Edge of Time (Langston Brothers Series) (14 page)

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*
             
*

“Kirsten!” Molly Jamison whispere
d sharply to her daughter
.
“I thought you were handling Dr. Langston.”

Annoyed, Kirsten spun from the shop window she’d been peering through. The lavender ribbon
sitting
in the front was
exactly
the shade she’d been searching for.
“I am, Mother.
I can’t help it if the man is busy every night and turns down every invitation to d
inner
.”

“Well, he doesn’t
appear
busy at the moment.”

“
What
?” Kirsten spun around, her gaze instantly honing in
on the towering figure of Craig Langston.
He was impossible to miss
with those amazingly broad shoulders and the fine cut of his uniform. Why… the thought fizzled in her mind
as the sight of Craig walking arm in arm with the woman from the hospital
materialized before her
.
Kirsten could have spit fire.
From her vantage point on the stre
et corner it was obvious Craig hung on her every word.

The man was rich, incredibly good looking, a doctor and, oh, had she said
rich
? More like rolling in money. In light of her father’s waning funds Kirsten and her mother had seized the opportunity to pursue him, no holds barred
,
when he’d been transferred back to Charleston, and… the only thin
g better than becoming his wife
would be becoming his widow. All of that money.
Kirsten clenched a fist. If that
McClaffe
rty woman got in her way..
.

“Who is that young lady with Dr. Langston?”
Another woman,
Mrs. Porter
, inquired, sidling
up behind them. “I don’t believe I’ve met her.”
The
known gossip
gaped across the street with open interest.

“Oh, that is Genie Harris’s niece from Atlanta,” Molly Jamisnon said. “She works at the hospital, not as a lady volunteer, but as something of an... orderly. A common drudge.” Her nose wrinkled in distaste. “I’m amazed you haven’t heard about her before this.”

“As am I,” Kirsten said. “Why, rumors have been flying about for several weeks.” Kirsten, having started those rumors herself, had been delighted in the way they’d grown and spread.

“Ah... Even out on the farm, I’ve heard bits and pieces about a most unladylike young woman from Atlanta working at
the hospital,” Mrs. Porter murmured
. “So that is the one, is it?” Her round eyes flic
ked left and right as her voice dropped
. “Dr. Langston appears quite taken with the girl.”

“He most certainly is not.
At least
not i
n any proper way.
” Kirsten snorted, more than prepared to cast further aspersions on the other t
he woman’s reputation. “S
he
is not
from Atlanta
either
. She is from the north.
”
With that declaration even Mrs. Porter fell dead silent. “
Since you haven’t met her, you haven’t heard her accent. It is quite obvious.
And you know,” Kirsten added confidingly, knowing the story she was about to impart would be all over Charleston before the end of the next day, “she’s been seen leaving the quarters of several different officers, quite often late at night.”

“Oh my.” Mrs. Porter clapped a hand to her mouth. “And Genie Harris’s niece? I never would have imagined, though I think we all suspect where Genie’s true sympathies lie.
After all
,
think of
how she’s befriended that pair who w
ork for her. You don’t think her
niece could be
—
” Mrs. Porter’s
eyes widened in horrified speculation.

“What? Slipping into the beds of our officers to gain information to leak to the Yankees?” Kirsten now had the attention of several citizens passing by on the street. The tone and tenor of her voice rose. “I have heard that, and truly, is it so hard to believe she’s the sort of woman to make ‘special’ house calls as some of the men have been saying? And,” her eyes swept the eager bystanders dramatically, “what better place to work than in an army hospital if you’re searching for information about enemy troops?”

The reaction of the group gathered round was more than she could have hoped for. Oh, yes, this Marissa McClafferty would be little more than a bump in
the road to snaring
Craig Langston and his money. With any luck, Craig would learn of the rumors an
d be done with the little trollop
by the end of the week.

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“Please tell me where we’re going!” Marissa begged in good-natured excitement as Craig led her to the outskirts of the city.

