Third Time Lucky

By Teresa Keefer

Can two souls find each other in three different lifetimes?
Follow two souls who have loved and lived through three different lifetimes. Will their previous tragedies finally become triumphs in their current world? Maybe the third time really is lucky...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Teresa Keefer
• Release date: Jul 31, 2019
• ISBN: 9781386900757

Teresa Keefer

Teresa Keefer is an indie romance author with an avid love of books since the tender age of 4. She started writing poetry in high school and after encouragement from her best friend, wrote her first full length romance novel in 2007. Coming Home was finally released as a self-published book in 2011 and was intended as a stand-alone until several readers contacted her to ask for more on the secondary characters which was the beginning of the Possum Creek series. In addition to writing under her own name, she also writes erotica under Autumn Drake and will be releasing her first political thriller in 2018 under the name of Ann Nevada. Teresa holds an MBA in Human Resources and attended law school for two years and has been in the human resource profession for over 25 years. She has also served on several boards of directors for human resource professionals and has taught human resource classes at the college level as an adjunct instructor.  Her ultimate goal is to become a full-time author and have the time and resources to contribute to various community functions to raise awareness about domestic violence, human trafficking, and substance abuse/addiction issues. In addition to reading romantic fiction, she enjoys reading a variety of other material including horror, thrillers, mysteries, and non-fiction.  As a woman with many interests, she balances out her life by doing crafts, gardening, cooking and studying spiritualism.  A lifelong resident of Indiana, she presently lives in a rural area with a menagerie of animals close to her three adult daughters and seven grandchildren.

Book preview

PART ONE

THOMAS AND MARGARET

COLONIAL VIRGINIA

CHAPTER 1

It was dark along the cobblestone street save for the flicker of lanterns outside the meeting house as Thomas stepped outside away from the discussion of the certain battles which would be fought in this new land. The British just would not let things go, leaving the new settlers to go about their own business away from the tyranny of the King. But they would be prepared to fight to the death so as to break the ties with the old country.

He had received her note, discreetly slipped to him by one of the wenches serving them food and drink inside the stone building where they were meeting. She knew he would be there because most of the more prominent men gathered each Saturday night. Including her husband. The jowly fat excuse for a man spent more time flapping his jaws and Thomas doubted when the time came, the fat bastard would do much more than hide from the British soldiers.

The beautiful and seductive Margaret was too good for George Montgomery. At least twenty-five years younger than her husband with peaches and cream skin and deep green eyes, her auburn hair generally piled high upon her head except for the few times he had been able to see it spread out and tumbling about her naked shoulders. He thought of the way her Irish lilt murmured his name and felt his manhood respond beneath his breaches.

His own wife was a prude. A shrew. Bound to her by the agreement he had made with her father before they left Salem. There had been several uprisings by the natives and her father feared for her safety. In the beginning, when they were courting the proper way, she had been lively and more flirtatious than her father’s Puritan ways permitted. Back then, he had been fond of her. Even liked her. But since coming to Virginia after their swift marriage, she had changed.

Thomas had to admit, the night he had taken her virginity had not been pleasant for her and she spent the next few days crying in their bed chamber. However, the second time was no better and she just lay beneath him like a corpse while he satisfied himself. Then a few months later she began to become ill every time she ate, and a neighbor woman pronounced she was with child. The child came early and did not survive. Sarah became a shell of the woman she had been back in Salem and if not for his agreement with her father, he would have sent her home to be with her family.

The night still was broken by a low whistle. It was her. Margaret who preferred he call her Maggie. He listened for the sound again and turned toward it when it came. Thomas caught glimpse of movement in the shadows between two buildings across from where he stood. Heard the whistle again and saw the shimmer of light upon her green brocade skirts. Skirts which hid the slender legs and miniscule waist and the place of sweetness where he was going to bury himself as soon as they slipped away to someplace private where they wouldn’t be seen.

He glanced back at the meeting house to make sure nobody had followed him outside. Not a soul stood in the shadows of the flickering lights and he breathed a sigh of relief. Thomas stepped cautiously to avoid any horse dung which might be left in the street and made his way toward the space between the two buildings across from him. Where Maggie waited with her sweet secret tucked between her legs.

