Indulgence (158 page)

Furious, she stomped out of the lake, yelling at him, “What
would you call it, watching a lady swim and then waiting until she got out of
the water just so you could…”

All he could think of to say was, “I am not a Peeping Tom,
and I wasn’t spying on you.”

“Well, I don’t know what they call it in Nevada, but in
England and everywhere else I’ve been, you’re a Peeping Tom,” she raged, trying
to gather her clothes while he was standing in the middle of them.

“I am not a Peeping Tom!” he yelled, and then quietly added,
“I didn’t see anything.” He was furious that he had to keep declaring his
innocence.

Anne continued to rant as she struggled to put her clothes
on over her wet body. “I can’t believe I could not even come here for a little
privacy without being leered at by some cowboy! Good Lord! You act as though
you’ve never seen a woman before!”

“I’ve seen many women, Anne,” he said slowly with a smile, “just
very few so scantily clad.”

At this she stood straight up, fire in her blue eyes. She
dropped her clothes and stalked to face him, closer than she had ever dared
before as she began, “I knew it! You did look!

Coupled with the embarrassment of Albert seeing her in a
state of undress, she realized she had lost her temper again, and it was his
fault. She was now doubly furious. She managed to put her stockings back on and
made an attempt to button her skirt. Struggling, she tried to pull her boots
on, finding that over wet stockings, this was just not possible.

Listening to her rage on about him being a Peeping Tom and a
“Scoundrel”, along with a few other names, he tried to think if he had heard
her correctly. Peeking over his shoulder, seeing she was for the most part
dressed, he turned to face her. Seeing her dilemma, he approached her as she
was bent over, trying to jam her foot into her boot, still raining insults on
him. He bent over, grabbed the top of her boot and attempted to help her. As a
result of his help, she lost her balance and had to grab for his back to keep
from falling. The contact of their two bodies was a shock neither would soon
forget. Albert felt himself immediately become aroused as Anne’s wet body
covered his back. Quickly pulling her leg away, she backed up, not caring she
was still only covered by the wet camisole from her waist up.

“You tried to trip me!” she exclaimed, perplexed, not
knowing what else to say.

Albert straightened up and walked toward her. “Anne,” he
said softly, “I didn’t mean to.” His hand reached out to caress her face,
something he had wanted to do ever he first laid eyes on her.

She turned and walked to the lake shore, slipping her shirt
on. She was torn with feelings she had never felt before, having no idea how to
suppress them. The closeness of him, the response of their bodies, was more
than Anne could deal with at the moment. Besides, he had spied on her, seen her
in a state of undress. In fact, he had seen enough of her that, in England, a
wedding would be required.

He stood terribly close to her, saying in a soothing voice,
“Anne, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to touch. . . to make you feel. . .to see. . .I
mean, you’re a girl and I. . .”

“What?” she asked. She wasn’t sure if she had heard him
correctly and asked again, “What did you say?”

Knowing he had committed a serious offense, Albert fumbled
badly for the right thing to say. “All I was trying to say was that I was sorry
that I had seen you. You’re only a girl, and I’m sorry that I had seen you
dressed or really undressed, only a little. And seeing your. . .”

Anger filled her as she thought,
He called me that again!
I am not a girl! I’m a woman and I have a woman’s emotions and a woman’s body!
He has embarrassed me for the last time. He needs to be taught a lesson.

Softening perceptibly, Anne looked into his sensual eyes as
she walked to him. She said softly, “Albert, it’s all right. I know you enjoyed
seeing me like this. If you’d not made yourself known, you would have seen
more. I won’t tell anyone, no one needs to know that you and I were here today
and that we. . .” She moistened her lips with her small pink tongue.

Albert’s eyes watched every move she made and, when she came
to him, slipping her arms around his neck, pressing her wet chest against his,
a guttural moan escaped his lips. He thought,
This is not at all like Anne.
Perhaps this is another side to her I need to explore.

Her lips kissed his neck, her warm breath sent currents
coursing through his body. His arms crushed her to him. He felt her breasts
straining for release against his chest as she whispered to him, “Go ahead,
Albert, take it off.”

