Indigo (38 page)

Gail agreed. "It is the oddest thing. Why would he concentrate on such helpless individuals?"

"Because they are helpless and he's a coward," Renaud pointed out.

Maxi interrupted them a moment to inform Hester that Foster Quint was here to see her. Puzzled, Hester excused herself from the table, then followed Maxi to the parlor.

Hester walked in determined to be polite, but nothing more. He'd dragged her name through mud; surely he didn't expect her to be warm. "Have a seat, Foster. How may I help you?"

He took a seat and smiled. "So formal, Hester. One would never believe we were to be wed."

Hester waited.

He appeared a bit uncomfortable with her manner but said, "I've come to ask you to sell me the Wyatt land."

Hester searched his face. "The land's not for sale."

"Why not?"

"Because it isn't, Foster. That land will belong to any children Galen and I have."

He chuckled bitterly. "Was it his money? Is that why you gave yourself to him?"

"I believe you are here to discuss land, nothing more."

"Yes, I'm here to discuss land. So how much?"

"It isn't for sale."

"Why not? My God Hester, you and Vachon already own this whole corner of the county. Why can't you part with a parcel of it?"

"Foster, you held me up to ridicule from here to the Ohio border with your lies. Even if the Wyatt land were for sale, I'd give it away before I sold it to you."

"You owe me," he remarked angrily.

"For what, branding me a whore? I owe you nothing Foster, ever." She stood. "If there's nothing else I will send Maxi to escort you out. Good day."

Hester paid no attention to his malevolent eyes as she made her exit from the room.

She thought about Foster that evening as she lay in bed. How he had the audacity to believe she would sell him her ancestral lands after his slandering was beyond her comprehension. She put him out of her mind and went to sleep dreaming of her husband.

In the seven days since the burial of Branton Hubble, it had poured seemingly nonstop. It was now mid-August and Hester had spent the day delivering copies of Mr. Garrison's
Liberator.
Bea was the area agent, but she'd gone over to Marshall to visit an old friend. Had Hester known the deliveries would have to be made in a deluge, she might not have agreed to be Bea's substitute, but the
Liberator
was still widely read. Folks all over the county were waiting for this latest edition despite the feud Garrison was having with most of the east's Black leaders over their confrontational approach to abolitionism.

When Hester returned home later that evening, Maxi took one look at her drenched and shivering mistress and immediately called for a hot bath. Hester tried to protest, saying once she donned dry clothes all would be well, but Maxi simply rolled her eyes and hustled her upstairs. While the tub was readied, Hester stripped off her sodden clothing and put on the flannel robe Maxi set out. She tried not to let Maxi see her shivering but it proved impossible to mask.

Maxi said, "Do you have any idea how Galeno will yell at me if he comes home to find his wife sick?"

"Maxi, it isn't your fault I am soaked."

"I know it isn't. You know it isn't, and he will know too, but he will still yell."

So to keep Maxi and everyone else from the dragon's fire, Hester stepped into the warm water of the tub and sighed pleasurably as the heat took the cold chill from her flesh. She could certainly become spoiled by such care, she thought contentedly. She continued to be uncomfortable with the idea of servants, but luxuries such as a hot tub on a cold, rainy day were too wonderful to deny.

She had no idea how long she'd been in the water, but when she heard a soft knock, she remembered Maxi promising to return with something hot for her to eat. Without opening her eyes, Hester called for her to enter. She was so lulled by the water she paid no attention to the footsteps or the sound of the door closing again so quietly. Her only thoughts were ones of thanks to Maxi for entering and not breaking her reverie.

"Good evening,
petite."

The low voice made her eyes snap open. She spun her head and saw Galen smiling at her. He came further into the room and looked down on her with a heat-filled gaze. "You make a delicious homecoming present, Mrs. Vachon." Then he reached down and lightly teased one dark, puckered bud. "A delicious sight."

He walked away and over to the fire Maxi had lit earlier in the evening. He was as dirty as Hester had ever seen him. His clothes and boots were covered with trail mud and soil. His beard had begun to grow in again, giving him the look of a buccaneer.

He looked back over his shoulder at her and Hester's heart began to race. She sought to dampen the effect by saying, "I'll be done with your tub in moments."

His sudden appearance had taken her totally by surprise and she wasn't certain what her reaction should be. On one hand she found the idea of playing the role of his wife-mistress terribly intriguing, but on the other she remained the staid, conventional Hester Wyatt who was a bit embarrassed to be caught nude in a tub by a man—even if the man was her husband.

He answered by saying, "There is no rush. Take all the time you need. In fact, why don't I place your drying sheet closer to the fire so it will be warmed when you are done there?"

He placed the towel on a chair near the fire. Hester had not an inkling of what to do. His back to her, he stood against the fireplace mantel and scanned the edition of the
Liberator
she'd been reading earlier in the week. She asked quietly, "Was the quest successful?"

"Yes, we brought back the child, and took it on to Amherstburg straight away. Andre says Whittaker has been fairly lively in my absence. I am sorry to hear about Branton Hubble's death. I know how much he meant to you."

She nodded her thanks and replied, "He was a good man. Too good to die at the hands of Porter Greer's thugs."

"So, tell me all that has happened."

Hester spent a few moments relating Shoe's recent reign of terror. She also related Shoe's boast of looking into her past.

Galen's manner went cold. "I hope he knows I will shoot him like a rabid dog should he even think to harm you."

"Galen—"

"I swear on my mother's saints that I will personally send him to hell."

