Love and Glory: The Coltrane Saga, Book 3 (31 page)

“I’ve heard,” Travis said politely, knowing it was expected. “Thank you for all your hospitalities, Barbeau.”

Jordan nodded, just a hint of self-satisfaction on his face, and stepped out, closing the door behind him.

Travis walked around the room gingerly, quickly deciding it was far too ostentatious for his taste, going to the smaller of the two bedrooms, done in shades of blue and furnished with mahogany, he suddenly realized he had neglected to bring in his saddlebag. No matter. He hated nightshirts anyway and used one only when he was a guest in someone else’s home.

He took off his clothes and lay down across the bed naked. He had not drunk very much but realized he was tired. It had been an interesting evening but a trying one. He just hoped he could do his job and get the hell out as soon as possible, go back to North Carolina, get little John, and then head to Nevada.

He did not like the anger he was finding in Kentucky, he mused sleepily. He did not need an involvement with the daughter of the man who might be running the whole Klan operation. All of this amounted to a very bad situation.

Travis’ eyes flashed open to instant awareness. His years as a soldier had trained him well. He never had to grope his way out of sleep. He knew at once that someone had extinguished the lanterns, for he had left them burning. He felt, too, that someone was there in the room with him. In a flash, his hand snaked beneath his pillow to close about the gun he had put there before falling asleep.

“Don’t be afraid, Travis. It’s me.”

He swore under his breath. “Damn it, woman, are you out of your mind? If your father catches you in here, there’ll be hell to pay…”

He sat up and realized she was already in the huge bed—and quite naked. She fumbled in the dark for his hands and placed them over her breasts. “Now then. Let’s see if you still want to worry about Daddy,” she challenged.

He allowed himself to fall back under her gentle push and she followed. Even before he knew what he was doing, his hands caressed the tender flesh she so freely offered, his fingertips gently bringing the ripe young nipples to taut eagerness.

His organ sprang erect, and she pressed it against her belly, stretching out on top of him. Their mouths met, then opened, and he touched her tongue with his own as he moved to clutch her buttocks and press her to him.

She began to undulate her hips against him and raised her mouth to gasp, “Oh, Travis, take me, take me, please. Don’t tease me…”

He kissed her again, harder, hands moving across her back to hold her tighter. As much as he wanted her, needed her, he knew from long experience that a woman needs time. He never rushed his partner, never wanted it thought that he sought only his own pleasure.

Suddenly Alaina’s head jerked up and she sobbed, “Damn it, Travis…” Positioning herself atop him, she pleaded, “I want you now!”

Spreading her thighs, she lowered herself down onto his shaft, taking all of him with ease. She began to gyrate her hips, arms stiff, palms flat against his chest. He could barely make
 
out her face in the dark room, but he saw that her head was thrown back, lips parted as she moaned in ecstasy. “So good. So damn, damn good!”

With one quick movement, he fastened his hands around her tiny waist and slung her over on her back without uncoupling. Then he plunged in and out of her again and again. He was glad she came quickly, for he could hold back no longer. It had been so long.

They clung together, bodies wet with perspiration, as they floated back to earth. Soon Travis moved to the side, chest heaving, breathing heavily. He felt her moving from the bed and asked where she was going. In a few moments, he knew, he would be ready once more. This time he would take it easy, savor each moment, and take them both to greater heights of ecstasy.

Chapter Sixteen

Marilee Barbeau dared move only a few feet at a time. Hiding behind a tree trunk, she would press her body against the rough bark and listen, alert for any sound, before moving stealthily to the next tree, the next clump of bushes. It had been eleven o’clock when she left the mansion, and she needed to be at the meeting place by midnight. To ride in late was to draw attention to herself. That was dangerous.

There was only a quarter moon, and she moved along with difficulty.

As always, while darting through the black night, she thought of her father’s reaction, should she ever be discovered. Probably disown her. Perhaps order a beating. But, she reminded herself with a vengeance, should this even cost her life, she believed in what she was doing. Donald had given his for what he believed in. She could do no less.

Thoughts of the husband she had adored caused tears to sting her eyes. Their love had been born when they were children, nurtured in adulthood, consummated in marriage, and terminated by the grave. At times, she felt that he was still with her, watching, protecting, urging her on.

So far, she calculated, she had saved fourteen Negroes from beatings at the hand of the Klan, perhaps even saved their lives. Disguised as one of the Klan, she had listened to their plans and been able to warn the intended victims.

And while thoughts of the good she had done gave her a warm feeling, the warmth was quickly replaced by a heart stabbing chill. To think that her father was part of it! Her eyes narrowed as she thought of him and of Stewart Mason. The two were behind it all. Father did the planning. Stewart carried out those plans.

Sadly, she thought of her mother, such a loving, caring person. Never had she mistreated any Negro slave. She had reacted furiously whenever she found out that Father’s overseer was being cruel to a slave. Pneumonia had taken her to heaven two years before the war erupted, and Marilee grieved not only for her death but also that she was denied the satisfaction of knowing that the Negroes had been freed at last. Her mother would have known great pain had she been aware of Father’s part in the Klan.

Just a short distance away, Marilee could make out the lines of the springhouse, hear the soft gurgling of water dancing among the rocks. Her timing had been good. She would be able to get to the mountaintop in time to arrive with the rest of the crowd. The white robe and hood had been hidden in a tree knothole. All was going well.

She reached the last sheltering tree before having to step into the clearing and cross to the path that would take her deep into the shrubs and weeds to where the horse waited. Pausing to listen one last time, she froze.

Voices. Whispered, frantic voices. A man and a woman. But who? And why were they here?

And then, as the sounds drifted to her on the night wind, she knew.

