Moonlight and Magic

by Rebecca Paisley

  “El paso de la muerte,” he told her.

  “What does that mean?”

  “The pass of death,” he mumbled, and looked at the dead steer. “Chimera, can you rig Pegasus with your wagon by yourself?”

  “Yes. Why?”

  “Bring the wagon then. I had to kill that steer over there, and we’re going to have a feast tonight. It’s the least Sprague can do for us since he was responsible for destroying half the garden. Bring the children and any knives you have with you. The carcass is too heavy for me to lift, but with all five of us working, it shouldn’t take long to butcher the animal and take it home. Bring Venus too. I don’t want her left alone for any reason.”

  Chimera cast a glance at the slaughtered animal and felt a wave of pity for it. Still, it was dead, she mused, and they might as well make good use of it. She saw the two dead men and shuddered.

  “I’ll bury them both,” Sterling assured her. “What’s left of them anyway.”

  Chimera nodded, mounted Pegasus, and left to do as he requested.

  Sterling waited until she was out of sight before he leapt upon Gus and sent him galloping in the direction the herd had taken.

  He would not confront Everett Sprague face-to-face today, but he would find out just how many men were doing his dirty work. He had to do something about the bastard—he’d struck three times in the past six weeks, and that was three times too many. Rage fueling his determination, he urged Gus into a ground-eating gallop.

  From a hidden spot in the thick forest, Chimera watched Gus tear across the field. Fear assailed her, but faded when she remembered exactly who was riding the magnificent gray stallion.

  “Sterling Montoya,” she whispered. Her knight was capable of much, and she sometimes wondered if there was anything at all he couldn’t do. He was a hero by any definition, as he’d proved to her many times over.

  “Everett Sprague,” she hissed. “Wealthy you are, powerful you’ve shown yourself to be. But you are the black knight, Sterling the white. You are the evil, he is the good, and in the words of Edmund Burke, ‘The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.’ Beware, Everett, for my good knight comes.”

  Not wanting to discuss the subject in front of the children, Chimera refrained from asking Sterling what he had learned from his trip to Everett’s ranch. It wasn’t until the bountiful banquet of fresh beef had been enjoyed by all and the children had fallen asleep with very full stomachs that she broached the subject.

  “I didn’t speak to Sprague,” Sterling told her. “I spoke to no one, and no one saw me. I only went to check out the ranch and how many hands the man has working for him. Chimera, he’s got at least a hundred men, maybe more. All of them are well-armed, and I saw enough horses for each man to have a spare if he needs one. Sprague has an army. You...you have only one man.”

  She stood behind his chair and began massaging his shoulders. “‘One man with courage makes a majority.’ Andrew Jackson.”

  Sterling sighed both with weariness and the pleasure of her caress. “Chimera, I wish I could be as optimistic as you, but at this moment, I’m a bit disheartened. I’m not completely defeated yet, but if Sprague should decide to send every man he employs out here...we won’t stand a chance against them all, estrellita. I can’t think of a thing I wouldn’t try in order to protect you and the children, but...I need an army to help me.”

  “‘Skill and confidence are an unconquered army.’ George Herbert. You have the skill, I have the confidence. We will not be beaten.”

  “Chimera—”

  “‘Search not a wound too deep lest thou make a new one.’ Thomas Fuller. Let’s talk about something else, Sterling. Why invite worry and depression? Everything will work out. You’ll see. If you truly need a real army, you shall receive one. Somehow, from somewhere, probably when you need it the very most, your army will come. You must have faith, Sterling. Just have faith.”

  He smiled at her confidence. It rekindled his own, and he relaxed as her fingers continued to knead the tense muscles in his neck and shoulders.

  Chimera pondered the dangerous feat he’d performed for Snig’s sake. The man was a well of surprises. He never told her what he could do, he simply did it. “You could have killed yourself today, Sterling Montoya. I don’t often dwell on things that could have happened—there’s not a whole lot of sense in doing that. I usually only talk about things that have happened or will happen. But you really could have killed yourself today. Where’d you learn to do the muerte thing?”

