Texan's Touch

TWENTY-ONE

ADAM HELPED THE men unload the wounded cowhand named Franky from the back of the wagon as he looked around for Wes and Nick. Stitched properly, Franky’s leg would heal nicely, leaving only a thin scar to remind him of his days on the trail.

Several men told Adam what had happened during the night and how Nick had saved the camp. A few of the men confessed they’d been shy in thanking a woman, but that didn’t stop them from praising her to Adam. By the time he finished reloading the wagon, some were bragging about her as though they were the proud papa of such an outstanding woman.

A rider had already left to fetch the deputy so he could take the raiders off their hands. Everyone felt sure that the cattle thieves would confess who rode with them after a few days in jail.

Lloyd’s body was wrapped in a blanket his wife had quilted and would be buried as soon as the deputy had a look at him. Several of the men thought it would be a good idea to use the extra horses as packhorses so that Franky would have more room to ride in the wagon till his leg healed.

When Adam had heard the stories more than once, he asked about Wes. Someone pointed to the trees and commented that they thought the boss went to wash up an hour or so ago.

Adam moved slowly toward the creek. He felt relief that Wes and Nichole were all right, and a nagging anger that they might have known something was amiss before they sent him off last night. What was he, some child to be pushed from harm’s way? Did his brother think him so weak or helpless he didn’t want him around during any battle? Did Nichole think him a coward?

The two were alike… born to fight. Surely they understood his fights were elsewhere. Logic told him they both understood him, but Adam couldn’t help feeling a little left out.

As he turned into the trees, the sight that greeted him shattered any remaining calmness. Wes leaned against a tree trunk, his cheek resting on the top of Nichole’s head. Adam saw her curled against Wes’s side as easily as she’d curled against his own. Both of them were sound asleep.

Fury and hurt blended with the relief that they were both safe.

“This is what you wanted!” He voiced the words in his mind, slamming them against his brain. But no matter how many times he repeated them, he couldn’t stop the pain of seeing Wes and Nichole together.

Adam watched as though made of stone as Wes’s fingers touched her hair. The hair Adam loved to touch. She stretched against his brother as she awoke. Adam felt his blood stop moving.

This is right, Adam told himself, but if it was right, how come he felt so wrong inside? He’d thought Wes and Nichole were well matched, would be good for one another… but he’d never thought of Wes touching her hair, or of her resting her head against Wes’s heart and not his own. He’d never thought of them sleeping side by side.

“We’d better get back, kid,” Wes mumbled as he squeezed her shoulder.

Nichole rubbed her eyes with her fists like a child and leaned forward, stretching her body awake.

Wes looked up and met Adam’s gaze.

Adam couldn’t speak. He couldn’t move, and he knew he wasn’t hiding any of the anger he felt inside. Wes could always read him. If Wes read him now, he’d better walk softly.

But Wes took Nichole’s hand and helped her to her feet, keeping her back to Adam. He bent close to her and whispered something, then kissed her full on the mouth. If he cared that Adam was watching, he showed no sign of it.

Adam stared as she tilted her head slightly, just as she’d done when excepting his kiss. Only it wasn’t his kiss, it was Wes’s. He stayed only long enough to see that Nichole did nothing to shove Wes away, then he turned and walked back to camp feeling like something had died inside him. Somehow in his world of logic the sun was dark at midday, the earth had stopped rotating, the air was liquid and he could no longer breathe.

Within minutes, Wes and Nichole joined him. She seemed happy and excited about all that had happened the night before. Adam didn’t miss the way her smile came easy to Wes, or the way his big brother touched her lightly, comfortably, like old friends.

Adam thanked her for saving his brother’s life. He knew his words were too formal. Her stare told him as much, but he couldn’t help himself. He felt like someone had plowed through his heart. The logic he’d always depended on didn’t work now. Why waste time telling himself that this was what he wanted to happen between them? That they were right for one another? That Wes deserved a little happiness? All the reasons in the world couldn’t explain the way he felt.

What made matters worse was that Wes kept smiling at him. He was still smiling when he helped Nichole on her horse and told them he’d drop by later to let them know how it went at the sheriff’s office. He even laughed about going out on the town now that Nichole had no reason to hide. When she didn’t say no right away, he offered to buy her a dress, something that had never crossed Adam’s mind.

Touching his hat in farewell, Adam didn’t wait for Nichole before kicking his animal into a gallop. As he rode out of camp, he thought he heard Wes laugh.

