“Did you find the peace of mind you were looking for when you set out for Wyoming?” Garth asked at last.
“It was worth the trip to find Maddy,” Faron said. “She’s a feisty old broad.” Faron thrust his hands through his hair and tried to smooth it back down again. “And I love the land, King’s Castle. I don’t know how to explain it. It’s so different from the canyons and gullies on Hawk’s Way. There’s something about those endless rolling green prairies that feeds my soul. I’m going to miss it when it’s sold.”
“So don’t sell.”
“What?”
“Don’t sell the place. Keep it.”
“Belinda Prescott might have a few words to say about that. She wants to move into town.”
“So let her go. Buy her half of the place from her.”
“I—” Faron didn’t know how to explain to his brother that a great deal of what he found so captivating about King’s Castle was the fact that Belinda Prescott lived there.
Garth shrugged when Faron made no effort to explain himself further. “It was just an idea. So what did you find out about Wayne Prescott?”
“He wasn’t a very noble character, my father.”
“You knew that before you left,” Garth pointed out.
“He abused Belinda.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
It was the first time Faron had ever heard Garth utter those words. It brought a lump to his throat to realize that his brother understood Faron’s anger and frustration without him having to say more.
“I don’t have to ask if you love her,” Garth said. “It’s written all over your face when you look at her. Are you sure you’re doing the right thing to get involved with her?”
Trust Garth to go right to the heart of the problem. “It’s right for me. I’m not so sure about how she feels.”
“Does it bother you at all that she was Wayne Prescott’s wife?” Garth asked curiously.
Faron took time to seriously consider Garth’s question. At last he said, “Only because he treated her badly.”
“So what are you doing down here? I never thought you were a coward.”
Faron took enough umbrage to say, “I’m not the only Whitelaw sitting alone in the dark. What’s the story between you and Candy Baylor?”
“None of your business,” Garth said brusquely.
A slow smile grew on Faron’s face. “Well, well, big brother. How the mighty have fallen.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You figure it out. I’m going upstairs where I hope there’s a lady waiting for me. You can sit here alone in the dark all night if you want. But I suspect there might be a lady somewhere waiting for you, too.”
“She’ll have a long wait,” Garth retorted.
Faron laughed. “Good night, Garth. Sleep well.”
“Get out of here and leave me in peace.”
“I’ll leave, but I doubt you’ll have much peace until you seek out a certain blond-haired, gray-eyed woman.”
Faron had just reached the doorway when he heard the loud splintering of glass against the stone fireplace. He was almost sorry he would be leaving tomorrow. He would give his eyeteeth to be around to see his cynical, misogynistic brother finally fall in love with a woman.
As he climbed the stairs, Faron was aware of the silence in the house. When he reached Belinda’s door he knocked and then turned the knob. It was open, and he let himself in.
There was a light on beside the bed. Belinda wasn’t there.
“Damn.” He should have known she wasn’t ready yet to hear what he wanted to say to her. He shouldn’t have pushed so hard. He had frightened her so badly she had run. But where the hell had she gone?
Faron felt like throwing something. He settled for slamming one fisted hand into the palm of the other. He clenched his back teeth and stared out the window into the distance. He would just have to take Charlie One Horse’s advice and be patient. Belinda couldn’t go far. And he would be here waiting when she returned.
Faron crossed to the connecting door between the two bedrooms and yanked it open. He stomped across the threshold and stopped short. His jaw fell agape.
There, sound asleep in his bed, lay his golden Princess. She was wearing a filmy nightgown with a delicate lace trim that cupped her breasts. Her hand pillowed her head and one knee was drawn up so that the nightgown revealed the length of her from her toes to the top of her hip.
He sat down carefully beside her on the brass bed, but even that slight movement woke her. She turned lazily onto her back and looked up at him through half-closed eyes.
“Hi,” she said. “I’ve been waiting for you.”
Faron’s heart began to gallop. “I’m glad you’re here.”
Belinda slipped a hand around Faron’s nape and drew his mouth down to hers. Just before their lips met she said, “I like your family, Faron. I wish…”
“What do you wish, Princess?”
“I wish I had waited…to find you.”
“I’m here now, Princess. And I’m not going anywhere.”
Belinda took the initiative in their lovemaking. Faron made it easy for her. He responded to the barest touch of her fingertips. It was as though he could sense what she needed, what she desired. She urged his mouth down to hers. The kiss was gentle at first, tentative, but Belinda’s need was great, and there was an answering fire in the Cowboy.
Faron encouraged her by showing her how much pleasure he found in her kisses, in her touch. She found his leashed passion as seductive as an aphrodisiac. She slowly undressed him, one piece of clothing at a time, indulging her need to feel the textures of his body. The crisp hair on his chest. The hardness of muscle and sinew. The petal softness of his eyelids and the shell of his ears.
“Take off your nightgown, Princess.”
Belinda hesitated a moment, then reached down and pulled it up over her head. Finally she was as naked as he was. His eyes adored her. Then his hands and mouth followed where his gaze led. Where Belinda touched him, he touched her. Shoulders. Ribs. Stomach. Hips. Buttocks.