His direct speech made her almost wish she had not been so forthcoming about Shoe's interest in her past. Beneath the cultured veneer lurked the deadly fire of the dragon, a man Hester was less familiar with, but a man she knew would give his life to keep her safe.

She waited to see if the anger at Shoe would subside. She assumed it had when he said, "That water has to be cooling,
petite.
Come out before you shrivel away."

The water had indeed cooled to the point where if she stayed much longer she would begin shivering again.

Galen coaxed in a soft voice, "Wouldn't you enjoy being wrapped in this warm sheet?"

To Hester it did look inviting, almost as inviting as Galen. So, she stood.

He came over, gently wrapped her within the warmed folds of the sheet, and she could do nothing but purr as he picked her up and carried her to the rug by the fire. "I'm too dirty to sit on the furniture. Maxi will have me for breakfast, so let's sit here."

He eased her to her feet, then took a seat on the rug. He tugged her down onto his lap, then folded her in against his dirty chest.

She whispered, "I'm going to need another bath because of you, my filthy husband."

"That was a given, Indigo."

Hester's eyes widened as heat flushed her face. "So incorrigible."

"I'm still waiting for this long hello I was promised."

Hester smiled shyly. He was impossible to resist, even if he did smell like a goat. "You stink, do you know that?"

He grinned. "Raymond said the same thing, but he smells no better."

"Then I suppose I should be thankful both of you didn't come in and say hello."

He pinched her on the rear and she squealed with a giggle. He looked down at her with a playful sternness and commanded, "Disrespectful female, I want my hello, now!"

Grinning, Hester leaned up intending to place a quick kiss on his lips, but the moment her mouth touched his, she was lost. All the longing she felt for him the last few days flowed over her heart and out of her soul and lit a fire that had long been cold. Her arms went around him in the same moment that he pulled her close. They both shared their hellos until they were panting with passion.

When he broke the seal of their lips, his eyes were glittering with a need that reflected her own. "I think I should have a bath prepared. Care to join me?"

She smiled saucily and whispered, "Yes."

His eyebrow raised at her willingness.

She quipped, "Is that not what a mistress would say?"

The brow rose once more. "I think this is going to be a most memorable homecoming."

She agreed. "I believe you may be right."

The servants brought up food and readied the tub for the dragon's bath while she and Galen ate dinner outside on the veranda's table. The rain had stopped sometime during the evening. The heat of August had returned, leaving the night air warm and damp.

"It is good to have you home," she said to him.

"It is good to be back. I missed you greatly."

"I missed you, too," she admitted. The house and her life had seemed emptier, less joyous without him near. She'd needed his arms to salve her grief over Branton's dying, but at the time she'd buried the selfish desire because her needs were secondary to the child he'd gone to steal away. During his absence there were many times when she would have liked to share a thought with him, or ask his opinion on some matter. They had not been man and wife for very long at all, but he'd always been willing to listen and very easy to converse with almost since the beginning of their relationship, though those first few days in her basement last October proved him to be stubborn, rude, and so filled with faults she found it hard to believe he was the same man.

"What are you thinking,
petite?''

"I was reminiscing on our first few days together and how very awful you were to me."

He gave her a small smile. "But you nursed me back to health in spite of my manners."

"Lucky for you," she quipped.

"I am thankful every day, believe me."

Their eyes held under the flame of the candles on the table. Hester had donned a thin summer robe while he removed his coat but still wore the soiled clothing. He ran his eyes over her body so temptingly displayed beneath the gauzy gown. Her dark nipples were like veiled jewels. "I'm going to go make quick use of the tub to loosen this grime. When I'm done, we'll refill it for our bath."

Hester shivered in sensual anticipation as he disappeared inside the room.

He called her in a short time later. She'd spent the time alone remembering the other times he'd pleasured her and how overwhelming it had been. When she reentered the room, she was already pulsing with need. Her nipples had puckered, her skin tingling from his imagined touch, and her core had begun to blossom just from the thought of the sensual delights he would bestow.

He awaited her inside the candle-lit room, tall, nude, and lushly ready. The sight of his strong desire for her gave her pause.

"It's much harder for a man to mask his need than a woman."

"So I see," she replied lightly.

He threw back his dark head and laughed, "You're learning your mistress lines well,
ma coeur."

"Thank you."

"Now come sit in the tub with me so I can soak away the many hours on horseback."

Hester fought her shyness and crossed the room buoyed by her own spiraling desire. In the tub she leaned back against his chest and let herself be enfolded by his arms and warm, hard thighs. She could feel his manhood pressing solidly against her back. The tub was large enough for them to be quite comfortable. She cuddled closer. "Is everything you own so large?"

He rubbed himself against her gently. "What do you think?" he asked slyly.

She couldn't suppress her chuckle. "You are such an arrogant, audacious man. I was speaking of the tub, not your—endowment. Do you even know the definition of humility?"

"There's not much call for that where I hail from."

"Now that I believe. I was referring to your possessions: your bed, carriage, home. Everything about you is grand."

"I'm a grand man."

He nudged her again meaningfully and she playfully smacked him across the arm. "Behave," she scolded.

He brushed his mouth against her collarbone and whispered against her skin, "If I behave you'll miss this..."

He touched his fingers to the already ripe buds of her breasts and worried them slowly. She arched in response.

"...and, this..."

The hands slid down over her wet torso and waist. Once they journeyed below the water they dallied over the treasure between her thighs. He repeated the lazy, lingering caresses again and again, up and down. Her hips were rising temptingly in response to the uninhibited erotic play until she finally succumbed to a shuddering release.