The Raging Hearts: The Coltrane Saga, Book 2 (34 page)

“I’m sorry, boss.” Rance shook his head in dejection. “I really am. I’m going out to the bunkhouse right now and beat the shit out of those guys.”

“And start the other hands to talking and wondering what’s going on? Not to mention the nigras and how they’d gossip all over the county. No! I’ll say something to them myself and let them know I’m disturbed and angry over the way things were handled. But for now, let’s just try to keep things quiet.”

“Yeah, you’re right. At least we took care of old man Mooney without a fuss. I was in town today and heard somebody in the saloon talking, saying they’d heard he’d disappeared. They figured he just finally went nuts and wandered off. That’s the way you said they’d figure it, boss.”

“What did you actually do with him?”

“Coot shot him, and then we tied rocks on him and dumped him in the, river. Nice and clean. All you got to do now is show up with that tax certificate and claim the property as yours.”

“Not for a while I don’t. We’ve got to lay low. Federal marshals are going to be coming in soon, and I imagine the first item of business the good citizens of Goldsboro will place before them will be the rape of the good widow Glass. They won’t concern themselves over Mooney. You can bet Danton is going to be furious about the cross burning. He knows it was meant to put the blame on him, and he’ll try to put the marshals on our trail because of the cross. So we have to be extremely careful, Rance. You pass the word along to the boys, and I’ll speak to them myself in a few days, like I said. I don’t want any of you even going into town. Just lay low. No one will suspect anything if things are at a standstill around here. After all, I have just married, and we have a lavish party coming up in a few weeks. After the party, we’ll move back to normal, and I can claim Mooney’s land and make the pitch to the widow Glass. She should be all right by then.”

“Yeah, sure, boss, anything you say.” Rance retrieved his hat from the floor, then flashed a knowing grin. “If that’s all for now, I guess you’d like me to leave so you can take care of some, uh, other things.”

Corey did not return his smile.

“Good night, Rance.” His tone was curt.

When he was finally alone, Corey gazed into the crackling fire and sipped the rest of his drink slowly. Dr. Sims had said it would be several weeks before Kitty was strong enough for the excitement of a large wedding, so there had been a simple ceremony with only the parson and his wife in attendance.

He thought about the huge party that was being planned to celebrate the marriage. Everyone of any wealth or stature, political or social, had been invited. He knew that he and Kitty would be acknowledged quickly as a couple of high station.

A complete orchestra had been engaged from Raleigh. Hugo was, of course, in charge of food and drink, and the spread would be lavish. Corey had ordered expensive silver trays as gifts for each couple, with his and Kitty’s names engraved on them and the date of their marriage. It would be a party that people would talk about for months.

Things were going his way, and it was time for the fulfillment of his greatest desire. Now, with the ache of longing, he knew he could wait no longer. She was his—like this house, this land, she belonged to him. She would bend to him. He would be gentle these first nights, not wanting to frighten her. She was still weak. He would be content with tame loving for the time being and keep that trunk hidden in the back of his closet. There would be time for his treasures later. Lots of time.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Kitty stood at the partially opened door leading to the veranda, staring through misty eyes into the somber night. Her nails dug into her clenched hands, but she was not aware of the pain. No, the real agony came from within.

If it weren’t for little John, perhaps she would have walked out onto the veranda and hurled herself over the edge. She shook her head from side to side. There had to be some way of coping. Perhaps Corey really did love her.

“Maybe it isn’t as terrible as it seems,” she whispered, squeezing her eyes shut as tears began to sting. “He professes to love the baby. He swears he loves me. Maybe we will be happy. Maybe one day I won’t think of Travis every moment of my life.

“Darling?”

She whirled about to gasp at Corey standing only a few feet away. He had come through the door between their two bedrooms without a sound. Had he heard her anguished whispers? His eyes glittered. Was it anger or desire?

