After they finished the meal, they went and spoke to Old Seth, who was indeed headed for the city and would be delighted to give them a ride, for asmall price, of course. They sat in the back of the wagon atop comfortable burlap bags stuffed with cotton and headed for Charleston.
Kate was enjoying her charade. If the earl could see her now, he’d be apoplectic. Talon grinned at the notion. This Kate was a far cry from the elegant woman Sutcliffe had handpicked to be the mother of his heir.
Her cheeks were flushed with color and good health. Despite the ridiculous clothes and hat she wore, he didn’t think he’d ever seen anyone more beautiful in his life. This land suited her. He’d been right, she was blossoming before his very eyes.
God, please, let me have this.
It was as close to a prayer as he’d ever come. This thing he’d found with Kate, these last few days of bliss, were all he’d ever wanted out of life. Her uncomplicated, generous love made him think anything in the world was possible.
Unfortunately, he was plagued by a pervasive sense of doom. If there was any way to get his money without going to Charleston, he’d avoid the city like the plague. Sutcliffe would look for them if he suspected they’d survived the shipwreck.
They rounded a familiar bend in the road, and Talon sat up straighter, realizing where they were in a blinding flash. He peered through the dense oaks, straining to catch a glimpse of the majestic white house that had once been the extent of his dreams.
“What is it?” Kate leaned forward, concern darkening the earlier pleasure in her eyes.
“Holyoke. It belongs to Sutcliffe now. This is where you and Daniel would have lived if everything had gone as he’d planned.”
“It’s lovely.”
He nodded. “The land is perfect for growing tobacco. There’s over two thousand acres running all the way to the river, where there’s a private dock for shipping the crops to market. Your roses would have grown well here. I’m sorry you had to lose them.”
She frowned, searching his face. “You really wanted this, didn’t you?”
He shrugged as though Holyoke and all it entailed meant nothing to him. “It doesn’t matter. It’s just a house, just some land. What you and I build together will be better because it will be ours.”
She nodded, but he saw the doubt in her eyes and knew he’d troubled her. He kicked himself for pointing the place out. The last thing he wanted, now that she’d forgiven him, was to remind her of his betrayal.
He forced himself to put the house and his foolish dreams out of his mind. He and Kate would have a place of their own someday very soon. He didn’t need Holyoke. Never had.
He’d much rather think about Kate and all the naughty things he’d taught her during the last few days. She’d become surprisingly uninhibited, growing surer of herself and her power over him every time they touched.
When he thought of all the ways she’d loved him with her hands and sweet, sweet mouth, he grew instantly aroused. He wished she weren’t dressed in those ridiculous clothes so he could hold her.
God, he missed being inside her.
He tried to remember why he was torturing himself. This was his rule, after all, his last-ditch attempt to make up for that night aboard the ship.
Soon, he promised himself. Soon his men would be safe, and he would be free of Sutcliffe. He and Kate would live the rest of their lives in peace, far away from Sutcliffe’s evil schemes and plans for their child.
* * * * *
Charleston was a busy, bustling place, far more cosmopolitan than Kate had imagined. Old Seth dropped them off at the outskirts of the city, and they took a ferry across the river, disembarking down by the docks. Kate trailed after Talon, gawking at the houses, shops and inns.
They stopped at the first respectable looking hotel they came to, and Talon signed in with a fictitious name. He claimed her as his son and told the proprietor his wife would be joining them tomorrow.
Kate looked down at her feet, unwilling to let anyone see the hot blush that spread across her cheeks. Soon she really would be Talon’s wife. It seemed too wonderful to be true.
Their room was on the second floor, a two-room suite with a large, four-poster bed and a sitting area. The mahogany furniture was dark and heavy, the bed covered with a handmade quilt in deep tones of blue and red. It looked like heaven after so many weeks at sea.
Talon grinned as she ran her hand over the quilt. “I haven’t forgotten. Bath and then bed, right?”
She nodded. “That would be wonderful. We can order dinner brought up and eat here in the room.”
“I have some errands I need to run, but I’ll stop and order you a bath on my way out. Is there anything else you need?”
“Just hot water.” She sighed, taking her grubby hand away from the bed before she soiled it. “A lot of it.”
Half an hour later, the big copper tub had been filled and Kate was alone at last. She slid into the steaming depths, sighing in bliss as the hot water seeped into her aching muscles.
