“Then we’d better not waste any more time.” Buck cupped her buttocks in his hands and lifted her until he could sheathe himself inside her. The alcove was shadowed and private, filled with the comingled scents of the beeswax Rose used to polish the hall tree and coffee. The house was quiet as morning crept in beneath the window shades, the silence broken only by the sound of their stolen kisses and heavy sighs. The wall behind Annika was smooth and cool, Buck’s hands on her flesh were searing hot. She wrapped her legs around him, locked him inside her, and welcomed him home, meeting his every thrust with a soft moan. She lay her head on his shoulder and kissed his neck, closed her eyes and let his movements drive her until she met him thrust for thrust and finally stiffened to hold back. Ready to climax, aching for release, she grabbed his hair and pulled his mouth to hers. She kissed him long and hard, let his tongue imitate the movement of his swollen shaft and then ended the kiss so that she could free her lips and beg him to take her over the brink and spill his seed inside her.
Buck needed no such urging to comply. He lifted her higher, shoved her against the wall. Burying himself to the hilt inside her, he joined Annika as she shattered and lost control. She cried out. The sound filled him with satisfaction and pride and at that moment he didn’t care if the whole world heard them.
Heartbeats combined, their breathing slowed second by second. Buck cradled Annika in his arms, unwilling to separate himself from her. He kissed her again, smiled down into her eyes, and shook his head. “I think you’re getting the hang of this, Miss Storm.”
“Thanks to you, Mr. Scott.”
Heavy footsteps pounded overhead again. They could hear Kase poised on the landing above them. Annika slipped her hand over Buck’s mouth and shook her head, her eyes wide, but she didn’t attempt to leave his arms.
“Annika?” Kase called out.
She kept her hand over Buck’s mouth as she answered back, “Yes, Kase?”
“Annika, are you getting married to that man, or do I have to come down there and shoot him?’”
Buck tried to shake off her hand.
She shushed him and yelled back, “Yes, Kase, I am.”
There was a long, silent pause above them, then the sound of retreating footsteps again. Annika sighed and relaxed, dropping her head to Buck’s shoulder.
“Is that it?” he whispered.
“That’s it,” she said.
“He’s not coming down to kill me?”
“No. Besides, he’s not going to kill the father of my child no matter how much he’d like to.”
Buck gently backed away and lowered Annika to the ground. She smiled at him as he adjusted his pants and buttoned them up again. When he cleared his throat, she knew he was ready to make a pronouncement.
“Annika, I think it’ll be a while before we can have a baby. I mean, there’s already Buttons, and with my schooling—”
“You aren’t going to make a very good doctor if you don’t realize how long it takes for a woman to carry a baby. The way I see it, it will be about seven more months before you have to deliver ours.”
“Ours?”
“Ours. Yours and mine.” She beamed up at him and hoped he took the news better than he looked like he was going to.
“But how?”
“You need medical school more than I thought. Don’t you remember the nights at Blue Creek when—”
“You’ve been pregnant since then?” His words echoed around the alcove.
She nodded, quite proud of herself and her announcement.
“And you let me ride out of here two weeks ago?”
Her smile faded when she saw the storm clouds darkening his eyes. “I had to, Buck. I didn’t want you if I had to use our child to win you.”
While he studied her carefully, Annika held her breath.When he finally relaxed his stance and reached for her again, she sighed with relief. With her face buried against his bare chest she asked, “Are you mad at me?”
“What good would it do?” he wanted to know.
“None at all, Mr. Scott. You’re stuck with me now.”
He kissed her brow, her lashes, her lips. “I guess I am, but with a baby on the way I’ll have to borrow a little more money.”
“Of course.” She laughed. “I’d like nothing better than to have you in my debt for years and years.”
“It’ll mean more papers.” He sighed.
“Kase will be happy to draw them up, or we could wait for my father. My parents are coming out in two weeks.”
