This was the man with whom she intended to spend the rest of her life. There would be other children to keep Andy company. She smiled dreamily. Perhaps she was already carrying Sam's child.
Sam carried Lacey to their room and closed the door behind him. He removed his hand from beneath her knees and set her carefully on her feet. Lacey scarcely had time to draw in a breath before his mouth took hers in a deeply sensual kiss that made her toes curl. He kissed her until she couldn't breathe, until her body sang and a heady rush of blood pounded through her veins.
"I want to make love to you, Lacey, but if you'd rather not tonight, I'll understand."
The seductive timber of his voice stirred her, making her aware of her own mounting desire. "This is our wedding night."
Sam nodded slowly. "I want to make it one you'll remember forever."
"I haven't forgotten, not once, any of the times we made love in the past. You've always made it memorable, my love. Even when we were too young to appreciate the passion we shared."
A groan rumbled from Sam's chest as he carried her to the bed and followed her down. He kissed her with so much feeling Lacey felt surrounded and protected by his love. She broke off the kiss, wanting, needing more.
"Make love to me, Sam. I've never needed you more than I do now."
Chapter Nineteen
Sam's eyes glowed with mounting desire. "Making you happy will always come first with me," he whispered. "I need you as badly as you need me."
Lacey wound her arms around his neck and pulled him against her. Passion swirled around them so thick it was impossible to breath without inhaling it. She moistened her lips, felt them trembling. She heard a low sound rumble from his chest as his mouth came down over hers. His kiss was hard and ravishing; one of fierce possession. His breath scorched her; his mouth tasted of ambrosia.
She couldn't think past her next breath, her next heartbeat as Sam broke the kiss and slowly undressed. Then, with remarkable haste, he released his gunbelt and stripped off his own clothing. He stood over her, his body resplendent in its nudity, a powerful figure in full arousal. Her breath caught as her gaze traveled the length of his powerful form. Her wits scattered abruptly as the bed shifted beneath his weight. He kissed her again, cupping her breasts, plucking the ends into ripe buds. A hiss left Lacey's throat. The pads of his thumbs felt rough against her swollen nipples.
Lowering his head, he took the heavy weight of one breast into his mouth. Smoldering fire seared along her skin as hard hands stroked, teased and caressed her body. An eternity later he pressed her down into the soft mattress and spread her legs. She felt the hot, rigid length of him pressing against her opening. But instead of thrusting mindlessly, he kissed her again, and yet again, making her breasts ache and her womanhood throb.
She watched in growing dismay as his dark head moved down. He kissed and sucked her nipples, pausing for a moment on his downward trek to lick her navel before sliding lower. One errant finger sifted through the thatch of blond curls at the base of her thighs, then slipped inside her.
Lacey moaned, thrashing mindlessly. "Now, Sam. Please."
"God, yes," he moaned, moving upward and thrusting forward, sheathing himself to the hilt. Her hips arched to meet his driving loins. She clutched the sheets lest she fly off the bed and moaned his name over and over. With a growl, he plunged his tongue into the waiting warmth of her mouth, clasping her head and burying his fingers in her lush mass of hair to hold her still for his ravishing tongue.
Lacey refused to be restrained as waves of pleasure radiated from her core to every sensitive part of her body. A scream welled up in her throat and burst forth. Ecstasy seized her and carried her away.
"Sweet God," Sam muttered thickly. He flung his head back, his eyes sliding shut. "Not even heaven could taste this sweet."
Suddenly Sam was desperately rampant, like a volcano about to erupt. When he felt Lacey tighten around him, felt the contractions pulsing against him, he could wait no longer. Lifting his head, he shouted out his joy. Unmoving, he lay atop her a blissful moment before lifting himself and rolling away. His eyes were closed, his breathing harsh and heavy. From a great distance he heard Lacey's voice.
"Sam."
With great effort he turned his head toward her. "Hmmm?"
"That was..."
"I know, I feel the same way. Words can't describe what I'm feeling right now. I don't deserve you, Lacey. I've hurt you terribly. I was wrong about you from the beginning. How can you love a flawed creature like myself?"
