chapter 3
Nothing. No one. She wheeled and darted into the bathing alcove, but Louisa was gone as well, silent as a ghost; the connecting door was bolted.
Locked in! Like an animal confined for mating…
She felt murderous, vulnerable. She grabbed the bedspread and wrapped it around her shaking body. She would never be naked for him.
She wanted every just impediment to their union.
And thenthe waiting; how long would he make her wait? And when he camethen what?
She stopped her furious pacing by the satin-draped window and she pulled back the filmy under curtain. There was peace and beauty outside that windowthe bright midday sun softened by the shadows of the oaks that lined the drive, the rolling green lawn stretching to the road, and the levee and the flowing river beyond.
There was no one in sight. In a house like Wildwood, all of the work was done subtly, behind the scenes, so that all a visitor or a passerby saw was a picture of calm and serenity.
But she was neither calm nor serene. A moment from now, or an hour, Court would unlock that door and demand his marital rights.
It was unimaginable. She was so used to Gerard's gentlemanly way of courting her. Of respect and reverence. Of kisses lighter than a souffle.
She knew already that Court was a man of intensity and passion, and a temper that was under laid by a very short fuse. He had a low tolerance for fools, and no store of patience at all. When Court wanted something, he got it, and she knew that her body was no exception. He would not have agreed to the bargain if he hadn't, for some reason, wanted
But no, what he wanted was Oak Bluff, and if he got a reluctant body with it, well, it probably wasn't any different to him than buying a whore in the French Quarter.
She dropped the curtain and turned back into the roomthe beautiful, luxuriously furnished room that should have been a bridal bower, and a place of transition from her virginal world to one of carnal delights.
It felt like a prison.
What would he ask of her? And how?
Would he even kiss her?
Or would he just throw her down on the thick feather bed and demand that she spread her legs?
He wouldn't be that callous. He couldn't.
But then, he wouldn't know that she loved another, that she had already discovered the pleasure of kisses and caresses in another man's arms…
She groaned. The betrayal was almost crippling. She would have given herself to Gerard in an instant, and instead she was waiting for her dark
She shook away the thought. She couldn't keep thinking like that; it would only lead to disaster. She felt resentful enough already.
And scared.
She had never seen a naked man. Not her father. Not Gerard. And she herself had never been naked this long after a bath. Always her maid scrubbed her down, rinsed her off, and trundled her into a towel, robe, and gown within the space of ten or fifteen minutes.
She felt as if she had been exposed for hours. She felt uncomfortable, awkward, stupid, deathly afraid.
She shuddered. So useless thinking of what might have been…
She was acting like a frightened child, a victim, when she should be comporting herself like a queen. After all, she
For whatever that was worth…
…
Written up as tightly as any contract executed by a lawyer. Court had known exactly what he wanted and how to get it. She was nothing more than an item on his list to be attended to when he had the time.
And she had willingly signed herself into servitude, goaded on by her father's penitent promises of reform and his visions of a future full of wealth and luxuryfor them both.
Did any woman ever have a choice?
The silence of the house was disturbing. A house of secrets, she thought despairingly, behind whose walls she was already immured as absolutely as a nun.
And she would know all the secrets of a woman and a man before the day was over.
The ring felt odd on his finger: constricting, eternal, forever
He climbed the steps slowly, thoughtfully. It would be so easytoo easyto just give in to his carnal impulses. He wished he were a creature of the senses, like that blasted Lenoir. Then he'd have no conscience about taking what he wanted and the hell with the consequences.
Lenoir had been so sure that Oak Bluffs would be his. And Drue.
But all that was over now. Victor was contained, for the moment, although he had no illusions about that. Lenoir was goneCourt had made sure of it before they even left the church grounds. And now all that awaited him was the moment of truth with Drue.
He had set up the scenario; the only thing he didn't know was how it was going to play. Without a doubt, she still cared for Lenoir, which was going to make his possession of her that much more difficult.
