Untamed Journey

by Eden Carson

  The girl gently brushed the tangled hair out of her mother’s eyes. The child put her fingers around the pen in her mother’s hand, and guided her signature across the bottom of the deed to their livelihood.

  The Mulatto calmly let go of her brother, who slumped to the ground, still out cold.

  Chapter 61

  Sue stretched her weary arms above her head and motioned to Jackson to take Ruth home. As Ruth started to protest, Sue cut her off. “Now, don’t argue. I have Catherine coming by within the hour to spell me and cook up breakfast for the family, here. I promised Meghan I’d stay with her and feed her men for the first few days. She’s a bit shy. So even though you’re becoming one of us, she won’t be nearly as relaxed with you here.”

  Jackson had learned long ago not to argue with Sue about her caretaking tendencies. With no children of her own, she thrived on watching over the women and children of their motley group. Jackson brushed off his chaps and reached down for Ruth’s hands. “Come on, Ruth. No point in arguing with this cousin-of-a-mule. Let’s head home and get cleaned up.”

  “You’ll let us know how the baby does?” Ruth called over her shoulder.

  “Of course,” Sue promised. “I’ll send little Johnny over after supper with news.”

  “Let the boy know what supplies you need,” Jackson said. “I can bring them over tomorrow. And I’ll send one of the hands over to help Tom cut some extra wood. His wife will need a bit of his time, I imagine.”

  Jackson lifted Ruth up behind him, before kicking his mount into a brisk walk. As they headed in the direction of home, Jackson smiled in pure satisfaction. He had not only found a naturally sensual woman to call his own, but one with the guts to take on her first human birth with calm and determination.

  “Come on, Doc. We’ll get you home and into a tall cup of hot coffee in no time.”

  Ruth blushed at Jackson’s teasing words, not feeling much like the doctor her father had been. She was proud of her success none-the-less. She cuddled up against Jackson’s broad back, not much caring at this point who saw them. She hoped most folks would attribute her familiarity to exhaustion from the birth, rather than to the very intimate truth that was hovering between them. She absently wondered if anyone else noticed such a thing, or if it was just her own passionate feelings reflecting back at her.

  As they rode up to the barn, Jackson waived his hat to the handful of men breaking horses in the corral. “It’s a girl – healthy and near ugly as her Pa.”

  Ruth slapped Jackson on the thigh in outrage on behalf of her little angel, as Jackson and the men laughed in relief. The new parents were not only respected, but well-liked by all. No one wanted to see them go through the pain of losing a child.

  As Jackson had hoped, everyone was so busy with winter preparations and the added strain of a difficult birth, that they did not pay any mind to him or Ruth. Jackson quickly took care of his horse, then escorted Ruth around the back of the house and into the kitchen.

  “Sit here,” he said. “If you can stay awake a little longer, I’ll heat water for a bath. With Sue being out for a few days, the men know they’re on their own for meals. You’ll have the place to yourself.”

  Except for the six feet of muscled male standing before me, Ruth thought.

  As if he had guessed at her thoughts, Jackson grinned. “The bath can wait if you’re too tired.”

  Ruth’s exhausted mind was lured by the thought of a feather bed, but then memories of her recent actions there had her body perking up. “I’ll have that bath now, thank you.” She sat on the edge of the kitchen chair, suddenly more alert than she thought possible after such a long night.

  “If you can start the oven up – there should be wood inside already – I’ll start bringing in water from the pump. This winter I was thinking of drawing the plans for indoor plumbing. We wouldn’t be able to lay the pipe from the well to the house until after the ground thaws. But if we have everything planned and the parts made ahead of time, we should be set up no later than the first week of spring.”

  Ruth stood up to light the stove, but turned around at the mention of indoor plumbing. “You’re serious? Our neighbors had it back home, but it broke down and there was no one to repair it for all the years of the War.”

  Jackson strained to drag the huge copper tub closer to the woodstove before answering. “You don’t think I want to haul this many buckets when I’m old and grey, do you? And what if we have half a dozen girls? I’d have to hire a full time hand just to carry water for the lot of you.”

