A DATE IN MEXICO

Chapter 10:

Ben softly closed the door behind him. She was sitting on the side of the bed, turning her hat in her hands. She'd wanted this from the first time she laid eyes on him. What he was or had been did not matter, not when his eyes had claimed her from the first glance. As she watched him remove his hat and coat and unbutton his vest, her breathing grew rapid. He walked over to her and began removing the pins in her hair, letting it flow over her shoulders. Touching her face,

he pulled her up against him, softly kissing her lips. He began unbuttoning her blouse, letting it fell to the floor. The rest of her clothing followed. She helped him out of his shirt and began unbuttoning his pants. His hands stopped her and he removed the rest of his clothing, tossing it on the floor with hers.

His lips found hers again as he lay her on the bed. Their hunger for each other left them breathless. She was not a virgin but the well had been dry for a long time. When the waters rushed in she thought she would drown in their wake. Nothing else in the world mattered except the feel of his flesh against hers.

Shadows moved across the walls and still he held her, drinking his fill from her eyes, her lips and her body. Many women had lain beneath him but none like this. He couldn’t get enough of her. His breathing became steadily more ragged as he once again took her with him.

As they lay in each other’s arms, she reached out, brushing his hair from his eyes. She kissed the scars on his face and he, in turn, took her hand and kissed it. The look in his eyes told her what she wanted to know. She touched the bandage on his arm. “Tell me about your wounds, Ben, and about how you came to be here.”

He turned, his eyes changing again, and told her about Carly. She held him close, combing her hands through his hair. “I’m sorry, Ben, for what you’ve been through. I know it must still hurt, but thank you for telling me.”

“It seems like everything I have ever cared about…or loved, has been taken from me.” He tightened his arms around her, “And now there’s you. I won’t be lettin’ it happen this time.” He buried his face in her breasts. This time was different.

“I won’t be taken from you, Ben. You have me for as long as you want me.”

“Well, that could be a long time.” He raised his head and kissed her.

Moonlight lay across the bed with Ben and Serena. “Ben, do you really have a hacienda in Mexico?” She lay with her head on his chest.

“No,” he laughed. “I stay over a cantina, but I will have a place for you by the time you get there. It’s only a day’s ride to the border.” He told her how to get there and where he would meet her.

“I have to go back to Dan’s family to make sure Alice is going to be all right. Give me a few days…Monday, I’ll meet you on Monday.  Oh, I don’t want you to go, I don’t want you out of my sight. I’m afraid for you, Ben.” She held him close against her, kissing his neck.

She might well have been afraid for Ben. The barmaid had seen the back of him as he climbed the stairs. She'd know that hat anywhere. He had lied to her. All evening she had wrestled with herself whether to tell the deputy who was leaning against the end of the bar. Late into the night as the last of the patrons staggered toward the door, she moved down the bar, “Looks like you’re the last man standing. I wonder if I could buy you a drink?”

Fear’s cold finger played over Ben as he lay with Serena. ”I think I’d better be going. I don’t want to put you in danger tonight." He kissed her one last time then dressed. Serena lay back on the pillows, watching him.

“Monday, I’ll see you Monday,” he whispered and moved to the door, listening. A muffled sound on the steps told him that would not be the way out. He opened the window, winked at Serena, and was gone.

She was holding the pillow, still warm from his head, against her breast when the door burst open. “Get out of my room!” she yelled.

The deputy, his gun drawn, widened his eyes at the woman wrapped in sheets in the bed. He looked around and out the window then turned back to the doorway. Serena saw the barmaid standing in the shadows on the landing. “This room is taken. Take your whore somewhere else!”

The deputy made his excuses and closed the door. Serena shut her eyes. That was too close. How had Ben known?

Ben and Blackie quietly left the alley, picking up the pace once the town was behind him and headed for the border. Whether Ben Wade was a changed man, he didn’t know. He had always had a strong sense of right and wrong and this felt right. He would do what he must to survive and to keep Serena with him.

Serena dressed, placed her hat on her head, took one last look at the bed, smiled, and left the room. She found Nellie in the alley and rode back to the ranch, arriving at daybreak.

William, coming back from the lean-to, met her on the porch. “Where’ve you been, Aunt Rena? Ma’s half out of her mind worrying about you.”

“I took Ben to the doctor and decided to stay in town for the night. Sorry to worry you, William."  She smiled and touched his shoulder.

“Where’s Ben?” William wanted to know.

“I expect he’s on his way to Mexico by now.” She removed her hat and walked into the house. She met Alice and told her about the doctor and how nice he and his wife were, leaving the impression she had spent the night there. She changed her clothes and went to help with breakfast.

Alice had no reason not to believe her and yet…something.  She wondered at her getting Ben Wade to a doctor in the first place, but then Serena had never been conventional, had always followed her own path.

Serena spent her days cooking and helping Alice come to terms with her situation. Alice was resigned and had a handle on her grief. She would be all right. Life had pretty much fallen into

a routine again. William and Mark worked the ranch and helped with the chores. By Sunday Serena had all her clothes cleaned and packed in her valise. It would have to ride with her on Nellie. Doubt never entered her mind, not after the time she'd spent with Ben in the hotel. She knew she had to be with him, knew it was the right thing for him and for her.

Serena told no one she was leaving. She was up before daylight Monday morning and met William as she came out of the doorway with her valise. “Aunt Rena, where are you going? You’re not leaving?”

“Yes, I am, William. Your Ma is going to be just fine. You seem to be doing a good job around here and there’s no reason for me to stay. I have a life of my own, you know.”

“But you didn’t tell Ma you’re leaving, Aunt Rena. Where are you going anyway? The stagecoach don’t come on Mondays.”

“William, I’m taking Nellie. I have a date in Mexico to keep.” She kissed his stunned cheek, walked out to the lean to, mounted and rode off toward the ridge.

William took off his hat and threw it on the porch. “I shoulda killed Ben Wade the first time I held a gun on him!” he called after her.

It was getting toward sunset when Serena crossed into Mexico. A lone rider moved out down the rocks and came toward her.

THE END

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