You would?"
She nodded slowly, her blue eyes round in seriousness. "If you want me."
Alex groaned, leaning forward to take his daughter in his arms. "God, Alexis, that's all I want. I want you and Gabrielle to be happy." He squeezed her tight, then lowered her back onto the bed and tucked the covers around her. "Now, I'm going to leave this lit lamp on the mantel, all right?"
"You will? Aunt Clarice said it was wasteful to let the lamp burn at night. She always made me sleep in the dark."
"Even when you were afraid?" Alex moved to the door.
She nodded solemnly. "Even when I was afraid."
He smiled. "Well, no more. Your papa's got plenty of money to keep lamps lit, now go to sleep." He blew her a kiss off his palm and then went out the door, closing it quietly behind him.
Alex found Gabrielle beneath a huge oak tree near the garden, playing with a pile of rabbit-hound puppies. She was sitting in the grass in her night robe, wrestling with one of the friskier pups. Even before Alex spotted her in the moonlight, he heard her soft lilting voice. "Gabrielle," he called softly.
"Here," she answered in the same hushed tone.
He came to the oak tree and stood over her, studying her delicate oval face. "I'm sorry."
She looked away. "So am I. It was a stupid thing to try and cut my hair."
He chuckled. "It was a stupid thing to do the first time. You told me how much it hurt you. I didn't want to see you hurt."
Gabrielle scratched the little brown puppy's ear, and it nipped at her fingers. "This isn't going to work, Alex."
"What isn't?"
"You and I."
"It is." He got down on his knees, taking her hands. "It has to. I love you so much."
She reached out to brush his cheek with her palm, her anger spent. "Just because we love each other doesn't mean we can live together," she said sadly.
"Don't talk like that. I need you; Alexis needs you." He pulled her against him, smoothing her gown with his hand.
"Alexis needs her father. I'll never be of any use to you here, I'll only be trouble." She lifted her hands to wrap them around his neck, lowering her head to his broad shoulder. "It was silly for me to ever say it would work. You were right; we should have waited until we got here to be married. We should have made sure it would work."
Alex's eyes grew moist. "Shhh. Don't say that. I've no regrets." His voice was hushed and softly masculine.
"Maybe not yet, but you will. I'll never fit in here. I miss the snow, the silence. There's too many people, Alex. They make me hurt inside, touching, staring, judging."
"I don't know what to say. I don't know how to help you."
"Let me go back," she dared.
"Go?" He pushed her back so that he could see her face. "Go where?"
"Home," she whispered.
"Home?" His clear blue eyes darkened with emotion. "Your home is here with me."
She shook her head, clinging to him. "My mother was right. I'm not fit to be anyone's wife, not yours. We LeBeaus, we weren't meant to be married. We weren't meant to be penned in." She sniffed, leaning against him again. She couldn't bear to see the pain on his face. "I'll only hurt you. I'll make you unhappy, you'll see."
"No. No, I won't let you. Just let me get things straight here at the house, and then things will be better. I'll have more time for you."
"And what of the fire?" She stroked the nape of his neck, reveling in the feel of his thick hair between her fingers. "Today I think two men followed me. They knew who I was."
Alex shook his head in disbelief. "The more I think about it, the more I realize how silly this is. It wasn't arson, just a foolish accident. A servant said he saw one of the stable boys in the house just before the fire broke out," he lied. He hated to hide the truth from Gabrielle, but he was desperate. She couldn't leave him. He wouldn't let her. "How could anyone know you were here? It wasn't Taylor, was it?"
"No. I've never seen these men in my life. But they were watching me. I think they followed Alexis and me."
He brushed back the hair off her shoulder, kissing the crook of her neck. She smelled of wild flowers. "But you're not sure?"
"Not positive, but—"
"I think we're being paranoid, Gabrielle." He brushed his lips against hers, and she responded, looping her arms around his neck. Alex eased her onto her back in the grass, pushing aside a nosy hound pup.
Gabrielle clung to Alex, returning his kisses with feverish desire. Her world seemed to be crumbling around her. Nothing was right anymore. Nothing felt right, nothing but this, the two of them here beneath the stars.
Alex pushed her deeper into the grass, covering the length of her body with his. Gabrielle strained beneath him, moaning deep in her throat as he tugged at the tie of her wrapper, pushing back the soft flannel to reveal her satiny flesh shimmering in the moonlight. Cupping a breast in his hand, Alex kissed her swelling nipple, encircling the tiny bud with his tongue.
