Lonesome Bride (8 page)

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 hers. “I want you to touch me."

Caite whimpered slightly, but did not protest. Obligingly, she began to run her hands over the smooth flesh of his back. It was not enough.

Jed took her right hand and placed it on the part of him needing her attention most. At the touch of her fingers against the bulge in his pants, he groaned aloud. “Touch me."

For a moment, fear dawned in her eyes. Regret, perhaps? Well, the wench would have no chance to change her mind now, not if he had anything to do with it. She had heated him to boiling, and she wasn't going to take the kettle off until they both were singing hallelujah.

"Jed,” Caite began uncertainly.

In response, Jed quickly unbuttoned his pants. That little bit of room was all his throbbing organ needed. Instantly, it sprang into Caite's hand. At first, she seemed to shrink away, so Jed clasped his fingers over her own and held them in place.

"See what you've done to me?” he whispered hoarsely.

She nodded, wide-eyed. She allowed her hand to close over him of her own accord. The pressure caused his rod to jump in her grip. Jed closed his eyes and buried his face in the lilac-scented lengths of her hair.

His hands still cupped her buttocks. Now, he moved her closer to his body, so her roundly curved belly pressed against him. Between her hand still grasping him and the torturous delight of her body pressing against him, he thought he might very well lose control.

"Move your hand,” he ordered. Caite did as he ordered, sliding her hand up and down the length of him hesitantly. When he bucked against her, she seemed to take confidence, and began to stroke him more firmly.

Have mercy ... she was teasing him deliberately! Although he had not had time to sample all her sweet delights, Jed could hold back no longer. With a low growl, he rolled on top of her and managed to slide his trousers down to mid-thigh all in one smooth motion. He silenced her gasp of surprise with a searing, lip-bruising kiss that stifled any protests she may have been making. He pulled her fingers from between his thighs and pinned both her hands above her head.

Bracing himself on his arms, Jed pushed apart Caite's legs with one knee. For a brief moment he hovered atop her, letting the tip of him slide against the moisture welling from her folds. She was ready for him, just as he had thought. With a sharp movement, he thrust himself into her hot opening to the hilt.

The pleasure at being engulfed in her heat was so intense he almost did not notice the slight resistance as he entered her. What he could not ignore, however, was Caite's wrenching scream. Horrified, Jed pulled out of the woman beneath him and stared at her.

"You're a virgin!"

"Of course I'm a virgin,” Caite managed to say through kiss-swollen lips.

"But I thought ... I mean..."

"Is it your practice to go about deflowering maidens so brutally?” Caite sobbed. She had known first-time lovemaking could be uncomfortable for a woman, perhaps even painful. She had not imagined the sheer bolt of agony that had ripped through her most intimate of parts when Jed filled her.

Now the initial shock was wearing off, however, and she was becoming angry. And embarrassed. And angry because she was embarrassed. She had screamed like a silly nilly!

"Caitleen, I never would've touched you if I'd known you were a virgin,” Jed said miserably. He still was half-covering her, although he supported himself on his arms.

"You truly thought I was a strumpet.” The knowledge hurt her more than his brutal entry had. “You believed I was a common whore, sent out west to gain a husband the only way I could."

"Oh, Caite.” He seemed flabbergasted.

Fat, hot tears filled her eyes and slid down her cheeks. This was not like she had imagined at all. His kisses had filled her with such longings, and touching him had made her lower belly jump. Her thighs still quivered, and she could feel a warm trickle that must be blood. Now everything was ruined. Jed would probably yell at her again, and she would not, could not bear it! She would scream again, she would...

"Caite, I'm sorry."

Caite looked at Jed, surprised. He seemed truly contrite. Perhaps he was not angry with her after all.

"I'm sorry for taking away from you the one special thing a woman has to offer her husband,” Jed said. “Your first time should never have been like this."

Caite glared at him.
The one special thing, indeed!
“I shall have you know I offer many special things to my husband, Jed Peters. Virginity is too highly prized by you men."

But he was right. She had expected her first time to be special. Now it was ruined. But did it have to be?

"We can start over, Jed."

"What?” If anything, he looked more horrified than he had when he realized she was untouched.

"I don't hurt anymore,” said Caite. “We can start from the beginning. We can pretend it didn't happen the way it did. I ... I want to, Jed. I want you."

There, she had said it. Surprisingly, the hot flush did not rise into her cheeks. She felt calm for having been so brazen.

