The Proposal & Solid Soul (12 page)

And she was his.

Absolutely and positively his.

Her tea-length dress was ivory in color and made of silk chiffon and fitted at her small waist with a rose in the center. It was a perfect match for the ivory satin rose-heeled shoes on her feet. White roses were her favorite flower and she’d used them as the theme in their wedding. Even her wedding bouquet had consisted of white roses.

His chest expanded with so much love for her, love she didn’t know about yet. He had a year to win her over and intended to spend the next twelve months doing just that. But now, he needed for her to know just how much she was desired.

He lowered his head and kissed her, letting his tongue tangle with hers, reacquainting himself with the taste of her, a taste he had not forgotten and had so desperately craved since the last time. He kissed her deeply, not allowing any part of her mouth to go untouched. And she returned the kiss with a hunger that matched his own and he was mesmerized by how she was making him feel.

He tightened his hold on her, molding his body to hers, and was certain she could feel the hot ridge of his
erection pressing against her. It was throbbing something awful with a need for her that was monumental. He had wanted her for a long time…ever since he’d seen her that night at the ball, and his desire for her hadn’t diminished any since. If anything, it had only increased to a level that even now he could feel his gut tighten in desire. Taking her hands he deliberately began slowly lifting her dress up toward her waist.

“Wrap your legs around me, Bella,” he whispered and assisted by lifting her hips when she wrapped her legs around him to walk her toward the bedroom. It was a huge suite and he was determined that later, after they took care of business in the bedroom, they would check out all the amenities the suite had to offer; especially the large Jacuzzi bathtub. Already he saw the beauty of downtown Denver from their hotel room window. But downtown Denver was the last thing on his mind right now. Making love to his wife was.

His wife.

He began kissing her again, deeper and longer, loving the way her tongue mated with his over and over again. He placed her on the bed while reaching behind her to unfasten her dress and slide it from her body. It was then that he took a step back and thought he was dreaming. No fantasy could top what he was seeing now.

She was wearing a white lace bra and matching panties. On any other woman such a color would come across as ultrainnocence, but on Bella it became the epitome of sexual desire.

He needed to completely undress her and did so while thinking of everything he wanted to do to her. When she was on her knees in the middle of the bed naked, he could tell from her expression that this was the first
time a man had seen her body and the thought sent shivers through him as his gaze roamed over her in male appreciation. A shudder of primal pride flowed through him and he could only stand there and take her all in.

An erection that was already hard got even harder when he looked at her chest, an area he had yet to taste. Her twin globes were firm. His tongue tingled at the thought of being wrapped around those nipples.

No longer able to resist temptation, he moved toward the bed and placed a knee on it and immediately leaned in to capture a nipple in his mouth. His tongue latched on the hard nub and began playing all kinds of games with it. Games she seemed to enjoy if the way she was pushing her breasts deeper into his mouth was anything to go by.

He heard her moan as he continued to torture her nipples, with quick nips followed by sucking motions and when he reached down to let his hands test her to see how ready she was, he found she was definitely ready for him. Pulling back he eased from the bed to remove his clothes as she watched.

“I’m not on the Pill, Jason.”

He glanced over at her. “You’re not?”

“No.”

And evidently thinking she needed to explain further she said, “I haven’t been sexually active with anyone.”

“Since?”

“Never.”

A part of him wasn’t surprised. In fact, he had suspected as much. He’d known no other man had performed oral sex on her but hadn’t been sure of the depth of any other sexual experience. “Any reason you hadn’t?”

She met his gaze and held it. “I’ve been waiting for you.”

He drew in a sharp breath and wondered if she knew what she’d just insinuated and figured she hadn’t. Maybe she hadn’t insinuated anything and it was just wishful thinking on his part. He loved her and would give just about anything for her to love him in return. And until she said the words, he wouldn’t assume anything.

“Then your wait is over, sweetheart,” he said, sliding on a condom over the thickness of his erection while she looked on. And from the fascinated expression on her face he could tell what she was seeing was another first for her.

When he completed that task he moved to the bed and toward her. “You are so beautifully built, Jason,” she said softly, and as if she needed to test her ability to arouse him, she leaned up and flicked out her tongue, licking one of the hardened nubs on his breast like he’d done earlier to her.

