by Nan Ryan
For Pecos, to take this golden, beloved beauty in this primitive manner was equally fulfilling. In his nostrils, the sweat of sexual excitement mingled with that of fresh, damp hay, while his heart thudded heavily beneath his chambray shirt pressed closely to Angie’s soft, silky back. Upon his muscled thighs her soft, white buttocks moved with increasing speed, her moist warmth squeezing him deliciously. He groaned and gasped, speaking graphic words of encouragement and approval for what she was doing to him. There was only him and this receptive, glorious female. There was nothing else.
Angie’s deep explosions were beginning and she tossed her head about, near to hysteria, sobbing Pecos’s name with unthinking abandon. Pecos lovingly continued, thrusting deeply. Higher and higher she soared, screaming loudly when the shattering pinnacle was completely attained. Angie fell forward, while Pecos clung desperately to her hips and pumped into her with forceful, punishing determination, groaning loudly and shuddering violently with supreme ecstasy.
He collapsed atop her.
Angie lay flat on her stomach, Pecos’s long, heavy body covering hers. Neither spoke. Their hearts pounding, they lay, unable to move, awed anew by each other and by the height of their fulfillment.
Finally able to function, Pecos moved off Angie, stretching out beside her. Angie remained in her prone position. While Pecos’s eyes swept over her tousled hair, blouse and bare white bottom, his happy heart swelled with tenderness and love for her. When she lazily turned onto her back, his hand went to her bare stomach and he murmured, “Honey, I didn’t hurt you, did I?”
Angie pushed his hand away and sat up. “No,” she said and began to laugh. She giggled softly and looked down at her reclining lover.
“What, honey?” His hand went to her bare thigh. “What is it?”
Angie swiveled toward him, leaned close and put a small, warm hand on his strong jaw. Fingers moving to trace his full bottom lip, she said in a soft, teasing voice, “Horses are not such dumb animals after all, are they?”
Chapter Thirty-Four
AT DAWN THE NEXT MORNING, Angie sat hugging her knees in the middle of the warm bed, watching Pecos dress in front of the fire. She never tired of looking at him and was glad that the coldness of the big room made it necessary for him to put his clothes on in front of the fire to keep from freezing. She could think of no lovelier way to begin a new day than to watch her beautiful lover warm his big, bare body before the dancing flames. She suspected Pecos knew how handsome he looked in the firelight, because he took an inordinate amount of time to dress, performing for her benefit. If so, she thoroughly approved of the exhibition and told him she hoped to begin every morning for the rest of her days watching him dress.
When he had buttoned his heavy woolen shirt up to his throat and put on his tight trousers and his boots, Pecos came to the bed. Smiling, he put a hand into Angie’s tumbled hair and sat down facing her. Leaning close, his open mouth came to hers, teasing her soft moist flesh.
“Darlin’,” he said against her lips, “why don’t you snuggle back down and get some more sleep.”
Angie put her hands on the rough fabric covering his chest and leaned back. Smiling mysteriously, she said, “I can’t; I’ve things to do today.”
“Care to tell me what?” He let a hand slide from her hair down to a bare, warm shoulder.
Angie tilted her head. “It’s my surprise, you’ll know all about it this evening.” She toyed with his collar. “I will tell you this much; we’ll be having our dinner here in my room this evening because I’ll have lots to say to you and I want it to be in private.”
Pecos’s thumb traced her delicate collarbone. “I may not understand all the secrecy, but being alone with you is always appealing.”
Angie sighed gently and pulled his mouth to hers. Kissing him warmly, she murmured softly, “Pecos, you do know that everything I have belongs to you, don’t you?”
“Thank God,” he teased, smoky eyes sliding down over her full breasts, “I’d hate to think I’ve spent all those hours in your bed for nothing.” His eyes returned to hers.
Brushing his hand from her shoulder, Angie giggled and pulled the bedcovers up over herself. “Get out of here, cowboy.” She took up the game. “I’ll expect you back here in my bed tonight, and I warn you, I shall require a great deal of loving.”
Pecos kissed her turned-up nose and stood up. Grinning broadly, he said confidently, “Madam, I assure you, you’ll have what you want and so will I.” He winked at her, picked up his hat and coat and went to the bedroom door.
