ROSEDALE IN APRIL
Chapter Thirteen
Rated NC-17 for Content
Rose loved evenings as the sun set over the
distant horizon reflecting the greatest of master’s artistic creations, as God
Almighty painted the vast Texas sky with a flourish of contrasting pinks, reds,
and yellows while the first whispers of dusk settled over the rolling
countryside. It was a peaceful calming time that was strictly her own…at least
up until a couple of days ago. Only the tranquil harmonious sounds of cicadas
chirping, frogs croaking for rain, and an occasional hoot owl’s call lazily
drifted through the antebellum mansion’s upstairs balcony doors. Mother
Nature’s synchronized orchestra that gloriously heralded the end of day and the
majestic birth of night. Peering out at the awesome spectacle, the fathomless
ebony sky was finally awash with a myriad of brilliant twinkling stars and it
hauntingly beckoned for the red headed wood nymph to, Come outside again and
play!
But first, she must find a very special prize
for a very deserving snaggle toothed small boy. Sitting cross legged on the
bedroom floor, Rose began anxiously digging through the mysterious box kept
hidden away that contained a multitude of various children’s toys before she
finally found the right one. This is it…perfect…a homemade sling shot!
Rose could only imagine the trouble mischievous lil’ Jacob would get into on
the morrow especially during Liz and Charles’ nuptials. Nanny would probably
thrash them both good! Mentally shrugging, she nevertheless hung it
around her neck decisively intent on the perfect gift.
With that done, she began enthusiastically
gathering up the rest of her loot for a midnight swim at the lagoon. Feeling
sweaty and dirty from their exerting firefly game of the evening, she laid out
a large towel and began heaping a bar of soap, a comb, and other bathing
necessities, relishing the thought of ridding her body of its grime in the cool
refreshing waters. She had already tossed her ruined dress and exchanged it for
a simple wrap before crossing the room to escape the suffocating confines of
the master’s boudoir. Suddenly, the door swung open and he blocked her
exit.
"Going somewhere, Rose?" Jack
curiously albeit suspiciously demanded.
"Oh, Captain…you startled me! On my way
out to play tooth fairy and for a late night swim…uh…care to join me?"
Rose didn’t know why she asked. The words had just tumbled out of her
mouth before thinking about the consequences; however, she never dreamed he
might accept her impulsive hospitable invitation.
Jack looked surprised yet somewhat pleased at
the unexpected invite. Biting his bottom lip, he seemed to mull over the
tempting offer and shrugged his broad shoulders. Why not?
"Sure…I need to cleanse my back again
anyway…would you mind so terribly much if you applied more balm to my
wound?"
"Not too terribly much,
Captain!" Rose crookedly smiled before adding, "Let me get another
towel and some ointment first and we’ll be on our merry little way!"
"Damn…it’s dark out here! How can you
see where you’re going?" Jack grumbled.
"I’d know this land blind folded,
Captain Dalton. Right over yonder. Jacob is dozing on the sleeping porch. See
the fireflies?" Rose giddily responded. Clutching his strong hand, she
pulled him along behind her suddenly feeling excited for some inexplicable
reason. "Shh…now be quiet, Captain, and don’t wake him!"
Through the engulfing darkness, Jack softly
smiled at her authoritative, secretive youthful demeanor. He felt so gushy
inside like his parents must have felt at Christmas time when he and Mellie
were just kids. Determinedly casting off that bittersweet memory to the far
reaches of his tumbling mind, he instead purposefully concentrated on the
vivacious, beautiful woman currently holding his hand while tugging him along
behind her like a lover leading her man to a romantic midnight rendezvous. Christ!
Stop it, Jack! He derisively scolded himself. This isn’t the time for
such lewd carnal imaginings!
"Now you stay here while I sneak inside,
Captain. And don’t make a sound…don’t even breathe…Jacob is a very light
sleeper. He’s just dying to catch the tooth fairy in the act…you remember how
you felt as a boy?"
"No, I don’t remember being a kid, Rose!
It’s been too long ago!" Jack feigned ignorance to the time, his male
pride not wanting to admit that he himself had actually been so small,
innocent, and vulnerable.
"I do declare…you are old,
Captain!" Rose jokingly stabbed.
