The Marshal Takes A Bride (17 page)

She turned her attention back to the countryside, and he felt ill at ease. Good-bye? That was all she had expected? Not “let’s get married”? Live happily ever after? Have babies? Wasn’t that what good women expected?

“What do you mean, ‘good-bye’ would have been just fine? Most women expect more, especially after you’ve shared their bed with them,” he said, stealing quick glances at her as he drove steadily.

“You’re right. But why in the world would I expect or want to marry a man like you? At that time you were a wounded gunslinger with a thirst for vengeance. Why would I want to become involved in that kind of mess? I still don’t need a man that desperately.”

For a moment he sat stunned by her words. She had had sex with him, but she hadn’t wanted to marry him? Seemed too good to be true, yet he was uneasy.

“So you weren’t mad?” he asked.

“Sure I was. You left without saying good-bye. But did I want to marry you? No. Why would I?”

She had taken the wind right out of his sails. Somehow he had thought of her pining away for him. But instead she had gone out and married someone else.

“So why did you marry your husband?” he asked.

Tucker watched as her mouth tightened and her eyes widened, as if he had offended her by even asking.

“I married Mr. James for the same reason that people have been marrying for hundreds of years. I loved him.”

He shook his head. “No. I mean, what caused you to fall in love with him?”

She sighed. “He was dependable. He was there when I needed him. He was kind, considerate, loyal and trustworthy. His word stood for something. He supported my being a doctor, and he knew when to back away and leave me alone.”

Tucker couldn’t help but think that the man sounded more like a saint than a husband.

“You must have met him pretty quick after I left.”

“Yes, I did. And we fell in love very suddenly.”

He didn’t say anything for a moment. The warm breeze blew briskly across his arm.

“So why have we remained friends all these years?” he asked, getting back to the original question.

“I only know that when I was growing up you were fun to be with. You made me laugh. You didn’t treat me like a girl, but rather a kid. No matter what I wanted to do, you encouraged me.”

“Well, you certainly grew up to look like a girl.”

“Is that a compliment, Mr. Burnett?” she teased. He glanced at her. The sun had kissed her cheeks until they were pink, the blue of her eyes matched the disappearing sky and the smile she bestowed upon him made him forget about the encroaching storm clouds. Made him forget everything but being with Sarah.

“You know it is,” he said, his voice coming out deep and husky.

The trees were becoming sparse as they rode toward an area of prairie that was filled with tall grass that swayed in the wind.

“So do you believe that men and women can be friends without anything sexual between them?” she asked.

The question surprised him. How did he answer this one and stay out of trouble? Yes, they were friends. But right now he wouldn’t hesitate at the least indication from her, and he would be all over her like bees on honey. He wanted her so badly he was aching with the knowledge, but they were friends. Not lovers, not a couple, just two separate people who wanted different lives. Friends attracted for all the wrong reasons.

“Yes, but for men everything is sexual.”

She started laughing. “I should have known better than to ask you that question.”

Thunder rumbled in the distance, and Tucker glanced up at the white cirrus clouds that were suddenly moving above them very quickly. “We’ll be lucky if we don’t get drenched.”

“How far from town are we?” she asked.

“Almost an hour,” he replied.

“How long before this storm hits?”

“Depends. But it appears to be gaining speed on us. Hang on, we’re going to pick up the pace a little.” Tucker took out the whip and snapped it across the back of the horse that was pulling the buggy. “Yee- haw! Let’s go.”

The horse lifted its head and picked up its legs, moving into a fast trot. Sarah bounced on the seat next to Tucker, occasionally bumping him with her hip, the edge of which brushed against his leg with a sensuous rub. He couldn’t help but remember her long, naked limbs wrapped around him, and he wanted to groan at the image.

He watched with increasing uneasiness as the clouds grew darker, the colors changing from blue to turquoise. Thunder rumbled closer, and Tucker stared as a wicked streak of lightning met the earth. It was still miles away; but the storm was catching them, and no matter how fast he ran the poor horse, they would soon be wet.

Suddenly, the horse stumbled in a prairie dog hole, and Tucker swore beneath his breath. He watched the horse’s gait and knew the animal had somehow hurt itself. Pulling on the reins, he brought the buggy to a halt.

