Simply Heaven (30 page)

At last it was time. She crept out of the house and ran to the stable. The ladder was in place, and she scrambled up to his waiting arms.

"I thought you'd never get here," he said, before kissing her long and hard.

When he let her go, she glanced around in the mellow glow of the lantern. It was sparse but clean, and suddenly she felt a bit self-conscious. She had never been in a man's bedroom before.

He broke the awkward spell to commend her. "I haven't been back long, but Joshua was telling me how you led the hunt and brought back more deer than any of the men, and also how you saved Lisbeth when Belle ran away. You were wonderful, Raven. But I already knew that." He brushed his lips across her forehead.

"I wish you could have been here." She was not about to ask him where he was, hoping he would offer to tell her.

And he did.

"I wanted to be. Especially after I heard Julius left like he did. But Selena needed me. She was in labor, and her father was drunk and raising hell. She sent for me because she was scared he might hurt her or the baby. When I got there, he was carrying on so bad I had to knock him out."

Raven said thinly, "She must have had a difficult time, since you were with her so long."

"Well, there was nobody else. Just me and Sadie, the mid-wife."

"And was the baby all right?"

He smiled. "A girl. Pretty as her mother. Strong, too. She even squeezed my finger while I was holding her. I've never held a baby before," he added, thinking how nice it had been.

Raven told herself she had no right to be jealous, but it bothered her to think of Steve sharing such an intimate time with Selena.

Steve turned to the moment at hand, twining his fingers in her hair and drawing her close. "I missed you."

She leaned into his kiss.

He told himself to go slowly, to savor every second, but the intoxication of having her in his arms again drained him of all restraint. Her kisses were as eager as his own, making the fire in his loins burn even stronger, and it was all he could do to keep from ripping her clothes off then and there.

He began to fumble with the buttons of her gown with anxious fingers as his tongue plunged into her mouth, probing, seeking, bringing her to meet his passion in kind. She helped him undress her, and when she was naked, he pulled her down with him on the bed.

His touch was gentle as he felt of her all over, his lips finally closing about one nipple while his fingers gently squeezed the other. She arched against him as the heat in her belly spread to consume her body. She was still dazzled to realize how he could ignite desire the first instant he touched her, and suddenly she could not get close enough to him. She was shaking with want, and, as she felt his hardness against her bare flesh, she reached boldly to unleash him from his trousers.

He sprang forth, and she caressed the length of him. He shuddered with pleasure. "I don't think I can wait," he groaned.

"I don't think I want you to." She guided him into her.

He entered quick and hard, but she did not care, for she was more than ready for him, eagerly meeting his every thrust till they crested together in rapture sublime.

Afterward, they lay with arms and legs entwined and slept the peaceful slumber of contented lovers. It was only when the rooster crowed loudly just outside that Raven woke and knew it was time to leave.

She dressed quickly, all the while gazing adoringly at him. His eyes were closed. He did not move, did not know when she brushed her lips across his before leaving.

And neither did he hear her whisper, "I do love you so."

* * *

Steve reached for Raven but she was not there, and he woke and thought for a moment that maybe it had all been a dream, that the wonder and the splendor had not happened after all. But as the morning sun streamed across his face, the grogginess left him and he knew that it had been very real... and wonderful.

The only shadow cast upon his joy in remembering it all was worry over how, despite all resolve, he was afraid he was falling in love.

Chapter 22

Mariah set the breakfast tray beside Lisbeth's bed, took a few sniffs and asked, "Is that smoke I smell?" She looked at the grate and saw a small pile of still smoldering ashes in the fireplace grate. Her eyes widened. "You haven't been trying to start a fire, have you? It's summertime, child, and terrible hot. If you're cold, you must be comin' down with a fever." She reached to touch her forehead.

Lisbeth slapped her hand away. "I don't have a fever. I was burning trash, not that it's any of your business. Now leave me alone."

Mariah was almost to the door but suddenly couldn't hold back any longer. "Miss Lisbeth, you just ain't acting right lately. Ever since Master Julius moved into Mobile, you don't leave this room and you eat like a bird."

Lisbeth twisted the hem of the satin sheet covering her, wishing it were Raven's neck. "I don't want to see her. I refuse to be around her. I hate her."

Mariah did not have to guess who she was talking about. "Now child, that's no way to feel. She's your stepsister."

"She's nothing to me. She drove Julius away. People laugh at us. Oh, why did she ever have to come here?" She beat on the mattress with her fists.

As Mariah glimpsed the corner of an envelope in the fireplace that was not yet burned, it occurred to her what might have Lisbeth so upset. "Was it them letters that been coming here since the party? Have folks been saying unkind things about Miss Raven?"

"Yes," Lisbeth lied. "And I burned the letters because I can't stand looking at them." The truth was the letters had all been addressed to Raven, only Lisbeth had gotten to them first. Mariah wouldn't have known they were for Raven, because she couldn't read. But the letters had not been critical at all; instead they were filled with sickening accolades for Raven and promises of invitations to socialize once her period of mourning had ended. Each writer said how nice it was that Ned had insisted the reception be held as planned after he died so they could have the opportunity to meet Raven without a long wait.

Mariah made a
tsking
sound. "Well, I sure am sorry. She tries so hard."

