With a feral sounding growl, he lifted the back of my knee and pressed the head of his cock inside of me. Slow, shallow thrusts had me clawing at his back and stretching up to kiss him.
“Tell me what you like,” he said low.
“This,” I breathed, “but deeper.”
He pressed into me until I was filled and stretched around him. Heavens and stars, he felt so good as he pressed against that sensitive place he’d found earlier. His breath shook now, and his thrusts became slightly faster with each stroke. The muscles in his arms bunched and flexed as he held me tighter. And the pressure…oh, that beautiful, tingling, stomach warming pressure was back and building with the friction of him burrowing deeply inside of me.
I wanted to feel every powerful thrust of his hips against mine, so I dropped my hands to the smooth, hot skin of his lower back. My eyes rolled back in my head as I arched against him time and time again, meeting every stroke he had to give me.
“No, Lorelei. Open your eyes. I want you to see what you do to me.”
Jeremiah eased back just enough for me to see his eyes. They were lighter than I remembered, more the color of good scotch, but perhaps it was a trick of the moonlight. His jaws clenched and he wouldn’t release my gaze as he took me harder, and faster.
“You’re so…damned…” He gritted his teeth as I dug my nails into his back.
I was going to explode.
“You’re beautiful,” he rasped.
My body clamped around him and I closed my eyes against the rampant pulsing pleasure that took me. His shaft swelled inside, and warm wetness shot into me as he tensed and snarled out something in a language I couldn’t understand. Over and over, he bucked into me. The blanket slipped down, exposing my back to the rough tree bark behind me, but I didn’t care about that right now. I didn’t care about anything other than how stunning my husband was in full rut. He gritted out my name and buried his face against my neck as he filled me one last time.
I was warm and safe here, cradled in my lover’s arms. Something opened up inside of me, like flower petals reaching for the sunlight.
Jeremiah was my husband, but in this moment, he was more somehow.
My knees finally gave, and with my arms wrapped around his neck, Jeremiah carried me back through the woods to our temporary home. His footing was sure as if he’d walked this trail a hundred times in the dark and in much less time than it took us to stumble to the creek, we were back in the warmth of our tent and under a pile of furs.
He played distractedly with a curling tendril of hair that always tried to stay in my face. Here, with my husband propped up on one elbow, looking more relaxed and happy than I’d ever seen a man before, I counted my lucky stars. They’d been many since I decided to answer his advertisement those months ago. He’d picked me. This man who was a more beautifully constructed and masculine creature than any person had a right to be had chosen me for his wife. His help-keep. His equal. This man who was a tender lover, gentleman, and loyal brother had chosen me to bring under his fierce protection.
The corner of his mouth turned up. “What’re you thinkin’ about?”
I traced the outline of his perfect nipple. It drew up under my touch and I smiled to match his. “How lucky I am.”
Humor danced in the shadows of his eyes and he looked around with arched eyebrows. “This ain’t exactly a castle, Lorelei.”
I giggled. “No, you ridiculous man. I mean I’m lucky to have you.”
The grin dipped from his face, and he looked so serious as he said, “Not as lucky as me. You don’t even know what you’ve done for me yet, Mrs. Dawson, but someday you will.” He sank down beside me and wrapped his strong arms around my waist. He drew me against him until his warmth enveloped me. “Sleep now, wife. I’ll be building you a house in the morning.”
I sighed happily. Sleep should’ve come easily but I kept replaying the beauty of tonight over and over in my mind. The way he’d looked at me, the way he touched me, the way he made me laugh while we bathed when my nerves threatened to overwhelm me. He’d made it possible to lose myself with him.
Jeremiah didn’t know what he’d done for me either, and he probably never would.
****
The morning sunlight was red against my closed eyelids. The corner of the tent flapped noisily in the wind and with lazy fingertips, I reached behind me to find Jeremiah’s side of the furs empty. My leg brushed the space but it was already cold.
