She could feel the cold seeping through her clothes already but nodded. “How much farther do we have to go?”
He frowned. “Another day’s ride. We’re in Mississippi, if I figured right. On our descent, we’ll need to skirt around Vicksburg, since it’s now occupied by the Yankees.”
She bit her lip from making a comment on that. With her, she could pass them as Federals—maybe. She cupped her tin cup, trying to trap the warmth the metal had picked up from the dampened fire.
“We’d better get some sleep,” he gritted out, beating his saddle blanket pillow rather fiercely, as if the stiff wool soften any.
Ada still sat her knees bent up under her skirts. She tried to hug them without letting go of her cup. She was saddle sore but her exhaustion couldn’t calm her restless spirit that seemed to scream at full volume. How dare he think he could just upset her entire life, truth or not, and exclaim he loved her yet ignore her like she wasn’t even there! Maybe he heard her heart yelling because he tossed and turned. Good, she snidely thought.
Finally, he turned back to her. “Ada, it’s time to sleep.”
Now, she got angry. Her brows shot up as she quipped, “I see. Now you’re ordering me like I was a slave or worse.”
In a flash, he squinted his eyes as he tossed the blanket aside forcibly, as if he was mad at it, and leaped to his feet in a stance to stomp the three steps to her, even if it was awkward. He reached down, scooped her up and kissed her hard.
Shocked and surprised, she opened her mouth as if to protest, yet wasn’t this what she had wanted?
Francois had had enough. She’d badgered, berated and accused him for way too long on the slavery issue. His gratitude for her saving his life, for re-awakening his heart, for coming with him to save his family and his covering her life with his wasn’t enough for this hell-bound abolitionist who had enough troubles on her own for being involved with a scoundrel and trying to practice medicine in a world that rejected women’s aid. Damn it, she even had him rethinking his home and it was run with slaves and if that was the only. He wanted to growl, especial when his growing desire for her, a need that ate at him, had finally reached the pinnacle of being denied. He’d shut up her whining with a need to groan! So he kissed her and kissed her hard.
Her lips were surprisingly pliant, even opened for him slightly and he took full advantage, delving into her mouth. She tasted too sweet for him to only kiss her once and sit back down. Their meal had been anything but desirable, but she was an ambrosia he couldn’t stay away from. Like a starving man, he devoured her, wrapping his arms around her, with one of his hands inching up to steady her neck and head as he bent her backward in his seduction.
Her body responded to his advances, as her arms snaked around his shoulders, her fingers knocking his hat off, allowing her to comb though his hair. She returned his kisses with equal frenzy, as if her hunger matched his. He tightened his embrace, squashing her breasts between her corset and herself and that he needed to correct. He released her lips long enough to trace down her neckline with his teeth skimming her skin while his fingers pulled all the hair pins he could find out, tossing them the ground as his remaining hand held her steady. When her mane plummeted down her back, the silky strands danced across his skin and he groaned with hunger.
His manhood strained against the fabric that tried to contain it, but the beast inside craved to be freed and to take her. Quickly, he undid the hooks on her bodice closure, instantly thrilled that medical staff didn’t have all the damn buttons that he’d rip off now to get to her. He squeezed in her waist to undo that busk at once, opening the dress down the front. With a gentle tug, he got the bodice peeled back, her arms freed of the sleeves and a gentle but firm yank at the tie at her waist under the dress loosened the petticoats. All it took was to lift her by the waist and all fell to a pool at her feet. He grinned.
She stood before him, looking angelic in a way, clad in a worn white chemise, with her pantalets underneath. With her hair loose, she looked wild and so seductive, his cock throbbed madly.
“You are beautiful,” he murmured. He moved a step closer. It was like Christmas and he wanted his present now!
Ada hadn’t expected his advance, so her senses were at first overwhelmed by him. This tall, dark and ruggedly handsome Creole had scooped her up and kissed her with such intensity, she should’ve been shocked but instead, she nearly melted in his arms. She’d been craving his attention, his affection so badly that she nearly was breathless, yet all she’d gotten was his guarded company. What had happened to change that, she did not care to ask, because the heat he stirred in her was begging for more.
She dug her fingers into his long hair, relishing in the luxury of it as his tongue played with hers. When his lips left hers, to descend down her cheek to her jawline and then down her neck with his teeth skating lightly along the path, sending tingles of excitement racing through her, she nearly came undone. Quickly, she discovered he must have read her mind as his fingers nimbly undid her bodice closure and in one gentle push, weaved through her dress to the ties of her petticoats and unlaced them. Before she knew
