Bittner, Rosanne (22 page)

Billy wrapped the cooked meat and tied it onto his horse. "Let's get the hell home, boys," Luke told them. He kicked his horse into a gentle lope, heading north across Double L country.

This far out he considered the land his simply because his cattle and horses sometimes grazed here. It really belonged to the government, but who the hell cared? They weren't doing anything with it, and he intended to fence it off eventually, adding to his empire. A lot of ranchers did that now—used the land beyond their own borders for grazing. It was necessary in order to feed herds that got bigger every year. In a couple of weeks cattle agents would be bringing him more sturdy stock from Oregon and California. He needed a good half-million acres for enough grassland to feed his growing herds, which numbered close to eight thousand now. Soon there would be more, meaning he would need even more land. He would get it, one way or another; but the powers that be in Washington were reluctant to give up too much land, wanting to save it for the railroad, wary that there might be valuable minerals under a lot of it. What he and the other ranchers in Montana needed was to gather together and force their hand to get what they needed. He had formed the Cattlemen's Association, an organization still young. They would be holding their second meeting in only three weeks. Similar groups were forming in Colorado, Utah, Wyoming. It was time for Montana ranchers to band together and protect their land and their rights, encourage the government to send more soldiers out here to alleviate the continued danger from renegade Indians, allow the ranchers to claim more land.

He removed his hat and ran an arm over his face and hair to wipe away more dirt and sweat. He hated to go home to Lettie this way. But after all these weeks away, she wouldn't much care how he looked when he got there. She in turn would look damn good to him... and feel damn good in bed tonight.

CHAPTER 12

Katie MacBride looked up from her plate of beef and potatoes to study the son-in-law she had not seen in nine years. His reunion with Lettie and the children when he'd arrived home this evening had been warm, full of excitement and questions. It was obvious he was a good husband and father, but she had seen the fear and concern in Lettie's eyes at the sight of him. How many nights did her daughter lie awake wondering if her husband would come home at night alive and uninjured? He had bathed and shaved before sitting down to supper, which Lettie served on a big pine table Luke had built himself; but cleaning up could not hide the scratches and bruises about his eyes, nor could he cover up the limp awakened by the scuffle with the buffalo hunters. She noticed that between bites he rubbed at his ribs.

Yes, there was a lot about Luke Fontaine that was different from the Luke she had known. Thank God he was the same loving man toward his family she remembered, but she suspected that beyond their sight and hearing, he had learned to be ruthless. He had been very evasive about what had happened. A little problem with some buffalo hunters who decided to dine on Fontaine beef, was all he had told Lettie. She had asked no further questions, had sought no details. A little problem? He and his men had come back with the beef the hunters had been roasting, as well as several long rifles they had taken from them. How had they managed that?

She decided it was useless to worry about it, as long as he was good to Lettie and the children, who all seemed to adore their father. It was obvious Luke was a man who could take care of himself, and from the looks of some of the men who worked for him, he had plenty of help enforcing whatever laws he set for his land. In her visit of several weeks, she had concluded that out here men set their own laws, and they enforced them however they had to. There were no sheriffs, no judges. If a man wanted to survive, he simply had to be more skilled with fists and guns, a better scout and hunter than the next man, and yes... ruthless when necessary. This was indeed a very different world her daughter lived in, and she surmised that by now, Luke and even Lettie would not be happy in a place like Denver. This was their little empire, and even Lettie had the land in her blood; but she at least had not lost the softness and genteel manners she'd been taught as a child.

"Did the buffalo hunters shoot at you, Pa?" Tyler asked Luke.

Katie noticed Lettie look at her husband, the same question in her eyes. Luke turned to Tyler. "No, Ty," he answered. "We just chased them off, that's all."

Tyler grinned. "I bet they ran scared. You must have been real mad seeing them eating our beef."

Katie suspected Luke was lying about no shooting going on.

"Yeah, I was pretty mad," he answered. Luke could feel Louise and her husband Kenneth watching him. All evening Kenneth had gawked at him as though he were the
most
unusual creature he'd ever seen.

