Yesterday's Magic (22 page)

Pink. He’d been with more than a few women in
his years, even some sporting women, and they’d never worn pink

Shaking his head, he tried to keep to the
task at hand. As gently as he could, he pulled her arms free of the
material. He knew what he needed to do next. He needed to return
her to her back so that he could pull the dress down and off. But
he was afraid, knowing that if her breasts were as soft and as
silky as the rest of her body, that it would be his undoing.

But he knew he couldn’t allow her to remain
in the wet dress, not when she was shivering and he could hear her
teeth clicking together. He took a deep breath, rolled her over,
grabbed a handful of material on each side, and pulled her dress
all the way off. He saw her two pairs of socks and pulled them off
as well.

He sat back on his heels. She had bright red
toenails. At first it scared him because he thought it was from the
cold but then he realized, they’d been painted.

He didn’t know any women who painted their
toenails. Things were done differently back in Ohio.

Once he got past her toes, he realized that
the material that covered her breasts was nothing but silk and lace
and, oh my lord, it matched the patch of pink that barely covered
her woman parts.

He felt warm and out of breath and more than
a little lightheaded. She was lovely.

She opened her eyes. “I’m so tired,” she
said.

Her words were slurred, sounding more like
I’m slow trierd.

“Don’t you dare give up, Bella Wainwright.”
He forgot about her soft skin, her narrow waist, her long legs with
their delicate feminine muscle. He’d only done half the job by
getting her wet clothes off. He needed to get her warmed up and he
knew the fastest way. Many a men had saved themselves on the
prairie by forgetting their pride and setting aside their personal
beliefs about lying close to another man.

He stood up, yanked off his own coat and
kicked off his boots. The he undid his gun belt and set it safely
to the side. Then he pulled off his shirt, unbuttoned his pants,
and stepped out of them.

He kept his undershirt and his long underwear
on. He walked over to his bed and quickly stripped off the two
thick blankets. He returned to her side, lay down beside her, and
covered both of them with the blankets.

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her
close, until they were touching most everywhere.

Then he tried to think about castrating
pigs.

When that didn’t work, he visualized leeches
and maggots and every other disgusting thing he could think of.

None of it worked. Not when Bella’s head was
tucked under his chin and he could smell the fresh lemon scent of
her hair. Not when her slim body seemed to fit so nicely in his
arms. And certainly not when his cock was so hard that even
thoughts of his own castration weren’t making a difference.

He wanted her. He wanted to fill his hands
with her breasts and spread her legs wide. He wanted to taste her
and then rejoice when she took him in her mouth. He wanted it
all.

“Bella,” he said.

She’d stopped shaking and her breathing had
evened out. Those were all good things.

“Bella,” he said again. “You were smart to
burrow into the snow.”

“I saw a special on the Discovery
Channel.”

“What?” Her words were still slurred but was
it worse than he thought? Was she so far gone that she was talking
nonsense? “A special what?”

She pulled her head back and slowly blinked
her eyes. Twice. Then she smiled at him and it was the sweetest
smile he’d ever seen. He felt joy blossom in his heart.

“Never mind. Thank you for saving my life,
Jedidiah McNeil,” she said, as she closed her eyes.

The thought of what might have been if he’d
been even five minutes later made him start to shake and he forced
himself to take deep, even breaths to calm himself. She’d been a
crazy fool to go out alone on a night like this, in country that
was strange to her. He couldn’t abide people doing foolish
things.

But, damn it, he had a fondness for people
who did brave things—who acted in an unselfish manner. She taken a
risk but she’d taken it on behalf of Freida. And she’d kept her
head about her, too, when she’d dug herself into the snow.

She was going to live to tell about her
adventure. Jed reached a hand out toward the pile of clothes he’d
shed earlier and snagged his watch out of his vest pocket. He
flipped it open and it gave him a start to realize that less than
an hour had gone by since he’d seen Freida’s horse.

He felt as if he’d aged ten years. But he
couldn’t rest yet. As much as he’d like to stay under the warm
blankets with a nearly naked Bella lying in the crook of his arm,
there was still Freida to consider as well as any other men that
Bart might have gathered to hunt for Bella.

