Chapter 22

This chapter was the hardest one to write so far.  And it's another long one.  So don't start reading if you don't have time to finish.  NC17 warning.  If you're not 17 or older you shouldn't read this chapter.  It contains some explicit material and some off color humor.  If you are most likely to be offended by that, please just skip the last half of this chapter.

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"Hey, Kid, how was the trip into Red Rock?"

Kid Curry entered the bunkhouse to find his partner donning his leather chaps. "Fine, just fine.  I think Livvy's got everything she needs for the big day.  I swear you would think the two of you were getting hitched the way she's carrying on."

"So....did you get it?"

"Relax, I got it.  It's in the stables."  His blue eyes twinkled as he laughed out, "And boy is she gonna be surprised."

"I know," Heyes said with a boyish grin.  "I don't think I can wait until Sunday.  I don't think I can keep it a secret for three days anyway.  I'm gonna go ahead and give it to her today."   Heyes stood there looking expectantly at his partner.

"What?"  Kid asked, wondering what his partner was waiting on.

"Well, don't just stand there.  Get your chaps on we've got horses to break.  You know Mr. Peterson from the bank wants that pinto ready for his son's birthday on Monday."

"He's ready.  All we  need to do is  get him shod and we can deliver him personally."

"Let's run him through the basics one more time.  We can take him into town tomorrow morning and get him shod, that way he'll be ready come Monday morning."

"Oh, by the way, there's this barn dance over at the Weaver ranch tomorrow night.  Livvy insisted that we go.  I didn't really have a good excuse not to go, so I said I'd take her.  Why don't you and Evie come along?  They said everyone was invited."

Heyes shrugged, "Why not.  I'm sure she'll enjoy getting to wear one of those new gowns Livvy bought for her."

"Give me a minute and I'll meet you in the corral."

"Take your time.  I'm going to the stables to check on  Evie's gift."

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Livvy Vanderbilt breezed elegantly through the door to her niece's bedroom, arms loaded with hat boxes and garment bags.   "I got it.  The seamstress said all the alterations should be perfect.  But you really should try it on to make sure."

"I will later, after I'm finished.  Did you get that telegraph from back home you were expecting?"

"Yes.  All the family businesses are in good hands and everything is going well.  Libby is fine, too.  I can't wait for you to meet her someday."   As she spoke she hung the newly altered gown that Evie was going to wear this Sunday when she and Joshua bound themselves to each other.  She was so excited for them.  And she was enjoying making all the arrangements.

"Oh, by the way,  I learned while I was in town that there's going to be a barn dance Friday night at one of the neighboring ranches.  Mr. and Mrs. Weaver invited all of us.  I thought you and Joshua might like to go.  Thaddeus is going to escort me.  It will be good for the two of you to go out as a couple before your hand fasting ceremony on Sunday."

"I'll ask him.  I'm sure he won't have any objections."

Livvy studied her niece who was bent over some sewing by the window and found that she had  dark circles under her usually bright eyes.  "You look tired, dear.  Aren't you sleeping well?"

"No, not really,"  she admitted.  "It's nerves I guess,"  she lied.  She wasn't nervous about Sunday.  But she wasn't about to tell her aunt that she had been plagued every night for the past week with dreams of her mother.   In the dreams her mother stood shivering as if she were very cold.  She would shake her head and say "smith," just before Joshua was dragged away in shackles.    Evie didn't know what it meant or why she kept having the dream.  It wasn't like before when her mother had clearly said "don't let her get off the train."   It was as if she wanted to say more, but the only word Evie could hear was "smith."  And why was her mother always shivering in the cold?   It didn't make sense but  it was making for some pretty sleepless nights.  "Aunt Livvy?"

"Yes, dear."

"That woman we saw in Cold Springs, the one with all the children....did she ever tell you what her name was?"

Livvy pondered the question for a moment.  "I'm not sure I remember.  Her given name was Laura but I can't recall what she said her last name was.  I know she said it when she  introduced herself and her husband, but I'm just not sure.  Why do you want to know?"

"Just curious.  Joshua and I ran into her in the mercantile."   She stopped her sewing.  "Her last name wasn't Smith was it?"

"Smith?  Oh, no.  I would remember if it were something as common as that.  Especially when my only niece is going to be a Smith in the not so distant future.  No, it was something not so common,  Sherman or Sheldon or something like that."

Evie breathed an inward sigh of relief.  At least she didn't have to worry about that worn out bag of bones being the smith her mother was warning her about.  But just who or what was it?  Maybe it all meant nothing.  Maybe it really was nerves, manifesting themselves as bizarre dreams while she slept.  She was going to try to not worry about it.  She wouldn't let it ruin her enjoyment of the best week of her life.

"What are you doing anyway?"  Livvy asked Evangeline who sat in the sunlight, needle and thread in hand.

"I'm  sewing my binding cord.  We're each supposed to bring one right."    She held up the lavender printed sash.  "I made it from Mama's dress.  I don't need it anymore  and it will almost be like she's there with us, giving us her blessing."

Livvy's eyes watered.  "That's so beautiful.  I know she and your father and brother will be there in spirit.  Joshua is a good man.  Thaddeus was worried that I didn't approve of him because he wasn't wealthy.  Who cares if the man you love has money or not when you're the heiress to a fortune yourself.  All that matters is that he loves you and you love him.  A lesson I'm afraid my mother and father learned too late."

"What did you say?"

"I said all that matters is that you love him and he loves you......"

"No, before that."

"Who cares about money when your an heiress to a fortune."

"Who are you talking about?"

"You, of course."   She laughed at the shocked look on her niece's face.  "Who do you think is going to inherit everything when I'm gone?   It's all going to be yours, dear.   And I don't think I've mentioned it to you yet, but you have a very substantial trust fund that your grandfather set up for you when you were just a tiny baby.  It's been drawing interest all these years.  But you can't touch it until you turn twenty-one."

