by Alix West
He frowned and looked away. She watched as he kept his gaze directed at some vague point out on the horizon. He looked furious. She’d expected as much, but he didn’t look as angry as she expected, probably because she’d heard his confession about the letters.
“Cattle drives are dangerous, Charlotte,” he said finally. “I didn’t want you to come because I wanted you to be safe.”
“I’ll be safe here on the buckboard with Mary. I might even be able to help her. Maybe even you.”
He turned back to Charlotte and his expression was not what she expected. He still seemed plenty angry, but she also saw amusement in his eyes, and maybe some satisfaction too. Without another word, he rode away.
Mary returned some time later and Charlotte spent the next hour helping with lunch. They prepared chili and beans and cornbread while they talked quietly about Charlotte’s brazen game of stowaway.
The sun set while they ate. Will came around every so often, giving her a dark look, one that promised trouble. What did she care? He wouldn’t have it out with her in front of his men or Silas and Mary. At least, she was fairly certain he wouldn’t do that.
The cattle took some time to settle down for the night, stirring up so much dust as to block out much of the Eastern sky. Thankfully the cowboys kept the herd downwind of the camp. In small groups the cowboys took turns coming to the fire to eat the dinner Mary and she had prepared, while the others kept watch over the herd to make sure they didn’t wander off.
By the time everyone was finished eating, the sky had turned a lovely shade of purple. Slowly the color faded and stars glimmered, appearing one by one. The cowboys hobbled their horses and spread out their bedrolls. Charlotte sat on the end of the buckboard swinging her legs, wondering how the evening would progress. Maybe she would bed down right there on the buckboard.
A cool evening breeze stirred. She took a deep breath. For some reason, she felt at peace. Will was furious, but he was near and that was enough. Will walked across the grassy flats toward her. She could make out very little, but from the outline of his shoulders, she could see he was still angry. There was a certain posture he wore. One she recognized.
“You’ll have to sleep with me.”
He said the words in passing. He didn’t pause or even look her way, but muttered the comment as he kept walking. Drawn by an invisible force, she hopped down and followed. Part of her was relieved that he had come for her. She’d worried that he might simply ignore and forget her, but he hadn’t. She hurried to keep with his languid pace.
“Thank you, Will. You happen to have an extra bedroll?”
He chuckled and her heart warmed. Sweet. He had extra bedding. Maybe he’d wanted her to come all along.
“I promise not to be any trouble. You won’t even know that I’m here.”
She smiled and waited for a response. He didn’t say a word. In the darkness, she could make out that he had spread out the bedding and was taking off his boots. She waited. A conversation was most likely out of the question and she didn’t blame him. Everyone had woken early. She didn’t want to trouble him.
He settled into his bedding with a groan. “C’mon.”
Cautiously she groped in the darkness, searching for her bedding. When her hand landed on Will’s chest, she gasped. “I’m sorry. Where is my bedroll?”
“Right here.”
“Right where?”
“With me.”
She patted the ground searching, but finding nothing.
“Where?”
He grasped her wrist and tugged her near. “With me, Charlotte.”
Her breath froze in her chest. She realized that there was no other bedding aside from his and that he awaited her from the depths of his bedroll. She bit her lip and considered her options.
Somehow sensing her discomfort, he spoke gently. “Charlotte. You need to sleep next to me. I’m not going to have my wicked way with you here in the middle of the wilderness.”
She tried to calm her frantic heart. This hadn’t been any part of her careful plan. She’d imagined she would sleep near him, certainly, but not next to him.
“Charlotte.” His voice was rough. “Come to bed. I’m ready for sleep. All I want is to keep you safe.”
She let out a sigh, relaxing slightly even though she didn’t quite believe what he said. When she’d slipped off her boots and shrugged off her coat, she drew near his bedroll. Tentatively, she reached for the edge and slipped her feet in. Awkwardly, and with tremendous mortification, she inched deeper inside.
When she was finally deep within the bedroll, she let out a tight, trembling sigh. Despite the narrow confines of the bedroll, he didn’t touch her. She waited, wondering if he might grab her and punish her for her defiance. But he didn’t. He neither moved nor spoke and a chill sank into her as she lay on her side waiting and wondering.
Slowly she shifted, turning to face him. “It’s cold out here.”
“You’re cold?”
“A little.”
“Come closer.”
“Said the spider to the fly.”
He laughed. “Come to me, Charlotte.”
She inched closer, half-expecting him to pounce. Instead he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. His touch was gentle and comforting. She sank against him and reveled in the feel of his strong body, a hard wall of muscle and power, wrapped around her, sheltering her.
“I finally get you into my bed,” he whispered.
A breeze stirred the trees, rustling the leaves. A coyote yipped in the distance and his pack answered nearby. Howls shattered the quiet evening. The animals baying erupted like a wave and seemed to float up in to the night sky before fading away.
“One of them found something and he’s calling his family.”
“I’ve heard them at night, but it’s always sounded so far away. Will they bother the cattle?” Without realizing, she moved deeper into his embrace and he tightened his arms, pulling her close.
“Sometimes they’ll bother a mama when she’s calving, but we only brought steers and heifers.”
