Ask No Tomorrows Read online

  Protecting Riley was the sweetest pleasure of his life and he couldn’t stop the kisses any more than he could stop breathing.

  He gently pulled away just enough to gasp for air, then again he kissed her, this time letting go of all inhibitions, pulling her closer, tasting the salt on her lips, and using his tongue to gently open them.

  This shouldn’t be happening, his mind seemed bent on destroying the sweet torture. But he couldn’t quite let her go, couldn’t turn loose of the sweet taste of her mouth on his.

  He felt the quick thud of her heart, felt the heat rise between them and pulled her solidly against him, groaning from how eager her young body was to fuse with his.

  For an instant Sam resisted, pulling away, as though weighing the decision to continue, but the innocent exploration of her mouth had him hunting for her lips in the darkness, seeking them, probing them, caressing them with his own. God Himself knew he couldn’t fight this temptation. Her lips seemed to melt into his, when at last he found them and swept his lips over hers in an unhurried fashion. As though there was no storm. He was teasing her, but instead he found he teased himself for the friction between them was thick as molasses, and the silent hunger to devour her lips with his own outweighed his intentions. Just touching them ignited a flame within him he could barely control, didn’t want to control. But when she opened to him and let him in, the world around them disappeared. No longer did the tornado threaten them for they were lost in feelings now. The storm disappeared; it was only the two of them and their feelings.

  Only feelings, sweet scents, and tasting heaven mattered.

  The kiss seemed to go on forever, as the tornado outside whirled above them, taking with it the storm door and everything above them. She wrapped her legs around him and hung on. He held her close, and continued his wild exploration of her sweet lips.

  “Don’t let me go Sam, don’t let me go…” she whispered somewhere near his ear.

  “I got you…I sure do…don’t be scared now. Don’t listen, don’t think about anything but me kissin’ you, you hear me…?”

  “Y-yes, Sam…” she shivered as his lips touched hers once more and this time he held her as the ripping sound above them pulled the door loose, and bit by bit away. The roar of the tornado was above them now, and Sam held her as though their lives depended on that hold. Her hair blew upward, her clothes, but she obviously lost herself to his kiss, as she relaxed in his arms and swooned from his kisses.

  He tasted the peaches on her lips, the sweet reminder on her tongue and he lost himself to the moment as she moaned into his throat and her hands tightened around his neck. Enfolding her in his arms, he held her roughly so she couldn’t be pulled into the vortex of the storm, but instead she pressed ever closer, seeming to lose herself in his kisses, fusing herself to him. She clutched him tighter and moved to mold herself against him. He held her there, in a tight, intimate embrace for long dizzying seconds as their lips mated and the storm began to pass.

  Mating, that was the word that described it best, as their kisses became a silent rapture. But he wanted to be gentle with her as he knew she was inexperienced even though the kiss seemed to send fire through his veins. The storm outside couldn’t compare to the storm raging in Sam. The need for a woman swamped him like a warm embrace, but the sanity of the moment escaped him. Gone were the worries that she was white and he was black, replaced by the need to be one, only one. Their lips needed no coaching or instruction as they mixed breaths and sought the sweet nectar.

  The wind sucked and pulled at them, but Sam braced himself and held her tight.

  They smothered the wicked storm with the sweetness of unbridled passion. He just kept kissing her, tasting her, drowning in her.

  Sam was careful not to touch her except where his arms wrapped about her, but the thoughts of touching seeped inside his head when she jumped forcing her young body against his, when a loud crash overhead sounded. His hands wrapped around her and under her high young breast, as his thumb slipped up to encircle the taut peaks. It wasn’t deliberate, but natural as breathing. She moaned softly into his mouth. He cradled her in his arms, protecting, loving, dreaming. She sighed loudly. The need of touching urged his body to respond quite naturally to hers.

  Their tongues danced slowly, tasting, devouring, mating.

