After The Storm (15 page)

“This place seems a bit inadequate, Jenny. We could
drive on into the village and locate something better.”

“No, my lord, this is fine. We are hungry and tired
of travel, and a simple meal and a bed will do, don’t you
think?”

He gazed at his wife and wondered how he got so
lucky. She was such an easy traveler. He told his drivers to put up
his team and get whatever they wanted to eat and drink, as they
would be staying the night.

He flipped them a few extra coins and told them how
appreciative he was for their care before taking his lady
indoors.

They made their way into a dimly lit central hall
where an innkeeper came hurrying out, bowing and apologizing. His
daughter, who apparently lived down the road with her husband, a
farmer, the innkeeper told them proudly, was about to give birth to
their first grandchild. As a result his wife had rushed out to be
with their daughter, and he, though alone, would be happy to tend
to their needs.

“What of the doctor?” Jenny inquired with some
concern.

“I sent m’stable lad to search for him,” the
innkeeper said in a worried tone.

“In the event that the doctor is not to be found, I
would be happy to assist your wife,” she offered.

The innkeeper looked surprised but bowed with
humility. “You are very good, m’lady.’

The earl gazed at his bride with pride. He could not
think of a woman of his acquaintance, even his kind-hearted sister,
who would, after a long day on the road, offer their help to an
innkeeper’s wife.

They were ushered into the dining room where the
innkeeper apologized but produced the stew his wife had prepared
for any would-be travelers. He went off to collect some bread to go
with this, while Jenny went off to pump a bucket of water.

The earl found her and began protesting, but as she
laughed he took the bucket from her. They poured some in a basin
and washed their hands before they sat to dinner. Again, he was
struck by his wife’s perhaps too easygoing nature.

They sat for a moment while he thumped his fingers
waiting for his wine. Finally he laughed out loud and said, “If my
wife can fetch her own water, I suppose I can fetch my own wine.”
Up he got, returning with a bottle and two glasses.

She took the proffered glass and sipped and then
sipped some more. It wasn’t long before they had finished the one
bottle and a loaf of bread between them.

The stew was downed as well, and both sat back in
their chairs, well satisfied.

The earl got up once again and this time returned
with two glasses of brandy. He gave this to her, and she shook her
head, advising him she had never had any brandy.

“Drink it slowly, my love, but, wait … wait till
I make a toast,” he said, laughing. “To my wife and a bargain well
made. I shall be eternally grateful that you accepted my
offer.”

She touched her glass with his and tasted the brew.
“Hmm,” she said and downed it. “Soothing.”

He objected on a laugh, “That is not how brandy is
meant to be enjoyed.”

“No? And yet, I enjoyed it,” she said and giggled. “I
just had a picture of you in constant attendance on Lavvy, you
know. You would not have liked it, because she giggles all the time
and over anything and everything, and I … do … not!” With
that she burst into a fit of the giggles.

He found himself amused, captivated, and totally
enchanted as he said, “Methinks my lovely bride has had too much to
drink.”

She sighed heavily and said, “Tomorrow is coming, and
we must to the castle, go,” Jenny said and giggled some more.

“Yes, and tonight, my Jenny, ’tis time for you to bid
me goodnight, for your eyelashes are beginning to droop.”

Jenny agreed to this, and he led her upstairs, where
an open door invited him to see her situated. A low fire burned in
the small grate, and when Jenny released a throaty groan of
appreciation and put her hands out to the flame, he felt as though
he could no longer control himself. He was hurting with a raging
hard-on; he was filled with need and desire. He wanted to take hold
of his bride and cover her face and then her body with kisses. He
wanted to …

“Oh, but the bed looks so inviting …” she said,
and he thought he would have to charge out of the room.

A lit candle on her nightstand displayed a door to
its right, and she eyed it questioningly before asking, “Does that
door open into your room?”

