Dorothy Garlock (30 page)

Sophie led him down a shallow embankment and along a gurgling creek little wider than two hands. The sound of the water was
comforting, a steady, constant noise far different from the random emanations of the inky dark woods around them.

“We’re almost there,” Sophie said.

Before them, an outcropping of rock rose toward the sky; set in the middle of a clearing, its mottled surface shone in the
moonlight. There were three boulders haphazardly laid one upon another, rising up until the one on top nearly touched the
branches of a nearby elm.

“This is it.”

“Here?” Cole asked.

“This is where I wanted to take you. It’s my special place.”

Finding a foothold, Sophie quickly climbed up the first rock before stopping to offer her hand to Cole. “The going can be
kind of difficult,” she explained. “We’ll have to take it slow with your leg, but I don’t have any doubt that you can make
it to the top.”

Cole stared at Sophie as her confidence in him caused his heart to swell with happiness and a smile brightened his features.
Taking her hand, he planted his crippled leg and stepped onto the rock.
Even if it takes me all night, I will manage to climb to the top!

With equal parts sweat and determination, Cole followed Sophie as she rose toward the top of the rocks. Inch by inch, foot
by foot, his fingers scrabbling among the edges and crevices for a handhold, he carefully pulled himself upward, determined
not to fail. All around him, the sounds of the night seemed to soften, to disperse as if they had been blown away by the wind,
until all that remained was the sound of his breathing and the steady thumping in his chest. As he climbed, Cole knew that
he had been changed; where once he had been petrified of a flight of stairs, he knew that there was now nothing he would not
attempt so long as Sophie was at his side.

Finally, they reached the top. Stepping onto the flat surface of the highest of the rocks, Cole found Sophie waiting for him,
a smile on her face and a blanket spread out at her feet.

“You planned this, didn’t you?” Cole asked.

“I did,” Sophie admitted.

“What’s the occasion?”

Stepping toward him, Sophie placed one hand gently upon his chest and fixed her gaze upon him with such intensity that he
was momentarily taken aback. “I brought you here, to my special place, because I love you.”

The words had no sooner than left her mouth than Sophie could see in Cole’s face that he returned her feelings. She felt short
of breath, nearly overwhelmed with emotion, and joyful tears filled her eyes. All that she had wanted was for this night to
be special, and now, even after the scene that Graham had caused, her wishes looked to be coming true.

“You love me?” he asked.

“I do.”

Without another sound, Cole reached out and pulled Sophie to his chest. In his powerful arms, she could hear his heart beating
as intensely as her own and, reveling in his touch, she hoped that this moment would never end. Breathing in his scent, she
returned his passionate embrace.

The last several weeks of her life had been a never-ending succession of conflicts and frights, each more horrible than the
last. With every passing day, Sophie had gotten further and further away from the joy that had previously defined her life,
but now, in Cole Ambrose’s arms, under the stars, in her special place, she felt that happiness returning.

“What is this place?” Cole asked.

“It’s where I come to be alone,” she explained, her voice as soft a whisper as the breeze gently rocking the branches above
their heads. “I found it just after arriving in Victory and it’s been my sanctuary ever since.”

“If it’s the place that you come to be alone, why did you bring me?”

“Because I want to share everything with you,” she answered, moving her gaze from his chest to stare up into his eyes. Though
the darkness of the night obscured most of Cole’s face, she still felt that she could see into the depths of his gaze; it
was as if she were seeing through him and into the multitudes of stars shining above.

“I’m glad that you brought me here.”

“From the moment that I first met you in the diner, even before everything that happened, I’ve known that you were special,”
she said, giving voice to the many thoughts that had been racing through her head since that very day. “Every moment since
then has given me more reason to believe that my judgment was true. I know that in you, I’ve found the man with whom I want
to share my life. I can only hope that you return these feelings as intensely as I give them.”

“I do,” he answered.

Rising up onto the balls of her feet, Sophie placed her lips against Cole’s and kissed him deeply. Just as the moon continued
to rise above them, so too did her passion, an ardor that was as relentless as an ocean’s wave, wearing her down until she
gave in to its thrall. Her lips parted, her tongue darting forward and finding his, waiting and willing, only complete when
they were together.

