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Sage: A Sweet Western Historical Romance (Walker Creek Brides Book 5)

Page 8

by Miriam Minger


  “Oh, God, help me.” Sage stood frozen in the hallway as the sound of laughter resounded from a room only a few doors down from the ladies’ lounge.

  Men’s laughter…one man’s standing out above all the rest.

  The silk reticule that she had just retrieved and looped around her wrist forgotten, she told herself to breathe. Breathe! Yet she could not, her breath jammed in her throat as the acrid smell of cigar smoke drifting from beneath the door made her feel as if she were about to retch.

  It had to be him. How could she forget that raucous laughter? As if it were yesterday, Sage recalled that same sound bouncing off the walls as he’d reeled drunkenly toward the room where she lay naked upon the bed and so dizzy that she couldn’t move.

  No, no, no, this wasn’t happening! Not tonight, not at the St. Valentine’s Day ball where she and Andreas only a short while ago had been dancing and laughing!

  Her heart beating against her breast, she tried to think clearly, rationally, but all she felt was raw emotion—disbelief, anguish, horror—overwhelming her every thought save for one.

  Scream, Sage, scream! Anything to send help running, her own feet useless as if glued to the floor.

  She opened her mouth at the same moment the door swung open, a man stepping into the hall though he looked over his shoulder to speak to whoever else must be in the room.

  “Nature calls, gentlemen, but I’ll be right back. Keep those cards warm for me—ah, what have we here?”

  No sound came from Sage, so terrified to be facing the man who had nearly stolen her innocence that she had gone mute.

  She didn’t recognize his swarthy face at all—that bedroom had been so dimly lit, but she smelled it then, the sickeningly sweet odor of his cologne that forced bile into her throat.

  She saw it then, too, a sudden look of recognition in his dark eyes that made amazement cross his face—and a flush of anger, too.

  “You…”

  Now Sage did move, as if his speaking directly to her brought her fully to her senses. She spun to flee down the other way, for the burly breadth of him blocked her path to the stairs, but he caught her arm and wrenched her back to face him.

  “I paid good money for you, woman—five hundred dollars! Are you working this hotel since Beatrice’s place was shut down?”

  She shook her head wildly, trying to twist herself free as he began to haul her with him down the hall.

  “You’re a bit overdressed, but with the goings-on downstairs and such a fine clientele, it’s no wonder. What perfect timing! My room’s at the end of the hall—and I’m not too drunk tonight to get my money’s worth—”

  “No, no, noooo!” A desperate keening torn from her throat, Sage heard silken fabric ripping as he caught her by the back of the dress and shoved her against a door.

  “Oh, so that’s the way of it, then, well, I like it rough, too.”

  She heard a key grinding in the lock and then the door fell away, Sage losing her balance and tumbling hard to the carpeted floor.

  She squeezed her eyes shut and now she did scream, a piercing, agonized sound that seemed to echo from the ceiling even as he grabbed her around the waist to haul her to her feet.

  “Shut up, woman! Shut up—aagh!”

  He released her so abruptly that she stumbled again—but it was the strangled sound he’d made that caused her to spin around to see Andreas gripping him by the throat.

  Gripping him and shaking him as if he might throttle the life from him, Andreas so much taller and broader that the man appeared a rag doll as Andreas hurled him bodily into the hall.

  Like a mighty fury unleashed, he caught the man again and slammed him against the wall to strike him over and over with his balled fist, even as alarmed masculine voices filled the air.

  Sage could only watch wide-eyed, trembling uncontrollably, as Andreas ignored altogether the men suddenly trying to wrest him away from the object of his wrath, who’d begun to scream for his life.

  She had never seen such a melee—Joshua, Daniel, and Seth all trying to pull Andreas off the man until the deafening blast of a pistol made everyone freeze in place.

  No one moved except the near incoherent man slumping to the floor while Andreas towered over him, his handsome face so mottled with rage that tears jumped to Sage’s eyes. Without thinking, she ran to him and threw herself against him, trying to calm him, trying to comfort him.

  “He didn’t hurt me, Andreas—you see? I’m fine, I’m fine!”

  As if coming out of some berserk daze, Andreas pulled her fiercely into his arms and buried his face in her neck, the wetness she felt telling her that he wept silently with relief.

  “Shh, Andreas, I’m fine, I promise you. I love you—I love you!”

  He seemed to shudder against her, only then lifting his tear-stained face to stare at her as if he couldn’t believe that she was unharmed.

  “I should have come to find you sooner! The moment Anita and Ingrid came downstairs without you—”

  “But you did come, Andreas, and we’re together, you see?”

  He nodded, still struggling to regain his composure as Caleb came up to them. His face grim, he slipped a small pistol into the holster inside his dress coat.

  “Take her downstairs, Andreas, and we’ll see to things here. Thank God you didn’t kill him, though he deserved it.”

  “He’s the man…the man from the saloon,” Sage began, only to have Joshua quietly interrupt her.

  “She’s right, Caleb, I recognize him. Fool, to have come back here hoping to profit during the ball—but at least he won’t trouble anyone again once the law is done with him. Go on now, Andreas.”

  He didn’t seem to need any more urging, but swept Sage into his arms and stepped over the man crumpled at his feet—giving him a kick—while everyone moved out of Andreas’s way.