What time was it? I stumbled sleepily into my dress, which Jeremiah must have retrieved at some point early this morning. It had mud stains and had seen better days. Honestly, it needed a good wash. I pulled my stockings and shoes on and when my new knife was safely in the pocket of my dress, I headed out, careful to follow the thin trail until I made it back to the edge of the clearing. Before I even emerged from the tree line, Jeremiah’s steady gaze watched me from his position perched atop the high framed structure of our house. His eyes followed me, as if he’d known I’d be coming out of the woods at just this moment.
My smile was shy. How would he act after such an intimate night?
He jumped down and landed with the grace of a panther before jogging toward me with long strides. A surprised giggle rippled out of me when he picked me up and spun me in a circle. And right here, with Kristina and Luke watching, he kissed me square on the mouth.
“Jeremiah!” I chided as I playfully thumped his arm. “They can see us.”
“So what? You’ll see much worse from them on any given day, I’ll guarantee you that.”
Fair enough because I had seen worse, actually. It was impossible to hate the outward display of affection. On the contrary, pride swelled inside of me at the idea that he was claiming me in front of other people. And not just any other people, but the people who meant the most to him.
“Come on,” he said. “We’ve been waiting on you to eat breakfast.”
“Why didn’t you wake me then?”
“Because,” Kristina said with a wink. “Jeremiah assured us you needed your rest.”
My face was likely red as the streaks across the morning sky but there was no help for it. No one seemed uncomfortable with the subject but me. Oh, if Mother could see me now, she’d have a conniption.
Directly following fresh scrambled eggs and venison jerky that had been smoking since Luke brought it home yesterday, the boys showed me the work they’d accomplished on the house. Astonishing. The flooring was done and the frame in place and today they would be working on the walls.
“We should whitewash it like those fancy houses in Boston,” Jeremiah said. “A lady should have a whitewashed house if she’s makin’ the sacrifice to live out here.”
“That sounds like an awful waste of money,” I said with a denying shake of my head. “Let’s get a stove first and then talk about that later.”
“I want a whitewashed house!” Kristina said with eyes that shone like rare, blue gems.
Luke stood straighter. “What? Woman, what do you need a whitewashed house for?”
She crossed her arms and jutted out her chin stubbornly. “Jeremiah said a lady deserves one, and I’m a lady.”
“You weren’t a lady last night,” Luke said in a low voice as he wrapped his arms around her waist.
“Stop that, you brute! I’m serious. Lorelei, can’t you just imagine our two whitewashed houses with porches and white rocking chairs to match?”
I grinned at Luke. “It actually does sound lovely.”
“You too? Jeremiah, this is all your fault. Now I’m gonna be livin’ in some high fallutin’ city house.”
Kristina argued, “The sheriff whitewashed their house for Daisy, and she loves it. She don’t live in the city. She lives on the outskirts of town.”
“Oh, yeah?” Luke griped. “And where do you propose we get this magical money to be waistin’ on paint, Kristina?”
“I suggest you better get to trapping,” she said flippantly.
Jeremiah winked at me and his happy demeano
r said he’d enjoyed stirring the pot.
“Guess what we get to do today?” Kristina asked, completely ignoring Luke’s glower. “We get to go into town and pick up more nails, and we get to order roof shingles and window glass from the general store.”
“By ourselves?” A mixture of fear, excitement, and uncertainty at the prospect of being separated from Jeremiah took me.
“All by ourselves. We’ll be stopping by Trudy’s today, too, so don’t worry about us if we’re an hour late, boys.”
“An hour,” Luke snorted.
“You need help saddling Beigha?” Jeremiah offered.
“No, I’ll do it. I’ll come say goodbye before we leave.”
As the boys returned to work, Kristina said, “Bring your dresses and any of Jeremiah’s soiled clothes you can find. Trudy does laundry on her days off and we can do ours with her while we’re in town. It’ll be much better than doing it down in the creek.”
The mention of the creek brought more heat to my cheeks, but she was already headed for the barn and didn’t see. “What do I put the clothes in?”
“I have an extra flour sack in here if you want to use it,” she called over her shoulder.
