Brides of the West (12 page)

***

He and Mac spent most of the next day
securing food staples and supplies for the trip home to Gonzales.
They packed coffee, flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt and a basket of
fresh tortillas from a local vendor into the wagon, along with
handwoven woolen blankets and two new iron skillets. He also
purchased rope, a roll of baling wire and two sacks of cracked corn
for his hens.

By late afternoon Evangeline had still not
informed him of her decision. She’d gone shopping that morning and
didn’t meet them at the restaurant for the noon meal. He supposed
it was best they keep their distance. At least he would be spared
the pitying look on her face, now that he’d divulged the innermost
secrets of his heart.

He returned to their room, intending to bathe
and change into fresh clothes for dinner, but it gave him great
pleasure to watch the shocked expression on Evangeline’s face as he
stripped off his shirt and undid the first two buttons of his
trousers. A slow blush crept over her cheeks and throat. Still, she
didn’t look away. After the erotic dream he’d had last night, his
need for release ran high, but as angry and confused as he was he
dared not touch her.

“I’d suggest you freshen up, too.” He poured
water into the basin. “It’s been an unseasonably warm day
again.”

She clutched the collar on her dress as her
flushed cheeks paled. “Wolf...we cannot do this. We simply
cannot.”

He stared. Did she think he’d returned to
consummate their marriage? If so, why did she appear frightened of
the prospect of intimacy? Was it the revolting scar on his throat,
the reminder of her father’s brutality? Or had she made the
decision to leave?

He bent and splashed water on his face, then
reached for the towel. Keeping his best poker face, he tested her.
“You know as well as I do that our marriage vows aren’t sealed
until I’ve bedded you. Besides, Mac is in his room, enjoying a new
dime novel. We have a few hours to kill.”

“Yesterday you asked if I wanted an
annulment.”

Was she seriously considering such? He lay
the towel aside and turned to face her. “You never answered, so I
assumed you did not.”

“I cannot easily obtain an annulment if we
have had relations.”

Damn her
. She
was
considering
it! He shrugged indifferently so as to give nothing away. “You can
always divorce me later,” he suggested, unable to keep from
breaking into a smile. “That will not preclude our becoming
intimate.”

He perused her boldly as he recalled last
night’s dream. The pulse beat wildly at her throat. The bodice of
her pretty pink dress rose and fell with each shallow breath. He
was moments away from pulling her into his arms, kissing that
frightened little girl look from her face, and carrying her to
bed.

“How can you ask me to stay in this marriage
when it is based on lies?”

“You’re one to talk of lies,” he shot back.
“You kept the truth of my son from me for ten years.”

“I had no choice. I’ve told you before, my
father threatened to kill you. He threatened Mac’s life if I ever
returned. I left Texas not knowing what they’d done to you.” She
reached out to touch him, then dropped her hand at her side.

Gritting his teeth, he unbuttoned his
trousers. “So, dear wife, what do you suggest we do for the next
two hours? Play cards? Discuss the weather?”

She swallowed hard. “Perhaps we might
nap.”

He laughed. “Nap? As I recall, you once
enjoyed my pleasuring. We wiled away many hours by the creek. Do
you remember, Evangeline?”

She clutched the high collar on her dress.
“That was many years ago.”

He chuckled. “You would still enjoy my
attentions, I assure you.”

He dropped his trousers, revealing his
arousal and she turned away. He grasped her by the arm and gave her
a sobering yank toward him. Her gaze locked with his. “Nothing has
changed between you and me except we’re now legally married.” He
released her, then kicked out of his trousers and reached for a
fresh pair that lay folded across the valet. “What’s wrong,
Evangeline? Was sex with me more titillating when forbidden, when
you were forced to sneak around with the savage and steal moments
in the barn or under the moonlight at the creek?”

“You know that’s untrue. I never thought of
you as a...
savage.
” She whispered the word.

In hopes of provoking her, he added,
“Sometimes I think I was merely a toy, a way for you to pass your
boredom on that lonely isolated ranch.” He pulled on his pants.
“After all, I was a ‘breed.’ I could brag to no one of my conquest
with Elijah Braddock’s pretty white daughter, lest I wished to be
hanged. Was that it? Did you consider me a safe outlet that summer
for your sexual experimentations?”

