Jodi Thomas - WM 1 (25 page)
Read Jodi Thomas - WM 1 Online
Authors: Texas Rain
Yes, she thought, she’d love to write the Travis she knew on paper about the hard man claiming his name. The man before her would never say the things written in the letters.
“What’s so funny?” he asked without smiling. He pushed his half-eaten meal away.
She raised an eyebrow. “I was just thinking how I feel like I know you better by letter than I do the man sitting across from me.”
“A paper man is a lot less threatening than a real one.”
“Something like that,” she admitted. “A paper one can’t bruise my ribs.”
He frowned. “I didn’t mean to. You’re about the size of Sage and I’ve never hurt her.” He smiled. “She’s here with me, you know. Jumps in every wagon leaving the ranch these days. Worse than a yard dog.”
Rainey laughed. “You’d better not let her hear you say that.”
He raised his hands. “Don’t worry. I couldn’t take another woman in my life mad at me.”
Rainey smiled as the waitress delivered two slices of one of the pies she’d baked that morning. She found it interesting that Travis thought of her as one of the women in his life.
She took one bite of the pie, but after smelling it cooking all day, she’d lost her appetite.
He looked up as he finished his slice. “The pie is the best thing here.”
Rainey pushed hers away. “I ate too much dinner.”
He exchanged plates and ate her pie without commenting. Rainey guessed that anyone watching would presume they’d been together a long time.
She leaned back, thinking they’d talk when he finished eating, but as soon as he laid down his napkin, he asked for the bill and paid out. Without asking if she were ready, he stood and held her cape for her.
Without a word he led her out of the restaurant and across the street toward the capital. They crossed the grounds and took the first side street leading to a barn where the wealthy people stabled their animals. Travis opened a thin side door and stepped back for her to enter.
Rainey hesitated.
“It’s all right,” Travis said from just behind her. “They keep a lantern on in the barn.”
She didn’t have the nerve to tell him that she was afraid of far more than the light. But, she reasoned, if he were planning to kill her, he probably would not have bought her dinner first. She stepped inside.
Travis followed, his hand resting lightly at the small of her back. “Wait here,” he whispered and vanished into one of the stalls where wagons were stored.
A moment later he returned with a bag. Rainey followed as he moved into the light and opened the bag that contained several little compartments. He tugged at one, pulling it free of the others.
“Open your hands,” he ordered as he pulled the string on the bag wide.
Rainey did as he said, but stood ready to run.
Travis put his finger into the leather pouch and pulled out a milky salve. He took one of her hands and slowly moved his finger over the blisters. The cream cooled her burns like magic.
“What is that?” she asked as he rubbed the medicine gently over her fingers.
“It’s a poultice Sage makes of slippery elm sap, beeswax, and aloe plant.” His fingers moved over her skin. “I wish I’d remembered that she packed it earlier, but we left it in the wagon and didn’t bother to bring it inside.” His hand continued to gently touch hers. “Do your burns feel better?”
“Yes.”
His fingers brushed over her palm where there were no burns. “Your hand is so small,” he said to himself. “You should wear gloves.”
She slowly pulled her hands away. “I’ll remember that,” she said. “Thank you for the salve.”
He studied her in the shadowy glow of the lantern, then turned and helped her back through the side door. His hand rested on her shoulder in almost a caress.
As they walked out into the night, she said more to herself than him, “I guess you’re finished looking at me.”
He covered her hand that rested on his arm and walked across the street to the grounds of the state capital without saying a word. Lanterns glowed around the fine new building, but the windows inside were dark. “I’m almost finished,” he finally said as he led her up one step and waited for her to turn to face him when he didn’t follow. “Though I would like it if you removed your hood once more. I remember your hair blond and short that night after I’d been shot. I’d like to feel what it’s like to the touch.”
His request was so odd, she couldn’t refuse. In the chilly air she removed her hood and shook her head slightly as blond curls tumbled down almost to her shoulders.
He was doing it again. Staring at her as if he were trying to remember how to describe her for a Wanted poster.
She ran her fingers through her hair self-consciously. “In another month it’ll be long enough to put up in a proper bun. When I used to teach, I always wore my hair up, even on Saturday.”
To her surprise, his hand gently covered hers. When she lowered her fingers, his remained tangled in her curls.
Everything about him seemed so hard and cold, but when he touched her the gentleness surprised her. It was as if he hesitated, as if he feared he might break her.
“I don’t think I’ve seen hair just this color before.” He didn’t smile as he studied the hair curling around his fingers. “It’s like a clear morning sunrise. It doesn’t fit your name.”
She didn’t know whether to say thank you or not. She could have moved away. One step and she’d no longer feel his hand in her hair. But, in truth, she liked the way he touched her, as if brushing something rare and priceless.
When his gaze shifted from her hair to her face, the warmth in his brown eyes surprised her. He lowered his hand to his side.
“Rainey,” he said slowly. “I can think of ten reasons I came to Austin, but the true one is I’d like to give you back something you gave me.”
Before she could ask any questions, he lowered his mouth to hers.
Rainey felt her body grow warm all the way to her toes. He wasn’t holding her anywhere, but she couldn’t have pulled away. His lips were warm and surprisingly soft against hers. They moved slightly as if asking for something she didn’t know how to give.
She sighed and closed her eyes. His kiss was almost as good as it had been in her dreams.
