Joely Sue Burkhart - Lady Doctor Wyre

Dedication

For my beloved sister.

A special thank you to Sherri Myers, Shannon Collins, and Sharon Muha for helping me make this story as perfect as possible before submission to editor extraordinaire, Tera.

Lastly, to Lynn Viehl, I took your advice and wrote a world of everything I love. Thank you for StarDoc and your daily inspirations at Paperback Writer.

Chapter One

I cannot marry you. Charlotte Wilder struggled to take a deep breath through the heartache banding her chest, made even more difficult by her corset. A lady could have some luxuries even on a backwater colony planet. Im sorry, truly.

I mean no disrespect, my lady. Sheriff Gilead Masters stiffened but kept his voice mild. I know its customary on Britannia for the lady to make the proposal but we dont hold to such rigid tradition here.

Im not offended, Sheriff, but my answer is still no.

He made no hasty retort, but the tightening of his eyes and the flexing of his jaws betrayed him. Once a colonel in what the Americus colonists called the Revolutionary Warwhere theyd managed to take over the small Imperial space port and cut communication with Britanniahe rarely showed any emotion. Only someone who knew him very well indeed would recognize his silent growl of frustrated agony, and Charlotte had come to know him very well indeed in the past months.

Oh, how she knewand appreciatedhim. Broad shoulders to block the miserable heat of the fiercest summer sun, powerful chest and arms to hold a woman through the long blizzards, and a big, rough body strong enough to separate a foolish man from his gun without drawing his own weapon. Although she bemoaned the provincial cut and cloth of his coat, hed never looked at her with scorn like the grand ladies and their lords at Court, or worse, fear at what she had wrought.

Because I havent dared tell him the truth , she thought with a wince.

I thought, he rasped out in a graveled voice as he twisted the brim of his old cavalry hat in both big hands, that youthat we

I do, she whispered, blinking the tears from her eyes. I never meant to mislead you in any way.

He gathered his tattered pride about him, looking anywhere but her face. He jammed his now lopsided hat on his head and whirled to leave. Spurs jingled, a merry sound punctuated by the heavy thud of his boots as he retreated. Im sorry to have inconvenienced you in any way, my lady.

It would be better, safer, for him to leave. Even after the spectacular incident in which shed presumably died seven years ago, she couldnt count on safety from Her Majestys Guards. Eventually even this insignificant colony would fail to provide sanctuary. Shed be forced to run and hide again, no matter how much it galled her pride.

The heavy outer door beeped at his approach and automatically slid open, letting in blowing snow. Winds moaned and howled, an endless, agonizing wail in the dead of winter. Her first winter on Americus had almost succeeded where the Queens torturers would have failed. She would have babbled every last research secret she knew in order to escape the endless winter. Others looked forward to the Solstice, but she dreaded it more and more each year. A holiday of renewal and hope had come to mean only one thing to her: Loss.

And if the Solstice had come to represent loss, then the Solstice Eclipse every seven years was even worse. Shed died on the last holiday. Now, she faced losing her only friend on Americus. Another holiday, another loss.

Befriending Masters had provided a charming outlet to pretend that she was simply a lady he fancied and not the feared Duchess of Wyre, the traitorous doctor whose experiments had worked entirely too well. Her harmless flirtation had become something dreadfully more important to her, no matter how hard she tried to pretend otherwise. I cant bear to lose him too.

She rushed after him. Wait, Sheriff Masters. Dont go yet!

You have made your affectionsor rather the lack thereofperfectly clear, my lady. I wont bother you again.

She laid her hand on his straining back and he quivered beneath her palm. Gil, please. Let me explain.

Slowly, he allowed the door to whoosh shut against the blowing snow and howling winds, but he didnt turn around.

Dont you want to know why I cant marry you when I love you so very much?

You love me? He whirled around so quickly he knocked her off balance. Then why cant you marry me, Miss Charlotte?

Seizing both of her arms above her elbows, he hauled her close so her skirts tumbled against his thighs. At least her gown was sensible, warm homegrown wool and not fine, crushable linen. Or silk. How she longed to wear silk again! Every night she pored over cycles-old transmissions of the Royal Gazette, though she knew shed never again have cause to wear such wondrously frivolous clothes.

She let him hold her for a moment, enjoying the feel of his warmth, protection, and yes, his respect. Hed been so courteous these past months that shed never allowed herself to contemplate a physical relationship with him. With his arms around her and his heart pounding beneath her cheek, she suddenly ached to take him to her bed.

He smelled of wool, tobacco and some sort of sweet oil she suspected he used to polish his pistol. The antique weapon gleamed from his exceptional care, even if he chose not to use it unless forced by necessity.

I wonder if hed let me modify it slightly

No.

She pushed out of his arms as she pushed that traitorous thought away. She couldnt indulge in her hobby for it would bring the Raven Guards flocking upon her like a fresh corpse, for that was exactly what shed be.

A corpse.

Years of running and constantly being on guard, jerking awake at the slightest noise, denying her intellectual and scientific gifts that burned to be used It all weighed upon her shoulders like the massive Tower of Londonium, which would no doubt be her future home if Queen Majel found her.

Sit down, Charlotte sighed. Ill tell you everything.

Or at least not enough to get you killed.

In her tidy kitchen, the tall, muscular soldier turned lawman sat down at her table and folded his rugged, scarred hands together. Shed reluctantly fallen in love with him and those hands, so incredibly gentle in their ruthlessly slow attack against her every resistance without ever once touching her intimately. Slow, careful and deliberate, hed groomed his horse until the animal drooped with sheer bliss, polished his silver star and glossy boots until they blinded her, and gently wiped a childs tears whod lost her mother to influenza. Yet shed also seen him plow a meaty fist into a miscreants jaw and haul him off to jail and, yes, shed seen him shoot and kill a criminal in the act of robbing the towns only bank.

Gentle but strong and unwavering when the townand Ineed him the most. How could I not love him?

Shed known scores of men, from Court dandies to sheepherders, princes to highwaymen, and none had ever touched her heart like Gil. Not even him , the dark outlaw standing in her memories between her and this honorable man.

Lightly, she touched the locket hanging around her throat, the gold glowing hotter than her skin. The delicate filigreed heart made a beautiful piece of jewelry, but costly metals didnt make the simple heart so irreplaceable. Inside, the last of her most skillful technology resided, keeping a violent, wounded man alive and providing a tie to her that would never be broken.

Silently, Gil watched her stir the coals, add a few sticks of wood to the stove, and set a small coffee pot on the hottest spot. Shed nearly starved and frozen to death before shed learned how to work the medieval stove, so she was quite proud of the skills shed learned without the shining technology to which she was used. After rumors began trickling in from other conquered planets, she was extremely thankful for that lack which shed once sorely rued, for once the Empire had ultimate control of ones food, drink and housing, then they could do whatever they wished. Including the injection of experimental enhancements into meals, water, even the air.