When their lips finally parted, Sophie stepped confidently back, allowing her fingers to begin unfastening the buttons of
Cole’s shirt. She had only managed to undo one when he gently grabbed her by the wrist.

“Are you sure this is what you want?” he asked.

“I am.”

“You feel that strongly about us?”

“Without question,” she answered assuredly. “Don’t you?”

“From the moment I first met you.”

With her fingers once again prying apart the buttons of his shirt, Sophie soon had it undone, pushing it back on his shoulders
where it soon dropped to the boulder below. Gently, she ran her hands through the thick, soft hair of Cole’s chest, an audible
inhalation of air through clenched teeth rewarding her for her efforts.

No sooner had Cole’s skin been bared to the night than his fingers began to smooth the fabric of her blouse, tracing the curvature
of her breasts, then unfastening the buttons. In what seemed no longer than the blink of an eye, her own bare skin was first
revealed, her brassiere undone and discarded, and her nipples kissed erect by the warm yet insistent wind.

Neither of their hands stopped there. Hastily, he unbuttoned her skirt with the same fervor as he unbuckled his belt. Passionately,
he removed every bit of clothing until both stood revealed to the other, standing bare and unashamed.

Deftly, Sophie lowered herself onto the blanket she had spread out earlier in the day for that very purpose, and helped Cole
to join her, one of his muscular biceps taut as he positioned his awkward leg beneath him. She lay flat on her back, one leg
scissored between his, his rigid sex pressing against the soft flesh of her thigh. For the longest moment, she was content
to simply gaze into his face, one hand gently brushing the hair against his temple.

“I’ve never… never…” he fumbled, his meaning every bit as clear as if he had spoken the words.

“Nor I,” Sophie admitted. “But we’ll learn together.”

As if the floodgates to their passion had been flung open, Cole’s hands began to roam across her body, sending waves of pleasure
racing across her. Delighting in the soft, kneading pressure on her breasts, the faint, almost tickling glide across her stomach,
and a finally inquisitive yet tender touch between her legs, Sophie rose to meet every new sensation, desperately craving
what was still to come.

In turn, she allowed her hands to roam across his body, the flesh that shone silver in the moonlight. Tracing the contours
of his muscular shoulders, she allowed herself to explore his chest, the indentation of every rib down his side, and alighted
upon his manhood, the heat of his flesh surprising her. As she traced her thumb over the length of his sex, she felt him tremble,
a sharp gasp that rose from his throat, escaping from his mouth into the soft contour at the base of her neck.

“Oh, Cole,” she whimpered, her voice quaking. “I want you!”

“I love you, Sophie!” he deeply moaned into her ear, setting off an entirely new cascade of passion. Her fingers dug into
the flesh of his forearms, willing him to come to her at that moment, to consummate the love that had grown between them.

“Now!” she exclaimed. “I need you now!”

Cole could wait no more than she and rose up above her, positioning himself between her legs, his weight borne on his powerful
arms. He hung there, the moment drawing itself out with a breathless anticipation that both frustrated and excited her. Sophie
found herself nodding, embracing his face between her hands, hardly able to believe that the moment was at hand.

“Come to me,” she urged him.

When Cole moved forward, arching his hips and sliding inside of her, there was a momentary sharp pain, an ache that signaled
another of the many steps taken into womanhood. Biting down on her lip, she quieted the whimper that rose in her throat, burying
her head into the flesh of his arm. He proceeded slowly, as if he were measuring how badly he was hurting her, until finally,
they were joined completely, one inside the other.

“Are you all right?” he asked softly, tenderly.

“It hurts no more than I expected,” she said truthfully.

“Do you want me to stop?”

“Not now, not ever.”

Slowly at the outset but getting faster, Cole began to slide inside of her. He moved awkwardly at first, unsure of what he
was supposed to do, but he soon found a rhythm that satisfied them both. Sophie’s body rolled with the movement as her pain
began to become pleasure, as if she were melting into the blanket, the boulders, the night sky, and even into Cole himself.

