Will You Teach Me…?
Hello everyone! This will be quite a special chapter, which will bring us "right back where we started from" as the title says... There was a last step to be taken in Bree's and Stephen's relationship before they could make peace with the past, and this will be the subject of this chapter. But first, let's say hi to our dear Phaedre who is obviously having a very pleasant stay with the Catawbas, hahaha. Enjoy!
Thanks Rath101, Birdie87 and Shishani for the reviews, as well as dtcjlove19 for hitting the follow/fav button!
Rath101: thank you my dear, your comments are always so nice and funny, you were the very first to comment on The Clover and the Tartan 3 years ago and still are today. You have no idea how grateful I am! I hope you'll be there too when I publish my next Brianna/Stephen fic (which I started no later than a few days ago hehehehe). Also, if you thought Stephen was the perfect lover in the previous chapter, wait until you read this one. I'm so proud of my baby boy and of his evolution (I did absolutely nothing, he led me there, really). Lol
Birdie87: Thank you so much! WELL, you can stay on your fluffy cloud for this chapter, I promise. Ahahaha
Shishani: thank you so much for your lovely comment! I started writing about this pairing because I was also very unhappy with Bonnet's ending in canon, so I know the feeling. Ahahah I can't promise you a happy ending though, but it's not bad either. Let's say it's… bittersweet and I hope you'll be happy with it as well. If you're not, well, you'll just have to read the Clover and the Tartan again and just decide it's canon. Lolololol. I won't stop writing, don't worry. I already started working on my next Brianna/Stephen fanfic this week!
~o~
31. Right Back Where We Started From
December 30th, 1774.
Despite the freezing cold that had settled on the heights of North Carolina, the temperature inside Wohali's teepee was stifling, even more so under the skins and furs of his bed. Our bed…, Phaedre internally corrected, her cheeks burning.
A few hours earlier, Phaedre and Wohali being both orphans, the tribe's shaman had blessed them both and they had been able to marry and enter together in what would henceforth be their teepee. The young woman still couldn't get over the fact that she had taken the plunge so quickly – barely two months after her arrival in the tribe – but the attraction she felt for Wohali (and that he felt for her) was irrepressible, animal, and she had decided to give in to it. The Catawbas did not consider marriage to be sacred, but more like a way to celebrate Love between individuals: divorce was a common and simple procedure, and polygamy – although not encouraged – was also not prohibited. And now here she was, lying next to him, her skin covered with a thin layer of sweat and a slight pain in her lower abdomen to remind her that she would never be the same again. A wife. I'm a wife, now. His wife…
Wohali's hand rested on one of her arms, startling her, as he wrinkled his nose. "Hot."
Phaedre chuckled and nodded. "Yes, I am… a little hot. I wonder why…"
She barely had time to finish her sentence when Wohali's other hand grabbed the skins covering their bodies and sent them flying to the other end of the teepee. Phaedre squealed, trying to hide her most private parts with her hands before she stopped. Wasn't it silly to cover up like that after what they had just done? Especially since she never tired of seeing the Indian's dark eyes light up each time they met the curves of her body.
"Less hot now", Wohali concluded with relentless logic, and Phaedre chuckled loudly.
She had to admit that their private conversations weren't exactly elevated yet. Phaedre's Catawba skills were very limited and Wohali's progress in English did not yet allow him to make long speeches, thus forcing them most of the time to resort to Angeni's translation services. But Phaedre was not worried; they would have plenty of time to learn together.
"You and I...", the Indian went on, placing his index finger alternately on Phaedre's heart and his, "...are one. You are Catawba now."
The young woman smiled brightly. African, slave's daughter, servant, confidante: Phaedre had been given many labels in her life, Catawba being by far the most unexpected… but perhaps the one she liked most. The one that promised her a life of freedom, in the great outdoors, closer to her own roots than she had ever been. However, this life – if she embraced it now – had a price: that of the nightmare her friend Brianna might be enduring every day with a man she had not chosen. Of course, Mr. Bonnet had changed over the months, but her mistress had made up her mind. On a whim and out of anger, certainly. But that was not for Phaedre to judge.
