It didn’t last long. He couldn’t last long.
“Jody. I can’t hold back...”
“Good.” Her mouth slid away from his. She pressed her soft cheek to his beard-scruffy one. “Don’t hold back.” She breathed the command into his ear. “I don’t want you to hold back...”
And that did it. His climax plowed through him, undeniable, unstoppable, painful in the best way, and mind-blowing, too.
His head filled with the scent of flowers and spice, he surged into her so hard and deep. And she took him, rode it out with him, murmuring heady encouragements, her soft hands stroking his back, her legs wrapped so tight around him, the whole of her claiming him, branding him as hers.
* * *
“Mrs. Yancy, that was not how I planned it,” he confessed a few minutes later as they lay side by side. She had her hand on his chest, her head on his arm. He nuzzled her tangled hair and breathed in the sweet scent of her girlie shampoo.
“Mr. Yancy, that was perfect and don’t you dare say otherwise.”
He nipped her temple with his teeth. “Perfect for me, maybe.”
She laughed, a low, sexy laugh that had him thinking he’d be ready to go again in no time. “There will be plenty of time for me. After all, we have a lifetime, right?”
“Yeah. Yeah, we do...” He touched her pink nipple.
“Careful,” she warned.
“I don’t mind.”
“Sure?”
“Positive.” He wanted to touch every inch of her. He cradled her breast in his hand and rubbed the nipple until a few drops of milk appeared.
“There’s a towel.” She kissed his shoulder. “In the nightstand drawer...”
He pulled the drawer wide and took out the hand towel she’d stashed there. But then, after wiping up the moisture, he couldn’t resist causing more, wiping that up, too, then dropping the towel in easy reach as he ran his fingers down the center of her, dipping one in at her navel, loving her softness, marveling at the silky texture of her skin.
And not only the look and feel of her, but the way she was as a woman, so open. Honest and lacking in pretense.
He’d liked that about her from the first, even when he’d been angry at her for not marrying Nicky, and for not seeking him out to tell him about the baby after Nicky died.
There were no coy games with Jody. She didn’t open up easy, but when she did, she gave her all. She was strong and smart and serious. But with that edge, too, that sharp sense of humor, that toughness that came from the hard knocks she’d taken, the hard choices she’d had to make.
She fit him. Fit him in every way, including this. Fit him even better than Irene had...
Seth closed his eyes. Where had that disloyal thought come from?
“Seth?” Jody took his face between her hands. He opened his eyes reluctantly. She searched his eyes. “What is it?”
“Nothing,” he whispered and kissed her.
“But...”
He kept on kissing her, nipping at her lips a little, spearing his tongue in, tasting all the slick, tempting places beyond her parted lips, until she went pliant and willing again.
“You went away there for a moment,” she whispered.
“Right here,” he replied and meant it. “Right here, with you, on our wedding night.”
She smiled at him then, a glowing, open smile.
He returned to the pleasure at hand, tracing circles on her hip bones as she sighed and lifted toward his touch. Mine, he thought, as he went lower, down to where she was bare for him. He dipped his fingers in, loving the feel of her, wet and so willing.
She whispered his name, eased her legs wider. He deepened the caress, sliding two fingers in and then three, bracing up on an elbow so he could watch her face as she came apart for him that very first time, her mouth a soft O, her eyes glazed with pleasure.
“Seth.” She wrapped her hand around his neck and pulled him down for a long, sweet kiss.
For a while, they drifted together, lazy and easy, whispering about nothing, sharing slow touches. Until she reached down between them again.
“Uh-uh.” He took that naughty hand of hers and the other one, too, and raised them both above her head. “Keep these clever hands above your head. This time’s for you.”
“But I already—”
“Shh.” He kissed her mouth, firm and quick. “I mean it. No hands.”
* * *
Jody surrendered control.
Reaching, she found the top edge of the mattress and took hold. She let him do what he wanted with her.
And, oh, it was glorious, to be at his command. Those knowing fingers of his, warm and just rough enough, glided over her, stirring every last hungry nerve, making her body hum with need and yearning.
He bent close and he kissed her. Endless, arousing kisses that wiped her mind free of all rational thought. Kisses that began on her lips and then went lower.
And lower...
She looked down at him as he kissed her where she wanted him most. Her hands gripping the mattress for all she was worth, she lifted her body eagerly toward that wet, intimate caress.
He wasn’t shy. He used his lips and his tongue and even his teeth to drive her higher. And those knowing fingers, too, he put them in play, until all she could do was moan his name and rock frantically, bucking her body to get closer to him.
And closer still...
And then at last, when he moved up her body again and she felt him, right there where she burned for him, pressing inside, she had no words fine enough for how good it felt.
It was exactly right, the way he came into her, slow and firm and steady, the gold in his eyes molten, his mouth swollen from kissing her, whispering her name rough and low. It was everything she’d given up hope of ever finding.
He was everything.
This man. A real man, her husband now. A man who shared his hardest secrets and listened when she told him hers. A loyal man who took care of her and her baby. A man who knew all the right ways to make her body burn.
