Grant was much like her own father, a man who would rather cut off an arm than see her hurt. Graced with more maturity and experience than she had before, Caitlin could see the truth in her mother’s claim that Paddy had been so worried about her well-being on the rig that she believed removing herself from that life would ultimately save his. A man with his mind preoccupied with things other than business doesn’t survive long in the oil business.
“We need to talk,” Caitlin said.
Grant agreed with gentle solemnity. “Yes, we do.”
Eyes the color of liquid emeralds sparkled with determination as she presented her opening arguments. “Something I thought I heard you say earlier made me deliberately seek out your bed.”
Grant raised an eyebrow at the forthright nature that he had come to so respect. Her tone was so earnest he had to fight to suppress an indulgent smile.
“With every intention of making it very difficult for you to toss me out of it,” she continued meeting his gaze directly.
“And just what was it I said to turn you into such a wanton vixen?” he asked in an equally solemn timbre.
Caitlin sighed in exasperation. “I was hoping you’d remember without having to be prompted,” she admitted stiffly, worrying that she was sacrificing her pride on the strength of a mere dream.
“Could it be that I find you to be the most beautiful woman in the world?” Grant pondered aloud.
His words caused roses to blush in her cheeks as Caitlin shook her head no.
“Was it that you are without a doubt the finest geologist I’ve ever had the privilege of working with?”
Words of such high praise were gentle balm to a heart that had labored so long and hard to prove worthy, but they were not the ones Caitlin so desperately needed to hear. The lump in her throat prevented her from saying so though. Again she numbly shook her head.
Taking her chin between his thumb and forefinger, Grant gazed into eyes as soft and innocent as a child’s. Such guileless eyes made him ashamed of toying with such a gentle heart for sport.
“Was it that I love you?” he asked, his voice a velvet purr. “With all of my heart? And that in the instant that you fell unconscious to the drilling floor and I thought I’d lost you, I realized how foolish I had been in rejecting the love you offered me. Is that what you thought you heard me say?”
Answering her husband with tears of joy, Caitlin most emphatically nodded her head yes.
It felt good to hear the truth spoken between them at last. Without her beside him, Grant’s life lost all meaning. That which had once held monumental importance to him shrank into insignificance next to the possibility of his Caitlin’s demise. A bankrupt business was nothing compared to a bankrupt heart.
Wearing the elegant gown, which she had bought with the intention of seducing him, she was to Grant the most wondrous vision his eyes had ever beheld. All satin and lace and perfumed skin as soft as angel kisses, his wife threw back her covers and beckoned him with arms outstretched.
“Come to me, my love.”
It was an invitation Grant could not resist. Peeling off his clothes, he jumped into bed beside her. Burying his hands in the black cloud of her hair, he found it softer than the silken gown clinging so enticingly to her form. In contrast to the cool fabric of her negligee, Caitlin’s bare shoulders were hot to his touch. Lost in the heavenly sensation of skin against skin, he groaned aloud,
When his lips brushed against hers, she opened her mouth for him and teased him unmercifully with the tip of her tongue. Driven to his limits, Grant proceeded to devour her with kisses that left her dizzy and weak and begging for more.
“See what you do to me,” he commanded, taking one of her hands and guiding it to his rigid arousal.
Gripping it firmly, Caitlin tried not to gasp at the magnificence of the power entrusted to her. Fire and the desire to pleasure her husband surged through every nerve in her body. Rolling on top of him, she sought permission in eyes glittering with anticipation.
The Ice Princess of her youth melted beneath raging flames of passion. Finding herself enveloped in a conflagration beyond her control, Caitlin followed her feminine instincts in the utter trust that Grant would not intentionally hurt her. The act of mounting him was so beautiful that it brought tears to her eyes as she slid down the hard length of him. Silhouetting his heart with the fingers of both hands splayed open upon his chest, she cried out in rapture as she became one in soul and body with her husband.
Unwilling to release the woman trembling with pleasure in his arms, Grant lingered in contemplation over her irresistible face. He pushed a long, dark tendril from her cheek with his thumb. Looking deeply into eyes shimmering with love and total acceptance of who and what he was caused his voice to thicken with emotion as he put his doubts about their future into words.
“I want to renegotiate the deal we struck.”
“Oh?”
Fascinated by the shape of her mouth around that single syllable, Grant drew an unsteady breath. “That’s right. The terms are no longer acceptable to me. Since I agreed to them under duress I was hoping you would consider a couple of added stipulations.”
“Such as?”
Caitlin quirked an inquisitive eyebrow at him. Having experienced heavenly ecstasy in his arms, she could not imagine life as anything other than Mrs. Grant Davis. Anything less would leave her without a soul.
Still, how could she possibly hold him if he was intent on getting out of their forced marriage? If he still saw her as a burden unfairly foisted upon him by a man who refused to die and relinquish his claim to a deathbed wish, Grant could be contractually bound to the last person on earth he would have chosen to have married. Knowing full well that this particular man preferred making his own decisions, Caitlin awaited the words that would affect the rest of her life.
“First off, I’d like to see that clause about this being a temporary arrangement reworded in more permanent terms,” he said, fixing her with eyes that held the whole world in their depths. “Say forever.”
