Chapter 9

She stirred from slumber and smiled as the talented male hands she knew so well slid over her skin. He kneaded the soft mounds of her breasts under the silk chemise she wore, and she put her hands over his, inviting him to squeeze harder.

“Why did you wait so long to come to see me?” she whispered.

His reply was the kind of hot kiss that always melted her inside and made coherent thought impossible. She ran her hands over his powerful arms and shoulders before burying her fingers in his long, silky hair. He was already naked and wasted no time in taking off her chemise and pantalets.

Sly looked down at Carly Branson’s younger sister, Catherine. He drank in her blonde beauty and growled low in his throat as hunger filled him. Kissing her again, he caressed her curving waist and hip before skimming her thigh with his fingertips. Catherine gave up trying to talk to him, knowing that he wouldn’t until later.

When his mouth closed around one of her nipples and created hard suction, she had to bite her lower lip to keep from crying out. She arched and pulled his head harder against her breast as he suckled. The hand that had been making lazy circles on her thigh moved up to the juncture of her legs. She couldn’t control her sharp intake of breath as he touched that most sensitive of places.

It had been so long, and he was so skilled that Catherine was ready quickly.

“Please, Sly,” she fervently whispered.

He smiled against her skin as she moved her hips urgently against his hand. He increased his speed, and, in a few moments, he was rewarded by her shudder of bliss as she bit his shoulder hard. Sly let out another growl, relishing the knowledge that he brought her pleasure. It had been almost two months and he was as eager as she was for their lovemaking.

Catherine rode out the wave and then reached for him, gently closing her hand around his hardening member, and caressing him the way he liked most. For a few moments, Sly gave himself up to the heavenly sensations her touch evoked in him, concentrating on his breathing to hold himself in check even as he grew harder with every passing second.

She found his dark gaze, excitement building again inside upon seeing the hunger in his eyes. Then his hand grasped her wrist, stopping her movements.

“I want you,” he said in his soft yet rough voice. “All of you.”

Catherine immediately knew what he meant. “But you said we couldn’t, that you wouldn’t do that with me.”

She and Sly brought each other pleasure in many ways, but he wouldn’t join with her. Abstaining from that ultimate act was one of the most difficult things Sly had ever done, but his love for her demanded that he not take that final liberty and risk pregnancy outside the bonds of matrimony.

They’d been seeing each other for close to three years and had never once crossed that line, even though Catherine had tempted him repeatedly. So, his declaration was shocking to her and held major implications. She held her breath and hoped with everything within her that he would say the words she longed to hear.

“Being without you is too hard, Catherine. I know that I keep resisting making our relationship public, but it’s only because I don’t want to cause you trouble. Especially because of who you are, and I know that your family won’t approve,” Sly said. “But I can’t go on like this. I love you and I want you to be my wife, but are you willing to face the consequences?”

Catherine’s heart filled with joy, and she rose on her elbow so she could caress his chest. “You know how much I love you. I don’t care about what my family or anyone else says. I want to marry you. It’s all I’ve wanted for so long now.”

“Are you positive?” he asked.

“Yes,” she said.

Her emphatic answer convinced him as did her resumed caresses. When Sly couldn’t take it any longer, he moved between her legs, nudging them apart. He sampled her taste, teasing and arousing with his tongue. He savored her as she writhed in response to his actions. Sly stopped his ministrations to kiss his way up to her breasts and then nibbled on her neck. Catherine tensed as he covered her body with his.

Wanting her to be pliant and relaxed before he took her, Sly teased one nipple with his fingers while circling the other with his warm tongue. Soon her hips moved, and her head rolled to the side as heat coursed through her body. Ever so slowly, Sly moved his pelvis forward. As he pressed in, he did everything in his power to make this first experience as pleasurable as possible for Catherine.

Sly’s drive to make her his, to possess her, consumed him, but he cared more about her needs than his own. He broke the barrier and held her close until the tension in her body changed from that of pain to urgent need. Sweat broke out all over his body from the effort of holding back as they rocked together.

Catherine held onto Sly’s shoulders, her fingers digging into his hard muscles as he moved within her. Her heart felt close to bursting with the love he showed her. He was hers and she would never regret giving herself to him. When she reached the peak, he let go and they soared into ecstasy together.

“You can’t just ask her like that,” Daphne said a couple of nights later.

Cy frowned. “I already asked her in my letter. We agreed to get married. I want to have the ceremony soon.”

