“It means that we can both have our dream, and each other.” She untied her cape and removed it and her velvet gloves. A little snow still clung to her leather boots as well as to the ruffled hem of her dress. Taffeta and petticoats rustled as she moved to lay her cape and gloves on the bed, a bed she noticed was still unmade. She turned to face him. “You were right about one thing. The sight of that vein nearly took my breath away. Mr. Benjamin feels he can probably get millions out of there, but like all such situations, it will also cost him a great deal to mine it right. He’s the one with the know-how and equipment, and since I am going to marry and move to Wyoming with my new husband, I won’t have time for such things, so I sold him the claim.”
Ethan frowned, leaning against a wall to watch her, thinking how much more a woman she was. The way she filled out that dress…“You did?”
She smiled again. “You’re surprised.” She sighed and folded her arms. “Ethan, what am I going to do with you? You really thought I’d keep it and become some wealthy mining mogul, maybe buy up half of Denver, didn’t you? That I’d just totally forget you even exist once I saw that bonanza.” She shivered with delightful memories when his eyes moved over her in that way he’d always had of disarming her defenses.
“I know you pretty well, I’d say. You can’t blame me for thinking the worst.”
She turned away. “No. I guess I can’t. All I can tell you is that I’m here because I want to be here. None of the things that used to matter to me make any difference any more. When I went up to that claim without you, so many memories came flooding in, not just from up there, but all the other things we’ve shared. Something keeps bringing us back together, Ethan, and now we’ve lost a child.” She turned to face him again, studying the high cheekbones and full, tempting lips. His very presence made her feel safe and loved. “I want more babies, Ethan. That’s the only thing I know for sure now. I want lots of babies to love and to love me back, and I want you to father them. I want to sleep in your arms at night. I hate being away from you. I—”
He put up a finger to stop her. “You said something about a compromise. Let’s hear it all.”
She dropped her gaze and sat down on the bed. “I told you I sold the claim, but just because I’m not going to mine it myself doesn’t mean I’m not a rich woman. Mr. Benjamin gave me one hundred thousand dollars for full rights to the claim.”
Ethan moved away from the wall, dropping his arms and whistling softly. “A hundred thousand!” He turned away. “A hundred thousand,” he repeated. He shook his head. “Damn.” He turned to face her. “And you still want to get married and go live on a ranch in Wyoming? Do you know what you could do with a hundred thousand dollars?”
Allyson scooted farther back on the bed. “I know exactly what I’ll do with it, and we’ll both have what we want.”
Ethan frowned questioningly. “And how is that?”
“Oh, you’re going to buy that land, all right, only you’re going to own the biggest ranch in Wyoming, stocked with the best beef cattle and the finest horses. You’re going—”
“Ally, I don’t want to get into all the headaches of being that big. All I want to do is—”
“All you want is to be able to ride out on the open range, to feel free, to be with nature, work with animals. I know what you want, Ethan, and you can have it. I’ll handle the figures and the headaches. Don’t you see? It’s what I love to do. We can be together, and you’ll be doing what you love, while I’ll be doing what I love. I’ll be managing something—a business we can share. I’ll do all the paperwork, and you’ll be out there riding under the sky, taking care of the cattle and horses, doing what you love best. At night you’ll come home to me, and we’ll have time for just each other…and all the children we’re going to have.” Her smile faded, and her eyes misted with tears. “Of all the things I have lost, Ethan, the baby hurt the most. I want another, lots of sons for Ethan Temple. And if we’re going to have a lot of children, we’ll need lots of land, so that some day when they inherit it all, there will be plenty to divide up among them.”
She rose from the bed and walked closer to him. “Ethan, we can have everything we both want. That hundred thousand dollars is yours. I had Mr. Benjamin make the check out to you, not to me. Doesn’t that say something for how much I trust you? Love you? You can throw me by the wayside and take the money and run if you want. I wouldn’t blame you if you did.”
He grasped her shoulders. “It isn’t the money, Ally.”
“Of course it isn’t. With you it never has been. And that’s how it is for me now. I’ve fought what I know is really important only because I’m so afraid to love you and risk losing you to death. Now I know I have to take that chance, because I can’t possibly go on with life and be happy without you. It wouldn’t matter if I owned all of Denver. I don’t need those things anymore, Ethan. I’m willing to take the chance. At least if we can have children, if I do lose you, I’ll always have something left of you to love forever.” She touched his chest, enjoying the feel of his soft buckskin shirt. “Ethan, I chose gold, land, possessions, because those things are easy to love. They can’t die. Even if you lose them, you can find a way to get them back; but you can’t get back a human life, and that’s why I didn’t want to care so deeply, why I allowed myself to believe all I needed was material possessions and money. But after spending all that time up there on the mountain with you, it was like you became a part of me. Letting you go now would be like cutting off an arm or a leg. The baby I lost was yours, too, and married or not, when you put your life into me it was out of love, and it was right. No one can tell me it wasn’t. I just want to be loved that way again, Ethan, forever. I never knew that kind of love, and it frightened me.”
