Flint Hills Bride

by Cassandra Austin

  “It’s me, Hannah. Don’t worry about being decent, honey.”

  “Hannah?”

  “The sheriff’s wife.” The woman had opened the door a crack and peered inside.

  Of course the sheriff’s wife would expect to barge right in. Emily tried to give her a smile and found it wasn’t at all hard when it was returned in such a pleasant way.

  Hannah stepped inside and closed the door, revealing an arm laden with garments. “Abel, that’s my husband, said you were about my size.”

  They eyed each other critically then both realized at the same moment what they were doing and laughed.

  “This was my wedding dress,” Hannah said, holding it by its wooden hanger. It was white with a sprinkling of pale pink roses and dark pink trim. She shook it out before slipping it onto a peg on the wall. “And a few underthings.” These became a huge pile over the back of a chair. “What else do you need?”

  Emily, still clad only in a towel, shifted uncomfortably in the chair. “Are you sure you want to loan me those? I mean, you don’t have to just because your husband…” Oh Lord, what had she been about to suggest? That the poor woman disobey her huge, domineering husband? “You could tell him I refused.”

  Hannah looked genuinely disappointed. “You don’t like them?”

  “No, that’s not what I meant.” She rose and walked across the room, clutching the towel in place. “I mean, surely you don’t want to loan all this to a stranger. And if your husband gets upset—”

  “Abel?” Hannah laughed incredulously. “He never gets upset. He’s just a big ol’ softie.”

  Emily blinked her amazement.

  “You will wear them, won’t you?” Hannah asked eagerly.

  Emily smiled. “Yes, I’d love to wear them.”

  “Good. You rest now. I’ll come back at three and help you dress and fix your hair.”

  Emily stopped her just before she opened the door. “Why did your husband decide on four o’clock for the wedding?”

  “To give us time to cook, of course. There’ll be a big potluck dinner at the opera house and dancing. We need an excuse to celebrate.”

  “But it’s only five days until Christmas.”

  “Exactly. Five whole days to wait.”

  In a moment Emily was alone again. She finished drying her hair and slipped into clean drawers and a shift from her bag. She crawled into the bed and tried to rest, but found her mind too cluttered with random thoughts.

  Her mother was missing her wedding. She would soon belong to Jake. Anson had escaped and was probably even now stealing from someone who had offered him help.

  No matter where her mind wandered, it always came back to the thought of spending the night with Jake. Of course, she had spent the night with him last night. But tonight would likely be different.

  She shouldn’t dwell on it; it might ruin her high opinion of Jake. She tried to turn her thoughts to arriving home in time for Christmas, but her concern for her welcome there interfered with the joy of the image.

  She was too pent up to rest. Oddly enough, her first thought was to go to Jake. He was probably in his room across the hall by now. A few soft words from him would reassure her.

  She shook her head at her own foolishness and went to stand by the window. Snow was falling again, coating the roofs and tree branches, mixing with the mud on the street. She felt a wave of homesickness and supposed that accounted for her wandering thoughts most of the afternoon.

  She stayed where she was, watching the light snowfall accumulate here and there until she heard Hannah at the door. The older woman’s chatter quieted Emily’s nerves, and she soon found herself seated in front of the small mirror while Hannah arranged and rearranged her hair.

  Finally, after what seemed like an excruciating amount of time, Hannah helped her into her cloak and took her downstairs where the sheriff waited to take them to the church.

  “Where’s Jake?” she asked when they started off without him.

  “My deputies were to see him to the church,” the sheriff answered.

  “Deputies?” She wanted to ask if they had come equipped with leg irons.

  “All but Hank. I sent him out with the Kraus boy. He’ll likely be back in time for the party, though.”

  The sheriff, she learned, was not only planning to give her away, he and his wife were going to stand up with them. “I’ll see this done proper,” he told her with a laugh.

