Wayward Wind (22 page)

She handed him the small tin bucket when he reached for it. He drained it and wiped his mouth on the back of his hand.

“Mighty good. I’d almost forgot how good milk is.”

“Did you get enough?” As soon as the words were out of her mouth they were punctuated by a loud growl from her stomach.

“What’s that?” Cooper turned to peer down into her face. “Did you eat?”

“I will later. Cooper—”

“Silly woman, you must be starving. Here.” He pushed a biscuit into her mouth and while she was eating it, he buttered another.
“I could smell that cooking clear out here and my stomach was doing some growling of its own.”

“Would you have come back in if I hadn’t come out?” she asked with feminine curiosity.

“After I stomped out, mad as a coon with his tail caught in a crack?” His lips were folded together, deepening the lines down
his cheeks, and his eyes shone with laughter. To her delight he put his arm around her and pulled her against him. She nestled
happily in the crook of his arm. “I don’t know if I would’ve or not. I was thinking on it. Eat the rest of these biscuits,”
he ordered gruffly. “I don’t want you to swoon when I kiss you.”

“Are you going to?”

“I’m sure planning on it.”

“Maybe I don’t want you to,” she whispered faintly, and suppressed a giggle.

“But you do.” He made the statement confidently and lifted her chin with a forefinger. “Don’t you?”

“It’s mean of you to make me say it.”

“You going shy on me?” His mouth was tantalizingly close to hers. “You
want
me to kiss you. Don’t you?” he repeated.

“I think I’ll die if you don’t,” she said recklessly.

“We sure don’t want that to happen,” he said, but he didn’t kiss her. He set the basket down beside the log and put the milk
pail in it. “Come on.” He took her hand. “I don’t like sitting out here in the open now that the moon’s up, and I’m afraid
if I start kissing you, I’ll not care if the world tilts, the sun’s up, or who’s watching.”

She walked beside him so happy she was unaware her feet were touching the ground. They crossed the yard toward the darkness
of the forest that surrounded the homestead and stopped beneath a large oak tree where a braided vine rope hung from a limb.
Lorna gave it a gentle push.

“Frank made this for me a long time ago. He made a loop on the end so I could put my foot in it and swing.” There was a poignant
longing in her voice, and for just a moment all the years rolled away and she remembered her father as he had been, a quiet
man, but one who had built the swing, taught her to ride, and who had taken her small hand in his while they had hunted frogs
along the creek bank.

The oak leaves moved in the slight breeze and their whisper seemed unusually loud in the quiet night. An acorn dropped to
the ground. With no other noise, the smallest sounds were audible. Lorna tried to see Cooper’s face in the shadows, but the
outlines were gone, and she could see only that he was standing there beside the tree.

“Will your pa be able to handle those two if they come back looking for trouble?”

“I don’t know what he’ll do. He was different tonight. He usually doesn’t have much to say about anything, especially anything
about me. But I’m not worried about Hollis and Billy. They’re sneaky and mean, but they’ve got no backbone. Brice won’t do
anything, either. He’s afraid of White Bull. He knows he’ll come in here and burn him out if he bothers me.”

“Tell me about White Bull.”

“His father was a blood brother to Light, as White Bull was to my grandfather. I’ve known him all my life. His tribe spends
the summer up on Wind River, spring and fall here, and winter down south. They’re peaceful, but sometimes I worry they’re
going to be pushed too far, then all hell will break loose.” She moved over close to Cooper. “More and more people are coming
and the Indians are losing their hunting grounds. Something’s bound to happen sooner or later.”

“This country is filling up, that’s sure. The land west of here is hard and lonely and it’ll take hard men to tame it.”

“You like it here, don’t you, Cooper?” She stood motionless, staring at his shadow, transfixed, literally shaking inside as
she waited for him to answer.

“Sure. You’ve got a good place here, Lorna. It’s as solid a homestead as I’ve ever seen.”

“Frank’s always saying he wants to go on west, but he keeps things fixed up, just like Grandpa did.”

“I can see that.”

“We have a clear title for just about all of this mountain.”

“That’s a tidy piece of land.”

Lorna got no satisfaction out of his words. She tried to think of something more to say on the subject, but couldn’t think
of anything except to come right out and tell him it would all be his if only he would stay. Somehow she knew that would be
the wrong approach with a man like Cooper. Finally, she found her voice.

“What’s your mother like?”

