Dorothy Garlock (36 page)

Corbin grinned. “I’d like to tell the big, mule-headed bozo myself.”

“He won’t be as surprised as you think,” Annabel said with a sly smile.

“Tell him to stay put, Jack. When this is over, we’ll come up. If I can’t find the cabin, I’ll fire three rapid shots and he can find us.”

“Papa will be here by then. He’ll know how to find it.”

“What will you do for a car?” Jack asked.

“The marshal will help me get one.”

“Jack, I’m worried about you going off by yourself. Will you be all right?” Annabel asked.

“Sure, once I’m out of town.”

“Turn in here, Jack, and let us out in the alley behind the hotel. We’ll go up the back stairs.”

Corbin’s eyes swept the area before he stepped out of the truck and held out his hand for his new wife. For a long minute he allowed his eyes to feast on the woman standing beside him. His intense blue gaze clung to her thick, tousled hair, her passionate mouth and tight, slim body. The fact that she loved him was a joy of ever-expanding proportions.

“They’ll think I’m sneaking a fallen woman into my room,” he teased while they were getting her bag and violin case out of the truck.

“I’ll wave this wedding paper in front of their noses if they do.” She spoke to Jack. “Tell Boone not to worry and that I left a note for Papa.”

“Have you got enough gas to get back?” Corbin asked.

“I’m sure I have. There’s an extra large tank on this truck.”

Annabel and Corbin moved close to the iron stairway attached to the back of the hotel and waited until the truck was out of sight.

“Do you think he’ll be all right?”

“He’s a bright boy with a level head on his shoulders,” Corbin said by way of an answer.

Carrying her bag in one hand, his other hand cupping her elbow, Corbin ushered her up the stairs and into the upper hall. It was deserted. A dim bulb burning at the end of the hall was the only light as he took out his key and unlocked the door to his room.

“Stay here, honey,” he whispered and lifted the violin case from her hand. He set it and the bag inside the room, then scooped her up in his arms and carried her inside. He backed against the door to close it.

“This is our first home together, sweetheart. I wish I could have taken you on a honeymoon to Niagara Falls. We would have spent our first night together in a fancy compartment on the train. Instead we’re here in this small-town hotel room. It’s not exactly what I wanted for my bride.”

Her fingers went up to his lips. She giggled happily.

“You lucked out, Mr. Appleby. The swaying of a train makes me sick. I would have spent the night throwing up.”

“What do you know about that?” With his eyes on her smiling face, he let her slide down his body until her feet reached the floor. His arms tightened around her and the words he muttered were scattered from her ear along her jaw to her mouth. “I wanted you to spend your wedding night in a pretty place with a soft, sweet-smelling bed and banks of flowers beside it.”

“The bed is soft and clean and I can do without the banks of flowers if you can.”

“Annabel Lee, my Annabel Lee, you’re wonderful.”

“I’m no such thing. I’m hungry.”

He was delighted with her.

“
She
was a child and
I
was a child,/ In this kingdom by the sea,/ But we loved with a love that was more than love—/ I and my Annabel Lee.”

“You really like that poem, don’t you?”

“It has played over and over in my head since the first time I met you. It’s as if it was written for us.”

Her lips parted with a soft sigh. As if it were the signal he’d awaited, Corbin captured her lips in a kiss that was rich and deep; a kiss she desperately welcomed. His mouth moved over hers in a loving way, tasting and caressing, responding to her response with an ever-tightening embrace. His hand moved from her back to her hips, molding her to his silently clamoring body.

It was all he could do to make himself draw away from her.

“Do I frighten you?” he whispered.

“No. I frighten myself. So many … new feelings.”

“We’ll take it slow, sweetheart.” He let his arms fall from around her so that he could think clearly. “There’s a water closet at the end of the hall. If you want to use it, I’ll take you there. You can take a bath, or if you’d rather, you can wash here in the room. After we’ve had a chance to clean up a bit, I’ll go down to the dining room and bring up something to eat. You haven’t eaten much today.”

While Annabel was using the water closet down the hall, Corbin washed, shaved and changed his clothes. He gave her the key to the room and cautioned her not to open the door for anyone but him. Reluctant to leave her even for a short time, he hurried down to the hotel lobby. The young desk clerk called out to him.

