by Merry Farmer
“Cattle thieves,” Franklin said, his frown betraying that he wasn’t convinced. “And you’re sure they had nothing at all to do with Rex Bonneville?”
Travis caught Luke’s eye, then cleared his throat and faced Franklin. “Pretty darn sure.”
“But—”
“Let’s ride back to the house where we can talk about it with your father and Mrs. Piedmont too,” Travis cut him off with a weary smile. “My backside sure could use a comfy chair to sit in instead of a saddle, for a change.”
“Of course.” Franklin’s shoulders loosened and he laughed. “Sorry, I’m just so glad to see that you’re all safe and whole. Really.” He met each of their eyes with all the seriousness of a man who wished he’d been able to be there to help his friends.
Luke relaxed even further as they continued on to Howard’s house and the barn and stable. It was good to have friends, good to have a home. He glanced to Eden as she tilted her head up to the sun, eyes closed, and let out a long sigh. It was good to have a strong, beautiful wife too.
“Land sakes, look at the lot of you.” Mrs. Piedmont clapped a hand to her chest and ran down the stairs from the front porch of Howard’s house as they rode their horses to their final stop in the yard beside the barn.
Luke had never been so glad to dismount in his life, and judging by the wince on Eden’s sweet face, the feeling was mutual. He crossed to give her a reassuring hug, but was interrupted as Mrs. Piedmont, Josephine, and Elizabeth Haskell charged toward them.
“Oh, my sweet boy, we heard all about what happened.” Josephine launched herself right at him, squeezing him so tight that Luke nearly fell over.
“It was nothing, Ma.” Luke made light of it, sending Eden a wry grin. “Eden took good care of me and kept me safe.”
“Oh my dear, I am so sorry that you had to endure that ordeal,” Elizabeth said. In all the time Luke had known Howard’s wife, she’d never been particularly demonstrative, but she folded Eden in a tight hug now, as though Eden were her daughter.
Eden’s eyes went wide, and she pleaded with Luke for help over Elizabeth’s slim shoulder. Luke could only chuckle. If it would help Eden to see that she belonged here, that these were her people now, he’d line all of Haskell up to give her bear-hugs.
He was still smirking at Eden’s discomfort when Howard marched up to him, slapped him hard on the back, and said, “Luke, my boy! Mason telegraphed all about it! Said you were a real hero.”
Luke nearly choked on the declaration. “He did?”
“Of course he did.” Howard pivoted to find Travis, who was halfway through ordering Howard’s stable hands to take care of the horses. “I hear Luke carried himself with admirable command during your little adventure. Is it true?”
“Yep,” Travis said without hesitation. “He’s a real leader, that one.”
Luke’s jaw dropped, even as a warm, prickly feeling of surprised happiness rose up his spine. “Well, I had help,” he stuttered.
“A bit,” Travis went on, “but it was Luke who took charge when those bandits tried to make off with some of the cows.” He crossed toward them, thumping Luke on the back as he passed. “Sometimes you need a man who knows how to pick a fight to keep situations from getting out of hand.” He winked at Luke and nodded at Eden before heading on to the bunkhouse.
Howard laughed, his whole body shaking. “That’s just what I thought. Sounds like I’ll need to find more challenging work for you to do around here in the future, eh? As Travis’s assistant, maybe?” He elbowed Luke so hard Luke nearly fell over. Howard turned to Eden. “And look at you, Mrs. Chance.”
“Me?” Through her exhaustion, Eden managed to find the humor of Howard’s exuberant personality.
“Yes, you. Look at that split skirt, those revolvers in your belt, the dirt covering you from head to toe.” Howard pointed from her to his wife and back again. “You’re as sharp a ranch hand as any of the rest of them.”
“Howard,” Elizabeth scolded him. “Mrs. Chance is a lady.”
Eden laughed out loud. “Now there’s one thing I’ve never been called before.” She blossomed into a smile, as if being reminded she was no pampered miss brought her back to herself. Luke’s heart flipped in his chest.
