“Then why did you do it with me?”
“I…I’m not sure. I mean, I can see why you might have thought that I was, uh, easy pickings, and I do like to kid around a lot, but…” Melanie frowned in the dark, then said in a small, confused voice, “I don’t know why I went so far with you.”
Eli slid over, and before she could do more than gasp, he had gathered her into his arms. “Don’t worry. I just want to hold you.”
“I don’t believe you. I saw the way you were looking at my nightgown.” She sounded breathless to her own ears, but she couldn’t help the sudden hard pounding of her heart. And she hadn’t objected to his embrace nearly as strenuously as she should have. But his arms around her and his body curved into hers felt so right, so good, and it seemed to fill a void within herself.
“How does your eye feel?” Eli said softly with his face so close to hers that she could feel his breath on her cheek.
“It’s…all right.”
“You said you didn’t know why you came on to me, but I think you do know and you won’t let yourself admit it.”
“I flirted with you, yes, but I wouldn’t call it coming on to you!” she exclaimed indignantly.
“You wanted me right from the start,” he whispered in her ear. “If, as you said, you don’t act that way with other men, then I must be special.” He slid his hand across her waist. “Am I special, Melanie?”
A good thirty seconds passed before she whispered, “I guess you are.”
“You guess?”
She was getting very aroused and very nervous about it. If he moved his hand up or down her body just a few inches, he would be caressing either her aching breasts or the stressful yearning she felt between her legs.
“Eli,” she said breathlessly, “you had better return to your side of the bed.”
“I’m only holding you.”
“You’re doing a lot more than that. You’re touching me, your body is pressed against mine, your skin is hot and…and…”
“And I’m hard and you can feel it.”
“I’d have to be numb not to feel it!”
“And we both know you’re not the least bit numb, don’t we, sweetheart?”
His bedroom voice had become sensually persuasive. Melanie’s own senses had started betraying her. She wanted so much to be kissed and caressed, and then when she reached the point where nothing was enough anymore, she wanted him inside her. Him, Eli, her husband, no one else, no other man.
“Oh, no,” she moaned in a husky cry of defeat. She wouldn’t be able to honestly tell a lawyer that she had not made love with Eli. But, dear heaven, she wanted him so.
She turned toward him and put her arms around his neck. He responded instantly by kissing her passionately, hungrily, then rolling them both over so that she was on her back and he was on top of her. She whimpered a little as his body pressed hers into the mattress. She could feel every manly inch of him and ignored the voice in her head that said, You can’t do this, Melanie Kincaid Forrester, you can’t!
But her body was no longer listening to her brain, and when Eli’s mouth sought hers again, she parted her lips and her legs at just about the same moment. It was all so simple to accomplish because their every movement was in tandem. Together they got rid of his briefs and her nightgown and then, naked and feverish, they kissed each other almost savagely.
Neither said anything intelligible, but the communication between lovers wild for each other didn’t require words, and Eli knew when something he did pleasured her, and she knew that everything she did increased his desire.
When he finally entered her, their unbridled ride to completion was so hot and intense that Melanie could not hold back her cries. Eli heard her, but right at that moment he didn’t care if everyone in the house heard both of them. They were adults in an adult household, and they were married. No matter how much noise they made, no one would be tactless enough to mention it.
“My love,” he whispered, then roared her name as he reached the crest of the wave.
Under him, Melanie was moaning softly. He moved to the bed to take his weight off her, and she whispered huskily, “I’ve just seen the other side of the moon.” Then turning onto her side, she curved her backside against his belly and fell asleep.
Thirteen
Melanie awoke with a smile on her face. She stretched lazily, as a cat does after a nap in the sun. The peace within her was astounding.
But even afloat in her sea of tranquillity, she knew it couldn’t last. All she was feeling was the aftermath of profoundly satisfying lovemaking. Eli was an incredible lover, and they fit together so perfectly it was as though they were two halves of something.
