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  “I’m not changing my mind about this.” Angeline had the greatest respect for Lettie, but this was too important. “I can’t.”

  The older woman frowned. “You’re a fool then.”

  “So be it. It won’t be the first time.” Angeline hugged Lettie quickly then moved away. “Thank you for caring, for worrying about me. Not many people left in the world to do that.”

  “That’s the truth if I ever heard it. It’s you and me, Angeline. No matter what man catches your eye.” Lettie turned and walked toward the door. She was only thirty, too bitter for someone so young.

  Angeline wished something or someone good would happen to her friend. Just as Sam had happened to her. Life hadn’t been kind to Lettie. It was time that changed. Perhaps Angeline would find a way to make that happen.

  Putting aside thoughts of her friend, she focused on getting ready for dinner. After pronouncing herself as ready as she would get, Angeline put on her shawl, the one item she’d kept from her mother, and walked downstairs.

  Telling herself she wasn’t a coward, she went out the kitchen door where no one saw her leave. It wasn’t that she was embarrassed to be going to Sam’s house. Rather, she was embarrassed at how little she knew of courting, of relationships between men and women.

  She would be nineteen in the fall, yet what she knew of men could fit in a thimble. Girls her age were married with children, but she’d been ignorant of even how to kiss. Sam had taught her quite a bit by the lake. Kissing was wonderful and made her feel tingly from head to foot.

  She couldn’t wait to do it again.

  The sky was slate gray with clouds, but no rain fell. Perhaps it would hold off until later and she could walk to Sam’s house without getting soaked. Preoccupation with the threat of bad weather made the five-minute walk seem instantaneous. Before she knew it, she stood in front of the house staring at the sign reading “Forestville News”, which was faded and peeling.

  Angeline hadn’t told Sam she’d never read a newspaper. She’d never known about them until she had left Tolson. Truthfully, she was hoping to see some of the inner workings of the paper. She had become a regular reader of books, and perhaps, if she understood the newspaper, she would read that, too.

  She raised her hand to knock when the door swung open. An older man stood there with a tin cup in one hand, a black smear on his cheek, and his glasses perched on his balding pate.

  “Can I help you?”

  “Mr. Carver. My name is Angeline Hunter. I’m here to see Sam.” At least she didn’t sound like an uneducated fool, which she was, truth be told.

  “Sam?”

  She frowned. “Sam Carver. Your son?”

  “Pa, it’s okay. She’s my friend.” Sam appeared beside his father, his face a tight mask of reined emotions. “Let’s get you back inside.”

  He met Angeline’s gaze, and she was shocked to see disappointment, fear, and a plea for understanding. Something was wrong with his father.

  “I don’t remember that woman. Is she here to see Sparrow?”

  “No, she’s here to see me.” Sam apologized to her with a glance, and then turned to lead his father back into the room.

  She stepped inside and closed the door. The smell of paper hit her first, and then there was something else, likely ink, or perhaps the machinery used to print the newspapers. Although she wanted to explore more, she followed Sam and his father into another room.

  The kitchen was not in good shape. It seemed barely functional with a tiny potbellied stove with a battered coffee pot, a bucket of water instead of a sink, and a few tin plates on a crooked shelf next to a dirty window. It was definitely a man’s house without much of a woman’s touch.

  “I’ll be right back.” Sam smiled sadly. “Can you wait here for me?”

  Angeline nodded, and he gave her a grateful glance before he led his father out of the kitchen. She waited for Sam by wandering back into the open area where the machinery was. It was rather nosy of her, but she couldn’t help herself. Her curiosity just wouldn’t be quiet.

  The machine was enormous and covered with particles of paper, smears of ink, and a mouth that looked dangerous enough to bite off a hand. She had no idea how any of it worked and hoped Sam would explain it to her.

  Her boots made a path through the dust and tiny bits of paper littering the floor. She walked to a desk sitting in the corner. It was a large wooden desk with lots of cubbies and small drawers. Judging by the scratches, it was well-used and rather old.