Lettie looked down at her plate, no longer hungry. She knew without asking that there
had
been a shoot-out. Over the years Luke had had to kill more than once in defence of his property and family. Had he killed again today? She hated to see him have to resort to such measures, worried what it would do to him; and she hated knowing that every time he rode away he could himself be killed.

"I'm glad you came, Katie," Luke was telling her mother, obviously trying to change the subject. "At least Lettie had some good company while she was waiting for me to get back. I'm just sorry to hear about Henry's death."

"Well, it has certainly been an adventure up here," Kenneth spoke up.

Luke glanced at the man, thinking how easy it would be to pick him up and throw him several feet. He had not seen such clean hands on a man in a long time, nor met anyone who wore a suit every day. He was friendly, and Luke supposed smart as hell, being a banker and all, but he probably wouldn't last long out here on his own.

"Life tends to get pretty exciting around here at times," he answered. He finished his last piece of meat and leaned back in his chair, looking from Louise to Katie. "I know you both worry about Lettie. I want you to know I take damn good care of her. I have plenty of men working for me now. There's no danger to her as long as she's on this ranch, and I take her into town as often as I can. Within another couple of years I'm going to build her as wonderful a house as she could have in Denver or anyplace else, and I'm going to have a piano shipped out here. She'll have fine furniture, all the trimmings. She's forming a ladies' circle, and between that and the kids, she doesn't suffer the kind of loneliness she did when we first got here. I promised you I'd make a good life for her, and I'm doing everything I can to make that happen. The ranch is getting bigger all the time. This last trip I made good money on the beef I took to Cheyenne. The buyer already told me he wants five hundred more steers next year. We're doing okay."

Katie smiled. "I don't doubt that, Luke. We didn't come here to question how you take care of Lettie. I just wanted to see my daughter and my grandchildren." She reached out and put a hand over his. "Just don't let the things you have to do to defend this place and your family make you too hard. Don't lose sight of compassion and fairness, Luke."

He squeezed her hand in return. "That won't happen. You just have to understand that out here, with some men, you have to make the first move or you won't be alive to make the second. If a man wants to protect his own, he has to shut off his feelings and do what must be done. That's just the way it is, Katie."

Kenneth smiled nervously. "You're quite something, Luke." He studied the faint scars left on Luke's face by the grizzly attack. "Listen, if you ever need a loan to expand, you let me know. I'll gladly lend you the money from my own bank. Just wire me in Denver. I think you're going to be quite a wealthy man someday. You've done a heck of a job, considering what little you had to start with."

"Thanks, Kenneth. I'll remember the offer." Luke glanced at Lettie, knew she was as anxious as he was to get this meal over with and be alone. He was grateful for her family's visit, overjoyed to see them himself. He knew how much it meant to Lettie. Still, he and Lettie had been away from each other for nearly three months. He longed to be alone with her.

"How about dessert?" Lettie asked. "I have apple pie that's still warm."

Luke watched her lovingly. It felt so good to be home, to be surrounded by softness and love again. What a contrast this was to a trail drive and buffalo hunters. Kenneth peppered him with more questions about ranching as they ate their dessert, and after supper the women cleaned up while Luke and Kenneth sat smoking and talking. All five Fontaine children clamored to sit in their father's lap, giving him hugs and kisses, asking a thousand questions. It seemed forever before Lettie's family finally returned to their own quarters and the children were all tucked into bed. Because of the extra visiting, it was nearly midnight before the house was finally quiet and Luke and Lettie were alone in their bedroom.

"My God, it's been a long day," Luke muttered, yawning and removing his shirt.

Lettie's heart tightened at the sight of bruises on his ribs. "You killed someone today, didn't you, Luke?"

He hesitated as he unbuttoned his pants, then sighed deeply. "He pulled a gun on me. They were a bad bunch, Lettie. One of them threatened to get back at me through my family. Nobody threatens me that way, especially when they're standing there roasting a hindquarter of my own beef over their fire and squatting on my land."

