Lonesome Bride Read online

  Jed now dipped his head to taste the soft curve of her belly. Caite's skin jumped beneath his touch. Her hands clenched and unclenched mindlessly against his shoulders, urging him to do she knew not what. She was straining toward some release, and all she knew was with every touch, every caress, Jed was bringing her closer to it.

  At last his questing lips found what they sought. Caite screamed breathlessly as Jed's mouth found the very core of her ecstasy. She had never dreamed sexual union could be like this. She had never dreamed of anyone touching her where Jed was touching her, much less pressing lips and teeth and tongue to the most sensitive of spots. Caite heard Jed echoing her own cries as she allowed him to part her thighs until she was completely exposed to him. The scruff of his beard brushed against a nubbin of flesh she had never known existed, but which now had swelled to twice its size.

  Sweet Heavens, the sensations!

  "You're as sweet as lilac,” Jed mumbled. He was above her again, mouth meeting hers. Caite felt sadly empty, but had no time to protest because Jed had drawn her beneath him again and was kneeling between her legs.

  "Yes, Jed,” she breathed. She was slightly apprehensive; after all, this is where they had gone wrong the first time.

  She need not have worried. Jed slid into her as smoothly as if he had been coated in oil. He filled her entirely. Caite looked up to find him staring at her, desire battling in his eyes with an emotion she could not identify. Sadness?

  Before she had time to ask him, Jed began to move. Slow, measured strokes pierced the center of her being, leaving her begging for more. Each time he thrust into her, his shaft pressed deliciously against her love-swollen flesh until she cried out and writhed beneath him.

  "Oh, Jed,” Caite cried, clutching him as if she were drowning. “Love me, please, love me!"

  "Yes, Caitleen,” Jed muttered against her, his thrusts quickening as she urged him on.

  We're spiraling toward ecstasy, Caite thought, delighted to share these wonderful sensations with him. Her body instinctively met Jed's every lunge until they were moving in tandem. Sweat dripped from his forehead onto her lips, and she licked the salt away rapturously.

  The friction inside her grew and grew, until she felt as though the stars had come down from the heavens and filled her with their fire. Caite felt her entire body shudder in unison with Jed's as the essence which had been gathering inside her suddenly was set free in a burst of energy. Multicolored lights throbbed against her eyelids. Caite held Jed to her as he trembled and moaned against her. She felt glorious.

  Several minutes later, Jed rolled off her and pillowed her head upon his chest. Caite listened in sleepy delight to the slowing of his heart and breathing. She felt tired and excited and joyful all at once. She had made love to a man she was rapidly beginning to love, a man with whom she was bound to spend the rest of her life, and she felt more a woman than she ever had.

  "That was wonderful,” she whispered against his skin. “Thank you, Jed."

  Jed did not answer her with words, but instead tightened his arms around her. Caite snuggled into his warmth, satisfied with his response anyway.

  Who cared if he did not speak, she thought. His actions were voice enough.

  CHAPTER 5

  Caitleen awoke to the steady pattering of rain on the roof and the delicious smell of coffee brewing. Stretching, she luxuriated for a moment in the warmth of the bed. Jed must have risen earlier and started breakfast.

  At the thought of him, Caite smiled. He had wakened her in the night to make love to her again, and the second experience had been just as wonderful as the first. Perhaps even more so. The dying fire casting a reddish glow in the room and being woken from sleep had cast a dreamlike quality over their lovemaking. She had felt lost in his arms, wanting never to wake.

  Well, she was awake now, and what kind of wife would she be if she lazed about in bed while her husband did all the work? She smiled again. Caite could not remember ever being this happy or contented. Love, she mused, was indeed splendid.

  "Good morning.” She yawned, finally setting her sleep-warm feet over the edge of the bed and onto the chilly floor. She pulled the remains of her nightgown around her and shook her head at the ruined buttons. Fortunately, the neck had a ribbon drawstring that could hold the material partially closed. Wincing, she hopped over the planks to the warmth of the fire. Caite rubbed her hands briskly against the sleeves of her nightgown, trying to slap away the damp chill permeating the cabin.

  "Morning,” Jed replied. “Coffee's on. Eggs'll be up in a minute."

  "Eggs! How heavenly, Jed.” Caite scrutinized him for a moment. His hair was wet, slicked over his head. “You have been outside."

  Jed looked at her, green eyes inscrutable. Finally, a ghost of a grin touched his lips. “Had to, I reckon, if I wanted to get the eggs."

  Impulsively, Caite knelt beside him on the hearth and ran her fingers through his damp, night-colored hair. Jed started from her touch, pulling away as if her touch had singed him. He tugged her fingers away from his head. Caite frowned.

  "Is something the matter?"

  He was still holding onto her hand. Briefly, his fingers closed around her own before he let them drop. “You oughtn't, Caite."

  Caite's frown wobbled. She felt hot, humiliating tears well up in her eyes, and she fought them down. “I may not touch you, Jed, after all we have shared?"

  Jed sighed. “Caitleen, I don't know what to say."

  Maybe he was feeling guilty. She could not say his regret of their passion thrilled her, but at least she could counter it. Caite scooted a little closer to him, holding his chin to force his eyes to hers.

  "Jed, please do not shut me out. What we shared was wonderful. I'll always cherish the memory of last night. Please don't ruin it."

  To her surprise, Jed stifled a moan and crushed her to his chest. Burying his face into her hair, he held her so tightly she thought her ribs might crack. She did not care. Being in his arms was all that really mattered.

  * * * *

  Her hair still smells so sweet, and her body feels so lush against mine, Jed thought. He allowed himself to savor the moment. Their night of lovemaking had affected him more than he could have thought. Guilt suddenly filled him. Not only had he made love to his father's bride, she had been a virgin!

  Wrong or right, Caitleen O'Neal had begun to insinuate her way into his previously impenetrable heart. It was more than just her fresh beauty that attracted him. Caitleen O'Neal had a fiery spirit, and intellect, as well. Under vastly different circumstances, he would have enjoyed meeting and perhaps even courting the Irish-eyed woman. It hardly seemed fair that the very circumstances of their meeting were the same that must keep them apart.

  "What is it, Jed?” Her lips tickled his ear, and her sweet voice tickled him elsewhere.

  Jed decided that no matter the consequences, he would enjoy this time with Caite. They were here, alone, away from the world that might condemn the passion to which they had succumbed. Even if the rain stopped today, it still might be another day before they would be able to get on the road, and nearly that long before they reached Heatherfield. All told, it was only a brief time to have with her before he would have to deliver to his father.

  "We won't be heading back to the ranch today,” he uttered into the sweet depths of her lilac-scented hair, then waited for her reaction.

  Caite sighed and pressed her cheek to his. “Then I suppose we shall just have to invent some ways to entertain ourselves while we wait."

  Jed pushed away from her, although he still grasped her shoulders. He wanted to be sure last night had not been an accident. He wanted to be sure Caite knew exactly what she was saying.

  She was looking at him curiously, her lovely, luminescent green eyes reflecting the amber glow of the fire. “I swear, Jed, the storm clouds outside are nowhere near as fierce as those on your face."

  "Do you know what you're doing, Caite O'Neal?” Jed asked.

  She cocked her