Come the Spring (31 page)

Donald remembered to bolt the door this time. Rebecca hadn't gotten dressed yet. Her clothes were laid out on the bench, and she was frantically shoving her torn garments into her valise. He grabbed hold of her from behind, slammed her up against the wall, and violently took her.

No one heard her screams.

Twenty-Nine
 

Parting wasn't sweet sorrow; it was agony. Jessica looked as though her heart were being torn apart when she said good-bye to Caleb. She didn't shed a single tear, however, and neither did her son. Her departure didn't faze him, for he'd taken quite a liking to Josey and Tom Norton. He squirmed in Jessica's arms when she kissed him good-bye, couldn't be bothered with waving farewell, and didn't give his mama a backward glance when she walked out the doorway. He was busy wreaking havoc in Josey's kitchen.

Jessica surprised Cole. He knew she wouldn't make a scene in front of the baby, but he expected her to cry and carry on as soon as they were outside. He even had an “it's for the best” lecture all ready. But Jessie didn't carry on. She remained solemn, but dry-eyed, throughout the journey.

She deserved a reward for holding up so well. They'd pressed hard all day, only stopping twice to
rest their horses for a short spell, and by sunset, she was clearly physically and emotionally spent.

At dusk, he stopped his horse alongside hers and silently berated himself for pushing her so hard. She wasn't a skilled horsewoman, and the long ride must have been extremely difficult for her, yet she never once voiced a complaint.

“We'll catch the train in Edwardsville tomorrow morning,” he said. “The town's about five miles south from here. I doubt we'll find fancy accommodations there, but you would be able to sleep in a bed,” he explained. “Or we could make a little detour and sleep outside by the waterfalls.”

“You aren't thinking about going back to Rockford Falls?” she asked, already shaking her head.

“We're a long way from Rockford Falls,” he assured her. “The spot I'm thinking about has a little waterfall that spills into a clear, blue water basin. It's real secluded.”

“How much of a detour is it?” she asked tiredly. She pushed a strand of hair out of her eyes and noticed the dust on her hands. A bath sounded luxurious to her.

“About a mile from here,” he said. “If we do sleep out, it means getting up a little earlier.”

“What would you like to do?”

He always preferred sleeping out under the stars, away from the noise and crowds and congestion of a big town, but he wasn't going to sway Jessica. It was her choice, not his.

“Whatever you decide is fine with me.”

“I'd love to have a bath.”

“I'm sure we can find a bath for you in Edwardsville.”

“But I'd rather sleep outside. Is it really secluded by the waterfall?”

“Yeah, it is.”

“Then I'll be able to practice.”

“Practice what?” he asked.

“You'll see,” she said. “I can't do it alone. You're going to have to help.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Does practice involve touching?”

He was teasing her and fully expected to make her blush. She didn't, though. She agreed instead.

“Oh, yes, you'll have to put your arms around me. At least I think you will. I'm not sure. I don't have any experience.”

He nudged his horse into a trot and led the way down a narrow slope. She was right behind him.

His mind jumped from one licentious thought to another. What in thunder did she want to practice?

He glanced back. “This practice … it requires seclusion?”

She hid her smile. “Oh, yes, it does.”

“Why?”

“Because I'm going to make a lot of noise. If there were other people around, I would be inhibited.”

He pulled back on the reins and waited for her to catch up to him. He could see the sparkle in her eyes and knew she was up to mischief.

“You aren't talking about what I think you're talking about, are you?”

She batted her eyelashes at him. He burst into laughter.

“What do you think I'm talking about?” she asked innocently.

“Sex.”

“No,” she blurted out before she too burst into laughter.

“Men don't like to be teased, Jessie. Remember that.”

He took the lead once again. She trailed behind him just as she had for the last eight hours. She didn't say another word for a long while, until curiosity got the better of her.

“Cole?”

“Yes?”

“Were you disappointed?”

“About what?”

“That I wasn't talking about sex.”

“No,” he snapped. “I wasn't.”

Her shoulders slumped, and she felt an acute wave of disappointment. “Then you never once thought about it … with me?”

He couldn't believe they were having this conversation. Didn't she realize the effect she was having on him? Probably not, he decided. It was apparent she was innocent, but she wouldn't be for long if she kept asking him such personal questions.

“Yeah, I thought about it.”

“And?”

“And what? It isn't gonna happen, Jessica.”

“No, of course not,” she hastily agreed. “But I've thought about it too, several times, as a matter of fact.”

He almost fell off his horse. “Will you stop talking about it?!”

“You don't have to yell at me. I was just being honest with you. You're very easy to talk to, at least you were until you got upset, and admitting that I've thought about making love to you isn't a crime. I'm not going to act on it. I wouldn't even know what to do.”

“Then I don't have to worry you'll do anything stupid.”

“Like what?”

He didn't answer her. He swore he wasn't going to say another word, and he definitely wasn't going to look back at her, at least not until he had gotten rid of the notion of dragging her off her horse, pulling her clothes off, and making love to her.

“I hope the water's warm,” she remarked.

He hoped it was cold … icy cold.

The last mile seemed like twenty to her, and by the time they finally arrived, she was bone weary.

Cole helped her dismount. His hands stayed around her waist much longer than necessary, and she leaned into him, thankful for his assistance. Her legs were so shaky she was sure she would have fallen flat on her backside if he hadn't held on to her.

