Mail Order Baron (The Brides of Tombstone Book 3) (10 page)

They’d been driving for about an hour and the scenery hadn’t changed much. She saw rocks, scrub oak, mesquite trees and dry river beds. The road they drove upon was actually more of a trail and she was beginning to think Ben was teasing her about there being anything growing or any wildlife. Then, up ahead, Molly saw a wash of green. As they got closer she saw trees and bushes surrounding a good-sized pond.

“Here we are. Let me help you down in case there are any snakes in the area.”

“Snakes?” She sucked in a breath

“Remember the wildlife I told you about? Snakes are part of that.”

“I think I’ll stay in the buggy.” She folded her hands in her lap.

“Don’t be silly. Once I make sure there aren’t any around, they won’t come back until we leave. You wait for me, and I’ll be right back.”

He walked toward the pond, making as much noise as possible. Then she saw him take out his gun and heard the shot when he fired toward the ground. He walked a few steps, bent over and picked something up and tossed it into the bushes. Then he returned to the buggy.

“All better. No more snakes.”

“Is that what you shot? A snake?”

“Yes, it was a big rattle snake and didn’t want to move, so I made sure he was gone for good. Sometimes they get used to people or animals coming around and they don’t move out of the way. We have to get rid of them then, so that no one gets bit.”

After a shudder, she took a deep breath. “Well, if you’re sure then I guess I’ll trust you.”

He helped her down and then picked up the basket out of the back seat. She got the blanket and together they walked toward the pond. Patches of green grass surrounded the water and Ben set the basket down on one of them.

She stopped next to him. “Should I spread out the blanket?”

“Yes. I’ll help you.”

He took one end of the blanket and she took the other. They spread it out flat and even on the ground.

“That’s good. Have a seat.”

He held her hand while she held her skirt and sat on the quilt with her legs tucked under her.

“This really is a lovely spot. Where does the water come from?” She looked around her. In addition to the grass there were small cedar trees and close to the rock formation at one end of the pool was a huge cactus that looked like it had arms. They didn’t have anything like that in New York. “Do you come here often?”

He shook his head. “The water is from an underground spring. I don’t really come here much anymore. I did a little hunting every now and then when I first moved here. Sometimes that meat, be it rabbit or deer or javelina, was the only thing between me and starvation. That was before I hit my first mother lode.”

“What is javelina?”

“It’s sort of like a wild pig. It’s not a pig but it resembles one.”

“Oh. I have a hard time imagining you as a poor miner.”

“But, I was. I looked just like those miners you see in town. Ragged clothes, hands black from searching through the soil, looking for nuggets or flake, color of any kind.”

“You own three mines, if Mal was correct. What kept you digging even after you struck it rich on the first one?”

“Greed I suppose. I bought the three claims when I came out here. They were next to each other.” He demonstrated with his hands how they were in the rock side by side. “It made it easy to work each of them two days a week to keep my claims active. I was extremely lucky. The vein I found runs through all three mines. They’ve all been great producers.”

Molly smiled. “That’s wonderful. You’ve been so lucky.”

She saw a little bird go racing by on the dirt. “What was that?” She pointed in the direction of the creature’s departure.

“That’s a roadrunner.”

“Was it a bird? It’s so fast.”

He raised his knee and leaned back on one elbow. “Yes, it is. The bird prefers running to flying.”

“Can it fly?”

“Yes, when it needs to escape a predator, it will fly, but only if it has to.”

“Why don’t we see what Sadie provided for us?”

“All right.”

He sat up and opened the basket. The first things he pulled out were two wine glasses. “Well, I would guess there is a bottle of wine in here somewhere.”

Next came fried chicken, potato salad, apples, cheese, fresh bread, butter and sugar cookies, with the wine on the bottom of the basket.

Molly laughed. “We definitely won’t go hungry with all this food. Did she think we’d be feeding the wild-life?”

Ben slowly shook his head. “It could be. Would you like a glass of wine? It appears to be a nice white to go with the chicken.”

“Yes, please. But only one glass. I don’t drink much and never hard spirits. But a glass of wine occasionally is nice, though I’m liable to get silly if I have more than one.”

“I can’t imagine you getting silly. Mayhap, I should see that you drink two and take advantage of you.”

Her eyes opened wide and she looked over her shoulder to take in the area around them. “Out here in the open? What if someone should see us?”

He laughed. “Who’s going to see us out here in the middle of nowhere? Come now, darling, how about some adventure?”

With her eyelids closed part way, she gave him her sultry look. “You’re right.” She undid the top button of her blouse, then another and another until the garment was completely unbuttoned. “Now you.”

Ben did the same with his shirt and tore it off. “Next?”

She removed her blouse, slowly, pulling on the cuffs, taking first one sleeve then the other and finally shoving the clothing down her back. Her sleeveless chemise was the most alluring she owned. It was silk, laced up the front and was low cut, barely covering the tops of her breasts. She wore no corset since Ben didn’t like them.

She untied the laces on her chemise, pulling them slowly, one side and then the other, until she held up the ribbon in her hand, and the garment was open to the waist. Molly teased him, starting to take it off one side and then stopping and pulling on the other, never revealing herself completely.

“You test my patience at your own peril, madam.”

She saw the effect she was having on Ben and was gratified. Whatever else was between them, sex was something they both enjoyed and which brought them together.

Finally she opened the chemise and took it off completely.

