She went to the barn, saddled Snake Eyes, and rode off to a place she hadn’t visited in months.
Jessi stood before her mother’s grave and as always felt the sadness well up in her heart. Her parents were buried side by side. Jessi was certain the placing annoyed her father no end. He’d gone to his own judgment never having forgiven his wife for her adulterous liaison with Reed Darcy. After her death, Dexter Clayton had adamantly refused to order a stone to mark Violet’s grave, so Jessi had had one made upon her return from back east. He’d been very angry over the purchase and had berated Jessi for days about it, but she hadn’t cared. Violet Clayton might’ve been an adulterous whore to him, but to Jessi and her sister, she’d been a loving mother. Jessi ran her hand lightly over the marker, then knelt to free the site of the weeds threatening to obscure the spot. When she was done, she stood and said, “Mama, I love you, but I’m not going to cling to the shadows anymore. Griff says it’s time for me to start walking in the light, and he’s right.”
Jessi used to come here often to talk to her mother about the goings-on in her life, and she doubted that would ever change. Although her father had been convinced Violet would be burning in hell for eternity, Jessi never believed that. Violet had had her hell on earth, being married to Dexter Clayton. Jessi hoped the Lord would’ve seen fit not to punish her twice.
She wondered what her mother would’ve thought of Griffin. Would she have loved him as much as Jessi? The question would remain forever unanswered, but Jessi was truly thankful to have him and his love in her life. She ran her hand over the stone to say good-bye, then went back up to the house.
She wrote a long letter to her friend Paris LaMarr to catch her up on the goings-on in her life and of course included many pages on Griffin. She then laid out her best skirt and blouse and the new camisole Gillie had sewn for her. The former teacher had taken it upon herself to fatten up Jessi’s meager wardrobe with garments she termed far more suitable for a woman with a man in her life, and although Jessi had protested, Gillie had ignored her and started picking out fabrics and patterns anyway. Even though she was still working on the wedding dress she’d somehow found the time to make Jessi a beautiful nightgown out of a length of gold silk. Jessi had no idea when she’d wear it, but Gillie promised it would tempt Griffin just as much as the fancy French underwear.
It was early evening when the sounds of a buckboard pulling up to the house came through the open windows. She hurried to the door, hoping it was Griffin and hoping he wouldn’t notice she’d gone ahead and mopped the kitchen floor. It was Griff, and as she stepped out onto the porch, he greeted her with a smile. “I’m back. Sorry it took so long. Can you help me bring these things inside?”
“Sure can.”
Jessi left the porch and Griff handed her a wooden crate whose towel-shrouded contents smelled like food. “Whatever is in here?” The tempting scents were heavenly.
“Your birthday dinner, courtesy of Neil, Auntie, and her girls.”
Jessi stopped and stared at him. “You’re jesting?”
“Nope, so take it on in, then come back and help me unload the rest.”
When they finished unloading, a curious Jessi looked at the crates now sitting on the kitchen table. There were three of them. Griff set one aside with a warning that she couldn’t peek at the contents of that particular one until later, but he gave her permission to take the towels off the tops of the two that remained. Inside one was a ham studded with cloves and dripping with maple sugar. There were also pots holding still warm yams, collards, and fat yellow cornmeal rolls. The other crate held a large bag of Chase and Sanborn coffee, a plate filled with molasses cookies, some apple dumplings, pretzels, four long tapering candles, a candelabra to nest them in, and a very fancy lace-edged tablecloth. Beneath the tablecloth were two sparkling china plates and two sets of tableware. Jessi was so outdone by the display she’d no idea what to say.
“Speechless?” he asked, as he encircled her in his arms.
“Yes!” Jessi exclaimed, turning to face him. “Why did they send all of this?”
“Because it’s your birthday, Jessi, and they wanted it to be special.”
“Well, they’ve certainly given it a start. Do you wish to eat now?”
“Let me go wash up first and then we can. If that’s okay?”
She leaned up and kissed him softly. “That sounds perfect.”
While he went out to the pump to clean up, she set the table. By the time he returned, she had everything ready. The light from the candelabra centering the food-laden table gave the kitchen a warm romantic glow.
“After you,” he said, gesturing her to her seat. He assisted her with her chair, then sat down too.
