She made a slight sound, and he wasn’t sure if it was pleasure or fear.
He broke the kiss abruptly with only an ounce of reason remaining and waited for her to tell him to stop. When he saw her smile, his hand slipped beneath her blouse and claimed her breast, covered in thin cotton. As with the kisses, his action was bold, almost a challenge.
She leaned her head back against the cool wall and sighed, allowing him to explore. Her arms rested limply on his shoulders as she opened her mouth slightly in invitation. There was no challenge in her soft sigh, only pleasure.
He bent in to kiss her, trying not to think of how deeply he wanted her. Since she opened her blouse to him in the orchard, his hand ached for the feel of her flesh. All the anger he felt for her couldn’t compare with the longing to touch her.
And he did without hesitation. The buttons of her garment gave easily as he took his time, letting her know how dearly he wanted to caress what she’d offered for his view.
Slowly breaking the kiss, he let her breathe deeply, while he moved his hand down her skirt, pulling the material up until he reached the flesh of her leg.
She didn’t say a word, but jerked slightly as his hand moved over the soft skin of her thigh. He pushed her stocking below her knee then let his fingers glide up her warm skin.
He told himself she was his wife for this lifetime. And there would be nothing between them but her own doubts. He couldn’t make her believe in him, but he could let her know that very soon she’d be completely his.
His fingers tugged to open her legs. The softness of her skin made him waver, as pure pleasure washed over his senses. Her rapid intake of air brushed his cheek as she trembled against him, then shifted and parted her legs.
Her hand shook as it crossed shyly over the torn material of his shirt. They were beyond words now, and somehow the knowledge made him more comfortable. They crossed together into a place neither had ever ventured, but both knew it was time to go.
All the anger he’d held toward her vanished as he hesitantly brushed his fingers across the thin undergarment she wore.
She trembled once more as his hand covered the warmth of her. No one had ever told him about the intimacy between a man and a woman, but suddenly he knew. He’d been a fool when he’d married her, thinking he’d sleep with her only to have children. There would be far more between them than an occasional sharing of beds.
“You’ll sleep beside me,” he whispered against her ear as he pressed his hand gently over her, “every night of our lives.”
She raised her fingers to his hair and pulled his mouth against her lips, kissing him in answer.
His hand, resting over her most private part, left no doubt that there would never be any rooms between them. When his fingers moved to explore, she jerked in surprise, but he held her tightly, pressing her back against the wall and continuing his discovery until she jerked once more with pleasure.
He’d meant to give her time to answer, but the warmth of her drove him mad. He kissed her wildly, starved for the taste of her. When he finally pulled away, they gasped for breath.
For a while, they both stood in the darkness, an inch away, not touching. He could still feel her warmth, smell all the smells that made her, taste her on his lips, but he didn’t touch her again.
When she could breathe normally, she slowly straightened her clothes. Smoothing her skirts as if he hadn’t bunched it to her waist, redoing the buttons of her blouse where he’d twisted them free.
He glanced toward the lamplight and saw that Ludlow was still fast asleep, an empty whiskey bottle beside his chair.
Carter guessed he should probably stand back, give her room, but he didn’t want to put any more space between them than he must.
“Did you ... like what we just did?” He had to know, before she had time to convince herself of a lie.
“Yes,” she answered softly without looking up at him.
He wanted to ask her if he did it right, if he pleased her a fraction as much as the feel of her pleased him. But he didn’t dare. He was afraid to let her know how much she meant to him. She wasn’t a part of his life; somehow in a day she’d
become
his life.
“There is more.” He said an inch away from her ear as he fought the urge to close the distance.
“I know.” She rubbed her cheek against his jaw.
“But not here. Not in a jail cell.”
She brushed her slightly swollen lips feather-light across his, touching the words as he spoke.
“At home,” he mumbled, praying he had the will to wait. Loving Bailee would never be something he’d hurry through.
Her lips grew confident.
“In my bed,” he said against her mouth.
She kissed him gently. He wanted to reach for her, lean into her, flatten her against him, but he stood perfectly still, waiting for her to advance this time.
