Love Rules

by Rita Hestand

  The captain nodded, and Jesse sat Abby on the saddle in front of him. The captain smiled at her. “My God, she’s beautiful.”

  “Have you ever seen the Black Widow?” Jesse tipped his hat.

  “No, not personally.”

  “If you had, you’d understand why her daughter’s such a beauty. Good day, Captain.” Jesse smiled.

  Ben tipped his hat and they rode for home.

  Chapter Fourteen

  At almost midnight, Jesse and Ben rode into Jenkins’s yard. All the lights were out and there was a peaceful sound about. Crickets chirped, frogs croaked, and Abby was asleep in Jesse’s lap.

  Ben took her and Jesse dismounted.

  Putting Abby on his shoulder again, Jesse carried her inside. Ben pointed to the guest bedroom and told him goodnight.

  Jesse turned the knob to the door slowly and Maggie rose up, startled. Seeing Abby in Jesse’s arms, she almost screamed her happiness. She stood on the bed and jumped up once, then bounced on the floor and almost into his arms.

  “Oh, my God, you got her back…oh, my God…I can’t believe it. Oh, let me have her,” Maggie cried. Taking her baby against her, she cuddled Abby. She kissed her head and swayed with her. Finally, she looked up at Jesse and smiled.

  Abby didn’t wake up but sighed in her sleep. Maggie kissed her again. “Oh, my poor baby. She’s so tired, she can’t wake up for me.” She laid her on the bed and covered her. Then she swirled around to face Jesse. “How did—what happened?”

  Jesse smiled. “We found them. We tracked them. They sure left an open trail.

  Met up with some cavalry, too.”

  “And…?” Maggie seemed to hold her breath.

  “We killed them all, Maggie.” Jesse affirmed. “The cavalry had been hunting most of them for some time. They had them cornered then we all went in and fought them.”

  “Are—are you all right?” She grabbed his arms and looked from his head to his booted feet.

  “I’m fine.” He smiled down into her shining eyes. She didn’t know it but the dull moonlight silhouetted her entire body to him and he sighed with satisfaction.

  “Jesse…I-I don’t know how to thank you.” Her voice grew husky as she stared into his face.

  He stared at her lips. “A kiss might be a nice start.”

  “Oh God, Jesse….” She grabbed him and hugged him to her then rose on

  tiptoes to kiss him on the lips. The kiss was sweeter than any wine he’d ever had.

  Her lips were like melting butter against his, and he inhaled her scent as he pulled her gently into his arms. He held her around her small waist and kissed her. His thumb moved up and down her waist nervously.

  When he pulled away, he could tell the kiss had affected her as much as it did him. Like coming home, his mind rambled.

  “You gotta be tired,” she whispered, staring into his eyes, not moving away.

  “Tired, worn out and hungry for you,” he murmured.

  “Come to bed, Jesse,” she beckoned and took his hand.

  He stopped everything and looked deep into her eyes, “Are you sure?”

  “More than sure.”

  “What about the rules?” he asked, still hesitating.

  She smiled into his face. “Rules are made to be broken, aren’t they?”

  “They sure are, honey.” He stared at her hand for a minute, and then he let her drag him around the bed to the other side. As she lay down, he followed her. He dumped his boots slowly on the floor and chucked his shirt, which was wet from sweat.

  “I guess I don’t smell too pretty,” he said softly. “I’m sorry.”

  “Doesn’t matter. You’re alive and you got our baby, and you smell like a man to me.”

  He turned to stare into her eyes again. “That’s the first time you said our.”

  “It won’t be the last, I promise. Oh, Jesse, hold me.” She stretched out her arms to him.

  Her breasts rubbed against him through the thin material of her gown. He looked down at her. Already her nipples were hard nubs, her eyes full of longing.

  “You just don’t know how long I’ve wanted you.”

  She smiled softly. “Maybe as long as I’ve wanted you.”

