The Texan and the Lady

by Jodi Thomas

  Austin turned and almost dropped the pot of coffee. Lord, but she looked beautiful standing there wrapped in an old blanket. Her hair waved in wet curls to her waist. He could see the white straps of her undergarments where one of her shoulders lifted above the blanket.

  Her cheeks glowed with warmth as she noticed where he was staring. She shifted the blanket slightly, trying to cover herself, but only succeeded in revealing more of her legs. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled. “The quilt isn’t quite long enough. Maybe you should only save shorter women in the future.”

  Austin glanced at her slender legs, bare from the knee down. He sloshed the coffee onto the stove as he set the pot down and hurried to a back room. “I can fix that,” he yelled over his shoulder in a voice that sounded like it should have belonged to someone half his age. He returned with one of his flannel shirts. “If you’ll allow me.” He held it open for her.

  Jennie turned her back to him and slid the blanket to her waist. While she tied it, he watched the lamplight dance off the silky paleness of her back.

  When she stepped into the shirt, his arms wrapped around her with the material. She lifted her arms to pull her hair free of the collar. His large hands slid down her sides, pressing the soft flannel against her cold skin with a gentle force.

  “Thank you,” she whispered without stepping away. Slowly, a fraction of an inch at a time, he pulled her against his chest. She could feel the warmth of his body through their clothes. Warming her from inside. His breath moved softly against her neck as his hands slid around her waist and drew her solidly against him.

  “Do you want me to move away?” His voice was so low it could have been a thought that passed between them.

  “No,” Jennie answered and felt his arms tighten slightly.

  “I don’t want to be out of line again, but damned if you aren’t the hardest woman I’ve ever come across to keep my hands off.”

  Jennie loved the way he felt, so solid and strong against her back. “I’m sorry about that night. You weren’t out of line; I was.” She brushed her hair against his chin.

  “No.” He rolled his face into the damp curls beside her forehead, drowning in the scent of her hair. “I shouldn’t have thought just because you walked with me that you’d welcome my advances.”

  He moved his hand to her damp hair and pulled the ebony strands away from her throat. Gently, very gently, he pressed his mouth along the cool softness of her neck. The steady pounding of her pulse welcomed him.

  Jennie couldn’t stop the sigh that escaped. “I didn’t mind the kiss,” she whispered. His lips advanced across her skin, firmer this time. When she sucked in her breath suddenly, she felt his arm tighten just below her breasts. She needed to feel him close to her tonight more than she’d ever needed anything. It didn’t matter if he believed in her, she believed in him.

  “Why didn’t you kiss me back, Jennie?” he asked, his lips moving against her throat.

  Jennie leaned her head on his shoulder, allowing him more freedom.

  She could feel his words near her ear. “Don’t tell me it was because you didn’t want to be kissed.” He spread his hand wide at her waist, loving the way she moved in pleasure to the rhythm of his touch. “I know that would be a lie.”

  “I didn’t think.” She stopped as his fingers twisted the shirt, pulling it tight over her chest. How could she tell him that she didn’t think he really wanted to kiss her? She’d already tried to tell him no one had ever kissed her before, and he hadn’t believed her. She didn’t want to start an argument; she only wanted to feel him next to her.

  His lips were liquid fire as they trailed down her skin. “If I ask you to kiss me again, will you?” she whispered as she felt herself stepping off predictability and into the unknown.

  He turned her slowly to face him. “Are you asking?”

  Jennie raised her arms around his neck and leaned against him. “I’m asking.” She giggled softly. “Anything to get you to stop talking.”

  Austin didn’t wait for a second invitation. He lowered his mouth over hers and kissed her with the longing that had been building inside him. When she was proper, she could be a cold northern blast, but now, like this in his arms, she was a fire he’d let consume him before he’d pull away an inch.

  Chapter 11

  Jennie lowered her eyelids and smiled as Austin’s lips touched hers. His kiss was soft, almost hesitant this time, not hard and impersonal as it had been a week ago.

