Captain O'Reilly's Woman - Ashes of Love 1 Read online

  “Well hello, Stephen. Good to see you.”

  David shook the man’s hand firmly. Stephen was much shorter than David, several inches short of six feet, with a rounded belly covered with a lightly stained butcher’s apron. He was wearing a burgundy baseball cap with the store’s logo on it.

  “Stephen, this is Samantha Cooper.” He smiled down at Samantha and, again, wove his arm around her waist and eased her body into his. “Stephen’s the best butcher in town.”

  “My very great pleasure,” Stephen greeted her grandly. He took off his cap and held it over his heart. The movement revealed an almost completely bald head. After replacing his cap he smiled effusively. “Listen, a bunch of us are going fishing day after tomorrow. Pete—you remember Pete—he’s bringing the beer and I’ll rustle us up some steaks and...” His enthusiasm faded when he noticed David’s expression.

  “Thanks, Stephen, I appreciate it but we’re up for just a few weeks. For some alone time, you know?”

  With his head tipped a little to one side, Stephen looked down at Samantha. His look of open appreciation quickly morphed into quiet affection. “Of course. Next time though, for sure.”

  “Promise,” David vowed solemnly. He watched Stephen fish around in their cart, pull out the steaks he’d selected, snort dismissively, set them back into the cooler then grab the end of the cart. “Come over to the counter. I’ll cut you something nice,” he said, leaving them to trail along in his wake.

  By the time they left the store, Samantha felt like she’d been introduced to every person in town and, after awhile, realized that the Rawlins must have called ahead and spread the word that David had arrived. He was a local celebrity, judging from the number of people that flooded into the store. Most of them weren’t buying anything. They’d just dropped in to welcome David back.

  Their cart was piled high with all sorts of freebies too. A complete chicken dinner, fresh from the deli rotisserie. Flowers for Samantha. A cheese and fruit platter. But no wine.

  The store manager had waylaid them by the wine section, offering a few bottles, he said, that would go great with dinner. But David had glanced over at Samantha, catching the subtle, yet pointed shake of her head. Oh. Yeah. No alcohol for both of them while they were trying to get pregnant. And absolutely none for her after.

  David turned back to the manager and declined politely. “Not this trip, Albert,” he said.

  “Oh,” the manager said, a little surprised. Then his eyes grew wider. “Oh,” he breathed then nodded sagely. He took David’s hand and shook it happily. “Well congratulations then. Best of luck to the both of you.” Smiling and patting David on the shoulder, he walked away.

  “Damn,” David breathed as he watched his retreating back. “Did I just tell him we’re up here to get pregnant?”

  “Uh huh.”

  “Shit. On a stick,” David hissed then wheeled their cart to the check-out.

  “Wanna bet that before we make it to the parking lot, everybody in here will know?” Samantha asked.

  “That’s a sucker’s bet if I ever heard one,” David groused but he tightened his hold on her waist and pressed a kiss to her neck before piling their purchases on the conveyer.

  The back of the Jeep piled high with boxes of food, they continued driving through town. Once clear of it, they passed some farm land but mostly forest. About twenty minutes later, David turned down a dirt road. It was bumpy and Samantha, from experience, hung on to her seat with one hand, the grab handle with the other. After about ten minutes, he turned down a driveway. Little used, it was overhung with trees and covered with forest litter. A sign with faded paint at the edge of the road read The O’Reilly’s.

  The driveway wasn’t long and opened up onto a wide patch of gravel. It too was littered with last year’s leaves and fallen branches. It held two large, steel pre-fab garages with sturdy, industrial doors and padlocks. Nice, rustic light fixtures hung beside the doors along with decorative, wrought-iron plant hangers.

  It looked like it had been a long time since anything had hung from them.

  The whole place felt—abandoned. But not deserted. Not like the myriad empty homes and businesses throughout the country.

  David turned the Jeep around and backed up to a set of wide granite stairs. They were set into the side of a hill that sloped gently downward. Samantha’s eye followed it and saw water through the trees—a lake—at the bottom.

