A Taste of Paradise (24 page)

Nevertheless, Sophia was his wife and deserved a place in his life. But where did she belong besides in his bed? He didn't know, was too tired to think that far ahead. He finished his bath and climbed the stairs to his bed. Sophia was waiting for him. She looked ethereally beautiful in the candlelight. Unfortunately, he was too tired to do more than fall into bed and close his eyes.

“Chris . . .”

He sighed. “Go to sleep, Sophia. Don't expect more from me than I'm capable of giving. Planters like Lord Chester have slaves to do their work. And if he needs more workers, he simply buys them on the slave market. I pay my workers wages and toil beside them because there aren't enough free men of color looking for work. That means my days are going to be long and hard. I'm sorry if you can't live with that.”

“I'm sorry, too,” Sophia whispered as she turned away from him.

Chris tried to sleep, but as the arousing scent of Sophia's body reached him, his exhaustion drained away. He should have slept in another bed. He reached for her. She stiffened.

“I thought you were tired,” Sophia said.

“I am, but I can't seem to relax.”

“Perhaps you're not accustomed to having another body in your bed. Shall I leave?”

His arm curled around her waist. “No.” He brought her beneath him. He was already aroused. What had seemed physically impossible when he returned from the fields suddenly became not only possible but necessary to his well-being.

With renewed energy, he slowly began to arouse Sophia, using long, slow kisses and heated caresses. He suckled her breasts, teased her nipples with his tongue until she moaned and writhed beneath him. He reached between her legs, found her wet and swollen. He fondled her slick folds and shoved two fingers inside her.

“Chris!”

“You're ready for me,” he said hoarsely.

Unable to wait a moment longer, he rose up and thrust deep inside her.

Her moans set off a firestorm inside him as he jerked his hips back and forth, his sex plunging deep, withdrawing, again and again, faster, deeper. Perspiration gathered between them, their slick bodies gliding together in perfect harmony.

Chris couldn't recall when he had felt such power, as if he could go on forever, as if his body had no limitations, no boundaries. But when he heard Sophia scream his name and felt tremors rip through her body, his own body clamored for release. He thrust once, twice, and went rigid, emptying himself inside her.

He pulled out and sank down beside her, asleep before his head hit the pillow.

Sophia remained awake, her mind racing. Chris had made love to her despite his exhaustion. Though she didn't want to read too much into his change of heart, hope for their future soared.

The following days passed in a whirl of activity. The sugarcane had been taken to the mill to be cut and then returned to the distillery to be processed into molasses, rum and raw sugar. The machinery continued working night and day without stop. Since cane could be cut any time of the year, the procedure never ended. Chris slept away from the house more than in his own bed. There was no opportunity for lovemaking, and Sophia missed him.

To pass the time, she decided to take Kateena and Casper to Kingston for a day of shopping. Since Mundo was busy in the fields with Chris, Sophia asked Chuba to drive them to town in the carriage. Unfortunately, both Chuba and Casper had been recruited for work in the distillery. Sophia didn't let that stop her, however. She was perfectly capable of driving the carriage herself.

The weather didn't look promising. The sky had a threatening cast; purple and gray clouds hung heavy on the horizon, and the air held a strange air of expectancy. But Sophia wasn't about to let a summer storm stop her. The storm probably wouldn't arrive for hours, and she needed new ribbon for her bonnet and a few personal items.

Sophia found Kateena in the laundry room. When she told Kateena they were going to Kingston, the maid looked at her as if she had lost her mind.

“Have you noticed the sky, mistress?” Kateena chided. “I've seen the likes before, and it doesn't bode well. I think we should remain close to home.”

“Why ever for? This is the tropics. Storms come and go all the time. If a storm does come while we're in town, we will simply seek shelter until it passes.”

“You could be wrong, mistress. Hurricanes often come this time of year. One never knows when an approaching storm might carry fierce winds that destroy everything in their path. I've lived through several myself, some worse than others.”

“How can you tell if it's a simple storm or a hurricane?”

“At this time of year we don't know until it arrives, that's what worries me.”

