Captain Of Her Heart Read online

  “I beg your pardon?” Brooding and beautiful, in his skintight breeches and flowing lawn shirt, her husband scoffed. “If you think I am leaving you alone, with my wife, then you—”

  “Jason, stop it, this instant.” Propped on a mountain of pillows, Alex opened the robe, so the physician could commence the checkup.

  “Captain Collingwood, regardless of my youthful appearance, I assure you, I am a professional.” At the basin, Dr. Studly rolled up his shirtsleeves, poured water into the bowl, and soaped his hands. “But if you insist on attending the appointment, then you must not interfere with my duties, as you would impede my ability to assess your wife’s condition, as well as that of your children.”

  As Dr. Studly conducted a thorough evaluation, Jason huffed and puffed from the opposite side of the bed. At last, Alex reached for him and squeezed his fingers, but her husband frowned at the physician.

  “It is false labor.” Dr. Studly returned the tools of his trade to his bag. “What were you doing when the contractions began?”

  Gulping, Alex glanced at Jason, and his eyes widened. Then he flinched and gazed at the ceiling. So much for her chivalrous knight.

  “I lounged abed.” Oh, how her cheeks burned, as salacious vignettes flashed in her brain. “As the captain and I enjoyed a relaxed morning.”

  “How peculiar.” The physician scratched his chin. “False labor is usually brought about by overexertion, excitement, or a combination, thereof.”

  “Really?” Alex mustered a nervous laugh. “How odd.”

  “Did we—I mean, were the babes harmed?” Jason’s face flushed. “And what of my wife? Is she injured?”

  “I am happy to report her ladyship is in fine fettle.” Dr. Studly wrinkled his nose, as he collected his bag and hat. “However, as she is very near her time, I recommend confining her ladyship to bed, Captain.”

  “What?” She sat upright, drew the covers over her belly, and nodded, as Jason adjusted a pillow. “For how long?”

  “Until you give birth, my lady.” The good doctor cast her an expression of sympathy.

  “You can’t be serious. Dr. Studly, please, is there not an easier way?” The nursery needed a final review, and Alex intended to make love to her husband, all afternoon. “You know not what you ask of me.”

  “Fret not, your ladyship.” Dr. Studly checked his timepiece. “Given the length and magnitude of your false labor, I expect you will deliver at any moment.”

  “Any moment?” Jason leaped from the mattress, paled, and slumped against the footboard. “Are you leaving?”

  “Calm yourself, Captain Collingwood. Childbirth can be a very tedious process, and the entire affair can take hours.” At the door, the physician peered over his shoulder. “I promise, when you have need of my services, you will have ample opportunity to send your man, and I shall remain at the ready.”

  “Thank you, Dr. Studly.” Alone with her sailor, she slipped free of the robe, tossed it to the floor, and licked her lips. “This is so unfair. Whatever shall I do, while locked in our room, as it is early, yet?”

  “Well I know what you will not do, as I ought to be horsewhipped for waylaying you, last night—and in the wee hours, this morning.” After retrieving the discarded garment, Jason attempted to clothe her. “What the deuce was I thinking?”

  “I beg to differ, my lusty captain, as I loved every minute of it.” She wriggled as he tried to drape the silk garment over her shoulders. “And do you regret consummating our vows?”

  “Alex—”

  “Jason.” She mocked his sigh.

  “I regret nothing, as I cannot resist you, when you are as accommodating as you were last night.” At last, he relented and abandoned the robe. “And I have been trying to get under your skirts since we married.”

  “Jason Collingwood, I like the way you think.” And her confidence soared, as she rested her palm to his flat belly and then she skimmed her hand lower, to squeeze a telltale bulge.

  “Stop that.” He leaped beyond reach, as if she had set fire to his breeches. Wagging a finger, her suddenly shy husband grimaced. “You heard what Dr. Studly said. We are not to excite you.”

  “Too late, as I burn for you.” Biting her lip, she inclined her head. “Will you not climb between the sheets and suffer with me?”

  “No.” Utter panic invested his visage.

