OUT OF THE DARKNESS (THE PRESCOTT SERIES) (15 page)

Then the voice came, faintly at first, gaining str
ength with each word–persistent in its quest. The darkness began to recede. It became shades of gray, then gradually a soft haze. Warm and secure she slept.

Jason woke slowly, immersed in the warmth lying next to him. His arm, draped around her waist, pressed her body into the curve of his own. He closed his eyes, breathed deeply, and let his body enjoy the softness of the woman he held: the smell of her hair, the sweet scent that was hers alone. His body tightened. He had been so long without the pleasure of holding a woman beside him in sleep. He wanted to savor each nerve-racking sensation, before she awoke.

One hand lay on his chest, palm down. She had tucked her bright, red head underneath his chin. Her hair spread in a tangled mass across his chest. Small dainty feet snuggled between his legs for warmth. Her full, yet slim, womanly hips fit firmly against his groin which was starting to stir to life.

How, he wondered, could such a slight, slip of a girl cause such a wild, turbulent, emotions deep within him?
Tenderness, compassion, even admiration, but most of all this groin-pulsating desire.

He had not meant to sleep through the night next to
her. But, as he sat on her bed speaking to her, it seemed he couldn’t reach her. Her nightmare had sucked her into its relentless grasp, not willing to relinquish her to his continual efforts. Finally, he slid under the covers and held her close. Crooning soft words, he soothed her fears. She quieted, and he’d fallen asleep.

He gently rose
to leave the room. He took one last look back to see if he had disturbed her. She slept on. Beautiful, desirable, unattainable. Jason closed the door, leaving his dreams and hopes behind.

Jade spent the day acquainting herself with her new home. If they were going to town the next day, as Jason said, she would need a list of supplies. Making a thorough inspection of the kitchen, Jade noticed many staples were in short supply. There were several things they would need. She made a mental note of each item. She had cleaned the kitchen and her bedroom. The living area required little attention.

A
t Jason’s bedroom door trepidation coiled in her stomach. Should she enter or not? After all, this was Jason’s personal domain. The room he’d shared with his wife. He may not want her, Jade, here in this inner sanctum. From where she stood, she could not see any item that resembled a cherished and private shrine to his wife. One foot stepped over the threshold, the other followed. She couldn’t leave this room unattended or uncared for any more than she could leave the rest of the house unclean.

His clothes hung over the back of a chair
that matched the desk beside it. The washbasin, a duplicate to the one in her room, was against the wall that separated their rooms. Just as in her room, there was only one window to let the sunlight in to dance across the floor. A small table stood beside the bed holding only a lamp and a hairbrush. A rug, made similar to hers, lay on the floor beside the bed.

Jade looked at the rumpled bed and remembered the warmth of her own bed this morning, as
if someone had just left before she awoke. Her blood surged with the thought of sharing a bed with Jason. But, he didn’t want her, he wanted a ‘marriage of convenience’, and she had best not forget. Oh, but what if? A deep sigh escaped her.

She wondered if she had shared a bed with a man before, slept beside him,
enjoyed the warmth of two bodies lying close to one another. Heard the soft whisper of covers moving in the still of the night as those same two bodies created a warmth of their own. Of course, in her condition, the answer was yes. She had no memory of making love and wondered if reality had been as wonderful as she imagined it would be with Jason.

Stop this she scolded herself. A ‘marriage of convenience’ he said. She would hold herself
to the bargain he insisted on.

But what of yesterday?
Had he been about to kiss her? She had waited for his head to come closer. Then just as her eyes started to close and her lips parted to welcome the warmth of his mouth, he turned away, leaving her to deal with the coil of fire writhing its way through her body. It took hours before the tension gripping her woman’s core eased. It still hovered below the surface, ready to ignite at any given moment.

Taking control of her wayward sense
s, Jade marched into the room. She quickly made the bed, picked up his dirty clothes, and fled back out the door. Now, that wasn’t so bad. She laughed at herself for being so ridiculous.