Her mouth tortured him, lightly brushing his lips with a promise. When her tongue tenderly trailed over him, he fought for control.
It crossed his mind, what little he had left, that he’d held her boldly, aggressively taking what he wanted, almost demanding that she accept his passion. Now she was getting her revenge by enjoying his agony.
Her hand rested over his heart as she leaned closer and pressed her lips against his in a chaste kiss.
Carter had gone too far beyond such a kiss to allow it to continue; he opened his mouth and deepened her offering.
They kissed like that for a long while, then he held her until she fell asleep. Twice, she’d tried to talk. Both times he silenced her with his touch. There would be time to talk in the morning.
When he was sure she was asleep, he wrapped her in the blanket and stood, his mind too full of thoughts even to close his eyes.
He wasn’t angry at Wheeler and his two helpers. They were just trying to get what they thought he had ... Zeb’s gold. If Zeb ever had any. But surprisingly, he was still angry at Bailee. She should know him well enough to believe in him.
Life made no sense to Carter. How could he want her so dearly when she didn’t trust him? How could his body ache even now to hold her? He’d never done anything to cause her not to believe in him. He’d never lied. He’d never tried to deceive her. Yet the first time she was tested, she doubted him.
Part of him wanted to grab her by the shoulders and demand an answer. Part of him wanted to hold her forever, never allowing her to talk to him. That way he’d never hear the betrayal he’d heard this afternoon in her voice.
He lifted her hand that rested outside the blanket and cupped her fingers over his. Without thinking, he began to sign, slowly moving his hand.
The words he couldn’t say, might never say to her, whispered in movement. Words of love. Words of promise. Words of forever.
TWENTY-FIVE
D
AWN CREPT INTO THE CELL. A THIEF INTENT ON stealing dreams born in the night. Bailee slowly opened her eyes to the sight of dust dancing in a beam of light. For a long while she watched the tiny particles drift in the still air as if trapped in winds that left them without control.
That’s how she’d felt since the night months ago when she’d thought to frighten a thief and murdered a man instead. Though all the world looked calm around her, she was caught in whirlwinds beyond her strength, drifting, tumbling. Now, with the dawn, another storm would hit and she wasn’t sure where she might end up, or even where she belonged.
When she finally glanced beyond the light, Carter slowly came into focus. He was sitting on the bunk opposite her, leaning his back against the bars, one leg drawn up to act as an elbow rest. His face was more bruised than it had been when he’d left the ranch, but he’d cleaned the blood away. Sun-browned skin showed through the rips in his shirt. As always, his blue eyes anchored her to his world.
Bailee sat up, tried to straighten her hair, and mumbled, “Morning.”
He didn’t say a word as he studied her every move. She couldn’t help but wonder if he watched her all night.
She wasn’t quite ready to face him. The memory of what they’d done in the darkness of the cell drifted across her mind. She wondered how people could do such things at night and still face each other in the morning. A shadowy touch that was so much more than a touch. Passion cloaked in darkness that warmed her still. A need that bloomed only in the stillness of midnight lingered now in her thoughts.
Bailee crossed to the water bucket by the cell opening and drank a full dipper of water with her back turned to Carter. She noticed Ludlow beyond the bars. Sometime during the night he’d slid off the chair and now lay spread-eagle on the floor, snoring softly while he drooled.
Judging from the light, Bailee knew she didn’t have much time. Wheeler, or the fat one called Ray, would be here any minute, and her time with Carter would be over. She turned and faced him, having no idea what she’d say.
He straightened as she walked toward him and moved over a few inches so she could sit beside him.
“I’m sorry—”
He stopped her with the touch of his fingers on her lips. “We’ve no time now,” he whispered.
Bailee nodded. They had far more to worry about than something she’d said yesterday.
He brushed her cheek with a stroke so light it made her feel beautiful and cherished for the first time in her life. He looked at her as if she were the only woman he’d ever seen, or wanted to see.
