The crowd grew restless once more.
Earle chuckled patronizingly, “Oh come now, Miss Barnett. They were more than just companions weren’t they? Weren’t they—lovers?”
Leah ignored the shocked reaction of the on-lookers. “Yes.”
She could see how tight Ryder’s jaw had become, and she wanted to run to him and explain, but she couldn’t.
Earle was asking, “And they were lovers for nearly thirty years, am I correct?”
Leah’s chin rose. “Yes.”
Earle, playing to the crowd, next asked, “So what, your mother died and you took her place in his bed?”
Snickers were heard. Daniel rocketed to his feet. “Objection, Your Honor!”
The judge eyes were hostile. “That’s enough, Mr. Earle. I’ve warned you once.”
Earle bowed mockingly. “My apologies, Your Honor.” He then continued, “So you married Louis Montague on his deathbed.”
“I did.”
“Miss Barnett, don’t you think that a bit odd?”
“It sounds that way, yes, but—”
He cut her off. “Thank you. I’m done here, Judge.”
Earle had left everyone with the impression that she was a scheming woman of loose character. Leah looked at Ryder. When their eyes met, the distance in his broke her heart. He inclined his head mockingly, then turned and exited. She watched Sam hurry after him but her attention was drawn back by Daniel’s question.
“Mrs. Montague, how long had you known Louis Montague?”
“Since I was about three years old.”
“Did he love your mother?”
“Very much.”
“Did he love you?”
Leah didn’t hesitate. “Yes, he did.”
“But his love for you was different than his love for your mother, am I correct?”
“Yes, he loved me like a father loves his child.”
Leah saw Sam return. Ryder wasn’t with him.
“Now, Mrs. Montague, I want you to tell the court why Mr. Montague proposed marriage.”
Leah looked at the judge. “He wanted to ensure my future, Your Honor, nothing more.” She then spoke to Daniel. “He and Cecil considered the idea of legally adopting me as his child, but they knew that would be a long process, and Monty didn’t have that much longer to live. So he asked me to marry him.”
Daniel asked, “So you did?”
Leah nodded. “Yes.”
Outside the courtroom, Ryder stood listening near the door. The chamber had gone so quiet during Leah’s turn on the stand, he had no trouble hearing her testimony. Learning that she’d married Louis on his deathbed had turned his heart to stone. Only Sam’s haranguing had made him stay and hear the rest; Ryder was glad he had. If he hadn’t, he wouldn’t have known that Louis had been trying to protect her by giving his name, that she was neither actress nor schemer. As Sam had predicted, she was just a decent young woman, nothing more. Ryder felt like a fool, another galling confession, but with her he seemed to be taking his feet out of his mouth with staggering regularity. He was sure she’d seen the thunderous look on his face during Earle’s questioning, and he was equally certain that she thought he’d deserted her. Well he hadn’t. Hoping he could convince her to forgive him one last time, and to marry him when all this dust settled, Ryder quietly stepped back inside.
Leah, still seated on the witness stand, looked to Daniel. He’d promised this would be his last question. “Now, Mrs. Montague, many people here don’t think your marriage was legal, so I’m going to apologize in advance for asking such a delicate question.”
“Okay.”
He smiled kindly. “Were you an innocent when you married Mr. Montague?”
“I was.”
“Are you now?”
Leah assumed he was trying to prove the marriage had been consummated, but by phrasing the inquiry in the manner that he had, she could freely answer, and without perjuring herself. “No, Mr. Morton, I am not.”
“Thank you. No further questions, Your Honor.”
The judge turned to the very defeated-looking Mr. Earle. This hadn’t turned out to be a good day for his side: first, the questionable signatures, and now, Daniel Morton’s cross-examination had repainted his portrait of the defendant as a scarlet woman into a wronged saint clothed in white. “The lady can step down,” Earle allowed.
The judge nodded at Leah, and she went back to her seat. He then looked out over the packed courtroom. “I will render my judgment within the next thirty days.”
