Catherine's Awakening (5 page)

“That’s fifty dollars!” she said. “You’re crazy. I didn’t know you had this kind of

money lying around.”

“We didn’t trade our gold for Confederate script during the war,” John said,

looking a little sheepish. “The family actually came through all right, although we don’t

advertise that. No reason to give thieves any reason to come poking around here. I

buried it myself out on the range, and only the boys knew where to find it. But you’ve

earned your share, and that’s enough to give you some spending money. Or save it for

something special, girl. You’ve taken good care of us, and we appreciate it.”

“Thank you,” she said, meaning it. She’d never had that much cash of her own in

her life. Neither had her parents, at least not that she knew of. Her father had been a

hardworking cowboy, and while they always had enough to eat, there was never any

extra.

“I’m sorry we didn’t give it to you earlier,” Wade said. “But you need to

understand, as long as you’re part of our family, what we have is yours, Catherine. You

don’t have to worry about money. I just assumed you knew that. Now are you up for a

trip to town?”

She nodded her head, still feeling a bit stunned. Back in the kitchen she wrapped

the gold eagles in a bit of cloth, then stuck them in her pocket. She wasn’t quite sure

what to do with them, but she figured she should put them away for now. No reason to

make any decisions just yet.

She had their lunch packed and ready by the time Wade pulled around to the

kitchen in the platform wagon. She thought of the chores she should be doing today,

but shrugged her shoulders. They’d still be there tomorrow, and a trip to town in the

middle of the week was a treat. She often made it in on Sundays, but not always.

Everything depended on the weather and the needs of the stock. Wade gave her a hand

up and they set off.

26

Catherine’s Awakening

In the wrong direction.

“What’s going on?” she demanded. “Is this some kind of trick?”

He gave her a hurt expression, patently false.

“Of course not,” he said. “But I promised George Watson I’d stop by his place and

look at a horse.”

“That’s six miles out of the way,” she snapped. “Wouldn’t it be faster and easier to

ride over some other time?”

“I’m already losing a day to go after supplies,” he said. “Makes sense to combine

the trips.”

“We won’t get to town until this afternoon,” she replied. “I think you planned this.”

He shot her an unrepentant grin.

“Of course I did,” he replied. “I don’t get a lot of time just with you. Figured this

was as good a day as any to grab some more.”

She snorted, and turned her head away from him. He’d gotten her, no question of

that. A trip to town was too good to pass up, and he’d been so nice this morning she’d

figured he was feeling guilty about last night. Stupid thing, to imagine Wade Masters

capable of shame…

But after twenty minutes her foul mood dissolved. The sun was shining, and while

the spring air was still a little brisk, all around her birds sang and tiny flowers bloomed.

She loved springtime—especially since the end of the war. They’d all lived in fear for so

long, and now it lay behind them. She wasn’t happy that Texas had been defeated, but

she was glad to be finished with the bloodshed. Let other people be bitter—there were

too many opportunities ahead of her. After a while she broke the silence.

“It was a dirty trick to lie to me about this trip,” she said. “Especially since I would

have come, anyway. I’m not afraid of you, Wade.”

“I didn’t think you were,” he replied. “So far as I can tell, you aren’t afraid of

anything. It’s always fun to rile you up, though. You look pretty when you’re mad.”

27

Joanna Wylde

“You shouldn’t talk like that,” she snapped at him automatically, but the

compliment made her glow a little inside. Like the land around her, his touches

yesterday had awakened something within her after a long winter. She raised her arms

up and sighed happily, thrusting her chest out a bit as she stretched.

“You’re the one who chickened out last night,” she replied. “I don’t remember

saying no to you. Like I said, I’m not afraid.”

“Aren’t you worried about your reputation? I thought you said the school board

wouldn’t hire a loose woman.”

“I know you too well, Wade,” she said, smiling. “Anything that might happen

between us would stay between us, as long as we weren’t obvious and it didn’t last for

long. You don’t tell tales about women.”

Unlike Ryan.
 
The words hung unspoken between them.

“I think I made my position clear last night,” Wade said. “I’m looking for a wife,

not a mistress. But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to do my best to convince you to

marry me.”

“Well, I don’t see quite what you have to offer,” she replied, laughing. “I already

have access to the ranch, and so far as I can tell, being your wife would be a lot of work.

Work I already do.”

“You do the work, but you don’t get to do the playing that comes with it,” he

replied, his voice dropping in tone. “I know how to make a woman happy, Catherine.

Very happy. You should let me show you sometime.”

“I’m game if you are,” she replied, turning to grin at him. The look in his eyes

stopped her, though. Their banter might have been light, but the expression on his face

was dead serious.

“I’m going to have you, Catherine,” he said. “Don’t mistake me. And when I do,

you’ll be begging for it.”

“At least you aren’t short on ego,” she replied.

28

Catherine’s Awakening

“No true Texan is.”