He drew in a sharp intake of breath. “You’re a quick learner,” he said huskily.

“Is that good or bad?”

He smiled at her. “For us it will always be good.”

Since this would be her first time he wanted her more than ready and knew of one way to do it. He eased her down on the bed and decided to lick her into an orgasm. Starting at her mouth, he slowly moved downward to her chin, trekked down her neck to her breasts. By the time he’d made it past her midriff to her flat tummy she was writhing under his mouth but he didn’t mind. That was a telltale sign of how she was feeling.

“Open your legs, baby,” he whispered. The moment she did so he dipped his head to ease his tongue between
the folds of her femininity. He recalled doing this to her the last time and knew just what spots would make her moan deep in her throat. Tonight he wanted to do better than that. He wanted to make her scream.

Over and over again he licked her to the edge of an orgasm then withdrew his tongue and began torturing her all over again. She sobbed his name, moaned and groaned. And then, when she was on the verge of an explosion he shifted upward and placed his body over hers.

When he guided his erection in place, he held her gaze and lowered his body to join with hers, uniting them as one. She was tight and he kept a level of control as he eased inside her, feeling how firm a hold her clenched muscles had on him. He didn’t want to hurt her and moved inch by slow inch inside her. When he had finally reached the hilt, he closed his eyes but didn’t move. He needed to be still for a moment and grasp the significance of what was taking place. He was making love to his wife and she was a wife he loved more than life.

He slowly opened his eyes and met hers and saw she had been watching…waiting and needing him to finish what he’d started. So he did. He began moving slowly, with an extremely low amount of pressure as he began moving in and out of her. When she arched her back, he increased the pressure and the rhythm.

The sounds she began making sent him spiraling and let him know she was loving it. The more she moaned, the more she got. Several times he’d gone so deep inside her he knew he had touched her womb and the thought that he had done so made him crave her that much more.

She released a number of shuddering breaths as he continued to thrust, claiming her as his while she claimed him as hers. And then she threw her head back and screamed out his name.

That’s when he came, filling her while groaning thickly as an orgasm overtook them both. The spasms that rammed through his body were so powerful he had to force himself to breathe. He bucked against her several times as he continued to ride her through the force of his release.

He inhaled the scent of their lovemaking before leaning down to capture her mouth, and knew at that moment the night for them was just beginning.

S
OMETIME DURING THE
night Jason woke up from the feel of Bella’s mouth on him. Immediately his erection began to swell.

“Oh.” She pulled her mouth away and looked up at him with a blush on her face. “I thought you were asleep.”

His lips curved into a smile. “I was, but there are some things a man can’t sleep through. What are you doing down there?”

She raised her head to meet his gaze. “Tasting you the way you tasted me,” she said softly.

“You didn’t have to wait until I was asleep, you know,” he said, feeling himself get even harder. Although he was no longer inside her mouth, it was still close. Right there. And the heat of her breath was way too close.

“I know, but you were asleep and I thought I would practice first. I didn’t want to embarrass myself while you were awake and get it wrong,” she said, blushing even more.

He chuckled, thinking her blush was priceless. “Baby, this is one of those things a woman can never get wrong.”

“Do you want me to stop?”

“What do you think?”

She smiled up at him shyly. Wickedly. Wantonly. “I think you don’t. Just remember this is a practice session.”

She then leaned closer and slid him back into her mouth. He groaned deep in his throat when she began making love to him this way. Earlier that night he had licked her into an orgasm and now she was licking him to insanity. He made a low sound in the back of his throat when she began pulling everything out of him with her mouth. If this was a practice session she would kill him when it came to the real thing.

“Bella!”

He quickly reached down and pulled her up to him and flipped her onto her back. He moved on top of her and pushed inside of her, realizing too late when he felt himself explode that he wasn’t wearing a condom. The thought that he could be making her pregnant jutted an even bigger release from his body into hers.

His entire body quivered from the magnitude of the powerful thrusts that kept coming, thrusts he wasn’t able to stop. The more she gave, the more he wanted and when her hips arched off the bed, he drove in deeper and came again.

“Jason!”

She was following him to sweet oblivion and his heart began hammering at the realization that this was lovemaking as naked as it could get, and he clung to it, clung to her. A low, shivering moan escaped his lips and
when her thighs began to tremor, he felt the vibration to the core.