Mesmerized
by the clothes she held in her hand, she brought the shirt to her face. Jason’s manly scent clung to his garments. The smoldering embers banked inside her burst into an open flame. Infuriated with herself, she threw the clothes in the corner with the rest of the washing and went about her daily chores.

With Jason still rounding up cattle
, Jade ate the noon meal alone. Emma began fussing right after she ate. Jade despaired of ever getting her to sleep. Finally, she had given her a small wet cloth to chew on. Jade would be glad when her teeth popped through her gums and didn’t hurt her so much. Tired, Jade took the baby to bed with her for a nap.

“Miss Jade, are
ya in thar,” Cookie hollered from the doorway. “Hey, Miss Jade, can ya hear me.”

Jade, carrying Emma on her hip stepped to the door with a smile. Cookie held a pot in both hands containing steaming hot stew.

“I brung ya some stew fer supper. I know ya been feelin’ kinda poorly,” Cookie offered.

With a nod of her head and a wide smile, she opened the door, and
stood back so he could enter. She had him place the iron pot on the stove to keep supper warm until Jason returned.

“You and the
little’un go ahead and eat. Jason won’t be back ‘til late ta’night,” Cookie informed her.

Her smile faded
, and she could tell by the irritation that crossed his homely face that he realized Jason hadn’t said anything to her about not being home for supper.

“It’s
plum shameful the way that boy treats such a pretty little thing like you. He should’a told ya hisself he’d be late ‘cause they had’ta track a mountain lion what killed a young calf.

