by Sienna Mynx
When he finally reached her door, part of him hoped she’d be awake. That she’d be up waiting for him. The cabin was dark. Silent. He entered and found only a single lantern lit. It did little to chase away the shadows in every corner. But a soft light did illuminate the space enough to show her lying on the cot where she had healed him. He smiled and remembered the first time he opened his eyes and saw her. The feeling that overcame him when she allowed his touch, and returned his kiss was unmatched by any feeling he’d ever shared with a woman. It was crazy to him to think how divided the world was over superficial things. The color of her skin had nothing to do with who she was, how she made him feel, and why he loved her.
Annabelle slept on her back. Her face turned from him, her arms flung open, with her hand dangling just centimeters from the floor. He took a moment to drink her in. Annabelle’s face was almost angelic in repose. He stepped closer. The front of her gown was unlaced and parted. The top revealed the soft valley between her breasts. Her dark skin and fragrance called to him like a siren. The gown was cut from a thin white material allowing her perky globes and chocolate nipples, supple, ripe, to push up against the fabric and be revealed.
She was beautiful.
No matter what choice there was to make he could not make one that didn’t include her. Jeremiah began to undress. His clothes dropped to his feet. The night belonged to them only. They had earned it.
He gently sat down on the cot beside her. She barely stirred. When he pushed a wayward curl of hair from her face, a sweet small sigh escaped her rosebud lips. Unable to resist another touch, he ran the back of one finger down her shadowed cheek and was rewarded by another soft compliant sigh. Her lips parted. She drew in a breath. He stroked her cheek, gently, barely grazing the skin. There was a soft moan, and then she arched and lifted her chest as she changed position. Once again those amazing breasts of hers were uncovered. He felt the urge remove the fabric covering them and taste her dark berry nipples for himself. He could answer the call. He knew she wouldn’t deny him. There was no rush.
With the pad of one thumb he gently traced the outline of her bottom lip, causing her to draw it in as if he were part of her dreams. Dipping his head he drank in the warm feminine chamomile scent of her fresh scrubbed skin. She sighed, her head rolling to one side, and he brushed her lips with his own––finding them warm and welcoming.
Reluctantly he pulled away, watching her shadowed face as her body responded to a single kiss. He looked for any hint of wakefulness but found none.
He brought his mouth down again upon hers. Her breath as sweet as honeysuckle, he inhaled. The tip of his tongue traced the fullness of her mouth. Even asleep he found her sweet spot and their lips meshed perfectly, inviting him to linger, inviting him to explore further.
In her dream state her movements mimicked his, wanting to participate, trying to hold on longer to whatever fantasy she conjured, but remained beyond his grasp to see. His tongue plunged in and she shuddered, turning the kiss electric. Her lids parted and then fluttered shut once more.
She was with him.
Her breathing was quickening, her tongue darting, and he too shuddered by the jolt a single kiss to his beauty brought. He growled as the kiss grew more passionate, wanting more, exploring the furthest corners of her mouth––taking her essence. Getting a charge from it, he moved his body over hers and braced his hands on either side of her head.
Annabelle awoke. He had returned just as he promised. The nightmare was over now that he was in her arms. She drifted beneath his kiss with his hard body pressed to hers. Drifted on a sea of sensation and pleasures, as her blood sizzled in her veins from his exploring hands. Her eyes stretched when his touch became more demanding, ripping at her thin gown, wanting her free of it.
A little tenderness, a little strength, something to remind her he was her man and she was his woman. If he could set her skin afire by the mere touch of his hand, he’d definitely cool the inferno in her center when he finally entered her. And soon she had her wish. Her torn gown tossed aside, along with his britches, his lips lifted from hers as he separated her thighs by the strength in his forearms. Her heart heavy with need, her vagina throbbed to feel him. She looked up at his naked muscled torso bathed half in light, half in shadow. Beautiful. She eased down the cot to be further beneath him and relaxed the muscles in her thighs, opening wider for him.
