Holding the coat tight, she crawled through the fence rails. The stud nickered after her. She stopped to stroke his neck once more then turned toward the house. What was the matter with her? She hadn’t even asked about Donna…Will hadn’t said anything either, which was probably a bad sign.
“Where you think you’re goin’, missy?”
Meghan’s hand clutched her heart when Charlie stepped from the shadows. “You scared the life out of me!”
“You rode the animal, you take care of him.”
Meghan raised an eyebrow. “I cooled him out the way White Buffalo told me. Is there something else I should do?”
“You can rub him down and feed him. Make sure you rub hard to get his blood pumping in his skin so he don’t chill. Oats is in the bin in the barn, scoop’s with them. He gets two and an armload of hay.” He tossed a burlap feed sack at her feet, looking her up and down. “Make it two arm loads.”
Meg stood with her mouth open when he turned and ambled toward the house. She shrugged. “Whatever!”
* * * *
She figured he must be dry and warm by now because her arm ached, and she was a sweat-ball under her coat. She knew better than to take off the wrap in the night air. Meg thought the pelt inside might be dog since she smelled like a wet one, but then again, the odor might be sweaty horse from the feed sack. She tossed the bag over the stall door. Spirit followed her inside and whinnied to hurry her along.
“Hold your—self.” Meg giggled.
Two scoops of oats went in his trough and two armloads of hay in the crib. Job completed, she arched her sore back and stretched her neck, eyes closed. When everything that would crack, had, she opened her eyes to look around. Déjà vu swept over her. Was every barn in Colorado the same, built exactly alike since time immemorial? Each post and beam appeared exactly as she remembered the old lady’s, except brand spanking new. The center support pole still oozed sap. The ladder leading to the loft was still so new the rungs showed no wear. She ran a hand along the rough-hewn wood and picked up a splinter for her efforts. Doves cooed from the rafters. While sucking on her digit, she let her gaze roam upward. Her vision froze on the broken top rung.
Her sight narrowed to nothing but the black tunnel leading to that rung. Of all the insane thoughts! They don’t own a truck. Lots of people don’t drive. They don’t have a bathroom, either. Well, you know how guys like to pee outside. There is no refrigerator, and the stove is a freaking antique, only new! So, what are you trying to say here, Meghan Dennehy, you’re a time traveler?
Oh, of course not! She’d never entertain such a silly notion. Meghan steadied herself with her left hand on the beam, letting her gaze climb the timber as she had the ladder. She saw a smear of blood and a hank of long silver-blonde hair stuck to the beam. It wasn’t possible…
Chapter 20
Will lugged the last case of canned goods into kitchen and set them none too gently on the floor. “What the hell is the matter with both of you? She’s barely got over near dyin’, and you have her ridin’ horses.” He flung an arm at his grandpa then turned to stick a finger under Charlie’s nose. “And you got her tendin’ the livestock. Are you tryin’ to kill her?”
“D’ya hear the mouth on her? No lady talks thataway,” Charlie blurted.
“Have I missed something? Did someone hit me over the head when I wasn’t lookin’? I don’t see anyone in this room who can afford to throw stones. Besides, what has she ever done to you? She can’t help if she got hurt. What are you so riled about?” Will stormed around the room.
“He thinks she will steal you from him,” White Buffalo raised the wet cloth from his swollen nose long enough to say stuffily.
“You’re a fine one to talk! You want her for yourself, you old goat.”
“She is a fine woman with much medicine. We would make a good pair.”
Will turned to glare at his grandfather with his good eye. “If you’ve laid a hand—or anything else on her—I’ll cut it off!”
“Only one way may a man keep a woman for himself, Ghost Walking. Until you claim her, she is ripe for the taking.”
Will’s eye narrowed as the older man smiled. “Don’t make me kill you.”
“To die for a woman is not the same as to die in battle, but still honorable.”
