by Jet MacLeod
God, why did her skin have to be so soft? Did she know what she did to me? Rayne Whittacre was more than a ranching woman. She was a hot blooded wanton and she found me among them all, tonight, again. I was hers and I didn’t care.
I leaned over and kissed her mouth. Her lips met mine with a fever, parted and invited me to take all that I wanted. She reached up and held my head against hers. I pulled back to study her. I saw my life in her arms, in her eyes, those prairie grass green eyes. I was lost and I know it. I should have stopped, but I was on fire.
“Reece…”
It was a plea. It was an invitation. It was a demand.
I slowly undid the buttons of the shirt and pushed the shirt away from her stomach. I splayed my fingers out on her belly. Feeling her flesh swell, and the heat beneath my fingertips, I explored every possible inch of Rayne’s skin that I could. I saw her chest heaving, as she gasped for control over her breathing. I let my fingers wander over her flesh, feeling the goose bumps raise, with the breeze that floated around us.
The moon was half-full tonight. It bathed her in a silvery shining light. Her creamy skin was a pale mark on the ground as my sun-darkened hands ran their course. The sight of her, laying there in my bed roll was almost too much for me.
I could feel myself losing control. I wanted to strip down and take this woman beneath me. I wanted her in ways that I am sure would send us both to Hell.
My hands touched every inch of her creamy skin. I bent down to kiss the silkiness of the skin that my hands had just heated. Small moans escaped her barely parted lips. I could feel my short sheared hair move across her skin. I felt her skin tingle and twitched beneath my hands.
“Reece…”
She added more fuel to my fire. I ran my hands up her to the swells of her breasts. She gasped as I felt her arch into me, trying to get as close as she possibly could. I raised my head to hers and kissed her. It wasn’t a soft kiss. It wasn’t a quick kiss. It was a soul-searching, body-scorching, lips-parting, heat-making kiss. I slipped my tongue into her mouth and tasted the sweetness there. Her tongue touched mine and sparks erupted in my brain. My hands continued their search of her breasts. I leaned back long enough to push the shirt further away from her skin. My hands, once again, found their idols and began their worshiping.
She was arching into me, again, and continued to mew my name. I cupped her breasts and touched them over and over with my rough hands, the toughness of my hands branding them to be mine and no one else’s. I glanced over her creamy white exposed skin in the little moon light that I was afforded that night. I could see her eyes clouding over with desire and wantonness. I could only imagine the color of my eyes.
She was starting to sheen with a thin layer of sweat as I continue to knead her breasts. I leaned down and kissed her nipple. Slowly, seductively, I sucked it into my mouth and milked it with my tongue. I was rewarded for my pleasure as she pulled and held my head in place. My hands continued to run up and down her skin. The heat was consuming both of us. I couldn’t shake myself. I was going to have her and I didn’t care what the consequences were.
I shifted to the other breast to continue my delicious onslaught, too far gone to stop. I did manage to slip one hand down to Silas’ well-worn denim and dealt with the buttons that held them to her body. Rayne’s hand slipped away from my head to her pants. She undid them and pushed them down along with the pantalets that she was wearing beneath them. When she was free of their prison on her heat, she grabbed my free hand and pushed it down her body.
I could feel the damp curls beneath my long fingers. She was hot and ready. She bucked, begging. Her head snapped up and her hand pushed mine down into the warmth between her legs. She gathered me into her, pulling me closer. I felt her sweetness. I felt her warmth as I delved into the promise of her heat. Her body closed around my fingers. She writhed beneath my hands and my body.
Somewhere in it all, she managed to get my jacket and vest off. She was trying her damnedest to get at my shirt, but I pushed her hands away.
“No, Rayne, just feel,” I said, huskily, barely recognizing my own voice.
“Reece, please, let me touch you,” she begged.
“Not tonight…” I lied, knowing that I could never let her touch me.