He stepped closer. “Darling, I’m sorry I was detained. One of my men had important business with me, but I cursed every moment that kept us apart. I’ve dreamed of this moment for so long…”

He frowned, eyes raking over her pale blue satin gown, the one she had chosen for their wedding. “You haven’t undressed,” he said accusingly.

Her gaze followed his to the crumpled gown on the floor beside the canopied bed. There were delicately lace-edged holes in the bodice, holes through which her breasts were supposed to protrude.

She took a deep breath, searching for the right words. “Corey, that gown looks like something a…a woman of the night would wear. How can you ask me to wear such a thing?”

His hands touched her shoulders. “Darling, we’re married now. Anything we do is quite permissible.”

She shook her head. “You don’t understand—”

“I
do
understand!” he snapped. “I understand that I have kept up my end of the bargain. I’ve given your illegitimate child a name. I’ve deeded your land to him, free and clear when he comes of legal age. I give you wealth, position…everything a poor Southern woman yearns for in these destitute times. But you, you have given me nothing, and you refuse me the delight of seeing you in the gown that I bought especially for our wedding night. I should have known you would be ungrateful.”

“I will submit to you, Corey,” she said tonelessly. “That is my duty.”

“It is your duty to do whatever I tell you to do.” He was quaking with rage as he pointed to the crumpled gown. “And I order you to put on that gown and model it for me. Show me what I have bargained for. Show me what I have purchased!”

“You…you didn’t buy me,” she sputtered. “We discussed our arrangement. I told you I would be a dutiful wife, and I will. I said nothing about parading around in the clothes of a
whore
!”

He smirked. “You aren’t exactly a blushing virgin, Kitty. You have a child, remember? And I don’t think his conception was any divine miracle. And I know there was another man besides your Yankee lover, that Luke Tate who kidnapped you.”

“Oh, you throw the past in my face sooner than I’d anticipated,” she cried.

“Stop acting like a child. Everyone knows you gave birth out of wedlock, and now I’ve given you the respectability of marriage
and
given your bastard my name.”

“You call my son a bastard?”

“Kitty, Kitty,” he laughed ruefully, struggling to hold her. “Will you stop playing the role of an indignant lady? Be yourself. Be the wanton, passionate woman I know you can be. Be the woman in my arms that you were for your Yankee lover.”

Lavender eyes flashed with purple and golden sparks. Her chin jutted up. “What I shared with Captain Coltrane will never be shared with you, Corey. I said I would be a dutiful wife, and I will submit to you when you want me, but that is
all
.”

His hands moved quickly to squeeze her breasts possessively, painfully, but she would not cry out and give him the pleasure of knowing he was hurting her. “You’re my wife now, Kitty, and you’ll do anything I say. I own you, as I own everything else around here. You will do as I wish.”

His breath upon her face was hot, and she could smell whiskey. His fingers tightened their grip. “I can be gentle with you and make you revel in passion that you never dreamed existed, or I can be quite unpleasant. It doesn’t matter to me, for I intend to take my pleasure in any manner I choose. Resist me, and you will only suffer.”

“And you said you loved me,” she spat out, clawing angrily at his hands. “Lies. All lies.”

Giving her a vicious shove that sent her sprawling across the bed, he laughed. “Oh, I do love you, sweet, just as I love all my things. And I’ll learn to love you even more when you start obeying. Not that I don’t like your spirit. Oh, please, my dear, don’t ever lose that spirit. But you must learn to unleash it at my will, not yours. I want you to let it go when I’m inside you, and then you can go wild with passion and roll your buttocks and thrust that sweet love nest against me and release all the spirit you want.”

He was slipping off his coat, removing his cravat, his shirt, eyes riveted upon hers. Kitty could not believe this was happening. He had been so kind, so solicitous, and now he was a madman. And there was no denying that with each word he spoke he was becoming more and more aroused.

And then he was naked, towering over her, his swollen member staring at her. He leaped upon her, ripping at her gown as he covered her face with wet, hungry kisses. He tore the delicate dress quickly from her body. With legs bent, he straddled her, yanking at the filmy undergarments.

She lay naked beneath him.

