Heart Of Texas (Historical Romance)

by Constance O'Banyon

  Fletcher nodded, feeling bad for letting Gabe down. He'd trusted him to watch the woman. "I'll saddle up to meet them right now."

  Gabe had never felt such a deep foreboding. He knew that Cyrus had someone watching the house, and he didn't want to think about what might happen to Casey if one of his father's spies found her alone and unprotected.

  He kicked his horse in the flanks and rode fullout toward the river.

  When he reached the Brazos, he galloped along the bank, looking for signs of hoof marks. He felt his heart skip a beat when he saw the riderless chestnut.

  Dismounting, he glanced in every direction to see if Casey was lying injured somewhere.

  He squinted against the setting sun, and his gaze ran along the cliffs. He saw a flash of blue material blowing over the side of a boulder.

  Gabe raced up the hill and stopped when he saw Casey lying so still upon the boulder.

  When he bent down beside her, he saw the rise and fall of her breast and was overcome with relief-she was all right, merely sleeping.

  He wanted to shake her for scaring him the way she had. If anything happened to her, he wouldn't know what to do. He needed to see her every day as much as he needed the air he breathed.

  His anger slowly melted away when he looked upon her face. The sight of her gentle beauty cut right through his heart. This moment belonged to him because he had her all to himself, and she would never know it.

  He lightly touched a red-gold curl while he watched the way her long lashes lay against her pale cheeks.

  His gaze moved across her full mouth, down her slender neck to the swell of her breasts. He didn't allow his eyes to linger there because he didn't want to think about the satiny flesh that lay beneath her gown.

  He stared at her tiny waist, which he was sure he could span with his two hands. She was so defenseless out here alone, and anyone could have happened upon her while she slept.

  He touched her cheek, swamped with aching need. He allowed his fingers to drift tenderly down her face. Realizing his thoughts were going in a dangerous direction, he pulled his hand back.

  "Casey, wake up." He gently touched her arm and shook it. "Casey."

  Casey's lashes fluttered open, and the blue of her eyes was so dark, Gabe felt as if he were falling into them. She smiled, and her whole heart was in that smile.

  "I was just dreaming about you," she said, stretching her arms over her head and sending his heart pounding when the gesture pushed her breasts tightly against the cloth of her gown.

  She sat up, looking puzzled, then touched his arm. "How did you find me?"

  "I thought I told you not to leave the house unless someone accompanied you." His anger had returned, and there was a bite in his tone.

  She reached for his hand and laced her fingers through it in an intimate gesture that seemed natural to her, but sent a shock through him.

  "Don't be angry," she cajoled, moving forward to look into his eyes. "Nothing happened to me."

  He was staring at her mouth, wanting desper ately to kiss her. "You have to listen to me, Casey. It's dangerous for you to go anywhere alone."

  "You were worried, weren't you?"

  "Hell, yes." He hadn't meant to, but he raised her hand to his lips, his mouth lingering on her knuckles. "Don't ever do anything like this again!"

  She moved forward and pressed her head against his shoulder. "I was in no danger."

  He jerked her chin up so she was forced to look at him. "You will be in danger until Cyrus is no longer a threat. Why can't I make you understand that?"

  She tossed her head and gave him a provocative smile. Now he wanted to shake her for an entirely different reason. "Don't look at me like that."

  "Why not?"

  "Because just don't do it."

  She was suddenly armed with the knowledge a woman gleaned from a man's reactions to her: he felt the same emptiness and need she felt. "How can I be in any danger when I have you looking out for me?"

  He stood and raised her up beside him, then released her hand immediately. Her lighthearted flirtation made him swell with desire. Casey didn't know she was playing with fire. If she but knew it, she was in far more danger from him, at the moment, than from anyone else.

  "We need to get back to the house. Everyone is looking for you, and the sun is going down."

  She slid her hand around his waist and stared into his eyes. "Can't we stay here awhile longer?"