"Don't you know, Sam? Sometimes the things we value most are flawed. That's part of what makes them loveable. Like you, Sam. You're not perfect but you're exactly what I need, what I want."
Sam gave a shaky laugh. He prayed that Lacey never changed her opinion of him. He couldn't survive without her love. While he and his brothers were together as a family, he'd been able to function, but he'd always known that one day his brothers would find wives and have families of their own, leaving him the odd man out.
His brothers had overlooked his reckless ways, laughing at his uncanny ability to get into trouble. He realized now that his recklessness was his way of compensating for what he had left behind in Pennsylvania. God, he'd been such a fool.
"Let's just say we're perfect for one another," Sam said.
He closed his eyes, utterly exhausted. He would have fallen asleep if Lacey hadn't trailed her fingertips over his chest, tormenting him with the promise of another bout of erotic pleasure. She began to kiss down his throat to his shoulders, continuing in a meandering line down his chest.
"Damn!" The curse exploded from his lungs when Lacey's lips tugged at his flat male nipple. Scorching heat lashed him when she ran her tongue down the furrow of dark hair on his chest. Her probing tongue paused to explore his navel and a shock of raw pleasure shot through him.
Suddenly she rose on her knees and leaned over him, her greedy eyes fastened on that part of him that stood at rigid attention. Shock waves roiled through him when she touched her hot mouth to the tip of him, then swirled her tongue over the tight, aching head.
Sam fought desperately for control as his wife tasted him thoroughly, teasing him beyond human endurance. "Enough!" he roared as he grasped her about the waist, pulled her over him, and impaled her. Propelled by urgency, he plunged deeply, again and again, groaning as she clenched around him, driving him nearly insane. His pistoning hips drove faster, deeper, reaching for her soul. He released his seed into her shuddering womb moments after she stiffed and cried out.
Sam fell asleep with Lacey lying atop him, his softening sex still embedded inside her. He murmured a protest but didn't stir when Lacey moved off him and settled into the curve of his body. Pangs of hunger awakened Sam later that night. He padded to the door, opened it, and found the tray Rita had left for them. He carried it to the bed and lifted the cover. A delicious aroma reached the sleeping Lacey's twitching nose. She opened her eyes, stretched, then lurched upright when she saw Sam with the tray of food Rita had prepared.
"Ummm. I smell fried chicken!" she exclaimed. "I hope you like it cold."
"I can eat it raw right now," Sam assured her.
Rummaging further, Sam found tortillas, baked beans rich with molasses and generous slices of apple pie.
"Rita didn't forget a thing," Lacey said. "Do you want to wash up first?"
"Ladies first," Sam said.
He watched avidly as Lacey walked naked to the washstand, poured water into a bowl and made her ablutions. When she finished, she tossed the water out the open window and refilled the bowl with fresh.
"Your turn."
Sam needed no further encouragement. The sooner he washed the sooner he could get back to the food. Lacey had already dug in when he returned to the bed. Rita had included plates, glasses and silverware on the tray, along with a pitcher of lemonade.
"Ummm. The chicken is good," Lacey said between mouthfuls.
"So are the beans," Sam added. He leered at her
bare breasts. "I'm not sure I can sleep on a full stomach."
Lacey gave him an impish grin. "What can you do on a full stomach?"
"I'd be happy to show you after you're through eating."
They made love again, their passion slowly building to a tumultuous explosion.
"I'll never forget our wedding night, Sam," Lacey sighed when they finally settled down to sleep. "Only one thing would make this the happiest day of my life."
Sam knew exactly what she meant for he felt the same way. He and Lacey would never be truly happy until Andy was restored to them.
Sam arose before Lacey had awakened the following morning. He wanted to speak to Rusty and the hands before he begin his search for Andy. He'd promised Lacey he'd find their son and he intended to keep his promise.
The cold wind sucked the breath from Sam as he made his way to the cookhouse, where the hands had gathered for breakfast. The thought of Andy suffering cold and hunger while he was warm and well fed made him physically ill. What if Cramer had turned Andy loose in the wilds of Texas to fend for himself?
