Turner's Vision Read online

  Her decision made, Claudia straightened her shoulders and carried Micah’s bag back to the armoire and opened the door. She leaned over and opened the valise, removing what appeared to be a pair of buckskin pants, which were soft and supple under her fingers, and placed them inside. Then, turning back to look at her husband, her gaze locking with his, she unbuttoned the waistband and slid her petticoat off.

  Micah stared at his wife, standing before him in a sea of green cotton, dressed only in her shoes, hose, bloomers and nearly transparent shift. His throat went dry and his manhood was harder than he could ever remember. He let out the breath he’d held while he waited on her to make her decision. Shoving himself away from the door frame, he closed the door behind him.

  “You’re sure about this?” His voice was thick as he ran his eyes up and down her slender frame.

  “I’m sure. Are you?” The words were a challenge, but the catch in her voice belied her confidence.

  “My dear, I’ve never been more certain of anything in my life.” He slowly advanced upon her, yet Claudia held her ground. “I just want to make one thing very clear to you.” Stopping inches in front of her, but not touching her, Micah loomed over her, causing her to lean back to look up at him. “If you spend tonight with me, this will be where you spend every night for the rest of your life. Not just here in Washington, but when I leave to go to the mountains of Colorado, you’ll be there beside me also. Do you understand?”

  “You promise?” Her answer was a whisper. Reaching up with one hand, she stroked his cheek. Micah grasped her hand, turned it over and brought it to his lips. Gently, he kissed the palm, his eyes never leaving her face. With his other arm he reached around her waist and pulled her up against his chest.

  Micah let go of her hand, allowing her to rest both of them on his massive arms, his hands splayed across her back, one caressing the smooth skin of her shoulders above the scoop-necked shift, the other inching down over her derriere. Cupping the firm muscles, he pushed them into his pelvis so that the junction of her thighs cradled the swollen thickness of him.

  A surprised murmur escaped her lips at the feel of him pressed so intimately against her most private of areas. Micah stroked her lips with his tongue, asking her to open up for him.

  Under his insistence, she parted her lips. The surge of desire that swept through him with the touch of her tongue softly, tentatively stroking his flooded his senses. He fought to control this overwhelming need to claim her as his, to let the animal inside him loose on her innocence.

  He eased the kiss back, gentling it. His lips leaving hers, Micah pulled back to see the look of desire on her face. With a deep chuckle at the confused passion he saw in her eyes, he reached under her knees to lift her into his arms. Carrying her over to the bed he placed her in the center. Then he opened the buttons on his shirt and pulled it swiftly off. When he leaned down to kiss her parted lips once more, he let the thick hair on his chest brush across the swell of her breasts. He chuckled again as she sucked in her breath at the contact.

  Then he walked back to the dressing table and took the key he’d left in her care, this time locking them in together. To slow his quickly growing need, he sat in the large chair by the armoire, removing his boots. Standing to open the fastenings of his pants, he turned facing the bed. As he removed them, he once again heard the intake of Claudia’s breath.

  “I’m not sure this is going to work.” A note of fear laced her voice.

  “Claudia, if you want to back out now I’ll stop and leave.” He’d die from the pain, but he wouldn’t force her. But he’d do everything to change her mind he could. Sitting on the bed, he stroked the inside of her upper arm, just brushing her breast. “I thought you were a true adventuress.”

  “I am. I just don’t think…”

  “That’s right, I don’t want you to think. I don’t want you to think about anything.” He twisted sideways, stretching out beside her, his hands coming up to circle her face. “All I want you to do is feel. This is an adventure in sensations, a trip into the jungle of passion, along the river of desire.” With each word he let his hands stroke her cheek, the length of her neck, the swells of her breasts. “We’ll start out slow, let the fire build. And when you’re sure—really sure, you’ll let me know.” His lips caressed her ear, stroking it with his tongue, breathing lightly across it with each breath.

