Ask a Shadow to Dance (22 page)

He had no answer for her. She knew she would be on her own if he weren’t here to protect her. He hoped she wouldn’t see the worry surrounding him like a shroud.

After several moments, she took a long, deep breath, as though she’d come to a decision. “David, I’ve been thinking of a way to rid us of Andrew for good. It involves the
Cajun Star
.”

She went across the room toward the most beautiful teakwood chest he’d ever seen. The inlaid Mother of Pearl ornamentation was exquisite. There was no doubt Jacob Morgan’s business had made him a millionaire. Every item in this room was proof of it. She caressed it as though it were an adored member of the family.

“The article you showed me stated that the three of us disappeared on the
Star
, isn’t that correct?”

“Yes.” What could she be thinking?

“Well, then that’s exactly what we’re going to do.”

“Lisette, you can’t be serious. Our goal is
not
to board that riverboat, remember?”

“But what if Andrew thought we were boarding and later believed we’d disappeared along with everyone else? He wouldn’t follow or bother us ever again, simply because he would assume we were dead—drowned, or blown up or whatever is going to happen to the
Cajun Star
.”

“Are you saying we’ll board the
Star
—”

“Not necessarily. Only if we have to in order to maintain the charade. We only have to make Andrew believe we were on board for us to be rid of him for good.”

“Then what?”

She circled his waist with her arms and
lay her head against his chest. She felt so good nestled against him he almost dismissed conversation in favor of carrying her upstairs to bed for hours of lovemaking.

“We could start new lives somewhere else.
You, Aunt Portia, my father and I.”

This was exactly what David wanted to do, but never expected her to agree. “I didn’t think you’d want to leave this house and your life here.”

She held him tighter and he guessed it caused her more pain than she admitted.

“If I could be certain Aunt Portia and my father would be safe from Andrew forever, we would gladly go with you into your world, even though it would break my heart to leave our home. Losing you would be worse.” He saw love in her eyes and had no doubt they were destined to spend the rest of their lives together.

“If I can’t bring you with me into my world, I will gladly stay here, in yours. I won’t live without you, ever again.”

Her kiss told more than any words. Somehow they would find a way to be together.

* * * * *

Later they went back upstairs to check on Portia. She opened her eyes, smiled, and asked them to come in. She said she felt much better, that the pain wasn’t as bad. She was drowsy but glad to see them.

Lisette told her they had a plan for escaping Andrew.

Portia listened while David read the article, which he had in his wallet, then waited while Lisette explained again what she proposed they do. Portia was silent for several moments before responding. David could see both medications he’d given her were taking effect. Now that the pain was subsiding, she would drift into a deep sleep.

“A week ago, I would have pronounced you daft. But after what I’ve seen and what Lisette has told me, there’s very little which would surprise me anymore.” She glanced around the bedroom, her eyes settling on various items. The room was filled with ornate furniture of a dozen different styles and cluttered with hundreds of small items, each unique and, he guessed, special in some way to the members of this family.

“I would not leave this house for any reason—save keeping Lisette and Jacob safe from this heathen. If this is what you truly want, child, I shall do everything in my power to help make it so.” Her eyelids drooped and she licked her lips as though they were dry.

“It’s the injection I gave her,” David told Lisette, who seemed alarmed. “Let her sleep. She’ll be up and around in the morning. We can discuss it then.”

Lisette brought Portia some tea, helped her to sip it, kissed her forehead, tucked the quilts around her chin,
then followed David into the hall. They left the door ajar so they’d be able to hear if she called.

“Where is your father?”

Lisette seemed startled, then a bit guilty. “I forgot all about him. Sedonia watches him when Aunt Portia is away. His room is there.” She pointed to the room straight across from Portia’s bedroom.

He opened the door carefully. Jacob Morgan snored loudly, oblivious to everything going on in the household. David went quietly to his bedside, determined his sleep was natural and breathing regular,
then went back to the hall, closing the door behind him. “He’s fine. Would Sedonia be downstairs somewhere?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t learned her schedule yet. Let’s look in the kitchen.”

There was no one else in the house. Lisette shivered when they had to conclude Andrew had come here, attacked Portia, then left—all while Jacob slept in his room.

A tow-headed boy appeared at the back door.

“Seth, where is your mother?”

He came into the kitchen. It was easy to see he’d been crying. “Ma’s hurt. A man came to the house, told her to leave. When she said no, that she had to stay with Mr. Morgan, he hit her in the face, cut her cheek. Her lip’s as big as a goose egg. Why did he hit her? He said he’s gonna be master of this house ‘fore long.”

Lisette gathered the frightened boy into a tight embrace. “He is never going to be master of this house, Seth. Take us to your ma. This is Doctor Stewart. He can help her feel better.” They went to a small house behind the main house, which Lisette called the servants’ quarters. Sedonia lay in bed, moaning, holding a bloody rag against her cheek.

“Lisette, get a clean cloth and some water to wash away the blood.” She went to the kitchen. “Now,
Sedonia, let me see your face.” Luckily, it wasn’t serious. A swollen lip and a cut across her left cheekbone. David cleaned the wounds, applied some salve and gave her an injection for swelling, identical to the one he’d given to Portia earlier—and to Lisette two days before. His anger for this miserable waste of skin had changed to cold resolve that he would never lay his hand on Lisette, or any woman ever again.

Sedonia cried, “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” over and over. Lisette reassured her it wasn’t her fault and that David was here to protect them. Glancing at Seth, David wondered if the boy would be the next target. Or would it be Jacob?

Back in the main house, there seemed to be nothing more to do. They were both exhausted.

