stand no more of the sweet torture and she was on her back, with his
lips savoring her body beneath the gauze of the lilac gown. He tasted
her breasts and the valley between them and her navel and her upper
thighs and teased her more intimately still until she was thrashing and
calling his name to the moon-dusted night, begging that he come to her.
With the deepest pleasure, he obliged, and the feeling of being where he
belonged within her was almost as great as pure sexual excitement of
being so tightly, so erotically He shuddered with the force of his
desire, and deeper and deeper until they exploded as one. Then her
tightly into his arms, glad of her lips pressed to her head burrowed
against him.
You're mine, he longed to tell her. You were mine when I first found
you, and mine when I came to Nalte to ask for you. You are mine this
night. And if we can only survive, you will be mine forever. His
thoughts gave pause, and he added silently: even if you are the most
ornery and troublesome female in the western world.
In the morning his troublesome female was up and almost dressed by the
time he had pulled on his trousers.
"Afraid of my family?" he asked her.
Tess looked his way curiously and shook her head. No man could be a
finer lover, tender and tempestuous, but in the morning his temper
always seemed to leave something to be desired.
"I don't care what they know, if you're talking about our sleeping
arrangements."
"I see. You think my older brother will insist that we marry."
"No one will ever force you to marry, Jamie. You said so yourself."
"So you're not planning on marriage."
"I try not to plan on anything."
She was at her dresser, brushing her hair. He slipped behind her, his
chest still naked, and pulled her against him.
He whispered against her ear.
"What if you're already with child?"
She turned and faced him, looking him up and down. "You're nicely built,
intelligent, I think, and your brothers don't seem to have too many
flaws.
If I have a child, it should be a darling one." She swung around to
continue to brush her hair.
He laughed as he donned his shirt and socks and boots. "Tess, you are a
hellion," he told her.
She smiled sweetly.
"I just do the best I can with what I've got, Lieutenant. I'm going down
for breakfast. I'm sure Dolly and Jane got things started very early
with all those 273 little children to feed. And I do want to be at the
paper by eight. I've got to teach Kristin and Shannon how to work the
press."
"I'm right with you," Jamie told her. But when she would have exited the
room, he pulled her back.
"We do things my way, remember."
"I remember," she said coolly. "Everything."
"Meaning?"
"I'll tell you later," was all he said.
He stepped past her and hurried down the stairs. She followed him,
convinced that he had only stopped her to prove to her that he could be
down first.
Dolly and Jane were busy with the children, and they seemed like a
couple of doting old aunts. Dolly beamed at Jamie.
"I just can't wait until it's one of your little bundles I'm holding,
Lieutenant!" she said. Of course she wasn't really holding Shannon's
daughter--the child was squirming away, ready to chase a little string
ball that was rolling across the floor.
"Yeah, soon enough, Dolly," Jamie said sweetly. To Tess's surprise he
winked at her.
"Coffee!"
A cup was shoved into her hand by Malachi.
"Jamie," he said, "I've told Hank to tal~ Dolly and Jane and the
children down to the storm cellar once we've gone. They're invisible
there." "Fine," Jamie said.
"Dolly?"
"I understand, Lieutenant, I understand perfectly."
"I'll watch them," Hank promised.
"Me and the hands, we'll stay in and down in the cellar with the
children."
"Is everybody ready?" Jamie asked. He swallowed his coffee and set the
cup on the table, then everyone was hurrying out.
The children were taken to the cellar, and Dolly waved a cheerful hand
to Tess.
"You take care, missy, you hear?"
"Yes, Dolly, I promise! Thank you!"
Dolly disappeared into the storm cellar, and Hank followed, closing the
door over them. Cole and Kristin stamped the dirt around so the opening
was invisible. By then Jon was coming around with the wagon, and Kristin
and Shannon and Tess climbed up with him. The Slater brothers mounted
their horses. Tess was aware that each was wearing a gun belt with two
Colts.
Each also had another gun attached to a saddle. They were well-armed,
but managed to remain nonchalant.
Tess froze, praying that she wouldn't bring about one of these men's
deaths.
It was her fight. Her own. She had no right to get these men killed.
Maybe nothing would happen today. Maybe yon Heusen would lie low.
Maybe he would take his time to attack her again. She had written the
truth once. After today, maybe more people would believe her. He
couldn't kill everyone.
"Why don't you explain the press while we ride?" Jon suggested to her.
Tess gave him a grateful smile. If she talked, she would relax.
"It's a small press, really, compared with many of the innovations
they're coming up with today. But it's a small town, and we're a small
paper. We set the type in a box called a chase. We tap our letters and
words in with wooden mallets, ink the set type, then roll the papers
through. It's very simple." She was just warming to the subject when
Jon's voice interrupted her softly.
"The town is quiet today."
It was quiet. The streets were deserted. Not that it was usually busy at
this time of the morning, but there was no one around. No one at all.
"Well," Tess murmured.
"There's, uh, there's the paper over there.
See, Wiltshire Sun. The place with all the windows broken out," she
added drily.
"Well, you can set to typing your story while Kristin and I sweep up,"
Shannon said.
Tess nodded. There was a giant lump in her throat, though. Why was the
town so damned deserted?
Jon stopped directly in front of the paper. Jamie had already
dismounted, and he was watching the silent buildings for any sign of
movement. Malachi came to the wagon and helped the women down.
"Get into the office," Jamie ordered curtly. Tess didn't argue but did
as he told her. Shannon and Kristin followed her.
"Will you look at this mess!" Kristin said, clicking her tongue.
"I should help you," d Tess said.
"Will you please go type! We can handle this," Kristin said.
Tess nodded and walked to her desk and typewriter. She dusted fragments
of glass from her chair and blew it from her papers and rolled a blank
sheet into her typewriter. She stared at it for just one second, then
her fingers began to fly. She had a lot to say. A hell of a lot. Time
moved quickly.
Kristin and Shannon moved around the room competently, and their
presence didn't disturb Tess in the least. She was just getting to the
part where Jeremiah and David had admitted their involvement with yon
Heusen when she heard a shout in the street.
The three of them froze. The shout came again. "Tess! Tess Stuart! We
know you're in there! And you're under arrest."
"Under arrest!" Tess gasped.
Then she heard Jamie respond from beyond the window, his voice harsh and
firm as he met the threat.
"It's the sheriff, I think!" Shannon said, peeking around a broken
window.
Tess joined her beside the window, and nodded. "She's under arrest for