  “I’m not sure I could handle even one, after seeing what Meghan just went through.”

  Ruth paused at her own words. What was she thinking, playing along with a fantasy life she knew she could never have? She admonished herself for leading Jackson on, when the truth had yet to be spoken between them. She knew she wasn’t being fair to this man, who was good at heart and deserved better from her.

  A sprinkle of warm drops shook Ruth out of her gloomy thoughts. She looked up to meet Jackson’s smiling eyes.

  “It’s ready,” he announced. “I can leave you alone or wash your back for you?”

  He said it with such blatant guile that Ruth couldn’t take offense, even though proper society dictated she should. She reached for the towel, then watched as he bowed and turned toward the back door. She was embarrassed at the thought, but practicality soon had her calling him back.

  “Wait. Can you help me with my laces?” She blushed at her bold request, but then remembered he had seen much more than her naked back. And she desperately wanted this bath.

  Jackson halted in his tracks. He took several deep breaths, promising himself he would maintain control, but knowing he was fooling himself.

  Loosening his grip on the kitchen door, he slowly turned around. He made no attempt to hide the naked desire in his eyes.

  Ruth quickly averted her blushing face and turned around. She lifted her heavy hair off her neck to grant him better access.

  He slowly approached, steadying her wavering balance with one hand on her tiny waist. He lifted several curls that had escaped Ruth’s hands, slowly placing each one across the front of her chest, watching the way each one curled around her swelling breasts. He lingered as long as he could stand it without touching, then turned his attention to the first of her laces.

  He carefully undid the knot at the back of her neck, taking more time than the task required. He unlaced each hook, one by one, deliberately stroking his large thumb across the exposed flesh of her spine.

  When he reached the last tie, Jackson lifted his left hand to the nape of Ruth’s neck. He placed nothing more than his rough thumb at the top of her exposed flesh. He could feel his own flesh swell in protest and yearning as he listened to her rapid breathing. He stroked the length of her back, down each inch of bare skin.

  After he untied the final clasp of her dress, he waited to hear a protest from Ruth. Hearing none, he stroked both hands into the gap of her dress and parted the folds of cloth until he could splay his hands fully across the flesh of her back.

  He paused at her naked shoulders. “Do you need more?”

  At the curious look in Ruth’s eyes, he elaborated. “Help washing your back? Or should I leave you to your bath?” Jackson asked quietly into her ear.

  Ruth was shivering along her spine, but not from the cold. She wanted his hands to keep undressing her, without having to ask. She met him halfway, nodding her consent. But to what, and how much, even she didn’t want to stop and think. Knowing the full pleasure he could give her made it nearly impossible to refuse his offer of more.

  Inhaling sharply at Ruth’s barely perceptible nod, Jackson prayed his self-control was as good as he thought. But with this woman – his woman – he had already broken his own best intentions. His past was not a reliable measure where Ruth was concerned.

  He slowly stroked his hands down the tops of Ruth’s shoulders, pulling the cloth down to her wrists. He gently clasped her left ha
nd, rubbing his thumb back and forth across her warm palm, and then gradually untangling her hand from the sleeve. He repeated the same painstaking process to her right sleeve, right wrist, and palm.

  Her dress clung to her rounded hips until he tugged it gently down her swaying thighs. He stroked one hand along the curve of her backside, causing the velvet to drop to the floor and pool at her bare feet.

  Ruth stood with her back exposed to Jackson’s hot gaze, with nothing remaining between them but a thin, silky camisole, so threadbare as to be nearly see-through. Her skin burned where the palm of his hand rested, clasped around the curve of her bottom. He didn’t turn her around, not wanting to lose the contact.

