by Firebrand
“I thought a banker kept his business confidential.”
“This isn’t a banker talking now, McCall. This is Thomas Paxton, farmer. And I’ll do whatever it takes to get that water.”
“And what would you do with it?”
“I’d figure out how to trap the runoff from the spring thaw in that blind canyon of hers. Then I’d have enough water to irrigate. Water, Cade, cheap water—that’s the real money in the state.”
“I was in that canyon last week. There isn’t any water in there.”
“Not yet, but there will be.”
“I’ll take your word for it, but I don’t know that I can convince Rusty to do anything. Besides, if saving that water is such a good idea, why hasn’t she done it herself?”
“The best way to do it is to build a dam. But that takes cash and expertise. Besides, she’s as foolish about that land as old Walt was. He didn’t want to stop the runoff from reaching the river and the ranchers downstream, and neither does she. Trouble is, too much is lost that way.”
“I can’t say that I’ve seen much need for it on Silverwild,” Cade commented.
“Not yet. But wait until midsummer when the grass all dies and there isn’t enough to feed her herd. Then the cows start dying of dehydration and she has to truck water to them from a river twenty miles away.”
Cade didn’t know how to answer the man. But he was beginning to understand Rusty’s buying that bull. A more drought-resistant strain of cattle could be crucial. But if there was water to be had by building a dam, that was important, too, and that was something he knew about.
“I’ll think about it, Paxton,” he promised, and turned back to Howard Chandler and his group. Howard glanced at Paxton and back at Cade. The expression on his face was one of concern. Cade caught the imperceptible shake of Paxton’s head. So the offer was a joint undertaking.
When Howard offered Cade a second drink, he declined. He’d found out what Rusty wanted to know. And he’d found out what he needed to know too. “No thanks,” he told Howard, “and my lady has been alone far too long. I wouldn’t want her to think I’ve been kidnapped.”
“Well, she ought to be experienced at that,” a voice came from the back of the room. “Old Ben walked off and left her the last time she came. At least he was a man who knew how to keep a woman in her place.”
Dead silence.
Cade turned, his teeth clenched as he searched for the source of the voice. Before his gaze the men stepped back, forming a wedge that focused on one man standing at the end of the bar. He was probably drunk, from the looks of his loosened tie and unbuttoned vest.
“My name’s McCall,” Cade said as he walked slowly toward the man. “What’s your name?”
“It’s Tobe Freeman. What’s it to you?”
“I like to make certain that a man knows who I am before I hit him. Seems friendlier that way.”
Cade drew back, and before anybody quite knew what had happened, he’d planted his fist against the side of the drunk’s face with a resounding thud. With a little nod of approval, he watched the man slump to the floor.
“Thanks for the drink and the conversation, gentlemen.” He turned and started back toward the door, stopping as he opened it. “By the way, all of you know about the bull Rusty bought. Well, he’s going to breed a new strain of drought-resistant cattle. But, just to cover our—bases, as a wedding present, I’m going to build my wife a dam. So if any of you want to talk confidentially about your water needs while you’re out checking Rusty’s new bull, I’ll be around.”
The dance floor was still crowded. Only the older men, the selected inner circle of money and prestige, were invited to have cigars in the bar. The younger men were still dancing.
Will came alongside him. “I’m glad to see Rusty and Ann-Marie getting along so well. Ann-Marie was worried. She’s pregnant,” Will confided, “and I think she’d like a friend close-by to talk women things with.”
“Congratulations. Rusty and I plan to have a family too. She told me that the two of you were friends … once.”
“Don’t worry about me, Cade. I never was any competition for you. Rusty wasn’t in love with me. It was all on my side. There was a time when I would have married her in a heartbeat.”
“She said there was a problem with your religion. What were you, Fleming, some kind of priest?”
He laughed. “No, I’m a Mormon, and we aren’t allowed to marry outside our faith. I was willing to forget that, but Rusty knew it would be a mistake. She was right. Ann-Marie and I are perfect for each other.”
