High Plains Holiday (Love On The High Plains Book 1) - Simone Beaudelaire

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Steamy Western Romance Novel Set In Kansas

High Plains Holiday (Love On The High Plains Book 1) by Simone Beaudelaire

Book Excerpt

On Monday, the weather warmed even further. It felt like spring instead of December. As Cody shaved at the sink, the events of the last two days washed over him. He set the razor down, not sure his hands were steady enough to perform the delicate task safely. I don't want to slit my own throat less than two weeks before my wedding.

Wedding. In a handful of days, he would be a married man.

Cody swallowed hard. He'd been waiting a long time for this. Now that it was almost upon him, he didn't quite know what to think. He wasn't a eunuch. The desire for intimacy with a woman had been just as strong for him as for anyone, but he hated hypocrisy. There was no way he could, with a clear conscience, promote celibacy and not practice it.

Cody had felt the call to the ministry at the age of ten. He didn't want a secret past to mar his work, so with many prayers, he'd endured the constant burning arousal of adolescence and the intense desire of a previous, failed courtship. Though it had floundered after a couple of months, while that relationship had lasted, Cody had feared he might lose his mind from the unrequited lust.

But he'd endured. Now he faced a different… problem was the wrong word. Situation. Though looking forward to his marriage with Kristina, he had no idea how to handle the physical side of it. There would be one. He'd told her it was not a marriage of convenience, and he had every intention of making it true. Holding her close in his arms on the night of the blizzard had made it abundantly clear to him he would need relief before long, and he would finally be allowed to have it. Well, in ways other than the one his body had taken unbidden in the night.

His mind flashed to a hazy image of Kristina, spread out on the bed wearing only a gold band on her ring finger, and suddenly that spontaneous release no longer sufficed. There had been a reason—entirely apart from gossip and scandal—why he had wanted this marriage and wanted it so quickly.

Ignoring the ache of arousal, Cody dressed quickly. Though Monday was his off from church work, he had a great many things to do.

He decided he would not need his heavy coat. The light one more than sufficed. He added a hat but left off gloves. Then he strode down the street to the commercial part of town.

This was the only street in town that was paved, not simple, hard-packed earth, but in red bricks that matched the buildings.

The towering Occidental Hotel dominated the skyline. Next to it the bank only comprised a single story. Other buildings, made of the same materials but varying in size, lined both sides of the wide brick street. Some sported green and white striped awnings, others had windows lined with white frames. A few had empty window boxes.

Cody made a beeline for an office located in the vestibule of the bank. The glass-fronted cubicle housed a single desk in scarred mahogany, on which rested a black and chrome machine. Nearby, a man with a green visor denting his copious pomade scribbled with a stub of a pencil on a sheet of paper.

Cody entered the bank and made the sharp turn into the telegraph office.

The operator, a young man he had not yet met, finished recording the incoming message and looked up. “Hiya, Reverend,” he said in a nasal twang as he stuck his pencil behind his ear.

“Hello,” Cody replied. He almost asked the young man how he knew him, as he hadn't seen him at church. But in a town this size, new arrivals would certainly be noted by all. “I'd like to send a message, please.”

The young man pulled out his pencil again. Then he cursed as the machine began clicking, indicating another incoming message.

Holding up a hand to Cody, the operator recorded the new message and sent back the acknowledgment.

“Okay, Reverend, better be quick. It's busy as all get-out today.”

Cody grinned. Then he relayed his message, enjoying watching the clerk's eyes bug out at the unexpected information.

“Now you're sure,” Cody teased, “this information will be kept confidential? I don't want to have my personal business gossiped about.”

The young man went red. Cody could see his guilt for what he would not be able to stop himself from doing.

“I would like the same message sent to Dr. Abraham Thomas at Alexander College in Jacksonville, Texas,” he added.

“Yes, sir,” the clerk replied. “Right away, Reverend.”

Cody paid for the two messages and headed back out into the street. The morning sun hung high overhead. Less than two days after the snowstorm, the piles had been reduced to slushy puddles gathering in the low spots on lawns. A hint of green showed among the brown threads of the grass.

The lovely weather made him want to stay outside, so he walked to the edge of town and cast his eyes across the prairie. The shoulder-high grasses waved in the Kansas wind. One type had tufts of gold as large as a child's palm adorning each stalk. Another modeled light and dark green stripes along the entire length of the blades. Still another towered above the others in thick emerald clumps, the color undimmed by the shortening days.

Among them all, wild sunflowers, their golden petals returned to earth, bowed heavy, brown faces to the ground. He imagined the height of summer, those yellow sunbursts following their namesake from horizon to horizon. Lord willing, next summer I'll be here to see it, with my wife on my arm.

My wife. She fits in here, with her golden-red hair like a prairie flower. He would hold her and cover her with indiscreet kisses while the summer sun slipped over the horizon, and then take her back home…

Cody sighed. I did it again. How interesting that once the desire for a woman took hold, it consumed every waking moment.

Movement drew his eye. Turning, he saw the object of his consideration standing a few feet away, also staring out across the prairie. Today she wore a turquoise suit that showed off to perfection her curvaceous figure.

