Bittner, Rosanne (66 page)

"I hardly ever see you anymore. What have you been doing with yourself?" Alice asked. She felt her heart beating harder at the sight of him, so handsome, so strong. He had hoisted the huge sack of potatoes as though it were nothing. How she loved this young man she had known for so long now!

Ty shrugged. "Busy at the ranch, like always." Damn! She looked ready to cry. Alice had always been a good friend, and they had both silently understood where their relationship would end up when they were old enough... until these last few months. He hated hurting her, but what was a man supposed to do? He couldn't help the way he felt whenever he was around Ramona, although he had hardly even talked to her. He didn't share with Ramona his intimate thoughts the way he could with Alice, but whenever he was near her, that didn't matter. There was a certain look in her eyes whenever they were in the same place, the same look Alice often gave him. Ramona loved him, he was sure. He felt so torn now, for he had feelings for both Ramona and Alice; but he didn't ache for Alice the way he ached for Ramona.

Alice studied him, this man she had loved since she was only twelve. She felt sick inside, for she knew she had somehow lost him without doing or saying one thing to chase him away. She had met the voluptuous Sioux girl named Ramona who lived at the Double L. She had seen how the girl looked at Ty, how Ty looked at her. Was there something already going on between them? She hadn't thought so, for whenever she and her family visited the Fontaines, she and Ty walked and talked together as always, except that the last few months he had grown more distant and preoccupied with each visit. She wanted to scream at him that she loved him, beg him not to look at that wild Indian girl; but she wanted no man who did not truly want her.

"There is a church social coming next weekend," she hinted. "Will you be there?"

Ty removed his hat for a moment and smoothed back his dark hair. It was a hot day, and sweat trickled down his forehead. He wiped at it with his shirtsleeve. "I don't think so," he answered. "My father and my mother just left for Chicago for Pearl's wedding. I'm in charge while Pa is gone. Did your folks tell you about Pearl getting married?"

"Yes."
I
wish we were getting married, too, Ty.
Her heart actually hurt at the realization that there was probably another reason why he wouldn't be at the social. He would rather stay home. Ramona was there. She wished she knew more about men, knew how to be sultry and provocative like Ramona. How could she begin to compare to that girl's dark beauty? There was an open freedom about her, something that made it easy for her to make herself tempting, a way of inviting a man with her eyes, and the way she carried her nicely curved body under her dresses. Even though Ramona wore white women's clothing, anyone could tell she wore no proper undergarments. The dresses clung to her full breasts enticingly, breasts that bounced in obvious freedom from stays and padding. There was a shamelessness about Ramona, yet also an innocence, as though she was hardly aware of how she looked to men. Alice could not imagine dressing like that, without undergarments. Maybe the girl didn't even wear drawers, and the couple of times she had seen her, she also wore no shoes.

The way Ty had been raised, could he really be attracted to someone so far removed from his world? She felt like crying. Of course he could. He was a man, wasn't he? What did a man care about anything beyond that long, black hair and the enticing way she dressed?
Oh, Ty, please look at me,
she wanted to tell him.
I am just as pretty, under these clothes. My breasts are soft and full. I want to love you and be a woman for you. I just don't know how. I can't be like Ramona.
"I'm happy for Pearl," she said aloud. "It sounds as though she's marrying quite a wonderful young man."

Ty grinned. "Yeah, well, Pa would rather she married another rancher, somebody who knows how to break horses and herd cattle."

He laughed, and Alice joined him.
That's the kind of man I want to marry,
she thought. "How long will they be gone?" She watched the way his eyes moved over her. Did that mean he liked what he saw? He had kissed her once, the most delicious kiss she had ever experienced. That had been before Ramona came. There had been no more kisses.

"Maybe a month. I guess it takes a good week to get there, even by train. Then they're going to spend time touring Chicago, go to a concert where Pearl will be playing— then the wedding and all that. I wouldn't mind seeing a place like Chicago myself."

"Yes, it must be exciting for them. They've hardly been out of Montana since they first came here, have they?"

