Each Time We Love (59 page)

PALE
NOVEMBER MOONLIGHT filtered softly into the bedroom that Adam and
Savanna shared at Campo de Verde. Upon their return to the plantation
nearly two months ago, considering all the events that had transpired,
they had put off leaving for Natchez and Belle Vista until after the
first of the year. After all, this would be a holiday season to
celebrate, and Adam had seen no reason that it shouldn't be spent at
Campo de Verde. They had done enough racketing around this past half
year, and it would be
most
pleasant to remain in
one spot for a while before embarking upon another journey! And while
Adam was eager for Savanna to see her new home, she would see Belle
Vista soon enough.

The decision to remain at Campo de Verde had proved to be a
wise one. Ensconced in familiar surroundings, with a doting mother and
an equally doting husband to cosset her, Savanna blossomed as never
before in her life. There was a soft, contented radiance about her
these days, and if she had been a striking woman before, she was a
breathtaking one now. Her red-gold hair seemed to shine and curl with a
life all its own; the beautiful color of her aquamarine eyes seemed to
deepen and intensify in brilliance, and there was a luminous glow to
her skin that reminded Adam vividly of the rich sheen of a perfect
pearl. Garbed these days in an expensive and fashionable wardrobe from
New Orleans, the glorious hair tamed into a neat chignon at the base of
her neck, Savanna hardly resembled the disheveled virago who had faced
Bodene over the barrel of a long black rifle that spring day, nor the
flashing-eyed vixen that had been Adam's first sight of her. And yet,
despite the outward changes, Savanna was still both of those creatures
and none knew better than she that there would come a day when she
would need to embark upon some wild adventure with her husband.

Snuggling deeper into his embrace this particular night, she
smiled as she thought about the places he had promised to take her—the
wilderness trails they would travel together, the awe-inspiring sights
never seen by a white woman that would be hers. She was looking forward
to those days, but she was also looking forward to her first sight of
Belle Vista and making the acquaintance of the rest of the family.

Within a month of Micajah's death, Jason and Catherine had
come to visit them at Campo de Verde. Leaving their children with their
nanny at the town house in New Orleans, Catherine and Jason had stayed
with Jason's grandfather, Armand, who lived on the plantation adjacent
to Campo de Verde, but they had spent most of their waking moments at
Campo de Verde.

Savanna grimaced as she remembered her first uneasy meeting
with Adam's sister. Catherine Savage, though slight in build, had been
as regal as an empress when she had been introduced to Savanna, and
though Catherine had tried very hard to overcome it, it had been
obvious that only the great love she bore her brother had allowed her
to speak with anything approaching civility to Savanna. It had begun as
a very stiff, uncomfortable meeting and Savanna's heart had sunk.
Because it would please Adam, she had so wanted for his family to
accept her as his wife.

Adam had already explained his relationship to Jason, and
Savanna had been fascinated to hear the tale of Guy and Rachel, and
eager to renew her acquaintance with the man she now knew was Adam's
half brother. She had already formed a favorable opinion of Jason
Savage, and Jason, greeting her affably and with great warmth when he
and Catherine had come to call that first day, had confirmed her
earlier good impression of him. That Jason had seemed to
unconditionally accept her marriage to Adam had made Catherine's
less-than-enthusiastic greeting not as painful. But if Catherine had
been politely aloof in the beginning, it hadn't taken very long for her
to thaw. That same afternoon, after having been regaled with the story
of Adam's kidnapping by Micajah and Savanna's daring quest to save him,
Catherine had immediately unbent. Obviously any woman, heedless of her
own danger, who would undertake such a perilous scheme to try to save
Adam was without question
precisely
the sort of
wife Catherine would have wished for him! As Jason had said, there was
nothing about Savanna to remind her of Davalos, and Catherine's manner,
as the day progressed, had become warmer and more friendly. It wasn't
until several days later, however, when the two women had been talking
quietly about the loss of a child that they both had suffered, that the
real bond had been forged between them, and when it became time for the
Savages to leave for New Orleans, it was with real regret that Savanna
and Catherine had said good-bye to each other.