Perfect. I scrambled behind but by the time I reached the barn, Kristina was sitting on a one legged stool milking a bellowing cow with udders so swollen they stuck out to the sides. Her half grown calf chewed away on a pile of straw and offered his momma absolutely no relief.
She gestured to a corner without breaking stride in the pat pat pat of milk hitting the bottom of the pail. “Sacks are over there.”
I saddled Beigha and then hustled off to snatch my other dress, which I hadn’t worn since Boston on account of the dead chicken smell, and the small pile of Jeremiah’s clothes that sat in the corner of our tent. I hadn’t ever laundered clothes before, but surely it couldn’t be that hard. Kristina showed me how to tie the full sack onto the saddle bags, then I pointed my horse toward the steady song of nails on wood.
Jeremiah whistled long and low. “Damn woman, you look good ridin’ that horse.” As I leaned across the creaking saddle, he kissed me soundly. “You be safe today. Stay close to Kristina and you girls head back this-away before nightfall. Oh,” he said turning back to me. “And have fun.”
Chapter Nineteen
Lorelei
I had to admit, despite my qualms about leaving Jeremiah for the day, the prospect of an adventure was quite exciting. Kristina’s infectious enthusiasm only served to heighten the anticipation and by the time we trotted into town on our splashy Indian ponies, we couldn’t seem to stop laughing at everything the other said.
After tying the horses to the post in front of her modest house at the end of the main street, Trudy met us at the door with an inviting smile. “I was hoping you’d find a way to stop by today.” As an aside to me she said, “It’s my only day off, you see.”
The front entryway led to a small kitchen with a four chair table. “Come on out back,” she said. “I just got the water heated where I want it for laundry and you girls are welcome to it.”
Laundry would have been a boring and laborious affair if not for the boisterous conversation between the three of us. Trudy, just like Kristina, was an easy talker who could likely get along with anyone given half the chance. I didn’t have to talk much, but it was as I preferred. I was perfectly content to work and listen and laugh along with their whiplash wit.
We scrubbed and scrubbed our clothes onto a ridged washboard and then lathered them up with a horsehair brush and rinsed and plunged until the water was filthy. Then we started over again. When all of the clothes were on the line to dry, the three of us made our way to the general store to put our order for housing materials in and buy more nails with a small purse of coins Kristina brought. The stares and muttering’s of some of the town’s people were easy enough to ignore. I didn’t know why they had a prejudice against the Dawsons and frankly, I didn’t care anymore. They just didn’t know them like Kristina and I did.
A woman with blonde hair, fair skin, and eyes as blue as a clear spring sky bustled into the general store as we were looking at swaths of fabric. Kristina hailed her over. “Daisy, this is my sister-in-law, Lorelei. Lorelei, this is Sheriff Hawkins’s wife.”
I politely offered my hand. “Mrs. Hawkins, how do you do?”
“Very well thank you. Sister-in-law you said, Kristina? So does that mean you’re married to Jeremiah Dawson?”
“I am. I’ve only just arrived a few days ago.”
A short shout sounded from outside, and two men ducked into the general store. Townspeople in the street were scrambling like panicked ants.
“What in tarnation is going on out there?” Trudy breathed.
We followed her out to the front porch, and from here we had a good vantage point of the seven rough looking men riding through town on finicky horses. The leader had a red beard and his bright eyes landed on me. The squinted look he gave shifted something cold inside of me. Something wasn’t right with that one. He tipped his hat and gave me a smile that failed to reach his eyes.
“Who are they?” Daisy asked with a delicately gloved hand over her chest.
“Don’t you recognize them?” Trudy asked as she kicked the bottom of the door with the toe of her shoe. Posted on the wall just behind it were four rows of wanted posters. One of them looked suspiciously like the red-bearded man.
A blond-haired man came running up to our small group. “You okay?” he asked Trudy.
“I’m fine, but I can feel trouble comin’.”
“Mrs. Daisy,” he said. “Where’s your husband?”
Daisy’s voice had a tremor in it. “He’s been out of town all week. No lawmen here except the deputy.”
