Helen Dickson by Highwayman Husband Page B

again he captured her lips, his mouth so warm, so soft and caressing. His hands stole round the back of her neck beneath the silken mass of her hair, imprisoning her head once more.
    After what seemed like an eternity, Lucas raised his head and gazed at her flushed face. Her eyes were lowered. ‘Look at me,’ he said in a low, husky voice. She did so, and her eyes were like two bright stars. He smiled softly as he watched her surface from the dreamlike daze into which he’d sent her, relieved to see his kiss had neutralised her misgivings. ‘Where is that timid, innocent young thing that I married, I wonder?’
    ‘She is still there, Lucas.’ His light grey eyes stirred the embers of her desire, at which Edward had rudely raked but never once ignited. ‘If you look deep enough, you’ll find her.’
    ‘Don’t doubt my needs, Laura, or my intention of having you in my bed when I return. You were mine once, and will be again.’
    ‘Do you think I don’t remember?’ she whispered.
    ‘That was a long time ago. When I return I will erase that memory and make new ones for you. I have told you that what I will do to you will not resemble the first time. I intend to initiate you most thoroughly. But now is not the time—not here, not like this.’
    Laura simply looked at him, seeing his face in the quickly fading light, all planes and shadows, and the silver glitter of his eyes. She could feel the throbbing of his heart, matching the erratic beat of her own.
    ‘Now come, we must go,’ he told her gravely. ‘There is a fair wind and the tide will not wait. You must be sensible while I am gone. Promise me you will do as I say and go nowhere near Carlyle. I must know that you are safe, at least.’
    ‘I promise.’ Laura looked at him curiously, but before she could ask what possible danger she could be in from Edward he had turned on his heel and was striding towards his horse.
     
    At any other time Laura would have found it bizarre to see John on the beach at the water’s edge, holding a large valise and Lucas’s cloak and hat. Now it seemed in keeping with the situation. The vessel was waiting out in the bay, and a boat had been sent to collect its passenger.
    Dismounting, Lucas strode towards John and spoke quietly to him for several moments, before tossing his cloak about his shoulders and donning his hat. He came back to her, and, wrapping her in his arms, he kissed her, very slowly and tenderly, and without passion. When he raised his head she brought her hands up against his chest and gently pushed him away.
    ‘Go now,’ she whispered. ‘Go quickly—and please come back.’
    Standing motionless, she watched him splash through the water and climb into the boat, and she continued to watch as it was rowed over the shifting black surface of the sea to the ship. It was almost dark now. She stood on the shoreline, her face white and rigid, her heart rent into shreds, and her mind hardly able to take in what was happening.
    She remained where she was, drained of all capacity for thought, until John came to stand beside her. The breeze,which had made the earlier part of the evening so pleasant, had given way to a bitterly cold wind. Shivering, she drew her cloak around her, pulling her hood over her hair.
    ‘I hope he has a safe crossing, John—and that he doesn’t fall foul of the weather or pirates like the last time he left us.’
    John gave her a strange look. ‘I hope not, my lady.’
     
    Over the following days Laura existed in a state of deep anxiety. She went nowhere, and when Edward called, John, as Lucas had instructed, refused to admit him to her presence. She spent her days staring out at the sea from the windows of the manor, blind, deaf and dumb to everything going on around her. She simply waited, willing Lucas to return.
    Six days passed in this way, the days disappearing from her memory altogether as they blended into one unvarying flow. The spell was broken on a fine night, with a full moon