“Jesus!” he cried, leaping to his feet and dashing from the room.
Wolfe beat Giorsal to the note Cloud had dropped and agilely avoided her attempts to kick him. “I’ll read it aloud.”
“Shouldn’t it be private?”
“Don’t go prim on us now, Skye. Let’s see now. On the front we have the twins birth date and today’s date and the words two months. That was plainly too subtle for old Cloud. She’s been pointing that out for several days.”
“Are ye going to read it or no?”
“Patience, Giorsal.” Wolfe opened the note. “To my husband (underlined): I have hinted, nudged and winked to no avail. See if you can understand what this means. I am standing in the middle of our bed wearing my wedding ring and a smile.” Wolfe took a moment to quell his laughter enough to continue reading. “I will count to fifty. If you are not up here by then I’m coming to get you—as is. Your wife.” He then joined everyone else in their hearty laughter.
Even though he heard the sudden burst of laughter, it did not affect Cloud. He burst into the room he shared with Emily, shut the door and leaned against it. For a moment he could not believe his eyes for Emily was just as she had said she would be. Her luxurious hair provided some covering, however, which made her look all the more seductive.
“You forgot to mention the blush,” he rasped as he started to shed his clothes, an action he had begun on his way to their room.
“It wasn’t there until you walked in. Oh, my, you did that quickly,” she breathed as, now naked, he strode to the bed.
“Started on my way up the stairs.” He tumbled her down onto the bed.
“How very efficient of you.”
“Are you sure you’re ready?”
“I have been ready for days.”
“I’ve been real slow,” he said in slight wonder.
“Very slow.” Her words came out as a soft gasp as his touch began to work its magic on her.
“I’m afraid I can’t be very slow this time. It’s been too damned long.”
“It certainly has and who asked you to be slow?”
For just a moment he struggled for control, but their hunger for each other was too strong. He grew fierce in his love-making, only to have that fierceness met and equaled by Emily. She clung to him eagerly as he drove into her with the force of starvation, both of them trying to touch as much of each other as possible even as they raced toward completion, finding it as one with a blinding intensity, their cries of release blending.
It was a long time before Cloud recovered enough to ease the intimacy of their embrace and slip beneath the covers, tugging them up over Emily. He held her close, savoring the sense of repletion she gave him. It had been too long since he had enjoyed the sweetness of her body, and he was not at all surprised to feel his own already recovering its interest. He suspected it would be a long, loving-filled night.
“Would you really have come down naked to get me?”
“Good Lord, no. I was just gambling on your thinking I might.”
“Thought so.”
“Yet you came.”
“I came to see you standing naked with just a smile and a wedding ring.” He smiled when she blushed. “Have I thanked you for the twins lately?” He began to smooth his hands over her slender back.
“Mmmm. With the same regularity that you threaten to throttle Giorsal.”
He laughed softly. “They’ll most like be grown with families of their own before I start to get over the surprise of them.” He slowly moved his hands down her back until he cupped her gently rounded bottom in them. “You’re not very good at subtlety.”
“No. It doesn’t seem to be my forte.”
Turning so that she lay beneath him, he smiled at her. “So why not just ask outright?”
“Ask outright?” She stared at him in slight shock. “I could never.” “No?” He touched his lips to the swell of her breast, then curled his tongue around the tauntening nub, lathing it gently.
“Ah, no. Too bold.” She briefly lost the power of speech as he drew the aching tip of her breast into his mouth.
She was able to do no more than moan her pleasure as he feasted upon her breasts. She tried to reach the juncture of his thighs with her hands but he kept himself just out of her reach. Emily had to content herself with burying her hands in his thick, glossy hair or smoothing them over his shoulders as he began to place soft warm kisses in a line down her midriff.
Her legs grew heavy, falling open as he stroked them from thigh to ankle and back again. He smoothed kisses over the insides of her thighs, skillfully using his tongue to soothe the pleasurable sting of the occasional gentle nip he gave her. Very soon she ached for the touch of his hand, for the delight of his stroking fingers, but he kept his hands upon her legs, never venturing between them.