"What are you doing up so early?" Rusty teased when Sam entered the cookhouse.
"I can't afford to linger in bed while Andy is still missing," Sam answered as he walked over to the cookstove to warm his hands. "I'll need every available hand to join in the search."
"Everything here is pretty much done," Rusty said. "We've been mending fences and repairing some of the outbuildings during the cold spell. You and Miz Lacey will be wanting to add to your herd and me and the boys were putting things in good repair. But that can wait. We need to bring our Andy back home."
Sam sat down heavily. He hadn't let Lacey see his fear, but it was there nevertheless. Andy was just a small boy, with little or no survival skills. The boy wasn't mature enough to cope with Cramer's evil machinations. What if Andy was already dead? Placing his elbows on the table, Sam dropped his head into his cupped hands and gave in to his despair.
Rusty cleared his throat. "We'll find him, Sam. You gotta keep your spirits up for Miz Lacey's sake."
Sam raised his head. "I'm sorry, Rusty. Giving in to despair won't bring my son back. I'm riding out to the Cramer place this morning and question the hands myself. Perhaps they'll remember something they forgot when Lacey and the sheriff questioned them."
"There's plenty of food left over from breakfast," Luke said. "Are you hungry?"
"No, but I sure would appreciate a cup of coffee."
Luke poured Sam a cup of steaming coffee and placed it before him. "Hot and black, Sam, just the way you like it."
"Time's a-wasting, boys," Rusty said, rising.
"Stay, Rusty," Sam said as the hands filed out the door. "I want your opinion about..."
Suddenly Lefty burst through the door, pushing the others aside.
Sam shoved away from the table. "Lefty! What the... I thought you were at the Cramer spread."
"I was, Sam, but there's something you should know. The foreman just returned."
"Is he giving you trouble?" Rusty asked.
"Not really. When he learned that Cramer was dead he seemed kind of anxious. He was packing up to leave when I passed the bunkhouse and heard him talking to one of the hands. He knows something about Andy, Sam. I'd stake my life on it."
Sam was already out the door. "Tell Lacey I went over to the Cramer spread," he called back to Rusty. "Don't tell her anything else. I don't want to get her hopes up."
Sam and Lefty reached the Cramer spread in record time. Sam drew rein outside the bunkhouse, leaped from Galahad's back and strode like a man with a mission through the door. He had arrived just in time. Harper had just turned away from his bunk and was heading out the door, his bulging saddlebags thrown over his shoulder. He stopped in his tracks when Sam burst into the room.
"Are you Cramer's foreman?" Sam barked.
"Yeah, I'm Sid Harper, what's it to you?"
"I understand you've been away on ranch business."
"What of it? I ain't done nothing wrong."
"That's debatable. Tell me, Harper, are you willing to die for a dead man?"
Sam could have sworn he saw sweat popping out on Harper's brow. The man knew something, he was certain of it.
"I know you. You're Sam Gentry. You killed Mr. Cramer."
"You're wrong, Harper. I didn't kill anyone, and the sheriff had sufficient proof to set me free." He stepped forward, until he stood nose to nose with Harper. His eyes narrowed into slits and his voice held a note of menace. "What have you done with my son?"
Harper gulped audibly. "I don't know what you're talking about."
Sam's hands flew out to circle Harper's neck. "I mean business, Harper. Andy's a small boy. He couldn't defend himself had he wanted to. Did you kill him?"
Harper's eyes bugged out as Sam's hands tightened. "I couldn't, I wouldn't do that. I swear I..."
"The truth, Harper, or you'll never leave this room alive."
Harper's voice rose on a note of panic. "Honest, Mr. Gentry, I didn't hurt Andy. I ain't a killer and I'd never do anything to harm a child. When I balked at killing the boy, Mr. Cramer paid me to take him where no one would find him."
The pressure on Harper's throat eased. "What exactly did you do with my son?" Sam snarled. "Did you abandon him in the wilderness? Andy had no survival skills, that's the same as killing him."
"No, I swear I didn't abandon him!"
"If you don't tell me where Andy is in the next five seconds, you're a dead man. One...two..."
