Chapter Eight
The drive to Whitehorn took forever, though Rumor was only twenty miles away. Halfway there, he recalled his mother’s words about Tessa volunteering at the hospital and felt himself breathe normally for the first time since talking to Henry.
Still, after hurrying into the hospital, he checked at the emergency room desk. No Tessa Madison was there. Hunting her down seemed dumb. He could hardly go from room to room. He went down a corridor to find the nursing supervisor’s office.
“Cowboy, are you lost?”
The gray-haired nurse looked sympathetic. Colby gave his head a brief shake as he realized he was on the maternity floor. “I’m looking for a friend. She’s supposed to be here, but not in emergency. Tessa Madison.”
“Tessa.” The woman’s face brightened. “I know Tessa. She’s a volunteer here.”
“Where would I find her?”
“She helps out with the children. Go to the children’s floor.”
Nothing was simple with her. Constantly she surprised him. As the elevator doors swooshed open, he stepped out, then wandered toward a crowd gathered at the end of the hallway. Several nurses lingered outside the doorway of a huge room. In the center of it was a clown in baggy orange-colored pants, an oversize green-checkered coat, too-big, bright yellow shoes that flopped when he walked, and a pink derby with a bright yellow daisy sticking up like an antenna. Carrot-red hair framed the face painted with white makeup. He blew up a bright pink balloon and twisted it into the shape of a bunny, then placed it in the hands of a young boy in a wheelchair, his right leg in a cast to the thigh.
The clown did a slow knee bend, then raised one white gloved hand and squeezed his giant red nose. It beeped, drawing a roomful of childish giggles.
Colby had caught the end of the clown’s act. With a wave, the clown took two steps toward the door, backed up three, waved again, then scurried toward one little girl and gave her a squeezing hug before scampering toward the door. No more than five years old, the girl had sparse blond hair growing back to resemble a short cap. The girl beamed and waved goodbye.
Colby stepped to the side to let the clown pass, and scanned the room filled with not only children but nursing staff, a few office employees and several other adults, volunteers, he assumed.
“Want a daisy?” a voice said from behind him.
He smiled even before he turned.
Holding out a gigantic yellow daisy, the clown smiled. “Or do you want a kiss, mister?” Lips outlined with bright red makeup puckered up. Beautiful gray eyes circled by black makeup danced with a smile.
He couldn’t help grinning. “Could I collect one later?” He put a fingertip to the white makeup covering Tessa’s face. “You have many talents.” And few people knew about this. Special. Caring. “How long have you been doing this?”
“Since I came to town.”
“Nice.”
“It’s nothing. I learned how to make the balloons while I was working in Chicago.”
He grinned, thinking she looked adorable. “And the getup?”
“At a country fair, a clown came into my tent to have his fortune told. I did it for free so he’d show me how to put on the makeup.” Her eyes shifted to the little girl she’d hugged. Laughing, she showed her balloon to one of the nurses.
“Is she okay?” Colby asked.
A softness entered her gaze. “Yes, she’ll be fine now.”
“Will she?”
“Yes. She’s had a hard time of it for someone so young, but she’s a fighter. Her courage is mind-boggling.” Her smile spread from the overdrawn mouth to dance in her eyes. “Why are you here? Were you looking for me?”
“You weren’t supposed to go off alone.” He curled fingers beneath her elbow to keep her from moving away. “It’s dangerous for you, Tessa.”
“I can’t put my life on hold because of someone with twisted thinking.” She placed a hand on his cheek. “I need to change. Do you want to wait until I come back?”
“That’s why I’m here.” Did she really think he’d leave her alone?
“Thank you for being concerned. I know you want me to stay at the ranch, to accept a bodyguard all the time, but I can’t do it your way.”
How could he argue? She was courageous, he realized, but that wasn’t because she stood up to someone’s scare tactics. With a touch, could she tell if one of these children would die? She said she knew this little girl was going to be all right. But what about the children she touched who wouldn’t be? Did she feel their pain and grieve silently for what would happen later on? He wanted to understand. He wanted to help. He wanted her to be able to share with someone—him. At that moment, he realized that he didn’t understand her ability, but he wasn’t as filled with doubts as he’d once been.
