by Tina Susedik
“He’s fine. Evidently you told him not to leave the wagon, and he’s taken you at your word. Nothing we do or say will get him to leave.” Willow smiled. “One of my men tried climbing in through the back. Your dog bit him on the arm. Another tried through the front, but a man inside pulled a gun on us.”
Sarah didn’t care what happened to the soldiers, she just wanted to get to Tommy. To her dismay, instead of taking her to him, Willow droned on.
“We decided just to haul the whole thing back to the fort, lock, stock, boy, dog, and man.”
She couldn’t stand it anymore. “Sergeant Willow, I appreciate everything you’ve done, but could you please take me to my son.”
~ ~ ~
Sarah shaded her eyes against the glaring sun in the yard. Her heart skipped a beat. Joy bubbled through her chest. There stood her wagon, Rose and Tulip attached in the front, George tied to the rear, bellowing to be milked.
Several soldiers milled about, a couple muttering about ‘those damn oxen,’ ‘that blasted dog,’ and ‘a brave boy.’ Simeon Willis sat on the ground being attended by the fort’s doctor.
Lifting her skirt, she raced to the wagon, Jack right behind her. With his hands at her waist, he lifted her to the seat.
“Tommy?” Sarah leaned into the dim interior. “Tommy, honey. It’s Mommy. You can come out now.”
In a blur, a small body jumped into her arms.
“Mommy, Mommy. I founded you. I founded you.”
Peace settled in her soul as his small arms wrapped around her neck. Tommy kissed her cheeks.
“I stayed hidden like you told me to. I gots hungry, though, so I ate some apples.” He leaned back in her arms, a frown on his face. “You won’t be mad at me for eating them without asking, will you?”
Sarah laughed for the pure joy of having her son back in her arms. “No, I won’t be mad at you.” She didn’t think she’d ever let him go.
He kissed her cheek again, then wiggled from her arms. She wanted to protest the loss of his small arms around his neck when he squealed.
“Mister Bard! You’re back.” Tommy jumped into his embrace.
Jack groaned but held Tommy against his chest.
“Tommy, be careful, Mister Billabard is hurt.”
“How did you get hurt, Mister Bard?”
“He got hurt saving me from Mister Manny. He’s a hero.”
With one arm still holding Tommy, Jack slung his other one over her shoulders. “You’re a hero, too, Miz Nickelson.” His lips caressed her cheek. “Let’s tell our stories later. Right now, there’s something we need to do before heading to my place.”
Sarah frowned. Had she heard rightly? They were going to his home? “What’s that?”
He offered her a lopsided grin. “You’ll see.”
~ ~ ~
As her wagon pitched and bumped over the trail to Jack’s cabin, Sarah held out her left hand. She was now officially married to Jack. She should probably be upset about the heavy-handed way he had taken charge. In a matter of minutes, he’d located the Army’s chaplain and explained what he wanted.
As word spread there was to be a wedding, the few women in the fort took over. A tub was brought into the major’s office and filled with steaming water. While she luxuriated in cleaning days of dirt and Horace’s stench from her, several women went to her wagon and located the dress she’d made for her wedding to Mister Sampson.
Once she was clean and patted dry, the women slid the dress over her head and arranged her hair to fit beneath the matching hat.
Gazing longingly at the parasol meant to accompany her outfit, Sarah accepted a bouquet of wildflowers tied with a purple satin ribbon. With all the work the women had done for her, she didn’t have the heart to reject their offering.
As a few of her helpers sniffled in the background, Sarah repeated her vows to a clean, dashing Jack. His hair, still wet from his bath, was slicked back from his forehead with one errant piece drooping down. He wore a flannel shirt tucked into dark blue pants that must have been borrowed from someone shorter than him. Who was she to complain? After all, he hadn’t come to the fort for a wedding. Besides, she would have married him in his long johns.
Someone had cleaned up Tommy. His beaming face shone like polish had been taken to it. His pants, also too short, were clean and held up by suspenders that for once weren’t twisted. He slipped one small hand into Sarah’s and one into Jack’s, holding them both while they faced each other to repeat their vows. With Jack clasping her other hand, they formed a perfect circle. A circle of love.
If Jack’s words were a little slurred and their kiss just a brief touching of his swollen lips to hers, Sarah didn’t mind. They’d have years to make up for it.
Now they were on their way to Jack’s—no, their home. The major, married with a son Tommy’s age, had convinced them to leave Tommy behind for a few days.
“After all,” he’d said with a wink, “a marriage shouldn’t start with a six-year-old underfoot.”
Sarah was torn between never leaving her son again, and taking advantage of time alone with her new husband. Since Tommy was already off playing with the other children, and it was only for a few days, she relented.
Jack set the wagon’s brake in front of the cabin, eased himself off the seat, and came to her side.
“I’d love to help you down, but I’m afraid I’d drop you.”
“Don’t worry, I’ve done this a few times.” She looked at the train of her skirt. “Never in a dress this fancy, though.”
~ ~ ~
Jack looked at the material flowing down the back of her dress. Even though she’d looked as beautiful as a sunset over the mountains, the dress was impractical for a ranch. It would probably be stored and only brought out when one of their daughters got married.
