When the Splendor Falls (95 page)

“If you’ll excuse us,” Guy said, kissing both Leigh and Althea on the cheek, before he hurried away, his gaze searching for the tall figure of Nathaniel Braedon, for he would ask the man for his daughter’s hand in marriage as soon as possible.

“I do not believe I will be able to sleep tonight, I’m so excited. Oh, Leigh, isn’t it wonderful,” Althea said again, still unable to grasp what had happened. And, she had to admit, she felt slightly relieved. For now she would not be returning to Virginia alone. Even though she thought about it every day, she had dreaded that journey, and her arrival in Virginia—afraid of what she would find. But now Guy, and Lys Helene, if she knew her brother, would be coming with her. “Well, I’ll say good night now. I must find Noelle. It’s getting late and she should be in bed,” Althea said, looking for her daughter.

“She was going to get a glass of lemonade. I’ll go with you. I want to check on Lucinda. Carmelita is so hard of hearing, I don’t think she’d hear Lucinda if she started to cry,” Leigh said worriedly, deciding she’d move Lucinda back into her room and stay with her, no longer interested in returning to the barbecue, especially when she saw Neil standing with a group of important-looking men, their voices carrying as they spoke of the latest news; the surrender of Confederate forces commanded by a General Watie, who also happened to be a Cherokee, in the Oklahoma Territory; the release of all Confederate prisoners of war; the lifting of trade restrictions and the blockade; the naming of provisional governors to the once rebellious states; President Johnson’s policies for the restoration of peace in the Union, while others wanted the former Confederate states punished for their crimes of rebellion against the Union; and finally, the sentencing of the eight coconspirators found guilty of the assassination of Lincoln—four to be imprisoned, and four to be hanged, including a woman.

Althea didn’t have long to look for Noelle, because she came running up to her, and was actually smiling. She had seen her uncle, or, rather, her uncle had seen her and surprised her by coming over to her. Leigh accompanied them to the house, Noelle still chattering. They entered Althea’s room, where Lucinda was crying, while Carmelita sat sound asleep in a chair and Steward slept undisturbed in his bed.

Lucinda’s lusty cries stopped as soon as Leigh picked her up, holding her close as she rocked her. “I’ll be back for the cradle,” Leigh said, taking Lucinda with her as she left the room.

“All right, dear. I’ll help you with it,” Althea said over her shoulder as she tried to waken the snoring Carmelita and send her to her own bed.

“I’ll help you with the cradle, Mama,” Noelle offered, and temporarily giving up on the sleeping Carmelita, Althea took her daughter up on the offer. Each taking an end of the cradle, Althea the heavier covered part, they had just managed to get it through the door and had started down the corridor, when strong hands took the cradle from them.

Althea glanced up in surprise, then smiled when Neil lifted the cradle high, relieved they didn’t have to carry it any farther, for it was heavier than it looked.

“Leigh took Lucinda back to your room and was coming to help with the cradle,” Althea said, hiding a yawn behind her hand. “Say good night to her for us, will you?”

“I will,” Neil said, bidding them good night.

Leigh was pressing a kiss against Lucinda’s soft dark curls when the door opened and she said without looking, “She’s asleep now. Just a minute, Althea, and I’ll help with the cradle.”

“That won’t be necessary,” Neil said, stepping inside with the cradle and quietly closing and locking the door behind him.

Leigh glanced up in surprise, looking for Althea.

“Althea said to tell you good night,” he said, placing the cradle near the rocking chair in the corner of the room. “She and Noelle were carrying it down the hall and I gave them a hand,” he explained, eyeing her thoughtfully.

“Oh,” Leigh managed to comment, looking away from the glint in his pale eyes as she carefully placed the sleeping child in the cradle, taking a great deal of time and care in covering her, tucking the tiny pink hand beneath the soft downy quilt.

Leigh stood up, glancing around nervously for a moment before she turned to face him. She heard the strains of music drifting across the
rancho
yard and caught his eye. “I’m not going to return to the barbecue,” she said, glancing at the door as if to say he was welcome to go.

But Neil had no intention of leaving. “I couldn’t let this night end without dancing even one dance with my wife, especially since it has become such a night for celebration,” he murmured.

