The Devil's Daughter (9 page)

“I think we both need to get some rest,” he finally sighed. “We’ll talk some more tomorrow.”

He gathered the items Lucy would need for the night and morning, then stepped out into the still night air, out to where Lucy sat waiting.

Before Maggie shut the door behind him, she laid her hand on his shoulder and smiled up at him with the same sweet and gentle smile that had first attracted him to her so many years earlier.

“Good night, Jed. Have a good sleep.”

A second after the door closed, a soft thud signaled she’d barred the door. He didn’t move for a long time, just stood staring toward the fire, caught between two completely different women, both of whom he’d made promises to.

It took him a while to gather his wits. His wife would not be happy about sleeping in the smelly, cold, barn, but –-

Was she sleeping already? He strained to hear as he moved closer, quietly as possible. Sure enough, Lucy had curled up in the blanket, and lay snoring on the hard ground. There would be no argument about sleeping arrangements tonight.

Thank you, God
.

He took the supplies into the barn and set them in a neat pile before returning to Lucy. With the blanket cocooned around her, head to toe, the only part not covered was her face, and still her lips had taken on a slight blue tinge. How could she possibly be so cold?

After a long moment of staring down at her, he lifted her into his arms, careful not to wake her. Better to ask forgiveness in the morning than permission in the middle of the night.

She’d be plenty mad when she realized where she’d slept, but he’d deal with that in the morning. Right now he was too damned tired to even think about it. All he wanted to do was get his wife into bed. Any bed.

Of course, he hadn’t planned on sleeping in the same bed yet, but he couldn’t very well leave her out there on the hard ground. Surely he could manage one night of lying beside her; after all, they’d both be dressed. . .

Dammit. Was he being punished for something? He didn’t
want
to want his wife so soon. He needed to be stronger. He would
not
be the man his father was.

No matter how much effort it took, no matter how much Lucy fought him, and no matter how many dips in the creek he’d need to take – he would make this into a good marriage or die trying.

With that thought lingering in his brain, Jed carried Lucy through the darkness of the barn and settled her on top of the lumpy pile of straw he’d been using as a mattress.

What a contrast she was to Maggie; she so dark and headstrong, Maggie so fair and gentle. Like night and day.

He tucked a second gray wool blanket up under Lucy’s chin and stood staring down at her for a few more minutes, his brain waging war against every other part of him. It’d be so easy to take her back in his arms and make them man and wife in the most basic way.

But life wasn’t meant to be easy – and Lucy was living proof of that. With her lying next to him, he’d never get any sleep, especially with her kiss still fresh in his mind. And still fresh on his lips.

All these years he’d thought he wanted a woman like Maggie; one who wouldn’t argue with him at every turn, and who would make life easy and trouble-free. Who’d have thought he’d find himself married to a woman so completely opposite, or that his new wife would cause flickers of doubt to creep through him so soon?

Maybe a quiet, gentle woman wasn’t what he wanted after all.

Lucy’s first night as Mrs. Jedidiah Caine hadn’t exactly fulfilled her expectations.

She should have woken up in her husband’s arms, after having spent the night securing at least part of his soul as her own. But he’d simply tucked her in to the hell he called a bed and turned his back to her.

Waking up in the barn – the barn, for the love of Satan! – was not something she was terribly happy about, but at least Jed hadn’t left her outside on the cold hard ground.

Memories of the night before flashed in her mind, the way Jed had looked at her with such hunger and confusion. And the way he’d kissed her. Lucy lifted her finger to her lips. She’d never been kissed like that before. Gentle yet strong. Slow yet intense - very, very intense.

He could have taken her right there by the fire if he’d wanted to – and she was quite sure he’d wanted to. But instead, he’d stopped himself, and done the most confusing thing.

He’d lain on that horrible blanket and pulled her close to his side, making sure she was comfortable even though he wasn’t.

What purpose could that have served? She’d been ready and willing to do his bidding, but he’d refused her.

Again.

She wanted to laugh at his determination, to mock the way he fought so hard in a battle he was destined to lose. But she couldn’t. Jed Caine was turning out to be a complicated man whose single-minded resolve was infuriating.

But it couldn’t be just the will of a mere human who caused this odd feeling in her stomach; a gnawing twist, making her doubt everything about herself.

No, it had to be Deacon. His presence always threw her into an upheaval and now was no different. In fact, it was worse. He not only had control of Sam, but he was using Maggie, too, wheedling his way into her mind.

And so far, an entire day into her plan, Deacon was winning.

Pushing it all aside, Lucy pulled her blanket around her shoulders and stepped out into the early morning air.

Jed stood next to the fire – one he’d built himself instead of forcing Lucy to do it. From the dark circles under his eyes and the frown on his lips, he must not have slept any better than she did.

He tipped his head in a short nod. “How’d you sleep?”

“Fine,” she lied. Sleeping on that pile of straw was about as comfortable as sleeping on a porcupine, but she wouldn’t let him know that. He needed to think everything was wonderful. The sooner he believed that, the faster she’d win him over - and the faster she’d be free.

“Fine like supper was fine?” He grinned slowly. “Or fine like. . .well. . .fine?” Dark stubble covered his cheeks and chin, and his eyes darted near her, beside her, but never actually looked directly at her.

She couldn’t blame him. After all, she’d spent the night being poked and jabbed by wayward pieces of straw, had been woken up five times by the horses snorting and carrying on, and then hadn’t the necessary items to wash up with before stumbling out of the barn.

“I can sleep anywhere,” she said with what she hoped was a smile and not a grimace.

“You proved that well enough last night.” His soft chuckle floated through the surrounding quiet. When she frowned, he went on. “You fell asleep out here on the ground.”