“I told you it’s a surprise.” He winked down at her and leaned close as though to tell her a
secret, his warm breath tickling
her ear. “We’re almost there, I promise.” His lips lingered and she felt him brush them across her hair. As they approached the embankment along the seaside she wondered at the wisdom of letting him bri
ng her to his secluded place… alone. In this day and age
a woman had little more than her
reputation.

Craig
led her up a narrow trail along the top of the bluff
,
glancing
back every so often
to
grin as she gazed in amazement at the indescribable landscape surrounding them.

Taking advantage of the solitude,
Marissa released his arm and slipped her fingers
intimately
thro
ugh his, giving his hand a gentle squeeze
.
He returned the gesture, dropping to an even more l
eisurely
pace, their linked arms swinging between them. Craig
wove
t
hrough a small grove of trees, never letting go of her hand, and then into a grassy clearing overlooking the glittering expanse of the ocean.

Marissa released his hand and walked forward. “Breathtaking,” she
murmured
, eyes sweeping the unruffled water spreading endlessly before them. The sunlight glittered across the glassy surface and the salty air brushed her face in a gentle caress. Closing her eyes, she relished the warm mixture of the sun and the
wind, breathing
deeply. At this moment, even if it was for only the briefe
st of instants,
contentment settled in her breast
.

Craig’s strong hands came upon her shoulders and a moment later
he kissed
the sensitive skin along the side of her throat. His fingers brushed a stray tress from the back of her collar and his lips touched the slope of her neck at the very base where every nerve ending seemed to center. Her skin tingled in anticipation of his touch and she turned to him. No thoughts of work or time travel or holding herself from him entered her mind. Right now she was content simply to be with him.

“I come here to be alone and think,” he whispered, placing a soft kiss just above her eye. Tenderly, he brushed a windblown hair from her throat as his lips moved to her cheek. “I thought you might need a place of your own as well.”

They stood so close
the heat resonating from his body sent
ting
les dancing
across her ski
n. H
e kissed the delicate flesh
at the corner of her mouth
and the tingles shot straight to her brain
. Her lips parted in response,
warm, ready. “It’s true,” she whispered, closing her eyes as he kissed the other corner of her mouth. “There are times when I
am
completely overwhelmed by life. I need a place like this.” She tilted her neck
, responding without thought
as h
is lips
slid an intoxicating
trail
down the gentle slope of her throat. His fingers ran
light paths
up and down her spine until she fairly shivered. “Thank you for sharing your special place with me.”

Lifting her into his arms, Craig
’s piercing blue gaze bore into her
eyes
with such smoldering emotion her breath froze
. “There is so much more I want to share with you,” he said. “
God help me, Marissa, y
ou feel so good in
my arm
.”

A heady combination of desire, delight and passion swirled through veins, leaving her light headed and more than a little foolish. She twined her fingers through his hair, angling her face in to meet his lips. “Kiss me.”

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Craig was only too happy to
oblige. He kissed her once more full on the mouth,
keeping his touch soft, tender, inviting.
She
tremble
d
.

Cradling her against him he settled her back into the soft bed of tall grass, pressing his mouth more insistently against hers. Her lips were made of the most pliable velvet and he drank in the sweetness of them. Her hair was smoother than silk and it tickled his face. Her skin was pale like fresh cream and he caressed it. And her eyes, oh those eyes, like warm liquid pools of the nighttime sky, they could pull him into oblivion if he wasn’t careful. He didn’t want to be careful. He just wanted Marissa…

“Marissa,” he murmured against her lips.

Craig had never known it could hurt to want a woman, but at this moment
he ached for her. His chest
grew
tight, his fingers thick and awkward, and he didn’t just want her… he
needed
her.
After all the horrors he’d seen in recent years she was the one shining beacon of good in his life.
For only a m
oment he pulled back, clasping
her hand to
chest. She lay before him, her eyes wide and trusting, and when he leaned forward to kiss her throat once more he could feel the rapid flutter of her pulse.
It matched the pounding of his own.