“That’s awful. I mean, about them going after a mother.”
“It’s rare. We round up our cows and bring them into a nearby pasture in the spring. You’ll see. Pretty soon we’ll have a bunch of little ones.”
His voice, a deep rumble, soothed her and she felt herself drifting to sleep. When she woke in the night, momentarily bewildered by the hard ground and rough bedding, he chuckled and comforted her with soft, whispered words.
“S’okay, Charlotte, you’re safe with me.”
Chapter Six
Will
Charlotte was filled with surprises, he decided as he watched her. They stood atop a tower overlooking the Fort Worth Stockyards. Most people wouldn’t find the filth and dust and constant, frantic mooing of the cattle of any interest, but she took it all in, her pretty eyes filled with wonder.
“I’ve never seen anything so amazing,” she shouted over the din. “What will happen to the Travis animals?”
“They’ll be driven North.”
Her brows lifted in surprise.
“It’s a long trip for them and they’ll lose weight along the way. When they get to wherever they’re going, they’ll be put out to pasture to fatten up again.”
Will leaned against the railing. Below them the cattle crowded in pens and pushed against each other to reach the feed troughs. A few fights broke out, but they were short-lived. Most of the animals were too tired to cause much of a fuss. It helped that there weren’t any bulls around to assert dominance.
“I’d like to take my bride for a nice dinner at the hotel.” He took her hand in his and they descended the steps to the offices below. Cattle men and cowboys filled the rooms, talking cattle prices and rain and land sales, the conversations he usually enjoyed.
He drove the wagon through the streets of Fort Worth and left it with the hotel’s livery barn. Silas and Mary were staying with Mary’s sister, and the rest of the cowboy
s would bed down at some flophouse or a whorehouse. He didn’t ask his men questions about what they did in town.
The doorman greeted him. “Mr. Travis, so nice to see you again. Mrs. Travis, good evening to you.”
“Evening, Frank. Have dinner sent to the room. Let the chef choose something for my wife and me.”
Inside the room suite, Charlotte watched him warily. She had packed a small valise and stowed it on the buckboard. It sat in the corner next to his bags. He imagined she might want to wash and change into something clean, but she waited, nervously, as if she needed instructions or permission of some sort.
“You like the room?” he asked.
She nodded and pursed her lips.
“I always stay in this suite. Let me show you what I like best.”
He beckoned her to the French doors that led to a balcony. Dusk settled, and a few stars twinkled above, but what he wanted to show her was the courtyard below. He led her to the railing and pointed to two fountains on opposite ends of the courtyard. They bubbled and gurgled, the soft sounds somehow drowning out the noise of the busy city around them.
“It’s beautiful,” she murmured.
She let out a soft moan and rubbed the back of her neck. “I’m so tired, I could fall asleep standing.”
“You can have the first bath. I’ll wait.”
She lifted her gaze to meet his. In the shadows, he couldn’t see her expression well, but he knew she was wary, expecting him to pounce on her.
“Go on, Charlotte. I’m not going to trouble you. Not tonight.”
A sound, something between a laugh and a huff, came from her before she turned away. He stayed on the balcony and watched the stars appear one by one in the darkening sky. A knock at the door sometime later drew him inside. Dinner was wheeled in on a service cart and they ate in the quiet of the room.
“A cattle drive gives a girl an appetite,” she joked after she finished off her sorbet.
She wore a light dress, and with her hair down around her shoulders, she looked younger than her years.
He excused himself and went to the tub in the washroom. It wasn’t big, but it was deep and perfect for a hot soak at the end of a long day. He filled the tub, stripped out of his dust-laden clothes and sank into the water.
“Part of a cattle drive is scrubbing the lead cowboy’s back.” He called out to her, in a teasing tone. A little playfulness might ease some of her quiet awkwardness.
She peeked around the door. The room was lit by candles, and her body was silhouetted against the lamplight in the bedroom. He heard her soft laughter.
“You just made that up, Will.”
“Actually, it’s part of a wife’s duties. I need my back scrubbed every night. And my hair too. Nothing like a good, hard scrub.”
She drew closer. “You didn’t scrub my back.”
Her tone held a slight teasing lilt.
“Well, damn, you didn’t ask me to, Charlotte. I’d be willing to help with any part of your bath.”
Kneeling beside the tub, she rolled up her sleeves and took the bar of soap from the dish. “Willing to help?”
“Probably. You might be a lot of trouble, squirmy and ticklish.”
Having her near him made blood course through his veins. His cock felt painfully hard. If she leaned forward just a little she might catch sight of what she did to him.
She rubbed the soap and when she had a good lather, she washed his shoulders. The touch of her hands on his skin made him groan. He leaned forward to give her better access and let his head tip forward.
“Am I doing all right?” she asked.
He grunted a response to keep from giving her a rough, uncouth answer.
“I should apologize for disobeying you, Will, but I’m not sorry.”
Lifting his head, he turned his gaze towards her and waited for her to say more. He knew she was nervous about sharing a bed with him, but he was certain there was more to her apprehension. Surely, she knew he wouldn’t push her for something she wasn’t ready for.
