by Everly West
His wife sat in the sleigh and watched the animals and he knew she'd never been on a ranch before. Everything was so different for her now and he sometimes wondered if he'd made a mistake ordering himself a mail-order bride. He needed a wife who would work around the ranch with him, not sit in the sleigh and look pretty. Which she did very well.
But then he also knew it had been less than a month, a very rough time for her to learn about the snows of Montana.
"Okay, I'm going to walk down to the pond and break up the ice so the cattle can get a drink. I'll be back."
Thirty minutes later, he loaded everything and they rode to another pasture.
When the cattle started herding, he jumped out of the sleigh and was surprised when Anna stood.
"Let me help you," she said. "I can break up the ice on the pond. I watched you and it didn't appear hard."
If he wasn't starting to get cold and tired, he would have said no, but maybe this would help her feel like she was helping on the ranch.
"Okay, I'll feed the cows and then I'll come over to the pond and help you. Then we can drive back to the house."
He handed her a long stick and a big hammer he used. She gazed at the tools and then lifted her skirts as she made her way to the pond. Swinging the hammer, she hit the ice and nothing happened. She hit it again and this time he heard the crack. The cattle would soon have water.
With that, he continued to lift the bales of hay and toss them onto the ground. On the last bale, he heard her scream.
Whirling around, he saw Anna butted by a curious cow, land on her stomach, and slide across the ice.
Levi cursed. His southern belle, his wife, Anna stopped with a splash into the frigid water.
When Anna hit the cold water, she thought the blood in her veins must have frozen instantly. She gasped, her long skirts weighing her down, dragging her under. She tried to kick to the surface, but she had no strength and she felt so heavy. She was going to die here in Montana in this cow pond.
The feel of someone gripping her arm and dragging her to the top of the water had her gasping for air as she broke the surface.
"Anna," Levi cried, his voice urgent.
Blinking her eyes, she could see him lying on the slab of ice where she'd fallen through. In shock, she stared at him.
"We've got to get you out of there," he said, pulling and tugging on her. "Kick."
She moved her legs, trying to push herself up. The pond couldn't be very deep. Tugging on her arm, she finally was high enough she managed to get her chest on the slick ice. Levi grabbed her coat and pulled her out of the water. He didn't stop until she was lying on solid ground.
"Are you all right?" he asked.
She'd never felt so cold in all her life. No longer could she feel her fingers or toes or even her limbs and she just wanted to close her eyes and go to sleep. She tried to move her lips, but they felt frozen.
Scooping her up in his arms, he carried her to the sleigh yelling at the cattle to get out of the way. When he reached the sleigh, he set her down and wrapped the fur around her. The warmth felt good, but still she was soaking wet and the air was ice cold.
With a click of the reins, he turned the sleigh and all but raced the vehicle through the snow. Once he almost flipped them, they were hurrying so fast. Anna tried to stay awake, but her eyes kept drifting close.
"Anna," Levi yelled. "We're almost there. Move your feet. Move your fingers."
But she couldn't feel them. She couldn't even shake her head, she felt so numb.
When they pulled up in front of the house, he tied the reins and then ran around to her side, where he picked her up again and carried her into the house. When they got inside, he immediately put on big pans of water to boil on the stove and threw extra logs on the fire to heat the water quickly.
Anna stood in the middle of the floor unable to move, her body shaking uncontrollably. He reached for her coat and tossed the wet piece of clothing aside. Then he started working on the buttons of her dress. "You know, I dreamed of undressing you slowly in front of a fire, but this wasn't exactly how I pictured it."
He dreamed of undressing her? She was shaking so badly that she couldn't stop him when he started to peel her dress off her body. She couldn't even speak, her lips were so numb. He held her while she stepped out of the sodden dress. Then he pulled off her drenched petticoats.
"I don't know why you insist on wearing these fool things. They almost killed you today. Another second and I would have been too late. Maybe from now on when you work around the ranch with me, you should either wear pants or at least leave the petticoats at home."
She did her best to glare at him, but she didn't know if she had the strength.
Once he had her petticoats removed, he reached for her chemise. Thank goodness she'd left her corset off. Since she lost her maid, she had given up on wearing hard-to-fasten clothing, and frankly, felt better because of it. But when he lifted her chemise, he would see her breasts. Yes, they were married, but this wasn't how she'd planned on him seeing her for the first time.
She couldn't stop him and didn't even have the strength to try. When he lifted the garment over her head, she didn't meet his gaze.
But he refused to pay attention to her. "Do you want to die? You've got to get out of these clothes."
As she stood there completely naked, he lifted her chin to meet his gaze. "You're beautiful. And this is not how I planned on seeing you the first time either, but sometimes things happen. He grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around her. "Stand as close to the fire as you can. I'm preparing you a bath and I'm hoping that will warm you up."
