Unrelenting Love: Banished Saga, Book Five Page 17
Aidan and Teddy shared a long glance, and an understanding was born, one forged from their mutual love for Zylphia.
“Nothing is more precious than family and those we love,” Aidan murmured. “Nothing.”
15
Zylphia poked her head into the laboratory on the third floor of the large mansion in Cambridge and found it empty. She silently backed out and tiptoed to the doorway farther down the hall. His study. She paused a moment as she battled memories. Rather than knocking, she tested the door and slipped inside when she found it open.
A soft fire smoldered in the fireplace, and the room was gently lit by lamps. She removed her heavy black cape and draped it over the back of a chair. She moved toward Teddy’s leather wingback chair, tracing it as she remembered the last time she was here. The tears. The pleasure. The fear and then anger and pain as she had lied to him.
“You came,” Teddy whispered from behind her.
She spun to face him and nodded. She remained mute, watching him lock the door behind him as he slowly approached her. He wore black trousers and a white shirt, partially open at the neck. She reached forward and touched his neck, finding his pulse point.
He frowned as he saw her battling tears. “What is it, my love?”
She moved into him, replacing her fingers with her lips. “I can’t believe you’re here. In my arms. I need proof that you’re real.” She kissed him again, before laying her head against his chest. “I fear I’ll continue to need such proof for a while.”
He traced a hand down her back and then to her loosely tied-up hair. His fingers found pins, and he deftly removed them. Her hair cascaded down her back, and he leaned in farther, burying his face in her long raven locks. “I don’t mind as it means I am able to hold you in my arms,” he murmured.
“Why did you want us to meet here?” Zylphia asked. She ran a hand over his back, earning a small shudder. She continued her caress, and he pulled her closer.
“There are ghosts in this room, Zee. Ghosts of our immature selves who must be vanquished. I want to create new memories here. Ones of joy. Where we have …” He broke off as though he had said too much and chuckled. “You’re a minx, encouraging me to say more than I’d planned.”
She chuckled and attempted to move even closer to him. “I thought the reason for my coming here wasn’t solely for conversation.”
He laughed in her ear, and she realized that he’d been moving them slowly toward the carpet near the fireplace. “No, my dearest love. Although there’s no one I’d rather speak with, there’s so much more I’d rather do right now.”
He eased her onto the carpet and paused as he felt her trembling. He backed away and met her gaze, frowning as he saw her attempt to hide her fear. “I won’t hurt you again. I promise.”
She nodded and bit her trembling lip. “I know. A part of me knows that. Another part worries I’ll disappoint you.”
Teddy laughed and then immediately sobered as a tear trickled down her cheek. “Oh, Zee, you’ll never disappoint me.”
She nodded, and her gaze became resolute. “Fine. Let’s…” She waved a hand around as though indicating that whatever was to happen between them should begin.
He shook his head as he felt her becoming more tightly strung by the moment. “No, not like this,” he whispered. He rose and reached for her hand, helping her up. “Come with me.” Hands clasped, they walked through the study to the door. He unlocked it, peered down the darkened empty hall, and tugged her to a bedroom opposite his study.
He shut and locked the door behind them, then leaned forward and kissed her. Kissed her softly. Reverently. He traced featherlight caresses over her back, her sides, and her hips. He felt her tension ease as she leaned into him. Her hands roved over his back and soon became impatient with his clothing. He sighed with contentment as he felt her tug at his shirttails and pull them free of his trousers.
He worked loose the buttons on the back of her dress and broke their kiss as he grasped the edges of the opened dress, pulling it to her feet. They exchanged smiles as though sharing a secret while he urged her forward to step from her dress. He hooked his fingers into her chemise and pulled it up to her chin. He paused before easing it over her head.
He met her gaze, the fingers of his left hand reaching forward to trace the contour of her collarbone. “Do you want me to stop?”