“The two of you beat all I ever heard, two blood kin fightin’ over a piece of fluff.”
Will grabbed the old man by his collar, pulling him up tight. “Get your stuff together. You two will be sleeping in the barn tonight unless you’d prefer to take a moonlight ride to the lodge. You can draw straws to see who gets the bunk. I’m going to see what’s takin’ Meg so long. Don’t be here when I get back.”
Will left Charlie gasping for air and turned on his heel to retrieve his coat from the peg by the door. He threw it on, grabbed his rifle, stormed out, and slammed the door behind him.
The cold air helped cool his temper. How could those two talk about her that way? Charlie, of all people, should be kissing the ground she walked on. Why just last spring he’d been trying to marry him off to Kathy. Not to say Kathy was a bad sort, or that it was uncommon for a whore to marry. But the forever feeling was missing. He’d even suggested a mail-order bride a time or two. They wouldn’t know any more about them than they did Meghan.
If Charlie wanted him settled so badly, what was wrong with Meghan?
What exactly had his dear grandfather done to ease Meghan’s tension? And what did he mean she had much magic? Had he just wanted to get a rise out of him? He needn’t have bothered. His smug smile had been more than enough. Will raised a finger to his swollen eye and gingerly touched his split lip. White Buffalo thought her fair game. He’d see about that.
Spirit came tearing out of his stall like the devil himself was after him, snorting and blowing, pawing the ground.
Now what? Will broke into a ground-covering run, keeping low and to the shadows. Reaching the barn, he tried to listen, but the stallion made too much racket. He cocked the Winchester and threw open the door.
Meghan lay splayed at the foot of the ladder. Rushing to her side, he checked for injuries and found none. Had she fainted? He tapped her cheeks lightly with his fingertips, but got no response. Her chest rose and fell evenly. She’d overdone things, just like he told the other two. If she suffered a relapse because of those idiots, they’d have hell to pay.
“Meghan, Meghan—sweetheart, can you hear me?” He noticed a smile play across her lips before her eyelids began to flutter.
“Hi, handsome.” Her eyes regained focus. “Oh, your poor face!”
“Are you all right? What happened?” Will eased her into sitting position, letting her lean back against the ladder as he squatted in front of her. His gaze rose as she pointed her finger up. “You didn’t fall again! I meant to fix the rung, just never found the time. You ought not to be climbing anyway.”
“I didn’t.” Meghan took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “What year is this?”
“Well, for a couple more months, it’s 1889.” Will noted her anxious expression when he answered. Lightly running his hands over her head, he searched for the knot sure to be under all that hair. She must’ve hit her head again and couldn’t remember some things. Her hands clasped his and pulled them into her lap.
“How did the rung get broken?”
“Well, I expect it broke when you were climbing down. I must have missed a weak spot in the grain. I’d been up and down it for over two weeks without any trouble. What were you doing up there?” Will figured if she got to ask questions then he would, too.
“You didn’t find Donna because she isn’t here.”
That wasn’t an answer.
“I looked, but didn’t find any sign of her.” Meghan’s peculiar expression worried him. He’d expected her to ask about her friend long before now. “What do you mean she isn’t here? You said she was with you in the barn.”
“She was. She was down below, and I was up above.” Meg pointed to
the loft. “But when I fell, I came here and she stayed there.”
“Where, darlin’? You’re not making sense.” He took her face between his palms so he could look into her eyes in the dim lantern light. She smiled shakily.
“The Bible said William Thomas Thornton. You?”
“Yes.” What was she getting at?
“You were in the cavalry.”
“For a spell. Did White Buffalo tell you?”
“I told her your tribal name, Ghost Walking, and that she favored your mother.”
Will turned to find his grandfather and Charlie, arms laden with blankets
“Watch the busted top rung. I’d hate for you to fall.” Will raised Meghan to her feet then scooped her into his arms. “Come on. Let’s get you to the house.”
