by Ana Leigh
“You’re making me sound like a pretty good guy, lady.”
“You have some serious negatives, Jed. You’re self-righteous, your cockiness is maddening, and you can be horribly nasty when you choose to be. That was evident when I had to bear the wrath of your anger about Andy.
“But tonight I discovered a new quality. And I like it. You’re sentimental. I saw your heartache when you thought of your home. It touched me, because it showed to me a vulnerability I never suspected you possessed.”
“So if I’m such a nice guy, how come we’re always scrapping?”
“I think because from the beginning we’ve been attracted to each other—and it scares the daylights out of both of us.”
Jed chuckled. “I think you’re right, Miss Caroline.
“Be careful,” he warned, when she started to get down. He reached to lift her down, but she started to slide and fell into his arms. Her cry of alarm faded into an indrawn breath, and for the course of several heartbeats their gazes locked in surprise.
Her treacherous body filled with anticipation as a sensuous intensity surged between them. Lowering his head, he took possession of her mouth. Restraint was washed away in the tide of passion that swept through her, bombarding her senses with a spiraling excitement that kept escalating and escalating until she thought she would explode.
The heated probe of his tongue sent a ripple down her spine. She drew a much-needed breath when he slid his mouth to her neck and trailed kisses along it, then reclaimed her lips as he lowered her feet to the ground.
Her trembling legs threatened to collapse as the slide of his hand became an erotic seduction that burned away any resistance as he shoved the robe off her shoulders. For the briefest of seconds the sudden chill of the night air dueled with the heat ravaging her internally.
Then he reclaimed her lips, silencing any possible protest as he lowered her to the ground. She had never known such a consuming feeling of ecstasy; it obliterated anything but the need for fulfillment.
Her only experience with sex had been with Andy—two young people discovering their first rise of passion. Now she felt the desire and fantasies of a woman. Her deepest thoughts had fixated on this moment from the first time she had looked into the eyes of Jed Fraser.
Her cotton nightgown became a weak barrier against the heat of his body, his hands, and his mouth.
“Please, Jed,” she moaned. “Please.” Mercifully her plea needed no explanation, and he continued the exquisite assault.
He pulled the gown over her head and tossed it aside; when he disrobed, she had a blurred impression of bronzed muscle.
Awareness throbbed from every place their naked bodies touched. The brush of his bristled chin, his moistened mouth on the swollen tips of her breasts, the heat of his hands—caressing, stroking—became an erotic torture. She moaned in rapture as they sensitized her body, her heated blood surging to the throbbing core of her being.
Then, swollen with his own need, he entered her. The feel of his hot, pulsating organ within her drove her to fulfillment, and together, their bodies erupted with climactic release.
It took Caroline a long time to restore her breathing to normal. And with that came the realization.
She sat up. “Oh, my God! What did we just do?”
“It’s called making love,” Jed said.
“I’m not in love with you!” She grabbed her nightgown and got to her feet, then picked up her robe.
“You seemed to enjoy it, whatever you choose to call it,” Jed said as he pulled on his jeans.
“It’s exactly what I didn’t want to happen. I thought I could trust you. I asked you to give me time to think about it.”
Unabashed, he grinned. “I did. The trouble is, I got to thinking about it, too.”
“Very amusing. You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”
“I had the impression you did, too. Let me think, how long ago did you throw out that challenge? One day, or was it two whole days ago?”
She started to walk away, but he grabbed her arm and pulled her back. “Caroline, I didn’t make love to you in the hope of winning any silly challenge; that was the farthest thing from my mind. I reacted to the moment, the same as you did. If I succeeded in anything, it was getting you to climb down from that pedestal you’ve put yourself on. You’re not some paradigm of virtue, Caroline, you’re a woman—a flesh-and-blood woman. And you just proved it to yourself and to me. That’s why you’re angry.”