  Sam realized with clarity that she was only the second girl he’d ever kissed and none so thoroughly. His mind warred with his body. On one hand Riley was ripe for the pickings, but on the other, she was innocent as a new born babe too. He caressed her mouth like a newly budded flower, kissing, nipping, tasting once more and mating, always mating.

  His thumbs memorized the sweet swell of her small breast.

  When he heard himself moan, he moved his thumbs away. Trying to bring sanity to the moment, but unwilling to release her totally, he crushed her against him.

  He’d think on the reasons he shouldn’t later. Right now, sensations swamped him as she pressed herself against him. He felt the instant swell of her young breasts against his chest and he sighed that he could feel them without even touching her there. He closed his eyes, savoring the moment. But because he had to hold her so tight, he felt everything as though magnified. As though her body imprinted against his own. He realized his own manhood sprang up and against her so she had to have noticed. But the need to taste her deeper and deeper grew within him. He heard himself growl at his own impatience.

  When they finally backed away for a moment, they were both panting and their eyes were sparkling with such joy. He could see the shine in her eyes through the darkness. He realized with clarity he’d just touched a piece of heaven. And he wanted to go on touching it forever. He pulled her up against him once more and kissed her nose, her eyes, her cheeks and then back to her waiting lips very slowly, like a fine whiskey. His hands went under her arms to haul her up hard against him. He wanted her to know how badly he wanted her.

  She didn’t back away or even act as though she wanted to. She answered him with kisses, and when he began to pull away, she kissed his eyes, his nose, and his cheeks and back to his waiting lips.

  It was insanity; it was heaven.

  And having anything personally to do with her was asking for more trouble than either of them could imagine. He’d seen that much with his own sister and brother-in-law. But the love his sister and brother-in-law shared was richer and more powerful than anything, he’d learned quickly, and something deep within Sam wanted the same thing. That powerful pull of love had impressed him growing up and he knew he wanted the same. And right now, he was on the verge of finding it, and he knew that too.

  Still, he had to end it, somehow. He never dreamed it would be such sweet torture to let her go. In that moment he began to understand the love between Hattie and Lee. At this moment he knew he’d stand beside Riley through anything, he’d never leave her and he’d always protect her. He’d marked her as his own, and there would be no walking away from her now, even if she wanted it. Although, he could never tell her. He was certain of it. And yet, for her own good, he needed to walk away from her, now!

  The tornado swept away and the kiss ended with silent regret.

  Silence sliced the air, stillness replaced passion and turmoil.

  He stood there staring at her through the darkness, panting for breath, his pulse pounding in his head.

  But with silent clarity he also knew he had to control things too. He willed his own body to calm, knowing the effort it would take to come down off the high they created. No woman had ever stirred him to such passion.

  Sam moved away, cleared his throat and looked above them. Where the door once stood, was the sky peeping in on them. It wasn’t as dark now. He didn’t move, he couldn’t. Not yet. He needed this extra time to control himself.

  “It’s gone,” was all he could manage to say.

  The sky lightened a bit and he saw her face. Sweet and innocent, his mind echoed, and pink as a flower in first bloom.

  “I was never
so scared in my life,” she whispered, not taking her eyes from him. “It felt like it was ripping the skin off my face…”

  “Yeah,” he muttered miserably.

  “It won’t come back, will it?” she asked, peeping out at the night sky.

  “No…it won’t come back. But maybe we better ride…”

  She nodded. Nodog got to his feet.

  For once, she didn’t bombard him with questions he couldn’t answer. She was silent and he appreciated it.

  Chapter Seven

  The smell of a clean earth hit them the minute they stepped out of the cellar. As though the Lord Himself swept the land clean. But the sight before them was appalling. What once was a house now lay in a mass of timber and boards. The coffee pot had blown clean away. The chimney began to crumble, piece by piece. A tree lay on its side, uprooted like an onion in a garden. The horse was nowhere to be found. They were afoot now and this wasn’t good.

  Nodog sniffed about, patrolling the area around them.