“I can walk.”
“No, you can’t.” He liked the way she felt in his arms. He shoved the door with his shoulder. She didn’t seem to care at all that he was a half-breed. He tried not to stumble on the path he’d walked a thousand times when her finger traced the cut on his lip.
“Does it hurt?”
His heart stopped beating then resumed in double time. Without thought he sucked the marauding digit into his mouth. She didn’t pull back, but let his tongue continue exploration for a few moments longer. His mind envisioned other uses for his mouth. Reluctantly he let her finger go and picked up his pace. His plan didn’t include them freezing to death in the night air.
She leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to his swollen eye, and lingered a bit before trailing a line to his split lip. Even her gentle touch caused his lip to throb, and as if she knew, her tongue flicked across the cut, soothing the hurt. The motion of her tongue did nothing to soothe the corresponding pulse in his cock, but instead made the ache worse.
He stepped up the stairs and across the porch, pausing just long enough to kick the door open and then again to push the panel closed with the heel of his boot. He nudged a chair over to the stove and deposited her gently. After stoking the fire and adding some more wood, he helped her out of her coat and hung both his and hers on the peg by the door.
Pulling another chair from the table to the stove, he sat facing her as he rubbed her hands between his, trying to restore heat to her icy fingers.
“Will, I need to tell you something.”
“Anything, sweetheart, but I think you should rest first.” In the brighter light of the kitchen, she appeared pale, her eyes dark hollows. “What happened in the barn, did something frighten you?”
As she chewed on her lower lip and her eyes darted around the room, his worry grew. He wanted to hear her story, but not at the risk of her sanity.
She clutched at his hands. “I need to tell you now. If I go to sleep, when I wake up it may be gone…” She swallowed hard and her eyes welled. “You may be gone.”
“Shhhh, darlin’, I’m not going anywhere. Let’s fix you some tea and get you to bed. You can tell me everything under the covers.”
“You’ll stay?”
His heart broke. She looked like a rabbit cornered by a fox, not knowing which way to jump, frozen to the spot, and trembling. He set the kettle on the eye to heat and knelt between her knees.
“I’m not going anywhere.”
She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him hard. Will didn’t mind the searing pain. He kissed her back slowly and thoroughly, treading the thin line between care and want. When his control began to slip, he pulled back, not willing to ruin what had begun by asking for too much. They had time.
“You’re bleeding.” She chewed her lip and eyed his. “Sorry.”
“Don’t say you’re sorry. I’m not.” He poured the tea into two cups, adding honey to each and a pinch of white powder to Meghan’s when she glanced away. The scent of sassafras would mask the slight odor and the honey, the bitter taste. He added a bit more honey. He passed her a cup before starting to unlace her moccasins. “White Buffalo made these for you?”
“Yes.”
“Where’d the clothes come from?”
“They’re yours.”
Will chuckled. “Charlie never throws out anything.”
“Lucky for me.”
“Drink your tea.”
“Can I have a biscuit? I didn’t eat.”
“Aw, honey, you should have said something.” The herb would hit her hard on an empty stomach. He snatched a biscuit from under the towel and his thumb went through. He reached for another, more carefully, and handed it to Meghan. He took a bite of the one with the hole.
A soft biscuit!
“Who made these?”
“Me.”
Will took another bite. “They’re wonderful, darlin’. Can you show Charlie how? His are so hard, Bess can barely eat one.”
“Bess?” she said around a bit of biscuit, her eyes already beginning to flutter.
“My mule. The one pulling the wagon? Finish your biscuit and your tea.”
He watched the biscuit disappear, followed by the tea. “Good girl. So, will you give Charlie a baking lesson?”
“No. He doesn’t like me.” She yawned.
“Time for bed.” He pulled her to her feet and carried her through the curtain. After depositing her on the bed, he untied the rope belt and unbuttoned the jeans. Walking to the foot of the bunk, he grabbed the britches’ legs.
