Miss Phipps and the Cattle Baron (17 page)

When the door clicked shut behind the women,
Adam started toward Priscilla. "I take it you're comfortably
settled in your apartment upstairs?" he said.

Priscilla backed away from him. "Yes, why do
you ask?"

Adam continued toward her. "I think you
already know why."

Priscilla continued to back away, while
saying, "The last time I saw you, I made it clear that whatever was
between us would not proceed any further. Nothing's changed."

"The last time you saw me, you kissed me like
there was no tomorrow," Adam reminded her. "Well, tomorrow came,
and I'm here, and I intend to kiss you again, and after that I'm
going to carry you upstairs and fill your bathtub with warm water,
and strip you naked, and put an end to the torture you're putting
me through."

Adam's words brought prurient images rushing
into Priscilla's mind, which she was determined to quash. "What
torture?" she said. "You've been gone two weeks. I haven't even
been with you."

"You're always with me. You're on my mind
when I'm riding the range and when I'm laying awake at night. And
whenever I bathe, you sure as hell are on my mind. And seeing you
now is driving me crazy to carry you up to bed and end this
torment."

"I'm sorry," Priscilla said, "but you will
not be carrying me to bed tonight because—"

"We'll discuss that after I do this." Adam
pulled her roughly against him and covered her mouth with his. Her
response was immediate and demanding, matching the thrusts of his
tongue with hers, shoving her fingers in his hair, rasping her
fingernails down his back, pressing her breasts against his chest.
She kissed his jaw, and his neck, and the hollow of his throat
where his shirt gaped open. But when he scooped her up in his arms
to carry her upstairs, the sound of footsteps on the floor above
caught him up short. He slowly lowered her to the floor. "Is there
someone here?" he asked.

Priscilla patted her chest, finding it hard
to catch her breath. "Oh, my goodness! Yes! I forgot... that is...
I didn't really forget. I was just momentarily distracted..."

"Miss Priscilla?" Trudy's voice called down.
"Is there someone down there?"

"Yes, Trudy," Priscilla called up, while
hastily rearranging her hair. "Go back to your room."

"Then you'll be coming up soon?" Trudy asked.
"I want to talk to you some more about Viscountess Harberton and
the Rational Dress Society."

"I won't be long." Priscilla assured her.

Adam's jaws clenched. "Trudy's staying here
with you... tonight?"

"It's been our arrangement since you left,"
Priscilla replied. "You said you didn't want your mother having to
monitor her, and I was afraid Trudy might slip away with her young
man, so your mother and I decided this would be the best
arrangement until you returned. So you will either have to go to
your house or to the Cheyenne Club, because you will not be staying
here. But then, that would not have been an option even if Trudy
were not here."

"I see," Adam said, fists knotted at his
sides. "Like I told you before, my life was a whole lot less
complicated before you arrived."

"Well, it can be uncomplicated again, if you
stay away from me," Priscilla said, fighting the urge to pound the
man's chest... or strip off his clothes, and hers, and shove him to
the floor and cover his naked body with hers. Instead, she drew in
a long breath to settle the erratic beating of her heart, and said,
"I did not ask you to come here tonight. That was your decision.
And what you had planned for us was also your decision."

"Maybe what I had planned tonight was mine
alone, but to refresh your memory, you were the one who confronted
me about divesting yourself of your maidenhead so you could
experience the marital act. I just came here tonight to
oblige."

"Well, I wouldn't want to put you out in any
way," Priscilla huffed. "In spite of the unappealing way that I
look, I imagine I could find a man who would be willing to take
care of that problem for me. At least from the neck down I'm not
too unsightly."

"There's nothing wrong with the way you
look!
It's your bloody attitude. You make a man impotent by
your sexual demands."

Priscilla glanced down. "You don't seem to be
impotent right now."

"No, I'm frustrated as hell!"

"Well, I'm frustrated too, Adam, but
circumstances have changed. I still want you to do all the things
you described, but I also realize that turning to you for sexual
gratification is not enough. I have to feel something for you."

"Then you're telling me you feel nothing for
me." It was a statement.

