by Debra Cowan
“Now?” she whispered.
He nudged her knees apart. “You tell me if I hurt you the slightest bit.”
He didn’t seem to care that he wasn’t her first. Tears stung her eyes and she caught him to her, splaying her hands on his taut buttocks. “I want you.”
His mouth took hers as he slid inside. The first thrust, full and stretching, was a shock, but she soon caught his rhythm and met him stroke for stroke.
Their gazes locked as their bodies did the same. She’d never experienced such intense physical pleasure, nor such a connection as she did with Riley. He reached deep into her soul, as if finally finishing some part of her.
The tight knot of pressure inside her strained, and just when she teetered on the edge of coming undone, he slowed, starting over with long deliberate strokes. He kissed her lips, her forehead, her eyes. His body moved inside hers, sharpening the pleasure until she thought she might scream. She pressed her mouth to his shoulder, her moans mingling with his.
He stiffened, lifting his head to stare into her eyes. He matched his rhythm to the first quick ripples deep inside her. All thought crumbled and she existed only on sensation.
Silver flames licked at her from the inside out, splintering everything except Riley’s soap and peppermint scent, the solid feel of muscle against her, the incredible wash of color that spilled over her.
He groaned her name and sagged into her, spent.
Her body pulsed with warmth and such raw sensations that her nerves seemed exposed.
He rolled to the side, gathering her close. “Happy wedding, Mrs. Holt.”
She smiled and snuggled into him.
She’d been right to marry him, right to choose him for Lorelai. Since she’d arrived in Whirlwind, Riley was the only man she had wanted, the only one she ever would’ve let touch her this way.
And that’s when she knew what she’d done. She’d fallen in love with him.
Chapter Sixteen
He woke to the feel of soft, naked woman against him. Sunshine peeked through an opening in the drapes, and the noise of people moving around outside slipped into his consciousness.
Susannah lay against him, spoon fashion, her arm over his own, which draped over her waist. She slept easily, one hand pillowing her head. The smell of their loving rose around him, and his erection grew rigid against her bottom.
Had it been like this with Maddie? If so, Riley didn’t recall it. In fact, he couldn’t recall being so caught up in a woman as he was in Susannah, wanting her as much after having her as he had before.
He cared for her and there was a quietness about their situation that he hadn’t ever experienced.
Her curls fell in a seductive tangle over her shoulder. He buried his face in her neck, breathing in her sweet womanly scent as he slid a hand to her breast. He played with her, desire building in a pleasurable ache as her pale rose nipple beaded under his touch.
She stirred, moving her legs and pressing against his arousal. She ran a hand down his flank. “Mmm, morning.”
“Morning.” He turned her toward him, kissing her deeply as his hands covered her breasts.
She opened her legs to him and he slipped inside her, warm and snug. He locked his gaze on hers, wanting to see every reaction. Their lovemaking was slow, their movements deliberate. Her eyes grew sultry with need and she held him to her.
He went deeper, drawing out every stroke until she made little sounds in the back of her throat and convulsed around him.
He moved atop her and her inner muscles clenched him tightly until they both sagged into the mattress. She might not be a virgin, but he knew in his gut that she’d never been this way with any other man.
She scraped her nails lightly across his chest. “Oh, my, Mr. Holt.”
He grinned, caressing her bottom. “Not a bad way to wake up.”
“No.” She smiled lazily, her eyes a misty blue, her lips curving in the smile of a woman who’d been well satisfied.
He slipped his hand between them, only to be interrupted by a knock on the door, then the demanding cry of the baby.
Susannah sighed. “I’d better go.”
She slid out of bed and Riley folded his arms behind his head, enjoying the sight of her bare curves before she hid them beneath her cotton wrapper.
After she tended to the baby and they’d all dressed, he took everyone, including Cora, down to the dining room. Once they’d eaten, he carried Button and treated the ladies to a shopping excursion.
