The redhead beamed with joy. “Certainly not. Besides, I have a new home to make in Colorado with my handsome husband. I don’t have any money, so it’s a good thing you’ll have a job awaiting you.”
T.J. smiled and informed her, “I have plenty of money saved, so we’ll do just fine, Miss Stover. A man doesn’t spend much money when he’s on the trail alone most of the time.”
Carrie Sue ventured, “Right now, partner, I’m not so fine. I have this ache all over that Dr. Jamison needs to tend.”
“That’s good, woman, because I’m suffering from that same condition. Let me lock up so we won’t be disturbed for a long time.”
After he did so, he carried the laughing Carrie Sue to bed. With gentle hands, quivering from anticipation, he undressed her. After she lay down, he removed his garments and boots and joined her.
He lay to her good side and gazed into her violet-blue eyes. His fingers carefully touched her bandaged shoulder as he murmured, “Lordy, I was afraid I had lost you forever when this happened. Then, I was afraid you’d never be able to forgive me and take me back. You don’t know what it means to me for us to be together like this again. I love you, woman, and I need you. I’m glad you came to your senses,” he teased, assailing her face and neck with kisses.
“I’m glad you came to your senses, too, Mr. Ranger Man,” she murmured, embracing him. Overwhelming love and desire coursed through her body. She had never imagined she could be this content, this much in love. T.J. had entered her life and changed it, changed her.
A feeling of intermingled tranquility and tension consumed her. At last, she felt totally safe and deliriously happy. It had been a long and hard road to this safe and loving location, but she was glad she had found it, discovered it with T.J.’s help and persistence. Her spirit was relaxed with T.J., and her body was highly susceptible to his actions. Her heart belonged to him.
It seemed as if this was the man she had awaited all her life, as if he was the only one who could unleash her passions, the only one who could tame her wild spirit, the only one who could fulfill her. Carrie Sue’s fingers lightly skimmed his supple flesh—his powerful shoulders, his brawny arms, his hard chest—relishing the way it felt beneath them and responded to her touch. She hugged him tightly against her naked body and trembled at that stirring contact.
T.J.’s lips roamed her rosy gold face, placing kisses in each area. He loved the way her skin felt beneath his mouth and hands. He wanted to kiss and caress every inch of her. He wanted to give her enormous pleasure; yet, self-control to carry out that enticing task was difficult. He fingered her flaming hair and kissed the throbbing pulse at her throat. She seemed eager to join their bodies, and that thrilled him.
Carrie Sue realized how gentle and hesitant he was with her; she knew he was trying not to hurt her. She knew his body was aflame for hers, just as hers were burning wildly for his. No matter how many times they made love, each time was better, if that was possible.
T.J.’s skilled hands searched out those hidden places that made her squirm with rapture. His tongue worked in the hollows of her neck and between her breasts, then traveled to her snowy mounds and titillated the rosy brown peaks upon them. He loved the way she moaned in rising need, the way she reacted to his trek, the way she entreated him to continue his journey toward a mutual discovery of passion’s haven. He explored her like a virginal area, slowly, thoroughly, excitedly. He yearned for their new life to begin, and knew it would soon.
Carrie Sue’s tongue darted about T.J.’s sensual mouth, craving his taste. Her hands were bold and confident today, wandering over his virile frame at will and causing him to tremble with mounting intensity. She wanted to tantalize him beyond reality and endurance, and was doing a wonderful job of it. She wanted him to experience the most blissful union of his life, today, in her arms, within her.
They played their enticing games until both were breathless and consumed by a ravenous hunger. They joined their bodies to feed those fierce appetites which both had whet. They teased and tempted each other. They took and gave and shared. They were as one.
He looked down at her, enjoying the way her hair flamed a vivid golden red against the stark white pillow. He noted the flush on her face, but knew it was from a different kind of fever than he had feared last week. He listened to her moans, this time from passion, not physical pain. He watched her violet-blue eyes close, grateful it was from dreamy pleasure and not unconsciousness. He kissed the area around her bandage, and mutely thanked God for saving her life.
Carrie Sue was enraptured by his skilled lovemaking and gentleness. Her body felt aglow and her mind adrift. The sea of passion within her coursed back and forth between peaceful waves to stormy ones. She was swept along helplessly by the awesome force. She felt that blissful tension building higher and higher within her until she felt dizzy from its height and power.
T.J. trembled in restraint, fearing it was about to be lost uncontrollably. His body was searing from the heat of their union, burning from her touch, blazing from her brave actions. His manhood quivered in warning. It had been so long since they had made love, and he craved her urgently. His fingers roved her body, stimulating her. When he felt her clutch his shoulders and kiss him feverishly as she arched her back toward him, he knewthe moment of victory had arrived. He cast aside his guard and raced swiftly to join her.
Surges of ecstasy shot through them like tiny bolts of lightning. Blood pounded in their ears like roaring thunder. They clung together to ride out passion’s downpour of fiery sparks, their bodies glistening from its blissful rain. Their mouths meshed and their tongues danced wildly in their own mating ritual. The wondrous experience, the culmination of lovemaking, washed over them and carried them away to a serene shore where they lay panting for breath and savoring this special fusion of bodies, hearts, souls, and spirits.
They continued to kiss and caress, to lie enjoined in the paradise of contentment which they had built. As they cuddled, the strength of their love filled their minds and consumed them. Each knew their love had been predestined, their first encounter by fate guided.