“Oh, well…thank you, but I really don’t want to go back out, I’ve already taken off my slippers,” Leigh said, gesturing to the pair of bronze silk slippers by the bed, the long ribbons tangled as if she’d kicked them off.

Neil smiled. Suddenly he found himself remembering another pair of slippers, satin ribbons tangled, that he’d seen in her room at Travers Hill the night of their wedding—a night he would never forget. “That’s quite all right,” Neil replied, “because I thought I’d claim my dance right here.”

And without waiting for her reply, he stepped forward and took Leigh in his arms, his steps shortened for the smaller space as he moved around the room, holding his wife in his arms. “Our first dance,” he said, his words soft against her ear. “I’ve waited a long time for this.”

“Yes,” Leigh said, her voice a breath of a whisper.

“I never had the chance to dance with you in Virginia,” he said. “You were very beautiful the night of Blythe’s sixteenth birthday party; in fact, I’d never seen such a beautiful woman, and I wanted you that night, but you were beyond my reach then,” he said, his voice roughening as he remembered the frustration of knowing she belonged to another man. “You are even more beautiful tonight, and now you are mine. We are husband and wife, Leigh Braedon,” he said slowly, savoring the name as his lips touched the gentle curve of neck revealed beneath the long curls clustered with several thick loops of braids over her ear and held with tiny pearled pins. His mouth moved along the slope of shoulder, pushing the small cap sleeve from its anchoring position, the décolletage falling lower to reveal the perfume-scented curve between her breasts. He bent her slightly back in his arms, his lips touching the velvety softness of her flesh.

His hands moved from her waist, along her back, and in a minute she felt the bodice of her gown fall slightly. Then the fastenings at her waist gave way and the gown spread apart and was left on the floor as she was lifted free of the tangle of material and waltzed around the room in her petticoats, his laughter coming huskily.

“I’ve always had a fondness for you in petticoats,” he said, his steps slowing until they stood unmoving in the center of the room, the lamp casting a golden glow over them. His hands slid along her arms, caressing her, his mouth following his touch, and Leigh shivered, feeling his lips on the soft inner flesh of her arm, in the delicate contour of her elbow, where she had touched the heady perfume of jessamine, then pressing into her palm, and moving along each finger. Then her petticoats landed in a swirl of lace and ribbons around her ankles. Suddenly she could breathe easier as his fingers unfastened her corset, the offending boned silk contraption landing on top of the petticoats and gown. He found the softness of her freed body, his opened hands encompassing her ribs, holding her captured between them for a moment, as if he sought to touch the heart beating so wildly, then they moved to her waist, his fingertips nearly touching around the slender width, then she felt them sliding up to cup her breasts, still hidden beneath a froth of lace.

But when they moved away from her waist, her pantalettes slid downward around her stockinged feet, the tabs loosened by a deft touch. Leigh drew in her breath as she felt his hand against the bareness of her buttock, then around the curve of bared hip and across her taut belly, his fingers briefly, tantalizingly touching the soft hair between her thighs before moving beneath the fine linen of her chemise to her breasts, his callused palms rubbing against the soft under-curve, then the hardness of her nipples. Leigh felt the coolness of the night air against her hot skin as he tugged against the drawstrings of her chemise and the gathered material loosened to fall from her, leaving her naked before him except for her silk-stockinged legs.

He held her away from him for a second, his searing gaze burning her as it moved over her, then he pulled her into his arms, his mouth finding hers, his kiss enticingly demanding, his hands moving over her intimately as his mouth opened against hers, parting her lips as his knee eased her thighs apart and she could feel the hardness of him pressing against her as his tongue touched hers.

Their lips clung, then separated, and Leigh felt his hand against her throat, then the necklace was removed, his hands gentle as they removed the earrings from her ears. Then his hands found the pearl-studded pins, pulling them one after another from her hair and scattering them as he tugged the braids and curls free, his fingers threading through the long strands until her hair hung in thick, shining waves over her shoulders. He picked her up, holding her close against his chest, staring down intently into her face, his lips seeking hers, tasting deeply of them before he placed her on the bed. Standing before her, he slowly disrobed, his pale eyes never leaving her flushed face.

