by Lori Wilde
“If you’re sure, then I better get my overnight bag packed.” Aunt Peavy got to her feet.
At that moment, the landline rang.
“I’ll answer it. You get ready.” Daisy shooed Aunt Peavy toward the stairs, then picked up the phone.
“Hello.”
“Daisy?”
“Mrs. Carmody.” Daisy recognized the older woman’s cool, dulcet tones.
“Please,” she said. “You must call me Neela.”
“Neela,” Daisy amended.
“Now isn’t that much nicer. Feels more like family.”
“Yes,” Daisy agreed, an unexpected warmness heating her heart.
“Listen, dear, Travis and Chet are having such a fabulous time playing video games, I was wondering if it would be all right if Travis spent the night.”
Daisy hesitated.
“I know you and Kael haven’t had a moment alone since you got married. Why don’t you let Travis stay? We’ll take him to church with us tomorrow, then bring him home. You can sleep in for once on a Sunday morning.”
Travis had never been away from home overnight. She said as much to her mother-in-law.
“We’re just next door. If he gets homesick, we’ll bring him right home,” Neela assured her.
“I don’t know.”
“Please, Daisy. We’ve got so much catching up to do with our grandson.” Her voice hitched, and Daisy realized with a start the unflappable woman was fighting back tears.
“His pajamas,” she said lamely, torn between wanting to share her son with his grandparents and needing to hold on to her authority. For six years, Travis had belonged to her exclusively. It was unsettling to realize she was forced to share him not only with Kael but with his parents as well.
“If you don’t mind, I have some of Kael’s old cowboy pj’s Travis wants to wear.”
“Sure,” Daisy found herself saying.
“Thank you so much.” Gratitude filled Neela’s voice.
“You’re welcome.”
Daisy said goodbye, hung up the phone, and turned to see Aunt Peavy coming downstairs, her overnight bag tucked under her arm.
“Was that Jenny?”
“No. Neela. She wants Travis to spend the night.”
“That’s nice,” Aunt Peavy said, a twinkle in her eye. “You and Kael will have the house all to yourselves.”
Good thing he’s in bed with beestings, Daisy thought. Otherwise she might be in deep trouble. She’d done a lot of thinking today, and after talking to Aunt Peavy, she was
weakening in her resolve not to consummate their marriage. Despite every effort she made to deny the attraction, Kael pushed all her buttons. It was increasingly difficult to be around him and not touch or kiss him.
“The effects of beestings only last a few hours, you know.” Aunt Peavy winked as if reading her mind. “Kael should be right as rain once he sleeps off those antihistamines.”
Yes, and that’s what I’m worried about, Daisy thought.
A car horn tooted outside.
“That must be Jenny,” Aunt Peavy said, hustling through the kitchen with surprising speed. “See you tomorrow, sweetie.” She gave Daisy a little wave and disappeared out the door.
Instantly the house fell quiet. The grandfather clock in the hallway ticked loudly as if counting down the moments to some unknown destiny.
Don’t be melodramatic, she chided herself, but Daisy couldn’t shake the feeling that something monumental was about to happen. Inexplicably, she felt herself drawn toward the stairs.
Without consciously acknowledging it, Daisy moved in that direction. She straightened odds and ends about the room as she went. She plumped pillows that didn’t need plumping, stacked books that were already even, brushed nonexistent lint from the furniture upholstery. Until at last, she stood breathlessly at the bottom of the stairs.
Taking the steps one at a time, she experienced a strange tightening in her chest. The floorboards creaked beneath her feet. Blood whooshed in her head. Her fingers tingled.
Inch by inch, she walked across the carpet. Finally, she rested her hand on the doorknob leading to Kael’s room.
Come on, Daisy, you’re just checking to make sure Kael’s okay. That’s all. Don’t read anything else into this.
Squaring her shoulders, she eased open the bedroom door and slowly stuck her head inside.
