Rebecca Hagan Lee - [Borrowed Brides 01] (29 page)

“Are you sure you won’t stay for supper?” Faith asked, accompanying Tempy and Kevin onto the porch.

“Well,” Kevin began, Sarah’s cooking always a temptation.

“Thanks for the invitation, darling,” Tempy said. “But if we stay for supper, we’ll have to stay the night and Kevin always sleeps better in his own bed.” She winked at Faith.

“What she means to say, lass, is that you’ll sleep better without us,” Kevin teased. “Temperance makes quite a bit of noise at night. She’s always moaning and groaning.”

Temperance blushed, but smiled happily at her husband’s teasing. “Good-night, Faith, and say goodbye to the others for us. Oh, and good luck.” She took Kevin’s arm and let him lead her to the buggy. He lifted her into the seat and climbed in beside her. Kevin flicked the reins and the buggy began to roll down the driveway. Temperance blew kisses at Faith until Faith walked back into the house.

“What was that all about?” Kevin wanted to know.

“What?” Temperance was all innocence.

“Why would Faith need good luck tonight?” he asked.

“She’s planning to seduce Reese tonight.”

“She’s
what?
” Kevin yanked the horses to a halt.

Temperance studied her husband’s features in the waning light. “He hasn’t touched her since you warned him not to.”

“Mary, Mother of God, that was months ago!” He couldn’t believe his ears.

“Exactly.” Temperance nodded to emphasize her words.

“Well, no wonder the boy’s been stalking around like a wounded bear. I told him it was fine when I let her up for our wedding.”

“He obviously didn’t believe you.”

“Of all the… That baby is fine. So is the mother. And they call the Irish hardheaded.” Kevin urged the horses back into a walk.

“Which is why I told Faith she had to make the first move,” Temperance said. “She’s planning to do it tonight. That’s why…”

“We couldn’t stay for supper.” Kevin shook his head. A tiny chuckle escaped his lips, then turned into a full-fledged laugh. “You two planned his seduction this afternoon? I don’t believe it!”

“Believe it.” Temperance leaned over and kissed her husband on his handsome mouth.

“What else did you plan today?” Kevin whispered, when Temperance released him. “Did my name come up?” he asked hopefully.

“As a matter of fact,” Temperance began. “It did. We were trying to decide how I should break the news to you.”

“News about Faith and Reese?” He sounded so disappointed Temperance almost burst out laughing.

“No, about you and me.”

“What about us?”

“I suspect we’re going to have a baby.”

Temperance almost fell out of her seat as Kevin sawed back on the reins. The buggy jolted to a stop. He sat perfectly still for several moments before speaking. “Are you certain?”

“Pretty sure.” She smiled mischievously. “But I can’t be absolutely certain until the doctor takes a look at me.”

“The doctor is looking at you,” Kevin said softly.

“And what does he have to say?” Temperance was serious. Kevin’s acceptance was vitally important.

“He’s overwhelmed. I never…” A lump formed in Kevin’s throat; tears shimmered in his eyes. He could barely grasp the miracle. “I’m going to be a father. We’re going to have a baby!” He felt like shouting, like laughing and crying and dancing! He understood, for the first time, how his patients felt when he gave them the news. “Oh, Temperance.” He leaned over and kissed her gently, reverently. “This is something to celebrate. How do you feel? Are you all right?”

“I’m fine.” She laughed. “I feel wonderful.”

“A father…” Kevin sighed, immensely pleased with himself and with Temperance. Until a sudden thought crossed his mind. “I’m forty-eight. Do you think I’m too old to be having a baby? For the first time?”

Temperance smiled at him, softly, gently. “That’s something else I want to talk to you about. There’s something I need to tell you. Something you need to know…” She began to speak, her voice filling the interior of the carriage, then spilling out into the night as the buggy carried them home.

When Temperance had finished, she sat in the buggy waiting silently for Kevin to say something.

Kevin sat next to her, holding her hand, digesting the astonishing news. He climbed out of the buggy and held up his arms for her. He didn’t speak until he’d opened the front door, entered the house, and carried Temperance into the bedroom. He placed her in the center of the double bed.

“As I said, this calls for a celebration!” he said, ripping off his tie and unbuttoning his shirt.