“Yes, but don’t worry, Jenny, I won’t use it unless
invited.” He heard the huskiness in his voice and saw her retreat
as she turned away from him. Even as she moved away, he reached for
her hand and took her fingers to his lips. He had to have some
contact with her, even if it was just her fingertips. He put them
to his mouth and without being able to stop himself let his tongue
ever so gently lick her thumb before he dropped her hand, turned
resignedly, and without another word, left her, using the hall door
and closing it firmly at his back.

* * *

Jenny stared at the closed door for a long moment and
then put her thumb to her lips. She brushed her bottom lip with her
thumb still damp from his tongue. Something was happening here,
something she could not understand.
Something perhaps
unthinkable?

How could she be so attracted to the earl? What was
wrong with her? Where was her loyalty to Johnny? Life had become so
complicated. Perhaps it was all the wine and then the brandy?

After a few moments, she began undressing but soon
realized she couldn’t reach some of the buttons at her back. There
was no chambermaid at this inn to aid her, and with some
frustration she began to mutter to herself that she would have to
remember not to wear anything with back buttons when she was
traveling.

All at once, she made up her mind. She couldn’t very
well sleep in her dress. She went to the communicating door and
knocked gently.

Jason appeared almost at once, clothed now in his
open shirt sleeves and breeches. She marveled silently at how tall
he was in his stocking feet and then cleared her throat and said,
“I … I am having a bit of a problem. You see, these plaguey
buttons of mine.” Her words trailed off as he took her shoulders
and turned her so that he had her back.

“Ah,” said the earl softly as he moved away her long
tresses and with great dexterity unbuttoned her blouse. She held
her top in place, thanked him without turning to look at him, and
vanished once more into her room.

She had donned a flimsy white nightdress and was
starting to climb into bed when a knock sounded at their door.
Surprised, she paused on top of her quilt as she called, “Yes?”

The earl opened the connecting door and stood in the
dim light given off from the flames in her fireplace and the dim
candlelight on her nightstand. He was in a long black brocade
dressing gown and holding a black velvet box.

For a moment, Jenny was stunned by the picture he
made standing there. It struck her suddenly that Johnny had never
been her knight in shining armor—they had been too close, and their
friendship had been about playtime and competition and … not
this.

Johnny had been her true friend but not quite
lover-like, but this man stood like a knight, tall, regal and
immeasurably attractive, and if she admitted the truth to herself,
she would have to admit, she
wanted
him.

She felt the heat rise up in her cheeks and realized
she was holding her breath as she looked at him. Why did he have
such an affect on her?

The flames flickered in the grate, and she saw his
eyes travel over her shoulders, down to her breasts, clearly
visible through the sheer material of her night dress. He seemed to
caress her with his gaze. Flustered, she clambered into bed and
pulled the covers up to her neck.

The earl took two easy strides to her bedside and put
the velvet box on her quilt-covered lap as he sat on the edge of
the bed.

“Jenny, these are the Danfield diamonds. They are
always presented to a Danfield bride upon her wedding. I had
planned to put them around your neck when we reached the castle,
but I find myself impatient to see them on you.”

He waited for her to open the box, which took a long
moment as she gazed from his blue eyes back to the box and put a
hand to her cheek.

“Open the box, Jenny,” he said on an amused note.

She lifted the box lid and made a small sound of
astonishment as she touched them. “These are so brilliant …
and I love the rubies set like this, oh my, but, oh my.”

“Pick up your hair, my love.” His voice sounded
primal to her, as though he were pawing the ground.

She did what he asked and turned her back to him so
he could put the necklace around her neck. She felt its coolness
against her skin as he fastened the clasp.

She would have run to her long mirror to have a look
had the earl not dropped a warm kiss on her shoulder blade.

She couldn’t move, and he took that as encouragement
and began placing soft kisses from one naked shoulder to the other
before he turned her around to face him.

His mouth traveled along her ear, down her neck, and
then up to find and part her lips for his tongue as he pressed her
hungrily into his arms.