“Why are you stopping?” Sarah asked.

“Something’s wrong with the horse,” he said, climbing down. He walked to the animal and knelt down beside it. Running his hand over the back of the animal’s leg, he felt the muscles and tendons. The horse gave a cry of distress.

Sarah jumped down from the buggy and walked around to Tucker. “Let me feel,” she said, running her hands down the animal’s leg. “He’s tom his muscle.”

“Whose horse is it?” Tucker asked.

“He belongs to the hotel. Grandfather keeps extra horses on hand that guests can rent.” She stood and glanced up at the clouds. “So now what do we do? We have no horse, a buggy that can’t be pulled and a storm brewing.”

Tucker began loosening the bit from the horse’s mouth. They would have to leave the horse behind and continue on foot, abandoning the doctor’s buggy as well.

“What kind of shoes are you wearing?” Tucker questioned.

“My boots, what else?” she said. “I know better than to wear those flimsy fashionable slippers. At least not when I’m working.”

“Good. Because it looks like we’ll be walking until we either find help or someplace to wait out the storm.”

He lifted the bridle over the horse’s head, then slapped it on the rump and sent it trotting off to find grass.

“He may find his way back to town before we do,” Sarah said, watching the horse limp across the field.

Tucker put the harness in the back of the buggy. After picking up the basket of food Mrs. Melbourne had given them and a blanket that was tucked underneath the seat, he turned to Sarah.

“Let’s get started. This weather isn’t going to hold off much longer.”

“Let me get my medical bag. I’m not leaving it here.” She grabbed the black bag out of the wagon.

They started walking down the dirt road just as the wind kicked up, showering them with a cool, dusty breeze.

Sarah coughed and turned her face away. “Oh, my. This should be a fun walk.”

“I know we passed a line shack this morning. We’ll stay there until this storm passes.”

They walked along, the thunder getting closer. The skies were beginning to turn green with bubble formations in the clouds.

“I don’t think I like the way these clouds are looking,” Sarah commented.

“Me neither,” Tucker admitted, certain they were going to be soaked at any moment. But just as the first fat drops of rain started to fall, he spotted the building he was looking for.

“There it is,” he said, pointing. “Come on, I think we better make a mad dash for it or we’re going to get wet.”

He grabbed her hand, encompassing her smaller one with his large fingers. He couldn’t remember holding her hand before and was awed at the protective sense that overcame him. Her fingers felt so right intertwined with his own.

As the drops of rain began to pelt them, they ran across an open field to the shack Tucker had spotted.

Tucker turned the knob, and they ran inside, laughing at how they had beaten the weather. The skies suddenly opened, pounding the earth with the storm’s fury. Thunder shook the shack as lightning struck nearby, and Sarah stayed next to Tucker as he gazed around the small building.

A cot, a table and two chairs were all the furniture in the one-room building. Quickly he found a match and lit a lantern sitting on the floor.

“So what do we do now?” she asked, peering out the door at the rain that fell in sheets from the sky.

“We wait,” Tucker replied, setting the basket of food on the table. “We eat our lunch and we wait for the storm to blow over.”

“I’m glad you remembered this shack. How could we ever walk in that?” she questioned, still watching the rain.

Tucker glanced back over his shoulder as he turned up the lamp to brighten the room.

Lightning hit a tree across the way, and Sarah jumped back from the door. “Oh my, did you see that?”

“Come away from the door, Sarah. Let’s eat the food Mrs. Melbourne sent with us.”

The wind whipped the rain in different directions, and a tree limb snapped off and fell to the ground. Lightning flashed, the sound crackling across the sky. The shack shook as thunder boomed, and Sarah flew into Tucker’s arms.

He wrapped his arms around her, enjoying the feel of her soft womanly body snuggled against his. He gazed down into her eyes. They had darkened with fear, the color reminding him of the turquoise rocks he had seen in New Mexico.

“Are you afraid?” he asked.

“No,” she said, belying her fear. “I’m just fine.”