She walked closer to him. "I wonder if the day will ever come when I can stop worrying about you every time you ride out of here." She ran her hand over the scars on his chest.

"That day
will
come," he promised. He pulled her into his arms, then took the combs from her lustrous hair and let the deep auburn locks fall down her back. "I'm sorry, Lettie, about the things I've had to do. The Luke you know and love is right here with his arms around you, and right now all he cares about is being home with his woman. I miss you more every time I leave."

Luke Fontaine had changed, she thought. No longer did he agonize over killing another man, as he had over the outlaws. She could not blame him for it. This land did that to a man, the sheer struggle to survive. She knew that behind those still-provocative blue eyes and that still-handsome, sun-tanned face the feelings were there, buried deep. He didn't dare dig them up. It hurt too much, just as it hurt too much to talk about Nathan.

"I love you, Luke," she whispered.

He met her mouth in a savage, hungry kiss. She knew what this first time would be like... just like all the other first times when they had been apart for a long time. She didn't mind. It was exciting to be so wanted by a man like Luke, to know that after six children, she could still please him. The new lines on his face from years of outdoor life did little to affect his handsome features, and knowing he could have been killed himself today only made her want him more.

The bedroom door was closed, but she feared that would not be enough to hide the sounds of their lovemaking from the children. They both tried to be quiet about it, but it was difficult when a man and woman needed each other so desperately. It was so good to feel his strong arms around her, to feel his hard body against her as he laid her back on the fine brass bed he had bought her two years ago. His kisses left her breathless while his big hands felt at her breasts. He touched and tasted as he removed her clothes, and she was hardly aware of him removing his own. She grasped his hair as he moved over her, and she loved him for not caring that she was a little fuller, a little rounder, a little softer than the eighteen-year-old woman he had brought here. She still pleased him, and Luke Fontaine most certainly still pleased her. This first time had to be quick, no preliminaries necessary. He surged inside of her, filling her hard and deep, groaning with the intense want of her. She dug her fingers into his broad shoulders and arched up to him in naked glory, and it was only moments before she felt the delicious climax that made her insides pull at him in spastic desire. Luke raised up on his knees and grasped her hips, pushing hard and deep, his dark skin already bathed in perspiration. His own release was quick and pounding, making him shudder.

He breathed deeply, came down on top of her, and took her in his arms, kissing and licking at her face, her neck. "I love you, Lettie." He relaxed beside her then. "I'm glad your mother came, but I hope it didn't make you want to go to Denver. I'm sure they're full of stories about how nice life is there." He sank his head into the pillow they shared.

"Luke, you don't really think I could ever leave here now, do you? Or that I would even consider it?" She touched his face, kissed him lightly. "This is home. If we can't go to civilization, we'll bring civilization to Montana. You and men like you will set the laws, and I'll gather with other women to bring in education and the gentleness this land needs. Besides, I could never take the children from here. This is all they've ever known. Ty already shows signs of following in your footsteps, and Katie is a strong girl, so helpful already with chores and things. She already talks about someday marrying a rancher and being just like me." She smiled. "Not that I expect all of them to stay right here and do what we do. Little Pearl has such a talent for music, and Robbie—who knows? Ever since that horse kicked him last year, he's been deathly afraid of them. I don't know how a son is going to help on his father's ranch if he won't get on a horse."

Luke laughed lightly. "He'll get over it." His smile faded and he sighed deeply. "Do you think I'll go to hell, Lettie, for taking the law into my own hands?"

She kissed his muscular chest. "I think God knows exactly what a good man you are." She moved her face to be close to his, kissing his lips again. "And so do I."

Their lips met in a more tender kiss, and this time they moved more slowly. Lettie relaxed to deep, suggestive kisses, allowing him to explore her mouth while he massaged at her breasts, her belly, her bottom, and that secret place that belonged only to Luke Fontaine now. She had long ago learned to bury the horror of her rape. In this man's hands sex had never been anything but beautiful and necessary and achingly satisfying. She returned his kisses with increased vigor, feeling on fire for him. It had been so long since she'd had her man in her bed.