Sage glanced at her brother and seemed to remember she’d been about to leave. “I’ll bring you both breakfast in an hour.”
She was gone before Jessie could answer.
Jessie waited until the first light glowed from the window. Then she reached and touched Teagen’s big, scarred hand.
He shifted slightly.
She brushed his hand again.
He opened one eye. “Are you awake?” he grumbled, half asleep. “Or am I dreaming again?”
“I’m awake.” She smiled.
He opened the other eye. “Good.” For a moment he just stared at her, then he added, “Do you need anything, Jess?”
“Yes,” she answered. “I need you to hold me.”
“Sage said not to move you.” He leaned forward. “But I’d like to do just that.”
“Then lie down beside me,” she whispered. “I won’t move.”
He hesitated, then slowly unfolded from the chair. As slowly as he could, he slid atop the covers beside her, and Jessie rolled into his arms. He tugged the covers around her and held her gently.
Neither said a word. She spread her hand over his heart, and he placed his on top of it. She breathed in the scent of him and drifted back to sleep, the nightmare of the fire and the pain no longer in her mind.
When Sage woke them, the sun was bright. She tapped on the door and said, “This is your third call to breakfast. If you sleep any longer, I’ll be serving lunch.”
Teagen gently settled Jessie against the pillows and told his sister to come in. He sat back in his chair and ate breakfast, watching every bite Jessie took.
When he stood after barely eating, he walked to the door and ordered, “Make sure she rests today, Sage.”
Jessie smiled. “I can hear you, Teagen. Stop ordering your sister around.”
Sage came in, laughing. “Teagen, she’s going to be all right. The fever is gone, the bleeding has almost stopped, and she’s eating. It’s my medical opinion she’ll be up and about in a few days.”
Teagen turned to Jessie. “Do everything Sage tells you, Jess.”
“I promise, but you have to stop worrying about me. I’m weak as a kitten, but I’ll be right here when you get back.”
He frowned like he wasn’t sure to trust her and walked out of the room.
Jessie leaned back and smiled up at Sage.
“My brother’s not very friendly on his best day.”
“I’ve noticed, but he doesn’t fool me. I know he cares about me, if only a little.”
“A little?” Sage laughed. “The man is nuts about you. I think he may have driven us all crazy if not for the girls. They settled him even in his darkest moods when we all feared you might die.” Sage tucked in the covers around Jessie. “Speaking of the girls, they’re outside waiting to come in. Do you feel up to seeing them?”
“Definitely,” Jessie answered, and a moment later the room was filled with their voices.
They stayed with her for an hour, then Sage talked them into playing on the porch while she and Martha helped Jessie bathe. Once she was tucked back into bed, Jessie slept the rest of the day away.
When she woke just before sunset, Martha brought her a dinner of soup and corn bread. Jessie ate as much as she could while asking questions about all that had happened. She learned of Sims’s fast recovery and how it rained for three days after the fire. When she asked about her new nightgown, Martha told her that Teagen had picked it and several other things up for her weeks before but didn’t know how to give them to her. She showed Jessie a robe and slippers as well as a wide bonnet and material in several colors.
“He told me to keep them until you needed them, and I figured you needed them now.” Martha took the tray. “Sage will get the girls to bed. She’s had no trouble since she started telling the stories about her grandfather the chief.”
The housekeeper stopped at the door. “Get some sleep. You’ll feel better tomorrow. I’ll be on the porch having a cup of coffee with Sims if you need anything.”
Jessie drifted back to sleep but awoke when she heard Teagen enter the room. He tugged off his boots and sat down in the chair.
“Evening,” she whispered.
He seemed surprised to find her awake. “How’d your day go, Jess?”
She pulled herself up on the pillows. “I’m better, Teagen. You can stop worrying about me. I stayed in bed today, but tomorrow I think I’ll be able to get up and at least sit in the kitchen for a while.”
He frowned.
She laughed. “Stop trying to bully me, and come to bed. I’ve missed you holding me all day.”