He couldn’t take his eyes off his wife. Or stop thinking about being buried inside her. He liked how her eyes lit up when Cora said something funny, how her brow furrowed slightly when she studied a piece of fabric or the price on a tin of peaches.
He wanted to buy everyone a little something, but she insisted she didn’t need anything. As he slowly sucked on a peppermint stick, he thought he might like to savor Susannah the same way.
When he finally convinced her to spend some of his money, she bought some lawn to make a couple of gowns for the baby and a length of calico for Cora. Riley saw her eyeing a sheer linen nightdress and had the store’s owner wrap it up.
After they deposited their purchases at the hotel and Susannah fed and changed the baby, they walked up and down Main Street. Horses of all sizes and colors waited with their riders for the races to start. Cora had begged off for the afternoon, saying she’d developed a headache. Even though the older woman had offered to keep the baby, Riley and Susannah declined. Besides, he wanted Button with him and Susannah. The little darling was already asleep on his shoulder.
He and Susannah studied the horses, making predictions about the fastest ones. Seeing a dainty brown mare hitched in front of the livery, Susannah approached prudently but without fear, reaching out first to stroke the animal’s neck as Riley had taught her. The mare turned her head, dark eyes measuring the woman at her side. The horse pressed her nose against Susannah’s hand, looking for a treat.
Satisfaction swelled his chest. There was nothing the woman couldn’t do. Despite the odds, and his skepticism when she’d arrived, she’d burrowed in and made a cozy little nest for herself in Whirlwind, just as she’d done in his life.
“It’s almost time,” he told her.
They started toward the other end of town, trying to squeeze in with all the others who wanted to be near the finish line.
“Have you seen the black mare this time?” Susannah searched the crowd as Riley lightly clasped her elbow, making their way through the throng of people. “The one who beat everyone in the races last winter?”
“No, not hide nor hair. Maybe that mystery rider won enough money from everyone around here.”
“Maybe so.” She smiled, putting a kink in his gut.
He wanted to kiss her, but knew he wouldn’t stop there. As they walked, he noticed he wasn’t the only man taken with her. He glared at a cowboy who looked her up and down with obvious intent.
Riley found them a spot at the finish line and situated her in front of him so she could see and so he could keep any overly interested onlookers away from her.
A man at the opposite end of town shouted for the riders to take their marks. Horses pranced at the starting point.
Riley nudged Susannah, pointing to the far right of the starting line. “Look.”
He shifted Lorelai to his other shoulder, drawing Susannah close.
She saw the black mare, its rider’s face covered by a mask. “That’s the mystery rider, isn’t it?”
“Yes, I think so.”
“This should be interesting.”
He chuckled. “I don’t think that’s the way Banker Dobies sees it.”
He watched the bony man, able to tell even at this distance that the banker was displeased.
“If you want to race Whip, we’ll be fine,” Susannah offered.
“Maybe the next one. If the banker loses, he’ll enter again.”
“And what if he wins?”
“He might stop the races a
ltogether. Wouldn’t want to push his luck.” Caught by the way the sun danced on her hair, the softness in her blue eyes, Riley stroked her cheek.
She tucked her arm through his, her breast full and warm against him, tempting him to take her back to the hotel and make love to her until dark. But he’d promised her a nice day out.
The man who’d called for the entrants to take their places raised his pistol and yelled, “Get set!”
Horses stomped, straining at their bits. Riders leaned forward in their saddles.
His gun cracked and the animals exploded into motion.
Lorelai jerked at the noise and Riley cradled her close, hushing her startled cries. Susannah turned, soothing the baby. Lorelai quieted, but kept her wide-eyed gaze trained on Riley.
He kissed her soft head, his own gaze going back to the race. The black mare pulled easily out in front and the banker’s bay ran neck and neck with her.
Over the din of people yelling and cheering, Riley said to Susannah, “Today’s races will be short ones, so people can enter their mounts more than once if they want. The longer distances are too tiring.”