  He moved her hands away from him, resisting the urge to take her down on the boulder, tear her gown off, and touch every part of her, to appease the ache inside him. "No. We have to go now."

  "Why can't we just-"

  He turned his back and took a step off the boulder, offering her his hand. "Let's go."

  She retrieved her book and put her hand in his, allowing him to assist her down to the riverbank.

  The sun hung like a huge red ball on the western horizon, and it painted the countryside with a soft vermilion glow.

  Casey knew Gabe was trying to avoid touching her when he dropped her hand and moved away. She decided it was time to make her feelings known to him and to let him know that he wasn't alone in the world. She wanted him to know he had a family. There wasn't a doubt in her mind that he loved her; he just hadn't yet admitted it to himself.

  Gabe was taken off guard when Casey propelled herself into his arms, crushing her mouth against his and sending them both backward. He couldn't concentrate on keeping his balance, because his mind was more on the lips that felt like silk on his, and the soft body that was pressed against him.

  A deep groan took him to his knees, and she was carried with him. He let his mouth plunder hers, flicking her lips open with his tongue and driving deep inside her sweet mouth. She was his; all he had to do was take what she so willingly offered. He was like a drowning man going under for the third time. He felt her hand at his shirt, unbuttoning it and softly touching his skin.

  He tore his mouth away from hers. "No. Don't. You don't know what you're doing."

  Her eyes shimmered softly, and she smiled slightly.

  "You're wrong. I do know what I'm doing. I've thought about it for a long time."

  Her hand moved across his taut chest, and he swelled painfully, tightly against his trousers. He took her wrists and pulled her hand away from his chest.

  His voice was harsh, his eyes hard. "Don't tempt me. I'm on the brink now, and if you touch me again, I may not be able to stop."

  The pain in Gabe's eyes was so deep and disturbing that Casey wanted to comfort him. She reached up and touched his cheek, allowing her fingers to drift down to his mouth. "I don't want you to stop."

  "Casey," he warned, catching her hand. "You're so dammed innocent you don't know what you're doing. Dammit, stop!"

  He was trying to put that barrier up between them again, only this time she wasn't about to let him. "I don't know much about the intimacy between a man and a woman, but I do know that I was born to be with you. Don't you feel that way, too, Gabe?"

  She felt his whole body tremble when she pressed a kiss on his cheek. She drew back and looked into his sliver eyes and saw the battle he was waging to resist her. She knew the very moment Gabe lost that battle, because his expression softened, and his eyes came alive with fire in them.

  He jerked her into his arms. "I don't have the right to tell you this, but I want your smile reserved for me alone. I want only my hands to touch you." He leaned in closer, his breath touching her mouth. "I want your lips on mine and no one else's. Do you understand that?"

  "I do understand. Because it's the same way I feel about you."

  His gaze was burning into her eyes with the intensity of his desire. "Don't do this, Casey."

  She unbuttoned another button on his shirt. "Don't do what?" she asked, pressing her lips to the pulse beating in his throat.

  His will was broken; his restraint snapped. His gaze swept to the laces at the neck of her gown. Slowly, as if he were fighting against the urge to tear the g
own off her, he undid the first tie. His hand was trembling so badly he could hardly unlace the next one, so she reached up and did it for him.

  He swallowed painfully as she pushed the gown off her shoulders. "I know you need me, Gabe."

  He groaned, gently shoving her gown lower. Since they were kneeling, it bunched at her waist and only her thin petticoat remained.

  "Casey!" There was so much feeling in the way he said her name.

  He reached up and undid the ribbon in her hair, and a mass of red-gold curls fell down her back. "How is the wound on your shoulder?" he asked, trying to clear the fog from his mind. "Does it still cause you pain?"

  She shook her head. "The only pain I feel is the need to be with the man who was created for me. You know we are meant to be together, Gabe."

