by Lily Reynard
His cocky grin returned. "Why resist me? I'm yours, if you want me."
Oh, yes, I want him!
Abby firmly squelched that voice. He doesn't know everything. And I'm not ready to talk about that part. Not yet, anyway.
"Jim, I can't marry you," she said, and the words felt as if they were choking her. "I can't marry anyone. It would be unfair to lead you on."
His cocky grin widened. "Is it because you're interested in Dan?"
"Wh-what?" Shock numbed her lips, making it difficult to speak. "I—ah—he's very nice," she managed.
Her heart was pounding so hard that she felt dizzy.
Jim kissed her. "Abby, Dan and I never keep secrets from each other. Anything you tell him or me, or," he winked at her, "anything you do with one of us, well…"
Abby gulped at this revelation. "Oh, my stars."
Her face heated as the implications sank in. He knows! He knows about what happened between his brother and me!
And Dan would shortly hear all about what had happened out here today.
Why haven't they dismissed me from my position yet?
Then Jim said something that shocked even more.
"If you want to give him the chance to court you, too, that's fine. But give me a chance. I can show you ways that we can be together without the risk of getting you with child…like what we did today. You liked that, didn't you?"
She nodded, guilt prodding her about keeping that part of the story from him. But the temptation of his offer was too great to resist. She wanted Jim, even more now that she had confessed almost everything…and he hadn't condemned her.
And without apparent rancor, he was willing to let his brother court her as well.
Wondering at her own daring, she said, "I'll consider it."
"Good," he said, and stretched like a giant cat. "Now, we’ve got a picnic to eat and a sunset to enjoy."
Abby looked at her corset, lying on the grass next to the blanket like a piece of discarded armor, and tried to convince herself that everything would be all right now.
Don't lie to yourself. You're treading a dangerous path here.
◆◆◆
"So, Silas rode out here to deliver a telegram while you were working with that gelding," Dan said over lunch the next day. "Don Johansson over at the Burning Ground Ranch decided that he wants to trade us his stud stallion for Thunder."
"Hurrah! And good riddance," Jim said, with feeling. He rubbed his shoulder, which still ached like a son of a bitch where the big stallion had bitten him this morning. "I'll bet you a silver dollar that Huritt will join us in celebrating his departure."
Dan finished chewing his mouthful of steak. "Yup. That's what I figured, so I told Silas to send a reply agreeing to the trade. If I leave right after I finish eating, I ought to make it to Johansson's place before dark. I'll stay the night and return around lunchtime tomorrow with the new stud."
And Abby and I will be all alone in the house tonight! Jim's gaze eagerly sought and found his new sweetheart.
She sat across from him, looking pretty as a picture in one of her fancy high-necked blouses and ruffled skirts, Chris on her lap.
Her head was bent, though, and she seemed absorbed in spoon-feeding the baby from the little bowl of mashed potatoes, mashed peas and carrots, and ground steak that Isaiah had specially prepared for Abby's attempts to wean Chris off the bottle.
Jim decided that he'd find a private moment to talk her to later and see if she was open to spending the night with him.
Dan duly rode away from the ranch, riding Snowflake, one of the older mares, with Thunder following on a halter rope. But Jim's plans of seduction were thwarted within a half-hour of his brother's departure.
Mukki appeared in the paddock where Jim was halter training a foal. He was riding one of the geldings bareback and without reins.
"Huritt says you need to come quickly," he shouted, his face alight with excitement. "A grizzly bear broke into the east paddock, and it's hunting the mares."
Jim cursed, startling the foal. He used precious moments to soothe it, feeding it a carrot as a treat before removing the halter and reuniting it with its dam. Then he sprinted to the stables to get his rifle and saddle up one of the experienced horses.
He returned to the house hours later, dog-tired but relieved.
Thanks to Huritt and Mukki's quick thinking, the bear hadn't managed to injure or kill any of the ranch's precious broodmares before he arrived on the scene.
The bear had looked to be a new adult, probably only recently independent of its mother. It had pushed over a section of the wood-and-wire fence to gain entrance to the paddock and was lumbering in clumsy pursuit of the terrified herd of mares when Jim arrived and fired a warning shot.
The bear froze and turned to face him, rising up on its hind legs.
But the unfamiliar sound and smell of Jim's rifle, combined with the sight and sounds of Jim, Huritt, and Mukki on horseback, all three of them whooping and hollering like madmen, immediately sent the young grizzly back down on all fours.
It turned tail and galloped out of the paddock through the gap it had made in the fence, and it disappeared rapidly into a stand of pines.
Jim had spent the remainder of the daylight hours repairing the broken sections of fencing around the paddock while Huritt and Mukki tried to calm the mares.
