The way he said pleasure sent a tremor of delight sliding through her. She could imagine them, tangled together in the grass…naked, his mouth hot and sweet as he trailed kisses down her neck, to her shoulder and then to suckle on a hard, pink nipple.
Her heart started to thump in her chest and heat spiraled through her. She wished she’d brought a fan.
“Do you feel all right?” he inquired. “You aren’t getting too much sun are you?”
The fact that her fantasies about him were having a physical effect made her squirm. All the nights of dreaming of being with Gerritt had fired her imagination too much. Riding next to him today was proving to be a major temptation.
She shifted in the saddle, aware that riding astride was putting friction on her most sensitive parts. When she’d spread her legs to climb on the horse, she realized her thin cotton drawers would provide little protection from the hard leather of the saddle .She settled her petticoats and the wide skirt of her brown cotton dress on each side of her. She’d never learned to ride sidesaddle, so she was grateful Gerritt hadn’t produced one for her use.
She tried to think of an answer to his question. “Perhaps I should have brought my parasol. I didn’t realize it would be so warm this time of year.”
Gerritt pointed ahead of them. “We’ll be in the shade of the trees when the trail cuts off just up around the bend. It should be cooler.”
Prudence felt tongue-tied, which was strange because she spent time nearly every day with this man. But they were rarely together alone. Even if Alma walked into town to attend to an errand, or went to check on her “boys” at the ranch, there were always people visiting the house. His mine manager, other mine owners, employees and, once in a while, a visitor from out of town. Gerritt’s home was a busy place.
But now they were alone together. The idea frightened and delighted Prudence at the same time.
“How far is it?” She felt a need to make small talk to keep her mind from wandering to images of Gerritt with his shirt off. Gerritt with his arms around her. Gerritt with his soft, sweet kisses ravishing her mouth.
Damnation she was doing it again! She shifted in her saddle. How on earth would she be able to endure hours of this torture?
“It’ll take a couple of hours. We’ll get there just in time for our picnic lunch.” His dimples appeared and she almost sighed with delight.
“It’s a secluded spot, but I have a new project in mind and isolation could make the mill the perfect site for building a prototype.” He winked at her. “I need to protect my inventions from prying eyes. There are always spies hoping to steal ideas.”
She nodded. “I know you’ve been concerned about keeping everyone safe.” She smiled at him. “That’s what you do, you know. You take care of your miners, you take care of the town and you even take care of me.”
He looked surprised. “I’ve never thought about it that way. I guess I’ve always believed it’s my responsibility to take care of my workers. That means making sure the town is run well and safe.”
“It’s more than that to you,” she insisted. “Most employers don’t care if there is a school or church in town. They don’t make sure the housing their workers live in is adequate or the prices charged at the company store are fair.”
She looked at him, touched by the honest surprise written on his face. “You’re a good man, Gerritt Rhinehart.”
“Thank you,” he said. “I try to remember that these people depend on me. I’ve carved out a small piece of civilization in this wilderness. It’s important to me that our town not be like so many of the wild, untamed mining camps with too much drunkenness and sin.”
He tossed her a wicked grin. “Not that I’m opposed to all sin. Sometimes it can be a lot of fun to break the rules.”
Her skin prickled with heat as his meaning hit her. “Society’s rules, or yours?”
“Both,” he replied.
She wanted to explore that line of reasoning a bit more, but they reached the bend in the road and he twisted the reins to take his horse onto a small trail hidden by the underbrush. She followed behind, and the narrow path forced them to ride one at a time, making it impossible for them to converse.
An hour later, they came to a small clearing. The towering trees formed a wall like ancient sentinels guarding them. He climbed off his horse and strode to her side. With a quick movement, he put his hands on her waist and lifted her from her own saddle. She slid down the hard muscular length of his body. They stood a breath away from each other.
“Would you care to expound more on the topic of sin?” She tipped her head to the side and gazed up at him…attempting to look coquettish. She hoped she didn’t look silly.
“I’d like to spend less time talking and more time demonstrating my particular technique for indulging in wickedness.” His lips hovered over hers as he untied the ribbon beneath her chin and removed her bonnet. He hooked it on the saddle behind her.
He grabbed her hand and pulled her forward with him to a small granite outcrop. “Let’s sit down,” he suggested as he pulled her to his lap.
“What about your pledge to keep your hands off me and treat me as an employee?”
Gerritt stared into her eyes. “I’m afraid I’m a fraud.” One hand moved to her hair and he pulled the pins from it to let it fall down her back. “I’ve worked hard to resist you, moved you out of my house to avoid seeing you every minute of every day, and it’s useless.”
She was going to object to his confession, but his mouth silenced her as it crushed down on hers. She closed her eyes as the kiss sent her reeling. The world around her spun out of control and she grasped the sides of his face, afraid he was going to pull away from her before she greedily had enough of the pleasure he sent rippling through her.
Finally he pulled back to gaze into her eyes. “I’ve wanted to do that every single day I’ve been with you. I’ve ached to touch you, to hold you in my arms.” He put his face in her hair. “To just be with you. I crave your smell and your taste and the silkiness of your skin.”