The man cursed under his breath and gathered us inside. “The deputy has Bill Burton locked up and waiting on lawmen from Denver to come get him tonight. Burton’s supposed to hang by morning.”
“As in Dirty Bill Burton?” Kristina asked. “He’s the leader of those men out there. They’ve been robbing trains and pillaging good folks for years.”
He checked his pistols. “That’s the one. Go back to the storage room, all of you.”
Trudy grabbed his wrists. “I forbid it,” she said. Her dark eyes were wide and desperate.
“Nobody else is going to help him, Trudy.”
“He’s a lawman. You ain’t. You have a baby on the way Elias and I’ll be damned if I’m losing you today. Put your guns away and come with us.”
“Trudy—”
“I forbid it,” she repeated.
Trudy was married to a white man? That beat just about all I’d seen. We crouched down in the store room just as the first shots rang out. It was impossible to hear the pepper of ammunition and not think about the people who were dying from it. My stomach grew queasy as the fight raged on outside. A ricocheted bullet hit a sack of flour right above Daisy’s head and she whimpered. I held her hand and pulled her closer. “We’ll be all right.”
Trudy’s husband covered her body with his until the blasts disappeared. Five minutes more and he said, “Stay here and stay low.” He returned shortly with the sadness of a hundred ghosts in his eyes.
“Deputy’s dead and Dirty Bill is free. Best you ladies get on home. It ain’t safe here.”
Trudy reacted immediately. She pulled us outside into the chaos. Men, women and children were running to help injured townspeople who had been caught in the crossfire. Three men lay dead in front of the jail house and another was bleeding all over the front steps. I wretched at the smell of blood and gunpowder.
“No time for that, Lorelei,” Kristina said, tugging on my arm. She snatched the still sopping garments from Trudy’s clothesline and shoved handfuls into the empty flour sacks. I helped when my dizzy spell had passed.
Trudy kissed us both on the cheeks and said, “You girls get on back to them Dawson boys. You’ll be safe with them.”
Up on Beigha and Rosy, we kicked our mounts hard and
raced out of town with our laundry sacks making wet thunking sounds against the hind ends of our horses to the rhythm of their gaits. This race wasn’t exhilarating like the one with Jeremiah had been. This one was full of fear that those outlaws had gone this way and were hiding in the woods somewhere. I screamed from fright when two men came galloping around a blind corner and almost barreled into us.
“Lorelei!” Jeremiah yelled as his horse reared and screamed. “It’s me. It’s just me.”
Beigha fidgeted to the side under me and tossed her head. “How’d you know to come for us?”
“We heard the shots. Come on, woman. You can tell us what happened at home.”
Beigha bucked to the side once and then tore off after them. “Wait,” I yelled. “How’d you hear the shots from miles away?”
He didn’t answer, which was highly suspicious because if he’d heard gunfire from that distance, he should’ve had no problem in the world hearing me from right behind. Or maybe he only heard what he wanted to. Something was going on, and I was just about tired of being the only one out of the loop.
Our furious pace had us back to the homestead well before the sun was at its midway point in the sky. We slowed the horses the second we crossed over to Dawson land.
“What happened out there?” Jeremiah demanded.
Puffing up against his stern tone, I exclaimed, “It wasn’t us shooting all willy-nilly!”
“Who?” Luke asked in a voice dripping with quiet ice.
“That young deputy had Dirty Bill Burton in his jailhouse with no back up,” Kristina explained. “Elias said he was waiting on lawmen from Denver and his gang rode right through town, shot the place up and freed that black-hearted old buzzard.”
Jeremiah threw his hat and cursed. “That was too close!” He sighed and rubbed his hands over his face like he hadn’t slept in a long time. “It was too close,” he said in a softer tone.
Luke wouldn’t look at me but even with his head turned, his eyes were glowing with something more than fury. A sudden unease filled me. There was a charge in the air that lifted the hairs on my arms. It had nothing to do with the cold wind and everything to do with some long sleeping instinct I couldn’t put my finger on.