Temperance smiled because she knew it was true. Tanner was just like her brothers had always been. Strong, kind and fair.
“I’m ready to go,” Temperance whispered as she turned away from the graves.
Tanner eyed her doubtfully. “Are you okay?”
Temperance smiled up at him. “Yes. Thank you for this. I hadn’t realized how badly I needed to say goodbye.”
“Anything for you, Temp. We can come back anytime you want to.”
Temperance nodded. Tanner pointed toward the house as they walked back that way. “I cleared the doorway. Do you want to take a look inside?”
Temperance shook her head. “Will you be angry if I say no?”
“Of course not,” Tanner assured her with a tender kiss to her red hair which she had covered with a bonnet to shield her face from the sun. “Can I ask why?”
“Because there’s nothing in there that I need. I have all I need right here.” Her hand squeezed Tanner’s tenderly and he smiled.
“Then how about we head back toward home? I’ve missed our son something fierce.”
***
Tanner knew that Temperance probably would decline his invitation to dine with him in the dining cart of the train the next evening but he asked her anyhow.
She was looking out the window when he asked and he saw her wrap her hand around her locket a moment before she turned and graced him with a smile that was so happy, warm and full of love he had to take a moment just to soak it in.
“Yes,” she finally replied as she stood up and smoothed out her dress. “Yes, I believe I will.”
Chapter Fifty-Three
“Mommy! Daddy! I missed you!” Jackson exclaimed as he came barreling out of the house and flew down the porch to reach them.
“Oh we missed you too!” Temperance assured him as she scooped the excited four year old up into her arms and squeezed him tight.
Jackson wrapped his little arms around her neck and hugged her until she was gasping for breath before leaping into Tanner’s waiting arms. “Did you bring me something?” he demanded with a grin.
“Jackson…” Temperance scolded halfheartedly. She had missed her son too terribly to get truly angry at him just yet.
“What?” Jackson shrugged innocently. “Daddy said you was going to bring me something.”
“He said we were going to bring you something,” Temperance amended.
Jackson sighed. “That’s what I said!”
“And yes, cowboy, I brought you something. Your mommy and I brought you quite a few somethings,” Tanner assured him as he sat him down on his feet.
“More than one?!” Jackson exclaimed, holding up one stubby, dirt covered finger.
“Yes, more than one. When did you have a bath last?” Temperance asked, wiping at some dirty on the back of his neck.
“He’s alive, child, don’t ask for much else,” Wilma teased as she joined them at the edge of the porch.
Temperance hugged the woman tightly and Wilma patted her back. “I missed you, child. I trust you had a nice trip?”
Temperance glanced over at Tanner and smiled. Memories of their time at the homestead and their time on the train flashed through her mind. So many talks and laughs they had shared…. And Tanner had held her close every night on that tiny train bed.
He hadn’t touched her in any matter that could be deemed inappropriate and yet he had awakened something in Temperance she had thought could never exist. A passion. A fiery passion. A passion that clouded her mind to everything else.
She wanted Tanner.
It was strange and wonderful all at once. Temperance had never thought she would want any man to have her body but she wanted to give herself to Tanner, and she knew that it would be soon.
Tanner was busy searching the back of the cart for the sack of Jackson’s goodies and the boy was bouncing up and down like a jackrabbit as he did so. Temperance’s heart warmed at the sight and she turned her gaze back to Wilma who was watching her with knowing eyes. “We had a nice trip, Wilma. A very nice trip.”
***
Tanner had missed Temperance today… They’d been back on the plantation for nearly a week and she’d been kept busy nonstop with paperwork which had fallen behind in her absence.
It took a lot of time crunching numbers and making lists to raise and sell horses and crops--and Tanner had never had the knack for crunching numbers.
The entire plantation had been shocked when Temperance herself had conducted a meeting with a male client and his son who were interested in two of her colts. Temperance had never before met with clients but Tanner was damn proud of her and her strength to overcome her fears. It was clear that she wasn’t letting those fears lead her around any longer.
He wished he would have gotten finished up in the south pasture sooner but those fences had been in desperate need of repair to prevent losing any cattle and it was well past dark by the time he returned to the plantation house.
Tanner cleaned up at the river and headed inside wearing nothing but his trousers. He checked on a slumbering Jackson and then made his way to the bedroom he now shared with his wife. He saw her on the bed curled beneath the blankets and sighed. Temperance was asleep. That meant he wouldn’t get to talk to her tonight.
With his shoulders slumped, Tanner went to the wardrobe and pulled out a clean shirt. He was just about to slide into it when he heard the mattress shift followed by the sound of Temperance’s light footsteps across the bedroom floor.
Tanner didn’t move, he didn’t even draw a breath--as she neared him and her tender fingertips touched the bare skin of his back. Tanner found himself trembling beneath her touch and he heard her sharp intake of breath.
“Scars…” she whispered. “You have scars…”
“Yeah…” Tanner cleared his throat. “I do.”
Tanner balled the shirt he held in his fists and squeezed it painfully tight when Temperance’s lips danced across his skin.
Holy hell! What was the woman doing?!
