Shelter from the Storm

by Patricia Rice

  By the end of that day Laura had almost made up her mind to ride out to the farm to see if she could find him in the morning.

  She checked on Mark in his cradle, then sat at the vanity to brush out her hair. Since she had never been blessed with Sallie’s long luxurious curls, Laura kept her hair trimmed to the middle of her back. It was easier to tend, and it looked thicker, fuller that way. At a choked noise behind her, she swung around in fright.

  Cash grabbed another candle and lit it, holding it high to fall on the shimmering halo falling about Laura’s breasts and shoulders. The lacy yoke of her nightdress lay untied at her throat, revealing the shadowy hollow and swell beneath. He had thought he knew this woman intimately, but tonight showed he knew nothing at all. The nurturing woman he had come to know could be a temptress as well. He ached to reach out and trace the rounded curves pressing against the nearly transparent cloth.

  Once recovered from her fright, Laura recognized her effect on him. Cash could tell that from the emerald gleam in her eyes. Her gaze lingered at the open neck of his shirt, halting mischievously just below the band of his trousers at the evidence of his desire. Cash nearly dropped the candle as he fell victim to her bold look.

  “You’re becoming a damned nuisance, you know that, don’t you?” he asked harshly, setting the candle aside as he reached for her.

  “You’re such a romantic person, Cassius Wickliffe. Must you always swear at me?” Laura rose and stepped into his arms as if it were the most natural thing in the world to do.

  He clasped her waist, and she wrapped her arms around his neck. She smiled as if coming home.

  The smile did it. Cash could no more resist Laura’s smile than a drowning man could resist a rope. He had expected harsh recriminations and arguments. He had expected objects flung at his head. He had expected rejection. But even when he deserved it, when Laura had every reason to boot him out, she smiled at him with a come-hither look that tore him up by the roots and flung him against the wall.

  “It’s for your own good, Laura,” Cash murmured, even as he bent to take the kiss she offered.

  Her acceptance of the light brush of his lips ended the war raging within. Laura’s lips never lied, even when they were silent. They met his firmly, responding to his every demand with an equal demand of her own. Cash felt a shudder of deep, abiding desire as he drew her up against him and took her mouth with a hunger a mere kiss couldn’t assuage.

  Feeling her heart thudding against his chest, Cash resisted a moment longer, nibbling at her ear beneath the heavy cloud of hair. But the strain of keeping away would be too great shortly. He lowered her to the floor and allowed his hand to stray to the curve of her breast. “This isn’t why I came here, love.”

  “Probably not,” she agreed with a wry twist of her lips, her gaze never leaving his. “I’m certain it was some other noble reason that brought you here. You’ll never make a gallant knight, Cash. But that doesn’t matter. I always thought Scott’s heroes were pusillanimous ninnies.”

  Cash nearly choked on a laugh. “Remind me to have you repeat that again in the morning when I’ve had time to think about it. What am I going to do with you, Laura? You’re like no other woman I know. You’re supposed to be so mad at me that you’d take the first opportunity offered to get the hell out of here. I figured I would have to chase you across half the country. Why can’t you act like anyone else?”

  His hands rubbed unconsciously up and down her sides, savoring the curve of her breasts and waist. She tilted her head to watch him with curiosity.

  “Because I thought I heard you say you loved me. Because I trust you. Because I don’t want to ever be parted from you again. Is that too much to say all at one time? Should I scream the words at you and hit you so you’ll understand?”

  A chuckle lodged deep in his throat as Cash pulled her into his arms again. “Please, don’t. I remember what happened the last time you screamed at me. The next time I make love to you, I want it to be with wine and roses all around. Lord, I’ve been such a fool, Laura. That first time, I just thought it was something that happened only once in a thunderstorm. I never imagined it could always be like that.”

  “Maybe it can’t. Last time involved a thunderstorm too. Maybe all you require is thunder and lightning.”