"What exactly do you call substantial?"

"Hum, I haven't checked on it in quite a while, but the last time I checked it was close to seventy-five thousand."

"Ouch!"  The needle in Evie's hand slipped when she heard the figure and she stabbed herself in the thumb.
"Did you say seventy-five thousand?"

"Um hum."

"Dollars?"

"Yes."

"And it belongs to me?"

"Yes, but you can't spend any of it until you turn twenty-one.  That's why I wasn't worried about Joshua's social status or income.  I knew  your money would be more than enough to take care of both of you until you're old and gray.  Especially since it is added to monthly until you inherit the rest of it.   I just wanted to be sure that he really loved you and you really loved him.  And now that I know that, money is not going to be a concern for either of you."

A stout breeze would have knocked her over at that moment.   She was giddy and lightheaded.  She had to share this news with Joshua.  She tossed her needle work aside and headed for the door, but stopped before she was completely out in the hallway and circled around to ask, "May I tell him the news?"

"Of course, you may share it with him, but wait....."  Evie had bolted down the stairs and out the front door before she had a chance to even finish.  She hoped she wasn't going to ruin the surprise Joshua had asked Thaddeus to pick up for him in Red Rock.

She found him as always in the corral.  He was training the big black to stop on cue and respond to leg pressure.  He was becoming attached to the giant stud, and had decided to keep him for his own.  He had named him Odin.  Under Hannibal Heyes' skillful hands, the once untameable beast had become a gentle giant.  But there were moments when the wild mustang would emerge and only a skilled horseman like him could handle the stallion.  She treated herself to a few moments of spellbound pleasure as she watched the man of her dreams teach the big animal to do what he asked of him.  She shivered slightly as she took in the sight of him in those leather chaps, taming and teaching the wild beast between his thighs.  This man had such a power over her.  He could turn her insides into a quivering ball of mush just by sitting a horse.  Everything he did, the way he walked, the way he talked, the way he smelled, the way he smiled made her think such impure thoughts.  They made her want to finish what they had started in her bedroom that night.  Thinking about that night always started that tight, tingling feeling low in her abdomen.

When he realized she was there, he dismounted and gave Odin a good rub and words of praise, to let him know he had done a good job.  He let the reins trail on the ground and the stallion stood still just as he'd been trained.  He crossed the corral and sat on the top of the fence beside her.  As he approached her in those chaps the tightening feeling grew more intense.

"Thought you were busy with some sewing?"  he asked, loosening the stampede string from under his chin.

"I was.  I'm nearly finished.  How's Odin's  training coming along?"

"Real good.  He's stopping on cue now.  Standing still when the leads are trailing.  Tomorrow I'm going to take him into town and see how he handles the distractions."

"Good.  That's wonderful.  I've got a surprise for you."

"What a coincidence, I've got one for you too."

"A surprise?  For me?"

He jumped to the ground,  "Wait here.  I'll go get it.  Close your eyes."

She closed her eyes and put her hands over them.  "What about my surprise for you?"  she asked knowing he was walking away.

"It can wait,"  he said loudly over his shoulder.

Kid came out of the bunkhouse and started towards the corral just as Heyes emerged from the stable with Evie's gift.  He lingered back, not wanting to spoil their moment together, but happy to be witnessing the surprise.  The look on Heyes' face reminded Kid so of the boy he had followed around and idolized as a child.  He'd hung on Hannibal's every word.  Had emulated his every move.  And now he had witnessed him falling in love and on the verge of making a life long commitment to the girl he had fallen for.   When they had gone out into the hills for those few days after the Laura Thompson scare, Heyes had been depressed.  He'd been withdrawn and at first he wouldn't talk about it.  But eventually, like always,  Kid got him to open up.  He'd decided he was no good for Evie, and that she deserved better than him.  He'd had to remind Heyes that although they may have done a lot of wrong, they'd also done a lot of good.  They'd helped a lot of people out along the way.  And they'd never harmed anyone in all their robberies.  He also reminded him that many of the young men he felt guilty about introducing to the business, would probably have turned out to be murderers if not for his influence on them.   'Just like Charlie Utley told us, Heyes, we're both better fellas than we think we are.  Don't give up this chance you've been given to be happy.  We probably won't get many others.' Kid had told Heyes.  He wasn't sure his talk had worked when they had come back home.  He was sure Heyes was going to tell Evie to go back to Nashville with Livvy when they'd left the house that night.   But gosh darn it if he hadn't come back into the house ready to get himself tied and bound to her.  He could have sworn he saw traces of tears on both their faces when they came in and told everyone their decision.  Hannibal Heyes had not cried in fifteen years or more.  He knew for sure then that this young woman had  a power over Heyes that no other human being, including himself had ever had.   Heyes had been floating on a cloud ever since.  It had been a long time, probably since they were boys that either of them could say they were this happy.  In this moment as he watched his cousin walk across that corral, the man transformed into the little boy who had seemed so big to him as a child.  He was all smiles.  Those big brown eyes shining, those goofy dimples popping.  He was happy.  And that made the Kid happy.   In his mind's eye he pictured a grown Jed Curry taking the little boy Hannibal and sitting him on his knee and hugging him close.  "You deserve it Hannibal,"  he said out loud in a low voice that was laced with emotion.

"Alright, open your eyes."

She lowered her hands and opened her eyes.  Her eyes grew wide and her mouth gaped open.   She couldn't believe it.  There in front of her, regal head held high as if waiting for her to acknowledge his beauty, was Rusty.

"Rusty!"  She leaped from the fence and threw her arms around Heyes' neck.   Rusty began to paw the ground and toss his large head.

