Summary:  Adam and Moira begin their future together amid shadows of the past. (Part of the More than A Memory series, links to other stories provided)

Rating: MA (for adult situations)   Word Count: 1338

Author’s note:  This story begins where Convergence  ends, with a bride and groom.  Though not explicit, it depicts scenes of marital intimacy which fall into a gray area, and I would prefer to err on the side of caution.

More than A Memory series

More Than a Memory
Convergence
From Shadows
These are the Days
Bitter, Sweet, Wonderful Everything
The Homecoming — Requiem

 

JUNE 1868

They arrived at their hotel late in the afternoon. Too early for dinner; they would order room service later. Their hunger was not for food anyway.

Adam tipped the bellboy and closed the door. Moira was standing at the dressing table removing her hat and gloves. He watched her shed the jacket of her smartly tailored traveling suit and hang it on the bedpost. His body reacted in eager anticipation of what was to come; he loosened his tie as he approached her, smiling.

She smiled at him in reflection behind her, inclining her head as he planted a slow kiss on her neck before he proceeded to pull the pins from her hair. He took a moment to bury his face in the cascade of chestnut waves before turning her around.

Their lips met in a gentle kiss that deepened in an instant, igniting the coals of desire reserved for this moment. His impatient fingers struggled to unbutton her blouse. “Let me,” she whispered, and in a moment she stood before him in her corset and drawers. He undid the laces, freeing her body to his hands and mouth as she fumbled with his belt. Between the two of them they quickly dispensed with the remaining barriers between them and fell as one onto the bed.

It had been five years since their one and only night together, but it was as if time had stood still. She opened like a flower at his touch, and they made love for the first time as man and wife. He kissed her sweetly before they uncoupled, both of them breathless and contemplative.

He spoke first. “Well, that was worth waiting for. But not a minute longer.”

Her laugh was like sweet music, ending with a sigh.

“And by the way, sweetheart, I’m not really a god.”

“Who said you were?”

“Um, I believe it was you.” He reminded her, grinning, “Your exact words were ‘oh my god Adam’ as I recall.”

Moira groaned. “And you’re never going to let me forget, are you?”

“Nope.” He laughed, tracing her jawline with his finger “You know what happened the last time we did this.”

“I’m aware.”

“Well, I’m determined it will happen again. And I’m going to enjoy every minute of the process. So will you; I’ll see to it.”

“I’ll never doubt you in that department.”

“Promise me you’ll never doubt me in anything,”

“I promise.” She kissed the new scar on his shoulder, and when their eyes met he saw her tears.

“Moira…honey, don’t go back there.”

“It’s just that it’s the first time I’ve seen it since…”

“Sweetheart…it’s over. He can’t hurt us anymore.” Adam refused to say the man’s name as he took her in his arms. This woman. His wife. It was a miracle finding her again, and he had almost lost her twice since. “Nothing is going to keep us apart ever again. We’re going to have a wonderful life together. Tell me you believe that.”

She lifted her chin. “With everything that’s in me, I do.”

He regarded her with softened eyes. “There’s the woman I married. Does she know how much I love her?”

Moira drew him closer and kissed him. “Show her again.”

~*~

MOIRA

Her husband’s self-appointed task proved fruitful that week, confirmed two months later. His elation at the news made up for the morning sickness and fatigue, at least somewhat.

Moira found it endearing the way Adam was so fascinated with her pregnant body. At every discreet opportunity, his hand was on her belly. When they were in bed together, he would kiss her there, awed by the miracle of life growing inside her. He made love to her so tenderly, and afterwards he would tell how much he loved her and needed her, and sometimes he would weep like a child in the refuge of her arms, from old hurts she didn’t understand. Adam was a complicated, sometimes contradictory man, a man of prominence who might have governed the state of Nevada if he had chosen that path. But that wasn’t what he wanted. He wanted her and the life she could give him. And she would give him anything and everything without being asked . Most of all, she would give him sons to carry on the legacy of the Cartwright name.

She knew she was a lucky woman, by any standard. Adam was as strong as a bull, with similar tendencies, but he knew how to please her; more importantly, he wanted to. And he could be very persuasive. What became apparent over the years was the fact they they were, as he put it, so compatible. She used to joke that all he had to do was kiss her hard and they would end up with a baby. Not quite true, but it felt that way after seven children, six in quick succession. Adam couldn’t help but crow about it, either. He was proud of their large family. It was what he had always wanted.

She never asked him about the other women during their years apart. She didn’t doubt their existence because she knew Adam was not a man who could easily live a celibate life. It would be natural for him to seek comfort. He wouldn’t even have to pay for it. Of course, she knew there had been others before her, as she’d been another man’s wife, but Adam chose her, and she knew he loved her. That was all she needed to know. Yet sometimes, when she lay awake at night while he was lost in sleep, the woman in her wondered.

~*~

ADAM

He never knew how broken he was until he was mended. The day Adam married Moira was the day true healing began, though it didn’t happen overnight. The past is always present in some form, benevolent or not. And there were still ghosts that lurked around the edges where his old life faded into the new, more shadows than substance, a flash of something at the corner of his eye in the space of a blink, just beyond the periphery.

In moments of their intimacy, when raw feelings rose to the surface like cream in a churn, sometimes he felt something break loose inside him. That’s when she anchored him, body and soul, when he poured himself into her physically and emotionally. He had never before allowed himself that luxury, and it was daunting at times. Only a strong woman could have borne him; she never flinched, never made him feel less of a man, even if she didn’t fully understand.  She had saved his life once, before they married; more times since.

He’d had so many losses, it was sometimes hard for him to accept that Fate had finally dealt him a winning hand. There were days he felt so happy it scared him. That’s when he needed her most of all. To remind him what was real. It wasn’t just those moments when pure physical pleasure lifted him above reason and memory. One could argue that any woman who was willing could serve that purpose, and he had used some that way, only to be left feeling empty. With Moira, it was during those moments after that he felt their deepest connection, where words weren’t needed, where the past had no power. That was real, that was love. That’s what saved him.

Moira was not without opinions, and he gave them considerable weight. She stood behind him when she believed he was right, stood up to him when she thought he was wrong. She could be stubborn, she could get angry, she could be fierce, but she never gave him a reason not to trust her judgment. Adam knew there was no such thing as a perfect marriage any more than there were perfect people. Theirs was predicated on devotion and compromise, their faith in one another anything but blind.

Theirs wasn’t just a love story. It was a life story…

…to be continued…

 

Next in this series: These are the Days