Chapter 35
Chapter Thirty-Five
The water in the tub had long since gone cold, but Ginger remained in it, shivering. Her hand clutched the soap, which had developed a layer of slime on the exposed side. The soap curled against her hand, stuck to it.
Ginger’s hair floated in the water behind her as she shifted, numb and cold. She lowered herself slowly, gasping as the water covered her torso, then flooded her neck, her cheeks, her forehead … the tip of her nose.
The water stung her nostrils and she listened to the hollow drips, the strangeness of sound under the surface. She opened her eyes. The hazy light of the moon cascaded through the window, giving the water an achromatic, vespertine glow.
A shadow blocked the light and she jolted. A set of firm hands clasped her elbows and pulled her up. As she broke through the surface amid the slosh and drips, Noah knelt beside her, his face a mask of concern.
Oh, thank God. He’s here.
She choked back a cry, the emotions she’d been trying to restrain threatening to spew out in a flood of tears.
He released a quick breath. “I thought for a moment you’d drowned.”
Her heart pounded. “You scared me.” Her skin vibrated against the hammering of her heart, her exposed scar quivering.
“I’m sorry.” Noah searched her gaze, then, still fully dressed, he leaned forward and slipped his arm under her legs. She sank into his arms, relieved to be held by him. He lifted her from the tub and set her down gently, then wrapped a towel around her. “Have you given yourself hypothermia?”
Her body quivered, goosebumps breaking across her skin. What had she been doing? She still gripped the soap.
Noah peeled it away, then used a washcloth to remove the residue on her hand. Her fingers had pruned in the water.
Lifting her once again, he carried her back into the bedroom.
The night was chilly, and servants had lit a fire in the fireplace. Ginger blinked at him as he set her down on the bed. Tears filled her eyes. “I was so afraid you might be dead.”
“I managed to escape, but they’re chasing me. We can’t stay here long. They don’t know I’m here, but you were likely seen coming here.” Stepping back, he removed his soaked shirt and jacket, then hung it off the back of a chair by the fireplace. “Are you all right?”
“I told my family the truth about our marriage and Henry’s death.” She tucked a wet strand of hair behind her ear, then covered her face with one hand. Ever since she’d arrived here, Stephen’s image had floated in her mind like a demon come to haunt her. “And my mother ordered me to leave.”
Noah sank onto the bed beside her. He seemed on the verge of saying something, then thought better of it.
She raked her fingers through her hair, bringing her knees up to her chest. Her throat was so tight she could barely get the words out. “Mama hates me. If I were her, I would hate me too.”
When had she become so callous? On the train, when she’d had to choose between the Australian and the deserter, the decision had been so cold, so effortless. Allowing a man to die shouldn’t be so easy, should it? But she’d let the war numb her to death.
Numb her to the fact that she’d killed her own brother.
Noah gathered her in his arms, the warmth of his body radiating onto her cold skin. In his strong arms, the pain that stabbed her heart felt contained. She didn’t care that they needed to flee. She needed him and his strength for a few minutes, even if it was selfish. She was thoroughly spent.
“Don’t let me go,” she murmured, setting her cheek against his chest. The ache inside her threatened to spill forward, into the churn of her gut and the depths of her blackened soul. Noah’s arms tightened reflexively.
His voice was a low rumble. “The first time I killed a man, I told myself I felt nothing. That it could be as simple as stepping on an insect on the ground—a chore that had to be done without a backward glance. But I’ve never forgotten the face of the first man I killed.
The instinct to kill or be killed isn’t enough to make it easier. You know what I think of now?”
A strange pressure gripped her. “No.” She couldn’t possibly think of anything that would make her feel better. Less guilty.
“I think of the people who would die if I don’t take that life.
” Noah’s fingers intertwined with hers, and he lifted her hand, brushing a soft kiss to her fingertips.
“I know who you saved when you killed Henry. And I will always work to be a better man for it and worthy of the choice you made.” He kissed her open palm.
His words did help, more than she’d expected them to.
She wiped away a few stray tears, then slid her hands around his neck.
“How many times am I going to find you like I did tonight? Running for your life, bloodied? You can’t keep insisting that I stay to the side.
