He set her on her feet. “We have to get a preacher here soon. Doesn’t matter to me. As far as I am concerned, we are already married, but I know it matters to you.”
“Buck said he’d find one and bring him soon as possible.”
He nodded. “Good. Go ahead and clean up inside. I will brush down the horses that just came in.”
Faith left him, chasing after Johnny, who decided to run from her then, daring her to catch him. Gabe watched after the disappearing stagecoach, still feeling uneasy about Tod Harding…and that soldier who had stared at him but said nothing. The two of them were in that coach together. Maybe it all meant nothing. Life was good now. He’d found a place to call home, a woman to love, even had a family. He had more purpose in life than he had ever had. Nothing was going to spoil that, or take Faith Sommers from him. He would make damn sure of it!
Chapter Twenty-three
Faith looked up from hoeing her garden to see two men approaching on horseback. Gabe came from the horse shed, Johnny toddling behind. Gabe wore deerskin leggings today, which he said were cooler in hot weather than white man’s heavy cotton pants. He wore a leather vest but no shirt, and his dark skin glistened in the sun. There were still times when it struck Faith that this man had once ridden with the wildest of warriors. It was hard to imagine when he so gently made love to her in the night, but not so hard when she saw him this way, dressed in buckskins, a rifle in his hand.
He set the rifle aside when he realized one of the riders was Buck. Faith laid down her hoe and walked toward them, noticing the other rider wore a black suit, vest, and hat, a white shirt under the vest. He held a Bible in one hand.
“Found you a preacher, folks!” Buck called to them.
Faith’s heart beat with joy. Buck dismounted and introduced “Preacher Louis Ames. Came across him conductin’ services for railroad workers to the southwest of here.”
The preacher shook hands with Gabe and Faith as they introduced themselves.
“Thank you for coming, Reverend Ames,” Faith told him. She could see the doubt in his eyes as soon as he realized it was Gabe she was marrying. She suspected, though, that the man was growing accustomed to the unusual in this country, as the doubt turned quickly to gentle acceptance, no questions asked. “Always glad to unite two people ready to settle and bring growth to the West,” he told them.
“And we’re glad to find a preacher out here!” Faith answered. “It always surprises me the different sorts of people who come through this place.”
“Well, more and more are choosing to stay, and I have come to travel to the various settlements and bring them the Word of God, conduct funerals and weddings and such.”
“This is so sudden!” Faith exclaimed, suddenly self-conscious about her appearance. She wore a plain brown dress of coarse cotton, her mannish leather work shoes, and no slips. Her hair was twisted into a tight bun to keep it out of her face because of the heat, and her hands were callused and dirty from gardening. “I’m dressed for digging in the dirt, not for a wedding! I can’t get married looking like this! All of you come inside and have coffee and biscuits while I go in the back room and clean up.”
“You are always beautiful,” Gabe told her.
“No woman looks like this when she marries, Gabe Beaumont!” She hurried inside, and the men chuckled, shaking their heads.
“Buck explained the situation,” Ames told Gabe. “Mrs. Sommers’s first husband drowned on their journey west, and she ended up staying here. He says you helped her out once during an outlaw attack.”
Gabe glanced at Buck. “Yes, I guess you could say that.” He picked up Johnny and introduced him to the preacher.
“I can see the boy already loves you,” Ames said when Johnny hugged Gabe around the neck.
Gabe nodded. “I already think of him as my own.”
Johnny wiggled to get down again, and Gabe set him down and shooed him into the depot. “Well, Buck, as long as there is going to be a wedding today, and since it is already late afternoon, perhaps you and the preacher can stay the night in the depot,” he said, turning to face the two men again. “Is that possible?”
Buck shrugged. “I reckon. I ain’t makin’ no runs this week, so I ain’t in no hurry. If the preacher here can wait till tomorrow to go back down to that little settlement, we can stay.”
“That will be fine,” Ames told him, “but…well…won’t the two of you want to be alone?”
