Linda Castle

by The Return of Chase Cordell

  When Linese was gone, Chase turned his thoughts to Mayor Kerney. He and his group had been jabbing a hornet’s nest since the day Chase stepped off the train. Now they were going to see the results of their actions firsthand.

  Chase picked up the fresh issue of the Gazette and stepped outside. He locked the door behind him and took off down the walk. By the time he reached Kerney’s office, his shirt was stuck to him from the heat and the humidity and the restless anticipation pulsing through his veins.

  Chase flung open the door to the mayor’s office without bothering to knock. Kerney looked up in astonishment from behind a huge carved desk. The paint on his walls looked fresh and clean, the carpet on his floor bright and new. Everything around him spoke of prosperity and wealth, and it served to make Chase even more angry when he thought of the gaunt faces of men who lived by their convictions. It wasn’t fair that a man who had no loyalty should prosper, while better men did not.

  “Well, now. Chase Cordell, I’ve been expecting you. Come in, come in.” Kerney leaned back in his chair and laced his hands behind his head. He was the picture of contented victory amid the opulence of his official office.

  “I wrote an editorial,” Chase said mildly.

  The mayor’s smile grew wider. “I thought you might. Seeing your grandfather behind bars would be just the impetus you needed to get you going. Some of the other boys didn’t think you’d give in so easy. Guess I’m a better judge of character than most, eh, Chase?”

  Chase felt as if someone had taken a key and unlocked manacles from his wrists. This moment was going to take away whatever threat the mayor had held over him from the past. His grandfather was free and clear. The Cordells were no longer going to be blackmailed by the Businessman’s Association. Chase was going to be able to live his life without fear, just like anyone else in Mainfield, Texas.

  “Here’s a copy for you, mayor. I wanted to be the one to deliver it, personally, to be sure you got the first look at the Gazette’s stand on the issues of the war.”

  Chase tossed the folded paper across the polished surface of the desk. It slid to the edge, where Kerney’s ample belly prevented it from falling to the floor. Kerney picked it up and opened it to read the bold black headline.

  The smile began to slip from his flaccid lips. It was soon replaced by a frown, then a bright red flush of pure rage. Kerney’s head snapped up. His small eyes narrowed down to slits.

  “I guess you’ve forgotten your grandfather is behind bars. I hold all the cards in this little game, Chase.”

  “Not anymore. Seems he had been seen by a number of people on that night two years ago. You have no more leverage, Mayor. You can no longer threaten me with my grandfather’s safety.”

  “You made a big mistake, Cordell, a dangerous mistake. There are other possibilities—involving your wife and grandfather. Their continued health and security is in your hands.” His voice was a menacing hiss.

  “Not hardly.” Chase strode forward and placed his palms flat on the desk. He leaned forward and stared into the man’s eyes until his nose and Kerney’s were mere inches apart.

  “If anything—I mean anything—happens to Linese or the Captain, I’ll kill you. I don’t care if it’s an accident, my fault or simply an act of God. If they come to harm, or even come close to harm, I’m coming for you. Then I’m tracking down each and every one of the Businessman’s Association. You tell them that, Kerney, tell the association what I said.” Chase raised one brow. “So I suppose you could say Lin-ese’s and my grandfather’s lives, and your own, are in your hands, Mayor.”

  Chase watched the color drain from the mayor’s face and experienced a moment of pure, cold satisfaction. But the mayor rallied and dredged up one last particle of bravado.

  “Then perhaps it would be safer for all concerned if you should be the one to have a small accident, Major Cordell.”

  Chase grinned and focused on Kerney’s narrow little eyes. Facing his own fears and weaknesses had awakened a part of him that had been in slumber since his return to Mainfield. He felt the warrior inside him spring forth at the threat.

  “As you may have noticed, Mayor, I’m a hard man to kill. Several thousand Southern soldiers have already attempted to do that very thing, but if you’ve got a notion to try, I’ll be waiting. You come a-running anytime you’re ready.”