She gasped. “Wolf! How can you say such a
horrible thing?”

He was in her face. “Because if you’d given a
damn about me you would have told me of the child growing in your
belly!” He reeled away trembling, hating himself for his rage. But
he couldn’t control himself, couldn’t stop the angry words that
followed. “Perhaps you still pine for your late husband, Garrick
Payne? Was the old fellow a better lover than I? Did he care for
you more than I?”

Her chin went up a notch. “Garrick cared for
no one but himself. And to answer your question, I feel nothing for
Garrick’s memory except hatred. I’m glad he’s dead. He deserved
worse than death—far worse if there is such a thing.”

Wolf lifted a brow. She’d never mentioned
much about her late husband in her letters, except that he’d been
an older man—somewhat distant and unaffectionate. Before he’d
believed it due to their age difference, but now he wasn’t certain.
“Such unkind words for your late husband, a man of the cloth no
less.”

“Garrick might have been a minister, but he
was a despicable bastard first and foremost.”

“Rather like I am in your opinion?”

Her gaze poured over him and he watched the
anger in her eyes change to desire. Was this his imagination? No. A
soft blush crept over her cheeks as her gaze slipped over his
semi-nude body. She brushed the back of her hand across her brow as
if his nearness made her uncomfortable.

Trembling, not so much from rage but from
desire, he quickly finished dressing, then left her alone to bathe.
Evangeline could stay with him and Mac or board a train back to
Georgia. He wouldn’t force her to stay in the marriage. Nor would
he touch her unless she came willingly to his bed.

***

Once Wolf closed the door, Evangeline
loosened the bodice on the dress and dipped a sponge into the basin
of fresh water, drawing it over her burning cheeks and chin.
Oh,
my!
She’d forgotten how the man’s mere presence affected her.
She washed her face, then looked into the mirror. Would Wolf ever
forgive her for what her father had done to him?

He’d made it clear she couldn’t get out of
the marriage without surrendering Mac, but did she want out? After
all, he’d changed his name to Adam Smith. He was a respectable
landholder in south central Texas and his ranch was fairly
isolated, situated a few miles south of Gonzales. The person who’d
sent the threatening notes in Savannah would never find her now.
Perhaps it was best she stay in the marriage, at least for Mac’s
sake.

She eased the front of her dress off her
shoulders and bathed her heat-flushed throat and chest. She didn’t
blame Wolf for his anger toward her. However, she hoped in time he
might find it in his heart to forgive past hurts. She hadn’t
married Garrick Payne for love. Her father paid him to marry her.
She also hadn’t participated in her father’s underhanded
dealings.

Fire ignited in the pit of her belly as she
recalled the evidence of Wolf’s desire when he’d undressed. It had
been so long since she’d been touched with tenderness and she
wondered what it would be like to take him inside her body
again.

Gazing into the oval, beveled mirror on the
washstand, she drew the front of the dress down, pretended it was
Wolf undressing her. She closed her eyes and caressed her
shoulders, wishing she could make him understand how much she’d
loved him.

Her breath caught in her throat as the
startling realization washed over her.

She
still
loved him.

The ache for his touch grew nearly
unbearable. Reaching behind her, she unbuttoned her dress and
stepped from the garment, allowing it to puddle at her feet. Then
she untied her petticoats. One, two, three, they fell into a heap
atop her dress. She stepped from the pile of garments and laid each
piece neatly across the bed, smoothing out the wrinkles. Then she
unlaced her corset. After she’d fainted yesterday, Wolf had
forbidden her to wear one, but she couldn’t have left the hotel
this morning without proper underclothes. Wrenching free of the
confining garment, she reached up to caress her breasts through the
fabric of the thin, cotton chemise. She felt naughty, decadent for
touching herself, but it had been so long since she’d been
loved.

“You are still as beautiful as I recall,
Evangeline.”

She whirled about, having not heard him
enter. Heavens! Had he caught her? “You might have knocked,” she
snapped, reaching for a towel to cover her bosom.

“I did knock but you were...
occupied.
”
He grinned, that silly boyish grin that always made her heart turn
over. “Entertaining lusty thoughts of me?”

