After all, she might never have the opportunity to be with a man again. She shivered. She would not want to be with another man. Joshua was the only man she had ever wanted, ever loved. So, before she sent him off to live his life at the Hampton ranch, she would give herself to him. She would be with him as his wife, in body, mind and heart, if not as his legal bride.
Mr. Hampton couldn’t take that away from her, and it gave her some comfort. An act of rebellion, mayhap, but one that she wanted. She had longed to lie with Joshua over the months of their courtship and they had nearly succumbed on several occasions, but the insecurity of being unable to confirm exactly when they might marry had kept them chaste. Joshua had feared getting her with child or taking her honor and not being able to make an honest woman of her as quickly as he would’ve liked. So they had waited. And it had been difficult. Virtue wasn’t always an easy option.
But there was no sense in delaying any longer. Tomorrow would not come. She would take what she could today.
“Yes, Rosie, I am well now that I’m here with you.”
He squeezed her against his chest and her stomach flipped. His hard male body made her own seem soft and pliant, and her breasts tingled deliciously. She felt the familiar stirring between her legs that she always did whenever Joshua held her close. It made her long to strip away her clothing so she could feel him, skin to skin, the curves of her own body fitted against the solid planes of his.
Joshua tilted her chin and lowered his lips to hers. He smelled of fresh air, horses, leather and hay. Divine.
Rosie kissed him back, opening her mouth to take his tongue. She moaned as he plundered her, his kisses growing more ardent by the second. She squirmed when she felt the intriguing hardening at his groin, the impressive length of his masculinity that she yearned to see and caress with her hands, her mouth, her hidden flesh.
And why not? She wanted Joshua. He clearly wanted her. She had been good for so long. Too long.
She tore herself away from his kiss. “Can I get you a drink? Some food?”
He shook his head. “No, Rosie.” His gaze was unflinching, penetrating, full of desire. “The only thing I want…the only thing I need right now is time with you.”
Rosie glanced behind her into the house. Kenan must have gone in to see Catherine. They would, no doubt, be gazing at their beautiful daughter for hours to come. She could hear Matthew and Huyana talking at the kitchen table, and occasionally, she heard the young woman laugh softly. Her kindly younger brother was already absorbed by the honey-skinned woman. It pleased her to think that he had found someone he liked, someone he might even now be envisaging a future with.
So they were all busy. Except for Emmett. And he was in the barn. The quiet, private place where she would like to spend time with Joshua.
As if he’d heard her thoughts, Emmett suddenly appeared. “Hey, Rosie, what happened? Is Catherine safe?”
“Yes, Emmett. She was delivered of a girl. Both mother and child are well.”
Emmett grinned. “So we have a niece. That’s great to hear. Now I’m starving. What’s for supper?”
Rosie laughed. Emmett was a good-natured young man, but typical in his need to be fed and watered as soon as he arrived home. “There’s chicken stew in the pot.”
“Wonderful. You two eating?” Emmett flicked his gaze over them both in turn and raised his eyebrows. “I guess not. See you later.” With that, he bounded into the house, and Rosie heard Matthew’s growl of disapproval as Emmett attacked him in his usual look out I’m home, brother way. Emmett would have no idea what thoughts now ran amok in Rosie’s mind. He would think merely that his innocent older sister wanted to speak with Joshua, that she longed to hear the rancher’s stories of the trail and about how much he had missed her. He would harbor no suspicions that sensible, careful Rosie was considering throwing caution—and her virtue—to the wind.
Why would he, when Rosie was even surprising herself?
As Joshua closed the barn door behind them, Rosie shivered. The evening was cool, it was true, but she was also nervous. And excited. And devastated at the thought of having to give Joshua up.
Not now. Don’t think on it now. Be with him as you’ve wanted to…deal with losing him in the cold light of day.
She watched as Joshua lit a kerosene lamp and hung it on a peg.