A sinful smile crossed his lips and those green gem eyes of his sparkled with interest. The dimpled head of his dick, strong, hard, thick, pushed in. Slow and smooth he shot his hips forward, penetrating her deep. Her walls tightened and convulsed over the invasion, but she gripped his ass cheeks tightly and pulled him further in. She ran her tongue down across her lower lip to the delicious feel of him pumping, plunging, and surging forward. Every bit of moisture in her body headed south.
Jeremiah kept on. His heated mouth moved to her throat. He nuzzled below her ear. He worked his hips in deep, penetrating, circular motions. His hot and smooth manner caused the in and out glide to accelerate nicely. It felt divine.
Thankful for him and their love, Annabelle ran her hands down the strong planes of his back. She absorbed the heat of his skin through her palms, and then cupped his firm buttocks––wanting him to give her more. He groaned in his throat and complied with power driver thrusts. Every muscle in her vagina was accommodating––as it should be.
Then he drew back and she nearly cried out in protest, but the pump action of his dick stilled her breath. He pounded his love and shook the unsteady legs of the cot. She responded hungrily with upward thrusts of her own, and delicious pressure mounted inside of her pelvis, pussy, all of her. She squeezed her eyes tightly shut as he continued the onslaught. Sensation spiraled out of control. He dropped his head to one breast and took a nipple inside of his mouth, sucking on it lightly, and triggering what felt like lightning bolts inside of her.
Her hands clung to his body, now slick with sweat. And she locked eyes with him as his face––the parts revealed to her––reddened and his jaw locked with restraint.
“Be mine,” she breathed. “Join me.”
He let go a deep release.
Annabelle’s eyes slipped under her lids as her clit rubbed the wiry hairs at the root of his shaft, and the friction sparked her own release. She came apart and a trillion sensations skyrocketed through her. They held to each other, shuddering through the experience.
What happened to them was more than the love they shared; it was the final sealing of their bond. No matter what, she’d be his until she took her final breath.
**
Annabelle opened her eyes, wrapped up in Jeremiah’s arms. He lay awake. She turned her head and looked to him and smiled. “You can’t sleep?”
“I must tell you something,” he said.
“Okay?”
“I have my family land, my father’s legacy back. It’s legal. It’s mine. But to claim it I have to meet with lawyers, set things right.”
Annabelle closed her eyes and listened to his heartbeat. She didn’t want to hear his news. She feared what he would say next. But she let him have his say.
“I have to go back to Arkansas. I want you to come with me.”
“How will that work? It’s illegal for my kind and yours to be together, Jeremy,” she said sadly. “And I won’t play maid or whore to you either.”
“We can … we can figure it out, Annie.”
She lifted her head. “Ain’t no figuring it out. Here in Nicademus we free. I go to Arkansas and it’s different. Even I know that. You said you loved me. You said you wanted to go to Wyoming with me.”
“That was different. Now things have changed.”
Her heart felt like it would explode in her chest. “How so? How’s it different? ‘cause you got your land back. You no longer wanted by the law. Is that it? So now you don’t want me?”
“No!” he said, alarmed. “I want you. I love you. But it’s my family land. My dad died for it. I have to … go home. To set things
right. Hell, to put tombstones on their graves, Annie.”
She scrambled over him. He tried to grab her but she kneed him in the groin and he howled in pain. Annabelle stomped back and away from him. “You be out of here before sunrise. You hear me! I don’t want no goodbyes, no excuses, no, no, no ... none of your lies! I don’t want to hear it. Just get!”
“Annabelle!” he fell off the cot. He held his dick in his hands. The pain reached all the way to his balls. He staggered a few steps but she was already behind the door. It slammed shut. He went to the door and tried it. “Annie, honey. Hear me out. I can think of something for us. I can. Maybe I just go down to tend to my land and come back? Maybe? Or, maybe with the war being over the laws will change and I can send for ya. They’ll accept you and me eventually. Maybe? Please, honey. Listen to me. I love you. I won’t lose you. Don’t make me choose.” He tried the doorknob. He beat his hand against the wooden surface. “Annabelle!”
She didn’t say a word. He sighed and returned to his cot. He sat on it and put his head in his palm and rubbed his dick with the other. “Shit.”