  Jackson stroked up over her curves and back down again, until he cupped both cheeks in his hands. With the thin silk still between their flesh, he knelt at her feet, stroking over the back of her thighs, calves, and back up to Ruth’s enticing hips. When she was forced to grasp the back of the nearest chair to keep her trembling legs from collapsing, he slid two fingers of his work-roughened hand across her most sensitive flesh, loving the feel of the rapidly dampening silk against his skin.

  Her body curved of its own volition toward Jackson’s pleasing touch, and she arched her back in utter pleasure as he continued to stroke across her sensitive flesh. Ruth gasped when she felt his finger enter her moist center, taking the silk cloth with him.

  Jackson ever so slowly withdrew his index finger, leaving the cloth tucked inside her. He deliberately tugged on the cloth, making sure to pull so gently that Ruth felt every inch of silk slide out.

  At her quickening breath, he repeated the process, in and out, back and forth, each time gently tugging white silk out of her hot, wet insides. He increased the depth and then increased the width, pushing two fingers and then three into Ruth’s clasping body. As she climaxed and groaned his name in abandonment, he placed his beard roughened cheek against her undulating backside, needing desperately to gain control of his demanding body before he gave into foolish temptation and dragged her to the floor.

  As Ruth’s undulations slowed, he inhaled deeply and stood up behind her, to matter-of-factly tug her chemise off her heated flesh. “Get in the water, now. It’ll get cold soon.”

  At she turned a dazed stare over her shoulder, Jackson lifted her naked body into his arms. He did his best not to stare and torment himself further. Setting her down gently, he handed her the soap. Without another word, he took her still-dazed mouth in an open-tongued kiss before walking outside, into the cooling snow.

  Chapter 62

  Ruth barely managed to drag herself up to her own bed, she was so exhausted. Even so, she did not fall asleep right away, her thoughts preoccupied with Jackson. She was quickly and completely falling in love with this man, she admitted to herself in the dark of her room. Seeing him take care of Meghan and Tom, and look out for their family’s needs, only cemented her feelings.

  Ruth wanted nothing more than to have someone at her back in this uncertain world. She had felt afraid since the day her father and brother marched off to war, never to return. And two years later, when her mother died, she felt both afraid and alone, spending every waking minute scrounging for food or scrambling out of the path of occupying Union troops.

  Since Ruth had joined Jackson on his ranch, she’d felt secure and full of hope. She knew in her heart that this was the right man for her, but what could she do about the stranger she had married?

  She tossed and turned, trying to reconcile her desires with a need to be honest with Jackson. She had been brought up to value honesty and integrity above all things, but the War had taught her practicality as well. She had no guarantees that an honest confession to Jackson would be met with understanding and support. He had every right to feel betrayed. And Ruth worried that he just might cut all ties with her. She would then be left with the desperate choice of joining a stranger as a new wife, but no longer a virgin, or setting out on her own into the still wild Colorado Territory. Completely and utterly alone once again.

  Chapter 63

  An hour or so after Ruth fell into a fitful sleep, Jackson gave up his battle with the cold, hard floor of the sitting room and went to join her. He quietly opened his bedroom door, taking care not to wake her.

  He stopped for a moment to appreciate the sight of such a fine woman in his bed. He studied every lush curve outlined by the full moon, and mentally plotted how to keep her there – permanently.

  He felt himself stir at the thought, and wondered fleetingly if she might not welcome him into her sweet body again. But he knew she must be both exhausted and sore, and would no doubt throw him out into the cold if he tried further seduction now. Jackson smiled to himself and decided a sleepless night in her warm arms was still better than the cold floor, and quickly joined her in the feather bed. He settled himself against her warm backside, pulling her into his arms. She felt right, tucked into his chest.

  Jackson wanted nothing more than to secure a place in her future, and silently apologized to Ruth in advance for the coming days. He knew she was a lady, and that the right thing to do would be to take a step back and court her with flowers and sweet words. She deserved time to make up her mind.

  But the man who was raised on the untamed frontier wanted her now, completely, with no possibility of losing her to another man. He made up his mind right there to step up his seduction, and leave her no room for second guesses or guilty regrets about family promises. She was his now. He knew it to the depths of his bones. All that was left was to convince Ruth that she felt the same.

