Bittner, Rosanne (46 page)

Lettie shook her head. "I would rather have nothing material and have you at my side, than to have all of England's wealth and have to share it with a man whose touch does nothing for me, a man whose love can never be anything but shallow, who wants me only as a decoration on his arm. He did not build what he has with his own two hands. He didn't risk his life for it. And he did not father my children." She felt her cheeks warm at the last words, and she looked down again. "I feel so strange," she whispered. "Being here in this cabin reminds me of the early years."

Luke got up, came around and took her arm, gently pulling her out of the chair. The thunder came closer, but it could not rumble any louder than the thundering of their hearts as Luke pulled her close and embraced her warmly, kissing her hair, her forehead, her eyes. She kept those eyes closed, turned her face up more so that his lips could caress her cheeks, her nose, finally her mouth, in a sweet, warm, provocative kiss that awakened buried desires.

There was no ignoring the desperate need they both felt from that moment on. He picked her up in his arms and carried her through a curtained door into a little room that held only a bed and chest of drawers. Their kisses became heated and hungry, and the feel of his hands moving over her hips, her breasts, only made her want him more. She wanted to prove to him that he did not need someone like Annie Gates to pleasure him; and Luke in turn wanted to prove that this woman belonged only to Luke Fontaine, that no man could love her with as much passion, no man could please her more.

In the deep passion of renewed love their clothes came off with eagerness, until naked skin touched, pressed, rubbed. Nothing needed to be said, and no preliminaries were necessary. All the intimacies, the tasting and exploring, would come later. They had all night to do this a hundred ways, all night to go more slowly, to savor every inch of each other's bodies again. For the moment, there was only the need to brand and be branded, to share that one special thing that was special only for them, to express long-buried love in the most intimate way, the ultimate joy of the union of two bodies, two people who had shared great joy and great sorrow.

Outside the cabin the summer storm raged full force, just as their own physical needs raged to be released. Lettie gasped when he entered her with the full force of his need. It had been so long for her that it was almost painful, for he was greatly swollen with pent-up desire. His shaft was hot and hungry, and he moved in wild rhythm, groaning her name, his heated body sliding against her skin, his broad shoulders hovering over her possessively, protectively.

She had never wanted him with such aching passion, not even in those first years of marriage. The troubles they had seen had come full circle and now seemed to bond them more closely, sealing vows made long ago. He grasped her hips and shoved himself deep, shuddering when his life spilled into her, and they both knew, in that moment, that nothing, no sorrow, no hardship, no other human being, could ever again come between them.

CHAPTER 23

May 1878

"I swear, Luke, it's just not fair." Joe Parker laughed, and finished a cup of punch. "You've got the prettiest wife and prettiest two daughters of anybody around."

Luke gave Katie and Pearl each a light hug, his arms around both of them. He was proud to bring his family to the spring dance being held at Billings's new, larger town hall. It felt good to rejoin society after a long, cold winter, good to be out in public as a family again. The past winter had been one of discovery. He had made a point of staying home more, sharing wintry nights with Lettie and the four children around the fireplace. There had been a lot of talking, and more than a few tears. They had read together, played games together, and Pearl had entertained them nearly every night with her piano playing. The family had never been closer.

Behind the refreshment table, Lettie dipped more punch into Joe's cup. "These pretty girls get their looks totally from their mother," Luke answered Joe with a grin.

"Oh, Luke, Katie looks just like you," Lettie answered, handing the cup back to Joe.

Joe nodded. "Pearl there, now she gets her looks from her ma; but Lettie's right about Katie. She's tall like her pa and has your dark hair, Luke. I guess she's just a real pretty mixture of the both of you. How old are you now, Katie?"

Katie blushed, always shy. Tonight she worried that the elegant, mint green dress her mother had had specially made for her fit her too perfectly. The darts in the bodice drew the dress over her developing breasts in a way that made them look too big for her thin build, and she felt that she should hide them, wear something looser. Lettie had insisted she looked beautiful and not at all out of proportion. Part of her enjoyed the fact that she was becoming a woman in many ways, but the child in her was embarrassed by her blossoming body. "I'm almost fourteen," she answered Joe.