  “Then I’m going to take you to a place you’ve never been before.” Moving lower, he trailed light kisses down her neck, lingering over the pulse point at the hollow of her throat, leaning back to watch her eyes open with the desire filling her. “You will let me know when you’re ready, won’t you?”

  “Uh huh.” Claudia was having trouble concentrating on his words. The sensations his hands and lips were creating all over her body numbed her thoughts. All she knew now was she wanted him to continue what he was doing. When his lips came up to capture hers, they drew the very breath from her soul. Her skin felt cool to his touch, while her stomach and femininity were growing warmer with each caress.

  This time she opened her lips willingly, wanting his tongue to enter and explore at its will. Tentatively, she stroked it with the tip of her own tongue and delighted in the groan that escaped her husband.

  Micah drew her up against him so that Claudia could feel the heat of him, the long powerful length of him, pressed at the junction of her thighs. And heaven help her, she loved every bit of it.

  Suddenly his hands were everywhere and before she knew it, he’d opened her shift and skimmed it off of her body, tossing it behind him on the floor. Micah pushed her back ever so slightly, gazing down at the two small mounds of her breasts. Not wanting to see the rejection on his face when he saw how small they were, Claudia closed her eyes and tried to cover them with her hands.

  Gently, he swept them away. “Don’t. I want to see just how perfect you are. I want to taste each bright bud, mold each with my hands. I want to enjoy the beauty that is you.”

  Mesmerized by the seduction of his words, Claudia lowered her hands and looked up to see his reaction in his eyes. True to his promise, Micah cupped each small, round globe, brushing his thumbs across the nipples, causing them to tighten and tingle. The hot-and-cold sensations returned. She arched her back to allow him more access to the centers of those feelings. Lowering his head, he took one of the taut buds in his mouth, suckling gently on it. Claudia raised her hands to his head. She entwined them in his tawny hair and pulled him closer as wave after wave of heat passed over her. He stroked the bud with his tongue. A low moan escaped her.

  As he took the second one in his mouth, Micah roamed his hands up and down her back, cupping her derriere into the length of his manhood. With each passing moment, he could feel his control slipping under the increase in her reactions to him. But he was determined to wait until she was ready to accept him. He pulled away from her long enough to remove the final barrier of her underwear, then rolled her over onto her stomach, pushing her into the feather mattress and commencing to kiss the back of her knees.

  “Micah, what are you doing?” Claudia’s breathless question made him smile as he kissed a path up her legs to the base of her spine.

  “Why, my dear, I’m taking you on an exotic trip of sensual delight. I don’t want you to miss a single sensation during this adventure.”

  Slowly, he licked his way up her spine to her neck. His hands massaged her muscles until she melted into the mattress. Reversing course, he kissed his way down her back. He slipped one hand between her legs to dip into the fiery heat of her desire. He continued to stroke that moist heat as he turned her onto her back, then lowered his head to kiss her navel. Creating a new path up to her breasts, he laved them once again with his tongue.

  Claudia sighed her pleasure. The sound pushed his restraint almost to the breaking point. She arched her back and pushed her breasts into his mouth. Her buttocks tightened against his hand. Her hips rocked back and forth to the rhythm of his fingers as they stoked the fire
burning deep within her. With each second, her breath quickened, coming in gasps.

  “Micah.” She gasped his name, bringing him up to see the passion written on her face.

  “What, little one?”

  “I…I…” She looked at him through eyes glazed with the intense desire she was experiencing.

  “Are you sure?”

  Claudia nodded her head, showing him her need.

  Micah pushed her back into the bedding, gently parting her legs as he knelt between them. “Look at me, Claudia. I want to watch you as I make you mine.”

  Positioning his erection between the moist folds of her desire, he slowly pushed himself into her tight sheath, her liquid heat easing him into her. At the barrier of her virginity, he stopped, giving her a chance to grow accustomed to the feel of him. Claudia wiggled her bottom, trying to get more of him inside her.

