Chapter 8 #2
“My dear!” he greeted her, taking her hands.
“Sloan!” she murmured, coming to life. “You’re— here. How—wonderful. I—I didn’t see that you had arrived.”
It was on the tip of his lips to call her a wretched liar, yet he realized there was a better way to cut off her insincerity.
“Yes, I’m here,” he said very softly.
Then he drew her against him. Hard. Pressed his lips against hers with raw demand and passion. The latter wasn’t hard to come by; just seeing her had sent a surge of desire through his body. She was beautiful. Never-bending fire. He had always wanted her, would always want her.
His right arm remained around her back, holding her tightly against him, no quarter given.
He cupped her cheek with his left hand. She was very stiff, struggling against the intimacy of his public embrace.
How intriguing. He was certain that she’d been prepared for a kiss—just not one as lusty as this kiss.
Maybe he was far more savage a man than he had ever realized—one with the wolves, because it suddenly became very important to him that she, and everyone around them, know that she was his wife.
And it was important that these men see them greet one another with the enthusiasm of newlyweds long parted.
Of course, she was trying very hard to keep her lips and teeth closed against him.
He wouldn’t allow it. This evening, it seemed, his passion was going to have to be enough for both of them.
One way or another, he was determined to make it appear as if she’d been eagerly awaiting him.
The rise of her breasts pressed against his chest, tempting him to take far more than her lips. Her anger was like a blaze; the pounding of her heart was rampant. The scent of her perfume was intoxicating, evocative, arousing.
Even more so than he had remembered...
His lips broke from hers. He stared into blue eyes that rebelled against his with sheer fury and venom.
“Indeed, it’s good to see you, my love,” he murmured and released her.
She had been struggling against him so she staggered back, yet he caught her again, steadying her.
“Sabrina, my dear, dear, Sabrina!” he said, smiling at the officers around them. “It’s a marvel to come in from the cold and into the arms of a loving wife. Were you anywhere near as anxious to see me, my love?”
She was anxious...anxious to hit him, he thought. But she smiled. A huge, sweet—false smile.
“Anxious? Oh, sir! That doesn’t begin to describe my feelings!” she informed him, gingerly touching her ever-so-slightly-swollen lips.
“Dance with me,” he said. “Gentlemen?”
The men cleared a pathway for them, and Sloan led Sabrina back into the house, where the musicians were playing a waltz. She moved as easily and lightly as if she floated; she had been trained well in all the social graces. Sloan realized that it was the first time they had ever danced together.
“You’re very good,” he commented. “I can see why Jimmy Blake is sorry that I’ve returned.”
She delicately arched a brow. “The lieutenant has been a complete gentleman, charming in every way.”
“You mean he is a gentleman, whereas I am not. And surely, he is charming, whereas I am not.”
“Oh, I understand that you can be very charming,” she informed him sweetly.
“And what led you to that conclusion?”
“Why, the various women in your muddied past who so freely discuss your anatomy.”
His brow shot up in surprise. He swept her around the room, seeking someone in it with whom he might have once had a liaison.
“I can assure you: there’s only one person here tonight who could describe me in the natural state with any degree of accuracy.”
“Only one?” she queried.
“Umm...” he thought a moment. “Well, two. You would be one.”
“And the other?”
“Hawk.”
“Hawk!” she gasped.
He nodded somberly. “Small children among the Sioux often run around naked when they splash in the streams.”
She didn’t smile; she wasn’t amused.
“What do you want me do, Sabrina?” he asked im-patiently. “Pretend I have no past? Obviously, my pretense would do little good. You will hear things. Some of them true; most of them exaggerated.”
“Where have you been?” she asked curtly.
He frowned. “On duty—why?”
“On duty where?”
“Looking for Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull.”
“Did you find them?”
“Why?”
Her lashes fell in a sweep over her cheeks. “I’m curious as to the state of affairs. The men I’ve met all seem quite excited about some big maneuver that’s about to happen.”
He nodded, watching her.
“And you’re concerned?”
“Naturally. I’m living out here now, close to sacred ground. A number of miners have been killed recently.”
“I see.”
“Well?”
“Well, what?”
“Were—you able to spend any time with Crazy Horse?”
“Very little time.”
“How much time?”
He frowned. “How strangely persistent you are regarding a soldier’s time in the field. I think it’s my turn. How long have you been here?”
“Not very long,” she said.
