I mistakenly assumed readers of Bonanza FF were familiar with the whole series and one should never assume anything. So, FYI, the incident concerning Betty Mae and her fiancé is from "The Secret," S2:E31

I'm posting this chapter earlier than I normally post, having finished it earlier, but I have a busy two weeks ahead with Christmas and New Year. I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season.

Kiss and Make Up

In her nightgown and robe, Sibella sat on the sofa, her legs tucked under her, trying to read the new book for the Literary Society. It was to be discussed at the next meeting and then Betty Mae would write a review piece for the Territorial Enterprise. Not only was the book boring in Sibella's view, but her worry over Adam's lateness kept her from concentrating. Then she heard the turn of the front door lock and the door opening and closing. Adam was finally home and the wave of relief made her weak.

After hanging up his jacket and holster, Adam paused and loosened his tie; he was acutely aware of the time and of having missed dinner, and although he felt justified, he didn't want to get into it with Sibella; she was probably angry and rightly so. Adam realized he'd left the magazines and mail in his saddlebags; he'd fetch them in the morning. He walked into the brightly lit room, all the lamps glowing, the fireplace blazing, and Sibella glanced up from her book. Adam stood, waiting. Sibella rose, tossed the book onto the couch and perfunctorily said, "Mrs. George left you a plate in the oven."

But before she could head for the stairs, Adam asked, "Did you stay up just to let me know you're not speaking to me?" Sibella stared at her husband, unsure what to say. She had gone over and over what she would say to him when he walked in, how she would behave but now that Adam was safely home, she wanted nothing more than to throw her arms about his neck. But all was not forgiven; just why was he so late and where had he been, at the poker table with Thorne, gambling away all they owned or just her? Or had Adam been sitting on the Wood's porch, holding Bett Mae close in his arms, kissing her and telling her that marrying Sibella was a mistake and that she, calm, intelligent and quietly lovely Betty Mae was a better match for him. But then the fear that something awful had happened to Adam, that he was lying on the road injured or even dead, having been thrown by his horse or shot by someone looking to rob him or, well…while waiting, her mind had considered all the scenarios and she couldn't decide if she would prefer Adam was dead or in Betty Mae's arms or worse, in her bed, thrusting between her legs while she cried out in the throes of ecstasy. Surely Adam could understand her coldness toward him now that he was home.

Adam sat down in his usual chair and slipped off his tie by one end, tossing it on the low table before the couch. "Can you put your snit aside for a few minutes? I need to talk to you." He rubbed his forehead; a headache had been threatening to explode.

Adam said he "needed" to talk to her; it had to be bad news so despite the pounding of her heart, Sibella turned and icily replied, "I'm not in a snit. And as for questions, I have a few for you. Did you lose me in a poker game with Thorne? Am I to pack my bags so you can deliver me in the morning or is he coming to get me? Or did you have dinner with Betty Mae Wood and suddenly realize you love her more than you do me? Are you leaving me for her? I'm certain she'll come into quite a large inheritance."

"Sit down, Sibella, and stop acting like a child." She opened her mouth to reply but decided against it, sitting back down. Now that Adam was home, she was more curious than angry. "First, I apologize for being so late." He regretted that Sibella had sat alone, frightened, in the empty house despite Chauncey and Moss on the property, hence, all the lamps being on high. He knew the house was isolated but he had put sturdy locks on the doors and windows and told Sibella that if he ever had to leave her alone overnight, to make certain the bolts were thrown. "Before I left town, I went to the bank and, oh, here." He pulled the sapphire ring out of his shirt pocket and leaning over, placed it on the low table. He sat back. "I held out the ring, thought you might want to wear it sometimes."

"Oh." Sibella picked it up and stared at it before slipping it on. She admired it on her hand. Now she could wear it at the next Literary Society meeting so Betty Mae could see it and hopefully, be envious. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. After, I went to the Ponderosa with a lumber contract; the railroad wants delivery in late spring. My father and I discussed it over coffee, if we could manage it. I also wanted to check on him again and see my brothers; I don't see any of them enough and found out Joe is thinking of marrying." Sibella had to practically bite her tongue to keep from asking who. "Anyway, Hop Sing had cooked a pork loin, fried apples, mashed potatoes, and since I was invited, I stayed for dinner. Before I knew it, it was after 9:00. Again, I'm sorry I'm late and caused you worry." Sibella refused to say it was all right as it wasn't. The Ponderosa was further from town than their home so Adam should have, in her opinion, stopped by their house first, had dinner, and then gone to see his family, perhaps even taken her. Why couldn't he see things her way?

"So, I take it you're not hungry and the food is going to waste." Sibella pursed her lips in disapproval.

Adam chuckled and shook his head. "If it'll make you happy, Sibella, I'll eat it for breakfast. Now, how did Moss work out?"

"That's what you want to know, how Moss worked out? Fine, I suppose. He didn't wreck the buggy and dump me into the dirt or press his leg against mine while driving or pinch my cheek or call me sugar or honey or such. We just rode in silence as we had nothing to say and there was no one he had to shoot."

"Good. I think he'll work out then."

"Oh, he'll work out, I'm sure of that, because while I sat eating my dinner all alone, staring at your unused place setting, Moss and Chauncey had their meal in the kitchen with Mrs. George, laughing and talking. The three of them sounded like they were having a wonderful time, a regular party!"

"You could have eaten with them, you know," Adam said.

"I don't eat with the help."

"Suit yourself then." Adam unfastened his cufflinks and put them on the table beside him. "Sibella, what do you know about Thorne Culhane, other than what you've already told me?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, exactly how long did you know him before you were engaged and how well?" Adam watched his wife closely under lowered brows.

