Bride Of Shadow Canyon

by Stacey Kayne

  "Rachell, I won't push you to do anything you don't want to do. If you've changed your mind, I'll understand."

  "I haven't changed my mind," she said in a low voice.

  "I don't believe you," Jed said with flat honesty.

  "I want you." She shifted slightly on his lap. She trembled as she smoothed her hands across his chest under the water. "I've just never done anything like this. I'm feeling a little..."

  "Shy?" he suggested, taking her hands in his and lifting them away from his body. As much as he enjoyed it, he was far too aroused to have her hands roving all over him. He lifted one of her hands from the water and pressed it to his lips.

  She nodded her head, her lips tipping into a slight smile.

  Hell. Shyness was something he hadn't come across in his dealings with women. "How about we start with the bath you've been waiting for? I'd like to wash your hair. Would you like that?"

  "Yes," she whispered, her husky tone warming Jed's blood far beyond the temperature of the hot spring.

  Praying he had enough self-control to bathe her without pouncing on her, he cupped his hands and dunked them into the water between them. She gasped as he lifted his hands and wet her hair. He repeated the process several times then picked up a pink bar of soap from the rocky edge of the pool and worked it into a foamy lather between his hands.

  Rachell drew a deep breath and held it in her lungs as the sweet scent of lilacs bathed her senses.

  "Jed?"

  He made a deep rumbling sound in question.

  "Where did you get that soap?"

  "Do you like it?" He set the pink bar aside before pushing his hands through her long hair.

  His tender smile expanded her heart with warmth to the point of pain. "You know I do," she said, wondering how many times this man would surprise her with his sweet consideration. She closed her eyes, breathing in the floral scent. She couldn't recall the last time she'd bathed in the scent of lilacs. She found the fragrance to be incredibly soothing, as were Jed's large hands working gently through her hair.

  "Lie back," he said, his hands pressing lightly on her shoulders, urging her back against his arm. "I need to rinse your hair."

  Jed felt the tension in Rachell's body as she allowed him to lower her head to the water. He smiled, gazing down at her eyes clenched tight. He worked the soap from her long hair as he cradled her narrow shoulders in one arm. He could feel her body beginning to relax as he rhythmically massaged her scalp. By the time her hair was free of suds her expression was soft, her body pliant in his arms. He brushed a light kiss across her smiling lips as he eased her up.

  "Thank you," she whispered, wiping water from her face.

  "My pleasure. Now for the rest of you. Too bad this pool doesn't have a shallow end. I'd like to see my hands moving over your ivory skin. I could stand you up right here on this ledge with a foot on either side of me."

  Rachell's lips parted as her eyes grew wide.

  "But I can see you're still feeling shy," he added quickly. "Will you let me wash you under the water?"

  Coward! Rachell silently scolded. You've been dying to have his hands all over you for weeks! And now that he was willing to do just that, she was behaving like a ninny.

  "Rachell, would you rather wash yourself?"

  She shook her head, the rush of passion caused by his original suggestion still clogging her throat. She reached for him beneath the water, running her hands over the smooth ripples of his abdomen, to the very different texture of his hair- covered chest. She leaned towards him, sniffing his familiar clean scent. "You've already had a bath."

  White teeth flashed in the moonlight. The intensity in his silver eyes caused her to shudder with another rush of desire.

  "Turn around," he said, turning her on his lap so that she looked away from him.

  "Why?" she asked, feeling much more secure sitting across his lap, rather than having her back to him as she stared out at the top of the black misty pool and white glowing rocks.

  "Because if I start kissing you, I won't be able to stop."

  Rachell closed her eyes as he began washing her shoulders and back, wondering why her body was tingling in places he hadn't yet touched. If his mere words made her heart pound so erratically and the feeling of his hands moving over her back could make her ache with such pleasure, she didn't know if she could stand for him to wash the rest of her. She trembled at the thought.

  "Lift your arms," he instructed.

  She did as he said, lifting her arms above the water. "It's beautiful here," she said as Jed ran the cloth over her arm, covering it with a foamy lather. "Who knew that rocks could generate light," she said, amazed by the glowing landscape.