Moments later he collapsed on top of her, moaned her name as his manhood buried inside of her continued to throb, cling to her flesh as her inner muscles wouldn’t release their hold.

What they’d just shared as well as all the other times they’d made love tonight was so unbearably pleasurable he couldn’t think straight. The thought of what she’d been doing when he had awakened sent sensuous chills down his body.

He opened his mouth to speak but immediately closed it when he saw she had drifted off to sleep. She made such an erotic picture lying there with her eyes closed, soft dark curls framing her face and the sexiest lips he’d ever had the pleasure of kissing slightly parted.

He continued to look at her, thinking he would let her get some rest now. Later he intended to wake her up the same way she’d woken him.

T
HE FOLLOWING MORNING
after they’d enjoyed breakfast in bed, Bella figured now was just as good a time as any to let her parents know she was a married woman.

She picked up her cell phone and then glanced over at Jason and smiled. That smile gave her the inner strength for the confrontation she knew was coming. The thought of her outwitting them by marrying—and someone from Denver—would definitely throw her parents into a tizzy. She could just imagine what they would try to do. But just as Jason had said, they could try but wouldn’t succeed. She and Jason were as married as married could get and there was nothing her parents could do about it.

Taking a deep breath she punched in their number and when the housekeeper answered she was put on hold, waiting for her father to pick up the line.

“Elizabeth. I hope you’re calling to say you’ve come to your senses and have purchased a one-way plane ticket back home.”

She frowned. He didn’t even take the time to ask how she was doing. Although she figured her parents had nothing to do with those two incidents this week, she decided to ask anyway. “Tell me something, Dad. Did you and Mom think using scare tactics to get me to return to Savannah would work?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Three days ago someone threw a rock through my living room window with a threatening note for me to leave town, and two days ago someone torched my house. Luckily I wasn’t there at the time.”

“Someone set Dad’s house on fire?”

She’d heard the shock in his voice and she heard something else, too. Empathy. This was the first time she’d heard him refer to Herman as “Dad.”

“Yes.”

“I didn’t have anything to do with that, Elizabeth. Your mother and I would never put you in danger like that. What kind of parents do you think we are?”

“Controlling. But I didn’t call to exchange words, Dad. I’m just calling for you and Mother to share my good news. I got married yesterday.”

“What!”

“That’s right. I got married to a wonderful man by the name of Jason Westmoreland.”

“Westmoreland?”

“Yes.”

“I went to schools with some Westmorelands. Their land was connected to ours.”

“Probably his parents. They’re deceased now.”

“Sorry to hear that, but I hope you know why he married you. He wants that land. But don’t worry about it, dear. It can easily be remedied once you file for an annulment.”

She shook her head. Her parents just didn’t get it. “Jason didn’t force me to marry him, Dad. I married him of my own free will.”

“Listen, Elizabeth, you haven’t been living out there
even a full month. You don’t know this guy. I will not allow you to marry him.”

“Dad, I am already married to him and I plan to send your attorney a copy of our marriage license so the hold on my trust fund will be lifted.”

“You think you’re smart, Elizabeth. I know what you’re doing and I won’t allow it. You don’t love him and he can’t love you.”

“Sounds pretty much like the same setup you and Mom have got going. The same kind of marriage you wanted me to enter with Hugh. So what’s the problem? I don’t see where there is one and I refuse to discuss the matter with you any longer. Goodbye, Dad. Give Mom my best.” She then clicked off the phone.

“I take it the news of our marriage didn’t go over well with your father.”

She glanced over at Jason who was lying beside her and smiled faintly. “Did you really expect that it would?”

“No and it really doesn’t matter. They’ll just have to get over it.”

She snuggled closer to him. That was one of the things she liked about Jason. He was his own man. “What time do we have to check out of here?”

“By noon. And then we’ll be on our way to Jason’s Place.”

She had to restrain the happiness she felt upon knowing they would be going to his home where she would live for at least the next twelve months. “Are there any do’s and don’ts that I need to know about?”

He lifted a brow. “Do’s and don’ts?”

“Yes. My time at your home is limited. I don’t want to jeopardize my welcome.” She could have sworn
she’d seen something flash in his eyes but couldn’t be certain.

