Lonesome Bride Read online

  Caite bit her lip again, this time to hide a smile. “I hadn't noticed any such thing, Mr. Peters."

  "Then you're mighty unobservant, Miss O'Neal."

  She could see the glint of good humor in his stunning green eyes. Heavens, those eyes made her thighs quiver like an overly taut bowstring. And there she was, back to thinking those carnal thoughts again. Still, it was nicer than she could have hoped, lying snug under the covers and talking with Jed. He has a soothing voice, she thought. Just a little rough, like his personality. Now, when he was teasing and smiling, she could almost forget he had made her cry.

  "I notice many things about you, Jed,” she said almost shyly.

  Jed broke their gaze. “Maybe you oughtn't."

  Now he was turning sullen again. What had she done? Caite thought quickly. As long as they were on light topics, he was all right. She decided to change the subject.

  "I think you'd make a fine father, despite what you say.” She thought for a minute. “A better one than my own father anyway. Although that's not saying very much."

  "Well, I don't gamble, if that's what you mean.” His voice was no longer teasing, but at least he had ceased his formidable scowl.

  Caite laughed ruefully. “No. And I don't suppose you fritter either."

  A chortle escaped the man beside her. “I beg your pardon, Miss O'Neal. That's hardly proper talk."

  Caite glanced at him to determine if he were going to accuse her of acting unladylike again. To her relief, she saw he was joking. She risked a playful tap on his shoulder.

  "And it is most ungentlemanly of you to point out such an inadvertent indiscretion, sir!"

  Jed chuckled again, mock cringing from the light blow she had given him. “Watch those fingers, Miss O'Neal. I'm beginning to think you have designs on me."

  At his words, Caite blushed horribly. She wanted to reply, to deny any such thoughts, but the words would not come. She gulped, meeting Jed's gaze. He was no longer grinning, she saw. In his eyes, she saw a reflection of her own desire.

  His face was so close to hers. She wanted to reach out and run the tips of her fingers over the scruff of beard that had sprung up during their trip. She thought it would be both soft and scratchy. Caite shivered slightly. She had to keep her mind from thoughts of touching him! He had made it very clear there was to be no intimate contact until they were husband and wife. The last thing she wanted to do was ruin a pleasant interlude by doing something to make Jed angry again.

  "Well, good night,” she said abruptly. Maybe in sleep she would find refuge from the sensuous feelings assaulting her. She could tell by Jed's expression her sudden dismissal had taken him aback, but she pretended not to notice.

  "'Night,” he echoed.

  Caite turned forcefully onto her side, facing the wall, and began to breathe in slow, even breaths. Behind her, Jed shifted. His weight caused her to slide a little closer to the center of the bed, so that for another brief moment, they touched again. He pulled away. She sighed in relief. A moment later, she had to move in order to relieve pressure on her arm from the weight of her body. Their bodies again met. This time, she moved.

  Caite began to pray for morning.

  * * * *

  Next to Caite, Jed was concentrating on ignoring the firm length of feminine thigh intermittently pressing so deliciously against his own. Even through the cloth of his trousers and her night shift, he felt the heat of her skin. He shifted to the left another fraction. There. Now his left buttock was hanging over the side of the bed, and a draft was firmly caressing it.

  Well, better a blast of cold air than Caitleen's warm fingers, he thought, then cursed himself. The thought had done nothing to increase his comfort.

  She's so much more than just a pretty face atop a lush body, Jed thought ruefully. She's bright, and funny, and warm, too. She'd even managed to get him talking about Patricia, a subject he'd sworn off long ago. He'd told Caite things he'd never even shared with Shorty, or his Pa. She just had that way about her, he could see. Not only did a man want to lose himself in the bounteous promise of her curves, he'd want to stay and talk to her afterward. Caite sure was something special.

  The more he tried to fight against it, the more he remembered the fresh taste of her lips. The lilac scent of her hair was maddening. Every inch of him strained toward her.

  "Jed,” said Caite suddenly. “This is ridiculous."

  Jed looked at the woman beside him. “What?"

  Propping herself up on one elbow, Caite made a gesture including both of them. “This. Look, you're nearly falling out of bed, and I'm crushed against a wall of dirty boards. This is not what I had in mind when I suggested we share the relative comfort of this bed."

  "And what did you have in mind?” Jed asked. He was amused to see her blush. The color on her cheeks reminded him of the flush a woman got while making ... Tarnation! He frowned, hoping to discourage what he knew would come next from her mouth.

  "Well, it seems to me if we both lay in the center of the bed, we'll have ample room—and remain warmer besides."

  She had blurted the words breathlessly, almost as if she were afraid of saying them. Her seeming reluctance was at odds with her bold offer. Here she was, practically offering herself to him on a platter. No proper young maiden would have dreamed of such a thing. Which must mean she was no maiden.

  Arousal was clouding his judgment. It seemed to him, if she wasn't a virgin, then taking what she offered wouldn't be such a bad thing. Even if she was meant for his Pa, a man couldn't rightly be expected to resist a woman like Caite, could he? Not when she was practically begging for him to make love to her.

  "You mean, move to the center like this?” Jed rolled at once to the mattress's middle. Throwing his left arm around her waist, he drew Caite to the center also so that, in an instant, their bodies were touching full-length.

  "Not quite like that,” Caite stammered. Her face, if it was possible, had flushed the color of new bricks.

  "Then you must mean like this.” Jed wrapped his arms around Caite while simultaneously sliding his knee to nestle at the juncture of her thighs.

  "Oh!” Caite's startled outburst was quickly stifled as Jed crushed his mouth to hers.

  Propriety could go to the devil. He was going to make love to this wench. She was driving him mindless with her mixture of eager vixen and coy maiden. Never mind the sanctity of the marriage bed. That was something they could both deal with later.

  Caite, it seemed, was as eager for his touch as he for hers. No longer playing at coyness, she opened her mouth to him as soon as he tugged her bottom lip with his teeth. Jed's tongue swept the inside of her sweet mouth, and she returned the gesture. First tentatively, then with increasing confidence, Caite met his kisses with her own. Jed was enthralled. She had the exterior of an untouched miss, yet she was a firebrand when provided with the simplest spark.

  Her body was molten next to his. Jed was dimly aware of her nightshift riding up her thighs. He had to touch that creamy flesh. Sliding his hands from her back to the first rounded swell of her buttocks, Jed inched the thin linen of her gown up and up until he had freed Caite's body from the waist down.

  The woman kissing him so hungrily suddenly gasped. “Jed!"

  His hands were on the naked flesh of her silky rump, and his knee still nudged the sweet junction of her thighs. Jed stared into the emerald depths of Caitleen's eyes. She looked dazed. Slowly, wanting to see how his every move affected her expression, he slipped his hands over her soft flesh to caress her belly and upper thighs.

  Caite trembled a little in his arms, but she did not pull away. Jed dipped to taste her mouth again, forgoing the exquisite pleasure of seeing the desire in her eyes for the equally decadent ecstasy of feeling her tongue probe his mouth.

  "You taste so sweet,” he managed to breath into her mouth. Caite sighed. Her arms were around his back, but that was no longer good enough for him. He wanted her hands on him, exploring his body as he was going to explore he