"No. I feel something very strong for you,"
Priscilla said. "But there has to be more. I have to admire and
respect you, and during the two weeks you've been gone, there have
been several more acts of violence by cattlemen against
homesteaders."

"Miss Priscilla?" Trudy called out. "Is my
father here?"

"Yes, Trudy," Priscilla said, disturbed that
she would not be able to carry out her thoughts with Adam, when
what she'd wanted was his assurance that his men had no part in the
two latest incidents. She wanted desperately to love and respect
him, because she also wanted him to come to her bed and fulfill his
promise.

The footsteps on the stairs quickened, and
Trudy emerged from the shadowy stairwell. "Father, why are you
here?" she asked, her voice void of affection.

"I'm here to see Miss Phipps," Adam replied.
"How are you?"

"Fine," Trudy clipped. "Are you staying
long?"

"Probably not," Adam replied. "Do I get a
hug?"

Trudy made no move toward him. "Did you hear
about Mr. Watkins' mule?"

Adam looked at Trudy, puzzled. "I don't even
know who Mr. Watkins is."

Trudy glared at her father, as if holding him
to blame, and said, "Mr. Seth Watkins is a homesteader. Cattlemen
shot and killed his mule. He can't work his land and he won't be
able to get his crops in. The women were talking about it at the
last Town Tattler meeting. And three cowboys attacked the wife of
another homesteader. She's too afraid to stay, so they are packing
up and leaving."

Adam looked at Priscilla. "This is your
doing," he said, "bringing Trudy here and allowing her to listen to
all those rabble rousing females at your meetings."

"Trudy staying with me has nothing to do
with what's going on between the cattlemen and the
homesteaders!"
Priscilla paused to draw in a long breath to
check her temper, then said in a measured voice, "The acts of
violence are happening, and there's no question cattlemen are
behind them."

Adam glared at her. "You and the rest of your
flock have made up your narrow female minds that cattlemen are
behind every misfortune that happens to any homesteader, and
nothing's going to change that."

"Narrow female minds!"
Priscilla
clenched her jaws to keep from spitting out a string of expletives
she'd never uttered. When she'd regained her composure, she lifted
her chin and said, "Since you're running for mayor, why don't you
refute these claims in an opinion piece for The Town Tattler. You
could outline the measures you'd take to make sure incidences don't
continue to happen. Or if they do, you could assure readers that
you will make every effort to see that the perpetrators are held
accountable. So far, no one has looked into any of the incidents.
It looks very suspicious, since the lawmen who are supposed to be
protecting the people were hired by the Stock Growers
Association."

Eyes narrowed, fist knotted, legs spread like
he was primed for a gunfight, Adam said, "Let's get a few things
straight. My men had nothing to do with any of the incidents those
women have been filling your head with, and I will not be adding my
voice to the gossipmongers who are writing for your paper." He
looked up the stairs. "And Trudy, collect your things because
you'll be coming home with me. Now!"

"Taking Trudy away from here will not prevent
her from hearing the stories that are going around town," Priscilla
said. "The only way you can do that is to take her back with you to
the ranch. Is that what you really want?"

Adam's thick chest heaved with a slow intake
of breath, and the anger on his face changed to dismay. While he
seemed to be deliberating what to do, Priscilla looked at Trudy,
and said, "Please go upstairs, lovey. I'd like to speak with your
father alone."

Trudy looked at Adam for confirmation. "Go
ahead," he said.

Trudy turned and scampered up the stairs.

Priscilla said to Adam, "We need to continue
this in the back room, where Trudy won't hear us." Without waiting
for Adam's response she turned and walked through the open doorway,
and Adam followed her into the darkened room, shutting the door
behind him.

Priscilla turned to face him. In the dim
light sifting through the murky window, she said, in a hushed tone,
"If you take Trudy back to the ranch, she'll soon be with your
young cowboy. As it is, she's occupied with her studies during the
day and with writing poems and essays for the paper in the evening.
And with her here, I'm able to monitor her comings and goings. So
far, she has not protested or tried to slip away because she's
being kept busy with things that interest her, which I believe is
more important than making sure she's not having her head filled
with what you consider suffrage nonsense."