  Sage clung to him, tucking her head against his broad shoulder as they went downstairs. Gathered at the bottom of the steps was an anxious-looking crowd that included Anita and Ingrid and even Kari, her face pale as she rested her hand upon her rounded stomach. Sage thought for a fleeting moment that Andreas might leave the hotel and head back to Walker Creek Ranch, but instead he turned into the ballroom.

  “Orchestra, play! It’s a dance, isn’t it?”

  At once the musicians heeded his command, striking up a waltz as guests flowed back into the room…while Anita ran up behind them.

  “Sage, are you all right? Is everything all right?”

  She nodded as Andreas set her down gently, but he kept his arm around her as he drew her into the middle of the dance floor. Still Anita hovered, gasping when she saw the torn ruffles on the back of Sage’s dress.

  “Anita, please. I want to dance with my bride-to-be.”

  His low tone seeming to calm her, Anita gave a small nod and stepped away while Andreas drew Sage into his arms.

  Drew her into his arms so tightly as if he would never let her go, Sage melding against him.

  Her ear pressed to his chest.

  His strong, steady heartbeat the sweetest sound she had ever known.

  Chapter Ten

  “Oh, Sage, soon we’ll be sisters!” Anita warmly squeezed Sage’s hand as the chamber trio began to play, and then turned to process down the improvised aisle created in Caleb and Lily’s sumptuous living room.

  The white-clothed altar was improvised, too, and the four rows of seating on each side of the short aisle. Yet Sage couldn’t have been happier for her wedding to Andreas to take place at Walker Creek Ranch—anything to ensure that Kari and her beautiful infant daughter would be able to join them.

  Lara Grethe Davis had been born on St. Valentine’s Day not long after Kari returned home from the ball, the birth proving a true blessing for all of them. Instead of the uproar that might have forever marred the evening in everyone’s memory, they had a joyful event to remember it by…Sage smiling at Kari, who cradled her sleeping baby with Seth at her side in the front pew.

  Eve
ry face seemed aglow with expectation in the candlelit room filled with only their nearest and dearest, which to Sage couldn’t have been more perfect as Ingrid clasped her hand.

  “You look lovely, Sage. I’m so glad to have you as my sister, too.”

  Grateful tears welling, Sage watched as Ingrid took her turn to process down the aisle, both bridesmaids wearing pale blue satin dresses that shimmered in the candlelight.

  That left only Sage and Samuel Levinson standing at the arched entrance to the room. The white silk roses in her bouquet that matched her wedding gown trembled in her hand as the dear gentleman standing in for her late father offered his arm.

  “Ya, Sage, you tremble with happiness—just like my Mary on our wedding day.”

  She nodded and looped her arm through his, and then she fixed her gaze upon the man who stood waiting for her at the altar beside Reverend Thomas.

  Her Andreas…so tall and strapping and handsome in his dark blue suit that her heart leapt within her breast, a tear rolling down her cheek.

  How could such joy have come to be? A new family, a new life, and the softest of whispers in her ear as she walked toward her beloved…Sage knowing then that Tante Kari was very, very near.

  “Love one another and be happy, child. God’s blessings upon you both.”

  Sage murmured a heartfelt prayer of thanks, something telling her in the way Andreas looked at her that he’d heard Tante Kari, too.

  His eyes glistening, he held out his hand to her, the touch of his fingers grasping hers the sweetest moment she had ever known.

  Anita

  Walker Creek Brides, Book 6

  If you enjoyed Sage, Book 5, don’t miss Anita!

  Read Now!

  Also by Miriam Minger

  Romance from sweet to sensual and historical to contemporary, you’re sure to find stories to love!

  WALKER CREEK BRIDES

  Sweet Western Historical Romance

  Kari

  Ingrid

  Lily

  Pearl

  Sage

  Anita

  THE MAN OF MY DREAMS

  Regency Historical Romance

  Secrets of Midnight

  My Runaway Heart

  My Forbidden Duchess

  Kissed At Twilight

  My Fugitive Prince

  THE O’BYRNE BRIDES

  Irish Medieval Historical Romance

  Wild Angel

  Wild Roses

  Wild Moonlight

  On A Wild Winter’s Night

  CAPTIVE BRIDES

  Medieval Historical Romance

  Twin Passions

  Captive Rose

  The Pagan’s Prize

  DANGEROUS MASQUERADE

  18th Century Historical Romance

  The Brigand Bride

  The Temptress Bride

  The Impostor Bride

  TO LOVE A BILLIONAIRE

  Steamy Contemporary Romance with an Historical Romance Story within a Story

  The Maiden and the Billionaire

  The Governess and the Billionaire

  The Pirate Queen and the Billionaire

  The Highland Bride and the Billionaire

  ROMANTIC SUSPENSE

  Operation Hero

  INSPIRATIONAL ROMANTIC SUSPENSE

  Operation Rescue

  About the Author

  Miriam Minger is the bestselling author of sweet to sensual historical romance that sweeps you from Viking times to Regency England to the American West. Miriam is also the author of contemporary romance, romantic suspense, inspirational romance, and children’s books. She is the winner of several Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Awards—including Best Medieval Historical Romance of the Year for The Pagan's Prize—and a two-time RITA Award Finalist for The Brigand Bride and Captive Rose.

  Miriam loves to create stories that make you live and breathe the adventure, laugh and cry, and that touch your heart.

  For a complete listing of books as well as excerpts and news about upcoming releases, and to connect with Miriam:

  Visit Miriam’s Website

  Subscribe to Miriam’s Newsletter

 

 

 


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