Jenny (36 page)

He was hers.

Cole was growing ever more frustrated with the
buttons on her gown. He was close to ripping the
offending garment from her. When at long last he
finally freed the last button, he reached up to slip the
gown from her shoulders.

Jenny drew back and looked up at him. Her eyes
were dark with desire. With slow deliberation, she stepped out of her shoes, and then lowered the gown
from her shoulders and let it fall to the floor. She
stood before him clad only in her chemise and petticoats. She could see the fire burning in Cole's gaze
and reached up to loosen the ribbons that held the
chemise. Oh so slowly she stripped herself of the last
barrier between them.

Cole threw off his jacket and shirt without taking
his eyes off Jenny. His gaze raked over her in a
heated, visual caress. She was perfect beautiful.

Cole reached out for her, wanting her, needing her,
and Jenny went to him, ready to know the fullness of
his lovemaking. He lifted her in his arms, and together
they lay upon the bed. Each caress, each kiss was an
expression of their love for one another.

Their passion grew unbounded until Cole could no
longer wait to be one with her. He had to make her
his own in all ways. He left her only long enough to
shed the rest of his clothing, then returned to the bed,
moving over her. His body was a searing brand upon
her, and Jenny gasped at the contact, so intimate.

"I love you, Cole," she told him, looking up at him,
her eyes luminous with wonder.

Cole slowly, carefully pressed home the proof of
his love for her, breaching her innocence and making
her his. With infinite care and tender caresses, he gentled her. His need was great, but he struggled to go
slowly, wanting to make this moment special for her.
He began to move, glorying in the beauty of their
union.

Jenny was an innocent, but her passion for her husband was untamed. She eagerly matched him in each
kiss as her desire blossomed. She held on to Cole,
thrilling at the power of his love, accepting and giving.

They were one.

Cole sought only to show her the depth of his love
for her. He worshiped at the altar of her body. With
each caress, he brought her closer and closer to the
perfection of their lovemaking. When at last, ecstasy
claimed her and she cried out his name, he held her
to him, thrilling to know that he had pleased her. He
sought his own release then, and lost himself in the
mindless joy that was loving her. They collapsed together, their bodies still joined, their hearts beating as
one.

They loved.

The night was long and dark, but Jenny and Cole
never slept. They were too caught up in the fever of
their excitement. Again and again, Cole reached out
to Jenny, stoking the embers of her desire, setting her
on fire with her need to be one with him. Over and
over, the inferno of their passion flamed white-hot as
they sought love's ultimate release. Together, they
reached the peaks of rapture.

"I never knew loving you could be so wonderful,"
Jenny told Cole as she rested in his arms. She had
been an innocent and had known little of what truly
went on between a man and a woman, but this night her husband had tutored her well and she had loved
every minute of her lessons.

Cole rose up over Jenny and smiled down at her.
"I'm glad I pleased you."

"You more than pleased me," she replied, her voice
taking on a husky note. She gave him an inviting
smile as she lifted one hand to caress his cheek. "I
love you, Cole, with all my heart. I'm sorry I hurt
you."

"Nothing matters now except the fact that we're
together," he told her, leaning down to give her a
gentle kiss. "And I'm never going to let you go."

"Promise?"

"Promise," he repeated, and then he went on to
show her how he intended to keep her.

Much later, Jenny sighed happily, "I find I quite
enjoy being your wife."

Dawn was brightening the eastern sky when they
finally sought rest. Spent from their night of passion,
they lay in each other's arms, filled with the peace
and joy only true love can bring.

Mira had had time to come up with a new plan to
seduce Cole as she'd ridden out to talk to the ranch
hands the day before. It wasn't going to be easy.
She'd already discovered that; she knew she had to
act and act fast.

Damn, but she hated that woman!

And she was almost beginning to hate Cole for
being so stupid where Jenny was concerned. She
couldn't understand why the man wanted anything to
do with Jenny after the way she'd treated him. That
was why she thought she was perfect for Cole. She
would never do him wrong. She would never leave
him. She loved him and wanted only to make him
happy. One way or another, she planned to prove that
to him today.

She would ride straight to the Branding Iron and find some way to seduce Cole. She ignored the desperation she was really feeling. She refused to acknowledge the nagging thought in the back of her
mind that she might fail that he really might not
want her. She wanted Cole and she was going to get
him.

She was tired of watching him hover over Jenny
all the time. Just because they had to work together
to run the Lazy S didn't mean he couldn't marry Mira.
Once she had him in her bed, she was certain he
wouldn't want to even look at another woman. She
intended to keep him so satisfied that the thought of
bedding another woman would never occur to him.
The trouble was, she had to get him in bed to prove
it to him, and so far he wasn't cooperating.

Mira denied the possibility of failure. She wanted
Cole more than she'd ever wanted anything in her
life. She would not be denied.

She rose before dawn and headed for the Branding
Iron, ready to win the man she loved, one way or
another. Since her brother had told her that Jenny was
going to recover, she figured that Cole would have
returned to his own home. She would catch him home
alone this morning before he rode out to go to work,
and she was going to do everything in her power to
get him in bed. Nothing was going to stop her today.
Her future, her very well-being, depended on her success.

When the ranch house came into view, Mira was
more than ready. The thought of kissing Cole and finally being in his arms drove her on. She wanted
him badly, had wanted him for what seemed like forever, and today was the day when she was going to
get what she wanted.

Mira didn't see any ranch hands as she rode in
quietly, and she was glad. What was going to happen
between her and Cole was private-very private. She
tied up before the house and went to knock on the
door.

