For Colleen, she was infinitely jealous and mortified at how much. She wanted Daniel to say sweet nothings in her ear that made her laugh or smile. She wanted to go on long walks with him, because sitting in silence at the house was awful. The desire to reach out to Daniel was there, she just didn’t realize why he was giving her so much space. Hadn’t he wanted her before? He had kissed her, invited her to stay with him… and yet, all that had changed.
Tonight, it seemed, would be no different. Colleen and Maria had prepared dinner that the men had brought from town. Joel worked at the butcher’s shop, while Daniel dealt cards at the saloon. Colleen could always tell because he returned smelling of cheroot and tobacco. The smell reminded her of Mighty Banner’s pipe, making her long for a sense of home and normalcy. Joel had brought a bit of meat for dinner, as well as a slab of salted pork for the larder. He smiled at Maria, giving her a mock salute as he descended the small ladder under the rug. There, he hung it in the storeroom dug out underneath the house. Coming back up, he pulled a coin from behind Maria’s ear that had her laughing and invited her out for an evening stroll.
Sitting there in silence, Colleen gnashed her teeth and clenched her hands in her lap. Finally, she stood up in a huff and stared at Daniel’s surprised face.
“What?”
Daniel stared at Colleen. “Are you all right?”
“Yes. But did you ever think that I might like to go for a walk, too?” she practically snarled at him, yanking her chair away from the rickety makeshift table. She’d be darned if she would admit to being jealous of what was obviously brewing between the other couple.
“Would you?”
“Well, not now! Not if I have to ask you first!”
“Colleen,” he said gently with a lopsided grin that made her pulse skip a beat. “Would you like to see the property, too?”
“I think I should, don’t you?” she stammered as his smile grew even wider. Her mother would have called it a knowing grin and this had her flustered. She hated that he seemed to know she was envious and felt left out.
“I agree,” he admitted, crossing his arms on his chest. Staring at him, she was utterly confused. Daniel looked so pleased, yet she felt increasingly upset that he had practically slowed down any effort of wooing her.
“But why haven’t you asked me on walks, too?” she asked softly, looking away. Colleen felt embarrassed and ashamed to have even said the words aloud. She would not beg, never beg, for any attention, yet here she was doing that very thing it felt like.
“I thought you might like to settle in.”
“I’ve been settled in for three months now!”
“Good to know,” he teased and stood up. “Shall we?”
Turning on him, she clenched her fists by her sides and glared daggers at him. How dare he act like he had been waiting on an invitation from her! Every night, they had watched the others whisk away for couple time together. Several times, she had caught Daniel looking at her that had resulted in nothing.
“Damn, you are irritating, you know that?”
“I’ve been told that once or twice,” he agreed, laughing at her. “You sure are lovely when you are all riled up.”
“It wouldn’t kill you to say so,” she snorted, crossing her arms angrily. Her cheeks were ruddy and hot with annoyance. He was utterly charming when he smiled at her and, right now, she was so flustered that she couldn’t think straight. He just stood there watching her. His handsome face showed recognition and his smile fell.
“Is that wha –” Daniel started and looked at her oddly. “Come with me.”
Looking at his extended hand, she almost swatted it away. If she wasn’t so desperate to get out of the house and spend some time with Daniel, she might have! For the briefest moment, she regretted not being on the trail again. That was simply because she missed how he would carefully watch out for her and occasionally talk to her. She wanted attention from him, more than she cared to admit.
Looking at his hand, Colleen lifted her head to meet his eyes. His golden-brown eyes stared back with unspoken words. The curve of his shadowed lip curled ever so slightly as she placed her hand in his. The warmth of his hand, the roughness of years of work felt so foreign against her tiny hands. It felt right, special. His long fingers laced with hers and she stared as he brought her pale hand up to his mouth and kissed her knuckles.
