Wild Lilly (6 page)

“Thought you might.” Rufus laughed. “Darndest thing I’ve ever seen. That horse was waiting for you, Miss Brooks. He’s tried to buck off everyone that’s aimed to ride him, except you and Owen.”

Lilly winked at Owen. “He must only like brave people.”

Owen blushed and scuffed the dirt at his feet.

“Do you have someone to care for him, Miss Brooks?” Paul asked with a smile. Her heart fluttered—when Paul wasn’t being surly, he was devastating.

“Yes. I’ve hired the porter’s sons to come out and help at the farm. And Maggie Beechum will be coming by twice a week to help with the housework.” Lilly gave Storm one last stroke as Mark led him back into the barn.

Owen said, “It’s not right that you’re out there all by yourself, Miss Brooks.”

His small face was serious and scared, and she wondered what happened to make such a young boy so fearful.

She started to tell him she’d be all right, but he was already running off toward the main house. She gave both men a questioning look, but neither commented on it so she let the matter drop.

“Miss, if you’ll come with me I’ll show you a nice carriage-trained mare that should work out well. I’m sure Paul will be glad to take you home until you can get to the carriage shop in town tomorrow,” Rufus said as he offered his arm.

Paul nodded at the other man before she could protest, and headed in the direction that Owen ran off to. With a sigh, she followed Rufus into the barn.

Lilly took a sip of the cool lemonade and set the glass on the table. They had finished filling out the purchase contract for the horses. Rufus was right: the mahogany mare was perfect for pulling a cart.

From outside of the small office in the barn she heard a commotion. First was Paul yelling, followed by the wails of an aggrieved adolescent, and finally a barking dog joined the din. Lilly and Rufus exchanged a glance and followed the sounds outside.

Owen hollered at Paul. “She needs them! She’s out there all alone! If she’s alone, robbers can get her, and I don’t want that to happen! Please, Paul, please!”

Tears ran down Owen’s cheeks as Paul took his hat off and ran his hand through his dark hair. Owen held the leash to two extremely large and slobbery dogs. They were tan with black markings on their feet and ears. Large, wrinkled faces growled at Paul.

“Owen, you can’t just go giving these dogs to Miss Brooks. You don’t even know if she likes dogs,” Paul argued as he crouched down in front of his little brother, ignoring the dogs and putting his hand on the boy’s shoulder.

Rufus leaned over and whispered in her ear. “Their parents were killed during a stage coach robbery three years ago. Owen is overprotective of anyone he likes.”

Lilly took a deep breath through her nose in sudden understanding. “Mr. McGregor,” she called out over the growls. “I would be honored to be protected by such brave and wonderful creatures as those...they are dogs aren’t they? Not some small bears?”

The comment earned her a smile from Owen. “Yes, ma’am,” he answered. “This is Sampson and Delilah. They’re bullmastiffs. Me and my brothers breed and train ’em.”

Lilly looked over at Paul, who shrugged his broad shoulders. “What do they eat?”
Two sheep for dinner and a pig for a snack
? Lilly pondered as she stared at the happy doggy faces in front of her.

“Anything they can get their paws on. They’re still puppies, so lock up your food and chickens.” Rufus pressed his lips together, as if he were trying to keep from laughing at her.

“Still growing? These are puppies!” The only experience Lilly had with dogs were her grandmother’s yappy toy poodles.

“Yes, ma’am. They’re ten months old,” Paul said with a wide smile. “Sampson will probably get to be around 120 pounds, and Delilah will top out at 100.”

“I don’t know if I can handle two of them, Owen. Why don’t you pick one to give me? That way I’ll have my guardian, and you will too,” Lilly suggested, trying to salvage a bit of the situation.

Owen nodded and handed the leash to the larger dog. “Take Sampson, Miss Brooks. Delilah sleeps with me at night. I’d miss her.”

