Madeline didn’t see him at first, but Eppie’s gaze snapped to his immediately. He pretended she was glad to see him, but from a distance he couldn’t quite see her expression.
The heat of the day settled over him as he walked across the dusty ground to the lush greenery in the shade. Summer had truly taken hold of Plum Creek. He was glad he had taken the time to wash and shave because he was already sweating—a combination of nerves and the temperature.
Eppie sat up straighter and watched him approach, her dark eyes unreadable. Madeline, however, was not so hard to understand. Her lips tightened into a white line when she spotted him, and he knew he’d hear more than a hello.
“Good day, ladies. It’s lovely to see you, Madeline. You are looking as beautiful as always.” He turned to smile at Eppie. “Hello, Eppie, I’m glad to see you outside. The fresh air agrees with you.”
“Micah, sit down.” Madeline pointed to a spot on the blanket in front of them. “We need to talk.”
With no small amount of trepidation, he lowered himself to the blanket. The previous day’s activities left their mark on his body and he felt as if he’d already been trampled by a horse.
“Why didn’t you let me know?” Madeline wasn’t angry, she was upset and hurt. “Micah, you know I love her as much as you do. Why?”
Micah took a moment to gather his thoughts. He glanced at Eppie’s face and saw the same questions Madeline had just voiced.
“I’m sorry I’ve hurt you, Madeline. You know you are in my heart for good.” He smiled sadly. “When she woke, I wanted to shout it from the rooftops, believe me. Then I realized she didn’t remember me and then, even worse, she didn’t remember herself. I panicked. Candice convinced me to wire the doctor to have him examine her. I was afraid of overwhelming her with people and confusion when she had trouble even knowing who she was.”
He searched for the right words. “I thought perhaps if she could just be left alone, her memory might return. I’ve heard of men losing their memory after being hit on the head, but she was shot in the shoulder.”
“That story I’m still waiting to hear.” Eppie finally spoke, as distant and cool as the river that lay behind the house.
“I will tell you, I promise. Eppie, honey, I didn’t tell Madeline to protect you for just a little bit longer. I was going to wire her after the doctor had examined you. You must believe me, I had good intentions, just didn’t make the right decisions.” He knew that now and regretted his stupid choices, but he couldn’t change them. Micah could only try to right the wrong he’d caused.
“I believe you, Micah.” Madeline touched his hand. “But you are the dumbest smart man I know.”
Micah chuckled rustily. “I’m not sure if I can ever change that.”
“You can’t fix stupid.” Teague took that particular moment to appear and make his sarcastic self known. His big feet were visible on the left, which meant he’d been in the carriage house.
“Not funny, O’Neal.” Micah didn’t even bother to look at him but kept his gaze on the women. “Eppie, honey, I’m sorry for all of this, for everything. I really thought I was doing the best thing.”
Eppie glanced down at her hands as they fidgeted in her lap while Micah held his breath. “I believe you are sincere, Micah.”
It was a start, a small one, but he grasped on to it as if it were much larger.
“Thank you, honey.”
“For now I’d prefer you didn’t call me honey.” She raised her gaze. “I know you mean well, Micah, but this is going to take time.”
Micah swallowed the protest that rose to his lips. It would take time, a lot of time, and that’s what he feared the most. With time came more opportunity for her to choose a different path in her life, a different man to love. It was what he dreaded most, but he didn’t say a word for fear she would simply get up and leave.
At least she had said “for now.” It could’ve been worse. She could have left with Madeline for good.
“Now that you’re awake, we can talk about what the doctor found.” Madeline gestured to the house. “He’s taking a nap now.”
“What do you mean what he found?” Micah frowned. “Did he already examine her? Why didn’t you wake me up?”
“You were passed out, not sleeping. We thought it best for Eppie to be looked at as soon as possible. Doctor Carmichael agreed with me.” Madeline nodded and dared Micah with her gaze to question her.
“I think you did the right thing, Maddie, so don’t let Micah tell you any different.” Teague glared holes in the other man.