His long fingers fumbled with the tiny buttons of her
camisole as she stood facing him, his back to the lake. While he worked
diligently on the buttons, her lips nibbled on his earlobes, encouraging him,
as her fingers unbuttoned his shirt. She slipped her hands inside, caressing
his chest, her fingers running over his nipples. He let out a soft groan as her
hands played havoc with his self control. When he had two buttons undone and
the prizes he longed to hold were so very close, she did something he would
later laugh about. Molding herself closer to him, her tongue teasing his ear,
she whispered, “Don’t ever spy on me again, Albert Stuart!” Then she pushed on
his chest with every bit of strength she had and watched as he, off balance,
fell into the lake.

Standing there, buttoning herself up, she called to him.
“That’s for calling me a ‘girl’, Albert! You may have guessed by now I’m no
girl, I’m a woman. I would have thought you knew that when you watched as I
came out of the lake.” Turning, she grabbed her blanket and her bag, and ran to
mount her horse, kicking him into a run back to the house.

Sitting on his bottom, soaking wet in the lake, he watched
her ride off as he said to himself,
I’m going to marry that woman!

*****

Arriving at Sky Valley, Anne found Ben, Henry, and Thomas
sitting on the porch, talking. The boys were dressed for an evening on the
town.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Stuart. How are you gentlemen this fine
afternoon?” Anne asked, alighting from her horse.

“We’re all just fine, Anne.” Thomas replied. “George told us
you had gone out riding and that Albert had gone after you.”

“Yes sir, I decided this morning to take a ride to Topaz
Lake. It certainly is beautiful there.”

“By the way you two are dressed, I assume you’re going into
town for the evening, Anne said, smiling at Henry and Ben.

Ben, as always, could not hold his curiosity or his tongue,
and blurted out, “Anne, how come your hair is all wet?”

“Oh, I went swimming at the lake,” she explained.

At that moment Albert rode up on Diablo, his clothes still
wet from the lake. His brothers and father took one look at him with Ben and
Henry bursting into laughter.

When they could control their laughter, Henry asked,
“Albert, you do a little swimming’ too?”

“Doesn’t look like he went swimming’ Henry, Ben said,
grinning. “Looks to me like he fell in, clothes and all!”

Ignoring his brother’s laughter, Albert got off Diablo in
one swift motion. With a smile on his face, he strode to Anne, taking her arm,
none to gently, and telling his family as he led her to the barn, “You’ll have
to excuse Anne and me for a while.”

Albert led Anne into the barn and shut the door. Henry
turned to Thomas and asked, “He isn’t going to whip her, is he?”

“No, Henry,” Thomas said chuckling. “I believe Albert wants
to talk to Anne privately. We best stay here, no better yet; you boys go on to
town.”

Before he thought, Ben replied, “Not on your life. I’m not
going anywhere.”

Thomas shot him a look, “What did you say, young man?”

“Sorry, nothing, sir,” Ben replied.

Albert had heard Henry’s comment on the way to the barn and
thought,
A whipping is long overdue for Miss Wallace. She might just get one
before the day is through.

Leading her into the barn and shutting the door, he let go
of her. As she jerked her arm away from him and started to tell him just what
she thought of him, she was stopped by the look on his face.

He calmly told her, “Now you are going to listen to me,
Anne. I wasn’t peeping, as you so eloquently called it. I was worried about
your being off by yourself. I went looking for you and just happened to find
you, well, just that way. What were you thinking going off on your own?
Anything could have happened to you! Indians. . .”

Anne was no longer angry, but for some reason she couldn’t
understand, she felt anxious as she replied, “I wasn’t concerned about the
Indians. I thought I could go there for a little privacy and a swim to get some
relief from the heat. I had no idea that Peeping Toms were so rampant in
Nevada.”

“I am NOT a Peeping Tom!” Albert bellowed.

“Do not yell at me! And you are a Peeping Tom!” Anne shot
back at him.

Out in the courtyard, Thomas shook his head, saying louder
than he intended to, “Peeping Tom? Lord, what has my son gone and done now?”

Henry and Ben looked at each other and busted out laughing -
again!

