Heaven Sent (28 page)
That's what Henry Lee wanted to happen between himself and Hannah. He wanted her mindless and straining beneath him, her pretty, hymn-singing mouth covering his body with desperate kisses. He'd take her mind off his occupation for sure. And she'd never have another thought for the man who had fathered her child. He'd keep her so satisfied she'd get down on her knees twice a day to thank the good Lord for allowing her to spend her life in Henry Lee's bed.
Henry Lee tried to shake his lusty thoughts out of his head and concentrate on the task at hand. Just two more days, he promised himself, and he'd never spend another night without her beside him.
Hannah's progress through the blackberry thicket had filled up one bucket and was working on the second. There were plenty of ripe berries here for as many pies as Henry Lee could eat and plenty of jam to keep for the winter.
She wondered why Henry Lee hadn't mentioned the thicket. Having such a fine one on one's property was tremendous good fortune. Her father was incredibly fond of blackberries and there weren't any within miles of his home. Hannah had tried once to cultivate a thicket, digging up a small bush near the river, but although it grew pretty well for a while, it never bore any fruit and Hannah had finally given up on it. She would have to save some for Violet to make a pie for her father.
As the time passed Hannah tried to hurry. She wanted to pick all that were ripe, before the birds got to them, but she also wanted to have time to fix Henry Lee
a
cobbler for his supper tonight.
Reaching deep into the thicket, she encountered something unexpected. A webby pouch hung, as ripe as the berries, within the thicket. When her hand brushed against it, she inadvertently punched it open. Jerking her hand back quickly, she saw the silky evidence of the remainder of the spider's nest on her fingers, and in horror she watched as hundreds of tiny spiders scrambled into the world and raced up her arm.
The blood drained from her face as a wave of cold terror, fear, and nausea swept through her. Dropping her bucket, she began screaming hysterically as she tried to wipe away the unending stream of spiders as they doggedly pursued shelter up her shoulders, across her chest, down her waist, and in her hair.
Hannah's scream made Henry Lee's blood run cold. Without thought he raced out of the cave and jumped from the ledge hitting the ground at a dead run. He had no weapon, but he ran without caution, mindlessly he raced toward the sound of his wife's terror. When he reached the backside of the hogpen, he realized that the screams were not coming from the house. He quickly grabbed up a singletree leaning against the barn and raced into the woods.
The territory wasn't bear country and few animals in the wild were threatening to people, an occasional cougar or perhaps a rabid bobcat were the only dangers that Hannah might not be able to protect herself against. He hoped it was neither of those since her screaming would undoubtedly frighten the animal and make the situation worse.
When he found her she was still screaming, slapping at her arms and face, pulling at her sunbonnet and hair, she was so pale she looked near to fainting. When he saw the tiny spiders scurrying down her skirt, he understood what was happening. Dropping the singletree, he began helping her brush away the frightening little varmints. She was shuddering as if freezing as he wiped her skirt and her arms, she pulled at her hair which was now loose and wild and then began crying in panic. They seemed to be everywhere as he frantically swept at her arms and clothing. She seemed most frightened by the ones crawling in her hair, and Henry Lee untied her bonnet and threw it behind them; grabbing handfuls of those loose honey-colored tresses he shook them like flags in the wind as Hannah clawed at those racing across her face and neck.
"Down my back! Henry Lee, they're crawling down my back!" she screamed.
Henry Lee turned her around and assessed the situation immediately. Without thought he grabbed the back of her dress and ripped the cheap cotton to the waist; jerking down the back of her chemise, he quickly located and disposed of the one crafty little spider who had found his way there. Raising her hair and wiping her neck and bare shoulders, he assured himself that that was the last of them. For good measure he checked her arms and skirt again thoroughly for any villains that might have got away.
She was still crying. Tears coursed down her face in streams and she was trembling so hard that Henry Lee wondered if she would be able to stand. Instinctively, he slipped an arm behind her knees and grabbed her up to his chest and carried her out of the woods.
Her arms around his neck, she held him as if he were her last hope and soaked the front of his work shirt with her tears. When he reached the edge of the woods he headed up the small rise. In the shade of a catalpa tree, Henry Lee sat down on the ground, still holding Hannah to his chest, and began to rock her as one would a baby, whispering and crooning in her ears that she was fine, the spiders were gone, she was safe, and he would take care of her. He planted gentle kisses on her hair as he tenderly stroked her bare shoulder and arm.
Henry Lee thought that she had never been so beautiful. Her hair was untamed and everywhere. Who would have thought that neat little braid held such wild curls? The hair seemed to soften her face making her look like a little girl, so exposed, so trusting.
As she quieted, Henry Lee found himself unwilling to loose her. He cuddled her more closely, listening to her breathing and the pounding of her heart. The feel, the smell, the closeness of her was arousing. He felt the usual reaction rising in his trousers. The skin that he had laid bare now tantalized him. His lips could almost taste the creamy shoulder that lay before him, beckoning him to kiss it. But he waited. She was so vulnerable, he wanted to go slowly so as not to frighten her again.
When the last quiet, hiccupping sob ceased, she continued to sit on his lap allowing his arms to protect her. She was embarrassed by the way she had acted. Grown women did not become hysterical over a few spiders, she told herself. But, even as she thought of the spiders crawling all over her, another involuntary shudder went through her. When finally she spoke, her voice was hoarse from screaming.
"I don't know what came over me," she began, "I'm not a flighty miss who screams at every little thing."
She would have pulled away from him them, but Henry Lee continued to hold her. Not with force, he simply did not relinquish her and she was not willing to try harder. She merely righted her clothes as modestly as the torn cloth would allow and rested against him.
"I wanted to do something special for you," she told him. "I saw those blackberries and I wanted to make you a blackberry cobbler. I make a wonderful blackberry cobbler, it's my father's favorite."
