Upon a Midnight Clear (Legend, Colorado 2)

For the last hour or so she had been swept off her feet and unable to think. Yesterday she had told herself that she despised him. When they passed in the hall, she had looked past him. So how had they come to be in his bed together, he naked with only a sheet covering him? How had she come to have her dress unfastened so that her breasts above her corset were exposed? But most importantly, what had happened to make him move away?

She rolled toward him, pressing her body against his, then put her hand on his bare chest. She'd never touched a man's bare body before. When O'Connor had done to her… what he had done, he had not bothered to remove his clothing.

"I can't very well be a virgin if I've given birth to a child, can I?" she said as she planted a kiss on his shoulder.

Cole didn't move. "But still, you're not experienced in these matters, so we'd better wait. Until after the wedding, that is."

Kathryn paused in kissing his arm, but only for a moment. Right now she didn't seem able to remember anything about safety. How could she and Jeremy not be safe if they were protected by a man like Cole Jordan? And a wedding might be very nice.

She ran her hand across his wide chest, then, daringly, she moved it downward, below the sheet that was draped over him. "What do a few days matter?" she said as she moved upward and began to kiss the soft place just below his ear. It was when she felt his pulse that she knew he was lying. He was as excited as a man could be, and one glance downward confirmed that knowledge. Maybe she wasn't a good actor, but he obviously was.

"You're right," she said as she moved away from him. "We should wait. We should get to know each other. We hated each other yesterday, and today we love each other. Who's to say that we won't hate again tomorrow? And if we've done this, we won't be able to go back. Yes, indeed, we should wait."

But as Kathryn rolled to the edge of the bed, Cole caught her arm.

"You put one foot on that floor and you're dead," he said in the voice of a man who was serious. Very serious.

With a giggle, Kathryn turned back to him, and the next moment he was on top of her, and her clothes came off in one fluid motion. "You are never, never going to get away from me again, Mrs. Kathryn Jordan," he said as his lips descended on hers. "Never."

"I don't think I want to," she whispered, but didn't say any more because he began to make love to her, and she didn't think after that.

In the morning, when Cole awoke with a smile on his lips, Kathryn was not in the bed beside him. Thinking she'd gone for necessary purposes, he put his hands behind his head and looked at the ceiling. So many years ago, when he was just a boy, that woman he'd seen only once, a beautiful woman with black hair to her waist, had told him to marry someone who could cook. And that was what he was going to do.

But in the next instant his happiness was shattered by the door bursting open, and a wild-eyed Zachary was there. "They're gone," he said.

For a moment Cole couldn't comprehend what his son was saying. "Who's gone? More hands? I'll hire—"

"No! Mrs. Kate and Jeremy are gone!"

In a flash Cole was out of the bed and pulling on his trousers, and moments later he was running down the hall toward Kathryn's bedroom. Her bed had not been slept in but Jeremy's had. Turning, Cole looked at his son and the boy handed him a note that Zachary had obviously already opened and read.

Dearest Cole, he read. There are things in my life that I can tell no one. I cannot expose you to what Jeremy and I must face every day of our lives. Forgive me, but I love you and Zachary too much to put your lives at risk. Good-bye, my loves.

Cole looked at his son. "Get my horse ready. She can't have gone far."

"You'll bring her back?" Zachary said, and for the first time that Cole could remember, the boy looked as young as he actually was.

"While there is breath in me I will look for her," Cole said, then grabbed his son in a quick, fierce hug as he was running for the door.

But in the hall, he paused, for there on the floor was a piece of paper. Before Cole picked it up he sensed that it was important, and his intuition told him that Jeremy had secretly left the paper behind.

Bending, Cole picked it up, and what he saw made his breath catch in his throat. It was a wanted poster with a drawing of Kathryn and a younger Jeremy. The poster said Caitlin McGregor was wanted for thievery and attempted murder, with ten thousand dollars being offered for information leading to her apprehension.

When Cole read that the woman was known to be dangerous and should be treated as such, he crumbled the paper in his hand.

But not before his son had seen it. As Cole looked up, he saw the Christmas tree in the living room, gaily wrapped gifts under the tree. The idea of putting up a tree was something that Kathryn had brought with her from England and Cole had surreptitiously watched as the three of them had decorated it.

Now, the tree and the gifts were a reminder that he had a son and he owed something to him. Cole looked into Zachary's eyes. 'Today is Christmas," was all he could manage to say, but his son understood that his father was torn between duty and action.

"Won't be much of a Christmas without that sissy boy to show off to," Zachary said, and Cole could see that the boy was hovering between tears and abject terror. "And won't be no real dinner if Manuel has to cook it." The tears were winning.

Zachary's head came up. "She didn't kill anybody, did she? They ain't gonna hang her, are they?"

"Not while I have breath in me," Cole said, then bent and hugged his son fiercely. "How about we hold off on Christmas until we can share it with them?"

Immediately, Zachary's head came up as he pulled away from his father. "Maybe if you bring them back it will help make up for the low-life snakey way you've treated her since she's been here."

Cole opened his mouth to chastise his son, but closed it again. "Let's hope so. Don't cause any trouble while I'm gone," he said, then ran out the door.