“Did Anne call Albert a Peepin’ Tom?” Ben asked, laughing.
“Now he’s been called a lot of things, but never a Peepin’ Tom.”

“I didn’t think old Albert had to sneak around to see a gal
nekkid. Why I remember. . .” Henry laughed as a memory flashed through his
head.

“Boys!” Thomas’ voice thundered. “That is enough!”

“Sorry, sir,” they both said sheepishly.

Inside the barn, the battle raged on.

“Anne, I don’t have to sneak around to see a woman nude.
There are plenty of women who willingly. . .”

“I can just imagine what type of woman is attracted to you
and your crude behavior.” Anne looked at Albert haughtily.

“Anne! Damn it! I was concerned, no, worried, that something
had happened to you. You don’t know the terrain or the people. You could have
gotten hopelessly lost in the desert!” Albert exclaimed. “Now, I’m sorry that I
saw you almost nude, but I won’t apologize for my reaction. You’re a beautiful
woman with a beautiful body.” He stopped himself, realizing that he was about
to get himself in more hot water. “But you had no call to tease me the way you
did.”

“You called me a girl!” she screamed.

*****

Out in the yard, Henry turned to Ben and said, “She’s mad
because Albert called her a girl? Isn’t that what she is?”

“Naw, Henry. Anne’s no girl,” Ben said grinning. “Anne’s a
woman.”

Thomas sat chuckling to himself thinking,
I do believe my
eldest son has met his match.

“Anne, now I mean it. . .” Albert began, his anger beginning
to rise.

“No, you listen to me Albert Stuart. I am not a girl! I’m a
woman! I would have thought that an intelligent man like you would know that,
after seeing me soaking wet in my underwear! What are you? Blind?” She
challenged him.

Now all ears, Thomas, Ben and Henry looked at each other as
Ben voiced their confusion. “Albert saw Anne how?”

Shrugging their shoulders and shaking their heads, the three
men continued to listen intently.

Inside the barn, Albert had grown tired of trying to explain
to Anne his reasoning for being at the lake. Anne still seemed angry, and she
refused to listen to reason. As he watched her, he thought she was never more
beautiful than at that very moment, except for an hour and a half ago at the
lake. He noted that when she lost her temper, her eyes turned a deep sapphire
blue.

Albert did what he had wanted to do since he had met her. He
grabbed her arm, pulling her to him, and kissed her deeply for the first time.
Anne had never been kissed this way before and he found her kissing him back.
Her hands caressed him as her fingers ran through the curls at the nape of his
neck. He tightened his grip on her as his tongue explored the warm, sweet
depths of her mouth. She offered no resistance and returned his kiss. His hands
moved from her waist to her back, gently caressing her as he pulled her closer
to him.

Anne had been surprised that he hadn’t kissed her way before
now. She had felt a strong attraction between them from the moment they met.
She had longed to be in his arms, feeling him, kissing him. Never before had a
man made her feel the way he did. They had a connection that had drawn them to
each other.

Moaning, he whispered, “I know you’re a woman, Anne. I
didn’t need to see you that way today to know that.” He held her body close to
his as he kissed her again.

He decided on the ride back that she needed to be kissed and
kissed a lot, but only by him. Anne had captured his heart and touched
something deep inside of him, something he had searched for but never found
until Anne. The perfect woman for him to love. He realized this early on, but
after today, she was going to be his.

Leaning back, his arms still holding her, he looked into her
eyes and said, “I’m not sorry about today, Anne. I was worried about you being
alone. Anything could have happened. Seeing you that way made me realize I
never want another man to see you as I did, or kiss you the way I am.”

“You better never tell anyone about today,” she said softly,
smiling as her lips found his, her arms holding him to her.

“Hey,” Henry began. “It’s awful quiet in there. Think we
ought to check on them? You think Anne done killed him?”

Knowing his son, and remembering what it was like to love a
woman, Thomas shook his head, and told his sons, “No, they’re fine. Let’s go on
in the house.” He smiled as he rose and went in.

Albert now looked forward to every day, knowing he would be
spending it with Anne. He had found what he had been searching for in her and
was now content with his life. As their relationship grew, so did his brothers’
questions.