Quicksilver Passion (92 page)

She wanted to please him, even if it hurt her. Very slowly she slid her body down on him. She hadn’t realized how wet she was and it surprised her that it didn’t hurt. She kept waiting for it to hurt.

His hands were wet with sweat and trembling as he reached out and grabbbed her waist. She was small enough that his hands almost spanned her as he lifted her and brought her down on him again.
Ride me, sweet darlin’,” he whispered.
Oh, ride the hell out of me!”

She looked down at her creamy white legs forking this dark-skinned brute who was like a wild mustang stallion. And suddenly she wanted to ride him, wanted to come down on him hard and deep, feel him convulsing and swelling deep inside her body while his hands caught her breasts as they hung over his face and pulled them down to his lips.

Then he was bucking under her, ramming strongly as his virile body came up off the bed and into hers. He caught her hands and brought them to his nipples and then his two big hands caught her waist and held her. It was cool in the room, but they were both shiny with perspiration from the exertion of their straining bodies.

She felt the surging tremble, the straining of his powerful body, and then hers seemed to lock on to his, wanting what he had to give even as he began to pour his seed into her with a ragged gasping of breath. Her body convulsed even as his did, and as darkness enveloped her, she felt him shudder and give up all the hot, virile seed he had been saving for so long.

They slept awhile, locked in each other’s arms, entwined in a tangle of her long, pale hair. But toward morning, Cherokee sat up on the edge of the bed and stretched.
I think I’d better go back to my hotel. I’d just soon some early riser didn’t see me leaving through the window.”

She nodded, not quite sure what the new day would bring now that he had satisfied his body. She was afraid to ask about their future so she only watched him dress.

He came over to her, and took her face between his two big hands.
Sweet Silver,” he whispered.
I love you.” He took her small hand in his, the bracelet on her wrist sparkling in the faint light.
Here’s a treasure to keep in your pocket.” Very slowly, he kissed her palm, and closed her fingers over it. Then he went to the window and was gone.

Silver lay on her bed, staring at her closed hand. A kiss. She held a captured kiss to remember him by. That and a bracelet. She opened the hand against her lips, savoring the warm touch of his mouth that seemed to linger there. In that moment, she relived their coupling;—his mouth on hers, dominating, demanding. Had she done the right thing in surrendering to him? Did he really love her, or was she only a conquest to be added to his list and snickered over when men gathered for a drink and talked about women they had known?

Cherokee went back to his room, washed up, changed clothes, and lay down across the bed to sleep. The night had left him exhausted and drained. He wasn’t sure what to do about the relationship now. True, when it had all begun, all he wanted was to satisfy his lust with the beautiful blonde’s body; he hadn’t thought of her as a human being. To him, she had been only a whore, despite her cool demeanor. But now that he had taken her, he had a feeling he couldn’t get enough of her. Loco as it seemed, he found himself wanting to marry her and have children by her.

That was impossible, of course. She might have surrendered to passion, but how would she feel about leaving the glamorous limelight to change diapers on a mixed-blood Indian baby up in some cabin in the mountains? Cherokee realized that unless he made a big strike, Silver was more successful than he was and he wouldn’t consider living on her money. But to ask a beautiful, wealthy, and successful girl to give up everything to be the wife of a poor, half-breed prospector was ridiculous. She would only say no, and he wasn’t sure his pride could stand that. He was still awake when dawn came and outside he heard a horse gallop down the main street and a man shouting. Cherokee ran to the window and pushed it up.

War!” the rider shouted, dismounting from the lathered sorrel horse.
Pony Express just galloped through Julesburg with the news a few hours ago! We’re about to be at war!”

What he feared most had transpired. Cherokee leaned out the window and shouted down to the rider as people ran out to surround him.
Hey! What’s happened?”

The wiry cowboy shouted back,
South Carolina soldiers have fired on federal troops at Fort Sumpter! The war has finally started!”