The Raider (Montgomery/Taggert 9)

“Speaking of lovers’ games, where were you and that handsome Russian last night?”

Eleanor blushed.

“Mmmm,” Sophy said. “I think I’ll postpone my journey south another day. I couldn’t bear not seeing how all of this turns out.”

* * *

“Here you are, Alex,” Jess said tenderly, setting down the basins of hot water for his feet. It had been two days since they’d seen Pitman at the Taggert cove, and since then Jess was beginning to doubt that Alex really was the Raider. He looked awful, he seemed to be too weak to move, he wouldn’t eat, he just lay in bed, his eyes only half open. Jessica was beginning to think she’d been wrong. How could this sick man be the Raider?

Just before sundown, Alex went to sleep and Jessica left the room. She went outside, enjoying the cool air, and began to walk. Before she knew what she was doing, she was at Farrier’s Cove.

She watched the sunset and tears began to trickle down her face. She knew she was feeling sorry for herself but she couldn’t help it. She didn’t seem to have either of the men she loved anymore.

“Jessie.”

She turned to see the Raider standing there in the fading light. She took a step toward him but he stepped back. She stopped.

“I’ve been waiting for you to come here for days. I have something important to tell you.”

Jess wiped away her tears. Now he’d tell her that Alexander and the Raider were one and the same person. Now he’d eliminate her fears that it wasn’t the truth. Now he’d relieve her worries about Alex’s health. Now he’d at long last trust her.

“I’ve been thinking about what has happened between us and I’ve decided that you’re right.”

“Yes,” Jess said, smiling. She was right. She was trustworthy, she wasn’t foolish as he thought and she deserved to be told the truth.

The Raider looked at the ground, as if what he had to say was very difficult for him. Jess felt sympathy for him.

“This isn’t easy for me to say, but I’ve finally listened to you.” His head came up. “You are a married woman and I’ve decided to respect that. Cynthia Coffin has let me know that she’d be delighted to receive my attentions. Therefore, I’ll be seeing her from now on and leaving you to your husband.” He turned away from her.

Anger rushed through Jessica’s veins. With one great leap, she jumped onto his back, hanging on with one hand and beating whatever of his body she could reach with the other hand. “I’ll kill you, Alexander Montgomery. You touch another woman and I’ll attach a live clam in its shell to your—”

He pulled her around to the front of him and kissed her.

She pulled the mask off his face as they kissed. “It is you,” she whispered.

“The one with the cruel mouth,” he said. “The weak-spined piece of seaweed you married.”

He was holding her off the ground and she began to kick.

“You made me miserable! Our wedding night! I cried all night. And the

re you were, sneaking in the window.”

“What about Ethan Ledbetter? What about the way you told me no woman would have me? You said a woman’d only want my money and that the good Montgomerys hadn’t answered the distress call. And you made everyone laugh at me. I was shot and bleeding and you called me a drunk.”

She was kissing his face, her hands running through his hair. “What about when I saved you from the gunpowder? I had your blood on my hands and there you sat—alive and well—yet you let me worry myself sick over him—you.”

“And remember when I saw you after that? You cried on my back.”

She hugged him. “Oh, Alex, how could you be so completely different? Alex is so delicate and soft, while the Raider is…” She stopped and looked at him. “It’s a good thing that mask covered that big nose of yours or everybody in the county would have known who you were.”

“Big nose?” he said threateningly. “Let’s see what my big nose can get into.”

Jessica squealed with delight as Alex began untying her dress, then followed his fingers with his face, nuzzling her breasts. He tossed her onto his hip as if she were a child and continued undressing her while he kissed her. “Not sorry you didn’t get Adam?” he asked as his lips moved down to her breasts.

“Alex, you’re the only man I love. No matter how many people you are, you’re the one I love.”

He lowered her to the ground after that, his mouth making hot little circles on her breasts, her stomach, her thighs. Her hands searched for him and she was impatient when she touched fabric.