She was having a barbecue. Well, the ranch was hosting a barbecue.
Huge sides of beef were being roasted all around the property, the wine
and beer and whiskey were flowing freely and all manner of entertainment
was going on.
She was having a party--and the cavalry and the Apache and the
townspeople and even the whores from the saloon were in attendance.
Nalte was her honored guest. She and Jamie had discovered that the
Apache had never intended to leave the area, that he meant to find out
about the man who would betray so many people. It was Nalte who had
called in the cavalry, taking a tremendous chance when he had sent a
messenger to the fort.
Tess was glad of the party, and she was grateful to feel a part of a
huge family. She didn't have to be the only hostess.
Kristin, always calm and capable and serene, was handling most of the
social duties.
Still dazed from the events of the day, Tess wanclered through the
crowds rather aimlessly, welcoming the men who had been her friends
after the wagon train had been raided, keeping the peace when it seemed
that the rowdy Indians were getting too close to the rowdy whites. But
she didn't need to take care of much of that. Cole and Malachi and Jon
seemed to have a good eye on things, and Hank knew how to take care of
the place.
She had just wandered into the kitchen when Jamie caught up with her.
As always, he didn't stand on ceremony, but caught her hand and told her
bluntly that he wanted to talk to her.
"But Jamie, we've people" -- "Now, Tess."
She was alarmed when he started to drag her up the stairs, and she
tugged on his hand.
"Jamie" -- "Tess!" He groaned. She was too slow. He turned and swept her
into his arms and ran the rest of the way up the stairs.
"Damn you, Jamie Slater" -- "I told you, Tess. Things were going to go
my way today!"
They reached her room. Setting her down firmly upon her feet, he closed
and locked the door and leaned against it.
She backed away from him distrustfully. She moistened her lips. She
still hadn't really talked to him. There had been so much commotion when
she had first come to. Kristin and Shannon had insisted on taking care
of her, and she hadn't realized until tonight that they had won not just
a battle but the war.
"Thank you. Thank you for saving my life."
"You're welcome," he said briefly, striding across the room for her.
"It seemed the least I could do."
"Yes, well, it's done now."
"Damn you, stand still."
"Jamie" -- He caught her. He caught her arms and he pulled her against
He buried his face against her neck and he murmured softly.
"Just think, you could be carrying a child. And it would be a fine
child.
Cute, beautiful, just like my brothers' kids."
"Jamie" -- He moved away from her, his eyes flittering silver as they
met hers.
"I told you, we're doing things my way today. And we're going to get
married."
She gasped, stunned.
"Wh-what?"
"Married. Now."
"But why?"
"Well ..." He touched her cheek, softly, gently, studying the movement
of his fingers upon her face as if he were seeing it for the first time.
"Well, for one, I'm damned afraid that if I don't, l~lalte will
determine to ride away with you again. He'd already warned me that I
really better make you my woman in truth."
She stiffened.
"Jamie, I heard you say yourself that no one could force you" -- "Then
there's Kristin and Shannon. They'll never give me a moment's peace."
"Jamie" -- "Then I'll be damned if you'll be having any children of mine
without me being present."
"But we don't even" -- "Then there's this," he said softly, and his lips
touched hers more gently and tenderly than she had ever imagined
possible, as if the moon itself touched her. She closed her eyes and she
was back, back to a beautiful valley where they had made love beneath
the moon, where their love had seemed so very right. Where magic had
touched them despite all the odds.
"And this ..."
He touched her forehead with his kiss. Then her cheeks, and her throat,
and her lips again.
"And most important, there is this. I love you, Tess. I love you. I want
to marry you. I want to be beside you from this day forth, and I want to
cherish you forever. Of course, I still want to throttle you. But most
of all, I want to love you, and I want to be loved by you. I want to kn
w your strength and even fight it sometimes,.
and I want to know your tenderness and your love and hold tight to them
forever. How is that?"
" Oh, Jamie!" she whispered. Words failed her.
She came up on her toes and kissed him. She teased his lower lip and his
upper lip with her teeth and tongue, and she met his hunger with a fever
of her own. A dizzying fire swept through her limbs, and she thought she
could sleep beside him tonight, and every night, and she could feel his
arms around her.
eyes and she threw her arms around him and kissed him again.
"Oh, Jamie, I love you! I've loved you for so long now, and I thought
that I didn't dare to believe in forever" -- "But you believed in
yourself, Tess.
Now you've got to learn to believe in me, too."
"I've always believed in you!"
"Then believe in this. I love you, and I will do so forever."
"Jamie ..."
She would have lain down with him then. She would have tasted his flesh
and savored his kiss and given him all and anything he wanted. She would
always lie down with him anywhere, in any wilderness, and love him, and
feel the sun or the moon upon them. It would not matter, as long as they
were together.
But he was clutching her hand again.
"Don't tempt me!" he warned her.
"We've got to get downstairs and do this now. Before Nalte leaves."
"What?"
"We're getting married now, Tess. The chaplain is here, and Nalte is
here, and my brothers are here, and I just can't think of a better
time."
"Married? Now? Tonight?"
They were out the door and he was pulling her down the stairs.
She tugged hard upon his hand.
"Jamie!"
"What?"
"Today I promised to do things your way. I really can't promise to do
that every day."
"Fine. I'll keep you in line," he said, and tugged her again. They
reached the landing, and he shouted, "Cole!
Tell the musicians and get the chaplain. She said yes!" A rebel cry went
up from the Slater brothers. The cavalry didn't seem to mind--in fact
they joined right in. There was another sound, and T~ss recognized
Apache war whoops.
She tugged on Jamie's hand again, but he didn't notice. He kept walking.
Kristin and Shannon and the children and Dolly and Jane and Jon and
everyone were wishing her luck, and she was suddenly standing in front
of a cavalry man wearing a chaplain's insignia.
"Jamie!" she whispered.
"I'm really sorry about your horse."
"Don't be. Nalte gave him back to me as a wedding present."
"Oh! You're marrying me just to get your horse back!"
"Say, "I do," Tess."
She stared at the smiling chaplain and she heard the words but she
didn't hear them. Oh, they would be cherished in her memory forever, but
right now all she could think of was the feel of Jamie's hand upon her,
and the promise of the security of it. It was time, and she said her
vows. Then she was wearing a thin gold band, and everyone was wishing
her luck once again.
There were toasting and dancing, and she kissed Nalte, a huge sloppy
kiss on his cheek.
But then she discovered herself in her new husband's arms again, and she
was heading up the stairs again, and she didn't know if she was drunk
with champagne or with happiness or with desire for this man who had
come into her life and given her everything.
"Jamie!"
"What?"
"We've still got guests downstairs."
He groaned long and low and kicked open the door to their bedroom and
walked determinedly over to the bed after kicking the door shut behind
him.
Then he smiled wickedly.
"My way, Tess. Everything is my way today."
Then he cast himself down upon her. He ldssed her slowly and with
seductive force, and she knew that there was nowhere she would rather
be. When his silver eyes rose above her she smiled sweetly and
breathlessly.
"Your way," she promised.
And he smiled, and he kissed her again.
And indeed, the night was delightfully passed. His way.
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Document creation date: 10.5.2012
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