Tessa strolled to him. “That wasn’t long, was it? I thought it would take longer to get rid of the makeup.” She slid the carryall containing her costume onto her shoulder. “How did you know where I was?”
“Henry.”
Walking with him to the exit, she frowned. “How did he know?”
“He’s the one who told me you were here. What’s the problem?”
Tessa preceded him outside. “Why would he keep tabs on me?”
“He knew you volunteered here.” Colby slowed his stride. “Do you think—”
Tessa shook her head. “No, I guess not. The mayor’s office has a list of people in Rumor who volunteer. That’s probably how he knew about me. He hangs around the office as if he’s still mayor.”
“You’re not off the hook, you know,” Colby said before she stepped away. “You weren’t supposed to go wandering around. There’s someone out there who’s trying to scare you.”
“And doing a good job of it.”
He was surprised at her admittance. Until now, except for conceding to stay at the ranch, she’d played gutsy lady to the hilt.
Tessa gestured toward her van. “I’m parked over there.”
Colby pointed in the opposite direction. “I’m over there. I’ll meet you at the ranch.” He watched her head for her truck. She was such a contradiction. He’d liked her from day one even though he should have been wary of someone like her. Until she’d opened the shop, she’d hardly been the settling-down type. She’d admitted she’d traveled a lot with her mother. He figured in time she’d get bored living in Rumor.
He’d expected her to be eccentric, but during the past days, he’d been with a woman who’d donned a clown outfit to entertain sick kids, who’d rushed to work because she didn’t want her employee, newly pregnant, lifting the boxes that were delivered. This was a woman who’d munch on popcorn or lemon meringue pie for breakfast, who told fortunes at county fairs. She was an enigma. Sensible yet kooky. Stubborn yet adaptable. Tough yet delicate.
And instead of keeping his distance, he sought her out at every free moment. Being with her was paramount in his mind. Lately that’s all that mattered.
Colby stopped at a red light. In front of him, Tessa suddenly jumped out of her van and dashed toward his truck. Why? Concerned, he glanced around, saw nothing. Before she reached him, he opened the door and slid out from behind the steering wheel. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” She touched his arm. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to alarm you. I have an idea for dinner.” She pointed across the street. “See that supermarket?”
Tension oozed from him. “You want to buy something special?”
“Yes. Okay?” She didn’t wait for his answer. With a glance at the light, she whirled and sprinted to her van before the light changed.
Smiling, Colby climbed into his truck. The unexpected. That’s what she brought into his life.
Tessa couldn’t believe that Mr. Steak and Potatoes had agreed to her suggestion to pick up Asian food from a cooked-to-order section.
While Colby opened a bottle of wine, she spooned portions of almond chicken and Mongolian beef from the white cartons. He sampled everything, then ate with gusto. Sipping her wine, she wa
tched him over the rim of her glass. What would he say if she told him that a yearning taunted her whenever he stared at her?
“This is good,” he said with a look at her.
“You ate all of it.” She reached forward. “You’ll love this,” she said about the crab puff in her hand. He looked skeptical, but when she held it out to him, he took a bite. “Good?”
Chewing, he grinned and nodded his head. “Good,” he mumbled.
“You’re a good sport, Holmes.”
He laughed. “So are you, Madison.”
While he cleaned up the kitchen, Tessa called Marla. A regular was at the store, and two women from Billings bought merchandise. A good sign, Tessa mused, wandering to the kitchen. That meant people were learning about Mystic Treasures. “Can I help?”
“Done,” he said, turning from the sink and facing her.
Tessa’s heart quickened when he moved toward her. She laughed to relax herself as his arm snaked around her waist. Nothing felt steady. Her pulse raced at an uneven pace. Her heart pounded harder. She’d have hoped for promises but knew better. He wouldn’t make them, and she’d learned never to expect them. “What do you want?” she asked even though she knew the answer.