He eased away from Bella and smiled when she
moaned a protest. He tucked the blankets around her, making sure
that no cold air could seep in. “Sleep, darling,” he said. “You’re
safe.”

She never opened her eyes. He stood up and
ignored his wet clothes. He grabbed clean pants and a shirt from
the shelf next to his bed. He put his coat on, grateful that the
inside of it had stayed mostly dry.

He was worried about her waking up and
finding him gone but it really couldn’t be helped. He added wood to
the fire, wanting to make sure that it kept going.

He left, closing the door softly behind him.
He was just getting on his horse when Bart rode up.

His deputy pointed at Freida’s horse, which
stood next to Jed’s mount. “Bella?”

“I’ve got her,” Jed yelled over the howling
wood. She’s inside, sleeping.”

Bart slid off his horse. “Good work,
Jedidiah,” he said, once he got close enough that he didn’t have to
yell. “Freida is going to be most grateful. I just left Doc Winder
there. He’s pretty sure she’s going to be fine. What the hell
happened to Bella tonight?”

“What happened is that she almost froze to
death. She said there was a bear and I’m guessing the horses got
startled, took off, and at some point, Freida’s rig crashed onto
its side. The horses got free and, well, you know the rest.”

“Sounds like Bella is a lucky woman. If you
can loan me a saddle for Sunshine, I’ll ride with Bella and make
sure she gets back to Freida’s safely.”

That was probably what should happen. She
could go to sleep in her own bed. That surely had to be more
comfortable than Jed’s floor. She’d be safe enough. He knew he
could trust Bart to take care of her.

But damn it. He wasn’t ready to let her
go.

“She’s sleeping, Bart. She’s been through a
lot tonight and I think she could use the rest. Can you take
Sunshine back to Freida’s and let her know that I’ll bring Bella
home in the morning?”

Bart raised an ice-crusted eyebrow.
“Jedidiah, you do realize that even with a broken leg, Freida will
kick your ass if you take advantage of her niece.”

“I’m not taking advantage of anybody,” Jed
said. Hell, if anybody had the advantage it was Bella. All she had
to do was blink her black eyes and his knees felt weak and his
heart started to thump at an alarming pace.

He watched Bart get back on his horse. It was
a terrible night for a ride. He suddenly remembered that there
might be others out looking for Bella. “Is there anybody else out
looking for Bella?”

“Yeah. I was able to round up Yancy and
Snake.”

“Yancy?”

“He seemed sober enough to me when I told him
what was going on. Don’t worry about it. I’ll find them and send
them home.”

“Thank you, Bart.”

“I’m just glad she’s safe.”

Me too.
Jed watched Bart ride out. The
wind had let up some but it was still a wicked night. He grabbed
the reins of his horse and led the animal to the barn. After he got
him fed and settled, Jed returned to the house. He let himself in,
trying to be as quiet as possible.

She was still sleeping but she’d kicked off
her covers. She lay on her back, arms stretched above her head.

He’d been in such a hurry before to get her
warmed up that he hadn’t taken time to truly appreciate her body.
She was beautiful. From her red-painted toes, all the way to her
wild hair.

Her feet were well-shaped and she had lovely
legs, with such smooth skin. He’d never thought knees were
particularly attractive before but hers were quite nice. Her thighs
were not big but they looked strong enough to hold a man in
place.

He lifted his hair off his neck, suddenly
feeling quite warm.

She had narrow hips and he wondered how she
might do when it came time to carry a child. Her belly was flat now
but he could almost imagine it swelled and stretched to accommodate
a new life. Would her baby have black eyes and curly hair or would
he or she favor the father?

Jed pressed his hand to his chest. He could
feel his heart beating too fast.

He’d noticed before that her woman parts were
covered with pink silk but now through the thin material, he could
see the outline of her sex. Like a crazy man, he found himself
wondering if she would be able to take him comfortably or would it
be tight?