Ben laid her back on the quilt, wine and food forgotten. His lips came down on hers, hard, his tongue searching for and finding hers. They played, touched, pulled back only to plunge in again.

Molly broke the kiss. “Take me, Ben. Take me now.”

“Yes. Now.”

He opened his pants, shoved up her skirt and entered her. She was ready and waiting. He sank into her, plunging in completely.

Blood pounded in her ears and she sighed. “Ah, Ben.

“Molly, what you do to me. I always want you.”

“And I you. Seems in that area we agree.”

“So we do.”

They made love long into the afternoon, eating and then loving again.

Molly strongest hope was that if she hadn’t been pregnant before, that all of their loving today took hold. Placing her hand on her stomach, she prayed it was true.

CHAPTER 8

They didn’t get to the construction site for several days. With all the activity, it appeared as though Ben was taking her at her word and trying to wipe the accident from her mind. He spent the days after the picnic as if they were still there on the grassy shore. Making love, eating lunch and then, much to her delight, making love again. On this day, however, she insisted they dress and go see the house after they ate their meal.

The house was only a mile outside of town and was quite large. It was a two-story white wooden structure with a huge porch. He’d already had a swing hung.

She clapped her hands and turned to him in the buggy, grinning. “How did you know I’d want a swing?”

“I guessed we’d want to watch the sunset in the evenings. And after we have children, we can sit out here and watch them play.”

He set the brake and came around to help her down. Then he took her hand and walked her up the flagstone path to the steps to the porch. He practically dragged her across the veranda to the door.

She stepped through the door into a two-story foyer. A staircase stood on the right and a hallway on the left.

“Upstairs are six bedrooms and two bathrooms. I’m having indoor plumbing put in with hot and cold running water.”

“Really?” She hugged his arm and then laced her fingers through his. “I’ve never had those amenities before. The convenience will be wonderful. We’ll be the envy of everyone we know. And down here? What are the plans?”

“We have the kitchen with two bedrooms off of it. One for the cook and one for any additional help that’s needed. There’s also a dining room, living room, a library, an office, and a bathroom.”

“As big as this house is, you’re going to have to hire a housekeeper to help me with the work.”

He wrapped her in his arms. “I’ll hire you whatever help you need. Do you like it?”

She walked her fingers up his chest and slid her arms around his neck. “I love it. It’s as though you had me in mind when you built the house.”

He cocked his head and smiled down at her. “Maybe I did.”

More than likely he had Julia in mind, but Molly wouldn’t say it out loud.
“Show me the upstairs.”

“It’s not done yet. There are just studs up, there’s not much to see.”

“That’s all right, I have quite the imagination.”

“All right. Let’s go.”

Molly followed Ben up the stairs. He hadn’t been exaggerating. Only studs created the outlines of the rooms, except the bathroom.

“Oh, look.” She pointed down the hall. “There’s the bathroom. They’ve put in the bathtub.”

The tub was large with four claw feet. Across the room from it was space for the toilet and a sink.

Molly couldn’t believe her eyes as she got closer to the bathroom. “That tub is massive.”

Ben nodded. “It was the biggest I could get. I thought we could use it together.”

She wrinkled her brow. “What?”

“You know. Take a bath together.”

“Why would you want to do that?”

“We can play while we’re in the tub. It can be quite entertaining.”

She felt her cheeks heat. She’d heard of this sort of ‘play’ from her readings. Lady Chatterley’s Lover was a definite eye-opener

Ben laughed. For some reason he liked to make her flush with color.

“Why do you enjoy making me blush so often?”

“Because you are so beautiful when you blush.” He waved a hand toward her face and tilted his head. “I happen to know that you color all over when you do. So I imagine what you look like naked, blushing, looking beautiful. See there you go again.”

She smiled. “You are incorrigible.”

“Yes, I am and you love me for it.”

He said love. Molly turned her head away. “What makes you think I love you?”

“You can’t look at me when you’ve climaxed, but you always want to cuddle. That’s the mark of a woman in love. If you didn’t want to be with me after sex I’d wonder what I’m doing wrong.”

This time she was happy he had the experience to know this. “So just because I want to lie with you, that tells you I love you?”

“Yes.”

“That’s ridiculous logic.”

“But it’s true nonetheless.”

She looked away, knowing he’d see the truth of his words in her eyes. “You can think whatever you like.”

“Say it.”

She tilted her head. “Say what?”

“Say you love me.”

“But I don’t. You have a vivid imagination yourself if you think having sex with me a few times will make me fall in love with you.”
That was true. I fell in love with him before I’d ever arrived in Tombstone. I saw his picture and read his letters and was hopelessly in love. Of course, I hadn’t known about Julia then.

She tried to turn and pull away from him but he wouldn’t let her. Instead he bent down and kissed her, slowly, deeply. His tongue came out and played with hers.

“Say you love me,” he whispered against her lips. “Say it.”

“I…”

He kissed her again. “Tell me.”

“I…I…like you.” She paused. “A lot.”

He threw back his head and roared with laughter. “I like you, too, Molly. I like you very much.” Ben hugged her to him and then they walked through the house.

“Next you’ll want to pick out furniture. For the most part, I’ll leave that to you. There are a few pieces that I’ll want. Desk and chairs for the office and the library, that kind of thing.”

“We can make a list of items together and then I can go get them. In a town of ten thousand people, there must be several stores to choose our furniture from”

“Not by yourself. You can make the list and then I’ll have them picked up for us. I’m not letting you out in town by yourself.”