Ask No Tomorrows (24 page)

As
they went into the room, Riley plopped on the edge of one bed and
sighed loudly. “That was close.”

“
What?” Sam turned to look at
her.

“
That bunch of loud cowboys, that was Harry
and my ex-lawyer.”

Sam
came to stand in front of her. “What would he be doing here? Are
you sure you aren’t seeing things, since he’s on your mind a lot
these days?”

Riley jumped up and met him almost nose to nose. “No, I’m not
seeing things. It was Harry, I recognized him for sure, and my
ex-lawyer. How could I forget him? Known the man for
years.”

“
Then we got to hurry up and get things
done. We’ll see the lawyer, get things straight once and for all,
and since he’s in town for the conference, we could sneak back to
your ranch for the rest of the money too. What do you
think?”

Riley eased away. “Sounds like a good plan if we can get
things settled up in the morning with the lawyer here, and then we
could get that money and be out of there.”

“
Why don’t you go ask the clerk how long the
conference is gonna last and that way we’ll know how much time we
got?” Sam suggested.

“
Good idea,” Riley replied and putting her
bowler round atop of her she ambled back to the front
desk.

“
Excuse me, but I was wondering exactly how
long the conference is gonna go on?” she asked the
clerk.

The
short thin clerk, with a handlebar mustache twitched then answered,
“They’ll be here most of three days. Big buyers and the Railroad
Commissioner will be here. They got lots of news for the ranchers
this time. Big tadoo.”

“
Thank you.” Riley tipped her tap
slightly.

“
No problem at all, sir.”

The smell of
tobacco and whiskey waifed through the large lobby leading off to
the room where most of the conference was being held.

Riley strolled outside for a moment; the air was full of dust
as lots of ranchers were just now arriving for the conference. She
went back to the room.

Sam was
shaving.

“
The conference is for three days, so we got
time.” Riley came to stand beside him and watched his action with
the knife. He had his shirt off and for some reason goosebumps rose
on her arms.

“
Good. Looks like we can get it all done.”
Sam finished, wiped his chin and turned to smile at her.

“
Yeah, it does.” Then she flopped on the end
of the bed and shook her head. “I just had a real bad
thought.”

“
What now?”

“
What if Harry tries to buy me out with that
stolen money as a last resort?” Riley glanced at him and almost
laughed. He came closer and sat beside her on the bed.

“
Whoa…are you sure about selling
out?”

“
I’m sure.” She nodded.

“
Where will you go…what will you do?” Sam
asked, sitting beside her.

Riley felt her breath leave her at his closeness. “I-I don’t
know yet. Won’t be any of your concern, you’re going to Arizona,
right?”

“
Y-yeah…but hey, I didn’t say I might not
look you up and check on you from time to time. I mean, I’d just
want to be sure you were making it alright. Of course.” Sam glanced
at her.

“
If I know where I’m going when you leave,
I’ll tell you. If I don’t…I won’t,” she replied, turning away from
him.

“
That ain’t exactly fair.” He turned toward
her now.

“
It’s as fair as I can afford to be, Sam,”
she cried.

“
I’ll worry,” he said, reaching for her
hand.

She nearly
crumbled, but knew to keep from displaying her feelings she had to
keep turning away from him.

“
So, this is it?” he asked, as though
waiting for the answer.

“
As soon as I get my money and put the land
up for sale, this is it.” She stood up and moved away to face
him.

“
No more contact?” he asked, his frown
mirroring the picture of unhappiness.

She
shrugged.

He nodded
dully.

“
Best get some rest then,” he declared and
turned away from her.

She nodded,
removed her mustache, and took off her overcoat and everything but
her pants and shirt. She pulled the shirt out of the pants though
and ran around in her socks.

He did the
same and he watched her crawl into bed and cover up.

Hours later, in the middle of the night, a storm kicked up and
lightning streaked through the room.

When she
opened her eyes to the storm she saw the dream catcher hanging over
her bed and she turned to look at Sam. His eyes were still on her,
as though they never left her.

A clap of
thunder had her running to his bedside.

“
Oh, Sam…” she cried, reaching for
him.

Without
hesitation he took her into his arms, and cradled her there in the
bed with him, as though it were a natural thing for him to
do.

She snuggled
against him, and realized he wore nothing but his drawers. The
intimacy of his state of dress made her more aware of him as a
man.

“
Make it go away, Sam,” she cried as she
turned so she could look up at his face.

He
eyed her for a long while. “Only one way to do that…”

She
stared longingly at him. “Then do it…”

He
rolled over so he was leaning over her, staring into her eyes. “I
know what you want, what we both want…but I can’t give it to you
here, and now.”

Her
eyes widened, as tears threatened. “I know…” she barely
breathed.

“
But kissing you is a pleasure I can’t deny
either of us.” He stared into her face. “No woman’s ever kissed me
like you have. With their whole heart. I envy the man that gets
you, Riley…” he said lowly for her ears only.

Then at long
last their lips mated, slowly, questioning, passionately. With an
abandon she never expected, he cherished her, ravished her, loved
her. She rolled him over so he was on bottom and her hands shyly
went over his back and then back up to his nape where her fingers
lingered at his thin layer of hair as Sam kept his hair very
short.

