Compromised Cowgirl (30 page)

“If we nae have proof—”

“Sunbird told me about the ceremony a couple of times,” said Jessie.

“But the proof would be in
Texas
,” said Ross bitterly. “I can see Fin burning the marriage certificate if he got his hands on it.”

“I don’t think it went to
Texas
,” said Jessie. She shook her head, still frowning as she thought. “Before we left, Sunbird brought me home for the last time. She said she had to hide something. I remember seeing a paper with a fancy gold seal.” Her eyes suddenly opened wide. “The night I went to
Virginia
, Sunbird said something I thought strange. She knew I hated sewing. Even my pillow case seams were terrible.”

“You managed to sew shut our pants, socks, and other things just fine,” drawled Nevin.

“Hunh! I was very angry and you deserved it, every time,” replied Jessie. She turned to the more serious Ross. “The night before I went to
Virginia
, Sunbird took both my hands and turned me to face her. Your father was in the room, along with your brothers. Sunbird smiled, squeezed my hands hard, and told me I was to sew my own wedding dress when I got home. Your father laughed and said he didn’t think I could learn that much in two years in
Virginia
, but Sunbird asked me to promise her.”

“Did you have a sewing machine in
Texas
?”

Jessie slowly shook her head at Beth’s question.

“You find anything with a gold seal in that desk, Beth?” asked Trace.

Beth blinked, thinking. “I’ve never looked past the top layer.” She turned to Amelia. “I’ll look as soon as we get home. If it’s not there, I’ll tear the house apart.”

Amelia pressed her lips together hard, but tears still leaked out. Ross rolled her to face him and pulled her snug. He leaned his chin on her head. Nevin stood at her back, adding his warmth and protection. Gil came over and kissed her head.

“Dinna fret, wee one,” husked Gil. “We’ll nae be tossed off our land.”

“I’ve seen this Morag MacConacher,” said Jack Elliott cheerfully. All eyes turned to him. “She works at one of the more respectable dining rooms. Her hair’s the same color as Gillis, and she has a temper to match. Any man who puts a hand on her gets knocked to the floor. She’s this tall”—he put his hand to his nose—“this wide”—he held his hands as if circling a large tree—“and has a voice that would peel paint.” Jack laughed. “I’d say Fin’s found himself the woman he deserves!”

Noting most people held full glasses of lemonade, Ace held up his empty one. “To Morag MacDougal, may she put Fin in his place!”

“To Morag!” cheered the men. A moment later a dozen of them choked and coughed.

Trace, eyes smiling, nodded his approval to Ace. As Bridie’s adoptive father, he’d been the first to taste her lemonade. He held an empty glass, having toasted but not drunk. He waited, grinning, while his guests caught their breath and wiped streaming eyes.

“Now that all of Bridie’s wonderful lemonade is gone,” he said, “shall we toast the bride and groom with whiskey?”

Chapter Twenty-Six

“Oh, baby girl, I missed you so much,” sighed Jessie.

She knew her brothers kept her at the Rocking E to keep Fin from taking her, but they’d refused to bring her horse from the Double Diamond. After a few toasts, the others stayed to enjoy the sunshine and party mood, but she and Ace left to go home.

As soon as she arrived at the Double Diamond she’d jumped from the wagon and run to the barn. She didn’t even want to go to the river and look at her new, as-yet-unfinished, home.

It wasn’t how most women might start their married life. She didn’t much care if Ace didn’t like it, but she’d known and loved Nightwind far longer than Ace, Sin or Henry.

The dark horse nickered as she gave her one more hug. She picked up the currycomb, humming as she worked. She looked up when Nightwind lifted her head and twitched her ears.

“Can we start over, Jessie?”

Ace leaned a shoulder against the wall, as if he’d watched her for a while. She bit her lip.

“I don’t think I thanked you for asking Trace to bring Nightwind to me.”

He sighed at the change in subject. “You’re welcome. It was the very least I could do.” He dropped his head. He shook it then snorted a laugh. “I’ll admit it. I’m jealous of a horse.”

The fact that Ace would admit such a thing proved he was trying. She could do no less.

“She’s not just a horse. Nightwind is my best friend. She was the only female on the ranch other than Sunbird and the feral cats.” Jessie rested her forehead against Nightwind’s shoulder. “She was always there for me. Always.”

“I’m glad you had a friend. I hate to think what you went through. I didn’t know about the beatings—”

He lifted the currycomb out of her hand and placed it in the basket. He tugged her gently to a half-barrel. He sat down, and she let him pull her into his lap. He held her tight, arms kept loosely, so she could escape if she wanted to. He inhaled a shuddering breath then let it out. She heard the strain in his voice, felt the way he held her tighter than ever before. His heart thudded against her back.

“And I’m jealous of the way you look at Trace, as if you trust him to fix anything for you. I want you to look at me like that.”

She bit her lip and turned her head away. She loved her brothers and Nightwind. She remembered loving her parents, but that was long ago. She’d watched Beth and Amelia laughing with their men. They’d worked out a balance of playful threats and warnings, ones the women pushed aside whenever they wanted. She’d heard Beth and her brothers at night. Not the whispers, but the sounds of need, and of joy.

During the days she did a lot of thinking.

“You don’t love me. My brothers forced you to propose.”

“Ah, Jessiemine.” Ace rested his chin on her head. “I wasn’t forced into anything. If I didn’t want to marry you, I’d have told them to shoot me.”

“Why did you marry me, then? Because you want my body?”

He kissed the top of her head. “I want your body, all right. When I saw you swimming at the hot spring, I wanted to make you mine after lusting after you for weeks, thinking I could never touch you. When you rolled over, my life changed.”

“You didn’t act like anything changed.”