“I tell you what.” Howard narrowed his eyes and wagged a finger at her. “If you want a job working my ranch alongside your husband, it’s yours.”
“Howard!” Elizabeth hissed a second time.
“Well?” Howard shrugged. “If Virginia can do it, then Eden here can do it too. What do you say?” He turned a huge smile on Eden.
Luke was just beginning to warm to the idea of working beside his amazing wife every day when Eden laughed and shook her head. “No, thank you, sir,” she said. “I came out here because I wanted to keep house and get cozy with a husband and raise a whole parcel of children, if you don’t mind my saying.”
Elizabeth looked relieved. Virginia smiled in approval. Howard laughed and shrugged. “It was worth a try.”
“And I think you’ll find that, before too long, it’ll be easier to get those things done than ever,” Virginia added. “The carpenters have been hard at work on your new house over in the Village. It should be done by month’s end.”
It was the best news Luke had heard all day.
“Now go get yourselves cleaned up, then join us in the house. It won’t take Molly but a moment to put together a feast worthy of our returning heroes,” Howard said.
“Well, it might take longer than that,” Elizabeth muttered.
“We’ll eat whatever we can find until then,” Howard finished.
“No doubt you will,” Elizabeth sighed.
Luke and Eden laughed together, then headed across to the Hen House to clean up.
Eden wasn’t sure how she made it through the noisy, crazy supper that Howard’s cook, Molly, managed to throw together for them. They had all been exhausted riding the last few miles back to the ranch, but as soon as food was served and beer poured, it was like they were given new life. Howard wanted to hear every bit of what had happened in full detail. Eden was more than happy to sit back, belly full, and let the others come up with whatever yarn they wanted to spin to keep anyone from learning the truth.
Later, when she walked across the yard in the twilight, hand-in-hand with Luke, she spared one last glance to the horizon.
“I hope they made it,” she said, simple and quiet.
“Your brothers?”
She nodded. “I hope they got patched up and were able to move on.”
“I’m sure they’re fine.”
She arched a brow at Luke as they stepped up onto the front stoop of the Hen House and through the door. She wasn’t sure, but for now she was content to imagine they would be fine, just as Luke said.
The Hen House was more or less as they’d left it when Eden ran off to join the drive, only cleaner. She thanked heaven for that small miracle, because at the moment, she was far too tired to sweep and tidy and scrub.
“I just want to take off my boots, crawl into bed, and sleep for a week,” she groaned as she plodded through the main room and into the bedroom.
She emphasized her point by flopping, face first, onto the bed, arms spread to the sides. Luke chuckled as he came up behind her and sat on the side of the bed. She listened as his shoes fell to the floor, one by one, then to the swish of fabric as he pulled his shirt up over his head. They had washed and changed into clean clothes before going to supper, so she didn’t have to worry about him getting dirt all over the floor.
Luke stood, and Eden closed her eyes and began to drift into sleep. A minute or so later, she felt tugging on her feet as he unlaced and pulled off her boots.
“Mmm, thank you, sweetie,” she sighed, twisting her head to the side, but leaving her arms stretched out.
“You’re welcome, dear,” Luke replied.
The deep, hungry growl in his voice popped Eden’s eyes open. Prickles shivered along her skin as he reached up the folds o
f her skirt to peel off her stockings. The brush of his fingertips along the flesh of her thighs left trails of fire in their wake. She sighed at the sensation as a delicious ache pooled in her core. It grew in a hurry once her stockings were both off and Luke continued to rake his fingernails up and down her thighs.
“Oh my,” was all she could manage before Luke took hold of the hem of her skirt and drew it up over her waist.
She gasped as he reached around to tug the drawstring of her drawers loose, then to yank them down and off over her feet, exposing her naked backside to him.
“Luke Chance, what are you—”
Her question ended in a gasp as he grabbed hold of her ankles and spread her legs wide apart. A powerful shiver ran through her at the feeling of being so exposed to him, and while lying in such a yielding pose. Why, with her on her stomach, legs spread, arms at the side like that, he could do anything to her. He could—
The bed creaked as Luke climbed between her legs. The naked flesh of his sides rubbed against her thighs as he slid himself on top of and between her.