She glanced up to thank him, noticed his clenched jaw, and quickly moved away from him. He was obviously still irritated by her inappropriate remarks.

She decided to ignore him until he was in a better mood. Her surroundings enthralled her, for everything was so lush and green. She worked the stiffness out of her legs by walking along the bank of the basin. The waterfall wasn't anything like Rockford Falls. It was much smaller and not nearly as grand, yet just as enchanting. A steady stream of water poured across a jagged ledge above, and as it spilled into the pool below, the drops of water, like prisms, caught the sunlight and refracted it into a sparkling rainbow of colors.

While Cole took care of their horses, she prepared their camp. After gathering sticks for the fire, she laid out their bedrolls and the picnic Josey had prepared for them.

“Food's ready,” she called out.

“I'll eat later,” he called back.

He finished brushing the horses and let them graze on the sweet grass. The sound of the water rushing down the rocks was soothing and too enticing to resist, and while she ate, he went to the edge of the waterfall, stripped out of his clothes, and dove into the crystalline waters.

The cold water did help him take his mind off of Jessica, and he was able to remember why he didn't want to touch her. Strings, he thought to himself. The
woman was definitely desirable, but she came with strings. Besides, she wasn't the kind of woman a man could bed and leave. She deserved better than that—someone better than he was, he qualified. Why, then, did he get so hot and bothered when he pictured her with another man? He had no right to be possessive, and yet that was exactly what he was.

“Are you going to stay in the water all night?”

The question pulled him out of his dark thoughts. He got out of the water, haphazardly dried himself off, and put on his pants. When he returned to camp, he moved their bedrolls closer to the rock ledge as a precaution in case of rain, restacked the kindling she'd collected, struck a match to light the fire, and then sat down on his bedroll to eat.

Since he knew that Josey had prepared the food, he wasn't surprised it tasted terrible. Jessica hadn't complained about the taste, but from the amount of food left over, he knew she hadn't eaten much.

She did eat most of the peppermints Josey had packed. She was chewing on one while she gathered clean clothes, a towel, and soap. She removed her clothes, got into the water, and used the gently cascading waterfall as a screen to shield her from Cole. It was cold but not unbearable. She lifted her hair away from the nape of her neck and backed into the running water with her legs braced apart, her head back, and her eyes closed. The gentle massage soothed the tension out of her, and in no time at all she was completely relaxed. It was sheer heaven.

He felt as if he were in purgatory, and he had no one to blame but himself. He shouldn't have been watching her bathe. It was wrong and intrusive. He couldn't make himself turn away, though, and if that made him a voyeur or a lecher, so be it. She was incredibly lovely. She stood waist high in the water, and her every movement was so sensual and graceful. He watched her lather her neck and arms; then he had
to close his eyes while he battled the urge to dive into the water and join her. Maybe strings weren't so bad after all. He pushed the thought aside and opened his eyes again. The erotic scene was so compelling he could barely breathe. His entire body reacted, and every muscle felt hard and coiled with the need to touch her.

His mind was flooded with one lustful intention after another, and he realized he was going to be in real trouble if he didn't control his thoughts soon. With a loud groan, he stretched out on his bedroll and stacked his hands behind his head. He was a light sleeper, and if she got into trouble or needed him, all she had to do was call out.

He counted cattle; he counted sheep. Then he started counting the number of ways he wanted to make love to her.

“Cole, are you asleep?”

He didn't open his eyes when he answered her. “No.”

“Is something wrong? You sound hoarse.”

“I'm fine. What do you want?”

“I wanted to know if it would bother you if I made noise.”

“Doing what?”

“Target practice.”

He sat up and spotted the gun in her lap. “Where did you get that?”

“Tom Norton gave it to me.”

“Put it away.”

“I want to learn to shoot with some degree of accuracy.”

“No, you don't.”

“I'm going to learn how to protect myself. I don't particularly like guns, and I had hoped never to own one, but the Blackwater gang changed everything. I'm responsible for taking care of myself and my son, and I'm not going to let anyone hurt us.”

“Dry your hair and go to sleep.”

She pushed a wet strand of hair over her shoulder, then opened the box of bullets Tom had purchased for her, and began to load the gun.

He tried not to get mad as he watched her shoot at an impossible target. She was driving him nuts because she kept making the same mistakes over and over again, and when he simply couldn't stand it a second longer, he got up.

He came up behind her, wrapped his arm around her waist, and pulled her up against him, then took hold of her hand that held the gun.

“Exactly what are you shooting at?” he demanded.

“The tree straight ahead. What did you think I was shooting at?” she asked.

“The stars. You're too high, sugar.”

He spent the next twenty minutes teaching her, and, honest to Pete, he hated every second of it. She shouldn't have to be learning such a skill. She should be in a parlor somewhere sipping tea while Caleb played at her feet. She was a lady, and ladies didn't carry guns.

He made the mistake of giving her his opinions. She vehemently disagreed. “I've admitted I don't like the idea of carrying a gun, but I'm going to until every one of the Blackwater gang has been captured, and if that means I'm no longer a lady, so be it.”

“You sure are pretty when you're angry. Your eyes sparkle.”

“A lot of women carry weapons for … What did you say?”

She turned her head to look at him and bumped into his chin. “I said you're pretty,” he repeated.

He rattled her with the compliment. “Thank you,” she stammered before looking away so that she could concentrate.

“Women who live in the Wild West must carry guns
because there are all sorts of… What are you doing?”