Sophia pulled on her gloves. “A little weather isn't going to stop me. Are you coming or not?”

Kateena looked torn, but in the end she put on her bonnet and joined Sophia in the carriage. The ride over bumpy roads to Kingston was uneventful. The marketplace was teeming with shoppers of all colors and descriptions. Sophia waded into the crowd, admiring the array of goods offered in each stall as she strolled along. Somewhere between the cloth merchant's stall and the fruit hawker, Sophia and Kateena became separated.

Sophia made her purchases and was wandering aimlessly when someone snagged her arm and pulled her into a dark space between two stalls.

“Ray,” she exclaimed. “I thought you'd returned to England. Your wife must be sick with worry.”

“My wife left me,” Rayford sneered. “She went back to her parents before I left England. She said she was tired of living like a pauper.” He snorted. “If Claire's father had given me the blunt I needed, I wouldn't be in financial straits.”

“Good for Claire,” Sophia applauded. “She finally found some courage. You can't blame her father for denying you when you've gambled away Claire's dowry and all the money he lent you over the years.” She shrugged free of his grip. “What do you want?”

“Money, you stupid cow. Any other woman would have found a rich husband after her come out instead of causing a scandal and living off the largess of her brother. You've brought nothing but trouble to the family. You owe me.”

“I owe you nothing but contempt,” Sophia spat. “You tried to sell me. Good-bye, Ray. I need to find my maid and start for home.” She glanced up at the sky. “The storm is closing in faster than I expected.”

“You'll pay one way or another, Sophia,” Rayford warned as she backed away from him, straight into the arms of Sir Oscar Rigby.

“Well, well, what have we here? I've waited a long time to find you alone.”

Panic swept through Sophia. The marketplace was quickly emptying as the wind picked up and the skies darkened. No one paid her the slightest heed as Rigby and Rayford cornered her between them. Where was Kateena?

“Take her to the carriage,” Rayford said. “I suspect her husband will pay dearly for her return.”

“I wouldn't try it if I were you,” Sophia warned. “Chris will make you sorry if you so much as touch me.”
She hoped he would
.

“You're right,” Rayford grumbled, “but that doesn't mean I'm letting you off the hook. I need blunt. If you don't get it for me, I'll make sure Radcliff meets with an accident. Machetes are dangerous weapons in the hands of inexperienced men.”

Sophia didn't bother to reply. She spun on her heel and ran. Rayford reached her first, stopping her in her tracks. The wind had picked up; it began to rain. The few people remaining in the marketplace were fleeing for cover. Where was Kateena?

“Mistress, there you are! We must leave immediately and find cover. I fear—”

Kateena came to an abrupt halt. “Are you in trouble, mistress?”

“My sister is not in trouble,” Rayford said smoothly. “Wait for her at the King's Arms. I'll bring her to you in a little while. There's a matter of some importance I need to discuss with her.”

“Don't leave, Kateena,” Sophia cried. “I have nothing to say to my stepbrother.”

“If you value your husband's life, you'll send your maid on her way,” Rayford hissed in her ear.

Sophia weighed Rayford's threat against the consequences of complying with his wishes. After careful thought, she didn't believe Rayford had the power to hurt Chris.

“Find help, Kateena! Go! My stepbrother and Sir Oscar mean me harm.”

Kateena turned and fled, the howling wind whipping her skirts about her legs.

“Damn you!” Rayford hissed. “I warned you, but you refused to listen. Bring five hundred pounds to me at the King's Arms in one week or else your husband will suffer the consequences.”

The wind pulled at Sophia's skirts, tugged at her bonnet, drowned out the sound of Rayford's voice. Above the conflict of wind and rain came the sound of pounding footsteps and voices raised in alarm.

“Dammit, the maid brought help,” Rigby spat. “Let's get out of here. We'll deal with your sister another time.” Bracing themselves against the wind, they took off.

“Are you all right, mistress?” Kateena asked when she reached Sophia. “They didn't hurt you, did they?”

“I'm fine, Kateena. Thank you for bringing help.” She smiled at her rescuers and thanked them profusely. She even produced a few coins to give them.

