The Christmas Bride - A Western Romance Novella (Book 4, Burnett Brides Series) (13 page)

His fingers parted her folds and delved inside her. She gasped with pleasure as he stroked her until she thought she would faint from need. He stroked her until she was about to beg him for release. He stroked her until she was gasping with pleasure, her body needing the release only he could give.

He removed his lips from her breasts and moved his body in between her legs. “Eugenia, I wish this could last forever, but I’m near the edge.”

“Wyatt, just love me to completion,” she whispered, needing him inside her now.

In one swift movement, he thrust inside her, filling her to the hilt. She gasped at the pleasure and wrapped her arms around him, moaning into his strong shoulder.

With each touch, she craved more of this man and with each kiss she experienced more pleasure than she’d dreamed possible. With each stroke, she surrendered more to Wyatt.

Desire reflected from his brown eyes, and she felt like she was looking into his soul. Intimacy she’d never experienced before shown in his gaze as he stared at her, so loving and sweet that she didn’t want to leave this place. She didn’t want to end these minutes in his arms.

A tightening spiral of pleasure so intense she couldn’t remember experiencing anything like it before wound through her until she thought she would die and cross to the other side.

Shattering contractions and releases shook her just as Wyatt cried out her name.

“Eugenia,” he said and plunged into her one last time, rocking her with him and shuddering his release.

The wind howled outside while they lay there holding one another, their bodies recovering, her heart aching and almost bursting with feelings she didn’t want to acknowledge.

She’d never experienced such powerful, emotional sex. Never. What did she do now?

Wyatt kissed her gently, rolled off of her and pulled her into his chest, spooning her. He pulled the covers up, tucking them under their chins to keep their naked bodies warm.

“Woman, you may not like hearing it, but we belong together. I told you we’d burn up the sheets, and by God, it’s a wonder this cabin didn’t catch fire,” he said into her ear, his voice soft.

“Don’t ruin it. No talk of marriage this day. Let’s just enjoy our time together and tomorrow we’ll talk about the consequences of today.”

#

Thirty minutes later, Wyatt had dressed and stepped outside to give Eugenia time to clean up and dress alone.

Though she wasn’t shy, it was nice to have the cabin to herself for a moment or two. And it gave her time to pull herself back together. Time to tame the wild beating of her heart and harden the way she regarded Wyatt. She couldn’t let this tender moment soften the way she thought with regards to marriage.

Tying her shoe laces, she glanced over at the bed and sighed. What had she done? She’d slept with a man that she wasn’t married to, but yet it had felt right. So right that it frightened her. She was not going to remarry. Never.

She quickly made the bed, choosing not to see the indentations of their bodies any longer. She stoked the fire that Wyatt had started and filled the coffeepot. Wyatt would come in cold and hungry.

A quick glance out the window saw the man giving the horses fresh water and hay. Thank God there had been a supply of food for the animals and even a stack of firewood.

The sky was beginning to lighten, but snow still sprinkled like a light shower from the clouds. The accumulation was probably three inches, and she was sure her grandson would soon be out in the stuff making a snowman.

She watched Wyatt walking toward the cabin, his arms loaded with more wood. She ran to the door to open it for him.

“Thanks, Eugenia,” he said, stomping his feet before he entered the tiny cabin. He dumped the wood in the woodbox.

“How are the horses?”

“Good. I’ll go out later and walk them around the yard. It’s not good for them to be standing there that long.”

“I’ll go with you,” she said, thinking they had to get out of this cabin or they’d find themselves back in bed.

He nodded. “Might be good to get outside for awhile. The roads are still covered, and snow is still falling. I don’t believe we should try to leave today. What do you think?”

She smiled. She wasn’t ready for this to end. She wasn’t ready for them to be with people again. She wanted this time alone with Wyatt because when it was over, it was over.

“Let’s just spend today at the cabin and then we can head on to the ranch tomorrow,” she said, imagining another night in Wyatt’s embrace. One more night before it was over.

“You sit down and I’ll fix us both a cup of coffee. We can sit near the stove and warm up,” he said, moving towards the counter.

For a moment, she looked at him, startled. Thomas had never brought her a cup of coffee the entire time they were married.