She steeled herself from the onslaught of his
magnetism as desire for him warred within. She hadn’t wanted a
man’s touch in years, but this was Wolf, the man she still loved
with all her heart. She craved him even now with a hunger beyond
reason, despite the fact they’d both hurt one another. “Why have
you returned so soon?”

“I came to apologize for my harsh remarks.
Besides—” he reached for his scarf—“I forgot this.” He whisked it
around his neck and knotted it in front, concealing the ugly
scar.

He moved closer and a shiver of delight
danced up her spine at his nearness. While she tried to avoid
looking at the blue bandanna around his neck, oddly she was drawn
to it. She longed to untie it, press her lips against his scar and
kiss away the pain he must have felt. She wanted to undress him
slowly, melt against his bronzed skin and slip her arms around his
neck, take him inside her body and feel the hot fire raining down
on her as they moved together in a rhythm as old as time. There
would be nothing but pleasure in this handsome man’s arms,
beautiful indescribable pleasure.

“Shall I help you dress for dinner?” His
smooth voice slid over her like a warm summer wind. “Or have you
not finished your bath?”

Evangeline shivered. If she wanted to keep
Mac, she must stay with Wolf and honor her wedding vows. Not that
it would be so terrible enjoying his bed again.

“N-no. I’ve finished my bath,” she answered.
Trembling, she boldly drew the chemise open.

He flinched as if her brazen behavior stunned
him. Then his lips slowly curled into a lazy, sensual smile. She
stood before him in nothing but her blue satin drawers and
stockings, her body thrumming in anticipation. His hot gaze slid
over her and her breasts warmed and ached for his touch.

“I see you’ve had a change of heart.” He
moved so close she could feel the heat emanating from his body.
“You’re trembling.” He reached up to give her bare shoulders a
gentle squeeze. His hands were warm, his palms rough. “Are you
certain this is what you desire?”

She swallowed hard. “Yes.”

No.

She was never more uncertain of anything in
her life. She was terrified of giving her heart to him again. What
if Wolf never put aside his mistrust and forgave her? Could their
marriage survive such a divide? It must, for Mac’s sake, and she
must try to let him know how much she still loved him. She reached
for the scarf at his neck and plucked at the knot.

His hands came up to still hers. “Don’t.”

“Please, Wolf.” She unbuttoned his shirt,
stared at the scar, then her eyes traveled over his chest as she
revealed him to her gaze. The shell and turquoise necklace that had
belonged to his Apache mother lay in stark contrast against his
dark skin. She smoothed her palms over his chest, sliding them
downward to his pants. She untucked his shirt, eased the sleeves
from his bronzed, muscular shoulders and cast it aside. Her eyes
followed the soft dusting of black hair that formed a line from his
navel and disappeared below the waistband of his pants. Her eyes
lifted to his and she raised up on tiptoe and parted her lips
slightly to encourage a kiss.

“You’re still so lovely.” His mouth hovered
within an inch of hers.

She closed her eyes and waited for him to
kiss her, to take her into his arms. Her legs grew soft like jelly,
her heart pounding so hard in her chest she was almost certain he
could hear it.

“Does this mean you’ve made a decision?”

She swallowed hard as she gazed into his
coal-black eyes. The untended ache between her thighs grew. Her
breasts ached to be caressed. Of course she intended to stay in the
marriage.

“Y-yes—” a shiver of desire rippled through
her—“I will stay with you.”

Questioning eyes held hers for a moment.
“Only because of Mac?”

She hesitated. Mac was one reason, but not
all.

“You must be certain this is what you want,
Evangeline.”

Words wouldn’t form in her mouth. His sensual
presence overtook her, the stubborn set of his jaw, his dark,
smoldering eyes—the raw sensuality he exuded. Never had she been so
ambivalent. If they made love, their marriage vows were sealed. If
they didn’t, she would lose him yet again—possibly even Mac.

Before she could answer, he hauled her
against him. His mouth slammed hard across hers in fierce
possession. His tongue thrust past her lips, tangling and mating
with hers in an erotic dance. He kissed her hard and deep as if he
couldn’t get enough, pressing his male hardness against her hip.
She felt all of him, even through the thick canvas pants which
separated them.