“You’re right,” he admitted in the barest whisper, causing her to swallow hard at the tender timbre his voice held. All her frustration and jealously melted away as she looked at him. This was what she missed these last few weeks and it was back with the force of a hurricane.
Saying nothing, Colleen and Daniel walked silently outside the small house. She and Maria had worked at making the house into a home, with the added bonus that they were trying to keep away from townsfolk until they were sure they’d be welcomed. Maria had such tanned skin from years in the sun, and both had an accent that was hard to mistake. It was a combination of her Irish accent from when she was a child, mixed with the delicate lilting tones of the People’s dialect. In her years with the People, she had lost her Irish dialect, but not the accent.
The sun was low on the horizon casting a reddish-orange stain across the sky. It was beautiful to see and nearly took her breath away. As they walked silently, she memorized the landscape around her. Small, rolling hills in the distance made her want to dance around as she felt peace seeping into her bones. This was what she had missed. Daniel’s presence, her feeling like she belonged. The stillness of the land, the birds singing and the breeze made her whole. His warm hand combined with this made it feel like home.
Looking around, she saw how different it was from Georgia and from their travels. The buckskin dresses were gone. Her cotton skirt and top, tucked neatly, looked strange but fit. It fit into this new land, her new life. She felt like she was now in the place she was meant to be.
Sighing, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
“Feel any better?” His deep voice broke the silence around them, but it washed over her adding to the sense of belonging. Squeezing his hand in acknowledgement, she smiled to herself.
“I needed this,” she whispered. She needed the feeling of peace that had been gone for so long. The grasses were dotted with primroses here and there. The moon was starting to part the sky as the sun continued its decent towards the horizon.
“You were never trapped or confined. You know that, right?” Daniel gave a light tug, pulling her to him. Blindly she followed, just lost in the feeling of contentment. Slowly opening her eyes, she saw the adoration in his eyes that looked almost black in the dying light. His arm gently circled her waist, as his hand pulled hers to his chest.
“I never felt that way. But I also never felt like this was where I was supposed to be,” she admitted, looking at him, feeling everything around them fall away.
“And now?” he asked, his dark head descending to hers intimately. Her heart hammered in happiness and anticipation. His sculpted lips stopped mere inches from hers, his breath warm in the cool evening air. She could feel his heartbeat under her hand and found it beat hard like hers.
“Now, this feels like I am home,” she confessed silently, in the merest whisper.
“You are home,” he breathed.
Chapter Fourteen
Daniel’s lips crushed against Colleen’s in a heady embrace. He had always been so tender with her, so polite. This was different. He felt like he was giving in to the needs that had been built up over the last several months and, frankly, it was as if a dam had burst forth for both of them. She found her fingers laced in his hair, pulling him towards her mindlessly. She had missed his attention, missed the affection. It was like a suffocating person being given fresh air. She was breathing in his scent and craving more.
When her fingers met the scalding, taut skin of his stomach, Colleen realized that she had been throwing herself at him bodily. His hands were everywhere and creating havoc in her body. Wrenching h
erself free, she broke the heated embrace. Both stepped away from each other, stunned by the intensity of the attraction between the two of them. The heat, the passion and sheer need between them was incredible.
“I shouldn’t have!” she breathed, gulping in air and staring at his mussed hair and untucked shirt wantonly.
“I’m seriously glad you did!” he replied as he grinned, trying to catch his own breath.
“Don’t,” she protested, but only halfheartedly as she looked away from where he was tucking his muslin shirt back into his trousers.
“Don’t nothing! I don’t regret that, and you shouldn’t either. It was extraordinary,” he said tenderly, stepping towards her and stopping when she took a step back.
“I think that maybe…” she began and was surprised at the look of anger on his face.
“No,” Daniel barked angrily. “I have watched you from afar for months and wanted those gorgeous green eyes on me,” he started, in a softer tone as he rushed to her side. “I was enraptured by you from the first moment I saw you. The curve of your face, the way you glance at me under your eyelashes. I’m bewitched by you.”