  “Oh it’s lovely,” she breathed, undid her seatbelt and jumped out of the Jeep. Her small, beaded sandals slapped the steps as she ran down. The steps were jarringly clean compared to the rest of the place and looked freshly swept. At the bottom, she lay her hand on a metal rail and looked over the lake. It was beautiful, quiet, with a light breeze coming from the north-west. The sun sparkled on the surface and she shaded her eyes. In front of her was a broad, cedar-clad dock. Judging from the drag marks on the shore, it had just been put in the water, even though it was now the end of June. There was space for at least four boats but only one was tethered to the dock. It was a deep-V, bow rider, white with yellow accent stripes, about twenty feet long. It looked old but pristine—like it hadn’t been in the water often.

  “You like it?” Samantha turned toward the sound of David’s voice. He was walking down the stairs, carrying a box of food. He stepped onto the dock, put the box in the boat then looked back at her. “That’s the island,” he said, pointing across the lake. The channel in front of them was fairly narrow and by craning her neck to one side then the other, she could make out the general shape of the island.

  “How big is it?”

  “Ten acres. Give or take.” David answered. Walking back to her, he put his hands on her hips and turned her around. “Now help me get the Jeep unloaded, Grunt, or we won’t make it over before dark.”

  “Yes, sir,” she grumbled but let him take her hand and drag her back up the stairs.

  When the Jeep was unloaded, David fished out a set of keys from the glove box, opened the padlocks on one of the garages and backed the Jeep into it. He took a set of keys off the wall inside. While the bay was open, Samantha peeked in. There was an empty boat trailer sitting beside David’s Jeep and, as she’d expected, on one of the shelves that lined the walls, hanging baskets. They were delicate wrought-iron but empty, dusty and dry. She turned away from the sadness she felt looking at them. Her smile returned when David took her hand after locking up the garage and led her down to the dock.

  Once she was settled into the lushly upholstered tub seat beside the pilot’s seat, David fit one of the keys to the ignition. The inboard engines started up immediately. He undid the moorings and backed the boat away from the dock.

  Samantha was impressed by how competently he handled the controls. Shifting between gears smoothly, he accelerated slowly.

  “Would you like to circle the island before we dock?” David asked, speaking a little louder than normal so she could hear him.

  “Hmm? Oh, yes. That would be great.” Samantha agreed readily and found herself spinning around in her seat, wanting to see everything at once. They were halfway into the channel now but she still couldn’t see another dock, or a single building. Further out into the water now, she realized the lake was really big. Much longer than wide, especially at this end. David pointed and she saw two loons sitting on the water in the distance. The shoreline was filled in with overhanging trees, a hardwood and pine mix. But at almost regular intervals, she could make out the ghost remnants of small beaches, moorings for docks, steps that led up to narrow, weed-filled meadows and nothing else. And still, there wasn’t a building in sight. Only when she squinted and looked way down to the far end of the lake did she see other docks, boats and the roofs of cottages.

  David brought the boat around the southern tip of the island and Samantha caught her first close-up glimpse of another dock. Cedar clad and wide, it was an exact twin to the one they’d launched from. This one had an iron lamp post on the end. A wooden, double-bayed boathous
e, painted dark red, sat next to it. As they came around the western side of the island, Samantha caught a glimpse of a huge, steel roof, dark red, sharply pitched and broken up by gable windows. Beneath that, she spotted parts of a log home with massive timbers and divided-glass windows.

  Oh my gawd, I’m making babies with a millionaire, was Samantha’s first, unfocused thought. Then she remembered that land, especially non-farming land, was practically worthless. Even paupers could get title to hundreds of acres of formerly outrageously expensive recreation property.

  “Yours?” she asked.

  David nodded. “Mine,” he said, almost too quietly for her to hear. But she could see the pride in his eyes, feel the contentment around him.

  David drove past the dock and Samantha got more glimpses of his expansive log home. Two tall wind turbines stood on the north point of the island. He turned back and pulled up to the dock. After switching off the engine, he jumped out of the boat with a grace that surprised her and tied the bow and stern ropes off. Without being asked, Samantha stayed in the boat and started handing him boxes and luggage.