Cade smiled. He thought a close friendship with a woman was new to Rusty. Ann-Marie would be good for her. Rusty, too, would need a friend when they had a child.
“Cade.” Rusty looked up anxiously as he reached her side and put his hand on her shoulder. “How’d things go in the bar?”
“It was very interesting, but not nearly so interesting as an after-dinner drink with you.”
“Yes,” Ann-Marie agreed, “but I think I’d rather have a banana split with mounds of whipped cream. What do you say we find an ice-cream parlor and splurge?”
“We could,” Will said agreeably, “but I think that Rusty and Cade would rather be alone. Why don’t we all get out of here? Let’s see what Room Service has to offer in this hotel?”
“Room service?” Cade questioned.
“Sure, we’re all staying overnight. Didn’t Rusty tell you? Ann-Marie booked two rooms. One for us and one for you two. Maybe this was to be a surprise,” Will confided privately. “I think Rusty may be a little shy about you. Old Walt kept a pretty tight rein on her when she was a kid.”
Shy? Cade thought that might be the right word. Ben had ducked out on her. Maybe Rusty had been afraid that he wouldn’t be here either. Wild horses couldn’t have driven him away. Tonight Rusty wanted a romantic evening, not a completed job assignment. Cade grinned. A room? Overnight?
Grinning foolishly, Cade put his hands in his pocket and rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet. If it hadn’t been so obvious, he might have whistled. Damn, he liked Salt Lake City and its people. He felt good, very good. Better than he had for a long time.
Rusty watched as Will swept Ann-Marie around and walked away with his arm tight around her waist.
“Well, I never!” Rusty said in disbelief.
“Neither have I, darling, but we’re going to. Come on, Champ. We’re going to see a clerk about a key. By the way, how do you feel about banana splits?”
“I can’t say that I’m real fond of them,” she admitted as Cade approached the reservations clerk.
“Give yourself some time,” Cade whispered. “I think you’re going to acquire a taste for them.”
Ten minutes later Cade was tipping the bellman and locking the door to their room behind him. He turned back to Rusty with a wide smile. “When did you intend to tell me about staying over, darling?”
“When I … after I was sure that everything was going all right. And don’t call me darling.”
“Why not? I think that everything is going to be very much all right.” Cade began to remove his clothes, one piece at a time, one step at a time, until he had backed Rusty across the sitting room, into the bedroom, and against the king-size bed.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m about to get to work, boss-lady. I’ve got a big job to do and only six months to do it in.” He turned her around, found the satin tie that held the see-through chiffon across the top of her dress in place. He untied it, kissing a trail around her neck and down the V between her breasts as he unzipped the gown and peeled it from her body.
As his mouth reached her bare breasts, he lifted his eyes and grinned. “No bra? No wonder you had to have that little piece of net on top.”
“Oh! You! I know my breasts aren’t as big as Ann-Marie’s.”
His dark eyes stared at her breasts—small, pink, and hard-tipped. “Your breasts are perfect.” His fingers went to one nipple, touch
ing it, watching it tighten into a small rose-colored ball. He caught it, lifting, caressing boldly. “I like the black stockings,” he whispered as he peeled them down her incredibly long legs. “I like this too.” He caught his finger in the skimpy triangle of black lace and played back and forth beneath the band.
“Oh, Cade.” She groaned. “I wanted so very much to please you.”
“You please me very much.” His lips parted, and his breath came quick and hard. “And I want to please you. Do you like my touching you?”
“Yes, oh, yes,” she said huskily. “Do you like me to touch you?” Her hands went to his chest. This time he didn’t feel cold. She ran her fingers through his dark chest hair, leaning forward to brush his chest with her breasts.
Cade caught his breath as she leaned back and for a moment thrust her pelvis against him—against the hard part of him, now throbbing against her. He ripped the lace panties from her body and ran his fingers through the rust-colored hair beneath.
