"Ms Adella!"
Adella peeked her head from her room. She had just pulled out clothes for she and Eli to change into and get ready for bed when she heard the commotion. Mary was hurrying toward her room with fresh linens in her arms.
"The Dragoons have returned!" she called excitedly.
Adella felt her heart leap in her chest. She quickly picked Eli up from the floor where he was playing with a few toys and hurried outside with him.
She was both excited and frightened.
When she made it outside, she searched the faces of the Dragoons desperately until she spotted William.
He smiled to her and hurried over to envelope her in a hug.
He kissed the top of her head and reached to gently rub Eli's head.
"Has everything been going okay?" he asked.
Adella nodded. She was having a hard time finding something to say now that the two of them were face to face again. Everything that she had rehearsed in her head was gone.
"Colonel!" A soldier called out, pulling William's attention from her.
"Hey, You two go back to bed. I'll be there in a little bit," he leaned in and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. "I promise."
Adella nodded back to him solemnly and slightly disappointed that he had been back all of two minutes and his attention was already being pulled from her.
"Is something wrong?" he paused before he turned away from her.
She shook her head. "We'll see you in a moment." She forced a smile back to him.
Adella was lying in bed with Eli when William finally made it to their room.
"Are you really okay?" he questioned as he paused in the doorway, studying her.
"Yeah…I've been looking forward to you coming back but I've just been worried what news you'll have to tell me when you do."
William shut the door behind him."No bad news. I haven't seen Martin or anyone. We haven't really heard anything from them or seen anything that they've done this past week since you've been back here," he removed his coat and began undoing his pants. "I'm sorry I didn't wake you before we left. I didn't think we would be gone so long."
Adella breathed out a sigh of relief. She hoped that Ben was backing down to protect his family.
She watched William undress himself down to his underwear before climbing into bed beside her.
He rested his hand on her leg gently.
"I wish we could just go make our home somewhere far from here," Adella whispered.
"We will. Once this war is over." He returned his attention to Eli who was still fast asleep between them.
"How's this little one been?"
"He's been okay," she murmured. "There's just no help with him here, you know?"
"I'm sorry I have to be gone. I've missed out on so much with him already. He still sees me as a stranger and if I have to be gone so much that isn't going to change."
Adella nodded.
"You could put him in the crib," she offered.
"Won't I wake him?" he asked softly.
"I think he'll go right back to sleep."
She watched as William gently reached for him.
He lifted him carefully and slid off the bed to his feet.
Eli opened his eyes for a brief moment and then lowered his head to William's shoulder as if he could not stay awake.
She could tell that William was still trying to hide his slight uncomfortableness in his inexperience with children, but she was glad he was at least trying.
William held him for a moment, standing still, gently rubbing his back. Finally he moved to place him gently in the crib.
Adella knew that the two of them had to get familiar and comfortable with each other. She let her mind wander to Ben and how attached Eli had gotten to him, but she quickly forced the thoughts from her mind.
When William eased back into bed, Adella scooted in closer to him.
"How long are you staying?"
"I have to leave again in the morning."
Adella clenched her jaws as she buried her face into his chest.
He wrapped her in a slight hug and leaned down to rest his chin on her head, burying his face into her hair.
"I wish I didn't have to…But at least we've got all night," he said softly.
Adella stayed still, trying to keep her composure. She didn't want him to see her get upset. But it was all so hard.
"Listen, I'm going to make sure that none of the Martin family are harmed."
Adella looked up at him at those words.
"But I want you to know that Ben and Gabriel will probably continue to come after me. I'll only do what is necessary to keep myself and my men safe. I can promise you that."
Adella looked up, surprised at his words, but she finally nodded. "What about Cornwallis?"
"He doesn't have to know…But enough about them. What about us."
Adelle was going to mention her second meeting with Cornwallis, but she stopped herself.
She tried to forget about everything that was going on. She wanted to enjoy the little amounts of time she had with him. And she hoped he was telling her the truth.
He leaned in and began littering her neck with kisses. She laid back as he trailed them up her neck and down to her shoulders, pulling her thin night gown down slightly.
"I've been looking forward to this the entire time I was gone," he whispered.
Adella forced a smile back up at him when he paused to stop and look at her. He kept himself propped up on his elbow.
"Not into it tonight?" he questioned.
"You know I've just had a lot on my mind," Adella shrugged.
He laid back beside her as he sighed.
