Sarah stretched and opened her eyes to morning light filtering through the heavy canvas above her head. What a great adventure! At the other end of the wagon, she felt Jill and Flo stir. Next to her, Julie sat up. Surprisingly, four females sleeping in the wagon had not been as uncomfortable as she would have thought.
Julie slipped from her sleeping bag.
"Morning," said Flo and Jill.
"Morning," replied Julie.
Sarah said cheerfully, "Looks like a beautiful day, everyone."
Julie lifted the canvas flap and climbed out of the wagon in her jeans and T-shirt. Pulling her sleeping bag outside, she said, "I'll roll the sleeping bags up out here. Just hand them to me when you're ready." A couple of minutes later she peeked back under the flap. "Ned just delivered a bucket of water. Do you want me to lift it into the back of the wagon?"
Sarah glanced at Jill and Flo and they nodded. "Yes, please." She raised and secured the flap on a hook and then leaned outside the wagon to grab the handle of the bucket Julie was lifting.
* * *
Sage finished his morning round of checking over the wagons and greeting early risers. So far, so good. Everyone's happy and no accidents. He was a stickler for safety. He glanced up just in time to see Sarah leaning out of the back of her wagon reaching for a bucket Julie was handing her. Her appearance shot hot desire straight to his groin. She was wearing a camisole tucked into pantaloons. The thin cotton top had slipped off one shoulder and in her bent over position her breasts had almost fallen free of the garment. God, the woman was built! He couldn't draw his eyes away. She looked up and met his gaze and almost dropped the bucket. He rushed forward to assist.
"Here, let me help." He grabbed the pail and his daughter stepped aside. Now he had a close up of a scantily clad Sarah. It was difficult, but he moved his eyes to her face. She jumped back and pulled her camisole almost to her chin. Her coloring turned pink and then red. She reached overhead and the canvas dropped in his face.
Shortly after eight, Sage called, "WESTWARD HO!" and the pioneers moved on. The day was clear with puffy clouds floating in an azure sky; perfect for wagon train travel.
Around eleven, the same as the day before, they circled the wagons and Curley and his crew prepared lunch.
Sage followed his protocol of checking each wagon for mechanical issues. Not finding any, he decided to take a breather and walked to an outcropping of boulders about a hundred feet away. Circling the boulders he leaned against the far side and closed his eyes. Unbidden images of Sarah leaning out of the wagon teased his mind and for a few seconds he allowed free rein to his imagination, remembering the kisses they'd shared. He heard a noise and opened his eyes. Uh oh.
"Hello Sage," said one of the M twins.
"Uh, hello. Where's your sister? What are you doing away from camp?"
She smiled seductively, "I snuck away and followed you here."
"Why?"
"I think you know why."
"Uh, Mindy…Mandy, this isn't a good idea. You need to return–"
Before he could finish his sentence, the M girl had her body pressed against him and her mouth covering his. He was so stunned he froze. When his brain caught up with what was happening, he grasped her shoulders to push her away at the same time he heard humming and then a shocked, "Oh, my God!"
Sage jerked backward from the M girl and saw Sarah standing a few feet away staring wide-eyed. The girl giggled, "Hi, Sarah."
All Sage could think to say was, "It's not what you think."
Sarah blinked a couple of times, said nothing, and then rushed back around the boulder.
"Shit!" He looked at Mindy/Mandy and shouted, "Get your ass back to camp!"
* * *
Stupid tears! Sarah swiped at her cheeks. After surprising Sage and one of the twins getting it on, she'd walked swiftly away. Then she'd started running. Now she was lost.
Her beautiful adventure had turned into a nightmare. She sniffed. The man was a player; no doubt about it. She hated players. She'd been married to one for five miserable years. She hated Sage. Of course, she knew that wasn't true. She only wanted to hate him. Being honest with herself, she was hopelessly attracted to him. She rubbed the back of her neck, forcing herself to face her present predicament—lost in the woods of Colorado. She glanced at the sun, determining which direction was west. She knew that was the direction of the Lazy M. Should she walk that way or remain where she was and hope someone found her? What would Tarah do? She decided to walk.
An hour later, Sarah was tired, thirsty, scared, and overheated. She had unbuttoned her blouse to the tops of her breasts and removed her jacket to tie the sleeves around her waist. What if she had to spend the night lost and alone? There had to be wild animals looking for their next snack. She raised a shaking hand to the pulse pounding in her throat. Was she going to hyperventilate and pass out?