With a groan, Jed gathered her into his arms again and pressed his face into the curve of her shoulder. “Oh, sweetheart,” he whispered into her flesh. “You don't know what you're doing to me, Caite."

"I want to know,” Caite whispered, pressing her lips to his temple. The pulse there beat erratically against her mouth. She brushed her fingers through the dark glory of his hair. “I want to know everything about you, Jed."

For a short time, he just breathed against her neck, wrapping her in his strong arms and holding her. Caite was not sure what he meant to do, or whether her offer had angered or inflamed him. She remained silent, too, running her fingers again and again through the thickness of his hair, down his muscular shoulders and to his smooth, strong back.

It felt so good to lie in his arms. His gentle embrace was as nice as his kisses had been. Caite thought that probably she was falling in love with Jed faster than she could have guessed. She could only hope this tenderness he was showing her meant he was feeling the same.

Abruptly, Jed pulled away from her and rolled from the bed. Caite did not want to risk words that might turn the lovely mood sour, so she merely watched as Jed lithely shucked the pants from around his ankles and strode toward the other end of the cabin. Outlined in the firelight ... He has the physique of a god, or Michaelangelo's David, she thought, watching the red and amber waves of color wash over his taut body. But what on earth was he doing?

Jed returned to her side with a soft, dampened cloth and a fresh sheet from one of the shelves. Wordlessly, he urged her to sit up and move to the edge of the bed. Then he knelt before her.

"Jed, what are you doing?” Caite felt supremely uncomfortable in this position.

"I reckon if we're gonna start over, we should really start fresh,” Jed said. He began to gently sponge away the light tracing of blood that had stained her thighs. Then, he pulled her to her feet so her shift fell once more down around her ankles, and he swiftly exchanged the soiled sheet for the clean one.

Tears filled Caite's eyes. Jed's caretaking of her was the kindest, most welcome attention she had ever received from anyone. It amazed her that he could be so considerate.

Softly, Jed pushed her down until she lay beside him again on the lumpy bed. Bringing her to his chest, Jed stared into her eyes for what seemed an eternity before he spoke. When he did, his pleasantly rough voice was even rougher with emotion.

"You do understand what we're doing is wrong, Caitleen."

Caite hesitated. The Catholic Church preached about the sanctity of the marriage bed just as much as the Baptist, she figured, but that did not mean she felt what they were doing was a sin. It was right for a woman to give herself to her husband in the eyes of God. She guessed that out here, alone, they were in the eyes of God as much as they would have been if a priest had placed his hands on them and blessed their union.

"Nothing that feels this right could be wrong,” she managed to say, her throat thick with emotion. “It feels right, Jed. Surely God will not judge us harshly."

His groaned softly. Closing his eyes, Jed seemed about to draw away from her, but Caite would not let him. We've made our bed, she thought ironically, and now we're going to lie in it. Winding her fingers into his hair, she tugged his head until she forced him to meet her mouth with his.

His kisses scorched her just as before, but the fire was even sweeter because this time, Caite felt in control. Using what she had learned from their earlier kisses, she pressed open his full, firm lips with her tongue and plundered the masculine succulence of his mouth. He tasted of wood smoke and sunlight, with just a tinge of wet earth still clinging to him.

Her forceful kisses seemed to break down any barrier he had been holding. Jed engulfed her with his passion, sweeping her up into it like a leaf in a windstorm. Jed's mouth left hers and began to trail fervently down her neck. Muffling a frustrated groan at the high neck of her linen gown, Jed grasped the front of the garment and tugged it open. Tiny shell buttons exploded in every direction, pattering all around them. Neither Caite nor Jed cared enough to look for any of them.

Now her body was bared to him completely. Caite eagerly wiggled out of the shreds of cloth that remained, until she lay naked in his arms. The feeling of their bodies pressing flesh to flesh was torturous and exquisite both. The crisp hairs curling on his chest rubbed maddeningly against her tender, aching nipples until she thought she might scream for his mouth to find them.

Jed must have read her mind. Lowering his mouth to first one peaked bud and then the other, he sampled her delicate flesh as if he were a bee courting a flower. Caite felt the wet heat engulf her, and a weak cry escaped her. Jed flicked his tongue across the rosy tip one last time, then pressed his mouth to the firm white globe beneath it.

Caite felt her hips shifting restlessly against the sheet, but she was powerless to stop herself. A core of white-hot sensation had begun to build between her thighs, and with each tug of Jed's mouth on her nipples, she felt an answering tug down there. It seemed she could feel every bit of energy inside her gathering in that one spot.

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."