by The Rascal
With a start, Grace realized the other sledders to the side of them were mere specks in the distance. She couldn’t glimpse anyone familiar. Somehow, she and Jack had veered even farther off track than she’d envisioned at the start. And they were coming precariously close to the trees again, too.
She couldn’t stand it. Cursing her ice-clumped skirts for hampering her movement, Grace tried her best to steer with her booted feet. She pushed with all her might, but there was nothing for it. Jack had control of their sled and refused to relinquish it. They tussled for a few moments anyway, both of them shoving feetfirst in a wrestling match for authority.
“Damn it, Grace!” he said in her ear. “You’re going to—”
She couldn’t listen. “Watch out for those trees!”
“I see them.” A sound of frustration. “Move your feet so I can keep us out of the way.”
They zigzagged wildly, careening over bumps and icy patches. Intending to force them to the right—toward everyone else on the hill—Grace stomped her foot hard on the sled’s yoke. She encountered solid resistance and realized it was Jack’s foot she’d bashed instead.
“Oh, I’m sorry!” she cried. “Are you all ri—”
She never finished her question. An instant later, Jack clutched her tighter, wrenched sideways…and they both tumbled off the sled. Everything turned white and jostling, caked in snow and movement as the hill rushed up to meet them.
The impact wasn’t as alarming as Grace expected. Probably, she realized shortly, because she did not thud directly into the snowbank. Instead she landed atop Jack.
His whole body cushioned their fall. She encountered broad chest, warm knees and strong hands, all before painfully clonking foreheads with him. The impact reverberated through her skull, cushioned merely by her hat. She winced and yowled. Jack only grunted—as usual—then rolled her safely beneath him. Dazed, she required a moment to realize they were no longer careening downhill but had come to a stop.
They lay crookedly on the snow, both panting hard. To her left, pine trees rose valiantly, capped with white and bowed with the weight of their wintry coats. To her right, a drift shielded the rest of the hill from her vision. She saw nothing beyond Jack’s black hat, which had landed askew in the snow, doubtless knocked aside in their fall.
Fearfully, Grace craned her head—just as her riderless sled zoomed between two trees. It crashed to a stop in a tangle of fallen oak branches some thirty yards away.
“See? I told you we’d crash in the trees!”
“We didn’t crash in the trees.” Jack directed his gaze from her sled’s resting place to her, then raised himself on both elbows above her. He looked unfazed by their near collision. “No thanks to you, Miss Hundred-Pound Boots. I got us off that sled just in time. Now if you’d let me steer from the start—”
“Let you steer?” Incredulously, Grace regarded him. Aside from the obvious, was he intimating that she had gigantic feet? “You haven’t the faintest notion how to steer!” she replied hotly. “That much is clear to everyone.”
His mouth straightened. “I had a plan.”
She scoffed. “A plan to kill us both?”
“Pshaw.” Appearing downright invigorated by their ride now that he’d had a moment to recover, Jack brought his hand to rest on her shoulder. He grinned. “I heard you hollering. You were having fun until you decided to take over.”
Stung, Grace hesitated. Had she been hollering? With glee?
“I don’t generally have ‘fun.’ Ask anyone,” she informed him to the contrary, not wanting to consider the matter of her potential rowdiness any further. “And I always take over.”
“Not with me, you don’t.”
“Oh? Is that right?” Vigorously, Grace wiggled her legs, trying to get free. As it happened, she was pinned beneath Jack’s tall frame and didn’t manage much progress. The sensation wasn’t wholly unlikable though—and no one could see them in their surprisingly sheltered spot—so she decided to rest awhile. To regain her strength for the trek to retrieve her sled. “Well, I’ll have you know, you’ll get no special treatment from me.”
Jack audacious grin widened. Something about it made her belly flip-flop. He still touched her shoulder, his thumb now moving in slow circles over the bulk of her coat. Was he checking for injuries? The gentleness of the gesture was especially peculiar given the way she frowned at him. It was even stranger how his warmth—his touch—penetrated all the way through the thick wool.
“I was attempting to teach you a valuable skill.” Grace hoped she sounded less stirred to his ears than her own. “I don’t think you could have been a more recalcitrant student, however.”