"Fourteen! Girl, you look closer to sixteen."

Katie wondered why he said that. Because of her breasts? She folded her arms over them self-consciously.

"You see that line of boys over there?" Joe pointed to four young men who stood across the way, watching other couples dance. "They're all wanting to ask you to dance, Katie, but they're afraid because you're so pretty, and because you're Luke Fontaine's daughter. They're not sure you pa wants you dancin' with young men yet."

Katie reddened more. "I don't really want to dance anyway," she said shyly.

"Katie, it's all right if one of them asks you," Luke told her, giving her another squeeze.

"I don't think so, Pa." Katie wasn't sure how she felt about boys. Only lately had she begun to look at them differently, with a new curiosity.

"I'll dance with them," Pearl spoke up with a dimpled grin. "I'm only ten, but I can dance."

"Pearl! Ten-year-old girls don't dance with anyone but their brothers or father," Lettie scolded, a teasing smile on her face.

Katie wished she could be more like Pearl, who didn't have a bashful bone in her body. It was easy to see that Pearl was going to be the most beautiful sister, at least in Katie's eyes; and Pearl was the most talented child in the family. She could picture her sister attending a fancy school far away and making a great splash with her piano playing. She didn't fear anything, and she loved attention. Katie, on the other hand, wanted only to stay close to home and maybe teach school and read quietly in her spare time. She hated attention as much as Pearl loved it, and sometimes she even wished she were not a Fontaine. Then people wouldn't stare at her as the oldest daughter of the richest rancher in Montana Territory.

"Right now I think it's Lettie and I who will dance," Luke told his daughters. He let go of Pearl and put his hand out to Lettie, already aching for her again just from the sight of her this evening. He had spent less time on the roundup and branding this spring, had let the Double L men do most of the work. For the first time since they married, he gave more of his attention to his wife that spring than he did to the ranch and cattle. He had come to realize how important his family was, and all winter he had felt like a newlywed. It was good to have his wife back in their bed.

Lettie asked Pearl to come around the table and serve punch for a while. The girl gladly obeyed, and Katie told her parents she was going to find Robbie. Luke whisked his wife onto the dance floor, fully agreeing with Joe Parker. He did have the prettiest wife in Montana. Tonight she wore her deep red hair twisted into a pile of curls on the top of her head, and her sea green silk dress matched her provocative eyes. It fit her slender waist perfectly, accented all the right curves, curves he intended to trace with his fingers later tonight.

Because the ranch was so far from town, they would stay the night in Billings. Outlaws and wild animals still made travel at night dangerous, but that was not the reason for Luke's decision. He simply still had not gotten over the worry that the vengeful Zack Walker might try to harm his family. He had taken rooms at the Billings Inn, a new hotel built by William Richards, who had come to Billings six months ago to open a bank, then had built the hotel.

Richards was himself the son of a wealthy banker from Illinois. He had come to Montana with his wife, Betty, and their daughter, Alice, to branch out on his own in a growing community. Alice was twelve, too young to be in love; but it was obvious that the girl was infatuated with thirteen-year-old Tyler. She had met him when Luke and Lettie had invited the Richardses to the ranch for dinner as a welcome to the area. Ever since then, Alice made a point of finding a way to be near Ty whenever they were at the same social event.

"I see Alice and some of her friends are over there giggling and having a good time with Ty and a few other boys," Lettie told Luke as they danced.

Luke looked in their direction. "Young love," he said with a grin.

Lettie watched them a moment longer. "Maybe. I have seen Ty and Alice just talking sometimes, like good friends. I suppose being good friends is the best way to start, if you
are
going to fall in love."

Their eyes held. "I suppose," Luke answered. "We didn't have time for such preliminaries. The friendship just sort of developed right along with the rest of it."

"Thank goodness," Lettie said with a smile. She sighed deeply, looking him over. "Luke, you look so handsome tonight in your suit. I haven't seen you dressed this way in so long."