  Laura gasped as Cash suddenly flung her to the bed. “You’re all the thunder and lightning that I require, Laura. But now isn’t the time to let you know that. You have to get out of here.”

  Cash’s mouth nibbled hers, and Laura steadied her hands on his shoulders. “I love you, Cash,” she whispered in his ear.

  He stiffened, and stared at her in incredulity. She ran her fingers into his hair and caught a hank, keeping him from going too far. “Don’t look at me like that. If I’m going to be sinful, it might as well be for a reason. Maybe I didn’t know what love was that first time, but I do now.”

  “No, you don’t.” Cash buried his face against the side of her neck and kissed her there. She squirmed deliciously beneath him, and he sought new zones to explore, producing a satisfying gasp as he nibbled her ear and rubbed an aroused nipple between his fingers. “You’re just hungry for this, and I’m the only man who’s given it to you.”

  Laura punched his shoulders and swung her feet in an attempt to connect with his shins. “Cassius Wickliffe, you are an obnoxious beast! Get off me before I pull every hair out of your head. I don’t have to listen to your insults.”

  Her attempts to maim him lacked the fury of the last time they had fought. Cash brushed aside the open bodice of her gown and kissed her breast. She arched eagerly against him, all protest gone. She was the most responsive woman he’d ever had the pleasure of knowing, and he knew now that he wasn’t going to leave until he’d had her once more. Just once more, that was all.

  “Hold still, Laura, and let me love you as I ought to. And then you’re leaving Stone Creek until I tell you it’s safe to come back. Promise me you’ll leave.”

  His tone was demanding, but Laura responded more to his actions. His lips had stopped their magic, and she understood the threat implied. If she didn’t promise, he would go away, and she couldn’t bear that, not now. She’d worry about his words later. “I’ll go. Don’t stop. Cash. . . ”

  He cut off her words by the heated response of his lips. Laura gave a strangled cry at the sensuous tug, and then Cash’s hands were beneath her, pulling at her gown, lifting her against him, and her mind ceased to function beneath the barrage of sensations.

  While his mouth lovingly attended to her breasts, his hand stroked the juncture of her thighs, and Laura was helpless to do more than grab his shoulders and writhe beneath the wild waves of pleasure lifting her. By the time he finally unfastened his trousers, she was frantic, and she cried in ecstasy when Cash entered her with a swiftness that took her breath away.

  Before Cash, she had always imagined the marriage act to be something done furtively, under the covers, in darkness. This brazen act of pleasure had never been within her ability to imagine. She wanted the sensation of Cash inside her, his heavy weight covering her. She wanted the scent and heat of him, the muscular strength rippling over her, as their bodies joined and thrust and fought for release.

  Cash’s hoarse command of, “Now, Laura!” was sufficient to release what little control she had left. Her body exploded with his, the contractions ripping through them together while space and time ceased to exist for one brief moment. In the aftermath, Cash lifted Laura more fully onto the bed and joined her there.

  “Wine and roses next time,” he promised as she curved into him, reluctant to let him go.

  “There will be a next time?” she asked sleepily, demanding reassurance.

  “If that’s what you want, there will be a next time,” he said, “but be certain that’s what you want. Once I have you, I’ll not let you go. I keep what’s mine, Laura.”

  “I know.” Eyes closed, drinking in the luxurious sensation of Cash’s hard body holding hers, Laura k
new she should be demanding explanations, asking questions, looking for some security for the future. But she couldn’t shatter this peace with the world outside. She pressed her palm into the curve of his neck and shoulder and brought her lips to the base of his throat.

  She couldn’t have given him a more forceful reply. Gathering Laura into his, Cash covered her hair with kisses. He would succeed. He had to succeed. For everything he had ever wanted was right here, without any strings attached. For the first time since he could remember, tears stung his eyes. He’d thought it would be a cold day in hell before he ever cried. Instead, it was a brief glimpse of heaven.

  “I’ve got to go, Laura. I can’t stay. Will you take the train in the morning? I have to know you’re safe.”