Mira licked her lips as she waited for Cole to answer. When she didn't hear footsteps coming toward
the door right away, she knocked again a little harder.

Cole was there.

He had to be there!

She was ready for him.

She wanted him.

She couldn't wait any longer to make him hers.
When Mira still didn't hear anyone coming, she
reached for the doorknob and tried it. The door was
unlocked, and she let herself inside. If it turned out
Cole wasn't home, she could wait for a while. And
if he still didn't show up, she would let his hired
hands know that she'd been there and leave a note
for him.

Mira hoped he was just in the back of the house
and hadn't heard her knock. She shut the door behind
her and went to look for him.

"Cole?" Jenny murmured in a sleep-drugged voice.
"Did you hear something?"

She was curled against him, her head on his shoulder, her hand splayed on his chest.

"What?" he asked, still half asleep. His senses were
immediately alert to Jenny's nearness, though, and his
hand swept over her in a warm caress as he assured
himself that the night just passed had been real. A
sleepy smile curved his mouth at the memories.

"I heard something. It sounded like someone
knocking on the door," she said, all but purring under
his touch.

"I told the men to leave us alone. Whoever it is
will go away," he told her as he rolled over her and
pinned her warm, willing body beneath him, wanting
to make love to her again. "If he doesn't, he'd better
be ready to find himself another job."

He was just about to return to the sensual Eden
they'd created overnight when he heard the front door
open. He stopped, frowning, and got up, quickly pulling on his pants.

"Whoever this is had better be ready, because
there's going to be hell to pay," he growled. He
leaned down to kiss Jenny one last time before he
went to see who'd dared to invade their privacy.
"Wait here. I'll be right back. Remember where I
was-"

"I won't forget," she told him throatily, giving him
a heavy-lidded, knowing look.

The look she gave him almost made him forget
their unwelcome visitor. He was tempted to take her
right then and there, and damn the consequences. Cole only managed to control the urge with a herculean effort.

"I will be right back."

He hurried from the bedroom, not bothering to pull
on a shirt. All he wanted to do was fire whoever had
dared to walk in and then get back to his waiting wife.
He stalked down the hallway, irritated and impatient.
Jenny was waiting for him. This had better be important.

And then he heard Mira call out.

"Cole? Are you here?" Mira was searching the
house for him.

"Mira?" Cole snapped as he confronted her in the
parlor.

"Hello, Cole." Mira faced him, her gaze going hungrily over him. She'd never seen him bare-chested
before, and all she wanted to do was throw herself
into his arms and kiss him. She wanted to run her
hands over him, to strip away the last of his clothing
and

"What are you doing here?" he demanded. "I
thought you were one of my men and there was some
kind of trouble-"

"No trouble-at least, not the kind you were thinking of," she said with heavy double meaning as she
took a step toward him. It was all she could do to
keep from reaching out and caressing that bare expanse of chest.

"What do you want, Mira?" Cole was very aware
of Jenny just down the hallway and he wanted to get rid of Mira as quickly as he could so he could get
back to his wife.

"I'll tell you what I want, Cole," she began, ready
to throw all caution to the wind. "I want-"

She never got the chance to say "you" for she saw
Jenny appear in the hallway behind him, wearing only
a silken robe.

"Cole? Is something wrong?" Jenny asked, then
stopped short as she came face to face with Mira.

"Jenny!" Mira shrieked glaring at her. She couldn't
believe it. This was a hellish nightmare. What was
that bitch doing here today of all days? And wearing
only a robe. Looking as if she'd just made love to
Cole all night. "What are you doing here?"

Jenny saw fury light Mira's eyes and took a step
closer to Cole.

"Jenny and I were married yesterday," he answered
Mira as he slipped a protective arm around Jenny and
drew her closer to his side.

That display of affection was the end for Mira.

"You married her! How could you, Cole? She
dumped you at the altar! She made you a laughingstock in front of the entire town, and now you've
married her?" Her voice was high-pitched and full of
rage as she vented all the hatred she'd kept in her
heart for Jenny. Only now, that hatred included Cole.
"You should have been counting your lucky stars that
I loved you and wanted you!"

Cole stood his ground, not showing any concern as he talked to Mira in a calm voice. "I love Jenny, Mira.
I always have and I always will."

"You're a fool, Cole Randall. You're stupid. She
hurt you, and you went back for more." Mira took a
threatening step forward, glaring at Jenny with murderous intent, seeing the bandage on her forehead and
wishing she'd been a better shot. "Oh, how I wish
that first shot hadn't missed!"

At her statement, Cole and Jenny both looked
shocked.

"It was you!" Jenny exclaimed, startled by the revelation.

"You're damned right it was me, and I've cursed
the fact that I missed killing you every day since!"
Mira snarled savagely at her. She realized she'd given
herself away, and knew she had to get out of there
fast-but not before she wreaked some revenge. She
hadn't worn her own sidearm, but she spied Cole's
gunbelt on a table near the front door and made a
move to grab it.

Cole released Jenny and tried to stop Mira, but she
was too quick for him. She evaded him and grabbed
up the gun. She spun around, the weapon in hand,
aiming straight at Cole and Jenny.

"Mira, give me the gun. This isn't going to solve
anything," Cole said, trying to reason with her.

She only smiled evilly, loving the power the gun
gave her. She was imagining what it would be like to
shoot Jenny first and laugh while Cole watched her die. She wanted to hurt him to make him pay for
his rejection of her.