The breath that had been trapped in her lungs came out in a whoosh of relief as she threw her arms around his neck.
“Forever sounds good to me,” she sobbed, almost strangling on the joy which clogged her throat.
Grant stroked her hair lovingly for a long moment before speaking again. When he did at last, his voice too cracked with emotion. “I hope you know that I have nothing to offer you but my love.”
The shattering tenderness of that admission stirred her soul. He truly loved her! Despite his worries to the contrary, Caitlin was quite sure that she could live on nothing but the nectar of those words until the very end of time.
“It’s more than enough.”
“Not for your mother,” he mumbled, watching twilight cast its purple cloak over the lengthening shadows of the day.
Cuddling against the full length of his naked body, Caitlin commanded his full attention. “You just leave Mother to me and concentrate on making us happy.”
Seventeen
“Have I ever mentioned how much I like that nightie?” Grant asked his wife over a steaming cup of coffee.
Wiggling her eyebrows, Caitlin made a self-deprecating little moue as she twirled around full circle. “You mean this old thing?”
Playfulness added just the right spice to a breakfast of bacon, eggs, and cinnamon toast. The scent of commitment complimented the delicious smell wafting through the small trailer. Though hope of financial security lay dormant beneath layers of stubborn earth, Grant and Caitlin had discovered something far more precious in each other’s arms.
Last night between bouts of heavenly passion, they had shared with each other their hopes and dreams, awakening in the morning with the understanding that love supersedes mere lust and defies rational thought. While most couples discuss the intimate details of their expectations before marriage, they were still negotiating uncharted territory. For instance, Grant was first surprised then delighted to discover th
at although her career was important to Caitlin, she had no desire whatsoever to postpone having babies.
His babies.
Lots of them. So they would never have to be as lonely as they both had been growing up as only children. They agreed that siblings would add a dimension of insight and an added layer of support to help one another through tough times.
Grant had never allowed himself to think of raising a family with such an incredible woman. That a lifetime plagued by loneliness would be soon filled with the sound of laughter and the patter of miniature versions of the two of them was nothing short of miraculous to him. In between kisses, he promised Caitlin however many children she wanted—just so long as each and every one was the product of their love.
Filled with a sense of utter well-being, Grant felt the need to share his joy with the man who had made it all possible. “What do we say we take the afternoon off and drive into Casper to see your father?”
Caitlin’s face broke into a radiant smile. “You know how much that would mean to him—and to me! Talking to him on the phone every day just isn’t the same as seeing him in person.”
Grant knew only that he was willing to spend every day for the rest of his life working to keep that smile affixed to his lovely wife’s face. Gazing across the table at her, he felt as if he were seeing an angel materialize before his eyes. “You are so beautiful,” he observed. “How did I ever get so lucky?”
“I believe you were coerced into it,” Caitlin replied with complete candor. “Still if you’re able to dole out compliments this early in the day before I even get a chance to run a brush through my hair, you must really be committed to making this crazy marriage work.”
“You better believe I am. Come here,” he invited smoothly, his eyes darkening with a craving for something other than food.
Caitlin needed no further prompting. Setting her own cup of coffee down, she obediently positioned herself in her husband’s lap. His lips found hers a willing accomplice. He kissed her with such expertise that she was left breathless at the end of it. Breathless and eager for more.
No less than a lifetime more.
That their food grew cold was no fault of the heat generated by their early morning passion. Grateful that her husband was wearing nothing more than a pair of formfitting, worn jeans, Caitlin ran her hands over his bare chest. “I can’t get enough of touching you,” she confessed in a whisper.
Opening her robe to his gaze and roaming hands, Grant admitted the same. Satiated from a night of incredible lovemaking, he was amazed that the mere sight of his wife’s breasts demurely covered by strategically placed satin appliqués was enough to arouse him to the point of dragging her back to bed without further sustenance.
A loud knock at the front door made him groan aloud. The intrusion merely confirmed the obvious. This was one meal destined to be eaten cold.
Not eager for any of the crew to see his wife in such a lovely state of disarray, Grant rose reluctantly to his feet. “I’ll get it,” he said, giving her a sexually scorching look that said don’t move a muscle; I’ll be right back.
Irritated by the insistence of the intruder pounding upon his door, he pasted a threatening scowl upon his face and padded barefoot across the room.
“This had better be important,” he muttered under his breath. Throwing the door wide-open, he barked, “What is it now?”
His mother-and father-in-law stood on the other side of the open doorway, wearing matching startled expressions at the obvious lack of hospitality with which they were greeted. Laura Leigh jumped as the door swung open. Had Paddy not held her at the elbow, it appeared she might have fled.
Grant gaped at them in disbelief. “What are you doing here?” he stammered.
“Aren’t you going to invite us in?” countered a smooth, cultured voice tinged with reproach at the idea that they might just be left standing on the stoop indefinitely.
Immediately recognizing that voice as belonging to her mother, Caitlin vaulted across the room without regard to her state of dishevelment. The sight of her father standing next to Laura Leigh was so unexpected that it stopped her in midstride.
