Page 74 of Tamed By a Passionate Lady
“Why did you not tell me?” she whispered tenderly. “Why did you not tell me that you are able to walk now?”
He grinned. “I was always intending it to be a surprise. I have been practising a little, every day, while you have been busy elsewhere.” He paused. “Dr. Brown encouraged me, but I swore him to secrecy. I wanted to see the look on your face when you knew that I was finally better.”
She gazed back at the wheelchair. “So you do not need it at all, now?”
He shook his head. “No. I can walk fine. It has even been a bit irritating to keep on with it, knowing that I didn’t need it. But I wanted to do it, for you…”
She blinked back tears again. He was so very thoughtful, wanting to present his recovery like a gift to her.
“I would not have lived if not for you, Adaline,” he said simply. “You are the one who nursed me back to health. You are the one that called to me, when I was in that netherworld. It was your voice that pulled me back to life.”
“Oh, my love…”
He took a deep breath. “The past is gone.” He looked out to the sea, for a moment. “I am exactly where I want to be, with the one who I want to be with.” He paused. “It was a blessing, in so many ways. In trying to destroy me, Reuben actually brought me back to life again.”
He leaned down, kissing her gently, then with increasing passion. She clung to him, winding her arms around his neck, feeling like she could stay there with him on the darkening beach forever. That there was only the two of them, in the whole wide world. As if they were the last people left on earth.
Eventually, they broke apart. The sun had set completely, and the sky was purple, heading into night. She heard the cry of a lone seagull, circling in the sky, and knew that the sound would forever anchor her to this magical moment, when the past had finally been discarded, thrown out to sea, taken by the waves.
Gently, he took her hand. And then, they started walking together, side by side, back towards the path, to their home, and to the future that was awaiting them, with every step.
Chapter 25
Adaline adjusted the bodice on her gown, pulling it up. She glanced at herself anxiously in the full length mirror. It was a new gown, purchased just the last week, after many fittings at the dressmakers’ in Hemsworth. She had thought it fit perfectly, but was the décolletage just a little low?
At that moment, the door opened. It was James. He was already dressed for the evening, in a new black jacket and britches, his brown hair slicked back. When he saw her, he whistled, long and low.
Adaline blushed like a schoolgirl. “James, you are incorrigible,” she smiled. “You have seen me in this gown before. You were the one who insisted upon coming to all my fittings.”
He grinned, walking towards her, his eyes never leaving her. “I know, my love. But each time I see you in it, it strikes me anew, like I am viewing you for the very first time.” He paused, staring at her avidly. “You look simply breathtaking in it, Adaline, just like I knew you would.”
Her blush deepened. She was still getting used to all the compliments he showered on her. It was as if he was trying to make up for the past, the ‘lost years’, as he termed them, when they had lived side by side but were strangers to each other.
To hide her sudden shyness she turned back to the mirror, gazing at herself critically. The new gown was a gift from James, for this dinner party. He told her he had promised her a new peach gown, to finally replace her old one that he had so admired, back when he had just woken up from his concussion. Back when he had just started to fall in love with her.
“Is the bodice a little low?” she asked anxiously, still unsure.
He came up behind her, putting his arms around her, gazing at their reflections in the mirror.
“I think that it is perfect,” he said, in a deep voice, his eyes lingering on her bust, in the mirror. “But then, I am biased. I think that you have the most beautiful bust that I have ever seen. The way that your breasts almost spill over the fabric…” His eyes darkened, with sudden passion.
She felt a quick upsurge of desire. It never ceased to amaze her that he could do this to her, with just a comment, or a look. Turn her from a rational human being into a melted puddle, at his feet.
Their eyes caught, and held, in the mirror, with a fierce intensity.
Gently, she broke away. There was no time, at the moment. Their guests for the dinner party would be here at any minute.
He leant forward, pressing his lips against the back of her neck. “I know,” he growled. “This is not the time.” He took a deep breath. “But I promise you, my love, that you will be mine, before this night is over.”
***
She tried not to look at him across the table, a little frightened that he would grin wolfishly and make a comment that would make her blush in front of their guests. She could feel his eyes lingering on her bust and shivered, knowing that he would make good on his promise to her at some stage.
With difficulty, she focused on their guests. It had taken a lot of organisation to arrange this dinner, and she needed to be fully present. Her gaze travelled from one person to the other, sitting around the table.
There was Dr. Patterson, the physician aboard theChristiana, nursing his glass of red wine. Next to him sat Fergus Hicks, the sailor who had run to the house, informing her that James was injured. On the other side of the table sat Dr. Brown, looking a little uncomfortable in his formal attire, and next to him was Isabel, resplendent in a brand new ultramarine gown with matching feathered headpiece, also a gift from James.
She smiled to herself. They had wanted to have this dinner party for a while but had to wait until theChristianawas finally in port again at Liverpool. James had been the one to first suggest it, saying that it would be nice to formally say thank you to all the people who had helped him after the fall.