“Pecos,” she called, and he turned to look back at her. “I … Darling, I … I love you more than you can possibly imagine.”
“I planned it that way, my dear.” He opened the door and left laughing.
Angie laughed, too.
ANGIE SAT IN THE BACK of a grand covered carriage on her way into Marfa. The weather had warmed, the sun was shining brightly and the muddy roads were rapidly drying. Her face aglow with happiness, she pulled her long gray velvet cape tightly around herself and rubbed her chin absently against the soft fox collar, again going over in her mind everything that would take place today.
When she reached town, she’d go directly to the offices of the McClain attorney, Donald Worth. She’d sent word for Mr. Worth to be waiting in his second-story office above the bank at precisely 11:00 a.m. Once inside she’d waste no time telling him to draw up the necessary document returning Del Sol and all other holdings to Pecos McClain. She’d wait until that was accomplished, sign the legal instrument before witnesses and take a copy along with her when she left.
Angie smiled. When night came and Pecos met her for a romantic dinner in their room, they’d open a bottle of fine champagne and she’d present him with the legal document making him sole owner of the big spread, just as he should be. Once and for all, every misunderstanding between them would be straightened out. She’d see to it they cleared up the confusion of his thinking she was a girl named Angel who had been at Paso del Norte. She’d convince him of his error if it took all night to do so. She would also tell him that the marriage vows with his father, Barrett McClain, were never consummated. She would swear to him that it was he, Pecos, and no other who had taken her innocence, that no other man had ever, or would ever, touch her. She was his alone; she would always be his.
Confident she could make him believe she was speaking the truth, Angie leaned her head back against the tall leather seat of the carriage and planned for their happy future together. Sure that he was as deeply in love with her as she was with him, Angie decided that this evening would be as good a time as any to suggest he make an honest woman of her. Despite all that had happened in the past year, Angie still believed in the sanctity of marriage, and although she loved Pecos enough to live in sin with him if it were the only way, she wanted desperately to become his wife.
A tingle of excitement rushed over her. By this time next week, they could be man and wife. By this time next year, they might have a child born of their raging desire and deep love. A small gloved hand automatically went to her velvet-draped stomach, and the smile on her happy face broadened. Recalling the blazingly bizarre mating in the stables the day before, Angie, her cheeks flushing, wondered hopefully if perhaps life were already starting inside her. It was very possible. She hoped that it was. She could think of nothing more wonderful than to feel Pecos’s child growing inside her.
Angie was still pleasantly daydreaming when the carriage rolled up to the wooden sidewalk directly in front of the First State Bank of Marfa. Glancing to the second story of the frame building, Angie read the black lettering on the glass window: Donald M. Worth, Attorney at Law. Knowing the dependable lawyer would be waiting for her, Angie hurried into the bank, heading directly for the stairs at the back of the lobby.
“There you are, Mrs. McClain.” Randolph Huff’s voice stopped her.
“Good morning, Mr. Huff.” She smiled at the stocky, beady-eyed little man, her happiness making her magna
nimous to everyone.
Randolph Huff hurried to her, took her elbow and said conspiratorially, “You may come right on inside my office, Mrs. McClain.”
Puzzled, Angie looked quizzically up at him. “Mr. Huff, I’m afraid I don’t …”
Propelling her toward the glass corner office, Randolph Huff smiled knowingly. “Wait till we get inside. I understand fully you’d not want to be overheard.”
Thinking he must surely need to speak to her about something, she said impatiently, “Very well, but I must hurry, I’ve …”
They were inside his office, he closing the door behind them. “Won’t you take a seat?” He extended a fleshy hand.
Totally confused, Angie asked, “Did you need to speak to me, Mr. Huff?” She continued to stand.
He grinned, the beady eyes disappearing into folds of fat. “It’s the other way around, isn’t it, my dear young woman? You see, Pecos was …”
“Pecos?” she repeated dumbly.
“Why, yes, Mrs. McClain.” He bobbed his head. “Aren’t you here to cosign for Pecos to get his loan?”
Angie stared at him. “Why would you think that?”