  Sam studied the land, and then he glanced at Riley. Riley was staring out at the remains. Her eyes were brilliantly blue, her cheeks pink from the friction of their kisses. Her mouth was raw and red and looked so tempting. She was beautiful, Sam realized in that moment. He was an inch from telling her how he felt, but he held his tongue.

  “Maybe we better cut that hair of yours and bind you up,” Sam said, studying her instead of the remains.

  “Cut my hair. Do we have to do that? Can’t I just stuff it?” Her eyes grew wide.

  “Naw, you cain’t. Your hat blew off in the wind. If your hat was to blow off in front of someone, or someone took it off they would see you was a girl. We’ve got to cut it; it’ll grow back, Riley,” Sam assured her, taking a knife from his pocket. “You’ll see, when this is all over, you’ll have your hair and your ranch back.”

  “I-I hate cutting it. It’s one of my better features,” she protested.

  “It is; that’s a fact. I’ve never seen prettier hair in my life, Riley, but this is more important,” Sam explained, coming toward her with the knife in his hand. He remembered how his fingers ran through her hair when they kissed, how soft it had been against his fingertips and he hated to cut it off, but she’d never pass for a boy if her hat blew off.

  He made her sit on a stump where obviously the previous owner had used it as a chopping board for splitting logs. Then, by the light of the dimming day, he began to whack off her hair, until it was short enough to pass for a boy. He plopped the hat back on her head and checked his work out.

  “That’s better.” Sam nodded. Her eyes looked bigger now with her hair short. “Your eyes sure look bigger since I whacked that off. I thought you’d be butt ugly with it short, but instead you have the eyes of an angel.”

  And more beautiful, but he couldn’t tell her that.

  Riley stared at him, speechless.

  “What’s the matter?” He saw tears held back in her eyes.

  “No one’s ever said anything that nice to me, Sam.”

  Riley glanced down at her hair on the wet ground as Sam put his knife away and bent down, stuffing a small wad of her hair into his pocket before she saw him.

  “Now what?” she asked.

  Sam went to his saddle bags he had placed in the cellar during the storm. “You take this behind them trees and you wrap yourself tight then put your shirt back on. You can do it, can’t you?”

  He waited for her answer, his hands shaking as he handed her the bandages.

  “I guess so…”

  “That should take care of the other.” He cleared his throat.

  Riley stared at him for a moment. “I won’t use it all.”

  “Naw, we got plenty…”

  “Okay, I’ll be back in a minute.” She smiled shyly.

  “Yeah…” He nodded.

  Riley went behind the bushes and peeled off her shirt. She glanced down at herself and then began wrapping the bandages around her until it was snug against her. She tied it off and put her shirt back on.

  When she returned, she lifted her arms and smiled. “Guess that takes care of most of it, don’t it?”

  “Yeah, but come here,” he coaxed, his face still not relaxing as he spoke.

  She came up to him. “What now?”

  He cut himself on the arm with the knife, she gasped when she saw the blood ooze on his arm, and reached to comfort him, but when he reached inside her shirt to smear the blood on the bandage she stood very still and stared up at him. They were close enough to kiss again, but Sam knew that would take them to a place that was unwise. One of them had to use control.

  “What are you doin’?” she protested, trying to wiggle away when he smeared the blood from his arm on her. He touched her bare skin once and jerked his hand out quickly as though it were burned from contact.

  “Calm down. If anyone sees you bandaged, they might wonder why. Now we can say you were hurt in the tornado when a branch hit you and we had to tie your ribs up.” Sam nodded his satisfaction.

  “Oh…that’s good thinkin’, Sam.” She smiled. “That would never have occurred to me. I guess I’m not big enough to worry about this, but it will give me more confidence.”

  Almost as though mumbling to himself, he muttered, “You’re big enough, Riley. You’re perfect.”

  But aloud, he merely said, “Yeah…I reckon it will do.” Sam agreed and turned to pick up his saddle bags and sling them over his shoulder. “We’re gonna have to walk, maybe we’ll catch up to the horse soon. I unhobbled him just before the storm and he run off like I figured he would. He won’t have gone too far, just out of the line of the storm. Nodog can sniff him out in no time for us.”