“Rosie.” Joshua reached out and took her hands. He pulled her closer to him, so that her head rested on his strong chest. She could hear the steady beat of his heart, his life force, the core of his strength and love. In this moment, it was hers. All that mattered was right here and now. He rocked her gently in his arms as if dancing to music that only he could hear. The straw rustled beneath their feet and sent up the fresh, earthy scent of summer fields and endless carefree days spent under the hot, blue Montana skies.
Joshua ran his hands over her back and she relaxed against him. His touch was so good, so strong, so right. He stroked her hair then released it from its bun, tracing its waves as they tumbled down to her waist. It made little ripples of delight shoot up her back and over her scalp. She snaked her own hands up around his neck then lifted her head for his kiss.
“Joshua…”
“Rosie.”
“I want—”She stole a steadying breath. “I want more tonight.”
He leaned backward to look at her.
“More?”
“I want to be with you properly.”
“Rosie…what…I mean…but we agreed that we would wait.”
“I’m tired of waiting.” She bit her lip at her boldness. To push for something she wanted was out of character. She usually went along with others, did what she could to please her brothers and Catherine. She was accepting, placid, calm—the voice of reason and compassion. But now she was being forced to surrender the love she had waited her whole life for and it made her bold, brave, fierce. At least regarding how she bid it goodbye. “Joshua, I want you to make love to me.”
“Rosie, I don’t know. I…we…have waited this long. Don’t you think we should hold on a bit longer?”
Rosie grinned at the dark hue that stole up his neck and spread across his cheeks. This was difficult for him. He was a man. He had needs. But he had shown her respect and not acted—not fully anyway—upon those needs. Now she was offering herself to him. Everything that she had to give.
“I really mean it, Joshua. We’ve waited long enough. The time is right. It’s now or never.” Her throat constricted at the final word. Joshua had no idea how literal her words were.
“Are you sure?”
Rosie recognized hope in his eyes. He was a good man, a loyal man, but he had been torn. He was still young, yet he made her feel protected, safe, adored. He was all male. His strength and confidence enveloped Rosie whenever she was with him, and she had believed that her life with him would be a happy one. She swallowed hard at the surge of pain in her throat.
“Yes, Joshua. More certain than I have ever been about anything.”
He paused for a moment and Rosie knew that he was thinking it through, weighing it up. He would never act without thinking, this handsome man of hers.
No, not mine, not anymore.
“I’ll be gentle, I swear. I’ll take it slow. If you want me to stop at any point, my darling, you just say. I only want what you want, Rosie. My wife-to-be.”
She looked away at that, the sincerity in his gaze too much to bear.
His wife? Oh, Joshua, if only you knew. This cannot be. This is goodbye.
He scooped her into his arms and carried her away from her distressing thoughts and into one of the empty stalls. She could hear the quiet breathing of the animals nearby, the horses snorting and the piglets suckling at their mother’s dugs. The earthy scent of the animals and the straw was all around them, comforting, familiar and primitive. Her heart thundered and her stomach tightened as Joshua laid her down on a bed of hay. It was soft beneath her, fresh and clean, reminding her of happy sunny days on the plains.
When Joshua stroked her all over, from the top of her head to the tips of her toes, she closed her eyes to savor his touch—to remember this moment in all of its sensual glory. Then he began to undress her, very slowly, cautiously and respectfully, and Rosie held her breath, afraid to exhale in case she disturbed his ardent concentration.
Joshua tried to slow his breathing, but he was so churned up, he felt he’d explode any second. How had he ended up here, like this, undressing Rosie?
Sure, they’d been alone before. It was accepted by her family that they’d soon marry and Kenan trusted him. He knew that. So he shouldn’t betray that trust, should he? Joshua felt that he’d done well so far, behaved like a gentleman. Although he had kissed and caressed Rosie, he’d done no more. Most nights, he left the barn with a cock as hard as stone and a brow as hot as the plains in summer, but Rosie was worth it. She deserved respect. He loved the woman and he wanted to give her everything.