She had to know, though. With a bit of luck, maybe she'd be able to make it to the Ridge and would find Brianna, Mr. Bonnet and Jemmy visiting the Frasers? Or maybe the Frasers had received a recent message from Brianna telling them that she had forgiven Mr. Bonnet and was no longer seeking revenge? … Or perhaps the situation was worse than ever and it was necessary to act as quickly as possible? Either way, Phaedre could not just sit there, wondering whether or not she should try to pass on the ledger. She had to know more about Brianna's situation and find out if she still wanted to end her marriage. And like every time her thoughts brought her back to her unfinished mission, her face darkened and her smile fell as quickly as it had appeared.
"What?", Wohali asked anxiously.
Phaedre bit her lip and, bringing her knees up to her bare chest, she sat down on the skins of their mattress. "I am Catawba… does that mean I'm free, like all Catawbas? Free to go wherever I want?"
Wohali frowned for a moment as he analyzed her sentence to be sure he understood the message. Then he nodded. "We are one. Where you go…I go too."
"Anywhere? Could we leave the tribe? Temporarily?"
"Tempo…", Wohali repeated slowly, showing signs of anxiety. He had understood the words "leave" and "tribe" perfectly, and the idea obviously made him uncomfortable. Why did his young wife seem so eager to leave when they had just been united by their shaman? Was she trying to bring him back among white people, to a world he knew nothing about? Taking advantage of their union to make him betray his own kind? After all, it would only be fair since they had kidnapped her and forced her to remain among them. But still… As doubt and incomprehension settled on her young husband's features, Phaedre raised her hands in appeasement.
"I'll go get Angeni."
The mere mention of their interpreter's name seemed to bring some of the pressure down and Wohali nodded again, while Phaedre put on one of her brand new skin dresses. Her old servant's clothes had not resisted very long to her life in the wild.
It was dark outside, but Phaedre easily found her way to her old tepee in the pale moonlight filtering through the trees. She crept inside and stepped over two sleepers before crouching down where Angeni used to spend the night. Putting her hands on the girl's chest, she shook her gently to wake her up. Nothing. So she repeated her gesture, a little harder this time, and the teenager sat up briskly. She was about to scream when Phaedre clasped a hand over her mouth.
"It's me! Phaedre!", she whispered, as the girl immediately relaxed and frowned.
"What are you doing here?"
"I need you to translate something. Would you please come with me?"
"Ummm…", Angeni said hesitatingly. "I don't know if I really want to translate that kind of things for you and Wohali..."
"What?" Phaedre blinked a few times before she remembered that she was indeed in the middle of her wedding night and that the situation could be confusing. "No, no, no, we're done with that part. I just have to say something very important to Wohali and I want to make sure he understands me. And besides… I wanted to tell you about it too. I have kept this secret for far too long..."
"Can't it wait until tomorrow? Because everyone is sleeping, in case you haven't noticed…", the young Indian girl yawned.
"I noticed. I don't want anyone else to hear, so…", Phaedre murmured, this time tickling her friend's curiosity, and Angeni grabbed a blanket to wrap it around her shoulders.
"All right, I'm coming." Angeni stifled another yawn and both girls left the teepee to go back to Phaedre's. "By the way… how was it?", she chuckled and the servant felt her cheeks heat up, knowing full well what her friend was talking about.
"How was what?", Phaedre mumbled casually. "Oh, that… Hmm, no, nothing exceptional. I don't understand why people make such a fuss about it..."
Angeni gave her a puzzled look, before noticing Phaedre's mischievous smile, and punched her arm silently. "Liar."
With a sly shrug, Phaedre pushed aside the skins covering the teepee's entrance and walked in, closely followed by her friend. Inside, Wohali was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the tent. He had lit another candle, made from oily fish residues, and seemed rather worried when he spoke in his native language, causing Angeni to wince.
"What did he say?", Phaedre asked, taken aback.
"He says that if anyone sees me here tonight, my mother will make him regret being born", the girl translated.
Phaedre let out a sharp laugh. "Really?"
"Even the chief is afraid of my mother… One day, a bear stole one of her freshly caught fishes. And she went to get it back."
"Oh?"
"Yes. Inside the bear."
A cricket chirped somewhere in the peaceful night, while Phaedre pictured Angeni's mother – a small woman of quite average-looking build – ripping open the bear's belly with her bare hands to recover her property.
"All right, I'll try to be quick, then… Sit down", Phaedre added, motioning for her to sit between her and Wohali.
