Chapter 19

CHAPTER19

Rachel froze, her nerves making her hands tremble as she stared at Daniel.

“First off, where have you been hiding these?” Daniel smiled broadly and ran across the room.

“Woah!”

She backed up in surprise at his sprint toward her, laughing as he took her waist and pulled her back toward him. She fell into his chest, any words she was tempted to utter swallowed as he kissed her. He kissed her with such passion that as she tried to pull back to say something to him, he moved forward again. She ended up laughing into his kiss.

“You must allow me to answer.”

“Must I?” he said and took hold of her hair, softly tugging on the ends to tilt her head back and expose her neck.

He kissed his way up and down her throat, then found a sweet spot at the base of her neck and kissed her there.

“Oh…” She lost her words for a minute, thinking only of the sensation he was creating and the way his hand gripped her waist. “I…”

“Hmm?” His words were muffled as he continued to kiss her, now working his way across her bare shoulders and down her chest, toward the laces of the corset.

“I bought them today. I thought you might like them.”

“Like them? An understatement.”

He pushed her back. She laughed and tumbled down on a soft surface, so distracted by him moving his body over her that it took her a minute to realize she had fallen onto her chaise lounge.

He kissed his way down her body, moving from the top of her corset, across the material, down the center of her exposed waist, then to her hips. She arched into his kisses, wanting more of them.

“I’ll take that as a corroboration that you like them very much,” she teased.

“Ah, you taunt me. As you do with these clothes.”

He reached for the stockings and began to peel them from her legs. With each stretch of skin he revealed, he peppered her thighs with more kisses. Once the stockings were gone, he pressed kisses to her mons, coming so close to her core that she shuddered, remembering the sensation of what it had been like when he’d kissed her so intimately.

“And I spent so long trying to get those stockings on,” she said in jest.

“You can always put them on again for me. Any time.” He smiled and slipped a hand under her waist. Then, he flipped her over, so his back was flat to the chaise lounge and she was above him. “Now, I think it is your turn tonight.”

“What?” she asked, sitting up in surprise.

He sat up a little too, enough to pull his shirt off his body and toss it to the floor. Distracted, she ran her fingers across his exposed chest, watching the way he responded and how his lips parted at her touch.

“I think you get the idea,” he said playfully.

Laughing, she reached for his trousers and unfastened them, then lowered them from his hips. She had to climb off him to kick them off completely, then went to straddle him again when something caught her eye in the rich candlelight.

It was so bright in the room that nothing was hidden between them now, including a sharp white slash on the top of Daniel’s thigh.

“What’s this?” she murmured, running her fingers over the scar. She didn’t quite straddle him but kept one knee raised.

“A scar. From the war.” He reached up and took hold of her waist, pulling her flush down onto him again. “Don’t think of it. My thoughts are far from the war right now.”

She smiled indulgently, glad that she could help him escape such thoughts. She moved her body over his and went to kiss him, taking control of their movements. She explored further, reaching down to his length between them and wrapping her fingers around it.

Uncertain of what to do, she waited for him to show her. He directed her, moving her hand with his own before he leaned back and let her take control.

The most intoxicating for Rachel was watching his response to her. The way his head was flung back on the chaise lounge as short growling moans escaped his lips. He turned heated, his whole body beading with sweat.

When his hips started to buck, he raised a hand over hers, stopping her movements.

“Is something wrong?” she asked in worry.

“Nothing at all.” His face was hooded with desire. “I just do not want this to end yet, Rachel. My turn for a bit now.”

“But I thought—Oh!” Any objection she had fell away as he flipped her over again.

She landed on her back at the foot of the chaise, with her head landing on a stool beside them. Daniel moved over her, one hand clinging to the laces of the corset she wore and the other lifting her knee onto his shoulder as he lowered himself down.

As before, he kissed her most intimate area. Whereas the first time he had started tentatively, clearly gauging what her reaction would be, this time, he was bold. He lashed her with his tongue so passionately that it was mere seconds before Rachel was a quivering mess, gripping the seat beneath her.

His hands moved, distracting her further. One gripped her breast through the corset, clearly wanting access to her, and the other clutched one butt cheek, holding her body to him.

When Rachel orgasmed, it was sudden, and it hit her as a strong gust of wind might, nearly knocking all of her senses from her. She bucked against him, so caught up in all of her pleasure that her body became merely a toy for him to do with as he pleased.