  She finally shoved away enough to see the shadows of his face in the candlelight. His eyes were barely more than dark sockets, and she caressed the bristle of his cheek. “And how am I to know that you will be safe?”

  A tender smile curved his lips as he brushed the thick hair cascading over her shoulder. “It’s never mattered to anyone before. I don’t understand why it should matter now.”

  She regarded this nonsense patiently. “You know better than that. You’ve always mattered to me. Now, promise me you won’t do anything foolish. I don’t know what you’re up to, but I’d rather have you alive than anything else that I can think of.”

  And strangely enough, Cash believed her. Laura had been the one to help him when no one else would, even when she was a little girl. She had been the one running at his heels when scarcely a soul would speak to him. Even now, she was the one who stood at his side when others turned their backs, who tended his needs when those who should have refused their duties. He found her devotion hard to believe, and he had denied it for years. But he would have to be the greatest fool alive to deny it now.

  “I really think you mean that, pequeña.” Cash caressed Laura’s face with the back of his finger, enjoying the look of concern meant just for him. It was a rather heady sensation, this caring and being cared for. It might take time to get used to. “And I’m not planning on getting myself killed. This time, I mean to be around to watch you grow round if I’ve planted something here.” His hand moved to cover her abdomen.

  Those were the words she evidently wanted to hear. Laura smiled and leaned back against the pillow, and Cash watched her until she slept, warming his hand against her belly.

  He really did mean what he said, but he also knew life was full of uncertainties. What he was aiming to do was not conducive to a permanent existence in this world, despite his promise. He kissed Laura’s nose and swung from the bed.

  He’d just have to make certain he killed Marshall Brown before Brown could kill him.

  Chapter 38

  Laura couldn’t manage the morning train. She woke late, equally dismayed and delighted about her wanton abandonment, with her nightdress hiked up about her waist and her bodice undone. She could still smell the scent of Cash against his pillow, and she buried her nose in it, holding it in her arms while she tried to adjust to her new role as wicked woman.

  For what she had done was obviously wicked. Cash had never mentioned a word about marriage. He had simply walked in here as if it were the most natural thing in the world, took her to bed and had his way with her, and informed her he would do it again if that was what she wanted. She remembered his words very clearly this time. There hadn’t been one word about marriage.

  But he had mentioned what could have happened already. Laura touched a hand to her abdomen as if she could determine if Cash’s seed had already taken root. It would be a couple of weeks before she could know for certain, but she already knew they would have no trouble making babies. Some people did, she knew, but she and Cash had already proved their fertility. She wasn’t nursing, and they hadn’t done anything for protection. It was just a matter of time.

  The thought really didn’t frighten her as it should have. Laura stretched and flung her arms over her head and tried to picture Cash beside her in bed while her belly was swollen with his child. Just the thought aroused a longing for the act that would bring such a scene about. She was truly and without a doubt beyond the edges of wickedness. She wanted Cash’s baby.

  She didn’t know what would happen to her if she didn’t lose this craving for what wasn’t good for her, but she wasn’t going to sit here and find out. She had promised to leave today, and so she would. Cash had promised to come after her. That was all she wanted to hear.

  Jonathan nearly collapsed with relief when Laura told him she and Mark would take the late train to Lexington. He offered to send for the Breckinridge ladies to accompany her, and when she refused, he offered to go himself. Laura touched his cheek and shook her head firmly.

  “No, you’ve done enough, Jonathan. I feel like the most ungrateful person alive when I think of what I’ve put you through. I wish things could have worked out differently. You and I have so much in common, you’d think we would be perfect for each other. But I think we would only make each other miserable eventually.”

  He caught her hand and watched her face sadly. “You’ve seen Cash, haven’t you? It’s written all over your face. Even knowing what he is, you’re going to throw everything away and go with him. I’m not certain I know which one of us is the greater idiot. I should haul you to the preacher right now and save us both some heartbreak. I think we could be good together.”

