Colorblind (Moonlight) (30 page)

Her hands went to his trousers, undoing the buttons and freeing him. Leon moaned as she secured him in her fist, spanning her fingers as far as they could go around his girth. With her other hand, she began to undo the buttons of his shirt.

She released him to push the material from his shoulders. Leon stepped out of his boots and trousers, following after her as she moved backward with a soft smile on her face. He reached for her but she dodged to the other side of the room. Leon followed.

She was teasing him and in his state, he couldn’t say he enjoyed it. He’d gone six days without her, and to make matters worse, another man had touched her. A dead man, but still, his need to wipe away any past males from her was strong. He moved in, brushing against her mind so quickly she didn’t feel it until she found herself caught. He’d seen her next move, and stepped into her path. Leon carried her to the bed, placed her against the edge, and settled between her legs. His fingers probed her, finding her wet and slick, ready for him.

Bracing a hand against the bed, he pushed into her. As her tight channel engulfed his length, he groaned. He took her hard, needing to hear her scream his name, and uncaring of who else did. Penny was his, and like the animal he was, he wanted everyone who came near her to know. When she spasmed under him, her sheath clenching down against his shaft, he gripped her hips and pushed hard into her.

“Leon!” Her scream echoed through the room as his base slipped in.

As his orgasm began, Leon licked at her shoulder before sinking his teeth deep and locking her into place beneath him. Minutes later, when he could actually speak, Leon lifted slightly from her sweat-slicked body and looked into dazed but sated brown eyes.

“I love you,
ma louve
.”

***

“We’ll have to leave as soon as Étienne can travel.”

As Leon spoke, he looked to Armand, who stood next to him. They both stared down at a sleeping Étienne. Leon had left Penny in a similar state. The after-effects of having a drug in her system for such a long time and his relentless lovemaking had taken their toll on her.

“Penny said Étienne told her Ryder had company. A witch called Cronin.”

“A witch?” Like Leon, Armand was confused. Witches usually did not make it a habit of supporting humans. In fact, most witches, like other immortals, did not keep human company. Humans were considered inferior.

For that alone, Leon had already vowed to kill the witch. Once his mate was safely tucked away in Canada, or France. “Yes. Étienne mentioned that he was a plantation owner as well. Do you know him?”

Armand shook his head.

“I’m not sure why the witch is involved but I can’t risk Penny being here to find out. I need to get her away from this.”

“I understand,” Armand replied. “And the other slaves? The ones in Louisiana?”

“I can come back for them at a later date. My mate is my priority.” At the moment, everything else came second to getting Penny to safety. He’d come very close to losing her, and refused to be put in that position ever again.

His brother only nodded. “As soon as Étienne can travel, we’ll leave. I’ll make the arrangements.” He paused. “I think traveling by sea is the best way at the moment. It’s faster, and safer. Slave-catchers have been spotted along one of my most frequented routes.”

“I don’t care how we got there, once we get there safely.”

***

That night, Julia came to Armand. He hadn’t been sure she would, and had vowed to leave her alone if she didn’t. But she had.

She knocked briefly at his door before stepping into the room. It was dark, with no added moonlight, so she felt her way to his bed. Armand watched her, dreading what he would have to say.

“Armand?” she whispered softly, her weaker eyes trying and failing to locate him. He touched her hand and she gasped, jerking away before coming forward again.

When she was seated on the bed, he lightly touched her face before saying, “We have to leave soon.”

“To go north?”

“Yes.”

“But we’s gon’ wait for Jolie?”

He shook his head before sighing and saying, “We can’t. Not anymore. We have to leave soon, Julia.”

She was shaking her head. In the dark, he could see the determination on her face.

“Please. She my sister. I can’t leave ’er. Bad thin’s happen if I leave ’er—”

Armand cupped her face. “I’ll come back for her. I promise.”

She shook her head. “No, you leave me too. Leave me, and I fin’ ’er and brin’ ’er.”

“Julia, listen to me,” he said firmly. “Nothing will happen to her and I will come back for her.”