  Various papers littered the top, some with notes in a man’s handwriting, others with numbers like arithmetic problems. She smiled as she noticed the note that read, “Tell Sam to order newsprint.”

  It was a peek into the life of a man she never would have met if she hadn’t left Tolson. Sam’s father was a journalist, a man who would not have found a place in the ward, who would have been shunned for what he did. She was glad to have met him, even if he seemed to be a bit confused.

  “I’m sorry, Angel.” Sam’s voice startled her, and she dropped the note back on the desk.

  She turned to find him in the doorway, his expression full of shadows and secrets.

  “Nothing for you to be sorry about. I did notice there’s nothing cooking. I thought we were having dinner…?” She didn’t understand what was going on with his father, but Sam had invited her for a meal, her first outside of the restaurant since she’d arrived in Forestville.

  “I meant to cook, I did, but Pa is having a bad day. He’s been having a lot of bad days.” He walked up beside her and smiled sadly. “You, however, make my day brighter by just being here.”

  Her heart sped up, and she felt herself leaning toward him, eager to be near him and feel the rush of his presence. He stepped closer, and she didn’t move back. She felt his body heat reach out to hers. Her breath began to come in gasps as he leaned in toward her. She knew he was going to kiss her, and she wanted him to. Angeline had never wanted anything more than to feel Sam’s lips on hers again.

  “I’m going to kiss you,” he whispered, his husky voice grazing her ear and sending a shiver up her spine.

  “Please,” was all she said, all she could say.

  He cupped her cheek and gently pulled her mouth toward his. Lips brushed once, then twice. She shivered, goosebumps racing down her skin. He was gentle, so gentle she hardly knew what to do. She knew he wouldn’t hurt her, but she didn’t know how to act with a man.

  “Are you afraid?”

  “No, just nervous.” She was distressed to hear her voice shaking. The last thing Angeline wanted was to appear weak.

  “You’ve been with a man before?” His hand slid up and down her arm softly, leaving a trail of heat in its wake.

  “Yes.” Her knowledge of mating had initially come from the animals around home, and then from the animal she’d married. This, however, was so different she was unsure of herself.

  The only thing she did know was that, this time, she didn’t want to be a passive participant. Angeline wanted to use her body the way she wanted, not the way he wanted.

  “Does that feel good?” he whispered in her ear, his breath hot and moist against her.

  His tongue reached out to lick her lobe, and she jumped. He froze in place until she laughed.

  “I’m sorry. You tickled me.”

  His laugh was low and rumbly, echoing through her chest. She was beginning to warm up so quickly, soon she’d have her clothes off before he had a chance to take them off.

  Well then, why shouldn’t she?

  Angeline stepped away from him, her body already crying out from losing contact with his. She reached for the buttons on her shirtwaist and actually heard him swallow.

  “What are you doing?”

  “What I want to do.” She didn’t explain further. She really didn’t want to. Angeline felt her own power surging through her. This time, it would be her choice.

  The cool night air hit her skin as she slid off first her shirtwaist, and then her
skirt. The one sad petticoat followed, leaving only her chemise between her naked skin and Sam’s touch.

  Angeline shivered, but it wasn’t from the cold. The very idea of him touching her was so appealing her body reacted before he even came close to her. She chuckled at the thought of how different this was then pushed away all her preconceived notions along with her chemise.

  She stood there nude, her body there for him to see in the soft light coming through the curtains. He held out his hands and waited—giving her the next step. Angeline’s heart tumbled a bit at the gesture. Sam was definitely the kind of man she would fall in love with—and not just a young girl’s love, a deep and abiding love she would feel in her bones as well as her heart.

  Angeline stepped closer, took his hands in hers, then placed them on her breasts. The nipples hardened instantly at the touch of his callused palms. She gasped at the contact as it sent a bolt of pure arousal straight to her pussy.

  “Angel, you’re so beautiful, so damn soft.” His voice was full of need, echoing her own.