Colleen felt him take her hands. The tender tone in his voice had her enthralled and she couldn’t pull back. The urge to reach out to him, to touch him yet again was strong.
“I couldn’t bear to see you hurting or hungry – yet I didn’t even know you. Seeing your eyes light up as I walked by, or brought you something, kept me warm at night when it was so cold. I gave you my scarf because I wanted to keep you warm. The night that those men attacked the camp, I was lost.”
His tortured eyes stared at her. The intensity of desire in his eyes was captivating and made her weak in the knees. It was almost like watching someone else as her hand crept up to cup his face in an effort to comfort his raging emotions. She could see them in the dim light as they danced across his face: frustration, hope, sympathy… and love.
“I only knew I had to get you to safety. My world was crashing in around me and threating the one thing I cared about most: you. Everything you have said, every move you have made, every touch, every glance, every sweet smile, and those kisses,” he admitted softly with a chuckle.
“Everything about you, my Little Fire, my Colleen, everything is perfect… perfect for me.” She watched silently as he kissed the palm of her hand that lay on his cheek tenderly. “I have tried to stay away from you, to give you time to want me. I want you to need me like I need you.”
“You silly man,” she admitted in a broken voice as she realized that tears were falling from her eyes. “Don’t you know how lost I have been, thinking that you might have felt like I was a mistake? You gave up your career, your life. I felt guilty that I was the cause…”
Daniel interrupted her with a quick kiss, surprising them both. She saw him grin suddenly as he wiped a tear from her cheek. “You are my reason for everything and I can’t tell you how relieved I am right now. I adore you, Colleen, and I want you to know that.”
His lips briefly touched hers tenderly. “I think, perhaps, we should return back to the house, back to the others, so I am not tempted to continue where we left off.”
Nodding silently, she tried to hide her disappointment. It was so wonderful to have him so open with her, so free, in the glade where they stood together. There had been no signs of anyone else nearby and it gave such an intimate place of solitude for them to talk. This was something they really hadn’t been able to do at the house.
Daniel’s arm wrapped around her waist as he pulled her to his side. Bashfully, she encircled his waist, feeling the movement of his body underneath the cloth. At his proud expression, she nodded happily. They walked easily, together, back towards where the house sat.
Entering the house, it appeared to be that Joel and Maria had not returned. Picking up the tin dishes they had used to eat dinner, Colleen heard a noise and glanced up. Her eyes met Daniel’s laughing face. He put a finger up to his lips indicating that they should be quiet. Confused, she heard a noise again that sounded like it was coming from the other room. Alarmed, she strode over towards the room only to have Daniel leap out of his chair towards her.
“Shhh, sweetheart,” he whispered, chuckling. “Let them have their time.”
A distinct moan came from behind the closed door and there was no mistaking what was going on inside. Colleen felt her mouth drop open in shock. Daniel must have seen the realization in her face and grinned knowingly. He pointed at the front door, indicating they should leave now. She was mortified and physically jumped when she heard Joel’s voice saying all sorts of intimate things that carried through the door.
“Oh, my goodness!” she gasped, clapping her hands over her ears in shock.
“C’mon.”
“Where?” she whispered, scandalized. When she heard Maria’s cry of pleasure, she bolted out the front door without a look back. She could not handle hearing the two of them being intimate. How long had they been in there? How long would they be? Could she even look at them in the face after hearing that?
Standing outside of the house in the dark, she stared at the open doorway as Daniel’s large form filled it. He had blankets in his arms and two pillows. She watched him pull the door closed behind him before walking to where she stood. Saying nothing, he took her hand and led her to the barn that had been cleaned out weeks before.
“Are we not returning to the house?”
“I think they are going to be busy for a while.”
“Knock on the door and tell them to stop!”
Laughing, he lit a lantern in the barn. “I don’t think that is going to work. From what they were saying, It’s a bit too late to stop them.” Unfurling a blanket, he lay it on the clean straw.