Kael lay on his left side, his face to the wall. The covers had been kicked off and were trailing the floor. The ice pack she fashioned for his knee had ridden down his leg and now dangled from his ankle at an odd angle. A faint slash of waning sunlight seeped through the curtains and fell across his face, revealing that the swelling and redness were almost gone.
The door groaned as she pushed it wider, but Kael didn’t move. Daisy stepped closer, her breath coming in quick and shallow gulps.
A strange sensation swept over her, as if she were standing outside her body, watching herself in action. She saw herself walk to the bed and oh, so carefully perch on the edge.
Kael mumbled something and hugged his pillow to his chest.
Daisy sat frozen to the sheets, her gaze transfixed on Kael’s face.
A lock of hair drooped over his forehead, giving him a boyish appearance. His wide lips were slightly parted. His jaw was square, his nose straight and proud.
And his bare chest!
He must have taken off his shirt after she’d left him, for it lay in a tangle on the floor. His stomach was washboard flat.
There was no mistaking the body of a rodeo athlete. Firm. Strong. Muscled.
Heat swamped her body. She gulped past the desire blocking her throat.
What a man! So handsome. So masculine. So desirable.
And he was hers.
That was her gold band encircling his left ring finger. The mate to the one adorning her own finger. After years of hoping, praying, wishing, and dreaming, Kael was finally her husband, and she was entitled to the pleasures marriage could bring.
All she had to do was reach out and take him.
Daisy clutched her hands together to keep herself from touching him. No. She could not. She wasn’t ready. Not in her mind, anyway.
Her body, however, was a different story. She ached for him deep down inside, hungry and
savage, in a way she feared might never be sated.
Knees pressed together demurely, she leaned over to get a better look. A sheaf of her hair swung from her shoulder, grazing his cheek. Daisy held her breath. Was he awake?
He didn’t flinch. Convinced he was still sleeping, she flipped her hair back over her shoulder and kept watching him.
She noticed a network of scars scattered over his body. Scars earned bull riding. Scars gathered like trophies.
There was a pale, puckered line on his right shoulder and another silvery slash under his neck, while yet a third jagged wound disappeared into the waistband of his jeans.
Tight, faded, unsnapped blue jeans.
Daisy gritted her teeth, bowled over by her lusty feelings.
On the one hand, those scars bugged her. He’d chosen to chase those scars, those ragged badges of honor, on the rodeo circuit instead of staying in Rascal with her. But on the other hand, she found his flaws alluring, and she was so proud of him.
To top it all off, the scars made her jealous.
He’d gotten those scars living an exciting life while she’d stayed home to shoulder the responsibilities that came her way. She’d never been free to see the world, seek her fortune or discover who she truly could be.
But whose choice was that? No one had forced her to take over the farm after her parents died. Aunt Peavy and Rose had wanted to sell the honey farm. She, however, couldn’t bear the idea. She’d been the one to convince them to stay.
Neither had anyone forced her to adopt Travis. She could have let him go into the foster system, but love wouldn’t let her do it.
She had to stop blaming fate. Accept that she’d fully and freely chosen this lif
e. Was proud of herself for her choices. Yes, choosing one path meant that she’d had to let go of other roads, but everyone had to do that. She wasn’t special. She had no right to complain.
In that moment, she realized how she’d been punishing herself by not embracing the path she’d chosen. She’d only been looking at what she’d lost, not what she’d gained.
And right here, right now, she’d gained a husband.
Husband.
Kael was her husband.
Tentatively, she reached out a finger and lightly, delicately explored the one-inch scar just above his breast bone.
His skin quivered where she touched him, and Daisy panted against the furnace blast melting her insides.
Kael.
She’d loved him most of her life.
Was Aunt Peavy correct? Did Kael love her in return? If so, why didn’t he say the words? Even when he was trying to convince her to marry him, he’d hadn’t mentioned love. Well, except in that hastily scrawled note he’d posted on the fridge. That didn’t count.
But, the tiny voice in the back of her mind argued. Hasn’t he shown you that he loves you?
