by Stacey Kayne
She had no idea the feel of a man's chest would be so grand. But then, neither had she known such intimacy could be shared in just a kiss. She shifted slightly and felt his bandages under her bare thigh.
Oh, heavens! How had her dress become bunched at her hips? She was frightfully aware that he was naked beneath her. She shouldn't be lying with him in such a provocative manner.
"Is something wrong?" Jed asked, obviously feeling the sudden tension in her body.
"I'm not hurting your side, am I?" she asked, truly concerned.
"Sugar, you're killin' me for sure, but you're not hurting my side one bit."
He continued to caress her back in long sweeping strokes from her shoulders to her hips, draining her tension and relaxing her muscles. "Are you warm enough?" he asked.
She smiled. He was so very considerate. "Yes."
She could have tolerated another blanket, but she didn't want to disturb the tranquility that had settled over them. She didn't want it to end.
Rachell's eyes fluttered open as she woke from a deep, peaceful sleep. She smiled into the warm gray eyes gazing down at her. Jed was propped up on his elbow beside her. She could feel his other hand spread across her hip and his warm, fully aroused body pressed against her side. Her breath stalled. He continued to silently gaze down at her.
"What are you staring at?" she asked, becoming self- conscious.
"You." His slow smile electrified her blood.
"Why?"
"Because you're worth starin' at."
Her smile spread clear to her heart. She reached up and smoothed her hand across his jaw that was now shadowed by two days of growth.
"Sugar, you keep smiling at me like that and I'm gonna start kissing you."
Her heart constricted with anticipation. "Really?"
"Really." The word was muffled by Jed's lips meeting hers. His heart thundered in his chest when her lips parted invitingly beneath his. Jed seized the invitation, kissing her long and thoroughly, until his head was spinning. He broke away, heaving for breath, struggling for rational thought. He failed on both accounts as Rachell pulled him back to her lips.
Loving her tenacity, he reached down and wrapped his hand around the back of her smooth thigh, caressing the resilient flesh.
Rachell moaned. Her whole body flexed against him.
Jed lifted his head and smiled into her dazed eyes. "Your body responds to me with so much passion. You don't know what that does to me."
Rachell was fairly certain that she did, the hard proof pressed against her hip. His caressing hand moved up to her bottom, stroking the naked skin beneath her dress and making it near impossible for her to breathe.
"Jed?" she gasped, conscious only of his caressing hand and his mouth nibbling gently at her neck. She shifted closer, drawing up her knees, inadvertently bringing him into the center of a whole new universe. One he wasn't reluctant to explore. His hand slid across her leg to the vulnerable juncture between her thighs.
Rachell tensed as Jed's fingers tenderly brushed the sensitive folds. His body blocked her instinctive response to close her legs. Unprepared for the lightning rush of pleasure brought by his soft caresses, his name came out in a sharp gasp as she bucked against him.
"Jed, I-I've-" her breath broke. His feathery strokes stole her thoughts, paralyzing her of all but the ability to feel the wonderfully new sensations coursing through her body. He seemed to know precisely where she was most sensitive, caressing her until her body arched in helpless abandon.
Fear mingled with fascination as the fiery sensations continued to mount, closing over her, consuming her. Jed's name exploded from her lips as a wave of sheer pleasure washed through her body in a violent tremor.
"It's all right," Jed whispered. His lips touched hers.
Dazed, Rachell sought his gaze. His smile was tender, yet darkly masculine. His touch became soothing. He kissed her and murmured against her lips. Just as she felt herself settling back into her mind, he took her mouth in a deep kiss and seared her body with a single touch that hurled her back toward the stars, stripping away the world. She clung to him, her fingers digging into his shoulders as her hips moved of their own accord in response to his caressing fingers.
Rachell's broken cries of pleasure as she strained toward his touch were burning Jed alive. Never had he needed so badly to be inside a woman. He wanted her until he couldn't breathe.
