In Your Arms (21 page)
Melissa’s jaw hit the floor.
“Good for you, Chuck.” Marcus chuckled.
“Figure half of that belongs to you, son.” Chuck leaned over and placed the cash on the side table near the pitcher. “It’s the least I can do for taking a bullet for my daughter.”
Marcus’s eyes widened. “I don’t know what to say.”
“You can start by saying thank you.”
“Well, thank you, sir… I mean, Dad.”
“You’re welcome, Marcus.” Chuck smiled at Melissa.
“So you used to be a bounty hunter?” she asked.
Chuck nodded. “Back in the good ol’ days. Met your mama on a job. We were married within six weeks of meeting each other, and she urged me to quit. Didn’t want her husband working such a dangerous job. So I took the money I’d earned and bought the general store here in the Gulch, and that’s when we started makin’ babies.”
Melissa glanced up at Marcus who winked at her with a wide grin of his own. “Sounds like a mighty fine plan of yours.”
“It was shortly thereafter that I started getting pain in my joints. I’d been able to manage it well enough until recently when I hired you on, son.”
“How’s Timothy doing?”
“He’s doing about as well as to be expected,” Chuck replied. “He’s taking your marriage to Marcus favorably and has even called on the Widow Skaggs a few times.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” Melissa said, and she was. Timothy deserved happiness. He was a good man.
“And Shirley’s enamored with Pastor Robinson’s son Christopher,” Chuck added. “Ever since your failed wedding to Dr. Newcomb, he’s been coming to call almost daily.”
Melissa giggled. “Good for her.”
“Well, you and Marcus both look tired, so I’ll get out of your hair. You two take it easy now, you hear?”
After Chuck was gone, Marcus simply held Melissa in silence, stroking her hair. She fell asleep on his chest a little while later, listening to his steady, comforting heartbeat.
~ * ~
When the second week passed, Timothy visited them to remove Marcus’s stitches. He seemed pleased at how well the wound was healing.
“You’re going to have to take things easy, Marcus. You can still hurt yourself if you do anything too strenuous, but I would say you can go for short outings as long as you take care to rest often. You no longer need the bandage, but try not to poke at the wound. It will be tender for awhile, but you’re almost as good as new.”
The scar was still a little red and swollen, and Marcus winced sometimes when he moved, but he was able to walk around the room now on his own.
“So, Doc,” he began, giving Melissa a look that burned her to a crisp where she stood. “Does this mean I can make love to my wife?”
Melissa gasped and almost laughed out loud when she noticed Timothy blushing a shade darker than she was. He fidgeted as he stood and straightened his coat.
“Well, now, I don’t see why not, Mr. McCaide. As long as you rest afterward.”
The smile that spread across Marcus’s face melted Melissa’s heart and made a jolt of electricity shoot through her. Timothy grabbed his black medical bag and fled, practically slamming the door in his haste to leave the room.
Twenty-four
Crooking his finger at her, Marcus’s eyes burned as they roved over her body. Although she was fully clothed, he had a way of making her feel as if she didn’t have a stitch on her. She reached up to unravel her bun, shook out her hair, and unfastened the buttons on the front of her dress.
“Come here, Lissa,” he said, his tone leaving no room for argument.
She didn’t immediately obey him. Without breaking eye contact with him, she sauntered through the room and locked the door.
“Come here,” he commanded again.
Grabbing the brush from the vanity, she took her time in brushing out the tangles from her dark red hair.
“Woman, don’t make me come get you.”
“Why not?” she asked innocently. “It’s more fun when you’re riled up.”
Marcus growled and stood from the bed, unfastening his pants and stepping out of them. Melissa gasped again at the sight of him naked before her.
“Woman, I haven’t made love to you in weeks, and I mean to love you right here and now, so get on that bed.”
“Shouldn’t you say please first?”
“Lissa, you’re deliberately provoking me.”
“Am I that obvious?”
He rounded the bed and advanced on her, but she stood her ground, lifting her chin up a notch.
“I’ll rip this one off you too if you don’t take it off, sweetheart.”