Buck shook his head and began to button up the front of his shirt. “I’m certainly getting a lot more family than I bargained for when I wrote to Alice Soams.”
She helped him with the last two buttons. “We could hire someone to find her if you’re still partial to the idea.”
He crossed his arms over his chest and pretended to contemplate the idea for a minute or two before he shook his head. “I guess I’d better keep you.”
“Why?”
Even in the shadowed alcove he could see her bright blue eyes shining with happiness. “Because I love you, Annika Storm. You were the best mistake I ever made.”
Epilogue
“THEY’RE here.”
Buck turned at the sound of her voice and saw Annika framed in the light streaming through the bedroom window. Sunshine outlined her silhouette like a halo and set her golden curls ablaze with light. She was dressed in a creation of plaid silk taffeta, a dress that whispered all too seductively whenever she moved. Toting Buttons high on his arm, Buck crossed the room and joined his wife as she stared down into the yard below. As he moved, the floorboards of Kase Storm’s guest room creaked exactly where they always creaked. The sunlight filtered through the lace tie backs as was usual every afternoon. Everything was so normal that he almost had to remind himself that this was not just any ordinary afternoon.
Today he would meet his in-laws, and sooner than later if the approaching buggy was any indication.
As he joined her before the window, Buck slipped his free arm about Annika’s shoulder and she immediately leaned back to rest against him.
“Are you scared?” he asked.
She shook her head against his shoulder. “Are you?”
“No. If your parents are like you and your brother, they’ll be fair.”
“If you’ll recall,” she said with a smile in her tone, “I wasn’t exactly enamored of you at first meeting,” she reminded him. “Neither was Kase.”
He smiled to himself and adjusted Buttons, who had begun squirming. “Look at the big horse.” He pointed, trying to divert the child’s attention to the scene outside the window.
Buttons was dressed in starched white eyelet from the huge bow on her head to the hem of her pinafore-covered gown. Only her suede, high-button shoes were black. Her curls were freshly washed and combed, her cheeks shiny clean. She was so clean, in fact, that Buck was afraid to put her down before she met Caleb and Analisa Storm.
He watched the carriage, which was accompanied by Zach Elliot on horseback, as it drew near enough for him to clearly see its occupants. The driver appeared quite tall, even though seated. The man’s features were clearly Indian, although more finely cut than Kase Storm’s. As he commanded the reins, he leaned down to better hear what the elegant blond woman beside him had to say.
Buck’s attention shifted to Annika’s mother. As she gently laid her hand on her husband’s forearm as if to make a point, Caleb Storm bent near. Buck could read love and respect in that warm touch and understood it well, for whenever Annika did the same she held his own heart in her hand.
He kissed her temple as he studied her mother, Analisa Storm. The woman’s golden loveliness had definitely been passed on to her daughter.
“I never thought about having in-laws,” he admitted, reassuring Annika as he gave her shoulder a squeeze.
“Not even when you wrote to Alice Soams?”
Aware of her nervousness, he was glad she could still tease. “Especially then,�
�� he said.
Kase appeared in the yard below. Buck watched him wave to his mother and stepfather, witnessed his parents’ joyous response as they waved and called out to him in return.
The carriage was in the main yard now, the horse drawn up close to the house. Kase stepped forward and took his mother’s hand to help her down. She held her skirts aside and began to climb down, but just then her son put his hands about her waist, lifted her out, and whirled her around before he set her on her feet in the dusty yard. They laughed together for a moment while Analisa looked up at the darkly handsome man who towered over her. In a loving, motherly motion, she reached up to brush a wayward lock of raven hair off his forehead.
Caleb waved to someone near the house, and Buck assumed it was Rose. She had dressed and undressed little Joseph four times since morning, afraid he would not look perfect enough to meet his grandparents.
As the group in the yard disappeared beneath the roof of the veranda, Zach Elliot led the horse and buggy as well as his own mount toward the barn. Annika stiffened in Buck’s embrace and he cleared his throat. He suggested, “Why don’t you go down and greet them before we join you?”
