by Jo Goodman
"And, of course, he would choose another marked one. But since you already knew how it was marked it was like being able to see into his hand. You trounced him with fair unfairness."
"Actually, I was going to say he was hoist with his own petard."
"Isn't that what I just said?" she demanded.
He laughed, kissing the furrowed line of her brow. "More or less."
"Did you truly suspect Nigel knew who you were?"
"How inquisitive you are of a sudden! One would think you knew the lecherous bent of my mind and were trying to put me off." He could see by the firmness of her expression that she would not be gainsaid. "Oh, very well. Yes, I suspected. It fit what I knew of the man. Nigel prided himself on knowing the secrets of others, so why shouldn't he know mine. He understood an emotion as basic as revenge."
"It's odd, isn't it, how he never knew you were interested in Stanhope only as a means to reach him. None of it came about the way we had planned; yet it all came about. I think Newbrough went a little mad at the end."
"A little? He was very nearly rabid when I told him who I was. If I had known he was carrying two primed pistols I would have saved my explanations. I'm glad you were on my side, Red."
"One of us had to be."
"You have a sharp tongue," he said, studying the pink tip as it moistened her lower lip.
"So I've been told." She leaned over and flicked her tongue along the curve of his ear.
Jericho shivered. "Perhaps sharp is not what I meant."
Rae's mouth slid lower, tracing Jericho's strong jawline. When she reached his chin he dipped his head and caught her lips with his own. His hands framed her face, fingers curving around her cheeks and the soft pulsebeat in her temples. He deepened the kiss, and desire seemed to curl Rae's toes. She told him that, and they laughed while making rather a clumsy mess of discarding their nightclothes. That was the last thing they did with any haste, until they drove each other to pleasure's edge with their patient explorations.
Jericho's bright hair lay against Rae's breast, his arm around her waist. Idly she stroked his shoulder, savoring the contentment that clothed her like a silky garment.
Jericho lifted his head suddenly, a hint of mischief about his mouth and eyes. "One thousand, four hundred, sixty-three," he announced. Immediately his head returned to his comfortable pillow and waited for his meaning to strike Rae.
It did not take long. She wailed unhappily to hide her laughter. "Never say you really counted them!"
He nodded. "Not all at once, of course. I had to concentrate on one area at a time. I had not fully comprehended what a distracting sort of business it was."
"I knew I shouldn't have let you drag me on that picnic at Stanhope. A light lunch, you said. A cool dip in the lake, you said. Never did you mention the sun was coercing these horrid little spots to appear all over my body."
"I warned you of my intentions once."
"Humpf. You probably counted wrong. I can't have as many as that."
Jericho raised his head, an eyebrow arched wickedly. "Are you challenging me, madam?"
"No!"
"Little liar." He kissed the gentle slope of her shoulder. "One," he announced grandly. His mouth traced the edge of her collarbone. "Twenty-six."
"Horrid creature! That was an estimate!"
Jericho merely shrugged, and Rae gave in graciously, holding the irrepressible boy as dear to her heart as she held the man. Her spirit knew a gladness that could not be suppressed as the wind-filled sails above them strained to carry them home.
The End
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Continue for an excerpt from
TEMPTING TORMENT
The McClellans Series
Book Three
~
Noah's short laugh was husky. "Jessa, there's plenty of room in this bed. There's no need for you to hug the very edge."
"When I could be hugging you, you mean."
"I'm shocked at the way your mind works. The thought had not occurred to me." When lightning didn't strike him for that lie, Noah turned on his stomach and closed his eyes. "Good night, Jessa. Pleasant dreams."
Jessa could hardly believe her ears. He was going to sleep! While she had never truly believed he would force himself on her, she had thought he would make her lie beside him, perhaps take her in his arms, perhaps... Enough! she admonished herself. Jessa had no patience with her own confusion. Angry with herself, she turned on her side away from Noah, closed her eyes, and gritted her teeth. Pleasant dreams, she thought. Ha! No chance of that.
But Jessa had no conscious control of her dreams, and the one from which she eventually woke had been decidedly pleasant. Reality fell far short. The thick bed of clover in which she had been lying was nothing more than the plump mattress. The warm band of sunlight that had caressed her turned hip was Noah's arm thrown possessively across her. The butterfly wings that had tickled her cheek were Noah's fingers making a light trail across her skin.
Jessa's eyes opened wide.
"Before you throw a tantrum," Noah said softly, "you should know that I did not initiate this." He was propped on one elbow and his eyes were grave. He continued to stroke her cheek. The night was very clear. Starshine cast a pale blue light in the cabin and across Jessa's face. He had been watching her for a very long time. He knew the fine contours, every angle, every plane, of her face. His left leg was caught between both of hers. Perhaps when she realized she was holding him and not the other way around she would believe what he said. "You curled around me like a kitten, Jessa."
"Oh," she said in a small voice. "Did you... did we... that is, did—"
"No."
"Oh."
"Did you really think I would take you while you slept?"
She shook her head. His eyes seemed more gold now. Cat's eyes. They held her prisoner more surely than the arm about her waist. She could only stare at him.
"I want you," he said, "but I am not so selfish as to take you like that."
"You... you said we should come to know one another before... before we—"
"I did say that, didn't I?" Noah's head dipped slightly. "There are many ways to know a person," he said, bent on manipulating her to his own ends. There could be no better time than now to show her how he intended that they should go on. In the space of a heartbeat his mouth captured hers. The kiss was gentle, taming. He did not press his advantage even when Jessa offered no resistance, no struggle. His lips touched the corner of her mouth, her cheek, her jaw. He raised his head and looked down at her. "That wasn't so terrible, was it?"
"N-no."
"You're my wife, Jessa," he said deeply. "I would be well within my rights to take you whether you say to me yea or nay. You know that's true."
She nodded. Panic darkened her eyes and she lowered her lashes, too proud to let him know she was afraid of him.
Noah cupped her chin and raised her face. "Look at me." When she did, he went on. "But that's not what I want now." He almost believed it himself. "Let's talk of learning, not taking. There has to be a beginning. This is ours. I want to hold you. I want to know your touch and you to know mine." Noah's green-gold eyes held hers. "Nothing against your will," he added, confident that his will would eventually win hers over. His thumb passed along the lower edge of her lip. "What say you to that?"
Jessa felt her common sense dissolving beneath Noah's liquid, lullaby tones. Her mouth parted. She touched the tip of her tongue to his thumb.
~
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Jo Goodman is a licensed professional counselor working with children and families in West Virginia’s Northern Panhandle. Always a fan of the happily ever after, Jo turned to writing romances early in her career as a child care worker when she realized the only life script she could control was the one she wrote herself. She is inspired by the resiliency and courage of the children she meets and feels privileged to be trusted with their stories, the ones that they alone have the right to tell.
Once upon a time, Jo believed she was going to be a marine biologist. She knows she is lucky that seasickness made her change course. She lives with her family in Colliers, West Virginia. Please visit her website at www.jogoodman.com or hang out with her at www.facebook.com/jogoodmanromance.