Family should be close. Loving. They spend holidays together and tease each other out of love. They don’t sneak around with threats, and then try to break the other one down.
“I’m afraid I don’t come bearing any better news.”
She spun around. “Why? What?”
“They haven’t gotten a load down the mountain on the railroad system yet. The train can’t go up because it can’t get back down unless the one up there moves. No one knows yet what’s going on, but it’s certainly not normal operations. The boys and I need to get up there to figure out what’s wrong but—”
“But we don’t have a train.” She stated the obvious.
“We can ride up, but we’ll be taking the rest of your mill horses. And we’ll need to bring the wannigan and bateau up as soon as we can. Either with a wagon or train.”
“Go up and get the blasted train moving. Send someone down with my horses, and then get a load down the river as soon as you can. I’ll send the wannigan and bateau on the first train up. Maybe I can get a second engine from Garrett’s father to stick on the other side of this train.” She motioned toward the one standing still outside her window. “But if the new boat and wannigan aren’t back by the time a load is ready to go, take the drive down anyway and have Aunt June take minimum food supplies in a bateau. We don’t have time to wait for anything.” She massaged her forehead. The small pressure helped ease the tension behind her eyes enough to give her a small bit of relief. “I need to go into town and wire my father. He needs to come home. Paul was right. He shouldn’t have left.” Tears burned behind her eyes. “I was a fool to think I could run a business. I suppose Luther’s right and I’m not good for anything other than being a wife to someone.”
Before she could even spin around, Wall rounded the desk, closed most of the distance between them, and then reached out to tug her to him, just out of sight from the window. “Don’t ever let anyone tell you that you are only good for one thing. And certainly don’t believe it if they do.”
With those words echoing through her mind, he pressed his lips to hers again. Like before, her knees buckled. She didn’t fight. Why, she had no idea. She should. A proper woman—whom she’d been groomed to be—would push him away and slap him for taking what wasn’t his.
She didn’t.
Instead, she leaned into him and entwined her arms around his neck. She needed this. Needed to feel the freeing sensations that swirled through her body whenever Wall touched her. Kissed her. Wanted to see what other freedoms he could give her with his calloused hands.
She wanted him. Shouldn’t, but didn’t care.
Spirits boosted, she pushed him until his back was against the wall, and leaned up onto her tiptoes to deepen the kiss, taking control. He groaned, broke the kiss to stare in her eyes, and spun around until she was against the wall instead.
She smiled seductively at his assertiveness, as she struggled to take in enough air to circulate through her body. As if her lungs grew, but the damn corset wouldn’t allow her to take in the air needed to satisfy their needs. Why did she put on the blasted thing?
Wall’s concentration moved from her eyes to her breasts. He reached up and traced one calloused hand across the collar of her dress. Every sensation in her body followed his finger as it moved across the sensitive skin on her breasts.
His other hand encircled one side of her waist and he squeezed enough that she could feel gentle pressure through the tight fabric, which seemed to do nothing more than shoot twinges down to her most intimate of places.
“I want to take my knife and cut this damn thing from your body. I want to see what perfection God has created underneath all of this finery.” He flipped the lace between her breasts.
She opened her mouth to say something, but her mind ran blank. He let out a desperate chuckle, and then gave her a quick kiss, which helped force air back into her mouth. She swallowed hard.
Would it be so bad to give herself to a man like Wall? She had security in life. She had wealth. If life were to strip her of love as it appeared to have done already, would it be so bad to have one moment with a man like Wall Adair to carry her through? “Don’t cut it. It ties in the front.”
With those words Wall pressed his body against hers and groaned. “Don’t say that, princess. A man can only resist so much before the devil takes over and makes his decisions for him. It’s the way we were made.”
“Then it’s a good thing I hired you to be my protector. And a Devil May Care,” she crooned. “Word has it they’re as wild as the devil himself.”
“Woman, you have no idea what you just did,” he said, and then leaned down to crush her in a kiss that she felt to her toes.
Her insides shined.
Delighted in the response she got from Wall as she teased him beyond control. Knew she was flirting with a world she had no experience in, but didn’t care. She wanted this. Wanted him.
* * * *
Whatever restraints Wall had before snapped at Victoria’s words. She didn’t truly know what she’d asked for. Not with him. He’d courted his fair share of women, even paid for a few back in his younger days, but he wasn’t a young buck anymore.
He was a leader of men. A Devil May Care. A cowboy. And regardless of what Victoria might think, all of those meant he was honorable enough to know when to dance with the devil, and when to walk away with the angels.
Except, as Victoria’s chest heaved beneath his palm, all he could envision was her hair twisted as it was on the top of her head like a halo, while he tore the blasted bodice from her body. Fine. He’d untie it like she requested, but either way the angel before him would stand blessedly naked if she didn’t tell him to stop.
Yet she urged him to continue.
No. She wasn’t an angel. She was a princess. Commanding him to do her bidding. Take her to a place she’d never gone before, and he was helpless to disobey her command.