She nodded, pressing tight to him, but watching avidly as the animals tore past. Dirt flew from their hooves and the scent of warm horseflesh rose in the air. Deafening cheers swelled. After three times up and down the street, they crossed the finish line only feet from Susannah. The stranger’s black mare crossed the line first, a neck ahead of the banker.
“I can’t believe how fast that horse is!” Excitement glittered in Susannah’s eyes. “I couldn’t see anything except a blur of horse and one boot when he crossed the line.”
“I know.” Riley squeezed her waist. “That mare’s a hell of a runner.”
The mystery rider took every one of the five races that afternoon. Banker Dobies face grew darker and darker, his eyes hard and angry.
Riley kept the tall, thin stranger in sight as the man collected his winnings. “He doesn’t look spent at all, and that mare is hardly winded.”
“She’s a beautiful horse, isn’t she?” Susannah exclaimed.
He smiled down at her, noticing that she was watching the winner closely, too. When he looked back, the stranger had disappeared into the crowd.
Susannah stretched up on tiptoe. “I can’t see him now, can you?”
“No.” He did see the banker, pushing his way through the crowd and obviously looking for the unidentified rider.
After a few minutes, Dobies worked his way back, stopping close to them. Frustration flushed his thin features. “Doesn’t anyone know who that is?”
Several people shook their heads; others turned to walk away. The banker approached a stoop-shouldered man standing nearby. “Burl, don’t you have to see these people when they enter? They pay you a fee, don’t they? I sure paid mine in person.”
“Ain’t no rule that sez they have to pay it themselves, banker. Now that I recollect, I think a woman paid for him a time or two. I don’t know her, though.”
“Oh, hell.” Dobies sighed. “I mean to find out who this sneaky rider is.”
“I don’t know if I’d want to know who was beatin’ me all the time,” a man called out.
Laughter rippled through the crowd.
The banker frowned. “Seems to me there’s something wrong when a man won’t show his face, win or lose.”
“What could be wrong?” Riley asked. “Maybe he doesn’t like crowds or feels that staying around would be boastful.”
The other man stared flatly at him. “Well, I mean to learn his identity. I’m establishing a new race, the Grand Turn. Two weeks from today. I’ll put up a fifty-dollar pot. It’ll be a mile and a half. We’ll see who wins then.”
“Fifty dollars?” Burl said. “You done lost yore mind!”
“Does anyone want to increase the pot?” Dobies asked.
Riley chuckled. “I’ll put in five.”
Susannah’s fingers curled around his arm and he grinned at the excitement lighting her eyes.
A husky man who was as wide as he was tall stepped out of the crowd. “I’ll put in five, too.”
“Well, count me in.” Another man who stepped forward owned one of the stores Riley and Susannah had visited earlier.
By the time the banker was satisfied, a total of seventy-five dollars made up the grand prize. Riley and Susannah, along with the others who’d tossed in prize money, walked over to the bank to contribute.
“I’ll see y’all back here in two weeks.” Dobies gave his clerk the cash and the man carefully placed the money in the vault. “Will y’all be entering?”
“Yessir,” the big cowboy said. “I shore will.”
Riley grinned, already anticipating the run. Watching that one would be as good as riding in it. “I’m not sure yet.”
Since it was late afternoon, he and Susannah walked back to the hotel. Lorelai began to cry and Susannah took her, bouncing her gently in an effort to comfort her.
“She hungry?”
“Yes.” She smiled up at Riley. “Thank you for a wonderful day. And all the things you bought.”
“Glad to do it. You needed them.”
“Well.” She sent him a flirty look. “I don’t really need that nightdress. Not with you around.”
“No, you sure don’t.” Chuckling, he paused inside the hotel and kissed her. “You think Cora might feel up to supper?”
“I’ll ask. I want to check on her, anyway.”
Lorelai wailed angrily and Riley said, “Maybe I should check on her. Sounds like Button wants immediate attention.”
