Safe In All Things II: The Fight for the Mountain by L. M. Steen.
The second novel in the romance series confirms Lillian has married the most dangerous lips ever given to manhood and they are in constant pursuit of hers! Her life of attracting disaster continues as the romance in their love story grows. She discovers the true story of his first marriage. Then during an attempt to kidnap her from their bedroom - to the embarrassment of her husband - Mrs. B discovers that there was another woman.
Here are some tidbits. If you wish to read more, email me and I'll send you the novel free.
“Take them off!”
“No! You have yours on,” Lil retorted, pointing at the handsome beige leathers emphasizing her new husband’s tall, muscular shape.
“I don’t look like that in mine. Take them off!”
“Yes, you do! You look like testosterone max with that leather stretched over your hunky body like that!”
“I do?” he asked, smoothing his jacket. Then raised an eyebrow. “You’re trying to change the subject.”
“What subject? You do look totally virile in those leathers.”
The silver flecks in her husband’s gray eyes twinkled at her as the smirk slowly appeared on his soft lips. “Mrs. B, you are doing it to me again.”
“What?”
“Flim-flam!”
“I am not!”
Both of his eyebrows went up, warning her. “You’re sure?”
Realizing that her thread of hope was diminishing, she refocused on rationalization. “Russell, these are for the Harley; that’s why we got it; that’s why I have the leathers. No one is going to notice a sixty-year-old woman wearing leathers anyway.”
“Hah! That hourglass of yours doesn’t look even close to sixty. Besides, you will be too hot anyway so wear your jeans instead.”
“No!”
Her stubborn chin ended up at the bottom of his stubborn neck in the motel room, her five-foot-five in a standoff with his six-foot-two. Unfortunately, Lil had forgotten one thing she was still learning to cope with since she had married a second time a week ago: Russell Thorn Barrington the Fifth.
“Ummm…I do love that feisty part of you, Mrs. Barrington…” came out of the lips just above her nose and far too close to her. Lil didn’t have a chance.
The dangerous, soft, cupid’s bow lips on her new husband landed not only perfectly but a little forcefully, fitting the mood he was in. His Van Gogh kiss painted its rough textures on her mouth, melting her in the leathers. Lillian Marie Cline Barrington was about to find out how sticky melted leather was.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Russell, you just made an enemy,” she pointed out after lunch in Bonners Ferry, Idaho.
“Well, he’s lucky I didn’t actually hit him. He’s better off in the bathroom anyway,” Russell grumbled, opening the café’s door for her. “No one touches my wife on her backside like that much less speaks to her that way.”
“I think he was trying in his limited way to pay me a compliment – albeit a little crudely,” Lil explained while heading to their motorcycle. “I do believe he meant that I have a good shape. After all, the leathers do sort of keep the saggy parts in place.” Except for the compliment from the young man to an older woman, the entire situation seemed rather silly to her because Russell’s tall, excellently muscled physique and angular Roman featured Gorgeous were literally stopping the female traffic in all ages. So why he was worried about her was a mystery.
“Those muscles of yours aren’t saggy and that young man knew it! You keep your jacket zipped,” Russell requested firmly.
“I can’t, Mr. B, remember? At least not the very top part because of my bust line. Batsy told me it’s supposed to fit like this but laughed while helping me with my fitting.”
“My son laughed a lot because he knew what was going to happen the minute I saw you in them!”
She sighed, knowing that Russell was right. Batsy seemed to be a little too delighted with his father’s constant amorous attacks on her and was continually laughing at both of them. In fact, taking great delight in finally having a whole family.
“Well, at least I had you to myself for a couple of days before he returned to the cabin,” Russell sighed, helping her onto the back of the bike. “If my son had tried to stay with us in Spokane, I would have bought the bed and breakfast and thrown him out.”
“Don’t remind me,” she said dryly. “After almost fainting in the bank yesterday when I saw how much money you really have, you’re lucky I didn’t cancel the marriage!”
“Too late,” he quipped as usual. “You are mine now for eternity.”
“Trickery,” she muttered.
“Yup!” was the satisfied, unrepentant reply. Russell donned his helmet, his voice coming through the speaker. “That son of mine tries to stay with us much longer, I won’t just take you to Alaska, I’ll move there!”
She chuckled. The whole point for purchasing the special edition Harley was Batsy’s notion to travel as a family before he returned to Brigham Young University and law school. Russell loved his son but, at the age of thirty-two, Batsy needed to have his own life. At least, that was the open excuse Russell gave Lil but she knew exactly why the man wanted his privacy: Her and his honeymoon!
