Surrender to the Fury by Connie Mason Read Free Book Online Page A

hands found the fastenings on her dress, releasing them, pushing the bodice down past her breasts and unlacing her corset. His lips brushed the pale globes and she nearly collapsed. He touched the tip of his tongue to an aching nipple …
    No! Aimee bolted nearly upright in bed, her face bathed in sweat, shaking, remembering things she thought she had purged from her mind long ago, each aching detail a haunting memory that singed her conscience.
    Dappled sunlight streamed through the window, and Aimee knew she had overslept. After she had left Nick the night before, she’d had a difficult time falling asleep. Usually Brand was the first one up, and she wondered why he wasn’t in her room pushing her to get up, or why Savannah had allowed her to sleep so long. Sounds of activity floated up through the window from the yard below, and Aimee grimaced when she thought of the unwelcome guests occupying her property.
    The delicious aroma of coffee enticed her fromthe rumpled bed. Another of Nick Drummond’s peace offerings? They hadn’t had real coffee at Tall Oaks in ages. In fact, they no longer had parched corn or any other substitute. Her stomach rumbled. These past months Aimee had learned to live with the gnawing hunger that continually twisted her gut. She tried to exist on as little as possible in order that Brand have enough to fill his stomach.
    Starvation had them backed into a corner when Nick Drummond rode to Tall Oaks yesterday. But it would be a cold day in hell before she would acknowledge that he had arrived just in time to save them. His arrival had made a shambles of her life despite the fact that his being here almost assured her of having food on the table.
    Aimee paused at the bottom of the steps to gaze out the window. Numerous tents dotted the south lawn where men were busily engaged in all kinds of labor. She couldn’t remember when there had been such a flurry of activity at Tall Oaks. Certainly not since the slaves had left. She started to turn away when something caught her eye, and she spun around again to peer out the window. She nearly fainted when she saw Brand standing on the lawn raising his arms to Nick, who was mounted on his horse. Then Nick bent down, lifted the lad, and swung him up before him in the saddle. He hugged the child and laughed in pure joy when Brand squealed in delight. Then Nick set his horse in motion, holding Brand with one hand while guiding his horse with the other.
    Brand loved horses, but all of the decent stock at Tall Oaks had been confiscated at the beginning of the war. What the Confederate army left behind, the Union army quickly seized for their own. Allthat was left to them was one swaybacked mule fit only to pull the dilapidated wagon in which they rode to town when they still had money to pay for purchases.
    “De captain seems mighty taken with Brand.” Savannah had entered the foyer and stood behind Aimee, wondering what had captured her attention so thoroughly.
    “Brand is a child; he doesn’t recognize the enemy,” Aimee said shortly.
    Savannah bent her a measuring look. “I don’t like dem Yankees any better dan you do, honey, but I sure appreciate havin’ a full stomach. Captain Drummond, he don’t seem a bad sort, as Yankees go, and you should see de food dem Yanks carted into de kitchen dis mornin’ when de wagon from quartermaster done arrived. I don’t think dey mean us any harm.”
    “Don’t sing Captain Drummond’s praises to me, Savannah,” Aimee sniffed. She definitely wasn’t pleased by Savannah’s sage observations. In her eyes Nick Drummond was a devil. “And I don’t want Brand becoming attached to that Yankee. Try to keep him inside as much as possible.”
    “Dere ain’t no way to keep dat chile from goin’ outside with all de activity goin’ on,” Savannah snorted.
    “Nevertheless, we must try.” Her voice was grim with determination and something else Savannah found puzzling. Aimee’s light brown eyes were dark