"Oh, don't worry, I'm getting to you."   She hugged the huge beast around the neck and rubbed her cheek along the glossy hair of his mane.  "Where in the world did you find him?"

"When we were waiting for the farrier to trim the hooves of those two ponies we took into town earlier this week,  we went to the livery stables to compare our horses to the ones they had for sale, and there he was.  He saw me before I saw him.  I think he heard my voice, and he started cutting all kinds of shines in his stall.  As soon as I was sure it was him, I made the stable owner an offer and he took it.  Kid went and picked him up for me this morning.  He's all yours."

"When can we take him out?"

"Today if you want."

She clapped her hands and jumped up and down like a little girl in her excitement.  "Let me finish my sewing, it's very important,  and I'll change into riding clothes and I'll be back.  Can we ride together.  Just you and me and Rusty.  It'll be just like it was when we first met."

"We'll be ready.  I'll ask Georgia to pack us a picnic basket."

"Thank you.  It's the best surprise you could have ever given me.  Well, except for good news from the governor of Wyoming, of course.   God, I love you,"  she said before kissing him solidly on the lips and bounding back to the house, her own surprise for him suddenly forgotten.

He watched her half float back to the house.  He was very proud of himself for giving her such a wonderful surprise.  And overjoyed at her excitement.  Just then two large wet lips nibbled at this ear.  "Hey, cut it out will ya? " he griped as he shoved the big chestnuts nose away.   "She's the only one who gets to kiss me, understand?"

Rusty gave him a series of grunts and snorts.  If he didn't know better he'd have sworn that horse was laughing at him.

Kid watched Evie skip joyfully to the house and disappear inside.  "I take it she liked her gift,"  he inquired of his friend who was leading the big chestnut back into the stables to get saddled.

"Yeah, she was thrilled.  We're going out riding later."

"Oh, yeah?  You ain't planning on taking the black out are you?"

"No, I don't think that would be wise.  He might get a taste of that desert air and take off.  Thought I might ride him into town tomorrow when  we take the pinto to get shod."

"So which mount do you want to take out?  I'll get it saddled up for you."

"I think ol' Rusty's missed us so much, we'll just take him and ride double."

"Heyes, your a stronger man than I am.  If I was riding double with  a girl that looked like Evie...well, I wouldn't be looking forward to a hand fasting, I'd be looking down the barrel of a shotgun....at my wedding."
Heyes grinned smugly.  "Kid, that's why I'm the brains in this outfit and you're the brawn.  Like I told you before, I know how to handle myself in the clinches."

"Even a man with brain as big as yours Heyes is still just a man.  And eventually a man reaches the limit of what he can take.  And I can tell you've just about reached your limit.  I know you lay awake at night fighting the urge to climb through her window.  Lord only knows I'd have done climbed that ladder a dozen times if I was in your boots.  And we both know that she's on the verge of giving in too.  Why don't you do both of yourselves a favor and go into town and see one of the girls at the saloon before you take Evie out. That way you won't be so tempted should the two of you find yourselves uh....."

"Needing some fresh air?"  Heyes interjected with a sly grin.

"Huh?"  Kid asked with a confused look on his face.

"Aw, nothing.  I've thought about that, Kid and I just can't do it.  I feel like I'm being unfaithful to her for even thinking about it."

"It's not like your married to her, Heyes."

"Maybe not on paper, but in my mind and my heart, Kid, I feel like I am."

"Well, like our wise old grandma used to say,  "Whatever a man thinks he is in his heart is what he'll be."

"I think she stole that from Solomon."

"There ya are.  He was even wiser than our dear old grandma."  He paused for a moment and became quite serious as he took his partner by the shoulders and looked  him deeply in the eyes and said,  "I guess what I'm trying to say, Heyes, is if she's ready to take that step and you do give in, be good to her.  Be gentle with her and make sure she knows how much you love her."

He walked away leaving Hannibal Heyes feeling a little bit like a teenage boy who'd just gotten the "birds and bees" talk from his father.

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Evie came running back into her room prepared to finish her sewing when she found Livvy finishing it for her.

"You don't mind do you?"  she asked.

"No, not at all.  It will give me more time to get ready for my outing with Joshua."

"What outing?"

"He gave me my surprise.  It was Rusty!  We're taking him out for a ride and a picnic later, just the two of us."

"Yes, Rusty and I have met.  He's a splendid animal.  How did Joshua like your surprise?"

"Oh, shoot!  I was so excited about Rusty I forgot to tell him.  I'll tell him later when we're out riding."    She began searching through the wardrobe for just the right thing to wear.

"Do you really think it's wise to go out unchaperoned, Evangeline?"

"Aunt Livvy, we were out in the wilderness alone for a week without another human being around for a hundred miles. We slept inches apart from each other.  I hardly think it would make any difference at this point.  Besides, we're going to be binding ourselves to each other in three days.  And hopefully man and wife within a year or two.  If we can't be trusted to be alone together by now, when can we?"

Livvy rose from her seat by the window and sat on the edge of Evangeline's bed.  "Evangeline, come sit with me for a moment.  I want to talk to you."

Evie discontinued her search and sat beside her aunt.

"Evangeline, when a man feels about a woman the way Joshua feels about you, it's only natural for him to feel certain urges.  And sometimes he can't control those urges and he...."

"Wait,"  Evie interrupted.  "Is this going to be a 'what comes natural between a man and a woman' talk.  Because if it is, you're too late.  I already know."

Livvy's mouth fell open,  "You mean you two have already...."

"No, Aunt Livvy.  You're too late to give me the talk.  Somebody already informed me about what goes on between a man and a woman."

Livvy placed a hand over her heart and breathed a sigh of relief.  "Oh, thank goodness.  So your mother had already explained to you what to expect on your wedding night."