"That's real sweet of you, Hannah darlin'," he told her, snuggling closer. "You already fix me the finest meals in the territory, there's no need to go to any extra bother."
"But I wanted to!" she insisted. "I know you'll just love my blackberry cobbler."
"Hannah," he said to her softly. "I truly do not care for blackberries at all. Those pesky little seeds bother me and I can't bear to have the nasty stuff in my mouth."
Hannah stared straight ahead for a minute in abject shock, then suddenly a tiny giggle began working its way up through her middle until it poured out of her in gales of laughter. Henry Lee couldn't help being drawn to the contagious sound and the two sat there holding each other close and laughing uproariously.
"I can't believe that I made such a fool of myself trying to impress you. I wanted you to see what a competent wife I can be, going out and finding berries on my own to make you a pie. And what I ended up doing was showing you that I can be as foolish and spooky as a schoolgirl, while trying to make something for you that you didn't even want!" She shook her head in self-disgust.
"It's all right," he said to her in a voice just above a whisper. "Nobody would want those creepy varmints all over them. You don't have to pretend with me, Hannah. You hate bugs and lizards and such, that's fine. You don't have to be brave and sensible about such nonsense. I'm here for you, Hannah. I'll slay all your lizards and chase away the spiders forever."
He felt her smile against his chest.
"Well, it's a good thing, Henry Lee," she teased. "'Cause you sure can't accuse me of being brave and sensible when I'm screaming like a pig with his tail caught in a rat trap!"
Henry Lee laughed. "Now, Hannah," he said, pretending to be stern, "I'll have you know that my pigs have got a lot more gumption than to squeal at a mess of baby spiders. And even if they did, they could never sound as wild as you did. Why, when I heard you, I thought some giant gator had swum up from
Hannah pulled away enough to look at him, she was smiling.
"I bet I did make you think something terrible happened, for you to come running up with a singletree in your hand. It's a good thing that you didn't try to beat off those spiders, you would have killed me for sure."
Henry Lee turned her about halfway around and raised his knees, which had her looking almost straight into his eyes, and seated right on top of where she could do the most good.
"Didn't I tell you the story about the man who was arrested for killing his wife?" he teased her.
Hannah shook her head, smiling and expectant.
"Well, when they took him before the judge and the judge asked him what he had to say for himself, do you know what he said?"
Hannah didn't.
"He said, 'Judge, if I can't kill my own wife, whose wife can I kill?'"
Hannah gave him a look of mock disgust and playfully punched him in the ribs.
"That's a terrible story!" she said giggling.
Henry Lee was laughing, too. And then he reached up and gently combed his fingers through Hannah's hair. They both sobered immediately as Henry Lee brought a hank of it to his lips, never taking his eyes off Hannah's face.
"Your hair is so beautiful," he whispered. "It seems such a shame to hide it from me."
"I never meant to hide it," she replied so quietly he barely heard her.
He brought the hair to his lips again, still gazing at her, then he rubbed his cheek with it. Slowly he began gathering it into his hand, pulling her closer and closer by inches until she could feel his breath on her face. He kissed the hair he still held in his hand in reverence, then he brushed her own lips with the kiss he had left on her hair. Hannah, wide-eyed, opened her mouth to speak, but when Henry Lee saw her lips part, he couldn't hold back any longer and he turned his head slightly to capture her mouth against his.
He felt, more than heard, her tiny gasp of surprise and pleasure. He deepened the kiss slightly, drawing her into his arms tightly until he could feel her nipples hardening against his chest. She returned his kiss timidly, as if she was unsure how to please him. But please him she did. He let his tongue leisurely drift along her teeth until she opened for him, he entered her mouth teasingly, gauging her reaction. He felt her jerk slightly in fear and immediately retreated. He would not press her, he could kiss her elsewhere and come back with his tongue when she was more ready.
He trailed a fiery path of tiny kisses along her cheek, to her ear and down her neck. Reaching the sensitive skin at the base of her throat he gave her a tender little love bite. She gasped his name and he smiled against her creamy flesh.
"You like that, Hannah darlin'?" he whispered into her bare skin. He grasped her breasts in his hands, weighing and kneading the generous orbs. The front of her torn dress slipped lower, but she was beyond noticing.
His hot breath raised gooseflesh on her naked shoulders and he went after that rough smoothness with his teeth and tongue until she was squirming against him, simultaneously easing and fanning the fire between them.
Henry Lee was at cross purposes with himself. He couldn't reach Hannah's bosom to taste the hard pouting nipples he held in his hands, but he was unwilling to give up the pleasing pressure of her luscious bottom against the evidence of his lust.
Compromising, he released her breasts and planted his hands firmly on the ground beside him. He raised his buttocks off the ground, bringing Hannah's bosom within the reach of his mouth. Hannah's eyes opened wide at suddenly finding herself in midair, and when she saw where Henry Lee intended to put his mouth, she arched her back toward him, offering herself eagerly.
Henry Lee grasped the edge of her chemise with his teeth, pulling it down just enough to bare her left breast. He looked up into her eyes and watched her watching him. Hannah was not sure that she could breathe. Her naked breast seemed inordinately exposed in the dappled sunshine of the shade of the catalpa tree and in sharp contrast to her husband's thick dark hair and tan skin so close by. She looked into the depths of his blue eyes, now flashing with desire and firing her own. Her hand moved to his hair and gently clutching a handful, she brought his mouth to her breast.
Henry Lee wanted to savor the taste of her. He would not be greedy with her offering. For a moment he simply held his mouth close to the thickened pulsing crest, teasing it with his hot breath, until he heard a plea from Hannah's lips that was as near pain as it was pleasure.