“Your bed, milady?”
“Here? Not the house?”
“No. Let them have their time together,” he repeated. “He’s a lucky man.”
“And you aren’t?”
“Oh, I am,” he retorted easily. “But I’m envious of him doing exactly what I wanted to do not fifteen minutes ago.”
“Oh!” Colleen breathed and stared at Daniel’s hot, expressive gaze. Neither one moved an inch or said a word for several moments.
“I intended to stand watch for you while you turned in for the night. Do you want me to leave instead? Or do you want me to stay with you, here?”
“No. Don’t leave,” she whispered softly, feeling her cheeks flush with heat.
“Good.” Daniel began to unbutton his shirt, revealing tanned skin that had been hidden from her sight. She stared at his physique longingly and thought momentarily that if Maria felt this way about Joel, then Daniel had been correct in knowing that the couple would be together for the night. She didn’t imagine that she would be able to keep her hands from tracing the ridges on his flat belly where years of hard labor had left thick muscles that begged to be touched.
“Maybe you should put that back on?” she uttered in a strangled voice.
“I don’t think so,” he said, looking away from her and setting the two pillows down on the blanket. “In fact, I think you will be uncomfortable in that dress.”
“I can’t sleep with less on!”
“I’d rather that you did,” he chuckled, removing his gun belt and hanging it on a nail in the horse stall.
“I’m sure you would!”
“You’d be much more comfortable. Honestly? If you are worried, I will swear not to touch you unless you want me to.”
Colleen felt her mouth salivating as he removed his boots and lay down on the blanket. There was no way she could lay down with that gorgeous man and not touch his skin. Her fingers were itching to touch him now as it was, and she was ten feet from him! She wondered if his body was as hot as it was holding his hands. What if he held her while she slept? She just about drooled on herself at the idea.
Daniel took that moment to lower the lamp and patted the blanket next to him, invitingly. The dim light cast all sorts of shadows indicating in
timacy.
“C’mon over here.”
“Daniel, I think I should sleep in another stall.”
“Who’d have thought that a woman named Little Fire would be chicken,” he mused, raising a dark eyebrow at her in a silent challenge. “A pretty. Little. Sweet. Chick. You know, the fluffy yellow ones?” he emphasized each word, just to get her riled up.
“I’m not chicken.”
“Prove it,” he taunted.
“I don’t have to prove anything to you.”
“No, you don’t. But you could learn to trust me at some point.”
“I do trust you. You’ve always been there for me!”
“Then show me that you trust me. Undress and come on over here. It’s getting late and I’m tired.”
“You promise to behave?”
“I swear. Unless you touch me first, I won’t touch you.”
Could she keep her antsy fingers from touching him? Of course, she could! She had been through so much worse and survived with flying colors. This was just sleeping next to a man she was utterly fascinated with and adored. He was right, it was getting late and going back into the house and listening to the intimate moments occurring in the next room were not going to happen. Here, she had a roof over her head and protection.
“Fair enough. No peeking!” she agreed. Watching him cover his face with a pillow, she undressed quickly and left the thin chemise on underneath. She would wrap herself in a blanket tightly for her own safety and modesty. Gingerly stepping into the stall, she saw he still had the feather pillow over his head. Picking up a blanket she heard him give a loud barking cough into the pillow, that caused her to jump in surprise.
“No peeking!” she reminded him and glanced at him again. Daniel gave another loud cough and gasp. Staring at him, she wrapped the blanket around her shoulders and knelt down. He coughed again loudly. This time, she shook his shoulders.
“Daniel, you can uncover your face now. I’m covered.” He began to cough several times, alarming Colleen. “Are you all right?” Concerned, she pulled the pillow from him. She heard him whoop with joy and saw his lecherous grin, a split two seconds before he had her pinned on the blanket.
A Perfect Bride Page 8