I pistoned into her, ranging the rhythm and the depth, until I felt her near the bliss she was seeking. I held her beneath me as I felt her near the passionate release she was offering and begging for at the same time. Faster and deeper, she clenched my fingers as she went over the brink. I held her down, covered her mouth, and let her come in my hands. She arched and bucked, she ground into my hand.
It was everything that I could do not to cry out myself as I felt her beneath me. I pushed into her. I felt her close around me again and once again the dance was had. She writhed and moaned under my roughened hands.
Her head snapped up towards mine and sought shelter near my ear as she whispered in exclamation, “Reece!”
I would have let her have me right there had I not been thinking of what would have happened to us both in the morning. I couldn’t let them find us both, naked, spent, and sated in out bed rolls under the early Texas morning sun.
“Rayne,” I said, breathlessly.
I pulled her into me and she fell back to Earth from heaven. I held her near me, her skin burning me through my shirt.
“Please, Reece, let me touch you,” she begged, after regaining her breath.
“You can’t. You don’t understand. Go to sleep, Miss Rayne,” I told her. “I’ll wake you in a few hours, so that you can go back to your own bed roll. I wouldn’t want the men to wonder about you in the morning.”
“Reece?” she questioned, “Are you afraid of me?”
“No, ma’am. I am afraid of myself. I’ll hold you. Now, get some sleep,” I answered.
“Is there something wrong?” she asked, as her eyes silently told me that she had come to some realization about my manhood.
“No, ma’am, nothing’s wrong. I just don’t want to spoil you for some decent man. You deserve better than me, Miss Rayne. So, please, just let me hold you,” I was lying, begging, grasping at a sanity I had already lost.
I felt her sink down next to me finally. She snuggled up into me. Her head lay on my shoulder. I watched her until I felt sleep creep up and take her into the beyond. It was only then that I let myself go and I fell asleep with her next me.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Rayne, early morning
I woke up in his arms. It felt wonderful. I had to make him understand that I wasn’t going to let him go. Maybe, it was his Southern charm and his gentlemanly nature that I craved so much. It was so different then all the ranchers, busted miners, and soldiers that had come out to Texas for a new beginning.
I couldn’t quite grasp what Reece was running from, but I was even more determined to find out. I wanted him in my bed. Ring or no ring, he would be mine.
I sat there and watched him sleep. His blond hair staining his sun tanned face. The chiseled features stirred beneath my soft hands as I touched his face. His eyes fluttered but didn’t open. I took the opportunity to explore at my leisure.
I took to the buttons on his shirt. One by one, I undid them. Just as I was about to push the shirt aside, his sapphire blue eyes were looking at me. He had a handle of my hands.
“Miss Rayne, I think that it is time for you to go back to your bed roll, before Jed wakes. I would hate to have to fight for your honor, when you still have it intact,” he told me.
“Reece, when will you learn? He works for me. He does what I tell him to do,” I answered, “Jed will not do anything without my permission first.”
“If you keep this up, he will not need it. He will kill me for your honor. Please, Miss Rayne, let me alone. Leave it be, and go back to your own bed roll,” he stated.
“As you wish, but this conversation is not over, Reece. We will discuss this more. And, you will come around to my side of things. Trust me,” I told him
.
I straightened my shirt and righted all my clothes before I got up. As I walked away, I could see the pain in his eyes. I knew that he wanted me. Damn his Southern pride for not taking me fully.
As I nestled down into my own bed roll, I could only wonder if he knew the pleasure of a woman as deftly as he took it. The thought of him in some saloon or whore house in Junction or somewhere else filled my head with rage. I, then, began to wonder if there was someone else he was saving himself for. I shook my at the thought I of a girl back East somewhere waiting on his return. She would have to wait for eternity, because I wasn’t going to give up so easily.
I knew I would have to get up in a few minutes. I planned on having a discussion with Jed about Reece over Cookie’s trail breakfast. I would get what I wanted. I always did.
I didn’t care what anyone thought, I would have Reece.
