She sighed with relief then shivered slightly. “I’m a bit cold,” she said huddling against him. She didn’t want to go back to the warmth of the house. Nor back to her lonely bed. Not now, now that she knew what it was like to be in his arms. Cyrus was all the heat she’d ever need to keep her warm.
Cyrus reached for the corner of a horse blanket hanging overhead. He drew her closer to him, then covered them both in the warmth of the heavily woven wool.
Suzanne snuggled against her husband. She draped an arm over his chest then tucked a leg between his, feeling the power that had claimed her. For the first time since mother helped her run away from home, she felt content and safe. Within minutes she fell into a peaceful sleep.
A warmth spread through Suzanne lulling her from her slumber. She opened her eyes and felt Cyrus somewhere under the blanket below her belly. She gripped a handful of hay, licking her lips as she soared further into the spiral she was locked in.
Kisses trailed a path over her belly, up her ribs, then found a gooseflesh breast. Cyrus appeared in the shadows of the coming daylight, his body claiming hers again. More quickly than last night, an urgency that spoke volumes to her and she matched it. They had little time with the ranch waking to make it back to the house.
“Good morning, Suzie,” Cyrus whispered, his voice gritty and eyes dark with the lust claiming them both.
“Breakfast…will be…late,” she gasped clinging to Cyrus’s back, raking her fingers across flesh and muscle. They moved as one. The spiral she continued to ride increasing with velocity.
“A habit…I hope…happens often,” Cyrus groaned tossing his head back and plunged deeper inside her.
Her back arched in response and they came together in the heat of lust. Suzanne lay spent under the wonderful weight of her husband as the cock crowed the arrival of a new day.
“We should be getting back to the house before…” she began, slipping away from him. The dampness of the morning creep over her; she hastily reached for her discarded garments and began to dress.
“Johnny wakes, and that will be soon, I’m afraid.” Cyrus stood and reached for his Levis. One leg at a time disappeared as he pulled the jeans up over his thighs then tucked his cock inside for safe keeping.
The blush of desire swept over Suzanne again. Doing her best to ignore it, she righted her dress, smoothing away any remnants of hay from the material.
Hand in hand they walked out of the barn and across the yard. Suzanne felt like a young girl as Cyrus picked bits of hay from her hair. Is this what love is like? she wondered all but skipping along.
“Good morning. There’s hot coffee in the kitchen.” The words held a bit of humor in them.
Suzanne stopped in her tracks, and she stepped behind Cyrus. Her heart pounded against her ribcage; she peeked over his shoulder. Standing on the porch, taking a swig from a coffee cup with a smirk on his face was Beau.
11
“Not a word, Beau!” Cyrus warned saddling his Palomino gelding. “There’s work to be done today, and I’ll not do it explaining anything of my private life to you or anyone else for that matter.”
“I’m glad to see some woman has finally caught your attention. Even if it is a saloon girl,” Beau chuckled, slipping a headstall over his horse’s ears.
Cyrus dropped a hand tooled leather headstall haphazardly over a stall wall. He reached his older brother in three steps then landed a right punch to Beau’s jaw that rocked him back a step.
“You talk about my wife like that again, and I’ll kill you—kin or not!” Cyrus spat shaking his hand then snatching the fallen headstall from the ground.
“Wife?” Beau chocked out rubbing his jaw. “Did you say wife?”
“Yes, and what of it?” Cyrus stood, waiting for a lecture of how asinine it was for him to marry a woman he knew nothing about. But Cyrus knew enough to know Suzanne was exactly the woman for him.
“Nothing, except does Johnny know he has a mother?” Beau spat a trace of blood onto the ground then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
“No, only the preacher and Cord know.” Cyrus winced at the blood trickling from his brother’s lower lip. “And now you. You got a problem with that brother?”
“No, I’m surprised is all. Especially since her father and Murray have found out where she is.” Beau mounted then rode south at a canter as Cord walked into the barn.
“Where’s Beau going in such a hurry?” Cord asked opening the stall to his horse a blanket in his hand.
