Marrying for Money Ch. 06

Trevor learned that Leanna had stayed at a hotel in Raleigh, but he didn't know whether she had boarded the stagecoach the following morning to resume her journey or whether she had taken a different course. He knew her to be highly intelligent and resourceful, and if she wanted to disappear, she might have changed her plans just to throw him off her trail. She must have known that he would follow her, so the question was how badly did she want to make sure that he wouldn't be able to find her? He had questioned everyone he could, but while most folks had been curious and anxious to help him, no one had been able to give him any substantial information about where she had gone. It was as if Leanna had disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Trevor put out a handsome reward for information that would lead him to her, but to no avail. Her trail was growing colder all the time and Trevor was getting increasingly desperate to find her.

Trevor knew that the conversation Leanna had overheard between him and Eliza would have made her think the very worst. He had certainly not given her much reason to feel secure, and he cursed himself for not telling her how much he loved her when he had the chance. If she had known how much she meant to him, he couldn't believe that she would have left him. He pushed himself to the limits, getting only minimal amounts of sleep as he searched relentlessly to find her.

At night, Trevor would lay awake thinking about his wife. She fulfilled a need in him that went much deeper than merely the physical. While he missed her presence in his bed, it was her presence in his life that he couldn't live without. Leanna had an uncanny ability to provide support and reassurance just when he needed it. Her soft womanliness encouraged every masculine protective instinct he had, and only when he was with her did he feel complete as a man.

After three weeks of fruitless searching, Trevor returned in defeat to The Meadows. He had left word in all the cities along the way offering a reward for any help in locating his wife. Perhaps he would get lucky and find that Leanna had at least sent word to him, as she had promised to do. He was determined to find her. He would return home for a brief rest, and then he would leave again, broadening his search until he found his wife.

Trevor arrived in the evening to find Steven, Amanda and Eliza at dinner. They all appeared glad to see him, and they rose as a group to greet him. Trevor glowered at Eliza wondering why she was still at his home. The plan had been for her to stay with Amanda until the baby arrived, but that blessed event had been weeks ago, and the blasted woman was still here.

Steven grasped his hand and frowned with concern. "Have you found out anything? Anything at all?" Trevor shook his head and went to sit in his chair at the table. "No, it's as if Leanna dropped off the face of the earth. I have been back and forth between here and Atlanta, and no one can give me even a hint about where she is. The only thing I know for sure is that she made it as far as Raleigh. She stayed there her first night, but the rest is a mystery."

Amanda bit her bottom lip and tears welled in her eyes as she looked at Trevor. "I'm so sorry, Trevor. I fear it's my fault that she's gone. If only I had made her feel more welcome here, she might never have left."

Trevor gave her a grim smile and shook his head. "No, Amanda. I know that Leanna wanted very much to be close to you, and I'm sure that you were well on your way to becoming friends." He gave Eliza a dark glance as he continued. "I know why Leanna left, and I'm determined to find her and clear up the misunderstanding that we had."

Eliza bristled beneath his steady regard. "Well, I certainly hope you don't think I had anything to do with her leaving. She didn't consult me with her reasons."

The muscles in Trevor's cheek worked as he looked at Eliza through narrowed eyes. "You and I both know that you have quite a lot to do with her leaving. So your innocent act is wasted on me."

She gasped and turned away in a huff. "How dare you insinuate that I'm not being totally sincere."

Trevor didn't have the patience to deal with Eliza and all of her self-centered drivel at the moment. All he wanted was a hot meal and a good night's sleep so that he could resume his search the following day. There would be no real rest for him until he found Leanna. He barely tasted the food, eating purely out of necessity as he spoke again to Steven.

"Did Leanna send any letter while I was gone? She had said she would contact me."

"No," Steven frowned. "Although I haven't sent anyone into town to check for mail for a couple of days. I'll send Silas first thing in the morning. Perhaps there is a letter waiting at the shipping office by now."