When Adam didn't reply, Priscilla said, "You
have to recognize that Trudy is a young woman who is becoming aware
of needs that only a man can fill. Because of her age and her
innocence, she's vulnerable, and she should not be allowed to find
herself alone with a young man who awakens her body to unfamiliar
longings, which will happen if you take her back to the ranch.
Before I met you, I believed that a woman was capable of
maintaining complete control of her actions at all times, that if a
man tried to lure her into doing something she knew was improper,
she'd have the will to stop herself, and him. I was wrong. When you
hold me and touch me and kiss me I have no control at all. My only
wish is for you to strip off my clothes and have your way with me.
It has become a problem of late, but I'm trying to deal with
it."

Adam stared at her, clearly uncertain whether
they were engaged in an argument and he should keep his distance,
or whether her proclamation was an invitation for him to take her
now. And all she knew, as she waited for him to decide, was that
she wanted him to end the terrible yearning that was foremost on
her mind. She didn't want to think about whether he could be
involved with the incidents with the homesteaders. Later, she'd
consider it, and probably regret anything she might let him do. But
for now, her thoughts were singular. And Adam knew it.

He opened his arms to her, and when he did,
she rushed into them, and said, "This is exactly what I mean, and
why Trudy must stay with me."

"You're right," Adam said. "But I'm also
obsessed with having you. I know I can have other women, but none
of them interest me now. You're the only woman I want. And I want
you now." His fingers went to her bodice and he fumbled with the
buttons.

Shoving his hands aside, Priscilla quickly
unfastened the buttons herself and opened her dress. "This is as
far as we can go tonight," she said, slipping loose the lacings of
her corset. "Trudy's upstairs, and I'm trying my best to convince
her that she must remain chaste until marriage. And I'm a terrible
example right now, but I want you to do what you did in the buggy.
I'll worry about the consequences of my lack of willpower later."
She shoved open her corset and pulled Adam's head toward her
breast, and his lips latched onto a nipple. As Adam lathed and
suckled one breast, and kneaded the other, Priscilla tipped her
head back, closed her eyes, and let out a string of little
plaintive moans. "Please don't forget that I have two breasts, and
the other is equally ready for your ministrations," she said, in a
voice heavy with passion.

Adam moved to her other breast, and Priscilla
let out a moan of pure pleasure. "I'm about to go mad with wanting
you," she said in a raspy voice. "What you're doing is simply not
enough. But there's no way you can take my virginity quietly right
now. I'm certain to let out some very dubious sounds. I almost did
in the buggy when we came so close, and it wouldn't do to have
Trudy come bursting in on us to find out what was wrong with
me."

Vacillating between pressing Adam's head
closer against her, or lifting it away, she gave a long moan of
frustration, took his head between her hands and pulled it off her
breast, then drew her corset together and tugged on the lacings.
"Thank you," she said, while buttoning her bodice. "That was a
delicious sampling of what I might expect from you, even though I'm
more frustrated now than ever."

"I understand frustration," Adam groused. To
Priscilla's shock, he took her hand and pressed it over his male
part. "This isn't going away for a long time, and it's damn
uncomfortable while it lasts. "

Priscilla cupped her hand closer around him,
her fingers surveying the lumpy hardness of him and the
surprisingly large size of the thing she had been so curious about.
"It does explain what was going on beneath my skirt in the buggy
though," she said. "I couldn't see that part of you at the time,
and what I felt when you placed it where you did was puzzling. Does
this happen often?" she looked up at him and waited.

Adam's face looked grim. "Unfortunately,
yes...every time I see you, or think about you, or smell something
that reminds me of you, or see a woman with red hair and freckles
and blond eye lashes. It even happens when I see a picture of a
woman who lived three hundred years ago!"

Priscilla laughed and moved her hand away.
"I'd like to have that power over men three hundred years from
now." She placed her palm on his chest and reached up and gave him
a kiss. "I'm sorry you're uncomfortable," she said, "but there's
nothing we can do about it tonight. I also think you should leave
or Trudy will wonder what's going on in here and come to
investigate."