  “What happened to the other cottages?” she asked. “At this end of the lake?” Even after twenty-one years of abandonment, the buildings should still be standing.

  “I had them torn down or moved,” David answered quietly. “I started even before I joined the Army, buying title to properties nobody was left alive to claim. There used to be four cottages on the island,” he added, pointing. “After I joined up, I wanted a place that was wholly mine. Quiet. All the abandoned cottages just felt...sad. And a little creepy,” he added nakedly. “So I sped up the process of letting nature re-claim her own.”

  When the boat was unloaded, Samantha stood on the dock and watched David ease the boat into the boathouse. Inside, it nestled over two, broad straps of a winching system. Flipping a switch, he raised the boat about six inches out of the water, shut the bay door then took her hand.

  “Come on,” he said happily. “Let me show you around.”

  The land itself was heaven. Heavily treed with wide, cleared paths, dotted with flowering shrubs, it sloped upward gently. It opened up onto broad, inviting patios and decks, a strip of freshly mowed lawn, plots of wildflowers grown rampant. The cottage itself was huge and two stories high. This side of it was peppered with wide, double French doors. Birds sung everywhere, squirrels and chipmunks argued over seeds. From further down the lake, Samantha heard one of the loons call out.

  David led her up a broad set of stairs to an upper deck. Fitting one of the keys to a dark-red door, he opened it for her. He watched her intently as he stood aside to let her enter.

  “Oh my,” Samantha breathed and reached back for his hand. They were in a massive, two story, central room. Heavy, leather furniture grouped around a full height, fieldstone fireplace at one end. In the middle sat an antique pool table and a long, rustic, dining table. And at the other end was the biggest kitchen Samantha had ever seen. With stainless steel appliances, a double-wide gas range and granite countertops, all nestled around maple cabinets.

  Off to one side, a grand staircase rose up to a balconied second floor.

  The place smelled faintly of wood and rattan. It also held the barest under taste of abandonment, even though it had obviously been recently and thoroughly cleaned and aired.

  “David, it’s—”

  “Beautiful. Yes.” But his eyes weren’t on the house. They were on her.

  An unexpected and unfamiliar poignancy filled him as he removed her straw hat and tossed it aside. Inhaling deliberately, taking in her scent, he held her head in his hands. His thumbs stroked her cheeks. With a low moan of anticipation, he lowered his mouth to hers.

  David shuddered at the first taste of her. The softness of her lips. The warmth of her breath on the bridge of his nose. The small start of surprise then the feminine strength of her hands on his arms, his shoulders. She was so tiny, he had to dip his head down to reach her and tip hers back as far as it would go. Her size made him keenly aware of his strength and he held her carefully, but close. He tested the primly shut line between her lips, found he liked the taste of her and pressed harder, asking for entry.

  With a sudden gasp, Samantha opened for him. Her fingernails stung his shoulders but he didn’t mind. Liked it, in fact. When he pressed deeper, anxious for more of her taste, she trembled and allowed him in.

  David realized he was kissing her and she was simply absorbing the pleasure he was giving her. That too he liked. He knew she was a virgin but he also realized she hadn’t kissed many men. And hadn’t been kissed well. He had every intention of remedying that.

  Slowly, he stroked the tip of her tongue with his, reveling in the way her breath broke, the delicate trembling that started in her shoulders and moved down from there. He liked the soft sound of disappointment she made when he slid his tongue away from hers and held back his smile when she followed, bringing her taste and heat to him. Flicking his tongue lightly against hers, he tasted her again, learning what pleased her, loving the scent of her. This warmth and softness was now his. Enthralled by her gasp of surprise when he teased the roof of her mouth, he drove his tongue deep into her mouth, claimed it fully. Wrapping his arms around her, he drew her breasts, belly and hips into him. Her softness burned him and he moaned at the first touch of her body to his.