"No, not Mama.  Sally.  I met her back in Alpine.  She worked at the Bull's Eye Saloon."

"A saloon girl?  Evangeline Ruth Webb how on earth did you....never mind I don't want to know.  What's important is that you know the consequences of letting a man have the milk before he's bought the cow.  Having a good reputation and good solid virtues is far more important than satisfying a man's urges for him.  I know that women sometimes have urges too, and sometimes you may feel the need to...uh...."

"Get some fresh air?"  Evie giggled.

"What?"  Livvy asked, perplexed.

"Nothing.  Aunt Livvy, you don't have to worry.  Joshua would never do anything that would hurt me.  In my heart and in my soul I feel like he's bought this cow ten times over.   I couldn't feel more committed to him if our names were carved on stone tablets together.  And I know he feels the same about me."

Livvy placed her hand Evie's cheek.  "I know I'm not your mother, and I know you're a grown woman and I can't tell you what to do.  But I will say this.  When a woman gives a man the most precious gift she's got to give...her innocence...make sure you give it freely, not out of pressure or desperation but out of love.  And make sure he's worthy of such a gift and that he will treat it and you with the reverence you both deserve."

Livvy rose silently from the bed and resumed her sewing by the window.  If she only knew how many times Evie had come close to giving the milk away for free.   She would probably  be horrified is she knew that she'd rode the whole way to Alpine practically in Joshua's lap. And that she was planning to do the same this afternoon.  The small book that bore her name on its gold embossed cover caught her eye as it lay there on the bedside table.  She picked it up and thumbed through the pages.  The book fell open to the same place it always fell open.  The same page it had fallen open to the day she had left her family's farm behind.  She read silently to herself now, just as she had that day,

"Something there was in her life incomplete, imperfect, unfinished"

And she knew what that something was.  She belonged to Hannibal Heyes in every way that a person could belong to another, except one.  That was the only thing "incomplete, imperfect, and unfinished."  A smile touched her lips.  She knew now exactly what to wear for their outing.

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The boys walked from the stables leading the newly saddled Rusty just as Evie emerged from the house  wearing the form fitting britches that had once belonged to her brother, and a simple white blouse tucked into the waistband.

Both men stood speechless for a moment at the sight of her crossing the yard and heading for the corral, a picnic basket swinging from her hand,  a slight breeze making her glorious hair dance in midair, and those tight pants highly emphasizing her every voluptuous curve.

Kid slapped his partner on the shoulder.  "The clinches seem to be getting tighter and tighter, Heyes.  But you're the brains in this outfit.  I'm sure you can handle it."

Heyes gave his partner a scathing look.  Then turned a dimpled smile to his beloved as she climbed over the corral fence.  "Sewing finished already?"

"Livvy finished it for me."   She hooked the picnic basket onto the saddle horn before she put her foot in the stirrup and mounted the waiting stallion, giving both ex-outlaws a perfect view of her well defined derriere as she settled into the saddle.

The boys looked at each other, Kid's eyebrows raised in amusement, Heyes eyebrows drawn together in a worried frown.  Kid knew his partner better than he knew himself.  He was strong, but he wasn't that strong.  "There may be a shotgun in your future after all, Heyes."

"Well, are you coming?" Evie asked.

"Yeah, Heyes, are ya?"  Kid said quietly on a barely contained laugh, not wanting Evie to hear.

Heyes just shot him a scathing "I'll get you back later" look,  annoyed that his partner would make such a crude remark with a lady so close by.    Although he had to admit, if he'd answered her question with what he'd had on his mind,  it would have been something like, "Yeah, I think I am."   He just shook his head in dismay at his and the Kid's off color thoughts,  before swinging himself up and into the saddle behind Evie.   Having her sit in front of him in the saddle brought back a wealth of memories and emotions.  Heyes felt a stirring in his loins.  Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.

"What are you waiting for?  Daylights wasting and I'm looking forward to a long ride on this big stud."

Heyes rolled his eyes at the images that statement conjured.    He turned the stallion and headed out the gate Kid had just swung open.   He didn't even have to turn around and look to know that Kid Curry was doubled over, laughing.

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Evie was in heaven.  The late afternoon sun was warm but not hot.  A cool breeze blew in from the south carrying with it the scent of blue bonnets and cedar.  She was sitting on the back of her trusted mount Rusty, who she thought was lost forever, and now he belonged to her.  And best of all, she was leaning back into the warm and safe embrace of the man of her dreams.

Heyes was in misery.  The closeness of Evie's tempting body was burning him up.  He was actually starting to sweat a little.  The breeze that was blowing did little to cool him.  It only made the faint scent of the lavender water she had recently bathed in waft into his nostrils, evoking images of her naked in the bathtub.  And Rusty was such a well trained animal that he didn't have to concentrate at all on the horse, but was able instead to focus all of his attention on the fact that her breasts rested against his forearm as he held the reins.  But worst of all, her darned shapely bottom was nestled right up next to his most manly of parts causing his insides to twist into knots.

"Gosh, it seems like a lifetime ago that we rode together like this heading for Alpine,"  she reflected out loud.

"But it's only been two months."

"It's hard to believe that in two months our lives have changed so much.  I never would have dreamed I could be this happy after that horrible day.  Or that I would be riding double with you again only this time not with Joshua Smith but with Hannibal Heyes."

"And I never would have dreamed then that you would know who I really am and that you'd love me any way."

"Did you really think it would change how I felt about you?"

"Well, I admit, I had my doubts there for a while."

"Sorry, Mr. Heyes, but by the time I found out who you really were I was already hopelessly in love with you.  You could have rode into the next town and cleaned out the bank and then robbed a train during the getaway and it still wouldn't have changed how I feel about you.   How do you do that by the way?  Get all those trains to stop for you so you can rob them?"

