In the Shadow of the Mountains

by Rosanne Bittner

  “Go ahead and try. I’ll do whatever it takes to protect Irene from your filthy hands. Now get off this ranch!”

  “You wouldn’t use that on me.”

  “Wouldn’t I? Try me! It wouldn’t take much to put me over the edge, Jacobs! And you’d better be aware that most of the hands around here already know what you did. You push this thing too far, the gossip might spread to Colorado Springs, maybe to Denver—and your mother-in-law. I have a feeling that even if she thought her daughter had done something wrong, she wouldn’t take kindly to what you did to her. Her father would like it even less. The man thinks the world of Irene. You’d better remember that!”

  There was a moment of silence. “Look, I need to talk to Irene,” Chad said then. “It’s important. What happens between me and my wife isn’t your business, Loring. I want to apologize. I need to explain something to her. We—we had this all settled. If you’d keep your nose out of it, there wouldn’t be any problems. What’s going on between you and Irene!”

  “Nothing! You should have asked that question in the first place, before you beat and raped your wife! Now you’ve lost your right to talk to her at all, Jacobs! Get out!”

  “Damn you! You’re nothing but a cow-fucking ranch hand, Loring! You can’t—”

  There came the sound of some kind of blow, followed by a grunt and a scuffling sound. “Now get in that buggy and get the hell out of here,” Hank growled, “or I’ll have my men throw you in a pile of horse shit where you belong!”

  Irene heard a coughing sound. “I’ll be back,” Chad spat out then. A moment later she heard his buggy clatter away. She watched anxiously as Hank came back inside, his green eyes blazing.

  “That’s the hardest I’ve ever tried to keep myself from killing a man,” he told her, setting his gun aside. “One bullet, Irene, and he’s out of your life forever! I wouldn’t care if I hanged for it!”

  She closed her eyes. “No. I don’t want him dead, and I certainly don’t want you dead either.”

  “Then you’d better pack some things. I’m taking you to my place. If we stay here, he’ll be back, and I don’t know if I can keep from pulling the trigger next time. You think you can ride, or do you want a buggy?”

  It was an order, not a request. She realized he was probably right. Maybe it would be best to get away from the house for a few days, away from the room that held so many ugly memories now. Chad would not dream of setting foot on the Lazy T…not now. She rose. “I think I’d rather ride. I’m well enough.”

  He studied her beautiful but bruised face. The bruises were a yellowish-green now. He had not seen her other bruises since the day of her attack, but they stuck in his mind like knives in his heart—ugly finger marks on her thighs and hip bones, bruises on her ribs and around her breasts. Something else stuck in his mind, too—the memory of her beautiful body, the flat belly and full breasts. She was such a beautiful, sensitive woman to be treated so brutally. He stepped closer, putting a big hand to the side of her face. “He’ll never hurt you again as long as I’m alive,” he told her.

  She smiled, putting a hand to his strong wrist. “I know.” She dropped her eyes, wondering how it was she could actually feel this tingling desire after what Chad had done to her. Love. That was what made all the difference.

  Every day they rode together, Irene letting the southern Colorado sun and fresh air warm her body, heal her outer wounds. Brilliant wildflowers and singing birds reminded her there was still beauty in life. She drew strength from sitting for long, quiet hours in Hank’s arms staring at the mountains. She had been staying at his house for ten days, neither of them caring if the men talked and wondered. Hank had not touched her, and since she was better, he had stopped sleeping beside her at night.

  She missed his presence, but knew why he stayed away. Now that she was healing, he could not bear to be so close to her without wanting her. What surprised and disturbed her was that she wanted him, too. They had become so close, and he was so understanding. He had sent other men on to Denver with the cattle so that he could stay with her. Irene found herself telling him everything, even what had happened on her wedding night; she had sensed his rage, knew he never would have been the animal Chad had been.