“Two halves of a peach,” Melanie said under her breath. “Or a pecan?” Laughing softly, she stretched again. Then a new thought erased her smile. You could very easily become addicted to Eli’s brand of lovemaking. Then where would you be? Certainly not in San Diego hoping for that job promotion! “You are such a fool,” she muttered, and threw back the covers, winced at her nudity, then ran for the bathroom.
Eli had heard the term “walking on air” before, but he’d merely attributed it to some overly romantic female’s imagination and let it go at that. He’d certainly never heard any of his male friends use the phrase and he grinned rather foolishly when it occurred to him that day that “walking on air” was pretty much how he felt.
He wore that silly grin for most of the day, a sight that the cowpokes working with him didn’t miss. In fact, while Eli mentally relived the sexual highlight of his life, the men kept poking each other and chuckling. They were all pretty surprised that Eli, a guy who’d never smiled before his marriage to the boss’s granddaughter, now couldn’t seem to keep a straight face or his mind on his work. And they knew where his mind was, too, by gosh and by golly, and who could blame him? That Melanie was one “mighty purty little gal” after all. Every man agreed on that point, which made it easy for them to understand why Eli had taken such a nosedive for Melanie, but what she’d seen in Eli had them all puzzled.
“He’s the goshdurn foreman,” one man said with a snort. “A lot of women like men in power. Now, I ain’t never been partial to that type of lady, but—”
“You’d be partial to any lady that’d look at you twice,” someone said, cracking them all up.
“Well, Eli ain’t in power,” another said disgustedly. “Garrett’s the only power on this here ranch. And maybe Collin…a little bit. All Eli does is tell us what Garrett tells him to tell us.”
That seemed to make sense, and since Eli just happened to be looking their way at that moment, they stopped their debate and went back to work.
They were in for another surprise, which came around two that afternoon. Eli, on horseback, rode up to them. “Just keep working on that fence until quitting time. I’m heading in now.” He rode away.
One old-timer took off his hat and scratched his head. “Well, I’ll be danged. That’s the first time Eli ever quit before the rest of us.”
“That’s ‘cause he’s in love,” big Homer said in a falsetto voice. They laughed so hard over big Homer talking like a woman that some of them rolled on the ground.
No matter what Melanie tried to accomplish with makeup that morning, the bruise at the corner of her left eye had still been visible. As Eli had predicted, she had a shiner. Her sunglasses helped to conceal it, of course, but she knew if anyone really looked at her, they would ask questions.
She was lucky in one way, though. She’d gotten up too late to eat breakfast with the men, which had eliminated any raised eyebrows from that sector. Then she’d eluded Irma’s sharp eyes by dashing through the kitchen and grabbing something from the fruit basket with a comment about not being very hungry.
Outside, there hadn’t been a person in sight, and after eating her fruit while wandering around the deserted ranch—sighing hopelessly every few minutes because she’d made such a critical mistake with Eli last night—she finally went to th
e training field and worked with the fillies. Putting the young mares through their paces definitely helped her mood, and it wasn’t long before she stopped worrying about herself and concentrated on the task at hand.
Around two that afternoon, she heard Collin call, “Hey, Mel!” from the fence line. Very glad to see him, she smiled broadly and walked over to join him.
“Hey, Collin,” she said cheerfully.
“Irma said you’d been out here all day. I brought you a sandwich.” Collin held a plastic-wrapped sandwich over the barbed wire, and Melanie accepted it eagerly.
“Thanks, bro. I guess I lost track of time.” Unwrapping the sandwich, she took a big bite. “Mmm, good.”
“Mel, what’s wrong with your eye?”
Her heart sank, but she managed to answer in a normal voice. “Eli had a nightmare last night and I made the mistake of trying to wake him up when he was swinging his arms.”
Collin’s face froze. “Eli hit you?”
“Not on purpose, silly. He was devastated when he finally came awake and realized what he’d done.”
