Ana Seymour (13 page)

They were at her door. He hesitated. “So I guess we should say good-night,” he said.

The single wall sconce at the end of the hall was the only light, but it was enough to see his eyes, glittering gray. “All right,” she whispered, forgetting to breathe. “Good night.” She held the key in her hand and made no move to open her door.

After a long moment, he took it from her and reached around her to put it in the lock. His arm brushed along her back, almost like an embrace. The door swung open behind her. “There,” he said, straightening and holding the key out to her.

“Thank you.” The words were barely audible.

“Oh hell, Jennie,” he said then, and swept her against him. His lips crashed against her mouth as he picked her up totally and carried her backward into her room. Their lips stayed locked as he kicked the door shut behind him with his foot.

Her arms clung to his neck. The toes of her slippers touched the tops of his boots. “I didn’t think you would ever kiss me again,” she pulled away to murmur. “I thought you didn’t want to…I thought…”

“Shut up, sweetheart,” he said, then shut her up with his mouth and tongue and lips. His body reacted
instantly as it had earlier that day back on the road, but this time he made no effort to hide it from her. He put his hand below her waist, almost to the swell of her bottom and pushed her against him, groaning a little as his hardness pressed into her soft belly.

He tried to dredge some vestige of conscience and reason out of the depths of his wine and desirefogged mind, but it was hopeless. He’d wanted her since the day he’d seen her coming toward him with her basket of groceries. He’d lain awake at night in a sweat remembering the taste of her lips. She’d filled his dreams, awake and asleep, for weeks. And now she was in his arms, passionate and wanting.

His hands were shaking. He couldn’t remember ever needing a woman this much. He scooped her up and walked over to the bed, like some kind of dream sequence repeat of the night he’d done this very thing in an identical room. They’d stopped that night. They’d been sensible. He pushed the memory away.

He set her down next to the bed and leaned to kiss her neck. “You smell so good,” he told her. “Lilacs.”

“From the bath you ordered. Better than horse blanket,” she said with a low, mellow laugh that made his blood sing.

He continued to place gentle kisses up and down her neck as he began unbuttoning the top of her dress. “I spent the entire hour before supper picturing you in that bath. I wanted to break down your door.”

She laughed again. “They would have thrown you out of the hotel, Mr. Jones. Think of the scandal.”

Scandal Carter’s conscience tried to surface once
again. Making love to a virgin without the sanctity of marriage would be considered a scandal by most people.

From her neck, his lips followed the trail of opened buttons to the gentle swell of her breast. He could feel it on his lips, but could see little in the dark room. “Shall I turn on a light?” he asked, his voice low and husky.

“No!”

Her panicky response was a raw reminder that she was still innocent. But as he started to pull away, she reached to unfasten the ribbons of her corset, suddenly freeing her breasts entirely to his touch. Almost reverently, he placed his hands over them and felt the nipples swell into his palms.

“Ah, sweetheart, your body is beautiful, ready for loving.”

She pulled his head up to her mouth again and kissed him hungrily while his fingers toyed with her nipples. All at once, they were removing the rest of her clothing, then his, and pushing back the bedclothes to fall onto the starchy sheets, bodies entwined.

Jennie had the sensation of falling, tumbling like a boulder crashing down a mountainside. Her breasts had grown hard and incredibly sensitive with the touch of his roughened fingers. Then as she lay back against the pillows, he moved over her and encircled one of her nipples with his tongue. The feeling was exquisite, causing waves of feeling to radiate downward into her groin.

She gave a whimpery kind of groan and could feel
his smile against her sensitive skin. He laved the tip of one breast, then the other as Jennie lay still, too focused on the incredible new sensation to move.

“I thought about these, too, in your bath,” he said hoarsely. “These trim, firm breasts, just the right size to fill my hands.” He matched the action to the words, and she squirmed with pleasure.

