by Janet Dailey
“Your clothes are wet,” she said huskily.
With calm deliberation, he unbuttoned his shirt and shrugged out of it. There was a tightening low in her stomach as she looked at the rippling muscles of his chest and the dark hairs that nested on it. The sensation increased when he stripped out of his pants. The long white underwear beneath them was molded to the lower half of his body like a second skin. The boots and socks were gone only seconds later.
“You don’t need that.” His glance flicked to the towel and she lowered her hand, letting it settle onto the floor with his clothes. “Lilli.” He groaned her name and lifted her straight up into the air, pressing his mouth against the roundness of a breast.
Raw and curling desires quivered through her as he carried her, letting her slide down him by inches, while his mouth nuzzled a path to her lips. By the time they reached the bed, she was being consumed by a ravishing kiss. He eased her onto the quilt, his body following hers to partially pin her down. The male hardness outlined against her thigh was something Lilli understood, but the absence of any demand for him to receive immediate satisfaction was new to her.
His mouth rocked over her lips, his tongue darting in with tormenting touches until she turned the aggressor and made it stay to entwine with hers. His hands were roaming at will over her naked flesh, caressing the rise and fall of her breasts, sliding over her stomach and hips, heating her skin wherever they touched.
She was already drowning in the waves of sensations when he started a more intimate exploration. His lips were on her face, hair, and neck, then lower in the valley between her breasts. She sank her teeth into her lip as he rubbed his mouth over a sensitively erect nipple. Her fingers curled into the thickness of his hair and a moan of pleasure came from her throat when he took the nipple into his mouth.
Then he was rolling onto his back and pulling her with him to lie half across him. Her heavy-lidded eyes looked at him in confusion before he sought her lips. She kissed him, hungry for the excitement the contact produced. Some distant part of her mind was conscious that he was stripping off his underwear. Now it will come, the thought registered—but it didn’t.
When he shifted their positions again, it was to lie on their sides, facing each other, bodies touching. There were no more barriers between them. It seemed impossible to get close enough to him. Her breasts strained against the flat wall of his chest while her hands ran over the lean muscles in his back to mold him more tightly to her. His erection made no demands for entry despite the arching of her hips.
The aching fury of need was so intense that Lilli felt she could stand it no more. As if sensing it, Webb pressed her backward with his weight and his legs slid between hers. She tasted the perspiration on his skin as she arched to meet the thrust of his hips. His virility filled her throbbing emptiness. Under the driving power of his hips, she was all motion beneath him, giving and demanding, taking and receiving. No previous experience had prepared either of them for the wild passion of their coupling, the mating of souls as well as bodies.
A sweetly wild contentment flowed through every inch of her body as she lay nestled in his arms. Lilli sighed, laughing softly at the wondrously incredible discovery she’d made, and wrapped his arms more tightly around her, the warmth of his hard body the most comfortable blanket she’d ever known. His mouth moved against her hair.
“Are you as happy as I am?” she murmured, so full of pleasure that she was completely drained of all energy.
“Yes.” Although it seemed a tame word to describe a satisfaction that went beyond his ken.
“I feel like silk inside.” Lilli breathed in deeply and released another contented sigh. It was too unique a feeling for mere words to describe.
The week of courtship he had promised her had taken a much more intimate turn than he had planned. Webb doubted if he could have stayed out of her bed anyway, but he felt he owed her a choice now that he had taken her before marriage.
“Do you want to push the wedding date ahead? Because I’m not going to leave this room tonight,” he warned her.
She shifted sideways in his hold to look at him. Mischief danced in her eyes, surprising him. “Not even to eat?” she asked in mock disbelief, unperturbed by the anticipation of their wedding night and changing the subject to boldly show him. “A big man like you?”
“You noticed.” The amusement in his eyes changed the meaning of her remark.
She colored slightly when she caught the more intimate interpretation, but seemed more pleased than embarrassed. “I noticed,” she replied. “That’s why I thought you’d have to eat to keep up your strength.”
