I should have known it then. When he said that maybe they weren't savages, that they were just people like us and we should have tried to speak with them and find out why they were taking our people. He was adamant that we should have sought a peaceful solution, and of course everybody jeered. But then he said that he had actually spoken with one of them and he claimed that they were just people who liked living in nature without the shackles of civilization. Now that I think back on it I can hear the wanderlust in his voice, but I never believed...”
“Never believed what?” Mary-Jane asked, prompting her father, who had fallen silent as the memories of that time overwhelmed him.
“That your uncle would leave to live with them,” Annabelle said. Her tears had dried and she now walked to her husband's side, and they leaned against each other for support. For the first time they looked old to her, wearing all of life's scars, and now showing them to their daughter.
“What do you mean he went with them? They kidnapped people. Why would he do that?”
“We wondered the same thing. But one day he was gone... and so were you.”
This revelation made Mary-Jane sick to her stomach. The color drained from her face and her mind cracked open. Forgotten memories bubbled to the surface although they were still incoherent and elusive, but they were there all the same.
“He doted on you as though you were his own daughter,” Annabelle continued, “you both made each other so happy. But you were my daughter. And he took you.”
“I followed his tracks out to the desert. Your uncle was many things, but he wasn't good at hiding. I found the two of you in the middle of the desert. He was heading to their caves, where they lived. But I caught him when he was alone.”
“Did you...” Mary-Jane began, but the words froze in her mouth for she couldn't bring herself to ask the question that was playing on her mind.
“No, I didn't kill him. I demanded that he give you back to me. He told me that this was the right thing for you, that you deserved to grow up without the responsibilities that society dictated. He said you should be free, that you were like him and you wouldn't fit in. He said that he knew you better than I did. That he would be a better father than me,” at this tears began to well in Wayne's eyes. Mary-Jane had never seen him get so emotional before, and it touched her deeply.
“That's when I drew my gun and pointed it straight at his head. I would have pulled the trigger there and then if you hadn't been sitting beside him. It was the look in your eyes, like you were trying to tell me something. I lowered my weapon but I told him to bring you back to me. He tried to argue, tried to tell me to open my mind and that these weren't bad people, they were just different. He betrayed us, and I could never understand why he wanted so badly to escape this life. I wasn't going to leave without you, though. There was no way I was going to let you go with him. He told me that I was making a mistake. But I took you in my arms and I knew then that I was never going to let you go, never going to let anyone take you away from me.”
Mary-Jane was so overwhelmed with love for her father that she leaped up and wrapped him in a tight embrace. The tears flowed freely between them and now that the secret was out everything felt released, all the tension of the years had vanished and Mary-Jane felt closer to her father than she ever had before.
“What happened then?” she asked once they had calmed down a little.
“I told him to come back with us and think about this more, that his place was with his family, but he laughed and shook his head. I think even then I knew that the words I was speaking were wrong. He told me that this was the first time he ever felt like he was doing the right thing, and that the only thing he was going to miss was you, but he had his paintings of you to remind him of that life. He turned and rode away to live with them, and then we never heard anything from him again.”
“Did the town go and attack the savages?”
“No. We were ready to, especially once they found out that one of our own betrayed them, but a hunting party went out and couldn't find any trace of them. We figured they moved on, but maybe Lee managed to convince them not to take any more of us. We'll never know. But we decided not to tell you about it. Maybe that was wrong of us. I know I'm not the perfect father. We're only human after all, but we thought it was a memory you wouldn't want to have. We liked to think of Lee as the man we knew, not the one who tried to take our daughter away from us.”
Now that she knew the truth everything made sense to her, and Mary-Jane felt as though a weight had been lifted from her soul.
“But you know that still doesn't mean I can stay,” she said softly.
“I know. I've known for a long time I just... I didn't want to deal with it. The thought of you, out there in the world, it was too much for me to bear.”
“I'll be fine, Pa. You've raised me well. You really think the daughter of sheriff Parker is going to be easy to deal with?”
Wayne chuckled softly at that.
“I guess not. So tell me about this rancher then,” he said, and as she spoke of Luke, Mary-Jane wore the biggest smile her parents had ever seen.
Chapter 6
Mary-Jane was pacing the floor, and her mother warned her that she was going to create a trench. Waiting for Luke to arrive was the worst and best pain she had ever felt. Wild emotions careened around inside her like a thunderstorm, and there were many times that she thought she was going to collapse. When he finally arrived, it was surreal. He was riding on a horse that pulled a cart behind it. He wore a wide-brimmed hat and a blue shirt. He was dry and dusty from the sun, but had evidently made the effort to wear his best clothes. Luke leapt off the horse and secured it, then walked forward to the porch, where he whipped off his hat and bowed to her.
“Mary-Jane Parker,” he said in his honeyed voice. Hearing her name on his voice made her tingle with desire. She smiled sweetly, and looked at her mother, who gestured for her to go to him. Mary-Jane took tentative steps down the porch and then found herself standing in front of him. He was even more handsome than the picture. His eyes sparkled with life, although there was a haunted quality as well, which only served to draw her in more. He was tall, and strong, and towered over her, and he smelled exactly as she had imagined.
