Sudden Storms

by Marcia Lynn McClure

  Paxton shifted uncomfortably. Much more of this and he’d break. After all, there she sat, right up against him. And her lack of proper clothing wasn’t helping matters! He smiled and thought to himself how cute she looked in just her under things.

  “What?” Rivers asked as the smile spread across Paxton’s face.

  “Nothin’,” he answered.

  Suddenly, Rivers was overwhelmingly self-conscious. “Tell me! What?” she demanded.

  “Well, it’s just that…well…ya look so danged cute in just your drawers,” he chuckled.

  Rivers looked down at herself. He thought she was “cute”? There she sat in attire to put most men out of their minds, and he thought she was cute!

  “Well…I guess that’s meant as a compliment,” she muttered, as a frown wrinkled her brow.

  “Of course it was. What did ya want me to say?” Paxton teased. “Now, sit back and rest. We’ll go out in a while.”

  Rivers frowned as she leaned back against him once more. Still a bit miffed at his remark about her being cute, she almost didn’t notice at first when he moved her hair to one side. She noticed first his hand brush lightly against her neck. Then he put his chin to her temple and pushed gently, directing her head to tip to one side.

  “What are you doing?” she whispered.

  “Don’t ask stupid questions, Rivers,” he answered, just before she felt his mouth on the sensitive flesh of her neck.

  Rivers flinched at his kiss as the rushing ripple of goose bumps raced over her entire body—a fact that Paxton apparently did not miss, for he caressed her arm, chuckling quietly. He kissed her neck again and then turned her head toward his and kissed her cheek. The warmth of his breath on her neck and ear, the caress of his lips to her cheek were purely rapturous sensations. He toyed with her for long moments, kissing her cheek, letting his breath warm the flesh of her neck and shoulder. It was almost torturous! She wanted to feel his mouth against her own, taste the warm moisture of his kiss! She was breathless, struggling to appear calm and unruffled. It was nearly impossible to remain still!

  Finally, he turned her body, cradling her head and shoulders in one arm and gazing somewhat drowsily down at her. He let his fingers lightly caressed her neck, traveling down toward her shoulder. For a moment he toyed with the strap of her camisole, pushing it from her shoulder. Rivers shuddered with delight as the strap slipped further down her arm. Caressing the bareness of her arm with one powerful hand, he paused a moment before placing a moist, lingering kiss on her shoulder. He kissed her there again, letting his fingertips caress her shoulder then and sending Rivers’s body into another fit of goose bumps

  “You’re…you’re just trying to get my mind off of the storm,” Rivers stammered in a whisper.

  “Darlin’, the storm’s just startin’ down here,” Paxton mumbled.

  And then, at last, he let his mouth discover hers in a driven, succulent kiss. He held her tightly, cradled against him, as his free hand traveled over the soft smoothness of her neck, shoulders, and arms. His touch was igniting to her senses! Paxton had kissed her before. He’d touched and held her before. But never in such a soft, intimate manner as this. The sensation of his strong, calloused hands on her skin was magnificent! Oddly, the thought briefly passed through her mind that he was to be trusted—but for the scandalous truth of their circumstances, Paxton Gray was a gentleman and would not let his hands stray to any part of her being inappropriate.

  Rivers’s hand had been resting gently against Paxton’s chest, but now instinctively slipped beneath his shirt, torn open by the violent wind. His skin was heated and caused the tips of Rivers’s fingers to tingle with delight in the feel of him.

  Their kisses were as the first hint of a storm, refreshing, calming, with the promise of more. And then, just as the storm had done, their passion grew, mounting into a powerful force. Rivers let her hand slide upward and around to the back of Paxton’s neck. Paxton pulled her against his own body, and she thought he might crush her, so tightly did he hold her. She basked in the sensation racing through her entire being, in the bliss of touching him in such a familiar manner.

  It further enchanted her when she felt him shiver, his own body suddenly consumed with goose bumps, as her hand traveled caressingly over his strong, impressive chest once more. He tightened his embrace, seeming unable to quench some raging crave, for his kisses were near to unmerciful.