“I still would like to have known what was going on.”
Eppie surged to her feet. “I’m sitting right here, you know, so stop talking about me as if I’m still upstairs in that coma.” Eppie’s sassy spirit emerged in front of his eyes. “I get to make my own decisions now, not any of you.”
She walked away, leaving Micah to wonder if he’d ever get close to Eppie again. He needed to find a way to explain why he acted like such an ass. God knows he deserved a tongue-lashing and he was prepared to let her yell at him all day, if only she didn’t leave him. He couldn’t live without her.
Eppie walked toward the sound of water. Daisy barked behind her, but she ignored her. Madeline and Micah meant well, but they did speak of her as if she were an inanimate object rather than a person with a brain and feelings. Eppie had allowed the doctor to examine her, not under anyone’s orders or to please someone else.
She wanted to know what had happened and he was the closest thing to a solution she could find. The young doctor was apparently the best in his field and treated Eppie at Madeline’s request. No doubt there was a great deal of money involved. It appeared these people threw their money around as if it were dandelion fluff on the wind.
Anger was better than self-pity and fright, and Eppie welcomed it. Being angry meant she was learning to be a person again instead of an empty shell. None of them understood what it felt like and she refused to keep trying to explain it.
When she reached the river, the sound of the water rushing past soothed her frayed nerves. She sat on a large rock and watched the sun sparkle on the liquid dancing beneath her. After a few moments of self-righteous anger, she started to calm down and began to regret her outburst.
Her new friends meant well, even if they were heavy-handed. Candice seemed to be the only one to allow her to make mistakes on her own.
“I’m sorry, Eppie.” Micah’s voice came to her from behind; however, she didn’t turn around.
“I’m not ready to talk to you yet.” She ran her fingers along the moss at the edge of the rock.
“I know, and that’s why I came to apologize. Eppie, hon—I’ve made so many mistakes in my life I’ve lost count. You were the first thing I didn’t regret.”
Eppie hadn’t doubted Micah’s sincerity since that first day when she’d woken. He was a man with a lot of shadows in his past, but his present was see-through. There was no question he loved her, somewhat desperately in her opinion, and that fact alone scared her and thrilled her.
She wasn’t sure which feeling was winning the battle.
Eppie sighed. “You might as well come over here and sit down, so I can tell you what Doctor Carmichael said.”
He was beside her in seconds, likely flew across the grass to get to her. In the shade of the pine trees, he smiled at her and Eppie saw the handsome man beneath the layers of sadness. With his hair back and his face shaved, a dimple peeped out from his left cheek, making him look young.
“How old are you?”
“I’m thirty-five.” He looked startled by the question.
“I’m twenty-one, according to what I told Madeline.” She tossed a few pebbles into the river. “The doctor says he’s not sure why my memory is gone, but he thinks it might have something to do with the blood I lost.”
She heard Micah swallow. “About that, I was guarding the house so Madeline and Teague could go to Denver and get the evidence they needed against
the sheriff and the judge. Webster tried to force his way into the house, and I stopped him, or tried to anyway. When he pulled out his pistol, you jumped in the fray, and the gun went off.” She heard him swallow hard. “Webster ran like a goddamn coward, and I took care of you with Candice’s help until a doctor could get here. I’m sorry for keeping it from you. I meant to tell you what happened, but I wanted to go slow, to allow you to heal physically before you were bombarded with all the details you forgot.”
“I can appreciate that, but I had a right to know. Thank you for telling me.” She shot him a sidelong glance. “I expect if you want to be around me, you had better wear your honest cap at all times. If I find out you’re keeping secrets from me or lying, there won’t be another chance. Do you understand what I’m saying?” Eppie had enough of the overprotective nature of the man who would be her lover. He had to give her room to breathe.
“Yes, ma’am.” He smiled and reached out to touch her cheek with the back of his hand. “The sunlight makes your skin glow. You know this is our spot?”