Settled on the bike again, she made the effort to zip but the jacket was never going to zip up completely without strangling her. Russell mounted the Harley in front of her and she smoothed her hands over his shoulders and down his arms. “I don’t think you should worry too much about what I look like anyway. You look like a Greek god in these clothes.”
“Don’t you get something started, Mrs. B. But I’ll take that…” he replied into the helmet’s speaker. Russell pulled out onto Highway 95 in Bonners Ferry, heading north.
“You’ve owned one of these before, haven’t you,” she said into her speaker. “You’re quite familiar with the controls and knew exactly which model you wanted.”
Russell coughed several times before she heard, “Uh… Yes, but Harry has it now. I quit riding about eight years ago.”
“So, the reason Batsy suggested this is because the two of you have done this before?”
He sighed. “Yes, we have. Batsy and I have been on several long trips together. I have some very good memories of my son from those. I also have some memories of wanting to konk my son on the head!”
She chuckled again, feeling the same way about Russell! Since Russell refused to be separated from Lil, Batsy had brought them the three hours into Spokane, Washington, after Russell’s meeting as the Branch President of the Libby Branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Then Batsy had driven his father’s Hummer home to the cabin above Libby, Montana.
“Is Batsy meeting us at the turn in Libby?” she asked as they climbed the grade out of Bonners Ferry, heading for the Three Mile Corner turnoff.
“Yup, should see him in about an hour, max.”
They both leaned into the right turn at Three Mile Corner and headed East on US Hwy 2 toward Moyie Springs, Idaho. The motorcycle group caught up with them just as they pulled onto the high, long bridge over Moyie River.
“Mrs. B, you watch yourself,” came over the speaker.
“Yes, Mr. B.”
The motorcycles surrounded them, rumbling both the air and the bridge under them. Just as the bikes reached the east side of the high bridge, a truck coming from the opposite direction forced the group back into a double-file line. When the truck was past, the group filled both lanes of the highway again until they were in the wooded area.
They slowed down forcing Russell to slow down with them then across the double line into a wide spot on the opposite side of the road. In an attempt to provide as escape route, he drove right past two bikes then parked nearest the road, forcing the group to settle farther in.
Russell dismounted then took his helmet off while turning to face the group. Lil took hers off too, smiling with her usual aplomb at the nine scraggily male persons, and two female persons.
“That’s a dangerous game you’re playing,” Russell pointed out, his jaw firmly set as he handed Lil his helmet. “You fellows need something?”
“Just a little unfinished business,” a male voice hollered at them.
“If you get into a fight, I’ll have to order new leathers for you,” Lil reminded him. “And I don’t want you—”
“I know what I’m doing. You stay put no matter what, you understand?” He turned slightly her way, trying to emphasize his words with his narrowed silver-flecked gray eyes flashing at her.
“That is unabashed blackmail when you look that good,” she quipped. “But you might want to take it easy on these young men. After what I’ve seen you do already—”
Interrupting her, the young man from the café came at Russell. Russell’s left arm came up fending the young man’s blow off then his right fist shot straight out from his shoulder like a piston in an engine, slamming the young man in front of it in the jaw. The motion was so quick that Russell’s hand was back against his body before her brain registered what he done. The poor young man simply leaned back and fell to the ground on his butt then sank sideways.
A taller, more muscular man in jeans and a leather jacket stepped out of the group, his hands coming up in a boxing pose as he closed on Russell. Russell waited for the man to send a fist out toward him then fended it off. When the piston fist shot out from Russell’s right shoulder, the man clumsily dodged it and Russell’s fist landed on the man’s shoulder. The jolt of that sent the man backward, but Russell didn’t move to finish the job.
“I’m afraid I outclass you. Give it up,” he requested calmly.
The line of men laughed as the stranger came at Russell again. This time his piston fist went into a right hook, landing in the man’s gut with full intent. A grunt emanated from the man’s mouth then his body hit the graveled ground forcefully.
When two stepped forward, Lil decided to end the silly display of male testosterone. “Russell, this is going to take all afternoon and I’m hot,” she said quietly putting the helmets on the ground.
“Lil!” He yelped as she dodged his grab and ran around him, heading straight for the line of men while raising her voice.
“You!” Lil pointed at the men. “This is the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen! If you must persist in such behavior, go play with someone your own age – or at least your own size. This is my honeymoon and I’m not spending my whole day watching him deck each one of you or all of you together, so knock it off! He doesn’t like punching out people who are smaller than he is… And, if one of you touches his lips and ruins that awesome kissing of his… I’ll sock you myself!” she yelled, marching down the line of them like a drill sergeant.