She watched Wyatt pour coffee into the cup and then hand it to her. He picked up the pan of beans and put them on the stove to heat. Then he joined her by the fire. “I worked up quite an appetite this morning.”

His remark had her cheeks burning, but she couldn’t help but smile. They’d been good together. Too good.

He leaned over and kissed her on the lips. “Damn, woman, you made me a happy man today.”

Her stomach tightened and spread warmth through her body. “Shut up, Wyatt. You’re just sweet-talking me.”

“It’s true.”

They sat in silence, sipping their coffee. She had never been so relaxed, as if she was floating in the room with this wonderful man. Had she ever felt this way before?

“I don’t want to dwell on our past spouses, but I need to know something.” Eugenia said, staring at her coffee cup, unable to meet his gaze. “Was it—this morning—was it always like that with you and Beatrice?”

Wyatt laughed. “No. Not really. Not even when we were first married. Bernice was a good woman, but she didn’t like being with me. Hell she probably wouldn’t have liked it with any man.” He gazed at her, his earthy brown eyes questioning. “What about you and Thomas?”

Eugenia sighed and took a sip of her coffee. “It was good. I remember enjoying being with him. Lovemaking was easy, but being his wife was not. But I have to say, Wyatt, that…” She glanced over at the bed. “It was breathtaking.”

He grinned. “Thank you, ma’am, glad I could please.”

She hit his arm with her arm, and yet she couldn’t stop smiling. She felt good. She felt wonderful, and she felt more alive at this moment than she had in years. “You’re quite pleased with yourself.”

He picked up her hand and brought it to his lips. “I want to make you happy. I want to be the man who makes you smile. I want you to look forward to seeing me each day. I want to go to bed at night and hold you in my arms. I want to come home each day hungry for your welcoming smile. I want you to ma—”

Panic seized her middle.

“Stop! Don’t say what I think you’re about to say.” Her chest tightened as if it would explode, her mind swirling with so many questions. How could she turn away this man who was so earnest, so kind? She squeezed his hand. “Please, Wyatt, let’s just enjoy this day together. Tomorrow we can have a serious talk.”

Wyatt stood and circled the small cabin. His jaw was tight and tense, and his eyes clearly reflected his frustration. She stood and walked up behind him and slipped her arms around him. “I’m afraid, Wyatt. Please, let’s just enjoy today.”

He turned in her arms and held her. “Okay. But tomorrow morning before we leave, we’re having a serious conversation about us.”

She nodded, knowing that whatever she said tomorrow would either end or begin this relationship. But she needed time to think. Her heart would like to claim him, but her head kept reminding her of the chains of marriage.

“Agreed.”

“The beans are boiling. Let’s eat, and then we could play checkers,” she offered.

“Can we do it naked?” he asked, his expression sincere, his brows raised in a questioning way.

She laughed. “No, at our age that’s not always a pretty sight. But we can play to see who is in charge the next time we go to bed?”

Yes, she wanted him again. As long as they were in this cabin, she wanted Wyatt. She’d enjoy him just as long as she could.

He grinned, his eyes twinkling with happiness. “So we’re going to do it again?”

She smiled and shook her head at his delight. “What else are we going to do?”

Wyatt looked up at the ceiling. “Lord, thank you for this storm, and could you keep it up for a week?”

“We’d starve.”

He shrugged. “Who needs food when I have you here all to myself,” he said, his low voice sending a delicious shiver through her body. When would she stop desiring him? When would she get enough?

“So you’re no longer hungry?” she asked.

“I’m starving for you again, just as soon as we eat breakfast. At my age, a man needs to protect his strength,” he said, rubbing his belly.

She laughed and couldn’t remember a recent morning filled with such joy. “I’ll get us some bowls.”

#

After breakfast, they decided to go out and walk the horses. The clouds were no longer a deep, dark blue, but had lightened to a grey, and now only an occasional snow flake fell. Tomorrow morning the sun would probably be shining, and the storm would be over. So would her time with Wyatt.

Bundled in her coat, with her mittens on and her scarf wrapped tightly around her, they ventured out into the snow. The first step out of the cabin, she sank into the snow all the way to the top of her boots. Wyatt held her arm as they staggered toward the wooden lean-to, her skirt dragging in the snow.