“Ma? I don’t know. Why would I want to talk about my ma when there’s a pretty girl standing this close? Come here.” His arms
reached out and drew her to him. Her palms, pressed against his chest, slid up to his shoulders. She looked up at him, into
his eyes. He studied her white face, the unruly black hair, and her trembling mouth. “Lorna, girl, you’re awful pretty,” he
whispered huskily.

“Cooper… I’m afraid you’ll not come back,” she said in a low, stricken voice.

“We’ll meet again.” He leaned his head forward, kissing her reverently on the forehead. His voice was a mere breath in the
night.

The softly uttered words sent a shiver of dread down Lorna’s spine. They were so… impersonal! He could have said them to
anyone. A sound, half groan and half sigh, exploded from her. Her arms slid up to encircle his neck, then she raised up on
her toes and pressed her slim body to his in a desperate attempt to get closer to him, to hold him. She couldn’t let him go
until there was some kind of understanding between them.

“I don’t want you to go. I love you!”

“Sweet Lorna…” His whisper warmed her lips. He looked into her eyes and watched as her tongue came out to moisten her lower
lip.

“I
do
love you—”

“Shh, don’t say anymore,” he cautioned. “You can’t be sure.”

“Why do you say that?” She was near tears. “I
am
sure.”

“How many men have you met on this mountain, Lorna?” he asked sternly. “Is what I saw tonight all you’ve had to choose from?”

“It’s you I want! I knew it back there on the Blue. You wanted me then, too. Why are you acting like this? Is it Frank? Is
it because I’m not like town women? Kiss me, Cooper. Kiss me and I’ll show you I’m—”

His mouth, hard and commanding, fastened on her mobile lips, stealing her breath away and swallowing her words. There was
nothing gentle about his lips. He was using his mouth as a means of shutting hers. His kiss was a dark, sweet eternity of
firm lips and warm breath.

The small fire kindling deep within her and the pounding of Lorna’s heart made her realize that his lips had softened, and
that she was cradled in his arms and her lips had been irresistibly forced apart. The tobacco taste of his mouth, the woodsy,
musky smell of his face as her nose pressed his cheek, and the hard strength of his embrace made her head swim—she was only
vaguely aware of the hand that traveled down the length of her spine and grasped her firm buttocks, pressing her fiercely,
impatiently, against his body.

Something warm and powerful began to throb in the area below her stomach and she inadvertently whimpered and moved restlessly
against the urgent hardness pressing into her belly. Her unrestrained response seemed to trigger a deeper need in him and
the quality of his kiss exploded into a persuasive, sensuous, passionate demand.

Her soft mouth was sweet against his ruthless one and he kissed her thoroughly and at length, wanting so much more that his
body trembled with restraint. Finally his lips freed her mouth and came to rest on her cheek.

“You’re enough to drive a man out of his mind.” His voice was a deep rumble. He moved his face so that he could look at her.
Her eyes were damp and wide and her mouth puffy and trembling. “I’ve never seen anyone like you. You’re like a beautiful flower
growing on a rocky cliff—slender, bending with the wind, but tough.”

The desire Cooper felt for her was a deep pain gnawing his vitals. No other woman had ever come close to making him feel like
this woman did, but he’d not let her rule him, he’d not let her call the shots! His mouth set stubbornly and Lorna’s eyes
riveted on it.

“There’s a lot I like about you, Lorna. I like the way you laugh and sing. I like the proud way you hold your head.” He brought
up his hands and cupped her face. “Most of all I like your eyes and your… mouth. No man has ever kissed a sweeter mouth.”
His lips sipped at a tear that suddenly rolled down her cheek. “What I don’t like is a woman telling me what to do or butting
into my affairs without my asking. Can you understand that?” he asked in a hard, firm voice. Then, to soften his words, he
kissed her gently on the mouth.

“I don’t understand you,” she whispered. “I want to be your mate, like Maggie was to Light. I wanted to help—”

“I don’t understand me either,” he said with great certainty. “I don’t even know what I’m doing here in the first place. I
should have been home a week ago.” The hardness left his face and he smiled down at her. “I guess I wanted to be with you
a little while longer.”

His words brought her a delicious breathlessness. She searched his eyes, now tender and teasing, and laughed happily through
her tears, her mouth making the three-cornered smile. Her fingers caressed his face, her nose nuzzled his chin, before she
placed her lips sweetly on his.

