Max’s insides shifted. For all her bluster, underneath Ellie Henderson remained as soft as a marshmallow. But then, he’d seen her softer side before. One minute she was determined as a donkey, bucking heads with him, and the next minute she made him soften inside. Just like his mother.
They climbed the stairs of the white-and-blue clapboard house. An overgrown, and dead garden, lay in waste, visible evidence of Mrs. Ridley’s illness. Ellie pressed the doorbell, and they waited.
Mr. Ridley answered the door. A medium-built man, with thinning hair and a wide middle. His features bore the look of a bully. He wore a pair of denim pants and a red-checked flannel shirt. His pudgy fingers snapped his suspenders. “Yeah.”
“Good afternoon, Mr. Ridley. I’m Ellie Henderson, and this is Max Colbert from Logan County High School. We would like to visit with your wife for a moment, if we may.”
“Why?”
Ellie held up the package. “I have a small gift for her.”
“We don’t want none of your charity.” He slammed the door.
Ellie turned to Max, her eyes wide.
Anger shot through him at the man’s rudeness. Now he was doubly glad he’d hadn’t spoken to him about John’s indiscretion. He knocked on the door with his fist.
After a minute, Ridley opened it. “What?” he shouted.
“Mr. Ridley, Miss Henderson has something for your wife, and I would appreciate it very much if you would allow her to visit with Mrs. Ridley for a minute.”
“I said we don’t want your charity. Now git off my porch.” He leaned forward, his head thrust out, hands fisted at his sides.
Max paused for a moment. “This is not charity. This is a prize your son won at school.”
“I thought she said a gift for my wife.” He spit a stream of tobacco from the side of his mouth and nodded toward Ellie.
“John won this for his excellent work at school, and Miss Henderson thought to wrap it up and present it to your wife.” When Ridley hesitated, Max pressed on. “I’m sure it would make her very happy to know how well John is doing in school.”
The man reached his hand out and snatched the package from Ellie. “I’ll see that she gits it. Now git goin’.” He slammed the door, rattling the doorjamb.
Max clenched his jaw and raised his hand to knock again. This time, he’d likely punch the man in the nose.
“No. Let it go.” Ellie grabbed his arm. “I don’t want to make things worse for the poor woman.”
“That man should be put in jail.” He took hold of Ellie’s elbow, and they headed back to the automobile.
“One of the things our Women’s Rights group is working toward is passing a law to have it a crime for a man to beat his wife.”
“Isn’t it?” He regarded her, eyebrows raised.
“No. He could assault me and be put in jail, but if he beats his wife, the police ignore it.”
“Outrageous.”
“I agree.” Ellie peered at the sky and pulled the blanket tighter around her. ”Looks like it might snow.”
“Once this last basket is dropped off, we’ll head for home.” Max turned to her. “How much further is this one?”
Ellie consulted her notes. “About two or three miles.”
“The sun will be all the way down soon. I hope we make it back to town before then. I can’t very well drive this motorcar in the dark out here in the countryside on unreliable roads.” No sooner had the words left his mouth than the automobile rolled to a stop.
“What happened?” Ellie asked.
“I must have run out of gasoline. There’s a spare can strapped to the running board on your side. I’ll refill the tank, and we’ll be on our way.”
“Ah, Max?” Ellie’s spoke in a weak and tremulous whisper.
He went around the automobile and gaped at the running board. “Where the devil is the can of gasoline?”
“Max.” She spoke a bit louder.
“What?”
“We don’t have it.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I took the can off when we were loading the baskets because I had to keep climbing over it. I put it alongside the road and forgot to tell you.” Pale-faced, Ellie fumbled with the button on her coat.
He stared at her, hands on hips, eyes wide. “Ellie, I’m not sure I heard you correctly, so I’m going to ask you to say that one more time.”
“I took it off the running board this morning...”
Max held up his hand. “Stop.” He slumped and his chin hit his chest. “I did hear you correctly the first time,” he mumbled to his coat.