  She was unsure what she should do, so she moved her fingers across his shoulders and into his hair. His sandy-colored hair was brown with dampness from the rain and softer than she would have guessed as it drifted between her fingers.

  “Damn,” he whispered against her mouth. “You taste as good as you look.”

  Jennie pulled his head closer and pressed her lips harder against his. No one had ever told her she was good-looking, and she somehow wanted to believe it was true, if only for tonight. The fire popped with damp wood. Shadows danced on the bare walls around them. The air smelled heavy with rain, but Jennie closed her eyes and believed in enchantment and knights … and magic.

  Their kiss lingered long and tender, allowing a feeling of belonging to gently encircle them, caressing them both, fulfilling a need nestled deep inside each of their hearts since childhood.

  Austin finally raised his head an inch and studied her closely. “Did you mean it the other night about never being kissed before?” He held her hesitantly as if afraid she might dart from his arms.

  “Yes,” she whispered, loving the way her lips touched his with her words. She moved a fraction closer, silently telling him she had no plans of leaving the circle of his arms.

  “One man asked my father for permission to call on me, but Father told him I didn’t have time. If I’d have known kissing could be so pleasurable, I might have made the time.”

  Austin laughed softly against her cheek. “Damned if I don’t want to believe you.” He kissed her lightly several times. “I’d have had a slightly more forceful talk with your father, if I’d have been the man coming to call.”

  Picturing the confrontation, Jennie laughed.

  Jennie looked closely at the man holding her, wishing he’d been in her world earlier. When he wasn’t frowning, he looked younger, maybe not more than a year or two older than her. He’d seemed so hard before she’d have guessed him well into his thirties; but now, with his hair across his forehead and his eyes bright with fire, he could have been no more than in his late twenties.

  “How long have you been fighting?” She didn’t need to say the outlaws, or Indians. She had a feeling Austin had been fighting all his life. Absently, she brushed the worry lines along his forehead.

  “I lied about my age and joined the Union army at fourteen.” He played with a curl of ebony hair resting on her shoulder. “My brother, Pete, and I were more interested in three square meals a day than the war. He was only a year older than me, but he never saw his sixteenth birthday. I stayed in the army after he died because there was nowhere else to go.”

  He continued talking as his hands lightly caressed her shoulders. “By the time my company moved out of New Orleans in ‘68, I was shaving regularly and ready to fight, so I signed up for the frontier and went to Texas. When the Indians settled down, I became a federal marshal. I can’t remember a time when a gun wasn’t strapped on my hip, or I stayed in one place long enough to watch the seasons change.”

  Jennie didn’t have to ask to know there had been very little softness in his life. She saw it in the way he looked at the world, as if always waiting for the worst to happen. She felt it in the gentle way he touched her, as though fearing any moment she might shatter like fine bone china in his rough hands.

  “Do you think we could talk later, Jennie?” He moved his finger slowly down the front of her shirt to the first button. “I’d like to kiss you again, if you’ve no objection. I’m not sure how long I can stand here looking at you dressed like you are and no
t hold you.”

  “But what if we’re not doing it right?” Jennie smiled, feeling beautiful. More beautiful than she’d felt every day of her life combined. “If you’ve little experience and I’ve none, no telling the mistakes we’re making.”

  “Then we’ll have to practice until we get it right.” He tugged at the curl he’d been holding and then lowered his head as his arms pulled her against him once more.

  He captured her lips before she had time to protest. His mouth was more insistent this time, more demanding of giving, as well as taking, pleasure. She answered his need by moving closer, allowing her curves to mold against him.

  When she leaned into him, Austin could feel his heart trying to break through his ribs, and there didn’t seem to be enough air in the room to fill his lungs. A woman had never stepped so willingly, so innocently, into his embrace. He’d made a point of keeping folks at arm’s length, but Jennie was having no trouble tumbling every fence he’d ever put up.

  Her body shifted slightly, setting every nerve of his alive with pleasure. There was a heaven of pure joy in holding this woman, unlike he’d even known existed in more than dreams.