She rested her head against his chest, breathing in the soothing, familiar scent that comforted her in the night and told her everything was all right, that she was loved. “Let’s get married, take our money, and go to Wyoming, Ethan. I think it’s exciting to think of what we could have together. I’ll manage everything. All you have to do is—”
He grasped hold of her chin and made her look up at him. His dark eyes were scowling, but there was a teasing glitter, too. “Why do I get the distinct impression that you’re manipulating me again?” He rubbed her chin with his thumb. “I’m going to be working for you, aren’t I?”
She felt a flush come to her face. “I didn’t mean it to sound that way. It wouldn’t be like that at all, Ethan. We’d just be sharing something, both of us doing what we like.”
“And you’d have the security of the ranch, in case something happens to me. It’s that security you’re always after, isn’t it?”
She watched him boldly. “Maybe it is.”
He suddenly broke into a handsome grin. “I also have a feeling that if we went broke and lost the ranch, you’d find some other way for us to survive.”
She reached up to put her arms around his neck. “That won’t happen, because you know the land, you know about horses and cattle, you’ll love what you’re doing.”
“And you’ll love balancing the books.”
She smiled. “It will be exciting for both of us.”
He frowned. “Just don’t get too bossy.”
“I’ll try not to.” She leaned up and kissed his lips lightly. “Besides, in certain parts of our marriage, you’ll always be the boss.”
He began pulling the pins from her hat. “Oh? What parts are you talking about?” He tossed her hat aside and began nudging her toward the bed.
“Well, I’d say during the hours of around nine P.M. until morning. During those hours I will be totally under your control.”
He moved his hand into the neat bun into which she had wound her hair, wiggling his fingers until all the pins fell out and her hair fell down her back. “I prefer that you be totally under my control twenty-four hours a day.” He picked her up and laid her on the bed, moving onto it beside her. He met her lips in a hot, hungry kiss, rubbing at the ta
ffeta bodice that so beautifully displayed her small waist and full breasts. He cupped a breast in his hand, a little annoyed by the feel of stiff undergarments. “One order is that you don’t wear these damn stiff things under your dresses.”
She smiled, feeling fire move through her veins. “I’ll wear them only on special occasions. After all, you’ll be one of the richest ranchers and landowners in Wyoming. We’ll have to go to socials once in a while.”
He watched her blue eyes warily. “Why do I get the feeling I won’t just be pushing cattle?”
Allyson touched a finger to his lips. She loved the way they were shaped, the way he kissed her. “Don’t you know that women have a way of making a man feel like he’s in complete control, when he really isn’t at all?”
He grinned. “Maybe a man just enjoys letting the woman think she’s putting one over on him.”
Her eyebrows arched in surprise. “Ethan Temple, I thought I could fool you again.”
He kissed her eyes. “Not anymore, Miss Mills. Two can play at that game, and I’ll do it, as long as I can have you in my bed at night and call you my wife.”
Allyson reached up and pulled away the rawhide tie that held his long hair back. It spilled over his shoulders. “You like my hair long and loose. I like yours the same way.”
He began unbuttoning the front of her dress. “You mean you don’t want me to cut it like a white man’s?”
“Never,” she whispered. She grasped his hand then and smiled. “If we’re going to get started on another baby, shouldn’t we find a preacher first?”
He kissed her throat. “There are plenty in this town. We’ll find one later. First things first.”
He met her mouth then, and Allyson returned his kiss with a passionate hunger. She knew what she wanted now, more than gold, more than her independence. She finally had something to call her own, and his name was Ethan Temple. This was one possession she was never going to lose again, and for the first time since her mother died, she was not afraid to love.
There is no fear in love…perfect love drives out fear.
I John 4:18
Also by Rosanne Bittner
The Bride Series
Tennessee Bride
Texas Bride
Oregon Bride
Caress
Comanche Sunset
Heart’s Surrender
In the Shadow of the Mountains
Indian Summer
Lawless Love
Love’s Bounty
Rapture’s Gold
Shameless
Sweet Mountain Magic
Tame the Wild Wind
Tender Betrayal
The Forever Tree
Unforgettable
Until Tomorrow
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