He arched his brow. “Recalcitrant?”
“Yes. It means headstrong. Obstinate. Unwilling to—”
“I know what it means. It describes us both.”
Momentarily flummoxed, Grace stared at him. “I suppose you know that because of my broadening influence on your vocabulary. Well. That’s wonderful, isn’t it?”
She snatched at her scarf, trying to unwrap it where it had become pinned beneath her opposite shoulder. The center of its knit felt cold against her lips, frosted with iced-over breath. Her gloves made her clumsy though, and she couldn’t seem to locate the correct end of it.
In answer, Jack only watched as she went on plucking at her scarf. He gave her a rather mysterious smile. “You have been a terrible influence on me,” he countered. “Why else would I be here at the hill today, leaving poor Harry to tend bar?”
“I’m sure I don’t know what you mean.”
Another long look. “It’s because I had to see you.”
She stilled. Her heart pounded, and not from the exertion of their sled ride. Was that tenderness in his gaze? “Why?”
“Well…”
She held her breath, waiting as Jack appeared to consider the rest of his reply. Would he say something poetic? Something wonderful? All at once, and quite unreasonably, she wanted him to. Which was beyond silly.
They hadn’t even discussed Elizabethan sonnets yet.
“I couldn’t let you have the last word,” Jack said.
Disappointed, Grace scoffed. “Don’t talk nonsense.”
She couldn’t imagine what he meant. And that had definitely not been poetry from his lips. But the intent look on Jack’s face certainly gave her pause all the same. No man had ever looked at her that way. Most likely, no man ever would again. It was just as well she didn’t become accustomed to it.
“You might think it’s nonsense,” Jack said cheerfully. “But you’ll listen all the same.”
While he enjoyed the last word? Ha! That would be the day.
Stubbornly, Grace fiddled with the scarf at her neck, more briskly now. Were both trailing ends trapped beneath her? She should move to fetch them, to free herself, and yet…being caught beneath so much tall, strong man was rather pleasant.
Perhaps even healthful, given the chill in the air.
“It’s most gentlemanly of you to keep us both so warm,” she said demurely.
His grin quirked. “There’s nothing gentlemanly about it.” From somewhere, Jack emerged with the end of her scarf in his hand. He toyed with it, brushing its fringe against his cheek. Teasing her. “And you won’t be changing the subject before I’ve said my piece. Don’t you want to know what I have to say?”
“Of course. But yours still won’t be the final word in the matter,” Grace warned. “I might as well tell you, I’ve been known to stage a filibuster or two in my time, for a cause that’s worthy of it. I’ve been known to talk and talk—”
“Shh.” Carefully, Jack lifted her scarf. By degrees, its stiffened, tangled knit came away from her face and neck, admitting cold air. “You’ll miss it.”
“Nonsense. I’m excellent at paying attention.”
“Good.”
He lifted her scarf fully away, then turned his hand to wind the length of it around his broad palm. He fisted the ice-clumped knit, doubt
less melting every bit of snow trapped inside as he tugged it free. It occurred to Grace, in a very uncharacteristic whimsical moment, that Jack Murphy might just be capable of melting all the snow surrounding them, if only he smiled at it.
“Ooh, that’s cold.” Grace touched her fingers to her mouth. It felt chilly to the touch. “I thought having my iced-over scarf gone would be better, but—”
“Try this,” Jack said and kissed her.
In a single motion, he tugged her fingers away with his free hand and brought his mouth to hers. Shocking warmth struck Grace first, making her realize exactly how cold she had been until now. Then other sensations began, starting at her mouth—where Jack plied her with tiny, expert kisses—and traveling rapidly all through her. Helplessly, she curled her toes in her winter boots, scarcely able to withstand so much feeling. So much gentleness. So…much.
It was like nothing she’d experienced before.
If she were dreaming, she wanted never to wake up—at least until she discovered what lay at the end of this kiss.
