Tall, Dark, and Texan (28 page)

Pulling off his boots on the porch, he silently moved down the hall and slowly pushed the door to his bedroom open.

He wasn’t the only one she apparently welcomed in her bed.

Three little girls, looking like angels in their gowns, were circled around their mother. He heard the rumble of thunder, but none of them moved. They were where they knew they’d be safe.

Teagen smiled and lowered into the leather chair beside them. He watched them until he drifted off to sleep, thinking he’d have his midnight with Jessie later, but right now the sight of them sleeping offered him a peace he’d seldom felt.

“MOMMA,” ROSE WHISPERED. “MOMMA, THERE IS A bear in the room.”

Jessie awoke and patted her middle child. “Go back to sleep, Rose. It’s only a dream.”

“Momma! I’m awake, and I can still hear the bear.”

Jessie opened one eye. A gray, watery dawn greeted her with the rhythm of rain against her window. One by one the girls had all come downstairs to her room last night. Emily was frightened of the thunder. Rose said it was too noisy upstairs, and Bethie just followed without voicing a reason.

Now, her youngest slept curled against Jessie’s back, Emily lay sideways across the bottom of the bed, and Rose rested nose to nose with her.

Listening, Jessie heard the bear. For a second she almost believed her daughter; then she made out the shadowy outline of Teagen sleeping in the chair in the corner. His low rumble of a snore made her smile.

“Rose, you know the story Sage told you about how her grandfather had to face a bear to become a man?”

Rose didn’t look too happy. “Yes,” she whispered.

“Well, I think it’s time you faced the bear.”

“Do I have to fight him like Sage’s grandfather did?”

“I think so.”

Rose’s face wrinkled. “All right, but I’m not naming him.”

“Don’t worry.” Jessie fought down a smile. “I’ll be right behind you.”

The five-year-old shoved the covers aside and stood on her knees before turning toward Teagen. Without hesitation, she jumped into his lap.

Teagen reacted like a warrior blindly attacked in his sleep. He flung the child halfway across the bed. She tumbled into her sister.

As Emily cried, rubbing her eyes, Teagen woke up enough to realize what he’d done. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize . . .”

Emily began to scream for Jessie, but Rose stood like a brave little David facing the giant. “I’m not afraid of you, bear,” she yelled. “I come from a long line of people who eat bear for breakfast, and I’m feeling mighty hungry this day.”

Teagen shook his head, and his hair, in need of a cut, shadowed his eyes. “That’s what my grandfather said once . . .”

Jessie laughed, realizing he’d figured out Rose’s game. When he roared, Rose put her hand on her hips and faced him. Emily stopped crying long enough to watch.

“I’ll pick my teeth with your bones, little Apache,” Teagen said, stumbling over the words as he obviously tried to remember the story.

Rose jumped again, and he swung her round and round while her fists flew about his head. “Take that, bear. And that!” she yelled.

When he tossed her into the covers a second time, she giggled and stood on the bed, bouncing enough to finally wake Bethie. The baby looked up at Teagen and said, “Papa. Papa.”

Teagen was so distracted by the baby’s chatter he almost missed catching Rose when she bounced off the end of the bed. He held her high until she giggled uncontrollably, then he set her down beside Jessie. “I give up, brave Apache.”

“No.” Emily scrambled to her knees. “Swing me. I want to fight the bear too.”

Teagen held his arms up, and Emily hesitated only a moment before leaning into them. He swung her in the air, then lowered her gently. She didn’t giggle, but she did smile up at him.

Next came Bethie, who wanted to do everything her big sisters did. When she let out a grand squeal, Martha hit the door in a run.

“What’s happening!” she shouted as she charged into the room ready to fight anyone trying to hurt the girls.

Rose answered, “We’re fighting the bear. I won.”

Martha looked from one of them to the other, stopping at Teagen. “Does the bear want breakfast?”

Teagen lifted Rose on one arm. “Since I can’t eat brave little Apache, how about a half-dozen eggs and any unnamed meat you’ve got available.”