Her smile bloomed while joy and anticipation filled her gaze. “No, my love, no,” she said as she leaned forward to kiss him. He broke the kiss to lift the chemise over her head. His hands ran over the soft skin of her shoulders and upper chest before easing around to work on the ties of her corset. Soon that was discarded on the floor, and she was left in a thin undershift.
She pushed aside his hands to unbutton his shirt and drop it to the floor. She leaned forward and kissed his left shoulder exposed in the undershirt that covered his chest but bared his arms and moved to kiss his right shoulder.
He backed up a step and shook his head. “No, Zee.” He backed up another step, and another, until he bumped into the bed. “I—this shirt needs to stay on.”
Zylphia squinted in the darkened room and frowned. “I want nothing between us, Teddy. Not clothes, not secrets. Nothing.”
Teddy caressed the side of her cheek, easing the warrior expression that had overcome her. “You’ll never know how much you saying that means to me. You have to be patient with me, Zee.”
“You’re used to hiding away, and I won’t let you.” She met his gaze with one filled with fierce devotion, grasping the bottom of the undershirt between her fingers. “Trust me. Trust in us.”
He swallowed and nodded. Rather than remove the shirt immediately, she dropped her hold on its hem and instead leaned on tiptoes and kissed him on his lips, before brushing quick kisses along his jaw, his neck, and upper chest. She caressed him along his back, arms, and chest as she kissed him. “I should have realized you needed courting as much as I did,” she teased. He chuffed out a laugh, clenching his hands as she kissed him over his shirt down his belly.
“Take it off, Zee,” he demanded.
She looked up at him in triumph, to behold him with his head thrown back in passion. She hooked her thumbs onto the edge of the shirt and caressed his bare chest with her hands as she raised his shirt.
“You truly are a minx,” he said, pride and passion tingeing his voice.
“I’ve had plenty of nights to dream of our reunion.” She threw his shirt to join her clothes on the floor and ran her hands over his torso, down his arms. She never hesitated as her hands rubbed over scars along the right side of his upper chest and shoulder.
“I would spare you these scars if I could,” Teddy murmured.
She leaned up and kissed them before moving to his uninjured side. “They only make me love you more,” she whispered as she wrapped her arms around him. “I hate to think of all you suffered.”
“I’m suffering now,” he teased as he pulled her even closer to him.
She laughed and pushed him backward, toppling him on the bed. She threw off the last stitch of clothing covering her and clambered onto the bed, straddling him. He pulled her down for a kiss, before rolling her so she was underneath him. He never broke the kiss, even as he wriggled to free himself of his pants and underclothes.
When he was as naked as she was, he broke the kiss to stare into her eyes a moment. “Do you want me? Do you want—?”
Before he could say anything further, Zylphia covered his mouth and quietly said, “Yes! I half undressed you. I want you. I want us. I want—”
She gasped as he kissed her deeply, ending all unnecessary conversation. They focused on their reunion as their gasps of joy and passion completed their homecoming.
Zylphia awoke, her head on Teddy’s left shoulder. His hand sifted through her hair, gently tugging on it in a soothing caress. She snuggled closer and sighed.
“I’m hoping that is due to contentment,” he whispered as he leaned down to kiss her forehead.
She raised her head, a small frown marring her expression. “Of course it is.” She stared at him, her frown deepening as she failed to read his guarded expression. “It was everything I’d dreamed it would be and more.”
“Will you lay with me here a while?” He brushed at her forehead, failing to ease the furrows between her brows.
She nodded and laid her head on his chest again. After a few moments, she traced lazy patterns on his chest. “I always dreamed of this. This quiet time together when no words were needed.”
She felt him tense a moment before he rolled her onto her back, and he loomed over her. His expression was fierce, a determination and desperation in his gaze he was unable to hide. “I can’t be quiet, Zee.” At her nod for him to continue, he relaxed slightly. “I love you. I don’t want to imagine a life without you in it.”