“Tonight I could be satisfied feasting on you.” He cupped a breast in his hand and bent down to kiss the sleeping nipple. “There are more ways to make love than just one.”
“Is that right?” Curiosity flickered in her eyes to contradict her casual reply. “Just the same, we should eat something.” She slipped out of his arms and stepped onto the floor.
As she started across the room, she caught a glimpse of her reflection in the full-length standing mirror. She walked over and stood in front of it, looking at her naked body with new eyes and making a critical appraisal. Relatively tall and slim, she was nicely shaped, she discovered, with firm, round breasts, a slender waist, and flaring hips. Her legs were long and slimly muscled—not skinny.
On the bed, Webb was enjoying his all-around view of her. “What are you looking at?” he asked curiously.
“A woman.” She turned to face him, a glow in her expression that took his breath away. Webb thought he had been emptied out, but the pressure was coming back. There was a boldness about the way she stood before him, not trying to cover herself; yet it wasn’t a brazen posturing to rouse his lust. It was much more natural than that. “I think I just found out how it feels to be a woman,” Lilli declared.
“Come here,” he said, and she approached the bed, letting him catch her hand and pull her onto the rumpled quilt beside him. Immediately she insinuated herself against him.
“Do you think we’ll ever get enough of each other?” she murmured.
“It’s going to take a lifetime for that to happen, if it ever does.”
Regret rippled through her. “There’s so much we could have shared already—”
“Don’t look back.” He shifted heavily onto her. “We’re going to forget what’s behind us and only look ahead.”
“Yes.” Her hand stroked his side, lightly touching the scarred depression left by the bullet hole, and let him think what he suggested was possible.
With the supper dishes finished, Ruth Stanton straightened the oilcloth covering the table and wiped off the crumbs from the meal. There was a knock at the front door of the wood-frame house she shared with her father. Company was the last thing she wanted tonight.
“Papa,” she called to her father in the front room. “Somebody’s at the door. Will you answer it?” She walked to the cupboards, making noise so it would sound as if she were busy.
When the second, peremptory knock went unanswered, Ruth advanced to the kitchen doorway and saw her father dozing soundly in his easy chair. His hearing wasn’t too good anymore. Impatiently she walked over and nudged his shoulder. He stirred, looking around blankly.
“Somebody is at the door, Papa,” Ruth repeated. “What? Oh.” He blinked to rid himself of the sleepy daze. “You had better answer it, Ruth.”
In a flurry of frustration, she went to the door and tried to compose a look of calm on her strained features as she opened it. Virg Haskell was standing on the porch, turning his hat in his hand. She felt a sinking sensation. She had thought—had hoped—it was one of her father’s cronies coming over to chat about old times or play a game of checkers, someone who wouldn’t expect to be entertained with talk from her. Tonight of all nights, she didn’t want Virg Haskell pressing his attentions on her.
“May I come in?” His smile was wide, expecting to be welcomed as he usually was.
The
re was no reason to refuse him admittance into her home, but Ruth didn’t respond with any enthusiasm as she opened the door wider. “Of course.”
“Hello, Virg.” Her father started to rise stiffly out of his chair to greet the man he regarded as his daughter’s suitor.
“Don’t get up, Mr. Stanton.” The cowboy moved quickly to shake the older man’s hand.
“What brings you here—as if I need to ask?” he asked with a winking look at Ruth. His failing vision didn’t notice the stiffness of her features.
“It’s a nice night out—a full moon. I thought Ruth might like to go for a little walk.” The slim, brown-haired cowboy turned his earnest gaze to her, a light shining brightly in his eyes.
“I can’t tonight. I ... I have papers to grade,” she lied, but her father caught her in it.
“You did those before supper,” he reminded her.
“Well, I meant ... I had assignments to prepare for tomorrow.” She made a faltering attempt to cover her He.
“That won’t take longer than a jig-tail,” her father rebuffed that excuse. “You go out and walk with your young man and do that when you come back.”