“We are all going out to the south range, except you. I need you to stay here Cordell,” Cyrus mounted the gelding, then turned back to his little brother. “In case Suzanne needs something she can’t get herself. Plus, you’ll be the one to keep Johnny from saddling up and heading out to catch up to us.”
“I ain’t no babysitter, Cy!” Cord complained shutting the stall door. “I don’t see why I have to stay behind and look after your wife. Suzanne Kennedy can take care of herself, and you know it.”
“That’s a fact, but for my own peace of mind I’d be mighty obliged if you stayed just the same.” Cyrus reined his horse’s head around and rode off after Beau.
Cyrus hated leaving Cordell behind to watch over his family. They could always use an extra hand out on the range. Until he spoke further with Beau to find out what he’d heard, someone Cyrus could trust to protect his family had to stay behind. And that someone was Cordell.
When he finally caught up to his brother, Cyrus found Beau waiting at the spring a few miles southwest of the ranch.
“Tell me what you heard, Beau,” Cyrus all but demanded, doing the best he could to keep his emotions in check. It was too early to jump to conclusions. At least not until he had all the facts. If Murray was here, then they needed to be back at the ranch, the hell with checking the herd.
“I will when you tell me about your wife.” Beau took a long swig from his canteen, staring at Cyrus slit-eyed.
“Oh hell, it was a moment of madness I guess you could say. Suzanne told me about Murray and why, with her mother’s help, she ran away from her betrothed. I believe her. The telegram from Pinkerton confirmed Murray’s association with Suzanne’s father, William Butler. It was the only way I felt I could protect her,” Cyrus looked his brother square in the eye, daring him to say something so he could punch him again. It had been a long while since they’d duked it out and right now, he felt the need to lash out at someone.
“And the tumble in the hay last night was what?” Beau smirked at him, his eyes glittering in the morning, smug with knowledge of their late-night lovemaking. “Neither of you heard me come in, but I certainly heard you. Good thing I left the horses in the corral, you’d have spooked them back across the border with the amount of moaning and groaning that was going on.”
“Can’t a man and his wife have a moment of privacy?” Cyrus paused thinking of how it felt to hold Suzanne in his arms. To make love to her. To give her his heart and soul. “A moment of— No sense in trying to lie to you. I’m in love with her and nothing you can say or do is going to change that.”
“Does she feel the same?” Beau raised an eyebrow then shook his head. “She doesn’t, does she?”
“I honestly don’t know, but she’s not the type of woman to give herself freely. That much I do know.” Cyrus looked out over their land, his heart filling with pride. One day this would all belong to Johnny and any other children that came along. “My biggest fear right now is not being able to keep her safe from Murray. Once we got into Fort Worth, I figured the only way to do that was to marry her. And before you ask, she was not happy about it. I didn’t give her a choice.”
“Well, be that as it may, there’s trouble on the way, Cy.” Beau clucked, and his horse moved out at a slow walk.
Cyrus followed, ice running through his veins. “I figured that would happen. Murray is like a dog with a bone. He doesn’t quit until he’s devoured everything in his path.”
“And I’m afraid by br
inging Suzanne here the Double K is in his path. At best guess, he’s about two maybe three days ride from here.” Beau glanced over at Cyrus his face free of emotion. “I know you have reasons for always wanting to protect the innocent, but one of those innocents this time around is Johnny.”
“That’s why I left Cordell at the ranch,” Cyrus said beginning to question his decision to do so. His little brother was a good shot, but could he kill a man if need be? Cyrus wasn’t sure.
“Cord is a boy himself, Cy,” Beau said quietly.
“As were you and I when we first took up arms to protect what was ours. Or have you forgotten?” Cyrus knew full well things were different then. There was more than one of them defending their home and their beliefs.
“No, I haven’t. It’s you who have forgotten the losses. The pain of burying loved ones when we came back,” Beau spat, the painful memories laced in his words.
“This is why I’m doing this Beau. To protect those I care for,” Cyrus assured. “The last thing I want is to bury a loved one in the ranch cemetery again.”
“Good. Now let’s check the herd then head back to the ranch before the men think we’ve left them to carry the weight today.” Beau straightened his back then rode away at a trot.
