River Lady

by Jude Deveraux

  “You know how this custom started, don’t you? The Romans captured their brides and had to forcefully carry them into their houses. Are you a reluctant bride, Leah? Am I going to have to drag you into my bed tonight?”

  She took him seriously. “I’m afraid not. When it comes to…that, I don’t seem to have much resistance.”

  With a chuckle he kissed her long and lingeringly as he carried her inside the house. Still holding her, he seemed to be wanting some reaction from her.

  To Leah, the cabin was very nice. It was large with simple, plain furniture, glass windows, a big stone fireplace, a hallway to the left, and her beautiful loom set not far from the fireplace.

  “Bedroom?” she asked, nodding toward the hallway.

  “With a great big featherbed. No expense has been spared when it comes to that room.”

  She smiled up at him. “It’s a very nice house. I like it very much.”

  “You’re not disappointed that it isn’t like Travis’s house?”

  “No,” she said honestly. “I was born in a swamp and this house suits me better than that mansion of Regan’s.”

  “Mmm,” he said, frowning. “I’m not sure I like my house being compared to a swamp.”

  Before she could answer he kissed her again, then set her down. “I’ll have to go see about my foal. Anything you need, tell Oliver or, if you must, go to the twins. I’ll have to double their work load to keep them away from you. Trouble is, they pretend to be each other and I never know who’s working and who’s not. See you later.”

  With that he was out the door.

  As she looked about the place realizing it was hers, Leah told herself everything was going to be all right. Wesley would grow to love her because she was going to be a good wife to him, Kimberly would have no power over him, and everyone everywhere was going to live happily ever after.

  With a smile she set about making the cabin more completely hers. It was larger and far cleaner than the shack in which she’d grown up with her enormous family.

  In the bedroom were her trunks of clothes that Nicole had given her. Pulling a gown of lavender silk from the trunk, her rough hands caught on the fine fabric.

  “First things first,” she said aloud. Before a clean house and food on the table, Wesley would come home to a sweet-smelling wife with creamed, perfumed skin. In the kitchen she began searching for the ingredients for the creams and lotions Regan and Nicole had taught her to make.

  It was hours later when her skin and hair seemed to be somewhat restored after the time in the forest. The roughness and redness of her hands were gone and her hair was gleaming in soft waves as she sat on a stool before the fireplace to dry it. It was nearly sundown, there was no meal prepared, and she hoped Wesley wouldn’t be angry. To encourage his good humor, she wore a semitransparent dressing gown without a stitch on under it.

  When Wesley walked in the door he paused, hat in hand, and stared at her. The firelight showing through her gown made her look as if she had a delicate layer of fairy cloth over her beautiful body.

  Unnoticed, his hat fell to the floor as he advanced toward her and pulled her into his arms, her thick hair tangling around his forearms.

  “I didn’t cook anything,” she whispered as his lips descended.

  “And I don’t plan to wash,” he replied. “If you can overlook me, I’ll forgive you.”

  He kissed her then, pulling her to him as if he were starving.

  Leah clung to him. He’d been working in the fields and his clothes were damp with sweat, his hair curling about his neck. Her fingers went up his neck to intertwine in the curls.

  Wesley began to kiss her throat as his hands ran over her arms. Her body was hot from being near the fire and with his sweat and her heat, they nearly sizzled upon touching.

  Wesley swept her into his arms, carried her into the bedroom, and carefully laid her on the featherbed.

  “Take that off,” he commanded in a low, husky whisper as he stood back from her.

  The fading sunlight streamed through the single window, making a golden haze of light in which Leah knelt on the bed, the deep mattress fluffing about her. Slowly she undid the little silk ties that held the gossamer garment together. Then, raising her head to meet his eyes, she languidly slid the silk off her shoulders but managed to keep most of her body hidden. For a moment she held it in front of her, concealing herself from him.

  “And now you,” she murmured, toying with the silk.

  With a crooked grin, Wesley stripped himself of every stitch of his work clothes, flung them to a corner, and made a leap for her.