Zylphia nodded again but remained quiet. He ran his hands through her hair until he clasped her head between his palms. “I wanted us to have our reunion in the study because I had a fantasy of rewriting the past. Of having a chance to create a different ending.”
“I’m so—”
He dropped his battered fingers to her lips and shook his head. “Never be sorry, Zee. You showed me how I shouldn’t be looking to the past. I should look to the future. Our future.”
She nodded again, and he took a deep breath. “Give me a second.” He rolled off the bed and ferreted through their clothes until he found his pants. He grabbed something before rejoining her again on the bed, this time lying beside her. She rolled onto her side, her gaze quizzical. She ran a hand over his hip, as though needing constant contact with him to remind her that they were truly reunited.
He took a deep breath, handed her a box, and waited. She leaned up on one elbow and popped it open.
Her eyes widened as she beheld the large sapphire surrounded by small diamonds. “What does this mean, Teddy?”
He reached into the box, clumsily grasping it with his thumb and damaged index finger. “Marry me, Zee. Accompany me through this life as my best friend, my love, my equal.”
She raised luminous eyes, eyes that matched the sapphire, to his. “Yes, I’ll marry you, Theodore Goff. You understand me, challenge me, and still love me.”
He smiled. “How could I not love the most remarkable woman I’ve ever met?” His smile broadened as he slipped the ring onto her finger, before he raised her hand and kissed it. “I love you, Zee.”
“I love you, Teddy,” she whispered, attempting to blink away tears and failing. She flung herself at him, pushing him backward. “Hold me. Hold me forever.”
He wrapped his strong arms around her and felt himself relax into her embrace. It was the first time he’d fully relaxed since their fight, over eighteen months ago.
Zylphia stood near the fire in Teddy’s office one evening a week later, her dark cloak draped over the ottoman. She stared into the flames, swaying as though she heard music. She jumped and stifled a shriek when Teddy stroked a hand down her arm.
“Where are you, darling?” he asked as he pulled her backward into his embrace, looping his arms around her front and nestling her into him. “You’re a million miles away.” He shuddered as she settled into him, relaxing the longer he held her.
“I was thinking about the gathering tonight and envisioning that you’d been there to dance with me.” She turned and snuggled into a full-bodied hug. “I miss you when I’m not with you.”
“That’s lovely. Thank you,” he whispered into her hair. “I couldn’t go. Not today. I have no desire to attend such events.”
“I know, darling. But I fear you must go to one at some point as people are becoming curious, and the longer you refrain from attending, the meaner the rumors become.” She leaned back to study his face, the tightening of his jaw belying his day’s stress. “Did you have a terrible day?”
Teddy exhaled in an attempt to soothe the sudden tension gripping him. “It’s all better now.” He kissed her softly and eased her again into his embrace. “Is the gossip affecting you?”
Zylphia chuckled. “It doesn’t matter to me. They already think I’m an oddity, and what they say about me doesn’t hurt me.”
He pushed her out of his arms to see her face. He ran fingers down her cheek and cradled her chin, his expression tender. “Yet what they say about me does hurt you.” At her nod, he pulled her tightly into his embrace again. “Oh, my love, you don’t have to fight my battles for me. The ones who speak poorly of me or speculate about me aren’t worth our regard.”
Zylphia sniffled as she burrowed farther into his embrace. “I know that rationally. Then someone comes up to me and says something snide, and all I want to do is hit them. Yell at them about not having any idea about what it was you lived through.” She let out a stuttering breath. “Instead I have to smile and act pleased they took time out of their social obligations to speak with me.”
Teddy moved toward the leather sofa to one side of the fireplace. He stretched out on it, and Zylphia laid down next to him, curling into him. “What else bothers you, darling? I can sense your worry.”
“The march is in two days’ time, and I have this fear no one will show up,” she admitted. When his laughter filled the room, she stiffened and rose up on an elbow to glare at him. “I’m serious.”