“Mr. Appleby. Several people have been in today looking for you.”

“Really? Who?”

“Mr. Travis was here early this morning.”

“Craig Travis, the butcher? Did he say what he wanted?”

“He said he hadn’t seen you for a while. Said to tell you to stop by. Mr. Potter came by with a prescription he’d filled for you, and Mr. Brighton, the postmaster, brought you a letter.” The clerk placed a letter on the counter. “You must have pull with that postmaster to have him walk all the way over here with a letter.”

Corbin fingered the envelope. “What did Mr. Potter have to say about the prescription?”

“He said he would leave it in your room and then changed his mind when I offered to take it up. He said he’d better give it to you himself and to tell you to come to the drugstore no matter what time you got back. He’s very accommodating.”

“Yeah, he is. Can you keep a secret?” He winked at the clerk.

“Of course, Mr. Appleby.”

“I was married today. My bride is in my room. We’ve got to keep it a secret from her father for a few days. He wanted her to marry a Catholic.” The lie that had worked with the minister came easily to Corbin’s lips.

“Congratulations.”

“Thank you. Can I trust you not to give away our secret until her father comes to accept it?”

“Absolutely, Mr. Appleby. I’ll not tell a soul. My sister almost married a Baptist. I tell you, our Catholic parents were not pleased.”

“If Mr. Potter comes back, tell him …” Corbin tapped the letter he was holding on the counter while he was thinking of an excuse. “Oh, just tell him that I’m not back yet.”

“He asked if I knew where you’d gone, as if I’d ask a guest where he was going when he went out.” The clerk made a helpless gesture with his hands.

“I’d like to get a couple plates of food to take up to the room. We’ve been driving all day and my bride is worn out.”

“Of course, Mr. Appleby. I’ll take care of it myself.”

While the food was being prepared, Corbin opened the letter. It was from Julie Jones Johnson back in Fertile. The family had been relieved to learn that Jack was all right and would be coming home soon. Her letter was newsy. Her brother Joe and Thad Taylor were still in Oklahoma. Jill was looking for a teaching job. The town of Fertile had not hired a police chief, she wrote. They were holding out the hope that he would come back.

Corbin put the letter back in the envelope. It was good to know that he had a job if he wanted it. He had a wife to support now.

Chapter
26

T
HE WORRY ABOUT HER FATHER’S FAILURE TO RETURN on time was pushed to the back of Annabel’s mind by the wonder that she was married and that she would spend this night and every other night with her husband.

Although she had known him for a relatively short time, she felt that after all they had been through together, she knew everything about him. He was not only handsome, he was open and honest and capable and brave.

He was wonderful!

Just thinking about him made her feel vibrant and alive, more attuned to life than she had ever been before. From the first, she had felt comfortable with him, so right in his arms, so very right that she had known in only a short time that they were indeed meant for each other.

She wanted to look her best for him. After brushing her hair until it shone, she dabbed a bit of Evening in Paris perfume behind her ears and added a tiny bit of Tangee lipstick to her lips. Satisfied it was the best she could do, she put on her nightgown. Although sleeveless, it was modest, with a tie at the high neck. She looked down at herself and noticed that the outline of her nipples and the dark brush of her pubic hair showed through the thin material and hurriedly pulled from her bag the gingham wrapper she wore sometimes when her father, Boone or Spinner were in the house.

While she waited for Corbin to return, she repacked her valise, putting away all of her intimate garments, then spread her wet towel and washcloth on the towel bar to dry. She busied herself tidying the room. She moved a pair of Corbin’s boots over beneath his clothes, which hung on a rod in the corner of the room. While there, she buried her face in his shirt. The scent of him was new, raw and shockingly heady.

At the sound of a bump on the door she went quickly to press her ear against it.

“It’s me, honey. Open the door.”

Corbin came in carrying a heavy tray, which he set on the bed. It was the only flat place in the room other than the floor. Annabel closed and locked the door, leaving the key in the keyhole. Corbin had told her that if someone tried to unlock the door, the key would fall to the floor and alert them.

“Something smells good,” she said.