Gabe grinned. “We will be. I’m hoping maybe the two of you can keep Johnny for us. You know what a good kid he is. He wouldn’t be any trouble.”
“Sure, I’ll watch out for him. But where will you be?” Buck asked.
Gabe winked. “This is my wedding night. I think it would be nice to spend it out under the stars.”
Buck grinned, and the preacher raised his eyebrows. “Whatever suits you,” Buck told Gabe.
They went inside and waited, the preacher telling Gabe that government men were coming out that summer to talk treaty with Red Cloud. “Buck says you lived with the Sioux for a time.”
“I did.” Gabe hoisted Johnny to his knee. “I chose to end that life and live like a white man. Many things led to the decision, but I think I am where I belong now.” His heart raced with excitement as they talked about a hundred other subjects. Soon Faith Sommers would be his wife. She would belong to him totally. It had been two weeks since that first glorious afternoon of making love with her, and every day and night they had shared bodies again. He already knew every inch of her body, and she knew every inch of his. It seemed silly that they needed a piece of paper to prove they were married, but if that was what his white woman wanted, that was fine with him. In Faith’s eyes they had already been “living in sin” these two weeks, and enjoying every minute of it.
“I have some clean clothes with some of my other things in a shed outside,” he told the preacher. “I think I’ll go out and wash by the water pump and change myself. And I need to take a tent out of my gear. This is the time of year when the nights are just cool enough to sleep close, and early enough that there are still no insects. The way the weather has been, it should be pretty tonight.”
“You ain’t gonna be noticin’ the stars,” Buck teased him. “Only stars you’ll see are the ones that’ll be in Faith’s eyes.”
“You men stop that talk!” Faith called from the back room, raising her voice to be heard above their laughter. “I heard every word!” She stuck her head out from between the curtains, keeping the rest of the curtains closed. “And what’s this about a tent and stars?”
Gabe headed for the door. “You and I are spending the night alone out in the foothills,” he told her. “Buck and Preacher Ames will look after Johnny.”
“Out in the foothills! Whatever—” She stopped to think, her face turning red again. How else could they be alone? They certainly couldn’t ask the preacher to go sleep in the horse shed. She said no more as they all chuckled again, and she returned to changing her underclothes and pulling on slips. How delightfully exciting it would be to sleep out under the stars. That was how things were when she’d first met Gabe…Tall Bear…lost in the foothills, surrounded by wolves. She’d felt so safe with him there. She always felt safe with Gabe Beaumont by her side.
She brushed her hair vigorously, pulling back the sides with combs. Gabe liked it brushed out long, so that was how she would wear it for their wedding. She pulled on her best dress, a blue linen with a ruffled skirt. She had not worn it since leaving Pennsylvania—had no reason to. Now it was a little tight in the waist, for she’d had a baby since then, but it still fit.
What a surprising day this had turned out to be. Most of it had been like any other, and this afternoon she had helped Gabe haul wood from a site where he’d been cutting. She never dreamed this would be her wedding day. In spite of the dangers and hardship, life had been such an adventure here, every day unpredictable.
“June fifth, eighteen and sixty-eight,” she muttered. “Today I marrie
d Gabriel Beaumont, who is half-Sioux Indian. His Indian name is Tall Bear…”
The next hour seemed a moment of unreality to Faith. She had never felt quite so pretty; the way Gabe looked at her told her he thought the same. He had picked her a bouquet of spring flowers, which she held while she told him she loved him, would honor him, keep herself only for him, till death they must part.
He looked wonderful! He wore a beaded, fringed shirt and leggings that were bleached almost white, and one feather was tied into the side of his hair. He had decided to be Tall Bear for her, and it was a good choice. This was the man she had first met when she was so alone and terrified after Johnny had been killed, and when he dressed this way, he looked so virile and handsome that she shivered. Even though they had already made love many times, this was different. This time he would truly be her husband.