"There's lots of different ways.  The most dangerous is to blow up a railroad bridge just before the train gets there.  That forces them to stop.  But we only did that a couple of times.  The sound of the explosion could be heard for miles and lawmen crawled out from under rocks to find out what had happened, so we quite doing that.  When we first started pulling train jobs, me and Kid would just jump on the train and climb across the top of the cars until we got to the engineer and we'd pull a gun and make him stop.  But we figured out that the easiest way is just to put an obstacle on the tracks, a big log or a rock and that forces them to stop."

"And what about the safes?"

“Now that was my specialty.   I learned real early how to open a safe by manipulating the tumblers.  It’s just a gift I was born with.  Sort of like you and the piano.  You can work magic with a keyboard.  I can work magic with a combination.”

"Silver tongue, nimble brain, magic hands.  What else could a girl ask for?  You know, in a way I'm glad you became an outlaw.  If you hadn't been an outlaw you would have been snatched up by some other girl a long time ago and we never would have met."

He pulled her  hair aside, exposing the creamy smooth skin of her neck.  "And I never would have been able to do this."   He plied the side of her neck and shoulder with kisses.   Her eyes drifted closed and her head lolled back on his shoulder, giving him greater access.  As he kissed his way up her neck and across her jaw he let the reins drop and trail on the ground.  The well trained horse stopped and stood still.  His free hands spanned her ribcage then moved slowly upward to cup each of her rounded breasts.

 She turned slightly in the saddle seeking the lips that were causing such torment to her neck and shoulder.  She found them.  His mouth was gentle at first then grew more demanding.  She was up  to the challenge.  If he stripped her naked and took her virginity right here on the back of this horse she wouldn't protest.  In fact she wished he would.  The image of it in her head was causing that tightening again in her womb.  She didn't know how much more of this she could take.  And she had no idea what this even really meant.  But she so wanted to learn.

Heyes could tell by the way she returned his kisses and the way she arched her body towards him she was ready to take that step.  He knew that he could take her right here on the back of this horse and she would let him.  His hands tightened into fists in her hair at the images of it in his head.  He didn't know how long he was going to be able to keep himself under control.  He was just about to the breaking point.  Maybe he should have taken Kid's advice an gone into town to visit one of the saloon girls.  No. He knew she wouldn't understand and he didn't want to hurt her that way.   "Maybe we better get down and have our picnic before the daylight's all gone."    His voice was thick and deeper than usual.

"Alright," she rasped with quivering lips.

They chose a spot under a huge oak tree that grew near the same creek where they had skipped rocks.  The tree was enormous with branches that opened up like a lady's parasol providing shelter underneath it's low hanging limbs.  He watched her as she spread the blanket on the ground and emptied the contents of the picnic basket Georgia had packed for them.  Watching her shapely bottom maneuver around in those snug pants was like a match on dry kindling.   The sparks had started on the ride out and now they were being fanned into full blown flames.

"Come sit down,  I want to hear more about your outlaw days."

He came and lowered himself down on the blanket beside her.  "What do you want to know?"

"How many times have you been arrested?"

He laughed out loud.  "Too many to count."

"What's it like in jail?"

"Terrible."

"Have you ever been shot?"

"Uh huh.  A few times."

"Where?"

"In my right leg once, my left arm once, and I got shot in the head once."   He put his finger to the faint scar that still remained from the bullet that had left him unconscious for two days.  She leaned over and gently kissed the scar.

"What about Jed?  He ever been shot?"

He laughed again.  "Oh, yeah.  He's been shot in both legs several times.  The shoulder a couple of times.  His side a few times.  His hip once and his foot once."

"Why has he  been shot so many more times than you?"

"Because he would always ride behind me, so I wouldn't get shot.  No matter how many times I told him not to he would still do it every time."

"I'm so glad you  two aren't doing that anymore.  I don't know what I would ever do if anything ever happened to you."

"Just because we aren't robbing trains and banks anymore doesn't mean the danger of getting shot isn't still there.   If the wrong person recognizes me and they want to turn me in dead, they have the legal right to do so.  Without the amnesty that is a real possibility."

She vigorously shook her head.  "I don't want to think about things like that.  I've finally got you alone, all to myself and I'm not going to let talk of posses or amnesty ruin it.  Oh!  I almost forgot.  The surprise I have for you."

"Oh, yeah, where is it?"

"It's not something I can give you.  It's something we can share together.  Only not now, but in the future."

"Well, don't keep me in suspense, what is it?  No wait, let me guess,  Olivia's hiring a string quartet and she's having the fatted calf slaughtered for Sunday.  Like all the fuss she's done made over everything isn't enough."

She gave him a scolding look,  "She just wants it to be special for us.  Anyway it's not like she can't afford it.  And pretty soon, I'll be able to afford it too."

He stared at her, waiting for her to explain that last comment.

"Well, it seems that in two years, I'll be rich."

"Hah?"

"Apparently my grandfather started a trust fund for me when I was a baby and when I turn twenty-one, it's all mine, or I should say all ours.   It's quite substantial."

"Just how much is 'quite substantial'?"

"Seventy-five  thousand."

He was speechless.

"Don't you know what this means?  If you can keep from getting caught before I turn twenty-one,  even if the amnesty doesn't come through, we'll have enough money to build a fort if we want to.  We can move to Mexico or Europe or build a house out in the middle of nowhere so nobody can find us.  We won't have to worry about the future.  We can disappear to wherever we want.  All three of us.  You and me and Jed.  Well, say something."

"I...I  don't believe it."

"I know. Isn't it wonderful."