A few seconds later, the two Natives were staring attentively, waiting for her to reveal this dark secret she had kept from them for the last couple of months. And she did. In a low voice – and translated by Angeni, when some sentences were too complicated for the young man – Phaedre told them everything. Brianna and the pirate who had ruined her life for years before he had forced her to marry him. River Run, the trial and how she had become Brianna's servant when her former Mistress had been robbed of all her possessions. She told them about the anxiety Brianna felt living with her rapist. Bonnet's manipulation and countless low blows. Her unbearable distress and his insatiable desire. But also, the tenderness that had gradually appeared. The love they shared for their son, and Brianna's relief after Bonnet's heartfelt apology. The mutual feelings that had blossomed in their hearts. Until his last betrayal, the one that had changed everything. The ledger she was meant to give to the apothecary… the Catawbas' attack…
"…and here I am", she finished, reaching into her belongings to pull out the precious ledger.
Silence fell again in the teepee, as both Indians glanced at Phaedre and at the book she had placed on the ground in front of her.
"You mean… you could get rid of Governor Tryon, but because of our idiot warriors you are stuck here with the proof of his crimes?", Angeni summed up, getting an angry look from her compatriot.
Phaedre began to stammer. "Uh... yes, well no... you're missing the point..."
"Leave tribe? For this?" Wohali's deep voice rose under the tent and Phaedre pursed her lips, nodding apologetically as Angeni opened her mouth wide.
"What do you mean? You want to go all the way back to Wilmington?"
"Shhhh", Phaedre hissed, motioning for her to lower her voice. "No, we are too far from the coast and I've wasted enough time as it is…" She turned back to Wohali and grabbed both of his strong hands in hers. "I'll leave… but I'll come back here. I want to stay with you… and the tribe…"
Wohali relaxed slightly and gave her a sweet smile.
"…but first I have to help my friend."
Angeni nodded silently to let her know she understood. "You said they were falling in love with each other… Maybe your friend has changed her mind and does not want your help anymore."
"That is why I must not go to Wilmington, but to her parents' house. They live not far away from here and will surely have heard from her. Mr. Bonnet had promised Brianna that the family would get together more often."
Wohali patted Angeni on the arm and the girl hurriedly repeated the last few interactions in Catawba.
"Where they live?", he mumbled at last and Phaedre shook her head.
"I do not know exactly, but Fraser's Ridge is in the mountains, a little further south from here. Along Cherokee territory." As Wohali and Angeni jumped at the mention of their enemies, she added hastily. "It will be a quick journey. We're close to the border with Virginia, aren't we? As far as North Carolina goes?" Angeni nodded and Phaedre went on. "I remember hearing someone say that it took a little over two days to go from the border to the Ridge on horseback. Two days to get there, two days to go back…"
Again, a dead silence fell on the three young people, but despite her nervousness, Phaedre gave them time to process all the information.
"Your friend... not in danger", Wohali said, shaking his head.
Phaedre opened her mouth to retort, but was cut short by their interpreter's outraged voice.
"Did you listen to a single word she said?" She went on with a series of quick sentences in Catawba that probably summed up Brianna's situation, until Angeni switched back to English. "I mean... of course we wish her friend to be happy, but I do understand why Phaedre still wants to make sure of it. Especially if she has a way to help."
Phaedre smiled. "Exactly. I just want to make sure everything is fine between them", she concludes, stroking Wohali's fingers.
"What if her parents don't know anything more than you do, though?"
Slowly, Phaedre turned to Angeni and lowered her eyes. "If they have not heard from her, it will mean the situation has not improved. And I guess I'll give them the ledger."
Between her hands, Wohali's fingers moved and she turned her attention back to him, stifling a sigh of relief as he smiled. "We go together", he whispered, and Phaedre nodded as a thank you.
"Wait", Angeni interjected loudly, "I refuse to let you two go..."
Phaedre frowned. "You can't stop me."
"That's not what I said… I said I refused to let you two go." The Native girl left her sentence hang for a moment before explaining her plan. "Onacona and I are coming with you."
Wohali muttered something in Catawba, and Phaedre looked at Angeni questioningly, but she ignored her.
"And who is in charge of watching the horses here, huh?", she retorted to her friend, who rolled his eyes before answering.
"Onacona…"
"Exactly." Angeni looked very proud of her plan to rescue Brianna (and to get closer to the boy she liked). "Tomorrow, I will go talk to him."
"So if I understand correctly… you plan to convince Onacona to steal the tribe's horses and come with us to Fraser's Ridge?", Phaedre summarized with a grimace. "Won't we… get into trouble?"