She watched his exotic eyes as he repeated his own marriage vows. She would be someone’s wife again, but this time her husband would not demand she give up her freedom to build and grow. He would not treat her as less than he. He would not grope at her in the night when she was so tired she could hardly move. He would respect her, love her for who she was, not just for something to have in his bed.
The ceremony ended, with Buck as a witness. The preacher gave them a paper to sign, and Buck signed it also. Johnny reached up for Gabe, saying “Daddy,” and Faith told him yes, Gabe truly was his daddy now. It felt so good to be able to tell him that.
The men visited while Faith put some biscuits into a cloth sack and picked up a tin of tea leaves and a small water kettle. Gabe filled two canteens and told her that was all they needed. They would be gone only the night, and he had packed everything else they would need. Faith found herself saying good-bye to the preacher and Buck. She kissed and hugged Johnny, and in the next moment Gabe was hoisting her up on his Appaloosa as though she weighed nothing. He leaped up behind her and took up the reins of his packhorse, then rode off into the foothills as the sun was already beginning to sink behind the Rockies.
“The first chance I get, I will ride to Cheyenne and find you a wedding ring.” Gabe stirred the coals of the campfire, and Faith lay on a blanket studying the stars.
“I’d like that. I know it seems silly to someone like you, but it’s important to me.”
He lay back down beside her. “It does not seem silly. When a Sioux man marries, he must bring his wife’s father gifts, usually horses, tobacco, blankets, and such. I paid many horses for Little Otter.”
Faith turned to face him, tracing the beading on his shirt. They had decided to take their time tonight. It had seemed enough at first just to lie there under the stars and talk and plan. “Do you love me as much as you loved her?”
He smiled sadly. “Of course I do. I just loved her different. She was Sioux, and highly respected among her tribe. I was much younger then, and I loved her blindly, as you loved your first husband. I think perhaps love changes as we grow a little older. It becomes even deeper, more fulfilling. That is the kind of love I feel for you. Still, except for your white skin and hair the color of a sunset, you are not so different from Little Otter. You have her quiet strength.” He put a hand to the side of her face, then leaned closer to kiss her lightly.
Faith turned on her back to study the stars again. “You are very different from Johnny. When I look back on it, I realize he knew nothing about how to truly love someone. He had no respect for my feelings and needs as a woman. You make me feel very special, Gabe. It’s been so long since anyone made me feel that way. I’m not sure I’ve ever felt this way.” She faced him again. “You sure you don’t mind staying right here to live?”
He toyed with her hair. “I am well aware of your dreams. I would not destroy them.”
“I’ll have to go to Cheyenne soon myself to lay claim to the area beyond the railroad land under the Homestead Act. We’ll go together. Maybe I can get Buck to come back again and keep an eye on things so we can both go and leave Johnny here.” She smiled at the idea, breathing deeply and watching the stars again. “Oh, Gabe, all these years I’ve stayed right here. I’ve never been to Cheyenne, never left this place, never even ridden on a stagecoach! It would be fun going with you to a real town, shopping for my own things instead of always having to order them sent to me. How far is it? How long would it take to ride there?”
“It is about sixty miles, a good three-day ride. We could get there quicker by stage, but it would be better to ride and take packhorses for supplies. Besides, it would be more peaceful. We would have much time alone together.”
She snuggled closer. “I would like that. I don’t think it would hurt for me to be away a week or so, just once. I’ve never left this place in all this time. It will be wonderful to see people again, some kind of civilization. And we have so much planning to do, Gabe. We need a house, and I want to turn the depot into a rooming house. You can hunt for our meat. I have some money saved, and—”
He cut off her words with a kiss, moving on top of her. “There is plenty of time for such planning,” he told her, moving his lips to her neck. “This is our wedding night. From here on we will talk only about our love for each other, and we will show that love by sharing bodies.”
Faith delighted in the fact that he seemed to have a way of making each time a little different, and she thought what a lovely idea he’d had in coming out here to lie under the stars, amid the soft night sounds, where they could be truly alone. “I love you, Tall Bear. Sometimes that’s the only way I can think of you, as the Indian man who helped me four years ago.”