“I know you are,” he said with another chuckle. “So many women and men will be there that you won’t know what to do. It will be a roaring success due to the diligent work of you and the women on your committee.”
Zylphia settled against him once more. She played with one of the sofa’s loose buttons. “I love hearing you laugh. You comfort me when I can see you are in as great a need of comfort as I am.” She stroked a hand down his chest. When he remained silent, she said, “The mansion tonight was festooned in red roses. All the men, well almost all, had red roses in their boutonnieres.” Tears trickled down her cheeks. “If I can’t convince any of those men, how can I convince others that universal suffrage is just?”
“What does the red rose mean?”
“It’s a symbol of being an Anti. They took great pleasure in speaking of the beautiful floral arrangements and offering to give me the name of their florist.” Zylphia sighed as tears continued to leak out.
Teddy moved so that Zylphia lay underneath him, his weight balanced on his knees and elbows as he swiped at her tears with jerky movements. “What color should I wear to show my support?”
“A yellow rose,” Zylphia whispered. “Anything yellow really, as that is one of our colors.” She leaned up and kissed him. “Oh, Teddy, thank you.”
He kissed her fervently, his hands caressing her head and shoulders. “I’ll always support you in what you do. Your art. Your suffragist work.” He shared a long, passionate look with her. “I’ll never stop loving you.” He leaned forward, kissing her again as his hands attempted to loosen the buttons on the front of her dress. During the long minutes it took him to undo her buttons, he kissed her forehead, cheeks, the underside of her neck. As he slowly peeled away her dress, he kissed the newly exposed flesh.
She traced patterns over his back, ruching up his shirt to feel his skin. When he leaned away from her a moment, she worked at a feverish pace on the buttons of his waistcoat and shirt, pushing the shirt off and away so that he was bare-chested. His eyes glowed as he beheld the answering passion in her eyes, and he lowered his head, kissing her deeply.
“You have no idea how much your passion for me pleases me,” he groaned out, his head tilting back as Zylphia kissed his neck down to his chest. He gasped as she worked on the remaining buttons of his pants and earned a gasp from her as he pulled her to him to straddle him. “Like this, love. Love me like this,” he murmured, kissing her deeply.
She moaned, lost to their passion.
Zylphia smiled as she turned to kiss him before settling her back against his front. She was cocooned in a warm blanket with Teddy behind her providing even more warmth. “We’ve silenced one ghost.”
“Forgive me …” She bit back any further words as his fingers raised to her lips in a silent entreaty to say nothing more. “I love you,” she whispered as she kissed his fingers.
“And I you, my darling,” he whispered.
She traced a hand along the arm clasped around her belly and was silent for a few minutes. “We have to find other ways of seeing each other,” she teased, breaking the contented silence. “I can’t continue to sneak out of my house.”
“It’s only been a handful of times,” Teddy murmured. “Besides, we’ll marry soon.”
She ran her hand down his arm, coming to his injured fingers. She traced her fingers over the healthy and the scarred skin, her fingers plucking and playing with his absently. “Thank you for insisting that we wait to marry until after the vote.”
He sighed into her hair and burrowed through its thickness to reach her nape. He kissed her softly once, eliciting a shiver.
She felt his smile at her reaction, and more kisses followed.
“I had no desire to attempt to compete with the cause.”
Zylphia scooted, bumping the back of her head against his nose and earning a grunt of discomfort as she turned to face him. “There is no competition, Teddy. Please tell me you understand that?”
“I do. But I will also admit to wanting you for myself for a while. I know that, after the vote occurs, whatever the outcome, I can steal you away from the cause for a little while.”
“Only a little while,” she murmured.
He ran a hand down her arm, eliciting goose bumps as his fingers followed imaginary trails up from her elbow and down from her shoulder. “Zee, there’s so much I haven’t told you about the war. The battles. The things I did.”