Leigh’s breathing felt as restricted as if she still wore the punishing corset as she watched Neil disrobe before her, until he stood naked, his broad shoulders and muscular chest tapering down to the narrow waist, hips, and flat belly she remembered from the first time she’d seen him. His manhood was erect, and Leigh felt the stirrings of desire deep within her as she watched him come to the bed, his thighs long and sinewy with muscle. He sat on the edge of the bed, staring at her, then his hand took the lace-edged garters from her legs, his hand lingering and caressing the soft flesh as he slowly unrolled her stockings and pulled them off. Then she felt the fiery touch of his body next to hers when he took her in his arms, his mouth finding hers in long, breathless kisses that left her lips tender.

He moved to lie beneath her, liking the feel of her slenderness on top of him, the heat of her body burning into him. His hands moved over the delicate curving of buttock and thigh, sliding between and touching her, then holding her molded against him, his manhood caught between their bodies, pressing intimately against her thigh. He buried his face between her firm breasts, then his lips moved over the taut nipples, his tongue circling them, teasing the bud as he suckled it, increasing her desire as she felt his teeth bite gently against the sensitive flesh. His mouth moved lower, across the delicate curve of stomach and hip, his lips leaving a trail of fire until she gasped when she felt his fingers probing gently between her thighs, moving deeper as they sought the sensuous core of her. Leigh felt the sensations begin, moving through her in waves of delight and she moved against his hand, seeking a fuller satisfaction from the contact, a filling of the aching emptiness inside her. He moved lower, his hands against the trembling of her thighs, then his fingers moved closer, holding her apart. Shocked, she felt the roughness of his hard cheek against her inner thigh, the soft warmth of his tongue penetrating her, moving inside her, and she would have withdrawn from so intimate a contact, but his hands held her hips against him, and even when she writhed beneath his touch, coming close to pain as the feelings spiraled through her until she was almost crying with pleasure, he held her bound to him. She felt as if she would faint from the erotic pleasure he was bringing her and she reached out, grasping his shoulders, then his golden hair, pulling against him.

He rose above her, kneeling between her spread thighs, catching his breath when he felt her fingers trailing with a feathery touch across the flatness of his belly to the hair matted at his groin, touching him, feeling him gently as she held his manhood in her hand, her thumb sliding along its length as he throbbed hard and pulsing in the softness of her hand and she aroused him with her touch.

With a groan, he lifted her, her thighs moving around his hips with an instinctive knowledge as she fitted herself to him, allowing him the greatest access. He entered the tight folds, the physical joining with her robbing him of his breath as they became one, moving as one, the soft warmth of her surrounding him, holding him sheathed deep within her.

He remained slightly above her, his arms positioned by her shoulders holding him from touching her flesh, and gazed into her face, wanting to see her pleasure, the deep blue of her eyes, heavy-lidded with passion, her lips parted breathlessly, the delicate flush on her cheeks and light beading of perspiration on her forehead as he felt her muscles pulling him deeper inside of her, feeling her swelling around him and increasing his pleasure.

Leigh stared up into his face. His hair was golden, and his face was like a mask of bronze, with finely chiseled lips and high cheekbones, his pale eyes a bright silvery green. She felt as if he were a god, bringing such pain and ecstasy to her, and she raised to touch his lips with hers, unprepared for the passion of his kiss as he lowered himself until their burning flesh touched, igniting like wildfire until it melded together from the feverish heat of their coupling. He began slowly, thrusting into her, shivering as he felt her clinging to him, her hips moving rhythmically with his. Leigh felt the world beginning to spin around her as she felt him thrusting deeper and deeper inside her, gradually increasing the rhythm, the pulsating movement building until it became unbearable and she could not endure it any longer. She climaxed several times before he ever came, as he held himself poised, watching the enraptured expression flashing across her face, prolonging the intense pleasure of denial until he couldn’t bear the tightly coiled, throbbing sensations and thrust into her with a final, powerful surge as he poured his seed deep, where he hoped it would flower within her womb and they would know the joy of having created a child.