Montana Legend (Harlequin Historical, No. 624) (17 page)

He took her to bed, tucked her in safe and snug, and headed back to his room.

But he was too troubled to sleep, so he watched the fields from his window. There were no more signs of trouble.

He hoped it stayed that way.

G
age lifted the bucket straight from the well hook and dumped it over his sweaty head. Cool water cascaded over him, shocking his overheated skin. Didn't do much for his thirst. He sent the bucket back down when he saw his good friend climbing between the corral rails.

“We ought to be ready on schedule, except that colt is still saddle shy. I'll keep working him.” Juan wiped his brow with his kerchief. “Heard that the sheriff visited Milt's shanty this morning and stayed over an hour. Haven't seen him or his boys, but his wife left with the rest of their children in the wagon. Guess she wasn't too happy to have a husband in trouble with the law. Maybe that will solve our problem.”

“It's never that easy. But I hope so. We'll keep on guard and keep moving the fence. I need that water.”

“I figure Owens needs it worse. His crops are going to fail without it. He's got a lot to lose, but the sheriff's visit may have done it. We might not have any more trouble.”

“I think you're right. Milt has a family to think of, and I'm counting on that. He'd be better putting his
muscle to digging a well to water his crops instead of fighting for land that isn't his. Hope he's smart enough to see that.” He handed Juan the dripping, cool bucket. “I'll be right back.”

“Not if you're heading to the house and the pretty lady.” Juan wasn't fooled and his wink proved it. “You behave now, Gatlin.”

“You know me.”

“That's the problem.”

Gage couldn't argue. He'd been up since dawn in the corral, working to the sweat. But about the time Sarah ought to be driving up in the buggy, he made sure to keep an eye on the road.

Today she wore a light green dress and carried a thick package in her arm as she let herself in the back door. It felt right. He wanted no other woman in his house. No other woman humming in his kitchen while she cooked.

He could hear her through the open window, a song he didn't recognize, but it was pretty with her voice to it. Happy-sounding. He hated to interrupt her, so he stayed on the step a minute or two. Watching her at the counter as she mixing spices with flour into a bowl. Wanting her beyond all reason.

“You startled me.” She changed when he walked in the room. Not as relaxed. Tension straightened her up, as if she felt desire, too…and feared it.

“Sorry. Just watching you work.” He pulled her into his arms and kissed her, slow and deep and thorough. When he pulled away, he took pleasure from the glazed look in her eyes. Knew this was right as he pulled a hairpin from the crown of her head. “You make me crazy, you know that?”

“Me? No, I think this is your fault. You make my common sense fly right out the window.”

“Then you know why I'm here.”

“Yes.”

He tugged free another pin and her hair tumbled loose over her shoulders and breasts. She'd said yes; it was all he could think about as he cradled her head in his hands and kissed her again. Deep enough to drag a moan from her throat. To elicit a tiny sigh of longing.

He wanted her. More than anything. He caressed her bottom lip with his tongue, suckling and nibbling gently. She arched her neck, encouraging him to press kisses along the delicate curve of her throat. He stopped where he met a tiny row of lace at her collar.

The button was so tiny it slipped in his fingers, but he managed to release it and another just like it. The first glimpse of her pale skin beneath had him groaning. And aching for more.

“We won't go any further than you want to.” He swept her into his arms, settling the weight of her against his chest. “I promise, no pressure. I'm prepared to go as slow as you want.”

“I think I've forgotten to tell you what a wonderful man you are.” She kissed him this time, and he tasted her passion, the need in her.

Gentle kisses, and the caress of her lips to his made him hurry up the stairs. He knocked his shoulder against the wall and stubbed his toe against the door frame, and he didn't feel a thing but Sarah's kiss. She took his lip into her mouth, sucking, and teased his sensitized flesh with her tongue. Hell, his knees about gave out from under him and he dropped her on the bed.

She bounced, surprised, then laughing. “Going slow, are we?”

“Yep.” He jumped on the mattress, sending her bouncing and laughing some more and into his arms.