  Leah, not expecting this sort of exuberance, squealed and rolled out of his way. The silk gown stayed on the bed, caught underneath Wesley.

  “Pretty little thing,” he said as he pulled it from under him, then tossed it to the floor. “Come here,” he commanded.

  Leah stayed against the wall, her arms held demurely so most of her was covered.

  “No,” she said easily. “I worked all day on smelling good and now you expect me to roll around with some sweaty, unclean man. Ladies don’t—.”

  He caught her ankle, pulled her down into the bed, and dragged her toward him. “I guess we’ll just have to make you smell a little less sweet.” With that he pushed her down into the feather mattress and covered her clean body with his dirty one, rubbing against her, smearing her with his sweat.

  “Wesley!” Leah gasped, and she knew nothing had ever felt as good as this man. “Wesley,” she said again, her eyes shut.

  He smiled at her then and began to kiss her body, starting at her neck, his lips grazing her breasts, moving down to her stomach, his big hands toying with the muscles by her hipbones, his tongue licking around her navel. His hands parted her thighs, rubbing the inner recesses as his lips followed his hands.

  Working his way downward, he reached her feet and with his tongue caressed the little pads of her toes.

  Leah was almost crying with desire by the time he made his way up her body again. He hovered over her lips for just a moment.

  “Is the answer still no?”

  “No,” she murmured, then her eyes flew open. “I mean yes. Oh Wesley.” She sighed and pulled him closer as her legs began to rub up and down his.

  He made love to her with tenderness, so slowly she was frantic for him when he finally pulled her to him and with hard thrusts brought them both to a peak of ecstasy.

  They lay together, wrapped about each other, their skin sticky and wet.

  “You planning to feed me?” Wesley murmured against her shoulder.

  With a laugh, Leah pushed at him. “I guess the honeymoon is over. But first we wash.”

  As he rolled off her, Wesley sniffed. “You should wash. You smell like you’ve been out in the fields all day.”

  “You!” she exclaimed, starting to pummel his chest.

  “I sure do love the way you bounce, Leah. Now stop trying to entice me and go fix me something to eat.”

  “And if I don’t?” she challenged.

  “I’ll do something else with that bare little bottom of yours, such as smack it.” His threat lost meaning as he began to kiss her, and she snuggled against him.

  A loud knock on the door made her pull away. “Who do you think that is?”

  “Probably Bud and Cal. Seems you promised to cook for them.”

  “When? Oh yes, when they were going to take me back to Revis’s cabin. But tonight I haven’t cooked anything.”

  Wesley moved to the side of the bed. “I’m sure that if you just explain to them that you spent the day making yourself pretty in order to seduce me, they’ll understand.”

  “I could tell them I dumped dinner over your head. They’d understand that even more.”

  The knock sounded again.

  “Come on, get dressed,” Wes said as he pulled on his pants. “You can fry up half a hog and that’ll do fine. You know, I think I like making love to you in a bed.” With that he left the room and momen
ts later Leah heard him talking to Bud and Cal.

  Hurriedly she dressed, pulled her hair back from her face, and went to join them. It was obvious that the big men were so glad to see her that they weren’t going to mind too much about food.

  While Leah fried ham and potatoes, boiled water for corn on the cob, and mixed cornbread batter, they all talked. Bud and Cal slowly told about their farm, about the animals they planned to buy, and what kind of house they’d build.

  “Perhaps you should build two houses,” Leah suggested, “in case you get married.”

  Bud and Cal looked at one another. “No women would marry us. Women are afraid of us.”

  “I’m not,” she said, a hand on each big shoulder, “and I’ll bet Sweetbriar is full of women who’ll fall in love with you.”

  “If Abe can do it, so can you,” Wesley said, his mouth full of corn.

  Bud and Cal slowly broke into big grins.

  “What about my brother?” Leah asked, filling their plates with food.

  “I forgot you were here ‘working’ all day,” Wesley said, his eyes smiling at her. “You haven’t heard about Abe.”

  “Will someone please tell me?”