He raised an eyebrow. “I don’t know.”
She smiled. How could he not know that he was the medicine she needed? “You don’t have to be afraid of me. I’m only planning to sleep with you. I’ll save attacking you for another night.”
A slow grin spread across his face. “I don’t know if I can trust you.”
“You’ll just have to take a risk,” she dared him. “Now, come to bed.”
He lowered himself beside her. “Then I guess the question is, do you trust me?”
“What do you think?” She liked this teasing Teagen.
“For tonight,” he whispered as she moved into his arms. “I wouldn’t mind being close.” He kissed her head.
They both fell asleep smiling. The next night, he didn’t wait for an invitation and the third night, he climbed beneath the covers, saying the night had a chill to it.
Now the rules had changed, even though neither had said a word. She could feel the warmth of his skin beneath the layer of his shirt, and when he rolled near and tugged her back against his chest, she felt his need for her, even though he still wore his trousers.
Though she hadn’t said a word, Martha and Sage both knocked before entering the bedroom, giving Teagen time to move back to his chair before he growled, “Come in.”
She couldn’t tell if he didn’t like being interrupted or if he hated pretending that he wasn’t sleeping beside her. His grumbling made her smile, but as soon as they were alone again, she wanted him close. He seemed to feel the same.
On their fourth night, she didn’t fall asleep for a long time and guessed that he was awake also. Finally, she could stand the silence no longer. She rolled over and faced him, aware that her unlaced breasts brushed against the wall of his chest.
“Teagen,” she whispered. “Are you asleep?”
“Not likely,” he answered.
She didn’t know how to say what needed to be said between them.
Finally, he broke the silence. “Do you want me to leave?”
“No,” she said, surprised at his thoughts. “I was wondering if you could bring yourself to kiss me.”
“I don’t want to hurt you.”
“You won’t.”
“Is this one of those things you’re just wanting to experience?”
“No.” She laughed. “I was just remembering how you kissed me and thinking it would be nice, since we’re not doing anything right now and we’re not asleep, if you might be willing to kiss me again.”
“Hush,” he whispered as his mouth found hers. “You don’t have to talk me into it.”
The kiss had a hunger to it that surprised her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him close, loving the way his tongue explored first her lips and then her mouth.
She heard herself make a sound of pure pleasure, then she pressed the top of her body against his chest, loving how much more exciting kissing was while lying down. The two layers of cotton between them did nothing to hide the feel of him against her.
A low rumble of a hunger having nothing to do with food echoed in his kiss as he threaded his hands in her hair and turned her head just right so that the kiss deepened. He teased her tongue into playing a game that pleased her.
When he finally raised his head, she stared at him in the shadows and noticed he was smiling.
“Is that what you wanted, Jess?”
“Yes.” She moved slightly, and her lips touched his throat. “That was very nice.” Her words brushed against the dampness left by her kiss. “But not enough, Teagen. Not nearly enough.”
He tugged her mouth back to him as she knew he would and kissed her so tenderly he took her breath away. When he pulled back the second time, he rolled her gently from her side to her back and slowly moved his mouth down her throat.
He braced his chest a fraction of an inch above her so that each time she breathed, her breasts brushed against him. The slight contact warmed her. She stretched, begging now for more.
Answering her silent request, his touch grew bolder, his kiss deeper. When his mouth finally returned to his journey down her throat, she sighed softly with need and felt his laughter against her throat.
She turned her head away, giving him free range of her neck. The tip of his tongue playing lightly over the flesh he’d just kissed drove her wild. She felt his fingers fumbling with the buttons at her throat and closed her eyes as she waited for the pleasure she knew would soon come.
Her gown was open to her breasts when he kissed her ear and whispered, “Do you want this? I’ll stop if you don’t.” His finger rested at the last button.
She pushed against his cheek until she found his lips. “I want you to touch me tonight.” Her words were lost in his mouth as he kissed her again, hard and wild. His hand spread feather light over the cotton of her gown, making her nipples peak with need.
