Cole jerked his body to the right, easily dodging the book that smashed against the wall and fell open-faced on the floor. He advanced a step.
She grabbed another book and threw it. “Go away.”
“We’ve got to talk.”
She picked up a small pitcher filled with daises. “You mean you have more orders to issue.”
“Dusty’s father’s back in town.”
She lowered the vase and clutched it to her chest. “What!” she whispered. All the fight seemed to drain from her. She squeezed her eyes shut. “Oh, God, not again.”
“He’s not going to take Dusty.” Cole hated seeing her suffer.
Her eyes snapped open. “Did he say that?”
“No. I haven’t talked to him yet.”
“Then you don’t know what he’s going to do!”
Panic twisted her features. “I’m going to talk to him. Make him see reason.”
Her lips flattened into a grim line and her shoulders slumped. “It was wrong of me to keep the truth from you. Maybe this time—”
“This is a different situation,” he said cutting her off. “Judd deserted his boy and in my book that means he surrendered his rights to Dusty.”
She slumped forward and buried her face in her hands. “Cole, what are we going to do?” The raw anguish in her voice tore at his heart.
Cole wrapped his arms around her in a protective embrace and pulled her to him. She melted against him and clung to him as if he were a lifeline. She felt good in his arms.
“I swear I won’t let him take our boy,” he whispered against her ear.”
“Our boy.” She looked up at him, her eyes misty. “I don’t want to lose him.”
“He’s not going anywhere.”
Cole cupped her face in his hands and kissed her on the lips. The kiss was soft, meant to comfort, but it sent his senses spinning out of control. Dear God, he wanted her.
She whimpered and leaned into the kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck.
He tightened his hold. Her soft curves melded against his body, ignited his desire.
“Make love to me,” she whispered.
Needing no more encouragement, he banded his arm around her waist and scooped her legs up with the other. With her cradled in his arms he carried her to the bed and laid her down in the center. Her bed sagged under their weight as he straddled her hips.
She stared up at him, her lips full and moist. She slid trembling hands up his thighs. He sucked in a breath, then captured her hands. He kissed each palm.
Weeks of pent-up emotions begged to be released. He reached for the buttons of her bodice and unfastened each with deliberate slowness. This time he was going to savor touching her, loving her.
Sunlight streamed through the lace curtains onto her creamy white flesh.
Cole cupped her breasts savoring the sight of them. “You’re so beautiful,” he rasped. He kissed their pink tips until they stood erect.
Rebecca arched toward him, pushing into him. “Cole.”
He slid his hand under her skirts and tugged at the drawstring on her pantaloons. The cottony fabric slid easily down her thighs and he reached for her soft feminine flesh. She sucked her breath between clenched teeth when he touched the warm, moist flesh. She was ready for him.
Cole straightened and unfastened the buttons on his pants while Rebecca lay staring up at him, expectant. Her eyes didn’t flutter away as he shoved his pants over his narrow hips. Rock hard, he thought he’d explode as she took in the sight of him. Unable to wait, he dropped down on top of her and slid into her.
Rebecca moaned softly, welcoming him inside her. Why was it that when he was inside her he felt so at home, so at peace?
Cole began to move back and forth, letting his primitive side drive him. Rebecca matched him pace for pace, cupping his naked buttocks and sending him teetering to the brink of insanity and pleasure.
Still, he held off. He wanted her to savor the ancient delights. He kissed her nipple and she moaned. He reached for the tender flesh between her legs and began to stroke her. She arched almost immediately. Her husky whispers were inaudible.
“Please Cole, now.”
“Not just yet.” When they made love they were truly connected and he did not want it to end.
He trailed kisses over her breasts and up the long line of her neck.
He thought he’d burst with wanting her—the exquisite torture. He quickened his pace driving her over the edge into the heart of the maelstrom. Her body stiffened and her fingernails dug into his back. He thrust deep into her and found his own release.
Cole collapsed against her, his body covered in a sheen of sweat. Their heartbeats hammered together as one. And for one instant, he wasn’t alone.
He’d survived as long as he had because he had never relied on anyone. He’d come to accept loneliness as inevitable as the sun—but now, he knew he could no longer exist without Rebecca, Mac and Dusty—his family.
