Wyoming Wildfire (18 page)

“Are all these hay meadows we’re passing ours?” Sibyl inquired, struck with an idea.

“Yes.”

“Is this all of it, or is there any more?”

“Altogether I’d say we had about five or six times what you’ve seen this morning.”

“Then you’ve got your feed. That much hay ought to carry the whole herd through the winter.”

“I wish it did, but it doesn’t last more than a couple of months at the most.”

“Do you cut and stack it?” Burch shook his head. “Then you’re wasting it. If it’s left on the ground, the cows will trample a good half to two thirds of it into the mud. That’s if they don’t eat it before it’s needed.” A blank expression settled over Jesse’s face, but Burch quickly grasped the potential of the idea. Sibyl hurried on. “Instead of giving the crew a month off, put them to work cutting every bit of hay they can find. You can stack it near the water so they can keep the ice open and watch the cows at the same time.”

“The boys have to get their time in town,” Jesse reminded Burch. “They’ll quit if they don’t.”

“They can go a few at a time,” Burch countered with dawning understanding.

“The cows won’t eat anything unless they have to dig for it,” Jesse warned.

“They’ll learn if we have to feed them by hand,” Burch insisted, grinning broadly now. “And keeping the cows together will make the men’s work easier. Damn, what an idea! Did you think of that by yourself?”

“No, everybody uses haystacks back home.”

“But you’re the first one to think of using them here,” Burch said, impressed in spite of himself. “Wait until the men hear about this!”

“Yeah, just wait,” Jesse added gloomily. He left them very soon after that.

Sibyl felt like she was floating on air. Basking in the warmth of Burch’s approval, it was impossible for her to grow tired. Her curiosity was inexhaustible and her will indomitable. She insisted that he not vary his work in any degree because of her presence. He didn’t take his usual long looping ride, but they did range far over the plain, supervising the cowboys who were searching the arroyos and canyons for cattle.

The day was filled with much shared fun, and during its course, a feeling of closeness grew up between Sibyl and Burch. It wasn’t long before she found that even as he explained some part of the roundup or they galloped toward the next rise, she was very conscious of his body next to hers, his hand occasionally on her saddle horn, his leg in the stirrup next to hers. He often rode ahead of her and she was repeatedly made aware of the broad power of his back, the massive strength of his legs. Seeing him rope a full-grown steer and effortlessly throw it to the ground did nothing to diminish her admiration. He was a man who could
do
instead of talk, and he was proving it right before her eyes.

Midday found them tired and hungry and far from camp. “When do we eat?” she asked when the rumbling in her stomach began to distract her.

“Tonight.”

“I mean lunch.”

“We don’t. We only eat at dawn and dusk.”

“Nobody eats anything?”

“Everyone’s away from camp, and it wastes too much time to go back.”

“But I’ll starve before then.”

“You mean you didn’t have the foresight to pack a lunch?”

“I didn’t know I needed to,” she answered crossly.

“Then it’s a good thing I did.” He reached into his saddlebags and offered her a carefully wrapped cloth. “I thought you might get hungry.” For a moment he wasn’t sure she would accept it.

“Did you bring something for yourself?”

“Of course.”

“Where do we stop?” she inquired, breaking into a smile. “I could eat a horse.”

There’s a line cabin near here. It’ll give us some shade and fresh water.” The small log cabin was reached quickly.

“I’ve noticed these before,” she said, inspecting the pitifully bare shack. “What are they used for?”

“The men use them when they get too far away to return to the bunkhouse. They’re especially useful in the winter and during bad weather.”

They don’t look very comfortable,” she observed dubiously. The tiny cabin contained one bed and a small stove; the log walls were chinked with mud.

“Why are the walls covered with paper?”

It gives the men something to read and also serves to insulate the cabin against the wind.”

“This is out of a catalog.”