"I told you, a few weeks." Sibella felt her pulse pounding in her ears; Adam was scaring her.

"So, you didn't know how long he had been in Sacramento before you met him," he confirmed.

"No, I mean I think he said he'd been there about a year or so before I met him. It was at a birthday party for my friend Isabelle Whiting. I had thought he was courting her, but he wasn't, at least not seriously because he spent the evening at my side."

"How well did Alan know him, either before or after you did?" Adam watched her evenly.

"Well, I don't really know. Longer than I did, I know that. Adam, why are you asking me all this? Have you met Thorne before?" She remembered Thorne's face when he saw Adam, and Adam, him. There was that flash of recognition.

"I'm not sure. It's…maybe it's just a mannerism he has that reminds me of someone else but it's like an itch I can't reach. Probably nothing, but he is quite a few years older than you and Alan, isn't he?"

"So are you," Sibella said. "Why should that matter?"

Adam chuckled and rubbed his forehead. "Nothing really, except that Thorne has more experience. But at lunch, didn't you notice that both Culhane and Alan had obviously just washed? They both had damp hair and Alan was even a little…thrown off. He kept adjusting his jacket and tie, smoothing his hair and glancing at Culhane, probably for approval but Culhane ignored him. And then Betty Mae arrived and for Culhane, Alan seemed to almost disappear."

"Well…" Sibella was confused and upset with Adam's criticism of her friends; she wanted to defend them. "There's nothing wrong with staying clean, with washing. You're always putting on clean shirts and underwear and washing up."

"Unless we'd taken the hotel room as I had suggested, even I don't wash in the middle of the day as Alan did, especially since he must have shaved and cleaned up here this morning; he's fastidious. If he feared he'd smell like sex, he'd wash up." Adam watched Sibella as she thought about what he had said; everything showed on her lovely face.

Suddenly, Sibella stared at Adam, incredulous. "Adam, you're not suggesting that Thorne and Alan…I mean I'm aware of Alan's preferences but Thorne? Never. When he courted me, squired me about, he was quite affectionate, almost demanding of intimacy and I often had to stop him from becoming too…familiar. My father didn't like Thorne as I told you, but he would have said something if he suspected Thorne of debauchery. But I would never believe it of Thorne. Never!" Sibella waited but Adam sat silently, letting her consider. "What makes you think Thorne and Alan are guilty of…." Sibella couldn't bring herself to say what she was thinking.

"Gross indecency?" Adam offered. He often accused Sibella of being a hypocrite, indulging in various sexual practices with him but refusing to use the words to describe them.

"Yes! That! Gross indecency!"

"Because, in my opinion, your former lover, Thorne Culhane, is an opportunist, totally amoral and will take advantage of anyone and any situation to advance his own agenda. And if he can get what he wants by fucking someone, he would. I hate to break it to you, Sibella, but to most men, a hole is a hole. Whether it's male or female doesn't really matter, and the tighter and hotter the better. Thorne seems to be one of those men. He wants money, position and sex and he'll use anyone to get it. That's why he turned his attentions to Betty Mae once she showed up. I can understand what he wants from her but what I can't understand is what he wants from Alan." Adam noticed Sibella's heaving bosom; was it from anger or arousal?

Adam stood up and pulled out his shirttail. "I'm tired, Sibella, just beat to the socks." He rubbed the back of his neck again. "Go on to bed; I'll check the doors." He walked to where she sat and kissed her hair. She caught the warm, scent of his skin and it stirred her; she wanted to bury her face in him, to breathe him in, but he stepped back. "I'll be up in a bit."

"Adam, I…" Sibella stood up, flustered, the color high on her cheeks.

"So, you're speaking to me?" Adam asked, one eyebrow cocked in amusement.

"Perhaps. But if what you said about, well…." She couldn't bring herself to be as blunt as he was, "about someone men not caring where they find pleasure, do you include yourself?" Sibella shivered slightly remembering all the pleasure Adam and she shared with one another.

"You're all I need, Sibella, to satisfy any and all of my urges, desires. So often during the day, I think of you and how you look naked, all rose and white, your hair hanging loose down your back, your mouth waiting to be kissed, and it stirs me. That's another thing about men, all of us—every time we see an attractive woman, a beautiful one like you, we visualize her naked and eager and wanting us. We can't help ourselves."

Sibella was surprised he would reveal such a thing. "Even your brothers, your father? Men like Moss and Chauncey or dull Mr. Dover at the bank?"

Adam grinned. "I would imagine even the boy at the greengrocer; he's got a pair and probably, after you're sashayed in there, uses a juicy tomato to jerk off. You just don't know how desirable you are and maybe you shouldn't. It would give you too much power."

Hearing that and emboldened by her overwhelming desire for him, Sibella moved closer to Adam and looking up at his face, cupped his testicles in her palm and gently squeezed; he straightened up with a sharp intake of breath.

"Now I have you, husband. You telling me what men want made me think about what women want, about what I want. You'll see because I'll let you know," Sibella said with a sly smile. She relaxed her grip on him and Adam shakily exhaled. "Don't be too long locking up," she said, glancing back only once as she took the stairs, knowing Adam would follow as quickly as possible.

~ 0 ~

Sibella lay in the crook of Adam's arm, her head resting in the space below his collarbone. She felt groggy as if drugged and Adam's fingertips smoothly sliding up and down her arm were soothing. "Adam, who is it Joe wants to marry.'

"I wondered when you'd ask. Nora Gustav." He sighed, sleep beginning to overtake him as he mused on how soft Sibella's skin was, not just on her arms and breasts, but in all the secret, hidden places. "Joe's been squiring her on and off since before I…" And suddenly, Adam was awake; he knew where he'd met Thorne.