Five
Heavy with the unfulfilled promise of rain, the night felt as if it were pressing in on Antonie, choking her. Finding Oro, she told him she was going to the swimming hole they had been shown during one of the many tours of Royal’s lands. Not feeling inclined himself, he sent her on her way with a word of caution. Although the last week had been peaceful, Antonie agreed that it would not be wise to ease her wariness. She was not even sure she could. It was too much a part of her.
It had been one long week since Royal had last kissed her, and Antonie began to think that he had changed his mind about wanting her. She also knew that he was one reason that she found the weather oppressive. He had left her with a deep restlessness nothing could cure. She prayed that a cooling swim would dull the fire in her blood enough so that she could sleep.
* * *
Royal found himself stifled by the night, something he had never suffered from before. A restlessness had taken possession of him in the last few days. He cursed softly and rose from the desk—where he had been fruitlessly trying to do some work—to search out Antonie. A week was long enough for her to decide what she wanted. If she had not decided yet, he would do it for her.
Oro closely studied Royal as he asked Antonie’s whereabouts. “It might be wisest if I do not tell you.”
“And why is that?” Royal immediately wondered if Antonie was with a man and frowned when the thought of that actually hurt.
“Señor, I am not stupid. You burn for the little one. Tonight the flame is very hot, eh?”
“Surely that is a matter strictly between Antonie and me.”
Shrugging, Oro said, “Sí and no. It is her body, so it is hers to do with as she wants. Then again, she is like a sister to me and you can understand how I feel. I do not want to sit back and watch her get hurt.”
“I have no intention of hurting Antonie.”
“That is easy to say, eh?” Oro sighed. “Ah well, it is out of my hands. Antonie herself asked that. She has gone swimming.”
“Alone?”
Oro nodded.
“Where?”
“Justin said it was the place of your childhood.”
* * *
Upon reaching the pool surrounded by a stand of cottonwoods, Antonie knew exactly what she might be getting into with Royal. A week of thinking about him and about being his lover had not really decided her. It was when she thought that he might have decided not to bed her that her decision had been made. The thought that she might have already lost her chance was so painful she knew she would give in if he asked her again.
Each time she thought about his kisses that delicious warmth his touch created had curled inside her until now it seemed to be there all the time. Seeing him, even from a distance, was enough to fill her head with erotic images. The man was becoming a drug.
Shedding the last of her clothes, she dove into the water, relishing its coolness. While it eased the discomfort of the heat of the night, it did nothing for the heat within her. Swimming naked held its own sort of seductiveness. Yet again her mind filled with images of her and Royal making love. Antonie softly cursed the man for nudging awake feelings she could not seem to control.
Royal saw her as he reached the stand of cottonwoods. Her fair hair was like a beacon in the way that it caught and held the moonlight. For a moment he simply watched her, enjoying the grace she displayed as she swam. Then, careful not to startle her with too stealthy a move, he approached the edge of the pool.
“Have you come for a swim?” she asked, careful to keep herself modestly covered by the water.
“Am I invited?”
“It is your pool.”
He began to remove his clothes, pausing when he was stripped down to his underdrawers. Recalling that Justin had said the trio swam in their underdrawers, he decided it might be best to leave his on. To dive in totally naked would be presumptuous, and the last thing he wanted was to make any wrong move or gesture. He wanted to pull her closer not scare her away.
As they swam, he noticed that she kept just out of his reach. The occasional glimpse of her slim limbs tantalized him. He could not be quite sure of exactly what, if anything, she was wearing. Finally, he stopped, standing in water that reached to his waist.
“You swim like a fish,” he remarked as she came to a stop far enough away so that the water covered all but her sleek shoulders.
“It was a skill Juan thought good to know.” Her hand itched to smooth over his taut skin as she admired his lightly haired chest.
“Come here, Antonie,” he commanded quietly, tired of the waiting game they had played for a torturous week. “I want to hold you.”
Her pulse jumped erratically at his words, even as she replied, “You might find me a very large armful, gringo.”
“I’m willing to risk that. Antonie, I want to make love to you. No, I crave it. It’s nearly an obsession with me. Come here, Antonie.”
