Jewel

by Beverly Jenkins

  “Those were ugly times for me.”

  “I can imagine.”

  Eli could still feel the shame of what he’d done. Turning away, he stared out unseeing for such a long while, she touched his back with sympathy. “Let’s go look around.”

  The bleak eyes slid into a melancholy smile. Taking her hand, he solemnly kissed the tips of her fingers. “Lead the way.”

  Hand in hand they walked the land that would be their home, and Jewel realized there was a darkness inside of Eli that she’d not been aware of. He was usually so playful and full of teasing, it gave her pause to realize he was brooding inside. She’d been very young in those days; too young to be interested in scandal, but as she’d grown older she’d heard the stories of his great sin and the drunken years that followed. “If I remember Pa’s drawing correctly, this is about where he wants to put the house.” She didn’t want to talk about the sorrow she felt in him.

  Apparently he didn’t either. “I think you’re right.”

  The spot was far enough away from the edge of the bluff to be sheltered from the fierce westerly winter winds, but close enough for the lake to be seen from the front porch. “Pa’s right. This is a much better piece of land.”

  “Jewel admitting she was wrong? The devil must be freezing,” he voiced with mock surprise and awe.

  She punched him in the arm. “I can admit I’m wrong.”

  “Since when?”

  “Since I’ve decided I like the taste of lemonade again.”

  “You just want more kisses.”

  Another punch and a smile. “Your head is so swollen it’s a wonder you don’t topple over.”

  Laughing he grabbed her around the waist and swung her around until her skirt billowed and she giggled with delight. Then time slowed and he was kissing her, and Jewel lost touch with the world. Her arms rose to hold him closer and his did the same to her. His mouth was warm, inviting her to let him teach her all she needed to know, and she surrendered willingly. His tongue played lazily against her own and his hand slid up and down her ribs. Virgin wary, she tried to keep her mind on where it might journey next because she wasn’t sure good women were supposed to allow such liberties outside of the bedroom, but the lure of him and the way her body purred in response made her not care.

  Eli transferred kisses to her jaw and the trembling edge of her throat. He tasted heat, smelled roses and was surprised by the fierce call of his desire. Her lips parted and her rising sighs drew him back to her mouth like a desert nomad to an oasis.

  Jewel had no idea being with a man could be so powerful. His open palm teased over the tight points of her breast causing her to ripple and moan. She’d never been touched this way before. She felt storm-tossed and so out of control, all she could do was drop her head back and will herself to breathe.

  “You’re a beautiful, beautiful woman,” he murmured while continuing to learn the lines and planes of her body, a body so buffeted that when he dropped his head and bit her breast gently through the thin fabric of her white blouse, the earth shattered and she cried out as she flew apart.

  Eli recognized the sound of an orgasm when he heard one and he was pleased. His hand continued to dally with her breasts, all the while wanting to undo her buttons and bare the twin temptations to his touch and kisses. “Did you like that?”

  Jewel couldn’t answer the hushed question. With his hands still teasing her she found it difficult to express herself, but she’d liked it immensely even though she wasn’t sure she was supposed to.

  Devouring her with his eyes, Eli wanted all of her then and there. “The French call it la petite mort. The little death.” He brushed his magic mouth against her tingling lips once again. “It has many names.”

  Jewel was having trouble recalling her own name in the wake of her body’s shattering and his continuing caresses. “Does it happen every time—you—we…” Having never broached such an intimate question before, she felt an uncharacteristic shyness taking hold, but she forced herself to meet his eyes.

  The innocence he saw in them made Eli even harder. “If we do it right.”

  “I did like it.”

  The pleasure in his gaze made her look away, lest she melt like wax again.

  He coaxed her chin back up so he could savor her beautiful face. “Then let’s make sure we do it right—every time.”

  Her shyness caused her to look down at her shoes. Only after she’d calmed herself a bit did she lift her vision again.

  He brushed a finger over the alluring bow of her bottom lip. “Once your body becomes more attuned, the little death won’t happen so quickly, but for an innocent like you, it’s normal.”

