by Megan Hart
"I meant,” she stated patiently, “that you were jealous because Shorty was a gentleman for helping me with the saddle, and you were not. That is all I meant."
"Oh.” He seemed suddenly sheepish and crestfallen. “I reckon I owe you an apology."
"I reckon you do.” And not for the first time, she thought.
To her surprise, Jed stuck out his hand and grabbed hers, then pumped it up and down enthusiastically a few times.
"Caite, I do sincerely apologize for shouting at you and knocking you off your horse,” Jed apologized. “And for assuming you and Shorty were—"
Caite held up her hand to silence him. “Please do not repeat your thoughts on what you assumed Shorty and I were doing. I shall not be able to look at him the same way ever again anyway."
"So you don't have designs on him?"
His question was so ridiculous she would have laughed, if not for the sincere and worried look on his face. Oh, he tried to hide it all right, but she could see it there anyway. Why was he so suddenly concerned anyway? Could it be he cared after all? She pushed the thought firmly from her mind.
"No, of course not,” Caite responded more gently than she had thought she would. “Why would you think that?"
Jed shrugged, his cool exterior returning. “I know he thinks highly of you, that's all. And since you turned me down..."
So that was it. Just because she had turned down his proposal, that meant she was out searching for another man to fill her bed? Sudden, burning anger filled Caite like a flash flood filling a gully.
"You are an idiot!” she shouted, causing Jed to step back.
"I'm an idiot?” he asked, anger hardening his face as well.
"Yes, an idiot.” Caite advanced on him, poking her finger into his hard chest. “How dare you think such a thing of me? Do you not realize if I do not marry you, I will not marry..."
She stopped herself, realizing at two things at once. First, she had just nearly told Jed he was the only man she would ever consider marrying. Second, she was touching him.
She did not have time to pull her hand away from his chest before his hand snaked out and grabbed hers. Tugging gently, Jed managed to pull her closer to him until she was within inches of the very body she had vowed to avoid. She could smell him, leather and fresh air, and her knees weakened.
"You were saying?” Jed breathed, locking his emerald gaze on hers.
Caite shook her head, unable to speak. She looked around everywhere but at him, noticing for the first time Zeus had run off. Tripper, solid, reliable Tripper, was a few yards away cropping grass, but Zeus had vanished.
"Your horse is gone,” she noted, trying desperately to ignore the pressure Jed was exerting on her hand to pull her closer inch by tantalizing inch.
"He probably ran back to the ranch,” Jed said in the sensuous voice she found so distracting.
Just hearing him speak, coupled with his hand pressed to hers and her hand on his chest, was enough to turn her thoughts in a direction she most emphatically did not wish them to go. She was not sure if she wanted to pull away or to step further into his embrace.
"Don't you want to find him?"
Jed shook his head, lifting her chin with a finger and forcing her to look into the vivid green depths of his eyes again. She saw lust burning in them. Was it his or hers reflected there? She opened her lips to speak, but suddenly her mouth was too parched for words.
"You were saying something about marriage,” Jed whispered, tilting his head to hers, his lips so close she could almost feel them on hers.
Caite did not want to finish her sentence. She did not want Jed to know she was determined to lead the life of a spinster rather than face a marriage to someone else. Or worse, a loveless marriage to him. She did the only thing she could think of to distract him from his question. She kissed him.
* * * *
Somehow, the tables had turned again. He had just been ready to slant his mouth to hers, to taste the sweetness of her lips, when all at once she had grabbed him by the back of the neck. Suddenly everything was arms and lips and sweet, feminine, questing tongue.
Jed had planned on kissing her to show her who was boss, but now it seemed as though Caite had the same notion. A flicker of annoyance shot through him, to be almost simultaneously replaced by arousal. He had an armful of wriggling, kissing woman. Who was he to complain about who was in charge?
He had just enough time to realize she had hooked her heel behind his before they both tumbled to the ground. Her hat came loose in the fall, sending the heavy weight of her braid to slap him in the face. Not taking his mouth from hers even for an instant, Jed reached out and tugged away the piece of rawhide Caite had used to secure the plait.
