Sweeter Savage Love by Sandra Hill

Author:Sandra Hill [Hill, Sandra]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: fantasy, (¯`'•.¸//(*_*)\\¸.•'´¯), Romance, Contemporary, Travel
ISBN: 9780505522122
Publisher: Love Spell
Published: 2006-08-01T00:00:00+00:00

“And in the end, E.T. returned to his home on that faraway star.” Etienne concluded his story as Amelie gazed up at him adoringly from her perch on his lap. Etienne was sitting with his back braced against a tree near the bayou stream.

It was the oddest sensation in the world, holding a little child. He pressed his lips down to Amelie’s downy head and inhaled deeply of her baby-skin scent. The two of them had bathed in the bayou stream a short time ago.

A deep yearning ballooned in Etienne’s heart, which he immediately deflated. There would be no children of his seed, if he could help it. Not with the possibility that the taint of his dead mother’s madness might run in his blood. No, he’d never hold his own child thus, or watch it grow to adulthood.

Although…

There was that one mistake. No, no, he wouldn’t think about that horrific possibility. The child was not his. It wasn’t!

“I think we’ve had enough of E.T. and aliens and planets for today, mon petit chou,” Etienne commented to the squirming girl. “Why don’t we go help Abel?”

Abel stood a few feet away catching crawfish for the evening meal. He was dragging a leafy branch under the water. When he pulled the branch up, the small, crablike creatures clung to the stems with their claws, and Abel shook them off into a basket. Etienne’s mouth watered in anticipation of the bayou delight. It was the one food he’d missed most when he’d studied at Oxford. In Andersonville, years later, he’d dreamed not of exotic women or great wealth. Bayou Noir and piles of succulent crawfish fulfilled his nighttime fantasies.

“Tell me the story about Casper again,” Amelie urged Etienne instead. “Casper the Bayou Ghost.”

Etienne exhaled loudly. Playing with children was fine…for short periods of time. Perhaps he should go find Harriet, now that the baby had been born. They’d heard a loud wail a short time ago.

With perfect timing, Etienne heard another loud wail come from the cabin. He, Abel and Amelie turned as one. And for the first time, Etienne saw Harriet standing in a secluded thicket of dense trees behind him. She was leaning against a live oak tree, weeping huge, silent tears.

Handing Amelie to Abel, he went to Harriet.

“Q’est-ce que c’est, chérie?” he asked, taking her by the forearms and bending his knees so he was face-to-face with her. “Is something wrong with the infant?”

She shook her head. “Nooo,” she blubbered. “The baby is a perfect little boy. Paul-Joseph Venee.” Seeing the concern on Amelie’s face, she added, “Dr. Cain said you can go see your mother and the baby for a minute.”

In a rush, Amelie ran screeching toward the house, Abel following in her wake.

“If not for the mother and baby, why do you weep so?” he inquired now that they were alone. With the pad of one thumb, he wiped the tears off her cheek, leaving white streaks on her dirty face. She was filthy and perspiration-damp from the humidity, as well as her various exertions that day.

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