She lay before him now, sweet, innocent and beautiful. She might be his elder by seven years but it didn’t matter at all to him. Why would it? His folks had muttered about it a few times but he just saw Rosie. Not her age. Not their difference in years. Just a kind, caring, compassionate woman in need of a good man to take her to wife.
And that was what Joshua wanted to do.
So why had it taken him so long? The sense of shame washed over him again. He had been such a clumsy fool around Rosie at first. She was so beautiful, graceful and wise. He’d been afraid to speak in front of her for weeks in case he said something that made her believe he was stupid. But her kindness and her cool, calm demeanor had soon helped him to relax, and before he knew it, he was as comfortable with her as with her twin brother.
He had wanted to propose for a while, but something was still holding him back. He’d been saving his wages to build them a house and nearly had enough, but it wasn’t that. He knew what it was. And it made him cold to his boots.
He was afraid of how his folks would react. He’d witnessed their disapproval when Kenan and Catherine got wed, but had tried to convince himself that if he gave it some time before speaking to them about Rosie, then their doubts would fade and they would approve of his choice of bride. But recent comments from them suggested that they hadn’t changed their minds. As far as they were concerned, Catherine was a harlot, tainted by her Indian abduction…if that was what had even happened. So, by association, Rosie was tainted, too. He felt the familiar twitching of the small muscle in his jaw that told of his anxiety. Add to the boiling pot Rosie’s age, and Dylan Hampton and his wife were not at all overjoyed at where Joshua’s affections lay.
It was made even more difficult by his father’s decline in health over the last year. Dylan Hampton had always been a proud and independent man, and the loss of his strength and vitality had hit him hard. Joshua knew that his pa was having a hard time accepting that he was no longer as strong and energetic as he’d once been. That was a part of aging though, surely. But Joshua also knew, as much as he hated to admit it, that there was more to it than just getting older. Dylan Hampton was ill. Something was eating him up from the inside and at times it seemed that it was only the older man’s stubbornness that stopped him from giving in altogether. But his pa’s illness made him worry about making him mad. Renowned for rages that made his family tremble and head for the hills whenever they sensed one brewing, Dylan Hampton could well cause himself injury if his temper got the better of him. Joshua just didn’t want to be responsible for causing his pa more pain. And asking for his pa’s blessing to wed Rosie might just be the kindling that set Dylan Hampton ablaze.
He shook his head to clear the negativity. Here he was, dwelling on the darker things in his life when he had the brightest one in front of him, flushed with desire. He could make love to Rosie here and now. Finally. Seal their love. There would certainly be no going back then. He would never let his father sway his decision once he’d lain with Rosie. That would be reprehensible. It gave him strength and confirmed to him what he already knew deep in his heart—Rosie mattered more to him than anyone, or anything, ever had or ever would.
He finished unbuttoning Rosie’s housedress and gently pushed the material apart. His heart thundered at what he saw. His cock hardened and his mouth dried up. A thin cotton chemise covered her breasts and her dark nipples showed through the material.
“Oh, Rosie.”
“Joshua. What’s wrong?”
“Nothing is wrong, sweetheart. It’s just…you’re so beautiful. I want you so much.”
“I want you too, my love.”
She sat up and he smiled at the hay caught in her hair. Her eyes shone, her lips were red and slightly parted. She didn’t appear innocent right now with her dress gaping and her come-to-bed gaze.
She shrugged her arms out of her dress and pushed it to her waist then knelt and took his hands in hers. “Do you want to continue?”
“Yes.”
“Then do.”
She placed his fingers on the lacing of her corset and helped him to undo the bow.
His fingers shook as he loosened the laces until he could free her from the restrictive undergarment. She lifted her arms and he slipped it over her head. If she was nervous then she wasn’t letting it show. Her sudden confidence aroused him further because it convinced him that she wanted him, that it was acceptable to do this here and now.
Joshua dropped the corset on the hay then returned his gaze to her. Through the white cotton, he could make out the perfect orbs of her breasts. He had fondled them before, shyly, over her clothing, but never seen them naked. Now he would.
He reached trembling hands toward the woman he loved but stopped before he actually touched her.