  "They reflect moonlight the way you reflect sunlight," Jed said as he rinsed her arm under the water.

  Rachell smiled, flattered by his compliment.

  "See there? Pure sunshine."

  "You can't even see my smile," she teased.

  "You don't have to see sunshine to feel it."

  Rachell glanced over her shoulder. "Your eyes reflect moonlight," she said. "They shine like silver moons."

  Jed smiled and nudged her cheek with his nose. "Turn around, honey, or I'll never get you washed."

  "Why did you light the lantern?" she asked, glancing up at the lamplight barely visible from their low perch in the pool.

  Jed's low rumble of laughter stirred the fluttering sensations growing in the pit of her stomach. "Just planning ahead. The ground on the other side of this pool isn't so bright."

  Dear Lord. She had to ask. As Jed began washing her other arm, Rachell tried not to think about what he was planning to do when they got out of the water.

  "Now your legs," Jed said when he finished rinsing her arm.

  "My legs?" she asked in a choked voice.

  He chuckled and kissed her shoulder. "Lean back against me and lift a leg. I plan to scrub between each of your tiny toes."

  She released a slow quivering breath as she leaned back. She bent one leg, placing her foot on Jed's thigh, and lifted the other from the gently misting pool. She drew a deep calming breath, forcing herself to relax. In her reclined position, she could feel the hard body beneath her with startling clarity.

  Jed's long arms rose from the white vapors and reached for her leg. "Bend your knee, so I can reach those toes."

  She'd never imagined a woman could be seduced so sweetly, or that such a seduction would involve toe scrubbing.

  "How you doin', sweetheart?" Jed asked, obviously feeling the shivers she couldn't combat. "So far so good?"

  Rachell wanted to shout out with the wonderful sensations his gradual seduction was sending coursing through her body, but managed only to giggle with nervous laughter.

  "I'm glad I'm not the only one enjoying this."

  Her husky laughter turned to a moan of pleasure as his strong fingers messaged the sole of her foot.

  "I hear trickling water," she said as both his hands worked together on her foot, one massaging, the other smoothing the soapy cloth across her skin.

  "A small waterfall runs into one of the pools above us."

  "I wish I could see it."

  "It's just a bit of water drizzling over rock. Now in California, there are some waterfalls that will take your breath away with their beauty."

  "Yosemite," Rachell murmured, his massaging hands draining all of her tension and her energy. "I've heard of them. I hope I'll get the opportunity to see them."

  "They're not but a day's ride from the Double D. You ask me real nice and I might be persuaded to take you."

  Rachell lost all thoughts of waterfalls as Jed's hands worked down her calf until they slipped beneath the water, working further up her leg. She gasped his name as his left hand smoothed as far up her inner thigh as it could go.

  Jed froze, his wrist remaining pressed against the sensitive juncture between her legs, his long fingers wrapped around her thigh.

  "Do you want me to stop?"

  U
nable to speak, she shook her head.

  "You sure?" he asked, his hands again kneading the taut flesh of her leg, each subtle movement piercing her body with jolts of lightning.

  Rachell fought to keep air in her lungs as he washed her leg clear up to her hipbone. Her heart pounded painfully against the wall of her chest.

  "I...can't breathe," she rasped.

  Jed laughed low in his throat. "If that were true, you couldn't be talking," he reasoned. He released her leg, re-soaped his cloth then waited.

  It took Rachell a few moments to gather enough muscle control to shift position and lift her other leg. When he washed her thigh, her reaction was no different. When Jed's palm slid across her stomach she nearly leapt off his lap. Again he waited for her approval before continuing.

  His slow ascent up her body nearly drove her mad. Once he reached her breasts, he spent a good deal of time washing them in the same fashion he'd washed the rest of her. One hand massaging, the other scrubbing. She leaned against him, her eyes closed, dizzied by what he was doing to her.

  Again he stopped, rinsed the cloth and reached for the pink bar of soap. Rachell's breath grew choppy, knowing where he planned to wash next.