  “You do the honors, Bud,” Wes said. From the sound of his voice he seemed about to burst into laughter.

  “Abe fell in love,” Bud said softly, his attention on his food.

  Leah sat down. “Is that true?” she asked Wes.

  “As far as anyone can tell,” Wes answered. “He took one look at Miss Caroline Tucker and fell in love. Two days later he asked her to marry him.”

  “Marry him? This is my brother Abe you’re talking about? No mistake? Abe never loved anyone but himself in his whole life.”

  “He does now. Pass me the potatoes, Cal,” Wes said. “You boys don’t know how lucky you were to get anything to eat.”

  “What’s the rest of it?” Leah asked. “There’s something you’re not telling me about my brother. What’s Caroline Tucker like?”

  Wes nearly choked on a piece of ham. “Describe her, will you, Bud?”

  “’Bout my size,” was all Bud answered.

  Leah digested this. “My brother fell in love with a woman the size of one of you?” she asked in disbelief.

  “Shorter than us,” Cal said.

  “Wesley!” Leah threatened.

  “I wasn’t there but Oliver said that your brother arrived in town, took one look at the…ah, very large Miss Tucker, and fell in love. He said something to Oliver about she’d never been hungry and I guess he liked that idea. He followed her around town until she asked him to dinner with her parents and sometime during the meal he stood up and asked for Caroline’s hand in marriage. He told them he had been a thief and had done some bad things in his life but with Caroline’s help, he was going to become a new man.”

  “Gracious!” was all Leah could answer, completely astonished by this news.

  They finished their meal, Wesley removed pipes from a wall cabinet, took one, and handed the other two to Bud and Cal.

  As Leah cleaned up, she thought of how pleasant this moment was. She still glowed from Wesley’s lovemaking and behind her were people she cared about. After Bud and Cal left, Leah and Wes gave each other baths out of basins of hot water, and ended up making love in a leisurely manner on the floor before the fireplace.

  When they went to bed, it was to snuggle comfortably in each other’s arms.

  Hours before daylight the next morning, Wesley was up and out of bed while Leah started the day’s chores and had her first real look at the outside of her new home.

  The number of animals on the farm was impressive. About a dozen geese lived under the porch and set up a racket whenever anyone walked past them. Thirty ducks waddled around the yard. Behind the house was a well-built, completely fenced chicken house, and Leah went inside, her apron full of crushed corn. To her left she could hear hogs grunting and behind her was the bleating of sheep.

  “Wool,” she said, smiling. Wool to be spun for weaving on her precious loom.

  Still smiling, she left the chicken yard but her smile disappeared instantly. Wesley was coming toward her and in his arms was the unmistakable form of Mrs. John Hammond—Kimberly.

  Chapter 25

  “I think she’s fainted,” Wesley said with concern.

  “Did you ask her to?”

  “Leah,” Wes warned. “I’m taking her into the house. She may need help.”

  “I’m sure she does,” Leah said under her breath, but she followed him.

  “Just put her on the bed,” Leah directed, “and you can go back to work. I’ll take care of her.”

  “She scares me to death when she does that,” Wes said with a frown. “You think I should get a doctor?”

  “She’ll be fine, now please go.”

  Reluctantly Wesley obeyed her.

  “He’s gone,” Leah said. “You can open your eyes now.”

  With a bouncy little smile Kim sat up on the bed. “How nice! A featherbed. You look so pretty, Leah.” Her face changed. “I don’t have time anymore to look pretty. Just look at my hair. Dull as mud.”

  “What do you want, Kimberly?” Leah asked flatly. “What did you think your fainting was going to get you from Wesley?”

  She looked up at Leah with sad eyes. “I never intended to faint, but Wesley always did love it so. John just hates for me to faint. He says such awful things to me that I’ve just about stopped.”

  “Chalk one up for John,” Leah murmured.

  “But Wesley just loves fainting women. Have you fainted for him?”

  “No, Kimberly,” Leah said patiently. “I really need to get to work. I have breakfast to cook and other chores to do and—.”