For some crazy reason, her teasing
admonishment spontaneously turned Jack’s tickle box over. He couldn’t help
himself. The outrageousness of the ridiculous situation he now found himself in
suddenly stared him straight in the face. Here he was, a respected, highly
decorated Northern Army officer in the middle of a Civil War creeping through
slave quarters in enemy territory in the dead of night with a rebellious
southerner playing silly childish make believe games of tooth fairies and
fireflies! And to top it off…being dubbed "old" although he was
barely twenty-six years of age. Jack began to hilariously guffaw…the echoing
cackles going on and on. He couldn’t catch his breath…he literally bent over
double clutching his sides in sweet pain.
Rose caught the infectious giggles herself.
They both boisterously laughed together until tears started rolling down their
cheeks. It felt so damnably good. Abruptly, without warning, the
pretentious tooth fairy placed her hand over the Captain’s mouth and shushed him
in his ear. Jack instantly went rigid.
"Captain…hush! Or I’ll send you back to
the house like a naughty boy! Understand?" Rose playfully threatened deep
down in her throat.
"Oh, I’m naughty all right, Rose! More
than you can ever imagine!" Jack smoothly agreed.
"Men! Just a one-track mind! Now be
quiet or else…" She laughed under her breath and rolled her dancing eyes
heavenward.
Still silently chuckling, Jack admiringly
watched her agilely crawl through the porch’s screened window to tiptoe to the
sleeping youth’s cot and lift the slingshot from around her neck before placing
it on Jacob’s bedside table. Placing her slender fingers to her lips, she
gingerly placed them to the sleeping boy’s forehead in a secret adoring kiss.
Turning around, she hastily snatched up the jar of fireflies and climbed back
through, lithely dropping to the ground in a light thud. Jack’s heart fell to
his feet at the tender poignant scene.
"Let’s go, Captain. Last one to the pond
is a rotten egg!" And she bolted into the dark night leaving him behind
shaking his tawny head in amusement. God, he felt downright giddy…and
ridiculously juvenile!
As swift as a rabbit, Rose raced down the
familiar path and beat the Yankee Captain to the water’s edge by a good long
distance. Laughing and winded, Jack finally found his way, nevertheless with a
few scratches, bumps, and bruises from wayward briars and tree limbs.
"Wench…that’s not fair! You had a head
start and you have a decisive advantage over me!" Jack jokingly scolded
between gasps desperately fighting for enough oxygen to fill his aching lungs.
"I thought you didn’t remember how
to be a kid, Captain. Um? Feels good, doesn’t it? Being carefree, light of
heart, fun-loving…it’s a wonderful life, no? Stubbornly defying boring
adulthood and to make each day count…that’s my motto to live by!" Rose
laughed at the Yankee’s teasing protestations.
"I agree for once and that’s a very
enticing sentiment, Rose…too bad life seems to detour our good times when we
least expect or want it!"
"Touche, Captain! This damn war can put
a damper on the fun times…if you let it! Now come on in the water while
the moon is still up!" Rose impatiently invited yet Jack seemed suddenly
hesitant and uneasy.
"Speaking of good times…tomorrow we’re
having a wedding at Rosedale. That should be a hoot and holler as we say around
these parts!" Rose added with a dreamy sigh.
"I was under the impression that you had
called off your wedding, Rose!" Jack surprisingly yet angrily snapped for
some inane reason.
"Not mine, you silly Yank…Lizzie and
Charles’!" Rose laughed sensing the Captain’s unreasonable yet pleasing
reaction. Jack still hadn’t begun undressing standing with his arms akimbo
glaring with blue moonstone orbs. However, he secretly breathed a sigh of
relief at her clarification.
"What’s the matter, Captain? You
suddenly modest to get naked in front of a lady?" Rose goaded. Jack merely
grinned in embarrassment as the jealousy immediately evaporated at her sudden
change of topic. Nonetheless, Rose was completely astonished for he was
actually acting like a shy innocent for some outrageous reason; therefore, she
unabashedly prodded.
"I’ll tell you what, Captain. I’ll show
you mine, if you’ll show me yours!" She throatily purred in invitation and
untied the knot of her robe and let it whisper to the hard ground.