He moved next to her, bringing their entire bodies into contact. As his lips continued their magic on her nipples, distracting her, his hand made circles along the warm skin of her stomach and abdomen, finally slipping between her legs to a place where even Jennie herself had never explored. She let her knees fall open slightly to give him greater access. He synchronized the movement of his fingers with the tugging at her breast, and as the rhythm became quicker, suddenly, without warning, her body exploded in a wild pulsing that made her grip his arms and cry out.

“Hush, sweetheart,” he murmured, lifting his head from her breast. “Or they really will throw me out of the hotel.”

He pulled himself over her and then inside her. It was odd and a little uncomfortable. Jennie had known that this was what was to happen, but after the magic of that one intense explosion, she felt confused and a little disappointed.

She tried to summon back the magic feelings that had started building at the hotel room door, but as he began to move inside her, the discomfort increased. She hadn’t realized that a man was so large and so hard. With the cooling of her ardor, came the realization of what had just happened.

She was no longer a virgin. She’d surrendered part of herself to a man who had promised her nothing more than a ride back home. She was as bad as Kate. No, she was worse than Kate. At least Kate had thought she’d been in love with Sean Flaherty. Jennie had no such illusions. Falling in love was for fools.

Once again, Carter sensed her withdrawal, but this time it was too late. He’d already entered her. He’d felt the tearing, the tightness. The deed was done, and still his body clamored for release. It took only three or four quick thrusts and then he pulled away to finish outside her warmth. It was the only way he’d ever taken a woman. It was his cardinal rule. Someday he might marry and experience the ultimate pleasure of depositing his seed inside his wife’s body, but until that time, he was determined not to breed a bastard.

Jennie was ominously quiet beneath him. He rolled to one side and leaned over to kiss her gently on the nose, the cheek, the lips. “I didn’t hurt you, did I, sweetheart?” he asked.

She didn’t answer, but in the darkness he could see the shake of her head.

He kissed her shoulder. “It’s never too easy for a woman the first time, they say.”

She still said nothing.

“But, so…are you all right?” He was beginning to worry. And the conscience that he’d held at bay during their frenzied lovemaking was now making its appearance in full battle gear.

She reached to draw a portion of the sheet over her naked body. “You didn’t hurt me,” she said.

Carter froze at the coolness of her tone. What had
happened to the laughing, mellow-voiced lover of only a few minutes before?

He sat up and pulled the covers around them, folding the tops of the sheets neatly over the blankets. Then he lay back down beside her. “Are we going to talk about this?” he asked.

He heard her sigh in the darkness. “I’m awfully tired,” she said.

She was obviously already regretting what had just happened between them. Carter tried to assuage the guilt that was creating an uncomfortable pressure in his chest. He had
not
seduced her, darn it. This thing between them had been building for weeks. Their lovemaking tonight had just happened naturally, like a spontaneous fire in a forest. And it had definitely been mutual. He moved close to her again, sliding an arm under her head so that she lay cradled against his shoulder. “This is new for me, too,” he said. “I’ve never—”

“I find that hard to believe,” she interrupted with a humorless laugh.

He continued gently, “What I was going to say is that I’ve made love, but never with a virgin. It was…a very special gift.”

“Do you men take extra pride in that?” she asked.

“That’s not fair,” he chided. “You act as if I’d planned this in order to…have my way with you.”

“Well, you’re the one who hired the faulty carriage.”

He pulled his arm from behind her and sat up, indignation taking over as the last residue of pleasure
faded. “And what? I deliberately broke the axle? You’re not even talking sense, Jennie.”

She sat up beside him and said a little contritely, “You’re right. I’m sorry. You were doing me a favor to bring me here to see Kate, and it’s not your fault that we were stranded. But I’m trying to understand what just happened to us here.”

He reached for her hand under the sheets. “What happened is that two people who’ve been attracted to each other for a long time finally found it impossible to refrain from seeking satisfaction for their desires.”

She pulled her hand away. “You make it sound very logical.”

“It’s the truth. You can’t deny this has been coming for a long time. We’ve both felt it.”