“You don’t have a romantic bone in your body, do you?”

He took offense to her disapproval. “Yes, I do, but I don’t have a lot of time for that right now. I’m knee deep in this Branson robbery and she’s buried in work around here. Unfortunately, for me, there’s never gonna be a perfect time to have the wedding. Leigh understood that from the beginning.”

Daphne crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back against the sofa. “You could at least take her out to dinner and ask her then.”

Cy passed a hand over his face in frustration. “I never know when I’m going to be done for the day and she’s tired. I doubt she feels like getting all gussied up after working so hard. Besides, I don’t have a ring.”

Daphne’s mouth dropped open. “You didn’t buy her an engagement ring?”

“No! I don’t want a long engagement and neither does she,” Cy said. “What’s the sense in buying her an engagement ring when we’re going to get married in a month? It’s not like it’s going to take long to plan a ceremony since there aren’t a lot of people attending it.”

Unbeknownst to them, Leigh stood on the stairs, fingers pressed to her mouth to hold in her mirth. She hadn’t meant to eavesdrop, but she’d overhead them when she’d been coming downstairs. Although it was wicked of her, she was enjoying listening to Daphne taking Cy to task for his lack of romantic gestures.

“Men,” Daphne groused.

“Why do women always say that? The truth is that I’d rather put the money I’d spend on an engagement ring into a really pretty wedding band since she’ll wear that for the rest of our lives. I want it to make her happy whenever she looks at it,” Cy said.

Leigh’s heart swelled over the sweetness of his statement. Daphne unwittingly echoed her sentiments.

“Goodness, I don’t even know what to say to that.” Daphne sniffed. “I’m surprised to hear you say such a thing after everything that happened with Valerie.”

Leigh’s ears perked up at that. Who was Valerie?

Cy’s scowl returned. “I don’t want to talk about that. I just want to move forward ... with Leigh. She’s quite a woman.”

Daphne chuckled. “So, you like her, hmm?”

Cy grinned. “What’s not to like? She’s beautiful, fun, smart, and she knows what she’s doing around here. Watching that water flowing into that field today was amazing. Sly said that she designed the whole thing and it worked perfectly.”

His overall approval of her was a huge boost to Leigh’s self-esteem. The kitchen door banged open, making her jump, and the dogs barked as they rushed to greet their guest.

“Hey, guys!” Johnny called out. “Where are you?”

“In the parlor,” Cy answered. “Don’t bang the door like that!”

Leigh shrank back against the wall, hoping that Johnny wouldn’t see her as he passed by the stairs. Her hope was dashed when he started and said, “Leigh! What are you doing? Come here.”

Leigh wanted to whack him upside the head, but simply followed him. She avoided Cy’s narrowed eyes as she entered the parlor.

Excitement practically radiated from Johnny. “It’s ready. My project. C’mon. I wanna show you.”

Daphne asked, “You mean we’re actually going to get to see it? I really thought you were just pulling our legs all this time.”

Johnny said, “No. Why would I do that? I’m no liar.”

Cy smiled at his annoyed attitude. “No one said you were lying.”

“Well, you guys don’t believe that I was actually working on something,” Johnny said. “That means you think I was lying.”

Leigh said, “Daphne was only kidding, Johnny. We know you’re an honest man.”

Mollified, Johnny nodded. “Okay. Sorry. Now, c’mon!”

Leigh followed Johnny first so she didn’t have to look at Cy, but she could feel his speculative gaze boring into her back. She was certain that he knew she’d been listening to his conversation with Daphne.

Johnny led them around the barn and onto a path that wound through some scrub brush towards the woods.

Cy asked, “Are we going to Cotton’s, Johnny?”

“Yeah. That’s where it is.”

“You’ve been up at Cotton’s every night?” Daphne asked.

“Who’s Cotton?” Leigh inquired.

Cy drew alongside her, and Leigh blushed. “Cotton is our other uncle. He’s Uncle David’s brother. Cotton never liked being called uncle for some strange reason. He’s also a moonshiner and a little touched in the head. Harmless, but crazy nonetheless.”

Johnny laughed. “Crazy like a fox, you mean. He’s not an idiot and he makes great whiskey.”

Daphne said, “No argument there.”

Cy grunted. “If I’d have known that’s where we were going, I would have brought a couple of empty bottles.”

“Don’t worry about that right now,” Johnny said.