  “All right.” Alex threw back the blankets. “If you think I am going to sit here, alone, all day, you are mistaken. And if you refuse to entertain me, than I shall fend for myself.”

  “Stay in bed.” Gritting his teeth, Jason stomped to the edge of the mattress, grasped the end of the counterpane, and tucked it beneath her chin. “If you have need of me, you have only to ask. But I do not see what I can provide by way of amusement.”

  “Actually, I have a wonderful idea.” And it was time to embark on her campaign to win his heart. “You may read to me. The book is on the bedside table.”

  “That sounds simple.” Jason retrieved the requisite volume and flipped through the pages. “If you swear you will rest, for the remainder of the day.”

  “With your help, I should relax.” And the contents might motivate him to make his declaration. “And I shall nap.”

  “Love sonnets?” He blanched. “Oh, Alex.”

  “You swore you would do it, for me.” She folded her arms and thrust her chin. “Do you renege, sir?”

  “But you said nothing about foppish sentiments written by overemotional parlor dandies, who are a bit too in touch with their feminine side, for my tastes.” How she cherished his pout.

  “Read—now.” She narrowed her stare.

  “Where did you leave off?” he inquired, with a glower.

  “You may start at the beginning.” And then she clamped her tongue against a giggle.

  “Very well.” Holding the leather-bound tome, he turned to the first page and groaned. “Your eyes are like limpid pools—you can’t be serious.”

  “That does it.” Alex scooted to the edge of the bed. “There are some entries I must note in the supply ledger, and—”

  “Oh, all right.” With a look that might have frightened her before their marriage, her husband stomped to her side of the four-poster, grasped her ankles, and eased her beneath the blankets. “Weigh your anchor, and I will read the damn romantic drivel.”

  Then he yanked off his boots and flung them none too gracefully to the floor. “May as well be comfortable if I am to endure such humiliating degradation.”

  “Humiliating degradation?” She snorted. “Are we not a tad dramatic?”

  “Adequate to the occasion.” The man was downright menacing. “Because you are the only woman who could ever coax me to enact something so ridiculous, and if you breathe one word of this to anyone, I will deny it to my death.”

  “Poor aggrieved darling.” In that instant, Alex opened her heart and let it sing. “I shall be as silent as the grave.”

  “My sire is probably rolling over in his.” Jason glared, but he fooled her not for a minute.

  With a final mumbled protest, her captain embarked on a poetic oration that would have moved many of the fairer sex to tears, if only to make him stop. At first, he practically barked the sonnets, which she thought an original, if not amusing, interpretation.

  However, with each subsequent verse, he gazed into her eyes, emphasized more sensuous text, interjected bits of ribald humor, and then moved to sit beside her, so he could claim a kiss at the end of each line. And Alex imagined that, years later, when she reminisced of her fledgling months of wedded life, the hour she passed that morning with Jason would prevail as her most cherished memory.

  “Well, that was the last poem, my dear.” He closed the book. “Have you another?”

  “I do.” She nuzzled his chest and sighed. “But right now, I would indulge in alternative recreation, if you retain your cooperative nature.”

  “What is next?” With a hearty chuckle, he kissed the crown of her head. “Shakesp
eare?”

  “Perhaps, this evening.” She retraced her earlier path, straight to his crotch. “As I am in the mood for your favorite activity.”

  “No, Alex.” Jason covered her hand with his. “Dr. Studly said you are not to be excited.”

  “But I am, and it is your fault.” She squeezed his fast rising erection. “As you have showered with me sonnets, and I want you.”

  “You asked me to read them.” He groaned and flexed his hips.

  “Yes, I know, and all that flowery language worked on my senses.” He released her, and she unhooked his waistband. “Can we not enjoy the fruit of your labor?”

  Jason dropped his head back on the pillow. “The doctor said—”

  “Bother the doctor.” She closed her fingers about his girth. “He is an old woman.”

  “Admit it.” He hissed. “You are trying to kill me.”

  “With pleasure, darling.” How well she knew the rhythm, to make him howl in delight. “Let me have you, just this once.”

  Exhaling audibly, he closed his eyes. “Do with me, as you wish.”