As the strands began unraveling, Caite broke the kiss long enough to sit up and shake her tresses until they tumbled harem-scarem over her shoulders and down her back. Straddling him with her eyes closed, she arched her back slowly, running her fingers through the lengths of her hair. Jed could feel the soft cleft of her womanhood through the worn fabric of her trousers. She was sitting directly on his jutting manhood, and all that separated them were a scant few layers of material.
"Jed.” Caite opened her eyes and looked at him. The sun shining behind her created a halo of light around her form, but cast a shadow so he could not clearly see her face. “About Shorty..."
He tensed. “Yes?"
"I just want you to know...” She hesitated, seeming uncertain as to what she wanted to say. “I could never ... I mean, not with him..."
Jed did not want to spend another moment thinking or talking about Shorty. He grasped Caite's wrists and tugged her down to him with a groan. Her kiss was fire against him. Her groan told him she felt the same.
Running his hands down the length of her back to cup her buttocks, Jed arched his engorgement up against the sweet juncture of her thighs. Caite responded by rubbing herself against him, up and down, until he thought he would die from the torture of it. He had to have her beneath him. Never mind they were in the grass with the late afternoon sun beating down all around them. He needed her now.
Swiftly, Jed grabbed Caite's waist and rolled her over so he was atop her. Both of them were breathing hard, and her lovely pale complexion was flushed. Aching with his arousal, Jed bent to press fervent kisses along the length of her jaw and down her neck. When he reached the barrier of her shirt, he swore lightly in frustration, making her laugh. The husky sound swept through him like wildfire.
"Let me,” she whispered, reaching trembling fingers up to undo the first of the buttons. The next and the next opened like magic beneath her hands, exposing more and more of her creamy flesh until she had undone them all.
Reverently, Jed bent his head to first one pink-tipped mound and then the other, sampling each. At the laving of his tongue against her erect nipples, Caite arched into his embrace, offering herself even more to his touch. Jed was eager to oblige.
Lord, everywhere she smells so sweet! He reluctantly left the perfection of her breasts to smooth his tongue along the soft firmness of her belly, all the way to the waistband of her borrowed trousers. There he stopped, struggling with himself for control. Already he could envision the exquisite auburn triangle of curls nestling between her sleek thighs. He lifted himself off her enough to undo the drawstring around her waist.
Caite stopped him with a touch. “No fair,” she smiled, indicating his broad chest still modestly covered by his shirt. “If I am going to risk being burnt by the sun, you should, too, Jed."
In reply, he knelt to pull the offending garment up and over his head. Then he lowered himself to her again, so the crisp, dark curling hairs of his chest scraped her nipples lightly. He could feel every inch of her soft flesh pressing against him as he dipped his mouth to hers once more.
Caite sighed against his mouth, curving her hips up beneath him so he realized once again that their private parts were touching, kept apart only by their clothes. Caught between the delicious sensati
on of Caite rubbing against his erection and wanting to continue undressing her, Jed gave in to the moment.
"Lord, what you do to me,” he breathed into her ear, matching her movements with his own. Soon they were moving their hips in tandem, the pleasure torturously enhanced by the cloth separating them from each other.
Caite smiled, her beautiful eyes flashing up at him. “And you to me,” she replied, and winked naughtily.
At the wink, Jed was desperate to have her. Lifting himself off her so he could find his own waistband, he began forcing open the buttons as fast as he could. At his action, Caite reached down to the drawstring holding her pants tight against her and loosed it. Their identical eyes locked, neither having the will to look away as each slid out of restraining garments.
Jed was afraid to look down, afraid the sight of her completely naked before him would have him shooting his pistol before he had aimed. His eyes were drawn relentlessly to the triangle between her legs. He had to close his eyes against the auburn curls, just a shade darker than the lovely hair on her head.