She turned to him, eyes shining with love, all trace of worry gone, and said, “How do you always know what I need when I need it?” She reached up to straighten his collar.
He glanced down at the front of his starched shirt and the itchy wool suit he had donned to meet her parents. Annika had insisted she wanted him to be comfortable and to wear his own clothes, assured him he didn’t have to put on any airs, but he dismissed her arguments and not only had a suit tailored, but his hair trimmed as well. It was tied back in a queue at his collar. Now he wished he’d taken her advice and worn his own clothes. His discomfort and self-consciousness only added to his nervousness.
“I make it my business to know what you need, Annika, and as long as I’m alive, I’ll see that you have it.”
She stood on tiptoe, her hands resting on his arms that held Buttons close, and kissed him promisingly. “Don’t leave me down there alone too long,” she warned.
“Good luck.” He watched her walk out the door and close it silently behind her.
ANNIKA stood on the landing above the entry hall and listened to the voices of her parents, Kase, Rose, and Zach as they filtered out from the parlor. Her heart was beating like a flag in the wind as she pressed the palms of her hands to the plaid taffeta of her wide skirt. Adjusting the collar of her dress, she reached out for the security of the bannister and let the smooth oak slide beneath her fingertips as she descended the stairs. The thought of Buck waiting upstairs with the impatient child to strain his already taut nerves made her hasten her steps.
“He’s just about the best little boy I ever seen,” Zach said.
“What do you mean, ‘just about’?” Kase wanted to know.
Waiting outside the parlor door, Annika recognized Zach’s drawl and imagined the scene inside. Joseph Caleb Storm deserved to be admired and cooed over without her diverting the attention from her nephew. She waited another long moment or two, took a deep breath, and tried to smile as she walked into the parlor.
Everyone turned to greet her, but it was her mother’s eyes she met across the room.
Annika tried to ignore the ache that tugged at her heart when she saw Analisa’s eyes fill with tears. Unable to bear the visible sign of heartache her abduction had caused her mother, she quickly let herself be enveloped in her father’s strong embrace.
He hugged her silently for a long time, rocking slowly, smoothing her hair as he had done since she was a child. “Are you all right, Annemeke?” he whispered against her hair.
“Yes, Papa,” she whispered, wondering how she would ever find the courage to tell them that she and Buck had not waited for their arrival, but had been married two weeks ago in a civil ceremony in Cheyenne. How could she tell them why?
“Let me see.” Caleb drew back and tilted her chin up with his thumb. His piercing blue eyes studied her closely.
“You see, Papa? I’m fine.” She thought of Buck, of all they had been through since that bleak February day he abducted her from the train, remembered how very much he loved her, and smiled. “And I’m more than fine. I’m married.”
She heard her mother’s swift intake of breath and finally found the courage to face her again without becoming teary eyed herself.
Annika turned away from Caleb and hugged her mother tight. “Yes, Mama. I’m married. We didn’t wait for you, and I’m sorry if that is upsetting, but when Buck comes down, we’ll explain.”
Caleb ran a hand through his hair. The impression the sweatband had made across his forehead was still visible. “Do you realize what your mother’s been through worrying about you? I thought you were going to wait until we got here. Until we could meet this man.” He sounded formidable, but Annika knew his sharp tone came more from relief at seeing her safe than from anger.
She held her mother’s hand as she turned to him again. “I know what you’ve been through, but I’m the one who was kidnapped, Papa.”
“Don’t get cheeky, Annika.”
“No, sir,” she promised, holding her temper for Buck’s sake. She didn’t want him to walk into a room full of hostility.
“I think I’d better go outside and check on somethin’.” Zach put his worn hat on the back of his head as he made his way to the door.
Kase was right behind him. “I think I’ll check on it with you.” He glanced at Rose, who was blissfully unconcerned as she stared down at the child in her arms. “Rose, don’t you think Joseph needs a nap?”