"No. They've been here twenty-two years. Pa doesn't even like going to Helena, let alone all the way to a place like Chicago. He'll probably worry about the ranch, knowing him. I'm glad my mother got to go, though. She'll fit right in. Pa always says she's too sophisticated for living on a ranch." He laughed lightly. "I'd like to see Pa with that fancy professor family Pearl is marrying into. I guess they've got quite a mansion over there. All they know is music and the theater. What a contrast!"

Alice smiled. "Yes! I'd like to be a little mouse and watch!"

They both laughed. Then they both suddenly felt awkward.
I'm sorry, Alice,
Ty wanted to tell her.
I wish I could go to the social. I wish I could stop these feelings for Ramona, but I can't. I didn't expect this to happen, and I hate hurting you.
"You have fun at the social," he told her aloud. "I'd better get back to filling this grocery list for Mae."

Alice swallowed. "Phillip Dewhirst wants to take me to the social. I guess... I guess you wouldn't mind then?"

Ty felt a stab of jealousy, but it was mixed with a kind of relief. At least she wouldn't be going alone. What had happened to him? It was as though he had lost all common sense, all control of himself. "That's okay," he said. "If I'm too busy to go, there's no sense in you going alone."

Suddenly she hated him! How could he stand there and say he didn't care if she went with someone else? "Fine," she told him, turning away before he could see the tears in her eyes. "I'll see you another time, then, Ty."

She hurried away, and Ty started to call out to her, but something stopped him. That something was the thought of Ramona. He had only recently decided to act on his emotions. He had to settle with himself, make up his mind who he wanted, find out if Ramona wanted him the way he suspected she did. He couldn't go on like this, leading Alice along, hurting her. He had to know.

He sighed and went back inside the supply store, deciding that as soon as he got home, he was going to have a serious talk with Ramona and tell her how he felt.

Tyler heard splashing and singing coming from Lettie's Pond, a clear pond Luke had named after his wife. It was about three miles north of the house in a grove of ancient ponderosa pines, difficult to see because of hundreds of smaller pines and shrubs that grew beneath the huge trees. Bitterroot bloomed here and there. It was a pretty place, quiet and private, a place where his parents sometimes came to talk.

He had noticed Ramona riding in this direction many times since the weather had warmed. He had always been too busy to follow, but was curious about why she came here. With Luke away in Chicago and his chores finished, there was no one to question where he was going. His desire for the pretty Indian girl had grown keener over the past year, and no matter how much he avoided her, he could not control the way he dreamed about her at night. He had fought his feelings, tried to convince himself that it was Alice Richards he should be yearning for, not an Indian woman. His parents loved Alice, and he knew they wished he would think more seriously about settling down with the right woman.

The Richardses had been to their house often to visit.

Ty thought that of all the girls in Billings, Alice was the prettiest. But ever since Ramona had come to the Double L, his thoughts had been distracted by the wild, lusty, dark-skinned beauty. He had done everything he could to fight his feelings for her, knowing that his father would be disappointed if he fell in love with a Sioux girl. It was enough that Nathan had come home with an Indian wife and children. What would Luke think of yet another son marrying an Indian, especially the son who would one day take over the Double L? And marrying Ramona would mean that she would become part owner of the ranch and would inherit anything Ty inherited.

Everything wise in him had told him not to follow Ramona today, yet here he was at the pond. He knew damn well the most likely reason she came here. He had heard her telling Leena about this place, that here she could bathe the way her people liked to bathe, in the open, sharing nature, not in a little tub inside a house. Had she said that for him? Was she baiting him to come here? No one had to tell him how she felt about him. He had seen it in those dark eyes. She had teased his manly instincts to the point of pain.

He halted his horse, dismounted, and tied the animal several yards away from the pond. A little voice told him to leave, but his legs carried him through the underbrush, stalking quietly, as though he were after prey. Perhaps he was. In some ways Ramona was as wild and forbidden as some exotic animal. Sometimes he pictured her as part wolf, alert, all-seeing. He crept closer to the pond, knowing damn well what the splashing sound was. He saw her dress and a towel hanging over a bush, saw her swimming in the pond.