“Don’t
ya give that boy a second thought? You just eat and go on to bed. Jason’ll be back as soon as he’s tended to business.” Cookie left, without taking a breath during the whole of his tirade. He was still mumbling as he crossed the yard to the bunkhouse.

~~~

After scouring the land for stray cattle, Jason and Pete had come across a calf mutilated by a mountain lion. With the cattle safe in the lower pasture, and plans to leave for town the next day, he decided to hunt down the animal. He sent Willie back to the ranch to tend to chores and tell Cookie they’d return late.

Pete
picked up the lions trail soon after they found the kill. The tracks led to its lair: a cave inside a rock formation on the south end of the ranch. Unaware the lion had circled back on them, Jason looked up to see it lunge for Pete. Raising his rifle, he pulled the trigger. The dead mountain lion fell a few feet from where Pete stood.

Eyes round, Pete gasped, “Thanks, boss.” He rubbed his forearm across his brow.

Jason gave a hearty chuckle. “I didn’t think your old meatless bones looked good enough to eat. But I guess to a starving lion anything looks good.”

“Well, he’s not the only one hungry, I’m starved.”

“Mount up and we’ll go. It’s going to be dark before we get home.”

Pete eyed the carcass at his feet. “
Why don’t I take this thing back and tan the hide?” His voice still held a little touch of shock at his close call. “It would give me pleasure to tack this mountain lions hide to the barn wall after the scare it gave me.”

“Sure.
I think there’s a barrel of salt in the barn you can use. If not, Jade and I are going to town tomorrow, we’ll pick up a barrel then,” Jason said.

He helped Pete throw the hundred-and-forty pound carcass over the back of his skittish horse. Glad this chore hadn’t taken longer they mounted and rode toward home.

Jason unsaddled his horse and turned him loose in the corral. The sun had slipped over the horizon an hour ago, and he and Pete had finished the trip home in the dark. Careful not to let the door slam, he stepped inside the kitchen. Hungry, he searched and found a pan of stew on the stove, still warm. He ate and put the dishes in a pan of water to soak.

Silently,
he entered Jade’s room. She began to moan and toss in her sleep. Jason stripped, gently pulled back the covers, and slid in next to her warm body. He curled around her spoon fashion and softly crooned her into a peaceful sleep.

He made sure he was gone before
she woke the next morning.

Thrilled, Jade got out of bed earlier than usual. Today they were going to town. She would see Margaret and her family, again. After she dressed Emma and made breakfast, they could get an early start. She headed for the kitchen smiling with ill-concealed excitement.

Jason stood at the sink, naked from the wais
t up. Jade sucked in her breath. The slight sound alerted him to her presence, and he whirled around to face her. He had been in the process of rinsing lather from his freshly-shaven face.

Water dripped from his chin to land on his well-muscled chest.
Her gaze riveted on the drop liquid, she watched it trickle down to catch his hard male nipple. It suspended there for the longest length of time before it continued its spiraling journey downward. Jade couldn’t take her eyes from the path the rivulet of water traveled. It landed on the plane of his flat stomach, detouring around corded muscles. The droplet changed directions with each harsh breath he took as it descended. It grazed his navel, followed the light sprinkle of dark hair, and was gradually absorbed by the waistline of his trousers. With the top button unfastened, his pants hung open nearly exposing…what? Jade wasn’t quite sure, but it moved.

Her shocked gaze flew to
Jason’s. Heat burned her face, and she turned and nearly ran to pick up Emma who was trying to climb out of her bed.

Da
mmit, Jason grumbled to himself. So much for trying to keep her ignorant of the rampant lust he had for her. When he’d turned to see her standing there he’d forgot all about being half-naked, his pants unbuttoned. As her green eyes traveled down his body, his heart thudded in his chest, his breath became labored, and his arousal stood stiff and strong.

Surely, she knew enough about a man’s bod
y that what she saw didn’t shock her. She couldn’t be as innocent as her expression suggested. He splashed water against his cheeks and dried his face. Finished with his ablutions he went to his room to change clothes. When he’d climbed out of her bed, a while ago, he hoped to be shaved and dressed before she woke.

Now she’d be leery of him. Unsure if she could trust him. He shrugged his arms into the sleeve of his shirt and buttoned it. She would just have to learn he was a man of his word. That no matter how great the temptation
, he’d not force himself on her.

Now, if she wanted to change the terms of their ‘marriage of convenience’ that was a different matter.

Jade busied herself by feeding Emma the oatmeal she’d made for a quick breakfast. She couldn’t look at Jason without the thoughts of all that bare, male flesh appearing in her mind’s eye. During her visual replay, she would turn all red again and the familiar coil of desire would gnaw at her insides.

Thankfully, Jason didn’t
appear to detect her nervousness. This ‘marriage of convenience’ worked just fine for him, Jade chided herself. Her presence didn’t bother him at all, or plagued him with the same attraction it did her. Yet, when he thought she wasn’t looking, she’d caught him staring at her with an intensity she didn’t understand. Not the warm, loving affection John and Margaret shared but something more intense. It was hot, piercing, going straight to her woman’s core. It kindled an inferno that blazed hotter than a prairie fire. Jade worried what her rampant emotions suggested about the type of woman she was that she could be so easily aroused by the glance of a man so potently male.

“I’ll bring the wagon around and we can head for town,” Jason said as he
walked out the door.

She
wrapped a blanket around Emma and waited on the porch, seated in one of the two chairs. Jason drove up in the wagon. He jumped down to help her and Emma into the seat, then took his place. Picking up the lines, he set the team in motion.

Jason couldn’t remember the ride
into town being this uncomfortable. Maybe it was the fact the seat was smaller than it was when he brought Margaret to the ranch. With each jolt or sway of the wagon, Jade’s hip bounced against his, until finally, she scooted over close enough to brace herself against his side. Maybe he should rethink this ‘marriage of convenience’. Surely, there wasn’t any reason for them not to have a real marriage.

Against his better judgment, h
e found himself caring more for her each day. It wasn’t just a physical attraction. He wanted to protect her from her nightmares. Spend his evenings doing nothing but looking at her. Even in her silence, her presence was exciting, yet relaxing.