Page 196 of Feathers in the Wind
‘What are you thinking?’ he asked.
I propped myself on one elbow and ran my fingers through the hair on his chest.
‘I was wondering about your wife,’ I said.
His lips tightened. ‘Anne was not like you. I tried to teach her but she didn’t want to know. She was a godly woman who believed intercourse was for one purpose only, the begetting of children.’
I kissed him gently. ‘Then that, I am afraid, was Anne’s loss. Now it is my turn...’ I straddled his hips and took charge.
Chapter 4- THE RULES OF CRICKET
Beyond the window, the birds begin their morning song. Some things never change. At home I would hear the voices of the servants, who awake long before the dawn. Here are only the birds and the occasional passing carriage.
Jessie the Witch lies in my arms, her hair spread across my chest. It is the color of the dark honey Alice would bring in from the hives in the orchard and smells just as sweet, but I know the smell comes from the strange soap in a bottle she keeps in the room with the bath.
‘Alice?’ I call her in my head. ‘Is this what you intended? That I should fall in love with a woman who is not of my time?’
I hear her say, ‘Yes, that is how it should be. You are meant to be together.’
‘But I am to die. I cannot leave her to mourn me.’
‘We all must die,’ Alice answers me.
At that thought my flesh turns cold. I kiss Jessie’s hair and she murmurs in her sleep and holds me closer. I cannot die, not yet. Not when I have found my soul mate.
* * *
Iwoke and found my limbs still tangled in Nat’s as if I hadn’t moved all night. Stretching my body against his, I sighed in contentment.
‘You’re awake? Do you mind if I move my arm? I can’t feel my fingers,’ Nat said rather unromantically.
I rolled off his chest and lay on the pillows, looking up at the ceiling. I smiled and raised a hand to touch my lips, which still tingled from the previous night, as I remembered.
Beside me, Nat lay back and watched me, his hands behind his head. He had the sleek, contented air of a lion that had just eaten its fill. I shivered as I thought of the feline analogy. No lover I had ever been with had given me what I had experienced last night.
I stole a glance at the clock radio beside the bed and sat bolt upright. Nat rolled over and propped himself on an elbow. ‘Jessie? Are you all right?’
‘It’s seven,’ I said. ‘I’m due at work in half an hour. I’m going to be late.’
He put his hand over mine. ‘Don’t go.’
It would have been so easy to ring in sick and just lie beside this man, but I swung my legs off the bed.
‘I have patients,’ I said, bending to kiss him, ‘but you know something? I’m going to take some long overdue leave from tomorrow.’
I didn’t speak the words hanging over our heads. We didn’t know how much time we had so we needed every minute of every day.
‘What do you suggest I do today?’ he inquired as I scampered around the bedroom retrieving my work clothes.
‘Alan said he would call in this morning. I think he’s up to something.’
Fully dressed, I bent and kissed him on the lips, resisting the strong hand that wound around my neck, pulling me into bed.
‘I’ll be home by six tonight,’ I promised. ‘And then we can plan for the next few days. I have so much to show you.’
The corners of his lips twitched into a smile. ‘If they are as interesting as last night, I can hardly wait. Hurry home, Mistress Shepherd.’
* * *
