"I
believe she's with our maid, Doctor. I'll get her for you," she called down.
"Thank you, ma'am. Tell her, please, I'll be waiting out back. I'd
like to have a look at your rose garden, if you don't mind. From Peeper's window up there, it looks like you've
some fine specimens."
Flattered for
her efforts, "I'd love to come down and point out the different varieties,
but I've got to get some food into Peep before she drifts off. Be sure to examine my Blank Double de
Coubert. I've only just planted it last spring. It's the six-foot bush with the
large white blooms on the end of the back row. Be careful though. Her
extra sharp thorns bring blood if they stick you."
"Yes’m.
And please keep me informed through Miss Marie on Peeper's progress."
"I'm
so happy you've come all the way out to Dunnigan Manor to see about our Peeper,"
Miss Ella said. "Once again, thank you for all your help."
As Frankie left the house, his mood was light. After encircling the pretty ten by
twenty foot flowerbed three times, he pursed his lips in sudden impatience, and
decided to leave. He would catch up with Marie another time. The screen door
squeaked then slammed. From behind the trellis full of yellow roses, he could see her holding several
carrots. As she passed, his hand struck, taking hold of her wrist
and stopping her dead.
"You
scared the fool out of me!"
"I need to know if you can work an extra
shift Tuesday next. One of the nurses can't make it."
More hours
at the camp were far from what she wanted. "Let me think on it while I
give our horses some treats." She
walked into the barn and he followed.
"I
need to know now. I have a schedule to
plan. Can I count on you or not?"
Inside the
stable, the smell of clean hay filled their nostrils. "I put in enough
time there. I would rather—"
He tore
the carrots from her and threw them onto the floor, grabbing her wrist
again. "You'd rather do this?" He jerked her to him, grinding his lips into hers. "Where have you been? You haven't met
me at the beach one time this past week," he snapped. "I'm going
crazy without you." He wanted desperately to keep kissing her, but there
was no darkness to conceal them. "I see that Lt. Seever talking to you in
camp. You'd better tell him to quit drooling over you." He pressed his
lips to her throat. "If I have to make up a reason, I'll have him or any
other bastard court martialed and strung up to keep them away from you!"
"Shh," Marie warned, catching her breath. "Don't be silly. The
lieutenant and I have never met like this. I swear." She wished about now
it was Lt. Seever kissing her. She didn't dare explain the lieutenant had asked
permission to call, and she'd kept putting him off. She was sorry she had. Trying
to hold the doctor away, "What if someone sees us? What will I say?"
"Say
you're giving me a tour of the place or something. Tell them the truth, that you're
feeding carrots to the damn horses. It doesn't matter."
"Clover did buy two new saddles last week. And there are some barn
cats in the loft."
"Marie. I don't give a pig's squeal about any of that. All I want
is to touch you again. Come on." He led the way deeper into the barn. He
envisioned Marie lying on the straw and having her right then and there. The cottage by the sea was so much more private, less
risky. At this point, though, he was ready to take that risk. He needed
release, and badly. He was beyond the point of discomfort. He'd been holding
back from other women, saving himself for her introduction into his wicked and
wild world. Anticipating fulfillment, his eyes squinted and his lips tightened
across his white teeth.
They
passed half a dozen horses and two wandering goats, frightened several chickens
and one squawking peacock out of the way until he spotted an empty stall. It
was still too much out in the open. Although his intentions would take only a
few minutes, he still wanted some sort privacy. "Come on. You said you've
got cats in the loft?" He got behind Marie and pushed her up the steep
ladder. "This should be fun. There are books out there saying making love
to a woman in a hay loft is romantic."
As she
climbed, with him two rungs behind her, she whispered, "Make love? I
couldn't do such a thing. And here in the family barn? Oh no. "
Frankie didn't hear what Marie was saying. He focused on the round rump he imagined
beneath the sway of her skirts. Once in the loft, he led her to the southwest
corner, the furthest corner from the house, and pulled her down on top of him.
His mouth was on hers and his kisses were anything but tender. Her hands on his
chest, she struggled to put space between them, trying to catch her breath. He
would have none of it. He easily overpowered the minimal strength in her arms
and she collapsed hard onto him.
He flipped
her onto her back, and it seemed his full weight was crushing her.
"Please, not now. Not here. This isn't how it's supposed to be." She
wanted to scream yet wouldn't as the horror of shame at being caught permitting
such a disgusting act soured her lunch. "I don't want this, Frankie. Stop it.
Stop it!"
His hand
fumbled at her dress, bunching it up around her middle. The dry straw poked and
stung her bare skin not covered by her stockings. His knees bruised her thighs
apart the same time he fingered the buttons on his trousers. Tears scorched
Marie's eyes when she saw her bodice open and felt her chemise rip apart. He
delighted in her exposure and her embarrassment no longer mattered. Someone had
to help her, anyone. One scream escaped, until his hand covered her mouth,
squeezing her cries silent.
"Not
another sound or you'll regret it," he breathed into her face. "I've
waited too long for this. I'll wait no longer."
***************************
*Marie is the youngest of four adult Dunnigan siblings featured in Amelia Island's Goodbye Lie series set on Amelia Island, Florida in the late 1800s. Throughout her story, Amelia Island's Mark of a Man, Marie's young life seems destined to end in despair unless she stands up to fate.
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