Chastity (19 page)

    
"All right!
That's enough."

    Taken by surprise when Reed scooped her suddenly from her feet, Chastity struggled to    free herself. She halted abruptly when he clutched her tightly against his chest, the incredible blue of his eyes glaring as he ordered, "Be still, damn it! I'm doing this for your own good!"

    Her strength suddenly depleted, Chastity closed her eyes against the abuse of the elements, against the reality she could not bear, against the furious pounding of Reed's heart against her breast as he carried her toward the wagon.

    The pallet beneath her back, she opened her eyes again to see Reed crouched over her. Stripping off his hat, he reached for the coverlet nearby and wrapped it around her. She saw the tight set of his jaw as he brushed a wet strand back from her cheek, then grated, "Taking you with me was a mistake. I can see that now. You shouldn't be here. You have your objectives and I have mine. They take us in different directions, even though I thought for a while that" He paused. "It doesn't matter what I thought. I was wrong."

    Her teeth chattering so hard she could barely speak, Chastity managed, "I won't go across the river."

    Reed's light eyes did not blink. "You have no choice."

    "I do have a choice! You can go across if you want, but I'm staying here!"

    "Listen to me, Chastity!" Reed's expression hardened. "This isn't a river! It's nothing more than a flooded gully a few feet deep!"

    Chastity did not respond.

    "The horses can easily get the wagon across it."

    "That's what my father thought."

    "That was then. This is now."

    "I won't go across."

    "I'm not going to backtrack and lose two days. There's too much to lose."

    "We can't make it across!"

    "We can!"

    "No, you're wrong! You were wrong when you said the rain would stop by morning! You were wrong when you said there was no river to cross, and you're wrong now. We can't get across the river! The water will stop us somehow, and it'll happen all over again!"

    "No, it won't."

    "Yes, yes, yes, it will!"

    "Chastity, listen to me!" Chastity turned away and Reed gripped her arms, demanding, "Look at me, Chastity!"

    The tremor in Reed's voice, a note of desperation she had never heard before, touched a chord deep inside her. Turning slowly back to face him, Chastity caught her breath at the flush of emotion coloring Reed's face. His chest heaving, his hands shaking as they cut into the flesh of her arms, he rasped, "Do you think I'd take you across that river if I thought there was any danger? Do you think I'd risk your life, for any reason, if I thought there was any chance at all that the wagon couldn't make it?"

    The new trembling that beset her bore no relation to the cold as Reed continued hoarsely, ''Trust me, Chastity. That's all I ask. We'll get across, I promise you that. You're right. I was wrong when I said the rain would end today. I was wrong when I said there was no water to cross. But I'm not wrong now." Reed cupped her cheek with his palm, his voice catching as he whispered, "Don't you know I'd never do anything to hurt you?"

    Chastity swallowed. The mortifying words she had loathed to say emerged in a hoarse whisper. "I'm afraid."

    "Chastity…" Reed's gaze dropped briefly to her lips. She felt its heat,
then
saw the determination with which he forced it back up to meet hers. "Stay here. Don't be afraid, and don't worry. We'll be safe on the other side in a few minutes and then it will all be over."

    "Reed…"

    "Just stay where you are, Chastity, please. Tell me you will."

    Chastity swallowed against the sudden dryness in her throat. She tried to speak, but realized she could not as the brilliant blue of Reed's gaze pleaded with her as avidly as his words.

    Controlling the sob that rose to her throat with sheer strength of will, Chastity nodded. She closed her eyes.

    Reed released her. She heard him turn and leave the wagon. Her eyes were still closed when the wagon jerked into motion. She squeezed them tightly shut, holding her breath   when she felt the wagon's gradual descent into the water.

    The roaring grew louder.

    The horses whinnied in protest when the first surge of water struck.

    The wagon swayed.

    The icy torrents of rain thickened. Reed strained to see as the flow of the swollen stream hit the wheels full force, rocking the wagon. His hand firm on the reins, he forced the balking team forward.

    His jaw set, Reed scanned the surface of the angry water as the currents dragged at the wagon and it teetered precariously. He cursed as a log driven with punishing force pounded the wagon's side, causing it to shudder beneath them. He was intently conscious of Chastity's silence in the wagon behind him as he proceeded to mid-stream, where the current gripped the wagon more strongly.

    The team whinnied loudly in protest, and Reed snapped a sharp command that drove them forward. Thunder boomed and lightning cracked across the sky as the leaden expanse above them opened up with sheets of rain that pounded his shoulders like hammers. The fierce assault continued
,
the storm howling as the team reached the opposite bank at last.

    Halting the team the moment firm ground was underneath them, Reed jumped down from the driver's seat and started toward the rear of the wagon. He was stripping aside the rear flap   when he saw it the spare wheel that had been ripped loose from its position on the side of the wagon. It was caught on a rock a distance from the water's edge.

    The current dragged at it, lifting it. He needed to reach it before it was swept away.

    Striding forward, Reed waded into the water. He caught the wheel just as the current freed it. Almost pulled from his feet, he struggled to maintain his grip, turning too late to avoid a broken limb rushing toward him. It struck him with pounding force.

    Knocked into the churning rapids, Reed felt consciousness waver.

    Chastity screamed as Reed lurched forward into the water. The horror of the moment froze her into immobility as he disappeared from sight beneath the surface.

    On the muddy bank in a moment, Chastity was running wildly toward the churning rapids when Reed surfaced, fighting to regain his feet. She called his name, the sound a panicked plea that resounded over and again in her mind as she plunged into the water.