  Laura shrugged and turned away from Jonathan’s all-seeing eyes. “Content, perhaps, but never really happy, and never really knowing why. It wouldn’t work. I really do love you too much to make you unhappy. It’s just not the kind of love that marriages are made of. I’ve seen those kinds of marriages, Jonathan, and that’s not what I want for myself. It would be safe. I’d have the security every woman craves, but I’m old enough to know that isn’t enough for me.”

  Jonathan released her hand and ran his fingers through his hair in perplexity. “Damned if I know what you want, Laura. I thought you wanted friends and family, the security of Stone Creek, or I would have taken you to Arizona with me. I could still take you with me, if that’s what you want. Cash is a rover and a gambler and there’s no telling where he’ll be next after he shakes this place from his shoes. You’ve got a child to think of.”

  “I know.” Laura turned her gaze back to linger on his kind features. “A child who needs to know his father. I know what I want, Jonathan. I don’t care if I have to live on riverboats to get it. There’s the difference between my love for you and my love for Cash.”

  He managed a wry grin. “I know what you’re telling me, Laura, even if I don’t like it. I left you behind, but not my work. There are some things from which we’re just inseparable.”

  She smiled in relief. “Thank you for understanding. I’ll always want you for a friend. I don’t know where I would be now if it weren’t for you, and if you should ever ask anything of me, you know I’ll move mountains to comply.”

  Jonathan lifted her chin and kissed her cheek. “You’ve already named one son after me, what more can I ask? Just let me bask in the rakish glory of being the father of your child for a little while longer. It rather enhances my reputation with the ladies.”

  Laura laughed, and they parted amicably. She could tell by the look in his eyes that he would be returning to Arizona soon, and she might never see him again. She just hoped he would stay long enough to prove that Cash would come after her, and that she could be happy with him. She wanted everyone to be as confident of Cash as she was.

  That was probably a ridiculous notion, Laura decided later as she settled the hat Cash had given her on her head and gathered up her bag in one hand and Mark in the other. She had quite lost any sense of perspective where Cash was involved.

  Jettie Mae and the children came to the station to wave good-bye, and Laura gave them brave smiles as she climbed on the train. She couldn’t descend on her relatives with the entire crowd in tow, but she had promised to make arrangements f
or them as soon as possible. They could stay with Jettie’s mother for a little while, but she had made a vow to see that Ward’s son would be raised as a gentleman. If Cash fell through on his promises, she didn’t know how she would keep hers, but she would find a way.

  The train pulled away from the station while Laura’s mind was still on the farm and the little school she had started. She’d had so much hope at the beginning of the summer. How silly she must have looked with her plans to change the world. She couldn’t even change her small part in it.

  But she wouldn’t give up trying. Perhaps when Cash came for her, he would take Jettie and the children with them. It wouldn’t be the same as teaching a whole farm full of children, but it would be one small step in the right direction.

  So immersed in her thoughts had she become that she failed to notice when the train started to lose speed: Only when Mark squirmed restlessly and Laura looked up to see the tense faces of the other passengers did she realize that something was wrong.

  Glancing out the window, she could see nothing untoward, but she knew there was no stop along this part of the line. She bounced Mark up and down and tried to hear the other passengers. Nervously she watched out the window, until she finally saw a man on horseback with a rifle in his hand.

  Even then, the significance didn’t occur to her. He was probably a farmer waiting for the train to pass. But the train didn’t pass. It rumbled to a halt with a belch of steam and a grinding squeal of brakes.

  The panic around her had its effect. Train robberies had become quite frequent in these lawless days, but Laura had understood they came at night, when Marshall and the Raiders and other lawless gangs were on the loose.

  Laura’s eyes widened, and fear snagged its steely barbs in her heart. Marshall! This was all about Marshall. Cash had known when those men would attack the farm. Cash had overturned the tavern when he had not learned of the hanging of that innocent man in time to save him. Cash somehow knew what Marshall was planning, and he had tried to get her away. But not soon enough.