  "I won't hurt you," he whispered against her ear as his hands slipped back under the water.

  "I know," she gasped as he ran the cloth over her. "You're killing me with tenderness." She whimpered, arching back against him as he plied his sensual technique of bathing, liquefying her bones with rippling currents of fire. Just when she was sure she would cry out from the intense pleasure, he drew his hands away. His arms coiled around her waist, keeping her limp body from sliding off into the dark pool.

  "Rachell?"

  "Jed?" she replied in a scarce breath.

  "I believe you've been thoroughly bathed." His teeth grazed her neck.

  "Oh my," she gasped, while tilting her head to give his delightful lips and teeth further access. "It seems I was wrong."

  "About what?" he asked, his hand stroking her outer thigh as he treated her to another bite.

  "Your bite is far more devastating than your bark," she answered, shivering.

  Jed's rumble of laughter churned the swirling heat inside her belly. "Does that mean you won't protest if I turn you back around?"

  "Yes, I mean, no!"

  "Which is it, honey?"

  "I want you to kiss me," she said, trembling as she twisted, reaching for his neck, aching to be held by his strong arms. "And I want to kiss you." She threaded her fingers into his hair as he gazed down at her with hypnotic silver eyes.

  "My God, you're beautiful," he whispered as he lowered his head, meeting her kiss.

  She felt him shudder as her tongue grazed his. His hungry kiss sent her mind spinning back into a haze of passion. He lifted her, repositioning her until she sat astride his hips. When his hand closed over her breast, she welcomed the familiar caress. She was lost in his taste, his touch, the fiery sensations swelling inside her.

  "This is madness," she gasped, thinking aloud.

  "But you like it," Jed said, hearing the proof of her pleasure in her soft moans.

  "You've impaired my sanity," she accused, meeting his gaze with a seductive smile that told Jed she more than liked what he was doing to her.

  Sanity be damned, Jed thought as he lifted her again until the tips of her breasts rose from the misty veil of water. He'd waited too long to taste the satin and velvet secrets of her sweet body. With a low groan of repressed hunger, he dipped his head and took a rosy peak into his mouth.

  The sweet taste of her washed through him in a giant wave of pleasure. Rachell cried out as her body arched. Her hands gripped his hair, holding him captive in paradise.

  Jed's body strummed with wild desire, consumed by the need to devour every last bit of her. "Perfect," he whispered, inspecting the tight velvet bud he'd just enjoyed. "Sweetheart, put your knees on my thighs."

  Rachell did as he said, releasing a strangled cry as his hands slowly smoothed over her hips.

  "Jed, I've never..." her voice trailed as she watched his lips brush over the peak of her other breast. She shivered with pleasure, moaning his name as he took her into his mouth.

  His tugging caress made her feel beautiful, complete in his arms.

  His hand had slid between her thighs, jolting her with a shivering rush of pleasure at his slight penetration. Transfixed by his rhythmic caress, she clung to him as the shimmering heat welling within her burst, shaking her with a rush of intensity. Her sharp cries echoed off the canyon walls as he continued to caress her in a way she'd not experienced before.

  Rachell's wild response to his touch filled Jed with a passion he couldn't contain. The thought of pulling her down on his lap and pushing into the tight heat of her body was nearly enough to undo him. He had to be inside her. Soon. But she was so small, he wasn't sure he could take her without causing her some initial discomfort.

  That wasn't good enough. Needing to be certain she could receive all of him, he deepened his caress. Easing into her sleek heat, he discovered the tight passage was...blocked.

  What the hell?

  Chapter Seventeen

  She can't be!

  Jed couldn't believe what he felt. She was so hot, so sensual- -so tight, his mind reasoned.

  He had never wanted so badly to be inside a woman, but...he couldn't.

  The hell I can't! She's my legal wife!

  She's also supposed to be a widow, his mind shot back as he continued to caress her delicate core. Her passionate response was tearing him apart. He forced himself to stop.

