Rimfire Bride (27 page)

“Jana,” Drew said softly. “Are you awake?”

“Yes.” Jana crossed to the door.

“Can you help me for a minute? When Devlin put my bedstead together, he didn’t tighten the tie rods, and now one end of the footboard has come loose. I can’t hold it and put the tie rod through at the same time. Will you come hold it for me?”

“Of course.” Jana opened the door at once.

Drew’s gaze fell immediately to the open front of Jana’s nightdress, and she clutched frantically at the closure. When she looked down, she realized that the whole front of the gown was agape.

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m not,” Drew said with a devastating grin.

“I must get dressed.” Jana turned toward the wardrobe.

Drew caught her hand. “Don’t, Jana.” His voice was husky. “I’ll only need you for a minute, and besides . . .”

Jana took a deep breath as she looked down the hallway. “Is everyone asleep?”

“With visions of sugarplums dancing in their heads.”

She scurried across the hallway and into Drew’s bedroom much as a child would do if getting into some sort of mischief.

“Now what do you need?”

“If you only knew what I need.” Drew cupped her face gently.

A shiver rippled through her as she visualized the intimacy of this scene. She was with Drew, the most virile man she had ever known, in his bedroom, alone, in a nightdress that was not securely closed.

“I must go back.”

Drew dropped his hand. “All right. But while you’re here, will you hold up the footboard? Otherwise, I will get no sleep tonight.”

Jana stepped farther into the room and steadied the heavy footboard, all the while holding her gown closed as best she could.

Drew tried to slip the tie rod through the bed rail and the footboard, but he couldn’t line up the hole.

“I’m going to have to take the thing out and get everything lined up properly. Can you hold it?”

“I think so.”

When Drew removed the rod, the heavy footboard, made of intertwined cottonwood posts and branches, started to fall against Jana as the bed rails fell to the floor with a loud noise. Jana instinctively, grabbed the footboard, preventing it from falling, but in doing so, she had to use both hands. That caused the nightdress to fall open, and the front of her body was fully exposed.

Drew held the rod in his hand, not even attempting to put the bed together. She could hear his breathing quicken as he openly stared at her.

“Mr. Malone, have you forgotten why I am here?” Jana asked with more levity than she could have imagined possible in the circumstance.

“No, ma’am. I need to get this bed put together as quickly as possible because I think I’m going to need someone to test its strength. I certainly don’t want this to happen again.”

“Nor do I,” Jana said, realizing that it was now too late to even attempt to cover herself.

Drew had the tie rod in place and the bolt securely fastened within an instant.

Jana began arranging the feather bed that had slipped when the side rails had fallen, and she smoothed the sheets and counterpane, as though it were the most natural thing in the world to do. When she looked toward Drew, she saw that he was removing his shirt. He stood before her bare chested, a sheen of perspiration causing his chest to glisten in the light of the lamp that stood on the table near the head of the bed.

“Shall I go any further?”

Jana knew she should get out of this room, but
she could not make her legs move. She stood mesmerized by the scene before her. The mystery of the coupling of a man and a woman was before her very eyes, and she knew that she wanted this man to be her first.

Drew moved toward her, his arms encircling her as he held her tightly against him, kissing her in a deep, tongue-tangling kiss. The offending nightdress fell away, and proudly Jana stood naked, the texture of his chest causing her nipples to harden against him. Suddenly she was lifted into his arms and he carried her to the bed and placed her on the downy comfort of the tick.

She watched as he dropped his pants, and for the first time in her life, she saw a male member, large and engorged, standing erect from his body. She could not avert her gaze as Drew climbed into the bed with her. “Jana,” he whispered, “do you know how much I have wanted this?” He kissed her again, this time trailing kisses down to her belly, flicking his tongue inside her navel. When she thought she could take no more, he moved his head farther down her body into the soft down that was at the juncture of her legs. He began to kiss her as he moved toward the most private part of her body, that which no man had ever touched, which no man had ever seen. Jana could hardly believe what was happening.

And then it all stopped.

The doorknob was turning as both Jana and Drew heard Benji’s voice.

