Wild Is My Heart (46 page)

“I’m okay, darlin’, honest. I’ve been hurt worse.”

As if to prove his words he scooped her into his arms, his lips proclaiming her his for all time. Their kiss deepened, held as Sam’s mouth opened, inviting a more intimate caress, and Colt happily complied. His tongue slipped inside, discovering once again all the sweetness she had to offer, all the sweetness that was his alone to enjoy for the rest of his days. He focused on her lips as if they were the first pair he had ever seen. He held her suspended with those intriguing tawny eyes and Sam melted inside.

“Will it always be this way with us, my love?” Sam asked, her eyes luminous pools of amethyst.

“Always,” Colt promised.

Sam’s response was to wrap her arms around Colt’s waist and squeeze tightly. Colt cried out, his face paling.

“You’re hurt!” Sam exclaimed, tearing at the buttons on his shirt “Where?”

“It’s nothin’, darlin’, just some cracked ribs.” Sam sucked in her breath when she saw the tight wrapping that covered him from armpits to waist.

“Hellfire and damnation, how did you ride wrapped up like that?”

Colt grinned cheekily. “Very carefully.” Abruptly he grew serious. “Let’s go home, darlin’. I want to make love to you in a real bed tonight.”

“You shouldn’t be making love at all until you’re healed.”

“What about you? Did Logan harm you in any way? It drove me frantic thinkin’ of all the ways he could have hurt you.” Lovingly he placed his hand on the slight swell of her stomach. “Our son is safe?”

“Spirit Dancer says he is strong and suffered no ill effects. As for me, other than being tied up for long periods and slapped when I angered Vera, he didn’t hurt me. Spirit Dancer’s medicine has gready revived me. Take me home, Colt.”

Sam watched Colt undress, his hard-muscled body fit and virile despite the bandage that bound his ribcage. Never would she tire of looking at him, of wanting him, of loving him.

It was full dark when they arrived home, escorted by Brave Eagle and three other braves. Recalling Brave Eagle’s parting words brought a flush to Sam’s cheeks and she was glad Colt was too busy undressing to notice.

“If Lion Heart cannot protect what is his, Violet Eyes, I will gladly accept the responsibility. I will always want you.”

Though Colt wasn’t close enough to hear his words, he had stared at them warily, as if surmising what Brave Eagle said. Sam made light of the brave’s words, expressing gratitude for all he had done for her and reiterating her love for Colt. For a fraction of a second Brave Eagle’s impassive features betrayed his innermost feelings, and Sam was deeply moved by the look of love and longing that flitted across his noble face. Then the look disappeared so quickly Sam might have imagined it. Thinking back, she was surprised that Colt had allowed Brave Eagle that moment alone with her, for he had never made a secret of his jealousy over Brave Eagle’s attention to her.

Homecoming had been a happy event shared by everyone on the ranch. Will had been beside himself with joy. The last he had seen of his sister was the day she rode off to Laredo. In the weeks she had been gone Will seemed to have grown up. In Sam’s absence he celebrated his fifteenth birthday and was well on his way to manhood. A pang of sadness struck Sam at the thought that the Circle H was no longer Will’s inheritance as their father intended.

Before Will, Jake, Jim, and Phil, who had returned to accept Colt’s offer of employment, trooped out to the bunkhouse for the night, Sam had managed a few private words with her brother. It was not easy telling Will that she was half-Comanche, or that they had different mothers. But she wanted him to know before he inadvertently found out from someone else. Will looked at her strangely, not speaking for several minutes after the telling.

Would Will hate her? Sam had wondered, tears springing to her eyes. Or hate their father for keeping her ancestry a secret? She needn’t have worried. Will had matured in the past few months, thanks to Colt, who had insisted that Will be treated like one of the men and not a child. It mattered little to Will who Sam’s mother had been, she was still his beloved sister, the only relative he had left in the world. His arms went around Sam’s neck and he hugged her tightly.

“You’re still my sister, Sam, and that won’t ever change. I love you.”

Returning the hug, Sam had said on a sob, “And I love you, Will. I want you to be the first to know that Colt and I intend to marry very soon.”

Will grinned. “I’m glad. I like Colt. I was certain you didn’t hate him. In a way he saved the ranch by buyin’ it. At least it will stay in the family.”