Jack’s jaw hit the dirt and his eyes widened
in surprise. He gulped the lump in his throat intently ogling the luminescent
pale alabaster skin unashamedly revealed for his starved perusal. His gut was
fluttering like a thousand butterflies and his tongue came out to moisten his
suddenly dry lips. Shit, he felt like a silly virgin, like that pup
Fabrizio!
Electing to ignore him, Rose grabbed the bar
of soap and swam out to the gushing waterfall. Lathering up her long thick
hair, she then began to bathe her body completely oblivious to the audience of
one enthralled Yankee Captain. Jack took a deep calming breath and began slowly
removing his clothes. It was beautiful out tonight and he determinedly
took his time despite the slight trembling of his hands.
By the time he was naked, Rose had already
swam to the ancient boulder and perched on top with her knees drawn up to her
chest. Shaking out her hair, she began running tapered slender fingers through
the wet strands attempting to rake out the tangles. Jack watched in fascination
then purposefully picked up a comb and smoothly dove in. Coming up behind her,
he crawled onto the rock and lightly touched the mass of copper hair. Rose
jumped in awkward surprise.
"Here…let me." Jack unexpectedly
offered and began to carefully run the comb through the long wayward tresses.
"You have beautiful hair, Rose. You should never cut it."
Suddenly overcome with tenderness at his
close intimate proximity, Rose took an uneasy breath. Her heart began to
thunder against her ribs and chills raced down her spine. "Captain, you
act as if you done this before."
"I have as a matter of fact. Many
times."
"Oh? You make this a habit then of
playing with your current mistress’ hair?" Rose jeered with the slightest
hint of jealousy reflected in her quavering voice.
"Hardly…after my parents died, I had a
little sister to raise. Mellie would have been just about your age. When she
was younger, somebody had to take care of her and that included combing out her
hair after a bath. At least until she was old enough to do it herself,"
Jack softly reminisced.
"A sister? What happened to her,
Captain?" Rose concernedly inquired.
"She was just another helpless victim of
this damnable war…in one respect at least. But I’d rather not rehash the gory
details. Too disturbing and too fresh, I guess."
Rose’s sympathetic heart went out to the man
currently combing out her hair. It felt so soothing and comforting; however,
she sensed his intense grief. But his open mannerism to share the poignant
memory with her was even more confusing and disturbing.
"I’m truly sorry for your loss, Captain.
Come around here and I’ll doctor your poor back now." Rose softly beckoned
something akin to guilt shining in her dark hooded eyes.
As Jack finished with her hair, he obligingly
turned around offering his back for her tender ministrations. Carefully, Rose
softly applied the soothing salve to the angry open scratches. Goose bumps ran
down his spine at each touch from her stroking hands. Closing his eyes to the
incredible feeling she was evoking in his awakening body, he tried to take his
mind to another place and time. But he soon found that it was useless for he
couldn’t distance himself no matter how hard he tried. Knowing how the deep
cuts had gotten there and how she had scarred him for life both in body and
spirit. How had she accomplished such an incredible feat so damn quickly and
easily? When had the sexual desire relinquished its hold to be replaced with an
all out consuming need?
"I’m truly sorry, Captain. I never
realized…"
Jack never let her finish. He whirled around
and impaled her with glittering darkened pools of blue.
"Not half as sorry as I am, Rose. Forget
it and let’s talk about something else, all right?"
Surprised, Rose docilely acquiesced for once
and raised a wondering arched brow.
"All right…fire away, Captain Dalton.
What do you wish to talk about?"
"Why do you insist on calling me
‘Captain’ all the time, Rose? I have a name. It’s Jack if you’ll
remember." There was a touch of anger and a flicker of hurt in his
beseeching soulful eyes.
"I know what your name is Captain
Dalton. But…I just don’t choose to use it! All right?" Rose vehemently
rebuked.
"Why not? You call Sergeant Ryan and
Private di Rossi by their first names. Why not mine? You know me
better than you know them!" Jack was suddenly overcome with an
uncontrollable jealous envy. Wanting something that he couldn’t quite
put his finger on.
"You mean more ‘intimately’, Captain
Dalton…not necessarily better!"
"What’s the difference?"
"There’s always so much tension when
we’re together, Captain. I feel comfortable around Tommy and Fabri. We can
actually talk without feeling like we’re locked in a battle of wills and…"
Rose’s voice abruptly trailed off.
