Dream Kisses (Romance on the Ranch Series #1) (11 page)

"WESTWARD
HO!" he yelled, and the drivers slapped their mules again. About an hour
later, Jackson came galloping toward the wagons waving his hat and shouting,
"Circle the wagons! Circle the wagons! Take cover! Take cover!"

Sitting
atop Jackel, Sage whipped off his Stetson and frantically waved the wagons into
a circle. Everyone got into the spirit of the adventure. Sarah's heart raced
with excitement. Obviously, this was a continuation of the act Sage and Jackson
had put on during lunch in which Sage had loudly ordered his hired gun to ride
ahead and scout out Indian Territory. The scene had included Jackson making a
show of tipping his hat to all the ladies before mounting his horse and
galloping away.

Sage
yelled, "Women and children take cover behind Desert Dust. Men, grab your
weapons from Newt at the back of Chow Down."

Newt
had opened a chest from which he pulled out plastic rifles. Barely suppressing
grins, the pioneers followed orders. Sarah saw Mr. Hackstetter rushing for a
rifle with Jacob right behind him. Maybe there was hope for him.

Within
minutes, the men had positioned themselves behind their wagons while the women
and children huddled together. Sarah heard the pounding of hooves surrounding
the circle of wagons. She also heard Indians whooping and cowboys hollering,
mixed with small popping sounds from toy guns. Sage yelled, "We need all
the help we can get! Women, children, grab a rifle from Newt and take
aim!"

Sarah
ran to Newt and he winked when he handed her a plastic rifle. Flo, Jill, and Ann
were right behind her. The M and M beauties feigned having the vapors again and
the three stockbrokers rushed to assist them.

Sara
positioned herself at the wheel of her wagon. Several Indian braves ran toward the
wagons on foot. She took aim, but couldn't bring herself to pull the trigger—not
even playacting. From the sound of gun pops, the other pioneers had no such
trepidation.

Suddenly,
a magnificent Indian wearing buckskin breeches, buckskin vest, war paint on his
face and chest, and a large headdress of white and red feathers, charged into
view. Sage yelled, "Cease fire!" and the toy guns stopped popping.
She watched him step from the protection of Gold Fever and out into the open.
Her heart pounded. What was happening?

He
approached the Indian on foot. The lean man jumped from his horse and ran to
embrace Sage. Sarah heard one of the pioneers say, "What the hell is…"
before his wife interrupted. "Don, the children are present! Watch your
language!"

"Sorry,"
he replied sheepishly.

By
this time, all the pioneers were crowded against the wagon closest to Sage and
the Indian. Sage turned and yelled, "We've been spared our lives. This is
my half brother, Chief Talking Bull. We have the same father. We were separated
at the age of fifteen. Fate has intervened to save us." He motioned Chief
Talking Bull and his braves inside the camp. More playacting ensued.

Later,
the pioneers, cowboys, and Indians moved to the shade of nearby trees and sat
on quilts. Curley perked coffee and also made fresh lemonade. Chief Talking
Bull introduced himself as Bobby Dramas, museum curator, and descendent of one
of the local tribes. He proceeded to tell the history of Indians in the area
and regale everyone with true stories.

Sarah
couldn't take notes fast enough.

Around
five, the wagons pulled out again. They traveled another hour and then circled to
prepare supper and set up camp for the night.

Sarah
stretched and opened her eyes to morning light filtering through the heavy
canvas above her head.
What a great adventure!
At the other end of the
wagon, she felt Jill and Flo stir. Next to her, Julie sat up. Surprisingly,
four females sleeping in the wagon had not been as uncomfortable as she would
have thought.

Julie
slipped from her sleeping bag.

"Morning,"
said Flo and Jill.

"Morning,"
replied Julie.

Sarah
said cheerfully, "Looks like a beautiful day, everyone."

