Meadowlark

by Carolyn Lampman

  They exchanged a look over her head then simultaneously burst into laughter. “I think she liked it,” Becky said, giggling. “Maybe you should do it again for her.”

  “No thanks.” Garrick flopped back in the snow and looked up at her. “Are you all right?”

  “Nothing hurt but my pride. How about you?”

  “I’m fine,” Garrick said gruffly, as he reached up to the thick coil of hair that hung haphazardly down her neck. Though he had only meant to push it into place, his touch loosened the remaining hairpins, and it cascaded over her shoulder in a dark silky cloud. Suddenly his good intentions disappeared in a swirl of intense desire.

  Almost on its own, Garrick’s hand slid beneath the curtain of hair to the back of her neck. Becky’s eyes closed in glad response to the gentle pressure that pulled her head down.

  Her lips were cold, but the inside of her mouth was warm and welcoming as she accepted his kiss without reservation. Garrick curled his left arm around her and settled her unresisting body next to him. Even through the heavy material of her coat, he could feel the soft curve of her breast pressed against his side.

  With his heart hammering in his chest, restraint was the farthest thing from Garrick’s mind as Becky slipped her hand inside his coat just below Alaina’s harness to rest on the hard plane of his stomach. When the kiss finally ended, it left them both breathing hard and wanting more, much more.

  “Let’s go home,” Becky whispered huskily, lifting her hand to trace the strong line of his jaw.

  Her meaning was obvious, and it snapped Garrick back into reality with a painful jolt. For a moment, all the possibilities loomed in his mind with irresistible images of the two of them together. It would be good, he had no doubt, better than good. With the blood pounding hot in his veins, it was difficult to remember he had no right to what she was offering.

  Garrick released Becky and sat up. If he gave in to the urges that twisted his gut, he’d be no different than the man who had fathered Alaina then walked away. For there was no question he would have to leave and probably sooner rather than later.

  “Skiing is kind of like riding a horse,” he said gruffly. “If you fall, you need to get right back up and keep going.”

  Becky stared at him blankly as he lifted himself out of the snow and adjusted his skis. Surely he wasn’t seriously thinking of continuing the lesson. Not after a kiss like that. But it soon became apparent that he was.

  By the time they finally returned to the cabin to feed Alaina, Becky had become a reasonably proficient skier, and Garrick was congratulating himself on successfully diffusing the situation without Becky realizing what he was up to. He’d even managed to cool himself off, though it had been anything but easy with Becky dressed the way she was. The snug fitting trousers presented a temptation he’d never even considered when he bought them for her.

  What Garrick didn’t know was that Becky had decided it was time to take matters into her own hands. She didn’t know quite how she was going to do it, but she was determined to seduce her husband.

  Chapter 18

  “You want me to what?” Horrified astonishment was clearly written across Angel’s face.

  “You needn’t look like that,” Becky said defensively. “Surely I’m not the first to ask such a thing of you.”

  “You most certainly are! What do you mean you want me to help seduce your husband?”

  “I don’t want you to actually...you know. I just want you to teach me how.”

  Angel stared at her for a moment then shook her head. “I think we’d better go to my office. I have a feeling this story is one best told in private.”

  With the door closed against curious ears, Angel took Alaina from Becky’s arms and nodded to a chair. “Sit down and start talking.”

  “It’s all rather embarrassing,” Becky began hesitantly.

  “I’m sure it is, but I’ve probably heard worse.”

  Becky stared down at her hands clenched together in her lap. “Garrick and I...we don’t...that is, we haven’t...I don’t know how to get him to...”

  “Ah,” Angel nodded wisely. “He’s never satisfied you, has he? That isn’t unusual. Men are taught from childhood that decent women don’t enjoy sex, so they tend to hurry through it. All you have to do is teach him to slow down a bit.”

  “No, you don’t understand.” Becky sighed miserably. “He doesn’t sleep with me at all.”

  Angel blinked. “You mean since Alaina was born?”