“And, if by some slight chance that new bike of his should fall over and get scratched…” –she pointed at the nearest young man– “You, you will pay for it, mister!” She tossed her long silver hair around then swung toward the fifty-ish man. “And You,” she emphasized, putting her finger on his chest, “you are old enough to know better! Shame on you for setting such a bad example! Those two women,” –she wagged her other hand in the air generally at the area where the two females were standing– “they deserve better!”
Suddenly the arms on the man whipped out around Lil, pinning her arms to her body. He slammed her against his body so firmly she gasped.
“Drop her!” boomed into the air behind her.
The salt and pepper beard on the man parted into a smile while his dark eyes looked right into Lil’s. “I’ve got a Victory – the best motorcycle made. I’ll trade it for her.”
“How dare you!” her mouth declared vehemently. “I’m worth at least ten!”
“I said, drop her and I mean now!” Russell’s voice said closer to her.
“Nevermind, Russell. I can handle this one myself,” she warned her husband. As the smirk appeared on the man’s beard her right leg lifted slightly then she forcefully sent her boot downward with all the determination she had. The man howled and released her – backward into Russell’s arms. Going for a little dignity, wasn’t possible because Russell instantly threw her up onto his shoulder – her butt to the men!
“No! You can put your fists down,” she heard the man gasp. “I just wanted to congratulate you.” Adding to her embarrassment, the male voice chuckled.
Russell slowly put her down to the pavement and she turned around – red-faced.
“You seem to have your hands full as it is,” the bearded face explained, a finger pointing at Lil. “…with that one.” The long beard parted into lips again as the man smiled at her.
While she was forming a retort, Russell moved to the side of her with his arms folded across his chest, and looked down at her unsuccessfully trying to pinch the silly smirk off his lips. “You want I should pound him for you, Mrs. B?”
“No, Mr. B,” she replied looking the shorter, younger man up and down. “I believe that was a compliment of sorts. It was, wasn’t it?”
“Oh, yes, ma’am, it most definitely was,” was accompanied by a nod of the head sporting the beard.
“Well then, we are leaving,” she announced. She stuck her chin up and tossed her hair again as she turned for the Harley – totally disgusted with men! The most ridiculous creatures the Lord had created! Except for her Russell and, of course, Batsy. Maybe her brother Toby. Perhaps there were a few good ones…
Russell seemed a little perturbed while getting them back on the road, though. “Darnit, Mrs. B! You do something like that again and I’ll—”
“You’ll what?” she interrupted. Just a slow exasperated breath rasped into the speaker as she snuggled against his back. “You were doing a splendid job but I’m getting too hot in this leather. Of course, there is something to be said for sweat, too, but that impersonation of a boy-toy – don’t push your luck.”
“As you wish, but I thought it was pretty good.”
Oh yes, it was, Lil chuckled to herself. But, she wasn’t about to tell him that.
Segment #2:
The stars were partly blanketed by some clouds, and she and Russell were partly blanketed under a light quilt later on the lounger. The moon looked mysterious as the clouds moved slowly across it. She stared at it for a while, thinking. The three extra people had brought more to the cabin than anyone realized but she couldn’t pin it down in her brain.
So far, there hadn’t been any problems since she and Russell had met that couldn’t be talked out on the deck after bedtime. Talking in the dark seemed to clear everything else away, leaving the two of them and their voices like tuning into each other’s spirits on a private radio broadcast. So much of what they had learned about each other before she had even thought about marriage had happened out there in the dark.
Except, since the marriage, Russell had started practicing his artful kissing on the double lounger, too. Come to think of it, there wasn’t any place where he wasn’t practicing his art – except Church. The silence was finally broken by Russell’s gentle bass voice.
“I’m so sorry, Lil, but I’m not used to this. I’ve spent so many years working problems out in the weight room then praying about them. You know I’m not even used to the anger. With George, it’s easy – he’s a man. If all else fails, I punch him out, but—”
“Don’t you pretend you’d actually hit a defenseless man, Russell.”
“Where you are concerned, I would punch anybody in my way if he was threatening you. But, with Marjorie? I don’t know what is what. I feel like you’re under attack, but can’t figure out how or why. I did a terrible thing to you, didn’t I.”
“Yes, you did.”
“I’m supposed to lead, but I don’t know where.”
“You keep telling me that’s why there are two of us,” she reminded him.
“But—”
“Just pretend we are in Thorns Peak Wilderness, trying to find our way home.”
“Oh. That I can do.”
Quiet reigned again while she felt his mind thinking, his breathing changing occasionally as the moon slowly moved toward the darkened horizon of Thorns Peak. But, Lil had to break the silence because Russell needed to break his.