  The mayor sat in stunned silence while Chase leaned away from the desk and stood up straight. He walked to the door, but stopped with his hand on the knob.

  “Have a nice evening, Mayor. And I’m sure you will be interested in the editorials I’ll be putting in the Gazette from now on. I’ll see you have one delivered to your door every week—no charge—a gift from the Cordells.”

  Chase rode home with his thoughts running faster than a swollen river. So many things had changed since Rancy had come to arrest his grandfather. He had finally emerged from a long, dark tunnel and at the end there was Linese, with her love shining like a beacon in the dark.

  Images of her face swirled through his mind. Some of his recollections were old memories, disjointed pictures that Chase could not sort into any particular order. Some were new. It gave him a measure of peace to know that he was slowly regaining his memory. It was enough to make him start to believe he could become whole again. For the first time since he had stepped off that train, he felt confident enough to let himself love his wife—completely.

  Cordellane was quiet and dark. Chase walked into the library, lit a lamp and sloshed brandy into a glass. The liquid swirled in a dusky vortex. The crescent moon was just peeking through the tall windows at the back of the house.

  It had taken him longer to get home than he had anticipated. He glanced toward the darkened staircase and wondered if Linese was still awake.

  There was one more thing he had to do before he could be completely free of the dark cloud that had followed him for too long. He had to tell Linese about his loss of memory. She was the one person in this world who deserved to hear the entire truth.

  Chase didn’t feel compelled to let anyone else know, but Linese merited his honesty. He wanted her to know exactly who he was now, and why.

  He sighed and slammed back the glass of brandy. He dreaded telling her. He wanted to avoid it. Revealing his horrible weakness to her was going to be the hardest task of all, because he was afraid of losing her. But he loved her so much that no matter what happened, he had to be honest with Linese. It wasn’t fair for her to make decisions about their future without having all the facts. He regretted not telling her before. Guilt, fear and slumbering emotions so powerful they made his knees liquid had prevented him.

  He turned the wick down until the flame guttered and went out, then he turned toward the stairs and took the first step toward his future.

  The bedroom was dim. The sliver of moonlight coming through the open window provided enough light for him to undress, but little else.

  Chase nearly gave in to the impulse to wake her, almost reached out and touched her in his desire to unburden himself now, tonight. But his concern for her well-being, her comfort, won out. He could wait until morning, wait until she woke rested and doe eyed from sleep.

  The mattress sagged a tiny bit under his weight when he got quietly into bed. With a flick of his wrist, the sheet settled back upon his bare legs and hips. Chase was instantly aware of Linese’s body heat dancing evenly down his shoulders, backside and thighs.

  She is not wearing her nightgown.

  The information was telegraphed to his brain with utter certainty. He squeezed the feather pillow in his clenched fists and fought to control his rising passion. He had waited this long, he could wait one more night.

  Soft fingers suddenly touched the top ridge of his shoulder and he started at the unexpected contact. Linese trailed them, teasingly, seductively, down his spine, toward the small of his waist. There she paused and flattened out her hand. Chase’s astonished breath stuck in his throat.

  She was not asleep. His temperatu
re soared to a feverish state. Fire ignited beneath the petite expanse of her smooth palm when she started inching forward, molding her hand to fit each inch of his flesh, while she sculpted his body as an artisan might mold clay. She moved relentlessly toward the front side of his ribs, just above his hipbone. Her hands were roaming over his skin in a way that paralyzed his mind and his body.

  Sweet Lord, give me strength, his mind screamed silently, for Chase seemed to have lost the ability to speak, as well as the power to move. He was frozen and mute beneath the electric touch of her hand.

  He must have breathed, but he wasn’t conscious of it. The only thing he was aware of was Linese’s fingers inching lower, closer, searing a path toward the throbbing heat at the core of his plight. His body vibrated with yearning and anticipation.