Unable to wait a second longer, Jed nudged her legs further apart with his knees, meeting no resistance as he settled between her thighs. He forced himself to stop just shy of entering her. His body shuddered as her sensual heat licked over him, threatening to snap his control. His muscles strained against his body's urge to delve into her feminine core.
He'd not yet probed those satin depths. She was so small, so delicate. He didn't want to hurt her by taking her too fast, too hard.
Slowly, he silently commanded.
From beyond the roar of his blood, and his aching struggle for control, a deep voice penetrated his thoughts.
"Imp?" the voice called again from outside the teepee. "Is my brother well?"
Running Bear. Jed pulled his mouth away from Rachell's, cursing under his breath as he set his jaw against the painful need of his body.
With a deep groan of regret, he shifted his position and tugged Rachell's dress down over her hips. He took her mouth once more, swallowing her gasp along with his groan as he pressed his aching flesh against the buckskin dress now blocking his passage to the paradise he knew awaited him inside her sleek body.
He couldn't bring himself to pull away. Rachell moaned, rocking her hips in response. Jed broke off the kiss, pulling in a few deep breaths before bracing himself up with his arms.
"I'm well," Jed called out to Running Bear. "Be out in a minute."
Rachell shoved against his chest, nearly knocking him over as she moved out from beneath him.
"Oh.. .my.. .goodness," she said in a pant. She backed away from him as though he'd attacked her. Her accusing eyes reminded him so much of Malika, it was like a blow to the gut.
What the hell? She'd been just as eager as he had. But then...so had Malika.
Suddenly, Jed felt completely drained of all his energy. He couldn't go through this again. He refused to carry the guilt of another woman who couldn't be honest about her passion.
Rachell sat a few feet away, her head down, her arms wrapped around her raised knees, shivering from the desire he knew was strumming through her body. Damnation, but the woman had enough passion to set fire to a stone. How was he going to keep his hands off her? She sure as hell hadn't been pushing him away. At least, not while he was touching her. But he didn't want anything to do with a woman who didn't know her own mind.
"Rachell, this has to stop. We're likely to be stuck together for another couple of weeks or so and your teasing is going to drive me mad."
"My what?" she shrieked, whipping her gaze toward him. "I have not-"
"Don't give me the innocent act. If it wasn't for Running Bear, I'd be sheathed inside your hot little body right now, and we'd both be enjoying every damned second of it."
Her eyes opened as wide as saucers. The red tinge in her cheeks brightened, and Jed wondered again at how much experience she'd had with this sort of intimacy. He'd seen fear in her eyes just before she'd found her first release, followed by a look of pure wonder. Her late husband must have been a real cold fish in the sack. Or perhaps he'd trespassed onto the sense of propriety that had no doubt been drilled into her mind. He'd be doing her a favor letting her cling to those morals-for both their sakes.
"Honey, I'm not against taking the pleasure of your body as a show of gratitude for helping you out, but I got a feelin' you're not the sort who tumbles with a man just for the hell of it. And just so we're clear, I have no intentions of keeping a wife."
Her flushed face hardened with anger, assuring him he'd thoroughly insulted her.
"Let's keep it clear that we both want an annulment," he
added.
"I most certainly do!"
"Then maybe you should toss me that breechcloth." He pushed away the fur blanket and stood.
The full sight of Jed's body sent a wave of heat through Rachell, bringing a tingling sensation to all the places he'd touched. She realized she was gaping at him, and a blush scorched her cheeks. She turned and grabbed the small bundle of leather Running Bear had brought in the day before, then blindly threw it at him.
How had she suddenly become so brazenly wanton? She may have been slightly enamored with Jed, but she was not the sort who tumbles with a man just for the hell of it.
The words boiled Rachell's blood beneath her skin. She'd never tumbled with any man!
"Did you have to pull these stitches so goddammed tight? I can barely move without them feeling like they're gonna bust my skin."
"I hope they all fall out," she spat, just as he disappeared though the door flap.
Torn between rage and the tears burning at her eyes, Rachell sat heavily on the rumpled blankets. How dare he suggest she'd seduced him! She'd hardly been awake before his mouth was on her. And she'd.. .loved every moment of it.