Tanner might have patience and the self-control of a monk at times but even the strongest damn monk would break under temptations like these!
“Temperance…” Tanner whispered, his voice tight and his throat dry.
Temperance’s voice shook when she spoke again. “I want you, Tanner. I want to give myself to you. I’ve never given myself to any other man…”
Tanner dropped the shirt to the floor and turned slowly. He didn’t dare touch her for fear that his control would snap completely and he would leap upon her like some starved beast. He had been waiting on this moment a long, long time, but feared it was too good to be true…
“Temp, are you sure?” Tanner asked, searching her eyes. “Are you certain this is what you want?”
Tanner could see the fear in her eyes but also the determination and the want that was nearly his undoing. “I’m sure, Tanner. You are my husband and you love me… You would never hurt me… I know it can be good between two people who love one another. Show me that, Tanner. Show me that it can be good.”
Temperance’s emerald green eyes were wide and pleading. Tanner growled low in his throat and gently gripped her upper arms through the thin white fabric of her nightdress. He stroked her gently with his thumbs and his gaze dropped to her lips.
Her tongue darted across that full bottom lip and Tanner slowly swooped down and captured her mouth beneath his own. The kiss was gentle as Tanner struggled to reign in his desire.
If he took Temperance with the amount of passion that he wanted to release, he was afraid he would frighten her. Tanner had not had any woman since very early on in the war, he had never been a man who needed women the way other men seemed to, but dear God he wanted this woman, his wife, his one and only.
Temperance’s palms splayed against his bare chest and Tanner felt the heat from that touch clear into his soul. She may as well be branding him with her touch.
Tanner let his lips wander down and caress her jaw as she moaned his
name. He tasted the sweetness of her neck and nibbled at her ear. She gasped and Tanner smiled against her skin when her legs buckled and he wrapped his arms around her waist to hold her upright.
Tanner let one hand travel up her side as his lips once again sought hers. He rubbed one calloused thumb along her breast and felt her nipple harden beneath his touch.
Temperance stiffened and pulled away.
Tanner felt disappointment settle deep into his gut but he worked very hard to keep that particular emotion from showing on his face. Instead he took her hands as she stared at the floor and took deep gasping breaths.
“Temperance, this is me. It’s Tanner. I’m not them. I won’t force you. If you aren’t ready then you only needed to say so and…”
Temperance’s head came up and she put her hand over his mouth. She shook her head and bit her lip. “I want you, Tanner. I trust you.”
Tanner felt as if a bolt of lightning has struck him. Awareness spread from his head to his toes and he couldn’t have held back or hidden the intensity of his passion from her if he had tried desperately.
Tanner scooped her up in his arms and carried her to the bed as his lips devoured hers with a hungry desperation. What shocked him was that her hands buried themselves in his thick blond hair and her lips devoured his with that same desperation.
Tanner sat Temperance on her feet beside the bed and stooped down to grip the hem of her nightdress. He searched her eyes for permission and when she nodded he made short work of pulling that fabric over her head and dropping it to the floor.
Tanner stood there in mesmerized shock. He had known that Temperance was a beautiful woman but, damn. She was more than even his imagination had been able to dream up.
Long, shapely legs, a perfect red triangle of curls between her thighs and full curved hips leading to a small waist and the most enchanting pair or full, dark-tipped breasts that he had ever seen. And those freckles were indeed sprinkled over nearly every pale, creamy inch of her.
He heard her clear her throat and she tried to cover herself with her hands. Tanner shook his head and somehow managed to tear his gaze away from her body to look into her eyes. “Don’t hide yourself away from me, Temp. You are the most perfect sight I’ve ever seen, sweetheart….”
Temperance dropped her arms and swallowed hard. Tanner kissed her tenderly and let his hands slowly caress her skin. He started at her shoulders and traced her long, slender arms with his palms before dropped his hands to her hips and gripping them softly.
Temperance moaned against his mouth and Tanner once again let his lips leave hers and move downward. Her cheek, her ear, her neck and her collarbone were his for the tasting and Tanner tasted every inch.
Temperance had a grip on his shoulders as he did so and he could tell that she was feeling pleasure and enjoying his touch as her grip tightened and her moans became louder.
Tanner knew that Temperance had never before been shown pleasure. Never had any of those bastards who had taken her body by force bothered to show her just how much a man could do for a woman…. Tanner had no problem being the man who taught her that particular lesson.
He bent lower and without warning took her tight nipple into his mouth. Temperance cried out and her nails dug into his skin. Tanner let out a growl of pain against her heated flesh and Temperance loosened her hold as she pulled away from him.
“What are you doing?” she gasped. “What are you doing to me?”
Tanner saw her flushed cheeks and the rapid rising and falling of her chest which didn’t come from fear--but from pleasure. He smiled and caressed her cheek with his hand. “You said you trust me, Temp. You wanted me to show you how it could be when you give your body to someone who loves you. Let me do that, sweetheart. Let me worship you.”