  A scraping sound accompanied her nail’s contact with the hair on his belly. She twined her fingertips in a curl of hair she encountered below his navel and swirled her seductive, smooth fingers in the whorl. The muscles in his gut jumped involuntarily and he heard his own breath hiss through his clenched teeth.

  Never in his wildest dreams would he have thought Linese would touch him so. His heart fluttered with delight, but he was still too stupefied to move.

  Linese’s hand shifted again. Lower, slower. Each heartbeat was pleasurable torture while she relentlessly moved toward the hard, pulsing core of his manhood.

  Then she reached out and grasped the most rigid part of him with firm determination. It was an action that shocked and titillated him to the very marrow of his bones. His heart lodged in his throat like a stone.

  “I am only human, Linese,” he growled. “Do you know what you are doing to me?” The question ripped from him in an anguished rush. Before she could reply, he turned over and pinned her beneath his aroused body in one deft move.

  “Show me, Chase.” Her voice was deep and sensual and sent a frisson of chills over his burning flesh. “Show me what I am doing to you.”

  Moonlight fell across her face in a silver shaft from an open window. The redolent smell of honeysuckle and loamy earth mingled on a warm breeze and heightened his pleasure in some undefinable primal fashion. She was more beautiful than he could have imagined. Her lips were slightly parted in a sensuous smile.

  Chase buried his face in her hair and inhaled the fresh clean smell of her, while he showered kisses over her forehead, eyes, cheeks and down her throat. It didn’t seem he would ever get enough of Linese. He realized what he yearned for most in all the world was to love this woman fully.

  She shifted positions and he settled himself between her thighs. It jolted him to realize how well they fit together, how he knew he belonged with her. She gyrated her hips against him slowly.

  He shuddered with pleasure and surprise. “Lord Almighty, Linese, where did you learn such a thing?”

  Linese slid her hand between their bodies and stroked the velvet length of him. She felt powerful, in control. She was still inhibited, but she kept telling herself it was right—they were married, they belonged together.

  Butterflies filled her belly each time Chase’s body responded exactly as Melissa predicted he would. She moved her hand over his hip and felt the raised network of scars on his skin. For a moment he did stiffen beneath her curious touch, but she rubbed and caressed and his muscles began to relax.

  It was quite a revelation to Linese, to find out she had such domination over this man who had always seemed so impervious, so unreachable.

  She found his mouth and touched her tongue to his lips. He jerked at first, unaccustomed to her boldness, but soon he opened his lips and speared her with his own. Linese felt the very essence of her being cleaved to Chase.

  “I missed you,” she murmured. “I missed you so much.”

  Chase shivered inwardly. He knew he should say the same thing, but he could not continue the hypocrisy of his silent lie. She nuzzled his throat and moaned softly in contentment.

  He could no longer check the molten lust surging through his body, not when Linese and his heart beckoned him to go on. But, if he was going to do this thing—and by all that was holy, he was going to make love to her tonight—then he had to be honest with Linese.

  “Linese, I must tell you. Something happened while I was gone….”

  She opened her eyes. In the muted light from the summer moon, he could see her watching him, searching his face, seeking his soul. It sent an arrow of emotion tearing through his heart.

  “Later, Chase, no matter what it is, it can keep.” She ground her pelvis against him again.

  He loved her.

  He didn’t remember loving her—but he did love her. The person he was at this moment in time, the aroused man who arched his body above hers and held her close in this bed, loved her. He adored her with every particle of his blighted soul and he feared losing her.

  “Tell me tomorrow,” she said with a throaty sigh. “For tonight, let’s forget about the war. Let’s forget about the time we’ve lost. Tomorrow will be soon enough to face the harsh world again.”

  Linese reached up and twined her fingers in the hair at his temples. She tugged him toward her. A hot core of need flowered inside her. She leaned into Chase’s wide chest more with each passionate caress.

  This was what she had wanted since Chase stepped off the train. She had waited two years to feel his arms around her—two years to know the completeness of giving herself to her husband without the hurried embarrassment she felt of their first time. Melissa had given her a measure of understanding she had lacked before. Now, because of what she had learned, she knew she would enjoy Chase in a physical way that had been a sweet mystery on their wedding night.