"Please, Jed,” he heard her whisper, and the muscles in his thighs and buttocks shook from holding back his climax. With one, swift motion, he slid into her, capturing her mouth with his even as she cried out.
She was like velvet against his throbbing arousal, and hot as the sun beating down on his back. Jed tried to remain still for a moment, fully aware he was far closer to the edge than he would have liked. Beneath him, Caite mewled slightly, not giving him the chance to regain control. She began rolling her hips, urging him to pull out of her, then drawing him back in with the pressure of her hands against his buttocks.
"Caite, Caite,” he groaned, lost in the sensations sweeping through him and helpless to resist what she was doing.
He saw the telltale flush creeping across the skin of her chest that let him know she, too, was nearing her peak. They were perfect together, moving in the rhythm both had defined. He winced as her fingernails dug into his back and behind, but the sting only added to his pleasure.
"This will be the way I wake you every morning and put you to bed each night,” he murmured against the curve of her shoulder. “When we're married."
Instantly, Caite stopped moving beneath him. Sensing the sudden change, Jed pulled back to look at her face. It was stricken, the flush of excitement rapidly leaching from her cheeks.
"Married?” she asked slowly, her voice still husky with arousal. She used her hands against his chest to push him slightly off her.
As he began to shrink inside her, Jed realized he had said something wrong. Very wrong. He tried kissing her again, nearly desperate to regain the passion that had overtaken them. The feel of her unresponsive lips against his own was more than enough to make him slip out of her entirely.
"Yeah, married,” he answered, moving off her so she could sit up.
"So you love me now?” Caite asked with quiet dignity. Her green eyes shone, but not one tear fell. She did not even attempt to cover herself from his gaze, just merely waited for his response.
Tarnation. What's this love talk again? Hadn't he just been making love to her? Didn't that show her how he felt? Why would she insist on dragging from him the very words that stuck in his throat like a bad piece of bacon?
"Caite..."
He saw the shift in her eyes and knew his response had been wrong. Well, blue-eyed blazes and blast! How was he supposed to know what she wanted him to say? Wasn't that just like a woman, always expecting a man to be able to read her mind? The trouble is, he thought as he watched Caite carefully begin to gather her clothes, I know just what it was she wants me to say. So why couldn't he say it, then?
"I think we'd better cease this conversation,” Caite said, stepping matter-of-factly into her second-hand pants and pulling them up to her waist.
"I reckon so.” Suddenly, he was aware he was still kneeling, naked, in the grass under the vast blue Montana sky. He began to dress as well. His balls throbbed like a rotten tooth. Sliding into his pants only made the feeling worse.
Caite had turned her face to the sun, shielding her eyes against the glare. “I think we have just enough time to reach Staghorn before dark."
Again, she stunned him. “You still want to go?"
She turned to look at him with such a look of utter disdain he felt instantly as low as the dirt beneath her boots. “Of course I still want to go, Jed. I must interview for a schoolteacher position."
His face flushed at her tone of voice. She had made him feel stupid. He hated feeling stupid. He jerked his thumb toward Tripper, still cropping grass contentedly a few yards away.
"We'll have to ride double,” he said.
Caite raised on perfect eyebrow at him. “Obviously, Jed."
Blast, there she'd gone and knocked the loop out of his lariat again. She certainly had a knack for it. Jed narrowed his eyes at her.
"Don't expect me to cater to your every whim forever, Caitleen. I'm doing you a mighty big favor by taking you to Staghorn with me in the first place."
Again, the raised eyebrow. “I promise I shall never forget your kindness,” she said with obvious insincerity. She pointed at the sun still inching its way across the sky. “Now, I think we'd better get moving, unless you want to ride in the dark."
Jed grunted to indicate he didn't need any tenderfoot woman telling him how to ride a trail. The worse part of it was, though, she was right.
* * * *
Jed kept Tripper at the fastest pace he could manage, carrying the two of them, for the next several miles, Caite kept her arms wrapped around his lean waist. She pressed her cheek to his broad back, the rising and falling of the animal beneath them causing the unfulfilled ache between her thighs to remain constant. She shifted a little, which brought her pelvis square against Jed's rear. That was certainly no help.