Temperance held out her arms. “Oh, Kevin…” The tears rolled quietly down her cheeks. Tears of joy. And love. Love for the hardheaded Irishman who had fathered her children.

“Mary, Mother of God, woman! Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” He blew out the lamp and climbed into bed beside his wife.

* * *

The main house of the Trail T was quiet. Reese blew out the lamps in his study, closed the door and started up the stairs to the bedroom he currently occupied. He had long since given up trying to sleep on the leather couch in his study and had moved into the bedroom next door to the one he had shared with Faith.

Reese opened the door to his bedroom and stepped inside. He began peeling off his clothes as he walked across the room. A small fire burned in the grate. Faith, he thought. At least a hundred times every day, he meant to thank her for the little comforts she provided, but somehow he never managed to say the words. He was afraid to acknowledge the numerous ways she made life more comfortable for him. Reese was afraid he might not be able to do without those comforts once she left. He decided it was better not to say anything at all.

So he pretended he didn’t realize Faith was responsible for the hot baths waiting at the end of the day, the endless supply of his favorite cigars and Napoleon brandy. He chose to dismiss the idea of Faith caring for him. But secretly he enjoyed the fires burning in the grate at night, warming his room, and the fresh clean sheets on his bed. He appreciated her light, woman’s touch. He wanted to feel it again.

Reese turned to his bed and flipped back the covers. He must have thought about making love to Faith a thousand times during the day, in a thousand different ways. He sat down on the edge of the bed and removed his boots. God, how he wished he could bury himself inside her. He squeezed his eyes closed, trying to block out the image of Faith naked in his bed. He wanted to hold her. He ached to hold her, to smell the soft fragrance of her hair. He sniffed the air. He wanted her so badly, he could smell the scent of her. Reese kicked his boots aside and stretched out on the bed.

“I was beginning to think you were never coming to bed.” A soft cloud of lavender enveloped him as her soft voice echoed through the room.

“Faith?” He cleared his throat, moving closer to the edge of the bed as she advanced. “What are you doing here?” He squinted in the darkness, making sure he was in the right room.

“Waiting for you.” Her lips brushed a flat nipple as she raised herself on one elbow and bent to kiss his chest.

“What is it? What do you want?” God, her mouth felt good. He wasn’t sure he could stand much more. His flesh quivered as she leaned across him to kiss his other nipple.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Faith moved to her knees, crawling over one of his legs, imprisoning him beneath her. Her rounded stomach pressed against his. “I want you, Reese.” Her mouth burned a trail from his chest along his flat belly.

Reese gasped, half in pleasure, half in pain, as her tongue darted inside his navel, then swirled through the dark thatch of hair below. His hands moved up to tangle in her hair. “No, Faith.” He pulled her closer as he spoke. “You don’t know what you do to me.”

Her hand found him. She wrapped her fingers around the length of him, and leaning closer, kissed him there.

He jerked in reaction, groaning his pleasure.

“I know exactly what I do to you.” She let her tongue glide up his shaft, then down again. “You do the same thing to me.”

“Faith.” He murmured her name. It was half prayer, half curse. “Faith!”

She raised her head, leaned over him, and kissed his mouth. “Let me love you, Reese.” Her hands caressed him. “Let me show you how it feels.” Her mouth followed her hands.

Reese gave himself up to the pleasure. He didn’t question the miracle that had brought her to his bed. He simply enjoyed it. He lay back and let Faith work her magic. She brought him to a stunning climax. Then, sometime later, Reese worked his magic on her.

They made love. Slept, and loved again, gently, tenderly until the morning light filtered in through the curtains.

* * *

“Reese?”

“Hmm?” He opened his eyes.

Faith was propped on one elbow, a pillow wedged underneath her, staring down at him. She looked beautiful.

“I’ve never thanked you for all the things you did before I came out here. Christmas, the pink bedroom for Joy, the money…”

“Shh.” Reese raised his hand and pressed a finger against her lips. “There’s no reason to thank me. I didn’t do it out of generosity. I did it because I wanted you.”

“Well, thank you just the same. It made the ladies, Aunt Tempy, and Joy very happy. I…” She broke off, wincing.

“Faith, what is it?” Reese was alarmed.

She smiled. “Your son is trying to kick his way out of there.” Faith lifted one of Reese’s hands and placed it against her belly. “There. Feel it?”