  “You got a lot of faith in that dog, don’t you?”

  “Well, sure I do. He’s part wolf, and he knows things…” Sam laughed.

  “Sometimes I think animals have more sense than people. They instinctively know more about nature. Ever notice how things smell so good after a storm?” Riley breathed in deeply, inhaling the scent of the earth settling once more. “Kinda like God Himself cleaned the earth.”

  “Reckon I’m always too busy noticing the effects of the storm, Riley,” Sam acknowledged. “I guess men don’t take the time to notice a lot of things.”

  “You can actually smell the earth,” Riley said, dancing about, her boots splashing water all over.

  “I guess it is cleaner.” Sam watched her from a distance away. “Shore does clear things away, don’t it?”

  “How do you know so much, Sam?” Riley gasped. “I mean, about surviving and life.”

  “Told you…I lived with the Indians. Indians know a lot about things ordinary people don’t know. They can teach you a lot about survival, life and how to live on the land.” Sam glanced about again. “We best be movin’ along now, it’ll be dark in another hour and harder to find the horse.”

  Sam walked about the place once more, picking up odd and end things from the ground that they might need later and tying them to his saddle. Riley followed him.

  “Sam…” Riley called to him as they began walking. “‘Bout in there…”

  Sam stopped dead in his tracks and turned to look at her. “We won’t speak of it again. You was scared, and that’s all there was to it. Truth be told, so was I. I did what I could, to take your mind off the storm, that’s all it was Riley. Don’t make no more out of it than that, you hear?”

  “That how you want it, Sam?” Riley asked, staring at him now.

  “That’s how I want it.” Sam cleared his throat and began walking again.

  “Alright, I’ll respect that, Sam. I was terrified after all. But I gotta say this just once, I have never been kissed so thoroughly in my life.”

  “Well, it took your mind off the storm, didn’t it?”

  “Oh…yeah. It sure did. If that’s why it happened, then it worked.”

  “Well, don’t tell anyone, but I thought we were goners when that door came off.” Sam laughed.

  “I c
an’t believe you’d be scared of anything. Or that you’d admit being scared.”

  “Well, nature isn’t something man can control. And if it can’t be controlled, it scares me.”

  “Never thought about that, but I guess that’s true. I wouldn’t mind sayin’ I hope you get scared again, Sam.”

  “Yeah, well…”

  It was easy to see where the tornado had cut a path through the valley with litter, uprooted trees and land that looked as though it had a curry comb taken to it. But the earth did smell clean, Sam acknowledged.

  An hour later, they came upon the horse and Sam’s mood seemed to lighten. Nodog sniffed about and whined a little, but he wasn’t favoring his leg as much now.

  “What’s his name?” Riley asked as she petted the animal, glad that they had found him.

  “Moonlight,” Sam replied.

  “Moonlight?” Riley questioned. “That’s kinda romantic, don’t you think?”

  “Naw, I don’t think. See that star of white between his eyes?” Sam asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “I figured it looked like a streak of moonlight on him,” Sam explained.

  “Well, I guess you’re right. It does. He’s a beauty of an animal,” Riley said. “And obviously well trained if he didn’t run no further than this.”

  “I guess. Lee trained him mostly, and gave him to me as a goin’ away present.”

  “You talk about this Lee a lot. You must have been very close.”

  “Lee was my brother-in-law. He taught me how to be a man, how to live right. I love him like a brother, as I do Chase Rivers.”

  “Chase Rivers, now that’s a name. Was he an Indian?”

  “Yeah, he was a breed actually. His mother was a white captive, his father a chief of the Shawnee,” Sam informed her. “And I guess he knew everything about survival.”

  “And his wife?”

  “Another breed. Katherine didn’t know ‘til much later in life that she was not all white. She was raised white. But when her and Chase met up, they was bound to be together.” Sam smiled, reflecting on the memory of his friends. “At least that’s how Lee tells it.”