Prudence needed to pinch herself, because this was so much like her dreams each night it was impossible to believe it was really happening. Gerritt was holding her in his arms and telling her all the things she’d imagined he would say to her.
But why now? What had changed his mind about her? She tried to think of anything she’d said or done to encourage him, but she couldn’t think of a thing.
“It’s been pure torture to see you leave each day, to know you won’t be sitting across from me at the table for dinner or sleeping down the hall. And Simon has driven me insane with his descriptions of you being entertained by gentlemen in Mrs. McCauley’s parlor.” His voice held a note of indignation.
Prudence put a hand on his shoulder and pushed him away a few inches. “What?”
“I can’t stand the idea that you’re courted by other men while I’m forced to pretend I don’t care about you. I refuse to stand on the side and watch other men pay attention to you. I might be your employer, but I won’t be replaced in your affections by a drummer, or shop clerk or even Simon!”
So that’s what this was about. He was jealous of the other men who had courted her. Except she didn’t think that was happening. Or was it? She conversed with them, laughed politely at their jokes, listened to their stories.
But she’d never felt for an instant what she felt for Gerritt.
“Don’t be silly,” she said. “They were very nice, polite gentlemen, but I don’t have even a flicker of interest in any of them.” She leaned forward and touched her forehead to his. “There isn’t another man in Montana who holds a candle to you in my affections.”
“Only in Montana?” he asked.
She giggled. “The territory, the country, the hemisphere? How about on the entire planet?”
“Much better,” he murmured, putting his lips on her mouth. This kiss lacked the sweetness of the previous one. It was filled with hunger and passion and hot, searing need
. It stole her breath away.
His hand moved from her hair, tracing down her neck, slipping over her shoulder and settling on her breast. He squeezed it gently, sending her pulse racing and heating the place between her legs. Her limbs trembled and she wished she could somehow move closer to Gerritt, even though their bodies were pressed tight against each other.
“So beautiful,” Gerritt whispered, his voice husky and dark with desire. “You are so incredibly lovely and your body is made for love. I won’t deny it anymore, I want you.”
“I want you too, Gerritt, but perhaps not in the middle of the forest on a pile of rocks.” She glanced down at their surroundings. “I enjoy nature, but I’m imagining that could be very uncomfortable!”
He laughed. “I imagine you’re right. There’s a cabin up at the mill. I keep it provisioned for hunting trips and there’s a small and comfortable bed.”
She leaned back and studied him for a moment. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you planned this entire day in order to seduce me.”
“Actually, that’s exactly what I had in mind. I’ve been planning and plotting for days to get you alone. I suppose you’re horrified.” He gave her a sheepish grin.
“Oh yes,” she said. “I’m quite outraged.” She put a prim expression on her face. “I can’t imagine how you’ve managed to get the impression I would consent to an illicit affair with you.”
He looked distraught at her words. “I’m sorry, Prudence, I never intended...”
She silenced him with her kiss, then pulled back and narrowed her eyes as she gazed at him. “I just don’t want you to take me for granted. After all, I’m pursued by all sorts of gentlemen, who have promised me many things.”
He looked even more concerned. “Promises? Like what?”
“Travel, for one thing. To see the world. Wealth and riches. And what is it that one gentleman said? That he would make me his—”
“You shouldn’t believe any of those hucksters, liars and thieves. They’ll promise you anything in order to seduce you.”
“Yes, I know,” she replied, then couldn’t keep herself from laughing.
“You’re a horrible tease,” Gerritt said. “I think I’m going to have to punish you.”
“That sounds strangely sensual.” She was amazed at her own temerity. “Exactly what do you have in mind?”
He gave her bottom a playful squeeze. “I’ll demonstrate when we get to the cabin.”
He drew her to her feet. “But if we don’t get going, it will be too late and we’ll have to turn around and head back in order to avoid spending the night.”
“And why should we want to avoid that?” she asked, wetting her lips.
He moaned in answer as he dragged her to the horses.
***
The cabin was small, with gray siding that indicated it had weathered many long, winter storms. Gerritt removed the saddles and hobbled the horses in a stand of deep grass. He put their saddles in the small lean-to shed near the cabin.
“They might as well have a rest. It’s a long ride back down to town.” Gerritt said.
Or perhaps their illicit activities would take longer than they planned. The thought pushed heat through Prudence’s veins like a strike of lightning. She was inviting a man to seduce her. She could almost hear her mother-in-law’s voice calling her a slattern, or a tramp…or worse.
She mentally slapped the imaginary woman into silence. This was her life now, and she didn’t have to listen to any inner voice but her own.
Which was squeaking out a warning to be careful. She was in dangerous territory now. Not the hills of Montana, but the darker, seductive milieu of physical relations between a man and a woman.
It wasn’t virgin territory for her. As a married woman she’d experienced passion. Just not the all-consuming, ravenous desire she felt when she was near Gerritt. Her marriage to Eli had been sweet, gentle and all too brief.
His touch had never ignited her senses the way Gerritt’s did.
