STORY EXCERPT

"Cotton Plains up ahead," bellowed the driver, his deep booming voice startling her.

Kate, still clutching the kerchief clasped to her chest, felt her pulse quicken and a lump form in her throat. This was it, she was finally here, and soon she’d meet Joe, the man for whom she had come with the sole purpose of becoming his bride. The stagecoach halted to a jerky stop, and when assisted outside by the driver, she heaved a sigh of relief to be free from the dusty, confined space. 

"Your bags," said the driver, who had already climbed to the top of the stagecoach and back down again.

Kate looked around at her new surroundings. "This is it?" she asked. It was merely one street, shaded on each side by a row of ramshackle buildings.

He chuckled. "This is it. Were you expecting more?"

"Well, I guess so," she rambled, feeling slightly embarrassed. "Thank you sir, for your assistance." 

"The nearest boarding house is Miss Vickie’s down at the end of the street. You can’t miss it, it being the only building privy to whitewashing. She’s a good woman and will see to you."

"No, sir, I shan’t be in need of a boarding house. My fiancé is meeting me. In fact, he should be here." She stopped and looked to and fro, but there was no one. "I thank you all the same for the helpful suggestion."

"Anytime," he replied with a nod.

Kate stood in the middle of the dusty street, watching the stagecoach drive off. She was a stranger in an even stranger land. And where were all the people? This place was an utter ghost town.

A gust of wind flew by, almost removing the hat from her head. "Goodness gracious," she muttered. "If a man states he’s going to meet you, he should at least hold up to his promise."

"Yes, he should. I totally agree with you," replied a deep voice, flowing from behind her.

Her heart just about stopped. She turned slowly to see a man ’round about her own age standing there, a wide grin spread across a devastatingly handsome, rugged face.

"Sir, you should have made yourself known to me."

"I thought I did." He was being coy. Could this be him? The man she had traveled so far to marry?

"Just who are you?" she questioned, narrowing her eyes into slits, giving him the once-over. 

"I’m the man you came here to marry, I presume, if you are Miss Summers." He flashed another grin. "And from the looks of you, I’ve done mighty well if I do say so myself. I could not have found a finer filly if I had picked one out myself."

Kate raised one brow. "You compare me to a horse? Surely you jest?"

"It’s a compliment." He rolled his eyes. "It doesn’t become a woman to be so serious. I’ll load your bags onto the wagon, and we’ll be off." 

Behind him, in the near distance, she spotted a horse and wagon. It was all so primitive she wondered what she had gotten herself into.

He walked ahead of her, carrying her bags in both hands. She scurried behind him, making a vain attempt to keep her skirt tail out of the street’s dust. "You might at least slow down and let me walk with you," she called after him. "And you have yet to properly introduce yourself."

She caught up to him at the wagon and stood there with hands now on hips, waiting for a reply.

"You know my name," he replied, placing her bags in the back of the wagon. "And I know yours. I figured that’s enough of a proper introduction." And once again there was that smile. 

"You’re toying with me, Joe." There, she had used his name.

"See, you just proved my point, Kate. Now, up you go, nice and easy."

His brute strength surprised the heck out of her. Up and over in one swift motion. She found herself sitting in the wagon, watching as he took his place next to her, reins in hand.

Kate smoothed her skirt out, sitting up straight. "So, this is Cotton Plains. It isn’t much, is it?" From this vantage point she could read some of the signs on the buildings. "Oh, how dandy. You have a store. I’ll have to go there sometime to shop."

Joe laughed and shook his head. "For some reason I think everything they carry will be a little simple for your tastes. They carry foodstuffs, basic yard goods and such. There ain’t nothing fancy in there."

"Did I say I wanted fancy? I will have you know that plain and simple suits me fine. And don’t presume things about me that you cannot possibly know."

"I’m sorry. Please accept my sincerest apologies. You’re right, I barely know anything about you, and I should not have made assumptions about your character."