Sweat beaded on her forehead and upper lip, her pulse raced. Cole’s body lowered until his chest was pressed against hers,
his breath hot against her neck. His movements became shorter, more direct, but the physical reward seemed only to grow.

“Oh, darling,” she moaned as his hand caressed the back of her thigh, crossed the bone that jutted from her hip, and hurried
up her ribcage until it held her breast.

“My Sophie,” he whispered in return.

Though the physical act between them brought intense joy of its own, Sophie knew that it was made all the more powerful because
of their intense emotional connection. Meeting him had undeniably changed her life, bringing her a pleasure and happiness
that had been missing. From the day he had shown up at the
Gazette
’s office with a picnic basket in hand, she had been smitten, though a bit unsure of how to proceed. To her surprise, the
pathway had been easy to find. She had given him her heart, but now, giving him all of her, she knew that it was a decision
she would never regret.

Cole’s body moved faster and faster, his breathing growing ragged as sweat dripped from his brow. Though Sophie was hardly
experienced in the art of lovemaking, she knew that he would not be able to last much longer.

While the pain of losing her virginity still ached, Sophie had little difficulty in matching Cole’s amorous advances. She
rose to him, meeting each of his thrusts with one of her own, wanting and willing them both toward a greater ecstasy, joined
together as one.

Daring to open her eyes, Sophie stared into the mass of stars littering the sky above them. The moon, most of its luminous
body obscured by the branches of the elm directly above her head, seemed to be stealing a glance at them. But instead of being
self-conscious, instead of feeling the crimson sting of embarrassment, she felt as if the moon were somehow giving her its
blessing; after all, it had witnessed all of the maladies that had been visited upon her family since the burning of their
barn… it had to be there for the joy, as well. They made love to each other beneath the sea of the night.

“Oh, my darlin’,” Cole said breathlessly, “I can’t… I can’t…”

“Don’t… don’t hold… yourself… back…”

The muscles in Cole’s body tensed, his frame shuddered, and in that instant, searing warmth filled Sophie as all of his passion
was let loose inside of her. When he collapsed upon her, she wrapped her arms around his quivering body, holding him as tightly
as she could.

“I love you, Sophie,” he said in the instant before his lips found hers.

And I love you…

As they kissed, Sophie knew that the bond between them was cemented for the rest of their lives. From this moment forward,
they would face together whatever challenges arose. Though there was much about her past that darkened her days, now, with
Cole, her future seemed to loom as brightly as the coming dawn.

G
RAHAM GRIER SAT
on the meager cot in one of the two cells in Victory’s jail, his fists balled in anger. He’d largely managed to sober up,
the effects of the whiskey slowly dwindling with each passing hour, but he had a throbbing headache to go along with the dull
pain of his already swollen jaw. On this night, far more than his pride had been bruised.

Through the iron bars of his cell, he could see the moon rising, a sign that this terrible day was indeed coming to a close.
His poor decision to go out to the Hellers’ had been made all the worse because he’d been beaten by Cole Ambrose. He’d jeopardized
everything, his good name, any chance that he might have with Sophie, and even his precarious standing with Ellis over a jealousy
that sought to devour him. But as bad as this day was, he knew the morning would be worse.

“You’re nothing but a stupid son of a bitch,” he muttered to himself.

Through the use of whatever little persuasion he could muster, Graham had managed to persuade the sheriff not to tell his
father what had happened until morning; he supposed he had been helped by the fact that the lawman was dreading the confrontation
as much as Graham was. Still, he knew he was only postponing the inevitable tongue-lashing he was sure to receive.

Why must you be such a disappointment?

The words Graham imagined his father speaking were so clear to his ear that he would have sworn that the old man was sitting
right beside him in the cell. All that he had wanted, all that he had ever striven to achieve, was to be seen as a success
in his father’s eyes. But try as he might, he had always seemed to come up short. What had happened tonight would do nothing
to change that perception.