She wanted to shoot him right between his green eyes. “Get your things, and get out, Trevor. Now.”
“But lass,”
“Now, Trevor. The only reason I’m letting you go without shooting you is because you were a friend, and that friendship meant something. Once.”
“Lass, I still owe a thousand dollars, and they’re after me. They’ll kill me if I don’t pay.”
“Trevor. I don’t care. There’s no way I’m going to lend you money you have no intentions of paying back, nor will I let you use this farm as a place to hide. There are children here.”
“Loreli—”
“Go now, Trevor, and I don’t ever wish to see you again.”
“You don’t mean that, lass.”
“Don’t I? Our friendship obviously meant nothing to you, otherwise you’d have told me Olivia sent the jewels and paintings with you. You treated me like a rube, Trev.”
“But—”
“Get your things together. I won’t tell you again.”
He looked over at Jake who told the Irishman, “You’ll find no sympathy here, friend. I wanted you gone the moment you showed up.”
Trevor began cramming his belongings back into his saddlebags. “This isn’t right, lass.”
“No, it isn’t. I should’ve turned you over to the sheriff.” That said, she turned and stormed from the room.
Trevor rode away from the Reed farm less than twenty-minutes later. He was angry, but Loreli was even angrier.
As she and Jake watched Trevor ride east, Jake asked, “Think that’ll be the last of him?”
“I hope so.” But she didn’t feel convinced.
That evening, after the girls were put to bed, a storm blew in. Loreli and Jake sat on the porch awhile, but when the winds picked up and the rain began blowing in horizontal sheets, they ran inside, laughing uproariously at being so wet and windblown.
Jake closed the door firmly on the elements, then stood with his back to the door, unable to do anything but look at Loreli. Even soaking wet, she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.
“I should get out of these wet things before I catch my death,” she said. “Too bad the tub’s still outdoors, otherwise I could take a nice hot bath.” She quieted upon noticing his intense observation. “What?”
“Nothing. Just enjoying you.”
She walked over until she was so close he could feel the warmth of her body mingle with his own. Looking up at his black-and-blue face, she asked, “And what do you find so enjoyable about me?”
“Fishing for compliments?”
“I am.”
“Well, I enjoy you.”
“Why?” she asked.
He reached out and stroked her cheek. “Because I’ve never met anyone like you, Loreli.”
She felt the spark from his touch flow through her. “And I’ve never met anyone like you, Jake Reed.”
“We didn’t get our wedding night.”
“We didn’t get a wedding,” she tossed back.
His mustache lifted with amusement. “You’re never going to let that go, are you?”
“No. You’ll probably have a real wedding some day, but I know I won’t.”
Jake thought he heard regret hiding beneath her sassy tone. He touched her cheek again. The dew of the rain mingled with the softness of her skin. “You could have as many weddings as you want. Just say the word and the men would come running.”
Every man but the one I’d want.
Unwilling to dampen how she made him feel, Jake slowly lowered his head, then lightly touched his lips to hers, first once, and then again.
The kisses were teasing, fleeting invitations that Loreli couldn’t resist returning. Passion had been simmering beneath the surface since their last time together, and now, as the kisses deepened, and the storm raged outside, a different sort of storm blossomed and spread. Hands began to explore, touch, and tempt while the sounds of their breathing rustled the darkness. He wanted her, and she wanted him. Lightning flashed, filling the room with a momentary shock of light, offering the night a brief glimpse of lovers intent upon each other.
Jake paid no attention to his aches and pains, his need for her was far more acute. The feel of her lips against his were healing, soothing. The sensations of his hands roaming over her curves in the damp dress overrode his hurts until all that remained was the vivid anticipation of the love he wanted to make. “Come upstairs with me…”
Loreli’s desire spiraled high in response to his murmured invitation. Nothing in her well-traveled life had ever prepared her for a man like Jake, and when he took her by the hand and led her to the attic door, she went willingly, gladly.