She didn’t try to deny it, but her voice was dispirited as she said. “Well, now we’ve satisfied our desires, as you put it. I guess we should get some sleep.”

“There’s more to it than that, Jennie. You didn’t give it a proper chance.” The moon had risen, casting a ray of light through the open curtains. In its shine on her cheeks he caught the glint of tears. So she wasn’t as indifferent as she was sounding. “Aw, sweetheart,” he said, reaching to lift her to his lap. “Don’t cry. It was beautiful.
You
were beautiful—my sweet, passionate, generous lover. Don’t be sorry. Don’t spoil it, darling. Let me show you how good it can be.”

He started to kiss her again and this time their mouths met with a sensual familiarity. He continued kissing her without any other caresses until he felt her
initial reluctance turn once again to interest and then to arousal.

With the edge off his sexual needs, this time he was able to be more deliberate. He lavished attention on all parts of her with his hands and his mouth, from her arched feet to the top of her high forehead, until she was vibrating like a finely tuned orchestra, all its sections harmonious.

She murmured his name and clung to him as he entered her again, unbelievably just as hard as he’d been the first time. But now she was sharing more fully in the experience. There was no hesitancy, no retreat. She arched her back and moved with him, her face in the moonlight a beautiful mixture of revelation and urgency. It set up a thunder throughout his body as they drove together toward completion. Hers came first, but his followed so instantaneously that the pulsing of their bodies merged.

He was reluctant to risk words. It had been such perfection, even without prior experience, she must realize it. He gathered her close in his arms and arranged the covers around them again. They lay pressed tightly together for several minutes, the only motion made by his hand running lightly up and down her arm.

She was the first to speak. “You were right,” she whispered. “There was more to it.”

He gave a low chuckle. “You’re a fast learner, Jennie Sheridan.”

“I think I had a good teacher.”

“No, it wasn’t me, sweetheart.”

They were silent for several more minutes, both
drifting to sleep, when Jennie said groggily, “Thank you for not losing patience with me when I snapped at you about the carriage.”

He pulled her closer and gave her a light kiss on the nose. “I don’t know, sweetheart. If I’d known the outcome, I just might have rigged that axle to give way.”

She gave him a sleepy smile. “So I’m right to be mistrustful.”

The observation was made in jest, but it made him pause. Hell, yes, she was right to be mistrustful. She was a beautiful, young single woman, alone in the world without protectors, without any family except a sister who obviously couldn’t even look after her own welfare, much less Jennie’s. Jennie should be mistrustful of every male she encountered, starting with Carter himself. He’d offered her his help, and when she accepted, look where they had ended up.

She felt so good against him, warm and relaxed. He felt a wave of protectiveness. “Yes, you should…” he began, but suddenly he realized her breathing had become deep and even. She’d fallen asleep.

As the minutes stretched out, he went over every minute of their encounter, his body quickening at the memory. It may have been unscrupulous of him to make love to her, but at least in the end it had been good—for
both
of them. Suddenly he frowned. Hellfire. It had been
too
damn good. For the first time ever he’d been too intensely involved in his climax to think about possible consequences.

He could feel a cold sweat break out on his forehead.
His stomach rolled with something resembling fear. He’d been reckless. He hadn’t followed his usual custom of pulling away at the end. And that meant that this lovely young woman lying peaceful and
trusting
in his arms could already be carrying his bastard child.

J
ennie knew the minute she opened her eyes that it was well past sunrise. What had happened? They’d been going to leave at dawn to get back to Vermillion. Then immediately the memories flooded in and she became aware that Carter was next to her, not touching her but inches away, the warmth of his body palpable on hers.

They’d made love. After swearing that she of all people would never be the type to mess up her life by losing her head and her heart to a man, here she was—lying in a hotel bed, naked and no longer virgin. Possibly already in the same condition as Kate. She shuddered, then looked quickly over at Carter to see if her movement had awakened him. She wished she could slip out of bed, get dressed and find her way back home without ever having to face him.

