Authors: Gloria Harchar
"
Oh!
"
she cried, startled. She tried to draw her legs together, but his hips were in the way.
"
Shhh. It
'
s all right. Last night you wanted to know if there was more, and you were right. There is.
"
He stroked her.
The sensations were so acute, she
almost jumped off the table.
His growl sounded feral, reverberated down her spine.
"
You are so very wet.
"
She was, she realized. Everything melted as he explored the delicate folds of her femininity. Magic, pure and wonderful, swept her off the ground until she was flying as high as any
faery creature
.
Experimentally she wiggled her hips against his hand and he groaned, the sound almost agony. Then he entered her with his finger.
"
This is where I
'
ll plant my seed to create my heir.
"
"
Oh
ye
s,
"
she responded, desire making her giddy. Her legs were spread quite wide of their own volition. She wanted more. A large bulge strained against the front of his trousers.
"
You
'
ll need to take those off. We need that special ingredient from you. Your seed.
"
She reached forward, but her hand tangled in the ribbon of one of her more difficult creations.
"
Cogs
!
"
She held up the flattened hat
, bits of starfish crumbling off her palms
.
"
Oh, well. Perhaps
Glissando
was right. I
'
m not good at making hats. My destiny is to spend
time with you
now, making
babes
.
"
His e
ye
s widened and he stepped back.
Nicola
felt his withdrawal as keen as a slap.
"
What
'
s wrong?
"
She knew he wanted her. She could see the evidence straining against his pants. Why wouldn
'
t he accept what his body craved? Why didn
'
t he accept her?
"
You
'
re still not ready for lovemaking.
"
"
What? My
crescendo
?
"
she asked, feeling bewildered.
He ran a hand through his dark hair.
"
Damnation.
"
She arranged her skirts to cover her legs again, feeling like a fledgling who had been pushed out of the nest but didn
'
t know up from down.
"
I thought you said I was
..
. um
, wet. Isn
'
t that enough?
"
"
Blast.
"
He cleared his throat and ran a finger under his cravat.
"
Unfortunately,
Nicola
, we need to wait longer.
And I need to get back to the dye
house.
"
He strode out of the shop, his walk
uncharacteristically
jerky.
She looked after him for a long time. Something dark and poisonous was buried inside her husband. Perhaps he would never truly accept her.
But then she recalled his expression. She wouldn
'
t have believed it, but the Black Falcon could blush. And that small evidence of vulnerability gave her hope.
"
I
'
m telling you, Bea, the Black Falcon is mindlessly in love. There
'
s no other explanation for his tolerance of her hat making.
"
Nicola
froze in her stooped position behind Mr. Farrier
'
s display of shoes.
Another woman clucked her tongue.
"
I cannot see him smitten. Perhaps there
'
s another reason. We knew him as a boy, and he was always a manipulator. There
'
s got to be some ulterior motive. He can
'
t be in love—at least not the kind of love we know. A man who cou
ld kill his brother for a title
...
"
A rooster gave a little crow and landed on the floor next to
Nicola
.
"
Come here, Gladys,
"
the first
woman
said. Amazingly enough, the rooster obe
ye
d.
"
But legend says that the Callers can tame even the most dangerous of beasts.
"
The second voice sounded nearer.
"
It
'
s true,
Nicola
'
s hats are horrendous. Although, like her father, she does seem to have a sense of color.
"
Nicola
had hoped they wouldn
'
t see her behind the desk, but she realized she would have to put a stop to their gossip. Besides, she
'
d decided two days ago, on her opening day, that the millinery was all wrong for her. She would face her critics head-on.
"
Thank you, ladies, for enlightening me,
"
she said, standing up.
Both women jumped. The rooster squawked.
Nicola
was amused to see the gossips
'
faces turn the color of the comb on the rooster. The fat one wore all green. Her skinny friend wore all
ye
llow. The green one recovered first.
"
Oh, my dear, we didn
'
t know you were here. We
'
re so, so sorry for our
thoughtless comments
.
"
Both women appeared about to cry. In fact, the second let out a pitiful wail.
Nicola
gave them her most pleasant smile.
"
That
'
s quite all right, ladies."
The first woman
'
s pudgy lips wobbled, then she rubbed her large stomach as if to give comfort to herself. It was an oddly familiar motion.
"
Lady
Nicola
, you know we have your best interests at heart.
"
"
Rest assured, I do. And I
'
ve wanted a straight answer. However, everyone is worried about my feelings, including my husband.
"
The fat woman looked at her skinny friend significantly.
The skinny one named Bea widened her small e
ye
s.
"
Are you serious? Your
husband
is worried about your feelings?
"
Nicola
realized she
was
serious.
Malcolm
was protecting her, and he
'
d gone to great lengths to keep her distracted from her failure. She still burned when she recalled how he
'
d touched her. Why had he when he
'
d announced the night before that they would wait a fortnight? The only reason was because he wanted to comfort her. The thought warmed her—increased her hope for their future. The elderly women looked at each other, nodding. The one
with spiked hair
adjusted
the
rooster under her arm.
"
Lady
Nicola
, I
'
m ashamed to say that we were
gossiping about
you in the cloth shop a few days ago. The Black—er, Lord Falconwood heard our opinions of your shop. It
'
s true. The pixies have worked their magic on him, and he
'
s beginning to fall in love with you.
"
"
I don
'
t know about that, but I do know he is terribly misunderstood.
"
"
He is?
"
the
spiked-haired
woman exclaimed.
"
In what way?
"
"
I think he
'
s been blamed for everything, even as a boy. The old Earl always favored his
older son, William, you know.
"
The rooster and its owner cocked their heads at the same time.
"
That is true.
"
Nicola
nodded.
"
It
'
s understandable that the villagers around here always thought
Malcolm
killed his brother. Why, even his own father accused him, going berserk in his grief after the accident.
"