“You’d never jeopardize your welcome and no, there are no do’s and don’ts that will apply to you, unless…”

Now it was her turn to raise a brow. “Unless what?”

“You take a notion to paint my bedroom pink or some thing.”

She couldn’t help bursting out in laughter. She calmed down enough to ask, “What about yellow? Will that do?”

“Not one of my favorite colors but I guess it will work.”

She smiled as she snuggled even closer to him. She was looking forward to living under the same roof with Jason.

“Bella?”

She glanced up. “Yes?”

“The last time we made love, I didn’t use a condom.”

She’d been aware of it but hadn’t expected him to talk about it. “Yes, I know.”

“It wasn’t intentional.”

“I know that, too,” she said softly. There was no reason he would want to get her pregnant. That would only throw a monkey wrench in their agreement.

They didn’t say anything for a long moment and then he asked, “Do you like children?”

She wondered why he was asking such a thing. Surely he had seen her interactions with Susan and Denver enough to know that she did. “Yes, I like children.”

“Do you think you’d want any of your own one day?”

Was he asking because he was worried that she would use that as a trap to stay with him beyond the one year? But he’d asked and she needed to be honest. “Yes, I’d love children, although I haven’t had the best of childhoods. Don’t get me wrong, my parents weren’t monsters or anything like that but they just weren’t affectionate…at least not like your family.”

She paused for a moment. “I love my parents, Jason, although I doubt my relationship with them will ever be what I’ve always wished for. They aren’t those kind of people. Displaying affection isn’t one of their strong points. If I become a mother I want to do just the opposite. There will never be a day my child will not know he or she is loved.” She hadn’t meant to say all of that and now she couldn’t help wondering if doing so would ruin things between them.

“I think you would make a wonderful mother.”

His words touched her. “Thank you for saying that.”

“You’re welcome, and I meant it.”

She drew in a deep breath, wondering how he could be certain of such a thing. She continued to stare at him for a long moment. He would be a gift to any woman and he had sacrificed himself to marry her—just because he’d wanted her land and Hercules. When she thought about it she found it pitiful that it had taken that to make him want to join his life to hers.

He lifted her hand and looked at the ring he’d placed there. She looked at it, too. It was beautiful. More than she’d expected and everyone had oohed and aahed over it.

“You’re wearing my ring,” he said softly.

The sound of his deep, husky voice made her tummy
tingle and a heated sensation spread all through her. “Yes, I’m wearing your ring. It’s beautiful. Thank you.”

Then she lifted his hand. Saw the gold band brilliantly shining in the sunlight. “And you’re wearing mine.”

And then she found herself being kissed by him and she knew that no matter how their marriage might end up, right now it was off to a great beginning.

F
OR THE SECOND TIME IN
two days Jason carried the woman he loved over the threshold. This time he walked into his house. “Welcome to Jason’s Place, sweetheart,” he said, placing her on her feet.

Bella glanced around. This was the first time she’d been inside Jason’s home. She’d seen it a few times from a distance and thought the two-story dwelling flanked by a number of flowering trees was simply beautiful. On the drive from town he’d given her a little history of his home. It had taken an entire year to build and he had built it himself, with help from all the other Westmorelands. And with all the pride she’d heard when he spoke of it, she knew he loved his home. She could see why. The design was magnificent. The decorating—which had been done by his cousin Gemma—was breathtaking and perfect for the single man he’d been.

Jason’s eyes never left Bella’s as he studied her reaction to being in his home. As far as he was concerned, she would be a permanent fixture. His heart would beat when hers did. His breath was released the same time hers was. He had shared something with her he had never done with any woman—the essence of himself. For the first time in his life he had made love to a woman
without wearing a condom. It had felt wonderful being skin to skin, flesh to flesh with her—but only with her. The wife he adored and intended to keep forever.

He knew he had a job to do where she was concerned and it would be one that would give him the greatest of pleasure and satisfaction. Her pain was his pain, her happiness was his. Their lives were now entwined and all because of the proposal he’d offered and she’d taken.

Without thought he turned her in his arms and lowered his head to kiss her, needing the feel of his mouth on hers, her body pressed against his. The kiss was long, deep and the most satisfying experience he could imagine. But then, he’d had nothing but satisfying experiences with her. And he planned on having plenty more.