“I don’t think I’ll slip and fall,” she told him. “But my dress is getting wet.”

“I know, but I kind of like holding on to you,” he said, smiling at her, his brown eyes filling her with warmth. “And your dress we can hang by the fire to dry.”

She laughed at him, yet a ripple of awareness went through her at the idea of going without her dress. “You’re naughty.”

“No, I just like to look at you.”

When they reached the lean-to, he let go of her arm and went inside. He slipped the bridle onto her horse and led the mare out into the snowy yard. The horse snorted and sauntered along with Wyatt talking to her softly.

Eugenia walked alongside Wyatt and the mare while she gazed out at the frozen countryside. Everything was dripped in white. The trees, scrub brush, and prairie had ripples of white where the wind had made small drifts. “It’s been years since we’ve had this much snow.”

“It’s pretty, but I’m glad we don’t get it very often,” Wyatt said, turning the horse and walking the other direction.

They exercised the mare long enough that Eugenia’s toes started to freeze and she began to shiver.

Wyatt put the mare back in the lean-to and retrieved his horse.

“Come on, Sally,” he said. “Let’s do a little walking.”

“Why did you name your horse Sally?”

He shrugged. “I always had a fondness for the name and would have named my daughter Sally, but Beatrice said no.”

He turned the mare in the opposite direction and Eugenia followed beside him, enjoying his companionship even if they weren’t saying much.

“What about you?” Wyatt asked. “What would you have named your daughter? Eugenia?”

“Dear God, no. My mother saddled me with this name, and I hated it,” she said. “I think I would have gone with Corabell or Elizabeth.” She pushed through the snow, her skirts dragging alongside Wyatt. “What would your daughter think if you were to marry again?”

She didn’t know why that question just seemed to slip out, but also it seemed like important information she needed to know.

He shrugged. “I don’t know. I hope she’d be accepting since she lives so far away and I only get to see her once or twice a year. It’s not good for a man to live alone.”

She gazed at him. “Have you been lonely? You have all those men working for your ranch. You’re surrounded by people.”

“Yes. I’ve been lonely for a long time. Even before Beatrice passed on. We were happy, but once she became sick, we didn’t have much of a marriage. I’ve hungered for more. I’m going to have more with someone.”

Surprised to hear him admit to being lonely, she failed to see the frozen puddle on the ground. Her foot slid, and she threw her arms up trying to catch herself. Then she was falling.

With a plop, she landed in the snow.

Wyatt dropped the reins of the horse and hurried to her side. “Are you all right?”

She sat up laughing. Her skirt had come up, and she’d landed on her drawers, which were rapidly becoming wet. “I’m fine. A little cold, but fine.”

He leaned down, his lips found hers, and he kissed her. Her body softened, and she melted into his kiss as she reached up and shoved a handful of snow on his face.

He gasped.

“Just thought I should bring down your temperature a bit,” she said with a laugh, wanting nothing more than to have a good roll in the snow with him.

“It’s going to take more than that little bit of snow,” he said. “Come on, I’ll help you up.”

Reaching out his hand, she grasped it, and just as her feet came underneath her, she saw him starting to slide.

“Oh no…” she cried as he fell to the ground and she went down beside him.

She couldn’t help but laugh at the sight they made, both of them on their backsides in the snow. Yet she worried he could be hurt. “Are you all right?”

He lay in the snow beside her. “Other than my pride smarting a bit, I think I’m fine.”

The horse whinnied.

“You look pretty funny lying there in the snow,” Eugenia said. She crawled over to him and checked to make certain he wasn’t hurt.

He grinned at her. “You don’t look any better. In fact, I see snow in your bonnet.”

She sat up. “Should we try this again?”

“Let me go first and I’ll pull you up.”

He got to his knees, and just as he stood, she watched his boots start to slide.

“Be careful.”

Finally he was standing, looking down at her. “You know I think there’s some ice beneath us. I’m going to walk around and see if I can pull you up this way.”

He moved behind her and pulled her up. “Don’t walk over there.”

She brushed the snow off of herself, and then she started brushing the powdery white stuff off him. His backside had snow and mud on his pants. Without thinking, she reached up and brushed her hands over his firm butt and down his long, shapely legs.