repeating his name over and over again until its rhythm became one with the beating of her heart.
'You're a trial to me, woman,' he said softly, cupping her shoulders in his hands.
She lifted her gaze and saw eyes that were steadfast and true, eyes that promised both goodness and strength. He lifted one hand and moved his index finger over her lips, almost as if he were a blind man staking out the boundaries of a territory he was about to claim. Then he lowered his head and kissed her.
She accepted his lips shyly, as if she were a young girl. He made her feel pure and innocent again.
He pulled her closer, and his kiss grew more demanding, but instead of feeling afraid, she thrilled to its power. This man, this one good man, was hers forever. He was more important than a house in Charleston, more important than silk dresses, more important than anything.
When they finally drew apart, Sophronia saw his eyes glistening. This strong, hard man who had been coolly threatening to blow up a phosphate mine had turned soft and gentle as a lamb.
'You've been giving me a lot of trouble, woman,' he said gruffly. 'Once we're married, I won't stand for any more nonsense.'
'Are we gettin' married, Magnus?' she inquired saucily. And then she splayed her long, elegant fingers along the sides of his head and pulled him back for another deep, lingering kiss.
'Oh, yes, honey child,' he replied when he finally caught his breath. 'We're gettin' married for sure.'
19
'I figured you for a lot of things, Baron Cain, but I never figured you for a coward!' Kit stormed out of the stables at Cain's heels. 'Magnus is going to be a dead man, and it'll be on your conscience. All you had to do was nod your head, just nod your head, and Spence would have made himself forget that Magnus hit him. Now give me that rifle back right now! If you're not man enough to defend your best friend, I'll do it myself.'
Cain turned, the carbine across his chest. 'You even look like you're going back there, and I'll lock you up and throw away the key.'
'You're hateful, do you know that?'
'So you keep telling me. Has it once occurred to you to ask me about what happened instead of throwing accusations around?'
'What happened was obvious.'
'Was it?'
Suddenly Kit felt unsure of herself. Cain was no coward, and he never did anything without a reason. The edges of her temper cooled, but not her anxiety. 'All right, suppose you tell me what you had in mind when you left Magnus with a man who wants to see him lynched.'
'You've made me just mad enough, I'm going to let you figure it out for yourself.'
He began walking toward the house, but Kit jumped in front of him. 'Oh, no, you're not getting away that easily.'
He shifted the carbine to his shoulder. 'Magnus hated your interference, and he'd have hated mine, too. There are some things a man has to do for himself.'
'You might as well have signed his death warrant.'
'Let's just say I have more faith in him than you seem to have.'
'This is South Carolina, not New York City.'
'Don't tell me you're finally admitting your native state isn't perfect?'
'We've talked about the Klan,' she said. 'The last time you were in Charleston, you tried to get the federal officials to take action against them. Now you act like the Klan doesn't exist.'
'Magnus is his own man. He doesn't need anybody to fight his battles. If you knew half as much as you think you know, you'd understand that.'
From Magnus's viewpoint, Cain was right, but she didn't have any patience with that kind of male pride. It only led to death. As Cain walked away, she thought of the war, which had once seemed so glorious.
She fumed and stomped around for most of an hour until Samuel appeared, a grin on his face and a note from Sophronia in his hand.
Kit stared at it with a mixture of joy and bemusement. Cain had been right. But just because he was right about this didn't mean he was right about anything else.
Too much had happened,
She stalked back to the house and found Lucy in the kitchen peeling potatoes. 'Where's Mr. Cain?'
'I heard him go upstairs a few minutes ago.'
Kit shot down the hallway and up the steps. She threw open the bedroom door.
Cain stood by the table picking up some papers he'd left there the night before. He turned to her, his expression quizzical. He saw that she was seething and lifted one eyebrow. 'Well?'
She knew what he was asking. Would she break the unwritten rule between them? The rule that said this bedroom was the one place where they didn't argue, the one place that was set aside for something else, something as important to both of them as the air they breathed.
She couldn't break that rule. Only here did her restlessness fade. Only here did she feel… not happy… but somehow right.
'Come here,' he said.
She moved toward him, but her resentment about Temptation wasn't forgotten. Her fear that he would still put a road to the mill across her land was not forgotten. His high-handedness and stubbornness were not forgotten. She stuffed it all inside to boil while she gave in to lovemaking that was growing less satisfying and more necessary every day.
The next morning, even the happiness of Sophronia and Magnus couldn't keep Cain and Kit from snarling at each other. It had become their pattern. The more passionate the night, the worse they treated each other the next day.
As Kit watched Magnus and Sophronia move in a blissful daze through the next week while they got ready for their wedding, she found herself wishing she and Cain could have such a happy ending. But the only happy ending she could imagine for them would have Cain riding away, leaving her alone at Risen Glory. And that didn't seem right at all.
On Sunday afternoon, Sophronia and Magnus took their vows in the old slave church with Kit and Cain beside them. After hugs, tears, and slices of Miss Dolly's wedding cake, they were finally alone in Magnus's house by the orchard.
'I won't press you,' he said as the December night fell deep and peaceful outside the windows. 'We can take our time.'
Sophronia smiled into his eyes and feasted on the sight of his beautiful brown skin. 'We've had too much time already.' Her fingers trailed to the top buttons of the beautiful silk dress Kit had given her. 'Love me, Magnus. Just love me.'
He did. Tenderly and completely. Driving away all the ugliness of the past. Sophronia had never felt so safe or so loved. She would never forget what had happened to her, but the nightmares of her past would no longer control her. Finally she understood what it meant to be free.
As December gave way to January, the lovemaking between Cain and Kit developed a primitive, ferocious edge that frightened them both. Kit left a bruise on Cain's shoulder. Cain left a mark on her breast, then cursed himself