“Dear Lord, you’re naked,” she panted.
The hard spear of him settled against all the things that counted between her legs as he growled, “Yep,” against the back of her ear.
Forget exhaustion. Forget sorrow and regrets. She wiggled her hips and backside against him, aching to be filled. He rewarded her with an intake of breath and a groan that sizzled along her skin. She wanted to be naked too, for her clothes to disappear so she could feel his skin, hot and tender against hers. But not as much as she wanted to feel him insi—
All thought left her with a wanton moan as he thrust inside of her. He felt so good and so tight sheathed in her that she had a hard time catching her breath. She’d forgotten how big he was and how his size and power made her feel as though she were being stretched to the limit in all the best ways. She tilted her hips up into his thrusts, rocking back against him with each one and crying out with the pleasure they brought.
Mad as their coupling was, the coil of pleasure pulled tighter and tighter inside of her with his thrusts. He paused long enough to shift their position, drawing her hips up off the bed so that he could plunge deeper. He reached to twine his fingers through hers as she balanced on her arms, closing her eyes and losing herself to the sensation of him around her, inside of her. His heat, his weight, his thrusts were all divine.
The urgent tension inside of her squeezed so tight that she couldn’t stand it anymore. She rolled her weight to one arm, twisted his hand in hers so that she held it from behind, then brought it under her and around the folds of her skirt. As soon as his fingers made contact with the hot, hard nub between her legs, she cried out with the goodness of it.
Luke, ever the fast learner, caught on and brushed against it as he continued to thrust into her with increasing urgency. His masculine grunts of pleasure pitched higher and higher as he came closer to finding release. Eden beat him to it. She gasped as the coil inside of her broke free into vibrant pulses of pleasure. Her whole body sang in reaction, her limbs going weak as pleasure carried her away, and with it, a happiness more potent than anything she’d known.
A moment later, before her orgasm had ridden itself out, Luke reached his climax. He let out a long, loud groan as his body tensed and released, his life and his heat surging into her. The force of their combined expansion left them both limp and spent, in a heavy tangle of arms and legs, dress and bedclothes, on top of the bed. But Eden didn’t mind. She was more than happy to lay there panting as all energy left her.
At length, Luke shifted, rolling to the side and drawing into his arms. “Well, shoot. I was hoping to get your clothes all the way off before I got to the point where I couldn’t stop myself.”
Eden giggled. She reached for the fastenings of her skirt. “Sweetheart, we’ve got all the time in the world to be naked together.” She proved her point by shimmying out of her skirt, then undoing and tossing aside her bodice, corset, and chemise.
Luke hummed in appreciation. He started to move to pull back the bedclothes, but stopped and fixed her with a serious stare. “You sure it was all right to do it that way? You know, behind-like.”
Lord, how she loved him. She loved his sweetness and his innocence, and she loved his strength and his command. She was the luckiest woman alive to have stumbled into his arms. No, not stumbled, taken a chance. He was her second chance.
“Honey,” she drawled, flickering an eyebrow at him with a look that she was much too tired to follow up on. “I’ve seen some books. There are all sorts of ways to do it, front, back, and sideways. We’ll have to work our way through each one.”
He laughed as they crawled under the covers and settled for sleep. “Doesn’t sound much like work to me.”
Really, it didn’t. In fact, she had a feeling the two of them would enjoy getting into mischief of all sorts of kinds—in bed and out—for the rest of their days.
Epilogue
“Boy, you two didn’t waste much time, did you?” Cody stepped up onto the porch of Luke and Eden’s completed house, Travis following, as Eden and Luke sat on the wicker bench watching the sunset. The air had a late-autumn nip in it, but Eden barely felt it. She had a thick shawl wrapped around her shoulders and Luke snuggled up to her side.
“What are you talking about?” Luke asked. The satisfied grin he wore belied the fact that he knew just what rumors had reached Cody’s ears. He reached across to rub Eden’s stomach.