“I want to be with you… forever.”

“You’re a stubborn little woman and will take strong handling. I don’t know if I’m up to it.” He leaned against the tree,
his long legs spread wide, and pressed her against him intimately. “You’d better get back to the house,” he murmured, but
his arms tightened around her even as he said the words. He kissed her throat just behind her ear. “Mmm… your hair is as
soft as down.” He nuzzled it again. His lips moved to her face, his hands to her hips.

“I like hearing you say soft words…” Her mouth moved to meet his and the words came from the center of her being. Their mouths
met with equal fervor—hot, searching, insistent. She clutched him to her, desperate in her desire to possess and be possessed.

Under his stroking hands, Lorna’s body went slack with sensuousness and pressed wantonly against him, pressing into every
crook and curve of his body. Instinctively, she rubbed her softness against his hardness. Hungrily, blindly, she sought his
mouth, and her kiss conveyed the deep heat inside her which was a new and delicious feeling. Whatever the future held, she
thought, tonight was hers. Tonight she’d know the joy of coupling with her mate.

His lips played seductively on hers and desire flooded his mind, obliterating all reason. The powerful tug of her beauty set
him ablaze with hunger and his hands roamed her body boldly, pulling her blouse from the waist of her skirt and finding one
firm, small breast and squeezing it possessively. Both her arms were about his neck. He bent slightly and lifted her off her
feet, capturing her thigh between his and holding it tightly for a long delicious moment. His breathing was harsh and Lorna
could feel his hard body tremble against hers. She felt a shock of eager excitement to know that he was aroused as much as
she.

“Sweetheart?” He lifted his head, his eyes, very close to hers, flaring with warmth and desire. His face had an intense expression.
“We’ve got to stop—” His voice was ragged with emotion.

“No! I don’t want to! I ache for you—”

“If we don’t stop now I’ll not be able to!”

“I’m yours. I’m your woman.”

Her face was raised to his. He took her mouth, teased it with his tongue, parted her lips, and let his tongue mingle with
hers. He moaned into her open mouth, one large hand on her back, the other on her hips pressing her flat stomach to the evidence
of his passion.

With his hands under her hips he lifted her waist high and sat down in the soft grass with her astride his lap. Her arms were
about his neck, her legs encircling his hips. He leaned back until his shoulders rested against the tree trunk and she lay
against his chest while his hands lifted her to pull her skirt from between them and spread it over them. And then his hands
were beneath her skirt and into the wide legs of the split undergarment she wore, kneading, stroking her naked flesh. It was
the most wondrously exciting moment of her life.

A heavenly frantic feeling began to build as his fingers touched her soft wetness and searched for her moist depth. She strained
against them, gasping for breath, feeling a thousand tiny thrills dance in her stomach. Her response was so convulsive that
Cooper growled deeply in his throat as she writhed against him.

“I want to touch you. Let me…” Her hand burrowed between them, seeking, touched the wrist of the hand giving her pleasure,
and felt for the elongated hardness that reached up to his flat belly. She humped her back to give her better access. He grabbed
her wrist and groaned in protest.

“Lorna… baby. You don’t know—”

“Yes, I do.”

“You don’t have to—I’ll pleasure you,” he breathed desperately.

“Don’t you want to put it inside me the way you’re supposed to?”

“Oh, God! You know I do!”

“Then help me.”

“This is your most precious gift,” he whispered as if in deep pain. “I can’t take it—”

“You’re not taking it, darling. I’m giving it. Help me—”

“Witch woman!” he said almost angrily. “You’ve put a spell on me. I can’t resist you; you draw the very soul out of me!”

His hands beneath her skirt worked frantically at the lacing on his buckskin britches until his burning flesh was throbbingly
erect in her grip. He was seized with an excitement that left him trembling and constricted his chest until he thought he
would suffocate. Borne beyond restraint, his hands moved beneath her, his fingers seeking the warm dark entrance, and then
he lifted her until the tip of that portion of him that throbbed as if it was a separate part of him entered the gate of her
moist opening. He held her there for endless seconds while little spasms of exquisite pleasure sent rippling quivers through
her. Then, holding her buttocks in his hands, he slowly let her down, giving her time to draw away, but she met his flesh
eagerly and impaled herself on his throbbing warmth. He slid slowly into her until he felt what he’d never felt before—the
membrane guarding her virginity.