  The moment she stepped through the door a whining organ began to play. Hannah thrust a bouquet of dried flowers into her hands and whispered, “You wait here about five seconds.” Giving Emily’s dress and hair a last adjustment, she turned and began slowly down the aisle.

  “Five seconds,” whispered the big man, clearing his throat.

  Oh my. The sheriff was actually nervous. Hannah was about halfway to the front before Emily registered two things at once. Jake stood beside the pastor, waiting for her. And the church was completely packed.

  She fought the urge to giggle.

  “Has it been five seconds? I forgot to count,” whispered the sheriff.

  Emily shrugged and tugged his arm. Together they started down the aisle, much faster than Hannah. They had nearly caught up with her before they reached the front. Emily was grateful to be handed over to Jake and have the ceremony begun.

  The pastor had promised them at dinner to keep the ceremony short and simple, and he was true to his word. In less time than it had taken Hannah to fix her hair, Emily found herself being introduced to the crowd as Mrs. Jake Rawlins. To her astonishment, several women were weeping and sniffing into their handkerchiefs.

  Jake’s very public kiss was brief but sweet and filled with promise. Emily wanted nothing more than to escape with him. Instead, the sheriff and his wife whisked them off to the opera house where they stood at the door and greeted the well-wishers.

  When everyone was assembled, Jake and Emily were directed to the buffet table and encouraged to take some of everything. Several women seemed to be watching closely, noting, evidently, whose dishes they sampled and whose they passed up. Emily tried to take at least a taste of everything that Jake didn’t.

  They were then seated at the front of the room surrounded by the sheriff and his wife. Emily, feeling too nervous to eat, did her best to anyway. She remembered Christian and Lynnette’s wedding dinner and didn’t want to invite any jokes about keeping up her strength.

  When Jake finished eating and declined the invitation to get seconds, Emily hoped again for a chance to escape. Instead, the sheriff stood and offered a slightly embarrassing toast to the new couple, which Jake took good-naturedly.

  A band struck up a number, and Jake and Emily were thrust onto the dance floor. The dance was far too fast to allow for talking and, though a few couples joined in, most seemed content to stomp and clap and watch the young couple. As soon as the music ended, Emily whispered breathlessly, “Can we go now?”

  “Aren’t you having fun?” His grin made her want to punch him.

  Three toasts and four dances later, they made their escape. The sheriff drove them the short distance to the hotel with half the town running along behind. Once through the doors, Emily breathed a sigh of relief.

  The hotel clerk followed them inside. “I’ve moved your things into Room three with the lady’s, Mr. Rawlins,” he said breathlessly. He went behind his desk to search for a key.

  Jake took a step toward the clerk. He seemed about to protest. “That will be fine,” Emily said quickly, gaining a surprised glance from Jake.

  The clerk smiled pleasantly and handed over a key. He brushed past them and hurried back to the party.

  Emily and Jake started up the stairs. “You were going to ask for separate rooms, weren’t you, Jake?”

  “Don’t take offense, Emily. I didn’t want to rush you.”

  She took his hand and drew him into the room, giving him a smile she hoped was more teasing than shy. “You’ve made quite a sacrifice for me, Jake. I think t
his is the least I can do.”

  He closed the door behind them and turned to light the lamp on the wall before he answered. “Do you feel like you’re making a sacrifice, Emily?”

  Her already tense nerves wound a little tighter. What sacrifice was she making? Did he think she still cared about Anson? She shook her head, uncertain what he was asking.

  He stepped closer, his voice low. “Is making love to me a sacrifice?”

  “No,” she whispered. “More a…gift.”

  He touched her cheek lightly, making her tremble clear to her toes. “A gift? Perhaps. But Emily, I had hoped you would want me as much as I want you. It should be something we share.”

  They hadn’t yet removed their coats, and Emily suddenly felt unbearably warm. She stepped away and slid the cloak from her shoulders, tossing it over a nearby chair. He had been standing too close, anyway. In another second she would have wanted him to kiss her. He seemed to want to talk.