“As soon as Deputy Wheeler returns, I want you to talk your way out of here just like you talked your way in last night.”
His words sounded practiced, and she wondered if he’d ever speak to her without thinking about exactly what he would say. It was almost as though he had to translate his thoughts from another language.
Bailee opened her mouth to object, but his fingers stopped her once more.
“It won’t take Wheeler long to figure out that I don’t have any gold beyond the few coins I collect when Samuel sells the chairs I make. Once he believes the truth, he’ll let me go.”
Bailee wasn’t sure it would be that simple.
“That leaves Piper, Lacy, and you to worry about. Piper’s family may already be in Childress waiting for her, not knowing where else to go. If Zeb is looking for you and Lacy, he’ll head toward my ranch ... or here. I’ve tried to deny it, but both of you would be better off somewhere else.”
Bailee shook her head, refusing to think about leaving him. She almost felt the winds coming again, sending her tumbling into the unknown.
“If you can make it to Fat Alice, you’d have both sheriffs to protect you, assuming they’re recovered. Alice said she runs a boardinghouse, so she’d likely take in two more ladies.”
“But, Carter, you don’t know ...” How could she explain about Fat Alice?
“I know she helped me once, and I think she’ll do so again. If anyone knew where your friend Sarah went, I’d worry about her, but if the sheriff didn’t know, the odds are good Zeb won’t. She should be safe enough for the time being. Fat Alice’s is a place Zeb will never think to look for you.”
Bailee didn’t want to leave. She had friends to look after and Carter to take care of. He wasn’t a fighter, he was a farmer. He had long days of work ahead of him in the orchard. He needed her at home to help.
“The train leaves at noon. I talked with the boy called Rom just before dawn. He and Samuel will get Piper and meet you at the station. Try to get on the southbound unnoticed.”
Bailee leaned against his shoulder. “I don’t want to leave you.” She also didn’t see how she and Lacy could board the train in broad daylight without half the town knowing.
He put his arm around her and held her so tightly she could hardly breathe. There was something he wasn’t telling her, she knew it, but wasn’t sure she wanted to ask.
“I’ll come get you, or send word. If the plan fails there’s another place you’ll be safe. It took me three winters to build. Not even Samuel knows about the passage.”
Before he could say more, Mrs. Abernathy clamored through the office door, waking Ludlow. He stumbled to his feet, waving his arms as though he could fight off the devils in his dreams.
When Ludlow saw it was only the old woman who brought food to prisoners, he tried to act sober. He went about straightening his vest as if it were all that was amiss in the rubble of his grooming.
She looked at him with disgust. “Get out of my way, you saloon waste. There’s a prisoner here and I aim to collect my twenty-five cents for feeding him.”
Ludlow stepped aside. He frowned at the old woman. Everyone in town knew the sheriff pistol-whipped him once for being disrespectful to Widow Abernathy. Ludlow held his words, though it constipated him greatly.
“Well!” she shouted. “Get the keys and let me in. This tray ain’t getting any lighter.”
“What about my breakfast?” Ludlow whined as he followed her orders.
“You ain’t locked up. Go get your own breakfast.” She passed into the cell, then added, “And wipe that drool off your face or they’ll think you’re the world’s tallest spittoon.”
Mrs. Abernathy nodded at Bailee without seeming the least bit surprised to see her. “In again are you, honey?”
Carter pulled a stool up so the old woman could set her tray down.
“I’m here to get my husband out,” Bailee answered, remembering how the old woman complained every time she had to bring food to Lacy, Sarah, and her while they were in jail.
“Doin’ a great job.” Mrs. Abernathy chuckled as she sat on the empty cot and waited for her tray. She’d learned years ago that it was easier to wait than to have to return for the dirty dishes.
She pulled out a small tin of snuff and a thin branch the length of a pencil. After chewing on the end of the twig for several minutes, her few remaining teeth shredded it. She circled the newly made brush in the snuff and stuck in her mouth.
They heard Ludlow splashing like a catfish in an inch of water at an old washstand the sheriff kept in one corner of his office.