"I took him to Fort Worth," Harper choked out.
Sam maintained unrelenting pressure on Harper's throat. "Where?"
"I need air," Harper gagged.
Sam's fingers eased. "I'm waiting."
"I took Andy to an orphanage and left him in the care of nuns."
"An orphanage!" Sam exploded. "What orphanage?"
"A mission orphanage. Saint Leo's."
Sam shoved Harper away so hard he stumbled and fell. He was so damn angry he could have killed the man, and might have if Lefty hadn't stepped forward to whisper a word of caution in his ear.
"He ain't worth it, Sam."
Sam must have seen reason for he thrust Harper at Lefty, "Take the bastard to the sheriff. What he did was against the law."
"I didn't hurt the boy," Harper protested hoarsely, rubbing his throat. "Ask him yourself."
"Believe me, I will. Take him away, Lefty."
Harper lifted himself from the floor, dusted off his hat and found himself facing Lefty's six-shooter. "I'm going, I'm going."
Never had Sam felt so emotionally drained. Andy was alive, if Harper could be believed. Before long he'd be home where he belonged, with parents who loved him. Pulling himself together, Sam mounted Galahad and rode home. He wanted Lacey to be the first to know Andy was alive so he bypassed the bunkhouse and rode directly to the front door. His steps were light, his mood buoyant as he leaped onto the porch and strode through the door, yelling for Lacey at the top of his lungs.
"Sam, what is it?" Lacey cried, rushing down the stairs. "Is it Andy? Please, God, let him be alive."
Sam opened his arms and Lacey rushed into them. He lifted her off her feet and swung her around until they were both giddy.
"Sam, please, don't keep me in suspense. Is Andy all right?"
"Pack your valise, love, we're taking the next stage to Fort Worth."
Lacey frowned. "Have you lost your mind? Why are we going to Fort Worth?"
"Because that's where Andy is."
"Sam Gentry! If you don't tell me this minute what you're talking about I'm going to smash you."
Grasping her hand, Sam dragged her into the parlor and pushed her down onto the sofa. Then he knelt beside her, clasping her hands in his.
"Our son is safe, love. Someone did know where he was. Cramer's foreman took him to Fort Worth. He'll be with us again very soon."
"Why Fort Worth?"
"Cramer had Harper take Andy to St. Leo's orphanage. We need to go t
here and claim our son."
Sam drew Lacey up and into his arms when she began to tremble. "I know, I know, I felt the same way when I heard. But an orphanage is safe, sweetheart. Worse things could have happened to Andy."
"Can we leave now?"
"As soon as you pack a few things. We might have to spend the night in town while we wait for the stage, but at least we know Andy is safe. I'll throw a few things of my own together while you're doing your packing."
They were well on their way to town fifteen minutes later.
As luck would have it, the stage had already departed and they had to wait until the next day. They boarded their horses at the livery and walked to the hotel. Sam rented a room for the night, then ordered a bath and supper sent to their room. They bathed together in the tub, made love afterward and ate their dinner before a cozy fire. Andy's almost certain return allowed them their first peaceful sleep in days.
The stagecoach was only an hour late, which boded well for the journey Sam and Lacey were about to undertake. Two uneventful days and one night in a crowded way station later, the stage pulled into Fort Worth. The trip had been exceedingly monotonous as mile after mile of wild, desolate land, bleak hills and stunted grass and mesquite passed before their eyes. The cold, fierce winds blew dust devils thick enough to choke a steer.
Sam collected their valise while Lacey looked over the town. The usual number of saloons vied for space on both sides of the street with a barbershop, dry goods store, feed and hardware store, greengrocer and various other establishments.
"What now, Sam?" Lacey asked after Sam had collected their bags and joined her on the boardwalk.
"We find the sheriff's office. I'm sure he can direct us to the orphanage."
They walked down the street then crossed the rutted road when Sam spotted the sheriff's office on the opposite side. The sheriff wasn't in but his deputy supplied the answers they sought. St. Leo's orphanage was situated two miles north of town. Sam rented a buggy and they left immediately.
The Outlaws: Sam Page 27
