Black Conley (29 page)

"Are you really my mother?” Laura asked.

Belle hurried to the side of the wagon and watched as Black helped each of the children to get down. “Yes, darling, I am your mother, and it looks like you came with a ready-made family. I am so excited to get to know you and to be mother to all of you."

"Do we really have a new brother in the house?” one of the boys asked.

"Yes, you do."

The other little girl tugged at Belle's skirt. “Will there be enough love for all five of us, like Pa says there will?"

"That's Deborah,” Black said, giving a name to the child whose red hair stood in direct contrast to Laura's silver-blonde locks.

"Yes, Deborah, more than enough. Besides Matthew, there are eleven other children who live here, because their parents have died and left them alone."

"I'm Michael,” the older of the two boys declared. “I want to know if Pa was right when he said no one would beat us here."

"Beat you?” Belle questioned. “No, Michael, no one will beat you. There will be a lot of hard work, and even more good meals. You'll be expected to do your share and also your schoolwork, but no child here is ever mistreated."

"Good, then Jonathan and me will stay."

"Jonathan and I,” Belle corrected before hugging each of the children in turn.

"Can you stretch dinner to accommodate five more hungry people?” she asked when Annie came out onto the porch to investigate what was going on.

"Of course we can,” Annie replied. “Four more children, land sakes, I never did see the likes of it. After we eat, Black, I suggest you go into town and get some bedding for these angels. I'm certain that Roy will want to help you build new beds."

Black gave Annie a hug. “There's no need for that. I stopped in town and bought everything we need. It will all be delivered after dinner. I just hope you have room for the new beds."

"There's always room for more children, Black Conley, and there's certainly room for you."

The children followed Annie into the kitchen leaving Belle and Black alone.

"I've waited forever to do this,” Black said as he took her in his arms and kissed her tenderly. “If I'd known about the baby I'd have come back sooner, but..."

"But you're here now, and that's all that matters. After dinner, we'll get the children settled."

"I never thought about where they would sleep until we were getting off the train this morning. Will you have room? I mean, the girls could use the room that I had and the boys could be in the bunkhouse."

"The bunkhouse is occupied by a full crew. There's plenty of room in the addition for the children. I just have one question, how did you manage to adopt four children?"

"It's a long story, and one best told over dinner. Of course, you never answered my question. Will you marry me and give these children a mother?"

"You name the day, Black Conley, and I'll be there. I've waited almost a year for you to come back, don't think for even one minute that I'll let you get away from me again."

"That's good, because I sent a wire to my grandparents before I left Ohio and told them we were going to be married two weeks from Saturday. They wrote back and said that they were coming and bring Jose with them. I've already made reservations for them at the hotel."

"You saw your son?"

"Yes, and even though I didn't plan on it, we told him that I was his natural father. I assured him that Manuel was the man who deserved the title and while I was with my grandparents, we became friends. If you don't mind, I'd like to have him and Ed stand up with me at the wedding."

"I don't mind, but I think you'll need more men at your side than that, since I want all the girls to be my bridesmaids and I plan to have Roy give me away."

"I think that could be arranged,” Black said, as he swept her into his arms and carried her into the house.

The morning of the wedding dawned bright and clear. The blue of the October sky promised no snow would be falling on this special day.

Black waited at the front of the church with Ed, Jose, Jeb and Pete and someone played softly on the piano. The first pews were filled with the fifteen children from the ranch as well as Annie holding baby Matthew.

The tone of the music changed as one by one Belle's girls came down the aisle. Even though they stood in direct contrast to one another, they all looked beautiful in the gowns they had been working on for the past two weeks.

At last Belle and Roy appeared at the end of the aisle. Black couldn't believe how lovely she looked. She wore a dress of ivory satin. He'd heard about the tough-to-fasten row of buttons down the back from Laura and Deborah, who had a terrible time keeping a secret. He knew he'd have just as hard a time getting all those little buttons undone in order to make love to his wife.

He had purposely occupied the room across the hall from Belle ever since his arrival. Having just had the baby, he knew she would be ready for sex until after the wedding. As for the children, they had insisted on staying in the addition with all the others. They told him it wouldn't be right for them to stay in the main house and make themselves appear different.

At last Belle stood by his side and allowed him to hold her hand. Just her touch made him harden, but he tried to control his desires until it was time for the two of them to go to bed for the night.

"Do you, Philippe Conley, take Isabelle Barton to be your lawful wife? Will you love, honor and cherish her, forsaking all others for as long as you both shall live?"

"I do."

"Do you, Isabelle Barton, take Philippe Conley to be your lawful husband? Will you love, honor and obey him, forsaking all others for as long as you both shall live?"

Belle hesitated for a moment, and Black knew why. He doubted that she would obey him any more than he would expect her to. After an awkward pause, her ‘I do’ echoed loud and clear throughout the church.

When Black finally took her in his arms and kissed her, the children cheered. Without even looking, he knew that his grandmother was crying and his grandfather was beaming with pride. Today he had become the man they had prayed he would become.

It was well after midnight when the last of the wedding guests left. With Matthew fed and in his cradle, Black prepared for a night of lovemaking with his new wife.

Carefully, he undid the buttons that ran down the length of her spine until he was finally able to slip the dress from her shoulders. It seemed like an eternity since he'd seen her naked body. He helped her out of the dress and undergarments before he began to kiss every inch of her body.

As much as he wanted to take her enlarged nipples into his mouth, he refrained. They were now meant to give nourishment to his son, not pleasure to him.

When they finally lay naked together on the bed, he ran his hand down the length of her body until his fingers became entwined in the hair at the juncture of her thighs. He easily slipped them into the moistness of her and teased her clit before putting them into her cunt. He marveled at how a child had passed through this opening just weeks earlier, and yet it had shrunk to the perfect size to accommodate his cock again.

Carefully, he positioned himself over her and allowed her muscles to grip his cock. Even though he'd been afraid of hurting her, once inside, it didn't matter. This was his woman, his wife, and making love to her was as natural as breathing. He pumped against her bringing them both to the brink many times and pulling back to prolong the delightful agony. When at last they came, it was with a force unlike any other either of them had ever felt.

She wasn't a paid companion. She wasn't his boss who had generously let him into her bed. She was his wife and the most cherished of all his possessions. Theirs would be a marriage of mutual love and trust mingled with delightful lovemaking and many more children.

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Shari Dare is a wife, mother, grandmother and mild mannered receptionist by day and an erotic writer by night. As the words of her latest hot novels flow from her fingers to the keyboard each night, her characters come alive and take root in the minds of her readers. With
His Slave, The Pirate's Lady, Dare To Be Wilder Honey
and
Seducing Sir Gwain
to her credit, she is one of those authors people just can't seem to get enough of.