It took her a half mile to catch him. Adam might claim to be no great horseman, but today he was riding as though racing a twister.

“What is it?” she yelled. “Is something wrong back in town?”

“No.” Adam wouldn’t look at her. He couldn’t look at her and hold to his pride at the same time. “I just want to get back.” He urged his horse faster.

Nichole fought to stay even. “What’s wrong, Adam?” Her mind filled with all kinds of worries that might have happened. “Is Nance hurt? Sister? What’s happened?”

“Nothing! Nothing’s wrong!” His words were so angry they boomed like sudden cannon fire.

“Stop!” she shouted. “You’ll kill our horses at this pace.” The ground was too uneven for such speed. Surely Adam knew this. But he’d gone mad.

“Stop!” Nichole yelled again as Adam turned into the high buffalo grass. “This grass is full of prairie dog holes.”

“No!” he yelled back without looking at her.

She couldn’t endure another moment of his insanity. Without hesitating, she pulled her feet from the stirrups and jumped toward Adam, hitting him hard and full against his side.

He rolled from his saddle into the tall grass with her knocking the breath from him as she landed on top of him. Shaken, he jumped to his feet and turned on her. “You could have gotten us both killed.” Finally, he was too angry to allow the beauty of her to affect him. He faced her. “Must you always be so wild? We could both be dead with broken necks right now.”

She dusted herself off, moving her head from side to side as if testing her neck. “Better killed than crazy.” She shrugged. “Which is exactly what you are, Doc. I knew I might kill you by hitting you like that, but I had the horses to consider. They don’t deserve to break a leg because you’ve gone loco.”

Adam marched away from her for several feet, then turned and stormed back. “I’m not the one who’s crazy. You knew there was trouble in that camp last night before I left. That’s why you stayed, but you didn’t bother to tell me.”

“I felt something, sure. You felt it too when we rode in, remember. But you don’t trust your feelings, and I do.” Nichole rubbed her elbow. “I wasn’t sure anything would happen, but I wanted to stay and find out. I could have been wrong and you needed to doctor Franky.”

“You could have also gotten yourself killed. What if there had been four raiders?” Adam questioned. “You could be the one wrapped in that quilt back at camp.”

Nichole looked up in surprise. “Is that what you’re so all-fired mad about? I could have gotten killed by a few tough riders who think they’re mean? I could have taken all three of those drifters on at the same time. Not one of them had a chance of getting within ten feet of me and my not knowing. Surely you weren’t worried about me?”

Adam pulled off his hat and rubbed his scalp. “Yes,” he started, realizing he’d insulted her pride. “No,” he changed. “Oh, shut up. I don’t even want to talk to you.”

“Well, I don’t want to talk to you either!” Nichole snapped. “I save your brother and you go crazy on me. So much for good deeds. And as for dying, I’ve spent most of my days with Death riding shotgun everywhere I go. Why should last night have been any different?”

“You didn’t save Wes to do me any favors. I saw the two of you at the stream. I saw the way he kissed you, and you didn’t look like you were fighting.” Adam was so angry all the control he’d spent a lifetime accumulating vaporized. “Tell me, was he a gentleman while he held you, or was he more to your wild liking?”

She swung before he had time to block, delivering not a feminine slap, but a full-blown slug knocking Adam off his feet.

Adam, flat on his back, stared at the sun as he felt his jaw.

She moved above him. “Get up!” she shouted. “I want to hit you again.”

He rose to one knee before she did what she wanted, sending him rolling across the grass with another punch.

“Stop it!” he yelled as he stood.

“No,” she answered. “You want a fight, then fight like a man.”

“No.” He watched her closely, guessing he’d be counting his teeth in his hand if he didn’t stop her. “You’re not a man.”

Nichole took a step toward him. “I’m not a woman to you either. What am I, Doc? I’m not woman enough for you to bed, or man enough for you to fight. You don’t want me. So get out of my life.” Her voice lowered slightly. “When I’m around you, I don’t know who ‘me’ is anymore.”

He turned his back, unable to look at her any longer. If she thought he was confusing her, it was nothing compared to how greatly he was disturbing himself. She was about as practical for him as indoor rain, but he still wanted her so badly he felt he’d die without her near.

She came closer but continued to shout as if he were having trouble hearing as well as thinking. “I thought I was helping you last night by saving Wes. I thought finally I’d do something right. Wes isn’t just your brother, he’s my friend. And so what if he kissed me? It’s something you’d never do in the broad daylight.”