It was not longer than an hour, that Jed was waking the boys to continue on our quest. He came and woke me first. I am not sure what he thought of me coming along for this ride. He didn’t say anything. He just kept looking at Reece and then at me as if he was waiting to catch him in the act of something diabolical.
“Jed, get the boys ready. I am going to ride in the back with Reece. I need to talk to him,” I told him.
“Yes, ma’am,” Jed answered, but I could hear the “but” in his voice.
“What Jed?” I questioned.
“Nothing, Miss Rayne,” he told me.
“Don’t do that, Jed, I heard it in your voice. Tell me what’s bothering you,” I demanded.
“It’s just that…” he started.
“Yes, Jed, it’s just that, what?” I inquired.
“Well, ma’am, we don’t know anything about him. He just rode into Junction one day and Loren hired him. Next thing anyone knows, he’s on the ranch with us. And, not only that, ma’am, well, people are talking about the way you act around him. It’s none of my business, Miss Rayne, but does he have to stay in the main house with you? I mean, he is just a whipping boy,” Jed explained.
“You’re right, Jed, it isn’t any of your business. And, what exactly do you mean by ‘whipping boy?’” I questioned.
“It means that he is like a house boy on a ranch. He is your little plaything and the town’s folk are beginning to wonder about your…umm…decency,” he added.
“Well, not to worry, he hasn’t done anything that would compromise me, nor have I let him,” I lied. “He is a good worker and the bunk house was full. But, you know what? I will not explain myself to you or anyone else. I will do what I wish, when I wish to do it, and with whom I wish to do it with. Is that clear?”
“Yes, ma’am, but, please just be careful. I wouldn’t want to see you be hurt, that’s all,” he replied. “I’ll do as you ask.”
“Good, we will be ready in under an hour,” I said, walking away. I was looking for Reece, again, myself. I had to be near him.
I found him saddling up his horse, Scout. He was very careful with the horses. He had soft hands and words for them all. It made me dream of his hands on my body, again. He rolled up his bed roll and put it behind the saddle and then hooked up his saddle bags, as well. I saw him replace his pistol to his hip and the rifle to the holster that lay on the right side of the saddle. He was patting the horse and was talking to him. He loved that horse. I could only wish that he would look at me the same way, soon.
“Morning, Reece,” I said, in greeting, smiling.
“Morning, ma’am. I take it you slept well,” he replied.
“You should know,” I retorted.
He blushed all the way to his blond roots. He was a young boy and I was intent on making him my man. I couldn’t wonder at the amazement that lie beneath his pants.
“Cat got your tongue?” I quipped.
“No, ma’am, not a cat,” he replied.
“Then what?” I questioned.
“A young filly that needs some discipline,” he said, smartly, looking right at me, smiling.
“Well, maybe, when we get back, you could break her to your liking and then she wouldn’t be such a problem,” I answered.
“Maybe, I will do that, Miss Rayne, maybe I will,” he replied as he mounted.
“Wait, where are you going?” I asked, as he tried to trot away.
“I am going ahead, to scout a little. Jed told me that I would be riding with you, ma’am,” he said, tipping his hat to me, “But, I want to be sure that we aren’t chasing ghosts out here. I am afraid that there’s gonna be a bad storm. Wouldn’t want you to be caught out in it for no reason, now would I?”
He cared. It was a start. I thought I would melt right there under his azure stare.
“Hurry back, then,” I said, dismissing him from me.
It was an hour or so before he and Jed came riding back into camp. They both had the same look on their faces and neither of them were happy. Something had upset them.
“What is it?” I asked as they both dismounted in front of me.
“We need to talk,” Jed said. He was upset. Something had happened.
“How many head were you missing?” Reece asked me.
“About twenty or so, I think,” I answered, then questioned, “Why?”
“Well,” Jed said, raking his hand through his hair, and then spinning his hat in his hands, “There won’t be any need to worry about them now.”
“Reece, what is he saying?” I inquired.
“Someone drove them hard, and then, right off of cliff. Most of them died by the fall, but the rest we shot to end the misery. They’re gone, Miss Rayne. There’s no need to chase them down, now,” I answered.