Faron hadn’t known he could find such pleasure with a woman. He wanted desperately to speak of his love. But he knew he must be patient. He had to wait until she was ready to hear the words. He had to show her that he loved her, so there could be no doubt in her mind how he felt. She had to know that he would cherish her. That he would never abuse her as his father had.
Faron’s body tensed as Belinda’s hands surrounded him and urged him close. Her hips rose and he impaled her. They rolled once and she was above him, her hair a cloak that tantalized him by half hiding her breasts.
Belinda felt free to love Faron in ways she had never loved her husband. She had an unbelievable sense of her own feminine power as she caressed him. His eyes glowed with the warmth of his need and desire. Her body tightened in response to his guttural groans of pleasure. His urgent kisses made her feel wanted and loved.
He rolled her under him once more, mantling her body with his own. “Come with me, Princess. Reach for the stars.”
Belinda did. She reached for the happiness she had never allowed herself to even dream of having. She let down the barriers she had put up to keep herself safe from a man to whom she had been a possession. And allowed herself to love a man who treasured her because of who she was.
Faron caught Belinda’s cries of exultation with his mouth. He revered her with his hands, with his mouth, with his body. He brought her to the pinnacle, and they rose beyond it together.
Faron wasn’t expecting the tears. “Princess? What’s wrong? Did I hurt you? Are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” she managed through a throat that was constricted so much it prevented easy speech. “I don’t know why I’m crying. You were wonderful. It was wonderful.”
He gathered her in his arms and held her while she cried. Belinda had a pretty good idea what was causing the lump in her throat. It was the pain of knowledge. Of regret for the years sh
e had foolishly wasted. It was fear of the course she was determined to embark upon. And hope for the future.
Because now she could no longer deny to herself what she felt. She was in love with Faron Whitelaw.
That should have been the end of the fairy tale, and the beginning of the rest of her life. She would simply accept the handsome cowboy’s proposal and they would live happily ever after.
Only the Cowboy hadn’t proposed. He hadn’t even said those three little words, “I love you.”
Eventually the constriction in her throat eased. She grabbed a sheet and dabbed at the corners of her eyes. “Faron?”
“Hmm.”
“I’m sorry for falling apart on you like that.”
“Can you tell me about it?”
“I…” Belinda should have been able to tell Faron that she loved him. That she was hoping they would spend the rest of their lives together. But memories of times when Wayne had taken her tenderest emotions and ridiculed them came to mind. And kept her silent.
It was one thing to say she was going to forget the past and go on with her life. It was quite another to be able to do it. Apparently the wounds were deeper than she had believed. It might take a little longer for them to heal completely. “It’s nothing you did, Faron,” she said at last.
“Was it something my father did?”
Belinda’s hand played across Faron’s chest, winding in the black curls that arrowed downward toward his navel. Her fingertips skimmed across a male nipple, and she watched in fascination as it peaked. “I don’t want to talk about Wayne. I want to make love to you.”
Her fingertips skimmed down the front of him until she cupped him in her hand. His response was immediate and totally gratifying. Belinda grinned. “My, my, Cowboy. What have we here?”
“Don’t play with fire, Princess, unless you’re ready for the heat.”
Belinda’s laugh was cut short when Faron’s hand slid down the front of her in imitation of her own intimate exploration. He slipped a finger inside her, then another, and Belinda arched up as his thumb sought out the sensitive nubbin that was the source of her desire.
Faron’s mouth caught the cries of passion as Belinda arched up under his provocative caresses. But she would never again be a passive partner. She sought out the places on Faron’s body that she knew drove him wild. The crease at his thigh, the dimples above his buttocks, the point where taut belly slid into crisp curls.
They taunted each other, refusing to be the first to give in to the sensual teasing. They laughed when they had the breath to do so. They kissed, their tongues entwining, their teeth nipping tender flesh.
And they loved. With their hearts. With their souls. With their whole beings.
But he never said, “I love you.”
Neither did she.
When the sun dawned and sent the first rays of light across the tangled sheets, they were still wrapped in each other’s arms. Neither wanted the fairy tale to end.
A knock on the door sent Belinda searching for her nightgown. Faron slipped on his jeans and buttoned them halfway.
“We don’t have anything to hide,” Faron said.
“What if it’s Madelyn?” Belinda hissed. “I don’t—I’m not ready to face her like this.” She yanked her nightgown on, then raced for the door between the two rooms.
She was halfway there when Faron caught her and swung her back into his arms. He kissed her hard. “We have to talk, Princess.”
“Later. Let me go, Faron. Please.”
He let her go and she disappeared, closing the door silently behind her. Faron answered the persistent knock and found Garth at the door.
“This better be important,” Faron growled.
“I thought it was. There was a call on the office phone. Somebody wants to buy King’s Castle, but he needs to take a look at it tomorrow. Here’s the number where you can reach him.”
Faron grimaced. “All right. I’ll be right down.”
Garth took a look at the disheveled state of the bed and arched a brow. “Take your time, little brother. Take all the time you need.”
Before Faron could protest, Garth was gone.
