Page 61 of Wellspring
CADE TORE his gaze from Erick’s beloved face to take in the joyful expressions on the faces of his family—both his families: the Comanche one who had saved his life when he was orphaned, and the one at Wellspring who had been his salvation as he learned to live again in the white man’s world.
He had imagined once or twice finding a way to bring the two families together, but he’d always dismissed it as a pipe dream, not something he could actually have.
Like everything else since meeting Erick, it hadn’t been as far out of reach as he’d feared.
And yet, as happy as it made him to see Chel, the sister of his heart, wrap a supportive arm around Tatsinuupi, his sister-in-law, as she guided her and Nocona toward the field where they could set up their camp, as much joy as Olav’s calls for a celebration and Javier’s promise of a feast brought him, he needed Erick most of all. “Let’s get the horses settled.”
Erick smiled. “Trust me?”
“Always.”
“Alice?” Erick called. A woman Cade didn’t know separated from the crowd.
“Cade, this is Alice Smith. Payne hired her a few days ago to help with the horses. If it won’t break any taboos, we can leave them with her and I can show you the cabin where I hope we will spend our lives together.”
Cade probably should have insisted he and Erick secure his gift themselves, but somehow in the weeks he’d been gone, Erick had managed to find, build, conjure out of thin air a cabin for them.
A place of their own where they wouldn’t have to worry about who was around or whether they’d be interrupted.
“Nice to meet you, Alice. Watch out for the sorrel mare. She bites. Show me this cabin, Erick.”
Erick threaded his fingers between Cade’s as he led him along a path between the main house and Javier’s kitchen.
“When Payne had the trees from the creek milled to repair the damage the JR attack did to the barn, there was wood left over. Grace and Payne asked if the hands would be willing to use it to erect another cabin.” Erick’s voice was tinged with pride and a hint of wonder.
“Everyone offered to help, even if Payne grumbled about taking time away from getting the herd ready. Anyone who wasn’t actively working with the cattle pitched in when they could. ”
The building Erick stopped in front of was a simple affair, similar in size to the foreman’s cabin Payne had given to Kit and Mac.
A shingled roof stretched over a porch that ran along the front, and several steps led up to the slatted door.
Cade stared at it in wonder at how much had been accomplished in such a short time as Erick continued.
“Payne said the space below the floor will allow a breeze to blow through to cool it during the summer, and also help keep it dry in case of flash floods.”
Erick opened the door into a single spacious room.
“Olav appointed himself as construction foreman—he helped build his parents’ house in Sweden.
” Cade turned slowly, gratitude welling within him as the magnitude of what Erick had arranged dawned on him.
Cade had mentioned in passing as they lay in Erick’s sickbed that he wasn’t sure if they’d ever have a cabin of their own, and without even knowing where Cade had gone or why, Erick had made that dream a reality.
“Kit laid the stones for the fireplace,” Erick continued.
The hearth already had logs ready for a fire, and a metal tripod holding a pot hung over it.
“Javier contributed the pot so we could make coffee whenever we wish. Matt built the table and chairs, and Jesse installed the sink and pump for water.” The other side of the room was filled with a large bed, complete with carved wooden headboard, side tables, and armoire.
“Grace insisted on gifting us the bedroom furniture. She said it was only right, since sending you to Galveston to pick up its replacement is what led to our meeting.” He squeezed Cade’s hand and dropped a kiss on his lips.
“For which I am forever grateful.” Cade drew his head down for a longer kiss, fully intending to spread Erick out across the bed at the earliest opportunity.
“Michele commissioned the bedspread from the quilters at Reverend Smithson‘s church.”
Cade chuckled. “That must have been an interesting conversation.”
“Lizzie contributed the rug and curtains, but best of all is this.” He swept aside the curtain from a window at the back of the house. “Ned has built us our own private shower. He said it would keep us from scandalizing the other hands in the communal shower.”
Cade took in the cabin, the shower, the contributions large and small from his friends and the town, and knew he was the richest man in the world.
