Jade Star by Catherine Coulter

Author:Catherine Coulter
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Penguin Group USA, Inc.
Published: 1999-12-12T23:00:00+00:00

The day before the subscription ball, Thomas DuPres arrived in San Francisco. He looked fit, handsome, and darkly tanned, and Jules didn’t want to let him out of her sight. He limped only slightly. Saint, pleased to see his wife laughing, chattering like a magpie, her face flushed with pleasure, sat back drinking a brandy, watching the two of them. Unlike Jules, Thomas had brownish-red hair and his eyes were brown. But, he saw, they both were possessed of the same stubborn chin.

“I must say, Thomas,” he said during a brief lull in the conversation, “you’re looking much better than I thought you would. No more pain?”

“Narry a bit, Saint. Reverend Baldwin gave me a clean bill of health three weeks ago, said my leg was mending just fine, then told me to fatten up before I came here. He said you’d blame him, Saint, if I showed up on your doorstep looking like a scarecrow. Jules,” he continued to his sister, “we’ve both been disowned by our father, but I didn’t think you’d mind particularly.”

“No, not really,” Jules said. “Thomas, is Sarah happy now? Is she all right?”

“If you mean by that is she pregnant,” he said in a hard voice, “the answer is no, she isn’t. She is the most godawful female, and now with John Bleecher gone, she’s become a total shrew.”

Saint saw that Jules was upset, and said quickly, “Perhaps things will be better for her soon.”

Thomas threw his brother-in-law an incredulous look, but said nothing.

It was nearly midnight when Jules yawned loudly. “Time for you to go to bed, sweetheart,” Saint said, rising with her. “Thomas and I will be up shortly. You can take him about tomorrow.” He gave her a chaste kiss on her cheek. Thomas squeezed her tightly, and held her a moment.

“I’m so glad you’re here, Thomas,” she said. “Oh, you’ll be in the spare bedroom, second door on your right upstairs.” With those words, she left the two men alone, one smiling, the other staring after her, the meaning of her words like a death knell in his mind. He’d been an idiot not to realize that Jules would have to move back into his bedroom. He closed his eyes a moment, picturing her in a pristine, virginal nightgown, curled up beside him.

“Saint, you want another brandy?”

He shook his head. Thomas kept him up another hour, discussing medicine. If Thomas noticed that his brother-in-law was distracted, he was polite enough to ignore it.

Please let her be asleep, Saint thought when he very quietly opened the bedroom door. She was, and sprawled in the middle of the bed on her stomach.

He sighed, undressed quickly, and slipped in beside her. Too late he realized he should have worn one of the nightshirts Jane had made for him. She didn’t awaken, but before he fell asleep, she was curled up next to him, her slender arm thrown over his chest.

Saint, a light sleeper, awoke immediately at the sound of knocking on the front door.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.