Adam, Devils on Horseback: Generations, Book 1

by Beth Williamson

  “It definitely changed things.”

  “For both of us.” He held out his hand and she put her small one in his. “Do you regret it?”

  She was quiet for so long he wanted to snatch the question back from the air. “Regret? No, my red giant. I’ve done a lot of things in my life I wish I could do over, but this isn’t one of them.”

  My red giant.

  A rush of affection surprised him. He knew he liked her, but this was something more. Deeper. He wanted to be with her, protect her. Adam found himself possibly wanting to be her husband in truth.

  “Do you plan to lie with me?” Her words came out in a rush.

  Adam’s body clenched with need. “I wondered about that myself.”

  She was silent for a few moments. “Perhaps we should wait a day or two and get better acquainted?”

  He respected the request. They were still strangers. “We can do that. Will you let me know when you’re ready?”

  “Of course.” She rocked back and forth in the chair, a bundle of quilt and woman he wanted to taste, to touch, to hold. Eve had every right to ask for a reprieve.

  The delay, however, didn’t make him feel one bit better. Adam wanted to claim her, to brand her as his. No matter the reason, he was her husband and he couldn’t wait to take on that role in truth.

  * * * * *

  Given the fact his wife slept in a separate room, Adam was up with the sun, going into the mill to start the day’s work. Pa was still unconscious, but he hadn’t developed a fever. There was nothing else to do but take care of things as he would.

  He was checking the waterwheel when his uncles descended. To his surprise, Elias, Spencer and Clint accompanied their fathers Gideon, Zeke and Lee. The resemblance between fathers and sons was no more apparent than it was at that moment. A wall of muscle and wide shoulders, they would scare even the heartiest of men. Unless of course they were his family.

  Which they were.

  He smiled at the six of them. “What are you all doing here?”

  “We thought you might need us while your pa is out of commission.” Uncle Gideon spread his arms. “There’s work to be done and we aim to help you get it done.”

  The leader of the group of five soldiers in the Civil War, Gideon was still serving in that role. He had a cattle ranch and also owned the restaurant in town with Uncle Lee, the blond, one-armed devil. Zeke, of course, was the law in Tanger. The missing member of their group was Uncle Nate, who lived a few days’ ride away with his wife, Elisa, on their ranch.

  Lee’s son, Clint, worked on the wheat farm with his father and had the largest physique of all Adam’s cousins from the hard work with the crops. Spencer was a slightly smaller version of his cousin Clint and had a knack for charming the fairer sex. They were big men used to hard work and they’d arrived to help Adam when he most needed it.

  Elias was the exception to the group of cousins. He was studious, incredibly smart and not as physical as the rest of the cousins. Nonetheless, the brown-haired young man had naturally wide shoulders, but a more slender form. He had his shiny black medical bag in his hand. His father had bought it for him when he received his certificate as a physician.

  “I’ll be upstairs with Uncle Jake.” He nodded at Adam. The quiet doctor had proved himself to be very skilled at healing and treating patients.

  After Elias left, the other five waited for Adam to tell them what to do. It was a unique experience to be the one who was in charge. He was momentarily flummoxed by the thought; then he smiled. He could do this. He would do this.

  “Clint and Spencer, can you clean the grindstones? The stone crane is in the basement, but you can hook it to the beam upstairs.” Adam knew what he was asking. There was blood, skin and hair to be removed. The task would not be easy.

  Clint was the quietest of them. He didn’t speak unless he had something to say, which wasn’t often. Other than being a massive man, he looked a lot like Spencer, blond with brown eyes and ridiculous long eyelashes Adam had teased him about since they were boys.

  “Of course. I’ll get a bucket and scrub brush from the house. Meet you in there, cousin.” Spencer took off at a run for the house. Clint nodded and walked around the side of the mill, out of sight.

  His uncles watched him with concerned gazes. “You doing all right, boy?” Lee wasn’t one to beat around the bush.