  “El paso de la muerte,” he corrected and felt the stirring of desire as her fingers caressed his hair. He was at such peace at this moment: the cabin was quiet; Chimera’s soft hands were slipping over him; her strangely soothing chatter danced through his mind.

  Unhidden came the memory of Snig’s rescue. He recalled the tears Chimera had shed for the frightened boy and the way she’d held his small, shaking body in her arms. She’d held him so closely, so tenderly. The love she felt for the child was so strong, Sterling had felt he could reach out and touch it.

  With startling clarity, he realized he’d longed to be in those arms. He’d yearned to know what it felt like to be held with such love. To have someone’s tears of deep concern wet his hair. To have words of comfort whispered sweetly into his ear.

  He’d never seen or experienced anything like that. He closed his eyes and relived the memory, wanting to brand it into his mind so he would never forget what it was like.

  Chimera sighed at his silence. “All right, Sterling, you don’t have to tell me how you learned to ride. I’ve never thought of horsemanship as some deep, dark secret, but if it is to you, keep it.”

  Her sweet sarcasm made him smile and open his eyes. Refusing to talk about riding did seem rather ridiculous. “I first felt a mount beneath me at age four, when Father Tom put me on his mule. From then on, I had a burning desire to ride. It became an obsession as I grew to manhood, and Father Tom...” His voice trailed away at the memory of what the priest had done for him.

  “Father Tom,” he started again, “traded a solid-gold chalice—the one he used at Mass—for Gus. The sisters were horrified that he would trade a sacred object, but Father Tom said God would understand his reasons for doing it. From then on, he used a tin cup at Mass, and I had a colt to raise, train, and eventually ride.”

  “What a wonderful man.” Chimera sighed. With Father Tom as his mentor, no wonder Sterling was so kind.

  “A short time later, a charro, a man of astonishing horsemanship, came to San Francisco de Sales and entertained us with his riding skills,” Sterling continued, and bent forward to give her soothing fingers access to his back. “He stayed on and taught me el paso de la muerte. It wasn’t until the day he left that I finally understood why he’d stayed at the orphanage for so long. He confided that it’d been his penance. I learned that Father Tom had heard his confession, and as penance he was to stay at San Francisco de Sales until I had learned the riding skills of a charro. I can’t imagine what grave sin he had committed to warrant such a long and stern penance, but whatever sin it was, it benefited me. Then again, his sins might not have been all that serious, and Father Tom simply took advantage of his priestly prerogatives to help me learn to ride.”

  Chimera laughed at the thought of the devious but kindly priest. “And did you leave the orphanage soon afterward?” she asked softly.

  He heard the curiosity in her voice. His first thought was that she was trying to trick information from him. Suspicion began to rise, but something pushed it back down, something more profound than his wariness.

  It was the blossoming belief in her innocence, he realized. The interest in her voice was unsullied by any underlying motive. It was a gentle caring that stemmed from genuine regard. It was almost like the heartfelt concern she’d shown to Snig and it sounded so good to him, like the soothing beat of cool rain on parched, cracked earth. It soaked into him and filled him with the desire to talk to he
r.

  “I left about a year later,” he answered. “I’d have left sooner, but the nuns pleaded and prayed for me to rebuild several structures before leaving. They’d raised me, and I couldn’t deny them. I built. When I finally left, I wandered from place to place searching for my mother. It was ten years before I returned to visit Father Tom.

  “When I saw him again, he told me he’d been on a trip to Tucson,” he continued, and marveled at how easily the words kept coming. “He said he’d met a woman there who matched my mother’s description. Pitch-black hair, startling silver eyes, and a thick Irish brogue. Upon inquiring around town, he learned her name was Brianna. My mother’s name is Brianna. When Father Tom related it all to me, I set back out immediately to find her. But I found you instead.”

  Chimera tried to decipher the feeling she heard in his last statement but could not decide if it was irritation, resignation, or pleasure. “I...” She felt guilt prick her. He’d been searching for his mother for his entire life, and right when he’d been about to find her, she’d snatched the fantasy from him. Not only that, but she’d asked him to do the same kind of work he’d done for the sisters. Sweet heaven, was there another man in this world who was as kind as he? she wondered. And was there another woman who was as selfish as she’d been? Her eyes stung with tears of shame.