  He yanked at the last bit of material that covered her, and - her breasts were exposed to his hungry gaze. He shook and trembled inside as he touched their softness, traced a nipple with his finger, then dropped his head to take it into his mouth.

  Casey threw back her head, feeling the warmth of his mouth stir an earthquake inside her. This was something she could give him, something he could take away with him when he left her. She could give him something to drive away the heavy sadness he carried inside him-her body was her gift to him.

  Gabe raised his head and stared at Casey. "Until you came along, I never knew a woman's smile could carry me through a whole day, or that a night could be so cold and empty because you weren't with me."

  His words touched her heart, and she pressed her cheek to his, loving him so much it hurt. She spoke past the lump in her throat. "I have been yours from the beginning. How could you not know that?"

  He whispered her name, lifting her up so he could remove her gown and undergarments. It amazed him that Casey felt no shyness with him, although he knew she had never allowed another man to go this far with her.

  Casey was tenacious in her belief that they belonged together. But he knew her feelings for him would turn to disgust when she discovered the truth about him.

  It was almost dark, and the countryside was awash in silvery moonlight. Gabe's hot gaze moved over the most perfect body he'd ever seen. She was soft, her waist small, her hips rounded. Her breasts seemed to beg for his touch, and he did touch them reverently. He didn't deserve her; he should walk away right now before he went too far, but he couldn't.

  Gathering her close to him, he kissed her mouth until she was breathless. His hands moved over her hips, and he felt a stinging in his eyes from the raw emotions that tore at him.

  "I can't wait any longer," he murmured, rushing to remove his own clothing. He tossed them aside, and somehow got out of his boots.

  Casey had to admit she had fantasized about what Gabe would look like without his clothing, but nothing she had imagined could have prepared her for the beauty of his lean, hard body. He was strongly muscled, his wide shoulders tapering down to a tight stomach. Her knees almost gave way when she saw the huge swell of him, and she tried to imagine how they would-

  He took her hand and drew her to him.. "Sweetheart, don't you know you shouldn't look at a man like that?" His breath fanned her cheek, and he closed his eyes. "You are tearing me apart inside. I want to be patient, to take it slow, but I need to be inside you."

  A sob escaped her lips, and she planted kisses across his mouth. "Gabe, I want to be right for you. Does it matter that I don't know what I'm supposed to do?"

  His heart skipped a beat; then it skipped two beats. Gently he lifted her in his arms and laid her down on his shirt. "You'll know what to do. I will teach you." He closed his eyes. He wanted to drive into her, to reach as deeply as he could to put his brand on her, but he gentled his urge and lay down beside her.

  Casey opened her mouth to his kiss, and she quivered when his hand swept across her breasts and then downward. She jerked upward when he spread her legs, his finger circling, then easing inside her.

  She bit her lip as a flood of passion tore through her, and she pressed to get closer to the skillful hand that was doing such wonderful things to her.

  His lips slid across hers, his hand edging ever deeper inside her, then withdrawing and easing forward once more.

  "Gabe, I never knew-" A sob tore from deep inside her. "I never thought it would be like this."

  He withdrew his finger from her and frowned. "Are you crying because I've hurt you?"

  She shook her head and moved to touch his face. "You have not hurt me. It's just that..." She shook her head in frustration, trying to tell him how she felt. "I feel like I am a part of you. I never knew that was possible."

  He closed his eyes and felt tears moisten them.

  He couldn't remember a time when he had cried, not even when Nora had died, not even when he had stood beside his mother's grave.

  "Casey... sweetheart!"

  He could not say anything more because her hand had crept down and brushed against the swell of him. He gritted his teeth, and his body shook. Easing forward, he parted her legs. His head came down to her mouth, and he inched some of his length into her.

  She was becoming frantic, pulling at him, grinding her mouth against his, trying to get closer to him, to take him farther into her body.

  Her velvet tightness closed around him, and he almost lost it then and there. He felt the ground roll beneath them, and he hardened even more. Caught by her sweetness, he pushed deeper into her, past the barrier with half his length.