“I didn’t want to change. I knew what we had to do, and nothing else would intrude.” His lip twitched. “Especially one bratty boy who made me horny as well as angry.”

“You were angry at me because you wanted me but couldn’t have me for weeks? That wasn’t my fault.”

“Ah, Jessie, it wasn’t just your body I wanted. It’s the ferocious pixie cowgirl I fell in…” He coughed. “I fell for. That’s the woman I want at my side.”

Jessie didn’t move, or speak.

“Jessie, my parents didn’t want me. I was an extra, a backup in case both my older brothers died. Mother had parties in
Kent
and Father stayed at his club in
London
. They shipped me off to school, where I met Sin and Henry. None of us grew up with the love that you and your brothers had.”

“My parents had seven children and wanted every one of them,” she replied. “We took in Ross for a while until they died. I remember Mama saying she wished Nevin and Gillis could join us.”

“Do you want children, Jessie?” He whispered the words against her neck.

“Yes, as many as Mama. I just didn’t want a husband.” She opened her mouth to say something then closed it again.

“What is it?”

“What if they look like Sin or Henry? Will you be angry?”

He used a finger to tilt her face until they looked at each other.

“I want lots of your children growing up on the Double Diamond. I don’t care who their father is. We could adopt dozens more if you want. Just as long as you’re happy, I don’t give a damn what else happens.”

“Do you love me?”

Ace stared at Jessie for a few minutes. “I don’t know, but I want to be with you more than anyone else in my life.”

“I really love Ranger and Ross, and Trace was always my hero. But they don’t make me feel tingly like you do.”

Instantly Ace’s face changed from concerned to wanting. “Tingly? Is that what you call it?”

She nodded at Ace, biting her lip to stop a smile.

“Do Sin and Henry make you tingle as well?”

The ache between her legs increased. She nodded. He moved so his knuckles brushed against her swelling breasts.

“Maybe I’d better get you into bed and do something about that.”

“Do we need a bed? It’s a long way to the cabin.”

His eyes flared. A slow, sensuous smile appeared. It made heat flow through her pussy.

“I’m going to take all your clothes off. Slowly. Then you’ll dance for me.”

“Dance?”

“Naked, in the sun. Then I’m going to lick your pussy until you scream a few times. Maybe I’ll spank you once or twice, just to leave my mark on you. When you’re so hot that you beg me to take you, I’ll fill you with my seed.”

“What if someone comes by?”

He pinched her hard nipple through her dress. “They can watch. After I’ve had my fill for a while, I’ll ask them to take over. They’ll make you scream a few more times.”

He sent a hand under her skirt, between her legs. She thought of the warm sun on her body, all three men kissing and playing with her. She gasped when he slipped his fingers into her pussy. He tantalized her, rubbing her, but not quite on her clit.

“Now do you know why I like you to wear dresses? Any of us can take you anytime we want, as long as you’re willing. No need to pull down your pants, just unbutton, turn you around, flip your skirts over your back, and shoot home.”

He rubbed his thumb over her clit and pressed his fingers up inside her. She opened her mouth to moan, and he captured her lips. She was so needy that she came quickly. His kisses caught her gasps of release. She rested her head on his chest, heaving air into her lungs.

“You want another helping of that, Jessiemine?”

“Oh, yes, please,” she whispered.

He stood up, lifting her in his arms. He held her so her bottom rubbed against his cock with every step. She felt it, hard and swollen, as he carried her into the sunshine.

* * * *

Ace set his blushing wife on her feet. He unbuttoned the top of her dress and unlaced the damn corset that kept her bound too tight. They both sighed in relief when her breasts escaped.

“Mmm, don’t wear that thing unless you’re riding.”

“Is that an order?”

“If an order will keep you naked except for dress and boots, then yes.”

He peeled off her lovely dress, keeping it from the dirt. He shook it out and hung it on a hook in the barn. She waited, wearing a hat, boots, and smile. He spread her legs and slid his finger into her pussy. Her vertical smile, complete with wet lips to kiss.

“Hold out your arms. I want to see everything about you.”

She did one step better, clasping her hands behind her neck. It raised her breasts so they stood out, proud in the sunshine. Coral tips as large as a quarter were tipped with dime-size nipples.

He winced when he stepped behind her. He trailed his fingers over a few white lines. He’d never seen her bare back in such a bright light before. A hot wire of rage gripped him when he realized what they were. Someone had whipped her, hard enough to rip her skin open. He kissed the scars, trailing his tongue over each as if to erase it from her life. She had other marks, normal consequences of an active life on a ranch.

Another time, he’d ask her who wielded the whip, and who ordered the whipping. If any of them came within five hundred miles of Tanner’s Ford, he was dead. Was it Finan Senior, or Junior? What had Jessie done that was so terrible that a man would do this?

He now understood why Ross needed to torture the men who’d killed his young cousin. A bullet to the brain while they waited in jail was far too easy a death. If Ross ever caught wind of the fourth man, the ringleader, Ace would do everything he could to help bring him to justice. Frontier justice, if necessary.

“I want to see you in the sun, too,” said Jessie.

She dropped her arms and came to him. He let her remove his shirt. He pulled off his boots and pants, leaving him with a hat and an erection.

She ran her fingers over him, tickling and arousing. She kissed the scars she found, all of them natural, then dropped to her knees in front of him.

He pushed off her hat and ran his fingers through her soft brown curls. Her hair grew longer each month. He couldn’t wait until he could wrap it around his cock. He hissed in appreciation when she took him into her mouth.

Since Ace faced west, he saw his partners riding home as Jessie nibbled his thighs. He spread his legs a bit to give her more room. Henry began unbuttoning his shirt before his horse entered the yard. Sin grabbed the horse’s reins when Henry dismounted.

Jessie pulled back, but Ace held her still. “Henry wants to watch,” he said.