  Twelve days after coming to the Lazy L they went on another ride, this time taking a picnic lunch again. They took a different direction, heading toward a sea of rolling hills south of Hank’s ranch, to a place where wildflowers bloomed in abundance, and the grass grew green and thick. They found a clearing surrounded by rocks and yellow yucca bushes, where Hank spread out a blanket. Irene opened the basket lunch, and they ate fried chicken and apple pie, then just sat together watching several deer through an opening between the bushes. The animals grazed quietly in the distance, unaware of any human presence. Irene leaned against Hank’s shoulder, enjoying the warm sun, the security of his presence.

  “It’s time to make some decisions, Irene,” he told her softly.

  “I know. I just haven’t wanted to think about it.” She met his eyes. “I don’t know yet what I’m going to do about my marriage, Hank. I don’t even know what to do about my feelings for Ramon. I still love him.”

  She saw the hurt in his eyes, and she touched his face. In that one look, that one moment, she knew what had to be, realized what she needed to know above everything else.

  “You’re the one here right now, Hank; and you’ve done so much for me.” A strong shiver suddenly surged through her body, and she wondered if it was really she talking, she wanting these things. “You told me once that I had never known how it felt to take a man willingly, with passion and desire. You were right. I said I didn’t know what I would do about my marriage, or my love for Ramon, Hank. But if I can give you some pleasure and happiness while you show me the way it’s supposed to be with a man, then I know what I want right now, at this moment. I want you.”

  Their eyes held, as his own brightened with desire. “Irene…are you sure?”

  “I’ve thought about it every night since you stopped coming to bed with me and holding me. I miss you in the night, Hank. I’m confused about a lot of things, but I’m not confused about how I feel about you anymore. After all that has happened, I don’t care if it’s right or wrong. I just…” Her eyes were wet. “I want you to take away what he did to me.”

  His look of surprise and passion told her she’d said the right thing. “Irene,” he whispered. He leaned forward and kissed her forehead, put a big hand to the side of her face, moved his lips to her eyes, her nose, her mouth, lightly running his tongue along her lips as he parted them and gently laid her back onto the blanket. His lips left hers and brushed softly against her cheek. “I want you to be sure, Irene,” he said softly. He raised up slightly to remove his gunbelt.

  She could feel his own trembling, saw nothing but love and utter devotion in the green eyes. He was older than Chad, more weathered, yet at the moment he was a thousand times more handsome. He was fully a man in ways Chad would never be. “I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life,” she told him, “but right now I feel as scared as if I’d never done this.”

  He grinned slightly. “Maybe I feel the same way.”

  She smiled, her eyes misty. “Somehow I don’t believe you.” She reached up and touched his hair. “I love you so much, Hank.”

  He put a hand to her ribs. “And I love you.” He met her mouth again, and fire ripped through her in hot flames of need when his big, rough hand touched her breast as gently as a kitten might brush against her. She was soon lost in him, determined not to hold back this time, wanting so much just to be a woman in the fullest sense. She whimpered with ecstasy as he captured her mouth in hungry kisses while he opened her blouse.

  She gasped his name as his lips trailed down her neck. He pushed her blouse open and untied her camisole. His hand slid inside the camisole, gently massaging a breast, lifting it up to meet his warm, moist lips. She grasped his hair, closing her eyes and whispering his name as he took her nipple
ever so gently into his mouth.

  He raised up slightly, pushing her blouse and camisole away from her breasts, leaning down to kiss lightly at every bruise, touching her almost reverently. She felt a big hand moving up her leg as his lips met her mouth again. He grasped at her hip under her riding skirt, his kisses growing hotter, his tongue running into her mouth suggestively, bringing out an almost painful passion she never dreamed could be so glorious.

  There was nothing left to be said. Her response let him know that for once in her life she wanted this, needed it. He might be heading for a broken heart, but he was not going to deny her need, or his own. He turned her on her side, and she buried her face against his chest as he unbuttoned the back of her riding skirt. She watched him boldly then as he sat up and removed her boots, then gently removed the skirt and her bloomers. She drew up her knees slightly as he softly caressed her thighs, her bottom, moved his hand to her flat belly, rubbing at old bruises. He met her eyes then, and she thought she might die with the want of him.

