Yesterday he’d taken a pretty bad spill, while trying to break in one of his new horses. Unfortunately for Gabe, the stubborn horse had a mind of its own. The damn thing had continued to buck so hard that it sent Gabriel falling hard to the ground, wrenching his shoulder. Remembering the way Melody had come running to his rescue, made him bite his tongue. He was hard pressed to keep from laughing. Images of her charging from the house apron flying, flashed in his mind. She’d seemed to have forgotten that she held a half plucked chicken by the neck.
His normally timid wife had turned into a bossy nurse. Ordering a litter made to carry him to the house. Even though he could walk on his own. She then proceeded to examine him. Declaring that he was under no circumstances getting back on that horse! All the while, dinner dangled from her hand.
Though he wasn’t hurt seriously, Gabe wasn’t above exploiting her caring nature. A man had to do what a man had to do. He would have asked her to help him bathe last night, but he had figured that was going a bit too far. No sense in playing all the cards in his hand just yet.
“Ss... Sure.” She stammered.
Melody quickly gathered the necessary items, along with a pitcher and a laundry tub to rinse his hair. The house was empty except for the two of them. That alone, wouldn’t have normally bothered her. Except here in her kitchen, her husband sat half naked in front of her asking her to concentrate on cutting straight. As if she could… Her eyes flickered over his well-muscled torso. Double darn!
Setting up her makeshift work station, she began to mentally prepare herself for the job. He was right, how hard could it be? Gabriel tilted his chair backward against the table stretching his full male frame, lazily. She gulped at the sight, of his jeans half unbuttoned revealing the thin line of hair that ran from his navel into the depths of the dark material. Oh god, it was going to be that hard!
At first Melody let her hands run timidly through his now damp hair. Soon they were lathering and massaging with ease. It was bliss, having her fingers work their magic on his scalp. He groaned aloud in pleasure. If only he could get her, to touch the rest of him that way. The way he’d been imagining for weeks now. Barry Hastings the town barber and dentist had never given him a haircut that caused this reaction in him. Thank the good lord! He could almost picture Barry chasing him out of his shop, with the little broom he kept around for fallen hair. Smothering a laugh, Gabe held still as Melody rinsed his sudsy head.
Beads of water fell upon his chest. Melody couldn’t help but watch in fascination, as they ran past the dark circles of his male nipples, ran down over his rippled stomach muscles. Her eyes traveling down the watery path couldn’t help but widen as the droplets gathered into the opening of his jeans.
Watching his wife’s reaction, Gabriel grinned. The woman liked what she saw. He couldn’t refrain from feeling a little cocky, after all this was going smoother than he’d thought it would.
“Gabe, maybe I should start in the back?” She asked still very unsure of what she was about to do.
“Nah... The front. Come here honey.” He said as he pulled her into the gap of his outstretched legs. Her hands began to shake, as he placed his own upon her waist. He pulled her closer, until her breasts were at his eye level.
“Lord, it’s hot in here.” She said as she fanned her burning face.
“Here, let me help you get more comfortable.” He offered. Giving her little warning, Gabe loosened her top two buttons letting his fingers slide over her bodice. Melody’s nipples tightened prettily against his palms.
The first snip of the shears seemed quite loud to her ears. Releasing the breath she’d held, Melody realized that it wasn’t so hard after all. Now she had to cut the remaining hair hanging in his eyes. Then all that would be left to do was, just cut the back, whatever length he wanted. Piece of cake, she assured herself.
Gabriel was extremely distracted with his tantalizing eyeful. He didn’t see the frown she’d made, upon her second cut.
“Hm” Melody muttered. The left side was about an inch shorter than the right side. No problem she reassured to herself cutting a little off of the longer side should do the trick.
“Darn!” She hissed.
Gabe squeezed her waist slightly, loving the fact that his sweet wife looked so darn cute when she concentrated. She felt mighty sweet to his hands as well. He smoothed the tips of his thumbs, along the under sides of her bountiful breasts.