“Nap?” She met Kase’s gaze squarely and shook her head. “No need. Not long ago he woke up.”
Kase nodded toward the trio standing awkwardly in the center of the room and then indicated the door with another nod in the opposite direction.
Comprehension suddenly dawned on Rose’s face. “Ah! Sí. Now I remember. I think after all that Joseph is maybe sleepy.”
As Kase ushered his wife and infant out the door, Caleb called out, “Thanks, son,” before he slipped an arm around each of the women left in the room.
Annika led them to the settee and with a wave of her hand encouraged them to sit down. She pulled a footstool covered in a needlepoint of cabbage roses in front of them, smoothed her skirts, and sat down.
“I guess you’re waiting for an explanation.” She folded the material of her skirt into a small pleat and smoothed it with her thumbnail.
“No. We just want to know if you love this man you married. Don’t we, Anja?” Caleb said.
Annika glanced at her mother, who nodded. “And we want to know why, Annika. Why did you marry this man who kidnapped you?”
Annika straightened her skirt, squared her shoulders, and met their worried stares. “I married Buck because I love him. And he didn’t do anything but love me back.”
“But...” Analisa shook her head. Her bright yellow hair was bound into an upswept knot that had been mussed by the removal of her hat.
She was dressed fashionably in a tailored traveling suit, and except for the fact that it was royal blue, it was much like the jaunty chocolate wool Annika had worn for weeks at Blue Creek. The sight of it brought back so many memories that Annika smiled a faraway smile and then forced herself to listen to what her mother was saying.
“... to marry him was not necessary. Surely you know that no matter what has happened, Annemeke, we can face it together.”
Annika put her hands together in her lap and stared down at them for a moment before she looked up at her mother. She reached out and took Analisa’s hands in her own. “I know, Mama. I know now that you would understand, my abduction was never like what you suffered. Buck never ... I mean, he didn’t...”
“You don’t have to go on,” her father said, shifting forward, stopping her before she could say more. He braced his forearms on his knees and laced his fingers together.
“So. Kase told you about what happened to me so long
ago?” Analisa’s words were little more than a whisper.
Annika squeezed her mother’s fingers. “He told me he was conceived when you were raped at sixteen. But he did so only because I was certain you would be disappointed in me. I thought you would never understand what I had done, and I was so ashamed, so scared to face you...”
“Exactly what did happen?” Caleb straightened, his features suddenly dark and threatening.
“What did you do?” Analisa echoed Annika’s own admission.
Annika felt her face flame with color. “I—”
“She didn’t do it alone.”
The Storms turned at the sound of a low, gravelly voice in the doorway. Annika smiled in relief when she saw Buck bending to let Buttons down. The little girl ran to Annika’s side, leaned against her, and stared at the newcomers.
“Hi,” the confident little girl said to Caleb and Analisa.
Analisa smiled down at the child. Caleb tried to hide a smile.“This is Buttons,” Annika said as she tugged on a vibrant blond ringlet and let it bounce. “She’s Buck’s niece. We’ve adopted her.” With a glance over her shoulder, she silently asked Buck to join her.
“And I’m Buck Scott,” he said as he approached the settee. Buck paused behind Annika and put his hands on her shoulders.
Caleb finally found his manners and stood up. He didn’t offer Buck his hand, merely stared at the huge man who was now his only daughter’s husband.
In a show of solidarity, Annika stood up and linked an arm through Buck’s.
Analisa cast a worried glance at Caleb and put a warning hand on his coat sleeve. “Caleb—”
Trusting her father to show the patience he was known for when he worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Annika said quickly, “Buck loves me, Papa. And I love him. I explained almost everything in my letters to you. He abducted me by mistake and once we were snowed in, there was nothing he could do to bring me back. As time went on, we fell in love.” She shrugged and smiled. “It’s as simple as that.”
When Buck added, “Well, not quite that simple,” Annika wanted to kick him.
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