  “Something we share,” she murmured thoughtfully. She certainly enjoyed sharing Jake’s kisses. But the rest…

  Jake turned from her, perhaps reading the skepticism in her eyes. He removed his coat, tossed it over the back of the chair next to the door then put his gun belt over it. He walked to the window and stood looking out on the dark street.

  She hadn’t wanted to hurt his feelings. “Jake,” she said softly. “I will share whatever you want. But let’s remember, I’ve done this before.”

  He turned toward her, his face unreadable. She shouldn’t have mentioned Anson, even indirectly. Before she could decide how to correct the mistake, he spoke. “Emily, I don’t care about the past You’re giving me your future, and I’m giving you mine. That’s far more important than anything that’s gone before.”

  He took a step toward her, but only one. Emily started forward, too, but stopped. He seemed to have something more he wanted to say and was perhaps as aware as she that it was easier to talk with some distance between them.

  “I slept with you in my arms last night,” he began after a moment. “It felt right to have, you beside me. But I can’t do that again without wanting more.”

  “I know,” she said quickly. “I don’t expect—”

  A raised hand silenced her. He went on quietly, “I want what we share tonight to reflect all the love I feel in my heart, but you see, Emily, I’ve never done this before.”

  She stared at him. When she realized her mouth was hanging open she snapped it closed. She had hoped that most married men stayed faithful to their wives, but she had assumed that all single men sampled whatever was available. Unless…

  She swallowed a lump in her throat. Perhaps he had no interest. That was, of course, a shock, but after a moment of reflection, she decided she could live with that. “It doesn’t matter, Jake,” she said.

  He smiled at her. She still wasn’t sure if she understood.

  “You have to accept the blame for my inexperience,” he said.

  “Me?” Lord, had a childhood prank of hers caused some injury? She felt herself growing light-headed.

  “Every time I had the opportunity I would end up comparing the woman to you. None of them ever came close. All these years, you are all I’ve wanted.”

  Emily took a deep breath. “I don’t know what to say. I feel more guilty than ever about my own past.”

  He moved toward her quickly, taking her arms. “I don’t want you to feel guilty. I told you so you’d be patient with me.”

  She had to laugh. “Jake, there’s nothing much to it. I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”

  To her relief he grinned at her. “I didn’t say I was completely ignorant. I got the usual speeches from both my mother and my father. Of course, if I remember right, they pretty much contradicted each other.”

  Emily giggled. “You got speeches from both your parents?”

  “I was an only child.”

  It felt so good to laugh with him again. She threw her arms around his neck, thinking of him more as her old friend and less as her new husband.

  His mind had evidently taken a little different turn. “Let’s start with something simple,” he whispered, “like a kiss.”

  Shivers shot through her body. Whether it was from his breath on her ear or the tone of his voice, she wasn’t sure. Suddenly she was aware of the closeness of his body, the pounding of her own heart. She drew away enough to make her lips accessible without being aware of doing so. One moment, her face was buried in his shoulder, the next, it was rising to meet his kiss.

  Desire uncurled in the pit of her stomach and flooded her senses. All she could taste, all she could smell, was Jake. All she could hear was her own blood humming with his. All she could feel was Jake pressed against her body.

  Or almost. She realized she was pushing so close to him he had to shuffle one foot to keep his balance. Her own knees were less than steady.

  He broke the kiss and grinned down at her. “I think we did that pretty well, don’t you? What shall we try next?”

  It took Emily a moment to find her voice. “Well, I’m a little worried about ruining a borrowed dress so, would you do the honors?”

  She turned her back, and he moved her slightly for better light. “Hmm, a million buttons, I see.” He loosened the top one and planted a kiss at the nape of her neck. “I feel like I’m opening a Christmas present early.”