“Reading wish books is a favorite way to while away a long winter afternoon.” She was still reading the walls when he came back with some fresh water. She spread the food on top of the stove and they sat on the bed to eat.

“Where are the chairs?”

“It
was probably cut up for firewood, if there was one. When a man sets a horse all day, a bed is more welcome. This cabin is too close to
the
ranch to be a two-man cabin, so there’s no need to be prepared for company.”

After lunch Sibyl felt drowsy and Burch encouraged her to stretch on the bed. It wasn’t very comfortable, but then she only planned to lie down for a few minutes. Just enough to relax before climbing back in the saddle.

Sibyl opened her eyes to find Burch at her side, staring at her with an intensity that set her pulses to racing immediately. “How long have I been asleep?”

“Not long,” he smiled, caressing her cheek with his fingertips.

“Have you been sitting here the whole time?”

“Just about.”

“It must be boring.”

“Do you know how beautiful you are when you’re asleep?”

“Of course not” she laughed, pleased. “I’ve never watched myself sleep.” When he didn’t return her smile she felt a tremor of apprehension. “Don’t tell me I look worse when I’m awake?”

“You’re even more lovely awake.” He let his finger trail along her neck. Instinctively, she took his hand and drew it to her lips. An avalanche of desire came crashing down and destroyed Burch’s restraint. He wrapped Sibyl in a crushing embrace and covered her mouth with his hungry, insistent kisses. With a leaping heart, she responded to his embrace, clinging to him and welcoming his lips. A low moan escaped him and his hands began to move over her body. No protest escaped her lips when Burch eased on the bed next to her. The feel of the length of his hard, lean body against her pliant flesh caused her passion to flame like dry tinder. Without caring how it happened, she found the front of her shirt open and his hot demanding lips deserting hers for the mounding peaks of her full young breasts. “Burch!” she groaned as his teeth and tongue teased her nipples until she thought she’d go mad. A raging fire swept through her body, spreading from every point where he touched her.

But when his knee pried her legs apart and a bold hand began to caress her where she’d never been touched before, she felt a new sensation coming from deep within her, knifing out through her body, making every nerve so painfully sensitive her whole being trembled with its force. Her hands joined Burch’s to free her body of the last remnants of clothing. She lay before him in her perfection, vulnerable and inviting.

Burch’s lips trailed kisses along her quivering flesh while his hands touched and pressed and massaged until she thought she would scream with desire. She drew his lips to hers and with fumbling fingers began to help him out of his clothes. Her hands played through the soft hair on his chest and across the powerful muscles of his shoulders. Down the small of his back they went until they reached the swell of his buttocks. She felt the hard, pulsing of his passion against her belly and opened her legs to receive him in an act of fulfillment both her body and mind demanded.

As Burch eased himself into her, a spiral of fiery pleasure radiated through her whole body. This might hurt a little,” he whispered in her ear, but she was too deep in the toils of her need to heed any warning. She clung to him, pressing his buttocks to her, trying to draw him within her to reach her rampaging need. A sharp pain momentarily penetrated the blanket of sensual delight that enveloped her, but men she experienced the wonder of his bigness deep within her, filling her with his heat and desire, and all memory of pain was wiped from her mind. She rose to meet him, her body arching against his with fierce, demanding want. The tempo of their lovemaking increased and her grasp on reality weakened until she felt cut loose and borne aloft by the waves of pleasure that washed over, through, and around her. Hungry for more, she sought Burch’s lips while her hands urged him to continue the ascent of spiraling desire that threatened to consume her very soul. Abruptly she felt his body tense and he deposited his hot seed deep within her. Her body seemed to explode and a fresh wave swept over her, leaving her breathless and incredulous.

His passion spent, Burch lay still within her as her body began a slow descent. Her eyes softened as she gazed contentedly at the handsome features that had become so dear to her. It seemed like a long time before his breathing returned to normal, but when he opened his eyes again she smiled and he gently kissed her lips. She welcomed his embrace, inviting his hands to begin their explorations again as hers sought to become familiar with him. Almost instantly she felt him begin to grow within her and the passion she thought totally spent renewed itself in an instant. They made love again. This time there was less urgency and more gentleness in their union, but to Sibyl it was the same shattering experience.

