Heart Of Texas (Historical Romance)

by Constance O'Banyon

He pressed his face against her hair. "What would you have me say?"

  "I have confessed several times that I love you, Gabe. But you admit only to wanting me. You have never told me what your true feelings are."

  "I can hardly make it through each day without wanting to see you. And the nights are the worst, because I want you beside me so I can make love to you."

  She threw back her head, and their gazes locked, saying more than words ever could. "You are talking about desire; I'm talking about something else."

  If Gabe couldn't confess that he loved her, they would not stand a chance.

  His eyes drifted shut, and he touched his lips to her forehead. "I don't know what more you want from me. I've given you more of myself than I've ever given anyone else."

  "Gabe, I know in my heart that I will only love one man in my lifetime, and you are that man."

  He crushed her against him, scattering kisses over her face. "I need to be alone with you," he whispered against her ear, his voice filled with trembling need. "I need to do more than just hold you."

  Gabe jerked away from Casey when he felt a tug on his shirt. Both he and Casey glanced down at Jenny, who had edged her way between them with a serious expression on her face.

  "If you are going to kiss my sister, you'd better marry her. Are you going to marry us, Gabe?" the child demanded to know. "'Cause if you aren't, let Casey go."

  Casey could hardly keep from laughing, and Gabe bent down to jenny, who was clasping the new pup he had given her tightly in her arms.

  "If I asked your permission to marry your sister, would you give it?"

  "She's getting pretty old," the child admitted. "And if you don't marry her, I don't think anyone else will."

  Casey was frowning in mortification and had arched her brow at her sister. "Jenny, what a thing to say."

  Gabe was shaking with laughter as he said, "If you put it that way, jenny, I guess I'd better marry her real quick."

  Jenny yawned as the pup licked her face. "If you marry her, you have to take me and Sam, and my dog, Molly, with you, too. Casey doesn't go anywhere without us!"

  He felt a warmth spread through him. This was the family he had never had, the one he had wanted to be a part of almost from the first time he'd met them. The house in Casa Mesa needed Jenny's laughter, Sam's steadiness, and Casey's loving devotion to make it a home.

  "I'm glad I have your permission. Shall we ask Casey if she'll have me?"

  Jenny yawned again. "You ask her. I'm sleepy." The child trudged back to bed.

  Gabe stood up and took Casey's hand in his. "Will you marry me, Casey?"

  "Why?" she persisted.

  "Because, dammit-I love you!"

  She smiled and propelled herself into his arms. "Yes! Yes, I will."

  He clasped her to him, feeling the last remnants of his torture fall away. It felt as though sunshine, dazzling and bright, had burst through him. There were no shadows lingering in his mind because he had found something pure and beautiful in a woman's smile.

  He had found love, and he was able to give love. "When will you marry me? I want it to be soon."

  "It should be soon, Gabe," she admitted, pressing her face against his wide chest. "That night by the river you left me with something of yours."

  She could hear his heart rate accelerate.

  "You're pregnant?"

  She had suspected she was going to have a baby for some time. She had been sure of it the day she had ridden out to see Gabe just before his father had been killed. "I believe so."

  His arms tightened, and he touched his mouth to hers ever so gently. His face lit up with a dazzling smile. "We will be married tomorrow."

  "And how will you arrange that? We have so much to talk about. I have Sam and Jenny to think of."

  "You heard jenny. She said wherever you go, you have to take her and Sam. And that's the way I see it."

  "I do come with a family."

  "They'll be my family, too. I'll make sure you have enough good hands to work the Spanish Spur to help Sam. He'll live with us until he's old enough to take over here for himself. By that time he should know everything we can teach him."

  She laughed as happiness spilled from her heart. "You have it all figured out, don't you, Gabe?"

  His hand went to her stomach. "I like the thought of you carrying my child." He raised her face so he, could look into her eyes. "You have changed my life, Casey. You have given me a family, and now you are going to give me a baby."

  "I wanted to be what you needed. I've always wanted to help you."

  He was frowning. "So you knew about the baby that night in the barn when I asked you to marry me? And yet you refused my marriage proposal. I don't understand. You let me go away not knowing I had fathered a child?"

  "I wanted you to stay for the right reasons, not because you thought you had to."

  "You would have borne the stigma of having a child out of wedlock rather than accept me at that time?"

  "No. For the child's sake I had decided that we would sell the ranch and go back to Virginia. I couldn't let my baby grow up without a last name. I love this child because it is the part of you that I can keep with me."