“Of course I’m angry with myself. Despite your accusation, I’m not that stone statue on a pedestal. I am human; I am flesh and blood. I’ve fantasized about our being intimate from the time we’ve met, and I believed I had the strength to fight that desire. That’s why I’m angry—I’ve betrayed myself. But I won’t let it happen again.”
“Honey, our making love was inevitable. And it will happen again. You’ve admitted our desire for each other; I’ve wanted you from the time I saw you sitting in that restaurant with that pert little nose of yours stuck up in the air. So why should we fight what we both feel?”
“Because I don’t want to fall in love with you, Jed, and I know that will happen if we continue to be intimate! We could even end up having a child. And that would be a more irrevocable bond between us than the marriage of convenience we’ve planned.”
“Do you think you’re the only one with feelings? Surely you must realize that the same would happen to me. This is a two-sided sword we’re holding, Caroline. Is the possibility of us falling in love, having a child, that repugnant to you?”
“You’re married to the sea, Jed. I’ve vowed I’d never end up like my mother, waiting to see the man she loved once or twice a year. I will not let it happen to me.”
“In a few hours it’ll be dawn. You’ve got twelve hours to make up your mind,” he said.
She yanked out of his grasp and strode away. Upon returning to the house, she closed her bedroom door harder than she intended.
Clay awoke and sat up in bed.
“What was that?” Becky asked beside him.
“Sounded like the door slamming in the next room. Probably a lovers’ quarrel.”
“You mean between Jed and Caroline?”
“Who else?”
“Why would they be up at this hour?”
“Why do you think?” Clay asked.
Becky considered the comment for a moment, then shook her head. “But you told me Jed said they weren’t in love.”
“That’s what he said. But I took a longer look at them at that barbecue. They only think they’re not attracted to each other.”
Becky giggled. “And you think they might just have been practicing the honeymoon before the wedding?”
“Listen,” he whispered when he heard the front door open and then the door to Jed’s room closing. He lay back. “Reminds me of the old days in Virginia, when a couple of us would sneak out of the house at night for a tryst with the—”
“Forsyth twins. ” Becky groaned. “Those two gals must have been quite a pair.”
“Speaking of twins, ours are asleep right now, and so is Jake, or he would have crawled into bed with us by now.” He rolled over on her. “Seems to me we’re wasting a damn good opportunity.”
Becky smiled and slipped her arms around his neck. “You’re the one who’s wasting it, Clay Fraser. I’m wondering if you’ll ever stop talking.”
When Caroline awoke, Garrett was already up. She dressed and then, hearing voices from the kitchen, went out to see what was going on.
Becky was putting the finishing touches on the wedding cake, and Cassie was sitting on a kitchen chair, holding her infant son on her lap.
“Hail, the bride cometh,” Cassie greeted. “This is your wedding day, girl. I thought you’d be up at the crack of dawn.”
“I practically was. I had trouble sleeping and didn’t fall asleep until then.”
“I know what you mean; I had the same problem,” Becky agreed, stifling a smile.
�
�Where is everyone?”
“I can account for the whereabouts of Jake and the twins,” Becky said. “They’re in their bedroom.”
“And Sam’s asleep on the couch,” Cassie said.
“Garrett must have gotten up when Jed did.”
“Yes, they ate breakfast with Clay and me.”
“Have you talked to Rory? I was wondering how she’s feeling today.”
“Lissy’s with her now. Don’t worry, honey. She’ll hold out until the wedding’s over. She told me she’ll push that baby back in if she has to; she does not intend to miss this wedding.”
“What would you like for breakfast, Caroline?” Becky asked. “This is your day, so you can pick what you want.”
“A cup of coffee and a piece of toasted bread will do just fine. I’ll get that myself; you’ve been busy enough this morning.”
“I’ve been dying for the opportunity to attempt to make a wedding cake. Finally, I have the chance.”
“Anything you make is successful, Becky. I’m the one who attempts to cook.” Cassie arched a brow and grinned kittenishly. “Of course I have other talents. But I keep them between Colt and me.”