"It is wonderful.  Just like you are wonderful."  He stood and pulled her up and into his arms.  He lifted her off the ground and spun her around.  They laughed and twirled in the bright glare of a brilliant sun that was low in the sky.  Before she knew it she had wrapped her legs around his waist and he was cupping her round bottom in his hands as they shared a hot open mouthed kiss.   They were both panting when he finally let her slide back down to the earth.   He released her and walked to the edge of the creek where he knelt and splashed cool water on his face. She knew he desired her as much as she desired him.  And she knew he was waging a war within himself to keep from giving in to the urge to make their relationship complete on every level.  Just knowing that she could cause such turmoil inside of this strong man made her feel powerful.  And seeing him on the verge of losing control because of her made her ache all over.  Just like that night in her bedroom.

"You're doing it again,"  she purred in a low voice from behind him.

"Doing what?"

"Making me ache all over again.  Just like that night in my bedroom."

He rose slowly and inhaled deeply, deciding what was best to say. "Don't say things like that to me, sweetheart.  Not while we're  out here alone."  He turned to face her.  The smoldering look in his dark eyes was so intense it was almost frightening.  "Because this time there won't be any alarm clocks falling on the floor to save you."

The seductive gaze of her blue eyes held him captive.  "Maybe I don't want to be saved."  He started to move slowly toward her.   "I belong to you and you belong to me.  In every way except one.  And that's physically.  I want to be your woman.  In every way possible."  He finally closed the distance between them.  She untied the bandanna that was knotted at his neck and placed an open mouthed kiss on his brown throat.  He swallowed hard.  As she began unbuttoning the buttons of his shirt she whispered,  "Make me your woman, Hannibal Heyes.  Make this ache inside me go away.  Finish what you started that night in my bedroom."

Sweet Lord in heaven did she know what she was doing to him?  Hearing those words come out of that sweet mouth was the final straw.  He couldn't take it anymore.  A man had limits and she'd just pushed him past his.  He captured her mouth in a kiss that robbed her of her senses and left them both gasping for air.

"You know this is going to change everything.  Nothing will ever be the same after this." His eyes probed the depths of her soul and found a reflection of his own need there.

"I'm counting on that Mr. Heyes,"  she said as she unbuttoned the last button of his shirt.

The shirt parted and her tremulous hands slid in under the material to smooth across the taut skin of his flanks.  Then worked their way up to his hard chest, before sweeping up to his shoulders to push the shirt off  and down his arms.  He let the garment fall silently to the ground.  He stood still and let her have the moment she so clearly needed, just to make herself familiar with his body.

He was muscular but lean.  His skin was smooth and  tanned from the hours outside working with the mustangs.  She couldn't get enough of the feel of his well sculpted torso.  His hard chest, his rippled abdomen, his well defined flanks.  She was lead by an unknown force to kiss his flat hard belly.  The moment her head lowered and her inexperienced lips touched his skin, he sucked in his breath.  The impact of that one simple act almost brought him to his knees.  She saw and heard what it did to him.  She was filled suddenly with the knowledge of her female power over him.  She took full advantage.  She placed her lips to his throat.  Then she began a journey with her lips that took her down his arms around to his back, to his belly again, across his chest and back again to his throat.  Seeing and feeling her small girlish hands and her lips on his skin was like throwing fuel on a fire.  And he was going up in flames.  He had never wanted or needed anything in his entire life as much as he wanted and needed this moment with this woman. But he didn't just want her body.  He wanted her mind, her heart, her spirit and her soul.  She was the piece of him that had been missing for so long.

He couldn't take anymore.  He seized her head in his hands and crushed his lips to hers.  She had worked up a need in him that was so fierce he had to remind himself that this was her first time, to keep from jerking the pants off of her right there and  bracing her against the tree and taking her.  She felt that need as his mouth ravaged hers.  His tongue plunging into her mouth on a quest to find hers.  There was so much raw emotion and power behind his kiss that when at last he tore his mouth from hers she was left with no doubt that she was all that he wanted and needed. They held onto each other, gasping for breath.

"I want you to be absolutely sure about this.  If this is not what you want, if you're not sure, please tell me now, because if we go any further, I don't know if I'll be able to stop."

Her answer as she looked him straight in his gorgeous brown eyes was to begin slowly and seductively  unbuttoning the row of buttons that ran down the front of his pants. "I've never been more sure of anything in my life."   She had never seen a man naked before.  Except for the time Harlan Mathis had exposed himself in front of her and the the time she'd seen a replica of the statue of David at the capital building in Austin when she was fourteen.  And Sally had told her in explicit detail what to expect when a man was aroused.  And she could tell just by skimming her knuckles across his manhood as she undid the buttons, that Hannibal Heyes was going to look nothing like Harlan Mathis had, and that Sally's vivid description had severely sold him short.  Before the last button was undone he grabbed her wrists to still her movements.

Now it was his turn.  He mimicked her every move, by unbuttoning her shirt and covering every inch of exposed skin with kisses.  He knelt in front of her and removed her boots.  When he began the torturously slow work of unfastening the buttons of her pants, she brought her trembling hands up and threaded them in her hair on either side of her head to hold back the curtain of hair.  She wanted to see his face, his every move.  She wanted to imprint every second of this moment in her brain.  He slid her pants down over her hips and past her thighs.  She stepped out of them and he tossed them aside.

He stood then and lifted her arms above her head.  Grasping the hem of her camisole he lifted it and pulled it over her arms and tossed it to join the rest of her clothes.   Then he was kneeling before her again, gripping the waist band of her bloomers.  Her body began to tremble uncontrollably as he shimmied the white silk garment down her legs.  She felt the heat of the setting sun and the heat of his eyes as he took in the sight of her standing there wearing nothing but a pair of thigh high black stockings.  He removed each one inch by inch and laved each inch of skin he exposed with his lips and his tongue until at last she stood before him, gloriously naked in the soft orange glow of the sinking sun.