  His hands moved from her back to her sides. The longing to touch her was a need within him as great as survival. With a gentle pressure he slid his fingers up her body until the palms of his hands rested just under her arms. He could feel her rib cage rise and fall with each breath. When he moved slightly, the fullness of her breasts strained against his open palms.

  Jennie gasped for air as his hands moved against her. The warmth of his touch passed through the flannel and into the softness of her breasts. Her bottom lip trembled against his mouth, silently begging him not to stop.

  No touch had ever been so bold, rocking longing from its hiding place. She opened her kiss to his in a silent cry of joy as his hands brushed over her pointed mounds.

  Slowly, his fingers moved to her waist and back again, applying a fraction more pressure with each pass along the swell of her breasts.

  When she cried against his lips in pleasure, his tongue entered her mouth, changing the kiss from play to passion. The storm within him began to rage far stronger than any outside. He could feel lightning sparking through his mind and thunder rumbling in great quakes from his heart.

  He loved the taste of her. She was wonder and magic, all sugarcoated in longing. His brain felt as if he must be suffering from sunstroke. His hands ached to move completely over her skin, just as every muscle in his body longed for the feel of her beneath him. But he forced himself to move slowly, unwilling to risk frightening her away. He’d never hesitated in his life. It was the one trait that had most kept him alive in dangerous situations, but he hesitated now.

  Forcing his hands to leave her sides, he laced his fists into her long hair, pulling her head back slightly. He could never take this woman, even if she were willing. He’d only lead her gently into lovemaking, for he wasn’t sure the passion she brought wouldn’t consume him in its fire if he moved too quickly.

  The blanket around her waist tumbled to the floor and she leaned closer into him, pressing against the center of his desire.

  He was going mad an inch at a time, and she seemed determined to push him the last few paces into Heaven. “Jennie,” he whispered as his lips moved from her mouth to the silk of her neck. “Dear God, Jennie!”

  Jennie looked up at the lamplight dancing off the cobwebs in the rafters and laughed. “If you haven’t got kissing right,” her hands couldn’t keep from moving across his chest, feeling the warmth of solid muscle, “I don’t think I could endure any improvements you plan to make when you finish learning.”

  “There is more,” Austin whispered as he tasted her ear, “far more I’d like to give you.”

  She wanted to ask him—no, beg him—for lessons, but his mouth returned to claim hers. As her body warmed from within, she felt his large, rough hand slide over the flannel covering her hip and onto the bare skin of her leg. His fingers spread wide, branding his warmth into her flesh with a loving caress.

  Suddenly Jennie had to feel his flesh against her hand. She pushed his shirt aside and lay her fingers over his heart. The muscles were strong, but she could still feel the pounding of his heart beneath her touch. When she moved her hand slightly, his kiss deepened and she sensed the power she had over this strong man.

  His embrace was warm and loving and filled with a need she didn’t quite understand. But she was learning and loving the lesson.

  If he’d told her she could fly, she would have believed him; but the creaking of a door shattered the moment and brought her feelings crashing to reality.

  Austin’s head jerked up, and one hand pulled her behind him as the other reached for his weapon. His stance widened, preparing for battle, and Jennie felt his body turn to stone in front of her.

  “Morning, son,” Spider Morris mumbled as he pulled off his wet hat and slapped it against his knee. He would have been completely blind to miss the scene he’d interrupted. Jennie stood behind Austin clothed in nothing but a man’s shirt, while Austin braced like a warrior ready to defend his lady.

  “Hell of a wreck last night.” Morris moved to his desk without seeming to see anything out of place. “I thought I’d get a dry pipe and head on over to the Harvey House and see how many injured we have.” He replaced his hat low over his head. “‘Spect I’ll be seeing you over there later, since there’s nothing going on around here.”

  Austin didn’t answer.

  Morris opened the door and disappeared into the rain without a backward glance.