He loved how she welcomed him against her, pulling him half over her. She didn't move away from the hard length of his shaft against her hip, only smiled as he unfastened the buttons marching in a straight line between her breasts. His hands brushed those soft mounds as he went, making her eyes go black.

He wanted her right there. His trousers were tight and he loosened his buckle. Fit his knee between her thighs and peeled back layers of cotton and lace. He groaned at the sight of her creamy-white skin and smooth breasts, half hidden by her corset.

“I can take that off,” she offered.

“I can manage it.” He laved the upper swell of one breast and caressed the other. This is what he'd dreamed of all night, tortured by images of everything he wanted to do to her.

It had to be a dream now, too. Any minute he was going to wake up and the taste and scent of her was going to fade away into darkness. And be gone forever.

He couldn't believe he was here, in broad daylight and not a dream, touching her, kissing her. And that she would want him to, watching him with dark eyes as he slipped the dress from her shoulders so he could reach around and tug loose the bow at her back.

Her fingers curled around his nape, holding him to her as the cumbersome garment came unlaced, exposing the dark rose peaks of her breasts. He hardly had time to contemplate their beauty as he caught a pebbled nipple and pulled it into his mouth. She held him
there as he suckled, laving her with his tongue. He loved that she grew restless beneath him, lost in the pleasure he was giving her.

“Like that, do you?”

“Oh, just a tiny bit.”

“A tiny bit, huh? Then maybe I ought to stop, since you aren't enjoying this more.”

“Don't you dare.”

He chuckled, his breath a warm sensation across her damp, sensitized nipple. Sarah guided him back to her breast and let her head roll back against the thick pillows, grateful when his mouth captured her again, taking her to where there was only feeling.

His hands were caressing her, everywhere. Her stomach, her hips, her thighs. He was like a cyclone, sweeping her away, leaving her breathless and weak and clinging to his shoulders as he smoothed the cotton skirt away from her thighs.

She groaned, anxious and needy, wanting this man she loved. His touch was like no other, bold and possessive and tender all at once. His touch left no doubt she was his woman, his love.

“Oh, Gage.” She sighed as he stroked his way up her inner thighs. Teasing, circling, never quite making his way beneath the hem of her drawers. The core of her ached for his touch. Never had she wanted anything so much. Restless, she lifted her hips, desperate for his touch.

“There's no hurry,” he whispered, his words a hot caress on her throat.

“I want you.” She ought to be embarrassed, admitting such a brazen truth, but she only saw the way Gage raised up on his elbows to meet her gaze. So
much was mirrored there in his eyes. Affection and friendship and respect and want. And love.

Yes, she saw that as dark and deep as his desire for her. Felt it in the most tender brush of a kiss to her mouth, the weight of his hand as he molded her breast to fit his palm.

“It's been a long time for me, too,” he admitted. “I want this to be right, Sarah. I want you well pleasured, so you'll stay with me.”

“I'm not going anywhere.” She stroked his chest, curling her fingers into the light mat of dark, downy hair, coarse and soft at the same time. Delighted in the texture of his skin, so different from hers, browned by the sun, and the hard ridges of muscle that rippled beneath her hand.

He was touching her again, easing down her drawers, the heel of his hand brushing low and lower still. Such exquisite pleasure. Hot and sharp and fierce. His fingers crept lower, exploring and teasing and circling that central place that made her cry out in near abandon.

A knock rattled the door downstairs, echoing in the empty rooms. Gage's hand stilled.

“Who in the blazes is that?” He shook his head. “Doesn't matter. I'm sure it's a traveling salesman. He'll go away.”

“The door's unlocked.”

“He'll go away,” Gage insisted as he slid two fingers inside her. His thumb stroked and circled and she was lost. Completely, utterly lost.

The knock thudded louder. A man's booming voice shattered the moment. “Gatlin? Are you in there?”

“It's my foreman.” Gage shook his head. “We could ignore him. Pretend we're not here.”

“Duty calls, sir. We can always finish this later.” She blushed a little. Gage had finally taken his hand out of her drawers and now she felt embarrassed. Realizing she'd done all but surrender completely to him, she smoothed her skirt into place and wondered what happened to her corset. Searching for her garments was far easier than having to look him in the eye.

