"You look real, not someone to be bowed or curtsied to. I like you better this way."
She wanted to believe him. She'd learned a lot since coming to America, but she hadn't quite learned to separate her attractiveness from the way she dressed.
"Is this what you say to other women?"
She knew right away she'd asked the wrong question, but she had to know. How could she believe him if he said the same thing to everyone?
"I've never felt this way about another woman," Luke said. "That makes everything I say different, even if I sometimes use the same words."
That wasn't the answer she'd been hoping for. "Doesn't every man who meets you use the same words to tell you you're beautiful, to compliment you?" "Yes."
"When you meet a man you love, wouldn't you hear the same words but know they're different this time?"
She couldn't help but smile. "You should have been a diplomat. You're very smooth with words."
"Only because I mean them. You don't need extravagant gowns, fabulous jewels, or your hair twisted and curled and loaded with flowers or bird feathers to be beautiful. You don't need palaces. You're beautiful lying on a bedroll in the desert under a night sky. You're beautiful enough to make me jealous of every man who sets eyes on you."
Valeria had spent her whole life preparing to be seen, to make an impression by her appearance. To be valued in and of herself, devoid of her public image, was difficult to grasp. Could any man love her that much?
"Do you think you could be happy living like an ordinary woman?"
"I don't know what an ordinary woman's life is really like. The only one I've ever met is Mrs. Brightman. I'm sure I have a great deal to learn, but I think I would like running my own home, taking care of my children, having a husband I don't have to share with a mistress."
Luke chuckled. "You're turning into an American woman real fast."
"I could never go back to Belgravia, not even if my uncle regained his throne."
"He might insist that you return."
"I would tell him that I couldn't leave my husband and children. Even in Belgravia, a woman is expected to stay with her family."
"But you're not married, and you don't have any children."
"You told me in America women can choose their husbands. Well, I intend to choose mine."
"And what will you do if he doesn't choose you?"
"A wise woman never chooses a man who hasn't already chosen her."
That sobered him up. "That doesn't prevent her from choosing the wrong man."
"There was always the possibility I'd be the wife of some ruler, no matter how small the country, so I was taught how to judge character. I'll make certain the man I choose is perfect for me."
He seemed to draw back. "Then you've chosen the wrong man to take your innocence."
"I've chosen the perfect man." She pulled him down until their lips met.
Her body had recognized him the moment she met
him. So had her instincts. Only her mind failed to see that though Luke appeared to be different, he was very much the kind of man she'd been used to most of her life, a man determined to succeed regardless of the cost to himself or others.
Only with him there was a difference. A small, essential part, well hidden and probably never acknowledged, hoped for something better. It was that tiny part that had caused him to wait until Valeria rehired him, prompted him to teach her what it would be like to live in America.
He had tried to tell her he wasn't the man for her, but she knew better. His kisses had become warm and gentle. She missed the power, the sense of being overwhelmed by his intensity, but she welcomed the tenderness. Being overwhelmed made her feel safe and protected. Tenderness made her feel valued and loved. The two together were wonderful.
Contact with Luke's body caused her skin to tingle with pinpricks of sensation. Luke's arms were around her, his body looming above her, his chest brushing against her breasts. A tingling sensation sprang up in her breasts, concentrating in her nipples until she found it difficult to remain still.
Luke forced her teeth apart, and his tongue invaded her mouth. A new set of nerve endings came to life. If she had married Rudolf, she would never have expected him to thrust his tongue into her mouth, would probably have rejected any attempts from him to do so. With Luke, it seemed like one more example of the ways in which America was different from Belgravia, a difference she decided she liked once she recovered from the shock.
A sense of adventure surged through her, encouraging her to counter Luke's invasion with one of her own. But what began as an assault quickly turned into a sensual duel, Luke's tongue wrapping itself around hers. She escaped and tried to dart around and into his mouth. Their tongues engaged in a thrust and parry, then a sinuous dance followed by a chase that left Valeria panting for breath. She broke their kiss and fell back, emotionally exhausted.
Luke was made of sterner stuff. Without pause he spread kisses over her mouth, her cheeks, eyes, nose, eyelids, forehead, even her ears. That nearly caused Valeria to rise straight up off the ground. He nibbled her earlobe, nipped it with his teeth, traced its outer edge with the tip of his tongue. In less than a minute he reduced her to a helpless, quivering mass.
But not so helpless she didn't know when his hand covered her breast. Nor did her concentration falter when his lips returned to tease her mouth once more. The feel of his hand cupping her breast caused sensations to concentrate in that part of her body. Her nipple turned as hard as a pebble. The muscles in her back tightened and caused her shoulders to arch, pressing her harder and deeper into his palm, making the pleasure still more intense.