“How long.”
“A—bit.”
He smiled. “Amazing. Hawk told me that you’d actually been back at Mayfair for more than three weeks.”
She shrugged. “Has it been that long? Perhaps.”
“You were supposed to set up housekeeping at the fort.”
“I intended to.”
“When?”
“When the time was right.” She let out a long breath.
Her voice changed ever so slightly, and he could tell that she was well aware that, although she’d arrived in the Dakota Territory as promised, she hadn’t completely kept her word, since she had promised to move into his quarters at the fort as well.
“Skylar is really not feeling at all well, you know. She needed help settling back in.”
“Umm. She has Meggie and Sandra, and a host of servants to be called upon if she’s in need.”
“It’s not like having your sister.”
“I’m sure it’s not. You told me you’d go to the fort.”
“It seemed a rather silly thing to do—since you weren’t there.”
“But I did go there, expecting to find you.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Are you, my dear?”
“Sloan, you needn’t be so rude.”
Again he arched a brow. “I’m just curious about what is really going on in your mind. And if you’re capable of really keeping your word.”
“I always keep my word—”
“But you didn’t.”
“I would have. What difference does it make?” she demanded, her eyes flashing a brilliant blue. “You’re a soldier; you’ll come and go as you please, and I’ll sit there in misery time and time again with people I’ve never met!”
“Once you move into the fort, you’ll meet people there, and surely you’ll find friends among them.”
She hesitated, looking down, shaking her dark head. “In truth, Sloan, I hesitated because...”
“Because?” he demanded.
The music came to a halt. Around them, people applauded as they laughed and talked.
“Look at me, Sabrina.”
She looked up slowly. “The last time we met, we were both under a fair amount of emotional strain,” Sabrina began in a soft voice.
“You’ve been home a while now. And I’ve been at Mayfair for a few weeks.
Naturally, it’s no great hardship to be at Mayfair, especially since my sister is expecting her baby, and I do want to be with her when the baby is born.
But I had thought that maybe...” Her voice trailed as she looked at him; she faltered, then continued.
“I thought that maybe you’d had a chance to rethink our relationship. ”
Sloan led her away from the crowded dance floor to a quiet corner of the large room, where they wouldn’t be overheard. Then he crossed his arms over his chest. “Rethink it how?” he asked her politely.
“Well, think and realize that there really isn’t much of a relationship. I’m simply not cut out to be the wife you want. I like the East. I don’t like...”
“Indians?”
“I don’t like being afraid all the time.”
“I see,” he said slowly, carefully, studying her beautiful features.
“No, you don’t see!” she exclaimed, spinning around—headed where, he didn’t know. He caught her arm, drawing her back.
“Don’t walk away from me.”
She looked at him a moment; then her lashes fell. Her cheeks were flushed. She looked very young, very elegant, and very lovely.
“I don’t think I can live at your fort!” she whispered.
“There are good men in the service, and many of them have good wives, sisters, and children.”
She stared at him. “Malicious gossips, from my experience. But it’s not that; I—I really think that getting an annulment is the only rational thing to do.”
“No,” he said softly.
“All right, maybe you need some more time to think. But, Sloan, with all the excitement going on around here now...I should just stay here. I mean, Hawk is your friend, right? My sister is going to have a baby; she needs me. I should stay—right now, at least. And obviously I’d be safe in Hawk’s care. ”
“You think that you should stay here?” he repeated. The pounding in his head suddenly seemed to come from a kettledrum.
“While we both think this out. It would be a good idea, right?” she said anxiously.
“We can keep up the pretense of a real marriage if you wish; it will certainly be easy enough tonight. I’ll have to share my room with a number of the women staying at Mayfair because Skylar and Hawk are putting up so many people.
Many of the men will be sleeping on the floor down here as well, I imagine!
Thankfully, soldiers are accustomed to making do with few comforts. ”
“Thankfully,” Sloan said dryly. He felt stunned. He hadn’t known exactly what to expect when he was reunited with Sabrina, but he certainly hadn’t expected to discover that while he’d been planning his family, she was considering herself a free woman once again.
“Sloan!”
His attention was diverted by Hawk’s cousin, Willow, who was setting a hand upon his shoulder.
“Willow! It’s good to see you,” Sloan told him. He realized that Willow was looking at him with grave concern, wanting to ask him what he’d learned about the Crazy Horse people; his brothers and family were among them.