Smiling at him, she finished unbuttoning the front of it and slid it slowly off her shoulders, peeking at him underneath her lashes. She enjoyed watching him watch her, knowing full well he was trying his best not to touch her. Once her dress pooled at her feet, he grabbed her shoulders and shoved her back on the bed none too gently, making her cry out with shock. In a flash he was on top of her, ripping the ties to her corset and petticoats.
“I have a feeling that being married to you is going to cost us a fortune in new clothing,” she said as she felt his hands tearing the remainder of her clothing off her body.
“Are you complaining?” he had the gall to say.
“No.” Pulling his mouth down to hers, she arched her body as she kissed him, wanting desperately to feel him against her.
“If you didn’t take so damned long in getting undressed, I wouldn’t have to rip them off you.”
Melissa smiled, shuddering at the raw passion in her husband’s eyes.
“I’ve missed the taste of you, Lissa,” he whispered as he dipped his head and feasted on her breasts. Melissa almost climaxed at that alone, arching into him once again, silently begging for his touch.
~ * ~
As Marcus loved her nipples, his belly moved erotically back and forth against her, making her buck underneath him. But he did no more than that for now. He knew he was driving her wild if her moans were any indication. Smiling on his downward path across her belly, he opened her legs a little wider and caressed their soft skin with his big hands. He knew he would never be able to stop touching her every chance he got.
“You’re so soft, baby, you know that?”
She answered by raising her hips, trying futilely to grind against him. He decided to give her back a little of the torment she’d just put him through not more than a minute before. Kissing her down the inside of her thighs, he darted his tongue along the back of her knees, sucking and biting the soft, sensitive flesh the entire way up her leg.
She was trembling. His wife was trembling, and he could hardly contain his pride. She wanted him, she loved him, and she was his. She almost jumped halfway off the bed when he blew his hot breath along her slick folds, and it made him smile. He’d teased her long enough.
Melissa indeed tasted like honey as he held her close, pressing his fingers inside of her. It didn’t take long at all for her to scream her release, and scream she did. He felt her hands in his hair holding onto him painfully, but he wouldn’t have complained in the least.
Once her shaking subsided, he rose back over her, still pressing his fingers gently against her, making her shudders continue. He took his time, exploring the planes of her belly before nipping and licking his way up both of her arms, smiling at her flesh that pebbled at the sensation. His wound gave him only a slight twinge as he hovered over her, tasting her neck before making his way to her ear.
“Marcus,” she panted.
“What is it, sugar?” he whispered as he continued to taste her there.
“Let me… let me… oh. God…”
He smiled down on her, kissing her cheeks, her eyes, and her chin, making his way to her other ear. “What, baby? What do you want to do?”
“I want to kiss you like this too,” she whispered, caressing his thighs with hers.
Groaning, Marcus laid his head on her shoulder. “Honey, not now.”
“Please?”
“Lissa, next time. Next time you can. If you do it now--”
“I know, I know,” she said with a grin. “This will be over too quickly?”
He couldn’t help but laugh. “Something like that.”
“Then make love to me, Marcus. Now.”
If he’d been standing, the fire in her eyes would have brought him to his knees. Positioning himself, he smiled and kissed the tip of her nose.
"Get ready, Mrs. McCaide," he said with tears glittering in his eyes. “Cause we're gonna make us another baby tonight."
He plunged deeply into her heat, muffling her pleasured gasps with his mouth. As Melissa's hands eagerly caressed his body, his heart swelled, and he knew her father had been right all along. Marcus
had
found the peace he’d so desperately craved.
In Lissa’s arms.
About Rebecca Goings
Rebecca Goings has enjoyed writing stories all her life. As a child, she frequently
wrote romantic stories for her classmates, and still has most of them. Becoming an author has been her life’s goal for as long as she can remember, even taking a typing class along with h
er
creative writing courses!
It
wasn’t until recently that Rebecca had the courage to query her work, but it has definitely paid off. Rebecca currently resides in the
Pacific Northwest
with her husband Jim and four beautiful children.
Other Titles by Rebecca:
On Eagle’s Wings – August 2005
Underneath the Mistletoe- December 2005
Coming soon—B.E.A.S.T—watch for it!
Visit our website for our growing catalogue of quality books.