  Kim suddenly buried her face in her hands and began to cry. “Oh Leah,” she wailed, “you aren’t even glad to see me. After the way you ruined my whole life I’d think you could spare a little sympathy for me. I got married and you haven’t even asked me about it and you’re really the best girlfriend I ever had.”

  Waves of guilt spread over Leah as she sat on the bed and took Kim into her arms.

  “How was your wedding, Kim?”

  Kim began to sniff. “Just awful! Just dreadful, awful, terrible, that’s how it was. The only people there were an old skinny man named Lester and his wife and John and me. No one else came to see my pretty dress, no one even wished us happiness.”

  She looked up at Leah. “It was the dress I would have worn to marry Wesley if you hadn’t taken him away from me. Oh Leah, I still don’t understand why you did that. Wesley was all I had except Steven, and he never liked me.”

  “Kimberly,” Leah began, not knowing what to say.

  Kim moved off the bed to stand before Leah. “Look at this awful dress. It’s brown! Did you ever see me wearing brown before? John says it’s better for all the chores he makes me do. And look at my hands! They’re red and raw. Oh how I wish you’d never taken Wesley away from me.”

  “If you had Wesley, you’d still have to work. I don’t have any servants and right now I have to cook.” Sweeping past Kim, she left the bedroom to go to the fireplace.

  Kim followed her. “But at least Wesley wouldn’t make me do the things at night that John does.”

  Leah gave a quick glance skyward. “All men expect ‘night things’ and Wesley is no exception.”

  “But is Wesley so…forceful?”

  “Yes! Here, sit down and peel this potato.”

  “I can do that,” Kim said brightly, taking the potato and a chair. “Are you mad at me, Leah?” she asked after a moment.

  “What do you care?” she snapped, then calmed. “Kim, I’m trying to be patient. I’m sorry Wes felt he had to marry me. I certainly never set out to harm anyone and if you’ll remember, Wesley is the one who decided we should stay together so maybe you should be angry with him.”

  “Oh well, men,” Kim said blandly, peeling the potato. “Wesley liked you better because you’re so exciting. All sort
s of things happen around you. I’m sure Steven was drowned because he was showing off for you, and Justin fell in love with you, then Wesley decided you are more interesting than I am. And you are, Leah. The only interesting thing I do is faint and my husband doesn’t even like for me to do that. So, see, it really was all your fault. Do you plan to keep Wesley or can I have him back someday?”

  “Kimberly,” Leah said slowly, “you’re talking about dissolving two marriages. You can’t do that very easily.”

  “I don’t know. Wesley’s friend, Clay, was married to Nicole, then married to someone else, then married to Nicole again. I really truly don’t like John much.”

  “Then why did you marry him?”

  She paused in her peeling. “It was the oddest thing, but after Wesley chose you over me, I felt as if I weren’t pretty anymore. I know that’s silly, but I almost felt ugly and then John asked me to marry him and that made me feel pretty again so I said yes. I just didn’t realize men could be so different. Wesley was always so nice to me.”

  “But John is mean because he makes you work and do things in bed?” Leah had almost cooked a whole meal while Kim was peeling one potato.

  “More or less,” Kim said, but before she could say more, the geese outside set up a racket, the door opened, and in came Wesley, followed by Oliver and the Macalister twins.

  “I think I forgot to tell you that the hands eat breakfast with us since they’ve already put in a few hours’ work.”

  Leah only had time to shake her head at him before she began throwing more eggs and ham into skillets.

  Kimberly acted as if all the men had come to see her; she preened under the twins’ flirting with her and prettily complained to Oliver that his brother Justin was quite unpleasant to her.

  “Oh, that was nice,” Kim purred when she and Leah were alone again. “It’s never nice like that at my house. Leah, John’s going to be gone all day. Could I stay with you? I’ll help you do what you need to do and later maybe you can put something on my hair to make it nice and shiny like yours.”

  Leah knew Kim would be a nuisance all day, but she didn’t have the heart to refuse her request.