Cade caught Rusty’s upper arms, looking down into green passion-filled eyes. She might not know about seduction, but their great need for each other was leading her into paths she’d never trod before. The last of his reason deserted him as his hand slid to her bottom and lifted her, bringing those fiery curls against his stomach and up his abdomen as he claimed her exquisite breast in this mouth.
“When we have a child, will you nurse him?” Cade asked as he pulled his mouth from one breast and sought the other.
“Yes, I want that—very much.” Her voice was suddenly soft, shaking. “A child,” he’d said. “When we have a child.” Would their child be hungry for her as Cade now was? Would he take her nipple roughly, demanding? She moaned, clasping her legs around his waist as she thrust herself recklessly against him.
Only vaguely did she realize that they were on the bed, Cade on his back, his hands were moving over her, pulling her against him so that he was pressing intimately against the valley into which her whole being eagerly awaited his penetration. She was going out of her mind with wanting him.
“Oh, Cade, it feels so good, so right! I never knew it could be like this between a man and a woman.”
“But we’re not just any man and any woman.”
Cade’s mouth was touching. His hands were probing, exciting her body. He could feel her abandon as he loved her, forcing her need higher and higher into a blazing torrent of passion that teetered on the explosive edge of release. He stood, bringing her with him as he ripped the bedclothes away.
“No,” she whimpered, stopping him momentarily, “don’t, don’t stop, please!” She lifted herself against him, finding his mouth as she arched against him.
This time he laid her down and fell across her. This time he didn’t hold back, plunging deep inside her. This time he felt her heart beat deep inside the cavern of her desire, and the soft warmth of her locked onto him and throbbed in expectation.
She began to move.
“No, Rusty, don’t. I can’t hold back. Be still.”
She stopped. But the tense grasp of her muscles couldn’t stop the spasms vibrating inside.
“Oh, Cade. Such pleasure. I never knew that a woman could feel such pleasure.”
“Rusty, you’re so sweet. You’re so warm and beautiful.” He closed his mouth over hers and felt the ripple of heat begin. Though she tried not to move, like a storm at sea the waves rolled in, far away and distant at first, then growing stronger and wilder, sliding against each other, it came—intense pleasure that grew and grew.
“Cade,” she cried out, and there was no more stillness.
Feverishly, Cade thrust himself into her over and over until he felt the aching spasms of release sweep over her. And then his own crashing climax overtook him, and he could only hold on and feel and feel and feel …
Cade went still. He was still inside her, but suddenly he was heavier, wet with perspiration and breathing deeply. Her arms were still around him, and she began to rub his back as if he were a baby who needed comforting.
“Spectacular,” she whispered. “Simply awesome, McCall.” She touched his neck, his arms, his hair, loving the feel of him. She knew that what they’d just shared was more than mating. He didn’t have to tell her they’d climbed the mountaintop and they’d done it together. Now that they’d reached the other side, she found she was still clinging to the wonderful feeling.
Moisture collected in her eyes. She wanted to laugh. Instead she was crying. She felt him move. Her body reacted with a protest. It liked what it had captured. She knew now she wanted Cade McCall to stay forever where he was, in her arms, inside her body, inside her soul.
“I’m too heavy,” he whispered, lifting his head to look into her eyes.
“No, don’t move. I like you inside me.”
He touched her face with his fingertip. “So beautiful,” he whispered, “loving you, being inside you.”
Her face glowed in the lamplight. There was a flush across her cheeks, a wonder in her eyes. He came up on his elbows and leaned down to kiss her. He wanted to cherish her, to look after her, to give her a whole new world in which he would be the focus.
The spot of warmth deep inside her widened and intensified. It was enchanced by their joining, but it also was separate from it. There was a special softness about it, and the glow from inside washed outward until her whole body felt as if it were shining.
Above, Cade looked down at her with unabashed joy. He could feel her pleasure, over and above his own. And he laughed.
“You don’t smile much,” she said slyly. “And you laugh even less. I’m glad I make you happy. I—” she held back the rest. She wanted to say I love you. But she didn’t. Those words were so final, and she didn’t know how Cade would react. Lying here with him now, she didn’t want to do anything to change what they shared.