As the wagon bumped down the road, Lilly wondered how in the world she’d gotten into this situation. Next to her sat a silent Paul, and in between them sat a very big, and happy Sampson. In an odd way, he reminded her of Owen. Storm and Sage, the mare, trotted along next to the wagon, and in the bed was enough feed to last a week, along with a saddle and harness.

“Miss Brooks, I’d like to apologize for my actions yesterday.” Paul darted a look at her as he steered the wagon into her gravel drive.

Lilly remained staring straight ahead. “What actions would those be, Mr. McGregor?”

He pulled the wagon around to the back of the cabin and put on the brake. Sampson leapt down with a happy bark and began to nose around the yard, stopping to mark a walnut tree. It was comfortable beneath the branches that shaded the log cabin. Lilly closed her parasol as she gave him an arch look.

Paul tilted the edge of his hat as he watched her. Without Sampson’s bulk between them, she became aware of his presence again. His pale blue eyes seemed to linger on her lips, and she wet them nervously with her tongue.

“You’re not going to make this easy on me, are you, Miss Brooks?” Paul’s voice sounded deeper than usual. It made delicious little chills dance their way down her spine and settle between her legs.

With a coolness she didn’t feel inside, Lilly just stared at him.

He sighed and took her gloved hand. His hands were so big, and solid from work. She marveled at the strength in them—he could totally engulf her hand in his. She glanced at him through her lashes and the shadows of the sunlight through the leaves moved across his rugged face.

“I’m sorry I thought you were a soiled dove. It was rude of me to have made that statement to a lady.” His lips curved into a wicked smile. “Even if you did look most tempting in that dress.”

Lilly snorted in an un-ladylike manner, but kept her hand in his. “I forgive you this once, Mr. McGregor, but don’t let it happen again. You did save me from those no-accounts.”

He lowered his head to her knuckles and whispered against the thin fabric of her glove. “Call me Paul.” He gently pulled the glove from her hand and rubbed his big thumb over her knuckles, murmuring. “Like silk.”

Her breath caught as his lips grazed the back of her hand, slowly brushing back and forth in a delicious caress. He looked up at her, as if for permission, and all she could do was stare in fascination as heat and desire lit her on fire from the inside out. Warmth spread in her body like his mouth had stroked the golden curls between her legs. A sigh escaped her lips as the tip of his tongue licked the sensitive flesh between her fingers.

Ever so gently, he teased that tender skin with his tongue, with soft licks as he slowly took the tip of her finger between his teeth. A gentle bite on her skin, then the warm, smooth heat of his mouth engulfing her willing flesh.

It felt delicious. She had no idea all the wonderful things that her fingers had been missing out on. If she weren’t so stunned by his sensual assault, she would give him a blue ribbon for finger seduction. His dark lashes lifted off his cheeks as he gazed at her, gently easing her finger out of his mouth with a sucking motion, the tip of his tongue giving her a final flick.

Every part of her body, from her rigid nipples to the wet heat between her legs, begged for more of his attention. Paul held her unresisting hand and began to kiss his way over her palm, pausing to give the thin skin of her inner wrist a gentle bite. She sighed again and shifted her hips, pressing her thighs together as the tender skin between her legs ached. She was unable to look away from his lips as he placed her hand high on his hard thigh and began to lean forward. Right now she should be slapping him for taking such liberties, but no man had ever made her feel like this.

She felt as though she were drowning in him, firm lips, rough hands, and the smell of the sun on his skin. Everything blended in the perfect harmony of seduction. She found herself leaning forward, all thoughts of being mad at him gone, as well as thoughts of anything other than soothing the ache between her legs.

Paul wet his lips and reached a callused hand to cup her cheek. He sighed as he ran his thumb down the line of her jaw, the simple motion making her eyes flutter shut. With her eyes closed, she was even more aware of her senses, the way the breeze felt against her skin, the deep burn that moved through her. Anticipation made her body tight with need.

Barking interrupted her thoughts like a splash of cold water. She jerked away from his hand and tried to gather her frayed thoughts. Sampson leapt and bound toward the front of the house. Soon, two teenage boys in overalls rounded the side of the structure.