“You’re not bitter about Colt owning the Circle H? Pop meant it for you.”

“Maybe, at first,” Will had admitted, “but only for a little while. The ranch is thrivin’ under Colt’s direction. We would have lost it in any event. You have to admit that stagecoach robbery was a scatterbrained scheme.”

Sam had had to agree, though if it hadn’t been for their crazy prank that day she would have never met Colt.

“What are you thinkin?” Colt asked, sliding beneath the sheet. “Are you unhappy that our marriage was posponed? Don’t fret, darlin’, you have my word we’ll have that ceremony soon. When you’re rested enough to ride into Karlsburg.”

Sam’s mouth curved into a beguiling smile. “Actually, I was thinking about Will. He’s more of a man than I gave him credit for.”

“You told him?”

“Everything. He took it very well.”

“I’m sorry, darlin’.”

“For what?”

“For not acceptin’ your mixed blood with the same good grace as Will. I must have put you through hell.”

“I forgive you. But if you ever act like a bull-headed jackass again, you’ll sleep in the bunk-house,” Sam promised sternly. Her eyes sparkled impishly, belying her words.

“I’m glad you didn’t insist I sleep out there tonight.”

“Why would I do that?”

“Because we’re not married yet.”

“Spirit Dancer joined us weeks ago,” Sam reminded him. “A preacher’s words could bind us no closer than that simple Indian ceremony. A second wedding will serve only to satisfy the society we live in.”

Colt’s tawny eyes turned to pure gold as he lowered his head to capture Sam’s lips. He knew he didn’t deserve this special woman, and he vowed to spend the rest of his life proving his love. “I want to make love to you,” he whispered against her lips. “But I don’t want to hurt you or our baby.”

“Your ribs! You’ll hurt yourself.” “It will hurt far worse if I don’t love you.” “Then love me, for I can’t bear to see you hurt.” Slowly, sensuously, she removed her nightgown, and Colt’s eyes widened at the sheer beauty of her. Colt had touched her before but never with such patient tenderness as he did tonight, leaving hundreds of tiny fires in the wake of his touch. He wasn’t just making love to her but worshiping her. His hands stroked her back and hips as his head lowered to drop soft kisses over her shoulders and the swell of her breasts, nuzzling their velvety softness. Shifting upwards, he lowered his lips to hers and kissed her hungrily, thoroughly. Trickles of excitement slithered down Sam’s spine as Colt’s tongue-tip danced along the sensitive line where her lips met, then probed hotly between them. Colt groaned. Sam was all woman—sweet, wild woman, coming vibrantly alive under his caresses—and all his.

His mouth left her lips, dancing over cheeks, throat, to her breasts, where he greedily licked her nipples until they rose against his heated mouth, taut and jutting with pleasure. A soft moan left Sam’s throat as her whole body began to tremble and vibrate. She dragged in a shaky breath as Colt’s hand sought and found the satiny folds of tender flesh between her thighs. The silken lips of her gently swelling mound felt slick and wet as he slipped a finger inside her.

“I want to make you happy, darlin’. I want to taste your sweetness on my lips.” He slid downwards, replacing his finger with his mouth, the warmth of his breath disturbing the nest of dark curls at the joining of her thighs.

His hands lifting her to him and separating the satiny folds of her femininity, Colt captured the heart of her desire with his lips, bringing her to immediate and unexpected climax with his erotic tonguing. His loving torment continued until Sam grew quiet, then stilled. When Colt would have filled her with his throbbing strength, Sam pushed him back, rising to her knees above him.

“No, let me. I… I want to make you happy, too.”

Then she bent forward and pressed kisses to his most sensitive region, stroking his towering length with her hands. When she opened her lips to love him, she felt him stiffen and cry out. “Christ!”

Suddenly Sam found herself on her back, Colt looming over her, his face taut with passion. “I’m only human, darlin’,” he rasped harshly. “You drive me crazy, Violet Eyes.”

He flexed his tight-muscled buttocks to fill her again and again. She felt her body expanding with his hugeness as he lifted her hips, driving even deeper within her. Sam absorbed all of him, urging him on, his every thrust taking her far beyond any place he had ever taken her before. And then the sweet desperation began, growing with the thrust and withdrawal of each stroke until Sam knew nothing but the warmth, the taste, and the smell of the man she loved beyond all reason.