  He lay gently on top of her and pulled her hair back from her face. “I want lots of babies, Maggie. And I want you, tonight, now, but not before I tell you something.”

  She looked up at him with true happiness. “What? Don’t make this a long speech. I’ve been dreaming of your return, and what I’d do….”

  “The first time we made love, it wasn’t just your beauty that made me want you. But the way you opened up to me, so willingly, that made me fall in love with you. You were like a flower budding from the sunlight. I saw trust in your eyes, and I couldn’t believe it. Knew you shouldn’t have, but I wanted you so. I saw a brave young woman who had suffered too much, and a lonely woman who

  needed love as much as I needed it. I looked at your body, and marveled at the liberty to do so.”

  “Even though I’d never had a man, I thought when the right one came along I’d know what to do. Somehow….” She sighed weakly.

  “Oh, you knew what to do, all right. It was the trust you showed in me by giving me your all. First off, I never expected it, and second, it made me feel ten feet tall, that you would. That’s why I wanted you so badly, and that’s why I so nearly didn’t turn you in. I never made love to a woman like that before, never wanted to. Never thought making love could be so wonderful.”

  His lips trailed down her neck and against the gown, hovering as he spoke. His breath sent shivers of delight down her back as he felt the goose bumps there.

  Her gown slipped down her shoulder. He smiled. “When we made love, I couldn’t describe how I felt. All the sensations you evoked with your trust made me want you that much more. I wanted to touch and taste you all over, and I couldn’t stop myself. I thought you had been with other men, the way you gave yourself over to me. You were so young, so innocent, and didn’t know me. You let me look at you all of you, taste you, feel you. You spread yourself on that bed and let me do whatever I wanted. I never seen a woman do something like that. It made me totally fall in love with you, and ruined me for any other.”

  He was breathless as he spoke, as though thinking on it excited him once more. She moved erotically on the bed, obviously aroused by his admission as much as the smell and taste of him on her lips. She pulled the gown over her head and lay once again open and inviting. “I’m yours and always have been.”

  He stared at her lips, full, luscious, and wet from his kisses. The way she stretched herself on the bed heated him. Maggie had a way with moving that

  made him crazy with wanting her. “And I knew I disappointed you by taking you in. It hurt to take you in, after that. It felt wrong to betray you as I did. I suffered with that guilt all through the war. I cursed myself. It hurt bad. I didn’t want you for one time and one time only. I wanted to marry you. I knew that, but I also knew the problems we would have about it, too. I had my duty and I did it. And when I realized you had come here, I wanted you even more because you did.

  Because you survived it all and still came. And when you told me Abby was mine, it was the proudest moment of my life. So, Maggie, I have to tell you, I truly love you. From your stubbornness to your eagerness. I want you to really be my wife, and make a big wonderful family with me. Because I love you more than my life, sweet Maggie.”

  Maggie stared into his eyes as tears sprang to hers. “Oh, Jesse, I love you so. I have since I first laid eyes on you.” His lips laved her breast. Pulled between desire and the need to tell him everything, she tried to explain in a breathless whisper.” I don’t know why. It made no sense, just one look into your face and I knew I was lost without you. Love wasn’t supposed to happen that way. You were a white man, a rebel. I wanted you, but I was afraid you wouldn’t want me because I’m part black. At least that’s what I told myself.”

  She moaned the pleasure hi
s lips caused and she moved her hair so he could take each breast into his mouth fully, glorying in the warmth of his lips surrounding her. She bucked several times as his lips pulled and sucked. “After we made love I got scared, though.” She pulled away for a moment to look into his eyes and catch her breath. “I knew you’d leave me, and I’d have nothing again.

  And I had to have a roof over my head. It was self survival, me tellin’ the Yankees about your encampment. But it bothered me after I met you. As though I was suddenly doing something wrong. Until you came along, I never understood the wrong in it. And when you turned me in, I thought, he doesn’t love me. He just wanted me was all. Then Abby came along and I realized no matter what, I still had a part of you with me. I came here hopin’ you’d care about me enough to help me, at least. I never dreamed we could make it together. But we can, can’t we? I suddenly know we can because of how I feel about you because I can’t live without you, Jesse.”

