Ashes in the Wind (59 page)

“Doctor Darvey is here, sir. We didn’t know when you were to return, and finally the madam started dinner without you, sir.”

Cole was further irritated by the fact that Braegar had seated himself neatly at Alaina’s right, while he had to cross to the far end of the table and take his own place.

“Tell Annie to get those damn potatoes off the table!” Cole snarled, venting his wrath on the first inanimate thing that pricked his ire.

“The likes o’ you insulting good Irish food!” Annie squealed indignantly. She had heard the command in the kitchen and came bristling through the swinging door with her face redder than a scarlet
banner and her dander up and flying high. “Seein’s as ye be naught but a poor German immigrant yerself, sir, I guess I must be making allowances.”

“Austrian!” Cole corrected darkly.

Annie stood her ground before his glare and slid the potatoes closer in a challenging manner. “If ye knew what was good for ye, sir, ye’d put some meat beneath yer hide with a plateful of ’em.”

Cole stared incredulously, certain the woman had taken leave of her senses. Alaina knew him well enough to realize this quarrel boded ill. Slipping hurriedly from her chair, she reached the bowl of potatoes and moved it out of harm’s way herself. Placing the dish in the cook’s hands, she gently guided the woman back into the kitchen.

“It’s best to humor him tonight, Annie. No doubt his leg is bothering him again.” She didn’t know if it was or not, but at least the cook’s anger dwindled to nothing more than an occasional sniffle of indignation.

The task of calming the woman performed, Alaina returned to the dining room, only to find Mrs. Garth setting out large snifters and a decanter of brandy. Alaina had already noted the woman’s penchant for liberal draughts and quickly moved to halt her. Master Cole Latimer appeared to have imbibed far too much as it was, without adding more kindling to the fire. “I’ll do that, Mrs. Garth. See if you can help Annie in the kitchen.”

The housekeeper nodded stoically and complied, leaving her mistress to measure out the portions. In comparison to the woman’s generosity, Alaina was definitely stingy. Solicitously she placed
a snifter beside her husband’s service, feeling his harsh stare.

“Annie is warming your soup,” she murmured. “Can I get you some coffee?”

He replied in the affirmative only to keep her there at his end of the table a bit longer. She smelled sweet and fresh, with a hint of an essence that never failed to stir his blood. Her hair was gathered off her neck in an informal cascade of loose curls, and even the high-necked gown of wine muslin seemed fetching by candlelight.

“Where is Mindy?” he asked softly.

“You were so late, I let her eat and go to bed.”

Much to his chagrin, she resumed her seat, and the soft feelings dwindled as he watched her beside Braegar. As the meal continued, Alaina noticed the deepening darkness of his mood and watched him apprehensively, praying the storm would pass without being unleashed. Braegar also considered his host in a museful bend of mind, wondering if he should broach the subject that had caused the heated quarrel the other night and find out at last what was eating at Cole, but in the mood he was in, Braegar did not press the matter.

“Weren’t you two ever told it’s not polite to stare at a cripple?” Cole quipped sharply, and reached for his snifter of brandy to sip it with glum disinterest.

He finished the dinner in piqued silence, sampling the coffee perhaps more than the liquor. As soon as they left the table, Braegar made his excuses, and Alaina paused just long enough in the hall to bestow a withering glare on her husband before she
stiffly mounted the stairs to her bedroom. Cole followed to his own and slammed the door behind him, growling something about having a houseful of cantankerous women to contend with. Almost immediately the portal between his room and the bathing chamber was opened. He turned, peevishly sailing his frock coat into a chair, and faced his young wife who stood in the doorway glowering at him while she angrily jerked open the buttons on her long sleeves.

“You, sir, have proven yourself an absolute boor. There were times when I had my doubts about you, but tonight you have proven it. You are undoubtedly the orneriest man I’ve ever had the displeasure to meet!” She spun on her heel and flounced back into her bedroom, but Cole was not in the mood to let this affront go unchallenged. He limped after her, the look on his face thunderously black.

“You call me a boor when, as soon as I leave, you beckon that sniveling lout here to my house and entertain him!” He wrenched off his cravat and began working at the buttons of his vest while he raged on. “You set him down at my table and served him my food! Madam, I must say you are a poor judge of character! That coxcomb seizes upon any excuse to sniff around this place while I’m gone! And you invite him, knowing how I feel about him!” He snorted in derision and left her staring agape at the empty portal as he stormed back into his room.