Rumbling with a low moan, Jack raised his head. He looked pleased. Then, evidently changing his mind about stopping, he favored her with another, slower kiss. Grace knew she must be cross-eyed, so hazy did he look to her. She felt somehow limp and yet vigorous, lulled and yet unsatisfied. How it could be that a saloonkeeper kissed with such finesse and care, she didn’t know. She only knew that his notion of kissing was much, much better than the paltry novice’s attempt she’d made outside his saloon.
He gazed at her, his own glance looking as heavy-lidded as hers felt. Up close, his stubble was even more compellingly male. So were his lips. They smiled at her, as did all the rest of him. Logically, Grace knew that made no sense. But she felt it all the same and was unduly glad for it.
“That’s much better, thank you,” she said.
What was wrong with her voice? It sounded low and hoarse and somehow intimate. Appalled at the change, Grace tried again.
“Of course, that doesn’t qualify as having the last word,” she informed him, reviving a little, “seeing as how yours was an action and not a word at all. I don’t think that counts.”
Smiling for no reason she could discern, Jack pondered it. “Let me try again.”
This time when his mouth met hers, it was with a little less gentleness and a lot more urgency. He cupped her cheek in his hand, his leather glove cold and smooth, and brought all the heat he’d mustered before back to her. He kissed her deeply, coaxed her mouth to open and kissed her more deeply still.
Surprised at the first deft sweep of his tongue, Grace stiffened. Never had she felt anything more invasive, more controlling, more… Ah. Suddenly, that intimate kiss became something new. Something she welcomed. Clutching his coat for balance, she squeezed her eyes shut and lost herself to Jack’s greater experience. For the first time in her life, she let someone else take the lead—and astonishingly, she enjoyed it.
When their kiss ended, Grace did not want to open her eyes. She flopped her arms on the snowbank like a girl making snow angels and merely…luxuriated. She sighed. Nothing in her life had ever prepared her for a sensation like this.
Kissing. Who could have guessed it would be so wonderful? So compelling? So close?
“Now I’ve done it,” Jack mused, laughter in his voice. “I’ve gone and made Grace Crabtree faint dead away with a kiss. I ought to have a statue of myself made to commemorate the occasion.”
Grace roused herself enough to shove his chest. Her eyes flew open. “If you do, I’ll tell everyone in town you used your tongue.” Doubtless it was an eastern peculiarity, familiar among Bostonian rascals like Jack but mostly unknown in the territory. “Everyone will be horror-struck.”
“Only until I tell them you liked it.”
“You wouldn’t!” Grace gasped. “You never—”
“I wouldn’t,” he agreed, then brought his thumb to sweep along her cheek, almost as though he cherished touching her. “If I did, I might never get to repeat it.”
His next kiss felt even headier than the first few. Sweetly and surely, Jack lowered his mouth to hers in as leisurely a fashion as had ever been conceived. He seduced her with each kiss, each touch, each tender look. Hidden there in the snowdrifts, surrounded by nothing more than the wind in the trees and the very, very distant whoops of sledders, he took every notion Grace had of competency and hurled it aside with ease. In this at least, Jack was beyond expert.
“One area you don’t require tutelage in is kissing,” she confided. Feeling comfortable and cozy, Grace wiggled more firmly into position. She fingered Jack’s coat buttons, daring to touch him even without the excuse of an eyes-closed kiss to hide her actions. “I’m happy to say you seem to have that skill mastered.”
“I’m happy you think so.”
“Even without me helping you.”
“Ah.” Another grin. She’d never seen so many from him before. Never had he looked so devilish either. “You’re an expert then?” he asked.
“Well, not an expert. Not exactly.” Caught in her own bantering, Grace hedged, reluctant to seem less than wholly in command of…well, everything. “But I am in a fine position to evaluate your performance, and that’s nearly as good. Although I daresay your chosen partner deserves a bit of the credit—”
“Oh, does she now?” Grinning more widely, Jack shook his head. He seemed to care nothing for his missing hat, nor the unruly shock of dark hair that fell over his brow, making him seem all the more rakish. “Does she truly?”
“Indeed.” At his fond look, something inside Grace seemed to loosen. All at once, she felt nearly as though her heart expanded—nonsensical as it sounded. She found herself returning a smile of her own, helpless to prevent it. “Perhaps we are well matched in this kissing endeavor.”