When he reached her, he pulled her to him roughly for a lingering kiss which would let her know what was to come. Her lips tasted subtly of something sweet and fruity. Apples and cinnamon. Her skin smelled like the heady fragrance of the roses which grew in the garden behind his home during the hot summer months. Her body was warm and lithe as she wound herself around him as much as her layers of skirts would allow.

Disengaging from her embrace, he took her arm and tugged her farther from the street. Come along, we don’t want to chance one of the men coming outside for a breath of air and happen across us.

Aye. That would be a problem now, wouldn’t it? She laughed and it was musical, not like the immature giggles of other women he had known. How much time do we have together? I’ve been waiting here for quite a bit now. Surely, the men are not going to be meeting all night?

He wished he could just take her to an inn and spend an entire night ravishing her body. But there were too many eyes around town, and they would be found out for sure. Then he would likely be challenged to a duel by her fat bastard of a husband and they would both be banished from town once he shot him square between the eyes. There was too much for both them to lose.

We might have but an hour at the most, but not more. They were starting to wrap things up when I got your note and I had to wait long enough to be discreet before I slipped away. He continued to tug her along with him deeper into the darkness between the buildings. He lifted a finger to his lips. Let me cross over there then you wait a moment before joining me. Thomas motioned toward the space between a livery stable and a house that was currently empty as the owners had packed up a month before to sail back to England.

She nodded and reached out to touch the front of his breaches. I’ve been waiting for tonight a long time.

Thomas chuckled, it had only been a few days since he had found her gathering wildflowers in the meadow outside of town and taken her there in the high grass beneath the bright spring sunlight. A risky proposition it had been too, as at any time a group of riders could have come through on their way into or out of Alexandria which was the center of most of the trade in Virginia. How quickly you forget our rendezvous in the meadow. ‘Twas just the other day.

Maggie sighed. Thomas, don’t you know by now I just cannot get enough of you?

He fingered her breasts through her gown and brushed her lips. I’m going now. You wait for a moment, then come join me and have me you shall. He didn’t miss the shiver of excitement which rippled through her at his touch.

Despite her spunk, she followed his instructions trusting him to keep their secret trysts away from detection. He leaned against the stone wall of the house and waited in the shadows for her to make her way to him. Her voluminous skirts rustled as she slipped her way quietly to his side. In his mind, he was already undressing her. Peeling away those skirts and slipping her pantaloons down her slender legs to reveal the sweet mound of flesh between them. His manhood was rock hard, and he shifted in his breaches for some relief. But relief wouldn’t come until he was buried to the hilt inside her hot, tight wetness.

I think I shall have you right here. He moved toward her and claimed her mouth. How he would like to be as rough as he wanted but they both knew not to leave any evidence of their union behind for their respective marital partners to see.  His manhood pushed into her stomach as her tongue met his. Maggie wasn’t shy when it came to be showing her want for him and it pleased him.

As his mouth trailed down the silky length of her neck her fingers gripped his shoulders. He slipped his fingers inside the bodice of her dress and pushed the fabric aside to reveal the upper swell of her breasts. He licked the soft mound and she gasped, digging her fingers deeper into his shoulders.

Thomas, you make me feel wicked with need. I want to feel you plunging deep inside me. Rub away the ache that I carry with me when we are apart. The words came out breathlessly as he knelt to lift the layers of her skirts.

Tonight, she had not worn any undergarments and when his hand slid up her leg, he found the moistness of her sex already gathering on her upper thighs. That was his undoing. He stood, pulling the skirts up with him and grabbed her hips.

Turn and face the building. Put your hands on the wall above your head. He held the skirts as she turned, and his mouth watered as the pale skin of her small buttocks was exposed to the silvery moonlight that was threading its way into the darkness around them. He took a moment to use his other hand to unfasten the front of his breaches and his hardness sprung out of the folds of fabric ready to be wrapped in her heat.

There was no time to spare tonight. He put a hand on the wall beside her and plunged his hardness inside her with one motion. He felt her tighten around him and he groaned. None of that business tonight or you’ll have me finish before I start.

Her response was a soft laugh bordering on wickedness and a push against him with her smooth buttocks. He pulled away and plunged again. Only this time he didn’t stop there. He kept moving in and out of her heat faster and faster like a jack rabbit feeling his balls tighten with each thrust. And she moved with him, shoving her buttocks against each of his thrusts allowing him to plunge as deep as he could.