“Daddy, I heard a loud noise. Do you think Santa Claus is on the roof?”

Drew quickly covered Jana, including her head, with the counterpane.

“Just a minute, Son. Let me get my pants on,” Drew said as he jumped out of bed, throwing on his drawers before he opened the door.

“Did you hear it?” Benji asked. “It was a while ago, and I tried to listen but I couldn’t hear the prancing hoofs of the reindeer.”

“Let me come to your room and I’ll listen with you,” Drew said as he led Benji down the hall.

Jana slipped out of the bed and found her nightdress. She put it on quickly, and without even trying to secure it, she hurried across the hall to the safety of her own room.

When Drew returned from Benji’s room, he knocked lightly on her door, but Jana didn’t answer him. More than anything, she wanted to be in his bed, feeling the exquisite sensations that Drew had awakened in her, but she couldn’t recapture what they had just shared. She lay in bed looking through the window. The moon was full and the cloudless sky was filled with stars. Sleep would not come no matter how hard she tried.

What had she done? What would Drew think of her? She had wantonly gone to him, and she would have allowed him to do anything he wanted to do to her body. She pictured him as he stood before her, his chest gleaming, his member erect. Never had she visualized what the male physique would look like, and Drew Malone was the perfect specimen. She thought of Michelangelo’s
David
and the desire to chisel a perfect man. She could
draw Drew as a perfect man—a perfect man with an erect phallus.

I’ve got to get these prurient thoughts out of my mind!
She turned into her pillow and hit it with her fist.

What would the morning bring? Could she face Drew after what she had done? Could she face his sons? Thank heavens Benji had interrupted when he did.

Back in his
bedroom, Drew was dealing with his own thoughts. He had not felt this way toward a woman since Addie. And if he was honest with himself, he hadn’t really felt about Addie the way he did about Jana. With Addie, their intimacy was comfortable and familiar. But when he was around Jana, his blood seemed to boil, his skin tingled, and with every ounce of his being, he wanted to possess her fully.

But was it just a sexual attraction?

He didn’t think so. He also appreciated her intelligence, her self-confidence, her sense of humor, and the way she interacted with his children. He was sure it was more than a physical attraction, but he needed to be certain. He couldn’t risk a relationship based just on physical attraction, not for himself, and not for his children. It needed to be more, and he needed to be sure.

“Jana, wake up.
Daddy says come see what Santa brought us. I got a saddle with my name on it,” Benji yelled excitedly, waking Jana.

“I’m hurrying. I’ll be there as fast as I can.”

Jana was not aware that she had fallen asleep at all, but when she looked out the window, the first sliver of daylight was breaking, causing the ice that covered the Little Missouri River to reflect the pink light. She had planned to wear a festive dress this morning, but when she thought about the last evening with Drew, she pulled out her trusty rose wool, which she had worn to Dakota. The dress was a visible reminder to her of who she really was.

When she entered the great room, Drew was sitting on the sofa, his feet bare and his hair tousled.

“Good morning, sleepyhead,” Drew said, a boyish smile crossing his lips. “Did you forget? Santa came and he brought the boys saddles. I don’t know why he did that, do you?”

“If you have a saddle, you need a pony. Do you think he might have brought one for these boys?” Jana asked, getting into the spirit.

“We didn’t even think of that, now did we?” Drew said. “We should go see if there’s one in the barn. Come on.”

“Daddy, we can’t do that. We don’t have our clothes on,” Sam said.

“Jana’s dressed. She could go look.”

“All right,” Jana said, and grabbed her coat from the hook.

When she opened the door, two ponies were tied to the porch railing.

“Oh, my goodness, they’re right here.” She held the door open wide for both boys to see the little brown-and-white-spotted ponies. “I guess Santa Claus didn’t want to leave them in the house.”

“I can’t believe it,” Sam yelled as he ran out onto the porch. “This is exactly what I wanted!” He threw his arms around the first horse, and it whinnied and tossed its head. Benji, not to be denied, ran out onto the porch to the second pony.

“You two better get back in here before you get sick and then you won’t be able to ride them. We’ve got other presents to open now that Jana’s here.” Drew took her hand, and when he did, he winked at her. They walked hand in hand back to the Christmas tree.

