Beautiful? Her? Probably not. But how utterly wonderful that he thought so. “It’s too beautiful a dress to waste. It didn’t work for her, so it deserves a second chance.” She glanced to the bed where it had all begun, and where now they could start anew. She lifted her arms to him. “The best part is that we have another chance.”
And they took it. Shedding clothes, falling into each other’s arms, giving and taking, in haste and impatience, in long savoring slowness and mind-boggling tenderness, savoring their limitless passion.
“Say it, Maddie,” he encouraged once. “What you were thinking out there at the railroad tracks.”
She didn’t have to ask what he meant; neither did she hesitate, except to clasp his face in her hands and kiss him tenderly and gaze deeply into his warm brown eyes.
“I love you, Tyler.”
“Is it such a horr—?”
She kissed him, deeply like he kissed her; deeply, like he loved her; like she loved him.
“In our case, love is the most wonderful word ever invented.” And throughout the long night, she showed him time and time again how wonderful it was—how wonderful he was.
Before drifting off to sleep, she pulled him closer. “No one can ever say this is no place for a lady now.”
Nudging her face up, he studied her beloved features, her sensuously tangled hair, her puffy lips and begging green eyes.
“You’ve proved that, my love.” In a fluid motion, he moved himself over her, spraddled her with his legs, and sat back on his heels, studying her by the flickering candlelight. “And I don’t mean just the town. You’re every inch a lady…”
Speaking, his hands left her face and swept at a snail’s pace down her body. He lingered on her breasts, at her waist, on her taut belly. She glowed from the touch of his hands, from the fire in his eyes. Then he lowered himself, entering her with the same agonizing slowness as before, and she felt for the hundredth time today that she might burst from all the joy that filled her heart. And her life.
“…and you damned sure belong here,” he whispered, filling her body deeply, joyously. “…here in my bed, in my heart, in my life every night and every day for as long as we live.”
From the Author’s Notebook
adiós Good-bye
agave A thorny bush of the amaryllis family. Once in this plant’s lifetime a spike of waxy white blossoms lifts from the center of its cluster of thorny, blade-like leaves; after blooming, the plant dies; by-products are the liquors mescal, pulque, tequila; fibers for baskets and ropes; and a substance Indians have long used for soap.
agarita A small thorny bush with holly-like leaves and red berries that make a clear tart jelly.
ahora Spanish for “now”
aloe vera A plant whose succulent leaves furnish a substance used in medicine and cosmetics
alto Spanish for “stop”
basque Fitted bodice on a woman’s dress.
bienvenida Spanish for “welcome”
buenas noches Spanish for “good night”
cabrito Spanish for “young goat” (in English, a kid); generally refers to a dish prepared by roasting, broiling, or boiling the meat
café Spanish for “coffee”
carne guisado In Spanish, a thin stew, made with beef
chingaba Anglicized swear word
cholla A species of cacti that grows into a small multi-branched tree
cold-cocked Western colloquial expression meaning “knocked out”
cup towel Texan’s term for dish or tea towel
de nada Spanish meaning “don’t mention it” literally, “for nothing”
dip cattle A method used to treat diseased cattle by swimming them through a “dipping vat” built usually of rock and filled with disinfectant.
donde está Spanish for “where is [it]”
duckins Men’s trousers made of a heavy cotton fabric called duck, worn in the West before Mr. Levi invented denim.
dust devil Small whirlwind
El Capitán A peak in the Guadalupe Range in the Trans-Pecos region of Texas. At 8,085 feet above the sea, 2,000 of which forms an imposing sheer cliff that can be seen fifty miles away, El Capitán is the eighth highest peak in Texas.
es Spanish for “[it] is”
fishplate In railroading, a steel plate joining rails
gracias Spanish for “thank you”
gyp water water saturated with gypsum; many creeks and rivers in cow country are full of gypsum or other alkaline salts.
