Duncan's Bride Read online

  Even Reese grudgingly admitted that the house looked nice and she’d done a good job, but he still resented the fact that she’d done it. Maybe it was only male pride, but he didn’t want his wife paying for something when he couldn’t afford it himself.

  His wife. By the time they had been married two months, she had insinuated herself so completely into his life that there wasn’t a portion of it she hadn’t touched. She had even rearranged his underwear drawer. Sometimes he wondered how she managed to accomplish as much as she did when her pace seldom exceeded a stroll, but it was a fact that she got things done. In her own way she worked as hard as he did.

  One hot morning at the end of August she discovered that she didn’t have enough flour to do the day’s cooking. Reese had already left for the day and wouldn’t be coming back for lunch, so she ran upstairs and got ready. It was almost time they replenished their supplies anyway, so she carried the grocery list with her. It would save an extra trip if she did all the shopping while she was in town.

  She loved listening to Floris, so she stopped by the café and had coffee and pie. After Floris had sent her only other customer stomping out in anger, she came over to Madelyn’s booth and sat down.

  “Where’s that man of yours today?”

  “Out on the range. I ran out of flour and came in to stock up.”

  Floris nodded approvingly, though her sour face never lightened. “That first wife of his never bought no groceries. Don’t guess she knew nothing about cooking, though of course Reese had a cook hired back then. It’s a shame what happened to that ranch. It used to be a fine operation.”

  “It will be again,” Madelyn said with confidence. “Reese is working hard to build it back up.”

  “One thing about him, he’s never been afraid of work. Not like some men around here.” Floris glared at the door as if she could still see the cowboy who had just left.

  After talking with Floris, Glenna’s cheerfulness was almost culture shock. They chatted for a while; then Madelyn loaded the groceries into the station wagon and drove back to the ranch. It wasn’t quite noon, so she would have plenty of time to cook the cake she’d planned.

  To her surprise, Reese’s truck was in the yard when she drove up. He was coming around from the back of the house carrying a bucket of water, but when he saw her, he changed direction and stalked over, his face dark with temper and his eyes shooting green sparks. “Where in hell have you been?” he roared.

  She didn’t like his manner, but she answered his question in a reasonable tone. “I didn’t have enough flour to do the cooking today, so I drove to Crook and bought groceries.”

  “Damn it, don’t you ever go off without telling me where you’re going!”

  She retained her reasonableness, but it was becoming a strain. “How could I tell you when you weren’t here?”

  “You could have left a note.”

  “Why would I leave a note when you weren’t supposed to be back for lunch, and I’d be back long before you? Why are you back?”

  “One of the hoses sprang a leak. I came back to put a new hose on.” For whatever reason, he wasn’t in a mood to let it go. “If I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have found out you’ve started running around the country on your own, would I? How long has this been going on?”

  “Buying food? Several centuries, I’d say.”

  Very carefully he put the bucket down. As he straightened, Madelyn saw his eyes; he wasn’t just angry or aggravated, he was in a rage. He hadn’t been this angry before, even over painting the house. With his teeth clenched he said, “You dressed like that to buy groceries?”

  She looked down at her clothes. She wore a slim pink skirt that ended just above her knees and a white silk blouse with the sleeves rolled up. Her legs were bare, and she had on sandals. “Yes, I dressed like this to buy groceries! It’s hot, in case you haven’t noticed. I didn’t want to wear jeans, I wanted to wear a skirt, because it’s cooler.”

  “Did you get a kick out of men looking at your legs?”

  “As far as I noticed, no one looked at my legs. I told you once that I won’t pay for April’s sins, and I meant it. Now, if you don’t mind, I need to get the groceries into the house.”

  He caught her arm as she turned away and whirled her back around to face him. “Don’t walk away when I’m talking to you.”

  “Well excuse me, Your Majesty!”

  He grabbed her other arm and held her in front of him. “If you want to go to town, I’ll take you,” he said in an iron-hard voice. “Otherwise, you keep your little butt here on the ranch, and don’t you ever, ever, leave the house without letting me know where you are.”

  She went up on tiptoe, so angry she was shaking. “Let me tell you a few things, and you’d better listen. I’m your wife, not your prisoner of war. I won’t ask your permission to buy groceries, and I won’t be kept locked up here like some criminal. If you take the keys to the car or do something to it so it won’t run, then I’ll walk wherever I want to go, and you can bet the farm on that. I’m not April, do you understand? I’m not April.”

  He released her arms, and they stood frozen, neither of them giving an inch. Very deliberately Madelyn bent down and lifted the bucket of water, then upended it over him. The water splashed on his head and shoulders and ran down his torso, to finally end up pooling around his boots.

  “If that isn’t enough to cool you off, I can get another one,” she offered in an icily polite tone.

  His movements were just as deliberate as hers as he removed his hat and slapped it against his leg to rid it of excess water, then dropped it to the ground. She saw his teeth clench; then he moved like a snake striking, his hands darting out to grasp her around the waist. With one swift movement he lifted her and plonked her down on the front fender of the car.

  His hands were flexing on her waist; his forearms were trembling with the force it took to restrain his temper. His dark hair was plastered to his skull; water still dripped down his face, and his eyes were pure green fire.

  His dilemma nearly tore him apart. He was trembling with rage, but there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it. His wife didn’t back down from anyone, not even him, and he’d cut off his own hands before he would do anything to hurt her. All he could do was stand there and try to get his temper back under control.

  They faced each other in silence for nearly a minute, with him still holding her on the fender of the car. She tilted her chin, her eyes daring him to start the fight again. He looked down at her legs, and a shudder ran through him. When he looked back up at her, it wasn’t rage in his eyes.

  Green eyes locked with gray. He hooked his fingers in the hem of her skirt and jerked it upward, at the same time spreading her legs and moving forward between them. She sank her hands into his wet hair and held his head while her mouth attacked his with a fierce kiss that held mingled anger and desire. He said, “Maddie,” in a rough tone as he tore her underpants out of the way, then jerked at his belt and the fastening of his jeans.

  It was just as it had been in the back of the truck. The rush of passion was hard and fast and overwhelming. With one hand he guided himself, while the other propelled her hips forward onto him. She moaned and wrapped her legs around him, then held his head so that their eyes met again. “I love you,” she said fiercely. “I love you, damn it.”

  The words hit him like a thunderbolt, but her eyes were clear and direct, and he was losing himself in her depths. What had begun wild suddenly turned slow and hot and tender. He put his hand in her hair and tugged her head back to expose the graceful arch of her throat to his searching mouth. He began moving within her, probing deep and slow, and he said, “Maddie,” again, this time in a voice that shook.

  She was like fire, and she was all his. She burned for him and with him, her intense sensuality matching his. They clung together, savoring the hot rise of passion and the erotic strokes that fed it and would eventually extinguish it, but not now. Not right now.

  He un