Julie
lifted the canvas flap and climbed out of the wagon in her jeans and T-shirt.
Pulling her sleeping bag outside, she said, "I'll roll the sleeping bags
up out here. Just hand them to me when you're ready." A couple of minutes
later she peeked back under the flap. "Ned just delivered a bucket of
water. Do you want me to lift it into the back of the wagon?"

Sarah
glanced at Jill and Flo and they nodded. "Yes, please." She raised
and secured the flap on a hook and then leaned outside the wagon to grab the
handle of the bucket Julie was lifting.

* * *

Sage
finished his morning round of checking over the wagons and greeting early
risers.
So far, so good. Everyone's happy and no accidents.
He was a
stickler for safety. He glanced up just in time to see Sarah leaning out of the
back of her wagon reaching for a bucket Julie was handing her. Her appearance
shot hot desire straight to his groin. She was wearing a camisole tucked into
pantaloons. The thin cotton top had slipped off one shoulder and in her bent
over position her breasts had almost fallen free of the garment. God, the woman
was built! He couldn't draw his eyes away. She looked up and met his gaze and
almost dropped the bucket. He rushed forward to assist.

"Here,
let me help." He grabbed the pail and his daughter stepped aside. Now he
had a close up of a scantily clad Sarah. It was difficult, but he moved his
eyes to her face. She jumped back and pulled her camisole almost to her chin.
Her coloring turned pink and then red. She reached overhead and the canvas
dropped in his face.

Shortly
after eight, Sage called, "WESTWARD HO!" and the pioneers moved on.
The day was clear with puffy clouds floating in an azure sky; perfect for wagon
train travel.

Around
eleven, the same as the day before, they circled the wagons and Curley and his
crew prepared lunch.

Sage
followed his protocol of checking each wagon for mechanical issues. Not finding
any, he decided to take a breather and walked to an outcropping of boulders
about a hundred feet away. Circling the boulders he leaned against the far side
and closed his eyes. Unbidden images of Sarah leaning out of the wagon teased
his mind and for a few seconds he allowed free rein to his imagination,
remembering the kisses they'd shared. He heard a noise and opened his eyes.
Uh
oh.

"Hello
Sage," said one of the M twins.

"Uh,
hello. Where's your sister? What are you doing away from camp?"

She
smiled seductively, "I snuck away and followed you here."

"Why?"

"I
think you know why."

"Uh,
Mindy…Mandy, this isn't a good idea. You need to return–"

Before
he could finish his sentence, the M girl had her body pressed against him and
her mouth covering his. He was so stunned he froze. When his brain caught up
with what was happening, he grasped her shoulders to push her away at the same
time he heard humming and then a shocked, "Oh, my God!"

Sage
jerked backward from the M girl and saw Sarah standing a few feet away staring
wide-eyed. The girl giggled, "Hi, Sarah."

All
Sage could think to say was, "It's not what you think."

Sarah
blinked a couple of times, said nothing, and then rushed back around the
boulder.

"Shit!"
He looked at Mindy/Mandy and shouted, "Get your ass back to camp!"

* * *

Stupid
tears! Sarah swiped at her cheeks. After surprising Sage and one of the twins
getting it on, she'd walked swiftly away. Then she'd started running. Now she
was lost.

Her
beautiful adventure had turned into a nightmare. She sniffed. The man was a
player; no doubt about it. She hated players. She'd been married to one for
five miserable years. She hated Sage. Of course, she knew that wasn't true. She
only wanted to hate him. Being honest with herself, she was hopelessly
attracted to him. She rubbed the back of her neck, forcing herself to face her
present predicament—lost in the woods of Colorado. She glanced at the sun,
determining which direction was west. She knew that was the direction of the
Lazy M. Should she walk that way or remain where she was and hope someone found
her? What would Tarah do? She decided to walk.

An
hour later, Sarah was tired, thirsty, scared, and overheated. She had
unbuttoned her blouse to the tops of her breasts and removed her jacket to tie
the sleeves around her waist. What if she had to spend the night lost and
alone? There had to be wild animals looking for their next snack. She raised a
shaking hand to the pulse pounding in her throat. Was she going to
hyperventilate and pass out?