“Hello,” she said, unable to think of anything else. At that point, Annabelle intervened and welcomed the man into their home with a drink, and they all sat together and talked. Mary-Jane's parents asked him about his history and he told them everything. Mary-Jane was sitting beside him and barely said a word, for she was entirely captivated by him, and love was written all over her face. She was glad that now her parents were open to the idea, and they welcomed Luke to stay for a few days so that they could get to know him, and they urged Mary-Jane to show him around the town, which she was glad to do.
When they walked through the main street, everyone turned to them, surprised to see Mary-Jane with a man, and she relished their looks of surprise. Luke was a sweet, thoughtful man, who spoke slowly and deliberately. Conversation came easily between them, although it was a little strange to now be communicating to each other through the spoken word rather than the written. Eventually, they found themselves sitting in her favorite place.
“This is where I used to read your letters and write to you, and where I stared out at the horizon,” she said.
“It's beautiful,” he replied. “What's over there?” he asked, pointing to the mountains, and as he asked she was shaken by the memory of riding out there with uncle Lee.
“You remember I said that my parents were being mysterious about my uncle?” she said. Luke nodded, and listened carefully when Mary-Jane launched into the long tale of the story, listening because he could sense that she needed to be listened to. “And now my parents say that that was why they were always so protective of me and unwilling to let me leave, but I can't help but feel this emptiness. Uncle Lee was a big part of my life and he just left. Somewhere he could be out there and none of us know. Those savages… I
don't know if they took him in or if they killed him, and nobody knows why they stopped attacking us. For all I know he could be out there right now, and I know that if I leave I'll never get a chance to see him again.”
“Has anyone ever been out there?” Luke asked after a moment of consideration. Mary-Jane shook her head.
“Then maybe we should. On the way back we could take a detour and go through the mountains. It would take a little longer-”
“And it would be dangerous.”
“Falling in love is dangerous. If you can handle that you can handle anything.”
So then it was decided. She didn't tell her parents, but somehow she could tell they knew. She was just glad that she had their blessing to marry Luke. It was a strange feeling to say goodbye to her room and the town in which she had spent all of her life. For so long she had never thought this day was going to come, and now it was all happening so quickly. She shared a tearful goodbye with her parents, then swung herself into the cart, where she could ride in something akin to comfort, and the two of them were off to begin their new life together, after a slight detour.
On the way to the caves, Mary-Jane was worried that she was placing the two of them in danger, because she didn't want to be responsible for Eli being made an orphan, but she knew that if there was even the slightest chance her uncle was out there, she had to take it. It gave her an opportunity to talk with Luke as well, and as they spent more time together they grew more comfortable talking about the important things. He shared with her memories of his wife, and she could still hear the heartbreak in his voice.
“I'm sorry, I know that I promised not to speak of her too often. It's not very gentlemanly.”
“It's fine, honestly. You have been open with me from the start about it and I want you to be able to share these things with me. There have already been too many secrets in my life. I don't want them with you as well.”
They road towards the rocky mountains and the sunset, casting them in shadows. Fear crept up Mary-Jane's spine, for she was heading into the territory of her town's worst enemies.
“Do you think you'll recognize him if you see him?” Luke asked. In truth, Mary-Jane wasn't sure, but she hoped that she would. However, there were no sounds around them and everything seemed to be deathly quiet. The mountains loomed above them with their sheer faces, and the mouths of caves were yawning. The temperature dropped and Mary-Jane began to shiver. Goosebumps prickled her flesh, and as the light dimmed they began to lose hope that they would find anything, and decided to turn into one of the caves for the night for shelter.
Luke lit a torch and the bright glow filled the cave, and they were astonished when they entered, for they had only been expecting to find a small opening, but the caves led to a vast network of tunnels and other openings, enough to hold a great number of people.
“This must have been where they lived, and why nobody could ever find them. They could move here. They must have tunnels going through all the mountains,” Mary-Jane said, and moved forward to explore. There was no sign of anyone, and if anyone had lived here it didn't seem like they had done for a number of years. As they moved deeper into the caves, they eventually reached a cavern in which paintings on the wall caught Mary-Jane’s eye. They were in the same style as those hanging on the walls in her parents' home, although they were fading, and hadn't been made recently. But it was clear that her uncle had lived with them, and she had to wonder if they were indeed as bad as everyone thought, for they clearly took him in. As she gazed at the paintings, Luke came up behind her. She felt the warmth emanating from his body, and turned to face him.
“These are his paintings, he was here,” she said, and only wished that he was still there, that she could speak to him after all these years, because even though he had tried to take her away from her home he had been a part of her life, and she would have liked to have seen him once more.
“He was talented,” Luke said.