Angeni waved her hand in front of her. "Nooo. We will be back soon. And we will all be together, the four of us. They'll probably think we're off doing something stupid, like all young people do." There was a silence, then Angeni added, her voice suddenly a little less assured. "And the chief cannot punish all four of us... right?"
"Not worried about chief…", Wohali growled. "But your mother…"
And as Phaedre muffled a giggle in the palm of her hand, Angeni glared at the other Indian.
~o~
An icy draft rushed into the hallway of the Bonnets' home on Ocracoke, and Brianna pulled her thick woolen shawl tighter around her. One of the French doors leading to the terrace and the beach was open, and as she went to close it, she noticed Stephen leaning on the railing. He was bending forward – his muscular butt hugged in skintight beige satin pants – and like she often did these past few weeks, Brianna took the time to admire him. To appreciate the feeling of safety, the warmth, the tenderness that she now felt when she laid eyes on him. Stephen Bonnet was a handsome man, much more handsome than the average man actually, but his beauty – hitherto tainted by his actions – had only been revealed to her recently. And Brianna was a little more amazed every day as she discovered a feature, an attitude, a nicely drawn muscle, or any other detail she had once missed and now adored. He must have sensed her presence, though, because his face turned toward her —immediately breaking into a soft smile — and Brianna stepped forward, noticing the letter in his hands. A crumpled, folded letter… stamped with Tryon's seal. With a sigh, Brianna moved forward. Stephen straightened up to face her and allow her to snuggle up comfortably against his chest. Which she almost instinctively did.
"Bad news?", she mumbled, glancing at the message and Stephen shrugged.
"We will have to go back to River Run… probably by the end of January or early February."
Brianna did not protest. She had always known that Ocracoke was a second home and that sooner or later they would return to the continent. She had prepared for it, but having a deadline was somewhat heart-wrenching. Stephen's hand caressed her chin, forcing her to look up, and Brianna immediately answered his silent question with a reassuring smile.
"It felt good to be here. I feel strong enough to go back…"
"We'll come back as often as you want, mo fíorghrá…", he whispered, his green eyes still probing hers for the slightest trace of sadness or doubt. But there was none. His love, the way he had expressed it to her, his adorable attentions, all of that had paid off and had swept away the resentment and hatred from his sweet Brianna's heart. The peace he even read in her blue eyes was taking his breath away. He still could not believe he had succeeded. In finding love. In keeping it. Making it grow and blossom, like a rare and precious flower. An achievement that had always seemed impossible to the old Stephen Bonnet; but the man he was today had just proved him wrong.
"Late January, huh?", Brianna repeated, gently rubbing her cheek against Stephen's fingers. "That gives us an entire month to enjoy the premises."
Slowly, one of her hands slid down between their bodies to suggestively brush the pirate's crotch, causing him to chuckle.
"Indeed… you haven't finished teachin' me how to play chess, by the way", he announced, so seriously that Bree took a step back.
"Are you seriously thinking about playing chess now?"
For a moment, his blank expression made her doubt, until the usual glint of mischief reappeared in his eyes. "Absolutely, darlin'... Ye won't mind if I take the queen, do ye…?"
Matching words with action, he lifted and shouldered Brianna, who let out a shrill laugh that echoed against every wall of the house.
"Another bad pun like that and I promise you that you won't take anyone at all…"
Brianna let him carry her inside, to the living room, where he sat her on the long solid wood table, and she immediately spread her thighs so that Stephen could place himself between them.
"Where's Jeremiah?", he asked quickly. His hands were already rolling up his wife's skirts, and the latter was busy unlacing his breeches.
"In the kitchen, with Fitzpatrick. I believe they're making pies…"
"Oh..." A toothy smile settled on the pirate's lips, as his fingers reached their goal and started to caress his wife's sex. "Looks like Jeremiah and I will both have something in the oven very soon…"
Brianna's eyes narrowed at that second dirty innuendo. "Would you please stop?"
The Irishman chuckled loudly again and planted his gaze in Brianna's, as well as two digits deep inside her. The young woman opened her mouth wide, her breath slightly cut off by the arousing brutality of the intrusion. Before he whispered in her ear:
"Make me…"
Brianna's heart was pounding against her chest, as if each new beat could burst it open. When had she allowed her desire for this man to get the better of her? Enough to laugh at his bad jokes? To beg for intimacy every time she could? To never have enough of his touch, his caresses, his eyes on her? She had no clue. The fact was she wanted him. Right here and now, and she would not let his bad sense of humor ruin the mood. With an impish grin, she took his word for it and her lips crashed onto his. A few seconds later, their tongues met, dancing to the rhythm of his wrist between her thighs.