  She held him tightly as though he might try to run away from her. He smiled his understanding. “I love you, Maggie. I always have, and I always will.”

  And he kissed her with such tenderness. The moment their lips met,

  everything sprang to life, but this time Jesse lay beside her, talked to her through the night, and petted her. He kissed her over and over, needing the soft touch of her lips on his. His hands were all over her, his lips trailing love nips all over her as she gave herself to him. His eyes drank her in, but he wouldn’t be greedy. He took it slow as though he had all the time in the world just to make love to her. He held her breasts in his hands and marveled at how she responded to his constant stroking. He tasted her. She squirmed in his arms. His hands went over her hips, dipping against the crevice and marveling at how she enjoyed it so much when he played inside her. When she squeezed him, he smiled at her ability to hold him.

  But when he finally entered her, he sighed with such satisfaction that she seemed to ignite into a fireball. They rocked the bed.

  He kissed her long and breathlessly as he moved gently. Her muscles

  surrounded him, bringing him deeper and deeper inside her until she groaned from the pure satisfaction. He teased her, pulling out several times just before she reached a climax. He rebuilt the heat, enjoying every moment while he prolonged their climax.

  When they reached the peak, she almost screamed with joy, but he covered her mouth and danced his tongue against hers until she wilted into a heap of pleasure.

  “Oh, Jesse, why is it so good with you? Why do you thrill me so? Why do I want you so much, just from a look in your eyes?”

  “Maybe because you love me.” He smiled knowing he at last had his Maggie back.

  They cuddled all night, kissing, enjoying each other as they’d never had an opportunity to do before. They slept a little and loved a little, and slept a little and loved a little. Jesse kept her in a state of stimulation most of the night and, just before dawn, he entered her again. He moved slowly against her as he kissed her hotly on the lips. As he took her, his fingers moved to her backside and entered her there after they moved against the warm folds of her dark curls. Every time

  he touched, Maggie was ready for him. She squirmed and melted over him like volcanic rock, dancing against him, wanting his fingers as much as his manhood.

  She strained to keep both him and his hands in place as she writhed against him erotically.

  “You are such a pleasure to make love to. Watching you like this makes me want you even more.”

  “It’s you, honey. You are doing it to me. You make me feel like this,” she murmured. “I want to move against you, tempt you, have you.”

  “What does it do to you, when I touch you like this?” he asked tenderly as his moist fingers played havoc with her tight entrance.

  “It makes me feel like I’m a temptress, like I can’t get enough, like I’m on fire and have to express myself somehow to you.”

  “You move like a temptress.”

  “I want to be…with you. Forever!”

  ***

  The sun broke over the horizon and Maggie and Jesse lay content in each

  other’s arms. Abby lay between them sound asleep. The little girl had been so tired she slept late. When she finally woke up, her mother couldn’t do enough for her. As Maggie cooked the noon meal, Jesse helped Ben and the others repair some fence line.

  “Mrs. Coleman—Maggie—will you stay with us awhile?” Ben asked.

  She didn’t know what to say. “You want us to stay here?”

  “Yah, we been talking it over and we think the three of you should stay here for a while, till things settle out,” Ben suggested.

  Jesse waited for her answer.

  “Well, you killed those men, didn’t you?” She heaped their plates full of food.

  “Yah, they are dead. But others might come, and we are stronger together than apart. If you and Jesse stay here, we will be six adults who can defend, instead of two,” Ben offered.

  Maggie glanced at Jesse. “What do you think?”

  “I think it makes a lot of sense, but I don’t like putting them in jeopardy about us,” Jesse said as he ate his lunch.

  “I don’t, either. We should go home. I don’t want anyone else killed because of me.”

