Harlot at the Homestead (10 page)

“Kenan!” Her voice cracked with uncertainty as he moved over her tight flesh, pressing the opening that had never been entered.

“It’s okay, my love. I’m just so eager to take you.” He laughed softly then used a foot to push her legs further apart. When his erection met her welcoming silken folds, she shivered then tipped her hips toward him to allow him to enter. He gave a quick thrust and plunged into her in one go.

As he moved deeply within her, she met his rhythm and they became one, gathering speed until they met the beat of the
bodhrán
being played around the corner. The musicians upped the tempo and Kenan met their pace, his flesh filling Catherine, then withdrawing, then filling her again. Each time he entered her fully, the tip of his member met her cervix and the sensation was at once painful yet erotic. It seemed to send echoes rebounding deep inside her that rang out like the hoots of the excited dancers.

Over the music, she could hear their combined breathing, deep, lusty and primitive. They became united in their need and Catherine groaned as her body climbed the mountain of desire. The pine chafing her nipples, the fingers that she slid down to her sex and rubbed over the swelling bud that lay just above Kenan’s thrusting cock, and the stretching and plundering of her sex all combined to send her screaming and throbbing over the abyss. She bucked up and down in wild abandon as her lover grew inside her suddenly then pulsed into her, filling her with his hot seed.

When their bodies had slowed and their breathing grew shallower, Kenan slipped out of her then rested his head upon her shoulder. She leaned her head to the side so that it touched his. Her heart swelled with love and joy, full of the ecstasy of their lovemaking and she knew with all certainty, that whatever the bride and groom got up to that night, it would pale in comparison with the passion that she and Kenan had just shared.

* * * *

“You go first.” Kenan nudged her in front of him as they approached the wedding party. The bride and groom had now been hoisted onto the shoulders of their family members and they were being paraded around like a prize heifer and bull.

Catherine smoothed out her skirts then flashed Kenan a quick smile before she walked into the circle of light. Her cheeks were hot and flushed and she felt as if everyone must have known where she had been and what she had been doing. Yet as she cast a discreet glance around her, she noted that all eyes were upon the newlyweds.

“Catherine!” Rosie’s eyes shined with cider and excitement. Her ebony hair had been pinned neatly at the nape of her neck earlier that evening but it now hung loose, its waves tumbling seductively down over her shoulders, gleaming like the wings of a raven. Catherine could see why Rosie had captured the attention of Joshua Hampton. Though he currently had one of his brother’s muscular buttocks perched upon his shoulder, and was cheering and laughing at the bawdy comments of the inebriated men, Catherine saw that Joshua regularly checked that Rosie was still watching him and his face lit up when he found that she was.

“You really like him, huh?” Catherine leaned closer to Rosie to be heard over the tinny chords of the banjo.

Rosie grinned. “I can’t help myself, Catherine! He’s just…” She twirled glossy strands of hair between her fingers.

“It’s okay!” Catherine laughed. “I understand!”

She tucked her arm into Rosie’s and tapped her foot in time to the music. It felt so good to be happy. She had just made love with the man she adored, she was celebrating a wedding with her best friend whilst watching that friend fall deeply in love and, for once in a very long time, she felt her spirit lifting. It was so darned good to be alive!

“Come on!” Catherine pulled Rosie away from the edge of the circle and right into its center. Then she hitched up her skirts above her ankles and began to kick up her legs.

“Catherine!” Rosie giggled.

“Dance!” Catherine ordered, almost doubled up with laughter as Rosie tried to copy her movements.

Catherine’s heart beat merrily, her eyes glinted with joy and she twirled around with her friend, lost for a wonderful moment in the sheer pleasure of being human.

Kenan took a big gulp of sweet cider to quench the thirst he’d just worked up with Catherine. His lust for her seemed to be increasing. He couldn’t understand it but he didn’t want to over analyze it either. He felt so good, so carefree right now. It could be the amazing sex, the strong cider and the balmy evening air but he knew that it was more complicated than that. It was due to Catherine’s delightful presence—her return to his life, to be by his side…where she belonged.