Before she could react, he twisted around and grabbed her, pinning her arms to her sides. The quick action sent them both tumbling to the grass. They rolled for several turns, and he held her closer with each twist.

A low roar seemed to echo through him as all the calmness snapped inside him.

When they stopped rolling, he was on top of her. She struggled, knowing that she could reach her knife easily, but unsure how badly she wanted to win this battle.

“I don’t care,” he said the words with such anger it frightened her.

She tried to push him away. “You’re mad!”

“I don’t care if you already love Wes,” he whispered into her hair. “I will kiss you in the light.” His mouth closed down on hers with bruising force.

The kiss was wild and hungry. She tried to push away, but he held her tightly as his mouth imprisoned all cries. He pressed his body against her, letting her feel the weight of him and his need for her. His hands moved from her arms to her hair, plowing his fingers deep into her curls, knotting her hair around his fists, demanding a kiss that had always been his for the asking.

She felt the world spinning around her, but she didn’t move as he continued to kiss her. Her arms were free, resting on the grass like a rag doll. She could push him away, but she didn’t as he rolled slightly to his side without breaking the kiss. The warm pressure of his fingers moved along her side, feeling her body with a possessive touch.

His need for her was a storm of passion and haste. He wanted to drink her in so deeply he’d never lose the taste of her. He needed to feel her so completely that his touch would linger a lifetime on her flesh. She should feel his passion and his pain as thoroughly as he felt it.

When his hand reached her Colt, he stopped suddenly and sat up, breaking the kiss so abruptly Nichole felt as though he’d taken her breath away.

“Why don’t you shoot me?” He stared away from her feeling the emptiness of the land. “Put me out of my misery. I had no right to kiss you like that, but I’ll be damned if I’ll say I’m sorry.”

She knelt behind him and gently placed her hands on his shoulders. The muscles were iron tight with only the layers of his clothes to soften them. For the first time since she’d met him, she wasn’t sure how he would react. Maybe he wasn’t a “predictable” like she thought. “I don’t love Wes,” she whispered. “And I don’t want to kill you-though you make it awfully tempting.”

His head leaned back slightly, resting on the front of her shirt. “I want to make love to you,” he whispered. “I can’t get the feel of you out of my mind… or the taste of you… the smell of you… the way you move. No amount of reason seems to matter. I want to make love to you until there is no one in the world but you and me.”

Nichole pulled away.

He didn’t say more as she slowly walked to the horses and caught the reins.

When she moved back to him, she said, “Follow me,” as though he’d asked for water. Without another word she climbed on her horse.

They rode southwest for a mile before she turned into a cluster of cottonwoods. “When I was walking, after the stage robbery, I found this place. I guessed town to be only a few more miles, but I needed to rest. So I stopped here for a while.”

She tied her horse in the trees and walked down a slope to a circle of blackberry bushes.

Adam followed. He wasn’t sure what she had in mind, but he had no plans of apologizing. The creek was high with spring rains. Water almost covered the huge roots of the trees as they reached down for a drink. The grass was already green, but most of the bushes were still blooming a golden red, making the stream look like it was banked by fire.

She pulled a carpetbag from one of the bushes. “I hid this here, hoping I’d get the chance to come back for it. I knew, dressed as a man, I’d cause talk if I walked into town with this carpetbag. Wolf had to pick out one with flowers on it.”

Adam watched her pat the bag as though it were an old friend she’d missed.

“Wolf bought this for me along with the dress the night I had to leave Tennessee. I cut the dress up for bandages when my hands were burned.” She opened the bag and pulled out a brush, a comb, and a bouquet of colorful ribbons. “The ladies I met along the way said I’d need these when my hair grew out.” Her hands brushed over the ribbons of velvet, silk, and lace. “In a few more months it’ll be long enough to tie back with one of these.”

Adam moved around the tiny clearing guessing that she was talking more to herself than to him. She’d picked a good place to hide. They’d crossed the stage tracks half a mile back, so she knew where she was and the trees offered her plenty of shelter. Suddenly, he realized Nick didn’t need him to take care of her. She could take care of herself. She always could. She’d proven it over and over. Did she have to slug him again to get him to see the truth?

He touched his jaw. She was no helpless woman, he admitted. She could have even stopped the kiss he’d given her anytime she’d wanted to. This last fact left him a little more unsettled.

