Romancing the Wilderness: American Wilderness Series Boxed Bundle Books 1 - 3

by Dorothy Wiley

  He pressed his lips to hers again, this time caressing her mouth more than merely kissing it. She felt her heart swell another notch. As a flower blooms in the warmth of the sun, she felt their love grow with each of his kisses.

  While Sam took care of the horses and then gathered firewood, Catherine set up camp. The moon was a few days away from being full and it gave her plenty of light to work by. She had, with Jane’s help, changed out of her wedding gown and delicate slippers before they left. Now she wore her leather boots and a dark green riding habit more suitable for traveling horseback. Nevertheless, she thought her getup stylish and flattering, and she still wore her new delicate lacy undergarments underneath. She hoped Sam would like them—and enjoy taking them off her later.

  As she worked, she stole secretive glances at her new husband. She could see that, as ever, he was alert to his surroundings. He carried his shoulders with latent energy, ever ready to be a warrior. Just his presence made her feel safe, protected, even here miles from anywhere. He moved with such strength and self-assurance. His well-muscled arms removed the heavy saddles and supplies from the horse’s backs as if they weighed nothing. As he wiped down the three steeds and gave them water and grain, she perceived a gentleness and a quiet calmness. He will make a kind-hearted father to Little John. Yet she believed he would also set high expectations. She blinked back tears and swallowed hard, trying not to let her emotions gain the upper hand. How she wished she could give him a child. But she managed a half smile as thoughts of Little John, now just John, entered her head. He had called her Mother. She couldn’t wait to show the boy a mother’s love.

  Sam sat an armload of firewood and kindling down, dusted his hands and arms off, and reached for her. She inhaled his scent deeply, letting it reach all the way to her heart. He smelled of wood, spice, and the leather of his new buckskins.

  She reached up and grabbed his arms in her hands as he kissed her again. The feel of his strong muscles beneath her fingertips sent tingles to her toes and back again. This would be an evening she would remember forever. Her prolonged anticipation of this night during the weeks before their wedding was almost unbearable. And tonight, her heart teemed with excitement.

  When Sam finally pulled away, he said, “I better stop before I get carried away. I need to get this fire made. It will keep wild animals away and let me see every charming inch of you this evening.” He bent down to start his task.

  Catherine could feel the hot blush on her cheeks and was glad he probably couldn’t see it in the moonlight. Even though she’d been married before, and wasn’t some frightened virgin, the thought of Sam seeing her unclothed caused her entire body to flush with heat.

  “Do you want some coffee and warm corncakes?” she managed to ask.

  “Coffee would be nice. But you’re the only cake I want.”

  “But Sam, you need to keep your strength up. You might need it later.”

  “Later? Now, why would I need it later?” he teased.

  Later, he did need his strength and she did too.

  It had started slowly, a gentle kiss, a soft caress down her back. But within seconds, Sam’s desire flamed to a roaring firestorm of passion. They had both waited too long for this. Their need for each other had been delayed, put off, held back, pent-up, until, once released, there was no slowing it.

  He quickly discarded his clothing while she slid her riding jacket off her shoulders and stepped out of her long skirt. When she glanced up, her lashes flew open and she felt her mouth drop. She stood there, amazed, trying to breathe.

  Unclothed, he appeared even more powerful. She ached to touch him to see if the muscles defining his broad shoulders were as hard as they looked. Dark hair sprinkled across his massive chest and down the center of his rippled abdomen.

  Her eyes, more daring than perhaps they should be, could not resist roaming over the rest of him. The irresistible and impressive sight made her heart tremble and her head spin.

  Deliberately taking her time when she reached her stays, stockings, and lacy undergarments, his bold stare assessed her unhurriedly and seductively.

  After his head-to-toe caressing gaze, he eased her down on the blankets she’d brought, the light from the fire illuminating their already hot skin.