  It was an enthralling experience, brandishing something so elementally male, yet delicate and vulnerable as a ripe peach, in her clutch. “Have you ever given yourself into another woman’s control?”

  “Never have I granted license of my body to anyone—until I met you.” Clenching his jaw, Jason thrust in time with her movements.

  “What is so special about me?” She toyed with the drop of moisture that had seeped from the tip.

  He pinned her with his stare. “I trust you.”

  Passion glimmered, and smug satisfaction rode in its wake. Emboldened by his statement, she licked her palm and resumed her naughty handiwork, and that sent her husband over the brink. With a startling roar, he jerked and exploded in an impressive display of virility. After a few seconds, he whistled in monotone, and Alex burst into laughter.

  “You unman me, love, but that is no criticism.” To wit Jason grinned and waggled his brows. “However, you forgot the towel, and I made a mess.”

  “Wait there. I will fetch a wet cloth and tend you, for a change.” She shimmied and stepped to the floor. At the washstand, she picked up the pitcher, just as a rush of warmth flooded between her thighs and puddled on the carpet. “Oh, no.”

  “Good God, you have sprung a leak.” Jason leaped from the bed and rushed to her side. “What happened?”

  Leaning against him for support, she gasped. “My water broke.”

  He furrowed his brow. “Speak English, Alex.”

  “The babes.” She hugged her belly. “They are coming.”

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  Oh, the pain.

  Oh, the agony.

  Oh, the misery.

  It was an unimaginable torture. Standing in the middle of the master suite, Jason grimaced, as his wife bent forward in the throes of another vicious contraction, moaned, and clutched his hand in a death grip. Though she, alone, bore the burden of delivering their babes into the world, he suffered her torment down to his toes—if he still had toes. At present, his legs had weakened to the point that he feared his limbs had been severed at the knees.

  “Bastard!” Her delicate features contorted as proof of her distress, and Alex gritted her teeth and sucked in a breath. “You did this to me.”

  “I know, dearest.” He tried to remain calm and reassuring, but he was deuced scared.

  “This is all your fault.” With a fist pressed to her mouth, she sank her teeth into the fleshy base of her thumb and panted as a thoroughbred that had just crossed the finish line. Only her race had just begun.

  “Yes, darling.” Jason patted her bottom. “I am entirely to blame.”

  “Sabrina was right, as this is not fair.” Alex winced and emitted a soft sob. “The woman must bear the pregnancy and birthing, while you get your jollies and an heir.”

  “I am a double-damned heathen, sweetheart.” He kissed her forehead and tamped his concerns. “Do you feel better?”

  “Yes.” Yet his wife looked worse in his estimation, but he knew not to tell her as much. “I think that one has passed.”

  “Are you sure this is right?” He glanced at Miss Phipps and then the huge four-poster. “I thought the whole process occurred in bed.”

  “The doctor will determine that, Cap’n. But her ladyship has quite a journey ahead of her.” The housekeeper cast him a half-smile. “Trust me, it will be much easier for Lady Alex, and hasten the labor, if she remains upright. Help her walk, sir. Her ladyship must stay afoot.”

  All manner of weird scenarios flashed in his brain, and Jason blanched. What if his bride rushed her fences? Would his children drop to the floor, on their tender heads? And his wife’s current position seemed to amplify her travails. Yet, as the man, his chief responsibility in such circumstances was to sit in his study and consume mass quantities of brandy, according to the edicts of polite society. But Jason was no damned nobleman, so he resolved to write his own rules.

  “Where is the bloody doctor?” He soaked a cloth in cool water. “How long has Tom been gone?”

  “He departed more than four hours ago, sir.” Molly drew a wayward curl from Alex’s face, as he wiped the perspiration from his bride’s brow. “I expected their arrival, long before now. I know not what keeps them.”

  “Perhaps I should go after the eminent Dr. Studly.” The mere prospect of that young dandy touching Alex spiked Jason’s temper.

  “Do not leave me. Please, I beg you, do not leave me.” With a vise-like clamp on his fingers, his wife wrenched him. “Jason, I am frightened.”