"I'm sorry about everything that has happened."
"Me too," Adella whispered.
"We missed out on each other for so long," he muttered. "I worry that everything in the past is going to continue to weigh us down."
"Yeah. And we caused a lot of pain…for each other and others," Adella added.
Silence fell around them for a few moments.
"But I feel as thought we've been given a second chance, don't you?" he asked.
Adella nodded and silence fell around them again.
"Do you still paint?" he asked, breaking the quiet around them.
Adella was surprised at his question. "I painted a little back at the Martin home"
"I was so surprised and impressed that you were so talented," he murmured.
Adella listened as she waited for him to continue.
"When I walked in that day and saw you, covered in paint with your hair pinned up but falling down…I felt something that very moment our eyes met."
"I was so embarrassed When you and your men walked in." she murmured. "I had to have looked ridiculous."
"I thought you were the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen."
Adella shoved him playfully. "Oh shut up."
"It was just such an authentic sight. You weren't putting on a show for anyone. You were completely yourself. And you're always completely yourself. You know, your friend Elizabeth was jealous of you."
"What?" Adella demanded, sitting up to see his face.
"If I even mentioned you, Elizabeth was just always trying to downplay your accomplishments. I think that she could tell that I fancied you."
Adella furrowed her eyebrows. "Maybe that's why she always talked to me like the two of you were actually seeing each other. That last day she made me think that you were still seeing her. That was another reason I left New York. I thought that you were leading me on."
"I definitely wasn't seeing her or interested in her," William muttered.
Adella looked away from him as she thought. She had been jealous of Elizabeth's wealth and class. How could that have been possible that Elizabeth was jealous of her, too?
"But anyway, When you were painting that portrait for me, I would watch your face. And the way you would pucker your lips when you were focusing really hard. When we were apart, I couldn't stop thinking about that. I felt like I didn't try enough to make you mine. Because if I had then you wouldn't have left."
"There was so much going on at once," Adella murmured. "That last day I saw you it seemed as though my entire world had crashed down at once."
Adella looked down.
"I know. I don't blame you for leaving…I hope you never stop painting, though" he added.
"The children enjoyed painting a little. I was trying to teach them," Adella stopped herself when she realized she was speaking of the Martins again.
"You liked having a big family, didn't you?" He sat up further.
Adella nodded. "It was always what I wanted growing up. You know, since it was just my dad and me for so long."
"Well, once we settle down, we can have the biggest family you want," he murmured.
Adella smiled.
"I wish I could have been there for you."
Adella chewed at her bottom lip. She had felt so out of place and alone, pregnant and immersed in a new household and family. Even though none of them except Ben knew the truth, it still made her feel out of place.
"I can't wait until we have our own place with kids running everywhere and all of your paintings on the walls," William whispered.
Adella took his hand in hers. She hated how complicated everything had become, but she knew that she couldn't blame it all on him.
They laid in silence for a few moments and finally, she rolled over onto her knees and leaned over to kiss him. He kissed her back, still on his back. He pulled at her arm gently, tugging her to climb atop him.
Adella straddled him and lowered herself down onto his waist.
"You should take this off," he whispered.
Adella ran her hands down his bare chest. She could feel him fiddling with the bottom of her night gown with his fingers, trying to get underneath it to slip it off of her.
She leaned down and kissed him, relishing in taking it slow and making him wait. She kind of liked seeing how impatient it made him. This was the first time she had completely taken charge and he was hanging on her every movement and action.
She could feel him hard beneath her.
Finally she allowed him to lift her gown and she helped him pull it over her head. Her soft hair fell back onto her bare shoulders.
"They've gotten so much bigger since New York," he ran his hands down her chest.
"Yeah that's what a nursing baby does," she replied half jokingly.
She leaned back down to kiss him and grind herself on him a little, teasingly.
She began to slip his underwear off and he basically took over for her so she took her own off.
She plopped back down on top of him and he shifted beneath her as if he was trying to get closer to her.
She leaned down to kiss him again and was shocked when he suddenly broke the kiss as he wrapped an arm around her, quickly flipping her over and hovering on top of her as he continued the kiss.
She gasped aloud, trying to stifle the shock from escaping her lips. But she couldn't hide the fact that it turned her on more.
Adella grasped his neck gently as they deepened their kiss. He used his knee to part her legs and she opened them willingly. By now she could feel herself aching for him just as he ached for her.