Martha lifted Bethie off the bed. “I’ll get them dressed first. With the rain this morning, there’s a chill in the air. Sage has already started the coffee. It’ll be boiling in a few minutes.” She looked down at Jessie. “You can sleep awhile longer, if you like.”

Jessie shook her head. “I’ll be fine.”

The girls followed Martha out, and Jessie stood slowly. She slipped on her new robe and ran a brush over her hair, very much aware that Teagen watched every move she made.

“How are you, Jess?”

“Better each day.” She figured he already knew, because every day since he’d been at the camp, he’d sent a man on some errand with instructions to get a report on her condition before he headed back to the camp.

“Good,” he whispered so close she could feel his breath.

“You were wonderful with the girls,” she whispered. “And with that beard, you do look more bear than man.”

He moved up behind her and without a word fisted a handful of her hair.

She closed her eyes and waited for him to touch her.

He didn’t disappoint her. His big hands moved from her shoulders down her body with a loving touch.

“I missed you,” he whispered as he turned her to face him.

She expected him to say more, but he simply tugged her arms over his shoulders and pulled her against him in a hug. His face brushed against her cheek as he moved his hands down her back.

There was a boldness in his touch that she’d grown used to. His hands covered her hips and pulled her to him so that she knew exactly how dearly he longed for her. When he moved to her waist, she leaned back, breaking the contact.

Frowning, his hands slid down once more to her hips and drew her harder against him.

She didn’t pull away the second time he fitted her against him.

When his hands returned to her waist, he held her gently and kissed her. This was the way he wanted her, she realized, and she was more than happy to comply to his not-so-subtle request.

She felt his need for her and couldn’t decide if she were more frightened or excited.

He smiled down at her as if he could read her mind and knew what the final decision would be. With a gentle stroke he moved his fingers inside her robe. His hands teased the sides of her breasts, pushing them together slightly as he studied their outline beneath her gown.

Then he slipped his hands under her arms and lifted her up. Slowly, as he lowered her, she felt as if she were raining down on him. His face slid over her body as if he were drinking her in. She brushed against him on her way to touch ground. He paused long enough to press his face against her now-flat stomach. He stopped again at her breasts, tasting each through the layer of cotton. When his mouth reached her throat, he once again took his time kissing all the way to her ear.

Her knees buckled, and she would have fallen if he hadn’t held her up. They were both clothed, but his actions left her feeling as if they were bare with not even air between them.

When her feet finally touched the floor, his fingers fisted in her hair, tugging her head back so that he could kiss her deep and hard like he liked . . . like she loved.

When Martha called them from the kitchen, he loosened his hold and smiled down at her.

“How do you feel now, Jess?” he asked as if he hadn’t been devouring her a moment before.

“You know quite well how I feel,” she answered. “You seemed to have felt most of me.”

He patted her bottom. “I plan to do a great deal more if we’re ever alone.”

She let him tug her into the hall. “Oh, don’t worry; the girls will be grown in twenty or so years.”

He didn’t have time to answer before they were within hearing range of those in the kitchen. She’d expected him to step away as they entered, but he locked his fingers in hers as they walked in.

If she planned to ignore him this morning, she’d have to do it one-handed.

The girls didn’t notice, but Martha raised an eyebrow as if she was a proper chaperone, and they were being far too friendly.

A few minutes later, Jessie fought the urge to reach over and kiss him as he growled while Bethie giggled and smashed scrambled eggs in his week-old beard.

Rose ran back and forth from the window giving weather reports every few minutes. “Still raining,” she shouted. “Can I go out and see if the chickens are standing on their porch?”

“No,” Jessie answered. “It’s raining too hard.”

Sage looked up at Teagen. “At least we won’t have to worry about a raid today. The way it’s coming down, the river will be bucking its banks in an hour. Even if they could cross the bridge, they’d never get the herd rounded up in this storm. If the raiders couldn’t run them back across the bridge, they’d never be able to push them into the water.”

Martha set a plate of ham in front of Teagen. “If you’re not afraid of getting wet, you could go into town after those supplies I asked for last week.”