  Suddenly, doubt and fear, the devil’s finest tools, infected Rivers’s mind. It couldn’t be happening! She couldn’t be wrapped in Paxton Gray’s arms, his mouth working a bewitching spell of affection and desire over her! It couldn’t be real! It was simply the circumstances, the state of her undress finding him so easy with her.

  Rivers abruptly broke the seal of their kiss, turning her face from his.

  “You’re…you’re only teasing me again. Jolee isn’t here to witness this, Paxton. And I’m not something for you to play with,” she cried.

  “I’m not teasin’ ya this time, Rivers. And I’m well aware Jolee ain’t here to be watchin’,” Paxton whispered as he took her chin in hand, turning her face back to his. He stroked her dusty, tear streaked cheek with his thumb and smiled. “When this storm is over, I’ll be my charmin’, heartless self again. You can go back to thinkin’ I’m an ol’ grouch, who don’t care about nobody. But for right now…down here in the cellar, where no one but you can see me, I’ll tell you a secret. You know that Ruby Dupree girl you met today and know so much about?”

  Rivers nodded and shivered as his thumb traveled over her tender lips.

  “Well, ain’t a woman in this whole world that ever got me wrapped around her finger like you do—even her. I oughta tan your backside for that, Rivers Brighton,” he whispered.

  Then she watched in blissful anticipation as Paxton’s head descended toward her own again. His lips toyed with hers this time, barely brushing hers teasingly for a moment, then retreating only to tempt her over and over. She held her breath as he placed a whiskery cheek to her soft one, pausing in his taunting of her. Her hands gripped his shoulder tightly as she felt the slightest touch of his tongue on her throat before his mouth began placing teasing kisses there. When, at last, he turned his attention anew to her mouth, his kiss was wet, driven, fiery, forceful, and filled with a scarcely restrained passion. Paxton’s kiss caused a tempestuous trembling to torment Rivers’s soul—rendering her mind uncertain she could continue to prevent her very being from flying apart, the pieces joining the heavens as new and resplendent stars there.

  He was so warm, powerful, dominant! She never wanted to leave the cellar! Oh, couldn’t the heavens just leave her there? Couldn’t she bathe in those moments forever?

  All too soon, however, the dream-borne figure of a man ended their kissing, adeptly maneuvering Rivers’s body until her back lay against his chest once more. Paxton folded his arms around her and let his legs relax, stretched out on the ground.

  “It must be dark by now,” he said quietly. “We’ll wait a while longer. I ain’t in a hurry to see the mess up there.”

  Rivers let her head fall back against Paxton’s massive chest. The storm and the passionate exchange with Paxton seemed suddenly overwhelming. Rivers was exhausted and soon fell into a deep, contented slumber—safe in the powerful arms of Paxton Gray—safe in the arms of the man she loved.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  “Are they in there?”

  Rivers forced her heavy eyelids to open. The voices had pulled her from a heavy sleep. She looked up just as the doors above her were unlatched and light streamed into the cellar. There, peering down into the darkness, were Weston and Jolee.

  “Oh! My goodness!” Jolee exclaimed.

  “You’ve been down there all night?” Weston asked.

  Paxton pushed Rivers forward and stood up, stretching and groaning.

  “Dang, my rear-end is numb as a dead man’s,” he grumbled.

  Rivers struggled to her feet as well, shielding her eyes from the
bright morning sun.

  “You two look purty beat up. But wait ’til ya see what’s gone on up here,” Weston sighed, his discouragement all too obvious.

  Paxton bolted up the stairs and through the cellar door as Jolee reached down and helped Rivers climb up. The sight that met them was horrifying. Rivers gasped at what her eyes beheld—debris consisting of wood, tree limbs, buckets, broken glass, wire, splintered fence posts, and other rubble littered the ground everywhere.

  “Looks like you’re gonna be havin’ a barn raisin’ ’round here, friend,” Weston said.

  “The barn,” Paxton muttered, his voice void of discernible emotion.

  Rivers turned and followed his gaze in the direction of the barn. “It’s completely gone,” she whispered.

  All that remained of the once enormous and indestructible-looking barn was a pile of rubble.