She smiled at him in such a way he knew it was bravado, and all the resistance he had been hanging on to these last few weeks suddenly melted away. Like a beaver dam washed downstream in a flash flood, the desire for Sarah he had tried to pretend didn’t exist overwhelmed him. He stared at her full, luscious lips so close, so tempting, and with the rain pounding outside, he gave up resisting her any longer.

The tension had been building and building, until he thought it would near burst inside him if he didn’t kiss her. He lowered his lips to hers in a kiss that had been weeks in coming. A kiss he had wanted to give her when she had stepped off that stage.

Softly he brushed his lips across hers and felt as if lightning had struck him, the bum searing all the way to his core.

This was Sarah, the sweet, tempting woman who lingered in his thoughts way too much. He crushed her lips beneath his own in a kiss that released the pent-up desire he had been withstanding these last few weeks. This kiss showed him the error of his thinking that sweet Sarah had been only one night of passion, but was rather a lifetime of regret.

At first her lips were stiff and unyielding, but then her arms wound their way around his neck. He felt the imprint of her body against his, the fullness of her breasts touching lids chest, her skirts swirling about his legs, the way she fit so snug against his body.

Surrounded by the smell of lavender, his mouth plundered hers, tasting and teasing her lips with an urgency he had never felt before. He had waited so long to taste her, to feel her in his arms again. She was so soft, so pliant and he wanted her so badly.

The rain pounded against the roof of the little building, a sweet smell of clean, cool air blowing through the open door as lightning flashed and thunder boomed around them. Their kiss was anything but gentle as he plied his lips against Sarah’s, his tongue tracing the outline of her mouth.

His hands moved down to her breasts, caressing them through the material of her dress. Hunger the likes of which he had never experienced before had him sweeping aside the cotton cloth of her dress, pushing her chemise out of the way, until he found the sought-after kernel of her breast. He rolled the hardened pebble between his fingers before he released her in desperation.

She moaned, the sound echoing in the little cabin, mingling
with the sound of the rain.

Bending down, he put his arm beneath her legs and lifted her, setting her on the table in the middle of the small room. There he put his lips to her breast and suckled gently, laving her breast with his mouth and tongue.

He wanted her fiercely, knowing that at any moment they would both regain their senses and realize this was the act of a crazy man. Their friendship was at stake. The tenacious agreement they had could blow up in their faces if they followed through on their desires.

But he didn’t want to release her. He wanted more. He wanted to seek that level of pleasure he had experienced in her arms before. He never wanted to let go of her, regardless of what he had told her previously. He wanted Sarah naked and vulnerable beneath him.

She plied her fingers through his hair, holding his head as he lavished her nipple. Her head was thrown back, and she moved it from side to side, her eyes closed.

“Tucker,” she moaned.

His hand slid down her waist, farther down her thigh, until he lifted her dress and exposed her stockings. Slowly, he slid his hand up her leg, until he reached the junction between her thighs. His hand gently rubbed her through the slit in her drawers, the slick feel of her desire coating his fingers as she gasped and arched her back, leaving her neck vulnerable and exposed.

But before Tucker could put his lips against her tempting throat, she sat up, pushing his hands away.

“Stop! We can’t do this,” she said breathlessly. She shoved him out of her way, yanked down her skirt and jumped off of the table. Her chest was rising and falling from her labored breathing as she straightened her chemise. “I can’t do this again with you. I just can’t.”

She glanced out the door of the cabin where water dripped from the doorsill. The ground was wet and sparkling with raindrops. The sun was starting to peek from behind the clouds, making the land glisten like crystals dazzling and new.

Somehow the storm outside had passed while the one inside had just been getting started.

“The storm’s over. I’ve got to get home to Lucas,” she said, her voice stilted as she looked about the room wildly. “I’m leaving.”

Tucker stared in disbelief as she grabbed her medical bag and ran out of the cabin, leaving him alone.

Chapter
Ten

Sarah wanted to run. She felt the urge to lift her skirts and run as fast as her legs would carry her away from the line shack and the feelings that Tucker had evoked in that small cabin. He would never commit himself to her, and somehow she had let down her guard and let him kiss her. That simple action had brought up all sorts of feelings that she had thought she had long ago buried. All sorts of emotions she had tried her darndest to hide.