Wicked Angel (Blackthorne Trilogy) (42 page)

      
Grateful she had put drops in her eyes and did not need spectacles, Joss hurried across the square and around the gathering crowd of laughing, talking people. Poc accompanied her, a safety precaution she no longer felt was really necessary.

      
The men's communal bathing place was just downriver of the one the women and children used. Her heart hammered in her chest as she smoothed her hair back, hoping it was not too tangled. The damp heat made it curl wildly and the children had pulled on it every opportunity they got, always exclaiming how it shined like bronze.

      
As she walked, Joss smiled, thinking of how wonderfully rewarding the past couple weeks had been. She was immensely grateful to Tall Crane for suggesting the idea about helping Charity with the children. She was a good teacher and they were wonderful pupils, every bit as bright, inquisitive and full of mischief as those in London. Having something useful to do had kept her worry at bay while Alex was gone. Barbara tried to put on a display of confidence, but Joss knew her mother-in-law was fearful about the men's dangerous mission.

      
But they were back safely—for now. Would they ride away again? She did not understand all the complexities of Creek Confederacy politics but she knew the situation was highly volatile. If only her family remained safe. She smiled to herself, realizing that with the passing of weeks what Barbara had assured her of was indeed coming to pass. She was becoming a part of this community.

      
These people possessed a highly complex society based on adherence to noble principles. It was strange to outsiders and there were still aspects that she did not approve of—such as tribal leaders taking more than one wife. But there were also many Muskogee customs that she felt whites would do well to emulate, such as allowing women control of all property. She only hoped Alex would be proud of the way she was adapting.

      
Joss heard the rich tone of his voice and the sound of splashing water coming from beyond the elderberry thicket up ahead. Joyously she sped up her pace, the dog with her. But then she heard the sound of a female voice, breathy and laughing as it blended with his in conversation. At once, she reached down to quiet Poc. The dog obeyed, looking at her questioningly.

      
Alex and the woman spoke in Muskogee. Although she was beginning to acquire some of the basic vocabulary of the language, Joss could not follow their rapid exchange. She stood still for a moment, afraid to peer through the undergrowth and see them.

      
No wonder Panther Woman had sent her here. The hateful woman wanted her to find out that Alex had taken up where he left off with her daughter. Perhaps she even hoped Water Lily would become his second wife! Being conversant enough in Muskogee custom now to know a husband could not take a second wife without the first's approval, she vowed grimly that such would never happen.

      
But Alex had always been a womanizer. She'd known it when she wed him. That had been one of the very reasons he'd proposed to her, she thought miserably. He would never reform. Should she leave? Slink off to lick her wounds alone in misery? No! She would not be a coward. Perhaps she had misread the whole situation. The least she could do was give her husband the benefit of the doubt and see what was going on. After giving Poc a low command to stay, she stepped forward and peered out at the water.

      
Joss regretted her decision. Alex stood waist deep in the stream, as naked as the bronze goddess who faced him—with her hands on his arms. Her breasts were large and heavy with dusky chocolate nipples standing up proudly as she wrapped her arms around his neck, nearly knocking them off balance in the water. His powerful arms encircled her as they splashed, nearly falling backwards.

      
Joss could not bear the sight another instant. She turned and ran like the coward she'd named herself, tears streaming down her face. The dog raced protectively at her side. Roots tripped her and branches slapped at her as she fled heedlessly through the woods. Alex had always been a rake. Their marriage, even now that it had been consummated, meant nothing to him!

      
Alex held on to Water Lily to keep them both from going under in the swift current. The cunning little minx seemed to have more hands than a centipede had legs, and she knew how to employ them. He had taught her all too well! But that was when they were younger, running wild with no thoughts of marriage. Still he was reasonably certain that he had been her first lover. They had parted as friends and he did not wish to hurt her.

      
Neither did he wish to resume their old liaison. He winced, thinking of Joss lying on the floor of their bridal bower with her tawny hair spread like shiny silk and those clear blue eyes staring up at him. She was his wife. He wanted her and no other, frightening as the fact was to him. Water Lily's considerable charms did nothing to rouse the lust of years gone by. He simply felt nothing for her, except regret that he must hurt her feelings.

      
She had approached him boldly in the water, saying that her mother had assured her he would take her as a second wife now that he had settled down with the first one. She had already proven her fertility by bearing a son to another warrior from the Bear Clan. She would make a fine wife. Then she had launched herself at him before he could protest.

      
"Careful, Water Lily, lest you drown us both. We're out too far in the current for this horseplay," he said, attempting to unclasp her hands from his neck once he'd regained his balance.

      
"You are a strong swimmer and so am I. Not like your pale English wife. I will be of great help to her. I can do twice the work she can."

      
"I am certain you could—but you know that white men do not take more than one wife at a time."

      
She pouted prettily, trying to draw closer to him again, although he held her at arm's length now. "You are Muskogee—the Sun Fox."

      
"I am Devon Blackthorne's son and he has chosen to keep only one wife. I honor his custom, Water Lily," he said gently.

      
Her huge black eyes began to pool with tears. "But she is skinny, pale and weak. She does not know how to please you in bed—or even enjoy your splendid man root."

      
Remembering that he'd thought precisely those same things about Joss, Alex winced. Joss was far from skinny or weak and although she might despise his Muskogee blood, she'd given ample evidence that she liked his "splendid man root" well enough. "She pleases me, Water Lily. I can have no other," he said simply, guiding her toward the shore. "Please, you must go now. Wed that brave warrior from the Bear Clan and have many more fine sons with him."

      
"You choose your white blood because your Muskogee blood is thin," she said angrily, breaking away and splashing regally through the shallows to shore, thinking she had delivered the utmost insult to Sun Fox, who was only one-eighth Muskogee.