He turned to her. “Oh, honey. You’re so pretty. I’m not sure that I can eat a bite. You are something.”

“So are you, Mr. Appleby. And do you mean that looking at me takes away your appetite? That’s not very flattering,” she chided.

“You know what I mean!” He gave her a leering look and twisted an imaginary mustache. “My dear lady, do not forget that you are at my mercy.”

She laughed. “Sir, if you have plans to ravish me, at least let me eat first.” She whipped the cloth off the tray of food and sat down beside it. “Chicken pie. My, it looks good. Oh, and bread pudding and cream. A feast before ravishment. A girl couldn’t ask for more than that.”

While they ate, Corbin told her about what he had learned from the desk clerk.

“Potter came here on the pretext of delivering a prescription I had ordered.”

“What would he have done if you’d been here?”

“I don’t know. I doubt he would shoot me down in the lobby in front of everyone.”

“Do you think he’ll try to do that? Shoot you? He doesn’t know that we saw him at the farm.”

“Face it, honey. About now, he’s desperate. He’s got to answer to the big guys in Chicago. The men they sent here didn’t do the job. They let your father’s men outwit them, and they lost thousands of dollars’ worth of bootleg whiskey. One of the two who came looking for me, either the postmaster or Craig Travis, could be his sidekick. I hate to think of it being Travis. He has a nice wife and a small boy.”

“How will you find out which one it is?”

“I’ll lay it all out to the marshal when he comes and let him figure it out.”

“When do you think he’ll be here?”

“Noon tomorrow, unless he leaves Jefferson City tonight. He’ll come here to the hotel.”

After they finished eating, Corbin carried the tray down to the dining room, then hurried back to their room. Annabel let him in, then rushed to the bed, scooted to the far side and got under the sheet. Corbin got only a glimpse of an outline of her breasts beneath her nightdress before he turned to lock the door and to wedge a straight-backed chair beneath the knob.

He tried not to look at her, knowing that she must be nervous and feeling shy. He kept his back to her while he removed his shirt for another reason too. His arousal was embarrassing to him, and he feared it would be frightening to her. He removed his shoes and socks, then switched off the light before he removed his trousers.

Standing beside the bed in the pitch-dark room, Corbin felt not only a strong sexual desire for his bride, but a strange fear that she might reject him and despise a physical relationship with him. He was awed by the responsibility he had to introduce her to the ways in which a man loved a woman with his body. He wished they’d had more time to build up to this.

God, help me to do this right.

“Corbin?” her voice came out of the darkness.

“I’m here, sweetheart.”

He lifted the sheet and got into the bed. The bedsprings were not strong and he rolled toward her, his arms reaching to surround her. He held her to him, flattening her breasts against his chest. Hungry mouths searched, found each other, and held with fierce joy. Her skin was smooth and soft. His hands couldn’t stop sliding up and down her back.

“What do I do?” she whispered when her lips were free.

“Don’t worry about it, sweetheart,” he crooned in a voice deep and soothing. “When the time comes, you’ll know what to do. I’m going to enjoy holding you for a while.”

“The feelings inside are all so new. I love you,” she murmured between kisses.

“It’s the love that we share that makes this so special.” Corbin held his dire need in check, carefully keeping his lower body away from her so as not to frighten her with his rock-hard erection while his hands and mouth made her ready for him.

When he kissed her, his tongue entered her mouth, preparing her for the other entry that was to come. She responded with rising desire, and with a feeling of great joy, he knew that she’d given herself into his care.

Her arms encircled him and her hands caressed the smooth skin of his back. He felt so good. His scent was all male, fresh and clean. His chest was warm and she could feel the heavy beat of his heart beneath her cheek. His arms holding her tightly—this was just the way she craved to be held.

“I’ve wanted to hold you like this, kiss you and feel your breasts against my chest.”

“Do … we leave our clothes on?” she whispered.

“We can … if it’s what you want.”

“What do you want?”

“I want you naked in my arms. Is it too soon?”

For an answer, she pulled away from him, lifted the gown up over her head and lay back down. A deep longing compelled her to meet his passion equally. The driving force of her feeling took her beyond herself into a mindless void where there were only lips, hands and Corbin’s hard demanding body.