Melody who was now biting viciously on her lower lip, realized that now the left side was longer than the right! Alright, so this hair cutting business wasn’t as easy as she’d first thought. Maybe she should start on the back, and finish the front later. Not that there was much left in the front. Quickly evading her husband’s groping hands, she went to stand behind him Noticing as she combed the tangles out, that he hadn’t been to a barber in quite a while. His hair hung close to his shoulders, curling a bit at the ends. Instead of looking ill kept, he pulsed with rugged sensuality. Touching him as she was, caused tightening in her belly.
“How short in the back should I cut it?” She inquired her voice hoarse with want.
Taking her hands he took the scissors from them, and placed them on the table. Grasping her palms, he slid them up his neck indicating the length he desired. Stroking the backs of her hands with his thumbs, he gave them one last squeeze before dropping them.
Trying to steady her breathing, Melody picked up the scissors. Snip after snip sounded in the silent kitchen, as she honestly tried to cut his hair straight. Though every time she’d did a portion always seemed either too long or too short. The ending result was what looked like a whole bunch of patches, pieced together and placed on the top of his head. It looked terrible! She thought to herself.
Gabriel was in total ignorance of the butchering she’d done to his hair. Every little gasp his wife had let out, he believed them to be from her mounting excitement. He himself was half aroused, why wouldn’t she be feeling the same? Remembering how explosive they were in bed, he grinned. This was exactly what he’d hoped, would happen.
Trying hard to control the few stray clumps of hair, sticking straight up on the back of his scalp, she eyed up the damage. How could she fix this? If she cut off anymore, he’d have more bare spots than hair! Before she had a chance to try to repair his hair, Fergus and the boys burst into the kitchen.
“Gabr…… Dear lord!” Faltering at the sight of his grandson, Pop’s fell silent in shock. He looked like a baby chicken! Not able to stop himself, He blurted out, “My god woman! What did you do?”
The sight of the small woman holding out the shears, as if they were snakes ready to attack, was too much for the boys. They began to crack up in laughter, as she stood amongst clumps of black hair.
“What’s so funny?” Gabe demanded.
“Nothin’ we were just wanting, one of them haircuts is all.” Mathew said with a straight face which really was a triumph, considering how ridiculous his brother looked right now. Boy, if having a wife meant you had to let her do this to your hair, then Mathew wasn’t ever getting married….
Gabriel was just about to ignore his brother’s comment, when Lily came in seconds later. The little girl immediately gasped and covered her mouth. The shock on her face told Gabe all he needed to know.
Shoving the chair back in haste, he reached over for his shaving gear. Sorting through until he found his small handled mirror. His mouth falling open at the sight of his hair…. Or what was left of the front of it.
“Holy shit!” He roared incredulously.
Mathew and Michael both lost their fight for composure. Both were laughing so hard, that Mathew doubled over holding his sides. Fergus, who circled his grandson, got an eyeful of the damage.
“If you think the front’s bad, you haven’t seen the back...” He informed his grandson regretfully.
Melody who stood frozen in place, chin quivering, felt as low as a bug. She really had tried her best. The feelings of remorse quickly turned to anger, when Gabe d
eclared
“Thank God I didn’t ask for the shave first!”
The laughter in the room combined with Gabriel’s anger, grated on Melody’s nerves. He had practically forced her to do this! Temper flaring; she flung the scissors across the room to her husband’s feet, and bolted sobbing from the room.
“Great.” Gabriel mumbled.
“Heh..he..he..” Mathew continued laughing.
“Shut up boy!” Pops snapped. Turning to his irate grandson he said. “You know? I can fix this. It’s not so bad.” Pops tried to smooth over Gabe’s ruffled feathers.
“Damnation!” Gabe roared.
Slamming his hat on his head, he headed straight for the door. Things just kept getting better and better, he thought bitterly. He now had a wife to find, and an apology to make. Though Gabe wasn’t sure why she should be angry. It was his hair that she had chopped. The anger should rightfully be his…
“It’s often a man’s mouth; broke his nose.”