Chapter Fifty-Four
Temperance stared into Tanner’s eyes and tried desperately to understand the feelings and emotions coursing through her. While she wished she could say she felt no fear--she could not. However, the fear she felt paled in comparison to the pleasure, the want, the need, the fire that Tanner had lit inside of her as his calloused hands and warm mouth had caressed her body.
Temperance had never felt anything like that in her life. Those other men hadn’t shown her anything like that--she’d had no idea she could feel that good.
She trusted Tanner. She wanted Tanner. All that was left was to give herself to Tanner and keep her fear from getting in the way of that.
Instead of speaking, she simply nodded and a low growl left Tanner’s throat and rumbled against the skin of her neck as he pressed a tender kiss to her throbbing pulse. Temperance felt yet another thrilling jolt of pleasure course through her.
Tanner moved his mouth back to her breast and suckled again causing Temperance’s legs to buckle. His strong arms wrapped around her held her up. She felt him stiffen and still a moment as his fingers danced over the raised scars that marred her back--the reminder of Trevor’s abuse--but Temperance didn’t have time to dwell on that before Tanner was lowering her onto the bed and moving his mouth back to hers.
Temperance lost track of all time and thought as their lips tenderly assaulted one another and their tongues danced. She caressed his strong, muscular torso with her fingers learning every inch just as he was caressing her.
Then she felt his hand dance lower until it dipped down into the thick curls between her thighs. Temperance stiffened. She couldn’t do this. Then Tanner’s mouth was against her ear and his tender voice soothed her, “This is me, Temp. Tanner. No one else. No one other than me will ever touch you like this. Let me show you how good it can be, sweetheart.”
Temperance took a deep, shuddering breath and let her thighs fall apart as she relaxed against the bed. A long, calloused finger buried itself into the wetness that was coating Temperance and the shockwave of pleasure was unlike anything that Temperance could have ever imagined existing. She cried out Tanner’s name and her hips thrust forward.
Tanner growled and his mouth once again went to her swollen nipples as his fingers molded, worked, teased and pleasured Temperance’s core. Temperance gripped the sheets in her fists and felt the most curious thing happening to her body. Pleasure continued to build and it felt as if there was a leather band pulling tighter and tighter with each and every stroke of Tanner’s finger and swirl of his tongue. Temperance felt herself lifting higher and higher and then suddenly the band snapped.
White light flashed inside Temperance’s mind, blinding her to all else as wave after wave of pleasure coursed through her. She cried out Tanner’s name as she shook and quaked against him. Thinking, breathing, fear--all those things vanished and all her mind could comprehend was pleasure.
Slowly Temperance floated back down to the bed and her senses returned. Tanner was now lying beside her and his hand gently stroked her hip. She looked into his eyes and blushed. “I… I don’t know what happened…”
“Pleasure, Temperance. It was pleasure,” he assured her with a smile. Tanner stood and his hands went to his trousers. Temperance sat up and grabbed them, stopping him from undoing the button.
He gave her a questioning look but Temperance simply released his hands and, with trembling fingers, she undid his trousers herself and pushed them down his legs.
He was long, hard and thick and Temperance gasped at the sight of him. The beginning of fear began to build in her chest. Men enjoyed being taken into a woman’s mouth but she couldn’t… she couldn’t do it. Memories, scents, tastes--they all came flooding back causing her to gasp for breath until Tanner put his finger under her chin, lifted up her face and then swooped down upon her with tender kisses.
He laid her back upon the bed and he braced himself over her--never pausing in his gentle caress of her lips. When he did pull away from Temperance, it was only to look into her eyes.
“Tell me you want me, Temperance. Tell me it’s okay…” he whispered.
Temperance stared into those blue/gray eyes and swallowed hard. Would it
hurt? She bit her lip…nothing he had done so far had hurt her. Surely Tanner wouldn’t do anything that would cause her pain. If he seemed sure it would be pleasurable she should trust him.
Slowly, Temperance nodded and Tanner smiled brightly before once again dropping his lips to hers. Temperance’s grip on his shoulders was tight with nervousness when she felt the tip of his cock against the warm wetness of her still tingling womanhood.
Then in a swift, fluid motion, Tanner was inside of her.
Temperance felt him fill her to the max. His body and her body became one and were as close as a man and a woman could ever be. There was no pain, no roughness, nothing mean or degrading like she had known before.
She should have known. She shouldn’t have felt any of that fear for Tanner. With Tanner she felt only gentleness, kindness and a passion and pleasure so all-consuming that she couldn’t speak and could only moan out his name as he moved inside of her.
Time lost all meaning as the two moved as one. Temperance felt that leather band tightening once again and knew that pure heaven was waiting on the other side. She cried out Tanner’s name as that band once again snapped and Tanner stiffened and moaned her name in return. Temperance felt him spill himself inside of her just before he collapsed upon the mattress and pulled her into his chest.
Neither of them spoke for a long while. Tanner simply caressed her bare back and arm as Temperance listened to the thundering of his heart slow to a smooth and steady beat. Her body tingled and felt heavy and sated. Her mind was full of peace. Temperance had never imagined she could feel this kind of calm after being with a man--but this wasn’t just any man. This was Tanner and he had just given her yet another reason to love him.
Against Her Will Page 26