  “Are good women supposed to enjoy the marriage bed.”

  “If her husband teaches her right.”

  “Then I am in good hands?”

  “Oh yes.”

  Jewel didn’t know what to think, do, or say. As she’d noted previously, what little she knew of relations would fit on the head of a pin, but from what she’d read, a woman’s participation in the physical sides of marriage was strictly duty, and good women did their duty because they were supposed to. It never occurred to her that there might be more to it, or that she would enjoy herself.

  “I will never force myself on you, or ask you to do anything that won’t bring you pleasure in return. I promise.”

  Jewel wasn’t real sure what he was alluding to, but the sincerity in his promise was touching. Not trusting herself to speak, she nodded.

  Eli found her reticence endearing, too. Just as he’d hoped, he’d found a way to disarm his warrior wife, at least temporarily, and he was looking forward to fully exploring the depths of her sensuality. “Are you ready to go home.”

  “Yes.”

  He eased a finger down her silken cheek and thrilled as her eyes shuttered closed. Bending low, he pressed his mouth to hers in a tender farewell, then walked her back to the buggy.

  Dusk had fallen and the moon was rising when he pulled the buggy to a halt in front of her house. Reins in hand, Eli looked her way and gave her the soft smile that had been melting women since the day he was born. “Sleep well, Jewel.”

  Drowning in his smoky eyes, she doubted she would after all that had happened, but replied, “You, too.” Her gaze dropped to his lips and the memories of the pleasures it had bestowed made her want more. Scandalized, she dragged herself together. “I’ll see you tomorrow. I can get out on my own.”

  Finding her more irresistible with each passing moment, Eli acknowledged her exit silently. He didn’t want her to leave. He hadn’t gotten nearly enough of his rose of a wife but he’d cut through the first layer of thorns, and he’d have to content himself with that, at least until next time.

  Anticipating the future pleasures to come, he waited for her to disappear inside before he drove off. Whistling contentedly, he pointed the horse and buggy toward home.

  Chapter 8

  The next morning, Jewel fixed breakfast for her brothers, and after they left for work, she fed the chickens and checked the fencing on her gardens. Were it not for the fencing, rabbits, deer and other critters would turn her emerging vegetables into their personal dining hall, but as she walked the perimeters, she saw no signs that her defenses had been breached.

  Pleased, she went into the barn and grabbed her fishing gear. She had a taste for trout, and wanted to catch a string for dinner. First, though, she had to pay a visit to Maddie.

  Driving her old wagon down the tree-lined road, Jewel hoped Maddie hadn’t already gone into town to tend to the lending library. Eli’s face flitted across her mind and all Jewel could say was, Lordy. It had taken her a long time to get to sleep last night. Tossing and turning as if she had a fever, all she could think about was him. Him and la petite mort. She’d never dreamed such a thing possible and it made her shake her head with amazement. Who knew? She certainly hadn’t. The scandalous memory of him gently biting her nipple and the way her body had shattered in response threatened to
send her spinning once more. Lordy, was right. He’d promised her that she’d become more accustomed to the sensual assault as time passed, but she wasn’t convinced. He’d left her body at such sixes and sevens that when she slipped between her sheets last night to go to sleep her nipples had puckered from just the pressure of the lightweight coverlet. And she didn’t even want to think about the yearning fullness between her thighs. Surely this couldn’t be normal, could it. She had no answers but knew Maddie would.

  Maddie’s tragic childhood was well known. In spite of Dorcas Grayson’s mandate that the settlement’s school be open to both boys and girls, Maddie’s father, Meldrum refused to let her attend. Not being a Grove native, he saw no value in his young daughter having an education, even though she was one of the brightest children by far, so he beat her every time he caught her reading. She wasn’t deterred. With help from Eli and Nate, she kept up with her schooling. Abigail helped her hide her books. When she became old enough the Grayson family even offered to financially support Maddie’s desire to take the woman’s courses at Oberlin, but when she asked her father’s permission, he blackened both of her eyes and his strap put stripes on her back that would have done a slave overseer proud. So the next day she ran away with an itinerant peddler who’d convinced her of his love. Instead, he put her to work on the streets of Chicago peddling her body. She’d been fifteen years old, and with no one to help a young girl so far away from home, she’d had no choice.