Cole rolled off her. They could never be happy until Dusty’s custody was resolved and their family safe. He could not begin to mend the rift between them until he’d talked to Judd.
Rebecca trailed her fingers down his back. “Don’t go.”
“I have to.” The simplest touch made him grow hard.
Cole wanted to reach out to her, cradle her in his arms, but now was not the right time. He had to make certain their family was safe.
“I’m going to look for Judd,” he said feeling like he needed to explain.
“What are you going to tell him?”
“The truth.”
“Let me come with you.”
“This is something I have to do alone.”
Rebecca flinched. She gathered the edges of her bodice together. The hurt returned to her eyes. The connection between them was severed, the distance between them returned.
Cole would talk to Judd today—face-to-face, man to man—about Dusty. Judd was a rough sort, and had proved he didn’t want the boy. It would be a simple matter to convince the farmer that Dusty belonged with Cole and Rebecca.
It would be simple.
It would be simple.
* * *
Rebecca tucked the edges of the comforter under the pillow, still warm from Cole’s body. The simple act of making the bed saddened her for smoothing the sheets flat erased all traces of their lovemaking.
And she desperately wanted to cling to the sweet moments when time had stopped and they’d moved as one in a perfect, glorious union.
She touched the pillow where he’d laid his head. It still held the imprint of his head. She picked it up and hugged it to her chest.
If it were possible, Cole’s abrupt departure today stung more deeply than it had on their wedding night. He was going to talk to Judd alone, without her. He didn’t trust her enough to help.
She laid the pillow back on the bed and walked to the window. What kind of future could they have if he could never trust her?
“Now why are you standing there with such a long face?” Bess’s cherry voice echoed from the doorway. “What I wouldn’t give to have an afternoon visit like the one you just had. I suppose this means you two have mended the rift between yourselves.”
Rebecca shoved her troubled emotions deep inside her and faced her friend. Bess wore a lovely indigo calico and had swept her salt-and-pepper hair into a neat chignon. “Things really haven’t changed between us.”
“Earning trust takes time.”
“I don’t know what I can do any differently,” she sobbed.
Bess laid her hand on Rebecca’s shoulder. “You don’t need to do a thing differently. Just keep being there for him. In time he’s gonna see what a prize he has for a wife.”
“He can’t get past my lies.”
“He’s a prideful man, but in time he’ll understand. Have faith in him and your marriage.”
Rebecca watched Bess pull a pair of lace gloves from the reticule dangling from her wrist. “Why are you so dressed up? It?
?s not Sunday.”
“Ernie’s downstairs on the porch waiting for me. He’s been promising me a ride in the country for days and I think he’s finally gonna see it through.”
Rebecca cocked an eyebrow. “Ernie Wade? But I thought the man drove you insane.”
“He does, but in a good way. He makes me feel like a young girl.”
Rebecca remembered the way Ernie had courted her. “You must have been upset when he came calling on me.”
Bess shrugged. “The old coot thought a young wife and a family was what he wanted. If Cole hadn’t snapped you up, I would have stepped in and set things straight.”
Rebecca smiled. “But you’re forever ignoring him.”
“Don’t pay to let them think you’re too interested.”
“Ah, Bess,” she said hugging her friend. “I wish you two the best.”
The older woman grinned and hugged her back. “Thank you.”
A loud knock on the front door echoed through the house. Bess giggled like a schoolgirl. “That Ernie is an impatient one.”
Rebecca savored her friend’s excitement and followed her down the stairs to the front hallway. Ernie stood on the other side of the screened door with a batch of fresh daisies in his meaty fist. His hair was parted down the middle and the distinct smell of bay rum oozed into the house.
“I think he’s picked every wildflower in six square miles,” Bess whispered.
“Come in, Ernie,” Rebecca said chuckling. “You know the way inside.”
Ernie opened the door, his gaze flickering briefly from Rebecca to Bess. The wrinkles at his temples deepened when he smiled at Bess. “You’re looking might purdy today, Miss Bess.”
Bess’s skin turned a deep pink. “Thank you.”
She tucked her hand in the crook of his arm and he lovingly patted it. “I reckon we’d best be off.”
“Where are we going?”
He chucked her under the chin. “Now that’s a surprise.”