After unsaddling his mount and brushing it down, he entered the darkened house and plodded wearily towards the kitchen.
There, he quickly washed up before doing a bit of foraging and discovering a plate of roast beef sandwiches and a large slice of strawberry-rhubarb pie that Isaiah had left for him.
He was so hungry that he ate standing up at the kitchen counter, washing down the sandwiches with a glass of beer. He contemplated brewing coffee to go with the pie, but it felt like too much damned work at the moment.
With a muttered "Forget it," he grabbed a fork and dug in.
Jim polished off the pie in no time, savoring every luscious mouthful before making his way upstairs to his bedroom.
He paused in front of Abby's door for a long moment, debating with himself.
No light showed under her door. Which meant she was probably already asleep. Missed my chance, dammit. So much for my plans to take advantage of Dan's absence.
He scowled and prepared to head to his own lonely bed.
Then, miracle of miracles, he heard the creak of bedsprings from inside Abby's room, followed by the soft thump of her feet hitting the floor. "Jim?"
"Yeah?" he managed.
Three quick steps, and her door opened. She hadn't lit her lamp, but moonlight streamed through her window, outlining the sweetly feminine curves of her body inside her cotton nightgown.
He immediately wondered if she was wearing anything underneath it. It sure didn't look like it.
"Would you like to come in?" she said, and she sounded nervous.
Her invitation shocked him, but in the best possible way. "I'd love to."
He stepped forward and took her in his arms before bending to thoroughly plunder her sweet mouth.
Abby returned the kiss with flattering enthusiasm.
"I missed seeing you at supper," she murmured when they finally ended the kiss.
He reached down and took her hand, lacing his fingers through hers. "We had a young grizzly bear try to raid the east paddock," he began as she drew him into her room.
He continued telling her the story as he seated himself on the edge of her bed. She knelt gracefully on the rag rug to pull off his boots, and the sight of her on her knees in front of him summoned the memory of her hot, wet mouth swallowing his cock.
And just like that, his weariness fell away. He found himself hard and ready to go for whatever this night promised.
Somehow, he managed to finish his story, even managing to make her laugh with his description of the young bear hightailing it out of the paddock with the three of them screaming and whooping and the mares adding to the tumult
with high, terrified whinnies.
Abby rose to her feet, a determined look on her face. "Will you stay the night?"
"I was hoping and praying for an invitation," Jim replied.
She smiled shyly and quickly pulled the nightgown over her head.
His breath caught. As he'd hoped, she was naked beneath the garment, her smooth, lush curves silvered in the moonlight.
"You are so beautiful, sweetheart." He reached for her, his fingers curving around the generous swell of her hips, and pulled her close, until she stood between his knees.
Then he began kissing her, devouring her soft skin, her soft sighs and whimpers driving him crazy. His lips traveled down her soft throat to her breasts with their small, pretty nipples. She arched between his hands, offering herself to him, as the tips of her breasts hardened.
He dipped his head, teasing the small buds with his tongue until she was panting.
"I love how sensitive you are," he told her, drawing back and sliding his hands up to cup her breasts. "Let me hear how much you like this."
Then he captured her lips and kissed her hard while teasing her pebbled nipples with his callused thumbs.
She moaned into his mouth and arched her back, pushing her hips against his erection.
"Do you want more?"
"Oh God, yes," she begged. Her hands rose to cradle his face. "Please, Jim. The way you make me feel…I can't describe it. But I want more."
"Like this?" He pinched her nipples lightly.
Her cry this time was louder and made him damned glad that the only other living soul in the house was the baby sleeping in the nursery.
Chapter 15
"I haven't been able to stop thinking about you," Jim whispered, his fingers working rough magic on her breasts. "I want to see you come again, Abby."
She wanted him to touch her everywhere, to quench the throbbing ache that he had again effortlessly managed to kindle between her legs.
He pulled her onto the bed, then swiftly stripped out of his clothes before kneeling over her. His caresses were demanding and a little rough, but they only fanned the flames of her desire as he kissed and nipped all off the sensitive places on her neck, her shoulders, and her breasts.
In return, she stroked and kissed every inch of his hot skin that she could reach, pleased and excited by the hard length of his erection pressing against her belly.
Is he going to take me tonight? And will it hurt like it did when Arthur had his way with me?
Arthur hadn't bothered to prepare her for his invasion, either out of selfishness or out of ignorance.
Jim, on the other hand, seemed to enjoy arousing her, and he knew exactly how to summon the most intensely pleasurable sensations from her body. No. This time will be different.
The folds between her legs felt thick and swollen, with a deep, insistent throb that screamed for the quenching of a hard caress.