  The fates were kind, however. A wealthy White man named Pierce entered her life. Enamored by her beauty and her intellect, he took her away from the peddler, set her up in a small house of her own, and for the next decade she entertained only him. Upon his death she was bequeathed enough wealth to never have to work again. Only then did she return to the Grove.

  Jewel thought about how much courage it must have taken Maddie to carve out the life that she had, and to come out of the experience whole inside. She had brass, too, and showed it when she came home to the Grove: she promptly opened a whore house on the outskirts of town. She named it Meldrum’s Emporium, much to her father’s fury, but kept the doors open until the day he died, then closed the place and retired to her books and her beloved hunting dogs.

  The aforementioned dogs greeted Jewel’s arrival with a chorus of barked greetings. She scratched necks, rubbed backs, and affectionately said good morning in response to their happy welcomes.

  Maddie, dressed in her signature buckskins, stepped out onto the porch. “Quit spoiling my dogs!” But she was grinning.

  Jewel told Blue, Maddie’s oldest and best loved, “She’s just mad because I didn’t say hello to her first.”

  Blue barked in agreement and a smiling Jewel walked up on the porch.

  Maddie gestured to the old sofa on the porch. “Have a seat. How’s married life?”

  Jewel sat and in response to the question ran her hands over her eyes. “I’m not sure. Did you hear I met his mistress?”

  “No,” Maddie responded, an eyebrow raised. “Was it Rona?”

  Jewel nodded.

  “I hope he sent her packing.”

  “He did, and I pretended not to be upset.”

  “Pretended? What happened to you not minding him seeing other women?”

  Jewel’s lips tightened.

  “Ah. The truth hurt, did it?”

  “It did.”

  “Figured it would, but I wasn’t going to be the one to tell you.”

  “Thanks.” Blue came up on the porch and lay at Jewel’s feet. She lowered her hand to scratch his neck.

  “So will Rona be back?”

  “He says no.” And Jewel believed him, especially in light of the sincere apology he’d given her on the bluff. Their time together there had been wonderful.

  “So how are things with you two otherwise?”

  “We’re getting better, I guess. Pa’s going to build us a house.”

  “Are you happy about that?”

  “I am. My idea was to have him build it on my land, but he’s putting it on Eli’s plot overlooking Dorcas Lake instead.”

  “Pretty spot.”

  “Complicates things, though.”

  “How so?”

  Jewel told her the reason why she’d wanted the house on Crowley land.

  At the end of the explanation, Maddie shrugged. “After the divorce, have Adam build you another house. One that’s all your own.”

  Jewel wondered why she hadn’t thought of such a reasonable solution, probably because Eli’s mind-numbing kisses had her brain all muddled, she thought to herself. “But there’s another problem.”

  “And it is?”

  She had no idea how to politely broach the subject, so she wrestled with it silently for a few moments, trying to put words to what she wanted to say.

  Maddie peered into her face. “I’m known for a lot of things, Jewel, but mind reading’s not one of them.”

  “Sorry. Okay. I’ll just spit it out. La petite mort.”

  Surprise lit Maddie’s dark eyes. “Well. Tasted the little death, have you? Didn’t like it?”

  “I did like it. Very much,” she admitted. “That’s the problem.”

  “You don’t want to be attracted to him?”

  “I’m going to divorce him.”

  “Ah. Having trouble remembering that, are you?”

  “I had trouble remembering my name.”

  “Passion can do that.”

  “There has to be something I can do to keep me from going to pieces.”

  “Not that I know of.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Positive.”

  “I’m sorry for asking all these questions, but I feel so ignorant.”