The door banged shut downstairs. “Gatlin? We need you at the creek.”

Gage shot off the bed and refastened his denims. “I'll get rid of him. You stay right here. Please.” He kissed her, deep and wet, leaving her tingling.

“It's nearly ten-thirty. Time for me to start work.” She blushed again because she'd come early today. And Gage knew why.

He swore, buckling his belt. “Tonight, then. After work.”

“But I—”

“Have Ella spend the night with Lucy. It would be all right if you came along, too. I suppose I could make room for you in my bed. If that's what you want.”

“My reputation—”

“Don't worry about it, angel. I'm leaving anyhow in a bit to take the horses to the capital, and you'll be staying here.” He grabbed a clean shirt from the closet. “We might call this a test. To see if you feel comfortable staying in the house while I'm away.”

“You think of everything, don't you?”

“Ma'am, I sure try. Will you stay?”

“My common sense says no. Absolutely not.”

“And your body says?”

“Yes.”

“Then tonight can't come fast enough.” His dim
ples flashed and he left, his boots thudding down the stairs and echoing through the downstairs. The screen door slammed and he was gone.

Oh, heavens.
She sank onto the edge of the bed, rumpled from their lovemaking. She hid her face in her hands, wishing her common sense would come back and save her.

Then again, maybe she didn't want to be saved. Gage loved her. She knew he did. He might not say the words, but this was serious. He knew it. She knew it.

And this, the way he'd pleasured her in his bed, it was just the beginning.

Desire curled deep inside. She was still tingling from his touch, breathing hard from wanting him.

She still wanted him.

 

It was hard to concentrate as she prepared the noon meal for the four ranch hands and the newly hired wrangler Gage had lured away from a ranch in Wyoming. The men talked over her fried chicken and buttermilk biscuits about the problems with Milt. He'd taken to drinking, sitting in the fields with his loaded rifle. Watching as the men finished the fence.

She couldn't help feeling somehow responsible. Milt was her uncle by marriage, but her offers to speak to him were met with a loud round of nays from the armed men at the table. Wally grabbed an extra piece of chicken, leaving before the meal was done, to ride for the sheriff. Milt wasn't breaking the law yet, but a fence line wasn't worth a man's life if it came to that.

“Don't worry about Milt, angel.” Gage followed her into the kitchen after the other men had returned
to their duties. “It's a matter of common sense. Any more trouble, and he'll find himself in jail. That will make him back away.”

“I know times are tough for them.” She'd seen it with her own eyes. A barely producing piece of land Milt had unwisely purchased years ago was only the start of it. “I heard Wally say my aunt Pearl left with the children. Despite his faults, he does love his family. Losing them makes his drinking worse.”

“That's a problem they need to solve.” He took her into his arms. “The men and I told the sheriff we would help Milt dig a well to replace the water. That may be a solution, if Milt isn't too cantankerous to accept my assistance.”

“Like me, you mean?”

“You used to be rather prickly when I tried to help you, but you're became amazingly agreeable.” His lips brushed hers once, and again. “If I can get that blasted colt to behave before I leave for Helena, I'm going to leave the white mare here. The one Ella likes. Figure she needs a horse if she wants to keep up with Lucy.”

“You mean Sugar? The mare Ella wishes for every night before she goes to sleep?” When he nodded, she couldn't help loving him a little bit more. “Thank you. That's the best gift you could have given me.”

“I know.” He kissed her again. “It's one o'clock. The day is going so slow, so at this rate it'll be damn eternity before tonight comes.”

“The reward may be worth it.” She blushed. Had she really said that?

Throughout the afternoon, it was all she could think about. The hunger in Gage's kiss. The anticipation shimmering in her blood, making her tingle. The day
felt extraordinary as she passed the time doing ordinary things. Hemming gingham curtains for the house, or snatching time to daydream about Gage.

Instead of fantasizing about making love to Gage, she ought to be trying to locate the common sense she'd obviously misplaced.

But what did common sense matter when compared to how alive Gage made her feel? The caress of his hands, the tug of his mouth at her breast, the way he'd touched her so intimately…