Untamed Journey (35 page)

Ruth quickly averted her blushing face and
turned around. She lifted her heavy hair off her neck to grant him
better access.

He slowly approached, steadying her wavering
balance with one hand on her tiny waist. He lifted several curls
that had escaped Ruth’s hands, slowly placing each one across the
front of her chest, watching the way each one curled around her
swelling breasts. He lingered as long as he could stand it without
touching, then turned his attention to the first of her laces.

He carefully undid the knot at the back of
her neck, taking more time than the task required. He unlaced each
hook, one by one, deliberately stroking his large thumb across the
exposed flesh of her spine.

When he reached the last tie, Jackson lifted
his left hand to the nape of Ruth’s neck. He placed nothing more
than his rough thumb at the top of her exposed flesh. He could feel
his own flesh swell in protest and yearning as he listened to her
rapid breathing. He stroked the length of her back, down each inch
of bare skin.

After he untied the final clasp of her dress,
he waited to hear a protest from Ruth. Hearing none, he stroked
both hands into the gap of her dress and parted the folds of cloth
until he could splay his hands fully across the flesh of her
back.

He paused at her naked shoulders. “Do you
need more?”

At the curious look in Ruth’s eyes, he
elaborated. “Help washing your back? Or should I leave you to your
bath?” Jackson asked quietly into her ear.

Ruth was shivering along her spine, but not
from the cold. She wanted his hands to keep undressing her, without
having to ask. She met him halfway, nodding her consent. But to
what, and how much, even she didn’t want to stop and think. Knowing
the full pleasure he could give her made it nearly impossible to
refuse his offer of more.

Inhaling sharply at Ruth’s barely perceptible
nod, Jackson prayed his self-control was as good as he thought. But
with this woman – his woman – he had already broken his own best
intentions. His past was not a reliable measure where Ruth was
concerned.

He slowly stroked his hands down the tops of
Ruth’s shoulders, pulling the cloth down to her wrists. He gently
clasped her left hand, rubbing his thumb back and forth across her
warm palm, and then gradually untangling her hand from the sleeve.
He repeated the same painstaking process to her right sleeve, right
wrist, and palm.

Her dress clung to her rounded hips until he
tugged it gently down her swaying thighs. He stroked one hand along
the curve of her backside, causing the velvet to drop to the floor
and pool at her bare feet.

Ruth stood with her back exposed to Jackson’s
hot gaze, with nothing remaining between them but a thin, silky
camisole, so threadbare as to be nearly see-through. Her skin
burned where the palm of his hand rested, clasped around the curve
of her bottom. He didn’t turn her around, not wanting to lose the
contact.

Jackson stroked up over her curves and back
down again, until he cupped both cheeks in his hands. With the thin
silk still between their flesh, he knelt at her feet, stroking over
the back of her thighs, calves, and back up to Ruth’s enticing
hips. When she was forced to grasp the back of the nearest chair to
keep her trembling legs from collapsing, he slid two fingers of his
work-roughened hand across her most sensitive flesh, loving the
feel of the rapidly dampening silk against his skin.

Her body curved of its own volition toward
Jackson’s pleasing touch, and she arched her back in utter pleasure
as he continued to stroke across her sensitive flesh. Ruth gasped
when she felt his finger enter her moist center, taking the silk
cloth with him.

Jackson ever so slowly withdrew his index
finger, leaving the cloth tucked inside her. He deliberately tugged
on the cloth, making sure to pull so gently that Ruth felt every
inch of silk slide out.

At her quickening breath, he repeated the
process, in and out, back and forth, each time gently tugging white
silk out of her hot, wet insides. He increased the depth and then
increased the width, pushing two fingers and then three into Ruth’s
clasping body. As she climaxed and groaned his name in abandonment,
he placed his beard roughened cheek against her undulating
backside, needing desperately to gain control of his demanding body
before he gave into foolish temptation and dragged her to the
floor.