  Sam stared at her with a greedy possessiveness. His eyes grew darker, revealing the urgency of his need. He shifted his body above hers and she heard herself moan with pleasure at just the feel of his marvelous body against hers. His shoulder muscles were as hard as they looked.

  She buried her hands in his hair and wrapped one leg around him, drawing him even closer while his hand lightly explored her waist and hip. The gentleness of his touch made her feel protected and valued, as though she had just entered a haven of love. She wanted to weep with joy.

  He slid his hand beneath her and gripped her bottom. Her desire surged at the intimacy of his touch. Her head lolled back as his warm lips trailed a path of kisses down her throat, across the top of her shoulder, and descended her chest to her burning breasts. If she weren’t already laying down, she would have swooned with sheer amazement. Her eyes bulged and she gasped, at the wondrous sensations Sam made her feel for the first time in her life.

  He nuzzled her neck as she held him as tightly as she could. He was all muscle, head to toe, and his sheer masculinity made her heart beat even faster. Every place she touched made her ache for him, for the love she waited her entire life for.

  Even more astounding, he was her husband. “Husband,” she breathed, her heart full.

  “Wife,” he whispered the word reverently.

  Then he recaptured her lips and her world changed forever.

  It was heavenly ecstasy.

  Only God could design love this powerful, this exquisite, this meaningful. In his arms, she felt valued and cherished by his soul. She had never known such happiness. Such love. Such tenderness. It was exactly what her life had been missing.

  He was her champion, her knight in buckskins, and he saved her from a loveless life. Yet, as powerful as he was, he never tried to control or dominate her, but rather supported her strengths with his own.

  And, at last, love shattered the hard wall that he had built so carefully around his heart. Now they could share their destinies in a future together. She could tell that he had stored up a lifetime of love for her. And she sensed the strength of that soul-reaching love in every kiss, every tender caress, and every urgent breath she had to take as explosive bolts surged through her.

  As their passion raged, the bolts became lightning, flashing through every vein, and she surrendered completely to the thunderous joy.

  She wanted to match his ardor with her own, to take him to a place he had never been. A place where no pain existed. No doubts and no fears.

  Only pleasure. And love.

  She ran her fingers slowly across his chest. The golden glitter of sweat made his muscles and dark hair shine in the firelight. Her fingers prickled with the heat radiating from his skin. She savored the feel of him, as her hands and lips continued their hungry exploration of his magnificent body. Then her lips traced a sensuous path to pleasure. The intensity of his response to her seduction stunned her.

  His heartbeat pounded against her ear as his hard body covered hers and they met flesh against flesh. Heart against heart.

  And soon they experienced the unbridled glory of love’s fulfillment.

  Chapter 35

  A few days before the wedding, Lucky McGintey had quietly suggested a place to Sam to take his new bride for a honeymoon. Lucky said it was one of the prettiest spots in Kentucky and that it was relatively safe. Sam quickly decided to take Catherine there so they could more privately get to know one another. And they both needed some time to recover fully from their wounds and the ordeal they had just experienced. It would also be a chance to see more of Kentucky.

  The couple would meet up with the rest of their group at Fort Harrod in two weeks.

  Lucky recommended a place called C
umberland Falls on the Cumberland River, south of Boonesborough in southern Kentucky. Lucky thought that the presence of the Fort at Harrodsburg made the area reasonably safe from Indian attacks. Organized attacks in the area had ended with the Battle of Blue Licks, fifteen years ago, in 1782.

  It took them nearly three days to get there, but Sam decided it was well worth it. Cumberland Falls was one of the most scenic places he had ever seen. The 125-foot wide curtain of water, framed by verdant woods on both sides, was a dramatic backdrop both day and night for their campsite near the river’s edge. The constant sound of the water, rushing over the nearly seventy-foot high sandstone bed, provided an appealing and soothing backdrop for lovemaking and for healing.

  Every evening they basked, with upturned faces, in the soft beams of the moon—its silvery rays caressing their souls like a healing balm. And last night, the now full moon had played an extraordinary and dramatic role in their romantic surroundings. As the moon glowed against the clear sky, they witnessed a spectacular lunar rainbow.