Luke scattered kisses on the side of her neck and across her shoulders, leaving her body in an uproar of heat and delicious sensations. These intensified when he unbuttoned her dress and lowered his lips to the tops of her breasts. Unable to lie still, she writhed on the bedroll, turning first to him, then away, drawn to the feast of pleasure and retreating to recover her breath before indulging herself once more.
All of which proved a mere prelude to the moment his lips touched her nipples.
Valeria's body went still, then stiff, then it arched in pure, incredible pleasure. She had never imagined anything would feel quite so spectacularly wonderful. So unbelievably extraordinary. So unlike anything she'd ever
experienced. His tongue slowly circled her nipple, creating a ring of fire that made her skin feel so hot, she was afraid it would burn Luke's tongue.
When he took her nipple between his teeth, she gasped. When he nipped at it, she cried out. When he suckled it gently, she moaned in ecstasy. When he uncovered her other breast and allowed his fingertip to torture her second nipple, she was certain she couldn't stand so much pleasure. She quivered and writhed under Luke's assault. Yet she placed her hands on the back of his head and pressed him against her. The turmoil left her only a sliver of attention to give to the hand that played down her side and across her belly to undo the last buttons of her dress.
Yet when that same hand moved across her pelvis, around her hip, and down her thigh, she became aware of a center of warmth that had formed deep in her belly. It wasn't nearly as tempestuous as the riot of sensation that rocked the rest of her body, but the warmth became intense and spread like a heavy liquid, flooding all in its path.
Then, almost without her knowing what he was about, Luke slipped her dress and her chemise from her body. An extra moment to remove her boots and socks, and she lay naked before him.
"You're so beautiful," Luke murmured as he ran his hands over her body, touching every part once, twice, and once again as though he wanted to memorize her. "Your skin is like ivory in the moonlight."
Valeria felt his warmth banish a momentary chill. She loved Luke. She trusted him. There was nothing to fear, no reason to hold back.
She wanted to touch him, to run her hands over his body, but every thought flew out of her head when Luke touched her between her legs. Her breath caught, her body tur
ned rigid.
"I won't hurt you," Luke whispered. "Relax and open for me."
Doing as he asked required the greatest act of faith in her life. She kept telling herself she wanted him to make love to her, that she wanted to give her body to him, yet she couldn't entirely banish the fear of the unknown. Doctors had touched her there as part of the arrangements for her marriage to Rudolf. It had been a time of pain, terror, and shame.
Luke's gentle touch reassured her. His fingertips feathered over her belly, her thighs, the insides of her legs, increasing the pool of liquid warmth in her belly. Finally, Valeria relaxed. Her body tensed again when she felt Luke's finger enter her. He stroked gently, waiting until the muscles relaxed before probing deeper. Still she couldn't entirely relax, couldn't be entirely sure discomfort wouldn't follow. Then he touched a spot that caused a wave of pleasure to shoot through her with the impact of a lightning bolt. She gasped for breath as he continued to rub the sensitive spot, causing the waves to radiate into larger and larger circles until they encompassed her entire body.
Valeria grabbed hold of Luke, gripped him with all her strength, as moan after moan ripped from her body until she thought she would scream. Then the ecstasy crested and released, seemed to flow from her body like an ebbing tide of rippling heat.
Valeria's muscles gave way, and she collapsed onto the bedroll, her breath coming in huge gulps. "I never knew anything could feel like that," she gasped.
"It only gets better," Luke said as he shed the last of his clothes.
Valeria felt wrung out, exhausted. She was certain she was incapable of feeling anything more.
She was wrong.
Luke rose above her, his body suspended on powerful arms and legs. "This may be a little uncomfortable at first, but it won't last long."
Valeria tried to tell herself this had nothing to do with the doctors, but the fear wouldn't go away. When she felt something large and hot begin to enter her, she was certain she'd been right to be fearful.
"Relax," Luke said softly. "You've got to make room for me."
Valeria didn't think she could. His fingers hadn't prepared her for the size of him. But Luke entered her slowly, withdrawing and penetrating a little more deeply each time, allowing her muscles to relax, her fears to calm. Then a sudden, swift entry and sharp pain startled her.
"That's it," Luke said. "From now on it's nothing but pure pleasure."
Valeria couldn't understand how he could fill her so full, but as the waves began to wash over her again, all memory of the pain receded, leaving her incapable of thinking of anything except what Luke was doing to her at that very moment. He seemed to be trying to do everything at once. He was kissing her lips, eyelids, neck, every part of her that was within his reach.
The heat in her belly continued to spread through her body until it engulfed all of her in agonizingly sweet torture. She dug her nails into Luke as moans of ecstasy poured from her. She moved her body in rhythm with his, trying to drive him faster, deeper, harder, anything to bring an end to the exquisite agony.
But not until his breath became labored, started to come in uneven gasps, did he respond to her urging. Then he took over, driving them both into a headlong rush toward some approaching precipice. As she neared the edge, could see the abyss beneath her feet, Luke's body stiffened and shuddered.