Trevor hoped desperately that there was, but he kept his features carefully blank. "How is my new nephew? Do you realize that I do not even know his name?"

Steven and Amanda both chuckled before she answered. "His name is William James, after my father."

Trevor smiled. "Well that sounds like a fine name for a fine boy. I'm sure he will grow up to make us all proud. And you look well."

Amanda flushed slightly but nodded her head. "Yes, I feel fine." She turned and gave Steven's hand a fond pat where it rested near her own. "Steven has been spoiling me shamelessly."

"And why shouldn't I when you have given me such a handsome son," he grinned.

Trevor felt a pang of loneliness as he watched his brother with his wife. He sighed. "I'm afraid I really am not very good company tonight. I'm going to retire." He rose and nodded to the women before turning to Steven. "I'll speak to you in the morning before I leave."

"Leave!" Eliza nearly shrieked the word. "You just got home! Surely you aren't intending to leave again so soon on some wild goose chase!"

Trevor frowned darkly. "I won't rest until Leanna is home where she belongs. It really is none of your business." Ignoring her gasp of indignation, he turned to the others and gave a small bow. "Goodnight."

He trudged on leaden feet to his bedroom. Standing just inside the door, he surveyed his surroundings, seeing touches of Leanna in everything around him. He could visualize her sitting at the dressing table, brushing out her long hair. He pictured her in the bath, foamy bubbles teasing him with glimpses of her pink breasts. Worst of all, he remembered her as she looked in his bed, naked and writhing with desire. He closed his eyes to blot out the images, but his cruel mind filled in the blanks with painstaking detail.

Trevor groaned and pushed away from the door, tearing off his coat impatiently. He poured himself a glass of bourbon from the sideboard and tossed it down, barely tasting the fine liquor. He poured himself another and sipped it more slowly, as he undressed. Carrying the bottle to a chair beside the hearth, he sat down and moodily contemplated the leaping flames. While the whiskey didn't remove his pain, it did take the edge off, and he had polished off most of the bottle before he staggered to the bed and slid between the sheets, trying to ignore the sweet womanly scent that wafted up from Leanna's pillow.

Trevor rubbed a hand over his brow thinking what a fool he had been. If only he had declared his love sooner, this would never have happened. Now, he waited helplessly, his mind conjuring up all manner of disasters that could have befallen his wife, while he prayed for some clue about her whereabouts. The whiskey and sheer exhaustion finally took effect, and he drifted into a drunken sleep, troubled by haunting dreams of Leanna.

It wasn't long before those haunting dreams were transformed into a wonderfully realistic fantasy. Suddenly, Leanna was there, kissing him and molding her beautiful, naked body against his own. The room was dark, with only a bit of moonlight streaming in through the windows, and he blinked his eyes to clear the fogginess in his mind as he tried to make out her pale form beside him in the bed. Trevor kneaded her breasts, frowning to himself. He dismissed his drunken confusion and bent to claim her puckered nipple. She arched her back, eagerly clutching his head to her breast as her other hand boldly stroked his loins.

Trevor moaned as she curled her fingers around the steely length of his erection, and she murmured words of encouragement as he knelt between her outstretched thighs. He nudged her entrance and shoved partially inside, groaning from weeks of abstinence. He couldn't put his finger on what was bothering him, but he began to stroke into her, sliding easily in and out of her. Then it hit him, and he froze, sobering from the whiskey in an instant.

The breasts were too small and the pussy was too loose to be Leanna's! He jerked back as if he had been burned, seeing his mystery lover's face clearly for the first time. Instead of his beloved lying beneath him, he saw Eliza.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he roared. He jumped up from the bed, quickly donning a robe to shield himself from Eliza's heated gaze.

She showed no such modesty, rising totally naked from his bed to entreat him. "Oh my darling, please don't stop." Her eyes dropped to the outline of his erection, which was disappearing quickly as the truth dawned on him. She ignored that fact and pressed herself against him, wrapping her arms around his neck. "You know you want me just as much as I want you. Please take me. I can make you forget that Leanna ever existed. Please darling!"