They helped themselves to the ham, vegetables, and bread, then began to eat.
Griff looked across at her bathed in the glow of the candlelight, and decided they would celebrate her birthday this way every year. A woman as majestic and lovely as his Jessi deserved a bit of softness in her life now and again, and he’d make certain she received her share from now on. He still found it hard to believe that she shared his love or that she’d agreed to be his wife. Hands down, he had to be the luckiest man in all the world.
“This ham just melts in your mouth,” Jessi purred.
“That’s what took me so long,” he told her, smiling in satisfaction. “I had to wait for Neil to say it was just right. I’m glad I did.”
“So am I. Everything is simply wonderful.” She then looked over at him and said, “Thank you, Griffin.”
“My pleasure.”
For a moment the food was forgotten as they gazed at each other through the wavering points of flame atop the candles. He wanted to reach over and touch her, kiss her, undress her; push everything off the table and take her right here under the candles’ glow.
“What are you thinking?” she asked softly.
“That I’d like to undress you and make you do shameless things.”
The thick timbre of his voice touched her like a potent caress from his hands.
“Neil and Auntie wouldn’t be happy if we wasted the food…” she said, her eyes sultry.
“No, they wouldn’t.”
Jessi could feel desire thickening the air in the room, and unable to resist becoming the siren that he sometimes made her be, moved her hands to the top button of her shirtwaist and slowly worked it free. “So how about a compromise…” Under the full attention of his vibrant eyes, her fingers freed the second button and then the third. “…We’ll eat now, and play when we’re done.”
Enough buttons had been opened to reveal the low-cut camisole underneath.
“You’re getting more outrageous by the day, Jessi Rose Clayton.”
“If I’m being too forward, I can always close my shirt again.” Her fingers moved toward the buttons.
“Don’t you dare touch those buttons.”
Their smiles mingled through the flames. Griff found her actions stimulating, to say the least. “Eat,” he told her, pointing at her plate.
In direct contradiction of his command, she undid the remaining buttons, then slipped off the shirtwaist. Only then did she pick up her fork and return to her meal.
Griffin tried his best to concentrate on the food, but the distracting lady seated across the table fueled his appetite for something else entirely. The lacy edges of the low-cut camisole kept drawing his eyes to the glow-kissed planes of her breasts and the bare expanse of her shoulders and throat. Each time she moved or reached, the garment fluttered open just enough to give him a teasing glimpse of the dark beauties within. Who knew she could be so bewitchingly playful? During the sensual opening of her blouse, he’d had to force himself to stay on his side of the table. It was a display he’d remember for quite some time. He was enjoying the meal, but his eyes were feasting, too.
When they were done eating, they both put down their tableware and silence reclaimed the shadowy kitchen.
“I should store the rest of this
food for tomorrow,” Jessi told him, even though her rising desire made it hard to remain focused on something as mundane as preserving the remnants of the meal. All she wanted to think about was Griffin’s bone-melting loving.
“I’ll help.”
She stood and leaned across the table for the plate holding the last four rolls. The camisole fluttered down and gave him an unhindered view of her breasts. Unable to resist such a blood-firing sight, he slid his finger over the soft-as-satin swell, then traced the skin down inside until he found the dark-tipped nipple. The nubbin ripened just as it had been trained to do, and so did his manhood. For a few heat-filled moments he teased her silently, lazily moving his touch from one to the other until she purred in the flickering candlelight.
“I thought you were going to help…” she gasped, as the sensations climbed.
“I am helping…”
“No, you’re not…”
He eased the bodice down and filled his hands with her twin delights. “Yes…I am.” When he had her ripened to his satisfaction, he gently eased the camisole back into position. “Now, you can finish.”
For a few seconds Jessi had a hard time remembering what she’d been about to do, because his fondling had left her mind in such a haze.
It shouldn’t’ve taken long to clear the table, but it did, because Griffin couldn’t resist the urge to help. His assistance consisted mainly of freeing her breasts once more so he could play as he wished, and the slow, sensual raising of her black skirt so he could play there too. Sometime during the interlude her drawers were stripped away, but she couldn’t remember when because she was too busy purring in response to his fingers dallying so magnificently. She did remember that they never made it to the bedroom—he took her right there on the clean kitchen floor that she’d mopped and waxed this afternoon. Her camisole was down below her breasts and her skirt rucked up above her hips, but she didn’t care about how shameless she might appear. Her whole world centered on Griffin and the glorious, rhythmic thrusting that sent her screaming into paradise.
