Near Fred, Indian
Territory, 1877
Gabe eased slow and steady along the stage
road leading to Fred. “We’re almost there, Abby.”
He was in no hurry to hand over his
privacy with Abby yet. The first few weeks being married made him realize how
much he’d needed a woman in his life. How much he actually needed Abby to keep
him honest with himself. No woman had ever been able to do that.
“Thank goodness! I have grown tired of
this jostling about. I’m afraid I may have permanent bruising on my—” Abby
stopped short, and Gabe laughed out loud.
“Believe me, you do not have permanent
damage on any part of your body.” Gabe glanced over, smiling at the rush of
color spreading on his wife’s cheeks. After three weeks on the trail, their
intimacies, he’d wondered at how she still blushed like a young woman. Abby was
a widow, not unaware of the goings on between a man and his wife. Yet she acted
like a young bride new to the ways of marriage.
Gabe found he loved that part of her
beyond belief.
“You are truly insufferable!” She laughed,
adjusting her sweet little bottom on the wooden bench. “These past weeks I have
found how much I enjoy that side of you. You keep me on guard, sir. Don’t
change. Ever!”
“I will do my best to abide by your
wishes.” Gabe winked at Abby and reined in the mules. The need to hold her
overwhelmed his senses.
“Is something wrong, Gabe? Why are we
stopping?” Abby looked around them, her eyes full of questions.
Gabe jumped from the wagon then extended a
hand. “There will be if you don’t get down from there.”
His blood burned like wildfire through his
veins as her hand slipped perfectly into his. Her light girlish laughter filled
his heart as she fell into his arms. Gabe gazed into her eyes, falling deeper
under their spell. He held her against him to ease the pain of needing her next
to him. He pushed a stray lock of hair from her face then covered her mouth
with his, completely devouring her. He groaned as his body reacted to her
melting against him. This may truly be the last uninterrupted private moments
they’d have for a while once he took up as marshal in Fred.
“I couldn’t wait for nightfall, Abby.”
Gabe kept her close, her heart pounding against him. “Once we get to Fred, we
won’t have much time alone with each other. You’ll have the homestead to make
feel like home. I’ll have to see Colonel Frank Fred. I’ll need to get word to
Deputy US Marshal Reeves and present my official papers to him, although I’m
sure Judge Parker has already made him aware of my arrival. There’s much to be
done once we arrive.”
Abby gazed up at him, her doe eyes
sparkling with the same need he felt. “I will be waiting when you are done,
Gabe. The cold, empty house will be warm and inviting by the time you find your
way home.”
“I was wrong in not telling you about the
move when you arrived in Dodge. There will be many more things that I will do
wrong. Promise me that you’ll never let those indiscretions drive you from me.”
Gabe held her hand in his, watching his finger trace the lines of her soft
palm.
Follow
Gabe and Abby to Fred
as they settle
into their marriage and learn to survive
in Indian
Territory.
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