Speechless, Taryn gawked at him. She had been sure he had already taught her everything there was to know concerning lovemaking. They had been more intimate than she had ever envisioned in her girlish imagination. What more could there be? He had kissed her with his tongue caressing the regions of her mouth, caressed her with his hands until she begged for more, and joined himself with her to bring them to fulfillment. “What other things?”
Her open curiosity intrigued him. “When you’re ready, I’ll show you what I’m referencing.”
“Don’t you think I’m ready now?”
“Not yet, sweetheart,” he said, brushing his lips against hers. “But,” he added, to soothe her impatience for the knowledge, “I’ll do my best to hasten your lessons.” Taryn had become accustomed to his intimate touch and the joining of their bodies, yet she had no idea of what she asked. He had no intention of frightening her by rushing the various techniques to create pleasure for both of them. In time, all in time. The bent of their conversation aroused him. He couldn’t seem to contain himself around her. Her simplest movements or most innocent remarks made him want to drag her into his arms, taste her mouth, and feel himself inside her. “Why don’t we walk down to the river,” he said, his voice strained.
Reaching the river, the horses grazing nearby, on impulse, Taryn sat on a boulder, and removed her shoes. Lifting her skirts, she rolled down her silk stockings.
Mesmerized by her movements, he stared at the shapely turn of her ankle. He felt no better than a rutting boar with the thoughts flying through his head. He justified his possessive thoughts. She was his wife. His very innocent wife, his conscience added.
She glanced over, noting his gaze fastened on her exposed legs. “Is something wrong?”
“Yes,” he admitted, shaking himself. “I’ve discovered I won’t need to teach you much about seduction. Your lack of knowledge is more powerful than I realized.”
A smile more brilliant than the sun graced her face. “Am I seducing you?”
Taryn’s voice held a soft, alluring tone. He swallowed, feeling his lower region hardening in response to her words. His voice felt dry when he spoke. “God help me, you are.” To his surprise, his hands shook as he reached out to take her hand.
She studied his face, a thoughtful look in her eyes. “Why does everything seem so right when we’re alone and so confusing when we’re not?”
He placed a stray wisp of her hair behind her ear. “Perhaps our instincts take over, and there is no one to cloud our judgment.”
She slid her arms around his waist, pressing her head against his chest, closing her eyes. “Jared, let’s go away somewhere where we can be alone. Somewhere where no one knows us.”
“I would love to take you away, but I can’t. Not now anyway. I know these few days we’ll have aren’t much of a honeymoon, but I have to stay in Sacramento until the truth of the murder is resolved. I always ignored rumors and accusations in the past, but this time it involves you. I swear to you we will have a honeymoon when this is all over. The sure way to put this behind us is if I discover for myself who is responsible for Dean Breck’s murder.”
“Will you let me help you? I’m not being fair. You deserve the benefit of the doubt.”
He smiled. “We’ll see.”
Returning to town, they left the horses at the livery. Taryn walked toward the hotel when he took her hand, turning down another street. He ignored the pointing fingers and sidelong glances of those they passed. Reaching his destination, he held the door of the jeweler’s shop open.
The jeweler stepped out from behind a curtained room. “May I help you?”
“Yes,” Jared said. “We would like to see your wedding bands and diamonds.”
The jeweler removed a tray from a glass case.
Taryn felt a strong sense of love spread through her realizing he wanted their union symbolized with a set of gold bands missing during their hasty marriage ceremony.
Looking over the selection, Jared shook his head. “No, these are not what I had in mind. This style is fine,” he said, picking up one intricate gold band, but I would like my wife’s band to contain a row of rubies and diamonds while mine would be a match without the additional jewels.” He shifted his body to face her. “How does it sound to you?”
Taryn had to force her mouth not to drop as a result of her astonishment. She had expected a simple gold band. A nod is all she could muster.
“Would you prefer something other than diamonds and rubies?”