“
Riley…” he gasped between kisses. “Kissing
you is the greatest pleasure I’ve ever known…”

“
Sam…” she cried out just before his lips
nipped and pulled and her mouth flowered into his.

His
lips burned a trail along her jaw line, to her ear, where he laved
then blew softly. Then he trailed more kisses down her neck to the
opening of her shirt where she lifted herself toward him to let him
know it would be alright. But he stopped.

He
suddenly pulled himself up against the bedpost, and pulled her on
top of him. He was no longer kissing her, just holding her. His
hand rested gently at her breast over her shirt. He felt the swell
of her young sweet breast as his thumb moved ever so lightly over
the tip of her breast. She moved sporadically over him as his thumb
continued its absent stroking.

At
first she wasn’t sure he was aware that he was touching her, and
she glanced up into his desire ridden eyes.

They were both
panting.

His lips
embedded in her hair and neck, kissing, loving,
touching.

She felt his
manhood spring to life and she gloried that she had caused that
reaction in him. But would he act upon his feelings?

“
Go to sleep Riley, go to sleep…” He sighed
against her ear.

“
Is that what you want?” she asked in a
whisper, turning her head so she could see him once
more.

“
No…but it’s what’s best for now…” He
sighed.

But
his thumb was still stoking the fires within her. How could she
sleep with his touching her like that? Nothing had prepared her for
the inner core of longing that swept through her from his touches.
She’d never made love, but she wasn’t afraid of Sam. And she so
wanted him.

Her eyes
finally closed, and she dreamed of the day that Sam might take her
as his own. She cuddled against him all night long as he held her
in his arms, touching, kissing, and loving her.

The next
morning, she woke up in his arms, her cheek rested on his bare
chest. Her eyes opened and she saw his nipple. It intrigued her.
Before she realized what she was doing, she covered the nipple with
her mouth and sighed. He jerked up, threw her almost off the bed
and stared at her long and hard.

“
Don’t do that…” he screeched.

“
Why not…doesn’t it feel good?” she asked
innocently.

“
It feels…never mind how it feels.” He shook
his head and got off the bed on the other side of her. She had
spurred his anger, and immediately regretted it.

“
Get dressed, you got to go see the lawyer
this morning,” Sam instructed as though nothing had
happened.

“
Okay.” She swallowed her pride and the hurt
he inflicted then went to the mirror to fix her clothes and comb
her hair with the comb provided by the hotel.

After she
turned her back, Sam got dressed.

An
hour later, after they had eaten a big breakfast, they went to the
lawyer’s office.

She introduced
Sam and they sat in front of the big desk to await their
fate.

“
So you’re Ethan Morgan then, her cousin?”
the lawyer asked as he went through the paper work once
more.

“
Yes. I arrived just yesterday, in
fact.”

“
I see, I thought you would be coming here
with her.” The lawyer looked puzzled and glanced at Sam
questioningly.

“
She didn’t meet me at the stage. I don’t
know what happened to her, but she left me with instructions at the
hotel desk, to come here, get all the paperwork and return to her
ranch as soon as possible. So here I am. What am I to
do?”

“
Just sign a few papers, and all will be
taken care of.”

“
Fine, she did mention she wanted to sell
the ranch, and that she wanted you to handle that, of course?”
Riley said.

“
No, she made no mention at all of selling,
but that can be arranged too.”

Riley smiled. “Good, you see, she’ll be going back east with
me, I think.”

“
I see. Well, just sign here, here and here
and I’ll take care of the rest,” the lawyer instructed.

“
Wonderful. I’m glad this isn’t going to
take much time.” Riley sighed.

“
No, no time at all. I’ll give you the box
key for the safe and you can withdraw your money and be on your
way. I hear tell you are a doctor and I’m sure you are anxious to
get back.”

“
That’s correct.” Riley tried to keep her
voice low and formal.

Riley signed the papers and handed them back to the lawyer. “I
appreciate you handling this for her. She trusts you to handle the
sale arrangements for her.”

“
Fine, fine. I’ll take care of it all. Is
there a minimum bid for the ranch?”

“
Yes, $250,000 for the ranch itself and an
equal amount for the stock and assets on the ranch. That’s the
least she’ll consider.”

“
Fine, I’ll have the proper papers drawn,
put it up for sale and send her the details later, then. I would
like to thank you both for putting so much trust in me.” The lawyer
smiled.

“
You have an impeccable reputation, sir,”
Riley said and stood.

“
Thank you. Well, that concludes all I need
then.”

Sam and Riley
excused themselves and left.

***

As
they went back to their room
, Riley twirled around the room. “It’s nearly over
now…”

“
Yeah, I guess it is.” Sam didn’t sound as happy but she
ignored that.

“
So…what now?” Riley asked.

“
Now.” He looked at her thoroughly. “We get on our horses and
ride like hell. We get that money and then you can rest,” Sam
explained.

“
Oh
yeah, I guess you are right.” She smiled at him. “We need to get
out there while Harry is here, right?”

“
I’ll go get some riding clothes for you and be back with a
little food before we take off,” Sam said, going to the window and
stretching.

She ran up to
his back and grabbed him around the middle. She laid her head on
his back and drew breath. “Oh Sam, we did it, didn’t we? Do you
have any idea how much I love you?”