“Please, please, sit down.” He was still smiling. He took her arm and eased her into the chair, circled his desk and said, “Have I made a mistake? I thought you’d come into the bank to help Pecos secure the loan he wants.”
A coldness crept over Angie. She pulled her velvet cape tighter. “Pecos … he wants a loan?”
The banker took his chair, leaned up to his desk and laced his stubby fingers atop it. “Why, yes, why else would he have returned to Marfa? Pecos came here the minute he stepped off the train, asking for money. Naturally, I had to turn him down. He has no borrowing power without … without …”
“Without me,” she finished the sentence for him.
“Exactly,” he stated gleefully. His smile broadened. “Ah … he … I’m sure Pecos can be pretty persuasive when he wants.” His eyebrow lifted.
“What are you saying, Mr. Huff?”
“Nothing, nothing at all. Look, Mrs. McClain, I’m no prude, I assure you. You’ve been widowed for several months now, and no one has ever seen you in the company of a gentleman. If you and Pecos wish—”
Eyes narrowing, Angie cut in coldly, “You’re suggesting that …”
“I’m suggesting nothing.” He shrugged bulky shoulders. “I’m saying Pecos came home to get money.” The piggish eyes began to dance. “Now if he has something you want or need in exchange for a little money …”
Angie rose and glared at him, fury staining her cheeks crimson. “You are wrong, Mr. Huff! I’m not here to get money for Pecos McClain, but if I were, it would be none of your business. You’ve a dirty mind, and I have no intention of listening to any more of your insults. I shall never enter your bank again. All of my money will be moved immediately to the bank at Alpine, and I …”
Jumping up, his face also growing red, Randolph started around his desk. “You can’t do that, Mrs. McClain.… Why, the McClain fortune has rested in my bank since I opened the doors.” He reached her and took her arm.
Wrenching it from his grasp, she said coldly, “You’ll never see a dime of it again, Mr. Huff. By early afternoon, it will have all disappeared.”
“Now, see here,” he said, both angry and frightened, “I don’t believe that Pecos will want to move—”
“Pecos McClain has no money, remember? He has to come to my bed for pocket money.” She smiled and opened the office door. Regally lifting her skirts, she turned, climbed the stairs at the back of the bank lobby and entered the attorney’s office.
“Mr. Worth,” she said evenly, “I want all of my money moved to the bank in Alpine before this day comes to a close.”
Shocked, the attorney nodded his head. “Is … is there anything else you wanted, Mrs. McClain?”
“Not a thing.”
TOO HEARTSICK even to weep, Angie rode back to the ranch with the banker’s words reverberating in her ears. And she wondered just what Pecos had said to the disgusting little man on the day he arrived in Marfa. Had Pecos told the banker that he knew just how to get money out of her? Did Pecos think so little of her that he had laughingly shared with Randolph Huff his plan to bed the foolish Widow McClain until she was so mad for him he could get any sum he wanted?
Angie bit the inside of her cheek until she tasted blood. Had all the glorious hours she’d spent in Pecos’s arms been no more to him than the necessary means to an end? Had he wanted nothing from her but money? Was the fat little banker correct? Had he come to her intending to get the loan, deciding soon after his arrival that he could take it all from her if he played his cards right? Was he secretly laughing now because it had been so very easy to make her love him to distraction after only a week?
Angie shuddered. The bright winter sun went behind a cloud and the sky darkened. A cold, gentle breeze gained momentum, soon turning into a howling winter wind. Angie pulled the velvet cape tighter, lifting her slender shoulders to press the silver fox closer about her neck and chin. It did little good. She was shivering uncontrollably, inside and out.
Carefully reviewing all their intimate hours together since Pecos’s return to Del Sol, Angie, unfortunately, could recall most vividly the conversation they had shared this very dawn. The words he’d spoken had made her laugh when he said them; now they came back to torture her. When she had told him that everything she had was his, he had flippantly remarked that he’d hate to think he’d spent all of those hours in her bed for nothing. Tears stung at Angie’s eyes when his exact parting words returned like an echo, “Madam, I assure you you’ll have what you want and so will I.”