“No, those are fine,” she managed in a dry voice.
“I have nothing like you describe,” the jeweler said. “I’d be happy to design the rings to your specifications.”
“Now for your diamond ring,” Jared continued. Both she and the jeweler gaped in dazed wonder. He had such a casual approach to the purchase of such expensive pieces. On reflex, the jeweler reached for a tray of his finest diamond rings. Jared perused the rings, then addressed Taryn. “Which one do you like?”
Dumbfounded, she stared at the diamonds. “Jared, it’s too much.” “The band will be more than sufficient. The cost—”
“Which one do you want?” His gaze held hers, and his voice relayed his firm resolve to set matters right.
She glanced at the rings again. His expression ensured he would not take ‘no’ for an answer. She picked up one then another from the velvet tray. Placing one beautiful octagon-shaped diamond on her left hand, she smiled at the perfect fit. She raised her eyes to his in question. His smile and nod expressed his approval.
Jared caught the jeweler’s attention across the glass case. “We’ll also take this one.”
“I can have the wedding bands completed within the next week,” the jeweler said, exchanging the bill of sale for the bank draft. “Thank you, Mr…King,” he said glancing at the signature. He hesitated, realizing who stood before him.
Over supper, Taryn fingered the engagement ring he had bought during the afternoon. “Jared, the rings you purchased, they’re beautiful, but it wasn’t necessary to spend so much. I would have been as happy with something simpler.”
He smiled. “The cost is unimportant. There’s something you don’t know about me, Taryn. I think it’s time you did. Money will never be a problem for us.”
“It will be if you continue to be so generous. We won’t be able to afford the necessities.”
He laughed. “I can afford to be generous.”
“How?”
“Through my investments of which I, or we,” he corrected, “have many. I doubt it would be possible for us to spend all the money in our lifetimes.”
She felt dizzy with his revelation. “But if you’re wealthy, why did you agree to work for my uncle?”
He leaned forward over the table. “So I could be near you.”
She felt a blush suffusing her face. She leaned back in her chair. “Are there any other surprises about you I should know?”
“Probably,” he commented without elaborating.
A couple being ushered to the table adjacent to them made a great show of expressing their outraged disgust at being seated anywhere near them. Throughout the remainder of their meal, three other couples had refused a table by them, two had left the restaurant, and those remaining whispered behind menus with their gazes darting in their direction. By the time she and Jared had reached their suite of rooms, Taryn couldn’t contain her fury.
“Sometimes I wish we were back on the train. Everything seemed so much simpler.” She threw a glaring stare back at the door. “Those old biddies have nothing better to do than gossip about us and point fingers to brighten up their colorless lives? Did you hear what one woman said?” She turned toward where he sat at the desk, not waiting for his response. “She suggested to her friend we should be run out of town? This,” Taryn stressed, “from a woman whose husband makes his money from fleecing the patrons of his saloon allowing all manner of perversion to go on in the rooms on the second floor of Rose’s Saloon.” She stomped
about the living room in annoyance. “Every one of them so sure you’re responsible for Dean Breck’s murder. They’re saying your temper had to be the cause. I’ve seen you’re temper on more than one occasion, and it has never driven you to insensibility. Of course, not one of them can come up with a real motive. They all know you were with me. Besides, you had no motive and; therefore, couldn’t have done it. No, it’s easier for them to feed on gossip. Ignorant fools!” She kicked her shoes off and sent them skidding under the couch.
“Taryn, come here.”
His soft tone calmed her tirade. Her chest still heaving with indignation, she stomped across the room.
He sat forward in his chair, taking her hands in his as she stood before him. “What did you say?”
He held his breath, waiting for her recognition. “I said they were ignorant fools.”
“No, the prior statement.”
She reiterated the words in a rush. “I said you couldn’t have killed Dean Breck because you had no motive.” She froze, thinking of what she had said. You…had no motive.”