“You were right about that storm, Kateena,” Sophia said. “It's worse than I expected. We should return home immediately.”

“It's too late,” Kateena cried above the wailing wind. “We'd be blown off the road. We need to seek shelter immediately.”

“No,” Sophia protested. “If I don't return, Chris will worry. The storm's not too bad yet—I can make it.”

Her bonnet was blown off her head; the pins were torn from her hair, whipping it around her face.

“The carriage is too light, it will be blown off the road,” Kateena persisted.

“I'll leave the carriage behind and ride the horse home.”

Kateena bit her bottom lip, torn between duty to her mistress and fear of the storm. “I've lived here longer than you, mistress; listen to me, please.”

“If I start out now, I can arrive home before the worst of it.” Bent against the pull of the wind, Sophia stumbled toward the King's Arms, where she had left the horse and carriage in charge of the stable boy. Kateena ran to catch up with her.

“Mistress, please—”

“Kateena, if you're worried, I suggest you see to your parents. Take them to a safe place to wait out the storm.”

“I couldn't—”

“I insist. Go, Kateena. I can make better time without you. I've ridden horses all my life—can you say the same?”

Kateena shook her head.

“There you have it. Don't return to Sunset Hill until the storm passes.”

Kateena looked as if she wanted to protest, but in the end Sophia's logic won out. Kateena turned and headed toward her parents' humble shack behind the fishmonger's shop.

Sophia reached the King's Arms just as a flash of lightning streaked across the sky. But she let neither the lightning nor the ominous green and purple sky stop her.

It took a great deal of persuasion to get the stable boy to lend her a saddle and place it on the carriage horse. His warnings about a hurricane echoed Kateena's, but Sophia refused to listen.

As Sophia rode away from the inn, she noted that the streets were deserted now and shopkeepers were boarding up their shops. Still not terribly worried, Sophia urged her reluctant horse through the stinging rain. Hampered by the muddy road and buffeted by the wind, she found the going slow. But the need to be with Chris during this time of danger kept her focused on her goal to reach Sunset Hill.

Halfway between Kingston and Sunset Hill, a swaying palm tree fell in her path. The horse shied, skittered, but through sheer will Sophia guided the frightened animal around the obstacle.

When the wind drove slashing rain into a sideways pattern and lightning flashed across the purple sky, Sophia experienced real panic. She could no longer see the road, which had begun to flood, couldn't even tell if she was going in the right direction. Her mount began to pull against the reins, shaking his head and trying to break away and flee into the jungle.

When the trees around her were uprooted, Sophia realized she had made a terrible mistake, one that could cost her her life. Another flash of lightning and crack of thunder caused her horse to rear. She lost the reins and hung on for dear life as the frightened animal bolted toward the mountains. Tree branches whipped across her face and tore at her skirt as her mount fled farther and faster, completely out of control.

A tree fell in the horse's path. The animal skidded to a halt, bucking wildly. Sophia went flying, landing in the mud. Her head hit a rock, and she knew no more. The horse, free of its rider, leaped over the fallen tree and galloped off.

Chris knew a hurricane was coming. He smelled it in the air, saw it in the darkening sky. He'd seen too many of them in his years at sea not to recognize the signs. Thankful that most of the cane had been harvested and turned into molasses and rum, Chris set his men to work piling the kegs of rum and molasses inside the brick distillery.

They worked against time as the wind howled and the trees bent double from the terrifying force of it. They worked steadily throughout the day, until the last keg was safely stowed inside the building. Then the workers scattered to see to their families. Chris, Chuba and Casper made their way to the house through slashing rain and winds so strong that Chris and Chuba had to hang on to Casper to keep him from flying away.

During the madness of saving the fruits of their labor, Chris still found time to worry about Sophia. He knew she had never experienced anything like a hurricane and hoped Kateena had been able to quiet any fears his wife might have.

When they reached the house, most of the windows had already been boarded up by the house servants. Chandra met him at the door, wringing her hands, her dark face scrunched up into a worried frown.