  Jennie grabbed the blanket and pulled it tightly around her. “Do you think it possible he didn’t notice us?”

  Austin ran his fingers through his hair. “I’ve worked with him for a week, and there’s not much he misses. He noticed us, but if anyone ever asked, I’d bet a month’s pay the old man swears he didn’t see a thing.”

  “Really!” Jennie could imagine how such a scandal like this would spread over her hometown.

  “We weren’t breaking any law, so I guess he figures it was none of his business.” Austin watched her closely. “Unless he thought I might be forcing myself on a lady who didn’t welcome my advances.”

  Jennie laughed and moved into the shadows, collecting her drying clothes as she walked. “More likely it was the other way around, Marshal.”

  Austin fought the urge to follow her into the darkness. “No regrets?”

  “One.” Jennie’s voice came from somewhere in the blackness of a cell.

  “What’s that?” Austin stiffened. The moments preceding her answer ticked by one eternity after another.

  “We got interrupted before the lesson was over.” She walked into the warm glow of the lamplight, her clothes still wet and clinging to her slender frame. “Though I found the learning very interesting.”

  His frown spread into a smile across his tanned face. He watched her as she walked up to him unafraid and buttoned his shirt. The casual touch made him want to hold her once more, but he was afraid if he touched her now, he would frighten her with his need for her. “I’d like to see you again. I’ve never met a woman like you before. All proper on the outside and fire on the inside. I’ve never wanted to hold anyone so much.”

  Jennie could feel the heat climbing up her body as if he still touched her. “I’d like that,” she whispered. “I’m a little afraid … afraid I’m dreaming.”

  “Well, if you are, we’re both having the same dream.”

  He didn’t say another word as he wrapped his duster around her. He held her hand tightly as they hurried through the predawn blackness to the Harvey House.

  When they reached the edge of the trees, he pulled her suddenly against him. The rain pounded above them, but neither felt the cold. They held to each other as if to life. Now their touch was no longer filled with passion, but longing. Then, as suddenly as he’d hugged her, he moved again, placing his arm around her shoulder and pulling her across the river of mud toward
the lights.

  “If you ever need me, just walk out the front of the hotel. From there you can see the light of the jail. It’s the first building in town. We usually keep a lantern on till late, in case anyone needs us.”

  “And if I should need you one night?”

  “I’ll be waiting,” Austin promised.

  He didn’t let his grip around her slacken until they reached the back door of the hotel. When she stepped inside, she felt his arm leave her. Before she could turn around, he disappeared into the rain, but the memory of his kiss warmed her as she climbed the back stairs to her room. It was very late, but people were still moving around, tending to those in pain.

  When she opened the door, Audrey and Delta’s crying shattered her thoughts.

  “What is it?” Jennie ran to the foot of the bed both women sat beside. “Is True hurt?”

  Audrey looked up and wiped her nose with the corner of her robe. “No, True’s fine. Crawled under the bed about an hour ago and fell asleep.”

  Jennie glanced at her bed. All the air in her lungs seemed to rash out at once. The blond-haired woman Austin had pulled from the train wreck slept quietly in Jennie’s bed. Too quietly!

  “Is she …” Jennie couldn’t finish as she knelt beside Audrey.

  Audrey nodded. “About thirty minutes ago. I did all I could, but she never even opened her eyes.” Audrey started crying again, and Delta joined in.

  Finally Audrey handed Jennie a stack of letters tied up in a blue ribbon. “We thought we’d look through her carpetbag and see if we could find her name. Something isn’t right when a woman dies without anyone even knowing her name.”

  Jennie looked down at the letters addressed to a Mary Elizabeth O’Brian as Audrey continued. “Those tell the whole story. This poor girl has no family back east. She answered one of those ads men place in the personals and traveled all this way to marry a man she doesn’t even know, an old widower by the name of Colton Barkley.”

  Jennie found herself fighting back her own tears. She hadn’t even spoken to the woman, but it seemed so wrong that she’d die just as she was about to marry and have a family.