As he watched her now, careering around with Rosie to the lively music, his heart swelled with joy. He could almost pretend that none of it had ever happened. Maybe, he reasoned, he actually could do that. What was stopping him? If Catherine could move on, could forget, then maybe he could too. As she skipped and looped in a figure of eight, her cheeks glowed and her hair flowed down her back like a ruby waterfall. It caught the light from the kerosene lamps and seemed like sultry flames bursting forth from the head of the most beautiful angel he could imagine. He laughed softly, wondering if the cider was affecting his vision. But no, she truly was breathtakingly gorgeous. She had such an innocent, pure face yet such a curvaceous, decadent body. He felt the heat of lust begin to rise between his legs and he looked away, trying to think about something else, anything else, before he had an uncomfortable bulge in his trousers.

As he gazed across the circle of people and off into the darkness beyond the immediate garden area, something caught his eye. It was something he hadn’t expected to see tonight—hell, not any night. And it was something that bothered him greatly. He slammed his tankard down on the table next to him then marched off into the darkness, grim determination taking a steely hold on his features.

A figure appeared to be flying across the fields toward him. Illuminated by moonlight, it looked like a wild specter, a grisly spirit sent to haunt the land of the living. Kenan’s heart beat increased and though he felt like turning and running away, he kept walking toward it, the distance between them disappearing like sand into a hole.

The closer he got to the figure, the more frightening it appeared. Wild white hair was given a silvery glow by the full moon. Its face was gray as parchment, its eyes feral black hollows. The comforting sound of the music got further away as the terrifying creature got nearer and Kenan reached down to feel the reassuring presence of his gun.

But then he stopped, reality overwhelming him. He shook his head to clear it of his irrational, superstitious thoughts then looked again.

It was an old woman hurrying toward him, waving her arms and shouting for help. He started walking again then broke into a jog.

He stopped just in front of her.

“What in hell are you doing out here on your own?” He grabbed the woman’s shoulders as if to shake her but then changed his mind. Catherine’s aunt was sobbing as if her heart would break and she struggled to catch her breath.

“Hey, now, Mrs Montgomery,” he soothed as he looked into the woman’s tear-filled eyes. “Calm yourself down.”

The woman’s mouth opened and closed like a landed fish, struggling to hold onto life.

“I…I’ve been…he’s…he’s gone!”

“What are you talking about, woman?” Kenan frowned.

“My husband! He’s gone!”

Kenan swallowed an unsavory comment, aware that it wouldn’t help the situation but his mind bubbled with possibilities. Had the old goat done a runner? Had he heard that Catherine had returned and now he couldn’t bear to face her or did he fear Kenan’s reaction? Surely the old man must have realized that Kenan would come for him once he knew that he’d sold Catherine to save his own skin?

“Please, Mr Duggan!” The woman pounded her gnarled old hands upon his chest and Kenan looked down at them with repulsion. He hadn’t remembered Edie Montgomery being so aged. Had the past two years really taken such a toll on her?

“Okay, okay.” He took hold of her hands then lowered them. “Where has Mr Montgomery gone?”

“We were on our way here… He was feeling better this morning and he wanted to come. He seemed…well…normal, like his old self.”

“I don’t understand.” Kenan scowled at her. “What do you mean…normal?”

As if William Montgomery could ever be described as normal. What kind of man sold his niece then lied to her fiancé about it? Catherine’s uncle had destroyed her life as well as Kenan’s. To do what he had done, to be so cold and self-serving, so oblivious to the emotions of those around him, took a cold heart indeed. So no, he could not accept that William had ever been normal.

“He’s not been the man I married, this past year. It’s like it all welled up inside him…all that he did…” She bit her lip, suddenly aware that she had nearly said something that could get her husband into trouble.

“I know what he did.” Kenan snapped.

“Oh my!” she gasped. “Mr Duggan! Kenan! I am so sorry! I—”

“Save it for later!” he spat. “Now what’s the problem with your husband?”

“We were on our way to the ceremony. I was so happy that he seemed back to his old self. You can’t imagine what it’s been like, Mr Duggan, losing him for days at a time—”

“How dare you!” Kenan’s hands became fists as fury rose in his belly. “How dare you tell me that I don’t know what it’s like to lose someone!”

“Oh…I’m so sorry…I just meant that with William it’s so strange.” She wrung her hands. “One day he’s rational, practical and sensible then the next he’s like a stranger. He either thinks that we’re courting and still in our first flush of youth or he imagines that I’m his mother.” Her lower lip trembled. “And sometimes…he doesn’t recognize me at all!” She burst into fresh tears.