The words "ivory goddess" came into his mind as his eyes took in every creamy inch of her bare flesh.  He had seen his share of naked women.  But this woman,  his woman, was perfection.  He saw her trembling, and looked up to search her stormy blue eyes.   "Are you scared, sweetheart.  Am I going to fast?  Do you want me to stop?"

"No," she breathed out on a shaky breath.  "I'm not scared.  My body just won't stop trembling.  And this ache is getting unbearable.  Please make it stop.  I don't know how to....I....Oh, I just don't know,"  she pleaded desperately.

"I know.  It's alright, baby.  I know how to make it stop."

He laid his cheek against her flat soft belly.  His hands caressed her firm thighs and circled around to  grasp the rounded cheeks of her bottom.  Then he turned his head and placed a delicate kiss on her belly.  She felt a rush of warm liquid go to that most secret of places.  Every womanly part of her seemed to swell and tighten.  She thought she might die if he didn't touch her there soon.

She needn't have worried.  He urged her feet slightly apart giving his hand room to slip between her thighs and find the downy covered heart of everything that made her a woman.  She gasped at the initial contact.  It was like a lightning bolt had struck her.  What he began to do to her then with his magic hands and fingers had her breathing in little sharp gasps.  Of their own volition her thighs parted even further, giving him better access to her needy flesh. She recalled the night in her bedroom, when he had suckled her breasts and she had wondered if there was anything that could feel better.  Now she knew the answer.  She never knew anything could feel this good.  Something was coiled inside of her and it was about to snap.   Her knees were growing weak.  She didn't know if she could stand any longer.

When he stopped what he was doing to her, she grabbed for him, begging him with her eyes not to stop.  He smiled at her.  "Don't worry, we're not through yet,"  he said as he lifted her in his arms and laid her down on the blanket beneath the tree.  "But if I don't lay you down, you're going to fall down."  He shoved the picnic basket and all it's contents out of the way and stretched out beside her.  He worshipped her body with his mouth.  He began at her forehead, stopped to pay particular attention the her full, ripe breasts with their dusky pink tips and did not stop until he'd reached her toes. Then that magic hand was back at her most feminine of places, probing stroking, caressing.   Her pelvis lifted off the ground and her thighs fell to the side.  There was no embarrassment or guilt as she opened herself to the touch of this man who meant everything to her.  And the coiling started again.  It wound tighter and tighter.  "Oh, God, is this supposed to happen?"  she gasped out.  Her head was tossing from side to side and her feet shifted restlessly.  He knew what was happening to her, but he had no way of preparing her for it.

"Yes, it's supposed to happen.  Just let go and let it happen.  Then the ache will be better."

Then something broke loose inside of her.  It was like the  release of a pent up sneeze but the intensity and pleasure of it were overwhelming.  Her entire body was awash with sensations she'd never felt before.  She reached for him, grasping onto him as her body was wracked with tremors of absolute ecstasy.   He held her close and watched the myriad of emotions that crossed her face as she discovered each new sensation he had awakened in her body.   Only when the tremors had subsided to small twinges did she open her eyes to find him staring at her.  She smiled lazily up at him.  "I had no idea it could be like this,"  she said unsteadily, out of breath.   And he had been right.  The ache was better now, but it had been replaced by an incredible emptiness that needed filling.  She knew that this was just the beginning.

Hannibal Heyes stood and looked down at the woman he'd just introduced to the world of carnal pleasure.  She was the most mouth watering sight he had ever seen.  She lay there, her glorious hair spilling all around her, her creamy smooth skin glowing in the sunset, her passion glazed eyes looking up at him longingly.  What had he ever done to deserve her?  To deserve the precious gift she was about to bestow upon him?   Did it really matter?  All that mattered was that she had chosen him to give this gift to and he would accept it humbly and reverently.  And he would cherish and love her until he took his last breath.

He kicked off his boots, removed his socks.  She watched hypnotized as he unbound the leather chaps she found so erotic.  Then he lowered his jeans down and stepped from them.  Only his long underwear remained.   He was a little nervous about removing them.  No, he was a lot nervous.  He wasn't nervous about her seeing him naked.  Many women had seen him naked.   It was her first time to see any man naked.  He didn't want to frighten her.   And in many ways it was his first time too.  He'd only taken a girl's virginity once in his life and he hadn't know what he was doing any more than she had.  And he had never made love to a woman he was in love with before.  He wanted it to be perfect.  He hoped he could make it perfect for her and that made him nervous and a little scared.  He swallowed hard and lowered the long johns until he stood over her in all of his naked male glory.

She inhaled sharply when he lowered the only clothing that remained to shield her view of his naked body.  When he stepped from them and stood erect again she exhaled slowly.  He was magnificent.   He reminded her of that statue of David, only carved in burnished hard oak instead of stone.  And that part of him that sprang forth from between his legs made David look like a school boy.  Now she had seen a man naked.  Naked and fully aroused.   His absolute virility was apparent.   She was not qualified to make such a judgement but she had the feeling Sally had been right.  Where Hannibal Heyes was concerned, the good Lord had been generous.  The sight of him standing there silhouetted against the sinking sun made her both excited and a little frightened.  She began to shiver again.  In anticipation.   She longed to feel the weight of his body on hers.  Excitement and desire overtook the small fear she had and she beckoned him to her with out stretched arms.  She didn't have to wait long.  He moved between her bent knees and covered her body with his own.  She welcomed his weight upon her.

He braced his hands on either side of her head and looked down into her love drugged face.  "You don't know how many nights I've lain awake, dreaming of this moment.  Wanting so badly to climb into your window."

"Probably as many nights as I've lit my lamp and unlocked my window,  hoping you'd come through it.  Don't make me wait any longer."