A ball of fire burst within Sam’s stomach and spread flames to all parts of her body as ecstasy exploded. Only seconds behind her, Colt soared to his own reward, crying out sharply, then dropping his tawny head to rest on her breasts. The pain in his ribs brought Colt abrupdy back to earth, and gingerly he lifted himself, rolling onto his back.

Immediately aware of his distress, Sam teased impulsively, “I hope it was worth it.”

A slow grin curved Colt’s lips. “Give me a few minutes and I’ll prove how little pain bothers me when I’m makin’ love to you. It’s nothin’ compared to the pleasure you give me. I can’t seem to get enough of you, darlin’. I thought a lifetime of lovin’ you would be enough, but now I know even that won’t be enough.”

“A few minutes, Lion Heart?” Sam taunted saucily. “Is my tawny lion growing old?”

“Old? Never!” Colt growled, baring his teeth in a feral grin that made him gready resemble the fierce golden beast whose name he bore.

“Then love me, Lion Heart, love me and never let me go.”

“Forever, Violet Eyes, forever and beyond.”

Epilogue

T
he small church in Karlsburg was crowded. A beaming Ida Scheuer sat in the front row beside a smitten Phil Smith, who had fallen under the attractive widow’s spell the moment they met. Mayor Mohler, Sanchez, and the men from the ranch were there, and surprisingly, Sheriff Bauer and Deputy Lender. Even Captain Rip Ford had altered his schedule to attend the wedding.

Dolly Douglas, owner of the Palace Saloon, and bartender Dirk Faulkner sat near the rear of the church. In fact, the entire town had been invited to share in this happy occasion.

It was to be a double wedding. Samantha Howard was marrying ex-Texas Ranger Steven “Colt” Colter while Colt’s petite sister, Laura, was taking Jake Hobbs, foreman of the Circle H, for a husband. Will Howard, the bride’s brother, and their friend Jim Blake acted as witnesses.

The whole town reverberated with gossip involving Sam and her Ranger. Though Colt was generally hailed as a hero by the townspeople, it came as quite a shock to learn he was the new owner of the Circle H. Of course no one knew the entire story of Samantha Howard’s involvement with the handsome rogue; talk had her bedding him long before the wedding and already with child. Not that it really mattered—he was marrying her, wasn’t he?

The talk concerning Laura Colter and Jake Hobbs was not so clear. Little was known about either of them, though it was obvious to all that the couple were deeply in love. A grand reception was planned following the ceremony at the Palace Saloon, of all places. Dolly Douglas had been most generous to offer her place of business when it appeared that the entire town intended to turn out for the wedding and reception. The party was in full progress when Dolly managed to corner Sam while Colt was momentarily occupied elsewhere.

“You’re a lucky lady, Mrs. Colter.” Dolly smiled wistfully. “Colt’s a good man. I knew he loved you from the first but he was too stubborn to realize it. I’m glad everything turned out well for you. When is the baby due?”

Sam blanched. “You know? How …”

“I guessed,” Dolly admitted. “You’re radiant. Lovelier than a bride has a right to be. I suspected there was a reason for such happiness besides the wedding. And I couldn’t help but notice how careful Colt is of you. Imagine, Colt a father. He must be thrilled.”

“He … is.” Sam blushed, too happy to be angry with Dolly. “I’d appreciate it if you kept it to yourself.”

“Colt and I are old friends and I’d do nothing to hurt him, or his wife. I sincerely wish you nothing but the best.”

Looking into Dolly’s wide blue eyes, Sam realized she meant every word. “Thank you, Miss Douglas.”

Later Dolly found the opportunity to return the letter and will that Colt had left in her keeping. “I’m damn glad I didn’t have to deliver this on the occasion of your death, Colt,” she declared flippantly. “I’d much rather attend your wedding than your funeral.”

“You mean that, don’t you, Dolly?”

“Every blessed word. Now go to your bride, and be happy.” She squeezed his hand, blinking back the moisture gathering at the corners of her eyes. If she didn’t know better, Dolly reflected, she’d think she was getting soft.