Abby was ready—more than ready—for whatever might come next in their lovemaking.
"Open your legs for me, sweet Abby," Jim rasped.
He repositioned himself so that he faced her feet.
She obeyed eagerly, and was rewarded by a puff of hot breath against the sensitive skin of her inner thigh.
"I want to taste you and send you to heaven," he told her. "And I want that delicious mouth to do the same to me."
"Yes!" she agreed, as a fresh wave of heat swept through her.
"At the same time," he added, and moved over her. "I want to taste your sweet pussy with my tongue while I'm fucking your mouth with my cock."
She gasped at his shocking language but couldn't deny that she wanted what he was proposing.
"Abby? Sweetheart?" He sounded concerned. "If you don't want to—"
"…yes," she managed. "I want to. Yes."
"Good."
And that was the last thing that either of them managed to say for a long time, though her bedroom was filled with the sound of their moans and gasps.
Jim wasn't as gentle with her tonight as he'd been with her yesterday, but his display of raw need excited her. His wet, wicked mouth fastened on her aching, needy core with merciless strength, and he proceeded to drive her out of her mind with pleasure.
For her part, Abby did her best to keep up with him, putting all of yesterday's lessons to good use as she licked and sucked and stroked the hot, hard length of his penis as he thrust into her mouth.
She was drowning in a wonderfully rough sea of sensation, every nerve in her body overloaded with pleasure, until the wave of her climax crashed over her.
A moment later, Jim groaned loudly, his voice vibrating against her sensitized tissues with another burst of pleasure. He stiffened against her, shuddered deeply, and filled her mouth with salt and musk.
She drank him down, swallowing his essence, then gently swirled her tongue around his tip.
"Oh, Abby," he said, making a caress of her name.
He lifted his head from between her thighs and reversed positions, until she lay cradled against his chest, his strong arms around her.
She felt utterly boneless, floating on a warm sea of bliss.
"Before you came along, it was a long time since I'd held a woman," he murmured finally. He dropped a kiss on her temple. "And never one as cuddlesome as you."
"So, have there been a lot of other women?" Abby asked, trying to suppress a stab of jealousy.
Of course there have been other women! Where else could he have learned to do the things he's done with me?
"A few," he admitted. "And maybe one or two I shouldn't have been with, but after Clara died…I just wanted to forget the pain for a few hours. But I never felt for them the way I feel for you, Abby."
She took a deep breath. Now for the truly difficult questions. "What are you looking for in a wife, Jim?"
He chuckled softly. "Someone like you, Abby. Kind and sweet, but with a taste for adventure. Good manners. Good education. Good at kissing. Good with kids, especially Christopher. Seems like you fit the bill perfectly, don't it?" He traced the length of her spine with his fingertip.
Except… "Do you want more children?"
"Yes," he said immediately. "Lots of 'em. I don’t want Chris to grow up an only child. I want to see this house filled with kids."
His answer was exactly what she had been expecting, and yet, it still felt like a crushing weight on her chest, cutting off her breath.
Despite her denials to herself, she realized that she had begun to hope that this strange, wild courtship might work out after all.
Now she realized it was doomed, because she could never give Jim what he wanted.
Should I tell him the truth about why Arthur broke off our engagement?
Jim had to realize that he was pursuing an impossible dream with her, no matter how much it would hurt her never to be able to kiss him again. Or experience the sensual delights they had so recently shared.
But she couldn't bring herself to speak the fatal words.
I want to believe in love, if only for tonight. I'll probably never be able to find a man who wants to take a barren woman to wife, so let me enjoy every minute of this strange courtship before it ends.
But the realization that she might never experience anything beyond this brief liaison left her feeling hollow.
Soon, she told herself. I'll find a way to tell him the truth soon.
◆◆◆
Riding over to Johansson's place took less time than Dan had allowed, mostly because Thunder was unexpectedly sweet as pie and followed Snowflake meekly all the way to the Burning Ground Ranch.
Maybe the stallion had finally realized that his troublesome ways had resulted in consequences, but it was more likely that he just liked the white mare that Dan was riding, and following behind her on a halter rope was his way of making nice.
Whatever the reason, Dan decided to decline Don Johansson's offer to stay for supper and to return home. The new stallion, a stocky bay named Applejack, seemed as taken with Snowflake as Thunder
had been, and Dan hoped that the ride home would proceed as quickly and smoothly as his outward journey.
Snowflake, who had rested and grazed for a couple of hours while Dan enjoyed a beer and acquainted himself with his new stallion, seemed eager to turn her steps towards home as well.
Dan was hoping to make it back to the ranch in time to sit down to supper with his brother, nephew, and Abby.