He sounded the gavel. “Court dismissed.”
Havoc overtook the courtroom, and the press descended on Leah en masse. In the rising din, Daniel’s shouts that his client had no comment fell on deaf ears. Leah was so hemmed in by reporters waving their tablets and pens, she couldn’t even get up from her seat.
Next thing she knew, someone yelled, “Get the hell outta my way!” And reporters were being tossed aside like feathers flying off a plucked chicken.
Ryder.
When he reached her, she smiled, and said, “Who needs the cavalry when there’s a Cheyenne brave around.”
He didn’t reply. He simply scooped her out of the chair and up into his arms. The look on his face dared anyone to impede his passage. No one was loco enough to do so. A pleased-looking Daniel Morton watched Ryder depart.
Outside, Sam had the rig waiting. While seemingly half of Denver looked on, Ryder placed her on the seat, then came around to the driver’s side. Sam stepped down and handed Ryder the reins. Ryder slapped the leads down on the backs of the team and drove toward the city limits.
Leah assumed his silence stemmed from his anger over finally learning the truth, but since he hadn’t been in the courtroom to hear the full explanation, she had no idea how to broach the subject. Watching him leave the courtroom had twisted her heart. Once again he hadn’t had enough faith. What a mess.
“So,” she stated, wanting to get this over with, “now you know.”
“I do.”
He turned her way. “I feel like a fool.”
Leah’s lips tightened.
“I do. My bitterness was stronger than my faith.”
Leah stared. That was not the answer she’d been expecting. Very confused, she asked, “What are you talking about?”
“Me leaving the courtroom. Sam made me stay though.”
She went still. “You heard all of it?”
“I did, and like I said, I feel like a fool.”
Leah collapsed back against the seat and succumbed to a case of relieved laughter.
He looked at her as if she’d gone round the bend. “What’s so funny?”
“You, me—us.”
She had so much happiness in her eyes, he couldn’t help himself, he began to smile too. “What?”
“I thought you weren’t speaking to me because you hadn’t heard everything—that all you knew was that I’d married Monty on his deathbed.”
“No. I heard every word, thanks to Sam.”
“Remind me to give that man a big fat kiss the moment I see him.”
“I will. So, go ahead and give me both barrels for not believing in you. I deserve it.”
“No. I’m sure Sam’s tongue-lashing was quite enough.”
Ryder thought back amusedly. “That it was. He pointedly reminded me what happened the last time I went storming around on half-baked information.”
Leah remembered, too, and she’d never forgive Seth for the pain he’d caused them both that day.
“And,” he added, “how much I’d hurt you.”
Leah’s heart swelled. “So you stayed?”
“I did. Louis must have loved you a great deal.”
Her personal memories rose. “He did.”
Once again, Ryder called himself a fool. “And that’s what you’ve been trying to explain to me since the first time we met, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you just walk away and say to hell with me?”
She shrugged. “I have a soft spot for braves, I guess.”
He stopped the team and pulled back on the brake. “Come here,” he invited softly.
Leah didn’t have to be asked twice. She was in his arms and kissing him before she drew her next breath.
After a night spent reaffirming the undeclared love they felt for each other, Leah awakened the next morning, sated and content. Dawn was just rising, and her Black Cheyenne brave was moving quietly around in the fading darkness.
She sat up, the sheets riding across her bare waist. “What are you doing?” she asked him sleepily.
“Going up to see if there are any signs of the King. You’re welcome to come along if you want.”
Ryder looked over at her sitting up in his bed, her face filled with sleep, her dark breasts teasing him from above the quilt, and knew he couldn’t let her go. He wanted to see her just like this every morning for the rest of his life.
Leah responded, “The King? Oh, that’s that big elk Sam told me about. The one he claims you’ll never catch, because the elk’s smarter than you.”
He shot her a look. “I do have a remedy for that sassy mouth of yours.”
She purred and stretched languidly. “Do you?”