  According to Lucky, local settlers called it a Moonbow. After he realized Sam and Catherine would arrive at Cumberland Falls shortly before the full moon, Lucky had excitedly described the rare phenomenon to Sam. Sometimes elusive, the lunar rainbow failed to show itself to everyone who tried to view the amazing sight. Some believed it only showed itself to those who possessed a good heart. When it did choose to reveal itself, Lucky explained, the Moonbow formed when moonlight glowed through the mist emanating from the waterfall.

  Sam had hoped they would be lucky enough to see the lunar rainbow and, without telling her why, positioned them that evening so that they sat in a perfect viewing spot on a soft fur rug he had brought.

  “My wedding gift,” he had told her when the Moonbow appeared out of the blue, as if by magic. The magnificent arch of light started at the base of the falls and continued downstream.

  Spellbound, Catherine looked as if she might faint at the stunning sight. He would never forget the wide-eyed look of awe on her moon-gilded face if he lived to be a hundred. And he would never forget, no matter where they finally lived, the blessing the bow from above bestowed on their love that night.

  As he made love to her under the glowing arch of the Moonbow, it seemed to carry them to some mystical other world. This hard world could never be this special—this remarkable and wonderful. Yet it was. He had held her in his arms and felt her tender affection pour into him, cover him as completely as the moonlight.

  He still couldn’t believe, even after nearly a week together, what the sight of her bare body did to him. Feelings he thought long dead now sizzled within him, and they were there more often than not. In truth, he wanted to hold her constantly. His need for her touch seemed insatiable. He was glad they would have a lifetime of being able to love and hold each other. And no matter what the passage of time did—whether it greyed her beautiful black hair or thickened her slim waist—he would still love her as much as he did now.

  This morning, the air felt fresh and crisp and the rising sun gilded the limestone cliffs and hills around them with gold light. The water rushing over the falls looked like silver sheets of glassy ice in places and sparkling snow in others.

  As the water struck the river below, it sounded like the pounding hooves of a hundred running horses. And further down the river, the water loped and cantered over rocks and trotted through mats of cane and vegetation along the shoreline. The lush woods behind them teemed with birds soaring, fluttering, and hopping about in the cool breeze.

  “A beautiful place for a beautiful bride,” he said to himself, as he contentedly gathered more dry wood for the cook fire. For some reason, he took pleasure in building their campfires here as though the ancient forest offered up the wood he gathered as a sacrifice, and the burning of it joined him to this particular place.

  Catherine never woke easily and still slept but soon started to stir when the coffee began to brew. She stretched, sprawled out on her pallet, and he admired for the hundredth time her shapely figure showing beneath her sheer nightdress. Even after a night of loving her, he found his body gleefully responding to the pleasant sight and tried his best to suppress the feelings for now.

  “Sam, I was dreaming of you,” she said, yawning. “And you’ll never guess what you were doing in my dream.”

  “Oh, I can guess, my love,” he said, amused. “Are you hungry?”

  “Ravenous. I can’t remember ever being this hungry in my entire life.”

  “That’s because we didn’t eat last night, remember. We were preoccupied.”

  “The Moonbow and what we did afterward was well worth the loss of a meal,” Catherine said. “But I think it’s more than skipping our dinner. You made my body feel things it has never felt before. I feel so alive. Sam, will it always be like this?”

  “I pray that it will, if a person is allowed to pray for such a thing.”

  “It does seem a miracle. I mean not just that we love each other and that the loving part of it is so remarkable, but that we were put together at the right moment in time for both of us.”

  “Some call that a divine appointment,” he said.

  As the flames of the fire grew, he marveled at his good fortune. They could so easily have missed each other on the Wilderness Trail. But God literally put her right in his path. He had been a fool to have taken so long to realize what the good Lord had sent him.