“A
REN’T YOU GOING TO
work today?” Bella asked Jason the following day over breakfast. She was learning her way around his spacious kitchen and loved doing it. They had stayed inside yesterday after he’d brought her here. He had kept her mostly in the bedroom, saying their honeymoon was still ongoing. And she had been not one to argue considering the glow she figured had to be on her face. Jason was the most ardent and generous of lovers.

Her mother had called last night trying to convince her she’d made a mistake and that she and her father would be flying into Denver in a few days to talk some sense into her. Bella had told her mother she didn’t think coming to Denver was a good idea, but of course Melissa Bostwick wouldn’t listen.

When Bella had told Jason about the latest developments—namely her parents’ planned trip to Denver—
he’d merely shrugged and told her not to worry about it. That was easy for him to say. He’d never met her parents.

“No, I’m not going to work today. I’m still on my honeymoon,” Jason said, breaking into her thoughts. “You tell me what you want to do today and we’ll do it.”

She turned away from the stove where she’d prepared something simple like French toast. “You want to spend more time with me?”

He chuckled. “Of course I do. You sound surprised.”

She was. She figured as much time as they’d spent in the bedroom he would have tired of her by now. She was about to open her mouth when his house phone rang. He smiled over at her. “Excuse me for a minute while I get that.”

Bella figured the caller was one of his relatives. She turned back to the stove to turn it off. She couldn’t help but smile at the thought that he wanted to spend more time with her.

A few moments later Jason hung up the phone. “That was Sheriff Harper.”

She turned back around to him. “Has he found out anything?”

“Yes, they’ve made some arrests.”

A lump formed in her throat. She crossed the floor to sit down at the table, thinking she didn’t want to be standing for this. “Who did it?”

He came to sit across from her. “Your uncle Kenneth’s twin grandsons.”

Bella’s hand flew to her chest. “But they’re only fourteen years old.”

“Yes, but the footprints outside your window and the
fingerprints on the rock matched theirs. Not to mention that the kerosene can they used to start the fire at your ranch belonged to their parents.”

Bella didn’t say anything. She just continued to stare at him.

“Evidently they heard their grandfather’s grumblings about you and figured they were doing him a favor by scaring you away,” Jason said.

“What will happen to them?” she asked quietly.

“Right now they’re in police custody. A judge will decide tomorrow if they will be released into the custody of their parents until a court date is set. If they are found guilty, and chances are they will be since the evidence against them is so strong, they will serve time in a detention center for youth for about one or two years, maybe longer depending on any prior arrests.”

Jason’s face hardened. “Personally, it wouldn’t bother me in the least if they locked them up and threw away the key. I’m sure Kenneth is fit to be tied, though. He thinks the world of those two.”

Bella shook her head sadly. “I feel so bad about this.”

A deep scowl covered Jason’s face. “Why do you feel bad? You’re the victim and they broke the law.”

She could tell by the sound of his voice that he was still upset. “But they’re just kids. I need to call Uncle Kenneth.”

“Why? As far as I’m concerned this is all his fault for spouting off at the mouth around them about you.”

A part of Bella knew what Jason said was true and could even accept he had a right to be angry, but still, the thought that she was responsible for the disruption
of so many lives was getting to her. Had she made a mistake in moving to Denver after all?

“Don’t even think it, Bella.”

She glanced across the table at Jason. “What?”

“I know what’s going through your mind, sweetheart. I can see it all over your face and you want to blame yourself for what happened but it’s not your fault.”

“Isn’t it?”

“No. You can’t hold yourself responsible for the actions of others. What if you had been standing near the window the day that rock came flying through, or worse yet, what if you’d been home the day they set fire to the house? If I sound mad it’s because I still am. And I’m going to stay mad until justice is served.”

He paused a moment and then said, “I don’t want to talk about Kenneth or his grandsons any longer. Come on, let’s get dressed and go riding.”

W
HEN THEY RETURNED FROM
riding and Bella checked her cell phone, she had received a call from her parents saying that they had changed their minds and would not be coming to Denver after all. She couldn’t help wondering why, but she figured the best thing to do was count her blessings and be happy about their change in plans.