Into the Woods (34 page)

"Johnny," she whispered, stepping forward. The step was a small one, since the drawers around her ankles impeded her. Cool air on her breast reminded her that the nipple Raleigh had suckled was still exposed. She righted the bodice quickly. "This is not what it seems to be." Out of the corner of her eye she saw Raleigh fasten his trousers and pull at his ripped shirt. He was dazed, smiling, paying no attention at all to her conversation.

Johnny stepped back into the hallway. "I heard what happened at Matilda's place tonight. Wendell and Reggie stopped by the saloon on their way out of town and told the most outrageous story. They said you planned the whole thing. Tell me it's not true." His blue eyes looked sad, angry, distant.

"She didn't die, so what difference does it make?" Vanessa said impatiently. She lowered her gaze to rest below his belt line and licked her lips. She glanced behind her to see that Raleigh sat in his chair, eyes closed. He looked like he was about to doze off, if he hadn't already. The dear man.

Johnny shook his head. "I can't believe I ever thought I loved you," he whispered. "I don't know you at all."

She gave him her most seductive smile. The smile that always drove him wild. "You still love me," she said softly. "You know you do." It was the one constant in her life. Johnny loved her; he would do anything for her.

He shook his head. "No. I don't love you anymore."

She didn't believe him. He had always loved her! She glanced at Raleigh to make sure he wasn't listening. He was not asleep, but sat in his chair with a stunned expression on his face as he fiddled absently with the shirt she'd ripped. She took a few small steps closer to Johnny, her normally graceful step hampered by the linen around her ankles.

Maybe she did love Raleigh, but at the moment she needed more. "I want you, Johnny," she whispered. "Make love to me."

If anything, the man who had always loved her looked more repulsed than before. "Good-bye, Vanessa," he said, and then he turned his back on her and walked away.

"But, Johnny..." she began. He didn't answer or even turn to look at her. He stalked to the front door and walked boldly into the storm. How dare he dismiss her like this! How dare he refuse her!

She sighed and wrinkled her nose, dismissing her former lover. She didn't love Johnny, she never had, but she would miss him.

Disappointed, she turned about to see Raleigh standing before the sofa, two glasses of wine in his hands and a satisfied smile on his face. She forgot all about Johnny as she studied the majesty of Raleigh's tall, thin frame, the intensity of his pale eyes. Something in her heart lurched as she looked at him. This was love, real, true love as she'd never hoped to feel it.

It was a shock to realize that she'd do anything for this man. Anything! Her body throbbed in time with her heart as she kicked her drawers aside and joined him.

* * *

Matilda sat in a chair that had been pulled close to the table so she could see Declan's face. She'd removed the bullet, cleaned the wound, stitched the gaping hole shut, and bandaged it with some of Granny's favorite salve to prevent infection.

But still Declan didn't wake. She couldn't possibly move him to the bed by herself, and no matter what had happened here tonight, no one would be coming to help. The storm was too vicious, and once Henry and Wendell and Reggie and the rainmaker spread their tales and everyone knew their worst suspicions about Matilda Candy were true, she'd have no friends left who'd want to help, anyway.

At that thought, a crack of thunder shook the cottage. Still Declan didn't open his eyes.

She reached out and touched his cheek. There was no fever, not yet, but fever was likely later in the night, perhaps tomorrow. A little fever was all right, it would fight infection, but too much would be as hurtful as the bullet that had torn into his flesh.

"You came," she whispered, leaving her hand on his cheek. "I didn't think you would, I didn't dare even hope." Now that her work was done, she could admit how scared she'd been. She could not even imagine the kind of hate that Henry and the others had to possess. They would have gladly burned her alive tonight, with no regrets. They'd watched and proceeded with interest, but no misgivings. She didn't understand, she didn't want to understand.

She remembered screaming Declan's name, watching the storm move in, realizing that she was the one who'd brought the rain.

"Where will I go?" she whispered, expecting no answer. "I can't stay here, not now. Everyone will know what I am. Those who were suspicious before will be terrified of me. The few friends I managed to make won't want to have anything to do with me. And one night, more men like Henry will knock on my door and they'll try to kill me again. Maybe they'll succeed next time."

Where would she go? She didn't know, couldn't make plans right now. But she did know she couldn't stay here.

Declan slowly opened his eyes. She could see the puzzlement there, as he remembered all that had happened.

"How do you feel?" she whispered.

"I don't know," he mumbled, then his eyebrows scrunched together. "It hurts."

"When you can move, I want to get you to bed," Matilda said softly. "You need to sleep."

"I need to talk to you," he said hoarsely.

"Sleep first. Can you move?"

She used all her strength to support Declan as he left the table. He put his arm around her and leaned into her, and they walked, inching their way one slow step at a time toward the bedroom. Declan did not try to talk as they walked; she suspected it took every ounce of strength he had to remain on his feet. If he fell, she would not be able to catch him. He was too big, too heavy.

They reached the bed without incident, and Declan climbed in and laid, once again, on his stomach. He was unconscious before she could get the quilt over him.

* * *

"But you don't understand," Vanessa cooed as she set her empty glass aside and perched on Raleigh's knee, squirming gently. "I still want you. I still need you."

"Maybe tomorrow," he said, sleepy and satisfied.

Tomorrow? Not likely. "Now," she said reaching down to touch the limp bulge in his trousers. "You had your pleasure, now I want mine."

He smiled and speared his fingers through her hair, pulling her to him for a quick kiss that did not last nearly long enough to suit her. "My sweet, innocent Vanessa," he whispered. Oh, his voice was wonderful. Masculine, hypnotic, seductive. "Women don't enjoy intimate relations the way men do, especially not ladies like you. Female climax during the sex act is a myth."