  “Sterling,” she said quietly, and tasted one of her tears upon her lips. “I wish I knew how...I don’t know what will express my appreciation—I want to show you what you mean to me, but I’m not even sure how to begin.”

  Her hands slipped from his back, into his hair, down to his shoulders, and rested upon his bare chest. At the feel of the warm, smooth skin beneath her hands, a slow heat wreathed through her. She had to straggle for her next breath. “But begin I must,” she whispered, and bent to press her lips against his cheek. “Here, now, like this.” She moved her head, and her mouth found his.

  The desire her massage had stirred changed to a powerful need. He reached up, caught her shoulders, and brought her around to sit on his lap. Gazing into the brandy lights in her eyes, he thought about what the quiet evening had meant to him. She’d listened to everything he’d told her with simple acceptance and real concern. She’d appreciated both his conversation and the work he was doing for her. She’d manipulated nothing from him. He’d talked to her of his own free will and realized he’d enjoyed doing so.

  He smiled at her. He felt warmth. Contentment. He felt the passion. Dios mio, he felt so many things for this outlandish girl in his arms, it was impossible to concentrate on them all. “Chimera,” he said softly, his hands vanishing into her luxurious hair. “Come with me, estrellita.” He helped her to her feet and led her outside.

  “But Everett—”

  “Is licking his wounds tonight,” Sterling finished for her, and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. “He won’t be back so soon. Let’s walk. I want to see you in the light of that full moon up there.”

  They strolled in a leisurely way down the pebbled, leaf-strewn path, silver moonbeams guiding their way. Sterling saw clearly the bliss Chimera was feeling. She was smiling, her eyes bright with delight. A mere walk to the creek made her happy. And her happiness was contagious, he realized, for he, too, was enjoying the slow, silent journey to the stream. Who’d have thought he’d find such pleasure in a nighttime trek?

  They stopped on the sandy shore. “I knew you’d be beautiful in the moonlight, Chimera,” he told her softly, and took her into his arms.

  His melting voice surged through her veins, settling deeply within her like magic. Ah, the sweet magic, she thought. It was upon them again. And how fitting it was that they were beneath the full moon. The moon was the guardian of lovers, the patron of passion, as she’d read many times.

  And perhaps Sterling, too, was touched by the magic, she mused, looking up into his startling silver eyes. Perhaps he, too, had surrendered to the spell of desire.

  “Moonlight and magic,” she whispered. Sterling was silent.

  “The children are sound asleep,” she hinted throatily. “They were completely exhausted. Venus sleeps through the night now, too. You say Everett’s men won’t return tonight. There is nothing,” she whispered, and wet her lips, “to interfere with this moonlit magic that shines down upon us.”

  As Sterling watched her emotions float through her moonlit eyes, he smiled inwardly. He would not deny her his love-making tonight, for he wanted it as much as she, wanted her with that strange yearning he’d felt earlier today, wanted her with a longing so fierce it stole his voice.

  At his silence, Chimera knew she’d have to somehow help him get over the apprehension he still felt toward the sensual magic. “Look around us, Sterling,” she said, stepping away from the circle of his arms and indicating their surroundings with a sweeping gesture. “Everything here, from the creek pebbles, to the gentle rustle of the trees as the breeze blows through them, to the earthy night scent of the forest, to the glorious moon above, is Mother Nature at her best. Nature,” she whispered, “will be our teacher this night.”

  He saw how her moist lips caught the shimmering light of the moon. The sight was so beautiful, he almost shuddered with his need for her. “Let us be good pupils then, Chimera,” he responded, his voice as quiet as the gentle ripple of the stream. Opening his arms for her again, he watched as she drifted into them, then bent and kissed her, savoring the lush softness of her mouth.

  “That was very good,” Chimera said, somewhat shakily. “I suppose that more kissing is in order. And after a bit of that—I wonder what follows kissing?”