  “Little one, hold still. I don’t want to hurt you more than necessary.” Beads of sweat crept along his forehead with the exertion of trying to take her carefully.

  “I don’t want you to stop.” She bent her knees, thrusting forward.

  The shift in her weight threw him off-balance. To keep from collapsing onto her, he braced his hands on either side of her head. He took their weight on his knees, which caused him to thrust his own hips forward and bury himself deep inside her. A shocked breath escaped her, her whiskey eyes widening with the sensation.

  “Damn.” Micah held himself still, waiting for her pain to ease. “I’m sorry, little one. I didn’t want it to be like this. It will get better, I promise.”

  She moved slightly and a ripple of pleasure moved through him. With a soft moan of pleasure she repeated the movement. She looked up at him, her eyes shining with passion.

  “Better?” He continued to hold himself completely still, allowing her to set the pace and adjust herself to the new sensations.

  “I think so.” Claudia shifted once again. This time moving back a little which forced him out of her slightly. Then she thrust her hips once more to take him back inside. Another sigh of pure pleasure escaped her, giving him permission to bring her more.

  Micah eased himself out of her almost completely then thrust deep inside her. He let the sensations build as he watched her face with each thrust of his hips. Once again, her breathing increased into short pants, her hips reaching up to meet him. Their rhythm increased with each thrust, until he couldn’t control his body’s reaction any longer. He buried himself deep inside her one more time, shuddering his release just as he heard a small cry of Claudia’s own climax rend the night air.

  Micah lifted himself onto his elbows. He stroked several wisps of sweat-dampened hair from Claudia’s face.

  “Are you all right?” Micah’s voice held a note of concern as he searched her face for evidence of any damage he might have done.

  Claudia opened her eyes to gaze up at him with the dark pools of her passionate soul. She smiled shyly, which he thought was humorous, considering what they had just shared, and smoothed the hair back from his face, mirroring his actions. “I believe that was the most miraculous adventure I have ever had. Can we do it again?”

  Micah laughed and rolled onto his back, pulling her over with him to lie on his chest. “I think we can in a little while. I knew the thought of an adventure would bring out the imp in you. You liked it, didn’t you?”

  “I’ve always wondered what went on between a man and a woman.” Claudia leaned her head against his chest, lightly stroking the hairs on his chest.

  “And now you know.”

  “Yes, and now I know. Does it always happen like that between two people?”

  “I can’t speak for everyone, my dear, but I haven’t ever felt that good before.”

  “You’ve been with lots of women, I suppose.” He heard the shyness in her question. With his finger on her chin, he forced her to look up at him.

  “Claudia, I won’t say that I’ve never had other women before tonight. I have been alone for a long time. Up in the mountains where my home is, the winters can be quite lonesome, and in the spring I have relieved some of that loneliness down in the saloons in Denver. But I take the vows I exchanged with you very seriously. I don’t ever intend to have another woman but my wife from here on out.”

  “Since I’m not the most beautiful woman in the world, I won’t hold you to those vows, Micah.” Claudia said. “If you should find other women more desirable, I’ll understand.”

  “Hush.” He silenced her with a finger on her lips. “I knew from the moment I saw you a year ago, that there would never be any other woman in my life.”

  “What do you mean, a year ago?” Claudia leaned up on her elbow to see him better in the lamp’s dim light. “We just met three days ago.”

  “I didn’t say I knew you a year ago. I said I saw you a year ago,” Micah explained patiently, waiting for the questions to come.

  “How did you see me a year ago?” She sounded suspicious.

  “There is something I haven’t told many people about myself. In fact, except for my sister Patrice and my brother Hank, no one in my family knows what I’m going to tell you. Nathan knows, but I don’t know that he’s even told Laura.”

  “What?” The suspicion was mixed with her usual impatience now.

  “I have these feelings.”

  “Feelings?”