hablas español Spanish for “[you] speak Spanish”
hermosa Spanish for “beautiful”
hola Spanish for “hello”
jefe Spanish for “chief”
madrone The Texas madrone tree, found only in the Trans-Pecos region, has a slick trunk, limbs of varying hues of red, glossy green leaves, white blossoms, and edible red berries. An endangered species
mi Spanish for “my”
muy bien Spanish for “very well”
no puede pas— Spanish for “you cannot go”
para ti Spanish for “for you”
pero Spanish for “but”
qué pasa Spanish for “what’s happening”
quantos años Spanish for “how old [are you]”; literally, “how many years”
railroad trap A pen near a railroad used for holding and loading cattle
rebozo In Spanish, a woman’s shawl made of wool, cotton, or silk, worn about the shoulders, sometimes covering the head
sí Spanish for “yes”
serape In Spanish, a man’s cloak made by slitting the center of a heavy woolen or cotton shawl to fit over the head
siete In Spanish, the number seven
sobrino Spanish for “nephew” (sobrina = niece)
sotol A plant similar to the agave in appearance, sotol belongs to the lily family. The liquor mescal is made from its sugary center, which also makes good cattle feed.
Spanish dagger A term usually applied to the yucca plant, sometimes to sotols and agaves, too. Thorns at the tips of yucca leaves are strong enough to be used for needles. With skill one is able to break off a thorn and peel away a long attached strand of fiber, producing a needle and thread in one piece.
tía Spanish for “aunt” (tío = uncle)
tu Spanish for “you”
ven Spanish for “come”
wedding-ring collar On a lady’s dress, a banded collar that encircles her neck like a wedding band.
wedding-ring quilt A quilt pattern made by repetitively interlocking two rings of colorful patches, symbolizing the unity of marriage.
More from Vivian Vaughan
Branded
El Paso, Texas. 1895. Five years ago, life as Jacy Kimble knew it ended with a scandal that sent her brother Hunter and his best friend Trevor Fallon to Yuma Prison for murder. The scandal cost her family their Arizona Ranch, ruined her father’s political career and took his sanity, leaving the Kimble family in shambles. Once the belle of Arizona society, Jacy Kimble was haughty and flirtatious—her favorite target: Trevor Fallon. Her father called him a hired hand.
Now Trevor has shown up at her door, escaped from prison, or as he tries to make her believe: he was freed in the middle of the night with one order—clear her brother’s name and keep him from hanging.
For five years she has hated Trevor. How can she believe him now? Yet, how can she not help him try to prove her brother’s innocence? It’s a hard choice for Jacy: believe the man who ruined her life, or throw away any hope for her family’s future. Complicating everything, Trevor is the same handsome, no-account cowhand who once romanced her. And Jacy had loved him. Now she feels that powerful attraction returning. How can she spend time with him? How can she not?
No Place for a Lady
When Madolyn Sinclair, Secretary of the Boston Woman Suffrage Society, steps off the train in Buckhorn, Texas, she doesn’t know there is a right and wrong side of the tracks. Madolyn has come to this god-forsaken land with three purposes:
to find her runaway brother Morley, secure her inheritance, and return to Boston to organize a Center for Women’s Rights. What she had not expected to find in this windswept land—or anywhere—was love: Madolyn Sinclair has dedicated herself to teaching submissive women from all walks of life that they don’t need men.
Then she meets Tyler Grant, her brother’s erstwhile business partner, who offers to take her to Morley’s ranch. She reluctantly accepts, and Tyler takes her on a wagon ride she will never forget. But Tyler has an ulterior motive, and he’s caught a tantalizing woman in his web of deceit.
Reluctant Enemies
New Mexico Territory, 1879. Will Radnor has never stopped looking for Charles Martin Kane, the man who murdered his father back in Philadelphia. Following the first good lead he’s had in years, Will accepts a position with a law firm in Santa Fé. In Chimayo, a golden-haired cowgirl, ‘dressed like Billy the Kid and smelling of horse sweat’ climbs into the stagecoach and changes his life forever. Then he learns her name.
Priscilla McCain has realized her dream to become the best danged cowgirl in New Mexico Territory, following in the boot steps of her beloved father, Charlie McCain. In Chimayo she climbs into the stage and trips over the flimsy black boots of a greenhorn lawyer. He is tall, though, and handsome. Silk shirts and perfume spring to mind. Then she realizes what he is—a greenhorn.