“Oh, Travis, darling, if only we didn’t have to meet this way. I want the whole world to know that I love you…that you love me…”

Alaina. Alaina and Travis.

Marilee’s fists clenched, her nails cutting into her palms. Damn them! She had suspected something of the kind for the past several weeks, for she had often heard Alaina leave her room across the hall at night after everyone was asleep, returning sometime later. So Alaina had bedded the handsome marshal! That came as no real surprise, but their continuing to meet was a shock. Stewart Mason would kill the marshal if he knew. So would their father. Coltrane was a fool, she thought angrily. Just then he was hindering her efforts to do what he ought to be doing…protecting the Negroes from the vicious Klan.

“That’s not possible,” Travis’ voice floated to Marilee, husky, thick with desire. “We both know it would be risky. Let’s just take what we can.”

“No!”

Marilee stifled a sigh of disgust. How often had she heard that petulant sound from her sister’s pouting lips!

“I want you here and now, but I want more. I want to be yours for always and always. I don’t care what Daddy thinks, or Stewart, or anyone else. I want to be yours, Travis. You can’t deny you love me.”

“I never said I loved you, Alaina.”

“You don’t have to. You’ve shown me in a thousand ways. No man can make love to a woman the way you do and not love her with all his heart.”

Marilee heard his impatient sigh.

“Alaina, desire and passion have nothing to do with love, not the kind you’re talking about. I told you I felt that for only one woman.”

“I know, I know,” she stopped him. “Your wife. But she’s dead, Travis. And I’m alive. You can’t love the dead. If only you would let go of all that.”

He chuckled, amused. “You don’t want me to let go of what I’m holding onto now, woman, and you know it.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about.” Then she gasped and moaned. “Oh, Travis, it feels so good when you touch me like that. You…you’re driving me crazy. Oh, don’t stop, please.”

Marilee pressed her face against the rough bark of the tree, revulsion sweeping over her. To stand there and listen to them make love was embarrassing. Disgust washed through her, and something else. What? Jealousy? Surely not. Yet, it had been so painfully long since she had lain in a man’s arms, and there had only been one—Donald. She had tried to tell herself she would grow used to lying awake, thinking how wonderful it had been, her body on fire, wanting fulfillment.

As she stood listening to Travis and her sister she realized that it had never been quite like that with Donald. What they had shared was wonderful. Tender, soft, quiet. But he had never said to her what Travis was saying to Alaina, and she had never responded with such animal groans.

She felt her own body heating as she listened, and she was appalled.

What was he doing to her sister to make her respond that way? So wanton, so
vulgar.
And he seemed to like the way she was talking, answering her with endearments, telling her what a sensuous woman she was.

Then there was no sound at all save their cries and gasps.

Squeezing her eyes shut, clenching her fists even tighter, Marilee tried desperately to think of something else. Alaina’s loud, piercing scream caused her eyes to flash open. Was he hurting her? Marilee took a step forward, forgetting herself. Her sister was hurting and she had to go to her.

But she stopped short when she heard Alaina cry out, “Travis, so good…do it again. Oh, Lord, never before has it been so good.”

Marilee stepped back to her hiding place, ashamed. Alaina had only been crying out in ecstasy.

“Don’t leave me,” Alaina was saying, her voice weak. “I want you to hold me all night long.”

“You know that isn’t possible. I have to get back to town. I can’t be away all night.”

“But you’d like to, wouldn’t you?” she coaxed him for reassurance. “You would love to take me again and again, wouldn’t you?”

There was silence. Marilee took a long, careful breath. Good grief, what kind of man was he that he could make a woman scream out as though she were dying, then throw pride to the wind and beg for more? What secret did this man possess?

No matter, she thought angrily. He was a savage. If he were doing his job, she would not be on her way to a secret meeting of the Klan, perhaps endangering her life. He would wipe out the Klan. That was his job, wasn’t it?

Then why didn’t she tell him? she asked herself.

She knew the answer. Her father. She loved him despite everything. She did not want him sent to prison. She could not turn against him. If Stewart and the others were exposed, then they would surely point the finger at her father.

No, she could not tell, not now. She could do only what she was doing, and warn victims whenever possible.

She heard Travis urging Alaina to dress, saying that he would ride her as close to the house as he dared. She had to get to bed without anyone knowing she had been out.

“No danger of that.” Alaina laughed. “The only person in my wing of the mansion is Marilee, and she goes to bed with the chickens and sleeps soundly till dawn. I never hear her. If I’d been that long without a man, I’d be pacing the floor.”

“You probably would,” Travis chuckled. “You enjoy it as much as a man, perhaps more.”

“Is there something wrong with that? I have needs, needs only a man like you can answer. I won’t let you go, Travis. I swear I will make you love me and want me for all time.”

“That might not be as hard as you think.”

“You tease me. I know you resent me because I didn’t come to you a virgin, but I never pretended to be. You know I won’t lie to you, and you know I’m telling the truth when I say that you’re the only man who’s ever satisfied me.”

He laughed again. “I must have done something right. I think you ripped my back to pieces. I’m bleeding from those long claws of yours.”

“You loved it and you know it.”

Damn it, Alaina, let him go!
Marilee fumed.
I’ll have to ride like the wind to get there on time.

Alaina rushed on. “This was a wonderful place to meet. It’s better than the stable. It’s so risky there.”

Their voices were coming closer, and Marilee pressed herself harder against the tree.

“Tomorrow night?” Alaina begged.

Travis sighed. “I can’t promise. I’ll have to get a message to you.”

“Good old Israel,” Alaina laughed. “That old nigra will do anything for money, even slip a note to the fiancée of a man he’s scared to death of.”

Travis was suddenly very angry. “If Stewart Mason lays another whip to his back, I’ll kill him.”