With no more excuses left to her, Ruth wasn’t able to state that she didn’t want to go walking with Virg, which meant she was trapped into accepting. She stalled for time. “I’ll need a wrap.”
She took an unconscionably long time putting on her coat, but Virg Haskell was waiting by the door when she returned. Her father made some inane remark about having a good time as they left the house.
There was one blessing in the situation. Virg always talked so much, mostly about himself, that Ruth was seldom required to say anything. As they wandered along in the moonlight, she let his voice run past her and didn’t bother to listen to the words. Her gaze strayed to The Homestead. There was only one light showing, and it was on the second floor. The sight of it slowed her steps to a halt, a knife twisting in her heart.
Suddenly Virg’s face was blocking it out and his lips were on her mouth, exerting forceful pressure. For a second, Ruth let herself pretend he was someone else and kissed him back until he became too demanding.
“Ruth,” he groaned roughly while his hands moved over her back, trying to rub out her resistance and make her close to him again. “I don’t know how much longer I can keep this up. I’ve asked you so many times to marry me. What do I have to do to make you say yes?”
She looked at him, suddenly seeing the great emptiness of the life ahead for her. A single woman was nothing—the next thing to dead. She couldn’t stand the thought of not being wanted. She’d marry a man she didn’t love before she’d endure that. It was a kind of unwritten law of survival—a person had to make do with what was at hand.
“Ask me again, Virg,” she said. “I have your answer now.”
24
The sunlight flashed on her gold ring, intensifying its color and luster, Lilli turned her hand experimentally and watched the play of light on her wedding band, wondering if all newly married women were fascinated by such simple things. In spite of the cold November day, she had refused to wear gloves to keep her hands warm, because they’d hide the ring she wore with such pride.
Her lips lay softly together, curved upward at the corners with a hint of a secret smile, while she supposedly supervised the loading of her purchases in the buggy. The high-necked coat she was wearing was new, a forest-green wool trimmed in a black-dyed woolskin. The dark green color brought out the blue sparkle in her eyes and the sheen of red in her dark hair.
“Will there be anything else, Mrs. Calder?”
That hint of a smile on her lips deepened at the use of her married name. “That will be all, Mr. Ellis. Thank you.” She noticed the way the proprietor of the general store glanced at her mouth and wondered if he were making guesses about the source of the secret satisfaction that lay behind it. Men did things like that, or so Webb had informed her.
“Come back anytime,” he stated and moved past her to reenter his store.
Lilli paused a moment on the raised boardwalk and breathed in the crisp, invigorating air. In her present mood, not even the dust could dull the brightness of her world. Webb was to meet her at the restaurant in twenty minutes. It was early yet, but Lilli started in that direction, wondering if Webb would like the dress materials she’d purchased.
“I did not think you would have the nerve to show your face in this town.” The cold and contemptuous voice lashed at her.
She faltered a step, then paused to confront Franz Kreuger as he came toward her. “Hello, Mr. Kreuger,” She kept her head high. “I understand you have a new son. Congratulations.” Dr. Simon Bardolph had passed along the news when he had come by the ranch to check on the progress of Abe Garvey. “Helga is doing well. I trust.”
“A brazen hussy like you is not fit to speak her name.” His mouth curled in disdain. “Stefan was not even cold in his grave before you were climbing into another man’s bed. You have no respect for the dead.”
There was no reason to tolerate his abusive talk. Lilli made to walk past him, but he stepped into her way. She was stiff with anger, and determined not to give him the satisfaction of thinking that anything he said made the slightest impression on her.
“Stefan was a good and faithful man. He deserved more than an adulterous tramp like you,” he jeered “You are what killed him.”
“You have been misinformed, Mr. Kreuger,” Lilli replied coolly. “It was typhoid fever.”
His glance swept her with disgust. “Because of you, he was ashamed to hold his head up among his friends. Now you come to town in your fine clothes and your ladylike airs, but no decent woman will speak to you.”