    She couldn't lose him! She couldn't lose Reed, too. Not now…

    Disoriented, Reed floundered, momentarily helpless against the current. Water filled his throat and he gasped for breath, struggling to retain consciousness. He heard someone calling him. The sound drew him back, feeding him strength.

    His mind clearing, he recognized Chastity's voice. He turned to see her beside him. His strength returning, he regained his feet, grasping her arm as they fought their way back toward the bank.

    Chastity fell to her knees on the muddy soil, and Reed sagged to his knees beside her. Taking long moments to catch his breath, he then pulled himself to his feet and drew Chastity up with him. He slid his arm around her waist, looking down as she raised her face to his and leaned against his side, sobbing incoherently.

    Helping her into the rear of the wagon moments later, he climbed in beside her. He sat, silent and still for long minutes as the maelstrom continued overhead, until Chastity regained her breath and her hysterical sobbing ceased.

    He waited until she was as still as he, then reached out and took her into his arms.

    A sob of pure joy escaped Chastity's lips as Reed's strong arms closed around her. His mouth caressed hers with his kiss, and Chastity welcomed him. His lips separated hers, and she gave her mouth to him willingly. His kiss surged deeper, more powerfully, more consuming. The sounds of the storm faded as Reed spoke soft, loving words unintelligible in the rush of heated emotions.

    Returning kiss for kiss, caress for caress, Chastity tightened her arms around his neck, forcing away the horror of the moment when   she saw Reed slip beneath the churning rapids. It had all become so clear to her in that terrifying moment the instinct that had drawn her to him that first day, the intuition that made her remain despite the friction between them, the strange conflict within her that had grown stronger with each passing day. Those few moments in the river had forced a trust that went beyond the spoken word.

    Reed's lips left hers as passion swelled. Stroking back the wet strands from her face, he drank the droplets of rain from her brow with his kiss, he stroked her fluttering lids with his lips,
he
left not a patch of her clear skin untouched by his loving caress. He returned to her mouth again and again with increasing ardor. Whispering heated words of love, he tasted the hollows of her ear,
then
worshipped the tender lobe, trailing the line of her jaw and the slender column of her neck. His mouth was warm against her chilled flesh as he slid her dress from her shoulders, baring the white mounds of her breasts beneath. Emotion swelled as he stroked her gently, then lowered his head, his strong body shuddering as he closed his mouth over a pink crest.

    Stunned as a brilliant joy rose within her, Chastity gasped.

    Halting abruptly, Reed drew back from her. She saw the restraint he expended as he searched her face, waiting for her to speak. But her throat was tight, her emotions so keenly   drawn that she was somehow incapable of speech.

    The silence between them grew taut.

    Chastity was lying beneath him, and the anguish within Reed swelled to new depths. The fiery color of her hair darkened by their watery fray lay splayed against the pallet, glinting with subdued brilliance. Water beaded against the smooth skin of her face, and dampness clung to the thick brush of lashes surrounding eyes that glowed with radiant flecks of green. Her lips were parted and he viewed them hungrily, his gaze descending for short moments toward the warm, female flesh he had tasted so briefly moments earlier.

    She was beautiful and giving. He saw the trust in her eyes. She had braved the swirling currents to save him minutes earlier, despite her fear. Her emotions were running high. It would be so easy to overwhelm her. He could not be sure if that was his original intent when he took her into his arms, so much did he
want
her, and so confused had his thoughts become where Chastity was concerned. The only thing he was sure of was that they were alone in a wilderness where the world was kept at bay, where nothing meant more to him than the wonder he knew they could feel in each other's arms.

    Stroking back a wisp of hair from her cheek, Reed whispered the only words that bore the true import of the moment words that originated from a spot within him that was chaste and untouched despite the furor of past moments and the bitterness of anguished years.

    "I want to make love to you, Chastity. I've wanted to make love to you from the first moment I could clearly see you, but I never wanted it more than I do right now. I didn't think it was possible to want again the way I want you. I didn't think it was possible to feel again the way you make me feel."

    Reed paused, the hypocrisy in his words cutting deep, despite his earnestness, "But I want to make sure you want this as much as I do. I have to be sure because… I don't want to hurt you. I don't ever want to hurt you."

    Chastity's eyes searched his face. He saw the tears that threatened as she whispered, "You said you want to hold me close to you. Reed… I want that, too. I remember other things you said as well. You said that you have your objectives and I have mine, that they take us in different
directions, that
you thought for a while it could work out, but you had made a mistake."

    Chastity paused to take a stabilizing breath. He saw the effort it took for her to continue, "All that may be true. I don't know." Chastity's lips trembled. "But there's one thing I'm sure of. I want you to make love to me, Reed. Nothing could be more right than that right now." She paused again, seeing a lingering hesitation in his eyes. "Are you as sure as I am, Reed?''

   Yes, he was.

    Reed expressed those words with his lips, with his touch, and with the fervor of soaring passions.

    Chastity breathed against the rapid beating of her heart. Their lovemaking grew more frantic, more impassioned. Her yearning became almost more than she could bear, and as Reed had stripped away the barrier of clothing between them, pressing his naked flesh to hers, she believed her heart would burst with elation.

    
The wonder of it… the power.
Chastity wrapped her arms around Reed's neck, winding her fingers in the sun-burnished gold of his hair, savoring the bliss of the moment. Strangely, she knew with a profound certainty that she had been born for this moment in Reed's arms, that there was no fulfillment that could be greater than knowing she was giving herself to him as totally as he was giving himself to her.

    But the ache within her was growing with each kiss. The need was becoming more demanding with each caress. Touching her soul with
a tenderness
so sweet and acute that she was almost undone, he raised her to a plane of sustained emotion where the joy seared as deeply as pain. There was no indulgence he withheldsave one.