Ryder felt his manhood rise and harden in response to her sensual movements. “Ever made love outside in the sunshine?”
Leah paused. Desire flared. “No. Is that going to be my punishment?”
Lust filled Ryder’s eyes. “Wicked woman…get up so we can go.”
Leah mimed a kiss by puckering her lips, then left the bed so she could shower.
Leah’s behind was sore. She didn’t have much experience riding, and they’d been on the trial climbing toward the mountains for what seemed like hours. “How much farther?” she asked.
Mounted atop the gear-packed stallion, Ryder turned to her. “Not much, another few miles or so.”
They were heading to a hunting lodge he and Sam had built a few years ago.
“Well, I need to stop, my behind’s killing me.”
Her honesty made him chuckle quietly. “Want to ride with me the rest of the way?”
She shook her head. “No. Your horse is carrying enough weight.”
“Aw, he won’t mind. Like I said, it isn’t much farther.”
So they stopped. Leah was so stiff she could hardly move, but somehow managed to dismount. He tied the reins of her horse to his saddle and once she was seated comfortably in front they continued on their way.
She rode cuddled against his hard chest.
“Better?” he asked.
“Yes.” The blankets covering the horse’s back were far softer than her saddle had been. Being close like this let her feel the warmth of Ryder’s body and hear the steady beating of his heart.
Ryder put both leads into one hand and with the other began to undo the buttons down the front of her shirtwaist, and then the two on her thin cotton chemise.
She looked up at him with sly eyes, asking, “And just what do you think you’re doing?”
“Giving you something to think about besides your sore bottom.”
As he filled his warm hand with her breast, a soft groan of pleasure slid from between her lips. They were miles from the prying eyes of society, so Leah didn’t mind being fondled so possessively. Once he’d awakened her nipple to his distinctive call, all thoughts of everything but him and the way his caresses made her feel were summarily banished.
From behind her, he stated, “I should make you ride this way all the time…”
She raised her mouth for a kiss, and he rewarded her with a slow, fierce intensity. The reins fell from his grasp and the well-trained horse slowed to a stop. Only when Ryder seemed certain she was no longer occupied with her stiff limbs did he guide the horse back up the trail.
By the time they crested the rise where the cabin sat, Leah was still sizzling. He’d made it a point to keep her warmed and ripened for the balance of the ride, and her difficulties in dismounting this time stemmed not from aches and pains but from the hazy fog of desire she seemed encased in. He hadn’t allowed her to redo her buttons, so her nipples had been his to play with while they rode. They were now hard and full, and a corresponding yearning pulsed between her thighs.
Playing with her had worked Ryder into such a high state of arousal that the sight of her standing there with her dark breasts bared to his eyes and to the sun made him want to make love to her here and now. However, he made himself wait. He’d brought her up here to savor her, seduce her, and fill her with so much desire she’d have to say yes, when he asked her to marry him. He’d keep an eye out for the King, but he hadn’t come here to slay an elk, but to slay the Morenita’s heart.
Leah had no trouble recognizing the desire in his eyes. He’d turned that hot gaze on her many times. “You look a bit hungry…”
He smiled knowingly. “And you look good enough to eat…”
Passion pierced them like sweet tipped arrows. Walking over to her, heat soaring with every step, he stopped before her and gazed down into her eyes. He caressed her cheek with a tender hand, wondering when she’d become his life. He brought his mouth down to her lush lips, lightly at first, inviting her to part them so his tongue could delve into their sweetness. When she did, he flicked the tip across each sensitive corner, then eased it in to lustily mate with her own.
They stood out in front of the cabin, kissing for a long time, then he reluctantly pulled back. A bit short of breath, Ryder said, “We need to unpack our gear…”
Sparkling with the desire he’d planted inside, Leah nodded.
