"God I've missed that." Hope panted as she laid her head on her husband's chest. Their bodies glistened with perspiration from their love making.

"Not as much as I have, I promise. You haven't really been in the mood or able, but I have. Every time I see you I want to make love to you." Levi groaned as he felt his body begin to stir again at the thought of having his wife again.

"It's not that I wasn't in the mood, it just wasn't really possible towards the end of my pregnancy, or after I had Mason and Emma, until now. This is changing the subject slightly, but you know that was my favorite gown."

"I'm sorry Love. I – I didn't hurt you did I?" The thought of causing this woman pain was just too much. Gently he shifted so that he could wrap his arms around her.

"No, you didn't." Hope looked up into her husband's handsome face. A fine stubble covered his strong chin. "I promise." She reached over and laid her hand in the center of his chest, loving the feel of the steady thrum of his heart.

"Um, I do want to talk to you about something, though,"

Something in her tone made him pretty sure that he wasn't going to like what she had to say. "Okay. What do you want to talk about?" He asked, then leaned down kissing her forehead.

Taking a deep breath, Hope jumped in. "Tuck asked Claire to marry him this evening."

"I'm not surprised, I fully expected him to. I really didn't think it would take him this long. I think the boy has been in love with her since the first time he saw her pull up."

"Well, I asked if they had set a date, and she said that Tuck wanted to wait until he had his own house first. So, I told her that I was pretty sure that you wouldn't mind letting them stay here in her room down stairs until we could get a house built for them."

"Wait. Until we get their house built?"

"Um, well yes. I thought that you would want to build your foreman his own house. You do want to make sure he stays here, right?"

"Well."

Hope cut him off before he could say anything else. "I thought a simple house, just over the ridge would be perfect. You know, kind of like what Cole and Grace have for Kit and Sally. That way I would still have the company of a woman while all the men are out on the range."

She did have a point, he conceded. "I guess we could do that. It will take a month or two to get the house built. When did you say the wedding was?"

"Two weeks."

"Well then, I guess we had better start on the new house for the happy couple. I'll talk to Tuck in the morning. Okay, now I want to talk to you about something."

"All right. What did you want to talk about?" She asked as she drew little circles on his chest with her index finger.

Levi looked down at her exposed creamy white shoulder. Her ebony hair lay in silky waves behind her across her pillow. God she was so beautiful! "I want to talk to you about my sister."

"You've never really talked about your family, except that they live in Charleston. Do you have any other siblings?"

Levi sighed deeply. "Yes, there are six of us in all. There's Peter, me, Vincent, Donald, Faith and Maxine. Now, about Faith."

Hope's cheeks colored at the mention of his sister's name. "If you ever let me do something like that again, I'm going to kill you Levi Matthews. I mean it. How am I supposed to face your sister and her friend John in the morning?" Hope groaned with the thought.

"I'm sorry Love. I was just so surprised, and then so distracted." All of the sincerity in his voice was lost as he chuckled with the memory of the scene in the barn. "I don't want you to worry about what they think, it doesn't matter. You're my wife. And I'm also pretty sure they didn't hear or see anything. They were too far away and I was standing in front of you. All they really saw was you give me a hug."

"Are you sure?" The doubt was still evident in her voice.

"I'm positive." He felt her literally sag with relief, so he made a mental note to tell Faith to never let Hope know that she and John saw and heard everything. "Now, back to what I need to tell you. Faith ran into Philip on the train. He was riding in a passenger car, not his private rail car. While talking with her, he figured out who she was. They had to stop over in Flat Rock until the railroad let them know the tracks were safe after that big storm we had."

Levi looked down at his wife's beautiful face, even in the dim light of the half-moon he could see how pale she was at the mention of that man's name. It killed him to see her this frightened. "I won't go into all the details but, I will tell you that he kidnapped her. He didn't hurt her and John's mother saved her, and you know that John brought her safely here to us."

"Did Philip..." She couldn't even get the rest out. Just the thought made her sick to her stomach. "It's all my fault Levi, it's all my fault."

Levi tightened his arms around his wife. "This is not your fault dammit! He didn't defile her, and she got away unharmed." A sob caught in her throat. "It's okay, everything is going to be all right. I promise he didn't hurt her, and she's safe with us now.

"She must hate me. If it weren't for me, Philip would never have gotten her."

"She doesn't hate you, nor does she hold you responsible for someone else's actions." Levi leaned down and kissed her lips softly. "The whole point of telling you all of this, is to let you know that he's most likely coming to Red Valley. I don't want you outside by yourself until we catch the bastard."

Hope nodded and swallowed down the fear that nearly choked her. If Philip had gotten Faith, then he could potentially get her, or even Ellie. "I won't. I'm scared Levi. We have so much to lose. I should never have come here, I should have just married him to begin with. Then you, Ellie and Faith wouldn't be in danger."