  “The windows blew out of the house, too, Pax,” Jolee added. They all turned and stared at the house. The broken glass was lying all over the ground. Not one window was left intact.

  “Have ya been inside yet?” Paxton asked.

  “Yeah. Seems to have weathered purty well. Just some things blown around,” Weston answered.

  Rivers took several steps toward it but stopped cold when she felt a sharp, cutting pain in her foot.

  “Ya lost your shoes, too?” Jolee asked as Rivers exclaimed in unexpected pain.

  Paxton strode over to where she stood pulling the slivers of glass out of one stocking foot.

  “She got wrapped up in some barbed wire…had to strip her nearly to the skin to get her free,” he explained as he easily lifted her into his arms.

  Rivers was silent as Paxton carried her into the house, knowing this would, indeed, be the last time he held her in his capable arms. The others followed in silence. Once inside, he set her down gently on the sofa and took a deep breath as he looked around.

  “Well, the house seems fine.” Running his fingers through his hair, he added, “At least we’re all safe and sound.” Then Paxton looked from Weston to Jolee and back. “Where did the two of you hold up? When we didn’t find ya here…we didn’t have time to look anywhere else.”

  “We ended up out at McGinness Point. Ya know that old cave out there in them big rocks? We just pulled the horses on in with us and waited it out,” Weston said.

  Paxton nodded and Jolee exclaimed, “Rivers! Your legs! And your face, Paxton! You both need a good washin’ and some bandages.”

  “Don’t she look cute in her drawers, Jo?” Paxton chuckled.

  “For cryin’ in the bucket, Paxton! She’s bruised up, cut all over…quit your teasin’,” Jolee scolded.

  “You do look awful cute in your drawers, Miss Brighton,” Paxton said, smiling and winking at Rivers. “Gives a man quite an appetite.”

  “Get out, Paxton!” Jolee ordered. “You go down and wash up at the pond before you send Rivers to faintin’ away at your scandalous remarks!”

  “I’m goin’,” Paxton chuckled.

  Rivers blushed as Paxton winked at her once more before leaving.

  “I swear,” Jolee sighed. “That man! The way he’s goin’ on you’re probably lucky ya didn’t find your virtue in danger…trapped down there with him all night. What a nightmare that must’ve been.”

  But Rivers couldn’t help but smile. Nightmare? Far from it! It had been more like a dream come true, and Rivers smiled as goose bumps suddenly covered her arms at the memory of Paxton’s attentions in the cellar.

  “You must be cold, Rivers!” Jolee said upon noticing the goose bumps on Rivers’s skin. “Would ya be so kind as to help me fill a tub for Rivers, Weston?”

  “Of course, Jolee,” Weston said, winking at Rivers. “But I’m sure Paxton didn’t let Rivers stay too cold down there in that cellar. Ain’t that right, Rivers?”

  Rivers blushed once more as Weston knowingly winked at her.

  “Oh, don’t be ridiculous, Weston,” Jolee said, shaking her head. “It’s freezin’ down in that cellar.”

  “I’m sure it is,” Weston chuckled. “You’ll have to show me some time, Jolee.”

  Rivers smiled then, amused by Weston’s teasing and Jolee’s innocence. Again, her arms tingled with goose bumps, and she knew it would take a very warm, very long bath indeed to dispel them.

  

  “We wanna thank ya all for comin’ out today. I know a lot of you folks had damage from the storm, and we want ya to know we’re more than willin’ to help out any way we can,” Jolee shouted to the crowd of people gathered outside in front of the house.

  Rivers smiled as her eyes met Paxton’s and he winked at her. He’d begun flirting with her mercilessly since the storm. She had fully expected he would be true to his word about reverting to his regular glum self, but he hadn’t. Hope burned bright in Rivers every moment of every day. Maybe she could win him away from his guilt about Ruby and his unpleasant remembrance of her mother.

  Rivers watched as the men who had come to help raise the barn began their task. It was very interesting to watch a barn begin from nothing but a foundation of sorts and rise to the skeleton it became some hours later.

  “Hey, girl,” Paxton greeted, breathless from exertion. Striding to meet her and smiling, he wiped the sweat from his forehead with his shirt sleeve. “What do ya think? Looks good so far, don’t it?” he asked.