He smiled in relief. Taryn found the answer to remove her doubts.
“Jared,” she breathed, squatting down to kneel between his legs, her hands resting on his knees, “I never even considered the motive. I’m so sorry.”
“Taryn, you don’t have to apologize…”
She placed her fingers over his lips. “Yes, I do. I was wrong, Jared.”
He didn’t realize how important her belief in him meant. He drew her toward him. “Taryn.” He embraced her, feeling such completeness to his life.
His gaze locked with hers as he sat back. “I have loved you from the moment I held you in my arms. I wanted to tell you the night I came to your room.”
Taryn felt her throat constrict with emotion. She recalled the moment she first saw him, how he had attracted her. The way he’d prevented harm from coming to her on the train first from the cowboy who had accosted her then with the stranger at the Omaha Station. The picnic they’d shared, and his charm. Then there was his willingness to go along with the marital ruse to protect her reputation for the benefit of Etta and others. Even his commitment to marrying her when her reputation had become questionable. Would he have done any of those things if he didn’t care? She found it incomprehensible. There had been no reason for him to help her in any one of those instances and yet, he had. Reaching up, she placed her hands at the nape of his neck, her fingers sinking into the thick waves of his hair. “No one has ever made me feel the way you do or made me happier.”
Taryn’s words caused him more happiness than he ever imagined. He slanted his mouth over hers, his kiss intense, affirming their love.
“Make love to me, Jared. I want to forget everything but you.”
He tightened his arms around her and crushed his mouth over hers. Lifting her in his arms, he carried her into the bedroom, laying her on the bed, taking immense pleasure undressing her at his leisure. He would make her forget, make them both forget.
His lovemaking was wild and fierce. He felt himself on fire with an uncontrollable need, a burning desire to be consumed by her. Every touch of her hands sent him reeling. He suckled her breasts until she begged for more. He slid his fingers into her with swift sure strokes to drive her beyond the brink of thought.
Taryn felt spasm after spasm of pure ecstasy. Panting and pleading, she grasped his shoulders, her fingers digging into his flesh. “Please. I want you now!”
He stiffened with desire, hardened and readied by her touch and words. He positioned himself over her, teasing her with the touch of his throbbing member. She cried out, whimpering for release. With one powerful thrust, he drove inside her, causing her breath to catch in her throat with the sheer bliss. He rocked back and forth, moving his hips to heighten her pleasure.
Taryn felt as though she were on some other plain. His thrusts came faster and faster, each one fiercer than the last. She held him at his hips, pressing him onward. His penetration deepened his driving plunges more urgent.
He shouted her name with raw emotion as he spilled himself within her, shuddering with the release as she tightened herself around him.
Several moments passed before either could speak. He rolled on his side, cradling her in his arms. After a handful of times they’d made love, he discovered each time increased his need. Taryn was responsible for the overpowering joy he felt when they made love. He would never want another woman.
“Every time you make love to me, Jared, I find I need it all the more.”
He smiled. He had awakened her desires, and they would never lay dormant again. He rolled over with her still in his arms. There were so many things he had yet to awaken in her. Things he had yet to teach her about herself and making love. All he wanted was time with her.
Chapter Nineteen
Brad Thompson finished packing his belongings in his room at the Dalton ranch, carrying his case downstairs.
Madeline met him at the base of the stairs. “I don’t know what to say. I’m so sorry.”
“Yes. An unfortunate incident.” He nodded to Jonathan and Gwen Dalton.
“I’ll walk you out,” Dennis Ashford offered.
Outside, Brad placed his case on the seat of the waiting carriage. “I hope my position at the bank hasn’t been jeopardized by my delay here.”
Dennis shook his head to assure Brad. “I’ll wire ahead to ease any conflict at the bank.”
“How good of you, Mr. Ashford. As upset as I am over the situation, I know it can’t compare to what you must be feeling over this disgrace. I suppose I should have known something like this would happen with the way Taryn fawned all over King every time he was around.”