His blood quickened. Daughters and sons. Hopefully they’d have a passel of them.
Gracefully, Sarah climbed from her perch. Jack worried what she’d think when she saw the inside of a cabin that had been pretty much ignored over the past years. Yet he was pleasantly surprised at her reaction. With the dress’s train slung over her arm, she walked around the kitchen and living area, poked her head into his room, then a room that would be perfect for Tommy. Once they had children of their own, they’d have to add on. Maybe upward.
“This is so big. And bright.” She wrinkled her nose. “With a little cleaning, this will be perfect.”
Damn his aching body. Thankfully his ribs weren’t broken, only bruised. Even if they had been, there was no way he wouldn’t make love to his new wife. Hell, with his puffed-up eye, he could only see half of her. He’d just have to use his good eye to view every inch of her.
“Uh, Sarah?”
She stopped checking out the cast-iron stove and smiled at him over her shoulder. “Yes?”
“I’d like to take you to a special place.” He eyed her wedding finery again. “You’ll have to change into something a little less fancy.”
“I know just the thing. It’ll take but a moment to get what I need.”
The few minutes she was gone seemed like an eternity. Was she changing in the wagon?
“Will this do?” Sarah held up a blouse and a skirt. She turned her back to him. “If you’ll unbutton me.”
Jack cussed at his shaking fingers as he released each one of the many buttons going down her back. As each button was opened, more of her skin was exposed. Her long, elegant neck and white, smooth shoulders. Her delicate upper back.
Since he hadn’t seen her completely naked before, he’d had to use his imagination to visualize what lay hidden beneath her chemise. Her back tapered to a small waist. His fingers burned at the last button at the top of her buttocks.
Even if it meant torturing himself, he needed to see if his imagin
ation lived up to the real thing. He slid the dress down her shoulders, her arms, to her waist, to the floor, the satin whispering in the silence of the room.
He turned her to face him and untied her petticoat, letting it drop over her dress. With trembling hands, he undid the top ribbon of her chemise, then two more. The material draped down her perfect, soft, white breasts. Reality was so much better than his imagination.
He burned to taste her rosy nipples again, and ran a finger from the top of her left breast and over her nipple, making it pucker.
Her breath hitched. “That feels wonderful. Please don’t stop.”
His cock twitched. Not here. He wanted their first night together to be where the tree had first shown her to him. “As much as I want you now, there’s somewhere I’d like to take you.”
Sarah cupped his face as gently as she would a newborn babe. Her kisses were as light as the wind, yet carried a punch that went clear down to his privates.
“I’m going to get dressed so you can take me to that special place of yours.”
Drawing his eyes from her perfect body, Jack stepped outside with a sack of food for his saddlebag. Quickly he readied a bedroll. Under the summer sun they wouldn’t need more covering. He unhitched Papaya from the back of Sarah’s wagon and led Jewel from the barn. Thankfully someone had brushed, fed, and re-saddled his horse at Fort Laramie. All he needed to do was take care of Jewel.
Jack nearly lost his ability to speak when Sarah appeared wearing a simple white, over-the-shoulder blouse tucked into a dark blue, split skirt. The scooped, gathered edge of the top exposed her chest. Dark nipples pebbled beneath the fabric. Wasn’t she wearing anything beneath it?
He swallowed around the lump in his throat. “What are you wearing?”
“Don’t you like it?” she asked, picking up Jewel’s saddle.
“Hell, Sarah. I love it. So much so, we may not leave here until I have my way with you.”
Her grin over her shoulder went straight to his groin. “Would that be so bad?”
“I’d rather have our first time as husband and wife not in a stuffy, dirty house, but out in the open.” He paused, watching her struggle with getting the saddle over Jewel’s back. “What are you doing?”
“Saddling what I assume is my horse.” She tightened the belt beneath Jewel’s belly.
“That’s my job. What kind of man do you think I am that I’d let my wife saddle her own horse?”
“The kind of man who is sore from rescuing his woman.” With the reins in her hands, she leaned against the hitching post and crossed her arms over her chest.
Worry settled in his gut when she didn’t look at him. Was she going to tell him the marriage was over before it even began?
She turned to him. “I don’t know what kind of life you had with Lily, but I don’t want what I had with Peter. If I was hurt or sick, would you cook for me?”
“Sure I would.”
“When we have children, would you leave me to raise them by myself?”
Where was she going with this? “Good heavens. No.”
“Then why would I expect you to handle things by yourself? You’re sore from the fight with Manny. Your pain is my pain. Your work is my work, just as my pain and work should be yours.”
Jack’s heart filled. What had he done to deserve a second chance like this? He laid his hands on her shoulders, slid them over her neck, and cupped her face as she had done to him earlier. “I think I’m going to love being your husband.”
~ ~ ~
For the first time in years, the ride to Jack’s mountain was slow and peaceful. Gone was the anger and guilt that dogged him in the past. Except for the pain in his cock from watching Sarah’s breasts sway with the movement of her horse, there was a calm, heartwarming sense of place.
He laughed at her stories of Tommy’s antics. He spoke of his youth, dealing with a bunch of rowdy brothers and sisters. They were getting to know one another, and with each shared memory, he fell for her more and more.