Gabrielle bit back a cry of delight, raking her fingers over his shoulders, arching her own back in encouragement. Hot flashes of exquisite pleasure surged through her limbs as the rhythm of her breathing changed with the motion of his callused hand on her breast His mouth met hers, and she strained against him, threading her fingers through his thick, sweet-smelling hair. "Alex," she cried. "Alex, I love you. . . ."
"I love you," he echoed, taking her mouth. His tongue darted out to trace the line of her lips, then delved deep to conquer the cool inner lining of her mouth. Running her fingers over his shirt, Gabrielle fumbled with the buttons. Their clothes fell to the grass as he gave her aid, whispering soft words of encouragement.
Free of their burdensome clothing, Alex rolled onto his back, pulling her on top of him. Laughing, Gabrielle kissed a path from his eyebrows to the crisp hair of his chest. Taking the tiny bud of his nipple in her mouth she suckled, bringing a moan to his lips. Moving downward, she kissed his quivering flesh, her tongue teasing him into a frenzy.
"God, Gabrielle," he said thickly, lifting her by her shoulders. When her face was above his again, he rolled her onto her back, easing his leg gently between hers. Gabrielle moved against the pressure of his knee, lifting her hips and parting her thighs to accept his first thrust. When he entered her, she cried out, then he was still for a moment, waiting for her to catch her breath. Finally he began to move, slowly first, then with greater speed.
Molten fire surged through Gabrielle's veins, lifting her toward the velvety softness of fulfillment. Higher and higher she climbed in Alex's arms, straining against him, moving with him, reaching for the glittering stars that dotted the sky above them. The pulsating need deep within the core of her being drove her faster as she lifted her hips to meet his virile thrusts. Suddenly the world exploded around them; white light flashed through Gabrielle's head, shattering all possible thought. Then slowly she drifted back to earth and the reality of the world around her.
Alex gave a satisfied sigh, rolling off Gabrielle to lay beside her in the grass. He rested his arm comfortably around her waist, listening to her breath as it came more regularly. Lifting his hand, he tickled her flat stomach, and she giggled.
"Look at you lyin' naked in your own yard! Shame on you," Gabrielle teased, pushing aside his hand. She lifted herself up on one elbow.
He laughed, stretching his tall frame. "Feels good out here, doesn't it? I feel like I can breathe outside," he added thoughtfully. "Know what I mean?"
She ran a hand over his chest. "I do.
The air's different here than in the house, isn't it? It's not just my imagination?"
"No. It's not your imagination." He caught her hand in his and raised it to his lips. "Everything is so busy here, there's no time to look at the stars or just breathe the clean fresh air."
"You sound like you miss the Tanana," she murmured softly.
Alex rolled on his side to face her. "I do. Want to know the truth?"
She nodded silently.
"I want to go back. I wish I could—"
"Only you can't . . ."
He smiled sadly. "Only I can't."
Gabrielle brushed her palm across the stubble of his unshaven cheek, her heart swelling with momentary happiness. The thought that Alex missed the Alaska Territory made her feel good inside. It didn't matter that his responsibilities would prevent him from ever going back. What mattered was that he wanted to. "Guess it's time we went in," she murmured, sitting up to shrug on her dressing gown.
Alex sat up slowly. "Suppose you're right. With my luck Mother or Alexis will appear."
Gabrielle laughed, offering her hand to help him to his feet. Lifting up on her toes, she kissed him. "I hope you're not too angry about me bringing Alexis. I just thought she needed to be near you."
Alex wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. He rested his chin on her head, inhaling her fragrant hair. "I'm not. You're right. I just hadn't had the energy to go and argue with Clarice over her. I feel guilty taking Alexis from her and Edward. They have no children, you know."
Gabrielle gave a snort of disgust. "You can thank the Lord for that. She's a rotten mother. She doesn't give a damn about Alexis as long as she's dressed properly!"
"Gabrielle," Alex admonished. "It's not true."
"It is, but I'll keep my mouth shut." She laced her fingers through his hair, kissing him in apology.
"Enough said, now shall we go to bed, wife?" He slipped his hands around her slim body, letting the robe fall to her sides.
She leaned into him, savoring the feel of his hard, naked body pressed against hers. "I'd rather sleep out here." She lifted her chin to let him nuzzle her neck.
The Fur Trader's Daughter: Rendezvous (Destiny's Daughters Book 3) Page 26