“This is the only piece of my dress I have left.” She walked past him and dipped the material in the stream. “I thought it might help your lip.”

Adam stood frozen as she touched the cold rag to the corner of his mouth. A slight sting made him flinch, and she pulled away. Blood spotted her rag.

Touching his lip, he tasted blood for the first time. “I hadn’t noticed,” he answered as she placed the cool cloth on his mouth once more.

“Be still,” she ordered. “How can I treat you if you’re jerking all the time?”

Adam smiled. “I make a poor patient.”

“That you do.” Nichole leaned closer and lightly kissed the corner of his mouth. “There, all better.”

“Kiss me again,” he whispered as he widened his stance so that they were the same height.

She raised her arms to his neck and pressed against him as she repeated the light kiss on the corner of first one side and then the other side of his mouth.

“Again,” he asked as his hands moved over her back.

Her kiss was light, airy, irresistible.

“Take off your weapons, lady,” he requested between kisses. “You won’t be needing them for a while.”

Slowly, she lowered her arms and unbuckled her gun belt. He felt her hands moving against his abdomen as she worked. Without looking, she tossed her valued Colt in the grass a few feet away. Her knife followed.

Adam smiled as he unbuckled her belt and tugged her shirt up over her head. He’d expected to see the undergarments she’d been sleeping in, but instead were the wrappings that bound her chest tightly. Bindings like she’d worn the first night they’d met.

His hand slid along the cotton until he felt the end tucked beneath her ribs. Slowly, he unwrapped her, feeling her breasts swell with each layer removed. When he pulled the cotton away, he let his hand pass over her chest, feeling more of her warmth with each layer.

When the last strap fell away, Nichole took a deep breath and Adam lowered his head to taste what he’d uncovered.

She cried out in surprise as his wet mouth closed over her warm flesh. But his hands around her waist held her steady as he drew her tender breast into his mouth. She arched back giving herself fully to his need.

Gently, he lowered her beside the water and continued to taste her. She relaxed as her surprise turned to pleasure, filling her with a warmth and a need for more.

When he finally returned to her mouth he kissed her lightly, whispering how much he enjoyed the warm taste of her breasts and how he planned to kiss far more than her lips in the sunlight of this day. As his kiss lengthened, his hands moved over her, stroking with long, possessive movements. Each time his fingers reached her pants, he shoved them lower, baring more skin to his touch.

She sighed into his mouth as he pushed the trousers below her hips and covered her bare flesh with his hands. Trying to stop the world from spinning, she closed her eyes and stretched against his touch. The earth was solid beneath her back, the sun warm on her skin and his touch was heaven.

Moving over her slowly, kissing her lightly, caressing every part of her, he convinced her of how dearly he treasured her. She knew nothing of making love, but she knew he was somehow performing a timeless ritual, preparing her for what was to come… preparing her body for mating.

She loved each touch as she’d loved every touch he’d given her. Slowly, she grew used to the way his hands dug into her hair pulling it gently, and the way his mouth closed over her breasts with a greater hunger to taste each time, and how he kissed her as if there would never be another time or place for them.

Pulling off his shirt, he pressed his chest against her. As the material moved away, replacing cotton with flesh, she laughed with pure joy.

The feel of his skin touching hers as he removed her clothing brought a new warmth inside her. She moaned in pleasure and arched to meet him, loving the way the soft hair across his body tickled her skin. Loving the feel of him fully over her.

The more he felt her move beneath him, the more he needed her. His kisses were deep and wild one minute and tender the next. She was a need so deep he’d spend a lifetime trying to satisfy and finally die still wanting more.

He fumbled with his trousers, then leaned his face against her hair. For a moment, he seemed to hesitate, unsure.

She reached for him, pulling him close, knowing that this was what had to be from the time they’d met.

Slowly, he lowered his body over her, covering her like a warm blanket, welcoming her to the home of his arms. He moved above her allowing her to grow accustomed to the feel of him. His body was lean and strong and warm as he pressed her against the earth, rocking her world with each slight shift.

His breathing grew rapid and irregular in the hollow of her neck as his hands closed over the top of her legs and he pulled them apart. When she resisted, his mouth covered hers and silently asked again. After several deep kisses, his hand moved once more to her legs and she let him part them without hesitation.

Biting her lips, she felt a sudden pain shoot through her as he entered her, hard and fast. His hands held her shoulders as she cried out but he didn’t stop. He pushed again and again.