  “Kiss me, Sam.”

  “No need to tell me twice.” He lowered his head and pulled her against him.

  The combination of her naked skin and his rough clothing made for a delicious friction. His lips were gentle, nipping at hers until she gave herself fully to the kiss. He had sensed her hesitation and waited. Angeline was ready for him, more than ready. She needed him to touch her all over.

  Her tongue snuck out to lick his lips then darted back into her mouth. She was an amateur, but she learned quickly. He moaned low in his throat, and soon his mouth was open, his tongue repeating the same gesture. Hot, wet heat slid between them as she opened her mouth to his questing tongue. Soon, they were mimicking the act of sex, plunging and dancing with each other’s mouths in a timeless touch.

  She felt his cock harden against her belly, and to her surprise, she wasn’t afraid. Sam was different, patient and gentle. Angeline wanted to mate with him and become one with the dark-haired, dark-eyed man who called to her heart.

  “You’re still dressed.” She sounded winded, which in a way she was. Her heart raced, her breath was shallow, and her entire body was pulsing with the need for more.

  He chuckled and stepped back, a shudder wracking his body. She realized not only did she hold power, but her kisses, her very body, wielded sway over his. It was a defining moment for her. Angeline reached out and started unbuttoning his shirt.

  She did it because she wanted to, because she wanted to show Sam she wasn’t afraid and she wanted to be joined with him. Although he allowed her to undress him, she felt the coiled strength within him just waiting for release. He was hard all over, muscles and sinew stretched over bone in a symphony of male beauty.

  His chest was very nearly hairless with flat copper-colored nipples. She ran her hands down his chest, and his entire body hardened.

  “Jesus, Angel, that uh, feels good.” He was panting by the time she finished unbuttoning his trousers and slid them down. His union suit dangled from his waist, held up by the erection tenting the front. She pulled until they pooled around his feet. His cock was very large nestled between his legs with a set of nicely rounded balls.

  It was the final test for her.

  Angeline reached for him, finally throwing aside all memory of the horrors of her marriage. Sam was much more than just the man she was kissing. Her hand closed around his staff, and a shudder rippled through his body. He was silk over steel, hard and so incredibly soft at the same time.

  “I don’t think I can take much of that,” he choked out. “You, ah, damn, that feels good.”

  Angeline felt her own body reacting to simply touching his. He was a full-grown man in her power, and she felt free to do as she pleased. She leaned forward and brushed her nipples against his chest.

  He grinned and pulled her flush against him. They were both completely nude, and she gasped as she touched him from head to foot, skin to skin. He was hot and hard all over, such a contrast to her own body. Angeline breathed in his scent and that of their combined arousal—a heady combination.

  “Angel,” he whispered against her ear. “I want to make love to you.”

  Angeline opened her wings and leapt. “Yes, please.”

  He led her to the bed, kissing her as they walked. Fierce kisses designed to make her want more, and they were working. By the time they got to the bed, she felt as if her body was on fire.

  Angeline lay back and opened her legs. His gaze widened as he drank in the entire sight of her in the moonlight.

  “Like a goddess come to life.”

  She didn’t look like a goddess, but in his eyes, with his words, he made her feel like a goddess. He lowered himself until he was hovering directly over her.

  “Are you sure about this, Angel?”

  She reached down and stroked his member. It jumped against her hand, leaving a trail of sweet wetness. Angeline brought him to the entrance of her body, letting him feel how wet she was, how much she wanted him, wanted this.

  “Never been surer of anything.”

  “Good because I think I’d die if we stopped.”

  His staff slid in slowly, its passage made easy by the moist heat of her core. Inch by inch, he pressed forward. There was no pain, no discomfort, nothing but a feeling of being stretched and tingles of pleasure. Angeline pulled at his back to make him go faster.

  “Patience, honey. I want to feel every second of this, of you, of us. God, you feel like heaven.”

  He fully sheathed himself inside her and paused. She felt his body shaking, knowing she was trembling as well. It was as if someone had made them to fit together, a perfect match.