Upstairs in her room, he undressed and she did the same. Outside, the storm filled the night with crackles of lightning and the responding booms of thunder. Inside, Jake and Loreli were as naked as Adam and Eve in the garden, and as they came together atop the softness of her bed, they were in their own paradise. Jake worshiped her with his hands and lips, then groaned as she returned the favor. It was her first time exploring him without inhibition and she reveled in it. Kneeling beside him she teased her fingers over his nipples, slowly circling and mapping until they tightened. Bending down, she nipped them with love-gentled teeth, then smiled when she heard him gasp. She lifted up, her fingers still playing, and whispered, “In some ways, a man’s body is just like a woman’s…but in other ways”—she closed her hand over the hard length of him—“men are gloriously different…”
Jake growled. Her warm, sensual explorations threatened to make him explode. To keep that from happening, he placed his hand over hers to stay her tantalizing movements, then gently pulled her in against his side. “I want this night to last, and it won’t if you keep that up.”
Her eyes glowed with amusement and desire.
He kissed her deeply, then murmured with mock warning, “Now keep your hands to yourself for a minute, and let me see if I remember my lessons…”
The hot words flooded Loreli’s core with heat, and when he touched her there, she groaned with welcoming pleasure, and her legs parted shamelessly.
“Good…” he whispered.
Loreli thought it very good indeed; so good, nothing in the world mattered but the torrent building in her blood, and his bold, bold touch.
Still coaxing the lodestone between her thighs, Jake leaned down and touched his lips to her kiss-swollen mouth, “Is the teacher ready?” he asked.
“Oh, yes…”
So there, in the storm-echoing dark, Jake entered her, filling her softness with his hardness and they both gasped from the sheer bliss of the joining.
“Lord, Loreli…”
She purred wantonly while sliding her hands over the smooth hard surface of his back. He began to stroke and she began to rise. Words fell away. None were needed; when his body spoke, hers answered. He questioned boldly. She responded lustily. He increased the pace and she gladly matched his thrusts. She was his lightning, and he, her thunder. They were in the eye of their own storm, and as it reached gale strength, they rode it together. He played with her, teased her, letting her learn, measure, take, and she savored each lust-filled nuance, until she shattered under its force, screaming out his name. Jake, watching her climax in the flashes of lightning, gripped her hips and exploded a moment later.
The next day, Loreli was up in her room when the girls came in. “What are you doing, Loreli?” Bebe asked.
“Well, my friend Olivia sent me some of my jewelry and I’m looking at what’s here.”
“Can we see?” Dede asked.
“Sure.”
The girls came over to where Loreli was sitting on the wood floor. They took a seat on either side of her, then stared in awe at the beautiful stones and gold she had placed in front of her. Olivia had only sent a couple pairs of ear studs, an amethyst necklace, a gold bracelet, and as Loreli reached into the bottom of the pouch, the most precious thing she owned: the small heart-shaped locket given to her by her
father. It was battered and old, but the memories it brought back made Loreli study it in silence.
“What is that, Loreli?” Dede asked quietly.
“My magic locket.”
“Magic?”
“Magic.”
“What kind of magic?” Bebe asked.
“Well, it’s the kind of magic that helps scared little girls be brave. My father gave it to me.”
“Was it because you were scared of spiders?”
Loreli smiled. “Partly, but mostly so I wouldn’t be scared of the dark. My father and I moved around a lot, and sometimes we had to sleep outside on the ground.”
“Sometimes, Uncle Jake let’s us sleep outside in his tent,” Bebe said, “but we always let Pal sleep by the door. Kansas has wolves.”
“That’s real good thinking, but I didn’t have a Pal, so I was real scared at night. There were wolves in Kentucky too, and bears, and all kinds of animals that I thought liked to eat little girls.”
“How old were you?” Dede asked.
“Eight.”
“Just like us!”
“Just like you.”
“May I hold it?” Dede asked.
Loreli passed it over and watched Dede examine it.
