The Secret of Stavewood (Stavewood Saga Book 4) (31 page)

Read The Secret of Stavewood (Stavewood Saga Book 4) Online

Authors: Nanette Kinslow

Seventy-Seven

A
s the carriage pulled up in front of the cottage Louisa gasped with wonder. In every window a sparkling candle flickered invitingly.

Mark stepped down, opened the carriage door and bowed gallantly. Luc climbed out and took Louisa’s hand.

“This was a wonderful idea!” She leaned and kissed her brother’s cheek. “Thank you.”

Mark nodded and smiled. “And now my next gift to you both. Privacy. I will not be back until you both reappear. Congratulations.” He kissed Louisa’s cheek and shook Luc’s hand firmly. “I could not leave her in better hands.” He tipped his hat, climbed into the coach, shook out the reins and he and Avalanche pulled away.

Louisa looked up at the cottage. “I dreamed I would live here one day, in love with a perfect man. I kept trying to put a face on that perfect man in all of my dreams.” Louisa reached up and put her hands on either side of his strong jaw. “It is this face. Your face.”

In a swift movement he lifted her into his arms and swept her from her feet. Louisa giggled with delight. He carried her up the steps and the door swung open with a push from his foot. The fire crackled, champagne chilled in a bowl of ice and bowls of fruit filled the air with a sweet scent. Luc lowered her to the floor and she took his hand. “Come with me,” she said softly. She closed and locked the door behind them and led him towards the bedroom.

“I’ll be right back,” she whispered close to his ear and slipped away to the bath.

Luc paced the room nervously. The bed was freshly made, the sheets folded back invitingly with lofty pillows at the head. He looked around the room. Louisa had added a valet stand and he pulled off his jacket and tie and hung them there. He stood for a moment wondering what he ought to do next. The room was rather bright with several candles so he pinched off the wicks until only one candle remained lit. The soft orange glow from the firelight was much more appropriate. He began to unbutton his shirt and then thought better of it. He was certainly eager but didn’t want to appear too bold. He sat down on the bed, then stood back up and looked around. He kicked off his dress shoes, as they weren’t too comfortable to begin with, and stood in his stocking feet.

The door to the bath swung open and Louisa stepped into the room. She wore a soft, embroidered cotton gown, as light and delicate as the sheerest handkerchief. Along one side was embroidered a long, stretched dragon sweeping delicately from her shoulder to the floor. She took a deep breath and Luc could see the soft silhouette of her bare breasts against the fabric.

Louisa felt beautiful and magical. The gown was perfect. It enhanced her femininity and allure and she felt strong and confident.

She stepped up to her captivated groom and began unbuttoning his shirt slowly. It was clear to Louisa that Luc was pleased with her choice of a nightdress.

He pulled her to him and felt her soft skin, the warmth of her flesh and smooth, lithe muscles within the sheer gown. Louisa pushed the shirt from his shoulders and their eyes locked. The fire reflected in the depths of her gaze and Luc fell completely under her spell. She pressed into him boldly, her warm breasts and thighs against him.

Luc groaned with the pleasure of the sensations and her hunger for him. Louisa reached down and unfastened his trousers and her desire sparked his own. He gathered her up into his arms, kissed her passionately and laid her on the bed. She pushed him down beside her and moved over him, and he surrendered to her gentle, maddening touch.

She freed him from his now quite confining slacks and stood beside the bed. He watched her, frozen in desire. Louisa slipped her gown from her shoulders and it fell from her body in a light, gentle movement. Luc caught his breath and moaned as she moved onto him in the bed.

Louisa wanted him. She had imagined this moment a thousand times in her most secret fantasies. When he took her and rolled her beneath him her body cried out for him, for all of what she had craved for years. He pressed into her and she moved her hips to meet his.

Louisa trembled with the perfection and beauty of it. She had waited for a love of which she was certain. A love that was pure. She had set a standard of what was right for her and sometimes thought she had dreamt of too much. She had nearly abandoned all hope of it. Now in his powerful arms, joined with him, Louisa was fulfilled. She let her body surrender to him. She parted her lips and a soft moan escaped.

“Oh, Louisa,” Luc moaned loudly and she pressed into him again.

As his body stiffened she felt her own shudder of pleasure and she clung to him, entirely in love.

