Panting slightly, Faylinn launched herself at Bridget, laughing when Bridget staggered a bit but still caught her easily. "I missed you!"
"Hello, dearest," Bridget greeted her joyfully, tipping back her broad-brimmed black hat and opening her arms just in time to catch Faylinn. "Whoa! I missed you too." Bridget hugged her tightly, closing her eyes and pressing her nose into soft hair, before setting her bundle down gently. She laid a palm on Faylinn’s protruding stomach and smiled broadly when she felt the baby kick hard enough to make her hand jump.
"Uuf!" Faylinn’s eyes widened a little at the sudden jolt. "Why must you make him do that? He’s a baby not a kicking mule," she complained, secretly pleased that Bridget continued to treat her pregnancy as though it were a cherished blessing. She rested her hand atop of Bridget’s and stroked it gently.
Bridget cleared her throat and proceeded with her familiar correction. "
She
was just glad to see me and wanted to show it." Blue eyes twinkled. "Like her mama."
Faylinn nodded and locked eyes with Bridget. "Like me," she agreed softly.
Will rode by the women, intentionally making as much noise as possible by snapping the reins and stamping his feet against the buckboards. "Don’t pay any mind to me, Faylinn. That’s fine." He stroked his newly grown whiskers. "I don’t mind a bit. I’m just passing through on the way to my lovely wife, who is likely to make me shave before I even get a kiss hello. But that’s all right," he called over his shoulder. "Don’t mind me."
Faylinn waved absently at Will, her eyes never leaving Bridget. "Hi, Will."
The man just shook his head. Those two only had eyes for each other. When Katie caught sight of Will’s new beard she turned on her heels and stamped into the house. He let loose a string of curse words that made even Bridget blush.
"Are you hungry?" Faylinn asked, wrapping her arm around Bridget’s and guided her towards the stables.
"Starving." Bridget slowed her step so that her stride would match Faylinn’s. "We didn’t take time to hunt while we there, and I detest Katie’s jerky, which is more fat than meat."
"Eww. And to think that I was eating fresh venison that someone, who shall remain nameless, killed, dressed and left hanging in the kitchen before she left."
"Sounds like you’re a very lucky woman."
Faylinn stuck her nose in the air in a snooty gesture that unerringly drew both women’s mind back to the life they’d left behind in London. "I think so."
"Except for one thing."
"Which is?"
"You’re standing next to someone who smells worse than Will’s mules," Bridget replied flatly. "I need a bath before anything else. Though you’ve been nice enough not to comment so far, I know that I stink!"
Faylinn stopped and pressed herself up against Bridget. She made a show of sniffing the other woman’s neck and pressed the tip of her nose into the skin exposed by the V of her linen shirt. "You smell good to me," she growled, surprising herself with the sexy timbre of her own voice.
Bridget felt a bright flash of desire and swallowed hard. "I-um… You can kiss me there again," she squeaked as Faylinn’s lips grazed her pulse point.
"All right," Faylinn answered happily, dropping another tender kiss on the spot. "But let’s go inside first. I think Will is going to fall out of his cart if he leans over any further to watch us."
"Bloody pervert!" Bridget called out, drawing only a wave from an unrepentant Will. She chuckled, then drew a playful fingertip down Faylinn’s nose. It came back sweaty. Now that she bothered to look, the younger woman looked flushed. She pressed her palm against Faylinn’s forehead as she checked for fever, not that she would know anything but the most extreme of fevers if she felt it. She did feel warm and her hands and trousers were stained with dirt. She scowled and shot Faylinn a stern look. "You need a bath as badly as I do. You mustn’t overdo it, love. I’ve asked you countless times to—"
"Don’t you dare start that again. I was
not
overdoing, Bridget," Faylinn snapped crossly. "The garden won’t plant itself, you know. With Will gone, Katie needed my help."
Sensing Faylinn’s temper beginning to rear its ugly head, Bridget backed off. She wasn’t about to risk not getting a good night kiss from her beloved. "Fine." But her tone made it clear she still wasn’t happy.