  Adam’s throat tightened at the question. It took him two tries to clear the lump that had formed. “As best as I can. Elias and Eve saved Pa’s life and you three helped bring him back to the house. I mostly stood around and watched.”

  The confession tasted like ash in his mouth. He looked at the river that flowed next to them, the mist cool in the dawn air. All his life he’d loved the water—the power and beauty of it, how it ran the mill and provided the strength to grind the wheat. It reminded him of his father in that sense. The mill was nothing without him.

  “I need to get things back to running. For Pa.” He turned back to his uncles. “I’ve got to start by fixing any paddles on the wheel that got damaged by the critters gnawing on them, and more when the grindstones jammed yesterday.”

  Lee held up a hammer. He wore a contraption on his left arm his wife, Ginny, had made for him. She’d improved the design over the years and he now had the leather strapped tightly to his shoulder and what remained of his arm. The sharpened hook allowed him to pick up and carry anything he needed to. He even had a few different attachments than the hook. “Let’s get busy, boy.”

  Adam nodded. “I already stacked the wood and nails.”

  “I’ll get the ladder.” Gideon headed for the basement of the mill where all the extra tools and such were kept.

  Zeke stepped up close to Adam while Lee got to work examining the wheel. “Everything good with your missus?” He crossed his arms. “Your wedding day didn’t end well. Or did it?”

  Adam told himself not to be angry. His uncle meant well. “My wedding night is none of your business.” He walked toward the mill and then looked back. “Thanks for coming. I, uh, well…just thanks.”

  Zeke followed, then clapped him on the back. “Family is everything, Adam.”

  The five of them spent the entire morning repairing the wheel, cleaning the grindstones and making the mill operational. When dinnertime rolled around, Adam was more than ready to stop. Sweat rolled down his arms and chest.

  He stared at the river and then glanced at his uncles and cousins. The water raged a few feet away, but the wider part of the river had shallower edges that were ideal for washing up.

  “Swim before food so we don’t offend the ladies?” He pulled off his shirt and boots then waded into the water up to his knees. The other four followed in quick order. Usually there was general foolishness, splashing and shenanigans. Not today, though. Adam could barely find a smile in the depths of his heart. Not until his pa was safe from death, safe from the loss of his arm, alive and well. He promised himself he would go swimming with his father before the summer was over.

  He used the sand at the bottom to scrub off the dirt and sweat, then squatted down to rinse off. As he shook the water off his face, he heard the others talking and then a feminine response.

  Adam wiped the water from his eyes and found his wife standing with his uncles and cousins. She was short but blessed with amazing curves, which were shown off in any clothes she wore. Her long hair was in a braid that sat on her shoulder, but a few strands had escaped confinement and danced in the wind.

  She stole his breath and his words. Eve was stunning. An exquisite creature. And she was his wife.

  “Eve says dinner is waiting on us. You gonna swim all day or join us to eat?” Gideon raised one brown brow.

  “I’m coming.” Adam stepped from the water. Her gaze traveled down his freckled form and back to his face. He’d always disliked his coloring, enduring the teasing by everyone
for having carrot hair and “stains” on his skin. Why he was the only redhead in the family aside from Pa, he never knew, but he sure as hell didn’t like it.

  “I brought you a clean shirt.” She handed him the garment. “I thought you might need a fresh one.”

  Adam found a smile for her. “Thank you, Eve.” He slipped on the shirt as she watched.

  Spencer cleared his throat. “Ah, do you want to be alone?”

  Adam scowled at his cousin. “Shut up.”

  A burst of laughter lightened the mood on such a somber day. Adam tried to punch all of them, but they ran for the house. Except Eve. She watched with an expression of amusement.

  He stepped closer to her, that spicy scent she wore surrounding him. Adam couldn’t stop from kissing her, although he knew it wasn’t the right time or place. When he pulled her close, her large breasts pushed into his chest, her small body conforming to his as if she belonged.