“Wait…you first.”
“What?” Will’s heart thundered in his ears. He froze as Meghan struggled to push herself up on her elbows.
“You’ve seen me.” Her pale face flushed a soft pink as she fought the effects of the drug. “I want to see you. But you might need to hurry.” She frowned. “I think your grandpa put some funny stuff in the powder he threw on the fire.”
Oh shit! She’d been in the sweat lodge? Now his grandfather’s words made sense. Unfortunately, the knowledge came too late and his mind was otherwise occupied. “Meghan, are you telling me you want to see me naked?”
“Hurry?”
Will never stripped so fast in his life. He about broke his dick off when it bobbed in the way as he shucked his britches and drawers at once, catching them on the boots he’d forgotten. He knew nothing would come of this but forgot to inform his rampant prick.
Meghan reached a hand out to stroke his length, and he about embarrassed himself like an untried colt.
She smiled dreamily. “Me next?”
He tugged her pants off and managed not to fall over with his britches caught around his ankles. His erection prodded his navel at the sight of her. He sat on the edge of the bunk to remove his boots and pants. Finally free, he turned to remove her shirt.
Her soft breathing told him she slept.
He unbuttoned each button with care and slid the shirt from her shoulders then tugged each arm free before tossing the article into the pile with the rest. Tucking her knees up, he drew the blanket from beneath her then slipped into bed. He pulled her to him and the covers over them both. Meghan snuggled her bare bottom into his groin and he bit back a groan. He wouldn’t sleep a wink tonight with such exquisite torture and yet could think of nowhere he’d rather be.
Morning couldn’t come soon enough. He covered her legs with his as his left hand found her breast.
Chapter 21
Meghan feared to open her eyes. Would this beautiful, bizarre dream shatter if she did? Her body awoke to the nearness of his and the state of his arousal. She wanted to stay here, wrapped in Will’s arms for eternity. Will was perfect. This was perfect, and for once, she felt at peace.
All her life people had claimed she lived in a fantasy world…and now she was. Until this event, their theory had always been wrong. She lived in the real world, a harsh world, cold and devoid of love. The only escape from a bleak existence had been through books. Meghan had often longed to crawl between the pages, but when she closed the cover, she remained in a world which afforded her little comfort.
Her mind argued the improbability of alternate universes and time relativity. But people disap
peared all the time. Perhaps they weren’t all victims of alien abduction or serial killers. Perhaps, they fell through holes in the fabric of time, returning to the place they were meant to be all along. And maybe, monkeys would fly out of her butt.
Her breath went out in a rush, a gasp of surprise and delight, as tiny nibbles teased down her neck and into the hollow of her shoulder. She shivered and kept her eyes tightly closed as her heart pounded. One tear slipped from beneath her closed lids. Please God, don’t let him go away. She rolled over and wrapped her arms around Will’s neck.
“I can’t wait any longer. I’m sorry.” His words whispered against her skin. He kissed her tenderly as if afraid she might break.
The sob welled up and out of her before she could contain it, flowing from her lips to his. She opened her mouth to him. Careful of his split lip, she tilted her head to ease the pressure on the wound. The kiss grew more urgent, his lips trailing from her mouth down her throat to her breast. Meghan moaned as Will’s tongue twirled her nipple to a hard peak before drawing the nub into his mouth as his hand explored lower.
She groaned her need as his hand cupped her mound, his fingers tracing her folds. She arched into his palm, wanting more. “Please?”
Will’s fingers found her entrance, already wet with desire, and thrust inside as his thumb caressed the most sensitive part of her. “I wanted to go slow, to take my time with you, but I can’t. You undo me.”
“Next time.” Please God, let there be a next time. The bed shifted when he repositioned himself over her. Meghan spread her legs to allow him access. Boldly gripping his erection, she guided him home. They seemed to both cease to breathe, afraid to move and shatter perfection.
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