He searched her eyes, wanting that deep connection with her soul before he made the even deeper connection with her body.  "I know it's going to hurt you this first time, sweetheart.  I don't want to hurt you but I don't know how to prevent it."

"It's alright.  It will only hurt for a minute, won't it?"

How was he supposed to know?  He had been a fifteen year old kid when he'd deflowered that girl, and she had never acted like it had hurt. But he had grown a lot since he was fifteen. And he had heard enough bunkhouse stories to know that a woman's first time was painful.  And he didn't want to cause her any pain.  But his own pain was becoming unbearable.  If he didn't find his way inside of her soon he was going to explode.

He nestled himself closer between her thighs, and positioned himself to enter her welcoming warmth.  He looked at her face.  Her eyes were closed.  "Open your eyes.  Look at me.  Keep your eyes on me."  Their gazes locked as he began the slow forward thrust of his hips.  At first she felt only slight pressure. It actually felt good.  Then he moved slightly forward.  There was a small twinge of pain that registered on her face.  "It doesn't really hurt that much,"  she said.  He didn't know how to tell her that he'd barely even breached the delicate folds of her womanhood and the worst was yet to come.  And already her face was showing signs of the discomfort.

"You know how much I love you, don't you?  I would never hurt you if there was any way out of it."  he asked.

 "Yes,  I know.  But really it doesn't.....Oh!  God!"  He had plunged deep inside of her in one quick thrust.  He had felt the tearing of her maidenhead and then felt her body go stiff and tense beneath him.  Her body's reaction was to try and scoot backwards away from the brutal invasion.  But he was embedded so deeply inside her tight body that there was nowhere to go.   He stilled on top of her, waiting for her body to adjust to the invasion and the pain to subside.

He smoothed her hair from her face, bathed her flushed cheeks with kisses.  "I'm so sorry.  I know it hurt.  But it's over now.  The hard part's over,"  he soothed as he held her quivering body close.  It had hurt.  At first she thought he was splitting her in half.  But then as her body recovered from the initial shock, the pain subsided and now she felt only a fullness.  A fullness that grew more pleasant with each passing second.  He felt the tension leave her body, knew when she was ready for more of what she still had left to experience.  Then he began a slow, sensuous, rhythmic thrusting that soon had her lifting her hips off the ground to meet him.

The world could end right now as far as he was concerned.  A lightning bolt could strike him dead where he lay and he would be alright with it.  Because nothing in his life would ever be able to compare to the way he felt right now.  The way she felt.  How had he ever lived before he knew her. Nothing would ever be this good again in his life.  How could it be?

This moment had been inevitable.  From the beginning they had both known they were destined to be together this way.  What he was doing to her now felt so good she forgot the pain of the first few moments.  Now she wrapped her legs around his waist, her arms around his neck and rasped into his ear, "Why did we wait so long?"  That was the last coherent thing she said.  Soft unintelligible moans and babbles were all she could manage as she lost herself in the exquisite things his body was doing to hers.  Her soft incoherent whimpers of pleasure sent him spiraling into the vortex of his own ecstasy.  He plunged deep inside of her one last time and found his own release.

He lay panting on top of her his head on her chest, listening to the sound of her still racing heartbeat.  She stroked his damp hair from his forehead and kissed the top of his head.  When he tried to move from off of her she clutched at him letting him know without words that she didn't want him to move just yet.  She wasn't capable of speech.   She wasn't ready to give up the closeness of his warmth and the comfort of his weight on her just yet.  Her body was tingling everywhere.  Her legs were weak and shaky. Her mind was void of any thought except the man lying in her arms.  So this is what bliss feels like, she thought, as she caressed his smooth muscular back.  She knew that eventually they would have to move but for right now she just wanted to cherish this blissful moment.

When at last he did move, he hovered over her and kissed her tenderly before separating their still joined bodies.  She immediately felt an emptiness that she'd never felt before and longed for him to come back to her.  But he had pulled on his jeans and headed down to the creek.  He came back with his navy blue bandanna dampened with creek water.  He knelt beside her and placed the cool cloth on the tender flesh between her thighs.  She looked up at him with eyes full of love, "You don't have to..."

"Yes, I do,"  he said as he gently and lovingly swabbed the traces of her lost innocence from her body.

His simple gesture was  so intimate and so giving she was overcome with emotions.  When her tears began to fall he gathered her close and held her. She lay with her head on his chest and quietly cried.

"Just when I think I can't possibly love you any more, you go and do something so sweet like that and I just fall deeper and deeper,"  she managed to get out between sniffles and snubs.

"So you're not crying out of regret?"

She playfully swatted his hard abdomen.  "I will never regret it.  I hope you don't regret it."

"The only regret I have is that your first time had to be outside on the ground.  It should have been in a soft warm bed."

"I wouldn't change a thing.  Besides this is where I fell in love with you.  Under the stars with blue bonnets and trees all around.  But if you are so adamant about making love to me in a bed,  I just happen to know where one is.  Do you think you can manage to sneak into my room without getting caught?"

The look he gave her said "who do you think you're talking to."   He poked his chest with his thumb.  "Outlaw, remember.  Bank robber, remember.  Sneaking into your room....kid stuff."

"We really should be getting back.  Livvy's liable to send a posse out looking for us."

They rode back in silence.  He held her possessively and she curled into his protective embrace as Rusty carried them back to the ranch house where everyone sat on the front porch awaiting their return.

Hours later as Evangeline lay sated in the arms of Hannibal Heyes in the center of her pink frilly bed,  she recalled his words and knew that he had been right.  Nothing would ever be the same again.   She fell into a dreamless sleep with a smile on her face.


*author's note*  I gave the horse the name Odin because according to Pete's sister, Pamela,  they called all horses Odins when they were children.  I just thought it was appropriate.  :')


Soundtrack selection for HH's point of view.