He grinned, removing the combs from the sides of her hair and running his hands through its thick tresses. “And you are the woman who has haunted my night dreams ever since.” He met her mouth again, deciding he would never get over his desire for her. She could be totally beautiful and feminine, yet she was not vain like some white women. She could work as hard as any man, shoot just as straight, and was just as brave. It was hard to believe she was really his wife, that she had so quickly and willingly agreed to marry him. But some things simply were meant to be, and as far as he was concerned, this was one of those things.
Faith was lost in her own surprise that she had so quickly decided she wanted to be a wife again. She was Faith Beaumont now…wife of Tall Bear. Her husband was a mysterious mixture of Indian and white, a man from worlds far removed from anything she had ever known. He was a man of great passion, and she did not mind some of that passion being spent on her now as he gently unbuttoned her dress, unlaced her camisole, and reached inside to caress her breasts almost worshipfully. He rose and pulled the dress down, off her shoulders and arms, and she lay there with her camisole still on but unlaced. Her feet were already bare, as she had taken off her shoes and stockings when she’d sat down on the blanket. He pulled her dress and slips the rest of the way off, leaving only her drawers and camisole. He leaned down, kissing her belly, slowly pulling down her drawers, licking little circles around her belly button, on down to the crevices at her thighs.
Indeed, this was no time for talking. Her drawers came off, and he kissed a pathway back up her legs to the red hairs that hid her lovenest. She shivered with a totally new ecstasy when his tongue moved to that magical spot he had touched only with his fingers until now. This was something totally new to her. Johnny had never done anything like this. He had never brought her so alive, made her feel quite so wanton and full of such urgent desires. He licked his way back down again, massaging and kissing her feet, her ankles, her legs, her knees, the insides of her thighs, making her want to open herself to him.
He gently tasted her again. She was astounded she could be so brazen with him, yet it felt so right. She stared up at the heavens, aching at his touch, quickly feeling the sweet, pulsating climax that made her cry out his name. Johnny had never brought her to this point, had never caressed her there, never caused this terrible need in her.
In the next moment his leggings were unlaced and he was surging inside her before he h
ad even removed his clothes. He’d worn nothing under the leggings, wanting to be ready for this moment.
Gabe himself had not known such pure satisfaction since first taking Little Otter, but this was so much more satisfying, because he had been through so much since then, and this woman understood that. They shared more in common than one would think, both alone, both having suffered the loss of a spouse, both victims of this wild land, both free spirits. It felt so good to be inside her, to be able to please her. Her sweet juices still lingered on his lips as he devoured her mouth and claimed his new wife.
Faith arched against him, meeting his rhythmic thrusts, wanting every inch of him buried deep inside. This was her man. He had come to stay this time. He would not go away again. They had both found their place in this world where once they both had been lost. It felt good to be held, loved, caressed, respected, wanted. It felt good to be cared for and protected, much as she hated admitting she needed those things.
Gabe kept up the exotic mating for several minutes, wanting to please her totally. Finally he was unable to hold back his own near-agonizing pleasure, and his life spilled into her in pounding surges, leaving him spent and weak. He lay down beside her then, pulling her into his arms. “We will do this again. I want to take you many times tonight. We will be wild like the animals, free as the wind.”
He sat up and untied and removed his precious bear-claw necklace, pulled off his buckskin shirt, leggings, and moccasins, then stretched out beside her, damp skin against damp skin. He pulled a blanket over them so she wouldn’t get chilled. “It is strange,” he told her, “how we are so close and yet in so many ways still strangers to one another. How can this feel so natural?”
She kissed his chest. “I don’t know, except that it must be God’s will. I never realized how much my parents taught me about faith until I came out here. Every time I’ve had a need, God has provided it. When Johnny was shot and I was out here alone, I prayed for God to send help, and then you appeared, and you came again when little Johnny was sick. I think even then the Lord meant for us to be together.”
Tame the Wild Wind Page 28