  Jackson smiled quietly in anticipated triumph. He had the advantage of three days alone with a freshly seduced virgin, and her newly awakened curiosity would be his greatest ally.

  Chapter 64

  The next morning, Jackson woke early, hoping to entice Ruth with hot coffee and fresh eggs in bed. Instead, he rolled over to cold sheets where his new love should have been.

  Where on earth she could be at this hour?

  He didn’t have long to wonder, as he heard Ruth’s lilting voice coming from downstairs. He pulled on his shirt and went below, following her voice into the kitchen.

  “Good morning.” Jackson’s sleepy voice greeted Ruth from the doorway.

  She turned around with a polite smile and a steaming cup of coffee.

  Jackson stepped forward, pulling her into his arms, and rescued the gorgeous smelling coffee at the same time. He stole a quick kiss from a startled Ruth, who immediately blushed.

  “A very good morning, by my sights,” Jackson said heartily. His rich laughter filled the tiny kitchen as he gulped down half the coffee, before pulling Ruth fully into both arms for a proper kiss.

  She didn’t protest. She was secretly pleased to have the decision to touch made for her. It was what she had wanted from the moment she woke up next to his naked chest, and found herself stroking his muscled flank while he slept. She had only pulled her hands from his warm skin once she had stopped feeling – and started thinking. Her sleepy and jumbled thoughts had started contemplating exactly how bad a sin it was to be sharing a bed with this man. She was married, after all, just not to the naked man next to her. Ruth had jumped out of bed at that guilty thought, and sworn herself to fortitude when next in Jackson’s presence.

  When he started stirring and pulled the wool blanket down to where it barely covered his morning erection, Ruth fled down the stairs before she did something rash.

  Jackson felt Ruth tugging on his rumpled hair. He regretfully pulled his coffee stained lips from hers.

  “Yes, Madam?” he inquired politely.

  “We should get going if we’re going to be on time,” Ruth insisted.

  He furrowed his brows. “On time for what?”

  “For breakfast – I packed a basket already. I’ve got hard-boiled eggs, fresh biscuits, jam, and cold ham. Do you think it’ll be enough?” she asked, pointing in the direction of the picnic basket sitting on the table behind Jackson.

  She
slipped out of his arms when he turned to examine the contents of the basket.

  “Good Lord, woman. While you certainly worked up my appetite last night, the two of us couldn’t possibly eat all this.”

  “It’s not just for us,” she explained with a tiny laugh. “We’re taking breakfast over to Sue and the Brown family. I was certain Sue would be too tired to cook, so I thought we could ride over and help out.”

  “That’s kind of you. But trust me. Sue could cook breakfast for an army single-handedly. Why don’t you and I take this up to bed instead?” Jackson suggested with a crooked smile.

  Ruth’s insides melted in temptation, but she was sure some breathing room was a better choice for her. She needed to stop and think straight. And she had quickly learned that thinking was an impossible task when Jackson was within reach.

  “The food will be cold if we don’t leave soon,” she said, ignoring his suggestion. “Why don’t you stay here and get some rest, and I’ll take this over? I remember the way.” Ruth inched toward the door, thinking she’d found the perfect solution.

  “You wait right there. It’s too far for you to ride off on your own. I’ll be washed, dressed and down in five minutes.” Jackson had the kitchen door swinging behind him before she could protest.

  She sighed in relief the minute she was alone, thinking she would soon have company to water down Jackson’s seductive effect on her.

  Chapter 65

  Jackson smiled at Sue’s reaction to their knock at the door, thinking his plans for seduction would not be wasted this fine day.

  “What on earth are you two doing here?” Sue demanded the instant she pulled open the front door of the Brown’s simple clapboard house. “Turn yourselves right back around and get. You two are carrying too many germs to be near this new baby and her exhausted mama. We’re not accepting any visitors for the next three days. You should know better, Ruth,” Sue chided.