Pushing Brianna back with one hand, Stephen stopped pleasing her with the other and pulled his cock out of his unlaced breeches. But it wasn't until he was about to penetrate her, with her back laying on the table, that he noticed her sudden blank expression. Brianna was not looking at him anymore; she was staring absently at the varnished wood to the right of her head, and a cold shiver ran through Stephen's spine as a memory — probably the same as hers — came back to his mind. May I be damned…, he swore to himself, not daring to make the slightest move.
A litany of insults crossed his mind. Idiot, insensitive, boor, imbecile… How could he even forget – for a tiny second – that tables were off limits? Since they were married, he had purposedly avoided that kind of furniture, for fear of making her trauma, hatred and anger resurface… He had relaxed his attention for ten seconds. Ten bloody seconds, and now...
"I…I'm sorry, love, I… come on, get off…", he muttered, holding out his hand to help her get off the table. But instead of complying, Bree put her hand on his wrist, pulling gently to bring her husband back to her. A husband who categorically refused to meet her gaze.
So she pulled a little harder, forcing him to look up and stare right into her eyes. Where he would undoubtedly see the good old reproachful glint in her blue irises. But it wasn't there. Instead of reproaches, he only found forgiveness. An encouraging and sweet smile, as well as delicate fingers that were not pushing him away. Even better, her hand invited him to return to his previous position between her spread legs.
"It's alright…", Brianna breathed, as if she was whispering into the ear of some scared and wounded animal. "It's alright."
Was she reassuring herself as much as she was reassuring him? Maybe. But even then, her desire for him was still there, intact. Stephen's breathing quickened. What if she was wrong? What if she mistakenly thought she had made her peace with that night and started screaming again as he released himself inside her on that bloody table? No, he could not take the risk. He could not mess everything up again. He would not survive it... Not now, not after all the happiness they had managed to find these past few months.
"It's alright... It's alright..."
Brianna repeated the same words like a mantra, slowly tightening her grip around his arm, and Stephen felt the last barriers of his reluctance crumble. His desire was making a strong comeback, raising his sex ever higher towards its target. Towards this divine body that he never tired of possessing, day after day.
"Brianna…" He was panting, torn between apprehension and excitement. "Are you sure that-"
The young woman nodded. "Everything is different now. Everything…" With a sad smiled, she pressed her forehead against his, her hand moving up his arm to caress his cheek. "You are the one who put us in this mess… and you're the only one who can get us out of it. Make love to me, Stephen."
Brianna could feel the pirate's rapid breathing against her lips. She had always thought that such a situation would bring back some of her old anxieties. But she could never have imagined that Stephen would feel the same. And for some reason she couldn't really explain, it only made her love for him grow tenfold.
"Everything is different?", he asked under his breath, as his arms wrapped around Bree again.
"Everything…"
A second later, their mouths met again, and Brianna grabbed Stephen's cock to guide him inside without him needing to pull away from her. She would not let him duck out, not this time. Not when they were about to overcome the last obstacle, to pass the ultimate test: going back to where it all began, before she could grant absolute forgiveness. Stephen awkwardly leaned forward – taking care to lay his wife down on the wood without hurting her – while gently and slowly thrusting back and forth. Everything was different and everything would be different. He would take care of every detail: the punches would become kisses, he would caress her breasts with devotion instead of tearing off her bodice, he would turn her terrified screams into blissful sighs, he would intertwine his fingers with Brianna's rather than use them to pin her wrists down.
There was only one thing he did not wish to change from that night. One and one only: Jeremiah. His wonder, his universe, the small being who gave him the strength to want a different life. Perhaps the miracle would happen again today with the making of a second child? That was what he wanted from the bottom of his heart and soul.
With Brianna's legs on either side of his pelvis, he kept moving back and forth, sporadically leaning forward to place a kiss at the top of her breasts, whisper a few words of love, or even allow Brianna to run her eager fingers through his blonde hair.