  “I put some yams in the coals earlier to bake. Give me a few minutes to clean the fish on the line and fry them up and then we’ll take care of your hunger.”

  “What if I’m hungry for more than food,” she teased.

  Her comment sent a tingling vibration up and down his spine. “No worries there either.”

  “Sam, are you sure we’re perfectly safe here?”

  He didn’t want to say that no place was perfectly safe. He checked to be sure that both rifles and his pistols were nearby. They were. “I’m told the natives are north of the Kentucky River for the most part and are not often seen here near the Cumberland. If we do happen upon any, I’m usually able to settle things with a trade or two, using sign language. If not, I have both our rifles nearby and loaded.”

  “I didn’t know you knew sign language,” she said, sounding amazed.

  He showed her a sample.

  “What does that mean?”

  “May the Great Spirit make a sunrise in your heart.” As He has in mine, he thought.

  “Sam, you continue to astonish me. That was beautiful.”

  “Sign language is the one common means of communication between all tribes. Surprisingly effective and eloquent.”

  He extracted the plump fish from the river and held them up for her to see, their scales glistening in the morning light. “One or two?” he asked.

  “One. That big fat one. He looks like a tasty fellow.”

  He unhooked two for him and the big one for Catherine. He had caught the fish the evening before and kept them fresh in the running cool water.

  “Do you think it was a mistake not to take Little John with us?” she asked.

  “We’ve discussed this. We agreed that we could hardly take a boy on a honeymoon. He understood.”

  “I hope you’re right, but I know he’s missing his father and needs us. Sam, I think we should leave soon and go back to the others. Little John needs us to be his parents now—not later. And a couple of weeks can seem like a couple of years to a child.”

  It amazed Sam how quickly the maternal instinct had captured Catherine’s heart. In truth, he felt conflicted about it himself. Part of him yearned to stay here forever. Another part of him wanted to be with Little John and the others. He guessed he would never outgrow trying to be the protective oldest brother. And now he was a father too. Becoming the child’s guardian had been the natural thing to do for both of them.

  Catherine was right. By the time they got back, they would have been away two weeks. That would just have to be long enough.

  “Yo
u’re right, of course, but leaving this amazing place and the privacy we have here will be one of the hardest things I have ever done,” he nearly moaned. “I’ve never known such happiness, Catherine. It’s almost more than my heart can bear.”

  “I know. I never knew what it felt like to feel loved. More than loved, I feel treasured.”

  “You are my treasure,” he responded, hearing a catch in his own voice.

  “And you’re all I ever dreamed of husband. Good heavens, it brings me pleasure to be able to call you that.”

  “And you’re my wife—the bride of Cumberland Falls. As long as I live, I’ll treasure every moment of the time we’ve spent here.” He wrapped his arms around her waist and drew her closer to him. “I wish we could remain, making more memories, but we can’t.”

  Unexpectedly, she put her hands on his chest and slowly pushed back, releasing a pent-up breath. “Sam, I’ve been trying to find the right moment to tell you something. Somehow, it never comes. So, I’m going to force myself to do it now. Oh, Sam, this is so hard.” She chewed on her quivering bottom lip and then stepped away, putting her back to him.

  His brows furrowed and he slowed his breathing, worried about what might be coming. “What is it? Tell me.” What would she find so difficult to tell him?

  She turned back toward him and he saw a shadow of trepidation pass over her face. “I…about a year…after I was married, I learned I was with child.”

  Did she have a child back in Boston? Why hadn’t she mentioned it before?

  “After about four months, I lost the baby,” she said, her words soft and her lips quivering. She swallowed hard and bent her head before she could continue. “It was a little boy. It was the worst thing that ever happened to me—maybe the worst thing that will ever happen to me. I cried for weeks. Not only did I lose my son, the doctor said I might not be able to have another baby.” She looked up, her eyes glistening.

  The admission, dredged from a place of deep pain and hurt, lay naked in her eyes. Sam wanted to reach out and hug her, but he could tell she wasn’t finished.