Eppie couldn’t help but be startled. “Our spot?”
“Where we met every week for almost a year.” He looked to the left toward a group of aspen trees. “I’d bring that big blue blanket and we’d lie out under the stars. When I saw you come here, I can tell you my heart started beating a mile a minute. Maybe somewhere you do remember deep down.”
Eppie’s heart joined in and beat right along with his. Was he right? Could she remember things by instinct? She had no idea they’d met for a year before she was injured, but the fact that they were so different should have given her a clue their relationship wasn’t the normal type.
“Why did we meet here?”
He jerked a thumb toward the house. “You didn’t want Madeline to know. I always hoped it wasn’t because you were embarrassed by me, but rather that you didn’t want to marry me since I’m a crazy hermit from the mountains.”
She shook her head in disbelief. “You’re a crazy hermit and you asked me to marry you and I said no?”
“Oh, you sure did. Let me see if I can remember your exact words. ‘I might love you, you crazy fool, but that don’t mean I am crazy enough to marry you. I ain’t got to this point in my life to marry the first man to ask me.’” He shrugged. “I’ve thought about that night for the last three years. It was the last time we, well, were together. I think it was the night Miracle was made.”
Eppie’s throat tightened, and she knew a moment of panic. Had she spoken like that to him? Who was she to throw away a chance at happiness with a man who obviously loved her? She was already intimate with him, that couldn’t be debated, so why didn’t she want to marry him?
“I’m sorry if I hurt you.”
Micah chuckled, sounding half in pain, half amused. “Ah, Eppie, love can bring a mountain of hurt and an ocean of happiness. I accepted one and embraced the other.”
The silence between them stretched into an uncomfortable one. Eppie didn’t know what to say, so she let the quiet continue until he finally spoke.
“What else did the doctor say?”
A safe topic, thank God. “He said I was in good health, but underweight and needed lots of fresh air and exercise. My muscles hurt because I haven’t used them in so long, but he also said someone had been caring for me by stretching them regularly. Was that you?”
“I did everything he told me to. I wanted to make sure you came back to me.” Micah’s simple explanation told her a great deal about his motivations, which were selfless and selfish at the same time.
“He’s going to consult with a few other doctors in New York and Chicago, then do some reading in a journal for doctors. I don’t know how much Madeline is paying him, but to be a doctor’s single patient is a bit odd. I told him I didn’t want to become an experiment.” She already felt as if she were on display and it would only get worse if he used her to study on.
“I won’t let that happen. I’ve kept you safe for three years. Please let me continue.” His silver eyes glittered in the dappled sunlight and Eppie felt odd for a moment, as if the world tilted beneath her.
An image flashed through her mind of a younger Micah, with fuller cheeks and longer hair, smiling and tickling her nose with a feather. She yelped and scampered backwards, scared and unsettled.
“What is it? What happened?” Micah looked as worried as she felt.
“I think I just remembered you.”
If she had given him the keys to a golden city, he couldn’t have looked more thrilled as his eyes danced with joy. “Really?”
“I think so. It was here, only you were younger and you were tickling me.” She tried to swallow, but her throat was so dry, she couldn’t.
“With a white feather?”
Eppie stared at him in astonishment. He’d confirmed what she had suspected. She’d remembered.
With a squeal she threw herself into his arms and lost herself in a tight embrace as they celebrated the minute taste of her previous life. Her heart beat so hard, it knocked against her ribs, and she felt the answering throb of his.
When she pulled back, she was close enough to count his eyelashes. His pupils had dilated and she felt an answering arousal growing within her. Her body felt as if she’d been hit by lightning.
“Please?” He didn’t beg or take, just asked politely.
Eppie couldn’t refuse him, her body wouldn’t let her. She nodded and closed her eyes as his head lowered. This time the kiss was more intense because their bodies were touching. Her nipples pressed against his hard chest at the same time his hands roamed up and down her back. Sweet, sweet heavens, kissing Micah was like nibbling on the most decadent dessert.