Right now, a bath sounded heavenly. He carried her close enough to the flames, she could feel the heat without the blanket catching fire. She watched him run into the kitchen and within minutes, he had a big brass tub big enough for two. He poured several pails of cold water in and then he poured the first hot batch into the tub. He tested the temperature and wasn't pleased.
He added more hot water. Finally, he smiled at her. Feeling a little better, she walked to him and he helped her into the tub. Anna sitting with knees bent, the water came only to her thighs.
"Give me a few minutes and that will be perfect," he said.
After placing another pail of water on the fire to heat, he hurried out the door to care for the remaining animals. He was gone for several minutes. When he returned, the water in the tub was starting to cool. He poured what he'd just heated and stepped behind the tub.
The sound of clothes falling to the floor stunned her. In a matter of seconds, she felt his naked body sliding into the tub behind her.
She gasped.
"Now, Anna, don't panic. This is the only way that I can get the water high enough to cover you and also warm you up. Just lean back against me and relax, honey."
How could she fight him, and it did feel heavenly. The hot water warmed her skin while his body heated her insides.
"Hell of a way to get me naked," she said, her lips finally able to work once again.
Levi laughed. "Genius, wasn't it. For a few minutes, I thought both of us were going swimming in that pond."
She leaned her head back against his chest. The feel of his hard muscles against her back, that manly muscle she'd never seen tucked against her back. But the weirdest part was it felt like this was where she belonged.
"You scared the hell out of me, Anna," he said with a sigh as he kissed the back of her neck. "Don't do that again."
"What? You don't like to go swimming in December?"
"No, we both could have died."
The thought sent a shiver of fright through her. The fear in his voice had her wondering what he was feeling at this moment, but she didn't have the courage to ask him.
Finally, she was starting to feel again, and her fingers and toes tingled with the sensation.
"Levi," she said quietly as she leaned against him. "Thank you."
His hand caressed the top of her head. "I’m never letting y
ou get near water again."
Levi had never been so frightened in all his life. When he'd seen her flailing about in that pond, he'd realized how much Anna meant to him. How much these last few weeks together had brought them together. Or at least for him.
Sometimes he thought she cared, and others, he couldn't help but think she would take the first stagecoach home to Charleston. Obviously, the woman had never lived on a ranch. Her clothes were not fitting for a ranch wife and she dressed like she was going to a party every day.
Soon, they would go into town and purchase her more appropriate clothing. But even that wouldn't have saved her today.
Even removing her frozen clothing, he had been so afraid that he wouldn't be able to save her. Now, sitting here with her naked in the tub, the feel of her silky skin against him. All he could think about was that he didn't want her to leave. He was falling in love with his southern belle and he couldn't let her go.
"Has the feeling returned?"
She wiggled her dainty toes and fingers and he longed to touch her everywhere. No, they still had several days, but how could he wait much longer? The water was starting to cool and he had another pail heating, but it would mean getting out of the tub, naked, and walking across the room in front of her. Was she ready to see her husband without clothing?
"The feeling is coming back, but it's almost painful," she said, no longer shaking.
"Keep moving your toes and fingers and it will stop," he said, knowing he should go after that hot water.
Slowly he rose, standing above her, he hoped she wouldn't look up, because her virgin eyes would be in for a shock.
Quickly, he stepped over to the fire and grabbed the warm water and added it to their bath, before climbing in behind her again.
She giggled.
"You find my nudity funny," he asked, gazing at her. "You know that really hurts a man's pride and ego."
She laughed harder.
His wife was laughing at him.
"Now you're really hurting my feelings," he said.
"No, it's not your body I'm laughing at. I've never seen a naked man before and your body is quite different from mine," she said, her sapphire eyes wide.
As much as her laughter hurt his ego, he tried to see things from her point of view. His wife was an innocent.
"Well, yes, it's supposed to be. That's the way God made us. Really, you've never seen a man's body?"
"Only in picture books that were quickly hidden from my father."
If she wasn't laughing at his body what was she giggling about? What had his wife giggling?
"So what was so funny?"
"Bacon. The way he was watching you, like he was petrified you were going to notice him over in his corner. He was almost cowering."
Levi glanced at the dog and shook his head. The mutt was curled up on his bed, not far from the fire.
"Now I'm really hurt," he said, leaning down close to her ear nuzzling her neck.
"Why?"
"I'm your husband. You were supposed to be looking at me. Noticing my muscles and how strong I am."
Leaning back against him, she sighed. "Oh, I noticed that a long time ago. Tonight, I got to see all those muscles without clothes. Both views are exceptional."
He groaned. Was he crazy? Why in the world had he thought it would be a good idea to crawl in this bathtub naked with his wife? Sure, he was trying to warm her, but think of the cost to himself.
She yawned. "I'm really tired. Do you think it would be all right for me to go to sleep now?"
All the way home, she had wanted to sleep and he refused to let her, fearing she would never wake. Now after fighting the effects of the cold, her body had to be exhausted. As much as he would’ve liked to continue cradling his wife's naked body in the hot water, she must be drained.