“Sounds kind of peculiar to me,” Collin said with a scowl. “Is that the truth, Mel, or are you protecting him?”
“Listen, Collin, if Eli had deliberately struck me, I would have yelled so loudly I’d have brought down the roof. Believe me, you would have heard about it the second it happened.”
“I did hear something last night,” Collin said thoughtfully.
“Probably just the wind,” Melanie said nonchalantly, hoping to high heaven that Collin hadn’t heard her and Eli making love. She’d made so much noise in Eli’s arms last night it was embarrassing to even remember it. “So, what are you up to today? I haven’t seen you or Granddad all day.”
“We were in Elk Springs, talking to the accountant who handles Granddad’s financial affairs. Mel, Granddad’s going to buy the Whitehorn ranch.”
“So he can give it to our half brothers?”
“All I know at this point is that he’s buying the ranch. That’s all he’ll admit to. But why else would he want it? Mel, I know this will probably disappoint you, but I’m going to Whitehorn with Granddad this afternoon.”
“Not again! Collin, I hate being left behind all the time. Why did Granddad even ask me here if he’s never around?”
“I’m sorry, Mel.”
“I know you are. How long will you be gone this time?”
Collin cleared his throat. “It could run into next week.”
“But you’ll be back for our rafting trip, won’t you?”
“I can’t guarantee it, Mel.” Collin caught movement in his peripheral vision and turned his head to see what it was. “There’s Eli now. Granddad’s planning to ask him to take my place in the raft if we’re not back. Neither of us wants you to miss that river ride, Mel.”
She sighed. “I appreciate that, Collin. It’s just that I was counting on you and I, you know.”
“I’m sorry, sis,” he said as they both watched Eli dismount near the horse barn and speak to Garrett who suddenly appeared by his side.
Melanie crawled through the strands of barbed wire and walked with Collin toward Eli and Garrett. Just the sight of Eli had put butterflies in her stomach. Recalling last night’s feverish lovemaking had brought a rosy glow to her cheeks. Realizing that she could no longer use “refusal of conjugal rights” as the reason for an annulment had made her pulse race nervously.
Collin’s laughter penetrated the depth of her concentration. “Sis, you must be a million miles away. I’ve said the same thing three times and I’ll bet you still can’t tell me what it was.”
“You win the bet,” she murmured with her gaze still locked on Eli. The closer she got to him the more disturbed he appeared to be. Why, he looked positively frozen in place…and even a little pale! What on earth were he and her grandfather discussing? She suddenly didn’t want to know, nor did she want to explain her black eye to Garrett. She touched Collin’s arm and stopped walking. “When are you and Granddad leaving?”
“Right away.”
“Then I’ll say goodbye now.” Melanie began backing away, keeping an eye on Eli and Garrett to make sure they didn’t spot her before she could make her escape. “Tell Granddad goodbye for me and…and I hope you both have a good trip.” Ducking around the corner of a shed, she waved her hand at Collin. “Go on!”
“What’s wrong? I don’t get it,” Collin said with a perplexed expression.
“A whole lot is wrong, but I have to work it out myself. Now go before Granddad sees you talking to this shed and catches on!”
“Melanie, he wants to see you before we leave,” Collin said sternly.
She couldn’t remember if they had ever had a dispute—anger over some childish disagreement before he’d left San Diego and moved to Montana—but she knew without question that cross words between them now would break her heart.
“Collin, you’re my older brother and I love you,” she said quietly, “but you must let me make my own decisions.”
“I love you, too, Mel, but some of your decisions…” Collin shut his mouth and looked unhappy. He recouped quickly and muttered, “Aw, what the hell. I’ll see you when we get back.”
“Thanks,” she said as he walked off, then she scurried around to the back of the outbuilding to stay out of sight until Garrett and Collin left. Within a few minutes, she heard their pickup start and drive away.
Eli had felt so good all day that he couldn’t quite absorb the shock of the past ten or so minutes. Garrett had asked him to take Collin’s place on the rafting trip with Melanie and he’d reluctantly agreed.