Soon, however, even wild horses can’t keep them apart. Will passes every ‘greenhorn’ test Priscilla poses and proves himself a quick learner. Before she knows it, Priscilla has donned that silk shirt, lacy chemise, and spritzes on her mother’s perfume.
As Will’s love for Priscilla grows, he knows that the time will come when she must choose between him and her father, and either choice will be disastrous for all of them. He has never seen a family as close. But can he forego bringing Charles Martin Kane to justice, even for the woman he loves?
A Wish to Build a Dream On
Reese Catlin is determined to get his herd from Texas to Kansas ahead of the rush. An excellent chuck wagon cook is essential to the cattle drive, and after tasting the delectable lemon pies at the café in town, he knows he’s found the perfect man for the job in 'Andy' Dushane.
Only as it turns out, Andie Dushane is actually a woman, and he knows the rest of the cowboys won’t stand for it. But after she proves her culinary skills can’t be matched—or resisted—she joins the camp on the trail to Kansas.
Before long, Andie’s delicious cuisine wins over the stomachs of the cowboys, but it’s the warmth of her passionate embrace that wins over the heart of Reese.
Storms Never Last
Eager to flea Indianola, Texas and the violent blood feud between her own family and the neighboring Suttons, Lindsey Mae Burnett makes the desperate decision to work as a shady lady to fund her escape.
March Sutton is in Indianola with one mission—murder. In an effort to relax, he pays Miss Fancy's House of Fanciful Delights a visit where he is paired with the beautiful, innocent Lindsey.
As a fierce storm descends upon the city, both March and Lindsey find themselves in danger of being swept away by not only the harsh winds, but by each other as well. Will their love survive the dangers of the vicious storm and the looming threat of Jeb Taylor, only to be destroyed when Lindsey learns that March is one of the very Suttons she’s running from?
Sweetheart of the Rodeo
Caterina Raminerz, daughter of a ranch cook, wanted nothing more than to marry her oldest friend Monte Ballou. But the morning after he proposes, he disappears, along with Caterina’s hope for a future with true love.
Six years later, Monte has returned, determined to ride a dangerous stallion in the Fourth of July Rodeo. Still deeply in love with her childhood sweetheart, Caterina vows to do whatever necessary to stop Monte from riding the ferocious horse—and maybe save his life.
But even as buried feelings and forgotten promises find their way back to the surface, Monte is promised to someone else. Will Monte and Caterina find their way back to each other before their love is extinguished forever?
Tremaynes of Apache Wells
Chance of a Lifetime
Fort Davis, Department of Texas, 1868. Sabrina Bolton lives with an omnipresent feeling of guilt: her twin sister’s death when the girls were five left their mother in a perpetual state of melancholy. Now, fourteen years later, everything Sabrina does brings the admonishment “Proper young ladies don’t...”
Sabrina wants more. She wants to treat people at the post hospital; she wants to work at her father’s off-base mercantile with her friend, Rosa Ramírez; and she wants romance. Then her mother makes the ultimate choice—a suitor for Sabrina. Sabrina cannot summon one romantic feeing for Captain Lon Jasper. Indeed, he criticizes her behavior as much as her mother does.
Then the man called Tremayne rides onto the base and straight into Sabrina’s heart. Tremayne was reared by Apaches after his parents were murdered by unknown assailants, and he considers himself an outcast in both worlds. To him, all white-eyes women are witless. As if to prove the point, he almost runs down a fiery-haired woman who has wandered into the street and tripped on her skirts. He helps her stand, and from that moment they find no peace unless they are together. As their love grows, Tremayne knows he must leave Sabrina. Together she would be an outcast, too.
Catch a Wild Heart
Keturah “Ket” Tremayne belongs nowhere, to no one. Born of an Apache mother and “white-eyes” father, Ket is an outcast in both worlds. She has erected a wall around her heart, a wall of hatred for all whites, especially the soldiers at Fort Davis...and her stepmother, Sabrina.