She wasn’t angry, at least, not with him. For a moment last night, she’d tried to be. After their first lovemaking, when she’d been uncomfortable and embarrassed, she’d tried to make herself believe that it was somehow all his fault. But even then she’d
known that it wasn’t. She’d gone to him willingly. She’d wanted it as much as he had.

She remembered last winter when Kate had become so enamored of Sean. It had felt so odd to see the two of them together, to see the glow on her sister’s cheeks when she’d come in after being alone with him out on the front porch. She’d been jealous. She and her sister had always been paramount in each other’s lives. She’d felt supplanted by this new interest. But, she admitted now as the morning sun reached high enough to stream in the hotel room window, she’d also been curious and more than a little envious.

Perhaps that was all this was about. She’d wanted to know what it could be like. She’d wanted to know what it was that could make a sensible, shy girl like Kate put aside her reason and her values. Well, now she knew. She’d experienced it for herself.

Snatches of the previous day floated through her head—the way Carter’s body had hardened out on the trail when she’d slid into his arms, the electric surge through her limbs as his eyes had met hers over dinner, the feel of his lips on her mouth and neck, and then, wonderfully, gently tugging her breasts. And, finally, that last union, that coming together that had seemed to turn her body inside out and filled her with an indescribable yearning to be one with this man, to belong to him and have him belong to her.

The feeling had been incredible, but was it worth it? Kate had undoubtedly felt that way about Sean before he’d abandoned her without a word, leaving
her to come crashing down to the reality of betrayal and lost reputation.

Still, she thought wistfully as Carter shifted nearer and her naked body involuntarily reacted, it had been an interesting experience. Lordy, parts of it had been downright amazing.

Carter moved again. He was definitely waking up. If she wanted to escape, it would have to be now. But instead she found herself moving toward him in the warm cocoon of covers. He hadn’t opened his eyes, but his arms came around her and his hard thighs brushed her softer ones. That part of him that had come together with her last night with such astonishing results was once again aroused. All thoughts of leaving fled.

“What a lovely way to wake up,” he murmured, his eyes fluttering open. His smile was tender and sensual. Jennie’s earlier doubts about the wisdom of what she was doing faded. Carter began to stroke her and drowsily nuzzled her neck, as Jennie gave herself up to sensations totally different from the desperate passions of the previous evening. There was a delicious coziness to their lovemaking this morning. It washed over her like a warm flood, filling her until she was once again tumbling over the edge in waves of sensation.

“Good morning, sweetheart,” Carter whispered when it was over and they’d both had several minutes to recover. He was sprawled diagonally across her, his head twisted to look up at her with a heavy-lidded grin.

She grinned back, her resolutions to guard her feelings
had disappeared. “Almost afternoon,” she said, nodding toward the window.

He pulled himself up beside her, kissed her right earlobe, then drew her more comfortably into his arms. “So who’s in a hurry?”

She was. She had forty hungry miners to feed. She was too replete with their lovemaking to try to tell that story to Carter at the moment, but she couldn’t afford to lose her job. She said simply, “We need to start back home.”

He kissed her forehead, then her lips, lightly. “Pity.”

She laughed low in her throat. “Don’t you have work to do, Mr. Prosecutor? What are we taxpayers paying you for?”

On top of the sheets he gave her a light swat on her bottom. “They pay me to referee the squabbles of the good citizens of Vermillion.” He was teasing, but Jennie’s smile died at the reference. Quickly Carter changed the topic. “I thought since we’re still here, you’d want to see your sister again this morning.”

This didn’t cheer her. “She acted as if she hardly noticed I was there yesterday.”

“Perhaps she was different because Wentworth was around. I’ll ask him to leave if he’s there today.”

“He didn’t seem to want to leave.”

“I don’t care what he wants. I’ll see to it that you get your privacy.”

She gave him a grateful smile, then reluctantly slid away from his warmth to sit up. She put her legs over the side of the bed, but then became suddenly shy at
her nakedness. “I should probably wash up before we go to the hospital.”