Dede held it for a few more moments, then handed it back. “I wish I had a magic locket,” she said a bit sadly.
Loreli asked, “Why, pumpkin?”
“So I’d be brave like you and Bebe.”
Loreli gently hugged her and kissed the top of her head. “Everybody’s afraid of something, De. You know how I feel about spiders.”
“I don’t like being scared all the time.”
The plea in Dede’s eyes brought tears to Loreli’s heart. “Here.”
Loreli put the locket around Dede’s thin neck. The clasp needed repairing but Loreli managed to make it work for now. “How’s that.”
Dede’s fingers touched the locket’s face gently. Her smile told all. “Thanks, Loreli.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Do you feel braver, De?” Bebe asked.
Dede shook her head. “No.”
Loreli thought for a moment and then said, “Oh, I forgot. The locket has to be kissed every day by the person who gave it to you. Then the magic works.” Loreli made that part up, of course.
Dede held the little heart up and Loreli gave it a kiss. “There.”
“Do you feel braver?” Bebe said.
“A little bit.”
“It hasn’t been worn in a long time,” Loreli said. “It probably needs a little while to really get going again, sort of like when you’re building a fire.”
“Well, I want to see if it works,” Dede said.
Bebe asked, “How?”
“I’ll ride Phoebe all by myself.”
Loreli stared.
Bebe said excitedly, “Let’s go.”
And before Loreli could recover fast enough to stop them they were down the stairs and gone. Loreli got to her feet and hastened after them. Lord, what had she done?
Jake looked up from his reading and asked, “What’s going on?”
Loreli was torn between telling him and going after the girls. The girls won out. “Just come on. I’ll explain.”
He got up and hurried after her.
When the adults arrived outside, they could see Bebe leading Phoebe out of the barn and into the corral. Dede brought up the rear.
As Jake and Loreli walked toward them, he asked, “What am I supposed to be looking at?”
“It’s a long story, but I gave Dede a magic necklace and now she wants to ride Phoebe.”
That stopped him in his tracks. “What?”
“And if she gets hurt, it will be all my fault.”
Loreli ran off.
Jake, still not sure what was going on, followed.
When Loreli reached the corral, she had to jump away to keep from being bitten by Elvira. Loreli leaned down and snapped, “Jerky, Elvira! You hear me? Jerky!”
The goat-dog just looked back at her.
Snarling, Loreli turned her attention to the happenings inside the corral. Dede had joined her sister, and Loreli could see the wariness on Dede’s face, so she went into the corral too.
Both girls greeted her presence with smiles, but De’s eyes never left the mare.
Loreli knew that the next few moments with Dede had to be handled very carefully. The last thing she wanted to do was discourage the child, but she didn’t want to see her hurt either. “De, how about you walk Phoebe around the pen for a moment, so she can get warmed up a bit?”
“What do I do?”
“I just want you to put your hand on her side and walk her real slowly. Keep your hand on her now, okay?”
“I will,” Dede said.
As they all watched, Dede walked over and stood next to Phoebe. She hesitated for a moment and then slowly touched the horse’s side. When Phoebe moved just a bit, Dede quickly jumped away. Dede looked over at Loreli. Loreli smiled encouragingly, but no one said a word.
Dede looked at her uncle. “Uncle Jake, Loreli gave me a magic locket.”
“I heard about that.”
Dede turned back and again placed her hand on the mare’s side. It was plain she wasn’t comfortable, but she said to Phoebe, “Come on, girl.”
And the horse and the little girl with the locket began to walk slowly around the paddock. Loreli had tears in her eyes. She wiped them away.
Jake’s throat was thick with emotion. No, Dede wasn’t riding yet, but to see her quietly facing her fear filled his heart. A month ago, she wouldn’t have gone near a horse.
An excited Bebe called out to her sister, “De! The locket’s working!”
Dede’s smile was as wide as Texas. “It is, Be. It is!”