It hadn't been a very long parting, however. Since the Savages
would be spending the majority of the winter months in the city, like
most of New Orleans society, Elizabeth and Savanna had invited the
family to join them for a celebration dinner. With gratifying
promptness Jason and Catherine had accepted. Swelled by the influx of
the active Savage brood as well as their parents and Jason's
grandfather, the house at Campo de Verde had been overflowing.

The Savage children had returned to New Orleans with their
grandfather and several servants only yesterday, Jason and Catherine
having decided to remain for a longer visit with the newlyweds.
Fascinated by the stories of the time Adam and Catherine had spent with
gypsies and by Jason's riveting tales of his early adventures with
Blood Drinker, Savanna was especially glad that they were staying
longer. Two nights ago, Jason had, at Savanna's request, again told the
story of the Aztec gold and, after much prompting by the others, had
reluctantly stripped off his upper clothing to reveal once more the
emerald-and-gold armband that he always wore on his arm. It was such a
beautiful object to have wreaked such violence and bloodshed, and
Savanna had stared at it utterly mesmerized. For a long time after
Jason had shrugged back into his clothing, she had been very quiet,
realizing that it had been the discovery of the twin of that band that
had started her father down the tragic path that had led to his death.
Then she had smiled at Adam. If it had been Nolan's golden armband that
had brought her father death, it had been that same armband that had
brought her Adam. For if Jeremy had not heard the tale from the dying
Davalos, she and Adam would never have met…

While Jason had dark, bitter memories of her father, he also
had some good ones, memories of when they had been boys together,
memories of a different Davalos, of a lighthearted young man who had
been a boon companion. After the tale of the golden armband, as if
aware of Savanna's brooding thoughts about her father, Jason had made a
point of recounting some of the pleasant times he had shared with
Davalos before events had twisted the Spaniard into a vicious, soulless
man, and Savanna had been grateful to him for it. It comforted her to
know that there had been, a time when her father had been a good man,
and watching the soft glow on her mother's face as Jason talked of
those days, Savanna had been deeply moved.

The slight coolness of the room made her snuggle closer to her
husband's warm body and she was wiggling about, trying to get
comfortable, when Adam, a teasing note in his voice, said somewhere
above her head, "Are you attempting to tell me that I did not satisfy
you earlier? That I'm already failing in my duties as a loving husband?"

Her cheek resting sweetly on his broad naked chest, Savanna
smiled. Oh, he had satisfied her, all right. He always did. During
these past months Savanna had learned a great deal about the pleasures
of the marriage bed—that and the fact that her desire for her husband
was nearly as insatiable as his seemed to be for her. She moved
experimentally against him, somehow not surprised to find that in spite
of having made thoroughly passionate love to her less than an hour ago,
he seemed to be more than willing to do so again—if the size and
hardness of his manhood pressing urgently against her hip was anything
to go by!

She angled her head upward and dropped a swift kiss on his
chin. "Why do I have the feeling," she asked demurely, "that
you
are the one who is unsatisfied?"

Adam shifted slightly, pushing her down into the softness of
the feather bed as he loomed over her. In the faint moonlight, the
sensuous glitter of his dark blue eyes was apparent, and kissing her
lazily, he muttered, "You satisfy me in all ways, my love…"

When he finally lifted his head, Savanna was breathless and
her body was suddenly thrumming with sexual anticipation.

"The problem," Adam went on in a thickened voice, just as if a
long, carnally explicit kiss had not interrupted them, "is that I never
stay
satisfied! You're a damned seductive baggage
and I can't seem to get enough of you."

Savanna stretched slightly, deliberately letting her tingling
nipples rub against the thick black hair on his chest. "And what," she
asked huskily, "do you expect me to do about it?"

"Oh, God, nothing!" Adam growled. "Just be the woman you are
and let me love you!"

He proceeded to do just that, and it was quite some time later
before Savanna drifted back to the present. Her head was on his
shoulder and Adam had one arm wrapped possessively around her, their
legs tangled beneath the sheet, when she became aware of her
surroundings. In the glowing aftermath of their joining, they lay there
together, murmuring the tender words that lovers have always shared.

