Marriage - Married In Haste Part 27

Murderers. Tess pushed the thought out of her mind. It could have been Brenn or herself lying there.

A few minutes later, the postboys returned. One trunk was hopelessly damaged from being tossed to the

ground. Willa carried on about the damage and made Clarence and Tim unload both coaches so that she could repack, something both men did reluctantly.

Over an hour had pa.s.sed and Brenn hadn't come back. How long did it take to dig a man's grave?After another thirty minutes in which Willa, Clarence, and Tim bickered incessantly, Tess decided to golook for him. "I'm going to find my husband."

"He's in a clearing down by the stream over yonder," Clarence told her while Willa continued to tell Tim

what a stupid knave he was.

Tess walked into the forest in the direction she'd seen the postboys return. In a few minutes, the coach was out of sight.

She stopped and listened. She didn't hear digging but she could hear the sound of a stream making its

way through the forest. She walked toward it and came into the clearing, just as Clarence had said.

Two fresh graves now rested beneath the shade of a spreading oak. There were no markers. Brenn's jacket and s.h.i.+rt lay on the ground beside the graves.

She frowned, and then found him. The clearing sloped down to the stream that ran by the spot. Brenn knelt on the bank was.h.i.+ng his face and hands.

Tess watched him a moment. Something warned her that this was not the time to disturb him.

He sat back on his heels, looking out over the swiftly moving water. His dropped his head forward and covered it with his arms, the position one of grief.

Tess stood in indecision, afraid to move because if she did, he would know that she had intruded on his

privacy. And yet, she could not leave him, not now.

Taking one careful step forward and then another, Tess approached him. He didn't seem aware of her presence.

"Brenn?"He whirled on her. Even when he saw it was her, he didn't relax.She reached out and placed her hand on his warm skin. "Are you all right?"He stared at her, almost as if he didn't understand her words. Then he covered her hand on his shoulder with his own. "Tess." He kissed the inside of her wrist. "Tess." Her name sounded like a prayer on his

lips. Another kiss, and another.

"I was worried."

He nodded, his expression still distant. His head lowered and he buried it in the crook of her neck.

"Tess."

She didn't know what to do. Gingerly, she laid her hand against his back, feeling the strength in hismuscles. Dear Lord, she was so glad to be alive.He gently sucked the sensitive skin of her neck."Brenn-" she started but got no further. His mouth covered hers and he kissed her urgently. Using his weight, he pressed her back on the long, green gra.s.s along the bank. His hand pulled her skirt up.

She was aware of the dampness of the earth beneath her and the blue sky crisscrossed by tree limbs overhead. Birds sang and from some place overhead, a squirrel chattered.

He entered her without warning, without preamble. And she accepted him.

The force of his need caught her off guard. This was nothing like their earlier lovemaking. Before he'd

been attentive, playful. Now he sought release.

Tess stared up at the sky and held him. An intuition as old as time told her that this was right. He needed

her woman's body to cast out his own demons...and when at last he came, it was with a great shuddering release.

His body fell heavily down on hers. He was spent.

Tears filled her eyes. She blinked them away, flattening her palms against his back. His heart beat as if he

'd just finished running a race. The air around them smelled of green gra.s.s and s.e.x.

"Brenn?"

He raised his head and looked around as if just now realizing where they were and what they were

about. "Oh, G.o.d, Tess." He started to lift himself off of her but she held tight.

Laying her hand against the side of his face, she gently forced him to look at her. She found what she

expected to see. There, in the inside corner of his eye, was a tear. She brushed it with the pad of herthumb."Why?"He didn't want to talk about it. His reluctance was plain to see. A dull stain edged up his face."Why?" she repeated."Because I'm an animal-""No! I don't mind this," she said slowly, realizing the words were true. Her body still cradled his. His weight felt good. "Just explain to me."

"I'm tired of death." The bleak expression on his face caught at her heart.

A lock of his hair hung down over one eye. She brushed it back. "You had no choice."

"I reacted, Tess. I reacted like a soldier."

"You may have saved our lives."

"I took theirs." He released a deep breath and gathered her in his arms, squeezing her close. "I don't want to kill anymore," he whispered. "I'm tired of fighting."

Tess tilted his head to look in his eyes. "You don't have to fight anymore," she promised. "We have each other. Remember? Together. Your life now is with me."

Her words echoed those he'd spoken to her at the church. Pressing the tips of her fingers against the lines on his forehead, she realized that in some way, they had crossed a threshold. "No more war. We'l find peace at Erwynn Keep."

"Yes. Peace." He hugged her tight. "I don't deserve you." The conviction in his words made her nervous -especially because she knew what he didn't. She wasn't everything he thought she was. She should tell him her secrets right now.

But she didn't. Instead, she kissed him, thankful for the warmth of his lips and the strength in his arms. He 'd saved them today. She prayed he'd forgive her when the truth was finally known.

He smiled and, for the first time since she'd found him by the stream, seemed to relax.

His weight s.h.i.+fted. "Come. They'll wonder where we are." In one graceful movement, he came to his feet. He reb.u.t.toned himself and then reached for her.

She used both hands to take ahold of his. He easily set her on her feet. Bending, he brushed the gra.s.s from her skirt. "I've made a mess of your hair."

"I don't care."

He shook his head as if to say she were hopeless, and maybe she was. Something had happened between them, something more than the mere act of coupling while he put on his s.h.i.+rt and jacket.

She pulled the pins from her hair and quickly braided it. As they walked back to where the coach waited, their steps matched each other's. Perfectly.

Brenn had tucked her hand in the crook of his arm, and again she marveled at his quiet strength. This afternoon, she'd learned the sort of thing only a woman married to a man could ever know. She took this piece of knowledge and pondered it, close in her heart.

They pulled into the yard of a farmhouse shortly before dusk. Dogs barked, heralding their arrival.

Tess looked out the window. "Where are we?"

Brenn spoke. "Duck Pond Inn. I hope you don't mind. It is out of the way, but clean. I stay here every

chance I can."

She stretched. "Why is that?"

"Because there are some la.s.ses here I can't resist." Brenn opened the coach door.

Tess froze. "La.s.ses?"

He laughed and jumped to the ground. "You must meet them," he told her.

At that moment, high-pitched voices shouted joyfully, "He's here! He's here! You're back!"

Tess poked her head out of the coach and the swift jab of jealousy vanished. Two precious little girls

charged across the yard from the front door of the yellow brick farmhouse. They couldn't have beenmore than eight and six. They were followed by a third curly-haired la.s.s whose short legs couldn't keepup with her older sisters.

All three girls hugged Brenn around the waist with unabashed adoration. The youngest one raised her hands and he swung her up into his arms.

"Marigold," he said. "You have straw in your hair." He pulled a strand from her dark curls.

A dimple appeared in the corner of her mouth. "Sukey has had puppies. Do you want to see them? We'

ve just come from there."

"In a moment I will," he said. "But first I want the three of you to meet someone special." He led them

over to the coach. "This is my wife, Lady Merton."

"Oooo, she's lovely," Marigold said. The older two hung back, too shy to speak. They watched Tess with wide brown eyes.

Tess stepped down to the ground, thoroughly entranced. These three little girls in their homespun dresses

and pinafores were darling.