“This is what I want, Joshua.”
“It is?”
Rosie leaned forward so that her breasts pushed into his hands. Full. Round. Warm. Soft.
“Stand up. I need to get this dress off you.” His voice was husky, so low that it was barely audible.
She did as he commanded and he tugged the dress down. She stood before him in just her chemise and stockings. He helped her out of her boots then rested his hands on the hot, smooth skin of her thighs. As if reading his thoughts, Rosie slid down to her knees, which meant that his hands pushed the flimsy material of her chemise up. He gasped as her upper thighs were revealed to him. No bloomers. The blood rushed through his head and he took deep gulps of air for a moment to steady himself.
When the spots had stopped dancing before his eyes, he eased Rosie onto her back again and nudged her legs apart. At the edge of the white undergarment, he could make out the shadow of dark hair that covered her sex. It took all of his strength not to whip out his cock and thrust into her instantly. But he wouldn’t do that to her. This was Rosie. The woman he adored. The woman he wanted to love and protect all his days. The fact that she had such an effect on him could only be a good thing. Not only did he love her, but he desired her too. He would be gentle, tender, take things slowly.
Savor this precious moment. Their first time.
Rosie pressed her nails into her palms. Her stomach was tight and she quivered from head to toe. She could stop this now, could tell Joshua that she wasn’t ready, that she wanted to wait. But she wouldn’t do that. She wanted him. Even through her nerves, she sizzled with raw, unfettered longing for this man.
Now.
Before she had to turn him away forever.
He unbuttoned his shirt and pulled it over his head then stepped out of his trousers and boots. His union suit bulged at his groin and it made Rosie tremble to see the evidence of his desire. His broad shoulders and strong, muscular forearms quickened her heartbeat and sent heat rushing to her forbidden parts.
As Joshua removed his union suit and stood before her naked, Rosie knew what it was to be stunned into silence. He was perfect. From his sandy hair to his strong calves with their golden fuzz, he was pure man. His chest was defined and smooth. His stomach rippled with tight muscles, which made him
seem like he’d been carved out of wood by a master carpenter. And his cock… She almost giggled at the word she’d heard her brothers use, but it seemed so appropriate now that she could see it.
It protruded from his body. Long. Thick. Dusky pink. Purple veined. Rosie clenched her hands over her stomach as she realized what Joshua was about to do. How could she take him…take his large member inside her?
Joshua lowered himself to rest on his elbows above her.
“Are you all right, Rosie?”
She reached out and caressed his cheek, gazing into his blue eyes.
“Yes, Joshua. A little nervous, but I want this. I need to be with you.”
“Oh my angel,” he whispered as he slid her shift above her hips and brushed the back of his hand over her mound.
Rosie tensed, waiting to feel him pushing his cock between her legs. But he didn’t. Instead, he continued caressing her until she moaned with need. He slipped his fingers between her folds and touched her everywhere, from her hard bud to the tight entrance of her body. At first, it was strange, even tickly, but as he continued, every touch made her desire grow. He moved his thumb in a circular motion until she began to move with him, lifting her hips to meet him. So when he finally pushed a finger inside her, she took him easily and gratefully, moaning as he probed her gently before adding another.
“Do you like that, Rosie?”
“Yes…so much.”
“How about this?”
He moved down her body, kissing her breasts through her chemise and nibbling at her hard nipples. Then he kissed her belly and blew into her navel, tracing its hollow with his tongue. When he moved lower still, she gasped. He couldn’t do that. He shouldn’t. Surely?
“Relax, sweetheart. This should feel good.”
Rosie sank into the hay as Joshua covered her sex with his lips and tongue. He sucked and licked until she could control herself no longer and she bucked against him, begging him for more and more and more. When she reached a sudden point of no return, heat surged through her body, starting at her core then flooding through her limbs. She writhed beneath him, wanting it to last forever, mewling as each spasm left a reminder of the intensity she had experienced just seconds before.
A Rancher for Rosie Page 3