“Yes... he was,” she replied, thinking about her uncle and what his life must have been like after he left them. Did he miss them at all? Did he ever regret leaving them? Was he ever tempted to return and visit them? They were all questions that she would not get an answer to. As she gazed around the cavern, she noticed a hole dug into the wall. It was slightly covered by a stone, but she dug in with her hands. She didn't know why. Something inside told her that she had to. She reached in and felt around until her hands found some paper. She pulled them out and tears filled her eyes, for they were the paintings that her uncle had made of her. She looked at them one by one, and the memories of him painting them came flooding back. Tears flowed through her and Luke came beside her, holding her trembling body.
“This was you, when you were a kid?”
“Yeah,” she said.
“Why are you crying?”
“Because he never would have left these behind. It means that he's probably dead, and I never got to say goodbye,” she wailed. She buried her head in Luke's shoulder and his strong arms held her tightly. He kissed the top of her head and his presence comforted her. Gently, he led her back through to another cavern and gave her some water as he prepared some blankets to act as bedding.
“It's not going to be that comfortable, but it'll make do,” he said. Then, awkwardly, he returned to sitting beside her, wrapping his arm around her. She nestled into him and the two of them let a comfortable silence drift over them, until her sobs ceased. The torch they had lit died down and the shadows danced against the wall.
“I know we are not married yet. If you feel this is improper I can-” Luke said.
“No, stay close to me. We are going to be married,” she replied, draping her arm around him to make sure that he didn't move. Their bodies fit together perfectly and Mary-Jane's heart was beating quickly with anticipation. There was a magic in the air that seemed to lift their desires. They were secreted away in a cave, away from the prying eyes of the world, and she wanted him to take her everything. It was love for her, and even if it wasn't love for him yet, she knew it would be soon.
“Thank you, Mary-Jane.”
“For what?”
“For saving me.”
“You didn't need saving.”
“I did. You don't know how desperate I was. There was a point when I never thought I would ever find anyone again, but being around you is so... it's like I have been reborn. I know I am not the most desirable man around, but thank you for taking the time to get to know me.”
The memory of his wife hung around his neck like a noose, and Mary-Jane knew that it would be her job to remove it, to show him that he could leave that heartache in the past and move forward to a new, brighter future. A future with her. And even though she had been untouched she was guided by an innate force that all those who had been blessed with Aphrodite's instinct had.
She slowly dragged her hand across his chest and up along his neck, caressing his cheek as she curled her body around him, tilting up her head to look at him with her wide, liquid eyes. The dying flame of the torch caught in the reflection of her pupils, and she could feel his body tense and stiffen. She leaned in slowly, enjoying the anticipation of his lips upon hers. Her eyes fell shut as she felt his warm breath against her lips, then she parted for him and they were joined. Her mind exploded at the sensation and her life was now colorful. Everything before seemed drab and gray compared to this. She reeled back after the shock of it all.
“Is anything wrong?” he asked, and in the dim light she could see an expression of worry. But Mary-Jane was beaming widely, and shook her head emphatically, yet she said not a word, instead deciding to lean into him again. This time the kiss was deeper and longer, and she could feel the arousal surging through their bodies. They were absorbing eachother’s primal energies and nothing could stop the rampant pleasure from seizing them trapping them. Their breaths became rapid and gasping while their skin was hot and scorched to the touch. Their darting tongues danced with each other as their bodies moved to lay on the floor
. His hands were tight around her waist, while hers clung to his back, and it was even more intense than she had imagined. She threw her hair back and offered him the slender nape of her neck, which he kissed with great ardor.
Luke was a passionate man, but it had been locked inside him ever since his wife had died, yet now with the demure Mary-Jane underneath him, he was unable to resist the tempting allure of her beauty and essence. She shuddered as he kissed her, and her hands grabbed his hair as he moved down, pulling away her garments as he explored every inch of her flawless skin. She watched him through wide, eager eyes as he ripped away her clothing, leaving her naked and willing. It was all a rush, and frightening, and exhilarating at the same time, and yet it all seemed perfectly natural. This was the first time she had done this, yet it seemed to come naturally to her. She knew where to dig her nails in, when to gasp, and she let her body guide her actions. Thoughts drifted away from her mind and were replaced by a deep, dark instinct that had always lurked beneath the surface and had waited for the right person to unlock it.
His body was hard and hot and she could feel the swollen arousal pressing against her. The cave was cold and yet she was on fire. The night was dark and yet she was bathed in an effervescent glow, one that seemed to emanate from her soul and enveloped Luke. His kisses were like fire as he traveled along the curves of her body, pinning her down against the hard ground. Her eyes squeezed shut as the pleasure became too much. Her legs parted willingly for him as his mouth panted against her stomach. He then rose back up, sliding like a serpent over her body, engulfing her in his lusting heat, catching her mouth in his again where they shared another long, deep kiss.
ROMANCE: Badass Boss (Billionaire Alpha Bad Boy Romance) (Western Mail Order Bride Calendar Contemporary) Page 65