She didn't seem to notice him. He wanted her to, so he approached her silently from behind, slipping his arms around her waist.

She must have been aware of his presence because she showed no surprise at his touch. Instead, she leaned her head back against his shoulder. He touched his lips to a patch of little speckles adorning her temple. Then he leaned his chin on her shoulder and looked out to the horizon.

“It feels like the ocean,” he commented.

“What do you mean?” she asked softly.

He kissed her temple again. “The prairie. It stretches as far as the eye can see, clear out to the horizon. I always loved to pray beside the ocean. It reminded me how much bigger than me God is if His creation makes me feel so insignificant. And it moves. Always moving.”

“So maybe Kansas isn't so different from Galveston after all?”

What's that note of worry in her voice? “I'm not changing my mind, Kristina. I still want to marry you.”

“Oh, I know,” she replied. “I just worry that eventually Kansas will be too different from Texas, and you'll miss your family and want to leave.”

“Well,” Cody said slowly, his eyes still on the horizon, enjoying the smooth softness of Kristina's cheek against his, “I would like to visit now and again. I hope you will be willing.”

“Of course.”

“But I'm an adult now. I don't want to run back to my parents. I've decided Kansas is my home. So long as the Lord keeps me here, I'm content to stay. It's a small town, but there's so much to be done. I feel like I can make a difference in this place.”

He felt her skin move and knew it was a smile. A chilly breeze drove her deeper into the cradle of his arms. He held her tenderly.

“Is it wrong that I want to stay here to be close to my dad?” she asked.

“I don't think so,” he replied. “My parents have each other, and my older sister and her husband and children live in Austin. They're not alone like your father would be if you left.”

She nodded. “That's how I feel too.”

“Good,” he told her. “We agree. Now then, Kristina, I feel like being indiscreet. Turn around, darlin', and let me kiss you for a while.”

She faced him almost before he could finish speaking, slipping her arms around his neck.

“Why, Miss Heitschmidt, do you want to be kissed?” Cody feigned shock.

“Why yes, Reverend Williams. Yes, I do. You must think me a terrible hussy.” Her blush told him her teasing tone concealed a real concern.

“A hussy, Miss Heitschmidt?” He maintained the jest but addressed her concern nonetheless. “Of course, you're not a hussy. You're soon to be married. I think you're entitled to desire a few kisses from your future husband.”

He lowered his head, giving her his mouth.

It's a mistake, Cody realized quickly, to kiss her so much. The longing had passed beyond painful to excruciating, but it didn't matter. Cody kissed Kristina while his body burned and throbbed. He kissed her and felt her lips grow soft and submissive under his. He kissed her and ground his aching sex against her belly.

At last, she pulled back. The sight of her love-pinkened lips nearly destroyed him. I never understood how passion could take people over and make them forget decency and life-long standards of right and wrong.

He'd seen it over and over, from King David to members of his former congregation. Now he knew. Eleven days to my wedding. Days, not months, and the temptation to have her is quickly spiraling out of control.

“Cody, what's happening?” Kristina asked, sounding shaken, her voice unsteady and weak.

“I want you, darlin',” he told her bluntly. “That's why I didn't want to wait for a spring wedding. I'd never make it, and I refuse to be a hypocrite. I'm so very glad you're agreeable.”

“Oh yes. Of course,” she insisted. “I want to be with you, Cody. I do. I'm just not sure why you want to be with me.”

“I like you. You're a good woman.” He hugged her tighter. “You have a kind heart and a generous spirit. And it turns out I like freckles.” He touched his lips to the end of her nose.

She grinned. He planted another smooch on her smiling mouth.

“We should go back,” she told him. “We didn't behave ourselves all night in a howling blizzard only to give in now when we're going to be married in less than two weeks.”

“I know. You're right.” But he couldn't resist stealing one more sweet embrace before wrapping her arm around his and walking her back to town, the very image of propriety, except for the deep wrinkles crushed into the vibrant velour of her suit, her kiss-stung mouth, and his disheveled hair. He'd lost his hat somewhere and never realized it.

What they looked like was a courting couple who'd been stealing kisses. This upset a few people, but most found it reassuring. Their new pastor was no saint, just a young man, like any other young man, who happened to do his job really well. Nearly everyone felt genuinely happy for Kristina.

Cody walked his bride-to-be right back to the church so she could practice. Then he wandered over to Lydia's for an early lunch. In his contemplations, he'd completely forgotten breakfast.

“Very nice western with a bit more spice than is usual in a western romance... Loved the characters”

— Amazon Review

“Simone Beaudelaire’s writing is captivating... Cannot wait to read the rest of the series”

— Amazon Review

“Beautifully written, tender romance... I was so absorbed that I read it within a few hours”

— Amazon Review

Book Details

AUTHOR NAME: Simone Beaudelaire

BOOK TITLE: High Plains Holiday (Love On The High Plains Book 1)

GENRE: Romance

SUBGENRE: Western Romance / Steamy Historical Romance

PAGE COUNT: 188

IN THE BLOG: New Western Romance Novels, Free Western Books