He had succeeded. A single glance at Brianna's face had confirmed it: her rosy cheekbones, the moans escaping her parted lips, the intense adoration in her eyes, were all betraying the pleasure she felt in this act of love and forgiveness. And when their gazes met and the young woman whispered "I love you", Stephen immediately knew he was losing control. Gasping, he came inside her like an impatient teenager. But Brianna did not seem to mind and after catching her breath, she raised herself on her elbows and sat on the edge of the table. As close as she could to her husband, who still hadn't pulled out. It was a matter of habit: Stephen Bonnet always loved to linger for ages even when the party was over.
"Did you do it on purpose?", she whispered, stroking the scar on his cheek.
"Do what?" He had answered tit-for-tat, on the defensive, like someone who is used to being criticized for every single action. But Brianna had no intention to do that and she smiled, shaking her head.
"Doing the exact same thing... but in a different way..."
Stephen's breath caught in his throat, and he searched into Bree's irises for a clue, anything that would tell him what he should or should not answer.
"You noticed…" And as she nodded slowly, he added: "Are you mad at me?"
A few seconds passed as Brianna considered the answer she wanted to give. No, she wasn't mad at him. It had taken her several minutes to notice the pattern he was both repeating and changing, then a few more minutes to observe the effect it had on her, before finally giving way to pleasure and even… to mercy.
"No. I think it was a good way to… ward off the spell, you know. I think I needed that."
She kissed him tenderly, and he indulged in the kiss, pulling her frail body against his until his limp sex slipped out of Brianna and fell lazily between his own thighs. The young woman giggled at the sensation and glanced – almost mockingly – down, as Stephen pulled his exhausted penis back inside his breeches.
"What about you?", she asked after a few seconds.
There was a silence and just like her, he took the time to analyze his own feelings before speaking again. "Aye… I think I needed that, too."
To forget about the old Stephen Bonnet. To be forgiven for every infamous action, every wound inflicted to his beloved. To better move forward. To better respect each other, to better love each other. They both needed it…and he had delivered. A smug smile crept across his face, and Brianna instinctively knew this was the end of their romantic moment when Stephen patted her thigh, as one would pet a big fleshy cow.
"Well… I've done my share of the work. You make us a beautiful baby, now, darlin'..."
Jumping off the table, Brianna threw her head back as she readjusted her dress. "Jesus, we were having a moment, right now. Why do you always have to ruin everything?"
"The only thing I ruined here is you, sweetheart..."
"Oh God, I said enough with the puns…!", she sneered, avoiding a slap on the butt.
As Stephen tied up his breeches, Brianna left the living room and her smile immediately fell the second she set foot in the corridor. Her heart was still pounding; the experience she had just lived had moved her deeply, and if Stephen had not been in the next room, maybe she would have let her tears run free.
The progress Stephen had made was colossal, and on that last day of December 1774, Brianna Ellen Bonnet felt terribly lucky. Lucky to have a husband capable of such questioning, when other men would have just given meaningless apologies without changing any of their personality traits. She felt liberated too; liberated from her past and confident in her future. As soon as they would get back to River Run, she would send a letter to her family. The most heartfelt message she could write, to ask them – no, beg them – to accept Stephen into the Fraser clan. Because if Roger had barely deigned to honor them with his presence after months of hesitation, Stephen had truly earned his place in the family. By making the most prodigious efforts.
"Why are you smilin' like that?" The Irishman's voice suddenly rose in the hallway. She was so engrossed in her thoughts that she didn't realize he had left the living room. And he was right: she was smiling so widely that her cheeks almost felt cramped.
What was the point to even deny it? The Irishman's reaction if she told him the truth would be all the more interesting to watch... so Brianna crossed her hands behind her back, tilting her head to the side.
"No reason… I was just thinking how proud I am of my husband…"
And after reveling for a few seconds in his flabbergasted face, his green eyes shining with emotion, and his mouth that was desperately gasping for oxygen, Brianna giggled and abandoned him to his delicious torment.
oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
What did you think of this chapter? Phaedre is planning her "escape" from the Catawba tribe to go to Fraser's Ridge. How do you think she will be received there, and by whom?
But let's get back to Stephen and Bree… I am well aware that their tumultuous relationship always and still is borderline-unwholesome and this particular scene between them was no exception. But I hope you enjoyed Stephen's development throughout this story and found some respect for him over the many chapters, just like Brianna did.
There are now four chapters left to this story. The next one, which will be published on Sunday, June 25th, will mainly focus on Phaedre's adventure. I can't wait to read your comments and see you in 2 weeks!
Xérès