He appreciated her skillful control of the mount and really didn't have anything to complain about when she slowed the horse down to a gallop and reined him in beside a tree. She dismounted with effortless grace and finger-combed her hair, stretching her body. It was a deliberate taunt by her and he kept himself from smiling and his body from reacting outwardly, though he felt hot and hard.
He slid down to the ground. She gave him a beckoning smile but he forced himself not to give her a responding grin. She had to know right now that she could never ride Brown Fire again.
"Sandy, you've become a very good rider." He took the few steps to cover the distance between them. She was all smiles until she heard his next words. "But never ride this horse again. The emphasis being on the word, 'never.'"
"Oh, my God. Could you please take a chill pill? I've been riding this horse for the past week when you went away. We've grown accustomed to each other."
Seth wondered if he had made a mistake going down to Denver for a week to take care of something that he hadn’t yet told her about. He had made the decision of telling her if she told him she loved him. He could see it in her eyes, but he needed to hear the words.
"Sandy, Fire is not only spirited, but erratic as well. He's unpredictable. You could come to harm with him."
"Oh, come off it, Seth!" She stamped her booted feet. "I'm getting sick and tired of your overprotectiveness. I told you! I can take care of myself!"
Seth had never in all his years encountered a female like the angry girl standing before him. He had decided to go on the trip to give them some space so that she could miss him enough to realize how much she loved him. But just a few hours into his return, she was angry with him for caring about her safety.
It pissed him in no small measure that she still withheld a part of herself from him. He could see it in the shadows that crossed her heart every now and then. He was determined to wipe away her sorrows and show her what love meant.
Without a word, he walked back to the picnic basket, opened it, brought out the checkered cloth and spread it on the field. After standing there for some seconds watching him, she joined him in bringing out their picnic breakfast of sandwiches, cheese, salad, bacon, berries, chocolate chip cookies, freshly squeezed orange juice and a glass of wine. And honey.
He took his fish sandwich and handed her the ham sandwich. She poured them a glass of orange juice each. They ate in companionable silence for a while until he couldn't take it anymore. He had missed her terribly. And even though they spoke for hours every day over the phone, it wasn't the same as being with her.
"I missed you," he said softly. He quickly looked away to the beautiful and lush landscape when she didn’t respond.
"I missed you, too," she responded happily.
All Seth could think about was placing his lips on hers, but he had to check himself. Kissing could lead to more, and they were in such a serene and secluded place, things could go further than intended very quickly.
She looked so calm and beautiful; he decided this was the perfect opportunity to tell her his secret.
"Sandy, I need to—"
"Oh my God, Seth, this place is so beautiful. I wish I had brought my paintbrush and canvas," she spoke at the same time, looking at the natural beauty of her surroundings with the eyes of an artist.
Then she went on for about half an hour about a place similar to this she had visited then painted a beautiful landscape and how quickly she sold it. Seth lay on the cloth, watching her talk animatedly, her beautiful eyes lighting up with sweet memories her pendant bouncing on her chest as she gesticulated. It rested in between the buttons of her white shirt and Seth did all he could not to look at her breasts. The perfect molds were emphasized by the slightly tight shirt. He wondered what she would do if he started popping open the black buttons one after the other.
"Seth! Have you been listening to me?"
He blinked rapidly. Shit! What the heck had she been talking about? Oh, yes.
"Yes. So what did your fellow artist do when he saw you'd sold all your paintings and hadn't sold any of his?"
She gave him a smile of appreciation that he had been listening to her ramblings.
Seth threw away the blade of glass he had been idly chewing and sat up. They had put the remains of their sumptuous picnic back in the basket, so he could now draw closer to her. He brushed back an errant hair from her cheek and marveled anew at the softness.
"Sandy, in these few weeks, you've become a very important part of my life. Right now I can't imagine life without you. It's taken me being away from you this past week to realize how much you mean to me."
Wow! Seth was astounded by the words pouring out from his mouth and from his heart, but they were very true. She was the most important thing in his life right now. In fact, she was his life.
"I have something very important to tell you." He held her hand and saw the deep curiosity in her eyes. She brought out her tongue to wet her lips in a nervous act and blood rushed down his loins in full force. He would tell her his true identity, but first he just had to taste those pink, bow-shaped lips. The temptation was too much for him and he had spent sleepless nights thinking of kissing her again.
But alas, they were interrupted by the loud sound of thundering hooves. In a few seconds, Malcolm, mounted on a gray gelding, rode into view.
"I'm so sorry for disturbing your picnic, Seth and Sandy. Seth, you have a phone call and it’s urgent."
Chapter Ten
Seth watched Sandy with fascination as she walked beside him as they hiked on yet another trail in the Garden of Gods national park. He was amazed at her strength and stamina. He had thought she would be tired by now and would need him to carry her, but she was keeping up and telling him of the park's history as they moved from one red rock formation to another. He knew now that the Garden of Gods had been initially named as Red Rock Corral by the Europeans but was later changed by two surveyors to its present name. The place had been here for millions of years and it was all natural. They saw the Kissing Camels formation, the Three Graces, Sentinel Spires, and more. Sandy took so many pictures, he wondered if she wanted to develop a website about the place. She would make a good tourist guide, though.