She pouted her lips, and he bent to kiss her as he unbuttoned her bodice, and then began to tug at the lace of her corset.
He fumbled, and she reached up and began to undo it herself. He stepped back and watched as she undressed with expert hands, needing only minimal help from him.
She dropped the last of her clothes in a pool around her feet, and stood before him as breathtaking as he knew she’d be. Back at the river, when she’d lost her clothes, he’d been more than tempted to peek through the brush, but he’d managed to keep his eyes to himself. Now all he could think about was what he missed out on by not charming her earlier.
He couldn’t tear his eyes off her form. Her curves so soft and perfect a man could run his hands up and down them for days and still not grow tired of how they felt against his overly worked hands.
“Your turn,” she said, her voice like silk.
He shook his head. She may be the boss, but he was the master. At least in games of passion. “Not yet.”
He stepped toward her, and lifted her until her legs wrapped around his hips. Her warmth pressed tight, uncomfortable against his manhood. “I’m going to show you what it’s like to not be in charge for once.”
He licked the dip between her clavicle and neck, and then kissed the moisture. Her heartbeat began to beat hard beneath his mouth.
“I already feel vulnerable,” she rasped. “No clothes. Unlocked door.” She leaned her head back and extended her neck to draw his attention, but he didn’t take the offering. Instead, he walked to the side table, moved a stack of books aside, and set her atop the sturdy surface.
In three steps, he clicked the lock into place, walked behind her desk and pulled the curtains to the large window shut, and then returned to stand before her. “There. Now you’re vulnerable only to me.”
She bit the corner of her bottom lip and drew his attention. He leaned down, but instead of kissing her, he licked her teeth and mouth. She let go of her bite an
d he plundered her mouth, mimicking the way he wanted to ravish her body.
He smoothed his hands over the contours of her curves the way he’d envisioned when he watched her mere seconds ago. The feel of her skin was even more intoxicating than he’d anticipated. The way her nipples pressed into his palms, the heat from her womanhood against his hips, he suspected he’d remember the feel of her for years to come.
She tugged at his shirt, and he obliged, ripping it from his waistband, and tossing it over his shoulder. She stopped, her face frozen and eyes fixed on his chest as she reached up tentatively and traced his muscles. “I didn’t know cowboys looked like this.”
“There’s a lot about me you don’t know,” he rasped out, and tugged her hips closer to his.
She gasped at the movement. “Your pants.”
He tilted his head to one side
“Please?” she pleaded.
He answered by lifting her from the side table, bringing her to the couch along the edge of her room. He laid her down and began to strip as she’d requested.
His manhood sprang free as he dropped his trousers around his feet, and stepped out of them.
Her eyes widened, but she reached her arms up, beckoning him. He had to oblige. Couldn’t resist. He struggled to keep his mind steady as he leaned over, kissing her as the heat from her body entwined with his.
They were perfection together. Without the ability to defend themselves, from each other or outside forces, but something about the way her body heated against his made him feel as though nothing could stop them.
Maybe it was the way her hips heaved against him, begging with a force he didn’t know the small woman possessed. No longer able to deny her, he positioned himself inside her.
For the barest of seconds she tensed, but then relaxed. He’d forgotten she was a virgin, but the moment didn’t seem to bother her much, so he retracted, and pushed again. Repeating the motion until she quivered.
She began to cry out, and he covered her mouth with his hand. “Bite down on my hand if you must, but don’t let us be known.”
“I can’t help it,” she said, her voice muffled under his hand. He let her mouth free, but her abdomen still quivered. So he kissed her. Hoping he could muffle her moans as he started again.
She grew frantic, and he hardened his kisses, occasionally urging her to keep quiet.
In one whirling moment, she exploded around him at the same time he did deep inside her.
He lightened his kisses until he figured she needed to breathe, and then drew back to watch her face. Her emotions. Did she feel the same as he did? Was she regretting the moment? Because he didn’t. Couldn’t.
He balanced on his elbow and scooted half off her, and smoothed back the wet tendrils of hair from her forehead as she worked to control her breathing. She stared at the ceiling.
They laid like that until the room began to chill.
Victoria licked her lips. “That was…” She turned to stare at him, her eyes still dazed.
He smiled. What man wouldn’t? “Princess, that was only a taste.”
She squinted. “What do you mean?”
Wall chuckled, and stood, plucking her discarded dress from the floor, and spreading it over her in case she was as chilled as he thought she might be.
“I’m a cowboy. We’re known for working, fighting, and loving.”
She sat up, holding her skirt against her breasts. “You’re also a logger. What are they known for?”
Wall stared at the ceiling, searching for an answer, but everything he came up with was inappropriate to say in front of a woman. Luckily, he didn’t have to speak because Victoria answered for him. “I suppose theyʼre known for their stamina.”
“Yes. Stamina,” he agreed with a chuckle, and lay back down next to her.
“Does that mean you’re going to show me what both a logger and cowboy are known for?”