“Not to interrupt your reverie, my dear, but I’m changing the subject. I hope Rico makes it here on time for the wedding,” Becky said. “Rory will be disappointed if he doesn’t.”
“Are they that close?” Caroline asked. “I thought he was a Fraser cousin.”
“He is, but Rico saved her life a couple of times, so she’s very partial toward him.”
“It’s not hard to favor him,” Becky said. “He’s a real sweetheart.”
“And almost as handsome as Colt,” Cassie interjected.
“Who’s almost as handsome as Clay,” Becky added with a delightful giggle.
“And I can’t believe any of them is as handsome as that cake, Becky,” said Caroline. “It’s beautiful. I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to repay all of you for making this such a special day for Jed and me…and Garrett. Speaking of him, I better go see what he’s up to.”
The clearing was deserted, so she went to the wine building and found Jed and Clay.
“Jed, where’s Garrett?” she asked, after the morning greetings and Clay’s reference to the big day.
“I thought he went back inside. He wanted to wake you, but I told him you needed your sleep.”
“I’ll check with my father; he may have gone there.”
“I’ll go with you,” Jed said.
They hadn’t taken more than a few steps when they saw Nathan coming down the road.
“Sir, have you seen Garrett?” Jed shouted.
“Not this morning,” Nathan yelled back.
“What about you, Garth?” Jed asked, when Garth rode up and dismounted.
“No, I haven’t seen him. He’s not in the grape fields; I was just there. Did you try the barn?”
“We were about to.”
Colt was mucking out the horse stalls when they entered and asked him.
“I saw him walking away about fifteen minutes ago. The two dogs were with him.”
Caroline began to feel the tightening in her chest she always experienced whenever she worried about Garrett’s safety.
“Which direction was he going, Colt?” Jed asked.
“East, toward the river.”
“The river? How good a swimmer is he, Caroline?” Garth asked.
“He can’t swim at all!” She hadn’t missed the worried glances between Colt and Garth.
At that moment, Garth’s dog Saddle came barking and racing up to him. Then the dog turned around and started to run back in the direction he’d just come from.
“Something’s wrong.” Garth jumped onto his horse and rode off, pursuing the dog.
Colt shouted to Clay, then ran into the barn. He put a bit and reins on a horse, then jumped on the animal’s bare back. He goaded the animal to a gallop and they leaped a nearby fence in pursuit of Garth.
Jed mounted the horse he’d swiftly saddled, and Clay tossed him a rifle. “Here, you might need this.” He shoved it into the rifle sling attached to the saddle. An ex-cavalry man himself, Clay had his own horse saddled before Jed was out of the barn, and they followed the dust of the other two riders.
Cassie and Becky hurried outside, and Rory joined them. “What’s going on?” Becky asked.
Caroline spoke in stuttering gasps. “Garrett’s missing…Garth’s dog came back. The men all rode off.”
“Which direction did they go?”
“Toward the river. Garrett can’t swim.”
The two women exchanged alarmed glances. “The river has a swift and treacherous current. Even the men don’t swim in it,” Cassie said.
“Oh, dear God!” Caroline cried.
Nathan had reached them and put an arm around her quivering shoulders. “Honey, he may not have gone near the river.”
“Something serious has happened; I can feel it. Buffer didn’t come back here with Saddle. That means he stayed with Garrett and might even have been killed if they were attacked by a wild animal.”
“We don’t see too many wild animals, Caroline. The area’s pretty populated, and the animals have moved on,” Becky said. “Let’s go inside and sit down. There’s nothing we can do until the men return.”
“What happened?” Lissy asked, as she and Stephen joined them, accompanied by the Garson family. “Howard said he saw the men ride off in a hurry.”
Cassie told them what had happened.
“Let’s follow them,” Stephen Berg suggested. “We can hitch up the buckboard.”
“We’d never catch them now, especially with a buckboard,” Tom said.