“Are you mad?”
He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Now why would I be mad? We’re here in the wilderness,” he waved his hand around, “with no gasoline, with darkness descending. It’s freezing out, and it may snow. And I’m starving and tired.” He glared at her.
Ellie stiffened. “I’m sorry, but I had no idea it was important. For all I knew, it could have been water in case we got thirsty.”
“You should have asked me before you took it off.” He spoke between gritted teeth.
“You were too busy shouting orders at me like some kind of general,” she retorted sharply.
They stared at each other across a chasm of cold silence. Max blew out a huge breath of air. “All right, let’s not argue. What’s done is done.” He climbed back into the automobile.
“What will we do?” She pulled the blanket tighter.
“We passed an abandoned farmhouse a short time ago. We can walk there and spend the night, and in the morning, we’ll find another farm where we can borrow a horse.”
Ellie pulled away, her eyes wide. “I can’t spend the night with you! My reputation will be ruined. I’ll lose my room. I’ll have to move back in with Uncle Jesse and Tori.”
“No one will know.”
“Mrs. Beamer will know. She’ll tell Uncle Jesse. Oh, this is a mess!” She twisted her hands in her lap.
“I will speak with Mrs. Beamer and your uncle, if necessary. But now we need to find shelter. It’s getting colder by the minute.” He grabbed the last basket from the back seat and the two blankets he kept there, and then helped her out of the motorcar. Max put his arm around her and pulled her close to keep them both warmer.
Snow began to fall as they approached the small farmhouse after a half hour of walking. Ellie’s teeth chattered, and he felt like an icicle. Darkness had descended, making him grateful they hadn’t stumbled into any small animal holes.
He shoved the warped wooden door open to reveal a one room house. Whoever abandoned the place had left their belongings behind. A rickety table and two chairs sat in the middle of the room. A bed had been shoved against the wall, a thin blanket bunched at the foot. The fireplace hadn’t been cleaned out, but a small stack of wood stood near it.
“What kind of food do you have in that basket?” Max shoveled ashes from the fireplace into a barrel standing against the wall.
“This one has smoked sausage, cheese, and an apple pie.”
He grinned. “Dinner.”
She nodded, her arms wrapped around her.
“I’ll have a fire going in a minute.” He stacked the wood, then hunkered down and struck a match.
Ellie walked closer. “Do you always carry matches?”
“Yes.” He regarded her red nose and cheeks. Wrapped up in the blanket she’d dragged along, she looked like an elf. “Aren’t you glad I do?”
“Y-y-yes.”
Ellie glanced around the room. “Where will we sleep?”
“In the bed.” He nodded in the direction of the far wall.
“There’s only one bed.”
“I know.”
“We can’t sleep in the same bed.”
He blew once more on the fire, and turned to her from his position on the floor. “You have any better ideas, Miss Henderson?”
Chapter 9
Ellie’s cheeks grew bright red. “You could sleep on the floor.”
She looked scared to death. He tugged her down alongside him. “This may be the only wood we have to burn. I’ll take a look around the outside of the house in a minute to see if there’s more, but we have to sleep together to share our body warmth.”
She groaned and dropped her head in her hands. “This is so embarrassing.”
Max cleared his throat. “I’m afraid it gets worse.”
“Why?” She peeked at him from between her fingers.
“We’ll both have to take off as many clothes as is proper, in order for us to share body warmth.”
Her head snapped up. “Proper is fully dressed!”
He tucked a curl behind her ear. “If we don’t, there’s a good chance we could freeze to death overnight.”
Tears flooded her eyes, and she shook her head.
“I’m going to check for more wood. Why don’t you empty that basket out and we’ll have something to eat. That will warm us, too.”
Max stood and poked at the fire before leaving the house to check around outside, and the few feet beyond that he could see. Snow fell harder, and a thorough search hadn’t turned up any more wood. He stomped his feet beside the door before going in.