He lifted the sheet she’d dragged with her to take a joking peek underneath, but said, “And I’d guess that you don’t want me here watching you.”

Her face started to flame. She’d let him do incredibly intimate things to her body. It was probably absurd for her to be modest suddenly. But somehow in the broad daylight, it seemed different.

He didn’t wait for her to answer. With a quick roll he was up from the bed himself, gathering the clothes that were still scattered around the room. “I’ll wash up myself next door,” he said with a smile. “Then I’ll come by for you and we’ll go down for some breakfast.”

“Breakfast?”

“Jennie, darlin’,” he said, pulling on his clothes. “I don’t know about you, but I’ve worked up an appetite.”

In spite of the huge dinner they’d had the previous evening, Jennie was hungry, too. “I guess I could eat something.”

He crossed back to the bed with three quick strides and bent down to kiss her hard on her mouth. “That’s my girl,” he said. “I’ll be back in twenty minutes.”

It was a brilliant fall day. The sky looked impossibly blue against patches of red sumac scattered up in the hills as they made their way across town. Jennie’s spirits were high. That’s my girl, Carter had said, and, contrary to everything she’d thought she wanted for her life, Jennie suddenly felt that that was
precisely what she wanted to be. Carter’s girl. Kate wouldn’t believe it, she thought with a giggle—her prickly, independent older sister acting giddy and lovestruck and perfectly content to have a man—a
man
—order her dinner and call her his girl.

But the sight of the imposing hospital building tempered her good mood. She wondered if Kate would be any more receptive today, would appear any more animated. Gracious, how could she go through the distress of a difficult birth and subsequently care for a child if she continued in that apathetic state?

As she’d feared, Lyle was there again in her sister’s room. He looked surprised to see them. “What are you two still doing here?” he asked. “Did you spend the night?”

Carter answered, “Our carriage broke down. We were forced to turn back.”

Jennie didn’t care what Lyle thought about her overnight stay. She was more concerned with her sister, who once again seemed too listless to even care that her sister had come to visit. Trying to push aside the panicky feeling it gave her to see her in such a state, Jennie crossed over to her bed to give Kate a hug. Then she turned to Lyle, who was sitting in the chair by Kate’s bed, and asked, “May I sit next to her for a while?”

Lyle looked as if he weren’t sure he would relinquish his post.

“In fact, Wentworth,” Carter said loudly from the door, “how about if you and I go downstairs for some coffee and let the sisters talk by themselves?”

Lyle stood and motioned for Jennie to take his seat,
but instead of walking toward the door, he walked over to the window well and supported himself on the ledge. “As a matter of fact, it’s a good thing that you’re here, Jennie. You can help Kate straighten out her thinking on a certain matter that’s been causing her some anxiety.”

Jennie looked at her sister in surprise, but Kate turned her eyes away. “What matter is that?”

“Do you want to explain it to her, Kate?” Lyle asked. His voice was pleasant, but something in the way he spoke to Kate made Jennie’s blood chill. He sounded like a parent talking to a naughty child.

Kate looked down at her hands, folded on the sheet in front of her, and shook her head.

“What is it, sis?” Jennie asked, trying to will some animation into her.

But Kate remained silent as Lyle said, “It’s about the adoption.”

Jennie’s head jerked toward him. “Adoption!”

“The adoption of the child. I’ve arranged it privately. I didn’t want one of those institutional muddles that can come back to haunt you later on. This will be private and quick. The family is impeccable.”

Jennie’s jaw had dropped open. She stared first at Lyle, then at her sister, whose eyes were still lowered. Utterly at a loss for words, she put her hands on her hips and turned toward Carter, expecting to see her shock mirrored on his face.

Instead, he was watching Kate in the bed. The expression on his face was odd, but it was neither surprised nor horrified.

Jennie turned back to Lyle. “There is not going to be an adoption. Kate is
not
giving away her baby.”