Good Lord, this woman was intoxicating. “Do you want me to?”
With a giggle, she nodded, so he kissed her again.
Hell-bent on showing her whatever she wanted until she begged him to stop.
Chapter 7
Wall stood with the Devil May Care boys and waited for Victoria to walk out into the misty morning air, so ripe with fresh beginnings. Her full skirts dusted the ground around her, but if he hadn’t clutched the sides of her corset the night before only to experience her beauty without it, he’d have missed the fact that today she’d forgone the item. Much to his delight.
Unbeknownst to him the day before, it was well after dark before Victoria had finally been satiated enough to leave her office. Innocent that she was before the event, it surprised him to no end that she could stand on her own this morning, let alone walk the dimpled dirt in the boots that peeked from beneath her hem with every step.
Had he met his match in the woman before him?
Victoria stopped next to him and sucked in a deep breath, with a shutter so slight one might have missed it if they weren’t in tune to her nuances. Which he was. Especially after last night. She was still affected by him as he was her.
If he didn’t need to get going, he might have made some excuse to retreat into her office once more. He didn’t feel bad about taking her innocence. She was a woman. Strongest he’d ever met. She knew her mind. Knew what she wanted, and had sought it with vigor.
He hadn’t counted on the way her body would become a drug he craved, though.
The jingle of bells sounded in the distance, just outside the mill gates, and interrupted his wayward thoughts as Victoria opened her mouth to ask whatever question she’d had on the tip of her tongue.
They all watched as a traveling merchant maneuvered his wagon into the mill yard.
“Who’s that?” Victoria asked.
“Bud,” Wall answered. “He visits the camps some years.”
Bud pulled his wagon to a stop and saluted as he leapt down. “Is Mr. Harrison here?”
Victoria stepped forward. “I’m his daughter. I’ve taken over for him.”
“S’that so?” he asked, and Victoria raised her chin in challenge. Wall hid a smile. She didn’t know the old man the way the loggers did. His question was merely a question. “I suppose you’re the woman I need to speak with, then. Wanted to go up to your camps and help keep your men well supplied.” He patted his wagon.
Victoria’s tense shoulders eased. “Only if you got room for my men here. They were just headed up that way and could use a ride.”
“Aye. I got plenty of room in the back.”
“Splendid.” She turned as if to go into the mill, but stopped. “We’re in a hurry, so if you wouldn’t mind waiting for my accountant, I’ll pay you to make haste.”
“No need for that, miss. I got a box of fruit here for Miz June. I wouldn’t want it to go bad.”
“Obliged,” she said, as Bud and the Devil May Cares tossed their belongings in the back, and then jumped onboard the wagon themselves.
Wall faced Victoria as Bud turned the wagon back toward the gate.
“I’ll come back as soon as I can.” He hoped the promise showed in his voice, and it must have for the finest of pink dusted her cheeks, and she suddenly grew interested in the tip of her shoe.
This coy side of her was quite charming.
“I’ll be waiting.” With those words she gave a smile. Different from all the rest. Different from even the one she reserved for herself. This smile was for him alone.
He didn’t know if she meant the look to carry him back to her quicker than he normally would have, but that’s what it did to him. Made him not want to leave, but at the least, return with all haste.
He would.
He’d go up, and bring a drive right back down as soon as he could.
If they weren’t in the center of everything, he’d take another kiss. One to take
with him, but he couldn’t. Instead, he tipped his cowboy hat, scooped up his bag, and ran to toss the bags in and leap on the back of the wagon, feet dangling, as Bud set the wheels in motion and rounded the fence.
He rode like this for a few hours in comfortable conversation with his men, until Bud took the first water break for the horses.
The wagon sat underneath the shade of a tall pine, and Wall jumped from the back to stretch. They stayed only long enough to refresh the horses, and then Bud motioned toward the buckseat next to him. “I got a spot up here for one of you if you care.”
Wall watched as the Devil May Cares settled in the back, and then inclined his head. “I’ll take it.”
“You the river boys?” Bud asked as Wall climbed up beside him.
“Yep.” Wall settled, and the wagon jerked into motion.
“Lookin’ dry this year.”
“We’re going to be taking a drive down as soon as we get back.”
“Aunt June going on the drive?”
Wall turned a smile on the man. It wasn’t a secret that Bud was sweet on their camp cook. “She always does. We’d starve without her I think.”
Bud chuckled. After a few silent minutes, he continued. “How’s Great Mountain fairing?”
“Fairing?”
Bud waved in the general direction of the center of the state. “With all of the hubbub from the government big bugs? Had a couple o’mills out Helena way who had to shut their doors. Weren’t interested in working for the big bugs instead of themselves I suppose.”
“We are surviving.”
“Good to know. That cattle business is where the money is for the state, and them officials can’t seem to find room for both loggers and cattlemen.”
“I’m both, so I’m sort of torn between two worlds.”
Bud whistled. “Are you, now? And how’s that working out for you?”
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