“No, Pecos,” Angie said under her breath, “you’ll not have what you want.” A lone tear slipped down her cold cheek. “Nor will I.”
ANGIE’S BEDROOM DOOR flew open at shortly after six that evening. Pecos, grinning boyishly, hurried inside. “Hi, darlin’,” he said cheerfully, “can you believe this weather? It’s sleeting out there and it’s so damned cold you …” He stopped in mid-sentence. Angie stood looking into the fire. She had not bothered to lift her eyes to his. She appeared almost in a trance and Pecos felt fear grip his chest. He knew immediately that something was very wrong.
Shrugging hurriedly out of his coat, he came to stand beside her. “Sweetheart?” he murmured softly.
Slowly she turned her face up to his, her eyes two green shards of glass. “I want you to get off my property immediately.”
Pecos reached for her, but she stepped back quickly, her teeth bared like an animal. “What’s wrong, darlin’?” His heart pounded furiously. “What has happened?”
Fury rising, she said hotly, “As if you didn’t know! You came from Mexico for one reason, Pecos McClain. Money!”
“What in the hell are you …”
“Can you deny that you got off the train and went straight to the Marfa bank for a loan?” Green eyes now blazed.
“Yes, I went to the bank to see about a loan, but I …”
“I knew it,” she shouted at him. “But then how can I blame you? I’m the one to blame. You must laugh to yourself at what a fool I am.”
“You’re not making a damn bit of sense, honey. What has my going to the bank in Marfa got to do with …”
“My Lord, please don’t stand there continuing to insult me. I’m stupid, I’ll admit, but even I’ve finally caught on.”
“Caught on to what? Goddamn it, what’s gotten into you?” He stepped closer.
“Don’t touch me!” she shrieked loudly. “Don’t you ever touch me again, do you hear me!”
Pecos lifted his hands in the air, in a gesture of total surrender. “Fine, fine. But for God’s sake will you explain what you’re so unreasonably angry about? What the hell have I done?”
“I told you, Pecos, the little farce is over. It’s all quite clear to me; it should have been from the start. You were down in Mexico, and you used up all of your operating money, so you ca
me home. Isn’t that right?”
“What’s wrong with that? Yes, I needed some capital to continue.”
“So you decided, quite cold-bloodedly, that you would get the money out of me.”
“Have I ever asked you for money?” He was growing angry.
“Oh, no, you’re much too clever for that, aren’t you, Pecos?” She smiled icily at him. “No, as you discussed with the banker, you had only to come to my bed and you could make me give you anything you wanted. You knew you could have me eager to cosign your note in just a few days. But when a few days had passed, you decided it would be foolish of you to settle for a small loan when I was obviously so madly in love with you that you could take it all.”
Pecos was shaking his dark head, unbelieving. “God Almighty, you can’t seriously believe I’m such a low, unprincipled bastard.”
“I think that’s exactly what you are! Huff as much as told me it was your plan. Your plan has backfired; you’ll not get one nickel out of me.” She crossed her arms over her chest, gave him a triumphant smile and added, “I’m sure if you go to some other wealthy woman, you can extract the needed money, since you are quite an expert in bed. But I’ll not pay you for …”
His eyes the color of a bleak winter sky, Pecos grabbed her arm and angrily jerked her to him. “Listen to me, you mercenary little bitch, you’ve got it reversed. You’re the whore, not me! You’re the one that lets men between your legs for money.” Angie was clawing at his restraining hand, fighting desperately to free herself.
“I’ll not listen to another word,” she screamed into his face.
“You’ll listen,” he said through thinned lips. “I’m the fool, not you. I came back and saw you and I wanted you so much I decided that I didn’t care what you’d been. I was willing to forget the past. I wanted only to love you; nothing else mattered to me. This past week with you was the happiest of my life and I thought it had been for you, too.” He slowly released her arm. “I’m leaving here now, Angel. I’ll be on my way tonight. Thanks for opening my eyes in time. My God, I was actually considering mar … I was …” He turned and started for the door. Pivoting, he said, smiling coldly, “You know, Angel, I should thank you for this little episode here this evening. You’ve brought me to my senses just in time and I’m grateful. I think one member of this family being fool enough to marry a whore is quite enough.”