For a few minutes, she drifted with the pain, then his mouth covered hers once more with a warm kiss that told her all would be right. She didn’t move as he continued kissing her, touching her breasts, filling her with passion.

Tears came to her eyes. She knew he was making love to her. And she wanted him to as she had from the first, but no one had told her of the pain. Now she understood what men meant when they said they “took a woman,” for he was taking her. He was pressing into her very soul, touching her as no man ever had, or ever would again. This gentle man, with all his kindness and goodness, was taking her with hard, demanding strokes. And she was letting him.

Then, from deep inside she felt it, a stirring rumbling through her body like a landslide rolling slowly at first, only pebbles, then turning to a great avalanche. Suddenly, his kisses were fire and his touch pure pleasure. She shifted with him, feeling the movement inside her like a mighty stampede running wild over her senses, awakening every feeling, every joy. She wrapped her arms around him and fully gave herself over to the pleasure.

Suddenly, she was taking all he offered and begging for more.

The very center of her body exploded, sending out lightning bolts in every direction. She cried out his name and fell back to earth only to find his arms caught her.

For a long while, he held her. Stroking her hair, brushing his fingers gently over her breasts, cupping his hand along her hip. She closed her eyes and let him touch her. There had been so little touching in her life. His hands made her feel beautiful and cherished.

When she moved her leg, he mumbled an oath and rolled away.

Opening her eyes, she watched him pick up the rag she’d used on his lip. His tall lean body reminded her of a wild animal as he knelt by the stream and washed the cloth.

When he returned, she closed her eyes pretending sleep. Gently, his hand touched her knee. He raised her leg slightly and placed the cloth between her legs where the pain had been.

“I didn’t mean to hurt you,” he whispered as he stretched beside her once more and kissed her cheek.

His words were haunted with sadness.

“You didn’t,” she lied, but the blood on her leg told the truth.

They lay in the sun for a long while, their bodies warm and wet with sweat. Finally, she stretched against him, shoving her damp hair out of her face.

“I guess we both could use a bath.” He stood and reached for her. “We’d best be getting back to town.”

“A bath sounds wonderful.” She laughed, coming awake in an instant. When his hand touched hers, she shoved him backward into the stream.

Adam sank beneath the water with a mighty splash. When he surfaced, he was laughing and spitting water. “Help,” he shouted. “I can’t swim.”

She didn’t believe his cry for a moment, but she offered her assistance knowing he’d pull her into the water that ran crystal clear three feet above sparkling rocks.

It was two hours before they stopped splashing and fighting enough to declare a truce and dress. As she dressed, he undressed her, loving the way she played as wholeheartedly as she made love. By the time they were respectable looking, he was already hungry for her beneath him again and her eyes spoke of the same longing.

He took a step.

“No,” she held up a hand, “we have to get back. Everyone will be looking for us.”

Adam pulled his passion in check. “I can wait.”

“I’ll not come to your bed tonight. I’ll sleep in my own,” she teased.

“Then I’ll come to you, but you’ll not sleep.” He offered his hand. “Until tonight.”

She accepted his hand. “Until tonight.”

They rode back to town in a comfortable silence.

The afternoon was bright with spring and all the world seemed right for Adam for the first time in years. Since they may have caught the men who robbed and burned the stage, there was no reason for Nichole to hide. He was looking forward to seeing the expression on Bergette’s face when she discovered a woman had been hiding out in his room. If the news didn’t send her packing, Nichole had suggested several ways to encourage her to go, one more outrageous than the next.

He wanted to do the everyday things with Nick, like sit on the porch at sundown or drink coffee at the kitchen table without worrying that someone might come in. He wanted to go for rides at sunrise and sleep in a bed with her nude body wrapped around him.

Adam was still laughing when he opened his office door and found Sister Celestine sitting at his desk with a rifle across her lap.

“Sister?” he asked as Nichole followed him inside.

The nun stood slowly, cradling the rifle in her arms as though she’d done so many times. “Doctor,” she announced without emotion, “we’ve got an outbreak of trouble around the place.”

Nichole lowered her gun belt from her shoulder.

Rose entered at full run from the examining room. She held a butcher knife in each hand. Her thick curly hair had fallen from its bun, making her look very much like a pirate. “Who-”

She froze when she saw Adam and Nichole. Slowly lowering her knives, she whispered, “Thank the Lord, you’re back.”

“You may say that again, Sister Rose.” The nun raised her chin to attention. “Reinforcements have arrived.”