“We’re here.” Jack halted Papaya near the boulder, held the pommel, and swung from the saddle.
“It’s absolutely breathtaking.” She inhaled deeply as she dismounted. “And smells heavenly.”
He’d always loved the scent of pine trees, the river, and fresh, crisp air. Now that he knew Sarah loved it, too, it would be even more special. They’d have to make a point of coming up here often.
He left Sarah watching a pair of otters playing in the river. Where the tree had first appeared, he made a soft bed of pine needles, and spread out his bedroll. Once he was satisfied it would be comfortable, he stood behind her and settled his palms on her shoulders.
“As much fun as it is watching those otters, I can think of something more fun to do.”
Sarah turned in his arms. “And what would that be, husband?”
“Seeing you completely naked.” Her blouse made it easy to slide the sleeves down her shoulders until her breasts came into view. Lower and lower, until her nipples were visible.
His entire body shuddered with wanting Sarah. “Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful.”
~ ~ ~
Even though Sarah knew she wasn’t beautiful, his words made her feel like the most gorgeous woman in the world. Sparks shot through her as he slid her blouse down her arms, exposing her from the waist up.
She swore steam rose from her heated skin as he peppered kisses on her neck, her shoulders, and chest. She drew in a deep breath when he sucked one nipple, then the other. He unbuttoned her skirt and let it drop to the ground, leaving her naked except for her boots.
Jack cupped her buttocks and pressed her against his crotch.
She needed to feel his bare skin, the heat of his body, the hardness of his penis. “There’s something wrong here.”
“What’s that?” Jack’s deep voice shook.
“You’re dressed.”
Without taking his eyes from her, he tore off his clothes and stood before her in all his naked glory. In the light of day, she saw what darkness had hidden before. Broad shoulders. A muscled chest covered with dark hair, leading down to slim hips and . . . Oh, goodness. . . His hard cock bounced against his stomach. Her muscles clenched knowing where that cock would end up. She didn’t know how long she could wait.
Jack swooped her up, carried her to their makeshift bed, and laid her down as if she was the most precious piece of spun glass. He removed their boots.
“Completely naked,” he rasped, laying on top of her. His cock pressed against her stomach. “Even though I want to kiss every inch of you, I’m not sure how long I can wait, Sarah.”
She welcomed his weight and his words. “I’ve been wanting you since our first time together.” She skimmed her hands down his muscled back and shoulders, then his tight buttocks, pulling him closer. She didn’t know a man’s skin could be so smooth. “And even before that.”
“Thank goodness,” he mumbled against her breast, flicking his tongue across its tip, then sucking the nipple deeply into his mouth until she was squirming in need.
With a groan, he released her breast and took her mouth, capturing her tongue with his own as he slowly buried himself into her. Deepening their kiss, he set up a driving pace, overwhelming her with the force of her pleasure.
Sarah wrapped her legs around his waist and matched his movements, thrust after thrust. As a powerful pressure built inside her, she thought she’d die from the exquisite feeling, until the flames he’d awakened in her exploded into a fireball.
Jack moaned and with one last thrust, the warmth of his seed filled her.
~ ~ ~
Touching his forehead to hers, Jack whispered, “I love you, Sarah Billabard.”
“I love you, too, Jack Billabard.”
From the corner of his eye,
he noticed something shimmer. “It’s back.” He rolled away from her and sat up. “The tree. Just like the last time.”
It seemed to encompass them. Sarah reached out and fingered one of the branches. “How many times have you seen it?”
“Four. The first time was after Lily died. I came up here hurt, angry, feeling guilty. The tree appeared and with it a vision of a woman and young boy. I thought I was dreaming.” He ran his fingers through her hair, enjoying the silky strands against his skin. “When I first saw you and Tommy, I was shocked. You seemed familiar. As time went on, I couldn’t handle my growing feelings for you, so I denied them.”
Sarah snuggled into his side, resting her head beneath his chin. Her warmth was as comforting as the tree, filling his heart with love.
“My first time, a tall, handsome man appeared, wearing a long coat and a wide-brimmed hat. Carrying a rifle by his side.” She toyed with his chest hair. “Just the way you were when I saw you walking toward my wagon.”
They sat in silence as the tree hummed around them.
An urge to see what would happen if they both put their hands on the tree grew in him with each passing moment. “Let’s touch it together.”
The leaves shimmered and fluttered. Jack cupped her hand in his, and they reached out. He might have imagined it, but a branch swayed toward them, as if beckoning their touch.
As before, warmth spread through him. “Are your fingers tingling?”
Sarah nodded against him.
He tightened his arm around her shoulders. “Is your heart full to bursting?”
She sighed. “More than I ever thought possible.”
Together they turned and looked between the branches. A vision appeared. Jack sucked in a breath. His heart constricted. The woman in the image was not his Sarah.
“Lily,” he whispered, tears pooling in his eyes. She wore a lavender dress, the one she was married in. Her long, dark hair flowed away from her face, revealing high cheekbones and full lips. Her smile was the one she’d give him right after saying she loved him. A sob built in his chest.