“I wonder—” she started to say, and hushed as her body felt a stirring down below.
“You wonder what?” he prompted, taking her nipple his mouth.
“I wonder if we could do that again?”
And they did—not once but twice more, and then once again just before dawn. As Rusty closed her eyes in sleep, she let herself finish her thought. She wondered if Cade had given her a child. That thought filled her with joy.
A child meant marriage.
And for her, marriage to Cade McCall meant forever.
Eight
The next three weeks brought a steady stream of ranchers to the Silverwild to see Pretty Boy. Each of the men found a reason to stop and chat a moment with Cade.
During the day, Rusty and Doak managed to complete the herd’s spring deworming. Pixie stayed underfoot at every turn. With a family and a new school she was thriving. To Rusty, the relationship between the child and her father was a joy to see.
A bedtime story from Rusty soon became part of Pixie’s daily routine. As did the nightly disappearance of Letty from the house during mealtime. Eugene apparently was finding his Tundra Tonic an aphrodisiac, for Letty had changed her humming song from “I’m Getting Married in the Morning” to “A Blanket on the Ground.”
During the daytime Cade looked at maps, studied books and pamphlets, and made numerous phone calls. He performed whatever task Rusty assigned him in such a way that it seemed to be a joint venture. At night he made glorious love to Rusty, always slipping back to his room before morning.
At the end of three weeks Rusty learned about the place Cade had created for himself on Silverwild. She might not have found out for months, but she had gone into Coyote Wells to check on the repair of the Cessna and visit the doctor. To make her visit to town completely joyful, she decided to stop by the bank on the way home. She could hardly wait to tell Paxton that she no longer needed a loan from his bank. Pretty Boy’s stud fees were taking care of her financial problems.
The smile he gave her when she’d finished wasn’t a surprise. His reply—“Guess not, with McCall blackmailing everybody into using that bull”—was.
“What d
o you mean?” Rusty slid to the edge of her chair and leaned on his desk.
He looked at her as if he didn’t believe her question. “You don’t know, do you.”
“Know what, Thomas? You’d better tell me, or I’ll move what’s left of my account to another bank and tell everybody in town that yours is failing.”
“Oh, you don’t have to do that, Rusty. I’ll tell you. After all, I stand to gain as much as everybody else. It’s your water. McCall is going to build a dam and siphon it off.”
“Build a dam? How’s he going to do that?”
“He’s going to make me a partner. He builds the dam and pipeline. I put up the money. We have all the water we need, and we sell the rest. I’ll have to hand it to you, Rusty, you’ve got more sense than I gave you credit for. Even old Walt could never have pulled this off.”
She didn’t remember leaving the bank. She didn’t know when it started to rain either. Cade had found a way to pull Silverwild out of the financial hole, and he’d set his plan in motion without saying a word to her. No wonder he’d been so happy. He’d stayed out of running the ranch, taking her orders and carrying them out like everybody else who worked for her. And all the while he was carefully planning to dam the canyon and sell the water to any rancher in the valley who needed it.
Carrying out her orders like all the other men who worked for her. That phrase kept running through her mind.
What did she expect? She’d started the game, but he was the better player. He was doing the same thing that her father had done to her, giving her an illusion of power by letting her take care of the routine business of ranching while behind the scenes the future of Silverwild was in his control.
She could hardly see the road now. Between her tears and the rain everything was a blur. Lightning cracked the sky. Thunder rolled across the mountains and crashed into the valleys. The rain was falling in torrents. Too bad, Mr. McCall. If you had your dam built, you’d be able to fill it without waiting for the spring runoffs.
And I went and fell in love with the man. I couldn’t even advertise and find some man willing to give me a child as a pure business arrangement. She thought about the contract she’d insisted on. More than that she thought about the nights she’d spent in Cade’s arms, loving him with every part of her, opening herself up to him. Praying each time they made love that he’d give her a child.