“Poor judge of character!” she railed, wrestling the gown over her head. She flung it over the armoire door and retraced what was quickly becoming a well-worn path through the bathing chamber, while she plucked at the ties of her petticoats.

“Invite him! What do you mean, invite him?” she demanded.

Cole paced restlessly about his room, snatching open his collar and unfastening his shirtfront. “He obviously knew I was gone.”

“He dropped by to see
you
, sir!” she explained irately. “And stayed until you came home! When it became apparent that you were not in the mood to discuss anything with him, he left. Do you find that questionable, sir, or imagine it as some illicit affair? Will you say you’ve been cuckolded again?”

She wiggled out of her petticoats and, tossing them over her arm, stalked back to the armoire where she dragged forth her overly mended gown and wrapper. Cole returned to her door, pulling the tail of his shirt from his trousers. Letting the shirt fall open, he braced a hand high on the doorsill while she, in tight-lipped silence, pointedly ignored him.

Cole knew he was being unreasonable, but he plunged recklessly through this madcap folly with the gift of a fool. “You have many admirers, madam, but in this case, have not the sense to know what that bastard is after.”

Alaina threw her night garments on the bed, incensed by his insult. She faced him with arms akimbo, well fired to lead a crusade against ridiculous nonsense despite the fact that she wore nothing more than camisole, pantaloons, and corset. Indeed, the garments might have served her as more gallant armor in a different joust had she given even the merest thought to her state of dress.

“I was well chaperoned, sir! A full half dozen of your servants can vouch for my conduct. Ask
Annie, Miles, Peter, or Mrs. Garth! You may question them all if you doubt that I was anything less than proper.”

“Proper! Ha! Sitting at the table, letting him drool over you! As for the servants, I’m beginning to think the lot of them would lie themselves blue in the face to protect you!” He jerked off the shirt and rumpled it into a ball as he returned to his own chamber.

Alaina was only a step behind as he entered. “Lie to protect me! You boneheaded mule! They are your trusted servants! Why, they’ve been giving me excuses all afternoon and so sheepishly that, were I the suspicious sort, I could believe you had run off to seek your pleasure with some loose-minded hussy!”

Cole flung the shirt across the room, thrust his right foot into the bootjack and began to carefully work the boot off. “And what if I did?” he ground out. “Have I been awarded such favors in this place that my honest urge would be dampened?”

She glared as he seated himself on the foot of his bed to tug off the other boot. “Well, Doctor Latimer, you sent your man quickly enough when the terms were drawn! So now you can stew in your own kettle!”

She retreated into her bedroom and kicked her slippers into the corner, nearly sizzling with indignation. That he should dare accuse her of withholding her favors when it was he—

“Did you fear that it would be ‘Al’ who would greet you at the dock, Major?” she called through the open bathing chamber. She perched on the stool in front of the dressing table and rolled down the knee-length stockings, dropping them carelessly to
the floor. “You bawl so loudly about your restrictions now, you undoubtedly expected me to be less than worthy of your attentions.”

“Oh, I knew you to be worthy all right.” His voice came angrily through the open doors of the bathing chamber. “It was your game that set the trap for me. If not for you, I would never have married Roberta.”

Alaina shot to her feet and strode barefoot through the middle room, seeking some outlet for the indignation she felt. “And you never once doubted that it might have been somebody else!”

Cole threw up his hands in exasperation. “How the hell should I have known? I thought there were only two women in that house.” Standing tall, lean, and muscular in the narrow fitting underwear that boldly displayed the bulge of his manhood, he casually arched a brow at her and mocked, “Should I have given the credit to your aunt, my dear?”

“Ooooohh, you’re a cad!” she cried and padded irately over the familiar trail to her haven.

“Perhaps I should have blamed that dirty-faced Al,” he followed her to scoff. He destroyed the idea with a quick slashing of his hand. “Absurd! I would have thought, not knowing of course that he was a she lurking beneath a rascal’s garb. Nor would I have expected a proper young lady to disguise herself as a woman of the streets and apply herself to the part with such vigorous enthusiasm.”

Alaina gasped in outrage and dashed after him as he strode arrogantly back to his room. If he thought to leave on that last word, she had something more to say in her behalf. Undaunted by his broad shoulders and bare back, she caught his
elbow and tugged him around until she could glare up into his face.

