Petals on the River (68 page)

espoused couple with a basket of food to enjoy later that evening,

knowing the preparation of a meal would likely be considered an

intrusion.

"So's ye won't be havin' ta get out o' bed ta eat, I'm thinkin'," Ramsey

murmured near the bridegroom's ear after Gage had thanked the woman for

her wedding present.
 
Lifting his gaze to the roughhewn beams of the

ceiling, the older man rocked back on his heels.
 
"I've also been

thinkin' o' maybe comin' ta do some work in the mornin', just ta catch

up with a few things whilst there's no one in the shop."

With a roguishly baleful gleam in his eyes, Gage fixed his gaze upon his

favorite cabinetmaker and quietly hissed a warning.
 
"If I see any hint

of your ugly face anywhere around my place for the next several days,

I'll be doing a little target practice on your ornery hide.
 
If you

haven't caught on, my oafish friend, I plan to have Shemaine entirely to

myself for the whole of these few days, and I'd not take it kirsdly if

some simple dolt like yourself took a fancy to come out and visit us.

Need I explain myself further?"

Ramsey scrubbed a hand reflectively down his mouth several times,

managing to smother a grin as he smoothed his bushy mustache.
 
"I guess

I can recognize a threat when I hear it."

"Then perhaps there's some hope for you after all, old man,'' Gage

retorted with a chuckle.

Saying his farewells, Gage gave Andrew a loving hug followed by a kiss.

"Be a good boy, Andy, and mind Mrs.
 
Fields," he entreated.
 
'I'll come

back to get you come Monday morning."

When Gage turned away to speak with Hannah, Shemaine bent down and

enfolded the boy in her embrace, exaggerating a lengthy grunt of

pleasure as she did so.
 
"I'll miss you, Andy."

Giggling, Andrew responded in kind, and then ran to join his friends,

proudly boasting, "Sheeaim my mommee now!
 
My daddee said!"

Grinning, Hannah glanced up at Gage.
 
"I think your son is as happy to

have a mother as you are to have a wife."

"I nearly despaired of finding a woman who could fulfill the

requirements of both positions, but Shemaine has proven herself more

than capable," Gage replied with a full measure of pride.
 
As his wife

came near, he reached out an arm to pull her close against his side and

smiled down into her shining green eyes.
 
"I don't know how it could be

possible that I could be so fortunate, Hannah, but Shemaine is

everything I had been yearning for."

Shemaine reached up a hand and, with the back of her knuckles, gently

stroked her bridegroom's cheek.
 
"Even if the choice were presented to

me at this moment, I don't think I could leave what I've come to

treasure."

Marveling at her words, Gage had no name for the soft, strange emotion

that he saw in her luminous gaze, except that it was very close to what

he had often seen in Victoria's blue eyes in the blissful hush of sated

desires.

Chapter 15.

When the wedding party arrived at the Thornton cabin, Gage swept his

bride into his arms and, leaving his men to assist Mary Margaret,

sprinted up to the cabin well ahead of everyone else.
 
For one

tantalizing moment before their guests arrived, he clasped his bride to

him and kissed her with all the passion he had been holding in check

since the night of the dance.
 
His mouth moved demandingly until her

soft lips parted with an ardor that matched his own.
 
Then footsteps

came across the porch, and Gage recognized Ramsey's overloud remarks on

the beauty of the night, no doubt meant to warn him of their approach,

and the couple parted shakily to welcome the others as the door was

swept open.

After much well-wishing and the presentation of handmade gifts by the

men, the wedding guests soon dispersed to their various destinations,

leaving the couple completely alone.

"Come here, wife," Gage murmured huskily, pulling his bride close again

Taking care not to brush his hand against her healing wound, he slipped

an arm about her waist and drew her snugly against him, pressing her

soft feminine form against his muscular body.
 
In the warm glow of the

lantern light, his eyes leisurely drank their fill, savoring the

intoxicating beauty of her face.
 
Ever so slowly he lowered his mouth

upon hers and caressed her eagerly parting lips with a long, languid

kiss.
 
It was bold and astonishingly thorough in its possession, yet

provocative and persuasive in its gentleness. Shemaine's reserve was

rapidly stripped away, and with mounting passion she answered him,

holding nothing back.
 
Her small tongue was lured to play chase with

his, and as his hand wandered with bold familiarity over her hip, she

leaned into him, feeling her breasts tingle against the hard contours of

his chest.