  “Kind of like knowing something good, or bad, or special is going to take place. Like back in the war, I would know that a company of Yankees would be up ahead to ambush us if we took a certain trail. Sometimes these feelings are accompanied by a vision.”

  “You saw me in a vision?”

  “Not just any vision, my dear. I saw you just the way you looked tonight. An angel in green, with warm-copper hair and deep, whiskey-brown eyes.”

  “Tell me about it.”

  He drew her closer. “Over the last year, there were several flashes of the future. They started out as small feelings, each growing in intensity over time. It began with the impression that something was wrong with my sister, Patrice. I was snowed in at my cabin in the mountains at the time, so I was unable to find out if there was a problem. About the same time I had another warning. This one was about Nathan. Somehow, I knew his life was going to take a large turn for the better.

  “Not long after those two impressions occurred, I had a dream about a redheaded angel standing in a cloud of white. The same way I saw you this afternoon in your bedroom, when I woke you. Remember how you stood at the bedside when you found me in your bedroom?”

  “I was very angry with you.”

  “I could tell.” Micah laughed. “That was exactly how you appeared in that vision. Full of righteous indignation.”

  “Just like that?” Her curiosity was winning over any temper the memory might have evoked. “Do you always see things that clearly?”

  “No. In fact, I often just have a feeling and no vision. Other times I have a vision, but I can’t determine anything except the person involved.” He began stroking her hair as he explained. “In fact, the feeling about Nathan increased to one of danger and that was when I had a vision about him. He was in a cabin with a pleasant-looking woman. The woman had a definite aura of danger about her. Not knowing if she was the one in danger, or the one dangerous to Nathan, I packed up my things and headed back down to one of our old hunting cabins. That’s where I found Laura and Nathan.”

  “That’s when Laura had the baby?”

  “That’s right. And he is a strong little fella.”

  “I wish I could see them both.”

  “When this is all over, I promise you’ll be able to see them.” Micah lifted a strand of hair, using it to pull her up to kiss her tenderly.

  “Micah.” Claudia broke the kiss off just as he was deepening it to something more. “You were telling me about your visions.”

  “So I was.” He continued to hold on to her hair as he spoke. “I knew the minute I met Laura that she posed no more danger to Nathan than possibly s
tealing his heart. But I also knew she was in great danger. Nathan confirmed it with his story about how she was being followed by a killer from Washington. I decided to stay and help him protect her as best as I could. That’s when your letter arrived.”

  “Which letter was that?”

  “The one telling Laura how you and your family were investigating the murder all on your own. The minute I read what you were up to, the vision of you flashed through my head again. This time you were dressed in your green wedding dress. I knew at that instant you were the woman I had seen earlier. A sudden rage went right through me as I read the letter.”

  “Rage? Why?”

  “The visions told me you were something important in my life and I was unable to stop you from putting yourself in any further danger because of my obligation to Nathan and Laura.”

  “So you wanted to protect me because I might be something important in your life?”

  “Look at me.” Micah firmly, but gently tugged on the strand of hair he’d been holding. “You are my wife now. That makes you the most important person in my life. And I protect what’s mine.”

  “I don’t belong to you Micah.” Claudia pushed herself up onto her knees to look down at him.

  “Yes, you do, my dear. Just like I belong to you.”

  “You belong to me?” The idea started the thought process behind those pools of liquid brown. “Does that mean I can tell you what to do, also?”

  “You can ask me to do things, just like I’ll ask you. It also means that my body is yours to use whenever you might want to start an adventure of your own.” Micah smiled up at her as the light of his meaning lit her face.

  “You mean we can do it again, now?”

  “I believe I’m up to the task.”

  Looking down his body, his meaning was quite clear. Claudia smiled back up at him as she softly reached out to touch his manhood. She stroked him, letting her other hand wander all over his well-muscled body.

  When he could stand her ministrations no longer, Micah drew her up the length of him, turning her beneath him to bury himself in her warm body once more.