  Perhaps she did.

  She closed her eyes as he kissed her just once, but it was enough. Her dark-blue eyes fluttered back open. That affection he’d felt the night before made his heart thump against his ribs.

  He could love this woman if he let himself.

  * * * * *

  Adam once again sat on the front porch, this time with a half-dozen rocks in his hand. Eve slipped into the chair next to his and breathed in the flower-scented night air. She was used to living either in a city with stenches she didn’t care to remember or in the outdoors where survival might depend on how smart you were.

  She’d never lived in such a place as Tanger. The town itself was not remarkable, but the people who lived here were nothing short of that. She wanted so much to embrace the marriage she never knew she wanted.

  Eve was playing a dangerous game. She normally kept to a polite distance, but now all she wanted to do was sit on the porch with the red giant she married and watch the stars. He held up a small rock for her to see.

  “This is topaz. It’s a gemstone like the onyx.” The lamplight from the window made the rock appear translucent yellow. It was beautiful. He placed it in her palm. “I’d like you to have this.”

  She tried to hand it back. “You already gave me two of your rocks. You should keep your treasures.”

  He smiled, a white slash in the semidarkness. “I’ve got a treasure. I want to share special things with her.”

  Her heart did a silly flip.

  Adam was trying to be sweet, but it wasn’t necessary. Eve didn’t know how to tell him she was unaffected by gifts, which was a lie of course. She took the stone and it joined the onyx and the blue stone tucked into her pocket.

  Foolish. She didn’t need to become attached to him or his rocks. Now she was walking around with her pockets laden with them. It was a secret she didn’t tell him or anyone. They didn’t need to know she’d been charmed by rocks.

  “Do you know where you’re from?”

  His question yanked her from her traitorous thoughts. Thank God. “Texas. That’s about all I remember. I’ve moved around a lot.” Understatement.

  “I’ve lived in Tanger all my life. I thought I hated it.” He leaned back against the rocking chair and pushed it into motion. “It seems that in the last three days I’ve opened my eyes to what I do have and not what I don’t. I have you to thank for that.”

  She managed not to make an ass of herself by throwing herself at him. “You’re the master of your own ship, Adam. Not me.”

  “I reckon that’s true, but if I hadn’t come upon a woman walking in the middle of the road, I’d still be moping around without taking my head out of the sand.” He made a circular gesture with his hand. “The world righted itself when I met you.”

  Eve would not let herself succumb to his charms. She couldn’t. Adam didn’t seem like the type of man to charm his way into ladies’ drawers. Hell, they’d been married for two days and he hadn’t gotten into hers. No, this was genuineness and that was dangerous.

  “Life takes us down a path and sometimes there’s a fork in the road. You chose to take that fork, not me.” She had to escape from the cozy chat with Adam, for now. If she wasn’t careful, she’d be climbing his legs in a moment and professing her undying love. Heaven forefend.

  When she got to her feet, so did he. The gentlemanly gesture forced a smile from her whether she wanted to let it out or not.

  “I’m going to go to bed. It’s been an exhausting day.” She stepped around him, unwilling to kiss him lest she lose what control she’d managed to hang on to. With both hands. He’d given her two days before they would share a marriage bed, but she wanted it now. She held back, not willing to change his opinion of her.

  “Good night, Eve.”

  She heard the longing and need in his voice. It echoed through her bones, calling her back to seduce him, to fall into the marriage bed and scratch the itch. She didn’t let the impulse control her. No, she had to make the seduction last as long as possible.

  Eve stumbled past him into the house and hurried up the stairs. Next thing she knew, she would fall in love with him.

  That would be a disaster. Worse than anything she could do. Becoming emotionally attached to a mark was akin to admitting she was a confidence man. Or woman, in this case. She’d learned the rules early and this one she’d never broken. She couldn’t start with Adam Sheridan.

