"Are you angry with me, Sira?"
Was she? "I am not happy that I've been so weak."
"You're not weak, sweetheart. You're a woman and you have needs."
She thought back to Fiona's declaration earlier. "You are correct. I do have needs. I simply do not care for you using that as a distraction from our real problems."
"First, you're miffed because I haven't paid enough attention to you, as you pointed out so succinctly before you left London. Now that I am attempting to make up for lost time, you no longer want my consideration. Which is it, Sira? Hands on or hands off?"
She wanted to scream from frustration. "Ignoring me isn't only about withholding lovemaking, Sebastian."
"Forgive me for facilitating your orgasm. All three of them, if my memory serves me correctly. Should you require another, you'll have to ask."
Nasira glanced at Sebastian to see if he appeared as angry as he sounded. "I will not be asking until I am assured we are on the right path to mending our marriage."
"That is your call."
Without warning, Sebastian took off again and this time, she immediately followed. Yet the gelding was not as fast as the stallion and her husband arrived a few paces ahead of her. After Sebastian dismounted and headed into the barn, she soon followed suit and led the Gus inside.
When Sebastian did not afford her a glance, Nasira tied the gelding to the stall's railing and faced him. "I know you are upset with me, but-"
"Upset?" He loosened the girth strap, pulled the saddled off and turned toward her. "Why would I be upset when my wife seems bent on rejecting my attempts to recapture some intimacy?"
She bristled at his hypocrisy. "Now you understand how I have felt the past six months."
He set the saddle on the nearby stand a bit harder than necessary. "I see. Your actions and words are based on retribution."
Something about his observation rang true. "As I have said several times, I refuse to have my libido cloud my judgment."
He released a cynical laugh. "I do not recall any refusal when I had my hand down your pants earlier."
The comment brought about a searing heat between her thighs, causing her to shift from one leg to the other. Before she could retort, Cappy came down the stairs and when he reached the aisle, gave them both a long once-over. "Did you two not understand the nekkid swimming part?"
The heat shifted to Nasira's face. "Actually, we were wading in the water and I slipped."
"I had to rescue her from the creek's clutches," Sebastian added. "My wife can be quite clumsy at times."
Cappy sported a skeptical look as he loosened the girth strap on Gus's saddle. "In case you're hungry, the missus put a roast in the oven for the two of you. She said it should be ready in about an hour and she'll be back later to clean up."
"I can do the dishes," Nasira began, "although I would like to meet her and tell her thank you."
"Annie's a stickler for giving people their privacy, and I'm thinkin' that's exactly what you two need, so I'll tell her you'll handle the cleanup."
Nasira didn't want the man getting the wrong idea. "We truly do not require privacy, Cappy. She is welcome anytime."
"If you say so." He pulled the saddle off Gus's back and grinned. "By the way, ma'am, you missed a couple of buttons."
Too mortified to offer an explanation, Nasira turned to retreat to the house without looking back, the sound of the men's laughter following her for the next few meters.
She was so angry, she practically stomped up the path. If her husband thought he would escape her ire, he was sorely mistaken. As soon as she took a shower, she planned to confront Sebastian over his amusement at her expense. Until that point, she would simply avoid him.
"Sira, wait up."
Nasira quickened her gait in response to the directive. "I am not speaking to you."
"Actually, darling, you just did."
Infuriating man. "Go away, Sebastian."
"Not until you give me the opportunity to apologize."
"I am not in a benevolent mood."
The comment seemed to encourage Sebastian's silence, or that was what she thought until she heard, "Damn my leg."
Only then did she turn around to discover her husband bent at the waist, both palms resting on his thighs. She could leave him standing on the path in pain, or she could see about his injury.
Nasira turned around, strode to him and hovered above him. "Did you suffer a wound?"
"Only to my pride."
Then he raised his gaze to her, grinned, grabbed her around the waist and tossed her over his shoulder caveman-style. "Let me down, you brute!" she said, to no avail.
"Not until we arrive at our destination."
"I cannot believe you lied to me about your leg."
"Actually, I did have a slight twitch of momentary pain."
"I have trouble believing that. Granted, you will have several pains if you continue to carry me like a bag of grain."
"Sira, you are many things. Weighty is not one of them."
She supposed she should consider that a compliment.
Once they reached the deck, Sebastian climbed the stairs and put Nasira down, yet kept her hand clasped in his. "I beg your forgiveness for my inconsiderate laughter in the stable. However, I did defend your honor after your departure."
She folded her arms around her middle. "Was that before or after you morphed into a Neanderthal?"
"I believe that was after I beat my chest and declared you my woman."
"You are such a comedian, Sebastian."
"I am a man quite enamored of his gorgeous wife, and I do hope she will forgive me."
She wanted so badly to remain angry at him, but he possessed the power of persuasion usually reserved for practiced barristers. "You are forgiven. Can I please bathe now?"
He winked. "Do you require assistance?"
"No, I do not."
Without awaiting a reply, Nasira turned and entered the house to wash away the remnants of murky river water-and the mistake she had made by believing she could distance herself from her husband, physically and emotionally. The more she was with him, the more she realized how good the majority of their marriage had been. Worse still, she recognized how much she truly loved him.
And as she walked into the bedroom and spotted the bracelet on the bureau, the reminder of their loss, she questioned whether he would be willing to give her the one thing she wanted most from him.
Only time would tell.
* * *
Sebastian sat alone at the dining room table, staring at the familiar number splashed across his cell phone screen. He needed to answer the call but dreaded it all the same.
After one more ring, Sebastian swiped the screen and said, "Hello, Stella."
"For pity's sake, Sebastian, where are you?"
His stepmother was nothing if not direct. "Texas."
"You went after her even after I advised against it."
"Yes, but before you go off on the virtue of patience, she is my wife and I have every right to seek her out."
"Yes, you do, yet it could make matters much worse."
"We're getting along famously."
"I hope that is the case," she said skeptically.
"It is. How is Father?"
The slight hesitation had him bracing for bad news. "Actually, he's had a cheery day. He played chess with the butler this morning."
Odd that his patriarch could remember how to play a board game yet at times forgot his own son's name. "That's good. He's a tough old guy."
"Yes, but might I remind you, the last time you spoke to the physician, he told you he's going to continue to fade away, little by little, until we won't recognize the man he used to be, and he quite possibly will not recognize us."
Sebastian didn't need to be reminded of that. "I know, Stella. That's why it's imperative I work out my problems with Nasira and return to London as soon as feasible."
"And that is why you must consider having a child as soon as possible. I would like your father to go to the hereafter knowing he has an heir."
As if Sebastian needed more pressure in the procreation department. After all, his father had been partially responsible for his reluctance to try again with Nasira and wholly responsible for Sebastian's mother's death. "There is no guarantee that will happen before his demise."
"The doctor believes he still has a few years left in him."
But would they be good years?
Sebastian looked up to see Nasira standing in the open doorway, giving him a good excuse to cut the conversation short. "I will take your request under advisement. In the meantime, I'm going to have dinner with my wife. Tell Father hello from both of us."