His eyes met hers with a soft, understanding look that was more unsettling than one filled with desire. “No. What do you want?”
You weaken me. With his breath, warm and sweet, fanning her face, she only had to close her eyes to summon up his taste. Was this what desire was really supposed to feel like? She’d never wanted to be with someone like this, not even with Seth. So at twenty-four, Tessa Madison, resident psychic, was still a virgin. “I want to be with you,” she said without hesitation. She’d known this was where they’d be one day. She’d felt the certainty of this moment on the first day she’d met him.
Softly he kissed her brow, her cheek, a corner of her lips, then looked down, drew her fingers to his lips, kissed them. Was she still breathing? she wondered.
With the pressure of his hand at the small of her back, almost testingly he brushed his lips across hers. She’d been dying for the feel of his arms around her again. “This is—” She paused as he directed his lips to the sensitive flesh at the curve of her neck.
“Whatever we want it to be,” he murmured.
Tessa drew a long breath to relax the excitement pounding through her. They wouldn’t let emotion get in the way. They’d go their separate ways eventually. But for now—for this night she wanted to be with him. She wanted whatever moments she could have with him.
Don’t rush. Savor. Colby tried to bide his time, but he’d been fantasizing almost since their first meeting, wondering if she’d taste as sweet as she looked, imagining the velvety feel of pale skin beneath his caress. No hurry, he told himself, hoped he’d remember that once the excitement began and his body was bathed in the heat. As he wound fingers into her hair, he captured her mouth with his. He wanted to grind his mouth on hers, make his mark. He wanted her need to match his, wanted to feel desperation in her mouth answering his. He heard her soft whimper and lingered, but he felt no patience.
She fueled him, yanking his shirt from his jeans. Control was slim as her fingers moved over the buttons of his shirt. The touch was tentative, inexperienced, all the sweeter because of that. With his mouth on hers, he shrugged out of his shirt, felt a rush of need when her hands touched his skin, when slowly her fingertips traced a scar along his rib cage.
“A battle wound?” she murmured against his lips.
“From a bull’s horn.” He drew a deep breath, filling himself with her scent. Reaching behind her, he tugged at the dress zipper. Lightly he slid off first one shoulder and then the other. Cloth whispered beneath his hands and slithered over her hips to pool at her feet. He couldn’t recall her stepping out of the dress. He couldn’t think about anything but the lips twisting over his, the soft body straining against his.
In the feminine fingers pressing against his bare back, he felt tension. When he heard her sigh, he gathered her closer and lifted her into his arms.
Her eyes, hooded, held on his in the darkness of the staircase as he carried her to the bedroom. In the moonlit room, they sank to the bed. He fought with the lace and silk piece of material covering her breasts, inhaled her scent, the lavender fragrance, as if it were his air. He couldn’t remember this neediness before.
On an oath, he pulled away to yank off boots. Those eyes that had haunted him from day one never left his while he stripped off his jeans. He came to her naked, touched the sharp point of her hip, the curve of her breast. Whatever he expected paled in comparison to the need driving him. Hungry for the touch of her skin, he took first one nipple and then the other in his mouth.
He’d planned to go slow, but then she touched him. Delicate fingers closed over him and nearly sent his head swimming. He hadn’t expected her touch, hadn’t been ready for it. Barely he held on to a slim grip of reality. A stroke from her, and he nearly lost it.
Turning on his side, facing her, he slipped his fingers between her legs to probe the moist softness of her. On a moan, she jolted beneath him. Give. That was his only thought. He waited a moment, then inched lower to spread kisses down her breast to her stomach. Desire clawed at him, but he wanted to give her more. From the first time he’d seen her, he’d wanted to be with her like this. When his breath heated the inside of her thigh, he heard her quick intake of air. Her scent and taste were a part of him now. As she arched, he stayed with her hot flesh a moment longer.
Then, heart pounding, he reached into the bedside table for the condom. Madness made him want to rush and bury himself in her softness.