  “Now, Chase. Make love to me now,” she pleaded.

  Chase tried to make his thoughts coherent. He tried to ignore her request and tell her the truth, but the need to tell her right now was weaker than his passion and desire to love her. He finally gave up the effort to resist her and kissed her with wild abandon. Chase closed his eyes and allowed his hands and his mouth to worship this extraordinary woman without restraint.

  Linese felt Chase’s fervor intensify. It was like a dam breaking, spilling life-giving liquid over a barren landscape. She felt him change within her arms as a chameleon changes its color. He was no longer holding back. There wasn’t anything kept in reserve, as she had so often felt when she was with him. For this night, for this magical moment, he was hers completely.

  Her husband was an expert lover. He touched her gently in secret hot places. Nerve endings in her body thrummed with feelings she had never known existed. His eager mouth nibbled and suckled her ears, her throat, her nipples.

  He was not like this before he went to war. A voice inside her head declared. Not only was she a changed woman, Chase was different in some mystical, profound manner. He was utterly devoted to her pleasure, her gratification. It was as if he were a different man.

  The difference went beyond the awkwardness between them on their wedding night, but she could not define it. That night had been more an embarrassing exercise for the newlyweds than an occasion of shared pleasure. This coupling promised to be heaven on earth, the fulfillment of all her dreams and two years’ worth of longing.

  To her surprise, a soft mewling sound escaped her lips. Without conscious thought, she arched against his chin when he grazed lightly over her belly. It occurred to her that, somewhere along this extraordinary journey, she had surpassed what Melissa had told her and her body had taken over with a secret knowledge of its own.

  “Don’t stop,” she whispered in a breathy voice.

  A husky moan of exultation accompanied Chase’s exploration of her silken skin. She twined her fingers in his hair and pulled him near again. She wrapped her legs around Chase’s waist and encouraged him to mount her.

  “Now, Chase, now…” she moaned.

  “Linese, I want you so badly it hurts,” he whispered at the moment he filled her body.

  Her heart soared. She had regai
ned what the war had taken from her—and more. Chase was back where he belonged. Happiness blanketed her heart.

  Chase caressed the soft weight of Linese’s breasts and he heard her gasp. He fought to master his physical need, intending to hold back until Linese was satisfied. That was what he longed for—to see her shatter in ecstasy beneath him. He shifted positions slightly, willed himself to hold back his own pleasure, and trailed kisses down her chin and breasts while he rocked his pelvis against her. A slick sheen of sweat covered both their bodies and heightened his pleasure. Chase kissed, fondled and basked in the wonder of his newfound intimacy.

  It was all a wonderful experience of discovery. Each new touch brought astonishing results. Each new treasure was also a reassuring whisper that told Chase he was finally free of the past.

  Chase had never known such bliss existed in this earthly world. It was like finding a part of himself that had been lost, a part of himself he never wanted to relinquish.

  Linese dug her fingernails into his shoulders and her body went stiff with her cascading release. For a blink of an eye, he saw them in his memory. He and Linese, locked together awkwardly, in their first attempt at love. He recalled their wedding, or at least a tiny fragment of their wedding night. His mind shouted happily at the recaptured memory while it blended and merged with his present physical rapture. He thrust harder—once, twice, three times and felt her name on his lips like wine.

  Linese was lost in her own realm of pleasure, already satisfied once but enjoying the feeling of having Chase hard inside her. She felt all the muscles in his back flex and expand beneath her palms while she held him, an anchor that she clung to while her mind and body floated somewhere above her.

  “I love you, Linese,” he said with a harsh moan.

  She had truly overcome all the obstacles between them. Her husband was in her arms, he voiced his love for her. No specter of doubt could ever come between them again, not now. Not when he had finally said the words that she had longed to hear, not when they had picked up the pieces of their lives. Nothing could take her happiness away now that she finally won his devotion.