  “No, I mean never.”

  “Never?”

  “At first, I thought it was because we didn’t know each other very well, then because I got so huge. After Alaina came, I thought he was just giving me time to heal, but she’s three months old, and he still won’t share my bed.”

  “Maybe he doesn’t realize you want him to. Sometimes a man is hesitant to make love to his wife after a baby is born until he knows she’s ready.”

  “He knows.”

  Angel sighed. This obviously wasn’t going to be as easy as she’d first thought. “All right, start at the beginning.”

  While Becky told Angel about her life with Garrick, the older woman pursed her lips. Had it been anyone else, Angel might have suspected the man had some sort of peculiar sexual preference, but not Swede. He’d been a regular customer from the time he’d come to town last year right up until the night before his marriage. According to her girls, Swede took his pleasure in perfectly normal ways.

  Nor was Swede indifferent to his pretty young wife. The night of the hailstorm when they’d slept at The Green Garter had proven that. When Angel had checked on them about midnight, they’d been sound asleep, but their positions had been so intimate she’d felt like a voyeur. Because of the pain in his back, Swede lay on his stomach, but he’d slept with a smile on his face. One muscular arm had been flung possessively around Becky, holding her close as she snuggled against his blanket-wrapped body.

  “He’s the one who started that kiss on Christmas day, and he got as carried away as I did,” Becky was saying. “But when I suggested we go home, he acted like he didn’t know what I was talking about. That night, he slept on the floor by the fireplace, just like always.”

  “Maybe he doesn’t realize you want him to share your bed.”

  “I’ve been trying to make him understand for the last three weeks,” Becky said. “I even told him it was too cold to be sleeping on the floor, that he’d be far warmer in bed. He tried to argue with me, but I finally convinced him.”

  Angel raised an eyebrow. “And?”

  “The next day he built himself a bunk.”

  “Good lord. Surely the man isn’t that dense.”

  “After yesterday, I realized I’d never get anywhere on my own.”

  “Why?”

  Becky blushed. “It was really stupid, but I was desperate. I stood on a chair and dropped a big rock on the side of my bed. With the frame broken, I figured he’d let me sleep with him rather than on the floor.”

  “But it didn’t work?”

  “No. It took him less time to fix it than it did to break it. Oh, Angel, I don’t know what else to do. You’ve got to help me.”

  “One of my rules has been to never interfere in someone else’s marriage.”

  “I know, and I’m not asking you to. All I want is some advice. I don’t have the faintest idea how to get Garrick interested.”

  Angel said nothing as she absently removed her finger from Alaina’s mouth and handed the baby her gold bracelet to chew on. Her first inclination was to leave well enough alone. It wasn’t her problem, after all. Then, the sudden image of a man popped into her head. Terence. He’d been nothing like Swede, but if he hadn’t died, her life would have been very different. Usually, she congratulated herself on her narrow escape from a life of household drudgery and male domination. But today, as she held Becky’s baby in her arms, she wondered if there might have been a positive side to it too.

  “All right,” she said. “I’ll
help you, but only to give advice, nothing more.”

  “Oh, thank you, Angel.” Becky gave her a sunny smile. “I knew I could depend on you!”

  Half an hour later Becky’s face was the color of Angel’s scarlet silk dress. “I...I don’t know if I can do all that. What will he think of me?”

  “The trick is to make him think you don’t know he’s watching. You’ll drive him crazy.”

  Becky began her campaign that night after supper. Mindful of Angel’s advice, she announced she was going to take a bath and ‘accidentally’ took the lamp with her when she went behind the canvas curtain.

  Busy playing with Alaina, Garrick paid little attention until Becky called out to him. “Garrick, did I leave the soap out there?”

  He looked over at the soap dish near the stove. “I don’t see it.”

  “Oh, never mind. Here it is.”