“Lisette, you should get some sleep. In the morning, after we find some appropriate clothes for me, I’m going to the police station and file charges against Andrew for assault and battery. I’ll get an injunction against him—a peace bond—that will land him in jail if he comes within a mile of this house or any person in it. If he shows up, I’ll see him in jail before the day is out. He won’t harm anyone again. I made that promise to you before. I’m sorry I wasn’t
able to keep it.” The words almost choked David. “This time I will.”

Lisette’s smile brought tears to his eyes. Such strength in a woman who’d been battered was unusual. What she said next stunned and saddened him.

“I’ve been treated like a poor house slave for the past eight years, David. These days with you have been the happiest of my life. I shall never forget the joy you have brought me. Tonight I want you to hold me and love me. And this time I want to wake up in your arms.”

He couldn’t answer; his throat had tightened so much. He lifted and carried her upstairs and lay beside her on the narrow bed.

Chapter Fourteen

With the sun still hours away from streaming through the lacy curtains in her bedroom, Lisette watched David sleep and thought about the first time they’d loved in this bed. She turned over carefully, not wanting to disturb him. His hair, rumpled, falling over his forehead, and his mouth, open slightly, his lips slack, enhanced the beauty she saw in him. The covers had slipped from his bare shoulders. It was cold in the room so she pulled the sheet and quilts around his neck and felt warmth within herself from the gesture. What was it, she wondered, that elicited this response in her? She loved him and wanted to keep him warm and safe within her arms. It involved mothering, though she would never confess to David that she felt motherly toward him. After making love last night, they’d talked and talked into the wee hours of the morning. He had confided in her about losing his wife and daughter, and their tears flowed freely and together, bonding them as nothing else could. He’d come to the conclusion only weeks ago that no matter how much he cared for another woman, no one could ever take Fran’s place. At that, Lisette almost burst into tears, fearing he was telling her good-bye.

But then he kissed her so tenderly she knew they were joined somehow, through the river of time, and there was a reason for their finding each other that night on the
Cajun Star
. He’d called the riverboat—the one he said was much smaller than the
Star
—the
Memphis Queen III
. He promised she would someday meet the Captain and crew of the
Queen
, just as she had gotten to know the Captain of the
Star
.

He told her about Captain Dale Lozier, the owner of the Memphis Queen Riverboat Line, and about their manager, Jim, who helped him search for her after she disappeared. Lisette laughed at that, for it was David who disappeared! Someday she might be able to meet these people, if it proved possible for them to go back to that marvelous time.

If they couldn’t go there, if David had to stay with her, here in the year 1885, she wondered how would that change him. Regressing this far into the past, where technology would not catch up for decades to what he knew to be fact, would have an enormous effect on him. How could he cope with living without the miraculous machines he’d told her about? Refrigerators, microwaves, television sets, DVDs. She hadn’t been able to absorb everything he’d told her. And air-conditioning. Mercy, how wonderful it would be to stay cool in the summertime, even indoors, and warm in the winter without having to burn coal or wood, tending fireplaces throughout the night.

When the Union army captured Memphis, Morgan Enterprises had been closed and most of their servants had to be dismissed, leaving those chores to the family. Her father had shouted at the Yankees, “If I cannot manufacture arms for the South, then I will manufacture nothing at all!” It was only the dwindling of the Morgan holdings that persuaded him to begin the manufacture of cotton clothing.
Not nearly as lucrative as munitions, but income just the same. Jacob would have died of shame if they’d lost the house.

The Morgan home
. Practically a member of the family. How could she leave it to an unknown fate—or to Andrew? How could she allow anyone to live here, to eat from the China, sit in her favorite chair, sleep in this very bed, if not a member of the Morgan family or a close friend? The thought made her chest tighten and brought hot tears to her eyes. Yet, that was the plan. If only she could save the house, take it into the future with all of them, then her life would be perfect.

David stirred
beside her, uncovering his shoulders again. When she tried to cover him, his eyes fluttered open and he smiled.

She kissed him before he could say a word and he pulled her into his arms. She marveled again at the feel of his bare skin next to hers, her breasts pressed against his chest, her legs twined with his. She felt him against her, rigid with desire. Her cheeks flushed.

“No you don’t,” he said. “No more blushing just because we’re naked in the same bed.”

“But David, I’m not used to such intimacies.”

“You’ll get used to it because it’s going to happen every night for the rest of our lives. Touch me.”

She looked away, but could not keep from smiling.

“Lisette, you touched me last night. In fact, you—”

“Don’t say it aloud, for pity’s sake, David. What if someone were to hear?” She couldn’t admit to him that saying aloud what they’d done made it somehow less precious. By keeping it unspoken, it became a wondrous secret between them, a secret they could share without words.

He laughed at her modesty. In truth though, she would not take back a single one of the deliciously naughty things they’d done last night.

“Touch me.” This time there was a whisper in his voice and fire in his eyes.

She reached for him, her breathing coming faster when his mouth found hers and they made love again, giving real meaning to those words for the first time in her life.

Before long she ceased worrying someone might overhear and gave herself to him, body and soul. David’s mouth on her body left her breathless, craving more, shocked yet delighted by the level of pleasure he brought to her. She had been raised to think such pleasure a sin, but there could be no sin in loving another human being the way she loved David.
The way he loved her.

When his
tongue caressed that part of her which no one else had ever seen or touched or caressed before—not even her husband—she thought she might drown in pleasure. Then he was inside her, filling her completely. They became one person, joined not only body to body, but heart to heart and soul to soul.