  It felt simply astonishing to have him, so large and hard, inside her. She throbbed around him, clenching and unclenching, wanting and needing more.

  “Please, Sam, please.” She didn’t know what she was asking for but she needed it now.

  Sam heard her and started moving. With each pass, his speed increased as did Angeline’s tingles. They spread out from her center in waves, making her restless with need. The tingles reached her nipples, which ached with pleasure as they rubbed against his chest with each thrust.

  Angeline felt something inside her coil tighter and tighter. She scratched at his back not understanding what was happening. He responded by moving faster and harder, the sound of their choppy breath loud in the quiet room.

  “Sam, I need. Please.”

  She didn’t know what to do, but she knew she needed something. Only he could give it to her. Angeline knew she’d lose control if she didn’t find what she sought.

  “Hang on, Angel.”

  Sam lifted himself up onto one arm and reached between them. His thumb landed on the hooded button, and he started flicking it. Angeline almost bucked him off with the force of her reaction.

  It was amazing to think that small piece of flesh could be manipulated to bring her such ecstasy. He flicked faster, the rhythm matching that of his dick as it slid in and out of her.

  Angeline stopped breathing as a wave of something she could only call rapture overwhelmed her. She wanted to scream, shout, roar at the heavens as the most perfect pleasure washed through her. She whispered his name, or she could have yelled it.

  There was nothing but Sam and their joining, and the intensity of it. He jerked and plunged so deeply inside her he touched her womb. Angeline dug her hands into the bed, pushing up against him as the waves ebbed through her. Her eyes saw nothing but Sam, her heart knew nothing but Sam, and her body was now one with Sam’s.

  She didn’t even realize she was crying until he lay beside her and wiped her cheeks.

  “Don’t cry, Angel.”

  Angeline smiled at him. “Why not? I just discovered the most perfect moment in my life, and I found it with you.”

  Sam pulled her into his arms, and they lay together, heart to heart, as Angeline wept into his shoulder. She’d never felt such peace and contentment before Sam. He was the other half she�
�d been seeking all her life.

  Angeline was in love.

  Chapter Five

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  As evening settled its cloak over the land, Jonathan Morton rode into the small town of Forestville with a weariness he’d never felt. His journey was nearly over, and he couldn’t be happier. Only a few more weeks and he’d be back in Tolson, free to marry Angeline and start the rest of his life. It was the reason he pushed himself and his horse so hard.

  He missed her.

  Jonathan hadn’t written to Angeline, knowing the letters wouldn’t reach her anyway. Her father, Silas, had a firm hand and did not allow his daughters any freedom whatsoever, and that included the choice of a husband.

  Her sister, Eliza, was a different girl, odd but smart and likeable. But Angeline, she made his heart turn into a thundering horse whenever she smiled. He’d enjoyed his missionary trip immensely but couldn’t wait to get back to Tolson. To Angeline.

  He stopped in front of the hotel and dismounted, his legs shaking with exhaustion. He’d driven himself and his horse hard the last month as he’d ridden back from Oklahoma to Utah. The sun was just setting, casting an orange glow on everything.

  At first, he thought he was seeing things, but sure enough, right there walking toward him was Angeline, arm and arm with an Indian.

  His heart fell to his feet then bounced back up again to hit his pride dead on. Jonathan was no coward, but the shock of seeing her was enough to drive him to speechlessness. As he watched, they approached a building with a sign that read “The Blue Plate”, likely the restaurant in town.

  The Indian leaned down and kissed her, making Jonathan’s blood boil in his veins. He stepped toward them, ready to defend her honor and stop the bastard from soiling the woman who was to be his bride.

  “She’s not yours anymore.”

  Jonathan turned to find Lettie Brown standing on the sidewalk. She looked the same as she always had, brown and drab, with the weight of world on her shoulders. It took him a moment to realize Lettie was there in Forestville, too, hundreds of miles from home.