I’d rather we face these dangers together. ”
“There’s been a marked improvement in my ability to survive accordingly.” He grimaced, feeling a cut on his temple.
Ginger was increasingly more aware of how incongruous her state of dress was to the conversation. Her wet towel hung limply around her waist, but, other than that, she wore nothing. And while she should have felt self-conscious, she was strangely comfortable even like this.
Comfortable and now very aware of how much she wanted him.
She moistened her lips, not wanting to end their conversation just yet. She pulled up the towel, covering her breasts.
A warm smile hinted in Noah’s gaze. “It’s good you did that. I was finding myself increasingly more distracted.” He lowered his lips to the soft spot of her neck, just below her earlobe and jaw.
She murmured a lusty response, tilting her cheek away to surrender to the feeling of his lips.
“You’re already worthy of the choice I made, Noah.
” Her lips curved upward, her body tingling at his touch.
“I never should have let you doubt it. I wanted to return to you immediately and apologize. But the same pride you accused me of stopped me. I kept imagining Victoria in your arms and tormenting myself.”
“What must I do to convince you that Victoria means nothing to me?” Drawing his legs onto the bed, Noah tilted her back onto the mattress, sliding one hand over her naked hip.
Something about the movement was unbelievably alluring, revealing the powerful muscles of his torso and arms. His eyes were dark and passionate as he lowered his mouth to hers, catching her mouth in an open kiss.
Their tongues collided, and she closed her eyes.
She loved his taste, the fullness of his mouth against hers.
She melted back against the pillow, the kiss growing in fervor as he cupped her breasts.
One of his hands glided to her flat belly, then lower still. His fingertips grazed her hips.
She barely noticed as he unbuttoned his trousers and pushed them from his own hips. He guided himself inside her effortlessly, her desire for him so intense that she gasped, then pulled him closer. “Noah, my love,” she moaned, her hips rising to meet him.
“My God, rohi …” His hands slid into hers and he pinned her hands above her head, stretching out over her as he moved within her. His mouth found hers in a breathless kiss, and she moaned against his lips.
She didn’t want the moment to end, didn’t want him to leave her. Being connected to him intimately was everything she’d needed, especially at a time like this, and an unexpected tear slid from the corner of her eye, down her temple, and pooled in her ear.
“I love you,” she murmured, pulling her lips away and kissing his jaw, then his neck. “And you’re my life now. My all.”
“I love you too, my beautiful wife.” Noah’s hands were tighter against hers.
She wrapped her legs around his waist, clinging to him as they found a steady rhythm together. As he brought her closer to a climax, she moaned.
At last, she cried out, as her entire body trembled, tingling from her feet to the deepest part of her core. He groaned as he finished, and they stilled together. Then Noah rolled onto the bed at her side.
They lay beside each other, panting. She had been freezing before. Now her entire body felt flushed. She rolled over toward him and kissed his shoulder.
However reckless it might have been to take the time to make love at a moment of urgency like this, she didn’t regret it.
This moment was all they had. She traced her fingers over his arm.
The pruned flesh of her fingertips had faded.
“I must admit I was angry with you for sending me away tonight. Not just because I wanted to stay with you. It seemed odd that you were willing to leave me vulnerable.”
Noah drew a deep breath, then rolled onto his hip, facing her. “I hired a man to follow you and keep you safe. It made it easier for me to send you away.”
How had she never seen the man? She smirked. He would have done something like that. The thought only endeared him to her more. “Why did you do that?”
“Because I feel strongly drawn to protect what’s mine.” He leaned forward and kissed the tip of her nose.
His. She looked down at the ring on her finger.
She crawled away from him and went to the trunk she’d brought with her.
She opened it, squinting at the contents in the darkness.
She found the pouch where she’d stored his mother’s ring.
After placing it on her other hand, she came back to him.
He’d watched her silently, but his eyes were warm.
“I’m sorry I took it off,” she said sheepishly.
“I promise I’ll never do it again. Now I have two wedding rings. ”
He stood and went over to the fireplace, where he grabbed a bag and removed a galabeyah. “I have a burqa here for you and we should hurry. But there’s something I must tell you. Something only a handful of people know about me. You should know before I take you fleeing into the path of danger.”