Dennis leveled his gaze on Brad, his eyes narrowing. “Brad, Taryn’s actions may have shocked me, but she is still my daughter. I will love her until my death no matter what she may or may not do.”
“Of course. I hope you don’t think I… I mean,” he said swallowing his gaff, plastering a smile on his face. “You will still wire the bank to secure my future standing?”
Dennis remained silent for a moment allowing Brad to assume his assent. He glared at the departing carriage as it wound around the path and off the Dalton property. A shrewd smile touched his mouth, his gaze still lingering in the direction the carriage had taken. “Yes, Brad, I’ll wire the bank with a message concerning your future standing.”
****
The following day, Taryn and Jared decided to go to the annual festival, Sacramento’s way of greeting the winter season. The weather cooperated with a beautiful sunny day and a cool refreshing breeze creating as close to a ‘winter’ chill as Sacramento was liable to know. The park bustled with people. Strolling musicians, food stands, and homemade quilts made by ladies’ groups were evidenced. Various other items for sale were crafted by local merchants and townspeople.
Walking through the park, Jared glanced around. “Good of the town to hold a festival in honor of our marriage.” He gave her a lopsided grin.
Taryn laughed at his jesting. In spite of the daunting idea of confronting rude stares and negative comments, her mood stayed light in his presence.
He kissed her temple. “What would you like to do first?”
“You mean besides returning to the hotel and hiding in our suite?” She shifted her gaze away from a woman jeering as she brushed past them. Every glance chanced their way held stunned expressions of them daring to show their faces in public. At least, it’s what she perceived to be on people’s minds.
“We’re here to enjoy ourselves,” he said, squeezing her hand. “Not to explain away our presence.”
“You’re right.” She set her jaw with a determined tilt of her head.
“Much better.” He squeezed her to his side, smiling in appreciation of the determination in her expression. A crowd gathered up ahead around one game. He guided her forward to stand at the forefront of the spectators. A three-legged race had countless couples whose ankles were tied together hob
bling toward the finish line much to the diversion of the crowd.
“There’s Robert.” Robert Michaels and his partner raced toward the finish line. She had to clamp her hand over her mouth to stifle the shout of laughter when Robert lost his balance, he and his partner’s feet tangling causing them to fall to the ground with a thump. Jared didn’t bother to hide his laughter. The sound of his genuine enjoyment pleased her. There was so little reason these days for him to be happy.
Robert made his way back to the starting point. The caller for the race raised his voice to announce the next race where each team must consist of a man and woman.
Taryn waved to Robert as he approached where they stood.
“Good to see you,” Robert said, gulping air into his lungs. “Tell me you didn’t witness my near finish in the last race?” One of the assistants tied his ankle to Marie Dubois’.
Jared laughed. “You mean the race you attempted to finish face first?” Robert grinned in good humor.
“Aren’t you joining the race, or are you afraid you don’t stand a chance against us?”
“Come on, Taryn,” Jared decided. “I believe we’ve been challenged.”
Standing with their ankles tied together, their arms around each other, they stood next to Robert and Marie. They waited with all the other couples for the go-ahead from the game caller. When the shout sounded, it took them a few steps to get their stride in rhythm. Robert along with a few other teams were ahead of them. Jared held tight to her waist while she used her free hand to grasp the skirt of her gown to prevent herself from tripping.
They were laughing so hard at the difficulty of trying to run in sync they stumbled. Taryn laughed harder. Jared righted them before they lost total balance then continued running. They were abreast of Robert and Marie who were in the lead.
“Wait…” Taryn was out of sync when Jared picked up the pace to pull ahead. She couldn’t even get the rest of her words out through her laughter to tell him she wasn’t ready.
Robert and Marie crossed the finish line with Robert shouting his triumph as she and Jared stumbled over the line to the ground.
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