“Lovely,” he breathed hoarsely, squeezing one rosy nipple as though testing the ripeness of fruit. “So lovely. And mine.”

He attempted to kiss her lips. When she would not open her mouth, he grasped a handful of golden-red hair in his fingers, twisting until she cried out in pain. Then, with her lips parted, he lowered his mouth, wriggling his tongue inside at the same moment he maneuvered his swollen organ between the silken thighs.

One plunge, one hard, thrusting plunge, and he lifted his head to cry out in anger. “No, no.” He muttered a string of curses, then jerked away from her to huddle on the side of the bed, head in his hands as he babbled to himself.

Kitty stared at him in wonder, then reached to pull at a coverlet to cover her nakedness.

He turned wretched, tormented eyes upon her. “I feared this. I feared that once I tasted your sweetness I wouldn’t be able to control myself. I wanted it to last for hours—
hours
, do you hear me?” He pounded upon the bed with his fists in frustration, and she cringed.

“Maybe…maybe tomorrow night…” she whispered hesitantly, secretly grateful that the assault had ended.

His lips curved suddenly into a suggestive leer. “No. The night is just beginning, Kitty. It won’t take long for you to prepare me again. And this time I’ll last much, much longer.” He stretched out beside her, reaching to dig his fingers into her arm and pull her closer as she tried to move away. Guiding her stiffened fingers toward his flaccid organ, he commanded, “You can arouse me, Kitty. You know how to make a man swell with desire. Make me want you, and I’ll stay inside you till the sun rises.”

“No!” she screamed. “I can’t.”

“You can and you will, unless you want me to throw you and your child out into the streets tomorrow. I’ll tell everyone how I discovered on our wedding night that you had the pox, that you were diseased and filthy. No one will lift a finger to help you. No one. You’ll starve, you and your bastard. Now, what is it going to be? Marriage? Or starvation and death? Make up your mind fast, because I have lived for this night, and I intend to enjoy every second.”

She thought of her precious baby sleeping peacefully in the room just across the hall. His own father had not returned, and his life, his future, lay in her hands. All over the South, people were starving among the ruins of the war. But she and little John had a chance to survive.

She forced her fingers to close on his limp organ. She felt him stiffen. His fingers began to massage her breast as his tongue licked up the side of her cheek. She wanted to gag. “Feel me all over,” he commanded huskily. “Yes, that’s it. Down there. Squeeze them, too. They like that. Oh yes, oh yes, oh yes…” he was crooning.

“Squeeze me back there. Now, up and down. That’s it. Oh-oh! On your back. Quickly!”

He slung her over, spreading her thighs roughly as he plunged inside. She held her breath, waiting for his movements to begin, but he lay very still, his breathing ragged as he whispered, “Like velvet. I knew it would feel like hot, sweet velvet. I want to stay here all night. I want to feel myself inside you all night long. No man has what I have. No man will ever be here but me.”

His head rested on her chest, tongue flicking at her nipples. Suddenly his whole body contorted. Once, twice, three times he thrust inside her, hands moving to grip her buttocks and slam her even tighter against him, and then once more he was cursing, rolling away. “Too good. Too damned good.” He leaped to his feet. “We’ve got to do something about that. We’ve got to make it last longer.”

Kitty blinked back the tears furiously, clawing at the sheets beneath her. Never had she been so desperate. “Please. No more, Corey. Not tonight. Maybe you’re just eager because it is our first time.”

He dismissed her reasoning with an impatient wave of his hand. “Oh, what do you know? You’re just a woman.” He paced up and down the room, still naked and making no attempt to cover himself as he folded his hands behind his back. “I have a problem. A problem you cannot understand. I always come quickly with a woman, and the more desirable she is, the faster it happens. I feared it would be even worse with you because I’ve wanted you so fiercely. And I was right. Women of the night, the prostitutes and harlots,
they
know how to take care of such a problem. And you, my sweet, are going to have to learn. This is our wedding night, and it has to be special. I must bring you pleasure, too.”