She hadn't been prepared for the intensity of his intimate caresses. Realizing how close she'd actually come to coupling with Jed had shocked the daylights out of her. She couldn't help but think she was a very little woman for so much man. And yet he had appeared to be quite confident that their joining would be pleasant for both of them.
Indignation burned low in her belly. Jed was right.
She may have been caught up in his touch, but.. .she would have let him take her. Hell's fire. She had been two seconds from begging.
She was such a fool.
Lord, she couldn't help it. The man could be as gentle as he was hard. When he looked at her with smoldering gray eyes, her brain turned to mush. She trembled at the mere thought of the wonderfully sinful things he had been doing to her.
As shameful as it was to admit, she couldn't deny that she had greatly enjoyed the intimacy they'd shared. She marveled again at how very gentle such a strong man could be. He'd given her the most profound pleasure of her life, and then she'd shoved him away.
She glanced toward the flap. She hadn't meant to recoil from him. Could she have hurt his feelings?
He must care for me, a little. She recalled his concern for her when he'd woken early this morning, the comfort she'd felt in his embrace.
She certainly cared about him. Indeed, she was quite fond of Jed. She'd never met a man whose touch affected her as his did. Not just his intimate touch, but his casual touch as well. Even his voice affected her physically, washing through her like a warm summer rain. She had never been so physically aware of any man. She had wanted him.
She wanted him still.
Chapter Ten
You're refusing to help me?"
Jed stopped near the center of camp, stunned by Running Bear's refusal to lend him horses and supplies.
"You will not journey today," Running Bear said, stopping to look back at Jed. "You need rest. Tomorrow, I give all you ask."
"I can't stay. I've already lost two days."
Running Bear crossed his arms. "You will search for lost days tomorrow," he decided.
"Don't pull the chieftain bit with me," Jed said, shoving Running Bear off balance. "I'm not too old to pluck a few feathers from your headdress."
Running Bear laughed, and nudged Jed forward, toward the sweat lodge. "You will rest, and cleanse your body of illness."
Silently determined to get his way, Jed allowed Running Bear to lead him to the dome-shaped hut, giving a greeting to friends and relatives along the way. As they neared the sweat lodge, he gazed out at his horse hobbled in the meadow.
"Sage isn't known to be friendly to anyone other than me. I hope he wasn't too much trouble."
Running Bear frowned as he glanced at the large buckskin. "Friendly like angry snake. Only Imp touch bastard horse."
"Rachell?" Jed said in disbelief. "My saddle alone must be twice her weight."
Running Bear laughed as he gave a nod. "She strong like ant."
Jed grinned, feeling a touch of pride, which dissolved the moment he realized Running Bear still believed Rachell to be his wife. Before he could say otherwise, Running Bear ducked into the lodge. The moment Jed followed him into the hot muggy climate, he knew this was a bad idea. He knew just as well that Running Bear would not rest until Jed had purified his body with a good hard sweat.
By the time he sat before the hot stones, Jed was dizzy. Running Bear lifted a ladle filled with water from a pail and poured it over the superheated stones. White steam rose in a crackling hiss of evaporating moisture. He dipped the ladle back into the water and held it out to Jed.
"You drink," he instructed. "Imp is good match for you," he said as Jed took a swallow of cool water. "Her spirit is bright."
"She's not really my wife." He tossed the ladle back into the pail of water. "She's tangled up with this guy by the name of Sumner and I-"
"You steal Imp from another man?" Running Bear's face contorted with shock.
"No," Jed said in a short laugh. "She's not Sumner's wife. She's not really mine either."
"Imp say you marry," Running Bear insisted, visibly displeased by Jed's announcement.
"We're married but-"
"Imp is your wife," Running Bear said with a firm nod.
"No, she's a woman stuck in my care until I can deliver her safely to Buck. You remember Judge Widell?"
A lethal glint came into his dark eyes.
