It was silly but her heart leaped at his words, even here. She didn’t even hesitate to think. “Yes, oh, yes, I’ll marry you, Michael.”
He grinned and kissed her fast and hard just as Bert came back with the guard. An elderly man with a shock of white hair and a bleary expression from having been woken up accompanied them.
The chaplain turned out to have a lovely, resonant voice. Silence stood in a dazed and delighted fog and in a few minutes found herself married to Michael.
“Here,” Michael said, taking his ruby and gold ring off his little finger and putting it on her thumb. “That’s to remember me by.”
She stared down at the worn gold and the rich beauty of the dark red ruby. It was his first ring, she remembered, touched by his gesture. The ring was a little big, so she wrapped a piece of thread about it to hold it on her thumb. She had to blink hard then because it all seemed like both a dream and a nightmare. They were married—and he’d be hung by the neck in only a few hours.
Michael beckoned George over and had a whispered consultation with him at the end of which he gave the rest of his rings to the soldier.
“Only for an hour, mind,” George said.
Michael held out his hand to Silence. “Spend a little time with me, Mrs. O’Connor.”
She went into his arms gladly, and the cell door was locked behind her.
She sighed, laying her head on his warm chest, listening to the strong beat of his heart. He stroked his hand through her hair, his touch gentle, but she felt the tremble in his fingers. Suddenly it was too much, the sentence, the marriage, all the years after tomorrow without him.
“Oh, Michael.” She closed her eyes, despair overwhelming her. “I… I don’t know if I can live if you—”
“Aye.” His voice was firm, commanding. He took her face between his big palms and looked into her eyes. His black eyes were fierce even in the dim light. “Aye, ye can live. For me, for Mary Darlin’, for yerself. Promise me that, love. Promise me, ye’ll live, and ye’ll thrive, no matter what comes tomorrow.”
She swallowed. She couldn’t be weak when he needed her strong. “Yes. Yes, of course.”
“That’s me girl.” He brushed his lips over her forehead, breathing the words. “That’s me love.”
The tears overflowed, coursing down her cheeks. “I love you, Michael.”
He laid his cheek against hers. “I’ve written out a will for Pepper, me man o’ business.”
She tried to protest, but he pulled back to look her in the eye. His face was grave. “Hush, now, love, ye must listen to me words. I’ve left instructions for Pepper to manage yer money for ye. I think it best ye and Mary go to live at Windward House. It’s quiet there and secret. Me servants and Harry and Bert can take care of ye. I’m hopin’ that the Vicar might see it in himself to be satisfied once I’ve gone, but we can’t take that chance. I’ve made arrangements for me men to guard ye until Charlie Grady is dead. And that, too, I’ve arranged for.”
Silence stared at him, stunned. He’d planned it all, made sure she and Mary Darling would be well taken care of after his death. He hadn’t said he loved her, but his actions spoke much louder than any words could.
“Silence?” he asked. “Do me plans meet with yer approval?”
“Yes,” she gulped. “Yes, of course.”
He leaned his forehead against hers. “I want ye to be happy, me love. Ye and Mary Darlin’.”
She choked then, unable to speak. What words were beautiful enough, sublime enough to convey all her heart wanted to express in this moment? They simply didn’t exist.
His eyes were sad as he watched her as if he knew somehow what she was thinking. “Come lie with me, m’love.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him close.
But when Michael began to tug her toward the back of the cell and a pallet, she clutched at his shirt. “What if they look? The soldiers?”
He shook his head. “I paid them well not to peek. Bert and Harry will make sure o’ it.”
Silence glanced over her shoulder and saw that all the men outside had moved away from the barred window in the door. The only light in the cell came from the little window, leaving the back wall—and a pallet against it—in near darkness.
She looked back at Michael, peering in the gloom.
His voice was deep as he squeezed her hand. “Come and be me wife.”
He was her husband now.
Despite the sorrow of this place, despite what would happen all too soon, that small fact lit a spark of joy within Silence. She was married to Michael O’Connor.
She was married to the man she loved.
And since time was short, she lifted up on tiptoes and drew his face down to kiss him.
“I love you,” she whispered against his lips. “I love your voice and your Irish burr. I love the way you look at me just before you say something outrageous. I love the way you hold Mary Darling so tenderly. And I love that you wanted to make me your wife. I love you, Michael O’Connor, I love you.”
The words made him tighten his hands on her waist and pull her closer. “Silence, me love. When I knew ye’d left me it felt as if a chunk o’ me heart had been torn from me body. Only yer presence here can stop the bleedin’.”
His mouth opened over hers and he took control of the kiss, biting at her lips, impatient and savage. She was aware that a dozen men stood only yards away, but she shoved the thought from her mind. She wouldn’t let modesty keep her from showing her husband how much she loved him.
How much she would always love him.
So she took her mouth from his and skimmed it over his strong neck, tasting the salt of his skin. His hands rose to her shoulders, but he made no move to stop her. She tongued the V of his chest, revealed by his shirt, and as she did so she slid her hands to the front of his breeches where his erection was trapped. Feeling, learning in the dark she began unbuttoning his fall.
“Silence?” he whispered.
“Shh,” she admonished as he had once done to her. “You mustn’t say a thing.”
And then she dropped to her knees.
She heard the harsh intake of his breath. He stood very still as she finished unbuttoning him and pulled his breeches and smallclothes open. She leaned forward, blind in the darkness, but she could scent his male musk. Her hands found his cock, stiff and ready, and so beautiful that she wished she could see it. She didn’t have time for modesty or shyness. For slow learning. This would be the last time—
But no, she would not think about that. Instead, she explored the man before her. She slid the fingers of her left hand down his shaft, memorizing each veined ridge until she reached the spot where his penis met his body. His sack was drawn up tight under his cock and she fondled it gently, feeling the stones within.
He made a muffled sound above her and she thought that perhaps he liked to be touched there. Or perhaps it was what she did with her right hand. She was squeezing gently on his thick shaft. In any case, she certainly wasn’t done. If this were to be their—
No, don’t think about it.
She swayed forward and licked the head of his cock.
Michael went absolutely still.
His hands dropped to her hair and for a moment rested there as if stunned. Then she opened her mouth and took him inside. When she began sucking gently, his hands clenched. He tugged her hair as if to pull her away from himself. But since he was only tugging carefully, she stayed just where she was. She drew back and licked around the head of his cock. Without sight her other senses were heightened. She could taste him—man and musk—and beneath her tongue his skin felt warm and soft and pliable.
She kissed him and then thought to scrape her teeth gently over the tip of his penis. It jumped and he hissed softly. She smiled and took him into her mouth again. There was something terribly enticing about having such a strong man at her mercy. She was in a position of servitude, but she didn’t feel servile. She felt very feminine, very sensuous as she stroked around the flange of his cock with her tongue. His hands had stopped pulling on her hair. Instead he gripped her as if unsure whether to push her away—or pull her closer.