An Irish proverb
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Sitting on the soft grassy earth, Melody dried her tears. She allowed the peaceful silence of the nature around her to soothe her. When she’d first run hell bent from the house, she’d had no direction in mind. The only thing she wanted was to escape. Spotting the fishing hole, Melody decided to stay for a rest. She didn’t think that she’d be missed at the house anyway. They were all probably too busy laughing at her to notice that she was gone. It seems that lately, she just couldn’t do anything right.
Slipping her half boots off, Melody dipped her cramped toes into the cool water. Her stomach violent growling, reminded her that she was supposed to be putting the noon meal on the table instead of having a pity party, though she really couldn’t help herself. Every day she worked her fingers to the bone, trying to please her brute of a husband to no avail. Her mornings and afternoons were filled with cooking and cleaning. Her evenings consisted of mending the family’s clothing. “For what?” She asked herself. It wasn’t as if he noticed. Trying to be the perfect wife was slowly killing her. Melody was sure of it.
Sighing in resignation, she glanced around. Sitting here, she could see why Fergus and the boys took off fishing so much. Colorful wildflowers carpeted the ground. While thick foliage surrounded the area, making the glen almost appear secluded. The pond was rather large, and she figured it was very deep. This land of Gabriel’s was as majestic as it was beautiful.
The heat of midday was almost intolerable. With the sun beating down upon her, the bodice of her calico dress clung to her like a second skin. She unbuttoned three more buttons to give herself some relief. Droplets of perspiration formed into the valley of her cleavage, dampening the thread bare chemise she wore underneath. What she wouldn’t give for a swim! Unfortunately, she’d never learned how. Along with a hundred other things she’d never learned. Like how to cut hair. Wincing she tried not to think about that debacle.
Once her embarrassment had faded somewhat, she began to giggle. His hair really had looked quite ridiculous. One thing was for certain, she was not going to try doing that again! Freeing the hair she wore in a bun at the nape of her neck, Melody sighed with resignation. She’d been married for over two weeks to a man who probably thought she was the clumsiest woman to grace god’s green Earth. So she hadn’t been the perfect bride so far. So what? It wasn’t as if Gabriel had been the perfect groom either. Melody tried focusing on his faults, so sure it would make her feel better.
He was bossy… He was stubborn... He was easily riled… He was too handsome… Too good of a kisser…Oh god why had she thought of that! He’d probably kissed a hundred women or more. Gabe had probably done more than that as well, but she didn’t want to dwell on the possibility. For she knew if she did, jealousy would surely claw at her insides unmercifully. Just the thought of him touching another woman the way he touched her, the way she wanted him to touch her now would drive her insane.
The thick bush to the left of the pond rustled, wrenching her from her thoughts. Quickly Melody glanced around to see where the sound had come from, or what might have caused it. There was no breeze blowing, though a chill ran up her spine.
Suddenly Melody, got the feeling she was being watched. The hair on the nape of her neck began to rise as fear began to take root. Whatever it was, she could feel its presence lurking a few feet off to her left.
A menacing growl rumbled, a snarl sounded, then more rustling a few yards off. All was quiet again. Fearing that a large predatory animal was near, she grabbed her shoes ready to run. After the morning she’d had, the last thing she needed was to end up some wild animal’s dinner! A crunching sound came closer and closer to where she crouched. Before she’d had any time to scream, a pair of well-worn work boots appeared in her line of vision.
“What in the hell did you think you were doing running off like that?” Gabriel hadn’t meant that to be the first thing out of his mouth when he finally found his wife. But damn, she’d scared the friggin’ sheep dip outta him. For the last half hour, he’d had everyone searching for her. There were all sorts of dangers lurking, on a working ranch. Melody had never ventured that far from the main house before. Lord knows what could have happened to her. She was fragile for god’s sake! Didn’t the fool woman know that?
Before he thought the better of it, he reacted. Pulling her roughly up into his arms, Gabriel crushed her into his embrace, kissing her surprised mouth, with all his pent up frustration. Anger gave way, to something even more dangerous. Need. He nipped and traced her bottom lip. Gliding his tongue in to mate with hers, he stroked the roof of her mouth. A deep groan escaped her as she kissed him back just as thoroughly. The kiss was more than erotic and it quickly became all consuming.