The fire burned brightly. Ellie sat huddled, the food from the basket spread in front of her. The blond highlights in her soft brown hair captured the light of the fire. He sucked in air at the picture she made. Delicate features, with a sprinkling of freckles, long smooth neck, and although covered in a blanket to her chin, he knew the curves underneath were all woman.
“No more wood.” Max nodded to the small pile. “This will only last a few hours.”
“Will we freeze to death?” She looked up at him as her lips trembled, either with cold or fear. Probably both.
“No. I won’t let that happen.”
Max found a few pieces of silverware and some cracked plates in the kitchen. Ellie cut the sausage and cheese that she divided between the two plates. A large piece of apple pie for each of them followed.
“Where did the pie come from?”
“Maybe I made it.” Ellie sniffed.
Max stared at her with raised eyebrows.
“All right, if you must know, Tori baked a bunch of them for my baskets.”
He chuckled and took the last bite of his pie.
After the meal, Ellie packed the remains in the basket while he dragged the mattress closer to the fire. “Do you need to go outside?”
Her face turned crimson. “Yes.”
“I didn’t see a privy, but there are some bushes not too far away. You go ahead, I’ll go when you’re back.”
She hastened out, hurrying back in no time. After Max took his turn, he secured the door as best he could and eyed her. “You’ll need to take everything off except your undergarments.”
Slowly, her gaze on the floor, she removed her coat, shirtwaist, and skirt.
He lowered his voice. “The petticoats and corset have to go, too.”
She groaned and slipped them off, covering herself with shaky hands. “I’m freezing.”
Max had removed his pants and shirt and sat on the mattress in just his union suit. “Come here.” He reached out his hand.
Ellie sat alongside him. He slid them both down, pulled her close, and between the two of them, they arranged the two blankets they’d brought and bundled the small one already on the bed into a makeshift pillow. Max reached to the side, and pulled their coats over them also.
“Goodness, I’m warmer already.” Ellie snuggled closer to him, her head on his chest.
This would be a very long night. Having her next to him, now warm and cuddly, wreaked havoc with his blood flow. Her softness and rose water scent assailed his senses, increasing his physical discomfort.
“Is something wrong?” She looked up at him.
“No, why?” his voice sounded low-pitched and gravelly to his ears.
“You seem stiff or something. Am I taking up too much room?”
Unable to speak, he just shook his head, pulled her closer. Bad idea when the distinct feel of her nipples pressed into his side.
After a few minutes, he shifted and looked down at her. “I have to be honest with you. You’re driving me crazy.”
Her eyes grew wide. “Why?”
He ran his hand up and down her arm. “You can’t tell me you don’t feel the attraction between us.”
“I-I don’t know what you mean.” The little catch in her voice raised his temperature another notch. He wanted to introduce her to the pleasures of lovemaking.
“Let me show you.” His fingers circled the edge of her chemise, loosening the pink ribbon just slightly. The pulse at her throat throbbed, a match to the rhythm of his own. Ellie’s soft hazel eyes watched him. She licked her lips. He slid his hand to the back of her neck where silky hair met her soft skin, and loosened the bun. “You have beautiful hair. I have to see it down.”
Max tugged the curls forward, then crushed them in his fingers as his mouth hungrily covered hers. He slanted his head to deepen the kiss, sliding his tongue along her lips until she opened for him. She grasped his forearms and made soft mewing sounds as he explored her mouth. His blood boiled from the taste of her.
Not breaking the kiss, he brought his hands up to her shoulders and slowly slid the chemise down to bare her breasts, past her ribcage, to settle at her waist.
He pulled back and studied the mouth-drying beauty exposed to him, caressing her cheek with his knuckles. “Ellie, you’re so beautiful. Just as I imagined.” Her lips were swollen from his kiss, and the aroused peaks of her perfect breasts begged his attention. Slowly his hands came up and cupped them, his thumbs moving back and forth across the pink tips. Ellie leaned her head back, and her breaths turned to gasps.
