Bible in hand, Anna stood in front of the fire and opened the pages of the book she’d peered at every evening since their wedding. Her Bible. But this time, unlike the times before, she turned to the back and pulled a small likeness from the weathered pages, unaware that he watched her from the opposite side of the room. Fingers tender, eyes equally so, she stared as if her spirit communicated to the image gazing back at her. William’s heart thudded to a stop. Her first husband.

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nbsp; With a quick shake of his head, William turned away and tried to reassemble the mad scramble of his thoughts, but he was losing. Though he and Anna had spoken vows, though she had offered her life to him, she still grieved the loss of the one she loved.

The sudden, befuddling urge to go to her, to take her in his arms and promise all would be well, so conquered his thinking he gripped the chair to keep from surrendering. She wouldn’t want his comfort. She wanted what was lost to her, what she could never have.

He gripped his head and settled upon a thought that would take him back to the reality he craved. “Do not worry yourself over supper. I must speak with Nathaniel and Thomas about what has happened.”

Anna looked up, worry inscribed into the lines of her forehead. “Oh? But I don’t wish for you to be hungry—”

“I am well.” Truthfully, moments ago he would have been hungry enough to eat whatever she boiled, but now his appetite was dead. Thank heaven there were far more pressing matters that required his attention.

“I understand.” She angled away from him, but not before he caught the slight downturn of her mouth. The visible pain in her stance, the way she gripped the book in her hands made him ache to reach for her. Should he ask what pained her? Should he delay and speak with Nathaniel and Thomas in the morning? William shook his head. Nay, he should go and give her the quiet reverie she likely sought in which to relive the memories of happier times.

“I’ll not be long,” he said.

He started for the door, but the thread of her voice pulled him back. “Do you regret me?”

The question startled him and William swung back around. “Regret you?”

She waved a hand and spun away. “Forgive me, I shouldn’t have spoken it.”

Wisdom preached to him from the pulpit of his mind. He should nod and say he’d return later. But he did the opposite. Before he could stop himself he was at her side, aching to touch her.

She took a step away, but he grabbed her arm. “Speak to me.”

“’Tis nothing.”

Did she mean it? He looked to the fire in front of them as painful memories, like tar, waited for him to fall into them and bind him in their sticky black. Was Anna using him as she had done?

The yearning of compassion bowed to suspicion. This was too dangerous. He knew nothing about her. She could be every bit the Anna he had known, not the Anna that stood before him.

The sudden urge to flee itched his feet but vanished when she spoke. “I am indebted to you, William.” She cast him a glance over her shoulder, and though fleeting, it was enough to show the hundred unspoken feelings of her soul. Though he couldn’t name one.

“I have been so…” She rested the Bible on the table and her lips thinned as if she tried to discover the word that evaded her. Finally, she dropped her hands to her side with a sigh of defeat. “I shall improve. I shall do better, I promise.”

Whatever safety the walls of suspicion had constructed moments before, he scaled them. Her voice spoke not only in words but in the drop of her tone. She knew her failings and they berated her. Did she think he would regret his decision simply because she was not natural in the kitchen?

Again she turned away, and he was powerless against the urge to reach for her. Brushing his fingers at her elbow, he turned her to face him. Though her body came nearer she kept her gaze to the fire.

Slowly, he curved his finger beneath her chin and nudged her face upward. Her crystalline eyes met his and instantly his folly assailed him. He should have left, should have resisted. For now he was captured.

Her breath halted and his mouth went dry. Flecks of firelight beamed in her pleading eyes as delicate shadows shaded her lips. Pulse charging, William succumbed to the luring memory of their wedding kiss. That one short touch of the lips at their exchange of vows flourished. His body ached to feel it again.

A quick inhale allowed for a clear thought. Perhaps speaking would quench the sudden burn. He tendered his words and lowered his volume until it blanketed the air between them. “There is much for both of us to learn. Everything is new now, but in time we will settle into our roles.” Her expression softened and the fire in his chest grew almost too hot to contain. Speaking had only flamed the fire. He leaned toward her. “I do not regret you.”

Anna’s lips parted and her chest moved quicker. The pulse in her neck flicked wildly. “You do not?”

“Nay, I do not.” He dipped forward until her breath dusted his mouth. Oh, how he wanted it. That gentle brush of skin to elicit the same tickle of pleasure as before. And why not? They were husband and wife.

He leaned nearer and Anna’s quick intake of breath tempted him to comb his fingers through her hair and angle her head to more perfectly accept his kiss.

Her lashes fluttered closed and she tilted her head when the door burst open.

They had a visitor…

~~~

Tags: Amber Lynn Perry Daughters of His Kingdom Historical
Source: readsnovelonline.net