Then they plunged into the abyss together.
But the fall was nothing to fear. It was surrender. It was union.
It was bliss.
Chapter Twenty-three
"There's nothing I want at the ranch," Valeria said. "It's pointless to go there."
They had left the desert and entered a forest of ponderosa pine, pinon, and oak. The sheer towers of the Mogollon Rim seemed to rise up out of the desert to block the lower third of the sky. Soft white clouds decorated a sky so clear and baby blue she could see eagles floating on updrafts a mile away.
"You can't decide what to do until you see Rudolf," Luke said.
Except for this same argument, the last week had been unbelievably wonderful for Luke. Having broken his word to himself, he had made love to Valeria every night and every morning. They'd even made love once during the heat of the day in a cottonwood thicket along the sluggish Verde River. She was as eager to learn as he was to share everything he knew.
There would have been a second argument if Luke hadn't refused to take part. Valeria insisted she loved him
and that she was going to marry him. After saying once that marriage between them was impossible, Luke had refused to discuss the subject. That, however, hadn't stopped Valeria from trying to change his mind. Neither his efforts to tell her more about living in America, his description of the ever-changing landscape, nor his description of what life on the ranch would be could divert her from the subject.
"I don't know why you're so stubborn," she said. "You know I don't want to marry Rudolf."
"That's not the reason I'm taking you to the ranch."
"I know, it's your reputation. Is that all you ever think about?"
He hadn't thought about his reputation nearly as much as he thought about Valeria. That was only a small part of the reason he couldn't marry her. What kind of life could he offer her? Hell, she was a princess. He was a gunfighter, a killer. He had no home, no friends.
"The land above the Rim is beautiful country, some of the best in the Territory," Luke said. "It would be perfect for raising horses. You could settle down, send for the rest of your horses, and grow rich."
"I don't want money. I want a husband and a family."
"You wouldn't have to stay at the ranch all the time. You could go to Phoenix, Santa Fe, San Francisco, New-"
"I don't want to do that."
"There are hundreds of fine young men from good families who'd make you a perfect husband. They could give you the kind of life you deserve."
"I thought you told me women in America could marry for love?"
"I did."
"I love you, so I choose you."
"I'm not going to get married, Valeria. Not to you or anybody else."
"Why not?"
It did no good to ignore her questions. She just kept asking until she wore him down. "I'm not the kind of man any woman should have for a husband."
"Don't you think I ought to be allowed to make that decision?"
"This kind of decision requires that two people agree. When they don't, the marriage won't work." "But-"
"Let's not talk about it anymore. It's time you decided what you're going to do once you reach the ranch."
"I don't have to do anything. Zeke will have already told Rudolf I don't want to marry him."
"I doubt he'll believe it until he hears the words from you."
"Well, I'll tell him; then he'll leave." "Where will he go?"
"I don't know."
"Does he have any money?"
"I don't know."
"Then I don't expect he'll leave without a fight." "Why?"
"Because he loses a home and the chance to regain his throne. I imagine he'll do his very best to convince you to change your mind."
"I won't."
"He'll try to force you."
"He can't."
"If he kills me, there won't be anyone to stop him," Luke pointed out. "If you fight him, he'll have no reason to keep you alive."
"But you said a woman could have her own money in America.'
"The ranch is yours. I don't know what will happen to the money in Belgravia."
"I don't want that money. I'll give it to Rudolf. Then he won't have to marry me."
"Will your uncle let him have it, or will he try to keep it by killing you?"
"Are you trying to scare me?"
"No."
"Well, you are."
"I'm just trying to show you what you're up against. You've got to have a plan."
"I do. I want to marry you. My uncle and Rudolf can fight over the money. I don't want it."
Valeria had mastered one aspect of beco
ming an American woman very quickly. She had taken to being stubborn like a duck to water. The woman had a onetrack mind and obviously didn't intend to change it just because her idea wouldn't work.
"You've got to have a plan in case something happens to me."
"What could happen to you?"
"I could fall off this trail." They were following a game trail barely wide enough to to keep their legs from rubbing against the rocks. He doubted anyone at Rudolf's ranch knew of the trail. He was certain they'd never believe he could get a princess to go more than a hundred feet on it before turning around. But Valeria was too busy arguing to be frightened by the precipitous drop. "Rudolf could have me killed. I could die of pneumonia," he said.
"You're indestructible," Valeria said.
She didn't know a bullet in the back had brought many a gunslinger's career to an end.
"You still need a plan. What would you do without me?"
That kept her quiet long enough for Luke to try to answer the same question for himself.
Try as he might, he couldn't envision a future without Valeria. She had become an inseparable part of his life. It didn't matter where he went, how many miles separated them, she would still be with him, in his heart, his thoughts, his dreams. She was everything he wanted in a woman. She was perfection.
Cowboys 08 - Luke Page 29
