For you my dear guest-
Chapter Ninety Seven
Nick and Anna rode up to the waterfall, down to the pond and then to the cabin.
"Let me carry you over the threshold."
She smiled as she dismounted the horse. Anna kissed her new horse on the nose. Nick was filled with love for his new bride and he thought about how many times Coco was kissed when no one was around all these years. He had truly found the perfect woman.
She tied the horse up to the rail and smoothed down her skirts. Nick took off their saddlebags and put them on the porch. He could tell she was nervous. He had already planned to take it slow.
He remembered something Jarrod had told Eugene's best friend when he married last year. The young man had been nervous being raised only by his mother and looked up to the Barkley brothers as family.
"Jarrod? Can I ask you something? Serious like?" with an uncharacteristic stutter, "You have been married."
"Of course Pete. I have known you your whole life. And I am marrying you and Louella."
Nick paused at the door not wanting to interrupt the young man's obvious discomfort.
"I know what to do tonight. But what if she doesn't? She's been raised by her Pa and uncles. And what if what they say in the barbershop is true? About wives and why they still see saloon girls?"
Jarrod smiled at the young man, "Just take it slow and make sure she feels safe with you. What you do this week in Sacramento will set the tone for the next fifty years. You won't need a saloon girl I promise if you take your time—" and he told him a few more things about women.
Nick had wanted to laugh at first but then he realized Jarrod's wisdom was spot on. Same thing as Heath gentling horses—and it added to the mystery of Jarrod and his women he kept to himself.
—-&—-
Nick carried Anna over the threshold of the cabin and kissed her chastely.
She shivered with nerves and excitement. She remembered all of Amelia's words with a smile.
"Looks like Rosa and her family fixed us up real nice," looking around the room with pride.
Anna looked around at the basket of food, wine and glasses, fresh flowers, a new coverlet and sheets—-Her eyes were filled with a strange mixture of trepidation and excitement.
"I put on the new roof nigh on, two years ago. My father built this cabin when they first moved here. Then they went to the house by the mansion. I remember that one first. But Father would bring me and Jarrod up here. To hunt and fish—-was starting to fall apart. Replaced the wood porch and chinked the logs last summer. Then I ordered a new stove and dry sink come back January. Rosa took over the niceties when I confided I wanted to bring you here for our first night. She has kept the secret well."
"Yes she has."
"She bought a changing screen up here last week and a new lamp. Sorry it doesn't have a water closet. I will get some fresh water in the pitcher and basin from the waterfall. It's stream fed."
"Good trout?" she asked.
"Yep," with a big grin, "My girl knows her fish."
Anna took off her hat and her riding jacket. She hung them on the chair. She opened her valise and took out a few toiletries and put them on the chest. She shook out the folded clothing and hung them on the hooks by the screen.
Nick watched how her simple tasks seemed so at home in the cabin—-it was what it had been missing.
"Want to catch our supper or eat some of the fixins' that Silas sent?"
"Catch our supper for sure." She held out her hand to him and he drew her to him. He began a deep passionate kiss and parted her lips. She shocked him by the force she responded to his kiss. They both groaned at the same time. He allowed himself the liberty of cupping her bodice and pressing himself against her body. He was pleased that she leaned in to give him more access and did not shy away from his manhood.
He reluctantly ended the moment, "Let's go get a fishing pole. Bring one of those blankets in the chest."
"Yes, my husband." she blushed almost provocatively to his delight.
He winked, "Come on wife. We have some memories to make."
—&—
They caught several nice size trout in the stream behind the waterfall fairly easily. Nick put them in a bucket of water to keep them fresh. They took a walk behind the waterfall. The cool small cave barely had room for both of them and the splashing water got both of their shirts wet. Nick enjoyed tantalizing her with kisses up and down her neck and touching through their wet clothing.
He stopped before it went too far and taking her hand walked on the rock path down to the pond. Anna had laid the blanket under the cottonwoods very close to their first kiss—-after catching a frog.
He put the bucket of fish under the tree and propped up their fishing poles. Stretching and flexing his arms, he took off his wet leather vest and unbuttoned his shirt. He hung them on a scrub to dry. Anna couldn't quit staring at him. She had seen him from afar working without a shirt and of course in his bed fighting for his life. But to be this close with free rein as her husband, she was filled with a new desire she had not experienced before.
He chuckled seeing the cloudy expression her eyes took. She leaned back on one arm admiring him with undisguised yearning. He doubted she recognized it yet but he definitely did.
Nick lay down beside her on the blanket. She ran her fingers through his hair. He stretched and nuzzled in beside her.
"Annie, you want to get out of that wet shirt? There's room for it to dry beside mine. Ya can leave them fancy lady undergarments on if ya like. They will all dry faster."
She swallowed and simply nodded "Yes".
He rolled on one arm and said huskily, "Let me help you."
Nick deftly pushed her hair away and unbuttoned the shirt and made sure his hands grazed her chest with a smooth pressure. She literally moaned twice and he couldn't keep the smile from forming on his face. She immediately looked at him guiltily.
"Nah honey, that's exactly what a husband wants to hear."
She acquisitioned with her eyes. She sat up a bit and handed him her shirt. He took it and hung it up by his shirt. Nick couldn't disguise the look of appreciation on his face. He squirmed for a moment and adjusted himself discreetly as he lay back down.
He lay on his side and began tracing the top of her corset. Then his index finger went up and down her bare arms. She closed her eyes in contentment. He brought her eyes back to full width by his hand moving from her waist and down her leg. He pulled up her gaucho pant leg and began rubbing from her ankle to her knee and landing on the inside of her thigh. He gently began massaging her soft thigh. Her breathing deepened and she mewed.
"Just relax honey. I got this."
She barely moved her head so engaged in the feeling his touch brought.
He found his way to the buttons of the bloomers and exactly where he wanted to be within a few minutes.
"Trust me Annie."
"I do," not wanting for him to stop his ministrations.
It was a few minutes later when Nick brought her to a new crushing experience of passion.
He whispered, "It gets much better, Annie. Much better. I am proud to be your husband and I know the gift you are giving me. I love you, Annie Barkley."
"I love you Nick," still lost in the new overwhelming feeling her senses were filled with, "I do love you."