Although they couldn’t pass each other without stealing a kiss, Leah and Ryder managed to get everything inside. Leah looked around the cabin and found the shadowy interior quite cozy. It consisted of two rooms: one large front room that had a big fireplace and a small kitchen complete with stove. Hides of all kinds covered the log walls, and on the floor in front of the fireplace lay another ferocious-looking bear skin.
“Like it?” he asked, bringing in the bedrolls.
“I do,” she admitted truthfully. “But where do you wash?”
“Stream out back.”
“Oh.” She wasn’t looking really forward to washing up in water cold enough to make her teeth chatter.
“We can heat water for the tenderfoot.”
Grinning, she curtsied. “Thank you, Your Majesty.”
“Anytime.”
They unrolled the bedding and took the cooking utensils into the kitchen. Ryder placed them in a large wooden crate that stood beside the stove. “Sam keeps threatening to knock out a wall so he can turn this into a real kitchen, but it suits me fine just the way it is.”
Knowing Ryder as she did, she imagined he did prefer the starkness. “Do you and Sam come up here often?”
“Five—six times a year. Mostly in the fall though.”
Leah walked over to the now opened back door and looked out onto a view that took her breath away. The rise was surrounded by trees, mountains, and blue sky. She’d finally come to appreciate the rugged beauty of this land. Like the ocean, it had its own character and called to the soul in much the same way the waves had at home.
“Hey, you hungry?” he asked.
She turned and nodded. He was hunkered down beside one of the packs, extracting some cans. “Beans are quick.”
“Sounds good.”
Leah grimaced as she took a step in his direction. Now that she’d stopped moving around she’d grown stiff as a length of pine.
“Sore?” he asked, pouring the thick beans into a pot.
“And stiff.”
He smiled sympathetically. “I’ll heat you some water soon as I get these beans on. You look pretty tuckered out.”
“I’d’ve made a lousy warrior wife.”
“You’re just new to riding. Next year this time, you’ll be riding like the wind.”
“Good, because now I can barely walk.”
Moving like an old woman, Le
ah made her way outside. Maybe sitting in the sun would help. She lowered herself gingerly onto the edge of the porch and hoped she would be able to stand up again if she needed to, but for the moment, all she could think about was resting her aching limbs and savoring how happy she felt inside knowing her secrets had been revealed. Ryder finally knew the truth, and as a result there were no more barriers for them to hurdle. They could approach each other honestly and openly and not have to do it across a minefield. She wondered what Monty would have thought of her falling in love with his son. Had he known it would turn out this way? Had he somehow planned this? She wouldn’t put it past him. He’d always had a wicked sense of humor.
But what about the murderer? a small voice in her mind asked. Leah buried the voice. She didn’t want to think about that now. She was glad when Ryder stepped out to join her.
“Beans’ll be hot in a minute. I’ll start that water.”
From beneath the porch he withdrew two large black cauldrons and a big old iron washtub. “This will have to do for your bath, Morenita,” he said, indicating the tub.
“That’s fine. It looks like it’ll hold me.”
He carried the cauldrons to the pump beside the cabin and filled them with water. He then built a fire in the twin grates in the fire pit near where Leah sat, then placed the huge pots atop them. “It’ll be ready in a bit.”
She smiled her thanks. He came and sat beside her. Placing an arm around her waist he pulled her closer. She rested her head on his chest. “If I’m ever able to walk again, I think I’ll enjoy being up here with you like this.”
He kissed the top of her head. “Me too.”
“Can we stay here forever?”
“And a day if you want.”
She hugged him, content.
Leah hadn’t bathed outside since she was a small child. Bathing outside as a woman full grown was entirely different though; there was a man involved, and his glowing eyes stroked her as she undressed. She felt absolutely brazen being under the sky without a stitch on, but she stepped into the tub, knowing she had his full attention. The tub was only large enough for her to kneel in, but when he slowly poured the water from the cauldron down her shoulders and back she groaned pleasurably. It felt so good and soothing, the tension in her body seemed to melt away. As the last of the water in the first cauldron cascaded down, she didn’t want her personal waterfall to end.