“I’ll go into town and get the Rangers. Let them deal with it now, Miss Rayne,” Jed said.
“Fine…fine…fine…do what you need to,” I told them.
“Miss Rayne, you okay?” Jed asked.
“I’ll be fine. Just…Reece, take me back home. I want to go. Now,” I said.
“We shouldn’t be but a few days behind you. We’ll see you back at the ranch, ma’am. I am going to send Juan with you,” Jed told us.
“Alright,” I mumbled, as Reece walked me away.
“It’ll be alright, Miss Rayne,” he told me.
I turned and looked up in to his troubled cobalt blue eyes. I saw the worry and sorrow of telling me about the cattle. He was upset, too.
“The round up is over, Reece. I didn’t do too badly, because of both of you and Jed. I just wish that I could have taken all that cattle home with me. I’ll just have to cut my losses, I guess,” I said.
He put an arm around my shoulder and walked me back to my horse. He stopped me just as I was about to mount. There was something in his eyes; I could’ve sworn it was love.
“What?” I asked.
“Would you like to ride your horse or ride in a buck board?” he asked me.
“It doesn’t matter too much to me. I just want to go home, Reece. Just take me home,” I said, leaning into him.
“Yes, ma’am,” he answered, “Wait here, I’ll get one of the wagons for you to ride in.”
I stood there, holding the reins to Scout, and petted his neck. I watched him talking to Cookie and Jed. They were all in agreement. Jed even smiled at the boy. All three of them unloaded a wagon into another wagon. I watched Jed shakes hands with Reece, as Reece mounted the wagon and drove it away from them.
He pulled up near me and dismounted. He took his rifle out of its holster and placed in on the wagon seat. He then tied Scout to the back of the wagon. Juan pulled up and tipped his hat to me. I smiled faintly. I watched then as he unsaddled Scout and put the saddle in the back of the wagon, with the small amount of supplies that Cookie had afforded us. He and Juan talked a little and then they were ready to go.
“Miss Rayne, you ready ma’am?” he asked, taking my hand and leading me to the wagon.
“Yes,” I said.
He hoisted me up into the wagon. He got in right behind me. He repositioned the rifle for easy
access and then grabbed the reins. He nodded to Juan, who turned his horse and started the ride back to Junction City. I was barely conscious of Reece, but I heard the slap of the reins as the buckboard lurched forward towards home.
As we began our journey, I pulled closer to Reece on that wagon seat. He moved the rifle. He let me lay my head on his shoulder. He was so gentle with me. He was hiding something, I knew it. No one just showed up in Junction City without a story. I could only wonder what his was. He never talked much. He never said anything about the past. But, even as I wanted to ask questions that everyone wanted to know, sleep took me over and I fell asleep, lulled by the rocking of the wagon, the smell of Reece, and the knowledge that he was right there next to me.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Reece, the trail back to Junction City
We were riding back to Junction City. I was watching the sky for the storm that had been threating to brew all morning as Juan rode ahead to make sure all was well. Miss Rayne was leaning on my shoulder, sound asleep, as we forged onward.
I couldn’t blame her. She had a long night, in bed with me. The thoughts of it made me tingle and shudder. She hadn’t gotten much sleep and then with the added misfortune of the loss of cattle, she was just plain tuckered.
Juan came galloping back, waving his arms wildly.
“Storm coming!” he shouted.
“How far?” I called back.
“Not far, we got maybe an hour or so,” he answered.
I looked down on her. She looked so peaceful. I didn’t want to wake her up.
“We need to make camp, somewhere,” I stated. It was an obvious statement.
“Over there. There are some trees, we can stop there until it passes,” Juan suggested.
“All right. Go check it out. I am on the way,” I replied.
He rode off in the direction of the trees. I knew that a little rain wasn’t a reason to stop, but the monsoons that Texas storms were, were enough of a reason to wake the sleeping beauty at me side.
“Miss Rayne?” I quietly said, barely shaking her.