“Perhaps its time you really told me everything about Barbra,” she said softly. “I don’t know if I could handle anymore surprises like that one.”
“I’ll try, but I can’t explain what I didn’t understand even back then. I thought people married for love and life; I thought she would be wonderful and I would bring her here to the cabin. I thought… Well, I thought a lot of things. I told you she wanted more money and I wouldn’t ask Dad for it. I worked for Dad to earn that medical school money like Batsy worked for me before he got his inheritance,” he sighed uncomfortably, shifting his body.
“When she got pregnant, she was furious. She rattled on and on about what it was going to do to her figure, how tied down she would be. I was in school so much that I was terrified she would abort the baby without telling me. Mom and Dad figured out something was wrong and stepped in. I told Dad not to, but he practically bought her with gifts and baby things, making a big deal out of the pregnancy. Mom fussed over Barbra like she was the most important daughter-in-law in the world. I was so humiliated that I almost quit school, but Dad made me stay. They didn’t come back to the cabin until after Batsy was born and safe.”
“But you stayed, Mr. B.”
“Yeah, I did, even after I was replaced by another man. The divorce papers would have given me custody of Batsy and she wasn’t going to contest it. She didn’t really want him. But, when she found out about the cancer I stayed. Sometimes I don’t even remember that she was my son’s mother. I wiped it out. She never let me love her or wanted to come here. She never was a Mrs. B.”
“Then she missed all the best parts.”
“I did too until you came. Being loved like this… I don’t think I can explain it.”
Lil took his large, strong left hand and put it to her mouth, kissing it gently on the palm. His fingers caressed her lips then his hand closed around her mouth while she kissed it over and over again, the breathing behind her a little uneven for a while. She would never leave him alone again, never.
Of course, that didn’t mean he could attack her neck free or that she was going to let him throw her up over the shoulder free either, just that she would outlive him.
“Russell, is that the same skunk that went into our bedroom on our wedding night or are we sitting on a nest?”
Russell leaned over her a little to see the white stripe moving up the deck steps, the moon making the stripe almost translucent as the animal’s fur moved.
“Damn, Mrs. B! Life with you will never be boring!” he whispered forcefully.
“I certainly hope not, but we better go in.”
As they slipped through the glass door into the bedroom a few steps ahead of the skunk, Russell grabbed her from behind, chuckling, and probably heading for her neck with those lips of his, but she managed to wrench around while he was quietly closing the door.
With one hand behind her head and his other arm wrapped around her to the waist, his overwhelming strength made it impossible to get away when he went for her lips. The dark made it difficult for her to be secure anyway and he knew it.
His lips were slowly painting against her mouth, working up to his Van Gogh again when, suddenly, Russell released her and she started to fall backwards. He grabbed her and sat her on the bed then let go completely.
Confusion. That would be a good description of her state of mind. They were alone, in the dark, in their bedroom. The appropriate place for such kissing – for a change. So? her mind wondered.
“I’m so sorry, so sorry. I can’t believe it. Lil, I’m so sorry…” his whispered voice breathed unevenly somewhere in the dark.
Lil flipped the switch on Russell’s lamp and saw her husband’s back. “Sorry for what, Russell?” It quickly occurred to Lil that maybe she shouldn’t have asked the question. Maybe she didn’t want the answer.
“All the talk about Barbra...I...” He griped the edge of the tall dresser top with his strong hands then leaned his head on them and flexed just about every muscle he had, the power in him overwhelming her and permeating the room. Finally he almost hissed the words out. “I was thinking about her…what we used to do. It’s unforgivable. I’m sorry.”
Suddenly, the International Olympic Committee declared Lil’s intestines as the host of the slalom event in the upcoming Olympics. Her throat slammed her heart, taking it on a toboggan slide to her toes. She grabbed her stomach hoping to prevent mass damage. “Russell, it’s okay, I think,” she choked out. “She was a part of your life, younger and better.”
“No!!” Russell whirled to face her, his face a little red. “Please don’t think that. You don’t understand. I’m not comparing because there is no comparison between her spirit and yours.”
Quickly, he knelt on the floor in front of her, his face softening around the edges. “I just don’t understand how everything is so different with you. She never responded like you do – in anything.” He paused for a moment looking at her. “I’m sorry, Lil, I don’t know how to do this and probably shouldn’t have told you.”
Suddenly his eyes widened slightly as he gasped, “Lil! You…you aren’t faking it are you?”
Lil sat there looking into the widened, worried silver-flecked eyes of the almost most perfect man ever born, the slalom affect in her insides coming back up the other way. Some tears started stinging the backs of her eyes, but it was Russell’s that misted up.