  Emily bit her lip to keep from giggling. Her stomach seemed to be filled with butterflies. She felt a second kiss on her back an inch below the first, followed quickly by a third an inch lower still. With each button, his kisses worked down her back. Even through her undergarments, his lips felt hot and moist. The suppressed giggle turned into a moan. By the time he slipped the gown off her shoulders she was ready to believe there had been a million buttons.

  The dress pooled at her feet. She knew she should step out of it and put it on the hanger. She wasn’t sure her legs would cooperate. If Jake hadn’t come around and taken her hand, encouraging her to step toward him, she might have collapsed onto the floor just like the dress.

  He led her to the bed, where she gratefully sat down, and he hung up her dress. “You did that very well, too,” she murmured.

  He grinned at her, looking more wicked than she had ever seen her Jake. Obviously he knew he was turning her into a pile of jelly.

  “Now the shoes,” he said. And he untied them, one then the other, slowly slipping them off her feet and setting them aside. His fingers trailed up one leg, starting at the ankle, all the way up to the top of her stocking, then slowly back down, bringing the stocking along. When he started up the second leg, she found the anticipation almost more than she could stand.

  When both stockings had been removed, she gave a great quivering sigh, wondering what he planned next. After a moment, she realized her eyes were closed and opened them to find him grinning down at her.

  “Here is where it gets difficult. All this feminine mystery.” He indicated her petticoats and corset. “I don’t know how they come off.”

  “Good,” she said, feeling a little of her reason returning. “Because I think it’s time you caught up.”

  She stood and slipped her hands under the lapels of his suit jacket and ran them slowly up to his shoulders, forcing the jacket up and off. She slipped her hands down his arms, enjoying the flex of hard muscles until the jacket hit the floor. “We should hang that—”

  She didn’t get any farther. His lips were on hers, teasing them open. His tongue slipped inside, stroking her senseless again.

  When he finally raised his head, she gasped for breath. “Where were we?” she murmured.

  “Here,” he said, lowering his lips to hers again.

  Well, he certainly had the kissing figured out. If he could make her feel like this first, she didn’t think she would mind the rest.

  This time when he raised his head, it took her more than a moment to collect herself. She sighed. And he grinned.

  “Pleased with yourself, aren’t you?” Some
of the teasing was lost in the breathlessness of her voice.

  “Pleased with you,” he said. He pulled the end of the string tie and loosened his collar. “Buttons,” he said.

  She hadn’t thought about this when she had been so bold about removing his jacket. He had buttons on his shirt and would expect the same treatment he had given her.

  Her cheeks warmed a little at the prospect. She caught a light in his eyes reminiscent of a much younger Jake daring her to try something. She stepped forward, opening his shirt at the throat, and deposited a quick kiss. Her lips encountered smooth warm skin where she had expected cotton.

  Perhaps he hadn’t had any clean underwear. It seemed too intimate a question to ask. The incongruity of that thought, considering what she was doing, nearly made her laugh.

  She flicked the next button open and kissed the exposed skin. There were a few soft hairs she would want to explore later. She continued her journey downward over his hard chest and lean stomach, until she was stopped by the waist of his trousers.

  She drew away as he yanked the tails free. She worked the last few buttons loose. Sometime while she was occupied, he had slipped the suspenders off, and they dangled at his thighs. She drew the shirt over his shoulders exposing a broad expanse of chest. She spread her fingers and ran them through the mat of hair, being careful not to touch his nipples. That would have been too forward.

  He lifted her chin with a fingertip and captured her lips again. The fire had scarcely subsided from the last time, and she moaned, clinging to his bare arms for support.

  “Now,” he said, when his lips had freed hers. “It’s your turn again. Show me how all these ruffles are removed so I’ll know next time.”

  Something deep in her stomach gave an excited lurch at the notion of a future filled with this sort of activity. He grinned at her, and she remembered what she had been asked to do.

  “This has buttons,” she said, indicating her corset. She sucked in to make it possible to undo them through the stiff fabric. She sighed with relief when she was free.

  Jake took the garment and tossed it aside. “It looks uncomfortable.”