  “It’s going to be bigger than the first one,” she answered, brightly smiling up at him.

  “Yep. I figure, might as well do it right, ya know?”

  Rivers looked up into Paxton’s rugged face and couldn’t keep a sigh from escaping her lungs.

  Paxton lowered his voice and said, “Whew! I’ll tell ya what! Work like that in heat like this…sure gives a man a mighty big appetite!”

  “Oh, I’ll fetch you a plate from the house and…” she began, but her words were cut short as he took hold of her arm and led her to the far side of the house.

  “What are you doing?” she asked, puzzled. Her heart pounded furiously.

  Pushing her back against the outer wall of the house, his mouth exhausted hers with an unexpected, feverishly hot, magnificently forceful kiss, which left her weak, breathless, and light-headed.

  “Ah!” he sighed. “That’s better. Nothin’ like your cherry-sweet kiss to satisfy a man’s hunger!”

  “What?” she exclaimed, looking around quickly to see if anyone had witnessed the exchange. And it had, indeed, been an exchange, for she had willingly supplied the confectionary nourishment he spoke of.

  Paxton bent his head to repeat the refreshment, but a moment before joining his lips to hers, he stopped. Rivers was puzzled as an odd expression swept over his face. He straightened and looked past her toward the barn.

  Rivers’s attention followed the direction of his stare. A wagon with several passengers was arriving. Paxton stood frozen as if etched in granite. His eyes narrowed and the frown, absent from his brow for several weeks, returned.

  “Paxton?” Rivers whispered.

  As the wagon approached, she recognized Ruby and breathed, “Ruby.”

  “The whole dang family,” Paxton growled.

  Rivers watched as a beautiful, fair-haired woman the exact elder image of Ruby approached Jolee. Jolee seemed to greet the woman politely, but without her usual exuberance. Rivers felt her blood run cold. She stood paralyzed with anxiety as the woman began walking to where she and Paxton stood, having shared a passionate trade only moments before. Glancing up at Paxton, Rivers saw his face was still as hard and as cold as any stone figure.

  “Paxton! Darling!” the woman called as she gracefully rushed toward him. Reaching him, she threw her arms around his neck and clung to him without any obvious concern for propriety. “Oh, Paxton! Dear boy! How wonderful to see you again!” the woman cried.

  “Mrs. Dupree,” Paxton greeted, not returning the embrace.

  Mrs. Dupree released the man and turned. Somewhat sneering and smiling at the same time, she studied Rivers. He
r nose wrinkled as if she had suddenly been nauseated by some bitter taste in her mouth.

  “You must be Jolee’s little friend I’ve heard about,” she greeted, extending one daintily gloved hand toward Rivers. Rivers took the woman’s hand but said nothing. “I suppose Paxton has told you all about how absolutely wicked he was to our daughter,” the woman whispered, as if telling a terrible secret.

  “No,” Rivers managed to say. She looked up at Paxton, who stood staring down at Mrs. Dupree in complete astonishment as if he still could not grasp the actuality of her presence before him.

  Mrs. Dupree looked from Paxton to Rivers and back. Then, placing a hand dramatically to her bosom, she whispered, “Have I interrupted a little…moment here, Paxton dear?”

  “It wasn’t a little moment, Mrs. Dupree,” Paxton answered.

  Mrs. Dupree smiled understandingly and winked at Rivers. “You be careful with this boy, dear. He’s a heartbreaker that one. By the way, do call me Marianna.”

  Then, instantly, her expression changed. Her teasing, friendly smile was completely obliterated—replaced with a countenance akin to repulsion as she turned and walked away.

  “Nutty as an acorn tree,” Paxton mumbled.

  “She’s still wanting you,” Rivers plainly stated.

  Paxton looked at Rivers, his eyebrows raised in surprise. “Wantin’ me?” he questioned. “What makes you think you know when a woman’s wantin’ a man?”

  “It’s painfully obvious, Paxton. Your mule would know it,” Rivers said. She didn’t like the very feel of the air about her now that Mrs. Marianna Dupree had been breathing it. It felt polluted, poisoned somehow.