The hackles on the back of Cyrus's neck prickled. The danger was closer than they thought. The question was how close.
Suzanne stood at the sink finishing up the morning dishes while Johnny sat at the table working over an English composition assignment on ranch life. The boy was a master storyteller as well as an outstanding mathematician. She couldn’t be more proud of him than if he were her own child.
But he wasn’t, not really. It hurt her heart that being his stepmother had to be kept a secret. She’d grown very fond of him since arriving. Johnny needed to be held and loved by a mother, no matter how much of a boy he thought he was.
Suzanne put up the last of the pots when Cord burst through the door looking madder than a wet hen. No need in asking what was wrong, she knew. Cyrus had left his younger brother behind—again.
“I thought you might be going with the others,” Suzanne reached for a pot of coffee and that last of the biscuits. “Here, have something to eat, there’s plenty left over. No sense being mad on an empty stomach.”
“I don’t know why he insists that I must always stay behind.” Cord ripped the biscuit apart then dunked it into his coffee. “I’m a man after all! I’m capable of doing a man’s work, and he knows it.”
“By he, I take it you mean Cyrus?” Suzanne smiled seeing a bit of her rebellious self in Cordell. She’d wanted to be out on the range instead of locked in the house dressed up like a doll when she wasn’t much older than Cord.
“Uncle Cordell, Pa must need you here otherwise you’d be with him, don’t you think?” Johnny added continuing his scribbling across the page.
“I know, Squirt.” Cord looked from Johnny to Suzanne. “Just once I’d like to be the one who doesn’t get left behind. I know someone needs to be here in case—”
“We need something that can’t wait?” Suzanne finished, shaking her head slightly. No need in having Johnny worry when there wasn’t any reason for it. “Cord, why don’t you take Johnny out to see that colt of his?”
“Really Miss Suzanne?” Johnny dropped his pencil on his paper, his eyes bright with excitement.
“Yes, you’ve been working extremely hard these past few days. I think you’ve earned some time with the colt and your uncle as well.” Suzanne wiped her hands on her apron, then gathered the rest of the dishes from the table. “Cord, you don’t mind helping him, do you?”
“No ma’am.” Cord grabbed the last biscuit and a handful of Johnny’s shirt. “Come on Squirt, let’s go see that devil of yours.”
Suzanne smiled watching Johnny and Cordell saunter out the door then race across the yard to the barn. The two were more like brothers than uncle and nephew. Johnny was in a hurry to be like Cordell while Cord was in a hurry to be like Cyrus. All in good time.
Suzanne gathered Johnny’s schoolwork and walked into the front room to put it on the desk for safekeeping. The sound of horses approaching drew her to the window. Cyrus hadn’t said anything to her about expecting company today. Pushing back the curtain her heart fell into the pit of her stomach like a rock.
Father and Mr. Murray! Suzanne began trembling with anxiety burning through her. How had they found her?
Straightening her back, she ran her hands over her skirt then stepped out onto the porch as her father dismounted. They stood there for a moment, eying each other up.
“Suzanne.” Will Butler had aged since she’d last seen him, but that was about it. He still looked as mean as a bear in the spring looking for honey.
“What are you doing here, Father?” Suzanne released the breath lodged in her lungs with a whoosh. “And why is he with you?”
“We’re here to take you home where you belong. You have an obligation to your family and to the man you promised to marry,” Will demanded with no room for compromise in his words. Evidently, he hadn’t noticed his little girl was a full-grown woman with a mind of her own.
“That’s your promise, Father. You marry him!” Suzanne stood her ground, hands on her hips. “I’m not about to be part of your schemes. Find someone else to marry off.”
“You belong to me woman!” Regan Murray moved his horse closer to the porch pushing her father aside in the process. “Now get what belongings you can fit in a bedroll.”
“I’m not going anywhere with either of you,” Suzanne shouted, her voice shaking in anger. She wasn’t about to be Regan Murray’s wife for all the gold in Deadwood. “I’m not a silly girl that has to do your bidding Father. I’m a married woman now! I don’t belong to you or anyone else.”