Lucy tightened the blanket around her arms, trying to ward off the cool morning air. Jed wore the same shirt as yesterday, untucked and hanging half-buttoned, his sleeves rolled to the elbow. He couldn’t possibly be warm enough.

Moving closer, she nudged against him until he settled his left arm around her shoulders.

“This is where I wanted to fall asleep.”

Jed stiffened slightly. “Right.” His voice sounded rather strangled, but his arm tightened around her for a moment before he let it fall back to his side, leaving a cold yawning space between them.

“So – are you ready to learn how to make coffee?” He stepped farther away and reached to toss a few more chips on the fire.

No.
She was ready for a proper bed, a big feather one with a thick down quilt. Or better yet – a hot bath and a clean dress, preferably silk.

“Can I clean up first?”

“No.”

“No?” Lucy gaped. “But look at me – I’m disgusting.”

Though he didn’t look up at her, Jed’s brow shot up as he blew a low breath across his bottom lip.

“I
have
looked at you,” he muttered. “And you’re even more beautiful this morning than you were last night.”

An unfamiliar warmth trickled through Lucy’s veins, but she ignored it. This was good, this was very good. Jed was already turning her way, and she hadn’t done a thing.

“Well, now.” She stepped next to him, folded her hand in his, and smiled up into his blushing face. “That’s the best thing a girl can hear first thing in the morning, even if it is a lie.”

His Adam’s apple bobbed twice before he looked back at her. “I won’t lie to you, Lucy. Ever.”

Shocked into silence, she couldn’t think of what to say. He couldn’t possibly think she looked beautiful. Beneath this hideous blanket, her dress – still filthy from the previous day’s work – was wrinkled and bunched in the most unappealing way possible. Her hair couldn’t look any better and her mouth tasted worse than last night’s supper, if that was at all possible.

Lucy forced herself back to reality. Jed might not lie, but she would if need be. Fortunately, at the moment, it wasn’t necessary.

“Thank you, Jed.” She pressed a soft kiss on his cheek.

Their eyes barely met before he looked away.

She slid up against him, belly to belly, and wrapped her blanket around both of them.

“Lucy. . .” Jed’s voice was barely a whisper now. “We can’t.”

“Mmmm,” she chuckled. “I think we can.”

Strong fingers squeezed her upper arms for a heartbeat before pushing her back. “No.”

Ugh – he couldn’t be more infuriating. Last night he’d bent to his desires, though only for a moment. This morning, he was back to his old stubborn self; back to being a wall of no’s.

She needed to keep Jed moving in one direction, but obviously she was going to have to make that happen with several different angles.

“Fine,” she pouted, taking a step back. “Then let’s get started on that coffee lesson.”

Jed’s shoulders relaxed as he sighed. He held up a tubular-shaped pot with a spout and instructed, “Fill it with water, to just under the spout.” He poured water from one of the buckets into the pot, tipping it slightly to show her where he’d filled to. “Then you set it over the fire to boil.”

He hung the coffeepot from the spit over the fire, then sat Indian style on the ground and reached for the bag of beans.

“Shouldn’t those go in the water?” So far it didn’t seem like she’d been too wrong last night.

His mouth twitched, his eyes crinkled, but he didn’t laugh – at least not out loud.

“We need to grind them first.”

“Grind them? Really?” Her cheeks heated at the realization of her error, and at how he’d guzzled two cups of the bean-filled brew. “Oops.”

Jed held up an odd looking contraption and nodded briefly. “Coffee grinder.”

The grinder was a small wooden box, with a drawer on the front and a black metal bowl on the top. Sticking out of the middle of the bowl was a long thin handle with a knob on the end. As Lucy watched, Jed poured beans into the bowl, set it in his lap and began cranking the handle.

Lucy stepped closer and peered into the bowl. Sure enough – the beans were being ground down until they disappeared through a tiny hole in the bottom of the bowl. When the last bean’s pieces slipped out of sight, Jed set the grinder next to him and slid out the drawer.

“Smell that,” he said, lifting it toward her nose.

Lucy jumped back, twisting her head away from the odd stench. “Yuck.”

“Best smell in the world,” Jed chuckled. A flash of something – regret? – crossed his eyes as he stared at her, then disappeared.

“If you say so.” Fighting against the need to shiver, she moved closer to the fire. If it meant she’d warm up, she might even consider drinking a cup of this revolting concoction herself. “Now what?”

“We wait for the water to boil.”

“I hate waiting.” Another oops – she hadn’t meant to say that out loud.

Jed grinned up at her. “Patience is a virtue, Lucy.”

“Yes,” she agreed with a sigh. She’d been called a lot of things in her life, but virtuous was never one of them. “And you’re probably wishing you’d taken one of those virtuous women from the auction yesterday instead of letting Miss Blake guilt you into buying me.”

Jed rose to his feet slowly, his grin gone, his face stern and tight.

“Nobody guilted me into anything.” His jaw tightened, then eased just enough for him to add, “I chose you for my own reasons, not because of anything Miss Blake said.”

“Then why?” She probably didn’t want to know the answer, but since it obviously made him uncomfortable, she needed to hear him say it aloud; pride be damned.

“Because.” He licked his lips and watched her for a long moment before he continued. “You were trying too hard to be something you’re not.”

“What do you mean?”

Jed tugged the blanket out of Lucy’s hands and let it fall to the ground. Before she could grab for it, he had both her hands in his.

“This.” He turned her hands over, palms up.

“What--” She tried to pull back, but he held her fast.

“These are not the hands of the spoiled princess you wanted me to think you were.” His thumb brushed over the large callous beneath her index finger and then moved over the others. A long shiver worked up her spine, but it wasn’t from the cold. In fact, this was the warmest she’d felt since leaving the auction yesterday.