Anger instantly filled his body at her words. "Don't you ever say that again! Do you hear me? You are the best thing that has ever happened to me and to Ellie. And what about Mason and Emma?"

"I'm sorry. You know I didn't mean it like that. I'm just so upset; and no matter what you say, it's all my fault. He's coming here for me."

Levi hadn't planned to make love to her again for a couple of days, he didn't want to hurt her. But he needed her, and more importantly, she needed to know how much he loved her and how much she meant to him. Gently, he rolled on top of her, propping himself up on his elbows, careful to keep his weight off of her. Leaning down, he began to shower Hope's face, then her body with warm soft kisses. Instantly, she forgot about everything else but her husband's mouth and hands. Levi made love to his wife slowly as he worshiped her body, showing her just how much she meant to him.

His tenderness was not lost on her. Hope understood what he was doing, and loved him even more for showing her. The only thing she knew about love came from Levi, but as a woman she knew that the way he was making love to her was something rare and special. Those were her last thoughts before her body was consumed with a fire that only her husband could ignite. He brought her to release several times before finally allowing himself his own.

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Persistent pounding woke Philip from a sound sleep. "Philip Huntington! This is Sheriff Henson, open the door."

He threw back the covers and pulled on his clothes, then walked over and snatched opened the door. "What do you want? He snapped before letting his eyes wander to the woman standing behind the sheriff. He quickly schooled his features before either of them could see his shock.

"You're under arrest for kidnapping Faith Matthews, and holding her against her will. Now, are you going to go with me quietly or do I need to hand cuff and drag you to the jail?"

A few minutes later, Philip was standing in a jail cell listening to the woman from the first hotel he'd stayed at. She was going on and on about Faith Matthews and what he'd done to her. When she was finished, she looked at him with a little smirk and a raised eyebrow. She was taunting him.

"Why would I kidnap someone I don't even know?" He was furious, no he was beyond furious. How dare they lock him up like a common criminal? It took everything he had in him to not scream and try to get his hands on that bitch. When he got out of here, he'd get even, that was a promise. She didn't have a clue as to who he was.

Mildred and the sheriff turned around and walked across the room to the front part of the building. He could see them easily enough, they were only about twenty feet away, but he couldn't hear what they were saying. Philip paced the small confines of his jail cell like a caged animal, plotting the demise of the woman who dared to have him arrested.

"Mildred, you know I can't hold him forever. Not without the girl pressing charges." Sheriff Henson told his old friend.

I know, Tom. How long do you think you can hold him?"

"Well, since you saw the girl in the situation, and you are such an upstanding citizen of Flat Rock, I'd say a week. Give or take a day or two. Will that be enough time?"

"Yes, that should give them plenty of time to get there. Can you wire the sheriff of Red Valley and let him know that this scum will most likely be heading his way?"

"I'll take care of it."

"Thank you Tom. I owe you one." Mildred winked, then left to go back to the hotel.

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"How's this?" Hope asked Claire and Faith. The three women got along very well. They actually had a lot in common, and to Hope's surprise, Levi had been right. It hadn't been difficult to face John and Faith the next morning. Knowing that they didn't really see or hear anything made all the difference in the world. And Faith really didn't hold Hope responsible for what had happened to her.

"Oh, Hope! It's beautiful! I can't believe that I'm actually getting married." Claire sighed dreamily. She'd been walking on air for the past week and a half.

"Not only are you getting married, but it's only three days away. And we still have a ton of things to do and you are no help at all." Hope said teasingly.

"Thank you so much for letting us get married here, I just don't know what we would do without you and Levi. You've done so much for me, I will never be able to repay you." Claire sniffed, trying hard not to cry again. She'd been doing a lot of that since Tuck had asked her to marry him.

"Enough of that. Here, I need for you to try your dress on so that I can make any final adjustments it might need."

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Smoke filled her lungs causing her to cough uncontrollably. Her eyes and chest burned as she threw back the covers and tried to make her way to an exit. It took her a few minutes to realize that there was a fire. Not being able to see in all the smoke, she tripped over something and fell to the floor on her hands and knees. The air was a little bit better on the floor but not much. Thick plumes of dark smoke filled the room. Desperately, she tried to bring fresh air into her lungs, but coughs continued to wrack her body every time she tried to inhale.

She was terrified! Dying in a fire was one of her biggest fears, but she could not see to find her way out. Slowly she began to crawl along the floor, feeling her way. Angry orange flames began to lick one of the walls and part of the ceiling. She could hear the crackling fire and the wood falling as the fire greedily consumed the structure. Somewhere in the distance she could hear her name being called or was she just imagining it.

She tried to call out in response but the only thing she could do was cough. She was lying flat on the floor now, praying for a swift death before the fire reached her. Just as her eyes closed, she felt a pair of strong hands grab her. She tried to hold on to them as they scooped her up and carried her over to what must have been the window, but everything was going black. She felt herself being cradled in someone's arms as they rocked back and forth begging her not to leave them.

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