For the first time in his life, he nearly fumbled opening the package.
She had to be ready. He was dying. It was his only thought before he crushed her mouth with a hard kiss and shifted to lie between her legs. She’d seduced him with her sweet taste, with her tentative touch. He remembered it and entered her gently. He’d planned to wait, offered only the tip. But she gripped his shoulders, and her legs embraced him. He couldn’t wait. He entered her fully, felt the resistance, heard her moan. Silently he swore. And stilled. He was her first. “Tessa,” he said between harsh breaths.
“Don’t talk.”
Talk. He could barely breathe. He wanted her to know he treasured this gift, but the frenzy had begun. Flesh rubbed flesh. Breaths became gasps. Through a cloud of sensation, he heard her uneven breathing. With one stroke after another, all that he was belonged to her. He rocked from the craving, plunged deeper, drove her with him.
Her soft groan blended with his. There was no waiting. Her warmth and softness enveloped him, and he moved with her, against her. Pleasure her. It was his only thought. When she cried out, when he knew she’d peaked, he gave in to his own need. On a muffled moan, he buried his face in the curve of her neck. Tangled together, they rode the pleasure as one.
It had been wonderful. For a long moment, no other thought would form in Tessa’s mind. She’d never cared to be with a man. She’d wanted the first time to be special. But it had been wonderful because it was him. She’d known, hadn’t she? She’d known she’d fall in love with him since that sultry Saturday evening when she stood in the moonlight near a carnation-draped trellis with Sylvia and Larry’s love in the air. Yet she tried desperately to remember to expect nothing more than this.
Despite the mantle of darkness surrounding them, when he braced himself over her, she could see his face. “Tessa, why?” Against her breast, she felt the hard beat of his heart, slowing. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
She laughed, but what she really wanted was for him to touch her again, to press down on her again. “It’s not something you announce.”
“I should have known.” He looked disturbed, as if he was battling to sound coherent when his face was still bathed in the dampness of their lovemaking. “You were vulnerable. That wasn’t right.”
“I chose you,” she said simply, because that was the truth.
�
�You chose me?” Staring at her, he gave her a half grin. “Are you kidding?”
He might feel tricked, she realized. She’d invited, responded, answered his kiss. Couldn’t he tell how much she’d wanted him? He must know he excited her in a way she’d never known before. She’d thrilled when his body was against her, in her. She’d felt weak with dizzying pleasure yet strong with the power he gave her when they’d made love. “You chose me, too,” she said, hoping he’d settle for that explanation. “It was wonderful. You were wonderful.” On a sigh, she slid a hand around the back of his neck to let her fingers wander into his hair. She loved the way she felt in his arms. She loved the taste of him.
“That was my line,” Colby whispered close to her ear.
Tipping her head back, she opened her mouth invitingly to him. This felt so right, so good.
A similar thought came to mind when she stood in his kitchen the next morning. Distractedly she measured coffee grounds into the brewer basket while she recalled last night.
She felt so alive, different—loved. She didn’t think this was the way every woman felt after her first time. Only someone in love. She felt as if they were a part of each other now. She knew there was danger in making too much of last night. But she had no regrets. For her, it had been a memory she’d hold close to her heart forever.
Only anticipation shadowed her as she wondered if they’d have another night together. He’d acted as if he wanted her. He’d said she was wonderful.
She’d surprised herself, but she’d liked touching him. She liked what she made him feel. She loved what he did to her. Slow down, she warned herself. So many times she’d seen the heartbreak her mother had gone through because she believed in love. Tessa couldn’t afford to expect too much. She’d have no expectations, look for no promises. With eyes wide open, she’d spend time with him and love him for a while.
“I was looking for you.”
She hadn’t heard his approach. A gentle hand on her belly swayed her back into him as if they were meant to be as one. She drew a deep breath, inhaled his scent. “Did you have a reason?” She barely managed to speak with his lips caressing the sensitive skin below her ear.
Big Sky Cowboy Page 11