  Released from his sensual hold, Rachell collapsed against his chest. She clung to him, the hard peaks of her breasts brushing against him with each short, ragged breath, torturing his body with agonizing need.

  "Rachell?" he rasped, sucking in a steady breath. His hands helplessly caressed her slender back in long strokes. Soothing her violently aroused body, and taunting his. "How many men have you been with like this?"

  "I've never...no one has..." She leaned her head against his shoulder, trembling as she struggled to catch her breath. "Only you."

  "Oh hell," Jed breathed, her fragmented words registering a shocking truth he still struggled to believe. He put his hands

  on her shoulders and eased her away from him. "You've never even been touched before, have you? My God. Why did you let me touch you?"

  Rachell stared up at him, her eyes dazed and confused. "Let you? I can't think with what.. .you were doing to me."

  "What I was doing to you?" She was killing him!

  "Yes. Why are you shouting at me?"

  "Because you're a virgin!"

  She blinked several times as her face fixed with shock. "You could tell?"

  Good God. She was as virginal as a woman could be. "You're a widow, are you not?"

  "Legally... yes."

  "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" She flinched at his harsh tone, and Jed groaned. He hadn't meant to shout at her, but damn it, she wasn't supposed to be a virgin!

  "James was my second cousin and a close friend. I've already told you he married me for protection."

  "It wasn't a true marriage," he said, realization washing over him like a bucket of cold water.

  "No," she whispered.

  "Does Elizabeth know this?"

  "No one knew except James and my brothers. They all died in the war."

  "Is there anything about you that isn't a lie?" Jed asked, seething with frustration and feeling downright cheated.

  "I have never lied to you!"

  "No? I was sent to fetch a widowed boardinghouse keeper from Kansas but find instead a virgin showgirl from Missouri!"

  Tormented by her hurt expression, he pinched his eyes shut and leaned his head back against the rock, trying not to focus on the feel of her petal-soft skin pressed against his thighs.

  "I couldn't tell my sister I worked in saloons. I haven't seen her for so many years. I was afraid she wouldn't want me to come
to California if she knew. I saw the way respectable

  women looked at me on the street. I couldn't bear for my sister to look at me with such scorn. She would. Your poor opinion of me is proof of that."

  "Honey, I don't think poorly of you because you sang in saloons. Hell, decent folk do a lot worse to survive."

  Rachell's hands lightly stroked his chest. Jed was stung by an intense pleasure no other woman had ever evoked in him with such a small caress. "Then why do you?" she asked.

  He opened his eyes, disturbed by the sadness in her tone, only to see the reflection of that sadness in her glistening eyes. He lifted a hand from the pool and grazed her cheek with the back of his fingers. "I don't think poorly of you, Rachell." He was afraid to admit just how much he thought of this woman.

  "Then why are you mad at me?"

  Her somber expression tore at his chest. He was mad as hell because he knew he couldn't take her the way he desperately wanted to. Damnation, he nearly had.

  "Honey, I could have hurt you," he reasoned. "Damn it, Rachell, I never guessed you'd be a virgin. I would have taken you, and you would have let me!"

  He cringed at the thought of the pain he could have caused her if he had hastily sheathed himself inside her delicate body. "You do know the first time can be painful for a woman?"

  Her startled expression answered his question. She didn't have a damn clue. "Damnation," he groaned.

  "But...I liked it." Her cheeks flushed with her admission. "You didn't hurt me."

  She'd never seemed younger to him than at this very moment.

  Jed's skull cracked loudly against the rock as he leaned his head back. "You're as ignorant as a newborn chick."

  "Pardon me, Mr. Jed, but there wasn't an abundance of virgins in the saloons to compare notes with!"

  Great, now her temper's flared.

  Of course her temper's flared, you dumb jackass! You just took her to the edge of one hell of a climax, left her aching for fulfillment and then insulted her. Real smooth, Jed!

  "Rachell," he said, grasping for all the patience and reasoning he had left. "I just don't see how a beautiful woman like yourself can get to the age of twenty-three without being touched by a man. Those schools back east are designed to pair up attractive young woman with wealthy men."