She moved closer, shivering beneath the warmth of his gaze as her breasts slowly cleared the water. “It is a very big step, querido.”
His gaze fixed hungrily upon her full breasts, the rose tips hard and inviting. He reached out and pulled her into his arms. “I’ll help you make it.”
The feel of her breasts pressed hard against his broad chest made her tremble. She slid her arms around his neck as he took her mouth in a deep kiss. Slow and enticing, it revealed his hunger for her, a hunger she shared.
As his kisses grew more demanding, he smoothed his hands down her back. When he met no obstruction to his touch, he trembled, gliding his hands over the gentle curves of her backside and urging her hips against his. The soft moan that escaped her as she came into contact with the indisputable proof of his desire sent his passions soaring. When she moved against him in growing urgency, he found himself shaking.
“You can’t turn away from this, Antonie. Let me love you,” he groaned against her throat.
“Sí.”
As he scooped her up into his arms, Antonie knew that that one small word had irrevocably committed her. He set her down and spread out her towel and his shirt for her to lie on. She mused idly that a man had no right to look so good in wet, sagging underdrawers. When she sat down on their makeshift bed and watched him shed that last piece of clothing, she decided it had to be a sin for him to look so good without them. The man was strength, grace, and virility perfectly blended.
His gaze never left her moonlit curves as he knelt before her. Softly kissing her, he urged her onto her back. When he released her mouth, he stayed crouched over her, surveying her as he lightly skimmed his hand over her.
“You’re lovelier than I had imagined.” He cupped and weighed her full breasts with his hands. “I’ve thought of you like this since the day you arrived.” After caressing her waist, he slid his hands down to her thighs, urging them apart so that he could kneel between them. “God, you’re all cream and gold. It’s going to be heaven, Antonie.”
She did not argue, simply held out her arms. A shudder tore through her when his flesh finally met hers. It felt so good to hold him. She pressed her body against his as he kissed her, savoring the way he stroked her curves with his big hands, stirring her to the point of mindless need.
Slowly he moved his mouth down to her breasts. When he flicked his tongue over each hard tip, she lightly scored his strong back with her nails. Her cry was a mixture of relief and desire when he finally took an aching nub deep into his mouth. She buried her hands in his hair, holding him close as he hungrily suckled her breasts until she writhed beneath him.
When she began to smooth her hands over his long, muscular body, she realized she was not alone in being swept away. His sounds of pleasure were as unrestrained as her own and his caresses grew more urgent. When he moved his unsteady hand from her thighs to touch the very center of her heat, she clenched her hands on his taut buttocks. So strong was her passion that she only flinched slightly, before she was fully caught up in her desires again. She opened to him freely, arching to his touch as she was swallowed up in the fire he created.
“Por favor, por favor,” she rasped, clutching at him in a nearly frantic urgency. “Te quiera. I want you. Te quiera, mi vida.”
When he gave her what she cried for, they both halted in surprise. Antonie felt her passion dim slightly as her innocence was somewhat painfully ended. But she was soon surprised at how little it mattered, the feel of their bodies joined as one sending her passions soaring again.
Royal was stunned into immobility, unable to believe that she was untouched, yet unable to deny it. “Antonie,” he rasped, uncertain about what to do, yet knowing it would be impossible to leave her now.
“Ah, querido,” she whispered, placing her hands on his hips and urging him to move. “Por favor, mi vida. Por favor.”
She cried out with pure delight when he began to move. She wrapped her arms and legs around him tightly as she caught his rhythm, her lithe body falling into perfect time with his.
Their cries mingled as they crested passion’s heights. Royal drove deeply inside her to find his release even as her inner shudders had barely begun. He held her close to him as they trembled and shook with pleasure. It was quite awhile before he could make his sated body move and his desire-fogged mind recall what he had just discovered.
“You were a virgin.” He glanced at himself and winced, for even the dim light could not hide the signs of her innocence staining his body.
“Sí,” she replied calmly as she sat up. “Do not all women start that way?”
He frowned as he watched her go to the stream to wash herself, easing the slight discomfort he had caused her. After a moment, he, too, went to wash off. Then, taking her by the hand, he led her back to their rough bed and sat down, drawing her down beside him. He felt uncertain and did not like it.