  Her innocence drove him wild. It made him want to go slowly with her, teach her gently. “Let’s find out.” He claimed her lips for another long, deep kiss and shook at the force of the excitement the thought of loving her this night brought to him. Yes, he wanted the pleasure, the sweet, sweet ecstasy their union would bring them. But it was more than that. So much more. He wanted all of this raven-haired enchantress in his arms. He wanted to possess her body and soul, every magic fiber of her, and he would settle for nothing less.

  Chimera felt his hardness pressing into her belly, and tried to understand what they were supposed to do with it. Its very presence assured her it was something of vital importance. “Your breeches,” she murmured against his mouth. “Do you think you’re supposed to take them off?”

  She was serious, he knew. He smiled again at her complete lack of guile, her unmitigated innocence. It would aid him, he decided. He didn’t want to hurry with their lovemaking, and her delightful ignorance would allow him to love her in the slowest ways he could devise. “Have we already gotten to that? Don’t you think that’s rushing things?”

  She frowned pensively. “I truly don’t know. Maybe I’m more ready than you are and that’s why I suggested you take off your buckskins. If I took off my clothes, would that makes you as ready as I am?”

  The thought of her loveliness bared...with the sheen of the moon glowing upon her white, satin skin...Sterling barely suppressed the urge to tumble her to the ground. He swallowed and fought the urgency her innocent question caused. “If you took off your clothes—I don’t know, Chimera. Right now, at this moment, that might be a little much for me. You have to remember how nervous all of this makes me. Perhaps we should go about it at a more leisurely pace.”

  “Yes, you’re probably right,” she agreed. “But what, I wonder, is the next thing we should do? We’ve already hugged. We’ve already kissed. What goes between kissing and lovemaking? Lovemaking. Love. Oh, Sterling, I do love you!” she blurted, and relished the sweet flavor her confession left in her mouth. “I’m feeling such feelings at this moment!”

  She stepped away from him and hugged herself. Closing her eyes, she whirled, her boots sinking into the soft sand, her full scarlet skirt wrapping around her legs, her midnight hair flying about her. “How silly I was to wonder about my reasons for loving you!” She ceased swirling and took a few more steps away from him, her gaze touching every
perfect part of him. “Sterling, don’t you see?”

  All he could see was how brightly her eyes were shining. “See? See what?”

  “It’s love itself that will help me to find all the reasons why I love you!”

  He inhaled sharply and felt the magic of the evening vanish. “But you said you didn’t need to know any reasons,” he reminded her harshly. “You said—”

  “Oh, and I don’t,” she assured him. “But I will! Isn’t it perfectly delightful, Sterling? Love will eventually show me all there is to know about you! What a wonderful discovery we’ve made tonight! Why, it goes beyond wonderful! It’s supreme! It’s—”

  “Dios mio, Chimera!” Sterling thundered. “Just what is it you want to know about me? I’ve told you everything I can think to tell you!”

  “You’ve told me holy water makes you throw up and Fridays are your hungriest days,” she reminded him sweetly. She returned to him, her gaze locked with his. “Love will show me what’s inside you, Sterling. It will show me what’s under your terrible singing...what kind of man prefers autumn, what sort of man scoffs at the Grim Reaper and performs the pass of death! Love will help me—”

  “Don’t do this! Not now! Chimera, barely a minute ago, we were about to make love, and now—”

  “Exactly, Sterling! Yes! We’ll make love and know each other intimately!” She closed the space between them and laid her hand upon his dark skin. “In here,” she said, her fingers tapping his chest, “lies the molten core. That’s what love will unveil. The flames that cast the man, the fire inside you. I’ll see your inner blazes, watch their flickering colors, smell their changing scents and feel their melting heat! Oh, it’s just too romantic to imagine!”

  Rage rumbled through him. With narrowed eyes, he watched her breasts strain against the thin fabric of her ivory blouse, then saw the cognac flames leap in her penetrating gaze. She was a fiery woman, and she was begging to be made hotter still.

  She wanted to know him? he fumed. He would show her all there was to know. He yanked her closer to him. “Fire, Chimera? You want the flames? But don’t you know blazes burn bruja? Witch? Witches burn at the stake. If you want to burn, Chimera, burn at this stake.”