Seth stared at her shining blonde hair bound in a ponytail, those bow-shaped, kissable lips as she talked on, the sparkle of excitement in her blue eyes, and abandoned all resistance. He drew her to him right there in the middle of the trail and kissed her senseless.
Sandy clung to his jacket to keep herself from falling as their jeans-clad legs rubbed against each other. She leaned into him as he deepened the kiss. She was oblivious to the catcalls and whistles by their fellow tourists as they walked by.
By the time Seth allowed her to breathe again, they were alone in the valley and she could think of nothing more than him taking her right there beneath one of the rock formations. She turned beet red at her crude thoughts. Seth probably thought the same as he drew her away from the trail, out of view at the bottom of a magnificent rock, and they engaged in some serious necking there, impervious to all that was going on around them.
"I can't seem to get enough of you," he whispered with desire thick in his voice.
"Me neither," she replied, placing kisses across his face.
"But we've got to stop. We can't do it in this sort of place."
"Says who?" she countered, and pressed forward into him on the hard ground they lay on.
Seth chuckled. He kissed her again before lifting her up and brushing the sand from her clothes while she gazed at him with desire-lidded eyes.
“Well, well, well; I never figured that you would be the type to engage in PDA, given how frigid you are,” a voice that Sandy would never forget spoke into the silence.
Shivering with trepidation, she stepped away from Seth and glared at the man she thought she would never see again. The years hadn’t been kind to him. Andrew looked like something the cat dragged in with his shaggy mop of red curls on his head.
He looked unkempt and dirty in blue dungarees and dirty boots. Lines of strain and age marked his forehead. He was as hateful as ever.
“Who’s this?” Seth asked, drawing her into his embrace.
“A monster!” she shouted, unable to hide how she felt toward the hateful man.
A snarl twisted Andrew’s face. “How dare you call me a monster, you bitch?”
Seth stood before her and stabbed a finger in the air. “Don’t you dare call my woman names.”
Sandy put her hands over her eyes when Andrew let out the mocking laugh she had grown to hate.
“Woman? You must be a fool. She’s no good at all. Just like her useless mother who was worth nothing.”
She stepped out from behind Seth to fix him with blazing eyes. “Don’t you dare insult my mother. She took you in when you had nothing to call your own. And how did you repay her, by nearly running her business into the ground with your drinking, and hitting her every chance you got.”
“She deserved whatever she got,” the man threw at her with savage bite.
“She didn’t deserve any of that. She loved you but you ended up breaking her heart and killing her. The judge should have let you rot in jail for life!”
Angered beyond reason, the man lunged at her. Seth stood in his path and pushed him. The man landed heavily and groaned loudly as he hit the dusty, hard ground.
“I’ll get you.” He screamed from his prone position. “If it’s the last thing I do, I’ll get you.”
Those words which he usually recited whenever she heard from him, brought back painful memories that had receded ever since she started going out with Seth. She remembered all the times she saw him hitting her mother or flogging her with his belt. When she was old enough to stand up to him, he had turned the belt on her.
“Please take me away from here,” she begged with a broken voice.
“I’ll get you,” Andrew continued ranting.
His voice followed her down the trail. She couldn’t help the way she had responded to him. it was like seeing her nightmare face to face. She had thought he was in prison. Who let him out?
Seth led her to his truck and opened it. She quickly climbed into it, shivering like a leaf in the wind.
Seth ran to the other side and quickly threw himself into the vehicle. Swiftly, he gathered her in his arms as tremors racked her body.
“Who was that?”
“My stepfather.”
Tears poured down her face as she remembered coming home almost daily to see him sprawled on a chair, sleeping from a drunken stupor. And when he woke up, he would become an ogre, throwing barbed words at her, telling her that she would become nothing in future and she was going to school for nothing.
Sandy would hurry out of the house to her mother’s diner. Her mother used makeup and the excuse of clumsiness to cover her bruises.
“Mom, get a divorce,” Sandy had continually pleaded but her mother always shook her head, her lips trembling with fear.
“He said he’d kill me if I do, and I believe him. It won’t last, love. He’ll go away soon. He’s a drifter.”
But he never left, and Sandy had to live with her conscience always telling her to kill him so that they could be free. Voices always told her she could poison his bottle of alcohol so that the pain would go away.
“Mom was very frightened of him. There was nothing we could do. He threatened that if we ever went to the cops, he would get out of jail if he was arrested, then come after us. I couldn’t wait to go away to college, but then I feared for my mom.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“I had to endure him for seven years. And then like Mom said, he got tired of us and left. One morning we didn’t see him again. The next thing we heard was that he had been caught in a series of shoplifting and burglaries and sentenced to prison. I guess he’s out on parole.
“Mom and I were glad that he was no longer in our lives, but the damage had already been done. I hated men with a passion, and Mom’s heart suddenly stopped beating one morning at the diner and she was gone.”