“Why didn’t you tell me you’d never had a lover?”
“Would it have mattered?” She moved so that she faced him and reached out to tangle her fingers in the light hair on his chest.
Looking at her, his eyes and body delighting in the way her thick hair draped over her body in a futile attempt at modesty, he rasped, “No, I don’t think so.” When she trailed her hand down the thin line of hair that led to his groin, he muttered, “I would have been more gentle.”
“I have no complaints, querido.” She gently caressed him low on his belly, then moved her hands over his thighs.
“Are you sore?” He reached out to push her hair back over her shoulders, exposing her lovely breasts to his eager gaze.
“De nada,” she purred and gently stroked his manhood, finding that not only his eyes were hungry for her.
“I saw you kissing Oro,” he said thickly, clenching her shoulders as he fought to stay sane enough to speak coherently.
“We were seeing if it was only that I wanted a man, any man.” She watched his eyelids droop and his breath grow uneven as she boldly continued her intimate play. “There was no fire. It could be made, but that was not what I hungered for.”
“And this is what you hungered for?” he groaned as he moved his hands over her breasts.
“Sí. This is what I craved. I decided it was worth the cost. And now that you have had me?”
“I will have you again,” he answered as he pushed her onto her back and slowly eased into her.
“What a good idea. Ah, that feels so good. Magnifico,” she sighed, smoothing her hands over his lean body with undisguised enjoyment.
“Yes, it does feel good,” he murmured as he brushed his lips over hers. “Better than I could have ever imagined.”
When he kissed her, he began to move slowly. She was soon swept away again, lost deeply in her passion. There was no fighting such a fire, and she knew there would be few regrets. Something told her that this was destined and destiny could not be avoided.
Afterwards they fell into a sated sleep, Antonie wrapped securely in his arms. She woke from that pleasant and much needed rest alert and tense, and wondered why. Then she heard the mutter of voices and the soft sound of horses approaching at a slow walk. Nudging Royal awake, she grabbed for her clothes. Although not as quickly as her, Royal was soon as alert and they made for the cover of the trees even as they dressed.
“Raoul’s men,” she hissed as she crouched in their hiding place, her pistol drawn, and watched the group of five men water their horses at the pool.
“Are you sure of that?”
“Sí. I recognize the little fat one with the big scar on his neck. Juan gave him that.”
“What are they saying? My Spanish is not good at all, just a few polite phrases.”
“And they are not being very polite, eh? They plan to raid your stables. They ride there now.”
“They’ll never get enough horses to make it worth their while.”
“They do not want horses, querido. They want to do you damage. Maybe kill a few men. Maybe set fire to the stables. Maybe set fire to something else.” She watched him frown, then slowly cocked her pistol. “We will take them here. We will surprise them. We cannot warn the ones at the ranch,” she pointed out when he hesitated. “They will run if they think they have been discovered. Raoul’s men prefer surprise to be on their side.”
He hated to admit it, but she was right. Briefly he worried about her being in such a position, but then realized that she would think him foolish for worrying. She had spent most of her life in danger, finding herself in similar situations far too often. Nodding, he moved away a little, so that there would be the semblance of a cross fire. At his signal they fired together.
Two men went down immediately and the others scrambled to mount, firing blindly into the shadows of the trees. Antonie cursed when a bullet seared her arm. A third man fell as the survivors fled in a direction away from the ranch. When they were sure it was clear, Antonie and Royal stepped from the shelter of the trees and approached the three bodies on the ground.
Royal watched as she searched the pockets of the dead men. She showed no signs of the hysteria he would have expected from a woman under such circumstances. Instead of tears, she was as cool-headed as he, perhaps more so. It was not until she stood up that he realized there was blood on her arm. Immediately he was at her side. To get a better look he tore her shirtsleeve.
“It is only a flesh wound,” she protested, only to be ignored. “They had no papers on them. I had hoped to find a name.” She winced when he bathed her wound. “We still do not know who has paid Raoul to do these things.”