“Tell me,” he muttered. “Tell me what you need.”
“You,” she whispered. “I need you.”
His big hand closed over the cotton clinging to her breast.
Her body shook, and he cradled her close, but his fingers continued to grip her tender flesh. She settled beside him as he kissed the corners of her mouth. Without understanding the words he whispered between his kisses, she mumbled yes again and again. He tugged her lips apart and kissed her deep and hard.
When he backed away, she gulped in deep breaths.
He tugged the gown to her sides as if opening a grand gift. He watched as her chest rose and fell a few times before he molded a hand over one bare breast.
“Easy, Jess.” His words brushed her cheek. “I’m just going to touch you tonight. But someday we’ll do far more, and I promise you’ll like it just as much as you do this.” His hand tenderly circled round her flesh, feeling of it as though he’d never felt anything so perfect.
She lay still, drifting in paradise as he moved to the other breast and did the same. When his mouth returned to kiss her, his hand remained on her flesh, molding her gently. He felt and caressed and explored with his hand while his mouth made her forget everything but him.
Slowly, she relaxed in his arms. He’d begun to make her his as he became hers. She learned what he wanted in a kiss, and he learned to please her.
When he finally stopped and buttoned her gown, he pulled her back against him. She let him slide his hands along the length of her body and mold her against him. When she whimpered for the need of another kiss, he placed one hand over her breast and teased it gently as he tugged her hair back and whispered a kiss in her ear. She wasn’t sure what he said, for the touch of his lips and the warmth of his breath sent liquid pleasure flowing through her.
“Go to sleep, Jess,” he whispered as he rubbed his chin against her hair. “You need your rest.”
Jessie closed her eyes and melted into him, loving the warmth of his body beside her. “All right,” she said, smiling at how his words had sounded like an order, but his hand still spread over her.
Late in the night, she awoke as he rolled her to her back.
“Jess,” he said with an urgency. “I have to have another taste of you before this night ends.”
She didn’t open her eyes but smiled as he leaned down to part her lips once more. His mouth pressed gently over hers, then his tongue brushed her lips, and he drank long. There was a wild hunger in him that seemed to surprise them both. She stretched her arms above her and sighed softly as his kiss moved down her throat.
“I love the taste of you,” he said.
She stretched toward him in answer and felt his laughter against her skin.
He unbuttoned her gown and spread it apart, then continued kissing her. His beard tickled her tender flesh when he kissed one breast and then the other. When he took her nipple in his mouth, she almost bolted upright.
Rising above her, his fingers combed through her hair. “Easy now, Jess, I’m not going to hurt you.” He kissed the corners of her mouth.
“Teagen,” she whimpered. “Do it again.”
“Are you sure?” His hand fisted in her hair. “I . . .”
“I’m sure,” she answered.
He kissed her softly, then as he had before, he traveled down her throat. When his mouth circled over her peak once more, she held her breath a moment to allow melted pleasure to wash through her body.
His hand covered the breast he’d just tasted when he looked up. In the moonlight, his face was in shadow, but she knew he smiled. “You all right?” he asked, already knowing the answer.
She nodded.
Slowly, he buttoned the gown back in place and lay on his back beside her. “Thank you,” he whispered when she was almost asleep. “I think I’ve satisfied that hunger I seem to have developed for you. At least for a little while.”
“You’re welcome,” she answered, already drifting into dreams.
He shifted to his side and moved his hand over her side. “Jess, when the time is right, will you come willingly to me as a wife?”
His words blended in her dream.
When she awoke at dawn, he was gone, and she wished he’d touched her once more during the night. For the first time since the fire, she dressed and joined everyone in the kitchen.
Sage and Martha thought she should go back to bed, but Jessie needed something to do. It was time to step back into life.
Martha gave her the sit-down work. Every time she tried to lift something, one of them was there to help or try to stop her. So she passed the day doing mending and reading to the girls.