Master Of Paradise (24 page)

Nicholas came up the staircase to her and took her hand. He called down, "Excuse us Rafe, we'll be down shortly." He ushered her back up the stairs without hesitation.

Nicholas shrugged. "If you won't, then I will." Before she could protest further, he spun her about, undid the gown and was about to pull it off, when she clasped her hands protectively across her breasts. "Nicholas, please, I'm naked beneath this gown."

He turned her to face him. Anger mixed with lust threatened to consume him as his long fingers bit into her naked shoulders. He gained control and flung open the bedroom door. "Lou!" he called loudly, and was thankful when he heard, "Ah's comin' masta Nick."

As Mammy Lou's slow steps shuffled up the hallway, Amanda flared at him, "You seem very experienced at removing ladies' gowns."

"Remember it," he admonished. He reached up to take the pins from her hair, and as the silken mass tumbled over his hands, his mouth swooped down to take hers. Mammy Lou entered the room and he recalled himself and stopped his mouth before it took Amanda's.

She drew back, wide-eyed at this husband of hers whose anger had turned to lust in a flash.

"Lou, help her change her gown," he said shortly, and stepped out onto the balcony to preserve his wife's modesty.

Amanda pulled a cream-colored muslin with demure puffed sleeves from the wardrobe. Mammy helped her into it and hung up the red taffeta. She avoided looking directly at Mammy because she knew the tight-lipped disapproval she would see there.

Nicholas re-entered. His anger vanished when he saw how lovely she looked.

Amanda whispered, "I can't go back downstairs. I'm too humiliated."

"Nonsense. Rafe will understand completely." He reached for the brilliant hibiscus and put it back behind her ear. "You are more beautiful than a queen," he said softly, "come."

She blushed as Nicholas introduced them, but when Rafe took both her hands and brought them to his lips, she saw his eyes sparkle with the knowledge of what had happened."

Rafe murmured, "I understand. He is very protective of you, and with good reason."

She raised her lashes and looked into his dark eyes. They were warm with his admiration, and made her feel pretty and desirable.

Nicholas held a chair for her. "Sit here between us. Tonight you will have two men to wait upon you and spoil you with our lavish attentions."

"I was sorry that my sister Jennifer couldn't join us for dinner, but now I'm glad she had another engagement." She dimpled.

Nicholas said solemnly, "It is a great pity that Aunt Billie also sent her regrets, so we shall have to muddle through without her delightful company."

They each held a glass for her, and she took turns, first sipping from the one held by Nicholas, then from the one Rafe was holding to her lips. She was wise enough to realize she could not pick one over the other when two men vied with each other.

They laughed their way through the meal and ended up actually feeding her. First Nicholas would take a morsel of lobster, dip it in the drawn butter and pop it into her mouth, then Rafe would take his turn, choosing lemon garnish for her.

Rafe told them stories of his Irish father and Spanish mother, and how their passionate natures had clashed. It had been an unusual mating, sometimes hilarious, sometimes explosive, but always exciting.

Nicholas could hardly keep his eyes from his beautiful wife, and he noticed that she was having exactly the same devastating effect on Rafe Collins. He watched her listen attentively as Rafe told her some nonsense. The slant of her eyes gave her an exotic allure. The scarlet bloom behind her ear added to the hypnotic effect.
She has aroused Rafe's desire. I know exactly what has done it, too. She is a virgin bride, and the sexual aura surrounding her is almost overpowering. The fact that she is unaware and innocent, only heightens the effect.

A word or a look from Amanda could harden him in an instant, and men's fashions being what they were could hardly conceal his condition. He noted with irritation that Rafe had been in like case most of the evening.

"It's the steam engine we had installed. It was the right decision, thank God. You won't believe the speed. I took her on a trial run. Only two days to Nassau!"

"Not impossible by any stretch of the imagination. If you hadn't just gotten married, you'd have no excuse not to take the cotton."

Nicholas laughed. "By God, if you're right, it means our cotton could be there in just over twenty days from now. It's ready to go. It can be on our ship in Charleston tomorrow."

"South Carolina would never be fool enough to secede. Hellfire, if one state did it, it would have a domino effect. The other Southern states would follow suit, and it would pit the North against the South," Nicholas pointed out.