“We stopped them. That’s what matters. Perhaps if we stay lucky, Raoul will give up. Come on, we’d better get back to the house.”
“Are you angry with me?” she asked as they walked, for there was an odd tone to his voice.
“No.” Royal sighed. “I’m not angry at you. I’m angry that you heard them first and angry that someone is out to bring me down. I’ll also have to get used to having a woman around who can fight like a man. You’re not what I am accustomed to, Antonie.”
“You would prefer that I weep or faint? I would not have lived long if I had done that. I learned how to fight so that I may live.”
“I know, Antonie. I’m not faulting you, don’t ever think that. It’ll just take some getting used to,” he repeated quietly.
When they reached the ranch, Antonie found herself shuttled off to her room, Maria hovering over her. She would have preferred to be with the men, discussing what had happened and what to do in the future in terms of defense. So, too, could she not help but wonder if what had happened between herself and Royal by the swimming hole was all there was to be. He had grown unsettlingly quiet after the battle, as if he had distanced himself from her physically and emotionally. Deciding there was nothing to be gained in fretting over the matter, she let Maria baby her, tuck her into bed, and then found it easy to go to sleep.
* * *
After sending Oro and Tomás off to set up an extra guard, Royal poured himself a large brandy and sat down. Justin was already abed as was Patricia, so only Cole remained in the parlor. Royal was not sure he even wanted Cole’s company at the moment.
“And just how is it that you two happened to be caught unaware down by the swimming hole?” Cole asked. “Swimming, were you?”
“You know damn well what we were doing, not that it’s any of your damn business.”
“Good thing the señorita has sharp ears. Could have been embarrassing.”
“Stop calling her that,” Royal groused. “Her name’s Antonie. Hell, you’re wrong about her and you’re right about her.”
“Care to explain that a mite more clearly?”
“She was a virgin,” he said quietly and nodded when Cole gaped at him in total astonishment. “I felt the same way.”
“You didn’t force her or, hell, I mean, take advantage of her, I reckon. She isn’t going to be crying about being ruined, is she?”
“Not her. But, there I am thinking of her as a sweet untouched girl and, next, she’s got a gun in her hand facing five armed men and calmly stating the advantages of attacking them there and then. Didn’t blink an eye after it was over or even mention that she’d been hit. ‘It’s only a flesh wound,’ she says. Calm and cool the whole time.”
“Just like her adoptive father would have been,” Cole murmured.
“Yes, exactly. Yet, what the hell’s a girl like that doing being a virgin? The two images just don’t mix.”
“I’d feel damn flattered.”
“Oh, I do, but, hell, those Degas boys have been with her for at least seven years, probably longer. I thought for sure they had had her.”
“They started out together at a young age. That could make a difference. They feel more like siblings.” Cole took a long sip of his drink, watching Royal’s frowning face. “What do you do with her now?”
“What do you think?” Royal said dryly. “What I can’t understand is her attitude. I had no hint that she was a virgin until it was too late. She decided she wanted me for a lover and that was that.” He ran his hand through his hair. “I don’t know her kind. All the women I’ve known act according to certain rules. She doesn’t. I don’t know which way to turn.”
“Now that you have made me suitably envious, how about a little bit of advice? She thinks like a man.”
Royal blinked in sudden comprehension. “You’re right.”
“She was raised by a man. Even I’ve seen that she’s more comfortable around men. Oh, there’s no doubt she’s a woman and probably has a woman’s quirks, but if you follow your own inclinations, I think she’ll make sense to you more often than not. She’s looking at this in the same way you are. Pattie’s said several times that Antonie doesn’t seem to know what to do around her, that they have little common ground. I’m sure Antonie has all the emotional twists and turns of any female but, in the main, she thinks like a man.” Cole smiled slowly. “What would a man do now?”
“He’d be waiting in the bed for the damn woman to show up. Maybe sleep a little, but still wait.”
Royal heard Cole laugh softly as he quickly finished his drink and left. He saw the humor in the situation but also understood the concern Cole could not hide. Antonie was still Juan Ramirez’s daughter, a bandido’s child. Royal knew that Cole felt he was headed for trouble. Even so, he mused with a little smile, he suspected that Cole would not mind a little of this sort of trouble.