Gerritt held the door for her and she entered the cool darkness of the interior. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the dimness. When she could see, a crude but clean space that was sparsely furnished with a table, two chairs, a dry sink, several shelves and a bed in a curtained alcove appeared before her. There was a ladder that led to a loft. It was simple, but he’d told her it was a hunting cabin, so she wasn’t surprised to find it furnished plainly.
“It’s not very elegant,” he apologized as his hand steadied in the curve of her back. She felt small sparks of attraction shimmer along her skin.
She took several steps into the cabin…turned and put her hands on his chest. “I wasn’t expecting a grand hotel. If it’s not inhabited by rodents or snakes, I’ll be quite happy.”
“Let me take a look. I haven’t been up here for a while, and you never know what kind of critter might decide to roost in an empty cabin”.
Prudence stepped away from him and lifting the hem of her skirt and petticoats, she glanced around the floor, horrified there might be something nesting in the bed.
“Do you think there could be snakes?” She couldn’t control the tremor of fear in her voice.
Gerritt circled the room, kicking into the corners. He lifted the bed and gave it a shake, but no small creatures crept from underneath. He smacked the quilt on the bed before sitting down.
“Seems we’re alone,” he said. A slow, easy, heart-palpitating grin slid across his face and Prudence felt her knees tremble.
She stood in the middle of the room, bewildered at how to behave. Should she start peeling off her clothing? Did he expect her to sit on the bed with him? This was all new to her.
When she was married, she and Eli made love at night. She’d change into her nightgown, braid her hair and wait in bed until Eli came up to their room. Then he’d turn down the lamp and undress. Now that she thought of it, she’d never seen her husband naked.
She had an inkling that Gerritt wouldn’t be keeping his long-johns on today. Any man who proposed relations during daylight wasn’t shy. They might be in shadow, but there was enough light to see quite clearly.
Her heart pounded a staccato beat. Her mouth was so dry, she didn’t think she could even form words. She felt like a fool, standing in the middle of the cabin, waiting—for what, she didn’t know. What did he expect her to do?
Gerritt stood and took several long strides toward her, studied her for a few moments, then started to pull the remaining pins from her hair.
“I’ve dreamed of seeing your hair free of that bun again. It’s one of the things I remember from the first night you arrived in town. When you were trapped by the snake in the bathhouse.”
“My hair?” she responded, not stopping him from loosening the curls. “It’s so boring. Dull, drab…black as coal.”
He arranged her hair around her shoulders and let it flow down her back. “It reminds me of dark chocolate. My mother used to make cookies at Christmas as a special treat and she used rich, dark chocolate. And she used nutmeg and cinnamon in them too. My favorite thing was to smell those spices mixed with the chocolate. You’re like that…rich and spicy with a bit of fire”.
Tears prickled her eyes. No man had ever paid her such an extravagant compliment. She felt like a princess, or maybe a pagan goddess. One who was worshipped and treasured.
If this was the kind of language men used to seduce women, no wonder there were so many females who couldn’t resist their charms. It was like imbibing whiskey and feeling the heat swirl throughout her body. She trembled, afraid to speak and break the spell.
Gerritt drew his hands through her hair. “I love seeing you like this. There’s only one thing that could make it better.”
She finally found her voice. “What would that be?”
He gazed deeply into her eyes. “If you were naked again. Like in the bathhouse. Do you know your skin glowed in the lamplight? You looked like you were spun from gold.
“Glowed?” she repeated
, her mind going blank. She couldn’t seem to muster any more words as his arms circled her waist to pull her closer.
His mouth crushed down on hers, eager to take her again, his tongue plundering, lips hot and demanding.
The world spun again as a dizzy heat swirled through her. She grasped his arms, marveling at the hard, chiseled muscles beneath her fingers. He might be an inventor but he worked physically at his mines. It was apparent in the strength of his embrace.
His mouth moved from her lips to one ear. “May I undress you?” he whispered, desire shading his voice with huskiness.
She nodded, afraid of breaking the spell with words. The buttons on her jacket were tiny, and as he fumbled with them she was tempted to help him. But the hungry look in his eyes stopped her. He removed her jacket and draped it carefully across the back of a chair. She sensed this was part of their sensual play. He was enjoying this opportunity to strip off her clothing piece by piece.
His gaze feasted on her exposed skin. Heat rippled across her skin as he took a step back, obviously enjoying the sight of her in her corset.
It was made from an intricate red and gold patterned fabric. She might be clothed in drab colors on the outside, but she’d used some of her savings to purchase several exquisite silk corsets. It was another indulgence and since there was little chance anyone would ever see it, she’d been relieved to know she wouldn’t have to justify the purchase.
And at least now she faced an appreciative audience. She knew what the corset did for her figure. The chemise underneath was made of bleached cotton and embellished with delicate embroidery she’d done herself. It was cut so low that the mounds of her breasts spilled out.
“Let’s leave that on for a bit longer,” Gerritt said with a mischievous glint in his eyes.
She turned around to indicate the fastening for her large, full skirt. He understood and in a few moments the fabric pooled at her feet.
She’d only worn two petticoats, but her skin seemed to be as hot as if a fire blazed in the fireplace across the room. She wet her lips and waited for Gerritt.
Prudence and the Professor Page 12