Bittersweet Endeavors (20 page)

She closed in and
leaned over him. 
S
he covered her mouth
and
prevent
ed
the pent-up sigh release. 
Blond
pieces
of
his
hair
sparkled,
highligh
ted by the sun’s rays of light.  The temptation
of
slip
ping
her finger
around
the tendrils and
brush
ing
it off his forehead
was great
.

He opened one eye and grinned.   “
Not too close,
Myra
,
else I might believe you want t
o kiss me.
”
 

Myra
pulled
hersel
f back
too
fast and
lost
her
balance
.  She
toppled over onto the blanket
.
  His laughter ra
ng out and she burned with embarrassment.
 

“
Myra
,” he said in a breathy whisper as he
rolled over and poised himself on h
is elbows
.
“Do you think I
’d mi
nd
if
that was
true?”
 

His hand took hers.  His thumb caressed the top of her hand
from
the
flesh
of her palm
and down
her wrist.  Shivers coursed through her
.  Her
breath became so erratic
it felt like she might
pant
. 
Myra
pulled her hand back
and nervously fidgeted with her fingers
.

“Come.
”
  H
e offered his hand
as
he
rose
.
“Let
’s
walk.”

“What of Margaret and
Mister Frederickson
?
”
Myra nodded
toward
their direction.  “
Should we wait until they return?”

Seth looked off at
the
path
his sister and Zachary
had taken
their leave and shook his head.  “The hills in that direction are too steep for
climbing
, so they cannot g
o
far.
”  They began
walking
and
he
added, “
Thus
far, I believe there’s
naught
to fret lest he strangle Margaret
in hopes of silencing her relentless drivel
.
”

Seth took her hand and tucked it underneath his arm
and held
her closer than appropriate.
  They followed a
deer
path
th
rough the woods
until
they
approach
ed
a thicket of branches and could
n’t
travel
any fu
rther without difficulty. 

“Would you like to rest?”
He
offered the large bould
er that served well as a
seat
.

“You
’re
in no hurry?”

“
Nay
, I
’m hoping
you’
ll
sit with me awhile.
  There are some things I’d like to discuss with you.
”  He looked up
at
the clear, blue sky
between the tree limbs
and smiled.  “Even as lovely as the day is,
there’s no comparison to the skies
we
have
seen
back
home
in England
,
is there
?”

She wondered if he was
baiting
her.
A knot
tangled within
her stomach and she felt sickened.  She wouldn’t talk about
England
or of her past
.  She didn’t want to lie
, yet
she couldn’t tell him the truth
, so avoiding
either, she replied with a noncommittal, “Hmm.”

“Hmm,” he repeated
and smiled
. 

Myra
turned the o
pposite
direction
and
eluded
his
stare
, but s
he could feel his heated gaze
on her.  She swallowed hard.

“
Shall
you ever tell me the truth,
Myra
?”

“Whatever do you mean?”

“
Women
believe
that all men
fall for that
innocent
tone.”
  His smile grew wider. 

She didn’t answer
.  Seeking a distraction, she
found a budding dandelion
on the ground
and
plucked it from the earth
.  She
twirled and
prod
ded
it with her fingers.
 

“
Myra
,” he interrupted. “
Is there any truth about you being
The
King
’s cousin
? 
I beseech you
,
tell me
true
this time
.
”

How could she tell him? 
In
her heart she knew she could trust him.  However, something inside her said
leaving
her life of aristocracy behind
was best
.  Go on
living a life
as
a
servant.  Each day,
her
hopes of returning to Brunnington became more out of her reach.  Escaping her servitude wouldn’t happen for years, and once released from her bond, she’d still
need
passage back to England.  E
very
day brought more proof that her desire for revenge and reuniting with Mary may be a fool’s errand.  Even if she returned and made her uncle pay for what he did, as well as secure Mary’s safety, surely she wouldn’t get Brunnington back.  Even with her Cousin James’ support and power, it
was
against the court’s practice
to allow
her
possession
of
the Brunnington estate.  

“I have a cousin name
d
Charles,” she conceded.  “But he’s not a kin
g.”  She convinced herself it wa
sn’t a lie, for indeed, she did have another cousin named Charles on her mother’s line.

“
T’was untrue
when you
told me
before
that
The K
ing is
your cousin?  And the
tales
my sisters have
overheard
you and Lucia
speak of
?”  

Myra
turned to
ward
him.  The light
hit the
light
-
blue
hue
of his eyes so perfectly that
it
appeared
stars formed
with
in their depths. 
It
distracted
her and she
forgot what
she wanted to say.
 
She turned away, but with the tip of h
is finger under her chin, he steered
her face back
and she met his
challenging stare.

“Com
ing to the
colonies
was
hard,
” she
continued
, once she remembered what she wanted to say.
  “Thinking of another life
far removed from what
is offered here
m
akes
it
often
times easier.  Certainly
you can understand that.”

He took her hand and
p
laced
it into his palm
.  She felt his
warmth travel from her
fingertips and
radiate throughout her body.  When Seth stood,
he brought her
up with him
and pulled
her
against the hard expanse of his body.  Like a blanket of rain, she melded
against
hi
s manly curves. 

“I’m glad you aren’t that woman
as
rumor h
as
it
,
Myra
,
”
h
e whispered in her ear.
  “
If
true
,
surely
I’d
have never
made your acquaintance.”

Speech wasn’t easily found
.  F
or that matter, she couldn’t find her voice even if
a
thought
emerged
.  The
aroma of sweet tobacco and manly secretion
s
mix
ed
in the air and
intoxicated
her senses
.  The combination made
clear thinking
difficult
.  He wrapped his arms around her in a firm embrace.  His lips claimed hers in a slow, gentle rhythm.  At first, a mere feathery touch, a bare caress of his lips against her
s
.  He then
edged her mouth open with the pressure of his thumb.  His tongue swirled
and it enticed
her
in
to
joining
him.  Not until that moment
had she ever felt
anything so powerful or explosive.  Her knees weakened, and her head fell back with exhausted pleasure.  With her neck exposed, his lips traveled the soft tuft
s
of her neck, and he suckled with tender brushes of his tongue.  His breath labored.  A trail of kisses
covered
from the top of her exposed cleavage until his lips moved behind her ear.  Moans of pleasure and surprise escaped her until he hushed her moans
and captured
her final
murmur with his mouth.

Tis
wrong
!
  She shouldn’t
offer herself so
freely, so openly
, but she couldn’t resist him.  With all her heart, she love
d
him.  She’
d
known it for a while, and although
they
can’t be
together,
she
would
remember
their time there
, beneath the trees, their first and possibly only kiss
.  It would be enough, she convinced herself. 

It
ha
d
to be enough.

Myra
raised her arms and held onto him.  Her fingers glided through his blond waves and she found excitement
and power with
his groan
s of pleasure as she kissed him
. 
She
slid
her hands down
on
to his chest and felt his
powerful
m
uscles beneath
his
white cotton
shirt.  As his hands explored her
mounds
, she
grew
bold
er
and explored him
as well.
 
Her
sense
s
hadn’t ever been
so heightened
, and never ha
d
she felt
equally
in
peril as she did in safety.
 

“We cannot do this,” Seth said
, and he gently pushed
her
at
arm
’
s length
away
.  He held onto her shoulders and she felt him tense
.
He
squeezed
her
tightly.