She stretched up to kiss him, but Trevor roughly pulled her arms from around his neck and shoved her away from him. "No Eliza! I'm fed up with your whorish games. The only woman I want or could ever love is Leanna!" He saw her wince from his words, but he continued coldly. "If you think there can ever be anything between us again, you are fooling yourself. Now get out of my room and do not ever, ever crawl into my bed again!"

Eliza's eyes turned murderous, and she snatched up her robe from a nearby chair. She donned the flimsy garment, not even having the decency to be embarrassed by the meager modesty it offered her as she turned back to Trevor. "No matter what you say, I know how you responded to me in your bed just now. I know that you desire me, and sooner or later, I'll make you realize that as well."

"The only thing I realize is that you have overstayed your welcome in this house. I want you to leave first thing tomorrow. I don't want you in my house any longer."

Eliza gasped, her cheeks flaming with outrage. "So, just like that, you think you can cut me out of your life? And what about your daughter, the daughter we made together?" Eliza jerked on his arm until he turned to face her. "What about Miranda," she needled. "Are you just going to cut her out of your life too?"

Trevor released a deep sigh. "Eliza, I didn't even know about Miranda until a few weeks ago. I haven't had a chance to think about her or anything else other than finding Leanna since then."

"And what happens if you never find Leanna? She obviously doesn't want you, the way she just ran off and left you. For all you know, the little slut could be halfway back to England by now, looking for another rich man to entice."

Trevor grabbed Eliza by the shoulders and shook her fiercely. "Shut your ugly mouth! Don't you ever call Leanna names again! I will find her and bring her back, and when I do, I'm not going to let you or anyone else come between us again."

Eliza clung to him and started to weep. "Trevor, darling, please. You owe it to your daughter to acknowledge that you're her father. I need your support with raising her, and I want her to have your love, even if I can't."

Trevor jerked away and went to stand at the window, faint moonlight turning his black hair to silver. After several minutes, he sighed and ran a hand through those tumbled locks before going to his desk and lighting a lamp. As Eliza watched, he scribbled a note on a piece of parchment, scrawled his signature across the bottom and carefully folded the document. When he turned back to her, his face was impassive.

"In the morning, I will take that letter to my banker on my way out of town. I've instructed him to set up an account, in your name, for the girl. I will place funds in the account each month for you to use for Miranda. She'll be well cared for. Once I have settled matters with Leanna, I'll decide whether there can be a relationship with this child that you claim is mine. I'm not going to commit to anything without Leanna's approval." He walked to Eliza and met her gaze, coldness evident in the depths of his sapphire eyes. "But make no mistake, Eliza. I want you out of my house and out of my life, for good."

Eliza was trembling with rage. "Fine, I'll leave," she spat, "but it will only be a matter of time before I return to this house, as your wife!"

Trevor had no idea how to make the message any clearer that even if he weren't married, he would never consider taking her back. He collapsed upon the bed and released a low groan of frustration. His body was as tense as a bow string, but not from desire for Eliza. He knew that sleeping with her wouldn't alleviate his pain. The only woman who could satisfy his longing was Leanna.

He fell back on the mattress and stared for a long time at the ceiling, hoping the cool air in the room would relieve some of the heat from his blood. A vision of Leanna, emerald eyes smoldering with desire, fiery hair framing her naked body appeared once again in his mind, and his desires raged all the more. He knew one thing for sure. He couldn't stay here, where everything around him reminded him of Leanna. His bedroom had become a torture chamber, and he would never be able to enjoy its confines again until he brought Leanna home.

Trevor wondered where she was at that moment. Was she safe? Was she somewhere, unable to sleep, thinking of him? Did she miss him at all? Was she sorry she had left him? How would she greet him when he finally found her? These questions and many more plagued him, and with thoughts of her drifting through his mind, he finally fell into an exhausted sleep, too tired even to dream.