“Yes, I do.” Reese’s face was awash with pleasure. “He’s so strong. Does it hurt?”

“Only once in a while when he catches me off guard.” She removed Reese’s hand from its resting place, and raising it to her face, kissed his palm. “Thank you,” she said, tears glittering in her gray eyes, “for giving me the chance to experience this.”

“Christ, Faith.” Reese pulled away and rolled to his side. “Don’t thank me. For God’s sake, don’t thank me for doing this to you. I’ve watched you for months now.” He got up from the bed and began to pace, naked, back and forth across the bedroom floor. “Don’t you think I know how you feel about this? Don’t you think I realize what this is doing to you? And now Tempy is married to Kevin. Damn, I wish…” He turned to face her, frustration lined on every inch of his handsome face. He could stand anything except her tears. If only he had met her first. Before Gwendolyn.

“Reese,” Faith said firmly. “We made a deal. We signed a legal, binding contract. You don’t have to worry about me. I won’t let you down. I’ll honor it.”

“Dammit, Faith!” Reese’s face darkened, until he seemed ready to explode. “You…”

“What will you tell the baby about me?”

Her abrupt question startled Reese. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, what will you tell your son about his mother?” Faith placed her palm over her abdomen.

“I guess I’ll tell him she died when he was born.”

“What?” Faith gasped.

Reese stared at her. “What would you have me tell him? That his mother abandoned him at birth? That a piece of legal paper forced her to abandon him? That
I
forced her?”

Faith shook her head. “But death is so final.”

“He’ll love a mother who died giving him life.” Reese’s logic was brutal. “He wouldn’t find it so easy to love one who abandoned him. For whatever reason.”

“Then there’s only one more thing I need to ask of you.” Her voice was barely a whisper.

“Anything,” he said without hesitation. If she asked him to tear up that damned contract, he’d do it. Gladly.

“We’ve only got a few more months left,” she reminded him. “And they’ll be the hardest. I’ll need all my strength to get through them.”

“I know.” He didn’t want to be reminded.

Faith took a deep breath, swallowed her pride and placed all her cards on the table. “For the time we have left, please Reese, do you think you could stay with me? Pretend to love me so I can do what I have to do?”

“Damn,” he muttered. He felt as if she’d stabbed him through the heart, then ripped it from his chest while still beating.

Faith watched the conflicting emotions flicker across his face. She wanted to call back her words. She fervently wished she’d never voiced her hopes. “Please, Reese, forget it.” Her voice was barely above a whisper. “I shouldn’t have said anything. It’s just…I’m frightened a little. I’m sorry. It was too much to ask. Forgive me.”

Reese said nothing. He jammed his legs into his denim trousers, snatched his shirt from off the floor, and grabbing his socks and boots from beside the bed, stalked out of the room.

He slammed the door as he left. It vibrated in its frame. Faith buried her face in Reese’s pillow and wept. She couldn’t make him love her, and it seemed he couldn’t even bring himself to pretend he did.

Reese felt like kicking himself as he marched down the stairs. He could hear his wife weeping, knew he’d hurt her again. He hadn’t meant to, but he’d hurt her just the same. He hadn’t known what to say to her. Faith’s words had taken him by surprise. Her brutal honesty had shocked him to the depth of his very being. Damn him! He had let her beg for his affection, then beg forgiveness for asking.

Reese marched through the kitchen and out the back door, slamming it in his wake. He was a fool, he berated himself, a damn fool. Why couldn’t he do what she asked? Why the hell couldn’t he go along and pretend? Why? Because he was tired of pretending. Sick to death of living a lie. He needed to talk to someone—someone older and wiser. Someone who could help him straighten out the mess he’d made of his life. He knocked on the door to his grandfather’s cabin.

Duncan answered the door.

“Grandfather, I need to talk to you,” Reese said without preamble.

“We were just on our way over for breakfast,” Duncan told him.

“I need to talk to you alone, Grandfather.” Reese frowned at Duncan, then at his grandmother, Elizabeth. “I’m in trouble. I need your advice.”

Elizabeth smiled at her husband. “You counsel him, husband. I’ll send you some breakfast from the main house.” She smiled at her grandson. “Your grandfather will give you better advice on a full stomach.” She patted Reese’s arm as she walked out the door.