A sound jerked her around. Fear froze her to the spot. Movement made her gasp and she was about to scream when Sage rode into view on Jackal. Releasing her breath, she leaned forward and placed her hands on her knees, inhaling deeply. She looked up at him from that position. Anger etched his features.
"Of all the stupid, hair-brained stunts, running off into the woods tops the list. What the hell were you thinking? I've been searching for you for over an hour."
Sarah blinked. After what she'd witnessed, the man had the audacity to call her stupid, as if getting involved with one of the twins wasn't stupid. Heck, maybe he was involved with both of them. She rose to her full height, "You arrogant jerk! To think I was giving you the benefit of the doubt for your behavior at Java Junction."
"What the hell does Java Junction have to do with being lost in the woods?"
Sarah ignored his question and lifted her chin. "Point the way to camp."
Sage frowned and pointed left of her.
Raising her long skirt, she started walking in that direction.
"Do you intend to walk while I follow on horseback?"
"Now that I know the way, you can leave," she called without looking around. She heard the clop of hooves behind her.
After a few minutes of silence, Sage said, "Sarah, I wasn't kissing whichever twin that was."
Sarah stumbled, righted herself, and continued as if she hadn't heard him. Finally she said, "Whomever you kiss is no concern of mine."
"Is that why you ran off?"
She stumbled again. "I…I didn't run off. I was heading back to camp and took a wrong turn."
"You're lying. And you're also walking in the wrong direction again."
Sarah stopped and turned around. Sage pointed to her right. She glared at him and started in that direction.
After several more minutes, he said, "Are you ready to get on the horse so I can take you back to camp?"
"And ride with you. Never!"
"Okay, I'll walk and you can ride."
"No."
The brisk walk was making Sarah's side hurt and she paused to catch her breath. She heard Sage urge Jackal forward. When he was beside her, he reached his hand down to pull her up.
She looked at his hand, then up into his face, shadowed by his Stetson. "No!" She started walking again.
"You are one stubborn woman, Mims Murphy."
Before she knew it, he was off his horse and grabbing her shoulders, walking her backwards until a tree stopped her. She squealed and pushed against his chest.
"I swear to God, I wasn't kissing that girl. She cornered me," he said low.
Sarah looked into the blue flame behind his irises and stopped pushing.
Sage softened his tone, "The only woman I want to kiss is you."
Sarah's eyes widened and her mouth gaped. In slow motion she watched his face descend toward hers. Neither of them closed their eyes. Even when he was so close she was seeing four flames she couldn't draw her eyes away.
His lips gently touched hers and she finally lowered her lashes, hanging on to his shirt. He pressed harder against her lips. She moaned. He groaned. She released his shirt and lifted her hands to the back of his head, pulling his mouth tighter. His expertise ignited a forest fire and she kissed him with years of stored passion.
The harder he pressed his body against hers already backed up to the tree, the more passionate she became. His hands roamed up and down her sides and she wanted to scream at him to touch her where she wanted to be touched. He must have been psychic, because after that his hands and fingers performed magic, followed by his mouth.
Sarah couldn't think a rational thought if her life depended on it. All she wanted to do was touch Sage. And she did. She heard ragged breathing in her ear. "Sarah, Sarah, don't. I want our first time to be special. You're driving me insane." He stilled her hands and leaned back to look down at her. She blinked. She blinked again, and put a hand to her mouth.
Sage pulled away. "Not like this," he repeated, and reached for the hand covering her mouth, lifting it to his lips and kissing her palm. Before pulling her away from the tree and toward Jackal, he buttoned her blouse that was now unbuttoned to her waist, and fastened his Levis after tucking his shirt back into them. Silently, he helped her onto the stallion and then mounted behind her. Flicking the reins, he walked the horse forward.
Sarah purposely kept her mind blank. She couldn't face the depth of her passion for this man. Numbly, she closed her eyes and willed her erratic pulse to even out.
"The wagons are beyond those trees." He pointed.
Before reaching the trees, she felt wet warmth on her neck below her ear where Sage was kissing her. Unable to stop herself, she leaned backwards against him. He said, "We'll finish this later."
Dismounting, he grabbed the reins of Jackal and led the horse and Sarah back to camp.