Max cuddled her close, kissed her throat, and the sensitive skin behind her ear. “I want you,” he whispered. “If this is something you don’t want, please tell me now. I swear to God, I’ll turn my back and not bother you for the rest of the night. But if we go any further, I’ll have a difficult time letting you go.”
“I’m scared.” Her voice trembled as she raised cold fingers to his face. “I never felt like this before. I don’t know what to do.”
“Ah, sweetheart, I know what to do. But I want to be very sure you understand where this is headed.” When she didn’t protest, he kissed her once more, his hands releasing the string on her drawers. He pushed them down, along with the chemise and blankets. Her skin glowed in the firelight. Raised on one elbow, he leaned above her, his gaze raking over her seductively. She smiled slightly and bit her lip when he ran his hands over her body, then reached for him, pulling their mouths together in an explosion of heat.
His hand glided over her ribcage, down to her belly, and lower to the curls that covered her sex. Ellie stiffened. He pulled his mouth away and circled the soft shell of her ear with his tongue. “Don’t be afraid, I would never hurt you.”
“It won’t hurt?”
He smiled at her. Her trusting eyes, tinged with a hint of fear. “Since you’re untouched, it will hurt, but briefly. I will go slowly because I want you to enjoy this. That’s important to me.”
Max quickly divested himself of his union suit and stretched out alongside her. Ellie’s eyes widened at the sight of his erection.
“See what you do to me?” Her frightened face melted his heart. She might be a strong woman, but truly an innocent one. His fingers returned to her woman’s core, circling the small nub, releasing the fluid that would ease his way. Two fingers slid in, then a third, stretching her, getting her ready for him.
Ellie moaned, shifted, and turned toward him. Her nails dug into the muscles of his shoulders, her response escalating his own.
Max bought his mouth to her breasts and suckled. Ellie moaned and held his head, running her fingers through his hair. He flicked the rosy nipple with his tongue, circled it. “So perfect.” Her soft skin, scented with rose water, glowed with a sheen of sweat. If he didn’t have her soon
, he would burst into flames.
She slid her hand down his back, working his flexing muscles with her fingers. He eased her thighs apart and moved atop her, all the while whispering words of encouragement. He pushed the damp hair back from her forehead and kissed her gently. Slowly he slid into her tight channel.
Ellie continued to run her hands across his back, not going any further than his waist. He pushed harder and felt the resistance. “Honey, this will hurt, but only for a moment.” Before she could stiffen, he surged forward, breaking through the barrier. Ellie attempted to scoot back, but he massaged her shoulders, murmuring in her ear, kissing her neck. He kept himself still until he felt her muscles ease. Then he slowly began to slide in and out.
His heart sped up. She felt so warm, tight and wet. He groaned, his thrusts becoming stronger as she adjusted to his rhythm and met him with her hips. Her innocent enthusiasm stoked the fire in his blood until he was consumed by need. With one final thrust, his body stiffened and he poured himself into her. He rested his head on her forehead, both of them panting. He looked into her eyes, wide and brimming with tears. “Are you okay?”
“Is that all?” One lone tear trickled down her flushed cheek. “I still feel so restless.”
Max wiped the tear with his thumb and returned his fingers to her sex. “I’m sorry, sweetheart, it shouldn’t have been that way for you, but I’ve wanted you for so long, I got carried away. Now, close your eyes and relax.” He smiled as her lips parted on a whisper of pleasure. After only a few minutes, Ellie stiffened and her body bucked, a soft “Oh” escaped between her lips. Max kissed her and held her tight to his body until the shudders stopped.
Wrapped naked in each other’s arms, they fell into a deep sleep.
Ellie awoke to early dawn light filtering in from the small window across from where she lay. Warmth and comfort flowed over her skin, except for the stick poking her in the back. Her memory returned in a rush. Heat flashed to her face and she pulled away from the spoon-like position she and Max lay in.
“We should probably get dressed and leave.” His warm, thick voice whispered in her ear.
She nodded furiously, scooting further away from his warmth.
Merry Christmas, My Love Page 8