“I’m going to make you ask me, Emily. I want to hear you say, Cloud make love to me, please.”
“I can’t.” He kept her hovering over desire’s abyss until she finally cried, “Cloud, make love to me, please.”
“I didn’t think you’d ever ask,” he gasped as he fiercely possessed her.
“Thank you.” She clung to him as he drove into her and knew she was not the only one who had reached the limit of endurance.
“No need to be so polite.”
“Shut up, Cloud.” She tugged his mouth down to hers.
He did. More or less.
Chapter Twenty-One
“Are you certain it’s all right, Skye?”
“Very certain,” Skye replied as she urged Emily into the wagon. “Cameron’s very good with babies, and you deserve a trip to town. You’ve been stuck out here for months. You need time to do your own shopping, perhaps even buy something frivolous, a little present for yourself for being so good.”
“And she’s been very good,” drawled Cloud as he climbed up into the driver’s seat.
There was no mistaking the innuendo behind Cloud’s words and Emily blushed. She wondered if she would ever get used to the way Cloud so openly referred to the intimacies they shared. Although she had accepted the fact that she could thoroughly enjoy such intimacies without guilt or shame, speaking of them, even obliquely, was another matter. She gave Cloud a cross look when he briefly grinned at her.
“He just does it to see you get flustered,” Skye said after swatting her brother.
“I know.” Emily grimaced as Cloud started the wagon moving and James, driving the second wagon, moved in behind them. “No matter how I try, I consistently oblige the rogue.”
“Well, one of these days you’ll find that only his most outrageous remarks make you do it.”
“That is one of the things that worries me the most. As I get more accustomed, he will get more outrageous.”
Emily joined with Skye in laughing softly. As Skye began trading quips with Cloud and Thunder, who rode in front next to Cloud, Emily relaxed in the camaraderie of the family she was now a part of.
Glancing back at Harper, who rode with James and Wolfe, she had to smile. He was arguing with Giorsal again. Although she was concerned about her brother and knew he would soon move on seeking a new direction in his life, she was happy for him. He was content, even though he faced the prospect of starting from scratch. She could only pray that, while building that new life, Harper did not get involved with another Dorothy.
The wagons stopped before the mercantile store, and as Cloud helped her down, he said, “Go and be frivolous, but not too frivolous. After we get what we need, the men and I will probably stop in at the saloon for a drink.”
“Rosie will be delighted.”
“She will be at that, and I’ll be sure to tell her how fine I think marriage and fatherhood are.” He briefly kissed her, then strode off with the other men.
“He sure is a muckle bonnnie laddie.”
Smiling at Giorsal, Emily nodded. “I certainly think so.”
“We can see that,” drawled Skye as the three of them entered the store.
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br /> “Not too blatantly, I hope. Cloud is puffed up enough as it is.”
Laughing, Skye nodded. “Too many easy women hurling themselves at him didn’t help.” She winked at Emily. “Neither did getting himself a fine, pretty Boston lady for a wife. Makes these folk sit up and take notice.”
“And that matters?”
Pausing by a table laden with bolts of material, Skye replied, “Well, Cloud would never have looked for or wed a woman just for that, but he isn’t above enjoying the result when it all works out that way. He hasn’t had an easy time here.”
“I hadn’t noticed Cloud having much difficulty being accepted. Of course, I haven’t been here long and have spent most of that time out at the ranch. Why should he have trouble?”
“Because he’s got Indian blood. You did know that, didn’t you?”
“Yes—and now that I recall, Dorothy did make a few disparaging remarks about it, but Dorothy is a cat.”
“She wasn’t saying anything many another wouldn’t say in that case. If Cloud had tried to wed one of their womanfolk, you would’ve seen it, seen that hate. Harper’s just too good a man to feel it. The Indian blood’s thinned and we don’t know near anything about being Indian, but that doesn’t matter to folk. I’d like to say you won’t see it, but you probably will. And, so will your children,” she said softly. “I started to prepare my children for it the minute they could understand what I was saying to them.”