Aware that his voice was growing louder to deliberately attract the attention of his fellow homesteaders and publicly humiliate her, she made a determined effort to end this meeting. “Your opinions have been most interesting, Mr. Kreuger, but you’ll have to excuse me. My husband is expecting me.” She tried to walk around him, but he wouldn’t let her pass.
“You think because you marry a Calder, it makes you someone important,” he accused.
“I think nothing of the sort,” she denied on a vibrating note of temper. “Please get out of my way.”
“Ah, yes, you are meeting your husband somewhere.” His eyes took on an ugly glint. “The sidewalks are for decent, God-fearing people. Walk in the street—in the gutter where your kind of women belong.”
His voice rang out through the still air. A cold rage shook her, making every nerve in her body scream with tension. She wanted to hit out at him and slap his vile words down his throat, but she knew it would only please him.
“Perhaps I would find fewer braying jackasses on the street than I have on the sidewalk.” Her fury was so focused on him she was blind to everything else around her.
Suddenly there was a large hand on Kreuger’s shoulder, spinning him around. Lilli had a short glimpse of the black rage on Webb’s face before his cocked arm drove a fist into Kreuger’s face and Franz went flying backward, sprawling onto the boardwalk next to her. Then Webb was grabbing her arm and roughly pulling her along with him as he turned to walk away.
He hadn’t taken two steps when a body came hurtling at him from behind. The impetus carried both men onto the hard ground of the narrow alleyway between the two buildings. They scuffled in the dirt, rolling and twisting, trying for advantage over the other. Elbows and knees became weapons as Kreuger fought with savage cunning.
A crowd of onlookers jammed around Lilli, forming a ring to watch the fight. As she looked around the chain of faces, there wasn’t a friendly one to be found. They were cheering for Kreuger, one of their own, shouting advice and encouragement. He was the underdog, smaller in size than Webb, but his quickness and strength made him an equal.
Kreuger slipped out of Webb’s hold and was on his feet while Webb was halfway on his knees. He saw the booted toe coming and managed to block it with his arm, the force of the kick slamming through
his shoulder. Then he was catapulting himself upward, no longer underestimating his opponent. He swung a fist at the lowered face and caught Kreuger on the temple with a slanting blow.
It felt good—the fighting, the hitting, the sensation of blood pumping through his veins, cleaning out his system. His punches were reaching Kreuger, hitting his belly and his chest. The wind whistled through his lungs with the force he was throwing into his fists. A jarring set of knuckles rammed into his mouth as Kreuger knocked an arm aside and made an opening. His lip split against his teeth, pouring blood into his mouth. Another quick punch widened the cut and staggered Webb backward. He shook his head, clearing it of the roaring sound.
He waited for Kreuger to follow up the blow, and he came, springing like a cat for the kill. Webb stepped aside and lifted a knee, driving it forward into Kreuger’s vitals. When his arms dropped in pain, Webb slammed a fist into his nose and heard the crunch of bone. A second swing tore out a chunk of flesh on Kreuger’s forehead. Then he aimed low and heard the snap of rib bones.
He felt no mercy, aware that Kreuger would gouge out his eyes and kick in his face given the chance. The man’s eyes were glassy and shining; his tongue was caught between his teeth. Webb closed his fingers in Kreuger’s collar, holding him up when his legs would have collapsed.
“Stop it!” A pair of hands was clawing at him, hitting him, trying to break his hold. “Webb! Stop it! Let him go!”
Lilli’s voice finally pierced the violent rage in his mind. His fingers loosened their grip on Kreuger’s shirt as Webb staggered backward a step and let the man slide unconscious to the ground. The muscles in his body began to tremble, the blows they’d taken beginning to spread pain. He lifted a hand to his mouth and looked at the crimson wetness, realizing it was his blood. The deep reach of his breathing was labored and rough.
Two overalled men were bending to help the fallen Kreuger. When Webb saw them, his glance went round to the circle of men, seeing the hostility and resentment in their faces when they met his look. He became conscious of Lilli holding tightly to his arm, facing the same looks with a wary defiance.