  “You’re so damn beautiful, Irene,” he told her. “I don’t know how any man can do anything but worship you.”

  She grasped one of his hands. “I’ve never felt…so free and alive,” she told him.

  He squeezed her hand, bending down to kiss lightly at her belly, then bringing a shudder of desire when his lips pressed a kiss at the core of her womanhood. He moved up her body then, tasting at each breast, his hand moving between her legs. She was amazed at the difference between his touch and Chad’s. Chad had usually tried to be gentle, in their earlier years together, but his touch had never made her feel like this. After a while he had given up on foreplay and had simply taken to smothering her with kisses and grasping at her breasts, expecting her to want him so madly that all she needed was for him to move on top of her.

  This was so different. Hank was working magic with his fingers, bringing a brazenness to her soul that she had never experienced. She realized he must be right, that when a woman truly wanted a man, every aspect of lovemaking was ecstasy. She felt a wonderful explosion deep inside that made her gasp and arch against his hand. His kisses grew deeper, hotter, as he pressed his hand hard between her legs, then carefully ran it along the inside of one thigh, gently urging her legs apart.

  He moved between them then. She kept her eyes closed as she felt him raise up. She knew he was freeing himself from his own clothes. Would it seem as repulsive as it had that horrible day with Chad? She grasped at Hank’s arms, knew he was looking at her brazen nakedness in the Colorado sun. She had never actually wanted a man to look at her, but now she felt no shame. She only felt beautiful, wanted, revered.

  She felt his weight come down on her then, felt him pressing hard against her groin. “Hank,” she whispered.

  He sensed her sudden apprehension. “Look at me, Irene. Don’t close your eyes like a scared little girl.”

  She met his eyes, and in the next moment he was sliding into her, filling her with his hardness, yet moving in such a way that he drew forth all the natural moistness of a woman who wanted to mate. She drew in her breath as he pushed harder, and she was amazed and delighted that nothing hurt, that it seemed only beautiful and right. She wanted him! She wanted him to take her and take her. She arched her chin back, and he bent his head to taste lightly at her breasts while he moved rhythmically. She found herself wanting to meet his thrusts. He raised up, grasping her hips, groaning with his own shuddering desire at the glory of taking her. He gripped her hips tighter as his life spilled into her.

  “Don’t stop,” she whimpered, amazed at her own words. “Please don’t stop.”

  “Just lie still,” he told her. He came closer again, kissing at her neck. “It’s been a long time for me, Irene. It’s hard for a man to hold back, especially when he wants a woman as much as I wanted you.” His mouth covered her own in a savage kiss, and in moments she felt his passion returning. He began moving again, more slowly, filling her again with almost teasing thrusts. She met them with deliberate wantonness, opening her eyes again to meet his, seeing there the glazed look of a man in deep ecstasy, seeing his utter adoration.

  She knew she should feel guilty, but Chad had left no room for such feelings. She knew she needed to do this or lose her sanity. There was a time when she never dreamed she would be capable of committing adultery. She had not planned her life to be like this, had thought her marriage would sustain her.

  This time the rhythmic ecstasy lasted for several minutes. Hank took pride and satisfaction in realizing she was truly enjoying lovemaking for the first time in her life. He wanted it to be so good for her. Finally he could no longer hold back his own ecstasy, and his life surged into her again. He lay down beside her then, keeping her in his arms. “We’re taking our chances, out here in the open,” he told her.

  “I don’t care. It feels good to be daring and bold and free.”

  He laughed. “We’ll do this more tonight, in a nice, comfortable bed.”

  She unbuttoned his shirt, opening it and kissing lightly at the hairs of his chest. She had never wanted to do this to Chad, had never really hungered for him this way. She touched at his nipples, leaned up to kiss them. There was only one other man who could make her feel so brazen and passionate—one other man who could awaken such fiery ecstasy in her soul. Somehow she would have to find a way to explain this to Ramon. She loved him, maybe more than she loved Hank. But she had needed this moment, and it was Hank who was here. She would not hurt him now. Somehow she knew Ramon would understand what had happened to her today. He knew the pain she had suffered.