Eventually talk of the future drifted in and Adam said
casually, "After the spring planting, how would you like to retrace our
path through Texas?" Raising himself to stare down at her bemused
features, he said mockingly, "I have several, ah, fond memories of that
trip and would like to see if my memory compares with reality." He
brushed his mouth against hers. "One place in particular appeals to me…
the place where I first discovered just how sweet and exciting making
love to you could be…"

Recalling that tear-shaped pond, the sparkling blue clarity of
the water and Adam's passionate lovemaking, Savanna was not adverse to
the idea, but not this spring… A soft, mysterious smile on her mouth,
she stared up at him. "Not this spring, my dear," she said lightly.
"This spring, I expect that I shall be too clumsy to ride all day in
the saddle."

Adam frowned. "Savanna, you're the least clumsy woman I know!
Why will you be clumsy this spring?"

Gently her hand reached up to caress his lean, handsome face.
"Because," she said softly, "I shall be
very
pregnant!"

Adam froze. The blue eyes suddenly blazed with delight and in
a voice of awe, he asked huskily, "Are you certain? We're to have a
child?"

Savanna nodded, and a quiver of laughter in her voice, she
confessed, "I believe that our child will have had the dubious honor of
having been conceived on the top of its father's desk!"

"Oh, sweetheart," Adam breathed, raining sweet, soft kisses
over her face, "I love you more than life!"

Naturally such good news could not be kept a secret, and that
morning as they joined the others for breakfast, Adam proudly made the
announcement of their impending parenthood. The reaction of the family
was eminently gratifying and most the remainder of the morning was
spent in talking about the baby.

It was only later in the day, when, taking advantage of a
particularly fine afternoon for this time of year, the two couples were
strolling around the grounds of the plantation, that the subject
strayed to the golden armband. A thoughtful expression on her lovely
face, Savanna mused slowly, "It's strange isn't it? The way that
Nolan's golden armband was the beginning of so many tragedies and yet,
in the end, it was the catalyst that brought us all together?"

In varying degrees the others all nodded in agreement, and
Adam's arm, which had been resting casually about her waist, suddenly
tightened and he pulled her nearer to him. Dropping a kiss on her
cheek, he said bluntly, "I'm not sorry that they are dead, but I can't
deny that I have every reason to be grateful to Micajah and Jeremy."

A slight frown on his face, Jason glanced at Savanna and
asked, "Once you had learned of its existence from Micajah and Jeremy,
did you ever look for Nolan's band? After all, Davalos did say that you
would have it."

Savanna smiled wryly. "I have to believe that those words were
simply the ravings of a dying man. Over the years since I inherited
Campo de Verde, we've been over the house from top to bottom. Of
course, in the beginning we didn't even know of the armband's
existence, so we weren't looking specifically for it, but if he had
hidden it in the house, we would have found it. The place was
practically falling down about our ears when I first inherited it, and
since then, during renovations and what not, either my mother or Bodene
or I have discovered every nook and cranny in the house." She smiled up
at Adam. "And during the past couple of months, Adam has poked and
prodded and tested every brick, panel and step to see if he could
discover a secret hiding place within the building."

Looking rueful, Adam admitted, "Jason, there isn't any place
that it could be—I know, believe me! Davalos must have been out of his
head, or Jeremy misunderstood him."

Jason's frown didn't abate. "No. Davalos wasn't out of his
head, and the one thing we all have to remember is that Davalos
did
have Nolan's band! It was
because
he had Nolan's
armband that he knew of the gold's existence."

Savanna was frowning now, too. "But if he had the band, where
is it? Where would he have hidden it? And why did he say I would have
it?"

"Because," Jason said slowly, obviously thinking out loud,
"you have Campo de Verde. You were his heiress and the only thing you
inherited from him was a run-down plantation…" A gleam in his emerald
eyes, Jason looked impatiently at the other three as they viewed him
skeptically. "Don't you see, he said Savanna will have it—the
plantation… the golden armband!"