Lady Vixen (89 page)

"You're
mad!" she hissed.

"Mmm,
I agree, mad about you," he replied softly, his eyes caressing her
features.

She
reached for him urgently, her fingers tightening around his arm.
"Listen," she said earnestly, "Allen is important to me, but not
at the risk of your life. I love you, Christopher—you don't have to do this.
You could be shot, or just as bad, we could both end up in the calaboose with
him."

Christopher
grinned, his eyes bright and glittering with excitement, and the thought
occurred to her that he was enjoying himself. But his voice was serious as he
said, "It's possible, but the sergeant in charge has been paid very
handsomely to ignore what is happening in a certain cell. Until, of course,
Allen is free; then he is to fire a few warning shots in the air for the look
of it."

"Christopher,
you don't have to, you know," she repeated fiercely.

A
curious expression flitted across his face. "Ah, but I do, my dear. Now
let's get the good Allen out of there, mmmm?"

Nicole
waited near the huge old cypress where Christopher had left her, holding the
reins of the extra horse. Helplessly she watched as he swiftly tied the heavy
rope around the bars of one of the cells, and with her heart in her mouth, she
unconsciously strained with his horse, as with a slow, steady pressure the bars
one by one were pulled out.

Allen's
head appeared and then his shoulders, and following Christopher's instructions,
Nicole urged her animal forward at a quick pace, dragging the unmounted horse
behind her. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a soldier coming around the
corner of the building and threw the reins to Allen with a frantic,
"Hurry, the alarm has been sounded."

Allen
wasted not a moment and vaulted easily onto the horse's back, and then wheeling
about, the three of them galloped down the deserted dawn streets just as the
first shots rang out. With something like horror Nicole felt her horse scream
with pain, stumble, and go down. Luckily she was thrown clear, and before she
had time to do more than to stagger to her feet, Christopher's arm, like a band
of steel, was around her waist and she was thrown effortlessly across the
saddle in front of him.

They
rode like the wind, leaving New Orleans miles behind. At last Christopher
motioned Allen to follow him and turned the horses from the road into the
apparent maze of cypress swamps. They rode in silence for several moments,
following a barely defined trail that ran along a dark, sluggish bayou.

Nicole
wiggled uncomfortably, and Christopher reached down and shifted her weight
until she sat in front of him, her back resting comfortably against the steady
beat of his heart. Eventually Christopher halted his horse and dismounted. He
turned to Allen, his expression unreadable. He said curtly, "You'll find a
change of clothing in that pack strapped to your saddle. I suggest you get into
them!"

Allen's
nod was equally as expressionless as Christopher's, and disappearing with the
bundle, he reappeared a few minutes later in a pair of breeches and a
reasonably well-cut jacket.

Warily
the two men faced each other, and it was Nicole who broke the silence. Slipping
from the horse, she walked to Christopher and, putting her hand in his, asked
softly, "What do we do now?"

Christopher's
hand tightened on her, and he smiled down at her. The tenderness she saw there
made her heart beat like thunder.

Christopher
glanced over at Allen before saying, "We go our separate ways now. We're
going to Thibodaux House and the good Allen will find his way to England."
Speaking directly to Allen, he said coolly, "You'll find money in the
right saddlebag, food and a weapon in the left. I trust I can leave the
remainder of your escape to you?"

Deliberately
ignoring the other man's provoking manner, Allen smiled wryly. "I think
so. Since the war is officially ended, I shouldn't have too much trouble
finding a ship for England and rejoining what is left of my regiment."

Christopher
said brusquely, "Fine. You'll excuse us, please? We have a long journey
ahead of us and I still have to find another horse for my wife."

Christopher
turned on his heel, yanking Nicole with him, but Nicole, casting him a pleading
look, released herself and ran to Allen. Throwing her arms about his neck, she
gave him an impetuous hug and said softly, "Go with God, my friend.
Perhaps someday we'll meet again."

A
gentle hand on the burnished head, Allen agreed, "Perhaps someday. Be
happy, Nicole."

She
gave him a blinding smile and then spun quickly on her heel and rejoined her
husband, who despite his best intentions was scowling blackly. Nicole touched
his cheek lightly and a rueful grin twisted his mouth. Christopher mounted and
reached down to pull Nicole up behind him. Allen quickly mounted his horse and
asked, "Which is the best way for me to go from here to escape the
patrol?"

Christopher
nodded toward the east. "Follow this path about two more miles in that
direction and you'll find it lets out on a main road. From there follow it
northerly and eventually you'll find yourself in Baton Rouge."

They
parted without any further conversation, Christopher and Nicole riding slowly
and aimlessly away, Allen setting out with a brisk pace toward the east. It was
several moments later that Christopher stopped their horse again and,
dismounting, pulled Nicole down to sit on a fallen tree trunk.

Holding
her hand in his, the gold eyes warm and caressing on her face, he asked simply,
"Questions?"

"One,"
she said with a smile, the love in her gaze almost tangible. "Why?"

He
hesitated and then, his features intent and troubled, he admitted, "I
don't really know exactly myself. But I think it's because I wanted to give him
back his life, because he saved yours, and to try to show you how much I love
you... to prove that I didn't really believe all those things I had accused you
of. And most of all to say I'm sorry, I'm sorry for being the pigheaded ass you've
rightly called me so often."

Demurely
Nicole murmured, "And you'll never be so again?"

Christopher
shot her a considering glance. "Now that I can't answer; I can only say
I'll
try
not to leap to Conclusions, I'll
try
to listen first to
what you have to say, but I can't promise that I'll not be arrogant, upon
occasion, and that I won't ride roughshod over your demands. What I can
promise," he said huskily, one hand gently caressing her cheek, "is
that I will love you until the day I die. You're in my blood, Nicole, like a
sweet wild magic that I don't ever want to lose."

Her
eyes locked on his; her own love shining and filling him with delight, she
asked curiously, "And the past? My mother?"

His
face tightened. "The past is behind us. And I was wrong there too—you are
not like Annabelle in any way." The gold eyes were almost bleak as he said
slowly, "I can't say that the future will be all kisses and wine; I'm not
an easy man to live with—I've shut people out too often and for too long to let
you think I'll change overnight into a perfect husband. I doubt I'll ever be a perfect
husband. But, Nicole, let my try." Suddenly he pulled her to him, his
mouth compulsively seeking hers. "Oh, Jesus," he said softly a moment
later, "I do love you... and that's all I can offer you for a
certainty."

But
it was enough. In time, the past would be completely eradicated, and while the
days ahead would be stormy, turbulent, filled with passion and fire, Nicole
wouldn't have traded one for a lifetime of tranquility.

In
silence they remounted, Nicole seated behind him, her arms wrapped tightly
around the broad chest. For just a second it came back to her that this was how
their journey had begun all those years before in Beddington's Corner. And her
arms tightened more fiercely; then it had been to face a dangerous and
frightfully uncertain future, but now, now there was Christopher and their love
and a whole new beginning. A beginning and the glorious future they would find
together.