  Chapter Eight

  Several days after the accident, Eve still tried her best to fit in, which was necessary to her plan to become part of the town and blend in. She helped her mother-in-law change Jake’s bandages, guided the girls in their chores and ate breakfast with Adam. It left her feeling strangely content, an emotion she had no experience with.

  As she folded the clothes from the line, she watched Adam walk to the mill. He was such a handsome man, his body as beautiful as any she’d ever seen. When he’d been wet from the river, she had to control herself from touching him, but oh how she wanted to.

  Eve was no sweet miss. She knew about men of all shapes and sizes. Her husband’s physique was perfectly formed. Muscles and sinew wrapped around bone, all came together as if God himself had designed the ideal man. She wanted to do more than kiss him. A lot more. She’d resisted because it wasn’t the right time.

  Watching the Sheridans had become her pastime. They loved each other more than she’d ever seen. It was uncommon in the world and a mystery to her. How could they feel such deep emotion for so many people?

  It also pinched her with envy. She had always existed on the other side of the window from real people. Looking in and watching, sneaking in when she could. Now this family had invited her in. No need to sneak, at least not too much. They had no idea who she was or what they’d let into their home.

  She wasn’t about to enlighten them.

  Eve set the last of the clean laundry in the basket and moved it to the porch. Her feet took her to the mill, almost against her will. There was no thought as to why. She simply went; her heart and body led her forward.

  The sound of the machinery in the mill was quite different than the night she’d been in here to help Mr. Sheridan. The vibration rumbled through her bones, but it was a good feeling. A familiar one, strange as that was. The corners were dusty with flour and chaff. Shadows danced across the floor from the two windows on either side.

  She avoided looking at the grindstone in the center. She didn’t want the memory of those dark moments to halt her progress.

  She found Adam downstairs, checking the weight of the flour he’d ground that day. The large sacks were obviously heavy. His muscles strained beneath his shirt as he hung each bag on the scale that was mounted on a beam.

  Her nipples hardened beneath her blouse and a low throb began low in her belly. She waited until he set the sack down and then pressed her hand to his back.

  He didn’t seem surprised. “Eve.” His voice was low, a deep rumbling t
hat made the hairs on her neck stand up.

  “I couldn’t stay away.” This was the first fully truthful statement she’d made to him.

  He didn’t turn around, but his shoulders stiffened. The lantern was behind him, shrouding him. She moved closer, to within a few inches of him, the heat from his body surrounding her.

  When she put both hands on his back, he let out a breath of air in a gust. Eve had fully expected to be the one to take the initiative with Adam. However, when she kissed a shoulder, he whirled around and pulled her into his arms.

  His mouth came down on hers, their mouths fusing into one. His tongue found hers, dancing and parrying. The machinery above them disguised any noises they made, like a cocoon of sound.

  He picked her up, cradling her against him. She spread her legs and wrapped them around his waist. His clearly hard cock fit snugly with her throbbing core. She groaned into his mouth as he thrust forward, hitting her pleasure spot. Eve was no virgin, nor was she someone who enjoyed sex, but Adam made her feel new again and yet pulsing with genuine passion.

  He pulled his mouth away. “I don’t want to give you a wedding night in a dusty basement.”

  “It doesn’t matter where it is as long as it’s you and me.” She tugged at his soft red hair. “I want you. Here. Now.”

  His nostrils flared and a growl rumbled in his throat. He backed her toward the table against the wall, which held a stack of empty flour sacks, twine and other items. He set her on the sacks and held her on the edge.

  She shook with anticipation, her pussy wet and eager. He cupped her face and kissed her, his soft lips like an addiction she craved more of with each touch of his mouth. Eve leaned against him, her breasts pushing against his muscled chest.

  She pulled at his shirt, wanting to touch the skin she’d only seen but not been able to examine. He let her pull at the fabric until he raised his arms, and suddenly that chest was there, its ginger-colored hair asking for her attention. Who was she to refuse?