He seemed to be fighting himself. He touched only her lips with the tip of his fingers as he moved away.
They dressed in silence and he helped her in the buggy. Before he raised the reins, he turned to her. “You must think me completely mad.”
“Once more,” she asked with her hand resting on his arm. “Hold me once more before we have to go, Daniel.”
His control shattered. He pulled her wildly onto his lap and found her mouth. As the kiss deepened, he tugged at the buttons of her dress, shoving the material away in haste. His hands were as hungry as his mouth. He bared her breasts so quickly she felt the material rip.
He could no more explain his need for her than he could have denied it. He'd thought the taste of her, the feel of her, would satisfy the hunger inside him, but all it did was make him want more.
When he ended the kiss, she lay across his lap, her head cradled in his arm, her breast bare. He gently caressed her left breast as though he had petted her so tenderly for years. And, as he knew she would, she responded to his touch with a little sound that made him want to give her more, far more. She felt so good in his arms, warm, welcoming. A gift he hadn't asked for but could never return.
“I take it you've no objections to your husband's touch?” He closed his fingers around her flesh and watched her arch her back in pleasure.
“No,” she whispered almost mindlessly. “I've no objections.”
Daniel pulled her close, hugging her to him. “Then promise to come to me again, dear gift. Come to me again as you did tonight.” She was a woman of such fire and opinions, yet she molded to his desires without question.
He kissed her on the cheek and sat her beside him. There was no need for her to answer his request. He could see her answer in her eyes.
While she worked the buttons of her clothing, he drove toward the last stronghold of the Confederacy. The only place he knew of where men still fought a war already lost. His hands held the reins, but his thoughts were still holding Karlee.
TWENTY-FIVE
DANIEL WATCHED THE SHADOWS AS HE DROVE through the opening to a valley. He couldn't see anyone, but he knew they were there. Watching. Waiting.
A cliff rose on one side. The road narrowed so much that it would be impossible for him to turn the buggy around. He decided he should have told Karlee that the men surrounding Jesse Blair wouldn't have let him come alone even with Wolf vouching for him, unless she came also. They'd told Daniel he'd be shot if he entered the valley without his wife. Their reasoning was obvious; a man doesn't travel at the point of an ambush with his wife at his side. Despite Wolf's backing, Daniel was a Northerner.
A shadow materialized twenty feet in front of the buggy.
“Halt!”
Even though Daniel had been waiting, listening, he barely caught himself from bolting out of the buggy at the stranger's sudden appearance.
“Step down!” the faceless figure ordered.
Karlee squeezed Daniel's hand. Her calmness steadied him. He wasn't sure what he'd expected, but once more she was proving her bravery.
“I have to blindfold you both.” The Southern voice softened slightly. “Don't worry. You'll come to no harm, Mrs. McLain.”
The man covered their eyes and helped them back into the buggy. He didn't tie their hands as Daniel had expected. With a jerk, the man led the horse, pulling the buggy forward.
Karlee's hand slipped into Daniel's. She held on tightly as they moved. Daniel listened, trying to guess first one direction, then another. Trees brushed the bonnet of the buggy from time to time. The road turned from rocky to smooth, then rocky again. They twisted so many ways Daniel finally lost his sense of direction.
The horse slowed, then stepped forward suddenly. Daniel smelled the familiar odor of a barn. The wind ceased, and doors closed behind the buggy as it came to a stop.
“You can remove the blindfold now,” a woman said in a voice low and kind.
Karlee was out of the buggy before Daniel could stop her.
“AmyAnn!” she shouted with delight and hugged the little mother as if there was no one else in the barn.
Several men stood around, unsure what to do. This wasn't the reception they'd planned. The women hugged and cooed over the baby as if a dozen men with rifles weren't circling them.
Daniel fought back a smile. Karlee seemed to think she was at a church social. Surely she must know the danger they were in. Unless Jesse brought his wife for the same reason he'd insisted Daniel's come. Assurance.
“Now which one of these men is your Jesse?” Karlee asked AmyAnn.
AmyAnn pointed to her husband.
Holding the baby up, Karlee stood directly in front of the man who once laid, almost dead, on her dining table. “I wouldn't have recognized you, Jesse. You've gained some weight since your funeral.”
Jesse nodded and lowered his rifle. “Yes, Ma'am.”
“And this boy looks just like you,” Karlee added. “The spitting image of his old man.”
The father, barely into his twenties, grinned with pride. “We all think he does, Ma'am.”
Karlee looked at an older version of Jesse standing next to the new father. “And you must be Jesse's pa?”
The man nodded politely.
“I'll bet you're mighty proud of little Rip here,” Karlee said, as if just passing the time. “He's going to grow up to be a fine one.”
These men might be outlaws, wanted criminals planning to rob and murder for their cause, but they were also Southern gentlemen and Karlee reminded them of that fact. One by one, she met each, introducing herself to them and them to her husband. One by one, the rifles lowered and disappeared from view.
When the door sliced open and Wolf passed in, he stood in shock. “What is this, a church supper?” He knew these men, he had fought beside a few of them. He'd had to pull every favor he could to get Daniel, a Northern preacher, allowed to walk in their midst, and now Karlee had turned the secret meeting barn into a parlor.
He moved to Daniel's side and whispered, “We'd better get started before your wife has them singing a round of ‘Dixie.’ ”
Daniel held his hand out to Karlee. She joined him, still holding AmyAnn's baby in her arms.
Wolf cleared his throat. “Thank you all for coming tonight. I know it was at great risk for some of you. There's been talk about what to do in retaliation for Altus Blair's death. Before you decide, I want you to hear from Reverend McLain. He's my friend, and he went to the stockade to check on Altus. He was there the night Blair died. He's helped us before. I think we owe him a few minutes.”
Men who had argued bitterly against Daniel coming now stood politely and waited.
Daniel never turned loose of Karlee's hand as he spoke. His normally hesitant speech disappeared. “I'm here, not as a Yankee, or even a preacher, but as a man.” He glanced at Jesse. “A man who'd like to see his children grow up in peace.
“We have to stop cutting into scars. We've all lost enough blood. I saw some of you the night of the fire working together side by side with men you profess to hate. If we stopped the fire in town, we can stop the flames of injustice licking away at what we all know is right and fair.”
Karlee listened in surprise as eloquent words flowed from Daniel unrehearsed, as though straight from his heart. He presented his argument for letting the war die with Altus its last hero. He talked of a future for children where North and South weren't divided. He spoke of the opportunities here in Texas, and how he'd do what he could to help.
Slowly, Karlee realized the man before her, with all his shyness and gruffness toward her, was a gifted teacher. Not a holy, hellfire and brimstone preacher, but a man who believed in brotherly love.
She saw the goodness in him others must have seen all his life. An open heart that would tolerate no injustice. A man almost too kind to live in his time. An intelligence strong enough to allow others to think for themselves.