“You married without my blessing? Why you little hussy.” Her father pushed pass Murray’s horse and reached the bottom porch step his eyes blazing mad.
The click of a cocked gun behind her scared her more than her father or Murray did. Please let it be Cord and not Johnny holding the gun.
“Get the hell off the Double K.” Cord’s voice came out from the shadows of the house. “You ain’t got no business here.”
Butler and Murray looked at each other, gaging their advantage. Suzanne knew Cordell Kennedy could probably kill them both without batting an eye if need be.
“Cord,” keeping an eye on the men, Suzanne took a step back to the door, “my father was just leaving. Weren’t you?”
“The hell we are!” Murray spat jerking his horse’s head up.
“I’m not going back without my daughter. A deal is a deal,” Will claimed as if she were a mare being sold at an auction.
“A deal you made without mother’s consent I might add. Nor mine for that matter.” Suzanne reminded him cringing at the flicker of regret in his eyes.
A shot from the corner of the house rang out above their heads. Cord stepped forward, a rifle pointed at her father and Murray. “I believe Mrs. Kennedy has already told you she’s not going with you. And I’ve told you once to get off the Double K. This is your last warning.”
Will mounted his nervous horse then turned toward Suzanne. “You’ll both pay for this. I’ll be back to collect my…”
“Wife!” Murray spat then turned his horse north and rode away at a gallop. Her father trailed along like a puppy dog following its master.
“How long ago were they here?” Cyrus paced the kitchen floor. He knew in his heart there was a reason he had to leave Cordell behind this morning. And he’d been right in following his gut after all. “Cord, you did well. Thank you for protecting our family.”
“I don’t know. Maybe an hour at most, and that’s a guess,” Suzanne said pouring coffee for them all. “Johnny and Cordell had gone down to work the colt. It wasn’t, but a few minutes later I heard horses. At first, I thought you’d forgotten to tell me to expect someone. I went outside, and there was Father and Mr. Murray.”
“I came back t
o the house to grab an apple when I heard Suzanne arguing with some men on the front porch. I ran back to the barn, grabbed my rifle, and told Johnny to stay hidden in the hayloft,” Cord explained rubbing the back of his neck. “When they didn’t leave, I came around the corner and fired above their heads.”
“Cord did warn them to leave.” Suzanne plopped down in a chair, then looked up at Cyrus with worry. “I got so angry with them thinking they owned me, that I told them I was a married woman. I thought it would make them go away and leave me alone.”
Cyrus pulled her up into his arms, surprised by how much she was trembling. Suzanne never let anything or anyone bother her like this. Where was his steadfast wife? “Well, you told the truth. You are a married woman. You’re my wife, and I’m damn proud of it.”
“What about Johnny?” Suzanne asked concern etched on her face. “And Father? What will you do about him? He’s just a sheep following Mr. Murray thinking he’ll increase his land holdings.”
“When this is over, we’ll tell Johnny together. For now, I don’t want him leaving the house without someone with him.” Cyrus looked down into his wife’s face. He loved her, and he’d kill the first man who would do her any harm. “As for your father, I don’t know. That will all depend on whether or not he’s man enough to stand up to Murray. He won’t come to any harm, I promise you that.”
Cyrus looked up at the sound of pounding hooves.
Back from tracking the unwanted visitors, Beau stormed into the house, pulling his kid gloves off his hands. “They’re about ten miles from here and still on our land. They’ve camped just on the edge of the river.”
“How many?” Cyrus asked quickly determining that he’d have to leave Cordell with several of the ranch hands to guard the ranch in case Murray doubled back.
“Looks to be only two of them from the horse tracks,” Beau said, pouring himself a cup of coffee. “They were a lot closer than I figured. Thought we’d have time to prepare. I’m sorry, Cy.”
“When it comes to Murray there’s never enough time. The man probably paid someone to say he was further out.” Cyrus shoved his hat on his head, strapped on his gun belt, then headed out the door snatching his rifle in the process. “It’s time we paid a visit of our own.”
Brides Along the Chisholm Trail Boxset Page 33