Gage finally raised his head, and his hungering gaze feasted upon her

delicate features.
 
"Do you have any inkling how often I yearned to take

you in my arms and kiss you until you begged me to stop?
 
My desire for

you began in earnest that first night when I saw you standing beside my

kitchen table, freshly washed and gowned.
 
I realized then I wouldn't be

able to keep my hands off of you for the full seven years of your

indentured service.
 
I only bided my time until I gleaned some chance of

you accepting my proposal of marriage."

 
"Would you like to know a secret, Mr.
 
Thornton?" Shemaine whispered

with a winsome smile.
 
"When you stepped through the doorway that very

same night and pulled your wet shirt over your head, I think that must

have been the moment Maurice du Mercer began to fade into the shadows of

oblivion."' Gage cocked his head in wonderment, thoroughly amazed.
 
'Was

it now?"

"If you didn't know it, sir, you're quite a handsome man for a woman to

feast her eyes upon, even with all your clothes on," she murmured

warmly.

"Right now, you're one step ahead of me."

It was Shemaine's turn to cant her head and stare up at him in

confusion.
 
"How so, sir?"

"I haven't yet seen you completely naked, and that I'm most anxious to

do, madam."

"Oh, but when you killed the snake, I had nothing on beneath the towel,"

she argued.

"I noticed," Gage assured her with a grin.
 
"The towel was not as wet as

I would have preferred, but I relished the way it teased me with a

glimpse of this .
 
.
 
." He stroked the back of a finger lightly over a

nipple, indicating the place and, in the process, sending waves of

scintillating delight flaring through her senses and causing her breath

to halt at the thrill of his touch.
 
" Tis no lie that I wanted to make

love to you that night and many times afterwards."

Shemaine remembered the hunger she had seen in his gaze and recalled how

after her first lesson with the flintlock she had trembled with her own

yearning needs every time he had touched her.
 
"I'm glad you couldn't

read my mind."

"Why is that, my sweet?"

"You would have been shocked by what I was thinking."

"Then tis well you couldn't read mine, madam, for you'd have thought me

a lascivious rogue."

Shemaine giggled as she snuggled her head beneath his chin.
 
"Do you

want to eat now?
 
Hannah outdid herself cooking for us."

"I'm hungry for you, wife." Sliding his hands down the length of her

back to her buttocks, Gage pressed her tightly to him, making her aware

of his hotly flaming passion.
 
"My needs prod me sore, and I would be

about consummating our marriage ere the hour is out.
 
Beyond that time,

I'd be hard-pressed to endure the wait."

At his boldness, a sultry excitement blazed in her body.
 
"I made a new

nightgown for our wedding night.
 
Will you allow me time to prepare

myself for you?"

"Be quick about it," Gage urged softly.

"I will," she promised.
 
Rising on her toes, she lifted her mouth to

meet his and felt thoroughly inflamed by his fervor as he kissed her

with fiery passion.
 
Drawing away with a rapturous sigh, she slipped

away from him and hurried to his bedroom door.
 
There she paused to

smile back at him.
 
"You will come when I call?"

His grin would have convinced her by itself, but his verbal answer set

aside any idea of a delay.
 
"Aye, madam.
 
Nothing short of this earth

crumbling could deter me from reaching your side."

Leaving the door ajar behind her, Shemaine entered the room and marveled

at the preparations that had been made for them.
 
Candles had been lit

on either side of the bed, and the sheets and bedcovers had been folded

down invitingly to display sun-bleached linens adorned with Irish lace,

no doubt a gift from a certain widow.
 
Shemaine's new nightgown had been

carefully laid out on one side, and with an excited gasp, she realized

that it had also been embellished around the collar and cuffs with

smaller bands of the same intricate needlework.

"Oh, Mary Margaret," she crooned softly in awe.
 
"How very talented you

are."' Hearing an indistinct murmur, Gage stepped close to the door.

"Shemaine?
 
Are you all right?"

"Aye, husband," Shemaine laughingly reassured him.
 
"I was just admiring

Mary Margaret's lacework on the new bed linens she gave us, but please

don't come in yet.
 
You can see everything in a moment."

Gage paced restlessly about the parlor, trying to bide his time.

Readying himself for his bride as much as he dared without running the

chance of startling her, he doffed his frock coat, laid aside his waist

L coat, and then stripped away the stock, freeing the opening of his