They looked into each other’s eyes and saw flawless trust. He saw in her an understanding that he himself felt. It was not casual, or simply physical. It was perfect and honest and pure.

“I love you, Louisa” he whispered as he touched a single tear that glistened upon her cheek. “For all of time.”

When she raised up and kissed him she pressed against him and felt him stir. This time she wanted to be the one making love to him.

Seventy-Eight

L
uc greeted her with a broad smile as Louisa walked into the kitchen with her hair mussed and sleepy eyes. “Good morning, lazy bones.” The room smelled of freshly fried potatoes and thick slices of bacon and Louisa felt her stomach grumble.

“This smells wonderful.” Louisa took the steaming mug of rich coffee he offered her and slid down into a chair.

She watched him in only his undershirt and trousers as he set food onto the table and she smiled with contentment.

“Did you sleep well, Mrs. Almquist?” Luc asked as he set a plate in front of her and sat down.

“Very well, Mr. Almquist. In fact, I plan to sleep well from now on.” Louisa winked at him and bit into a thick slice of toast.

Luc reached into his pocket, pulled out the bag of diamonds and set it onto the table. He opened it and let a few of the gems spill out into the light. Louisa watched them sparkle.

“They’re really beautiful,” she said, over her coffee.

“And very valuable,” Luc added. “They were meant to ensure Zhi would live a good life.”

“What do you know about her?” Louisa asked.

“Well, I know she’s still alive and probably living a frugal life somewhere in California, maybe San Francisco.” A grin spread across Luc’s face. “So, Sherlock, do you think you can figure out the mystery of how to return the diamonds?”

Louisa looked at her handsome husband in the soft morning light and smiled. “It would be elementary, my dear Watson. Elementary.”

The End

Epilogue

L
ouisa awoke in the near darkness. She could feel him beside her warm and quiet, his breathing deep and regular. He was still hers, her partner and her friend. Together they had traveled the world, solving real life mysteries that inspired Louisa’s novels. Luc had a drive and a hunger to see justice done and whenever he could make a difference he got them involved. Her old publisher had welcomed her back enthusiastically and Louisa continued to write thrilling mysteries. Zhi’s story of her escape to America and the hardships she endured became
The Dragon’s Diamonds
and was followed by
The Mystery of the Badlands Bootlegger, Captives of the Sullivan Gang
and
The Missing Gun Moll.

She brushed his hair from his face and kissed his forehead as gently as the flutter of a butterfly wing and slipped from the bed. No matter where they traveled or what adventures they shared, they always returned home to her beloved cottage near Stavewood. And through the years the desire to write her mother’s story had persisted. She wrapped her robe over her naked body and tiptoed from the bedroom.

Darkness lay over the landscape, the candles in the windows had burned down into their crystal bases and the fire glowed a warm red of fading embers. Louisa took an apple from the bowl of fruit and bit into it. She smiled. Her best writing always happened in the quiet of the night.

Rebecca’s story, the way she lived and loved, her passion for life, all came rushing into Louisa’s mind. She remembered Corissa and Jude, the Weintraubs and Sam and Bernadette. All of their choices made perfect sense to her. Louisa put down the remains of the apple.

She set her typewriter onto the table in the cottage kitchen and opened the hard case. She lit a lantern, turned the wick up to a soft glow and rolled in the first blank sheet of paper. Louisa began to type quickly and the words poured out of her. Now she knew exactly how to tell it all. Louisa typed:

Stavewood

A novel by Louisa Almquist

Chapter One

Another
stitch dropped…

Dear Reader,

If you enjoye
d
The Secret o
f
Stavewoo
d
I would be very thankful if you would post a positive review online. Your support is invaluable and I read all reviews. Your opinion will help me to continue to write other books. To leave a review, please visit the page for this book at Amazon. Select “Write a customer review”.

Thank you so much for your support!

Sincerely,

Nanette

Coming Soon!

Selective Service

Write to me, darling, of home. Of everything of home. I need to find the peace of it and to hear its soft whisper above the din of war.

Your loving Thomas

Doctor Thomas Confrey puts pen to paper while on the battlefields of Europe in the summer of 1918. He has been drafted by his country to fight and to heal amid the devastation of a war that history will show does not end all wars.

His young wife, Clara, writes to him of home, of her everyday experiences and she waits for his return.

In this, the ninth novel by Nanette Kinslow, we come to know the Confreys through their correspondence and the love that endures.