  "Gabe," she whispered against his mouth. She arched her hips, and he went deeper, making a slow withdrawal, then easing in again.

  He felt her body tremble, and he felt her warmth spill around him. He thrust deeper, pushing his full length, and she spilled her warmth again, calling his name as she was carried away by ecstasy.

  Powerful tremors shook his body, shook his world to its foundation, and he gripped her to him until they both stopped trembling.

  He kissed her tear-dampened cheek and brushed her hair away from her face so he could nuzzle her neck. "Sweetheart, what have you done to me?"

  She closed her eyes, her hand sweeping up his back to slide into his midnight hair. "I have given myself into your keeping. I will always belong to you.

  He ached to tell her how he felt about her, but he didn't have the words. He had never spoken words of love to any woman, and he couldn't say them now, when he wanted to the most. But he did make an attempt: "To think if I had never met you," he said, touching his mouth to hers, "I would never have felt this way."

  "If I had known you could make me feel this way," she said, softly touching her lips to his shoulder, "I would have stripped my clothing off that first night you came to the house."

  He laughed with warmth. "As I recall, you were not wearing much."

  "No, I wasn't. And at first I was frightened of you." She traced her finger down his nose. "But I knew that night that something had happened between us. Did you feel it, too?"

  "The feelings I had that night took me by surprise. And I even thought you had a husband at the time."

  She nestled against him. "Let's just stay here for the rest of our lives and make love."

  He touched his lips to an inviting nipple and then pulled away to ponder her words. "Life won't let us, Casey. It will soon intrude and carry us back to the real world."

  Brazenly she dipped her head and kissed the pulse that beat at his throat, drawing a groan from his lips. She glanced up at him with a devilish grin. "What else can I do to torture you?"

  His hands slid up her hips to her inner thigh, and he positioned her to receive him. "What would torture me is if I could never touch you like this again. You have given my life a... purpose. That's the only way I can explain it."

  "Do you think you can trust me enough to tell me about your past?"

  He held her hips while he eased into her softness. "I have no past-there is only now."

  Omous topped the hill and quickly waved his son back.

  "What is wrong, Father?" Flint
asked, reining in his prancing mount.

  "Gabe does not need us to help look for his woman. He has found her. Let us ride back to the others and tell them the woman is safe with him."

  Flint nodded, understanding what his father was telling him. "She will help heal him."

  "If he will allow it. Gabe has never taken the easy road. I fear more trouble awaits him."

  The moon was drifting high overhead, casting its silvery shadows over the land. Gabe held Casey in his arms, his hand spread out over her stomach.

  "Are you all right, sweetheart?"

  She smiled gently. "I have never been more all right in my life." She turned over and brushed his hair behind his ear. "You still need me to finish cutting your hair."

  His fingers tangled in her curls, and he brought her face to his. "That day you tried to cut my hair, I wanted to pull you onto my lap and make love to you right then."

  A teasing light came into her eyes as she displayed a mischievous side he had never seen. She smiled whimsically. "I wanted you to kiss me that day."

  "Did you now?" His laughter was deep. "I think I knew that, and I also knew you weren't ready for me."

  "What would have happened if you had not come upon us that day we were stuck in the river?"

  He arched his brow. "You would still be stuck in the river."

  She shook her head and grinned. "No, really, what would have happened?"

  His reply was noncommittal. "Who can say? I am not good with words, Casey. I cannot always say what I feel, especially when the feelings are so new to me."

  "What if we had never met?"

  "Then I would have wandered aimlessly for the rest of my life, lost and alone."

  Her hand caressed his jaw. "That's quite a statement for someone who says he has no way with words."

  Giving herself to Gabe had not brought him the peace she had hoped it would. There were still tortured shadows in the depths of his eyes. "Tell me about your life," she urged, sensing he would never find real happiness until he put the past behind him.