“For your information, sir, I did not apply myself like that at all!”

“You came to my room willingly enough.”

“You were drunk, and I was afraid you’d wake the house and get shot for an intruder.”

“So! Should I be grateful for what you did?” His tone was caustic. He left her standing with hands clenched in rage, throwing back over his shoulder, “Do you mind if I was not too overjoyed with being left in Roberta’s care?”

Alaina scuffed a small, bare foot against the floor as she meandered back to her room. “You were so eager to give her all the honors. How could I have stopped the marriage? Had I spoken up, I might have rotted away in one of your filthy Yankees prisons.”

“So you saved yourself,” he jeered through the doors.

Pricked by his scorn, she flicked the hem of several skirts hanging in her armoire. “And you, sir, think to compromise me with fine dresses and costly gems!” She moved toward the door, wanting to see his face when she hurled the full accusation in it.

Cole jammed his trousers in the wardrobe and slammed its door. That little, virgin-minded temptress! He would see that she understood the full weight of what she had started.

They met at the foot of the tub, angry face to angry face.

“Perhaps you have women you can buy so cheaply, Major, but I’m not for sale!”

He laughed in derision. “If it’s a matter of cost, madam, what do you think that medallion you wear
around your neck is worth?”

His taunt was too much! She would give the blasted thing back to him! She jerked the necklace off, unintentionally striking him across the face with the light chain as she whipped it over her head. Her arms were raised, and it seemed to Cole that she meant to vent her rage in a more physical manner. He caught her slim, corseted waist and snatched her to him to prevent her from striking again.

Alaina’s breath left her in a sudden gasp. She was immediately aware of his naked chest and the manly feel of his lean, muscular body pressed to hers, while he was made totally conscious of her meagerly clad form. They stared at each other for a second of suspended time, which could as well have been a century or two. Then slowly, almost haltingly, Cole lowered his mouth to hers.

The shock was abrupt, and the first gentle touch of his lips turned to a heated, crushing demand. Rage had become raw hunger; agreements and contracts were cindered beneath the white heat of their mutual desires. It all came upon them in a rush, the awakened fires, the hungering lusts, the bittersweet ache of passion so long restrained. Cole knew the lithe form in his arms from a half dreamed night long ago, and the warmth and softness of her set his mind and body aflame.

Alaina clung to him, aware of his desires, knowing what he wanted her to yield. She waited again for the screaming denial to come from some dark, unfeeling recesses of her brain, this time determined to squelch its intrusion. But strangely she found only empty silence as if her conscience watched in amused approval.

Cole straightened slightly, and his blue eyes burned into hers with an unspoken question: Would she deny him again, as she had in the past? Would he be turned away once more with this craving hunger still gnawing at the pit of his belly?

The pendant slipped unheeded to the floor as Alaina raised on slim toes, reaching parted lips to meet his and sliding silken arms tightly about his neck. She came to him with an eagerness that astounded him, having no thought of holding back or refusing him. This was Cole—man. And she was Alaina—woman. No hint of Al remained between them, and each found the other as a long-tended seed came to fruition. Their lips blended with an impatient urgency, and, locked in each other’s embrace, they were caught up in the fierce tide of passion.

Muttered, unintelligible words tumbled from Cole’s lips as he pressed fevered kisses along the ivory column of her throat and the beginning swell of her breasts, arching her backward over his arm, while his other hand stroked the roundness of her buttock and a shapely thigh. There was a haste in him to know and touch every part of her, to claim her as his own, to let his lips wander at will over her soft flesh. His lean fingers worked between her breasts until the chemise fell open above the corset, exposing the tantalizing fullness of her naked bosom to his sight and hand. Glowing waves of pleasure spread like quickfire through Alaina’s body as he caressed the silken curves. He bent and swept her up into his arms, and his eyes met hers with an intensity that took her breath away. Then, as she stared, his gaze lowered, and she was devoured as he
boldly drank his fill of the vision of her creamy flesh. His head came down, and a breathless moan slipped from her as his mouth caressed a pink, pliant crest.
His tongue branded her with its fiery torch, and her lithe form shook with the fervor that built within her. Her lips brushed his cheek, and she traced the tip of her tongue around his ear. His face turned, and his mouth was suddenly there, tasting hers with a hunger they both shared.