Cody snorted and shook his head at the two of them. “Word every which way around here is that it’s a good thing they built so many rooms in this house, because you’re gonna need them before next spring.”
“Really?” Luke grinned at Eden. She, in turn, winked at him over her shoulder.
“Did I forget to tell you, sweetie?” she teased him. “I’m in the family way.”
“You don’t say,” Luke played along, all pretend innocence. “How’d that happen?”
“Well, it probably has something to do with the way—”
“Don’t.” Travis held up both hands to stop them. He held a folded piece of paper in one. “There are some things I don’t need to know.”
Eden giggled and snuggled closer to Luke. As far as she was concerned, life couldn’t possibly be better. She knew full well how she’d ended up with child, and so did Luke. Like she’d thought all along, he was a fast learner. Especially since they practiced frequently.
“What’s that you’ve got?” Luke nodded to the paper in Travis’s hand.
Travis and Cody both turned serious. Cody sank to sit in the rocking chair across from the bench, and Travis leaned against the porch railing and stared at the paper. It was a clipping from a newspaper.
He glance up at Eden with an uncertain look, then said, “Theophilus Gunn’s been keeping an eye out for any mention of—” He cleared his throat. “—Of anything having to do with a certain gang back East.”
Eden sat straighter, her heart beating double-time. Luke gripped her shoulder to keep her steady. “Did he find anything?”
Travis nodded and handed the newspaper clipping over to her.
“I don’t understand how that man knows everything,” Cody muttered. “It’s like he’s got a sixth sense or something.”
“He doesn’t have a sixth sense,” Travis scoffed. “He’s just observant.”
“How’d he know about what happened out there on the drive anyhow?” Cody asked.
“I told him,” Luke answered with a shrug.
“You what?”
Eden ignored the exchange. Luke had told her about his conversation with Mr. Gunn weeks ago.
“Gunn has a way of being there when you need someone to talk to,” Luke said.
“Ain’t that the truth,” Travis agreed.
“You just find yourself telling him things, and then he gives you all the advice you’ll ever need.”
Travis hummed. Cody shook his head, baffled. Eden was too busy scanning the newspaper clippi
ng to pay them much mind.
“Braden was arrested,” she said softly.
“Honey, I’m sorry.” Luke pulled her closer and hugged her from the side.
Eden barely noticed that too. “No, there’s more.” She read and reread the article—short though it was—to make sure she read it right. “Bert turned him in.”
“What?” Luke leaned into her, reading the article over her shoulder. “Well I’ll be,” he murmured as he read.
“Seems one of your brothers, at least, refused to return to a life of crime,” Travis said. Evidently, he’d read the article too.
Eden let out a breath and relaxed against the bench and Luke’s arm. She closed her eyes and said a quick prayer of thanks. “At least two of us got away.” And maybe more. The article didn’t say anything about her cousins—even though she’d scanned the entire page for mention of Ted—but at least it hadn’t mentioned them being arrested either.
“This is good news,” Luke said, giving Eden a squeeze.
“It is.” She smiled up at him, adding a light kiss for good measure.
“But one thing.” Luke’s expression dropped to a scowl.
“What?” She arched a brow.
“This doesn’t mean we’re naming our baby any name that starts with a ‘B.’”
Eden laughed out loud. “Hell no,” she agreed. They shared another kiss.
“And guess what?” Cody burst in.
Eden snuggled closer to Luke as he tightened his arms around her. “What?”
“Mr. Garrett, Mrs. Piedmont, and Mrs. Evans have finally agreed to send for a bride for me.”
Cody finished his announcement, and Travis hid his face in his hand and shook his head.
After everything she’d learned about Cody in the last few months, Eden was inclined to agree with Travis’s assessment of the situation. All she said aloud, though, was “Really?”
“Yep,” Cody answered with pride. “Apparently, a Miss Wendy Weatherford will be coming out on the train in three weeks.” He sent a smug look to Travis.