“I can’t stay here just waiting,” Caroline said. “Stephen, will you take me to the river?” she pleaded.
“You bet.”
CHAPTER
17
They followed the barking dogs that raced along the riverbank and led them to Garrett, clinging to the limb of a rotting tree caught in the river’s current. Years of erosion had gouged away the earth, and the riverbank now rose several yards above the flowing water.
“Hold on, Garrett! We’ll get you out of there,” Garth shouted to the boy as Colt rode up and joined him.
“Our best bet is to get downstream.” Garth grabbed the rope from his saddle. “I’ll string a lifeline at the river bend. The river’s narrowest there, and we can catch him as he passes.” Garth rode off.
Jed and Clay rode up, and Colt told them, “Garth’s going to string a lifeline at the river bend. We’ll catch him there.”
“How far is that?” Jed said.
“About three-quarters of a mile.” Colt rode after Garth.
Jed dismounted and began to pull off his boots. “God only knows how long he can hold on. I’m going to try and reach him.”
“Jed, that current’s too swift to get to him,” Clay said. “He’ll be past before you can even reach him.”
“I’m a good swimmer, and I’ve swam in a lot worse places than this. Just have that rope strung by the time we get there.” He dove into the water.
The current grabbed him, and Jed realized Clay had not exaggerated its force. The effort of fighting the river’s attempt to drag him under slowed him down, and when he finally reached midstream, the tree trunk had passed. The current now aided his effort as it carried him faster downstream to catch the floating tree.
A few hard strokes enabled him to grab a limb of the trunk, and he got one arm around Garrett’s waist.
The boy clutched him around the neck in panic, sending both their heads underwater, but Jed was able to hold on to the limb and resurface.
“Garrett, stop struggling,” Jed yelled.
Coughing up river water, the boy was too frightened to know what he was doing and continued to thrash about.
Jed finally managed to get a firm grasp under the boy’s arms to keep the youngster’s head above water. Ahead, he could see the lifeline his brothers had made. Now it depended on musc
le and timing.
Every second was critical by the time Garth and Colt reached the bend in the river, where the embankment was just a couple of feet above the water.
Garth tied one end of the rope around the saddle horn on his horse, then handed the other to Colt, who wrapped it several times around the trunk of a tree and knotted it firmly.
“I’m going to head for that tree over there,” Garth said, pointing to a big willow across the river. He tossed aside his hat and led the horse to the water’s edge.
“Good luck, Garth,” Colt called out.
“Well, Boots, it’s not the first time we’ve crossed a river,” Garth said, patting the horse. “So let’s give it a try.”
The current caught them immediately, but the powerful horse didn’t falter. Near midstream, Boots lost his footing and began to swim. Garth slid out of the saddle into the water and held on to the stirrup, paddling alongside it as the horse pulled him along. As soon as Boots touched bottom again, Garth swung back into the saddle.
Up on the bank, he stretched the rope until it was taut and wrapped it around the tree. Then grasping the rope as a guideline, he stepped back into the water.
Seeing Garrett and Jed approaching rapidly, Colt and Clay stepped into the water and worked their way along the rope. Just as the trunk hit the rope, Jed let go of the limb and grabbed the hand reaching out to him, while other hands snatched Garrett from his grasp. Jed quickly grabbed the rope with his now free hand and held on.
The driving force of the tree trunk snapped the taut rope in half, and one end of the rope fanned out to the opposite side with Garth clinging to it, while the other end swung toward shore with Colt and Clay each holding a hand of Garrett, and Jed clinging to the shirred end.
They had Garrett on his stomach and were pumping out the water from his lungs by the time Garth crossed back to them on Boots.
“He okay?” Garth asked, dismounting.
“He’ll be fine. He was full of river water, but I think we got most of it out of him now,” Colt said.
“He looks pretty pale,” Garth said and walked over to Jed, who was sitting nearby, exhausted. “How are you doing, Brother Jed?”