“Thank you.”
He opened the door of their suite and watched the gentle sway of Susannah’s hips as she went inside. The lingering smell of roses drifted around him. He couldn’t wait to get her naked and beneath him again.
Cora answered his knock looking flushed. Her hair was mussed, a state he’d never seen, and she wore her wrapper. Her head wasn’t any better, she told him.
He offered to have some food sent up and she thanked him, saying she would enjoy that.
As he walked downstairs to check on Cora’s supper, he decided to have a meal sent up for him and Susannah, too. That way, he could get her out of her clothes and keep her out of them. Just thinking about sinking into her tight velvet warmth made his body throb. Oh, yes, he had plans for his wife tonight.
After making the arrangements, he went back upstairs, anticipation building inside him. He opened the door to their suite and paused. Susannah sat on the settee, her bodice undone to feed the baby. Soft gold light from the nearby lamp caressed her breasts, as he had last night, and the sight of her with the baby sparked an unfamiliar warmth in his chest.
He thought back over the day—her ready smile, her ease in touching him. She’d been comfortable with the horses, all unfamiliar to her. He knew she couldn’t have gotten near them six months ago. She’d met that challenge with everything in her, the same way she’d given herself to him last night.
She’d turned into a strong, determined woman who could do whatever she set her mind to, and she belonged to him.
The thought sliced like cold steel through his mind, and he reflexively backed out of the room, silently closing the door.
Laying his head against the wall, he tried to breathe. This…whatever he felt right now…was too much. Was it for Susannah or the little girl who’d claimed his heart with her first cry of life?
Something was going on inside him. Something he didn’t understand, and sure as hell didn’t like. All he knew was he couldn’t breathe.
After a delicious dinner in their room and being sated by her husband’s amorous advances, Susannah lay in the darkness listening to Riley’s even breathing. She loved him. At first the realization panicked Susannah, because she knew these feelings weren’t temporary, as she’d tried to convince herself. After the shock faded, she admitted there was no escaping the truth.
In comparison to what she felt for Riley, she could see now that her feelings for Paul h
ad been immature. She’d yearned to feel the giddiness of love, to believe she was special. Until she had Lorelai, she’d had no idea that true love was deep and so much broader. Unselfish, unconditional, forgiving.
That’s how she knew what she felt for Riley was real. It broke her heart that he didn’t feel the same, but he was a good man. They could make a good life together. She held out hope that he might someday come to love her.
They returned to Whirlwind after their two-day wedding trip, and Riley moved her things to his ranch. The house, built by his father for his mother, was a spacious two-story frame building with water piped in through some method related to the windmill. Riley explained that he’d put in the windmill just last year because his father, God rest him, had wanted every modern convenience for this house. Susannah loved having an indoor privy and ready water for washing.
Over the next two weeks, they settled in. Susannah’s wire to her brother about her marriage to Riley was met with an immediate reply from Adam that he was well pleased and hoped they would be very happy. But he said nothing about their parents.
She and Riley slept in his room and put the baby in his parents’ old room across the hall. Susannah applied herself to being a good wife. Caring for the baby and cleaning the house came easily to her, but cooking gave her fits.
Riley, bless his heart, ate more than one burned meal without complaining. A few times she tried making Cora’s biscuits, but had to throw them out after burning them. She didn’t know how her friend ran her house with any energy left over.
Susannah fell into bed exhausted, still awake most nights when Riley took her in his arms and loved away all thought of the chores of the day. One night she was asleep before he joined her, and he woke her with his hands and lips.
Just as he kissed his way down her belly, the baby cried out from the corner of the room where Susannah had put her after her feeding.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, her hands pausing on his bare arms.
His eyes glittered in the pale moonlight coming through the window. “It’s all right. You want me to check on her?” His voice was gritty from fatigue. He’d left at daybreak this morning to ride fence in the south pasture.