He swept an arm under her waist, moved back on the chaise longue, and shifted her to straddle him once again. Her knees were shaking as she rested them on either side of his thighs.

“My turn?” she asked between gasping breaths.

“Your turn.” He released her and held his arms out wide, showing she was completely in control.

She smiled and leaned down, kissing him once before sitting straight and positioning her core over his erection. When she took him inside her, she was slow at first, teasing him. He gripped the edge of the seat and gritted his teeth, clearly holding himself back.

She experimented, lifting herself off him and moving down again, then she changed the angle and rocked her hips back and forth. She discovered a delicious angle, where if she leaned back a little and rocked her hips, she felt a new sort of pleasure spiraling deep within her gut.

Daniel must have given up on his resolve not to touch her, as his hand lifted and gripped her waist, his fingers clinging to the bottom part of the stays and pulling on the material, temptingly. He used his grasp on her to help her move, rocking her back and forth. Rachel saw he was lost in pleasure as she was, with his lips parted and moans escaping his lips once again.

“Don’t stop,” he urged her.

She moved a little faster, bringing herself closer to the edge, but her legs were growing tired from the movement, and she began to slow down.

Daniel sensed her fatigue and sat up. He grabbed her waist with both hands, lifting her from the chaise and carried her away from it. He lifted her from the chaise longue as he stood, carrying her with him.

“Where are we going?” she said between panting breaths.

“My turn again,” he whispered playfully, kissing her on the lips.

She tangled her hands in his hair, holding him to her as he lowered them both back down onto her bed.

With her legs wrapped around his hips, he rocked the two of them together again, but this time, he never stopped kissing her. He either kissed her lips or neck, needing some constant connection between them. Rachel felt new pleasure at being so intimate with him, and it pushed her over the edge.

Her eyes closed as she saw those stars again, flinging her head back on the mattress as his name escaped her lips in a loud moan. He thrust into her as she finished, moving harder and faster until his face contorted with pleasure.

Suddenly, he pulled out from inside her.

Rachel noted he’d done the same thing as before, choosing not to finish inside her, but into the bedsheets this time. She didn’t think anything of it and reached toward him again. He returned to her fast, bending over her and melding their lips together.

She chuckled as he parted from her, moving back on the bed and panting.

“So, you like the new undergarments?” she asked.

“Very much.” He reached out to her waist and curled a finger around the edge of the stays, using it to pull her toward him. “You can buy anything you want from there again.”

“If it gets this reaction, I’ll be certain to do so.” She happily followed his pulls and ended up nestled at his side.

As their breathing evened out, Rachel wasn’t yet ready to go to sleep. She leaned up beside Daniel, smiling at him as he continued to toy with the edge of her corset. They fell into conversation, not just about their lovemaking, but about exactly where she had bought the undergarments.

“You looked surprisingly alluring and sweet trying to put those stockings on,” he said, jerking his chin in the direction of where the stockings had been discarded in the room.

“Sweet? Pa!” She laughed at the idea. “I got myself into a right pickle. Those things are so delicate, they are not so easy to pull on as regular stockings. I felt for certain I might have torn them.”

One of his eyebrows quirked upward.

“Now you are filling my head with images of me tearing them, just to get to you.” He pressed his lips to her neck and playfully nipped.

She laughed, moving her body over his.

Lost in that laughter, Rachel thought of all that had so far passed between her and Daniel. This excitement, this lovemaking, was more than she could have hoped for.

I know what I feel now, for certain. I love him.

She parted her lips, ready to tell him, but he shifted the two of them again so they each rested on their sides.

“I hear you ordered a gown you liked as well,” he said, plainly not having realized she was about to say something. “For the ball?”

“I did, but I am not so certain it suits me.” She wrinkled her nose in doubt.

“This suits you.” He toyed with the laces of the corset.

“Thank you.” She giggled at his lustful reaction. “I mean, the material is rather striking.” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “I guess I think the material might be rather overpowering.”

“Hmm.” Daniel nudged her chin higher. “If this is you saying you do not think you can pull off such a gown, then I’ll give you an argument on that matter.”

“You do seem to find me attractive, though I cannot figure out why.” She playfully frowned at him.

She couldn’t ignore it, not any longer. No matter what she thought of her looks, he clearly admired her.

“Allow me to show you why.” He moved above her and kissed her again, pressing their bodies together so fully that she quite forgot what it was they had been talking about.