"If you don't stay still back there, you're going to fall off again,” Jed snapped without turning around.
Caite smiled sadly against his back, but did not move. She supposed Jed was suffering just as she was. Their lovemaking had been wonderful before it had been interrupted.
Caite wished she could just take what Jed offered and make it enough. But what use was his body, if she could not have his heart, too? She had lived too long in a home without love to make the same mistake. Caite had seen flowers wilt and die from lack of water. She knew that living every day with him, taking him to her bed and bearing his children, but never hearing him say he loved her ... well, she would wilt just like those flowers. Her hands tightened unwillingly on his waist. If only the ride could go on forever, with this excuse for her to touch him.
"There's Staghorn up ahead.” Jed pointed.
Squinting, Caite was just able to make out the first view of a cluster of buildings. “I see it."
Jed reined Tripper to a walk, giving the steady gelding a chance to cool down. “We'll be there in a few minutes. You can see Horner's Hotel from here."
Indeed, she could, if one could call that ramshackle building a hotel. It looked more like a sad excuse for a chicken coop. In fact, the closer they got to Staghorn, the less impressed Caite was. Lonesome, while certainly somewhat uncivilized compared to East Frankton, had at least been bustling with activity. Shops, saloons and offices had lined the streets, at least as far as she had seen from the train station. From her vantage, Staghorn looked like hardly more than a saloon, a mercantile and the so-called hotel, all ringed around a tiny, dusty square.
"Where's the school?"
Jed pointed to an equally uninspired building squatting next to the hotel. “There it is, next to Horner's."
Caite's stomach sank to her toes. She was going to leave the beauty of Heatherfield for this? She glumly decided she truly did not have any options. Not after what had almost happened on the way here. She could not stay around Jed Peters. Not if she wanted to be happy.
By now they were entering the town proper. Caite tried to convince herself the place was not so bad after all. As they rode
past the trading post, she saw some pretty bolts of fabric in the window. A delicate wind chime hung from one of the beams supporting the porch. It tinkled lightly in the breeze of their passing. At least someone in the town had an eye for beauty.
"That's where Pa met Sally,” Jed said, pointing to the trading post. “It was her family's mercantile."
"Oh.” Was she supposed to be jealous? If that was what he was expecting he would be sorely disappointed.
"And here's the land office.” He indicated another low building wedged in between the trading post and the saloon. “That's where I'll be doing my business."
With every foot deeper into town, Caite was relieved to see Staghorn was not as decrepit and lowly as she had thought. It was no Heatherfield, true, but then cities were often not as lovely as their country counterparts. Perhaps she would be able to make a place for herself here after all. She would still be only a few hours ride from Lorna and Albert ... and Jed, she reminded herself. Maybe Lonesome, with its three-day distance, would be better. Besides, from Lonesome she could go anywhere.
"And here's the hotel.” Jed pulled Tripper up to the hitching post, slid off the horse's back and held up his hand for Caite to take.
"It's very nice,” she said, trying to conceal her dismay at the building's peeling paint and weatherbeaten exterior. She took the hand he offered and slid from Tripper's back. Dust puffed up around her ankles when she landed.
"It's not Buckingham Palace,” Jed said, pulling Caite's bundle from Tripper's saddlebag. His belongings had run back to Heatherfield with Zeus.
Was he teasing her again? Would he dare, after what had happened on the way here? Caite took her bundle from his hands firmly.
"I never expected it to be,” she retorted tartly. “As long as it's clean, I shall be fine."
Jed laughed. “Clean? Maybe."
He pushed ahead of her into the hotel. There's really no need for me to attend him while he makes arrangements for the next few nights, Caite thought. She wanted to take a look at the schoolhouse. Although, she decided, picking her way through the piles of horse dung on the street, it certainly did not look as though Staghorn boasted many people, much less students.