A
sound jerked her around. Fear froze her to the spot. Movement made her gasp and
she was about to scream when Sage rode into view on Jackel. Releasing her
breath, she leaned forward and placed her hands on her knees, inhaling deeply.
She looked up at him from that position.  Anger etched his features.

"Of
all the stupid, hair-brained stunts, running off into the woods tops the list.
What the hell were you thinking? I've been searching for you for over an
hour."

Sarah
blinked. After what she'd witnessed, the man had the audacity to call her
stupid, as if getting involved with one of the twins wasn't stupid. Heck, maybe
he was involved with both of them. She rose to her full height, "You
arrogant jerk! To think I was giving you the benefit of the doubt for your
behavior at Java Junction."

"What
the hell does Java Junction have to do with being lost in the woods?"

Sarah
ignored his question and lifted her chin. "Point the way to camp."

Sage
frowned and pointed left of her.

Raising
her long skirt, she started walking in that direction.

"Do
you intend to walk while I follow on horseback?"

"Now
that I know the way, you can leave," she called without looking around.
She heard the clop of hooves behind her.

After
a few minutes of silence, Sage said, "Sarah, I wasn't kissing whichever twin
that was."

Sarah
stumbled, righted herself, and continued as if she hadn't heard him. Finally
she said, "Whomever you kiss is no concern of mine."

"Is
that why you ran off?"

She
stumbled again. "I…I didn't run off. I was heading back to camp and took a
wrong turn."

"You're
lying. And you're also walking in the wrong direction again."

Sarah
stopped and turned around. Sage pointed to her right. She glared at him and
started in that direction.

After
several more minutes, he said, "Are you ready to get on the horse so I can
take you back to camp?"

"And
ride with you. Never!"

"Okay,
I'll walk and you can ride."

"No."

The
brisk walk was making Sarah's side hurt and she paused to catch her breath. She
heard Sage urge Jackel forward. When he was beside her, he reached his hand
down to pull her up.

She
looked at his hand, then up into his face, shadowed by his Stetson.
"No!" She started walking again.

"You
are one stubborn woman, Mims Murphy."

Before
she knew it, he was off his horse and grabbing her shoulders, walking her
backwards until a tree stopped her. She squealed and pushed against his chest.

"I
swear to God, I wasn't kissing that girl. She cornered me," he said low.

Sarah
looked into the blue flame behind his irises and stopped pushing.

Sage
softened his tone, "The only woman I want to kiss is you."

Sarah's
eyes widened and her mouth gaped. In slow motion she watched his face descend
toward hers. Neither of them closed their eyes. Even when he was so close she
was seeing four flames, she couldn't draw her eyes away.

His
lips gently touched hers and she finally lowered her lashes, hanging on to his
shirt. He pressed harder against her lips. She moaned. He groaned. She released
his shirt and lifted her hands to the back of his head, pulling his mouth
tighter. His expertise ignited a forest fire and she kissed him with years of
stored passion.

The
harder he pressed his body against hers already backed up to the tree, the more
passionate she became. His hands roamed up and down her sides and she wanted to
scream at him to touch her where she wanted to be touched. He must have been
psychic, because after that his hands and fingers performed magic, followed by
his mouth.

Sarah
couldn't think a rational thought if her life depended on it. All she wanted to
do was touch Sage. And she did. She heard ragged breathing in her ear.
"Sarah, Sarah, don't. I want our first time to be special. You're driving
me insane." He stilled her hands and leaned back to look down at her. She
blinked. She blinked again, and put a hand to her mouth.

Sage
pulled away. "Not like this," he repeated, and reached for the hand
covering her mouth, lifting it to his lips and kissing her palm. Before pulling
her away from the tree and toward Jackel, he buttoned her blouse that was now
unbuttoned to her waist, and fastened his Levis after tucking his shirt back
into them. Silently, he helped her onto the stallion and then mounted behind
her. Flicking the reins, he walked the horse forward.