      
He watched her go, admiring her lush backside with a sigh of regret. Wasn't this the very sort of thing his marriage to Joss was to allow? He would be disporting with the lusty Water Lily on that mossy bank right now if not for his wife. But he knew he did not desire the angry beauty who stiffly yanked on her clothing and stalked away. He wanted Joss—only Joss, curse him for a fool!

      
After finishing his ablutions quickly, Alex shaved and dressed in fresh buckskins, then mounted up and rode the short distance into camp. After the way they had parted, he would have a deal of making up to do. He wondered how she had spent the time while he was absent—reading? Perhaps sewing. Keeping to herself, he was certain of that. Her unease with his people still rankled him. They would have to discuss that. Joss was not normally prejudiced or unkind.

      
By the time he arrived at Charity's house, it was nearly dusk. The family had gathered upstairs in his grandmother's living quarters to share their evening meal and Devon was explaining what he and Alex had accomplished while they were gone. Joss was standing beside Charity. When he climbed up the stairs, everyone crowded around him with happy greetings, but Joss hung back, a cool, unreadable expression on her face. Blast the perverse woman!

      
How could he just stand there, Joss thought, looking so wonderful that she longed to melt at his feet? He was all charm and smiles on the outside while inside he hid the heart of a born philanderer. His dark eyes swept hungrily over her as he made his way across the crowded floor.

      
"Hello, Joss. Miss me?" His voice was husky, as intimate as the soft kiss he pressed in her palm after taking her hand.

      
She swallowed audibly, feeling like a fool. "Hello, Alex." Her voice was frosty and prim and it must be obvious to one and all that she had not missed him at all.

      
Before he could frame a reply to her cool greeting, Charity said excitedly, "Joss has the most wonderful news for you, Alex." For one startled instant, he thought she was going to say Joss was with child, but then reason reasserted itself. It had only been a bit over two weeks since they lay together. Joss could not know that yet...but the possibility did give him pause.

      
Recovering himself, he took Joss's arm, saying to no one in particular, "I think my wife and I have a deal of catching up to do."

      
Smiling, Charity said, "I will send some dinner to your quarters later on."

      
Everyone beamed conspiratorially as the newlyweds left the room. All but Barbara, who sensed the reticence in Joss the instant Alex had touched her. At times she wished to take the two of them and knock their stubborn heads together.

      
Crickets and other night insects hummed in the thick air and large animals called out from the woods at the water's edge, their shrill cries sending shivers down Joss's back. Perhaps it was not the scream of the panther or the roar of gators that caused the shivering but the presence of the man walking beside her. He no longer touched her, but she still felt his hand as keenly as if he'd branded her skin. How could he come walking in so calmly after...after what he'd just done? Why, his hair was still damp from his bath.

      
"I know we parted in anger, Joss, but I'd hoped you would have had time to calm down."

      
"I am calm, Alex." Her tone was as leaden as her heart.

      
"You act cold, but now I know that isn't the real Jocelyn Blackthorne, don't I?"

      
Her breath hitched in shock. "How could you say such a thing to me after the way you practically fell upon me like a ravening wolf?" she accused.

      
He laughed mirthlessly, stung by the fact that he had been rough...needy...desperate. He no longer knew Joss. Hell, he no longer knew himself. "As I recall it, I had to do damn little forcing—either time we made love, my dear. You want me, Joss, you just don't want to admit it."

      
They stood on the first floor of the house, facing each other in the darkness. A candle cast down flickering light through the planks from the second floor. Someone, probably Charity, had made the bower welcome for them.

      
Joss studied his face, unable to read his expression in the shadows. "Yes, I do desire you, Alex," she confessed miserably. And you desire everything in skirts.

      
"So, lusting after a savage like me makes you ashamed, does it?" Looking at her standing there, so wretchedly dejected, so shamed by her admission, made his heart bleed as if a panther had sunk its claws into it.
The Blackthorne men love too well
. The old family axiom rang in his ears. No, this was not love! He did not understand love, did not want to, only the other...old, familiar lust.

      
Joss was so stunned by his accusation that she could not for a moment frame a reply. All she heard was "ashamed" and "lusting after," the accusation in his voice, the bitter mockery. "Yes, I am ashamed of loving a man like you—a man without morals or honor," she lashed back as the tension between them thickened. With a sob she tried to get past him, to run away where the woodland darkness would hide her.

      
But Alex would not let her go. He seized her arm and turned her to face him, so close in the darkness he could smell the sweetness of her breath, the scent of her. "Let me show you, dear wife, what a man without morals or honor can do...."

Chapter Twenty-one

      
Joss could feel a fire trembling in her body—or did it come from his? She could not tell as he embraced her. Yet he made no attempt to kiss her or caress her, just stared at her lowered head in the semidarkness as if willing her to look up and meet his harsh, mocking gaze. She could not.

      
"Afraid, Joss?" he taunted. "I never took you for a coward."

      
But I was. This very afternoon.
"What do you want from me, Alex?" she whispered.

      
"What I cannot have—perhaps should not have," he answered enigmatically. "But I'll settle for this," he said, raising her chin with his hand, curling his fingers around her jaw to position her lips so his mouth could claim them.

      
She wanted to scream, to rail, kick, bite, cry out against the unfairness of it all...and she could not. Instead she opened to his invading tongue, fervently returning the searing kiss he offered, just as he had taught her. Oh, he had schooled her well in passion, well enough to know the tightening deep in her belly, the ache in her breasts, the wetness that betrayed her want to him. All he had to do was look at her. One touch and she was lost.