* * * * *

They stopped for lunch at midday, and even Catherine had to admit the visit at the

Watson ranch had been nice. Hope Watson was a plump, happy young woman with

three little children hanging from her skirts, and the two of them had enjoyed a cup of

tea together while the men looked at the stock.

They ate lunch beside a little stream that she’d gone swimming in as a child—

swimming with Wade and Ryan, actually. About a mile outside town, it was a magnet

for kids on hot summer days. There was even a swimming hole and a rope swing. It

was still far too cold for swimming, though, so they had the place to themselves.

Catherine spread their picnic blanket on the ground and pulled out the basket she’d put

together for them. Nothing too exciting, just thick slices of her own bread spread with

jam, a couple of boiled eggs and some cheese, but they both enjoyed it.

“That was good,” Wade said, leaning back on the blanket. Catherine looked over at

him, secretly admiring the view. Wade wasn’t a pretty man, but his features were

strong and clear. And those penetrating green eyes… Every girl in town had been in

love with him at one point or another. Even her, although she didn’t like to admit it.

She’d had a huge crush on him before he left for the war.

Heck, she had a pretty good crush on him right now. Her eyes wandered down his

body, noting how well his faded wool pants outlined his figure. Between his legs in

particular. There was bulk there, enough to make a girl wonder, and she felt her cheeks

heating up. Of course he chose that moment to look over at her.

“See anything you like?” he asked in a slow drawl. “You can touch if you want.”

She opened her mouth to give him a snappy comeback, and then a smile stole

across her face. Two could play at this game.

“Sure,” she said, scooting across the blanket toward him. “Looks like you have a

nice enough package there, but maybe a little small. I think I should check things out.”

29

Joanna Wylde

She reached across his lap, rubbing her hand boldly along his thigh. He gasped, and

they both froze, captivated by their game of sexual taunting. She’d never done anything

remotely like this before, not even when she was married to Ryan. But she wanted to

touch him, she could admit that to herself. Wade darned well wanted to be touched. No

question of that. And if she managed to break past his self-imposed boundaries? Well,

then she won. And if she didn’t, at least she’d have some fun before settling into her

new role as town schoolmarm.

She felt his flesh rising beneath her touch, the hard length of his erection thickening

under her fingers. She ran her fingers back and forth, each time holding him a little

more firmly. He gasped, and then let himself fall back on the blanket, one arm over his

eyes as he allowed himself to fully enjoy the moment.

After a little while she decided this wasn’t enough. She didn’t just want to feel him,

she wanted to look at him. Maybe even taste him. She’d heard about that from some of

her girlfriends, although she’d doubted at the time that any woman would willingly do

something like that. But being around Wade, smelling him, seeing the tension in his

body as she touched him—it made her wonder…

Catherine opened his pants, sliding her hand in and finding the hot length of his

penis. It was bigger than she’d imagined, and the skin was very smooth. She ran her

fingers up and down, finding the ridge below the head, tracing it to the notch on the

bottom. A tingling sensation grew between her legs, a certain eagerness to be close to

him that reminded her of the way his kisses made her feel.

Wanting more, Catherine used both hands to ease his pants down his hips, Wade

lifting himself to make it easier for her. She pulled out his penis, awed. It wasn’t as large

as Baron’s, of course, but it was pretty big. The head was flushed red, and a whitish

pearl of moisture had gathered at the tip. She ran a fingertip through it, painting the

slippery substance around his sensitive flesh. Wade gasped, and Catherine smiled. She

loved how it made her feel, so powerful and special. Wade was a strong man, yet all it

took was one of her fingers touching him to conquer him completely.

30

Thank you for evaluating PDF to ePub Converter.

To get full version, you need to purchase the software from:
http://www.pdf-epub-converter.com/convert-to-epub-purchase.html

Catherine’s Awakening

Catherine leaned closer, examining him carefully. Wade reached down and grabbed

her hand, cupping it around his length and showing her how to run it up and down.

She followed his lead eagerly, loving the way he moaned as she worked his stiffened

shaft.

“You’re killing me, Cat,” he muttered finally. “You need to stop now.”

“Or what?” she asked, rubbing him even faster. “You’ll throw me down and have

your wicked way with me? I dare you to do it!”

He moaned, and lifted a hand as if to push her away. Before he could act, she

wrapped her lips around the head of his erection, sucking him in deeply. Wade gave a

groan of pain and need, then clutched her hair with his fingers, pulling her more fully

down and over him.

Now that she had him in her mouth, Catherine wasn’t quite sure what to do with

him. He tasted salty, and from the quivering of his body and the strength of his hands,

she knew he liked what she’d done. She tried sucking at him like lollipop, reveling in

the little noises he made. Then she swirled her tongue around the tip for a while. A

surge of salty fluid came out, and she wondered if he was done already. But it didn’t

seem like it was enough, and his hand still urged her on, so she kept sucking. She’d

never tried anything like this with Ryan, and frankly had never wanted to. But sucking