He made a face. "I hate it. I can't wait to get back into my work clothes." He pulled her a little closer, making her blush at his boldness in front of others. "You, on the other hand—" His eyes dropped to drink in the tantalizing fullness of her breasts, which showed teasingly above the white lace of the scooped neckline of her dress. "I doubt any man here is noticing my suit. You look good enough to eat."

The suggestive remark sent a ripple of passion through her as she held her husband's gaze. Since their physical and emotional reunion, the sex between them had never been better. They had gone beyond anything they had ever shared before, rekindled hot coals into raging flames. She felt like a whole woman again, beautiful, alive, glad to have her husband back, grateful for her remaining four beautiful children. "I'll be glad to get to our room tonight," she said softly.

"We'll gather the kids after a few more dances and do just that," Luke answered, hunger in his eyes. He whirled her around the dance floor, thinking how far they had come over the fifteen years they had been in Montana, and how he couldn't have made it through those early years without this woman at his side. It was Lettie's wisdom that had brought in Jeremy Shane's men, who ran the Fontaine copper mines; her forward thinking that had compelled him to try raising Herefords; her faithful strength that had gotten him this far.

It was just too bad that the Herefords had to be Nial Bentley's idea. The thought of the man trying to steal his way into Lettie's bed still brought on anger, jealousy, and possessiveness that would probably never leave him, even though Nial had married Chloris Greene. The newlyweds were in Europe, and Luke was glad. Married or not, he still did not like Nial being near Lettie. At least Nial's marriage had helped quell any rumors about Lettie and him, and gossip about himself and Annie had settled. He was glad to be able to show others tonight that the Fontaine family was just as strong as ever. He just wished Will and Henny were still with them.

"I've been thinking about investing more in Billings," he told Lettie. "What do you think about another hotel, bigger than the Billings Inn?"

"A hotel!"

"Sure, why not? Something really elegant. Martin Stowe, the man who bought Will's place for a boarding-house, could manage it for me. I've already talked to him about it, and even though he's enlarging the boardinghouse, his wife can do a fine job of running it during the day by herself. Stowe knows the hotel business. He seems very willing to run the Hotel Fontaine."

"Oh, so you've already named it?"

"Sounds pretty good, don't you think?"

"Maybe you think Billings should change
its
name to Fontaine."

"Not a bad idea." Luke grinned. "At any rate, if we built our own hotel, there would always be a guaranteed place to stay whenever we have to spend the night in town. One suite could be held at all times just for us. And we wouldn't be hurting Bill Richards's business,
or
Marty Stowe's. Billings needs another hotel, at the rate it's growing."

"I suppose that might be a good idea at that."

Luke turned her to the music, wanting to kiss her but knowing how embarrassed she would be. "I think it would be a good investment, bring in good money."

"Don't we have enough money?"

His eyes dropped to drink in the sight of her full cleavage. "Not for my Lettie."

"All I need is you, Luke. That's all I have ever needed. It's never been a question of money."

He sobered. "I love you, Lettie."

"And I love you." She smiled again. "And if you want to build a hotel, then build it. Just so the project doesn't keep you away from home too much."

The waltz ended. Luke led her back to the refreshment table, where two of the other ranchers' wives gathered around Lettie to talk about the next women's club meeting. "I'll go round up the kids," Luke told her. "It's getting late."

Just as he started toward the door Robbie came running inside. He looked a little pale, and his eyes were watery with tears that planted a sick fear in Luke's gut.

"Pa! I think somebody took Katie! I was... she was with me one minute... and then I heard horses, and a man gave me this note!"

Luke grasped his arm. "Calm down, Robbie, and tell me slowly!"

Lettie turned away from the other women as several men gathered around Luke. He yelled for the musicians to stop their playing. People whispered and stared as Luke took a tattered and soiled piece of plain paper from Robbie. Tyler pushed his way through the crowd to go to his father and brother, and Pearl hurried to her mother's side. Luke read the note silently. Terror slinked through Lettie's blood as she watched a gray color come into Luke's face.