"Let’s just carry on. I’m tired and plain worn out from my trip. I need rest, and coffee might be nice, along with a change of clothes." She spoke the truth. Every joint and muscle in her body ached from the rough ride on the stagecoach.

Together, side by side, they rode out of town.

ADULT EXCERPT

And there he was, alone, with Kate watching and waiting for him to make the next move. Her eyes followed him as he first shed his shirt and subsequently his trousers. Standing there in just his long johns, he could hear his heart pounding, his pulse racing. It was his first time all over again and then some. It didn’t help matters to know that Ryan lay just on the other side of the wall, who he loved and desperately didn’t want to hurt, yet he knew the damage had been done. Sliding in bed next to Kate, his nervousness subsided. Her fingers touched his bare chest, grazing his nipples, and they stiffened under her touch.

"Coming here, I wondered what would be on the other side of that ad and I can say I’m very pleased." She pressed her body against him, her smooth, soft skin gliding against him. She looked up, her chin now pressing against his chest while with one hand she pulled her hair down, well over her shoulders, in a lush golden wave.

"I can say the same. Having that attraction there is definitely a bonus, and I couldn’t help but wonder if it would be. But once I saw you that first day, I knew it would all come together even if we did get off to an abrupt start." He touched her hair, reveling at its silken texture.

"But here we are," she replied, adding a sigh. "And we’re doing fine."

"We are indeed." Joe glanced up at the ceiling for a moment and listened to the rain overhead. That’s when she leaned over him and kissed him with an eagerness that instantly caused a stirring deep within. 

Her lips, soft and sweet, glided across his own. Together they both merged into a hot, passionate embrace of not only the emotional but also the physical.

Limbs entwined, the last of their clothing was quickly shed. Kate moaned when he first thumbed her left nipple and then brought his mouth down over the right one. Inside his mouth he felt them harden, nubs that begged to be suckled.

"Why, well I never," she said, her voice breathless. "That’s just delightful."

There was no doubt in Joe’s mind the difference between making love to a woman and to a man.

The differences were striking and now, feeling Kate submit to him, sliding under his body, her legs wrapping around his waist, he truly appreciated what each had to bring to the table, so to speak.

She was smooth, soft, and beguiling. Her hands toyed with his sparse chest hair. And when she reached down to grip his buttocks, he felt himself slide between her legs, connecting with her hot wetness.

* * * *

Joe sure as heck wasn’t Darcy. And now with him throbbing against her most intimate parts, she wanted him more than ever. She wanted him inside her, exploring her, and in turn she’d explore him.

With her legs wrapped around his waist, she looked up at him and smiled. This was her husband, everything was right, everything was just the way she wanted it to be and there was a wondrous sense of security that came in knowing that.

Joe paused for a moment, his hardness pressing into her. Was he waiting for her approval to continue? She moved her hips to meet him and felt him slide slowly into her.

"I don’t want to hurt you," he whispered into her ear. "Tell me to stop and I will."

She appreciated the thought and sensitivity. Joe was one in a million. She nodded. And to accentuate her point, she took him deeper, savoring newfound sensations that she had never experienced before. 

Lovemaking with Darcy had always been quick and very self-serving, his needs always coming first. But now, with Joe, for the first time she felt things she had never experienced and it was glorious, liberating, and all points in between.

A heat rose between them as they moved together, forming one fluid motion locked together.

With his head nestled against her neck, Kate ran her fingers through Joe’s hair, coaxing him along with words that she would never have imagined she’d say. It was hard to break from sensibilities that had been engrained into her very core over the past years of her life.

His breath, hot and rapid, blew onto her cheek. Locking eyes, each became lost in the other.

He tensed over her, every muscle of his well-toned body flexing the more he worked himself into her.

And then Kate felt it, for the first time ever. It rose from deep down in her groin, a combination of intense pressure and hot, delicious pleasure.

She groaned and tossed her head back as Joe quickened his pace, thrusting into her with an unrelenting vigor, his hips rising and then slamming back down to make her feel every inch of his manliness.