  Samantha had always been a quick study and she didn’t disappoint him now. With a soft gasp of pleasure, she mimicked his movements, teasing her tongue against the length of his then seeking the heat of his mouth. She tasted him without reserve. Squirming lightly in his arms, she tried to get closer, inflaming him when her belly rubbed his hard cock.

  No woman had ever taken his strength but David felt his knees weaken and he drew back from her. Breathing hard now, he stared down into the wondrous, guileless depths of her eyes. Their centers were dark with need. Unable to resist her, he bent to her again, claimed her mouth swiftly and fully, ground his lips into hers and groaned when she came at him just as hard. He felt her slender fingers slide up his neck and anchor themselves in his short hair. Holding him to her, not letting him end the kiss again, keeping him there, tongues stabbing and breath breaking until she threw herself back from him, gasping for air.

  Still holding her body tight to his, David looked down at her, gauged her reactions, tried to read what was behind those dark, beautiful eyes.

  He grinned when she threw her head back dramatically and groaned like she was going to faint.

  “Do you do everything as well as you kiss?” she blurted out. “ ‘Cause if you do, I’m in serious trouble.”

  Laughing softly, David kissed the spot just beneath her ear. “Some things I do even better.”

  Chapter Three

  There was open rebellion in her lovely eyes when he pulled back from her and insisted they bring up the food.

  “Let’s try living on love instead,” Samantha suggested saucily and, standing on tip-toe, wove her arms around his neck. She tried to draw his mouth back to hers.

  He forced himself to lean back from the delicious pressure of her breasts branding his belly. Lifted her hands away from him, he defeated her strength easily. “Life in the country means lots of wildlife,” he pointed out. David forced himself to step away from her instead of giving into the urge to lay her down on the pool table, yank down whatever underwear she was wearing and bury his face between her legs to find out if she tasted as delicious there as she did everywhere else. “Wildlife likes eating groceries more than trees. Go figure,” he added with a dismissive shrug, took her by the hand and dragged her back outside.

  Despite her rumble of protest, Samantha followed readily. Once he reached the step at the bottom of the deck, she leapt onto his back, wrapped her arms and legs around him and laughed delightedly as he carried her down to the dock.

  “How’d you get so huge?” she asked and the question was half tease, half arousal. She stroked his chest with obvious pleasure.

  “I ate
my spinach,” David shot back. Folding his hands beneath her bare thighs, he hitched her higher up his back. He loved the feel of her breasts and pussy pressed against him. She made him feel playful—almost like a kid again and he’d lost that so long ago he’d forgotten what it was like. He loved her for bringing it back.

  Sure enough, two chipmunks were already sitting on one of the boxes of groceries, snacking on the romaine lettuce.

  “Shoo,” Samantha shouted at them, waving her hand in the air. They ignored her brazenly. “Little buggers probably know I’m only a Corporal. You try.”

  “Get lost,” David shouted, slamming his boot down on the end of the dock. The chipmunks jumped off the box and ran back up the path, giving him a wide berth.

  “Yeah, you just wait ‘til I get to medical school,” Samantha called out to their retreating, twitching tails. “I’ll use you for anatomy class. Don’t think I won’t!”

  Laughing, David lowered her to the ground. The slow slide of her lush body down his back only worsened his raging hard-on. But there was nothing he could do about that and he didn’t even try to hide it from her as they carried the groceries and suitcases up to the cottage.

  He watched with an odd sense of approval as Samantha carefully pulled off the partially eaten romaine leaves and lay them on the steps for the chipmunks to finish at their leisure.

  Back inside, he plugged in the refrigerator and made sure the propane range fired up. He went to the utility room and switched on the breakers, checked the status of the wind turbines, the solar panels and the batteries. Then he returned to the kitchen to help Samantha put the food away.

  “Can you cook?” he asked, taking a box of oatmeal from her and sliding it into a shelf she was struggling to reach.

  “No. My skills run more to suturing wounds.”

  “Hopefully we won’t need that particular skill while we’re here,” David drawled then grinned when she hip-checked him lightly.