Slipping quietly into Antonie’s room, Royal fully expected her to wake up. Instead she slept on as if she knew there was no danger. It was evidently not any sound that alerted her to trouble, but some sixth sense. In some ways she reminded him of a wild thing that would start at only a certain sound, movement or scent, quite often imperceptible to a man. Even while he could admire, actually envy, that skill, it was an unsettling one. If nothing else, it served as a strong reminder of the life she had led.
She also looked like a child with a sweet innocence on her face as she slept. Long, thick lashes, like a crescent of black silk, lay on soft cheeks; her full mouth was parted slightly. It was very hard to believe that her small, delicate hand, now curled gently under her cheek, had stroked him so boldly or held a pistol so calmly and expertly.
Quietly he undressed and slid into her bed, taking her into his arms. He was more than pleased to find her naked. Barely had he begun to enjoy that when her eyes opened and she stared at him with a sleepy sensuality that sent his pulse soaring.
“How’s your wound?” he asked as he slid his hand over the curve of her hip.
“It was only a graze. It is nothing to worry about.” She snuggled up to him, delighting in his hard, sinewy warmth. “De nada. I have had worse.” She drew his hand to a scar below her ribs and to her side. “This one nearly killed me.”
Tugging down the sheet, he studied the scar that the dim light of the moon had hidden from him before. “How can you be so calm?”
“I did not die. This, too, I owe to Raoul. Juan ached to kill him. Perhaps I will do that for Juan.”
“Not if I beat you to it. That man’s been a thorn in my side for too long. He also killed my parents.”
“You will have him, querido,” she said confidently. “That dog’s death is long overdue.” She slid her hands down his leg and smiled, deciding that enough had been said about Raoul. “Now that you know I am well, are you going to your own bed?”
“Not unless you join me there,” he moaned as he bent his head to her breasts.
“And what of your family?” she asked huskily, arching to his hungry mouth as it moved over her breasts.
“It is my house,” he stated with an ill-concealed arrogance. “You taste delicious. Honeyed silk.” He gently nipped her taut stomach.
“It is my bed. I should kick you out. What would you do then, mi amor?”
“Come back here and convince you to change your mind.”
“That sounds interesting,” she purred. “Consider yourself kicked out of the bed, gringo. Now, convince me.”
“My pleasure,” he rasped as he prepared to kiss her.
“No, señor,” she murmured against his lips. “I think el gusto mio, the pleasure is mine.”
She made no secret of that, much to Royal’s delight. If there had ever been a woman so open in her sensuality, he could not remember having her. The sound of her passion-thickened voice murmuring in Spanish and English sent his own passion to new heights. Fleetingly, he wondered if he was headed for trouble and entanglement, but the thought vanished as she wrapped her limbs around him. Such a journey was worth whatever fine a man had to pay.
When finally they lay sated and exhausted, Antonie sensed more strongly that with each time she made love to him she was in danger of losing far more than her much protected innocence. The sensation of being bound to him in many ways, not passion alone, grew with every kiss. She knew it would be foolish to think that such glory could come from her body alone. Pushing aside a brief attack of fear Antonie decided such pleasure would be worth the price.
She was sure that her heart was involved, but not so sure of how deeply. She knew it would be risky, if not stupid, to lose her heart completely. Oro was right. Royal Bancroft was a man bred to land and money. That sort of man did not give his heart nor his name to an orphan who had been raised by a bandido. He would search for a lady to be mistress of his big ranch and raise his children.
A wince twisted her face and she was glad Royal was asleep and unable to see it. It hurt to think of another woman sharing the important and the mundane with him. That was something she would have to watch out for.
The pleasure was all she would have. Antonie knew she had to face that. If any more came from their relationship, it would be an unexpected joy. To hope would be to bring herself more pain. Knowing that with such certainty told her she was already in far deeper than she wanted to be.
“Ah, Juan.” She sighed, her gaze on the man whose dark head rested so nicely upon her breasts, “I think your niña has been a little unwise. I think she has stepped off a very high cliff. I pray that you are here in spirit, at my side at all times as you promised, so that you might cushion my fall.”