As Ruth’s undulations slowed, he inhaled
deeply and stood up behind her, to matter-of-factly tug her chemise
off her heated flesh. “Get in the water, now. It’ll get cold
soon.”

At she turned a dazed stare over her
shoulder, Jackson lifted her naked body into his arms. He did his
best not to stare and torment himself further. Setting her down
gently, he handed her the soap. Without another word, he took her
still-dazed mouth in an open-tongued kiss before walking outside,
into the cooling snow.

R
uth barely managed
to drag herself up to her own bed, she was so exhausted. Even so,
she did not fall asleep right away, her thoughts preoccupied with
Jackson. She was quickly and completely falling in love with this
man, she admitted to herself in the dark of her room. Seeing him
take care of Meghan and Tom, and look out for their family’s needs,
only cemented her feelings.

Ruth wanted nothing more than to have someone
at her back in this uncertain world. She had felt afraid since the
day her father and brother marched off to war, never to return. And
two years later, when her mother died, she felt both afraid and
alone, spending every waking minute scrounging for food or
scrambling out of the path of occupying Union troops.

Since Ruth had joined Jackson on his ranch,
she’d felt secure and full of hope. She knew in her heart that this
was the right man for her, but what could she do about the stranger
she had married?

She tossed and turned, trying to reconcile
her desires with a need to be honest with Jackson. She had been
brought up to value honesty and integrity above all things, but the
War had taught her practicality as well. She had no guarantees that
an honest confession to Jackson would be met with understanding and
support. He had every right to feel betrayed. And Ruth worried that
he just might cut all ties with her. She would then be left with
the desperate choice of joining a stranger as a new wife, but no
longer a virgin, or setting out on her own into the still wild
Colorado Territory. Completely and utterly alone once again.

A
n hour or so after
Ruth fell into a fitful sleep, Jackson gave up his battle with the
cold, hard floor of the sitting room and went to join her. He
quietly opened his bedroom door, taking care not to wake her.

He stopped for a moment to appreciate the
sight of such a fine woman in his bed. He studied every lush curve
outlined by the full moon, and mentally plotted how to keep her
there – permanently.

He felt himself stir at the thought, and
wondered fleetingly if she might not welcome him into her sweet
body again. But he knew she must be both exhausted and sore, and
would no doubt throw him out into the cold if he tried further
seduction now. Jackson smiled to himself and decided a sleepless
night in her warm arms was still better than the cold floor, and
quickly joined her in the feather bed. He settled himself against
her warm backside, pulling her into his arms. She felt right,
tucked into his chest.

Jackson wanted nothing more than to secure a
place in her future, and silently apologized to Ruth in advance for
the coming days. He knew she was a lady, and that the right thing
to do would be to take a step back and court her with flowers and
sweet words. She deserved time to make up her mind.

But the man who was raised on the untamed
frontier wanted her now, completely, with no possibility of losing
her to another man. He made up his mind right there to step up his
seduction, and leave her no room for second guesses or guilty
regrets about family promises. She was his now. He knew it to the
depths of his bones. All that was left was to convince Ruth that
she felt the same.

Jackson smiled quietly in anticipated
triumph. He had the advantage of three days alone with a freshly
seduced virgin, and her newly awakened curiosity would be his
greatest ally.

T
he next morning,
Jackson woke early, hoping to entice Ruth with hot coffee and fresh
eggs in bed. Instead, he rolled over to cold sheets where his new
love should have been.

Where on earth she could be at this hour?

He didn’t have long to wonder, as he heard
Ruth’s lilting voice coming from downstairs. He pulled on his shirt
and went below, following her voice into the kitchen.

“Good morning.” Jackson’s sleepy voice
greeted Ruth from the doorway.

She turned around with a polite smile and a
steaming cup of coffee.

Jackson stepped forward, pulling her into his
arms, and rescued the gorgeous smelling coffee at the same time. He
stole a quick kiss from a startled Ruth, who immediately
blushed.