"Let me get you a towel and your robe," he said, crawling out of the tub. He glanced at Bacon who watched him suspiciously.
"You may think you're hiding over there, but you could use a bath," he said, staring at the animal.
The dog whined and seemed to sink further into his bed.
Anna laughed at the animal.
When Levi returned with a towel and her robe, she stood in the tub and he saw her swaying. "Are you all right?"
"I'm so tired."
He took the towel and briskly dried his wife's body. A body he had yet to touch and a longing overcame him that he could not hide. When he finished drying her, he wrapped the towel around his body before he helped her out of the big brass tub.
"Here's your robe," he said, handing it to her.
She reached up and touched the side of his face and he wanted to groan.
"Thank you," she said, "for saving me. For the bath and for an interesting evening with my very strong husband."
A moan escaped him as his mouth covered hers and he kissed her with all the pent-up passion he'd been holding in since he almost lost her. Though they had only been married a short time, the thought of losing her filled him with anguish. He was falling for his wife. He was falling in love with Anna and that frightened him. For if she decided at the end of thirty days that she no longer wanted him for a husband, he'd be devastated.
Chapter 6
The hours turned into days, and days into three weeks, all the while doing her best to not tempt her husband or herself with the forbidden.
Everything she’d learned and experienced crammed into her brain. The stress was getting to her and she needed an outlet. Her dreams echoed her worries.
Anna knew she was dreaming, but the nightmare refused to end. The colonel was standing over her in the pond and he refused to help her out of the icy water. No matter how she tried, he pushed her back into the frigid depths until finally she could no longer fight.
A scream ripped from her throat and she fought with all her strength, but the weight of her skirts pulled her beneath the murky water.
The feel of warm arms wrapped around her and she heard a voice. "Wake up, it's okay. It's just a dream."
Anna opened her eyes, and in the darkness, she could see Levi staring at her, concern in his voice. "You came back to me. After listening to you for the last few moments, I was beginning to worry."
She stared into his face. "The colonel was standing over me at the pond and he refused to let me out. The water was dragging me down and he was smiling as I went under for the last time."
Levi lay down beside her and wrapped her in his arms. "You're safe. Nothing will harm you as long as I have breath in my body. Nothing."
With her hand, she reached up and caressed the side of his face. "I believe you."
The feel of her husband's body wrapped around her as they lay together in bed filled her with contentment. Staring into his eyes, she wondered what it would be like to make love to her husband. But they had promised to wait thirty days, and yet, why was she waiting?
She could never go back to Charleston. There was nothing there for her. Nothing. And yet the thought of sleeping with Levi, when she first met him, terrified her. But now...
Now, she knew her husband may not be the man she had dreamed of being with but was more than a woman could ever want. No, he wasn't a dashing man in society. He was the salt of the earth. A man who would protect and honor and be the man of her dreams.
All she knew at this moment was that twice now he'd comforted her, he'd taken care of her and while he may not have riches, what he had given her in return was exactly what she needed.
"Levi, kiss me," she whispered in the dark.
A groan sounded from deep in the back of his throat.
"Anna, I want to kiss you. I want to show you how much I care, but you said you wanted to wait."
"Shut up and kiss me," she said again, this time more forcibly. Why was it that when you wanted a man to take you, he was being hesitant?
"Are you sure?"
"Levi Jackson, I've never been more sure in all my life. But if you stall one more minute, I'm going to kick you out of this bed."
"No turning back. No going back to Charleston."
If she left him, she would take his heart with her and then he would once again be alone.
"Yes," she whispered feeling every hard inch of him.
"I thought you would never say yes." He groaned as his mouth covered hers.
Levi woke before dawn, naked, curled next to Anna. Memories from the night before filled his mind, shaking him to his very core. The urge to wake his wife with sweet lovemaking almost overwhelmed him and yet he wanted to lie here and watch her sleep.
After almost losing her yesterday, he realized last night that he had fallen in love with Anna. Her sweet nature, her caring ways, but also the way she stood up to him. Just like last night, when she'd grown impatient with him for not kissing and touching her.
And then later, he'd teased and touched and shown her the ways between a man and woman committed to one another. And his wife had responded with a willingness that made him love her even more.
While she promised last night that her life was here with him and she would not be returning to Charleston, it was still his biggest fear. Now, they were man and wife, until death did they part, and he would do everything in his power to make certain that didn't happen until they were both old.
For several days, he'd kept his distance from her, protecting his heart and trying to dull the attraction he felt toward this woman. But last night, he feared she would freeze to death before he could get her home, and that made him realize life was fleeting and could be gone in an instant.
Like a stack of dominoes, she'd easily toppled his willpower, his convictions, and captured his heart and soul.
He wanted to grow his spread here in Montana, increase his herd and live his life in this wild land. This was his destiny. His place. And now Anna would live here by his side, bear his children, and together the two of them would make his land into a fine ranch.