She forgot where she was and what was around her. Diving into Micah was like diving into a pond on a hot day. It felt wonderful, exhilarating, and like exactly what she needed.
He leaned back and touched her cheek, rubbing his thumb along her cheekbone. She stared up at him, waiting and wanting, what she wasn’t sure. It could’ve been sex, it could’ve been confirmation she was desirable.
Judging by the stick of wood in his pants currently pressing against her hip, Eppie was definitely desirable.
“I don’t want to rush you.”
She shook her head. “You’re not. This is my choice.” She swallowed the lump of fear and uncertainty. “Show me.”
He smiled then, a sweet, beautiful smile that lit up his whole face and Eppie knew then what he looked like when he wasn’t wallowing in the depths of misery. Micah was exceptionally handsome and for some reason, God decided to give him to her.
For the first time since she’d woken, Eppie took a chance on something other than what to wear or eat. She took a chance on Micah.
“My pleasure.” He ran his hands along her breasts, her nipples screaming for more than the light touch.
She closed her eyes and allowed herself to feel what he was doing. He made quick work of the buttons on her dress. The warmth of the sun and the cool breeze tickled her bare skin as he spread the dress open. Micah nuzzled her breasts. The softness of his lips made her want to beg for more, but she beat back her impatience with effort.
By the time his mouth closed over her nipple, lightning bolts of tingles shot through her. He laved and nibbled at her while his fingers tweaked and rolled her other nipple. It was heaven and hell rolled into one. She arched into him, wanting more, needing more.
His hand meandered down her stomach, raising her short hairs as it progressed. Moisture coated her cunt as it heated in anticipation of his touch, of the pleasure he could bring.
Eppie couldn’t say it was a memory of being with him that allowed her to let go of her inhibitions, but she did feel comfortable doing it, as if her body had taken over and whispered “It’s okay” in her ear.
His fingers skimmed her nether lips, teasing and tickling. She moaned and spread her legs, eager for more. His teeth closed around the nipple as his fingers landed in her slick folds. He’d obviously done it b
efore, because he knew exactly how to bring her to a panting mess.
“You’re so wet, darlin’, and you feel so good.” He whispered against her breast. “I need to taste you.”
The very thought of his mouth on her made her skin sing. She had no idea what to expect, but obviously her body did.
“Yes.” She couldn’t possibly say no considering how much she wanted it.
Micah released her nipple with a pop and the cool breeze kept it as tight as a diamond. He ran his tongue along the seam of her lips and kissed her, fucked her with his tongue even as his fingers did the same to her pussy. She vibrated with arousal as he built her closer to the ultimate pleasure.
When he let her mouth go, she sucked in a breath and he chuckled. “I’m glad I’m doing something right.”
“Mmmm,” was all she could manage.
He kissed his way down her body until he reached the opening in her drawers. It felt naughty somehow to still have on underthings and be almost naked beneath the boughs of the trees. That naughtiness added to her arousal. She’d had no idea how much it would. The fact that anyone could come along and see them, perhaps watch them, made her shudder. She didn’t have the mental wherewithal to figure out it was good or bad because Micah had reached the juncture of her thighs.
“You smell delicious.” He took a deep breath through his nose. “Like a banquet waiting for me to feast on.”
Oh God, his words did almost as much as his talented hands and mouth. She pulled her knees up, opening her legs as far as she could, waiting.
“Please,” popped out of her mouth on a whisper.
“Always, my love.”
He spread her nether lips, just as he had in the dream, and blew on her heated flesh. She shivered and dug her fingers into the soft moss around her.
The first swipe of his tongue made her nearly fly off the ground. He held her down with both arms and licked her again. This time she mentally nailed herself to the ground and allowed herself to let go.
His tongue was rough as he lapped at her pussy, sweet, long strokes from top to bottom. He stopped to tickle the sensitive nub with each pass. Every time the stop grew longer until his thumbs began entering her and he latched onto that nub and sucked.
The Redemption of Micah Page 9