Rafe shrugged again and smiled. "Well one thing is certain-- any rumors that threaten the supply of cotton getting to England will send the price soaring, so we stand to make a lot of money out of it."

"In the short term, yes," Nick said quickly.

"What do you mean?"

Nicholas glanced at Amanda, then said lightly, "Not a thing. We're letting our imagination run away with us. Rational minds will prevail, never fear. Rumors of secession will soon die down and fade away."

Amanda sensed the two men would be able to discuss these things more comfortably if she were not present. "I've had a delightful evening, but I'm ready to go upstairs. I'm sure you gentlemen won't object if I leave you to your own devices.

"Goodnight Miss Amanda. You made my evening a delight."

"Goodnight Mr. Collins. I hope to see you tomorrow before you leave. I'd like you to be
my
friend as well as my husband's."

At breakfast, Nicholas told Amanda he would be leaving for Charleston in the late afternoon. "I'll leave Jason at Paradise so he can begin the brickwork for your herb garden."

This gave Amanda an idea. She knew where quite a few herbs grew wild, and she would go out this morning to dig some up to replant in her kitchen garden. There was catnip, chicory, and over by the waterfall was some wild spearmint.

"Well, tell them to serve lunch. I'm sure she'll be back soon. The last thing she would want would be for us to keep track of her every move."

The cotton bales were loaded onto the flatboats and the flotilla was ready to go with the next tide. Nicholas came in to change his clothes and pick up his overnight bag. He and Rafe would ride to Charleston along the riverbank to keep an eye on the awesome amount of cotton they were transporting.

When Samuel informed him that Miss Amanda had not yet returned, he was slightly annoyed at the necessity to look for her and cause delay. He went to the stables to see if Miss Louise was missing. The horse was in her stall, but Old Joe told him if he was looking for his wife, she had gone to the woods and taken young Ben with her.

Nicholas frowned.
She's been away for hours. She knew I was leaving this afternoon, why did she go missing for most of the day?

Irritated, Nick trekked over toward the waterfall to look for her. There seemed no sign as he stood and scanned the escarpment. Then he caught a glimpse of something moving high up the hill through the trees. He climbed swiftly, but when he reached the top, there was no sign or sound anywhere. He entered a deeply wooded area and followed a small path. Then he saw her. She reached for Ben's hand and the two of them went further in where there was almost no light.

Fury almost choked him.
What the hell is she doing here with a young black male?
He saw them go down on their hands and knees in the grass, and was so shocked and outraged he reached into the holster on his hip for his gun. He doubled his pace and surprised Mandy who looked up at him in disbelief.

With wide fearful eyes she cried, "Nicholas, you mustn't shoot them!"

The red mist of rage cleared as he saw that she had reached into a fox's lair and was holding a young fox kit. Relief flooded through him as he looked down at the two sixteen-year-olds and saw they had only been on a youthful adventure.

Relief was soon overcome by his quickly-mounting anger as he realized the dangers and risks to which she had exposed herself, being alone, deep in the woods, with a slave.

He could have struck her. "If you don't understand the implication of your conduct, then it's time I taught you a few lessons," he shouted.

"I've played with the servant's children all my life," she defended hotly, thinking him prejudiced.

"Damn it all, Amanda, Ben isn't a child, he's a
man.
"

"But you told me I could have Ben to drive me about," she said, perplexed.

"That's different. All white ladies have black drivers for their carriages. Never, under any circumstances, go into the woods again with a black man. You don't seem to realize it, but if a white man had seen you together, he would think himself justified in shooting Ben. The woods are used for trysts."

She flared with angry embarrassment as the gist of what he was trying to convey finally dawned. "My name is Amanda Virginia, not Jennifer Joy." She drew herself up to her full height and swept haughtily past him.

He followed her, letting her know in no uncertain terms how her thoughtless behavior had delayed his departure. "If we've missed the floodtide in the river, it will be past midnight before there's another. How can I go off to Charleston with an easy mind, knowing that at any given moment you may be off on one of your whimsical jaunts with whomever or whatever takes your fancy?"

She tossed her head, determined not to answer him.
It is quite obvious he thinks I shouldn't be let out without leading strings and a nursemaid.

As they approached Paradise, his temper abated. "I'll get my business done as quickly as I can Amanda, and try not to be away too many days."