Loreli could only shake her head. Lord, she loved these girls.
When the walk around the pen was completed, the audience joined the star of the show inside the pen. She was smiling. “Uncle Jake, will you boost me up?”
Jake wanted to ask her if she was sure about riding Phoebe, but he didn’t. “Sure. We’ll do it real slow, okay?”
“Okay.”
She put her booted foot into the step he made from his hands, and slowly lifted her until she was settled on the mare’s bare back. Phoebe took a step back and a panicked Dede grabbed her mane.
Jake spoke softly to Phoebe and the gentle mare calmed. “Are you okay?” he asked Dede.
For a person afraid of horses, walking on the ground beside a horse was very different from viewing the world atop their broad backs. “I think the magic’s wearing off, so can we just go a little ways?”
Jake nodded. “Sure can. You just let me know, and I’ll take you down.”
Dede nodded.
He took a quick moment to show her how to use her knees to make Becky go forward and how to make her stop. “Are you ready?”
Dede nodded. “Yes. Just a little ways. Okay?”
“Okay. I’m going to walk beside you. How’s that?”
She smiled gratefully, then Dede gritted her teeth as Phoebe took her first few steps. Loreli could see the tension in her little brown arms. The horse was moving as slow as molasses but even that was too fast a pace from the look on Dede’s face. She stayed on, however, and rode a quarter of the way around the pen before asking Jake to help her down.
Bebe ran to her sister’s side, yelling excitedly, “You did it, De! You rode Phoebe all by yourself!”
Dede grinned. “But not a long way.”
“Loreli said the magic has to build up, remember?” Bebe said.
Dede shook her head.
Bebe had an epiphany. “Oh, De. We could ride over to Aggie’s and Carrie’s…. Uncle Jake, when De gets better, can we get another horse so she and I can race?”
Jake stared at this child with his sister’s face, and told her, “How about we get Dede out of the pen first before we start placing our bets, okay?”
Bebe nodded that she understood.
 
; Jake, still filled with amazement, looked over at Loreli, who simply shook her head in reply. Miss Bebe was something else.
That night, as Jake and Loreli lay in bed, he told her, “You know, that magic locket hocus-pocus might actually work.”
Loreli turned over so she could see his face in the dark. “It’s not hocus-pocus. The locket is magic.”
He slid his hand down her silken back. “It’s just a locket. Admit it, you made the magic part up.”
“I did not. It had magic in it when my daddy gave it to me, and it has magic now. How else can you explain Dede riding today.”
His hand roamed over the hills of her behind, then down the backs of her thighs. “You’re the magic.”
He traced sensual circles over her hips and down her legs and up her back. He bent and kissed the curve of her shoulder. “I knew you were magic, the moment I set eyes on you….”
Enjoying his touch, she whispered seductively, “Then how about I show you just how magical I can be?”
Jake smiled and husked out, “You’re on….”
And by the time all the spells were cast, they were both too sated to do anything but fall asleep.
For the next few days, Loreli divided her time between kissing the locket and kissing Jake. During the day, Dede and Phoebe rode farther and farther. At night Loreli had the wanton joys of riding something entirely different.
On Friday morning, Loreli awakened with a smile. She and Jake had shared a particularly stunning night of lovemaking. A girl could get real spoiled real quick being with a man like Jake, she told herself knowingly. In bed he was passionate, giving, and becoming more and more—skilled. Just thinking about the paces he’d put her through last night made her blood heat up again. He couldn’t soothe her, though, because he was already up and off to do the morning chores. The girls wouldn’t wake for another hour or so, so Loreli burrowed back beneath the covers and closed her eyes.
She’d almost drifted off when she heard Jake yell her name. She heard panic and anger in his tone. Hastily leaving the bed, she ran down the steps. “What’s the matter?”
His face was tight as a drum. “The girls are gone.”
“What do you mean, the girls are gone?”
His voice was deadly. “Your friend, Trevor, has them.”