He swallowed hard and wished that he hadn’t
drunk the last of his whiskey a few nights earlier.

Her waist nipped in and he thought that if he
couldn’t span it with his hands, he would be damn close. She had
the cutest belly button and—holy shit—it sparkled. He leaned
forward in his chair. There was a jewel, a pretty piece of blue
stone, at the very edge. It begged to be touched.

Jed wiped his face with his handkerchief. The
cabin was suddenly very warm.

She had exquisite breasts. They were well
shaped and for a woman who tended toward the thin side, they were
fuller than he might have expected. The pink covering masked her
nipples and he was suddenly overcome with wanting to know whether
they were small and pink or rounder and perhaps rose-colored.

He felt a bit lightheaded, as if he’d knocked
his head against a brick wall and his breath was coming in spurts,
as if he’d been running for some distance.

Christ. She wasn’t even conscious and he
wanted her with a fierceness that he could not understand. Three
days ago he hadn’t even known her and now he was sitting here, his
cock so hard it might just burst.

It was a good thing Bart hadn’t come inside.
He’d have never believed Jed’s promise that he didn’t intend to
take advantage. Hell, he hardly believed it himself.

Jed stood up, carefully. He added more wood
to the fire. He considered covering Bella but in the end, he
couldn’t do it. He’d come so close to losing her tonight. What
would it hurt if he simply enjoyed watching over her for a few
minutes? He poured some water into his coffee pot, added grounds,
and hung it over the blazing fire. Then he settled himself into the
chair.

***

Bella was hot. And terribly thirsty. She
reached for the water bottle that she always kept on her nightstand
and come up with air.

She opened her eyes and in a flash,
everything came back. The cold air, the horrific ride after the
horses had been startled by the bear, the sure knowledge that she
was going to die on the Kansas prairie, and the strong feel of
Jed’s arms when he’d pulled her to safety.

He’d saved her life. And now he sat ten feet
away from her, a coffee cup in his hand. There was a lantern on the
table next to him, turned low. The fire in the fireplace burned
strong, as if someone had recently added wood.

He was staring at her.

Suddenly, the vision that she’d had the night
of the Fall Festival came screaming back to her, like a runaway
train. She’d been on a blanket, in just her underwear, and Jed had
been watching her sleep.

In her vision, she’d known that he wanted
her. It had been written across his face.

Just like it was now.

“Bella,” he said, his voice a mere
whisper.

She felt hot and it was hard to breathe.
“Yes.”

He shifted to set his coffee cup on the
table. When he looked back at her, his eyes were clear, focused,
sharp. “I have always been a man of few words and I am not known
for my tact. So, I suspect there is a better way to say this. And
it may come to me some day. But right now, I’ve been sitting here
for the last hour watching you sleep, trying to convince myself to
do one thing, knowing damn well that what I really wanted was
something very different.”

Oh. My. Her tongue suddenly felt too big for
her mouth. She should stop him now—before it was too late, before
it would be too difficult to say no.

“Bella?” he asked, his voice held a
challenge. “I want you in my bed.”

She’d known it was coming and her heart still
raced so fast that it felt as if she swallowed butterflies.

A woman should have a lover
. That’s
what she’d told herself. That’s what she wanted.

But not until she was honest with him—as
honest as she could be. “Jed,” she said. Her voice cracked. She was
hoarse—she’d screamed plenty when the wagon had tipped and rolled.
“I’m not staying in Mantosa.”

“I’m not asking you to stay,” he said. “I’m
asking you to lie with me tonight, to let me hold you, to let me
make love to you. I’m asking you to help me forget that you almost
died tonight. I’m asking you to help me remember the importance of
be grateful for what I have now and not worrying about
tomorrow.”

The man did not give himself enough credit.
He might not talk much but when he did, it had some punch. And he
was right. She’d been very close to death tonight. She’d laid on
the cold, snowy, ground and knew that she wasn’t ready.

She wanted to live. She wanted to soar.

“Yes,” she said. This didn’t need to be
complicated.

“Yes to…?” he asked, his tone a mix of
wariness and hope.