"Figured you would," Jed drawled. "That four-week jail sentence he gave us back in Texas was pure justice compared to the ruling I got last week. Rachell and I ran into Widell in Colorado. He took it upon himself to hitch us together, despite our protests. You know how unpredictable Widell can be when he's wielding that gavel. I lit out of there before I ended up with a noose around my neck for murdering an elderly judge. Rachell was madder than a wet hen when she left that saloon with my last name. She hadn't known me for a full day, and she sure hadn't liked me one bit up to that point."
Running Bear's frown deepened. Both men studied the tendrils of steam rising from the rocks until Running Bear broke the long silence, saying a single word.
"Malika."
Nothing else could have summed up Jed's situation. Jed raised his knees, folded his arms over them and lowered his throbbing head.
Running Bear poured more water over the stones, surrounding them in a hissing white mist. "Not the same," he said.
Jed felt a tap on his arm. Lifting his head, he saw the ladle of water being held out to him.
"Drink," Running Bear ordered. "Imp is your wife," he said, waiting until Jed had a mouth full of water.
Jed met the stubborn gaze of the large Ute beside him. "I've known the woman a week. I didn't intentionally lead you to believe she was my wife."
"You fight for her."
"I had to. She's Buck's sister-in-law. I gave my word I'd get her safely to California," Jed said, telling himself that was the only reason.
Jed didn't like the slow smile spreading across Running Bear's face.
"You feel nothing of love for this woman with hair of fire?"
"I hardly know her, and what would I know about love?"
He shifted uneasily under Running Bear's steady glare.
"I'm not sayin' she's not a fine woman. I'm sayin' she's not my woman."
She's not my woman, he silently repeated, trying to make that fact stick in his mind.
"My vision complete," Running Bear said in a confident tone. "Imp is your mate."
Jed groaned and ran his hand across his jaw. His calloused palm grated across coarse stubble.
Damnation. I must have chafed the soft skin of Rachell's face. What had gotten into him? Rachell was Buck's sister-in- law. She was too damn young for him. Yet no woman had ever had such a pull on his self control, not since Malika. But with Malika, she'd always been the aggressor. Rachell didn'
t do anything but smile, which worked on his self control like fire to a haystack.
He had to get out of here today. The sooner he unloaded the woman onto Buck the better. He didn't want to complicate what was already a rotten situation. Physical attraction was nothing to base a marriage on. He and Malika had proven that.
His refusal to bed his Indian bride the night of their union had nothing to do with his lack of attraction to her. She'd been a beautiful young woman. He'd noted that fact often enough during the three days he and his friends had escorted her and Running Bear to their camp. He'd also noted the grave sadness in her large coffee-shaded eyes. Running Bear had told him the brave she was to marry had died trying to protect her.
Jed was certain Malika's father had reasons for marrying them the way he had, but Jed refused to bed her. He supposed now that he'd only prolonged the inevitable. He'd been raised around Indian culture and even at nineteen, he wasn't a man who turned away from his responsibility. Like it or not, Malika was his wife. When he'd left their camp, she went with him.
He'd shown nothing but patience and kindness to his young bride, but he couldn't win with Malika. She paid him no more notice than a grain of sand, unless she was raving at him, finding fault in his every word and action. In her next breath, she would demand he make her his wife. Eventually he'd given up, figuring she hated him so much because she couldn't find a valid reason not to like him. When he'd awakened one night with Malika hovering over him, he'd given her all she'd been asking for.
There had been no question of the passion they'd ignited in each other. And afterward, she had hated him all the more for it. But her anger didn't slow the flood of desire when they touched. He came to expect her cold moods and accusing glares, knowing she struggled with her own guilt over the man she'd betrothed her love to. He'd done his best to try to make her happy. The day he'd watched her run headlong into gunfire, he realized he'd failed miserably.
"Imp is not Malika."
Jed met Running Bear's piercing stare, and quickly averted his gaze. His Ute brother was too perceptive, and probably knew him better than anyone. "You think I don't know that?"