* * *

Daniel sat on the battlefield, his body exhausted and feeling strangely heavy. Each time he tried to lift his arm, his body fought against him, as if dead weights had been tied to the ends of his fingers and were dragging him back.

Raising his head, he looked around the field. Most were dead. Some of his men were dragging themselves away on their hands and knees, or stumbling, barely able to stand straight at all. They were the walking wounded, searching desperately for a way to escape. Others would never move again.

Daniel raised himself to his feet, staggering as he reached over his body, looking for where he had been wounded. The shot had gone straight through the top of his thigh. He was bleeding badly through his uniform, but there was nothing he could do to stop it. He just had to get away from here, fast, and get some medical attention.

He turned on his heel, slipping in the wet mud of the field, and walked away, when a voice called to him.

“Daniel?”

He jerked around, his head looking back to the enemy’s side of the field. There was someone walking there through the smoke that dissipated around the muskets and cannon fire. She was lost, raising her hands as if trying to push the smoke away, to gauge her whereabouts.

The honey-brown hair became visible, as did the beautiful gown. It was the one she had worn on their wedding day.

“Daniel?” she called, panicked now as figures appeared behind her. It was the enemy.

“Rachel!” Daniel roared and ran back toward her.

He limped, struggling with the gunshot wound in his leg. He kept sprinting, trying to get to her, but as he reached her, she disappeared, as if she was a part of that smoke.

“No, no. Where are you?”

She appeared a few feet away, no longer just surrounded by smoke, but soldiers too. One had his arm around her waist and was dragging her back. He ignored her pleas to escape as she pulled against him, trying to get away.

“Rachel! I’m coming.” Daniel ran toward her again.

He nearly caught her hand, his fingers struggling in the air to capture her own. Their fingers merely brushed against each other, then she was gone once again. Her whole body disappeared in the smoke, and the only thing that was left behind her was the enemy soldier.

The vicious smile broadened on the soldier’s face, then he lifted the musket in his hands.

Daniel backed up. His boots slipped in the mud, though he didn’t dare to look down to see if he slipped in blood too. He fell over another soldier’s body just as the shot rang out overhead. It shot through the air and only just missed him by a whisker.

“Wake up.”

Daniel’s eyes shot open.

He looked around himself, startled to find he was still lying flat on the bed. For a change, he had not thrown himself from the bed or torn the covers off his body. He was perfectly still, lying back on Rachel’s bed with her leaning over him. She had a hand on his chest and was propped up on her elbow, looking at him softly in the light emanating from the one candle they’d left lit in the room.

“You were dreaming,” she whispered softly. “It’s all over now.”

He raised his hand suddenly and flattened her palm to his chest, the movement so sudden that her eyes widened.

“What is it?” she asked.

“It was… different.”

He reached out his other arm and wrapped it around her waist. She was still wearing the black stays, but lovemaking was not what he had on his mind right now. He needed to cocoon her against his side, to keep her safe. She burrowed into the crook of his arm as he threaded their fingers together over his chest and stared at the canopy above her bed.

“Usually, I see the same things.”

“What do you see?” she whispered, plainly nervous about asking.

“The battles I faced, the enemies I hurt, or who hurt me. How I got this.” He nodded his head down at the scar on his leg, the one she had noticed as they had lain together. “I see the men I lost, and those I fought to save but could not rescue.”

“Every night? That’s torture, Daniel.”

“I know.” He shifted, turning his gaze away from the canopy to look at her face. “Yet, this dream was no memory. It was a muddled memory. I saw myself heading back to the enemy, but in reality, I went to save one of my men. I dragged him out when an enemy soldier fired at me. Tonight, I saw you. I went back to get you.”

Her eyes widened.

“Your mind is playing tricks on you.”

“It is.” He loosened the hold he had on her hand and reached up to his hair, pulling sharply on the strands. “That’s never happened quite like that before.”

“Perhaps it’s a good thing,” she whispered. “The dreams are changing. Maybe they could even leave you altogether.”

“I doubt that Rachel.” He pulled her tighter against him, gladdened to find he’d not lost her on that battlefield, after all. “Strange,” he whispered, “I have never told anyone about my nightmares before. Only you.”

Her arm tightened around his waist.

“No better person to share our secrets with, eh?” she asked softly.

He smiled, liking those words. He turned his body fully toward her and held her in his arms, inhaling the sweet scent of honeysuckle that wafted off her hair.

Such an overwhelming feeling, this need to be close to her. It wasn’t lust, but something far different, something he couldn’t put words to.

What is this feeling?