"Tries hard to make me miserable, you mean." Lisbeth sniffed. "I don't like how you take up for her, Mariah. I want you to stop it."

"I don't mean no disrespect. Lord knows, I love you like you're my own, but it makes me sad to see you so unhappy. And Miss Raven
is
trying. She works awful hard. Just like this morning. I'm always the first one to the house, but when I got here she was already up and working. She's even called in the overseers again to make sure things are being done like they should."

Lisbeth thought she would love to eavesdrop on one of those meetings to witness just how stupid Raven was. The overseers probably burst out laughing the second they walked out the door. "Has she met with all of them yet?" she asked, an idea growing in her mind.

"She's got one more. The reason I know is I just took her a fresh pot of coffee, and she said Mr. Leroux hadn't showed up yet and she wished he'd hurry up, 'cause she was waiting to talk to him before going to Mobile."

Lisbeth was already out of bed and walking toward her dressing alcove.

"Why don't you go with her?" Mariah suggested. "It's a nice day, and it would do you good to get out. And you haven't seen Julius in a while."

"Pigs will fly before I go anywhere with that little twit. If I want to see my brother, I'll walk before riding in the same carriage with her."

With a sigh, Mariah left her.

* * *

Raven paced restlessly around the study. The coffee was cold, but it didn't matter, because she was so annoyed with Masson Leroux she wouldn't have offered him any had it been hot and fresh. He was nearly an hour late, and thirty minutes ago she'd sent another message to remind him of that fact. The other overseers had been on time for their meetings, but Masson was the one she most wanted to see. She was going to warn him that his heavy drinking had to stop or he would find himself out of a job.

She tried not to think that her motive had anything to do with the way Steve was having to spend so much time making sure Masson was not bothering Selena and her new baby. But the truth was it annoyed her, because in all the weeks she had been sleeping with him, not many nights passed that Selena didn't send for him, frightened because her father was drunk and lurking in the woods near her cabin.

Sometimes Steve chased him off. On other occasions, he couldn't find him. Raven said she should just fire Masson and that would solve everything, but Steve said it would only cause Selena added stress if her father took her mother, whom she adored, and went away. Besides, Steve had pointed out, Masson's drinking apparently didn't keep him from doing his job, and he was hoping that sooner or later things would smooth over and Masson would calm down.

At last he arrived. "A few of the workers were late getting started this morning," he said by way of excuse. "They gripe about it being so hot. If they felt a lash on their worthless backs once in a while, they'd know better, but since you're just like your daddy and let 'em get away with it, they'll stay shiftless."

"There will never be whippings at Halcyon," she said firmly, icily. She was not yet ready to inform him or anyone else that sometime in the future there would be no slaves there anyway. She hadn't had time yet to figure out how to free them and still keep them and pay them decent wages. But if there was a way she would find it.

He sat down, even though she had not invited him to. "Well, what did you want to see me about? I got to get back in the field before they all decide to find a shade tree and lay down for a nap."

Raven did not like him. Even if she did not know what she did about him, she would still not like him. He was arrogant, and she suspected he was cruel to the slaves. He was also the only overseer who seemed to resent her.

"The fact is, Mr. Leroux," she began, continuing to stand so she could look down at him, "I asked you here today to talk about your drinking. You're doing too much of it, and you've been causing trouble. If it doesn't stop right away, I'll have to dismiss you."

He bounded to his feet. "You can't do that. I've been here nearly ten years and always done a good job. Your daddy would tell you that if he was alive. Who's been poisoning you against me? It's him, ain't it?" His eyes narrowed. "Maddox. He's the one. He's told you about me drinking."

"It doesn't matter who told me. The fact is you have been getting drunk almost nightly and threatening your daughter."

"Yeah, I sure have. She's a whore. She got herself in trouble and shamed me and her momma and the whole family. I may not have much, but one thing I've always had is my good name, and she ruined it. It makes me so mad that maybe I do drink too much. But I do my job. Anybody will tell you that. So you got no call to run me off."

"I said I'd give you another chance."

"But it was him, wasn't it?" he persisted. "Well, instead of blaming me for everything, how come you don't tell him to marry her and give her baby a name, and then I won't have to be ashamed? He's the one. I know it as good as I'm standing here. He's the one responsible, and he's lying if he says he ain't."

Raven reeled as though he had slapped her. It all came flooding back. The day she arrived, Masson had asked Steve why he didn't marry Selena, but Steve said it was only Masson's way of telling him to stay out of his business. Now she started wondering all over again. After all, Masson had to have good reason to name Steve as the father so boldly... didn't he?

She sank into the chair behind the desk, afraid her wobbling knees would not support her any longer as her mind began to whirl.

Even if Steve did not love Selena, he had made her and her baby his responsibility. And thinking about it brought painful memories rushing back, memories of how she had loathed her father for abandoning her mother. But that was when she had believed he had known her mother was pregnant. Now she knew different. He would never have let anything keep him from going back to her had he known. But if Steve was the father of Selena's baby, he obviously
did
know it, and for him not to marry her was unforgivable.

"Did your daughter tell you that Steve Maddox fathered her child?" she asked, looking Masson straight in the eyes.