  “You are a well-raised woman, Jewel. That’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

  “But where do I get the knowledge that I need? I don’t even know what comes after kissing. I mean, I know a man cleaves to his wife, but what does that really mean?”

  Her look was so earnest, Maddie reached over and patted her shoulder in sympathy. “I have some paintings and pictures that will show you, but I don’t want you to be so shocked you wind up not wanting him to touch you. Genteel ladies aren’t supposed to view things like this.” Then she added in an aside, “But many do.”

  Maddie went into the house and returned a few moments later carrying a large book. The binding appeared very ornate and decorated with motifs of gold. Jewel took it from her hand, and as she viewed the foreign-looking nude man and woman on the cover, her eyes widened like plates. The couple was seated facing each other and their bodies were linked by the man’s…Jewel turned to Maddie with shock all over her face. “Where’d you get this?”

  “In Bengal, on one my visits years ago with Mr. Pierce. It’s a reproduction of the Kama Sutra. The drawings inside show hundreds of positions a man and woman can achieve.”

  Jewel blinked. “Hundreds?”

  Maddie grinned. “Hundreds. The dogs and I are going for a walk. Give you some privacy. If you have any questions I’ll answer them when I get back.”

  As she left the porch and called the dogs, Jewel watched them leave, then opened the book with shaking hands.

  To say that she was given an education was an understatement. In all of her sheltered years in the Grove she’d never seen anything remotely close to the drawings on the pages. Each portrayed couples in a different position: sitting, standing, or lying down. Some of the renderings were tame, while others were so outrageous she covered her mouth to stave off her shocked giggle. She studied couplings she was certain only a contortionist could accomplish, and a few that required her to turn the book this way and that in order to get a true view. Amazement had her shaking her head.

  The pictures were stimulating, too, she honestly admitted. The embers still smoldering from her sensual encounter with Eli were once again glowing, so she set the book aside. Leaning her head back on the old sofa, she drew in a deep breath then slowly exhaled. Would he want to do those things with h
er? Would her agreeing make her wanton? The book had provided far more knowledge than she’d needed, to tell the truth, but the horse was already out of the barn. Lordy!

  Maddie and the dogs returned a short while later. “Well?” Maddie asked stepping up onto the porch.

  “I’m in big trouble.”

  Maddie chuckled, “You think so?”

  She nodded.

  “But you’re in good hands.”

  “That’s what I’m afraid of.” Because Eli’s hands were so very good there’d be no telling what kind of shameless woman she’d be when it was all said and done. “Do people actually do those things?”

  “That and more.”

  Jewel ran her hands over her eyes. “I’m going fishing.”

  “You want company?”

  “No. I know you have things to do and I need to think.”

  Jewel stood and met Maddie’s humor-lit eyes.

  “Jewel, it’s a part of life. Men and women have been coming together since Adam and Eve. And if that Eli is as well versed as I hear he is, you’re going to be smiling. I promise.”

  “But I’m supposed to be divorcing him.”

  “There is that, but you’ll figure it out.”

  Jewel supposed she would. “Thanks, Maddie. For everything.”

  “You bet. If you need anything else, just let me know.”

  “I will.”

  Maddie watched her young friend climb up on the wagon seat. When she drove away, Maddie picked up the book and with a knowing smile carried it back into the house.

  Eli and a small crew of men spent the morning dismantling the slats that made up the back wall of the Gazette office. Adam had promised to stop by after work to oversee the initial construction of the addition, but the wall had to come down first. The volunteer crew removed the wood as carefully as possible with the hopes that some of the pieces would be reusable, either in the new building or somewhere else in the Grove.

  By noontime, they’d made good progress. Most of the wall was down, leaving the rear of the office open to the sunshine. Eli covered his ancient printing press and the rest of the equipment with tarps to protect them from the elements and to ready them for transport to the store’s cellar where they would rest in peace. With nothing left to do for the moment he called it a day. His helpers drifted off, leaving the very pleased editor alone to walk around inside and dream about the possibilities.