Emily nodded, acknowledging that as a good idea. “Have you no curiosity about that part of your heritage?”
“A lot. I think I will probably make a pilgrimage to my grandmother’s people some day. It’s all a part of me, after all. A choice had to be made though, a choice between peoples, and my kin chose white.” She shrugged. “It might’ve been different had my grandmother lived longer, but my pa was raised white by his father, married a white, and raised us that way. I’m not ashamed of my Indian blood, and I won’t let my children be, but the way of the Cherokee hasn’t been my family’s way for two generations. Can’t start now.”
Skye frowned as she noticed a woman enter the store. “From the descriptions I’ve heard, I think that’s Dorothy.”
Looking in the direction Skye nodded, Emily sighed. “It is, and she’s seen me.”
When Dorothy confronted her, Emily found it very hard to be civil. She politely introduced Skye and Giorsal. Despite Dorothy’s clear intention to be conciliatory, the woman could not fully hide her disdain for Emily’s companions. It annoyed Emily, but she was determined to hold her temper. Curiosity also held her. She could not think of anything Dorothy could have to say to her, yet she knew instinctively that this was no chance meeting.
“I suppose Harper told you all of it,” Dorothy said tremulously after Giorsal and Skye moved away.
“He certainly did.” Emily saw no reason to hide her disgust.
“I was wrong, I know it, but regret cannot bring Harper back to me.”
There seemed to be a lack of sincerity in Dorothy’s tearful words, but Emily told herself not to be petty. Dorothy had hurt Harper, but Emily was determined not to let that taint her words or thoughts. In a way, Emily felt she ought to be grateful for Dorothy’s actions, for they had freed Harper.
“No, it can’t. I hope you weren’t thinking I would help you in such an aim.”
“No, I don’t think that and I would never ask it of you.”
Not sure she believed that, Emily asked,
“Then what is it you want?”
“Harper left in such a hurry he left a few things behind.”
“He told me that everything was to be yours.”
“Which is more generous than anyone could have expected, but these things I speak of are truly his alone.”
“Do you want me to tell him to come and collect them?”
“No, I think it’s best if Harper and I don’t see each other. I was hoping you would come and get them. It isn’t much. You can take them back home with you.”
Emily sighed. She did not really want to prolong the meeting. On the other hand, she felt it was probably best if she collected the things. Harper had very little and, Emily was sure, he did not want to see Dorothy. He had been somewhat reluctant even to come into town.
“All right, I’ll come get them. Just let me tell Skye and Giorsal what I’m about.”
“Is there really a need? They can see that you’re just coming with me.”
“It will only take a minute.” Emily moved towards Skye and Giorsal. “I’m just going with Dorothy for a moment,” Emily told them. “She has a few things of Harper’s.”
“More than a few,” grumbled Giorsal. “I dinnae like it.”
“Well, I’m not too fond of spending much time with the woman either, but better me than Harper. I won’t be long,” she said as she started off.
“I still dinnae like it,” Giorsal mumbled as she watched Emily leave.
“Neither do I.” Skye frowned deeply. “Yet, what harm can there be in it?”
“I dinnae ken, but I cannae shake the feeling that it’s trouble, pure trouble.”
“Well, if she’s not back soon, we’ll tell the men. Better to be thought alarmist than to sit quietly telling ourselves not to worry too much, that there can’t be anything dangerous about Emily going off with Dorothy.”
As she walked with Dorothy, Emily kept telling herself that the uneasiness she felt was simply because she and Dorothy had never gotten along. She feared some awkward questions about Harper or, worse, finding herself in the middle of an awkward situation and any attempt at reconciliation between Dorothy and Harper was sure to be very awkward.
