The Color of Forever: Book Two: Forever Cowboys Series (24 page)

Ben’s lips spread in a wide smile of amusement, remembering how Samantha had stood there with that shotgun raised, asking him so seriously to let her shoot the poachers. It was priceless! There are some moments in every lifetime that are never forgotten and he knew that was one of his.

But then later, tumbling with her in that big old feather bed, her glorious mane of silky black hair streaming around her shoulders … he got hard again just thinking about it. He had had his share of lovers, but Samantha outshone them all. He felt ripples of excitement as his skin rose in goose flesh, thrilling to the memory of that lush, sexy body taking all he could give her and giving back freely, rousing him to higher and higher levels of passion … stoking the fires of his passion to a mindblowing point of no return over and over again.

The morning had come too soon. If he hadn’t had all that paperwork to do for the case against the two men, he’d have taken the day off and spent it in bed with Samantha. As it was, he could hardly wait to be with her tonight.

Any doubts Ben had harbored about Samantha’s true feelings for him were laid to rest by her actions last night. He knew that she wouldn’t have ordered him away so bravely if she didn’t love him. If he had needed any more proof of how she felt about him, their lovemaking had provided it. There was more than lust and physical pleasure in her beautiful blue eyes last night. He could see her love for him shining through, bathing him in a luminous light of sweet emotion that made her feelings plain.

He was so glad she had come to recognize her feelings for him before she had to go

back to the city. Ben had known he loved her from the start and had believed for a while now that she loved him in return, even if she hadn’t admitted it to herself. There had been some agonizing doubt when he had wondered if thinking Samantha loved him was just wishful

thinking on his part, but now that was all settled.

He was sure now. She loved him. Tonight he’d pop the question so that they could start planning their life together. He smiled again, feeling happier than he had ever been in his life, just thinking about making Samantha his, forever and ever.

Samantha busied herself around the kitchen that evening, making sure everything was just right. Consuelo was consulted for suggestions and recipes about what to cook Ben for dinner this evening and Samantha was reassured by the heavenly aromas wafting from the stove.

She had treated herself to a bath in her pricey bath salts that were worth every penny she’d paid for them. Their herbs and essential oils had eased the pleasant soreness caused by Ben’s lovemaking and she was more than ready for more of it. Would she ever get tired of having sex with Ben? It didn’t seem likely. Sadly, she wished that things could be different. She wished their worlds weren’t so far apart and that they could continue their affair until one or both of them moved on.

She had to admit that she couldn’t see herself ever voluntarily moving on to another lover. If things had been different, that is. Ben was everything she had ever dreamed of and more. She liked and admired him. She respected him. She believed in his innate goodness and his decency. He was that rare commodity—a good man.

But, when the police back in the city finally put Tony away, she’d have to go back home to pick up the tapestry of her life there and Ben would stay here.

An almost unbearable feeling of sadness washed over Samantha as these thoughts went through her head. She felt that there was something she was missing, something hovering just on the edge of her consciousness, something vitally important if she could only grasp it.

Her musings were interrupted by a knock at the door. Her heart leapt in unadulterated joy. Ben was here! She hurried to the front door to let him in and start their evening together.

Her pulse raced at the thought of being intimate with Ben again, of being held and kissed and caressed and made love to with such skill and passion. Dinner wouldn’t take long and then they could adjourn to the bedroom. Yay!

She almost ran to the front door, anxious to start this magical evening.

Ben was standing there smiling when she opened the door. “Close your eyes, Samantha,” he told her. “I have a surprise for you.”

She did as he asked and squinched her eyes shut, waiting for the surprise.

“Okay, you can look now.”

She opened her eyes to see Ben holding out a huge bouquet of wildflowers in a rainbow of colors and all shapes and sizes. He had wrapped the stems in wet newspaper to keep them from wilting. “Oh, Ben! Are these from the meadow?”

“They sure are. I had to go back up there today to look around and take some pictures for the case against the poachers, so I took the opportunity to pick these for you. Do you like them?”

“I
love
them!” she assured him, smiling with delight. “Come on, let’s go to the kitchen so I can get them in water.”

They made their way to the cheerful little kitchen with its sunny yellow walls and white ruffled curtains. Samantha had found a large vintage pottery vase of jadeite green at a thrift store she and Marielle had visited last week, and brought it out now from a cabinet. It was perfect for the large bouquet, its old fashioned charm the perfect foil for the brilliantly colored flowers. She ran water into the vase and then arranged the flowers deftly until she was satisfied with the effect. Smiling at Ben, she placed the vase of flowers in the middle of the small table.

“You’ll have to sit next to me instead of across from me,” Ben said teasingly, “or I won’t be able to see you over the flowers. I’d rather see you. They’re pretty but not as pretty as you are.”

Samantha lowered her eyes and looked at him provocatively through her lashes. “I’ve got an even better idea,” she said huskily. “I could sit in your lap and then you could really see me.”

With her words, Ben reached out and pulled her to him, laughing. “You’re a handful, woman, but I think I can handle you.”

Samantha smiled at him seductively. “You can handle me any time you want to, cowboy.”