She lifted her legs, wrapped them around him. It wasn’t enough. “I need...”
Somehow, he knew. “Your arms, Jody. Put your arms around me now.”
“Yes. Oh, Seth...” She let go of the mattress then and grabbed for him, twining her arms around him, too.
His big body pressed her down, and she pressed up to meet him. She held him so tight as he rocked into her, pushing her closer to the edge of sheer bliss.
Until, with a sharp cry, she went over, every nerve shimmering, a spiral of sparks and wonder lighting her up from inside as her climax burned through her.
And truly, she didn’t mean to say it. She wasn’t going to say it.
After all, he’d made it more than clear that everything he had was hers.
Everything but that.
But something broke with her climax, just broke wide open. And the truth she’d been denying came pouring out.
“I love you,” she cried as her body pulsed around him. “Seth, I love you so much!”
Chapter Ten
He didn’t say it back to her.
He didn’t acknowledge the words, either.
Instead, he held her close. He kissed her endlessly. He treated her so tenderly, carrying her into the bathroom a little while later, filling the tub and sharing a lazy bath with her, then taking her back to bed.
Marybeth woke them at a few minutes after three in the morning. He went to get her. Jody nursed her there, in the bed, and then Seth carried her off to the spare room again, to change her and put her back down to sleep.
Jody lay alone, waiting for him, trying not to think too much about the three little words she’d said to him, about how he’d behaved as though she’d never said them at all.
What had she expected? For him to say them back to her?
No. She’d had zero hope that she’d get words of love from him. Because, even though they’d never actually discussed it, they were both clear on the love issue. She, Jody, had forever with him. They belonged to each other now.
But love?
Well, it wasn’t exactly that love didn’t enter into it.
It was only that he’d given his love already. He had to keep something just for Irene.
Jody reminded herself that she needed to be at peace with that. She’d known how it was with him when she said yes to him.
The next day, they went back to the ranch to spend some time with Bill, who was head-over-heels for his new granddaughter. They stayed for lunch and dinner, the men talking beef prices, alfalfa yields and fence repair. Jody puttered around the big, dated ranch house kitchen with Mae Califano. A grandmother several times over, Mae was as tall and lean as her husband, with thick gray hair and a ready smile.
Around seven that night, Jody, Seth and Marybeth returned to town.
Seth put Marybeth down in the spare room again and then came for Jody in the great room, scooping her up in his arms and carrying her straight to bed. He made love to her slowly the first time and hard and fast later. She reveled in every kiss, every lingering touch.
And she was careful not to let herself say her love out loud again. There was simply no point in going there. Again, she reminded herself that she’d said yes to him knowing that his heart was taken. She had no right to turn around and demand what he couldn’t give.
She’d made her peace with the situation.
Or so she kept telling herself.
* * *
Monday at breakfast, Seth said he wanted to adopt Marybeth.
Jody wasn’t surprised. “I think that’s wise. My brother James is in family law. How about if I call him? I’ll get us an appointment as soon as possible. We can get the process started.”
Seth had just lifted a spoonful of oatmeal to his lips. He set it back in the bowl without eating it. “You’re serious? Yes, you’ll let me adopt her. Just like that?”
“What? You think I should argue with you about it?”
He knocked back a gulp of coffee. “I kind of thought I would have to convince you.”
“Seth. If anything ever happened to me—”
“Don’t even think it.” He had visibly paled.
Her heart warmed. No, he wouldn’t say he loved her. But she did matter to him. She mattered in the deepest way.
She made her tone softer. “I’m only saying that you’re the one I would want for Marybeth, the one to stick by her, to look after her. You’re already the dad that she needs. No matter what happens, you need a legal claim on her, too. I also think it’s what Nick would want, to have the big brother he loved so much take care of his little girl.”
Seth shoved his chair back hard enough that it went over with a crash.
“Seth!” Jody gasped as he rounded the table toward her. “Seth. What in the...?”
He grabbed her hand and pulled her up from her chair, sending it over backward, too. “Jody.” He wrapped those big arms around her. “Jody...”
“What?” She stared up at him, bewildered.
“You amaze me, you really do.”
She laughed then. “That’s me. I aim to amaze.”
His mouth swooped down and covered hers in a mind-bending, beautiful, never-ending kiss. He braced one arm at her back and bent to slide the other arm behind her knees.
“Seth!” she cried again, as he scooped her high against his chest and carried her to their bedroom, where he made fast, hot love to her, leaving her breathless and panting for more. They rested for a little while, and the second time was slower and infinitely sweet.
The next day, Tuesday, they visited Calder and Bravo, Attorneys at Law, to take the first step toward making Seth Marybeth’s legal dad.
* * *
A week later, on Monday, Bill returned to Florida.
By then, Jody and Seth had already established a pattern for their daily lives. They stayed at the house in town during the week and went to the ranch on Saturdays and Sundays. The house in town was close to both Bloom and the justice center, so very little time had to be wasted driving back and forth to work. On the weekends, Seth could concentrate on whatever needed his attention at the ranch.