Thomas buried his face in her shoulder as he felt himself burst. His grunts were muffled by the fabric of her dress and with one last movement toward him, he felt her femininity tighten around his softening cock as she got her satisfaction. He let his knees give way and slid to the ground, pulling her with him for a few moments of respite before he helped her straighten her skirts and sent her home ahead of her husband.

The thought of the fat slob laying next to her at night sent an unusual pang of jealousy through him. He had no right. They both were married to other people. Thomas silently wished the fat man was married to his pathetic severe excuse for a wife and he was the one sharing Maggie’s bed each night. He looked down where she had laid her head on his chest and stroked a hand down the length of her back. We must gather ourselves and go home. Your husband will be leaving the meeting house shortly and my wife will be awaiting my return.

Ah, but ‘tis not fair. We are good together, you and I.

Fair or not, it is what it is and there is no changing it.

Maggie lifted her head and looked at him with her deep green eyes questioning. If there was a way to change it, would you Thomas Cameron? Would you make me yours for the world to see?

He lifted his fingers to caress her jawline. You know I would. But that is not possible and we both know it. Thomas frowned at her. And you, Margaret Montgomery, I ask you the same. Would you want to be mine? I am but a tobacco trader while your husband owns ships.

Maggie sat up and touched her heart with the palm of her hand, then reached with the same hand to touch his. From my heart to yours, I swear I would want you even if you were a pauper working as a hand on the docks.

Thomas stood up and smoothed her skirts into place before brushing her lips gently with his own. Enough of the foolishness. We are betrothed to others and all we can do is slip away for a stolen moment when the opportunity arises. Head along home and do it quickly. I hear voices coming from the meeting house.

I’ll be looking forward to many a stolen moment with you, Thomas Cameron. And with a swish of her skirts, she turned toward the direction where she shared a grand home with her pig of a husband. He stared after her for a moment, then righted his breaches. He’d take time to wash himself in the horse trough in the stable before he went in to his shrew of a wife.

CHAPTER 2

Thomas stood at the docks, his jacket discarded on a barrel where the outgoing ship was docked, and his sleeves rolled up. To a passerby, he looked like any one of the dock workers although he was one of the top tobacco traders in Alexandria. There had been some issues with the crop of tobacco, and he was inspecting each and every bunch before it was loaded on the ship. It was important to keep his name in the highest regard, so here he stood in the late afternoon sun sweating like a pig while the dock workers came and went with the tobacco he personally approved for shipment.

The incoming ship had also held a batch of slaves that would be used to unload the ship before being walked over to the market for auction. Their dark skin and eyes were a sharp contrast to the other people milling about and their downward stares were blank. It must be difficult to be transported to a strange land where the language was foreign, and you were treated no differently than animals for sale.

He would much rather be sitting inside his home where it was cooler, but he had not choice in the matter. Actually, he did. He could be like some of the other traders and just ship whatever the tobacco growers brought. However, his father depended upon him to keep the family name untarnished when it came to trading, and he wanted to honor his memory once they were both gone from this earth.

Glancing up to see if there was anymore tobacco on the wagon, he caught sight of her. Carrying a parasol in one hand to shade her fair complexion from the sun and her other hand tucked into her husband’s arm, they strolled along the dock together. He felt that green shard of envy stab through his chest upon seeing her hands on a man other than himself. Averting his eyes, he nodded to the wagon driver and patted the horse on the rump indicating they were clear to go. He would settle up with the grower back at the tavern where the driver had said he would be waiting.

The couple drew closer and he noticed a slight bruise upon her cheek. It was fresh and the powder she had used did little to cover it. Rumor had it that George Montgomery had a temper when he drank the liquor too much, but he had not heard anything about that temper extending to his beautiful young wife. Perhaps she had fallen and struck herself on something. No sense in getting his mind in a place it didn’t need to be, and right now he wanted to knock the old bastard off the dock into the water and hope he drowned.

George stopped by where he stood and tipped his hat. Good afternoon, Mr. Cameron. How’s business today?