He saw tears fall from her eyes. “She all I got. They sell my ma ’fore she even know her, try to sell ’er too but I ain’t let ’em. She all I got, Armand. Please. I do anythin’ for her.”

“I know,” he murmured, kissing her eyelids softly. “I promise you I’ll come back for her.”

He kissed her lips next.

“You swear?” she asked in a soft voice, her lips trembling under his.

He drew back before pulling her into his arms. “I swear.”

***

It took three days for Étienne to regain most of his strength, but by then, they were running against time. They could not stay any longer. The word around Georgia was that Patrick Ryder had been killed by a female slave, and the plantation owners were up in arms. They were looking for a runaway female, and the description matched Penny’s.

“Everything all right over there?” Armand called out to Étienne, who’d just finished locking the shackles, binding the last of the slaves. Eleven slaves. The original eleven—minus Julia, who was dressed in an expensive taffeta gown, wide-brimmed bonnet, and thin, white gloves—and Penny. In his haste to get to his mate, Leon had forgotten Penny’s papers. As such, Penny would be Julia for the trip, while Julia would be “Julianne Arnaud,” their French cousin. She was pale enough to pass, and they had no choice.

“Yeah!” Étienne called, his twang back now that he was up and moving. He walked to the front of the wagon he was driving and took his place.

“Leon?” Armand called, turning to where his brother sat in the interior of Armand’s opulent traveling coach. Leon had all of the documents listing the names of the slaves and their prices. Once more, they were making it seem as though they were selling a shipment of slaves. At least, they would do so until they were in the deep north.

I have everything.

Nodding, Armand turned and walked back to the house, where Maud stood. She passed him a partially toothless grin.

“You go and come back now, y’hear,” she said softly. “Got more people you gon’ have to take out this miserable place.”

He nodded. “I’ll be back in a few months. Take care of everything for me.”

“Like I always does,” she sassed.

Grinning, he walked back to the coach, jumping into the seat beside a nervous Julia. She lifted her head and he saw the fear in her eyes.

Without thinking of it, he caught her hand in a comforting grip. “Everything will be fine. You don’t have to speak. Let me do all of the talking.”

She stared at him for long seconds before her lips lifted in a half-smile and she nodded.

At that moment, Leon tapped the top of the coach. There was a slight jerk and they were on their way.

***

The ship was called
The Myrtle
, and it was traveling along the American costal states to England and France.

Leon and Armand met with captain, an Englishman who seemed more than a little pleased to have two Europeans on his ship. Armand had already paid for their cabins, including Julia’s, whose cost more since she was traveling without a passport, as well as those of the slaves they were transporting, who were housed in the belly of the ship with other slaves. He gave the captain something extra for his discretion concerning
other
things.

The Englishman gave them knowing looks before saying, in a low voice, “You brought along your colored missus? I ’ave nothing against it, but these Americans….” He broke off and grimaced. The action stated clearly the captain’s feelings. “You bring them up when no one’s around, keep them in your cabins, and no one complains. Day before you dock, you take them back down and no one’s the wiser.”

***

Each time the ship docked in a different state, which was usually every two weeks, Leon tensed. He didn’t doubt people were still looking for his mate, and although she was tucked in the safest place on the ship—his room—he still worried. His worry was doubled, perhaps tripled, by the fact that days after their arrival on the ship, her scent had changed. It was subtle, but as attached to her as he was, Leon recognized it immediately. Honeysuckle and new. That was how he explained it. She smelled of honeysuckle, and the child growing in her belly was the ‘new’. He hovered more, unable to help himself, and although she sighed and glared a lot, he knew she secretly enjoyed the attention.

It took them longer than he expected for them to dock in Pennsylvania but when they did, he breathed a long sigh of relief. So did Penny. He hadn’t allowed her to stretch her legs once in the month and weeks they’d been aboard and she demanded to be allowed out. Satisfied that they were in a liberal state, one that frowned upon slavery, Leon allowed it.