  Garrick glanced toward the curtain and froze. With the lamp set on the shelf behind her, Becky’s profile was clearly silhouetted on the canvas. As he watched, she slowly began to remove her clothing. It was sensual torture, but Garrick couldn’t tear his eyes away as she stripped piece by piece, and layer by enticing layer. He’d never realized how much was beneath her dress until he watched it come off.

  At last she was naked, and he thought the delicious torment was over. He was wrong. Becky put her hands on the small of her back and stretched, thrusting her breasts forward and throwing her head back. Garrick had to stifle a groan as she straightened and removed the pins from her hair before shaking it free.

  On the other side of the curtain, Becky smiled as she heard the small sound. Though she felt horribly exposed and completely decadent, she was satisfied with her performance, and she climbed into the tub with a feeling of accomplishment.

  Over the next few days, Becky continued her assault on Garrick’s senses. She never did the same thing twice, and she was always very careful to make it appear accidental.

  One day when he came home for lunch, she was dressed in her trousers. Instead of his old shirt, she had put on her own and tucked it into the waistband. Cheerfully explaining she and Alaina were planning to go skiing after lunch, she flitted about pouring his coffee, straightening the cabin and doing a dozen other little tasks that put her in his line of vision. Garrick tried to ignore the picture she made in the form-fitting pants, but his eyes kept straying to her firm little derriere and her long, graceful legs.

  That evening, she put too much wood in the cook stove. It wasn’t enough to burn down the cabin, but the air inside became unbearably hot. Becky unbuttoned her dress to the middle of her chest and sat on her rocker fanning herself. Garrick was his usual quiet self, but Becky noted the constant flexing of his jaw muscles with satisfaction.

  The next afternoon, Garrick came home and caught her napping. Dressed only in her chemise and petticoats, with her hair all soft around her, Becky made an enticing picture. As he stood there staring at her, she stirred and opened her eyes.

  “Oh, Garrick, is it that late? I hadn’t meant to fall asleep.” She stretched sinuously and sat up.

  “You’d better get dressed before you catch your death,” he said gruffly, noting the gooseflesh on her arms and chest.

  “Oh!” Acting as though she had only just realized her state of undress, she grabbed her clothes and dashed behind the curtain. Privately, she wondered if that particular plan had been worth the effort; she felt frozen through.

  The next night, something got caught in her stocking. With a yelp, she sat down on her bed and jerked her skirt up over her knee.

  Surprised, Garrick glanced up from the set of animals he was carving for Alaina. “What’s wrong?”

  “Something bit me!” With apparent disregard for modesty, Becky kicked off her shoe then pulled the garter down her leg and tossed it aside. Pretending to search for the cause of her discomfort, she slowly rolled her stocking down over her calf, deliberately running her fingers over the smooth skin as she went. The stocking was about halfway down her leg when Garrick surged to his feet.

  Startled by his abrupt movement, Becky looked up into his eyes. For a long moment they stared at each other. It suddenly became difficult to breathe, and she wondered how she had ever thought his eyes were cold. The look in the aquamarine depths was sending waves of heat through her whole body.

  With a sound halfway between a groan and a growl, Garrick grabbed his coat and strode to the door.

  “Where are you going?” Becky cried in alarm.

  “Out.”

  “It’s dark.”

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  “Garrick!” but it was too late, he was gone. Becky stared at the door for a full minute before bursting into tears.

  Garrick didn’t even bother with his skis. Maybe a long walk over the frozen road would cool him off.

  It didn’t. Lately, everything Becky did inflamed him. Ever since the night he’d watched her undress for her bath, the simplest things had taken on seductive significance. When he wasn’t with her, he was thinking about her and all the ways he wanted to make love to her. Lord, she was driving him insane.

  After spending the better part of a week in a constant state of arousal, he wasn’t surprised to find his lust hadn’t cooled a bit by the time he walked into The Green Garter. He located Collette almost immediately. A smoldering look brought her straight to his side.

  On the other side of the room, Angel watched the two of them. Becky had obviously been successful in her attempt to arouse him; he had the look of a man on the prowl. But what the hell was he doing here? “Damn,” she muttered as Swede and Collette headed for the stairs.

