Counterfeit Lady (James River Trilogy 1) - Page 79

When she’d finished, he laughed because he didn’t believe he could ever have gotten that drunk.

But when Bianca’d stepped from the bed, there’d been blood on the sheets, blood on her nightgown. Before Clay could reply, Bianca had begun telling him that she was a lady, that she wouldn’t be treated like his whore, that if she had a child Clay would have to marry her.

Clay hadn’t bothered to reply as he’d stepped from the bed and begun to dress quickly. He’d wanted to be as far away from Bianca as possible.

Now, sitting in the clearing he had built with James and Beth, he kept remembering things. Maybe he’d been so drunk that he had made love to Bianca. This morning, he couldn’t remember anything after he’d left Nicole’s.

Nicole was the one who worried him. What if Bianca did become pregnant? He pushed the thought out of his mind.

“Clay?” Nicole called. “Are you here?”

Smiling, he stood up to greet her as she came into the clearing.

“You didn’t say what time. Oh, Clay! You look awful! Do your eyes feel as bad as they look?”

“Worse,” he said hoarsely as he held out his arms to her.

Nicole got within two feet of him, then stopped, her eyes blinking rapidly. “You smell as bad as you look.”

He grimaced. “Didn’t I hear that love was blind?”

“Even blind people can smell. Sit down and rest or build a fire in the cave. I brought some food with me. You didn’t eat much last night.”

He groaned. “Don’t mention last night.”

It was an hour later, when they’d eaten breakfast and the little cave was warm, that Nicole was ready to talk as she leaned against the stone wall of the cave, a blanket across her legs. She wasn’t yet ready to sit easily in Clay’s arms. “I didn’t sleep much last night,” she began. “All night, I kept thinking about what you’d told me about Bianca and her relatives. I want to believe you…but it’s difficult. All I can see is that I am your wife, yet she lives with you. It’s almost as if you want both of us.”

“Do you really believe that?”

“I try not to. But I know Beth had a strong hold over you. Maybe you don’t realize how close you are to your home. Last night you talked of just walking away and leaving this place. Yet at one time you were willing to kidnap a woman merely because she looked like someone who belonged here.”

“You mean more to me than the plantation.”

“Do I?” she asked. Her eyes were wide, dark, liquid. “I hope I do,” she whispered. “I hope I mean that much to you.”

“But you doubt me,” he said flatly. Through his mind was going the vision of Bianca in his bed, Bianca’s virgin blood on the sheets. Was Nicole right not to trust him? Turning to the little niche that held the unicorn set in glass, he stood and held it in his hands. “We made vows on this,” he said. “I know we were children and had a lot to learn about life, but we never broke the vows.”

“Sometimes innocent pledges are the most sincere,” she smiled.

Clay held the glass in his hand. “I love you, Nicole, and I vow that I will love you until the day I die.”

Nicole stood before him and put her hand over his. There was something that bothered her. Beth, James, and Clay had touched the little unicorn, then Beth had had it sealed in glass so no one else could ever touch it. It was a silly thing, really, but Nicole couldn’t help remembering Beth’s portrait, so very like Bianca. A swift thought ran across her mind. When would she be worthy to touch what Beth had touched?

“Yes, Clay, I love you,” she whispered. “I always have, and I always will.”

Carefully, he set the glass unicorn back into the wall, unaware of Nicole’s frown. He turned and pulled her close to him. “We can go west in the spring. There are always wagon trains being organized. We’ll leave at different times so no one will know we’ve gone together.”

Clay went on, but Nicole wasn’t listening. Spring was months away. Spring was the time when the earth came alive again, when the crops were to be planted. Would Clay be able to walk away, to leave all the people who depended on him?

“You’re shivering,” he said quietly. “Are you cold?”

“I think I’m frightened,” she said honestly.

“There’s no reason to be afraid. We’ve been through the worst of it now.”

“Have we, Clay?”

“Hush!” he commanded, and lowered his mouth to hers.

Tags: Jude Deveraux James River Trilogy Historical
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