Harvest Moon (Jordan-Alexander Family 2)

He kissed the tip of her nose. “Maybe you were right. Maybe a kiss wasn’t such a good idea. I don’t want to stop with a kiss, but my shoulder…” He used his injured shoulder as an excuse to let her go.

Tessa stood up, self-consciously running her hands down the front of her flannel nightgown to still their quaking and help soothe the aching need of her body. She wanted to be touched, needed to be touched, and she wanted David’s knowledgeable hands to do the touching. “Why don’t I pour the tea before it gets cold?”

David nodded. “That’s a good idea,” he agreed. “We’ll drink a cup of soothing tea and go to bed.” That was the plan, though David had little hope that it would work.

Tessa poured the tea into the cups, adding a hefty splash of whisky to his, then sat down at the table. David got up from his chair at the desk and joined her, sitting in his usual spot.

They drank the tea in silence. David finished his first and lowered his cup. It clattered against the saucer. He yawned widely. “I’m ready for bed.”

“Me, too.” Tessa set her half-empty cup aside and stood up. “Leave the dishes. I’ll get them in the morning.”

“All right.” David felt awkward, clumsy. He didn’t want her to leave, but he couldn’t ask her to stay.

“Well…” Tessa hesitated. “I’ll go to bed now.” She looked at David, at his shirt and his undergarment pushed over his injured shoulder. “Will you be okay?”

“I’ll manage.”

“Well, good night.”

“Good night.”

David waited until he heard her bedroom door close before he pushed himself to his feet. He checked the doors and windows, banked the coals in the stove, extinguished the lamps, and stumbled off to bed. He listened for the sound of the key turning in Tessa’s lock. But it didn’t come. He realized that for the first time since she’d come to stay with him, Tessa Roarke had left her door unlocked.

* * *

David heard her cries an hour or so later. He’d been lying in bed unable to sleep for the throbbing in his shoulder. He rolled over onto his uninjured side and pushed the sheets and the quilt back out of the way.

He padded barefoot across the hall to Tessa’s room and knocked at the door. “Tessa?”

She didn’t answer.

David turned the doorknob. The door swung open silently on well-oiled hinges. “Contessa?” He spoke softly, reaching out to touch her shoulder.

She was dreaming. Bad dreams. Her body jerked against the covers. She cried out in her sleep. It tore at David’s heart to see her anguish.

He grabbed a handful of bedclothes and flipped them open. Horace Greeley growled in protest.

“Move over,” David ordered the tomcat. “I’m coming in.” Nudging Greeley aside, David slid between the cool sheets.

“Ssh. Ssh, love, don’t cry. It’s all right now. I’m here,” David whispered. He looped an arm over Tessa’s hip and pulled her against him, her bottom pressed against his arousal, spoon fashion. He kissed the silky strands of her hair, gritted his teeth against the throbbing of his body, and closed his eyes. He slowly counted to one thousand three times before his wishes were finally granted.

The throbbing eased. David fell asleep with Tessa held firmly in his arms.

Chapter Nineteen

David woke up with a start on Monday morning and found himself surrounded by warmth. Tessa’s warmth. Greeley’s warmth. Tessa’s body was molded to the front of him, Horace Greeley curled at his back. His shoulder still throbbed painfully. David eased out of bed, trying not to disturb his companions, who continued to sleep soundly.

He looked out the window. The sun peeked over the horizon. David’s eyes stung from lack of rest. According to his calculations, he’d gotten less than three hours of sleep. It would have to be enough. Tessa had suffered from a second night of bad dreams, and he had crept into her bedroom once again to hold her.

He looked down at her as she slept. Her hearing would start in a few hours, but it was still early. David decided to let her sleep as long as possible. She needed the rest. He needed it. He wanted nothing more than to climb back into bed beside her and pretend he belonged there beside her every morning for years to come. But that wasn’t to be. He had work to do. He quietly tiptoed out of the bedroom. Tessa need never know he’d spent the night holding her again, comforting her while she slept.

By eight o’clock David had bathed, shaved, and dressed in a wool suit. Moving about the office as silently as possible, so he wouldn’t wake her, David made a pot of coffee for himself, then heated water for Tessa’s bath and put the kettle on for her morning tea. He sat at his desk sipping coffee and jotting trial notes, postponing the inevitable.

David took out his watch and looked at it for the third time in fifteen minutes. He couldn’t delay any longer. He had to wake her.

He went into her bedroom and touched her shoulder. “Tessa, wake up. It’s time.”

She sat up abruptly, dislodging Greeley. “What?”