  Olle put his fork down. “We don’t aim to get killed, but Jesse can’t work the place and defend you and the babe all the time. Here we can all work together and stay together to defend it. We want you to stay. We are family.”

  “Olle, that’s the sweetest thing I ever heard. But if something happened to any of you, I couldn’t live with myself…especially after…”

  “Yah, but we can be more prepared for this. We can build protection, and we can stave them off if we are more than two,” Paul offered.

  As each brother agreed around the table, Maggie sat speechless. “Promise me you will take no chances. You will all stay together, even Jesse.”

  “Even you and Abby can stay with us in the fields. We have a little shack out there that you can stay in while we work. It would be much safer here and in numbers,” Stefan insisted.

  Maggie stood up and smiled. “You are all so kind, just like your folks. I don’t know what to say. But wherever my husband goes, I’ll go.”

  Jesse nodded. “Then it’s settled. We will stay here.”

  “Good. We can get some work done and quit worrying so much.” Ben chuckled.

  “Do you think more will come?” Maggie asked Jesse.

  “For a while, yes. As the cavalry are only a few miles away, we can send for help if needed. And eventually, the ones that come will begin to realize it’s a losing battle, but until that time, here is safer, and I thank these boys for being so generous and brave,” Jesse added.

  As the days passed, it grew quieter and a sense of safety seeped in. There was no trouble. Maggie learned to cook many Swedish dishes, and Abby grew. Abby was spoiled by all the men, and Maggie had a time sometimes getting her to stay inside while the men worked. Olle would come in and give her a piggy-back ride.

  Paul made her a wooden doll with string hair. Stefan would often read to her as though she understood the words. They all loved her.

  The shack was big enough to have a good meal, and everyone rested on the floor on pallets. When they moved back to the big house, Maggie was happier for the space. They mended the white picket fence around the yard and worked on the huge barn. Jesse learned to handle the dairy cattle and watched the boys for what he didn’t know.

  They even got to brewing beer. They stayed outside later and later, and Maggie wondered what they were up to. One day she took Abby by the hand, and they went snooping.

  “It’s a still,” she announced to Abby as though the toddler would know what that meant. She went back to the house and was washing dishes when Jesse came in.

  “We’re brewing ale, that’s all,” Jesse finally admitted when he realized she was angry.

  “Ale, beer, great…” Maggie huffed.

  “You mad, Mag
gie?”

  “Nope,” she announced as she washed the dishes a little harder.

  “You sure you’re not mad?” Jesse asked as he watched her.

  “I am not mad!” She whirled around at him. “I’m disappointed you didn’t share it with me.”

  “You like beer?” Jesse smiled.

  “I certainly do not, but you didn’t share your secret with me, and that hurts.”

  Maggie pouted.

  A tear rolled down her cheek and it seemed so out of place over beer. He flicked it away with a finger. “I never want to see you cry, Maggie.”

  He took her hands out of the dish pan and put them on his chest. “I’m sorry, baby, and I will tell you next time.” Another tear escaped her. “What are the tears for, honey?”

  “I-I’m pregnant.”

  “Are you sure?” His eyes grew wide in wonder.

  “Of course I am. I haven’t had a monthly since you came back with Abby. It seems every time you touch me, I get pregnant.”

  He started smiling and twirling her around the room like music was playing, and she didn’t know what to make of his nonsense. When the others came in, they stared as though he’d lost his mind.

  “What’s goin’ on?” Ben asked.

  “Maggie’s going to have another baby.” Jesse laughed.

  “A baby! Oh my goodness. That’s voderful!” Ben smiled. Paul, Olle, and Stefan all gathered around wishing her well, and twirling her about the room in merriment.

  “You shouldn’t be on your feet. You should rest,” Olle demanded.

  “No, I’m fine, really. Just get a little sentimental sometimes.”

  For hours they all sat about, talking and planning about the baby. Maggie wanted to cry, she was so happy. She never dreamed life could be so good. In fact, it was so good, she became afraid something would happen to ruin it all.