Jana had never had a more blissful morning, and her gifts were a great success. Elfrieda sat by the fire and seemed to really like the shawl Jana had gotten her. Drew was as warm to her as any person had ever been in her life. He made her feel like an integral part of his family, and because of the way he was acting, Benji and Sam were both demonstrative toward her, making sure she saw and understood how to play with the gifts they received.

Jana couldn’t help but contrast her own meager Christmases over the years with the abundance that these children received. There were gifts from both sets of grandparents, as well as from Elfrieda and the cowboys. But in spite of all that they got, they seemed genuinely appreciative of each new gift they opened.

“I see two more packages under the tree,” Drew said when everything else was opened. “Shall I see whose name is on them?”

Jana nodded, not wanting to say anything.

“This one’s for you, and it looks like the other one
is for me,” Drew said as he handed a package to Jana.

She opened the package with trembling fingers as her eyes welled with tears of happiness. “You said you were going to get me a seal hat. Oh, Drew, thank you for the hat, but most of all thank you for letting me share this day with you and your family.”

Drew looked at her with smoldering eyes. “I’d like you to share more than this day. I’d like you to share my life.” He leaned forward and gave her a gentle kiss on the lips.

Sam saw the kiss. He didn’t say anything, but he didn’t look away.

T
he
day after Christmas, the mild weather in the Badlands changed, and a fierce wind and blowing snow came from the north, causing Sam and Benji much distress.

“Can we bring Spotty into the house?” Benji asked. “He’ll be too cold outside.”

“No, he’s safe in the barn, and anyway you saw your pony’s heavy coat. He’ll stay warmer than we will, and Toby will see to it that he has plenty of hay from the rick that’s right beside the barn,” Drew said.

“What about Buster?”

“Both ponies will be fine. Just think about it, the stock horses fend for themselves all winter and they find food, but Spotty and Buster are in the barn, and they’re being well fed. They’ll be ready when the weather warms up and we get to ride.”

“Did you say the stock horses have to fend for themselves?” Jana asked.

“That’s right, but it’s not as bad as you think. If we don’t have much snow, the dried grass is like a hayfield, just ready for the horses to graze.”

“Benji, do you smell cinnamon buns?” Sam asked as he ran into the kitchen with Benji close behind him.

“Elfrieda spoils those two,” Drew said.

“How could anyone not want to spoil them? Besides, you seem to benefit from Elfrieda’s treats as well. Say, how would you like to play a game of chess? I’ve been thinking, maybe this time I can beat you,” Jana challenged as she headed toward the room that was to be Drew’s office and library when the books were shipped.

On Thursday the
weather broke, and the boys were anxious to ride their ponies after being in the house for several days. Drew asked Charley, the young cowboy whom Jana had met, if she could borrow some trousers, a shirt, and a shearling coat, and when she was outfitted, the four of them rode horses for at least a couple of hours every day. The snow made the Badlands seem like a fairyland, and Jana could easily imagine that she was indeed in her own fairy tale.

A mother, a father, and two children, all loving one another. But of the four people, only one openly expressed those sentiments, and that was Benji—sweet, lovable, cherubic Benji—who told Jana at least once a day how much he loved her.

Sam didn’t say anything, and much to Jana’s disappointment, neither did Drew. After their intimacy on Christmas Eve, and then his saying he
would like her to share his life, he had become more distant.

They stayed at
Rimfire until after New Year’s, returning to Bismarck on the late-evening train of the fifth. By the time Jana reached the hotel, Greta was already in bed.

“Greta, it’s me,” Jana called softly as she opened the door to the room.

“I was thinking it was about time you came back,” Greta said, turning up the lamp and hopping out of bed to give her sister a welcoming hug. “I’ve missed you.”

“And I’ve missed you, too. Did you have a good Christmas?” Jana set down her valise.

“It was wonderful! You can’t believe what I got for Christmas.” Then Greta laughed. “Oh, wait, I guess you do know. Tom told me you helped pick out the beautiful clothes the men bought for me.”