T.J. looked into Carrie Sue’s eyes and asked happily, “So you won’t mind becoming a lawman’s wife, my beautiful Texas Flame?”
Carrie Sue’s hands lifted to caress his face. She stared into his smokey gray gaze and replied with a straight face. “Not at all, Marshal Thaddeus Jerome Jamison, but I still prefer being your vixen.” Her face and eyes glowed as her naked body shook with merry laughter.
“You’ll always hold that intoxicating position, my love,” T.J. murmured, then closed his mouth over hers.
When their lips parted, she whispered mischievously, “I suppose you can teach this daring desperado to become a lawful citizen. After all, my handsome Rogue, you’ve taught me everything else.”
“Not everything,” he hinted with a devilish grin. “But give me time and I will.” He knew that if anyone came to visit today, no one would answer the door, not with his tantalizing vixen beside him, not when love’s urgent summons were being heard again…
Epilogue
William Ferguson arrived Saturday afternoon to cover the upcoming trials of Darby Stover and his gang. He enjoyed a long visit with Carrie Sue and T.J. before he began his prizewinning work.
Carrie Sue and T.J. spent Sunday alone, making love and making plans for their bright future in Colorado.
Monday, July third, the trial of Darby Stover began. Excited crowds filled the courtroom and others packed around the building to listen through the open windows. Often they cheered the boyishly handsome man whom they considered a Wild West legend.
Tuesday was a big holiday, the country’s centennial. Carrie Sue and T.J. celebrated in the cozy house with Hank Peterson and William Ferguson. A congratulatory telegram from Mitchell Sterling had arrived yesterday. He said he wished he could join them.
Wednesday, the trial resumed. It ended Thursday morning with an expected verdict of guilty and a sentence of fifteen ye
ars in prison. The crowd screamed for a pardon, but the judge finally quieted them down and told them it was impossible because Stover had broken the law. The crowds then shouted for an early parole for their hero, and the judge smiled.
Thursday night, Carrie Sue’s and T.J.’s weapons were taken by the Rangers who stood guard around the outside of the house while Darby Stover was allowed to have supper and a visit with his sister before leaving on Friday for a prison in eastern Texas. Following a delicious meal and a pleasant visit, Darby Stover and Thad Jamison shook hands and parted as friends.
T.J. had told her, “With good behavior, he’ll be out sooner.”
Darby had given T.J. a letter to Sally in San Angelo, thanking her for her help and love in the past, telling her not to wait for him. But Darby—and Sally—knew she would because she loved him. He had finally admitted to himself that he loved her.
On Friday, the trials of Kale Rushton, Kadry Sams, Dillon Holmes and John Griffin began, to end much the same way as Darby Stover’s. The doctor from San Angelo attended Kale’s trial and requested to be allowed to visit and work with the half-Apache while he was serving his prison term, hopefully to learn from the man and teach him as well. In fact, he hoped to persuade Kale to study in prison so he could become a doctor one day, combining the skills and knowledge of the Indian and white worlds. To everyone’s surprise, Kale was open to the suggestion.
On that same day, Carrie Sue Stover wrote a letter to Mrs. Thayer in Tucson, explaining everything to the kind woman who had befriended her.
After church on Sunday, July nineth, Carrie Sue Stover, wearing the white lace dress, married Thad Jamison in a secret ceremony attended by their closest friends. A small party followed, and a passionate night.
On Monday, July twenty-fourth, Carrie Sue and Thad Jamison left the cozy house in Waco to head for their new life in Colorado. By then, they knew there would soon be three people riding in their wagon…
Author’s Note
I would like to thank the staffs of the Texas Ranger Museum in Waco (with its marvelous examples of barbwire and guns, and displays of Ranger exploits) and the Texas Tourist Bureaus for their extremely generous help. One Texan in particular, Richard Roberts, supplied me with loads of informative material, especially on early Texas.
I would also like to thank the people at the U.S. Department of Interior (National Park Service) for the many maps and brochures which provided information and guidance on the Guadalupe and Chiricahua Mountains.
One note to prevent confusion: In The Great Chiefs (Time/Life Books) it says “After both Cochise and his oldest son died, Naiche, the second son, succeeded to the position of chief of the Chiricahuas in 1876.” But, The Indian Wars (Utley and Washburn) said, “In 1874 the legendary Cochise died. Neither of his sons, Taza or Nachez, proved equal to the test of chieftainship.” You know which source I used.
Finally, I would like to thank each of you for your letters and encouragement over the years, and I look forward to writing many more enjoyable books for you. If you would like to receive a Janelle Taylor Newsletter, send a legal-sized Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope (or a stamp and a mailing label) to:
Janelle Taylor Newsletter
P.O. Box 11646
Martinez, Georgia 30917-1646
UNTIL NEXT TIME, GOOD READING…
eISBN 978-1-4201-2745-4
ZEBRA BOOKS are published by
Kensington Publishing Corp.
850 Third Avenue
New York, NY 10022
Copyright © 1989 by Janelle Taylor
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.
If you purchased this book without a cover you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the Publisher and neither the Author nor the Publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”
Zebra and the Z logo are trademarks of Kensington Publishing Corp.
Thirteenth printing: February 1996
Printed in the United States of America
Kiss Of The Night Wind Page 50