“Perhaps,” he agreed. “Except that you keep talking.”
“What?” She pretended to feel snubbed, but in truth Grace felt as light as air—as though she could accomplish anything. “There is nothing wrong with talking, I’ll have you know. It is through talking—and writing and agitating and protesting—that real change happens. It is through talking that—”
His next kiss muffled her words, cutting off her breath. Swept up in the pleasure of Jack’s arms, Jack’s mouth, Jack’s husky sound of enjoyment, Grace found she did not mind so very much. In fact, her newly curled toes told a tale of pure happiness.
She beamed at him. “You must quit making your point that way. I find I am quite helpless to argue against it.”
“Good.”
Another kiss, one so incredibly affecting that Grace arched upward, letting her neat ivory buttons smash against the bigger horn buttons on Jack’s coat. Their bodies strained together, fraught with a need she could neither describe nor refute. It simply was, and for now, that was enough. Emboldened by her feelings, she grasped Jack’s lapels, hoping to find purchase in a world that somehow had tilted since they’d left their sled.
If this was what it meant to surrender the final word, Grace thought dizzily, then she had been missing out on a great deal all these years. Thrilled, she kissed him back. Hers must have been an effective gesture, for she felt him shudder in response, his whole body shaking.
Jack drew back, giving her an admiring look. “Grace, you are a fast learner. I should have known.”
Dismayed, Grace touched his mouth. “Your lips are blue!”
“It’s nothing.” Bundling deeper into his paltry coat, Jack hunkered lower. His teeth chattered. “So long as you’re warm.”
Sweet suffrage campaigns, Grace realized. He was shaking from cold, not passion!
Vigorously, she wriggled her arms and legs, truly meaning it this time. “We’re getting up right now. You need a warm fire and a cup of hearty tea, in that order.”
“Right now, all I n-n-n-need is you.” He brought his mouth lower and kissed her ear.
Good heavens! While this new variety of kiss was unexpectedly delightful, the sound of his clatte
ring teeth was not. Poor Jack. What was he thinking?
“Obviously I’ve kissed you senseless,” Grace announced. She gave a mighty shove, dislodging Jack’s mouth from her earlobe. His disappointed moan followed. “Get up. I’m taking you home.”
His answering wink was scandalous. “I hope—”
“Just keep moving, if you please.”
She supervised as he heaved reluctantly to his feet, then got up herself. She marched to his hat. A quick brush and fluff, and it was as good as new. Readying herself to plunk it on his head, Grace fussed to rearrange his disarrayed hair. While those dark burnished locks held a certain appeal, especially given her remembrance of how they’d gotten that way, it wouldn’t do for the two of them to return to town looking quite so…
Well, looking as though they’d been doing exactly what they’d been doing. And nearly freezing to death in the process.
Grace pushed back Jack’s hair, then paused. “Oh, dear.”
“What’s the matter?”
Standing upright with him, even on tiptoes, Grace was struck by how much bigger and broader Jack was than she. But not even he was impervious to injury, it seemed.
“You’re hurt.” Gingerly, she touched his forehead, where a swollen area had already turned color with an impending bruise. “You have a goose egg the size of a gold nugget.”
“I’ll have it assayed when we get back to town.”
She couldn’t believe he would joke about this. “It must have happened when we collided while falling off the sled.”
“Diving very purposely off the sled,” Jack insisted. He raised his hand to his forehead, then winced when he located the bump there. “I was saving us from a far worse fall.”
“I believe you might already be delusional.” Worriedly, Grace peered at him. “Sometimes head injuries affect people strangely. I’d better get you home and send for Doctor Finney.”
“I’m fine. I don’t need a doctor.”
“Stay here. I’ll collect my sled and we’ll be on our way.”
“I don’t need a doctor! It’s just a bump.”
Hands on her hips, Grace examined him. “You’re having a visit from the doctor whether you like it or not.” Strangely, she felt like weeping, mostly at the thought of there being something seriously wrong with him. It would be all her fault, too, for making him linger in the snow…kissing her! “I don’t want anyone dead merely because I decided to try kissing.”