“I heard cowboys visit a brothel here in Fort Worth.”
Her words surprised him. Hearing the word come from her lips sounded strange and wrong somehow, as if she was too innocent to know of such things.
“I reckon some of them do. I don’t ask them about their business.”
“No, of course. I don’t want to pry into anyone’s privacy, but still. I wondered…”
Her voice faltered, and her words trailed off. It dawned on him what she was too afraid to ask.
“You thought that I would join them?”
His tone sounded hard and he hadn’t meant to show his anger. She shrank from him, sitting back on her heels. He softened his voice.
“I’ve never been a man to pay a woman for that. And I’m not going to be with any woman except the aggravating woman here in the bathroom with me, pretending to wash my back. You understand me?”
His voice still sounded colder than he intended and when she didn’t respond, he looped a finger around her collar and tugged her nearer. He brushed his lips over hers and felt her sharp breath. “I asked you a question. Do you know that you’re the only woman I’ll ever want?”
“I do now,” she whispered.
“Then kiss me.”
“My hands are soapy.”
“What does that have to do with anything?” He cupped her jaw and scattered kisses across her cheek. “Impossible woman.”
“You’re naked,” she added.
“I am.”
She drew back. “Last night I woke, and you held me in your arms. I felt you, pressing against my back.”
He smiled. His little wife was heading into dangerous territory, talking about hard parts of his body.
“Were you dreaming?” she asked.
“Mm… I don’t know.”
“So, you might have been thinking of someone else?”
“No, Charlotte. I was thinking of you all night long.”
She leaned forward and rinsed the soap from her hands.
He knew her mind was probably spinning with all these new thoughts. He was wicked, but he wanted to add to her turmoil just a little. His lips quirked. “I’m always hard when I’m around you.”
She gave a short, choked reply.
“Even now?” she whispered.
“Even now.” He leaned back in the tub and put his hands behind his head. “I can prove it if you want.”
“Will, I have to confess something. The thought of the marriage bed terrifies me. I’ve heard that it hurts, and that a woman bleeds and that it never gets better. One of the ladies in the dress shop said it’s like getting poked by a broom, and that when her husband wanted to have relations with her, she would drink spirits to calm her nerves.”
“Charlotte, sweetheart, it’s not that way. The first time might hurt a little but it’s a man’s responsibility to take care of his wife. I don’t want to hurt you. Not ever.”
She didn’t reply. He decided to lighten the mood.
“Unless I’m giving you a spanking, which I intend to give you for disobedience.”
“It didn’t hurt,” she sassed back. “And next time I’ll put a book in my drawers.”
“Then I’ll be forced to give you a bare-bottomed spanking.”
She sputtered with laughter. “I don’t believe even you would do something so wicked.”
Leaning closer, she trailed her fingers down his shoulders. Instantly his body was ablaze with need. She sighed softly and brushed a shy kiss against his temple.
He took her hand and kissed the palm. Tugging it down, he rubbed her hand over his chest and lower to his stomach. His muscles tensed beneath her touch.
“You want to feel what you do to me, Charlotte. I’ll show you.”
She didn’t reply, but she didn’t yank her hand away either. He brought her hand to his cock and wrapped her fingers around him. She didn’t move, she simply held him. His breath hissed between his teeth.
“Do you like it whe
n I touch you, Will?”
“Don’t you dare stop,” he ground out.
“Tell me what to do.”
He wrapped his hand around hers and showed her how to stroke him with long, slow and even strokes. Pleasure grew and burned until he could take no more and he came with a snarl. Charlotte scrambled back, jerking her hand away.
“I hurt you?” she yelped. “I’m so sorry, Will. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
He groaned and fell back, making the water slosh in the tub. “You were perfect.”
She said nothing and got up, hurrying from the bathroom. Will muttered a few curses and finished bathing. After he dried off, he dressed in a pair of pajama pants. He found her standing on the balcony. She’d changed into a nightgown.
Stepping behind her, he wrapped her in his arms. “Did that frighten you?”
“No. You startled me when you made that noise. But I’m not afraid.”
The moon rose high and cast the courtyard below in silvery light. The cool breeze lifted a lock of her hair and tickled his chest. She said she wasn’t afraid, but she trembled in his arms.
“You’re shaking.”
She turned in his arms. He tightened his hold and stroked her back.
“I never knew my mother, but the nuns told me she worked in a brothel.”
His hand froze on her back as he took in the words. When he resumed caressing her, she melted against him. Something inside him unraveled as she pressed closer, seeking more of him.
“They told me I came from sin. That I should join the convent and repent. That’s what I thought I’d do for a long time. But then a nun came to live at St. Mathews. She was young and kind and told me I shouldn’t pay for the sins of my mother. If I wanted to become a wife and mother then there was a man out there for me. I should simply tell my suitor about my past. But I never told you what I was. I didn’t tell you anything.”
Her voice shook. Part of him hated that the women who raised her had burdened her with a heavy load of guilt. But another part, the selfish part, was happy that her path had brought her to him.
“What your mother did before you were born isn’t your past, angel. Anyone who faults you for that is wrong and cruel.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”