Time to change the subject. She’s barely home and I don’t want to argue.
"Was the spot for the cabin as you remembered it?" Bridget and Will had gone in search of a meadow at the end of valley near a small lake that Bridget had come across while exploring the mainland last summer. It was two days’ ride from the coast, beautiful, teaming with game and fish, and most importantly it was very private.
Several times over the winter, men from neighboring farms had shown up unannounced, needing something or other and sending Bridget into hiding. After a difficult conversation with Will, Katie, and Faylinn, they’d all decided that it was simply too dangerous to remain this close to town and Cobb Island. Katie forced Bridget to swear on her mother’s grave that they’d come to visit often and Bridget had easily made the solemn promise.
"The spot was just as I remembered it." Bridget smiled and draped her arm around Faylinn’s shoulders as they continued to walk. "I was sure of its location, but I needed Will’s help in digging the well since my arm hasn’t gained back all its strength. We won’t need to live in such isolation forever, Faylinn. Just until people forget about Cyril’s death, his sister the witch, and his wife’s disappearance." They could never return to England but just maybe…. "Perhaps if we can raise enough horses to book passage to Scotland in a year or two?"
Faylinn smiled wistfully, remembering her family’s beautiful ancestral home just outside Edinburgh. It was surrounded by fields of tall grass, and an enchanting forest lay just to the south. The estate held fond memories for her, despite the fact that, because she was born in London, even her own kin called her
sassenach
when riled. "Maybe someday, when the baby wants to see where his people come from."
"Someday
she
will like that," Bridget corrected with a chuckle. They entered the stables and her eyes automatically began scanning the stalls. "Apollo?"
"Out back with the mares. I think it was a very good thing that you decided not to take him this week. He’s gotten quite close with one of the mares, though he’s mounted them both. He’s— "
"Oooo, the randy slut!" Bridget’s face lit up. "Excellent."
Faylinn’s eyebrows lifted. "I can see I’ll need to guard your honor with a sword should any eligible bachelor come our way."
"Hardly," Bridget snorted. "My heart is quite spoken for."
A tiny smile curled Faylinn’s lips. "It is?"
"Of course! You know how I feel about Will," Bridget said with a straight face.
Faylinn bumped hips with her companion and ignored Bridget’s burst of raucous laughter. "Aren’t you clever?" But she was smiling herself.
Once inside their room, Bridget tossed the saddlebag on the straw-filled mattress with a great sigh of relief. A large, split barrel, whose sides had been lined with pitch and that served as a tub, was already sitting in front of the fireplace, three-quarters full of water.
Bridget groaned in rapture just looking at it. The lake she’d bathed in three days ago had been just this side of freezing. "I’ve died and gone to heaven, and we
know
that can’t be right."
Faylinn giggled. "You said you’d be back by this afternoon. The water will only be room temperature but—"
"It will be perfect," Bridget interrupted. She pulled Faylinn close again. "Just perfect. Thank you."
Faylinn’s eyes fluttered shut as she reveled in the comforting feel of Bridget’s warm embrace. She’d done a lot of thinking over the past week, and she’d made some frightening but necessary decisions that had her pulse racing. She was tired of being afraid, and determined to move forward in her relationship with her former sister-in-law.
Faylinn had craved Bridget’s touch since she’d first seen her on the dock at Cobb Island, atop a prancing Apollo and dressed all in buckskin. Since then her feelings had grown more and more intense and she’d found herself wanting… something. Something more. Though she wasn’t exactly sure what that could be.
They’d shared tender kisses and snuggled together nightly, but between Bridget’s injuries, the resulting infection, and the nausea that had accompanied the early months of her pregnancy, things hadn’t gone any farther. To make matters worse, since Bridget found out she was pregnant, the older woman treated her as if she was made of spun glass and would break under the slightest handling.
If I have to continue to wait for you to start… whatever it is two women can start, I’ll go stark-raving mad! I’ve seen the way you look at me, Bridget. The way you react to my touch… my kiss. The way you watch me from the corner of your eye when you think I’m not looking.
