Rebel Dreams (49 page)
His question had naught to do with the joyous riot that had
erupted at word of the Stamp Act’s repeal. Nor did it have anything to do with
the fact that with the help of the marquess, the navy, and Henderson’s arrest, he
had been able to bring Evelyn’s case to appeal so she might return to her home.
It was another kind of happiness he questioned.
She answered without hesitation by pressing her hands
against his chest and kissing his bristly jaw. “Happier than I have ever been
in my whole life. And you?”
“I don’t think you need to ask that.” Alex lifted her until
their lips met and the electricity flowed between them, and only the jeering
encouragement of passersby reminded them they were not in a private place.
Reluctantly he set her down. “Would you be happiest if we stayed here? This is
your home. I never meant to rob you of it.”
Evelyn linked her arm through his and pulled him toward the
velvet darkness of the narrow alley. The clamor of the mob was moving toward
the center of town. In relief, he realized she turned in the direction of the
Common and her home. Every house had candles in the windows to celebrate their
joy at the news. It was almost like Christmas, but in spring. Alex took a deep
breath of the crisp night air.
“You are my home,” she informed him. “Wherever you are, I am
happy. I never imagined it could be this way.”
Somewhere in the distance premature fireworks went off, and
screams of delighted laughter permeated the night. Alex didn’t need to see the
display of colored light. He felt it going off inside of him as he lifted
Evelyn into his arms and hugged her close, burying his face against her silken
hair.
“I never imagined it either, tyrant. But then, I never
imagined being led around by a pint-sized termagant with a knife for a tongue
either.” Before she could pull his hair out by the handful, Alex added, “Nor
did I imagine I would be so lucky as to fall in love with a beautiful woman
stubborn enough to endure my multitudinous faults. Can we go home now? I can
think of better ways of celebrating than with shotguns and flags.”
Evelyn dug her fingers deeper into his hair and pulled his
head down to meet her kiss once more. She needed no words for her reply; her
tongue said it all as it slipped between his lips.
Alex groaned and crushed her against him. Then,
half-carrying, half-pulling her, he guided her toward the privacy of the empty
house on Treamount.
Molly had lit candles in the windows and left to join the
rest of the celebrants in town. Alex pushed open the door, then swept his wife
into his arms and carried her up the stairs to the feather bed that had been
laid out for them. It wasn’t their elegantly carved bed in London, but it was
better than the narrow ship’s berth they had shared for the voyage. Alex laid
his wife across the covers and fell down beside her.
He pulled the ribbon from her hair and spread her tresses
across the pillow, bending to ply her lips with kisses. Evelyn responded with
such enthusiasm that he quickly found the fastenings of her bodice. Evelyn
moaned and arched against his palm, and Alex succumbed to the familiar surge of
heat in his loins.
By the time the noise outside had disappeared into the
distance, they were naked in each other’s arms, their bodies covered with a
fine sheen of sweat. Alex pulled the covers over them, keeping the chill night
air away.
“I love you,” she whispered, making the flesh on his arms
rise in excitement as her words feathered along his skin.
Gathering his wife in his arms, Alex rested her head against
his shoulder and succumbed to the seductive pleasure of Evelyn’s softness
pressed against his side. Her slender legs wrapped about his thigh, and her
kisses licked along his skin.
“You’re so much a part of me now, I cannot imagine a life
without you,” Alex confessed. “Your happiness is mine, Evelyn. I want you
always to be happy. What do I have to do to ensure it?”
His old insecurities lingered, but Evelyn brushed them away
with her fingers and replaced them with her kisses. “Never leave me, and I’ll
always be happy,” she told him. “I know I’ll soon be too fat to be seen with
you, and I’ll have to find some way of occupying my time while you are out and
about, but I will not mind so long as I know you will be coming home to me.”
Alex let his hand drift down her side. Her breasts were
heavier now, and the slight swell of her abdomen gave him pleasure. He smiled
as she wriggled closer into his hand.
“I don’t think I dare let you out of my sight for the next
few months. I want my heir born in my bed and not on a smuggling ship or a
London street. I think you’re about to see more of me than you will ever want
again. By the time we sail to Barbados to meet Everett’s daughter and return to
England, you should be nicely plump. Then I shall install you in that pile of
rocks in Cornwall where you cannot escape and put you to work at making a home
of it. I doubt that there will be sufficient time for you to complete the job
before the child is born, so we will linger for some months after. I don’t
foresee leaving our splendid isolation until . . . Oh, let us
say after the third or fourth child has reached an age for schooling.”
Evelyn curled around him, twining her fingers through the
curls on his chest and pressing her kisses into his throat and shoulders. “You
lie, you know. There will be some issue in Parliament that will call down your
wrath, and you will hare off to London. And there will be opportunities to
expand your shipping enterprises, and you will be off talking men out of their
wealth. And there are all the other investments that must be looked after
personally, since Alyson and Rory will not. You will be lucky if you have time
to breed three or four children. And what makes you think this one is your
heir? I rather fancy a daughter myself.”
“Shrew.” Alex pressed a kiss to her cheek. Her caresses were
working their magic, but he wanted her gentleness now. In a few minutes,
perhaps, he would indulge in her passion. “Alyson tells me hers is to be the
only girl in the family, besides Margaret. You will have to be satisfied with a
houseful of rough-and-tumble boys. And I will be there with you every night to
ensure that fate, never fear. After a while you may wish I would go off to
London and leave you alone.”
Evelyn laughed and moved over him, pressing kisses against
his jaw while tempting him with the brush of her breasts. “I will go to London
with you and let our three or four junior Hamptons loose upon the civilized
world. That should keep you occupied.”
Alex laughed as he pulled her down to ravage her saucy
mouth. “I will learn to carry a whip and a chain. Come here, little rebel. I
will give you something more pleasant to dream about.”
Swiftly Evelyn took him between her legs, catching him by
surprise. Alex’s shout of pleasure filled her heart with joy. She had no
illusions about the future. They would fight, and she would lose battles and
skirmishes, but the war could have only one peaceful solution. Their love would
win every time.
Book View Café Publishing Cooperative Edition February 3,
2015
ISBN: 978-1-61138-460-4
Copyright © 1991, 2015 Patricia Rice All rights reserved
Cover design by Killion Group
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this
book, or portion thereof, in any form.
First published by New American Library, New York, 1991. This
is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real
locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents
are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual
events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Digital edition: 20141107vnm
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With several million books in print and New York Times and USA Today’s lists under her belt, former CPA Patricia Rice is one of romance’s hottest authors. Her emotionally-charged romances have won numerous awards and been honored as RITA® finalists in the historical, regency and contemporary categories. She is thrilled to be expanding into mystery and urban fantasy.
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