Lyle’s face didn’t change. “I don’t think you quite understand, Jennie. I was hoping you’d be more reasonable than your sister’s been up to now. I’ve more or less convinced her that this is her only sensible choice, and I think you’re making it harder on her by trying to maintain this illusion.”

Jennie jumped to her feet and walked over to Lyle, furious, and interrupted his calm flow of words. “No,
you’re
the one who doesn’t understand, Lyle Wentworth. This baby is Kate’s son or daughter.”

“Daughter,” Kate murmured. And for the first time in two days, Jennie saw the touch of a smile light her sister’s face.

She turned again to face Lyle. “This baby is Kate’s daughter, my niece, Francis and John Sheridan’s grandchild. She’s not going to be adopted. She’s not going to live with anyone else but Kate and me, her rightful family.”

Lyle pushed himself off the window ledge and stood towering over her, but Jennie was too furious to be intimidated. “It’s nonsense to think of raising a child without a father and without a name.”

Jennie turned to look at Kate. “Surely, you’re not listening to him, Katie?”

Her sister was sitting up a little straighter in the bed and there was finally some color in her cheeks. “Oh, Jennie. I haven’t known what to think. There’s some truth to what he says. It may be unfair to the child. She won’t have a last name. She would have no legal standing.”

“Oh, poppycock.” Jennie turned to Carter. “You’re the lawyer. Tell her that it’s perfectly legal for a child to carry its mother’s name. What difference does a name make, anyway?”

Carter’s expression was grim. “Lyle’s right. A name
can
make a difference. If he’s really got a good home lined up for this baby, you two might want to consider it.”

His words were like a slap across the face. She glared at him, then back at Lyle, who said, “Thank you, Jones. Leave it to a man to be sensible about these things.”

Jennie felt as if her head were about to explode. “
Sensible!
We’re talking about a baby here, a precious new human being to be cherished and loved, not some kind of puppy dog that can be handed off to any old household in the neighborhood.”

“Do you really think we could make everything all right for her, Jennie?” Kate asked, her voice suddenly hopeful.

“Of course, we’ll make it all right. Criminy, Kate, no wonder you look so peaked and worn out. How long has he been badgering you with these crazy notions?” She pointed to Lyle as if he were a snake that had crawled into the kitchen.

“Adoption is not a crazy notion,” Lyle retorted. The calmness had finally left his voice and it now held barely leashed anger. “It’s an honorable and necessary solution for girls like Kate who find themselves in trouble.”

Jennie whirled around toward him. “Kate’s only
trouble is having to listen to sanctimonious fools like you try to tell her how to run her life.”

“Jennie,” Carter admonished from the doorway.

But Lyle wanted to handle his own defense. “I’ve been here every day taking care of your sister, which is more than I can say for you, Jennie. If it weren’t for me she’d have been entirely alone, left up to the whims of this overworked hospital staff. I’ve been the one here each day insisting that she get the proper care.”

Kate’s face lost some of its glow. “He’s right, Jennie. Lyle’s been a big help.”

Jennie tried to get her temper under control. “I thank you for all that help, Lyle. It was hard for me to leave Kate here alone and hard for her to be alone. But that doesn’t give you the right to come in and tell her that she has to give up her child.”

“I’m not telling her anything, I’m merely helping make arrangements for the best solution for everyone.”

“Maybe you should calm down a little, Jennie, and listen to what he’s telling you,” Carter said.

Jennie couldn’t tell which man was making her angrier, but Carter’s words sliced deeper. After the intimacy they’d shared and the special way she was beginning to feel about him, it was especially difficult to hear him talk so coldly about her sister’s baby.

She took a deep, steadying breath and walked over to sit beside Kate on the bed. Taking her sister’s hand in hers, she addressed both men. “You know what, gentlemen? I’m going to have a nice, long talk with my sister. A private talk. Carter, if you’d be willing
to wait for me, I’d appreciate the ride back to Vermillion later this morning. If not, I’ll find my own transportation. And Lyle, it will be up to my sister if she wants to continue to receive you, but please don’t come back until after I’ve left.”