"And what?" Jack determinedly
prodded with a hint of roughness.
"And…they don’t undress me with her eyes
and I don’t feel this intense quivering when I’m with them…I feel safe and not
like I’m about to be devoured!"
"Is that how I make you feel?
Devoured?" Jack exasperatedly interrogated.
"Yes…and I realize we both can’t help
it! It’s not necessarily your fault…or mine! We just seem to bring out the
‘whatever’ in each other!"
"The ‘whatever’? And what, pray tell,
does that mean, Rose?"
"I’m not sure, only time will tell,
Captain Dalton…only time will tell!" And she took off swimming back to
shore completely dismissing the uncomfortable subject from her reeling mind.
Hastily drying off, Rose quickly cinched the robe around her tiny waist and
picked up the jar of fireflies while Jack came up behind her to towel off.
"What are you going to do with those
anyway?" Jack completely surprised her…again…just a small step behind her.
"I’m going to set them free, Captain!
They’ve served their purpose; now it’s time to let them go!" The double
edge meaning of her words weren’t lost on Jack. He understood what she was
saying but he didn’t comprehend his impulsive response.
Grabbing her by the back of her head, he
forcefully yanked her to this heaving chest and whispering low and huskily into
her startled face, he thickly vowed, "I’ll never let you go, Rose! No
matter how much I wish it…I can’t!"
Then his hungry mouth ravenously swooped down
to plunder her full sensual rosebuds before he lowered her to the ground to
meld his flesh with hers…reclaiming their bargain…sealing their fate. Even the
hoot owl perched in a nearby live oak tree watched in awe at the lovers’ dance
under the light of a radiant spring moon. While another pair of startled dark
eyes also watched for a fleeting moment in time…shocked and enraged. Who was
this man with his Rose? Making love to his Rose like there were no tomorrows?
What had happened while he was away making things right for her?
Rafael Bouvier abruptly spun around and
slithered back to the hidden gypsy encampment before he was sorry. On the
morrow, he would find out for sure what in tarnation was going on here. Initially
when he had returned to Rosedale’s land, he had curiously observed the many
campfires burning around the outer perimeters of the immaculate lawns of the
manor house and had wondered from afar what the hell was going on. Realizing
there were soldiers about, he had immediately sought to find his daughter to
satisfy his curiosity as to their purpose at the plantation. But…what he had
found on the footpath to his destination had literally knocked the wind out of
him. It was obvious this was not a rape or attack by a long shot. He was so
embarrassed by what met his stunned gaze, he had watched a little too damn
long! Rafael’s first reaction had been to throw the detestable man away from
his little girl and to kill him with his bare hands! But the guttural noises
that met his ringing ears held him at bay like chains of restraint. Sweet
endearing sighs and groans from two lovers that he had not heard the likes of
since he and Sable had made love so passionately and fiercely. And he almost
had to smile at the heart-rending nostalgia…almost. And was that a Union
uniform carelessly thrown to the ground…surely not! A Confederate he might
accept and expect from Rose…but a damn dirty Yankee scum? Holy Mother of
Jesus! Was this that Major Henley whom Rose so adamantly despised? His
stomach lurched once and his dark olive skin cast a pale sickly hue before he
shook his head in complete bafflement and dread. Tomorrow couldn’t come soon
enough and tonight should prove to be the longest in his two score of years!
As Jack covered Rose’s body with his own,
drinking in the jasmine scent of wet auburn hair, he nuzzled the side of her
neck with his searching lips. Sharp stabs of desire pierced their trembling
insides. Placing an intrusive knee between her thighs, he pulled them apart to
gratefully bury himself home. Always ready, she gasped as he took her to the
far reaches of the universe. Tenderly…then urgently…always intoxicatingly. The
hot blood was rushing through his veins like a floodgate that had just been
released. Sinking deeper into her warm moist depths, the storm raged within the
two lovers as they rode the waves of passion together clinging for
survival…desperately holding on to keep from drowning in each other’s
obsession. Not wanting it to end…savoring the prolonged passion…needing the
tidal wave to crash on the high plains to bring them the coveted sweet release.
With every receding climb, each moaned their desire…marveling at the miracle of
this April night at Rosedale.