  He lifted her in his arms and sat down in a chair. He had to swallow several tries before he could speak. "I don't deserve you, Casey, but I love you so damned much it hurts. You have my oath, with God as my witness, I will make you a good husband."

  "I know you will. We've gone through some hard times, but it was worth it."

  He tilted her chin and made her look at him again. "I am a Slaughter." His hand moved across her stomach. "This child is a Slaughter; you will be taking the name as well."

  She touched her cheek to his.-"You have made the name a proud and noble one. I will be honored to be Mrs. Gabriel Slaughter."

  "I'll be taking you to Casa Mesa, and I have to warn you, there is not a stick of furniture in the house."

  "That's nothing. When we arrived here, there was no furniture either. But I have to know," she asked with humor in her smile, "do you have chickens in your house?"

  Gabe hurried through the house, up the stairs, and into the bedroom. He stopped still when he saw how pale Casey was, lying against the stark white pillowcase.

  She smiled at him. "You got here quickly."

  "I damned near broke my neck getting here."

  Casey had known when she awoke that morning that her baby was about to be born. Kate had been staying with them for the last three weeks so she would be with Casey when her time came. That morning Casey had encouraged Gabe to ride over to the Spanish Spur with Sam to supervise the spring roundup.

  "Come and meet your baby, Gabe."

  He came to her, going down on his knees and kissing her lips. "I wouldn't have gone this morning if I had known you were going to have the baby."

  She pressed a fingertip against the worried frown on his brow. "Kate informed me that husbands just get in the way at a time like this. I thought you would be better off elsewhere."

  He kissed her fingers. "Are you sure you are all right?"

  "I have never been better."

  He heard a soft noise and glanced down for the first time upon the face of his child. His breath caught as the baby shoved a small fist in its mouth.

  "Casey," he said, gently touching the soft head that was covered with dark hair, just like his. "It's so small. I never knew babies could be this little."

  "He's your son, Gabe. He's so lucky to have a father like you."

  Emotions hit him hard and fast. As the small hand curled around his finger, he leaned forward and touched his lips to the soft cheek, loving the tiny creature who had made him a father.

  "He's wonderful."

  "Yes, he is. See how dark his skin is-he will carry on your mother's heritage."

  "Yes," he said as his finger drifted into her hair. "I see that."

  She tugged on his hand, urging him to sit beside them.

  "I'm dusty from the cattle drive."

 
"Your son won't mind, and neither will I."

  Gabe carefully moved onto the bed and looked questioningly at his wife. "Can I pick him up?"

  "Of course you can. He belongs to you. You will guide him and shape him into the kind of man you can be proud of as a son."

  Gently he lifted the child, but he panicked when the little head bobbled, and he quickly caught it and braced it in his hand. "I never knew that there could be such a strong feeling."

  "It's the love a father has for his child, I would imagine."

  Gabe's eyes were bright as he held his son to him. "You have made me very happy, Casey."

  She smiled. "And this is just our beginning, Gabe. We have such adventures awaiting us. Each day I discover more wonderful things about you."

  He grinned. "Do you now?" His eyes flamed with sudden passion. "Hurry and recover from the birth. I have more wonderful things to do to you."

  Her laughter rang out just as jenny burst through the door. "Where's my baby? Kate told me he was in here."

  Gabe laid the baby down and lifted jenny onto the bed. "You will have to be careful with your sister until she is stronger, so don't shake the bed."

  Jenny bent over and looked at the tiny face peeping out of the blanket. "He's all wrinkly."

  Casey laughed. "Yes, he is, but he'll grow out of it."

  Jenny was satisfied to sit beside the baby and hold his small hand in hers. "He's much better than a puppy."

  Sam came running into the room and went di rectly to Casey's side of the bed. "Are you all right?"

  "I am just fine. And you, Samuel, are an uncle now."

  He grinned down at the baby in wonderment. `Do you think I could hold him?"

  "Sure. But you'll have to support his head," Gabe said, acting as if he were already an expert on the matter.

  Casey watched the four people she loved most. They were a close family, a happy one. There were no longer nightmares to disturb Gabe's sleep, because she slept in his arms every night.

  Jenny was still as precocious and delightful as ever. She seemed to look upon Gabe almost as a father. And he adored her.

  Sam was growing up. She could swear he had grown two inches in the last few weeks. He took his guidance from Gabe, and he was learning responsibility so he could one day take over the running of the Spanish Spur.

  Casey looked into her husband's eyes. He would be there, guiding them all with his strength. He was still watching over them, just as he had from the beginning.