“A Comanche couple has two things they share: their horses and their home. I grew up in a tipi with Nocona and Pahayoko and our parents. When I left the tribe, I mostly slept rough with just a bedroll, other than a few months I spent with a different outfit before I came to Wellspring, where I moved into the bunkhouse. I’ve never had a home of my own.
I never really believed I would. And then I met you and things that had seemed impossible suddenly became possible.
And now you’ve gone and given me a home. ”
He swallowed down the emotions threatening to choke him and pulled Erick into his arms. Their bodies fit together like they had been carved from the same stone, separated into two pieces but only complete when slotted back as one.
“Nocona asked me if I was sure when I told him about you, about how you’d left your life in Europe to come here.
He wasn’t sure if someone from such a different life could be happy with a simple cowboy, much less one who had grown up among the Comanche, but I told him you weren’t like that.
That you didn’t need a big house or fancy clothes, that you would understand and accept my gift the way any Comanche would, even if I had to explain it to you first. That we would figure out a place to live and a way to be together even if the white man’s world doesn’t accept our love. ”
“ Mein Lieber ,” Erick murmured against Cade’s neck.
“ Kamak?na .” Cade brushed his lips over the top of Erick’s head as he spoke. “Wanna try out our new shower? I’ve been riding hard and living rough for the past few weeks. I’m dusty and sweaty and I’m sure I stink.”
Erick raised his head, a wicked glitter in his eyes. “We would only need to shower again after, if we do not wish everyone at dinner to know what we have been doing.”
“I think they’d guess anyway—” Cade gasped as Erick nestled his head against his neck again, nipping down hard. “We did just get married, even if no one but my Comanche family recognizes it.”
“And Burke,” Erick said dryly. “More importantly, I recognize it. I never dared to dream of even a lover to call my own. To have this life with you now is a gift beyond price.” Erick soothed the bite with his tongue before moving lower, parting the thong that held the beaded tunic closed.
“You do not know how many times I have imagined you like this….”
Cade arched so he straddled Erick’s thigh and ground down against it. “Hard and desperate for you?”
Erick shifted enough for Cade to feel his answering hardness. “Even more magnificent than I imagined.” He slid his hands under the buckskin, making Cade shiver. “Michele described you confronting Sanders and Lutz, and all I could see was you dressed like this, claiming your heritage.”
“Not exactly like this,” Cade admitted. “I wasn’t wearing these clothes that day.
My mother gave these to me when I became an adult in the eyes of the tribe.
I’ve worn them three times since then—when we laid my mother to rest, when I stood witness as Nocona gave his betrothal gift to Tatsinuupi, and today, when I brought home the horses for you.
Sanders and Lutz didn’t deserve the honor, but marrying you? I couldn’t have done it any other way.”
“I would have you in any clothes, or none at all.” He unfastened the tie from around Cade’s waist, setting the tail aside reverently before drawing the tunic over his head. “The wolf for which you are named?”
“Yes, a gray wolf,” Cade replied as he started on the buttons of Erick’s shirt. “I found the pelt less than an hour before I found Nocona and his band. I claimed the tail as a sign that my totem approved of my quest.”
Erick shrugged out of his shirt and knelt to nip and lick at Cade’s chest. His nipples tightened, drawing Erick’s attentions until they were hard and glistening.
Cade shivered, though the cabin was warm and Erick’s breath was hot against his damp skin.
He nuzzled lower, following the trail of hair that arrowed down beneath Cade’s leggings.
Cade tore at the leather tie holding up his leggings and pushed them off, grateful for the soft moccasins that slipped off his feet easily.
He grabbed Erick and pulled him back up to standing so he could strip him the rest of the way as well.
He ran one finger down the line of the scar on Erick’s chest. “No more pain?”
Erick shook his head.
“Then tell me what you want. Anything you want. Let me make your dreams come true.”
“I want you.” Erick wrapped a hand around Cade’s cock, smearing the droplet of fluid over the head. “In me, around me, over me, until all I smell, all I taste, all I feel, all I am is you.”