“It’s true, I will almost certainly be bankrupt within a few months unless I sell. Which I suppose I will. There’s been some interest from the owner of a larger paper a few towns over. He’d like to combine the publications into one regional weekly.”
“John, you can’t.” Ora wasn’t sure why she was protesting. What did she care if this perfidious man lost his business? It was what he deserved, after all, conning her into coming here for no real reason except to distract her from more fruitful projects. Sure, it had inadvertently worked out, giving her the opportunity to discover a unique specimen that would still be a boost to her professional reputation. But he hadn’t intended that; he’d only meant to deceive her in exchange for payment and an introduction.
While that might have been what he originally intended, part of her couldn’t release the hope that getting her out of Guy’s way hadn’t been John’s primary motive for some time now. She’d seen the way he looked at her. She’d felt the way he’d kissed her.
He said it had all been a lie. But not that.
No, not that.
Despite her desire to dismiss their connection as a byproduct of his hoax, she simply couldn’t when it felt real and true in a way that nothing else ever had in her life.
“I may never be able to make amends for what I have done,”he said quietly, having set aside his drawing to focus fully on her. “But I must at least try.”
“No,” Ora said. “You played a role in this, certainly, and for that you may self-flagellate all you would like. But your betrayal pales in comparison to Ledford’s. Guy presented himself as a supportive colleague and an…an intimate friend. All the while plotting to sabotage me. That is infinitely more despicable, in my esteem. It is him that I wish to suffer for this.” She picked up John’s discarded pencil and tapped it against her palm, considering how best to make that happen. “You will make this up to me, John,” she said, “by pretending that you are still going along with Guy’s nefarious plans for as long as possible. You will keep every penny he has given you and has yet to give you so that it is not inhispockets. Anything in excess of what you need to keep from having to sell your paper, you will donate to a cause of my choosing as recompense. And you will create the most gorgeous illustrations of our goose that the world has ever seen so that I can tromp Guy Ledford into the ground.”
Her chest heaved, her heart pounding hard and her breath coming fast as if she was a general who had just given a rousing speech to her troops. She felt strong. Invincible. The opposite of how the male scientists back in Washington wanted her to feel.
To the devil with each and every one of them. Ora Belmont Worthy was going to show them for once and for all that she was not to be trifled with.
“God, Ora. Right now, you are…”
“Terrifying?” she asked hopefully.
“Yes, quite,” John assured her. “And more magnificent than anything I have ever witnessed.”
“I am glad you think so,” she preened to hide the slight nervousness that came with what she was about to say. “Because Iwas hoping that after we were finished here you might take me to bed.”
“I— You still want— After everything?” he managed.
“I’ve given it some thought, and have realized that forcing myself to deny my feelings for you won’t hurt Ledford. It only hurts me.”
“But surely, with what I’ve done—”
“What you’ve done, John, is given me a much-needed reminder that I am the only one I can fully trust in this world. And, as it ismyheart that seems to desire you despite everything, I suppose I ought to trust that too.”
They watched as the white goose flew away with the rest of its flock, their eyes tracking the birds as they adjusted into a haphazard V formation.
“I have given you little reason to believe in me, I know. But my heart beats for the sole purpose of worshiping yours, and it has since the arrival of your very first letter. If you’ll allow me, Ora, I’ll spend the rest of my life proving that to you. Proving myself, my devotion,” he assured her as Albus disappeared into the distance before the rest of the birds, his coloring more similar to the bright pale gray of the overcast sky. “My love.”
“Why don’t you start proving it to me now?” she asked.
Apparently satisfied that the invitation was earnest by the unabashed hunger he undoubtedly saw on her face, he slowly slipped his fingers up the side of her neck until they rested at her jaw. This time he was the one who pressed his mouth to hers, and he kissed her with a sweet ardency that felt like the physical manifestation of his insistence that she was precious to him. Ora responded with something harder, passionate, demanding, and the groan he emitted was a delicious vibration against the palms she placed on his chest. He lowered her back until she was restingon the cold, hard ground and took the hem of her skirts in his fist, raising them toward her waist. The distance between them allowed a raindrop to land on Ora’s forehead, then on the bare skin above her stocking.
She was hesitant to remark upon it, worried that it would stop John’s hand from continuing its journey up her thigh, but it very quickly became too much for either of them to ignore.
“Is there somewhere—” she started.
“Come with me,” he whispered against her throat.
Ora took his hand and they ran through the field, laughing at the wildness of it all as the downpour opened up and did its damnedest to saturate their clothing. There was freedom in it, freedom she hadn’t felt since she was a young girl, to be in the moment. To be herself without the weight of the world’s expectations.
She half expected John to bring her to a barn, the way that snake Ledford had joked he would. Instead, they headed for a thick patch of woods bordering the farm. They stopped beneath a large oak that thankfully had leaves still clinging admirably to its branches despite the changing seasons, creating a semblance of shelter beneath. The rain still dripped between the canopy’s gaps, but sparingly enough that they could kiss the water off each other’s skin as he once again hoisted her skirts, trapping them between her body and the tree’s thick trunk, and slipped his fingers through the part in her drawers.
“Make love to me, John,” Ora pleaded, needing more than his touch. Needing everything, without further delay.
John reached for the fall of his trousers, then hesitated. Most men wouldn’t, she knew. Most men would take what she offered without a second thought. And that’s why she was so enamoredwith the one pressing her up against a tree in the rain. He was a different sort of specimen.
One she hoped to claim for herself.