“A very good morning, by my sights,” Jackson
said heartily. His rich laughter filled the tiny kitchen as he
gulped down half the coffee, before pulling Ruth fully into both
arms for a proper kiss.

She didn’t protest. She was secretly pleased
to have the decision to touch made for her. It was what she had
wanted from the moment she woke up next to his naked chest, and
found herself stroking his muscled flank while he slept. She had
only pulled her hands from his warm skin once she had stopped
feeling – and started thinking. Her sleepy and jumbled thoughts had
started contemplating exactly how bad a sin it was to be sharing a
bed with this man. She was married, after all, just not to the
naked man next to her. Ruth had jumped out of bed at that guilty
thought, and sworn herself to fortitude when next in Jackson’s
presence.

When he started stirring and pulled the wool
blanket down to where it barely covered his morning erection, Ruth
fled down the stairs before she did something rash.

Jackson felt Ruth tugging on his rumpled
hair. He regretfully pulled his coffee stained lips from hers.

“Yes, Madam?” he inquired politely.

“We should get going if we’re going to be on
time,” Ruth insisted.

He furrowed his brows. “On time for
what?”

“For breakfast – I packed a basket already.
I’ve got hard-boiled eggs, fresh biscuits, jam, and cold ham. Do
you think it’ll be enough?” she asked, pointing in the direction of
the picnic basket sitting on the table behind Jackson.

She slipped out of his arms when he turned to
examine the contents of the basket.

“Good Lord, woman. While you certainly worked
up my appetite last night, the two of us couldn’t possibly eat all
this.”

“It’s not just for us,” she explained with a
tiny laugh. “We’re taking breakfast over to Sue and the Brown
family. I was certain Sue would be too tired to cook, so I thought
we could ride over and help out.”

“That’s kind of you. But trust me. Sue could
cook breakfast for an army single-handedly. Why don’t you and I
take this up to bed instead?” Jackson suggested with a crooked
smile.

Ruth’s insides melted in temptation, but she
was sure some breathing room was a better choice for her. She
needed to stop and think straight. And she had quickly learned that
thinking was an impossible task when Jackson was within reach.

“The food will be cold if we don’t leave
soon,” she said, ignoring his suggestion. “Why don’t you stay here
and get some rest, and I’ll take this over? I remember the way.”
Ruth inched toward the door, thinking she’d found the perfect
solution.

“You wait right there. It’s too far for you
to ride off on your own. I’ll be washed, dressed and down in five
minutes.” Jackson had the kitchen door swinging behind him before
she could protest.

She sighed in relief the minute she was
alone, thinking she would soon have company to water down Jackson’s
seductive effect on her.

J
ackson smiled at
Sue’s reaction to their knock at the door, thinking his plans for
seduction would not be wasted this fine day.

“What on earth are you two doing here?” Sue
demanded the instant she pulled open the front door of the Brown’s
simple clapboard house. “Turn yourselves right back around and get.
You two are carrying too many germs to be near this new baby and
her exhausted mama. We’re not accepting any visitors for the next
three days. You should know better, Ruth,” Sue chided.

“Well, I thought you might need some food,”
Ruth whispered rather contritely, knowing the older woman was
right. Her father had been a big believer in the idea of
microscopic organisms causing most disease.

“I appreciate the offer,” Sue nodded her
head. “But I’m sure you’d agree that even taking the food would not
be wise. You two go off and enjoy it. There’s no sense in letting
it go to waste. It smells wonderful.”

With no further discussion, Sue firmly shut
the door in Ruth’s face.

“C
ome on, Miss Ruth,”
Jackson challenged. “Let’s see what you can do on one of my own
mounts. It’s a two mile ride over tough terrain to the perfect spot
for a picnic.”

“And what do I get if I win?” Ruth countered,
not ready to concede the fact that she had been outmaneuvered.

“Anything you want,” he promised as he rode
up beside her, lifted her gloved hand off the pommel, and raised it
to his lips. He brushed aside the edge of her riding glove and
placed a careful kiss at the base of her wrist. “Tell me what you
want, Ruth.”