Thomas nodded his head and tried his best not to stare at the man’s lovely wife. Doing just fine, Mr. Montgomery. He reached for his discarded jacket and lay it on his shoulder.

Have you met my wife? George beamed as he pushed Maggie forward a bit. Margaret O’Connor was her name before she took mine. She was feeling a bit under the weather so I thought a nice walk along the water might put some life back into her.

Under the weather? She didn’t look as if she felt unwell except for the bruise on her face. It’s a warm one today. Probably best suited to stay inside out of the sun if she’s not feeling well.

He watched as she looked from beneath her lashes and caught a bit of a flash of anger about her. Her words were softly spoken, but he could hear them clearly. What’s more, he could read between the lines. I believe I’ve caught a bit of something from my husband. He was sniveling ‘round the house just the other day. I hope it’s not a serious malady.

So, the fat bastard had been the source of the bruise on her face. He clenched his fists by his sides and put on his most pleasant smile and dipped his head. I certainly hope you are feeling better soon, Madam. It would be a shame for you to fall gravely ill.

Maggie fluttered her eyelashes a bit and winced as her husband reached over to pinch her face below the bruising. Aye. That it would. I’m thinking perhaps a nice walk in the meadow might be in order. The flowers I gathered last week are wilting. He caught the briefest of slyness in her smile. She was telling him he might be able to find her there if he wanted. And he did. In the worst of ways.

Well, I’ve got to see the captain before he sets out tomorrow morning. Make sure everything is in order. George nodded his head and started walking away from where Thomas stood. He watched them as they moved toward the group of sailors surrounding the captain and saw the man tug his wife a little too sharply. He wanted to murder the man. Take him apart piece by piece and feed him to the fish.

As he started toward the tavern to meet the tobacco grower, the slight figure of his house servant ran toward him. Master Cameron! Master Cameron! You need to come quickly. Missus Cameron isn’t in her right mind and I fear what she might do if you don’t come. Hurry! Please!

Sarah was known to have what he referred to as spells where she would either sob inconsolably or go into a rage and rip down curtains and throw things leaving destruction in her wake. He put a hand on the young woman’s arm. Calm down, Lottie. I have some business to attend to at the tavern and will come straight home right after I’m finished. You can wait for me outside the tavern if you don’t want to go back to Sarah.

He didn’t have the patience for Sarah’s tantrums or sobbing today. He really didn’t have time or patience for her ever. He silently wished he could just take her back to her father in Salem, but they hadn’t heard from the man in over two years. For all he knew, the man could be dead or gone from the town. Not a cruel man was he, but there were times he wished Sarah would just not wake up one morning and he could bury her in a pine box in the church lawn. Those thoughts made him ashamed which in turn made him angry at himself.

As he continued to the designated tavern, the house servant trailed behind him several feet. It was annoying to have her shadow him, but apparently his wife was much more out of control than usual or the girl would have hightailed back to the house. The girl was fond of his wife and would do just about anything to please her. Unfortunately, not much did and especially nothing he did was pleasing to her. Thomas breathed out an exasperated sigh as he reached the tavern knowing the girl wouldn’t follow him inside.

He sat across from the tobacco grower and discussed this shipment as well as another one the man expected to have ready in a fortnight. They talked terms and came to a gentleman’s agreement, shaking hands and exchanging currency, then topping it off with drink of the liquor the tavern keeper brought them. Thomas found he would rather sit here exchanging pleasantries with the other patrons than go home and deal with Sarah’s tantrums.

As he reached the doorway, another man stepped forward and leaned in to speak quietly. We are having another meeting tonight at the usual place. Come after you have your dinner. We got news today that the British are but a fortnight from marching into town. Much preparation is in order.

The man’s words were urgent and the tight look around his mouth hit home. The time was drawing near to fight for the freedom the people of the New World had fled England to find. A fortnight wasn’t much time to ready the men for the fight of their lives and for the lives and liberty of their families. But it must be done. A group of gentlemen and farmers against an organized and well-trained army from a wealthy monarchy. It was going to be a rough one to win but they were patriots and would give it their last breath.

Walking slowly so the house servant could keep up, he covered the quarter mile to the home he shared with Sarah. It wasn’t of the same caliper as the home in which George Montgomery kept his beautiful young wife Maggie prisoner. But prisons were prisons,