Now Ket goes into the mountains to rescue her half-brother and his friend from Comancheros. Along with the boys, she rescues a greenhorn surveyor named Blake. His gibberish confounds her, but his compassion draws her near…and her sense of self-preservation pushes him away.
Meanwhile, Blake has his hands full surveying a rail line while avoiding renegade Apaches...except for the half-Apache girl who is the most astonishing, bewildering, and wonderful woman he has ever met. Even when it’s snowing outside his blood boils just thinking about her. Keturah Tremayne considers herself an outcast, wanted by no one, but Blake knows better, and if it takes the rest of his life, he will tear down the wall she has erected around her heart and set her free.
Jarrett Family Sagas
Sweet Autumn Surrender
Ellie Langstrom has built a quiet, simple life on a ranch in Summer Valley, married to the gentle, older Benjamin Jarrett, the love of her life. But that dream is shattered when she finds Benjamin’s bullet-riddled corpse on the back doorstep and watches her barn burn to the ground.
Ellie doesn’t know who is after her or why, so she telegraphs Benjamin’s far-flung brother Carson for help. Two months later, a Jarrett brother finally arrives—not Carson, Texas Ranger, but the blue-eyed gunfighter, Kale Jarrett. Ellie is terrified of guns and of the handsome gunslinger now living in her house. But she needs him…maybe in ways she doesn’t want to admit.
Silver Surrender
Aurelia Mazón lives with only one goal: to escape her high-mountain silver mining town for the big city. Though her father owns the mine, she wants more from life. After her father vows to send Aurelia and her mother to Guanajuato if the silver thefts at the mine continue, Aurelia sets a plan in motion to make her dreams come true.
But just when her plan begins to work, the unthinkable happens: a handsome stranger, a gringo, is arrested for the thefts. Aurelia has no choice but to break the gringo out and escape with him into the Sierra Madres, where she falls into his arms. There, she learns the gringo is Carson Jarrett, a Texas Ranger.
Chased through the Sierras by the Federales, Carson realizes that their budding, passionate romance cannot come to pass: the Mazón family will never allow Aurelia to marry a gringo. But Aurelia’s ingenuity and indomitable spirit will say otherwise.
Sunrise Surrender
Mississippi River, 1879. Delta Jarrett is despe
rate to end the recurring dreams that haunt her: disturbing, passionate dreams about her ancestor, pirate Anne Bonny, and Anne’s lover, Calico Jack. Their romance happened over a hundred years before, but now, in 1879, Delta is still enamored with their world. In an attempt to purge the dreams, Delta agrees to serve as a reporter for her brother-in-law Hollis’ newspaper, the St. Louis Sun. She would cover stories onboard a Louisiana showboat, the Mississippi Princess, at each port of call, and for the festivities later in New Orleans.
Brett Reall, on the run from a murder he did not commit, is back in the bayous of Louisiana after a decade, disguised and on the lookout for bounty hunters and the law. His enemies could be anywhere, but after boarding the Mississippi Princess and seeing Delta, he has a new fear: pulling this beautiful woman into harms’ way.
Delta can sense the danger that surrounds Brett, but her vivid dreams and growing love for this real-life pirate draw her closer and closer to him, and to disaster.
Secret Surrender
The year is 1879, and Molly Durant has fallen on hard times. When her mother died, Molly was left with a dilapidated boarding house and five siblings, all of whom she was determined to keep together. But with no boarders, thieves stealing her family’s timber, and her banker fiancé set on sending her siblings to foster homes, fate seems against her. Then Molly gets an unexpected knock on her door.
There, standing before her, is the man to whom she once foolishly gave her body, the same man who abandoned her: Rubal Jarrett. Or someone who looks like him? The man claims to be Jubal, twin brother of Molly’s old lover, here to survey a route for a railroad through the timberland.
“Jubal” soon has the boarding house brimming with paying guests, Molly serving meals to the public, and the family of siblings pitching in to help. He plans to help her turn her life around. Only then can he leave without a guilty conscience. He will not run out on her again. But memories of that long-ago night with her race through his head and hum in his ears. He dismisses a fleeting thought: “This time, Jarrett, you might get caught in your own trap.”
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