Not giving her time to protest his intentions, he pressed her gently down back to the soft ground. Coming atop her, Gabriel showed his need for her in every touch. He kissed the base of her throat and down the glorious path that the open buttons revealed. Licking the softness of her skin, he pulled the top of her dress down to her waist. The sheerness of her undergarment allowed him a glimpse of her pale rose tipped breasts. Sensitive nipples strained against the buttery soft material.
“So perfect.” He murmured against her heaving bosom, before wetting the outline of her nipples through the material with his tongue. Lost in the rippling tides of desire, she made no protest as he untied the string that held the chemise together. The heat of his mouth surrounding her nipple, as he suckled her now exposed breast nearly stopped her heart. .
“Gabriel.” She moaned his name, wanting more, not knowing how to ask.Warmth spread down through her belly, pooling in the valley between her legs. Lifting the hem of her dress slowly, he stroked her calves. Moving ever so slowly and so softly up to stroke her smooth thighs, Gabriel inhaled a sharp breath. Her responsiveness humbled him.
Aching for him, Melody’s knees parted to allow him access. His gentle touch was driving her to madness. Tugging down her under drawers, he found the jewel he sought. Gabriel began rubbing the pad of his thumb, over the wetness that had formed. Circling a path around the tight bud he then finally allowed one finger entrance to her slick tightness. Inhaling sharply in pleasure, Melody’s hips moved instinctively to the rhythm of his movements.
Her own fingers sliding up underneath his shirt, she started to explore his body just as thoroughly. Coming to rest on the waistband of his jeans, she paused. Wanting to touch him just as intimately as he touched her, but too shy to go any further. She could feel the straining of his manhood against her, and wanted to explore the unknown territory.
“I want to feel you.” She whispered huskily into his ear. It was more of a question than a statement. She feared that he would think her too bold in her request.
Fumbling with the opening of his jeans, he guided her small hand to his pulsing member. Gabe nearly exploded with the first hesitant brush of her fingers on his straining cock. Groaning in raw pleasure he began showing her how to handle him. Her inexperienc
e making her a bit awkward at first, she quickly caught on.
Melody was surprised by the silky texture of his rigid staff. He was so hard, but the skin gloving him was smooth at the same time. As she began squeezing him, Gabriel knew he had to stop her before it was too late. Pulling her hand away, he growled. “I need to be inside you.”
At her frantic nodding, he smiled. He began tearing clothing away, to fully expose them both. Positioning himself to her threshold, he gave her one last searching look giving her time to back out. There would be no recriminations. She had to want this just as much.
“Say it.” Gabriel commanded.
“Now please.” She begged him, to end her aching torment. Her primitive need too great, to utter anything more.
With a forceful push, he was embedded into her warmth. Melody gasped, though not with pain. This time there was only intense throbbing, when he’d joined their bodies. With each stroke, she became wild in his arms. When he’d slipped a hand in between her slick folds stroking her, she almost screamed. He played with the nub that crowned above his thick cock, until spasms racked her body.
Her climax hit hard and fast, as she lifted her hips up to meet his every thrust, screaming his name as she fell apart in his arms. Once assured that she’d found her completion, he allowed himself his own. Tilting her hips higher, he gave a shout. A shudder past through his body, and a warm wet sensation filled her. Collapsing lightly atop her, he kissed the tip of her nose, her eyelids, finally her mouth. Lying spent in each other’s arms.
“Are you alright?” He asked her.
“Mm... Wonderful.” She murmured a satisfied smile, grazing her lips.
“Maybe, I should have you cut my hair every day.” He said teasingly.
All at once her pleasant mood vanished. Tears clouded her vision; she tried desperately to blink them away. Despite her best efforts, a few stubborn drops fell onto her cheeks. So, that’s what he thought! That she’d let him make love to her, because she’d felt like she owed him?
A Bargain Bride (Brides of Liberty, Texas) Page 9