“Daddy!” she squealed as both parents stepped inside the trailer.
The next thing Caitlin knew she was being enveloped in the first family hug that she could remember in years. Belatedly she remembered that the newest addition to that fragile family unit had been unintentionally left out of their circle of love. Slipping an arm around Grant’s waist, she attempted to draw him in, only to feel resistance in his tense muscles. The one at his jaw throbbed with tension.
Closing the door behind them, Caitlin attempted to put everyone at ease. “What are you doing up and out of bed?” she asked her father in a tone that vacillated between respect and a scolding.
Mussed, her hair formed a dark, lovely cloud about a face flushed with passion. Her robe gaped open, revealing far more about what was going on in her marriage than she was ready to discuss at the moment.
Her mother and father looked at one another in uncomfortable silence. The knowing look they shared put a toothy grin on Paddy’s face. Laura Leigh’s lips tightened into a tight pucker. Self-consciously Caitlin tugged her robe shut but was unable to cover the telltale blush that crept from beneath its neckline.
Remembering both her manners and her father’s condition, she invited them to “Come on in and sit down.”
“Your mother was worried that I’d made a mistake forcing you two together, but it looks like you kids are getting along just fine,” Paddy ventured awkwardly, searching his daughter’s green eyes for assurance. “If you wouldn’t mind putting her mind at ease, we’ll get out of your hair and let you get back to whatever you were doing.”
The dark look Laura Leigh shot him wiped the hopeful smile from his face. Pale and contrite, he shrugged his shoulders. Caitlin rushed to help him to the couch.
“I never expected you to get out of the hospital so soon,” she admitted. “How are you feeling? What did the doctors tell you? What kind of medicine do they have you on? What about physical therapy? Have you started an exercise program?”
Paddy did his best to dodge the questions that came at him like bullets. Holding up his hands in surrender as he took his seat, he begged her to slow down and take a breath. “Whoa there, little girl. One thing at a time, please.”
Stepping over to the couch, Grant extended Paddy his hand. “It’s good to see you,” he said in a voice kept deliberately even so as not to expose the onslaught of emotions threatening to come to the surface.
Paddy’s handshake was considerably weaker than Grant had remembered it, but the warmth in the older man’s eyes hadn’t dimmed at all. “It’s good to see you too, Grant,” he replied. “Damn good.”
They had barely unclasped hands when Laura Leigh announced in a crisp regal voice, “Caitlin dear, your father has something to tell you.”
Her tone suggested that the news they were about to hear was not good. In fact, Paddy’s manner implied that had it not been for Laura Leigh’s presence he would have avoided the subject altogether. Squirming uncomfortably, he looked like a recalcitrant child who had just been hauled into the principal’s office for high crimes on the playground.
“Paddy!” Laura Leigh prodded. “You promised to…”
“Can’t you see with your own two eyes how unnecessary it is?”
As resolute as the statue of justice, Laura Leigh would have none of his excuses. Grant had never seen anybody back Paddy down as this lady did with nothing more than a determined glint in eyes just a shade lighter than her daughter’s.
“What is it?”
Caitlin took a seat beside her father and steeled herself against the possibility that the doctors had discovered something horrible during his recovery period in the hospital. Taking his hand, she held it prayerfully in both of hers. Surely God would not be so cruel as to strike her father down now that she had found perfect happiness as Grant’s wife. Now that she was ready to
provide Paddy with that passel of grandchildren he had always wanted.
The reassuring squeeze her father exerted upon her hand was in complete contradiction to the anxious look upon his face.
“If it’s about the rig,” Grant interjected. “You have to know that we did the very best we could. Even so, I feel I’ve let you down. I’ve got to be honest with you. I doubt if we’re going to make it.”
The smile upon Paddy’s face surprised both Grant and Caitlin.
“I have a whole new outlook on what’s important and what’s not. Businesses come and go. Family is forever.”
Grant was puzzled by the look he exchanged with Laura Leigh. Had he only imagined the intimacy in that gaze? More than likely it was simply Paddy’s way of reining in Laura Leigh’s anger at discovering that the marriage of convenience he had arranged for their daughter had developed into something much more real. And far more physical than what she had been led to believe when they had left her back at the hospital in Casper.
Pride would not allow Grant to hang his head. If Laura Leigh was expecting an apology from him, she would be standing there a long, long time. He wasn’t about to apologize for falling in love with her daughter.
Unable to stand the suspense any longer, Caitlin asked, “What is it you want to tell us, Daddy?”
“If you won’t tell them, I will,” Laura Leigh said, shaking a reproving finger at Paddy.
“Can’t you please just let it be?” he implored.
“Marriage shouldn’t be based upon falsehood, and I’ve already told you that I’ll have no part of it,” she told him. Turning her attention to the young people in the room, she continued as smoothly as if she were merely pressing a wrinkle from her immaculate cream-colored pants. “Caitlin, I think you have the right to know that although your father was seriously ill in the hospital, he deliberately played it up some in hopes of manipulating you into marrying the man he had handpicked for you.”
The Cowboy Takes A Bride (The Bridal Bid #2) Page 17