  “I am not going anywhere, love.” In that instant, he had never felt so helpless, so utterly useless, in his life. So he slipped his arm about her shoulders and provided succor. “We will get through this, together.”

  A subtle flinch signaled an impending contraction. Alex tensed, clenched her jaw, thrust her chin, and the muscles flexed in her neck, in an ominous display of distress.

  Jason wanted to cry.

  “Make it stop.” Panting, she scrunched her face. “I can take no more.”

  “Lean on me, darling.” He cradled her head.

  “Lean on you?” Alex snorted. “That is what got me here. Touch me again, come at me with the Jolly Roger at full salute, and I shall chop it off. I swear I will.”

  In light of the raucous outburst, Miss Phipps chuckled, and Molly averted her stare. And just as quick, Alex reversed course, clutched his arm, and rested against his chest. Hell, after what he had endured the past four hours, he considered moving into separate quarters. Given the brutality of the so-called miracle of life, he might never resume marital relations.

  “Keep her ladyship walking, Cap’n.” The housekeeper humphed and shuffled her feet. “Else it will be more difficult.”

  “As you wish.” As Alex moaned and groaned, he led her on a tour about their bedchamber.

  Around and around, they navigated the master suite, and with each successive revolution, he marked the path of the sun’s rays across the carpet, until nothing remained but a sliver of gold on the horizon. At last, Dr. Studly strolled into the room.

  “Good evening, Captain and Mrs. Collingwood.” The physician placed his black bag at the foot of the four-poster, doffed his hat and coat, and rolled up his sleeves. “How does our expectant mother fare?”

  Alex vented a woeful whimper.

  “Where in bloody hell have you been?” The perfumed physician sparked Jason’s ire. “My wife has languished for hours.”

  “Her water broke, this morning, after your earlier visit, Dr. Studly.” Molly wrung her fingers. “And her contractions are quite close.”

  “Excellent.” With unimpaired aplomb, the physician washed his hands and then prepared the tools of his trade. “Relax, Captain. There was an accident at the Miller farm, and I have been stitching wounds and setting broken bones, since before noon. Please, help her ladyship into bed, so I may check her progress.”

  In a flash
, Jason scooped Alex into his arms and eased her to the mattress. “There’s a girl.”

  “That will be all.” Dr. Studly snatched a large towel from the side table and spread it atop the counterpane. “You may retire to your study, and I shall send for you, once the babes are born and bathed.”

  Jason—no.” His terrified bride caught the folds of his cravat and well nigh choked him.

  “Hush, darling.” He loosened the neck cloth, swallowed hard, and shook his head. “As I already promised you, I am not going anywhere.”

  “Captain Collingwood, I must protest. The ladies may remain, as I require their assistance, but I must examine her ladyship.” Dr. Studly arched a brow. “The birthing room is no place for a husband.”

  Alex blared.

  “Then I suggest you adjust to the changing circumstance, because I am staying with my wife.” Wild horses could not drag Jason from her side. He had disappointed her in so many ways, and he would not fail her now.

  Alex wailed.

  “Suit yourself, as I have no time to argue the point.” The young doctor commenced his inspection and assessment. “But if you insist on lingering, then I would make use of you.”

  “Tell me what to do, and I am at your service.” Of course, he knew not what that encompassed, but Jason had survived numerous battles in the heat of war, so childbirth could not have been that bad.

  Alex shrieked.

  “Get behind her ladyship, and cradle her body with yours. When I give the command for her to push, you must be unfailing in your support and encouragement.” To Molly and Miss Phipps, Dr. Studly said, “Ladies, hold her legs. And if any of you feel faint or believe you are sick at your stomach, for heaven’s sake, step away from the bed.”

  “I beg your pardon.” Jason took offense to such characterization. “As I am a navy man, I am no stranger to blood or injuries. I assure you, I am no namby-pamby fop.”

  Alex screeched.

  “So you say, Captain.” Dr. Studly laughed. “But pain is an altogether different matter, when the suffering party is one we love. However, you may retire the field, without shame, if necessary.”