He crouched down to watch. She looked like a slender fish, her smooth body cutting through the dark water. She dived head down, her bare bottom coming up so that she could thrust her slender legs straight up. She disappeared for a moment, came back up, letting out a little gasp and smoothing her dark, wet hair back from her face.

Ty's whole body ached fiercely. Unknown to his mother, he had rolled in the hay a time or two with Jenny Carpenter, the blacksmith's daughter from Billings. She had been married and divorced already, and every young man in Billings knew Jenny was wild and liked all men. She went down easy. He had sometimes had visions of bedding Alice that way, but she was sweet and proper, the kind of girl a man saved for marriage.

Ramona was different, innocent yet provocative and free. Never had he ached for a female the way Ramona made him ache. A girl like her had a way about her that told him it was all right to touch her, yet all the feelings of respect were still there.

He watched her for several minutes, until she finally came out of the water, her slender, naked body moving slowly toward the bank until she was entirely exposed. He nearly groaned aloud at the sight of her firm, ripe breasts, the dark nipples, the patch of hair between her slim thighs. She was like a goddess, a tiny waist leading to round hips. He wanted to touch her, taste her, feel himself inside of her.

Just then a bee flew into his face, and he reacted before thinking, swatting at it. The movement caught Ramona's eye, and she grabbed a towel, holding it in front of her, her eyes wide with fright. "Who is there?"

Tyler felt like an ass. He slowly rose. "It's just me, Tyler. Don't be afraid."

She stared at him a moment, and then a smile moved over her lips. "So, finally you came."

"What do you mean, finally?"

"I have said enough times that I like to come here." She deliberately dropped the towel. "You are a fine-looking man, Tyler Fontaine. For a whole year I have thought about you in the night." She held out her hand. "Come and swim with me." She grinned, then turned to run back into the water.

Tyler watched her firm, bare bottom, a bottom he wanted to grasp in his hands, one he wanted to kiss. All reason left him. Why should he turn down such an invitation? Never had he felt so bold and full of fire. He hurried to the bank, removed his gun belt, his boots, hat, vest, pants, shirt. He hesitated with his long johns, noticing that Ramona was watching his every move.

"It is no fun with clothes on," she suggested.

Tyler grinned, stripping off his long johns. Ramona drank in the sight of him, his man part swollen like a stallion. Yes, he wanted her. Today Tyler Fontaine would be hers, and never had she loved anything as she loved him. He came into the water and she swam up to him, putting her arm around his neck and rubbing her breasts against his solid chest.

"I have waited a long time for this," she said softly, meeting his lips.

Somehow he knew this was right, that it was meant to be. He did not need to ask questions or lure her. He had no qualms about her virginity or her honor. She came from a people who thought freely, a people for whom making love was as natural as breathing, when it was the right person. All these months they had hardly spoken, had not done one thing alone together; and yet both knew all along what the other was thinking, that it would all lead to this.

He kissed her eagerly, hungrily, grasping at her wet hair. They fell into the water together, and laughed. She looked down at him, touched his penis. "The water has cooled down my fine stallion," she teased.

He realized the cold water had shriveled him, and he was embarrassed. "Come out of the water and see how fast it grows again," he told her, his voice gruff with desire.

She wrapped her slender legs around his waist. "Then take me to the sand," she said, her dark eyes studying him lovingly. "I want to be your woman, Tyler Fontaine. I want you to be my first man, my only man. Mate with me and I will belong to you."

He kissed her again, and then she threw her head back so that her breasts were near his face. He took one taut nipple into his mouth, sucked on it hungrily, enjoying the feel of its ripeness against his tongue. He carried her to the soft sand on the bank, laid her back, rose up to his knees for a moment to study her naked beauty. Even though she lay boldly spread out before him, he knew this was her first time. She was going to be brave and welcome him, because she wanted to belong only to him.

He leaned down and tasted at her breasts again, and she closed her eyes and groaned his name. "God, Ramona, you're so beautiful," he whispered. "I want to taste you, make you feel good."