He pulled a few inches away.
When she opened one eye, he was studying her.
“Again?” His voice was low, a breath away from her lips. “Would you mind if I continued?”
“Please,” she whispered and his mouth returned.
She leaned into him, loving the way his warmth surrounded her. Finally the Ranger she’d felt before months ago was against her making every part of her feel alive.
His big hand circled her waist as his gentle kiss continued. Then, as if he were teasing her, his tongue brushed a thin line across her bottom lip.
Rainey opened her eyes, braced her hands on his shoulders and shoved a few inches away. “I don’t think you are supposed to do that.” Her teachery voice sounded again.
He smiled. “Didn’t you like it?” His hands were easy now on the small of her waist. She could feel the warmth of them through the layers of clothing she wore. She could feel him caressing her gently even as he studied her.
Turning her head slightly, she answered. “I’m not sure. I think I like it. Do it again so I can tell.” This might be the one and only time in the whole of her life that a man kissed her. She wanted to make sure they were doing it right.
His fingers tugged her against him as his mouth lowered once more. This time his lips didn’t stay closed completely and when his tongue slid along her mouth, he parted her lips slightly.
She straightened again despite his groan. “Where’d you learn to kiss like that?”
Travis laughed. “How’d you get to be a full-grown woman without learning how to kiss, Rainey?”
She didn’t want to tell him how few times she’d been around boys, or men, near her age, so she leaned forward and touched her lips to his.
He didn’t respond.
She tried again.
He waited.
Frustrated, she opened her mouth slightly and touched his full bottom lip.
He reacted, pulling her close and continuing the lesson.
She’d done it, she thought. She’d finally kissed a man the way a woman kisses a lover. As he nibbled on the corners of her lip, she decided maybe she should be writing this down. She’d never remember all she was learning.
She pulled away. “How . . .”
He pulled her back. “Stop asking questions.”
She meant to protest. How else would she learn if she didn’t ask questions? But suddenly she was lost in the pleasure of it all. This was no boy kissing her in the shadows of the ballroom. This was a man probably unaware that he was her first. She could feel a hunger in his kiss. He tasted of excitement spiced with a pleasure she’d never known.
She wrapped her arms around his neck as his hands moved slowly up and down her back. The warmth of his touch melted all the way into her bones. She sighed, loving the feelings dancing in her veins.
He pulled back slightly. “You like kissing?”
“Very much.” She leaned into him, letting the softness of her body press against him.
His hand moved along her back, molding her against him. “You feel so good against me.”
She sighed again as he slid his fingers inside her cape so that not as many layers stood between them. He kissed her while his touch gently moved over her as if he needed to memorize the feel of her.
His mouth covered hers fully when his hand brushed along the bottom of her breasts. She jerked with the pleasure of it and might have fallen if he hadn’t been holding her so tightly. When he repeated his action, she sighed softly and swayed with the wave of pleasure.
With the sigh, her mouth opened and he deepened the kiss, tasting her fully as though he’d been starving.
She didn’t move, didn’t protest as he molded her to him.
“This is what I’ve missed,” he whispered against her lips, “since the last time I saw you.”
His mouth moved from hers and trailed down her throat. She cried softly, missing the kiss.
He raised his head and stared down at her. She could see a fire in his eyes, a hunger and also uncertainty.
Placing her hands on either side of his face, she pulled his mouth back to hers. After a moment he understood and returned to kissing her.
She knew what he was doing would never be considered proper, but when he whispered her name, she held him closer.
His hand grew bolder, passing gently over her breast. Even through the layers of material she could feel the warmth in his touch.
Shaking with the wave of feelings flooding over her, Rainey cried out softly against his ear.
He held her tenderly, stroking her until she took his touch without fear. When he moved freely once more over her body, his caress seemed familiar, and she silently welcomed it as if it were something she hadn’t known to miss all her life.
With his hand capturing her breast, he raised his head enough so that their eyes met. “You like this?”
“Yes,” she whispered as he tightened his grip slightly and sent fire dancing through her veins.
“And this.” He kissed her so gently she ached for more.
“Yes,” she answered as she pressed against him, feeling his palm flatten against her soft flesh.
His words came low, whispered in her ear as almost a thought passing between them. “Then marry me, Rainey.”
She pushed out of his arms and bolted several feet down the street before she heard him whisper her name once more.
The wind seemed suddenly bitter cold after being next to him, but she didn’t turn around. She knew he followed but she wouldn’t, couldn’t face him.
Here she’d thought how nice the evening was after he finished scaring her half to death and bullying her. They’d had a pleasant meal, he’d doctored her hand as if he truly cared. They’d enjoyed great kisses and a touching that still made her shake with pleasure, then he proved himself insane by asking her to marry him.
All she thought she wanted was his letters. They were enough. Why did he have to show her more tonight? She liked the kissing, the touching, but that didn’t mean she wanted marriage. She’d crossed half a country to be free, and she would not be giving that freedom up just because he made her heart race. She had more sense than that.
As she hurried along it crossed her thoughts that maybe Travis only wanted her for a night. Maybe he’d just offered marriage without ever planning to carry through. She didn’t know whether to be insulted or relieved.
The dream of Travis McMurray was safe, but the reality was frightening. All these months she’d told herself that she would never give up her freedom and be ruled by some man. She’d fight to the death before she’d let her father catch her and force her to marry.
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