“Oh, Lil, I’m so sorry. I just can’t figure out why I’ve been so blessed.” He took her hands and kissed them. “I’ve never had any of this before. We are so connected spiritually that you make me feel so powerful – as if I had power over the universe. You know how much I love you. I’m so sorry.”
Okay, that “loved her” part grabbed her. That “spiritually connected” part, too. Finally, she had enough control to speak. “That little voice that goes off in your head warning you when I’m in danger…ill…tired… Do you really believe I could fake something…?”
Nevermind, she just went for it. The Female Truck Attack as he called it had been done twice. Once when he was trying to steam her into accepting his proposal of marriage and she was trying to get away, and once the day before their wedding when she was attempting self-defense. She would probably regret her action, but it was necessary. She landed on him with her body, lips, arms, everything, and firmly attached her lips to his mouth.
His body fell backwards onto the floor, taking hers with it. The arms around her tightened into a death grip as they rolled sideways then she managed to roll back on top. She released her grip on his neck and pushed on him a little as she moved her mouth away from his, trying to say something to her partially wilted husband. However, an explosion came out of him as he gulped air.
“Mrs. B! You haven’t done that since the day before our wedding!” The doubt in his silver flecks was gone, replaced, unfortunately, by something completely different. And it was her fault.
“Mr. B! You wait,” she yelped. “This floor is hard!”
“I wasn’t allowed to respond last time because we weren’t married yet,” he replied, unconcerned. “But I can now – and you started it!”
His Van Gogh landed firmly on her mouth, painting in rough textures on her soul. As the varnish on the hardwood floor melted below her then the wood planks melted, she wondered where the nearest fire department was. One of these days he was going to set fire to the cabin. If he tried for her neck, the mountain would go, taking out the entire valley…
Nevermind, she had awakened his Picasso. The world was doomed.
Segment #3:
“Mrs. Barrington, we are finally alone. And I mean alone.” Russell pushed her backward, landing her on their own bed in the cabin Thursday afternoon. He came down on it right beside her. “I’m fine – you’re fine. My bossy son is gone and Wally with him. We are home. We’ve had lunch. It’s nap time.”
The glow in his silver flecks warned her that a nap wasn’t on the agenda. Yup. He stripped his tops off then came at her.
“How dare you tempt me like that!” she countered. “You’ve got another week to wait.”
“As a doctor, I’m declaring myself healed,” he whispered. “I think I’ll like the soft Reggie mentioned if I ever get any of it.”
Lil felt the pressure in him and realized that maybe she wouldn’t have any choice in the results. He would probably kiss her to death within an hour. His lips started dragging over her mouth in the late afternoon sun reflecting off the snow outside the glass door. Lil closed her eyes, enjoying the feel of him, having a little tension of her own.
Then she felt a different tension in him and opened her eyes. His lips were poised above hers, but frozen while they backed up slightly, his eyes concentrating on her pillow.
“Just someone on snowmobiles,” he said casually. “Now where was I…”
His mouth returned to claim hers. Her arms went up around his neck but she made a slight error. Somewhere in time, she was going to remember: do not run fingers through his hair! But that moment wasn’t now.
The minute her fingers tightened on his hair, he went into hyper-drive with his enthusiasm and tried to blend an hour of his art into twenty seconds. She yanked on his hair trying to reverse the affect and, miraculously, it worked!
However, he only moved enough to mouth, “Don’t move.”
Apparently, something else had worked – and it wasn’t friendly.
His lips moved away, his face turning toward the glass door. Then he almost imperceptively whispered, “We have sneaky boots outside. You slide off this bed and get to the bathroom. Lock the door. Now.”
“I will not!” she insisted quietly, “you come with me or I don’t go.”
“Please trust me and get the phone. Go to the bathroom,” he persisted.
She started to respond, but Russell’s right hand clamped down over her mouth as his head cocked to one side. Then he started sliding toward the bottom of the bed. His right hand pointed at her then the phone then the bathroom door. She started sliding off on her side of the bed by the bathroom door.
Even reduced in health, Russell moved with the grace of a dancer as he slid to the floor then moved on his hands and feet to the glass door leading to the deck. She reached for the phone then started for the bathroom. Once there, she wouldn’t go in without him.
He turned and pointed to the satellite phone. “Push,” his finger said. Her finger pushed the new silent alarm button on the phone pad then pushed [send]. He stood and headed for the bedroom door in his bare feet. Unfortunately, a rifle barrel met his bare stomach and he started backing up into the bedroom, his hands up in the air about shoulder height.
At the butt end of the rifle was a sandy-haired young man with a pair of very angry, dull blue eyes.