  “It was so beautiful, Hank. I want to stay with you forever,” she told him. “I’ve never been so happy. It was everything you said it would be.”

  He kissed at her eyes. “We have a lot to talk about. It won’t be easy leaving your husband, but people can talk all they want, Irene. It won’t make any difference to me. I know the kind of woman you are, and I love you. I need you so much, Irene.” He met her mouth again, groaning in another hungry kiss. “Thank you for this.” He petted her hair. “I needed it as much as you did.” He kissed at her breasts. “Let’s go back to the house,” he said then. “I want you in my bed. I want to lie naked next to you.”

  “And I want the same,” she whispered.

  He grasped at her thick hair. She wore her blond mane long and loose today, the way he liked it best. “I don’t think I can make it back without being inside you once more before we go.”

  She leaned up and met his mouth, experimenting with her tongue, telling him it was fine with her if he wanted her again. He rolled on top of her again, both of them feeling brazen and wicked and alive and in love. They smiled as they kissed, and he moved inside of her, already big with desire again. He had not been so hot for a woman since his first week of being married, and he felt like a much younger man.

  Irene felt another delicious climax building, although she didn’t even know what to call it. Something about the way he moved against her so softly, so lovingly, something about wanting him as she had never wanted Chad, brought this exhilarating throbbing she had never known before this day.

  Her breathing came in quick gasps, and Hank moved his big hands under her hips, his broad shoulders hovering over her as he pushed hard, as though he couldn’t get enough of her. “Let yourself enjoy it,” he whispered. She dug her nails into his strong arms, crying out with the glory of it.

  Moments later he again released his passion, not caring if this was right or wrong. Nothing mattered now. She would leave Chad and they would be together. He would support her through all the pain of what was to come. His whole body shuddered with the thrill of finally mating with this beautiful creature, not just once but three times in a matter of minutes. His great need of her brought out a masculine prowess he had not felt in years.

  He took a deep breath then and moved off her, getting to his feet and pulling up his long johns and pants. He walked over to his horse to get his canteen. He carried it over to her
, along with a washrag and soap from his saddlebags. “I’ve been carrying these for a while, hoping you’d need them one of these times when we went riding,” he told her with a wink. “I was beginning to think we’d never have need of them.”

  Irene reddened as she took them, and Hank turned away. “I’ll wash and change when we get back.” He buttoned his shirt. “Maybe we can even take a bath together. Is that too daring for you?”

  The thought of it was delightful. “Not anymore,” she answered, quickly washing herself. “I want to do everything, Hank, as long as it’s with you.”

  She pulled on her bloomers and handed him the canteen, washcloth, and soap. He put them away and picked up the food and blanket while she finished dressing. “Let me do that,” he told her, as she began buttoning her blouse. She studied his handsome face as his big fingers worked the tiny buttons with amazing agility. She felt on fire at his fingers brushing against her breasts, at the thought of how intimate they had been, and she actually wanted to jump with joy at how wonderful sex could be with the right person. No one could ever convince her it had been wrong.

  He pulled her close. “I love you, Irene. I want to take care of you, want to share my life with you.”

  “And I want the same. We’ll have it, Hank.”

  He leaned down and met her mouth in a warm, delicious kiss, moving his lips to her ear. “Let’s get back to the house so we can continue this in bed,” he told her. “We just might not get up for two or three days.”

  She smiled, hugging him, feeling alive and loved in ways she had never been loved before. She reluctantly pulled away from him, looking into his soft, green eyes. “I don’t care if we stay there forever.”

  He gave her another wink. “Somebody has to tend to the cattle and horses, and we do have to eat sometime, I suppose.”

  “I suppose,” she replied. She smiled, walking over to mount her horse. Hank climbed onto his stallion, and Irene glanced at the spot of matted grass where they had lain together. “I’ll never forget this place or this day for the rest of my life,” she told him, tears in her eyes.