She knew that wasn't true, but how could she tell him so without telling him details about her relationship with Johnny? She'd told him that they had only kissed, and he apparently believed that to be true. If she told him more, if she told him to do to her what Johnny had...

Maybe he wouldn't care about the past. Could she take that chance? At the moment she was terrified, terrified, that she might lose Raleigh. Life would not be worth living without him. "But Raleigh..."

"Darling." He laid his hand lovingly on her cheek. That hand was oddly cold, still. "I've been having relations with women for nigh onto twenty years. I've been with more than a hundred gals, and I've never seen it happen." He smiled. "Trust me. I know more about the intimate goings on between men and women than you do."

Judging by their quick encounter, she doubted that. And still, this was the man she wanted. She gave Johnny a brief second thought, but dismissed him without a qualm. That was over. She had Raleigh, now.

She expertly flicked open the buttons of his trousers and slipped her hand inside to find what she so desired. Yes, he did have a rather small male member, but as she stroked, he began to grow. A little. Men adored her, they gave her what she wanted. Always. Raleigh would be no different.

"I can feel an extraordinary sensation growing inside me, Raleigh," she whispered, biting lightly on his ear. "I'm almost there, I'm on the edge of something powerful and wondrous."

She took Raleigh's hand and very gently, as if she were shy, placed it between her spread legs. "Touch me," she commanded. "Stroke me where I burn for you." He did nothing. "If you'd like, you can kiss me there," she whispered.

"Oh, Vanessa, I couldn't ever..." Raleigh sputtered, but he did grow harder in her hand.

"Yes, you can."

His hand lay motionless between her legs, when what she longed for was a masterful stroke that would bring her to completion. He seemed not to know what to do with what he held in his hands. No matter. His manhood grew with every passing heartbeat, as she stroked and plucked and teased. Soon she would have what she wanted.

"Make love to me again, Raleigh," she commanded, tossing her annoying skirt up and whipping one leg around so she straddled him, bringing his arousal closer to the aching need that burned deeper and harder than she'd ever imagined it could. Stroking to make him grow. "I love you. I want you inside me again. And again. And again."

Raleigh's eyes rolled back in his head. His lips quivered and a touch of saliva dribbled down his chin. Vanessa continued to stroke, since he was not yet completely hard. She'd touched Johnny this way a thousand times. This was not what an aroused man was supposed to feel like. But Raleigh twitched, and grew, and hardened. As she stroked, she had great hopes that soon... soon... yes, now.

Without warning, Raleigh spent himself outside her body, dripping spittle from his lips and bucking beneath her before she had a chance to guide his arousal into her eager body. Just as she was about to scream in frustration, someone screamed for her. "Vanessa!"

She glanced over her shoulder. "Daddy?"

Chapter 24

Declan opened his eyes at the sound of a clap of nearby thunder. Almost at the same instant a flash of lightning lit the night sky and the room in which he rested.

Matilda sat on the floor at his bedside, her face lifted to watch him. In the twinkling of white light that streaked through the room, she looked ghostly.

"You're awake," she whispered as the room returned to near darkness. A single lamp, on the floor beside Matilda, burned low.

His eyelids were heavy, his body warm. "Not for long, I'm afraid."

"Sleep," she whispered. "You need your rest."

"Not yet," he breathed.

Matilda came up on her knees, placing her face close to his. She still wore wet clothes, her hair hung in damp, waving strands around her face, and there were streaks of blood, his he imagined, on her blouse. He remembered how he'd found her tonight, and his heart damn near stopped. "I couldn't do it," he said, reaching out to touch her face.

"There's no need to talk now," she insisted. "Rest tonight. Tomorrow we'll talk."

He tried to shake his head and found he could not. "Now, Matilda. Tonight, when I sat across from Vanessa Arrington and watched her lift that potion to her lips, I suddenly realized that nothing in the world, not even the revenge I've dreamed of all my life, is worth the sacrifice I was willing to make."

"You decided too late," she whispered.

Again he tried to shake his head and couldn't. "No. I knocked the glass out of her hand before she could drink. I was coming here for you even before the twins burst in and told me what was happening."

"You were?"

He was able to nod gently.

Tears filled her eyes. He had never seen her cry before; she was so strong, so damned tough.

Maybe not so tough, after all. "It doesn't matter," she said, tears in her voice. "Granny was right. I'm a witch, Declan. I made it rain."

"Doesn't matter," he said weakly.

"Doesn't matter?" she snapped, her voice soft and angry. "I can't stay here. I can't get married, I can't fall in love, I can't have children...."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm a freak," she whispered. "I can make it snow in July, I can bring on storms that will wash Tanglewood away, thunder that shakes the strongest house." Her voice cracked. "I will never be normal, I will never have an ordinary life."

"Normal is highly overrated," Declan said, trying to keep the tone of his strained voice light. "Ordinary is boring."

She didn't argue with him, but she didn't agree, either. "Get to sleep."

"Do you still love me, Matilda?" Declan asked as he closed his eyes. He had to know if he'd ruined everything, if he'd come to his senses too late.

She hesitated, and then laid her hand on his cheek. "I can't. I want to, Declan, I really do. But I can't love you or anyone else."

He would be crushed, if he didn't hear the hurt and the lie in her voice. She did love him, still. Somehow everything was going to be all right. He fell asleep with her hand on his cheek.

* * *

Vanessa and Raleigh were married in the Arrington parlor that very night, as outside the storm raged around them. Vanessa wore her white gown with the wine stain and Raleigh's saliva over one breast. She distantly noticed the stain and the way her skirt hung askew and the way her hair fell in disarray around her face. Her drawers remained on the floor nearby where she'd kicked them a while ago.