  Less than five minutes later, Swede reappeared alone, and Angel gave a sigh of relief. Nobody was that fast. He must have discovered only Becky could cure the fever in his blood. Angel allowed herself a small smile of satisfaction as Swede made his way to the nearest blackjack table.

  An hour later, Garrick threw down his cards in disgust. It was impossible to concentrate while obsessed with the image of Becky slowly rolling her stocking down.

  “What’s the matter, Swede?” Angel asked quizzically.

  “I’m not in the mood for cards tonight.”

  “How about a drink?”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “You don’t want to play cards or drink, and you’re not interested in any of my girls. What do you want?”

  “I don’t know.” But he did know. He wanted Becky all soft and naked and moaning in his arms. He wanted to make wild passionate love to her until they were both so exhausted they couldn’t move. Then he wanted to go to sleep with their arms and legs entwined, dreaming of each other until they woke up with their bodies clamoring for more.

  “Go home to your wife, Swede. This isn’t where you belong tonight.”

  “Maybe you’re right.” He pulled out his pocket watch. It was well past midnight. Becky should be asleep by now.

  He toyed with the idea of having a few drinks but decided against it. Instead of blunting his carnal cravings, the whiskey would probably make him forget why he couldn’t sleep with Becky. With a deep sigh, he stood up and put on his coat. “I have to open the shop in a few hours anyway. Good night.”

  Angel grinned to herself as she watched him leave. There was only so much a man could stand, and Swede was about at the end of his tolerance. If Becky didn’t get her wish tonight, she would soon.

  Becky was still awake when he came in, though she pretended to be sound asleep. She didn’t need the faint whiff of perfume to know where he’d been. The image of Garrick and Collette together had haunted her since the moment he’d walked out.

  So much for seducing him. All she’d managed to do was drive him straight into the arms of another woman.

  Chapter 19

  “You look like hell,” Angel observed as she took Alaina from Becky’s arms when they arrived at The Green Garter the next morning.

  “I didn’t get much sleep.”

  “From the tone of your vo
ice I gather it wasn’t your husband’s attentions that kept you awake.”

  “Hardly. He slept like a baby.” Becky sighed as she threw her coat over the back of a chair. “Apparently Collette took care of his needs quite well.”

  Angel’s brows came together in a frown. “Swede told you he was with Collette?”

  “He didn’t have to. He reeked of that perfume she drenches herself with.”

  “Ah. So, you assumed he’d slept with her.”

  “Well, I don’t think they played checkers.”

  “Nope, they weren’t upstairs even long enough to set up the board.” Angel chuckled. “Of course, they didn’t have time for anything else either.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Swede went upstairs with her all right, but he didn’t stay long enough to do anything but turn around and leave again.”

  “Why would he do that?”

  “I think he changed his mind.”

  “You can’t be sure of that.”

  “Ah, but I am. Collette was in a snit all night long. She only acts like that when she doesn’t get her way.”

  “Then where was he all night?”

  Angel grinned. “Losing at Blackjack.”

  “What? Ox says he never loses.”

  “No, but then Swede wasn’t exactly himself last night. You’ve got that man so tied in knots he doesn’t know what he’s doing.”

  “Fat lot of good that does me. All I’ve accomplished is making a fool of myself.”

  “Don’t give up yet. He’s about to crack.”

  “And then what? Last night he practically knocked the door down trying to get away from me.” Becky jabbed her needle through the ruffle she was mending. “We used to be comfortable with each other, Angel. We aren’t any more.”

  “Are you willing to settle for comfortable?”

  “I am if that’s all he can give. I spent a lot of time thinking last night. The physical side of marriage isn’t important enough to lose him over, and he obviously isn’t attracted to me that way. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t hurt, but Garrick Swenson is the best thing that ever happened to me. I’ll be whatever he wants me to be for as long as he wants me.”