A second later Belinda was back in Faron’s room. “Who was it?”
“Garth.”
“What did he want?”
“A corporate buyer tracked us down. He wants to take a look at King’s Castle—tomorrow.”
Belinda sank down onto the bed. “What are we going to do?”
“We are going to listen to his offer.”
Faron’s reference to the fact it would be a joint decision wasn’t lost on Belinda. “I…I suppose we should.”
“Then we’ll have to make a decision whether or not to sell.”
The last thing Belinda wanted to contemplate right now was the sale of the ranch. Because once it was sold, Faron would be returning to Hawk’s Way. Now that she had seen it, she knew there was no way Faron could prefer King’s Castle to the comforts to be found here.
Furthermore, his family lived in Texas. She had seen how close Faron was to his brothers and sister. Family was important to him. Faron couldn’t possibly contemplate living the rest of his life in Wyoming, separated from his family except for visits on holidays. Belinda knew how hard that was, and she wouldn’t wish it on anyone.
Belinda tried to imagine Faron offering to bring her back to Hawk’s Way as his wife. Naturally, Madelyn would have to be part of the package. However, Belinda couldn’t imagine Garth Whitelaw accepting Wayne Prescott’s mother into his household. And she could never abandon Madelyn. Which meant Belinda could never live here, either.
“I’ll meet you downstairs after you’ve had a chance to get dressed,” Faron said. “And we’ll give this guy a call.”
“All right,” Belinda said.
But when Faron tried to draw her into his arms she stepped back. “I need to get dressed,” she said. She turned from him and walked away.
Faron didn’t know what had gone wrong, but he had a pretty good idea it had to do with selling the ranch. But he would be damned if he could figure out whether his Princess wanted the place sold—or not.
CHAPTER NINE
IT WAS A TOSS-UP WHO HEAVED THE bigger sigh of relief when the corporate buyer made a ridiculously low offer. Faron tried to look disappointed. Belinda matched him furrow for furrow in her brow.
“King’s Castle is worth too much simply to give it away,” Faron said. “Unless you’re anxious to get moved into town before winter comes.”
“A few months won’t make that much difference,” Belinda replied. “Besides, we’d be making the man a thief if we accepted his offer.”
The unspoken result of their decision not to sell King’s Castle was a commitment to continue the improvements they had begun. But the changes they made now went further than simple repairs to put the ranch back into shape to sell. What Faron suggested to Belinda were modifications that would transform King’s Castle into a viable, profitable ranching operation.
“Can we really afford to make these kinds of investments?” Belinda asked.
“They’ll pay off in the long run,” Faron said. It was as close as he could come to saying that he hoped there might be a “long run,” without actually saying it. Because he feared saying it would put Belinda on the defensive. He wanted her to realize that they worked well together, that they made a good team, and that they could be happy making a life together on the ranch.
First she had to learn to trust him. He wasn’t going to take the chance of pushing her too fast. So he had to keep his distance from her. Because if he took her to bed as often as he wanted to, it wouldn’t take her long to figure out that he was playing for keeps. He wanted a chance to build good memories with her of life at King’s Castle, to replace the bad ones that had made her want to flee the ranch.
Belinda searched out Faron’s gray-green eyes and was forced to drop her gaze or be singed by the need she saw there. Ever since their return from Texas there had been a pal
pable sexual tension between them. She kept waiting for Faron to act on it, to tease and taunt her as he had in the past. But he exercised a restraint that she wouldn’t have believed possible.
She had no doubt that he desired her. It was there in the subtle electrical charge that passed between them whenever they brushed against each other. She saw it in the fierce light that came into his eyes as he gazed at her when he thought she wasn’t looking. But she was confused by the signals he was sending.
He obviously wanted to be her lover. But he seemed to be waiting for her to make the first move. It was a novel idea to Belinda, who had never been allowed that option with Wayne. At the age of twenty-eight, she decided it was high time she tried her sexual wings.
She tried subtle things at first. One evening she was working at the computer station beside the rolltop desk while Faron sat in the swivel chair and examined the printout she had just made of feed projections for the winter. She stopped for a break and said, “My shoulders really ache. Could you rub them for me?”
The look in his eyes was priceless. He was a sinking man going down for the third time. “All right. I guess I could do that.”
He dropped the printout on the desk, stood and crossed the few feet to where she was sitting. Belinda had her hair in a braid. “Would you mind undoing my braid first?” She saw the flush high on his cheekbones and felt a flutter of feminine satisfaction.
He took his time unraveling the braid, and when he was done his hand tunneled up underneath her long golden hair and massaged her scalp. Belinda’s head rolled forward and she exposed her nape to his caresses. She could feel the strength of his hands where they worked to relax the muscles in her shoulders. She was feeling languorous, but there was a rising tension in her breasts and belly.
The moment came when he had to decide whether to continue what he was doing or escape the sensual torment caused by her request. She felt his lips on her nape, soft and slightly damp. A shiver chased down her spine as she felt his warm breath where he hovered over her.
Abruptly he stood up and said, “I need a cup of coffee. Can I get you one, too?”
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