Jody loved the old ranch house. She wanted Marybeth to have a lot of good memories there, and she was already making plans to update the kitchen and redo the bathrooms—well, except for the big one upstairs with the claw-foot tub. That was perfect as it was.
The day after Bill left, Jody took Marybeth and met Elise for breakfast at the bakery.
“At last,” said Elise. “You, me and morning coffee. Just like old times.” From her stroller, Marybeth made a cooing sound. “I think you have the perfect baby.”
“As of this moment, yes, I do. Let’s savor the joy.”
They talked about Elise’s wedding, which was less than two weeks away now, with the ceremony to be held at Elk Street Community Church and the reception afterward at Justice Creek’s famous and purportedly haunted Haltersham Hotel.
“So...” Elise swallowed a bite of blueberry muffin. “Married life? Good?”
“Crazy wonderful.” Except I said I love him and he didn’t say it back.
Not that she was letting herself dwell on that.
“I mean, you and Broomtail County’s favorite lawman?” Elise widened her eyes and threw out both hands. “Whoever would have guessed? Except, when I see you together, it’s so obvious. It’s like you were meant for each other. Everyone says so.”
“Everyone?”
“Clara, Nellie—me, of course.” She added their sisters-in-law: “Addie, Chloe, Paige, Ava...”
“Seriously? You’ve all been discussing my relationship with Seth?”
“Of course. I mean, it happened pretty fast, but we all agree you’re a great match. Seth is so self-contained, you know? And so are you. It’s always been like pulling teeth to get you to admit when you’re upset about something.”
“Oh, come on. I’m not that bad.”
“Yeah, you kind of are. But it’s okay. We love you, anyway. And I have to tell you, before you and Seth got together, he always seemed so unhappy, so depressingly grim. Polite and helpful, with a good head on his shoulders, the kind of guy you would want to have around to take things in hand during a natural disaster. But so stern. So serious. But then, last week at your wedding, I had a few minutes with him. He was charming and friendly. And, Jody, when he looks at you...” Elise fanned herself. “Whew. That guy is wild for you.”
Not wild enough. The thought rose unbidden. Jody pressed her lips together to keep from saying too much.
But she must have given herself away. Elise leaned closer. “Jody, what’s the matter?”
No. Bad idea to go there. What was Elise going to tell her that she didn’t already know? Jody relaxed her shoulders, looked her sister straight in the eye and replied, “Not a thing. Why?”
“I don’t know. For a moment there, I thought...”
“What?”
“There’s really nothing bothering you?”
“Honestly. No.”
Did she feel bad about lying to her sister? A little.
But really, how could it be lying when she was fine? She just needed to keep things in perspective, that was all.
But it ate at her, just chewed away at the edges of her happiness. She loved her husband, and she wanted him to love her back. And sometimes, when he kissed her or looked at her across the breakfast table in the morning, or asked her how her day had been when he got home from the justice center, she would know in her heart that he did love her. That, as fast as it had happen
ed between them, from the night Marybeth was born until their marriage five and a half weeks later, she owned his heart as he owned hers.
That it was only the words he couldn’t give her. Because he owed them to Irene and Irene alone.
Which, increasingly, pissed her the hell off.
She found herself understanding her mother better, of all things. Understanding what it was to love a man beyond all reason and know that he belonged to another. No, it wasn’t the same, what her mother had done, fighting tooth and nail for all those years to steal another woman’s husband.
It wasn’t the same.
But still, Jody felt a certain kinship with her mother—or wait. Maybe it was Sondra Bravo Jody understood better now. She’d always wondered why Sondra never kicked Frank Bravo out on his sorry ass and filed for divorce.
Now she kind of got it. It was just possible that Sondra had loved Frank Bravo as passionately and possessively as Willow did. Sondra couldn’t have her husband all to herself, but she clung to what she could have of him, anyway.
* * *
“What is going through that mind of yours?” Seth asked. He stood over her as she sat on the back steps at the house in town. It was nine at night and he’d just come out the sliding door after putting Marybeth to sleep in the spare room. They’d been married for two and a half weeks.
For a moment, Jody just sat there, facing away from him, staring off toward the back fence. Was this it, then, his invitation to talk about what she’d said on their wedding night?
She knew it wasn’t.
“Why do you ask?” she said without turning.
“You’ve been kind of quiet all evening, that’s all.”
Jody turned and looked up at him, feeling that now-familiar ache of longing under her breastbone, wanting to get honest with him and at the same time just...not ready.
Not ready to go there, not ready to lay her heart on the line and then have to face the painful things he might say when she did.
She chose the coward’s way. “I’ve been thinking we should go ahead and start putting Marybeth to sleep in her own room.”
His bare feet brushed the porch boards as he came and sat beside her. He had the receiver for the baby monitor in his hand, and he set it on the next step down.
The Lawman's Convenient Bride Page 14