November 20, 1865
Henry POV
“You look like death warmed over, Henry,” Matthew told me at breakfast this morning.
“Thanks. I couldn’t sleep. It wasn’t for lack of trying. Every time I closed my eyes, I envisioned Abigail in her father’s clutches. The weather is turning colder, Matt. Do we know if she even had coat or shawl?” I whispered, afraid to know the answer. She was most likely in the forest and mountainous area of Arkansas. While that would shelter her from the constant wind it would not provide with much sunlight for warmth. I was worried about frostbite.
“After you went to rest yesterday, I went and spoke with Zeke some more. She did have her heavy woolen coat. Don’t know what kind of stockings she was wearing. I would guess, the same as when she traveled here from St. Louis. She should be warm enough. Although, with the weather turning an
November 21, 1865Henry POVThe snow had started around nine this morning. I wasn’t worried at first. Matthew and I had just returned from lunch in the dining hall when the snow began to come down more heavily. As I stared out of the window of his house, I asked, “Matt, will they make it? Everything in me is telling me to go and find her! But my brain knows that it’s foolish. I could get lost so quickly in this!”I heard him come up behind me, “Best we can do is wait. I know you don’t want to hear that. But as you said, you could be lost and then what happens to Abigail. She’ll be crushed knowing you died trying to find her in a blizzard. She’s with Wohali. He knows the land and he knows storms. Trust our friend to get her back safely.”I nodded. My head knew he was right. But my heart didn’t want to listen. The alpha part of my brain was gr
Abigail POV Earlier today, when the snow began to fall so heavily that we couldn’t see each other, I began to worry that we would be lost in the blizzard. “We are too far from my village to turn back to seek shelter. I think we should continue to the fort. We must stay grouped together and share the reins of our horses. Abigail, I will take one of yours and you will reach back and take one from Levi. This way we can all stay connected,” Wohali explained reaching for one of my reins. Levi nudged his horse next to me and he handed me a length of his reins, “These three won’t get spooked. They are all trained to follow the command of the rider. I have control of the extra horse; so it will be alright.” Then he paused and said, “here, let’s try to pull the blanket over your head. That might help keep you warm.” He helped me to adjust the blanket so it was partially covering my head while still wrapped around my shoulders. The truth was, I was almost soaked through but I refused to say a
Henry POVWalking back inside from clearing the path to the privy, I was met with the most beautiful sight I had ever seen. My Abigail was sitting on the settee, still in her nightdress, her feet tucked under her. She was reading a book; I didn’t have to look to know it was probably Pride and Prejudice. She had told me once that it was her favorite and that she would read it several times each year.I was happy to learn that she had similar ideas as I did while we were stuck in the snow storm. When I lifted her into my arms, she wrapped hers around my neck and I quickly made my way into the bedroom where I spent the rest of the morning showing her the kind of pleasures to be found in the marriage bed.We finally emerged from the bedroom just after noon. Abigail donned her nightdress once more and I pulled on my long underwear. Earlier in the day, Abigail had put the remainder of yesterday’s stew on the stove
Thursday, November 23, 1865Abigail POVAs I woke this morning still lying on Henry’s chest, I thought about last night. I had touched myself and was able to find release! I would have to write to Mary Jane and let her know that she was correct, I did enjoy that. But I think that I enjoyed watching Henry stroke himself just as much. I would have never thought that I would have liked that, but I did. There was just something about watching him that made my lady parts ache to be touched. And when he caught me touching myself, I wanted to be embarrassed. But I couldn’t be, because the look on his face was pure love and lust.Then he sat behind me and taught me how to touch myself the way he does and that was strange at first. I didn’t know if I should like it, but the more I touched, tugged, and stroked myself the more I found that I did indeed enjoy it. It was so intense because I had his hands roaming my
Henry POV I watched as Levi and Wohali brought Zeke out of the barracks. He looked terrible and I wanted to pity him, but my rage wouldn’t allow me the privilege. He put Abigail at risk and that demands justice. Be honest with yourself, it’s not justice, it’s vengeance and you know it, I thought to myself. My mind was brought back into focus when he started yelling for Abigial to forgive him. “Silence!” I yelled at him, “The prisoner will not speak until spoken to.” How dare he think he had the right to speak to her. To her credit, she stood still, never acknowledging his presence, other than following his movement to the whipping post. Once he was tied to the post, Wohali made his way to us and I urged Abigail to go and stand with him. I heard him tell her that she could go to the house if it became too much for her to handle. My chest puffed up slightly with pride when she told him that if his wife would watch, than so would she. She was fierce and strong. I knew that was why she
Friday, November 24, 1865Abigail POVWhat a wonderful way to start the day. Teasing Henry was fun. I loved his playful side. I was chuckling to myself as I prepared the last of the eggs and slices of bacon that had been provided on my first night back. I had two slices of bread warming in the pan as well. They would get a light golden crust on them. I loved warm bread.I had just plated the eggs and bacon, and pulled the bread from the pan, when I felt Henry’s arms come around me and he placed a kiss on the sweet spot in the crook of my neck. Then he pulled my hair to the side and kissed and suckled the nape of my neck. “Good morning, love. You taste divine,” he murmured as his tongue reached out and licked a sensual path from the nape of my neck to my earlobe.The contact was so arousing that I had to set the plates down on the cabinet or I was going to drop them. I reached one of
Henry POVMy first thought when I opened my eyes this morning was that it didn’t matter where I was, waking up with Abigail in my arms was the best feeling in the world. I was reveling in the feel of her soft body lying next to me, trying not to wake her up. I wanted her to sleep as long as possible this morning. We were close enough that even if we chose not to cross the river until mid-morning, we would still make it home before night fall.We rode hard yesterday and she never complained. When Abigail was missing, Matthew had told me during one of our chats that Levi said she never complained on the way from St. Louis either. Her only complaint was that it was taking too long or the horses were moving to slowly. I smiled as I imagined her standing with her hands on her hips and tapping her foot in her impatient at the slow speed of the horses.She let out a soft whine, “No, please.”
Abigail POV While Henry and Adam went to Henry’s office to catch up, I worked with Brian to get an idea of what was available at the fort. Brian seemed to be a few years older than myself, but had a lot of experience cooking. He told me that when he leaves the army, he wants to run a hotel and restaurant. I encouraged him, thinking that would be an asset in any community. “Mrs. Spertzel, we have quite a few vegetables available from…” he began. “Brian, please, feel free to call me Abigail. I know that you must be formal at times, but when it’s just us, I prefer to be called Abigail,” I reached out and placed my hand on his, gently scolding him. It was really a scolding, per se, he didn’t know my preference and he was only being polite. “I can do that. The captain let’s a lot of us call him by his given name when we are not being official,” he smiled at me. I nodded at him to continue, “right, so vegetables. We have quite a few from the garden this year. Lots of squash, cucumbers, t