This, she decided, was something they both wanted. Now she just had to have the courage to make it happen.
"Why don’t we bath together?" Faylinn suggested innocently. She fixed her eyes on the laces of Bridget’s rough-spun shirt and gave them a gentle tug, holding her breath as she waited for an answer.
"Uh… Bu…" Bridget mumbled stupidly, clearly startled. "Together?"
Since when do we bath together? By God, that would involve being naked with her. I might die just thinking about it.
"That way we won’t have to empty the water after you’re finished," Faylinn countered sensibly. You did say we both needed a bath, if I recall."
Bridget tried to keep her voice even. "All right." She looked at the barrel. "It will be a tight fit."
"I don’t mind being close to you."
Faylinn looked up into Bridget’s eyes and the darker woman knew that all was lost. She would do anything Faylinn asked. She couldn’t help herself. Bridget swallowed again, afraid that if she actually tried to speak she would ramble on like a dullard who’d never laid eyes on a pretty girl before, which was exactly how she felt at this very moment.
Get hold of yourself. You’ve seen her undressed before. Mostly.
"I don’t mind that either, Faylinn." She smiled affectionately. "Though if you’re going to join me, then perhaps I should heat the water."
Faylinn just shook her head. "I’ll warrant our joined body heat will warm the water up nicely. I’m not worried." She bent over and stuck her fingers into the tub, then brought her hand back to Bridget’s lips and painted them with the cool water. "It’s not that bad, is it?"
Bridget’s knees turned to jelly and she shook her head. "Not at all." Her voice cracked on the last word.
"It’s settled then." Faylinn moved to a small trunk at the foot of their bed, praying her legs didn’t appear as wobbly as they felt. Opening the trunk she removed a large bar of soap and a scrap of linen. She could hear Bridget undressing behind her and felt her pulse quicken, but decided not to turn around.
Let her get into the tub. I don’t want her to think that I… Well, I
do
want her to think that…. Oh, God. I don’t know what I want her to think!
She let out a frustrated breath and calmed her shaking hands.
"You were right," Bridget sighed as she lowered herself into the tub. She could just barely stretch out her long legs and she wiggled her toes in pleasure. Faylinn seemed to be taking her time at the trunk, so she dunked her head underwater and came up after several seconds, smoothing her hair back with both hands.
Faylinn took a deep breath and turned around just in time to see Bridget emerging from the water. "Oh, my." She nearly dropped the soap.
Bridget wiped the water from her eyes but didn’t open them. "Aren’t you coming in?" she murmured. "It’s divine."
Unabashed, Faylinn stared at Bridget’s wet, naked body. Firm breasts were half submerged in the cool water, and the room’s partially open shutters allowed in just enough sunlight to paint golden stripes across glistening skin.
Divine is an understatement.
Transfixed, she crossed the few steps to the tub and moved behind Bridget, bending to dunk the linen into the water. She settled on her knees, idly musing that men’s trousers were more convenient for just about everything. Looking appreciatively at the expanse of naked skin before her, Faylinn soaped the wet cloth then gently rubbed it over broad shoulders, dipping down for more water and repeating the process tenderly. This intimate act had become routine between them and neither woman wanted to stop it, even when Bridget’s arm was healed enough so that she could easily take over the job.
Bridget forgot to censor herself and a deep, lusty moan escaped her throat as nerve-endings all over her body flared to life under Faylinn’s gentle touch.
The unexpected sound caused a flood of moisture between Faylinn’s thighs and she shifted uncomfortably, recognizing these first strains of arousal as the familiar signals her body sent her whenever they kissed. Losing herself in the moment, she groaned quietly in response, then blushed when she heard herself.
Bridget’s eyes popped open and she completely misinterpreted the sound. She realized the shorter woman’s hands had stilled and felt a pang of guilt over taking advantage of Faylinn’s kindness for her own pleasure. She reached up and grasped Faylinn’s hand. "Thank you, dearest. But my arm is healed now." She hesitated only briefly before forcing herself on. "I can do this from now on. You needn’t trouble yourself."