Sandy sobbed pitifully. Seth gathered her tighter in his arms. She felt safe and secure and never wanted to leave.
“Was he always like that?”
She shook her head. “He used to be sweet and loving when Mom first introduced him to me. I was glad that I was going to have a stepfather. At first things were rosy. Then he lost his job, took to drinking and became a monster. Initially, they simply argued, but later he started hitting her. When I was old enough to confront him, he started hitting me, too.”
“Did he...” his voice trailed off.
Sandy shook at the memories occupying her mind. “He didn’t, but it wasn’t from lack of trying.”
“Dear God.”
“My life in this town was terrible when growing up. Amy and her friends would bully me in school. They called me ‘Diner girl.’ And then I would go back home to face a drunken and abusive stepfather. I hated myself. I wanted to run away but for my mom. At a point, I wanted to commit suicide, to end all the hurt and pain. But my best friend and neighbor stopped me. Winnie was always there for me. She was the only support I had outside my mom.”
“Where’s she now?”
Sandy shook her head, I have no idea. We lost contact when I went away to college. I tried getting her number but I couldn’t. Eventually I didn’t bother anymore since I didn’t want to be reminded of anything concerning the town.”
“It’s all right, love. Everything is going to be fine,” Seth comforted quietly, placing a kiss on her head.
Sandy jerked with shock when a loud bang sounded in the air. She opened her eyes and saw Andrew by the door, pointing menacingly at her.
“I’ll get you,” he shouted at her.
Seth cursed and released her. He turned and made to open the car door, but she clung to him. “Please get us out of here. Please!”
“All right, Sandy! Hold on,” Seth said after a moment’s hesitation.
Andrew continued to bang on the door even as Seth drove away from the park. It began to rain and Sandy continued weeping silently. It was like all those years were happening again. She was a little girl again and her stepfather was removing his belt to flog her for not answering his call the first time.
“No!” she screamed in the car’s cabin.
Seth put an arm around her. “It’s going to be all right, Sandy. Everything will be fine. I promise.”
Sandy wept against his shoulder until she fell asleep.
Chapter Eleven
By the time she woke up, she found herself in Seth's bed. The room was warm from the heat emanating from the fireplace. Sandy opened her eyes and saw Seth at the foot of the big bed, staring at her. He had on a black T-shirt and jeans. His hair was still wet but he looked so gorgeous, her heart missed a beat.
“Are you all right?” His words were gentle.
“Yes,” she squeaked.
He rushed forward and poured her a glass of water from the bedside table. She sat up and her hand shook as she took the glass from him. She took small sips at a time before her thirst was quenched.
She turned to put the glass on the table and saw a plate of sandwiches beside the jug of water. Her stomach rumbled, reminding her she hadn't had anything to eat since breakfast, but she knew food wouldn't pass down her throat at that moment.
"You should eat," Seth said into the silence.
"I’m not hungry,” she replied and shifted her gaze from him.
She arranged the bedding around her. He just stood there staring at her.
"Sandy," he softly said, "I'm sorry you had to go through all that. I'd give anything for you not to have experienced that."
Sandy shook her head. "It wasn't your fault. My stepfather is a monster who should be locked away for life.”
*****
Tears glazed Sandy's eyes, and Seth's heart ached. He would give anything to make sure she didn't ever come close to harm again. She was broken, he could see that. Seeing tha
t bastard had brought back terrible memories. He wished he could beat the man senseless.
She lifted her gaze to his and he felt his heart squeezed by an invisible hand. There was a vulnerability there, which come to think of it, he didn't like. He loved her spunky and proud and argumentative. He didn't like her looking and feeling like this. Her figure seemed smaller in his huge bed.
An uneasy silence took over the room. Seth wanted to go to her, to put his arms around her, but he wasn't sure she would welcome male hands on her so soon. That bastard had scarred her for life.
“I was so scared seeing him again. I thought he was going to hurt me again,” she finally said in a tortured tone.
“Oh, God," he groaned, anguish contorting his face.
"Do you know the scariest part of it?"
He shook his head, and then realized she couldn't see that because her attention was focused on the bedding.
"No,” he replied.
"I thought it would make me push you away again. I feared that it would make me hate men all over again. That all we’d shared so far would be lost." Tears spilled down her eyes.
"Oh, baby!" He was beside her in a flash. He held her while she wept out her fear, her anger and frustration and every negative feeling in her body.
When she was spent, he lifted her head from his chest and gave her a peck on the forehead.
"I'll run you a bath. Then we'll eat the sandwiches together.
Her face showed repugnance at the mention of food but she nodded. "I'll take a shower."
“Okay, love,” he said, pulling back the bedcover and lifting her from the bed. She felt so small in his arms. He planted her feet on the rugged floor and gave her a warm smile.
"Join me," she suggested tentatively.
He laughed a little. "I've already taken a shower. Besides, we both know what would happen if I were to join you."
She blushed and looked away.
Just Be My Love (Saving Sandy series, #1) Page 6