Following Dorothy into the house and up the stairs, Emily covertly looked around. She had lived in the house for weeks but saw it through clearer eyes now. It was indeed nothing but a display of all Dorothy felt would reveal her wealth and place in what passed for society in Lockridge. Emily could not help but compare it to Wolfe’s place, which was still somewhat rough and haphazardly furnished. In comparison, Dorothy’s prized home came in second to the warmth and welcome one felt at Wolfe’s.
All thoughts of how she would decorate the home Cloud was building for them fled Emily’s mind as they stepped into the guestroom. Dorothy’s pleasant expression suddenly changed to a triumphant sneer. Just as Emily wondered what trick the woman meant to play, she heard the door shut tightly behind her. Whirling around, Emily gaped. Leaning against the door was Thomas Chilton, and to his left stood a smug-looking Catrina.
Dorothy scowled at Catrina. “What’s she doing here?”
“She’s a witness,” Chilton replied.
“I thought I was the witness,” Dorothy said.
“You are, but you were mostly the lure. Too many people know why Harper left you and you’ve made your dislike of Emily too clear. That hurts your credibility. A second witness was needed.”
“What is going on here?” Emily fought to maintain a air of calm.
“It’s time to pay the piper, darling.”
“I am not your darling, Mr. Chilton, nor is there any need I can think of for me to pay the piper.”
“You jilted me.”
“Hardly. The engagement you claimed was but an arrangement between you, Dorothy, and Harper. I hadn’t agreed to it. I cannot jilt a man I never said I would marry.” She did not like the way he smiled and looked at Dorothy. “Any trouble?”
“None, although she did tell that half-breed sister of the Ryders and that strange Scot where she was going.”
“That’s no real problem, although I would’ve preferred it otherwise. Still, they won’t even begin to fret over her before we’re done. After all, she’s with you, her dear sister-in-law.”
“Dorothy was never my dear anything, and they all know it. They will find it easy to be suspicious of her if I’m gone too long.” Emily tried hard, but she could not think of what they might be planning. “I suggest you let me go.”
“Oh, we intend to let you go—afterwards.�
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“After what, Dorothy?” The smile on Dorothy’s face chilled Emily to the bone.
“After I have had what was denied to me,” Chilton said as he straightened up. “After I have done to Cloud Ryder what he has done to me. You and I are going to have a turn between the sheets, my dear.”
Emily did not think or hesitate. She bolted for the door even though Chilton still stood in front of her. As he reached for her, she swung at him with her parasol. He cursed viciously as it broke against his shoulder. Although she succeeded in moving him, Emily had barely touched the latch when Dorothy and Catrina grabbed her. Before she could break free, Chilton was there to help the women drag her toward the bed.
Despite knowing that she was badly outnumbered and that it was probably useless, Emily fought like a madwoman. She found little joy in the curses and howls that told her she was inflicting some pain, for she was not gaining the freedom she so desperately sought. Curses she had learned from Cloud flowed from her mouth as she struggled fruitlessly against being secured to the bed. It was very hard not to weep when she found herself tied by the wrists and ankles to the four posts of the bed, she and her three captors badly tossled and breathing heavily. Despite her deep fear, she glared at them.
“So, you have decided to add rape to your many crimes, have you, Mr. Chilton?”
“Rape? No, my dear, you will accommodate me willingly.”
“Like hell I will.”
“Tsk, tsk. You begin to sound like your rough backwoods husband.”
“Who will kill you for this.”
“I think not, for it will mean he will face a murder charge.”
“No judge will convict him for shooting the man who raped his wife.”
“But it will not be rape. I have witnesses to vouch for your willingness.”
Glancing at the two women Emily understood Chilton’s claim. Her blood ran cold as she realized that, not only did she face rape but she would have little hope of gaining any justice against the perpetrator of the crime. With two women supporting Chilton’s claim that she had been willing, Emily doubted any judge would heed her otherwise. He would probably simply think her a lover. That also meant that Chilton was right when he said that if Cloud killed him it would be seen as murder. Cloud would probably find himself with as little defense as she.
Compromised Hearts Page 25