Melanie’s sudden appearance in the tack room while he was putting away his saddle startled him. “Where have you been hiding?” he asked sardonically. “Collin said he couldn’t find you anywhere.” Eli set his saddle on a rack.
Melanie didn’t like his tone. After last night she’d expected…well, she wasn’t sure what she’d expected from Eli today, but it certainly hadn’t been sarcastic disapproval.
“I was hiding behind one of the sheds,” she said with a defensive thrust of her chin. “Do you have a problem with that?”
“No, I think that one is yours. My problems happen to be a little more serious than a game of hide-and-seek.”
“For Pete’s sake, do you think I wanted Granddad to see this?” Melanie yanked off her dark glasses. “I told Collin what happened and I’m not sure he believed me. What if Granddad thought you deliberately hit me? Some can of worms that would be.”
Eli’s knees got weak, not over what Garrett and Collin might have thought about Melanie’s black eye, but because it was his fault. Stepping closer to her, he studied the bruise. “I could apologize a hundred times and it wouldn’t be enough. Does it hurt?”
His nearness was stealing her breath. “Only a little,” she said in a whispery, husky voice. “Don’t worry about it, please. You didn’t do it on purpose.”
“No, but the result is the same.” Very gently, he pushed back a curl that threatened to overlap the bruise.
“You said you were dreaming about swimming. The way your arms were going you must’ve been in a race or something.”
Eli’s face tensed again and he lowered his hand. “Something like that,” he said grimly. “Which reminds me of another subject. Garrett said that he and Collin might not be back for that rafting trip and he asked me to go with you in Collin’s place.”
“Was that what you and Granddad were talking so seriously about? From a distance you looked rigid enough to crack open.” She’d thought he might smile just a little over her silly remark, but his expression remained grim. And why, for heaven’s sake, did his skin look so clammy? “Are you feeling ill today?” It might explain why he’d come back without the men as well as account for that sheen of perspiration coating his ashen skin.
“I’m not ill,” he said flatly, almost rudely. “But I do have something to say to you and I might as well say it now and get it over with.”
Her heart slammed against her ribs. Something was terribly wrong. Did it have anything to do with the chat she’d witnessed between Eli and her grandfather, which, getting down to brass tacks, had appeared as more of a conference than anything casual? Her intuition said yes, but she couldn’t imagine what new problem had arisen to cause Eli to look so wrung out. In fact, did she even want to hear what it was? Could she deal with one more problem?
Whether she could or couldn’t didn’t seem to matter because she could see from the look in Eli’s eyes that she was going to hear all about it. She braced herself for the worst although she had no clue as to what that might be.
“We’re not going rafting,” Eli said gruffly.
“Pardon?” She couldn’t possibly have heard him correctly.
“I said we are not going rafting. I’m not going and you certainly aren’t. Phone Sean Acton and cancel the outing.”
Melanie was so dumbfounded that her brain actually stopped functioning for a few moments. When normalcy returned, it was armed with anger.
“I think we had better get something straight, Eli. Even if ours was a real marriage, I would not take orders from you. No one—man, woman or…or husband—will ever get away with ordering me around. If you don’t want to go on that rafting trip, don’t do it! But don’t you dare try to stop me. Have I made myself clear?”
“You are not going, dammit! I’ll phone Sean myself and—”
“You’ll do nothing of the kind,” she said in a lethally quiet voice, which was much more effective at setting Eli back on his heels than screeching at him would have been.
Looking at her beautiful face with the ugly bruise he’d inflicted upon her last night, he found his fighting spirit suddenly deserting him. He couldn’t stop her from rafting down that river. She was right. No one could stop her.
“And I guarantee that you’ll regret it if you try,” Melanie added before turning her back on him and walking away. By the time she reached the house, she wasn’t merely angry, she was livid with fury and outrage.
The Kincaid Bride Page 18