Ben leaned his head down and sniffed Samantha’s hair. “Mmmm, your hair smells fantastic.” He picked up one of her hands and kissed her palm, his warm breath fanning her skin and setting off little explosions of sensuality that made her weak all over. This was followed by trailing kisses all the way up her arm. When he reached her neck and kissed the delicate hollow of her throat where a pulse was beating madly, Samantha almost swooned with desire.

Ben stepped back just a little, his eyes hot and hungry as he looked her over from head to toe. She was glad she’d worn this cute little dress with its full skirt and deep vee neckline that accentuated her cleavage. Ben pulled her close to him again and began kissing her mouth while his hands went under her skirt. He found the low cut waistband of her panties and dexterously pulled them down, motioning her to step out of them, which she eagerly did.

When his hands cupped her bottom, she responded by moving against him rhythmically, eliciting a throaty rumble of appreciation from Ben.

“Ben,” she said, breathlessly, “let’s go to the bedroom.”

He picked her up and moved across the room with her. “We will,” he promised her. “Later.” As he backed her against the kitchen cabinets, Ben reached down and lifted her, sitting her on the counter. He raised the full skirt of her dress and scooted her bottom toward him and after that Samantha lost conscious thought for a while.

Later, after dinner, they sat on the porch together looking up at the night sky and talking quietly. Samantha was still flushed with sexual satiation from their pre-dinner lovemaking, but was already looking forward to going to bed. Her thoughts on Ben’s magical hands and the pleasure she could expect after they ended up in the bedroom, she was drifting in her own private world.

“Samantha?”

Coming back to the present moment, she realized that Ben must said something to her that she had failed to hear because she was lost in lustful thoughts of him.

“Yes?” she replied, smiling.

“I said I have another surprise for you,” he told her. “Close your eyes again.”

Samantha closed her eyes and smiled, wondering what this surprise could be. It would be hard to top the two he had already given her today. She felt something placed into her hand and then Ben closed her fingers around it .

“Okay, open up.”

Samantha looked down to see a beautiful antique engagement ring lying in her hand, sparkling in the moonlight, the large square cut diamond reflecting the light in prisms of fire. Her throat closed with emotion. She was unable to speak, so overwhelmed by this unexpected turn of events.

Ben got down on one knee and looked up at her, his amazing eyes full of love he made no attempt to conceal. “I love you, Samantha. I love you with all my heart and I’ll always love you. Will you marry me?”

Even in the drama of the moment, she was struck by how blue his eyes looked right now. They reminded her of the sky up here in the mountains, clear, pure blue. But this was no time to be thinking about what color his eyes were, she reminded herself. She had to respond to Ben’s proposal.

“Ben,” she said slowly, “I’m honored. I really am. But you know I can’t stay here. I’ll have to go back to New York at some point, maybe soon. You’re the sweetest, sexiest man I’ve ever met and I value our friendship. But I can’t marry you. It’s impossible.”

“Why? Tell me why it’s impossible, Samantha. Because I believe if two people love each other enough, nothing is impossible.”

She felt her heart contract painfully. “Ben, I’m not part of your world and you aren’t part of mine. Let’s be honest, I’m not right for you. You want marriage and kids and the whole ball of wax and I could never adapt to that. I’m a party girl. I don’t want the responsibility of babies and marriage. Anyway, you’ve got the hots for me now and the sex is incredible, I’ll admit that. But when the physical attraction wore off, you’d get tired of me and want to move on to someone else, someone besides me.”

“Do you really believe that?” he asked.

She nodded. “Yes, Ben, I do. I’m just not marriage material. Always a bridesmaid, never a bride, that’s me. It is what it is. I accepted it a long time ago and decided to make the best of it. I think too much of you to let you screw your life up by marrying me and then regretting it later.”

Ben took her hands and forced her to look at him. He spoke quietly, a world of compassion and tenderness in his voice. “Who did this to you, Samantha? Who convinced you that your only appeal is sex appeal and that you have nothing else to hold a man?”

She laughed bitterly. “Who did this to me? It wasn’t just one man, Ben. You could call it the Death of a Thousand Cuts. It’s the way it’s always been.”

“Samantha, you’re so much more than beautiful. You’re brave, smart, warm and caring, funny … you’re everything bright and beautiful in the world. To me, you aren’t just a face and a sexy body. You’re all I’ve ever wanted in a woman and so much more. Until I met you, I didn’t know how much joy my life could hold or how much love my heart could hold. I don’t know or care what other men told you, any man would be lucky beyond words to have you for a wife. Try to accept that as the truth and forget that negative crap from men that weren’t good enough for you anyway.”

“None of them came right out and said I’m just a good lay and nothing more. They voted with their feet. There were a few who seemed sincere in the beginning, but they ended up being all wrong for me for one reason or another.” She looked at Ben earnestly. “Please believe me that I didn’t intend to hurt you. Now I think it’s best if you go.”

“Samantha—”

She rose stiffly, her bones feeling fragile and brittle. “Please, Ben, just go.”

“Okay. Good night, Samantha.”

She didn’t answer. Ben crossed the yard to his truck and left. As she watched his tail lights disappearing from sight, she said softly, “Goodbye, Ben.”