The Burial –
They buried the dead. She rose early to dress and be clean. Thankfully he slept. She was out the door and back in town to see the processional. All in all they had thirty-eight men and women to bury. And the graves had already been dug. Her town had come out in their Sunday best for the service.
Jacob, Joshua’s brother, was dead too. Molly was dead. She listened to the reverend as she stood next to Henry’s grave. She had grown up climbing trees and fishing with Henry. He gave her her first kiss. Everybody thought they would marry. Annabelle hung her head in shame. She had brought the outlaw into their lives. Gave him her virginity. Fought to free him from his burdens. Now he was free and the people she loved and who trusted her were dead.
She cried.
Red Sun’s hand went to her shoulder. She turned and cried against his chest. He stroked her hair. When it was over she was asked to sing. Annabelle swallowed her grief. She closed her eyes and sang “Amazing Grace.” She did so from the deepest part of her soul. Tears rolled down her cheek to reveal her anguish, but the song brought smiles to everyone’s faces. Even the sheriff, who was in a wheelchair, attended the service with his hat on his knees. He smiled at her.
When the song ended Annabelle looked up. Her outlaw was there. He sat on his horse Randy staring at her from the distance. He had saddled up his things, including his gold. He gave her a nod and turned the horse away. He rode off.
“It’s best this way,” Red Sun said. “He and you would have never been right. Never.”
Annabelle nodded. “I know. But why it hurt so bad?”
Red Sun lifted his head and looked out to the west where the outlaw rode off to. “Pain is part of love. Price we have to pay for knowing the difference,” he said.
Annabelle shook her head. “Then I don’t want to love nobody. Ever again.”
Epilogue
One year later –
“Okay, Cora!” Annabelle said with a wide grin. “When I tells you to, you gotta push. On the count of three.”
Cora groaned. Honey was on one side of her and Jessiemae on the other. Cora’s face was drenched with sweat. She was weeping, and Annabelle knew it was partly from pain and happiness. She reached into Cora and felt the crown of the baby’s head. “One ... two … three … push!”
Cora squeezed the hands of the girls and shot forward. She pushed with all her might. The baby turned and his shoulders breeched next. The rest was easy. Annabelle chuckled with delight. She brought the little one up on Cora and put him on her belly. Everyone was crying now. Jessiemae ran from the room to tell the men the news.
“He’s beautiful,” Cora said. “So beautiful.”
“Yes he is. What you gon’ call him?” Annabelle asked as she tended to the umbilical cord and the afterbirth.
“Little Sun,” Honey said.
Annabelle chuckled. Cora shook her head. “We gon’ call him Koi, for brave love.” She kissed his little hands.
“Well let me clean the little papoose up,” Honey said. The baby wailed the minute he was taken from Cora. Annabelle could barely contain her excitement. She had a brother. After all these years Red Sun had a wife and son again. Annabelle washed her hands and stole several long looks at the red baby with a crown of dark black curly hair. “Let us get this place tidy and we’ll bring in Red Sun,” Annabelle said. Her back hurt. She lifted the pail of murky bloody water and carried it over to the open window in the room. She tossed it out. Two of the saloon girls returned and replaced the sheets with Cora in bed. One cleaned her face of sweat and changed her soiled nightdress. Annabelle watched from the window seat as Red Sun was walked inside. She’d never seen him look so nervous and worried. It made her heart surge when little Koi was placed in his arms. He was so tiny, and Red Sun so nervous the girls had to help him sit down as he held him. He spoke softly to his son who stopped crying and nestled up against him. The baby opened his eyes and looked at his father.
This is what life was supposed to be about.
“Let’s give them some privacy,” Annabelle said.
The girls all filed out. She was the last to leave. Neither Red Sun nor Cora noticed. They were so in love with their new blessing. She closed the door.
“You want something to eat, Annabelle? You been in there for six hours,” Jessiemae asked. “No. I’m going to head home. Can you tell Doc Samuel that we delivered the baby just fine? I’ll see him tomorrow.”
“Okay.”