He helped with the bees and cleaned up around the house. He brought her simple presents, a rose from the garden, her favorite candy bar from the grocery store, a full tank of gasoline in the truck.
Little things that added up to something pretty special. Things that spoke more than all the words in the world could say. He’d honored her wishes to sleep in separate beds. Most men would have pushed the issue. Kael had demonstrated that he was willing to work for this marriage.
Far more than she had.
Then today he’d shown himself to be a true hero. He’d sacrificed himself so Travis wouldn’t get stung. Seven years ago, she wouldn’t have thought him capable of it, but becoming a father had changed Kael. Changed him in ways that both thrilled and terrified Daisy.
What if?
She wanted her own children so badly. The idea brought a twinge of longing to her womb. From the time she was sixteen years old, she’d fantasized Kael as the father of her children. They would have her work ethic and his fearlessness. His easygoing ways and her determination. His hazel eyes and her auburn hair.
Now here he was, her husband. Lying almost naked in her bed.
What if they made love?
Her thoughts seesawed back and forth, pulling her first one way and then the other. Truth was, only time could tell whether these changes in Kael were real or not.
She continued to strum his skin lightly, savoring the delicious sensation, toying with dangerous notions, tempting fate.
Suddenly his hand snaked out, and he grabbed her wrist.
Shocked, Daisy’s mouth flew open, and she stared into his wide-open eyes.
He was staring. Intently. His gaze lust-filled and hot.
For her.
Chapter Eleven
“WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE doing?” He growled under his breath.
Daisy tried to scramble off the bed, but he ensnared her waist with his other arm. “Let me go,” she cried, pulling against him. Her voice was high and shrill.
“It’s okay, Daisy, if you want to admire my body. But when you start touching me, you better be prepared to back up your invitation.” He tugged her closer still, until she was pressed flat against him, chest to chest, their faces millimeters apart.
“Don’t tease me.” His expression was deadly serious. “I mean what I say. I can’t stick to my promise to keep my hands to myself if you tease me.”
“Please,” she whispered, trembling with pent-up sexual tension.
“Please what?” he asked.
Her mouth opened, but no words came out. She was transfixed by the gaze in those hazel eyes.
“Do you want me to make love to you, Daisy?”
Yes! But, oh, how she wanted Kael to tell her that he loved her, because, no matter how badly she might yearn for physical release, she needed to hear those words.
“How are the beestings?” she asked, quickly changing the subject as if the man beneath her wasn’t a potent package of raw sexual energy just waiting to explode.
“The beestings are fine. They won’t get in the way of lovemaking if that’s what you mean.”
“That wasn’t what I meant!”
“Then why are you blushing?”
“Listen here, Kael, I didn’t come in here to seduce you.”
“No, you listen to me, Daisy. You crawled into this bed with me, stroked my bare chest. You started this—are you prepared to finish it?”
Daisy whimpered. “I don’t know.”
He stared at her a moment; their eyes locked, and her belly squeezed tight.
“That’s a beginning,” he whispered.
“I’m confused.”
“I know.” Tenderly, he traced a circle on her bare arm, and she shivered.
“Kael, I—”
“No need to explain. How’s Travis? Did he get stung?”
“No, you saved him. He’s spending the night with your folks.”
“He is?” Kael mused, the gleam in his eyes glowing brighter. “Where’s Aunt Peavy?”
“Sleeping over at her friend Jenny’s house tonight.”
“So, we’re alone?”
Daisy nodded.
“Just you and me for the whole night?”
“Yes, but Kael, I can’t, I don’t.” Daisy didn’t even know how to explain the crazy-mixed-up feelings jumping around inside her.
“It’s okay, sweetheart. I understand.” He pushed her hair from her face, his callused fingers grazing her cheek.
“You do?”
“You need more time.”
No, she thought, I need you to tell me that you love me.
“You need to be ready,” he continued. “You’re inquisitive, exploring, but I can see it in your eyes, you’re still holding back. You’re still wondering if I’ll betray you again.”