Kenan glared at the woman but in spite of his anger, he pitied her. He wasn’t quite sure what she meant about William Montgomery but it didn’t sound nice. He’d suffered the pain of loss and grief, thinking Catherine was dead for so long. But this was clearly different. Edie Montgomery had her husband’s physical presence but not his mental one.

She blew her nose loudly on a handkerchief she’d pulled from her bell sleeve then wiped her eyes. A strange calm seemed to fall over her and she raised her red and swollen eyes to Kenan’s face.

“Mr Duggan.” She tilted her head to one side. “You said that you know about what happened.”

“I do.” He ground his teeth together.

“But how?”

He noted that the fear he’d seen in her eyes just moments ago had been replaced by a calculating coldness and he wondered again at how far this woman had been involved in the events surrounding Catherine’s disappearance. His stomach churned and ice crept into his veins. Had she really loved Catherine as she’d claimed or had she been jealous of the young redhead and wanted her out of the way? Edie’s own beauty had faded, so maybe she didn’t like Catherine’s presence as a constant reminder of how her own youth had long since deserted her.

He decided to keep Catherine’s return a secret for now.

“A preacher who’d passed through New York had bumped into her,” he lied, watching for her reaction. “I told him all about my flame haired fiancée,
kidnapped
…” He emphasized the last word then paused. “Kidnapped by the Indians. He informed me about such a beauty who’d appeared suddenly in the city and told him one night of her plight.”

“Oh.” The woman roamed his face with wild eyes. “I see.”

“So”—he pulled his Stetson lower over his eyes—“you were telling me about William.”

“Yes!” She fluttered her hand over her chest. “William!” She seemed to suddenly remember her husband. “He’s gone! He stopped the wagon about a mile down the road. He started…” Her cheeks filled with color which appeared black in the shadows of the night.

“He started what, Ma’am?”

“Kissing me.”

“How’s that unusual? Ain’t a man allowed to kiss his wife now?”

“Well, he…he doesn’t do that sort of thing anymore. Hasn’t for some time. Not since his mind started to wander.” She frowned then laid a hand on Kenan’s chest. “I was shocked and I jumped. He got mad and he…” She burst into fresh tears. “He jumped from the wagon and ran off!”

“I see. And do you have any idea where he’s gone?”

“I watched him for a while and called out to him but he soon disappeared. I’m worried, Mr Duggan! There’s wild animals out there and he didn’t have his pistol. I hid it when he started getting sick.”

“So whadda you want me to do about his disappearance?” Kenan demanded. “After what happened to Catherine, why in the hell do you think I would help you out?”

She moved her hand against his chest and he fought the urge to slap it away.

“I understand your anger, Mr Duggan, I really do. But he’s all I have left. Please.” She fluttered her eyelashes. “Please help me to find him.”

Kenan sighed then took hold of her hand and put it from him.

“Okay, I’ll help. But I ain’t making no promises. It’s pitch black out there and he could have gone in any direction. Hell! I hope that he ain’t gone off into the cattle pen.”

He stared into the darkness as if trying to work out which direction William had taken but though the moon was full, the wind had picked up and it carried thick clouds along with it, as if playing a game of hide and seek with the land. Kenan turned to the woman trembling at his side.

“Well, Mrs Montgomery, I think we’d best get you over to the crowd though I ask that you do nothing to ruin the joy of the bride and groom. I’ll see if I can round up a few of the men then we’ll go look for William.”

“Thank you Mr Duggan.”

He walked quickly, keen to maintain a pace that left her trailing in his wake. He didn’t want her at his side when he saw Catherine. He had to warn her first. Edie Montgomery hadn’t even known that Catherine had returned and he realized that Catherine had wanted it that way. She clearly needed some time to think before she met up with her aunt and uncle again and no wonder. After what they’d put her through, he wouldn’t blame Catherine if she never wanted to see them ever again.

Blind fury surged, then roared in his veins. He couldn’t deny that he now had the perfect opportunity to get revenge. William Montgomery was losing his mind according to his wife. He was gone in the head and he’d wandered off into the night. Anything could happen to him out there. Anything! And nobody would have to know about it. His blood flowed like fire through his body and his heart thrummed with the call for vengeance. They had taken Catherine away from him, leaving him broken with grief, whilst she’d been thrust into the arms of a man who sought to hurt her and had branded her like a cow with a white-hot knife.