She’d gone out with the rest of the slaves, just a stretch of the legs into the bitter chill of the North. Étienne had been next to her the entire time. He’d all but chuckled when Penny practically ran back to the ship. When she’d come to him at night, Leon had teased her, telling her that if she could not tolerate the Pennsylvania cold, she’d hate Canada.

In typical Penny fashion, she’d proceeded to torture him, and he’d enjoyed every moment of it.

***

“You have the most beautiful eyes. You remind me of my daughter.”

Julia didn’t hear her at first, so taken was she with the bustling of the new state.
New York.

They’d arrived. Armand had done it. Brought her north as he’d promised. She wanted to cry, to weep with the knowledge that freedom was at the tip of her finger, but all of her tears would not be in joy. Her sister was still enslaved. Even as she looked into the city below bustling with traveling coaches and noisy voices, Jolie was probably cleaning or washing, as they’d both been taught from a young age.

When Julia finally realized the woman was addressing her, she tried to lower her head, to look anywhere but at her before remembering she was playing another role. Not slave, but lady.

“Is this your first time in New York?” the white woman continued, looking out at the bustling from where she stood on the ship. “It certainly is a different kind of environment. Southerner that I am, I can only vacation here.” She laughed softly. In a soft voice, she mused, “They pretend to want equality for all, but deep down some of the richest New York families profit from our plantations. It’s blatant hypocrisy.” She shook her head. “Still, one must never bring the savages here. They think of this state as a freedom paradise—”

“Julianne?”

Julia almost sighed in relief as Armand placed an arm on hers.

He nodded to the lady, smiled and said, “Excuse me,
Mademoiselle.
She does not speak much English. She’s recently arrived from France.”

“Ah.” The woman nodded in an understanding fashion. “I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Mrs. Frederick Williamson.” She lifted a delicate brow at Armand, who made introductions, before continuing. “I was telling her she’s quite a beauty. Such delicate and slightly exotic features.” She smiled easily. “You’ll have no trouble finding her a suitable match, especially if you desire to create an alliance with an established Southern family.”

Armand murmured something in French and Julia nodded and smiled as if she understood.

“Good day,
Mademoiselle
. Enjoy your first visit to New York.”

Julia watched her walk away, unable to keep the shock from overtaking her face. Armand moved before her. “Are you all right?”

“She think I’s a white lady?”

He nodded.

“I look white?”

He hesitated a moment before saying slowly, “You can be either.”

“But I could be white?”

He nodded.

“We not so different then,” she said, almost to herself. She’d seen a looking glass numerous times, but had always recognized the fullness of her features. When Armand had suggested she pass, she’d been nervous someone would find her out. But this lady had stood not a foot from her and had complimented her on her looks. Most times she was on the receiving end of insults due to those very same looks.

The urge to both laugh and cry curled her lips up. “Not so different at all.”

Chapter Nineteen

The ship was scheduled to depart the New York harbor on the third day. However, due to a malfunctioning engine, the captain had confided that until it was fixed, the ship could not move. Another ship was scheduled to arrive in a month’s time. If by that time the problem was not fixed, the captain had sworn to pay for their cabins.

To put it mildly, Leon was not happy. This wasn’t a part of their plan. Canada was their destination, not New York. The state, no matter how liberal, was still a part of America. Slavery, though frowned upon, was accepted. He would not have his pregnant mate spend another month, and perhaps longer, in such a place. Leon didn’t even want her spending a week, but necessity dictated it.

If they were to travel to through the state and into Canada, they would need horses, food, supplies, and contacts, things Armand knew better than him. His brother found them a safe haven for the week, the townhouse of a werewolf who supported their cause. Once there, Armand shared his intentions with the now-free men and women, giving them the choice of staying in New York or traveling to Canada. Either scenario would result in them receiving papers of freedom and earning back wages.

No one had moved when Armand first spoke, but as reality set in they’d begun to cry. Even Ray, the human who’d thought himself in love with Penny, had turned to her with surprise on his face, before promptly breaking into tears. In the end, seven decided to stay, including Ray who wanted to make enough money to buy his sisters before permanently leaving America. The other three, two women and an older teenage boy, accompanied them when they set out for Canada.