Since the fire, Teagen obviously hadn’t given a thought to the grocery list she’d handed him. “Get Jessie to write it again while I saddle a horse as soon as I finish. This storm doesn’t look like it’s going to get anything but worse. I might as well get wet now.”

He turned to Jessie and quietly added, “I’ve seen well-trained mounts go wild in a storm like this, so try to make Emily understand that she can’t ride today.”

She smiled and nodded as if she understood.

He had no idea how attracted she was to him, and the one thing that made her love him most was the way he’d lost the great battle with the little Apache this morning.

His touch might make her heart race, and his kisses made her crave more, but his kindness melted her heart.

When Teagen finished saddling his bay, he turned and saw Emily standing by the barn door. She’d used her blanket to protect herself from the rain, but they were both dripping wet.

“Em.” He moved toward her. “Didn’t your mother tell you that you couldn’t ride today?”

“Yes, sir,” she whispered, staring at her feet.

“Then you’d best get back in the house.”

“I come,” she started. “I come . . .”

He knelt down so that he could see her face and waited. “What is it, Emily?” Unlike Rose, Em never talked unless she had to.

“I come to ask you something.”

“All right.” He could think of lots of questions he wasn’t prepared to answer.

“Is this my home? I mean my real home.”

Teagen smiled. An easy one; he could handle this one. “Yes. This is your home.”

“Am I a McMurray like Momma?”

Teagen frowned. “Yes, if you want to be.”

“I do,” she whispered.

“Then you are.”

“Forever and ever?”

He figured he could handle this worry. “Forever. Even when you marry and move away, this will still be your home.”

She didn’t move.

“Is there something else?”

She nodded. “If there is trouble, I want to stand and fight for my home.”

Teagen started to say no; then he saw it in her eyes: a determination, a will that wouldn’t be easily broken.

“You told me your brother Tobin was only six when the three of you fought for the ranch. I’m seven. Sage let me help clean the guns. I can load, even if I can’t fire. I can help.”

Teagen wasn’t sure what to say. If he told her she could help fight, Jessie and Sage would both probably kill him after Martha got through. But, he couldn’t break her spirit.

He tried to guess what bothered her so. “You’re worried about the horses, aren’t you, Em?”

She nodded. “Martha says that’s why the raiders may come. They want to take the horses away.”

“We won’t let them have a single one, will we?”

“No,” she answered.

“Right.” He smiled. “But we also have to keep Rose and Bethie safe. If trouble comes, will you do me a great favor and help Martha get them to the cellar? Then when I need you, I’ll call. If trouble comes, we may need all the McMurrays on the porch.”

She squared her shoulders. “I’ll be ready.”

He lifted her up with one arm and stepped into the saddle.

She pulled the blanket close as he rode into the rain toward the house. She might be a shy child, but she had a warrior’s heart. His grandfather was going to love this grandchild.

When he set her down, he whispered, “I’m proud of you, Em. You’re a fine McMurray.”

She smiled.

“You’d better get into some dry clothes.”

“All right, Papa,” she whispered and ran inside, almost colliding with her mother.

“The grocery order,” Jessie said as she handed him Martha’s list. “Hope you can read it, I was writing fast, and Sage said to remind you to look for a post from Austin.”

Teagen touched his hat. “I’ll be back before you miss me.”

She grinned. “I doubt it.”

He would have leaned down to kiss her, but she jumped back when the brim of his hat dripped water. They were both laughing when he rode out.

NO ONE WAS AT THE TRADING POST BUT ELMO WHEN Teagen walked in, shaking the rain off him. A few old men, who looked like they’d been sitting on the porch so long they’d petrified, didn’t even notice when he passed by them.

“Shake outside,” Elmo ordered. “I don’t want to have to mop again.”

Teagen removed his hat and said, “Sorry.”

Elmo raised an eyebrow. “Oh,” he managed. “I didn’t know it was you, Teagen. I think you got mail back there somewhere, but I didn’t figure you’d be in for another week.”