Desire coursed through her body, went straight to her
mind, and ignored any objection she might think to make. She wanted
this, had been wanting this!

Her heart had a will, and it was bending for him, but
something inexplicable made her want to stop.
Guilt
, an ugly
sensation, reared itself and demanded attention. She tried to
ignore it. Johnny, she told herself, was gone. She was still alive,
still so young.

His hand moved to her waist, over her hip, and then
up to cover her breast. She gasped and pulled out of his embrace,
putting a hand between them. She wanted him, yes, but yet, she
wasn’t ready. Conflicting emotions warred within her.

He held her shoulders then and said almost as a plea,
“Jenny … my bride, my sweet Jenny, I want you so.”

“NO!” she shouted, not sure why when every fiber in
her body told her she wanted him right back. “You promised. You
gave me your word. You said you would never force me.”

“Nor have I. You want me as much as I want you,” he
snapped. “Why do you deny it, deny us?”

She yanked out of his hold. She couldn’t listen to
those words. They sounded so disloyal to Johnny when spoken out
loud. “
Lie
—that is a lie. I don’t want anyone but Joh—” She
bit her lip. Who was lying, a voice asked her.

He stiffened. “You were kissing me, not a dead man,
Jenny—
me!
”

“Yes, for a moment, I thought …” She didn’t
finish the sentence.

“What?” He frowned. “
Were you pretending I was
him
?” Hurt and anger swept into his eyes, and she bit her lip,
immediately regretting the lie she had given him. Why had she done
that?

The earl got to his feet and gave her his back, but
she knew she had been cruel. He had not deserved that. What was
wrong with her? What was she doing?

Without a word, he left her room, slamming the door
at his back.

Jenny removed the diamonds, threw herself onto her
pillows, and silently began to sob.

* * *

The earl felt a wave of hurt he hadn’t felt for ages,
not since he was a boy. It was a deep, searing pain that shot
through him and left him breathless.

He felt a constriction of the heart and knew a need
to raise his fists and bellow.

Never before had a woman denied and rejected him so
completely, and never before had he cared.

He stormed about his room, angry more with himself
than with her. He had known it was too soon.
He had known
.
Why hadn’t he followed his good sense?

He flung off his dressing gown and climbed hastily
into his clothes as he hissed out a curse and then another.

He had not been able to stop when she seemed so
willing.

She had felt so good, so right, and he had shoved
aside his better self and dived in, even though he damned well knew
she wasn’t ready.

But it wasn’t the refusal of her body that had him
aching, had left a constriction in his throat and a fury in his
blood.
It was her words
, the sudden knowledge that she still
was in love with a dead man, that clawed through his soul.

She’d wanted him to know she had kissed him only
because she was pretending he was her ‘Johnny’.

That thought was a torment he hadn’t realized he
could suffer. He hadn’t realized just how much he was drawn to his
bride, not only physically but emotionally. Love? He wasn’t sure
what love really was, what it meant, but he knew matters couldn’t
stay the way they were.

He threw on his buckskin riding jacket and breeches
and pulled on his long boots. He set his top hat on his head,
pulled his cloak around his shoulders, strode out of the inn, and
made his way to the stables. His horse was tired, but it was only a
mile to the village, and that was where he was headed.

He felt a roaring sense of injustice. He couldn’t
compete with the memory of a man no longer around to make mistakes.
What he felt was all-consuming, and he knew it was jealousy. It
made his heart thump out a violent rhythm, and a drumming thundered
in his head and drove him insane. “Confound you, Jenny! What have
you done to me?” he said into the night air.

The earl discovered that he was a possessive man. He
didn’t want to share his bride with the memory of a man, even a
dead man. He didn’t want her faithful to this Johnny,
but to
him.

Suddenly he realized and said out loud, “You are
besotted, besotted by a chit who loves and pines for someone
else.”

Very well, then
!
He made up his mind.
“I’ll find a nice cozy tavern, a bottle of their best, and a warm
country wench to console me!” he announced to his horse.