“Kael...”
“Shh.” He placed his index finger over her lips. “Let me just hold you,” he invited, nestling into the pillow.
Tears dusted her eyelashes, and she didn’t even know why. She settled into the crook of Kael’s arm and breathed in his heavenly scent. She could hear his heart thudding, so strong, so reassuring.
Kael curled himself around her, tucking his thighs against her bottom so that they spooned in the middle of that big bed.
It felt wonderful, having him here like this, exactly the way she’d imagined a thousand times over the years.
“You don’t know how I’ve longed for this,” Kael whispered as if reading her mind. His warm breath tickled the hairs on the back of her neck, causing Daisy to catch her breath. “Me and you, snuggling together as husband and wife.”
Husband and wife.
The phrase, spoken in such a reverent tone, sent tiny shivers skipping down Daisy’s spine.
Kael’s grip tightened, and he tugged her closer. Every place their bare skin touched, Daisy’s nerve endings sizzled and caught fire. She closed her eyes and drifted on the heavenly sensation, too weary to fight the attraction any longer. She loved Kael. He was her husband. Why shouldn’t she savor this incredible feeling?
“Many a day, when I was on the road, only the dream of holding you in my arms again kept me going,” he said, his voice resonating in the room’s small confines. “It was pretty darned lonely.”
Daisy swallowed hard against the tide of emotions pushing her this way and that. “Then why didn’t you come home?”
Kael was silent for a moment. “I guess I was trying to prove something.”
“What were you trying to prove?” she asked, her stomach tensing as she waited for his answer. She’d never been able to understand why he’d chosen the rodeo circuit over a life with her. Perhaps now that they were older, Kael could explain things in a way that made sense to her.
“I suppose I was looking for my purpose in life.”
“I never understood the appeal of risking your life on the back o
f a bucking bull.”
“That’s because you’ve always had a purpose, Daisy. First it was running the farm after your parents died and looking after Aunt Peavy and Rose. Then raising Travis.” He sighed. “You assume the responsibility like a trouper. You knew what had to be done, and you did it.”
“Go on,” Daisy said.
“Me, I had nothing to show I was a man. I was raised in the lap of luxury; my parents are so wealthy I never needed to work. I’m an only child without any brothers or sisters to challenge me. I had everything on a silver platter, Daisy.” He paused. “Except you.”
“You could have had me, too.”
“Not under your conditions, sweetheart. You wanted me to give up the one thing that gave me an identity.”
“I didn’t understand that,” she said, squeezing his hand. “That was shortsighted of me.”
“I wanted to marry you more than anything on earth, but I felt that I had nothing to offer until I’d made a name for myself. That’s why I needed the rodeo, not because I didn’t love you.”
“You love me?” she whispered, her throat constricting against the warm rush rising inside her.
“Daisy, I’ve loved you all my life. Haven’t you figured that out by now?”
She turned over in his arms, her eyes hungrily searching his face in the faint light barely seeping through the window. Fingers trembling, she reached out to touch his lips. “Is it true?”
“Nothing has ever been truer.”
Daisy’s heart thudded against her chest. She needed to believe him, more than she needed to breathe.
“Oh, Kael, why did you wait so long to tell me?”
“Because I knew I wasn’t ready to get married. Not seven years ago. But I should have. I think we could have worked things out, come to an understanding and had a long engagement if it hadn’t been for what happened between me and Rose.”
Ah, there was that. The old familiar pang of betrayal rose in her.
Kael stared deeply into her eyes. “I’m so sorry for what I put you through.”
“You really thought Rose was me?”
“Of course. I would never have cheated on you. Especially with your own twin sister. I’d waited for you for so long and when Rose came to me pretending to be you, it was the happiest night of life because I believed it was you.” Kael’s hazel eyes glistened with unshed tears. “I know there’s a lot for you to forgive. I understand the anger you still carry, but Daisy, please, please, please know that I’d cut off my right arm if it would change things.”