Sibyl lay contentedly within the circle of Burch’s arms. He had slept briefly, but she was too keyed up, too full of wonder at what had happened to be able to close her eyes. One short hour had changed everything the experiences of a lifetime had taught her. She was honest enough to realize that she might merely have told herself what she wanted to believe was true, but none of that mattered now. It was clear she had to start again, trying to incorporate this new experience into her plans. And that wasn’t going to be easy.

“Don’t you have to get back to work?” she asked.

“Hmmm,” replied Burch, tightening his hold on her. Sibyl was in no hurry to move. She could hardly believe that she was willing to continue lying with a man’s arms about her, but the sensation was so new and so enticing that she happily snuggled deeper into his embrace.

“The boys will see to the roundup,” he murmured, kissing the top of her head. “Who cares about a few old cows anyway.” Sibyl was so startled she sat bolt upright, only to flush brightly when Burch’s smiles proved that he had dangled the bait and she’d taken it in one bite.

“I should have known you could never trust a man,” she said, trying to cover her chagrin by pulling from him, but he pulled her back down.

“I promise never to tease you again if you will promise never to pull away from me.”

“That’s a mighty tempting offer,” Sibyl responded, on her mettle now, “but I doubt if I can trust you to keep such a promise, and I don’t know if I want to.”

“Shrew” he chided, pulling her back down and covering her face with kisses. “Does this make you feel more assured?”

“I don’t know,” she replied, unwilling to give away how thoroughly the occurrences of the afternoon had shaken her. “If I were a cow, I don’t think I would trust any man with the smell of roast beef in his nostrils.”

With an appreciative shout of laughter, Burch wrestled her down and proceeded to prove that not every flame turned its victims to cinders.

Sibyl was not sure how she got through the afternoon. Burch seemed to resume his work as though it had never been interrupted; for her the rest of the day was a haze of activity.

She was relieved when he asked her if she wanted to go to her wagon or watch the branding of the calves. She chose her wagon, and a period of quiet did much to restore her sense of reality. A quick bath in a secluded bend of the icy stream did even more. If she had entertained any doubts about what had happened that afternoon, the streaks of blood on her thighs confirmed that she had at last surrendered herself.

She returned to camp caught between exhilaration of her new experience and growing disgust at not having enough strength of mind to resist temptation.
After giving in to him once, how do you propose to deny him in the future?
she asked, vexed with herself. She wasn’t sure she wanted to deny him, and that made her even more angry.
And don’t kid yourself that he’s in love with you; he’s never even used the word. It was probably just animal lust. He’d feel the same about any other pretty woman.

But what about her? Was it lust that made her encourage him? She hadn’t come here intending to seduce him, but what had she come here for? She pulled her clothes on and adjusted them with short, angry movements. Her mind was in a turmoil and she needed time to sort things out. She was not fool enough to deny that she found Burch extremely attractive; in fact, he’d just proved she couldn’t resist him. But what kind of love did she want from him? A physical relationship that left her mind and emotions free? Or something else?

She knew immediately that she wanted something else, something that required a union of their spirits as well as their bodies. But she didn’t know how to put it into words, and she had no idea how to begin working toward it. She had spent so long avoiding all thoughts of a permanent union with a man that when she found she couldn’t live without one, she didn’t know how to act.

I’ll ask Aunt Augusta,
she thought.
Somehow she always knows the answer.
She’d go back to the ranch first thing tomorrow morning. She didn’t want to run the risk of another encounter before she knew where all this was supposed to end. She admitted she was too weak to resist Burch, that she didn’t want to resist him, but he couldn’t be allowed to think that she was his just for the asking.