Lilly and Paul stared at each other, each breathing faster than normal, and Lilly tried for a nonchalant tone of voice., “If that’s how you apologize, you’ll have to make me angry more often.”

Paul laughed and dismounted from the wagon. He came around to her side and helped her down as the boys strolled up.

“Hello, ma’am. My name is Jess and this here is my brother Brian. Our Pa said you needed some help?” The tow-headed boy shifted nervously as Paul gave him the once-over.

“Yes, I need some good and honest men to help me keep my animals cleaned and fed, and the grounds clear.” Lilly was glad the edge of her bonnet hid her face from Paul. She was unsure as to how she felt about what happened. She had kissed men before, and a little more than that, but what Paul had done with just her hand made her more aroused than any other man ever had.

Both boys stood straighter and puffed their chests out. Lilly had to fight a smile as Jess said, “Yes, ma’am. Brian and me wanna do our ma and pa proud.”

“Good. You can start by taking the horses and feed, and put them in the barn. Then I’d like you to take a look at the chicken coops and see if you think they’re in good enough condition to house some hens.” Lilly’s training as a schoolteacher turned her into an efficient drill sergeant.

She turned to Paul, a small smile on her lips. “Mr. McGregor, if you will excuse me, I have some work to do inside.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure you don’t need any help, inside, Miss Brooks?”

Lilly gave her un-ladylike snort again. “No, I believe the gentlemen and I have everything well in hand. Goodbye, Mr. McGregor. It has been a most...educational afternoon.”

She moved swiftly into the cabin, shutting the door behind her and leaning her bustle against it. Holding her hand in front of her, she marveled again at the talent of that man’s tongue. Once she got over wanting to pummel him, he was rather charming, and his younger brothers clearly worshipped him. Paul obviously took pride in his ranch. It was clean and well managed and his horses were magnificent. Everything she had imagined a cowboy would be and more.

Stealing a quick look out the window, Lilly watched Paul help the boys unload the feed. He really was a superb example of masculine perfection. Lilly hummed a pleasant tune as she unpinned her bonnet and thought about eyes as blue as the distant horizon.

Chapter Five

My Land for His Future

Lilly resisted the urge to pat her hair and kept her hands at her sides. She had done the best she could with the schoolhouse the community provided, but it wasn’t much. Rain leaked from two different places into an old spittoon and a bucket. A few gaps in the walls let a whistle of wind in, and yesterday she’d had to clean a bird’s nest out of one of the desks.

Fourteen little sets of eyes watched her every move from their desks. The children came into the classroom one by one after she rang the school bell. Ranging in age from six to thirteen, they all had a lunch bucket, and that was about it. None of them had brought their own books, pencils, paper, or chalk. Evidently, word that the students were expected to bring their own supplies had either been forgotten or ignored.

She smoothed her hands over the green gingham dress and stood straight. An American flag on the wall fluttered in the breeze from a poorly sealed window. “Good morning, class. My name is Miss Brooks.” Silence and shuffling met her announcement.

“I will be teaching you for the rest of this year. But first, I need to find out where your old teacher left off. Can someone please tell me what subjects you were studying last?”

In the back, Owen raised his hand, blushing as all the other children turned to look at him.

“Yes, Owen?”

“Our old teacher, he slept most of the time.”

She blinked at him in confusion. “He what?”

A little girl with long blond braids nodded. “That’s right, Miss Brooks. He found out we didn’t have that many books, and that we didn’t really know much, so he just slept most of the time.”

“Didn’t your parents notice?”

The little girl shrugged. “Yeah, that’s why he got fired. Mrs. Krisp taught us for a while—she was really nice. But Mr. Krisp didn’t like it, so she had to stop.”

Lilly rolled the information around in her mind as the children stared at her. She would have to order some books, and see what supplies they had in town. It would use up a good chunk of her money, but it had to be done. She had a job here, and it seemed like she was the only one that cared enough to do it.