His smile returned.
He leaned down and kissed her sleep-flushed cheek at the exact spot where her dimple would appear. Slowly, her eyes opened, and gradually recognition dawned. "Good morning, Mrs. Logan," he said.
Felicity blinked at the brilliance of his smile. How handsome he looked with his silver hair falling in his eyes and his jaw shaded with dark stubble. Her own lips stretched into an answering smile. "Good morning, Mr. Logan," she replied impishly.
His eyebrows arched with disapproval. "Are we back to 'Mr. Logan' again? Last night you called me 'Joshua,'" he reminded her wickedly.
Felicity blushed furiously at the memory of how she had sobbed out his name. His fingers reached out to lovingly stroke her burning cheek. "What do I have to do to get you to call me that again?" he taunted.
Certain he was teasing her, Felicity hastily scrambled up to a sitting position, being extremely careful to keep herself covered with the sheet. Where on earth was her nightdress? she wondered. Could she really have slept all night in bed with Mr. Logan without any clothes at all? "It's awfully late," she said, squinting at the partially draped window. "I guess we'd better be getting up."
"Not so fast, Mrs. Logan," he said, capturing her arm and drawing her back down beside him. "I'd like to enjoy my wife once more before I do that."
Felicity stared at him in disbelief. Now she was certain he was teasing. "It… it's broad daylight," she pointed out, even though her lower limbs were already starting to melt against his.
His gray eyes danced. "I don't think I can wait until dark," he said, pressing the heat of his desire against her thigh.
She gasped, but his words stirred an unpleasant memory. "You didn't have any trouble waiting last night," she said aloud before she could stop herself.
He frowned, obviously confused.
"You kept me waiting for an hour," she reminded him, angered anew at that slight even though she knew she should not mention it. She knew only too well that men didn't like women who were shrewish, and here she was nagging him on her very first day as his wife.
But to her surprise, he smiled. "Did you miss me?" he asked hopefully.
Felicity gasped in outrage, but when she would have pulled away, he threw a leg over hers, pinning her to the bed. "Did you really think I stayed away on purpose?" he asked, grinning down into her furious face. "I had to stay there and drink with them because if they'd thought I was trying to get away, they would have guessed where I was going and followed me. I wouldn't have liked that one bit. Would you?" he asked cheerfully.
She tried to think this over, but the heat of his body seemed to be melting her brain. "N… no," she finally admitted, forcing herself to study his chest so she would not see the teasing look in his eyes. The hair on his chest was black, lightly sprinkled with silver. Although her fingers itched to touch it, she kept them tightly clutched into the sheet that still guarded her modesty.
"Lissy," he whispered.
Instinctively, she raised her gaze to his.
"I'm going to make love to you again," he said. His eyes were smoldering charcoal.
Felicity swallowed the lump in her throat. "In the daylight?" she asked apprehensively. There were things she did not want him to see, and not just the parts of her hidden under the sheet.
"Yes, in the daylight," he said, gently pulling the sheet loose from her grasp and confirming her worst fears. "This time I want to see your face when you say my name."
"I'm telling you, Asa, they've disappeared off the face of the earth!"
Asa Gordon nodded understanding. He could readily sympathize with Smythe's frustration. The poor man had been chasing rabbits for months now, and still no sign of Storm or the girl. "Do you think they're dead?" he asked.
The two men were in a stuffy hotel room in San Antonio. Asa lounged on the sagging bed and Smythe straddled a rickety straight-backed chair.
"I don't know," Smythe grumbled. "But even if they were, somebody would've seen that wagon. It looks like one of them medicine show wagons, all painted up fancy. I'm starting to think they must've left Texas altogether. Maybe they went north, or west."
Asa shook his head. "I don't think so. The old man might be scared, but he wouldn't take the girl into Indian territory. Too dangerous. And there's still some Comanches on the loose out West." He considered Storm's third option for a moment. "I doubt he'd go east, either. Seems that he once swore he'd never even let the girl back across the Mississippi. He was a fanatic about protecting her. No, I think they're still here, somewhere. Maybe they got rid of the wagon, maybe they changed their names and took up a new profession, but I'd bet a month's pay they're still in Texas."
In spite of his apparent confidence, Asa was really going more on gut instinct than anything else. He had learned to trust that instinct, and even though he had never met Storm, he believed he understood how the man's mind worked. The photographer might crawl into a hole somewhere, pull it in after him, and stay hidden for a while, but he would never risk the girl's life, nor would he take a chance on people and places about which he knew nothing. Sooner or later, they would surface again, and when they did, Asa would hear about it.
"I'll start in the town where they disappeared." Seeing Smythe's disgruntled frown, he smiled placatingly. "I know you've already questioned everybody there, but I'll be a new face. I've got a good cover story, too, one that'll make people eager to help me. Maybe somebody will remember something new. Now, I need some advice on a rooming house that I can use as a base of operations. Any suggestions?"
"The one where I'm staying is fine," Smythe offered.
Asa shook his head. "No, I've seen your landlady. She's too skinny. Skinny women are never good cooks," he said with a sly smile.
"Oh, I forgot your preferences there for a minute," Smythe said, returning the smile. "I think I know just the place you're looking for."
Chapter Seven
"I wish I had my camera," Felicity said wistfully, resting her chin on her updrawn knees and gazing longingly at the way the clear, blue Texas sky canopied the rolling prairie.
Josh stretched out on the blanket, carefully avoiding the remains of their picnic, and propped himself up on one elbow. "Why?" he asked, smiling as he watched the gentle breeze tease at her hair. He had, in fact, spent most of the four days since his wedding smiling. He could not remember ever feeling so content.
"Because this tree is absolutely beautiful," she said, indicating the huge cottonwood under which they sat. "With the creek behind it and my handsome husband in front of it, the whole thing would make a wonderful photograph."
"With me in front of it!" Josh repeated in amazement, and then he saw her teasing grin. With a growl, he reached out and grabbed her, dragging her across the blanket and into his arms.
"Mr. Logan! Someone will see us!" Felicity warned, laughing and squirming against him in a mockery of her words.
"There's nobody within miles of this place," he argued, using his tongue to tickle her neck. Still, he knew she was right. Someone just might come along. He would have to restrain himself. Sighing with resignation, he pulled back slightly so he could see her face. To get his mind off what her glittering eyes were suggesting, he said, "Why would you like to take my picture again?"
A little startled at the question and more than a little breathless from his nearness, she hesitated a moment before replying, not quite certain she wanted him to know the true reason. The fact was that she adored him, and she would never be able to take enough photographs of him.
"You take a very good picture," she hedged, "and now I think I even know how to get you to smile," she added with another grin. All she had to do, it seemed, was be there. He smiled at her all the time now, a smile that indicated he was delighted with her. She basked in the glow of that delight, thrilled beyond measure that she pleased him as much as he pleased her. Their married life had thus far consisted of passionate nights during which she learned things about her body she had never even suspected and things about her husband she had never dreamed. Those nights alternated with days like this one, days so idyllic she sometimes thought she must be imagining all of it. Never in her life had she been so happy or felt so secure. All the shadowy fears that had followed her across the plains of Texas were gone now.