Annabelle went down the stairs. It was her third delivery and the most precious. It was the first one that the doctor had trusted her to do on her own. She was so proud and exhausted. She could barely keep her eyes open. She walked out of the saloon and waved at a few folks. Nicademus had grown in the past months. Word spread about how the town had stood its ground and won against a railroad baron. Freed slaves and outcasts flocked there. They went from a population of eighty to close to two hundred.
She stepped down off the saloon porch and walked over to her horse. She could afford one now. She didn’t have to sing in the saloon anymore. She was the nurse. After the war with Tyler Shepherd many of their people were hurt, a few maimed. She spent months nursing them to health. It helped heal her too. Soon the pain over Jeremiah’s betrayal of her heart burned less in her chest. Now she rarely thought of him. Rarely. And she had reason to be happy. A new man in her life named Sampson. He belonged to the 9th Calvary, and next year when he was free to join her they planned to marry.
Life was sweet. For them all.
“C’mon, Charlotte, let’s go.” She urged the horse forward. She glanced over to the jail when she passed. Sheriff Ben Taylor was no longer with them. After his resignation his deputy, Samuel, replaced him. Cora once told Annabelle she had received a letter from the sheriff. He said he had found happiness. She didn’t share the details, but Annabelle sensed that the sheriff and Cora were at peace with each other.
As she rode her horse toward her home her gaze fixed on the sun. She loved watching the sunset. If she made it home soon she might be able to eat on her porch and enjoy the end of the day. Annabelle’s smile faded the closer she drew to her land. A horse was tied to her post. Was it Sampson? He wasn’t expected for another month or so. She strained her vision to see who the person was that stood there, and the closer she drew to her cabin the more rapid grew her heart beat.
It wasn’t Sampson.
Jeremiah Polk stood on her porch with his hat in his hand as if he had never left. Annabelle slowed Charlotte. A few times in her dreams he had returned to her in this romantic fashion. Set to apologize for abandoning her and vowing to love her always, no matter what the world said. But it had been nine months and she had learned the hard way that dreams were never to be trusted.
Jeremiah wasn’t sure it was her. He stepped forward on the porch. The flowers he had picked off her land were behind his back. He’d ridden all day to be there after coming
in on a train and buying a horse to take him the rest of the way.
Annabelle stopped her horse. She stared at him for what felt like an eternity, and then galloped hard and fast. He stepped off her porch and waited with his heart in his throat. She stopped the horse only a few short feet in front of him.
“Annie,” he said. Just saying her name again warmed him with emotion. She came down off the horse. She was as beautiful as she was the day he had last seen her, with her riding pants and white button down blouse. She wore a hat with her hair in braids underneath. She marched right past him. Jeremiah frowned. He turned and watched as she stormed into her cabin and slammed the door shut.
“Well that didn’t go well,” he said. He tossed the flowers. Annabelle wouldn’t respond to them as a peace offering. What she needed was an explanation, and he intended to give it to her.
He climbed the steps and her front door opened. The business end of her rifle was pointed directly at him. Stunned, he stepped back down. “Whoa, baby,” he said.
“You got to the count of ten to get on your horse and ride off my land,” she said.
“Annie, it’s me. Let me explain.”
She fired the rifle directly above his head. He ducked out of shock.
“One … two … three …”
“Okay! You need time to think on it. To get used to the idea that I’m back.”
“Four … five … six …”
“I’m leaving, I’m going,” he said and walked to his horse. He climbed on. And she was still counting. He was barely out of the gate before she reached ten. He glanced back. Annabelle slammed her door shut. Jeremiah sighed. He glanced back to the town. It would most certainly take some convincing.
“Yah!” He charged his horse toward the town.
Annabelle dropped the rifle. She pressed her back to the door and closed her eyes.
She felt empty, drained. It took several minutes to capture a much-needed breath. How many months had she gone to the post office in hopes of receiving a letter? How many nights had she sat at the bank of Buck Creek and wondered where he was, who he was with? No word from him and then he appears from nowhere. As if he had the right. She put her hand to her heart and tried to stop it from racing so fast.
