"Don't be sorry." He laughed. "You're much better company than a cooked rabbit."

Eugenia was able to create a small titter of laughter. She let her shoulders droop forward more loosely, and relaxed more in his presence. She pulled her traveling bag to her side and opened it. "I have some bread and cheese left," she said, pulling a red-checkered napkin out.

"Damn. We'll have a feast," Drew commented. He went to the creek and put water in a small pan and sprinkled coffee grounds into it. Its fragrance made Eugenia's thoughts wander to home once again—to Papa, Mama, and Elizabeth.

"Tell me about yourself," Drew said, settling himself down on the ground next to Eugenia. He placed the pan into the flames.

Eugenia tore some bread loose and picked some cheese away from the small chunk that she still hadn't eaten and handed these to Drew, with him smiling a big thanks back at her. She took a bite of bread and worked it around in her mouth as the aroma of coffee grew stronger in the night air. She pulled her boots off and wiggled her toes next to the fire, sighing deeply.

"Well, I have a sister named Elizabeth," she began. "And a Mama named Jessica, and Papa's named Hiram. That's all there is to my family. We live on a patch of ground purty much around the base of this mountain."

"Did your family approve of you takin' this trip alone?"

"They didn't know nuthin' 'bout it," she answered. "I sneaked off early this mornin' before anyone knew it. My Papa, he refused to travel around the full base of this mountain to check out the stories of 'gold' bein' found in Cripple Creek. He always scoffed at the mere mention of the word gold.' He always said his 'tater patch had kept his family fed all the past years, and would till he wasn't able to plow the earth no more.'"

"You were takin' a chance doin' this all alone, don't you know?" Drew said, wrinkling deep furrows into his brow. Eugenia studied his eyes, they actually seemed to be bluer than the sky on a clear summer's day. "And what do you 'spect to find waitin' for you in Cripple Creek?" he added.

"I want to go there to become a lady," Eugenia said, tilting her chin up into the air.

"God! What do you mean?" Drew exclaimed. "What I'm seein' is more lady than I've seen in years."

Eugenia's eyes flashed angrily, wondering if he was again referring to her th

ick waistline. How she hated being heavy. She wanted so much to be tiny like Elizabeth. But yet, Elizabeth was a mite too frail. And poor Elizabeth. She wasn't strong enough to ever break away from home and would have to accept any kind of future that Papa had planned for her.

She turned her eyes to Drew and studied him closely, then decided he looked sincere enough and proceeded to tell him her life history. When finished, she laughed awkwardly.

"You're the first person I've ever confided in," she said. She reached over to pick the pan up from the fire, wanting to refill her tin cup with coffee. When she touched it, she drew her hand quickly back and thrust a throbbing finger into her mouth, sucking on it.

"God! Don't you know better than to touch somethin' hot from a fire?" Drew said.

"I guess I've got a lot of learnin' to do 'bout bein' a lady," Eugenia said stubbornly, remembering the times she had watched Elizabeth working around in the kitchen, not wanting to do such menial chores herself. She had always dreamed of being so much more than just a mother and wife who only knew the skills of cooking, cleaning, and raising children.

"Here. Let me see it," Drew said. He took her hand in his and inspected the smooth red spot on the tip of her forefinger. "It's not too badly burned," he said, not releasing it.

Eugenia's lashes fluttered nervously as he looked at her with deep desire. "I want so much to kiss you," he said hoarsely, but not making any attempt to move closer.

Eugenia's heart was pounding so hard, she could hardly catch her breath. His continuing gaze was almost hypnotizing her. She suddenly knew that she wanted his kiss. But she didn't know what to do. She had never been with a man before. She sat spellbound as his hand moved upward to touch her hair.

"I know your hair has to be more beautiful released from its tight confines," he said further. His fingers removed the pins from her hair until the braids fell limply down across her shoulders.

"Please unbraid them for me," Drew said. His hand traced Eugenia's facial features, surprising Eugenia as his every touch seemed to release sparks of fire on her skin.

She reached up and began to twist and turn her hair until the braids had disappeared and her hair hung in long, auburn waves around her shoulders and down her back. She shook her head, making the hair whisk around her face and then back again in place.

"You're so lovely, Eugenia," Drew said, leaning toward her. She shut her eyes and let his lips cover hers. She knew that she shouldn't… but she couldn't help herself. She felt this need growing inside, growing stronger as she felt his tongue exploring deep inside her mouth, so wet, so warm. She trembled as she felt his fingers unbuttoning the front of her dress, thinking wildly that this was wrong, but letting her feelings of passion guide her onward, letting his fingers tease and fondle a breast until both breasts were free, pushing against his chest.

"Oh, God," Drew whispered. He lowered his mouth to cover first one breast and then the other. His lips pursed and sucked noisily until Eugenia thought she would melt into the ground that she was now being stretched out upon. When she felt the warmth of his hand begin to creep up her leg, she squirmed and tried to push him away, suddenly aware of what was about to happen. "Please don't," she said, but her words were swallowed by another lingering kiss, making her head begin to swim, not even caring that her sunburned face was being scratched by the stiffness of his whiskers.

"I won't hurt you, Eugenia," he said. His fingers were now working beneath her panties, and then between her thighs, where her heart now seemed to be pounding.

"Drew, I… just… don't know," Eugenia said. Her eyes were hazy with desire. She was enjoying these strong sensuous feelings this stranger had aroused in her and she ached for more. She was his. A prisoner of his blue, penetrating eyes.

"I'm just about to show you how much of a lady, a woman, you really are, my darling," Drew said thickly, pulling Eugenia's panties down her legs. She didn't protest any further, completely lost in a trance of his gentleness, as he shoved her dress upward, exposing her female area to a man—for the first time ever.

His hands petted and caressed her stomach and thigh muscles, and went again between her thighs, stopping on her swollen, pulsating love mound. When his fingers began to twitch and squeeze it, she beean, to toss her head back and forth, moaning. She arced her body upward as he leaned his body down over her until she felt something long and hard resting between her thighs… and then realized that she was just about to be seduced.

Slowly, gently, he entered her, then one strong push forward made Eugenia cry out with pain. Then, unbelievable to her, the pain began to change to pleasure as Drew's body kept in rhythmic strokes of up and down, making the pleasure mount to unsurmountable heights, making Eugenia want to cry.

Tags: Cassie Edwards Romance
Source: readsnovelonline.net