When she came back to herself, he was stretched out on the cool floor beside her, propped on one elbow. She returned his soft smile. He slid a finger over one of her still hard nipples. “You’re pretty loud for an old lady.”
She punched him playfully. “It’s all your fault.”
“Yes it is, yes it is,” he answered, his voice filled with satisfaction.
“Do you have any humble bones in that red and gold body?”
“Not a one.”
She never got the chance to retort because his warm mouth had begun a slow stalking her of breasts; his hands were meandering and exploring.
“I’m going to bathe your beautiful body and have you again…” he murmured in a voice thick with promise. “So come with me.”
Encased in the familiar haze of desire, Jessi let herself be led outside to the pump. There was a fire going in the pit near the pump. On the pit’s grate sat two large cauldrons.
“The water should be warm by now.”
“When did you start the fire?”
“When I came out to wash up. Are you ready for your bath?”
Still throbbing from his touch, she nodded and watched as he pulled the tarp from the big bathing tub. It was soon filled her with the warm water and Jessi ventured in.
Her love for baths rose again as she sank down into the velvety liquid. Griff went back inside for a moment, then returned with wash cloths, drying towels, and a bar of soap wrapped in tissue paper.
“One of the girls gave this to me. She said it’s rose scented. Stand up for me,” he coaxed softly.
As she complied, the water cascaded down her body, leaving a damp sheen on her skin that caught the Texas moonlight. Jessi vividly remembered the last time they’d done this, and feeling Griff’s warm hands sliding the soapy cloth over her filled her with shimmering anticipation. She could smell the scent of roses rising on the night air. The languid movement of the cloth teased her body in all the places he’d loved so thoroughly only a little while ago. By the time she’d been rinsed and wrapped in the large drying towel, Jessi was once again floating on clouds of desire.
“Are you ready for dessert?” he asked, drying her slowly.
“Yes.”
“Then go slip something on, and after I wash, I’ll get it ready.”
A still hazy Jessi padded nude into the house and went to her bedroom. She donned the muted gold gown from Gillie. The sleeveless garment had been designed for a man’s pleasure. There were lacy open seams up the front and down the sides and they offered a lover easy access to a woman’s charms. One tiny ribbon held each of the sides together and a matching tie positioned between her breasts did the same for the front. It was the most beautiful garment she’d ever worn and it flowed over her bareness like a cloud.
She took a moment to look around her room in anticipation of Griffin spending the night. The space was as neat as always. Smiling, Jessi left the room to rejoin Griffin.
When she walked back into the kitchen wearing a gown that undulated and opened with each step she took, Griffin could only stare. Speechless, he feasted his eyes on the teasing glimpses the gown gave of the sides of her legs and the sweet black triangle at the apex of her thighs. Even in the candlelit shadows the fabric was so sensually transparent he had no difficulty at all viewing the curves and hollows of her dark beauty. “I thought I was the one preparing dessert.”
She spun around so he could take in the gown’s full effect and the edges splayed out and whirled with her. “Do you like it?”
One again he got a teasing glimpse of navel and thighs and the underside of each breast before the gown resettled itself. Griff wondered if too much of this could make him blind. He shook himself free, then remembered that she’d asked him a question, he just couldn’t remember what it had been. “What did you say?”
She chuckled at the confusion he seemed to be suffering from. “If you liked the gown?”
Very certain of his answer, he nodded. “Like a little boy likes Christmas. The way you look makes me feel like it’s my birthday.”
“When is your birthday?”
“March twenty-sixth.”
She made a mental note of the date so she could make his birthday just as memorable when the day came. “So where is this dessert you promised me?”
“Oh, I almost forgot about that. Close your eyes.”
“Why?”
“For once, indulge me and do what I ask, please.”
“Okay, but you have to promise me that this ordering around won’t become a habit.”
“The only thing I’m going to promise is that you and that gown are going to do some mighty shameless things in a few minutes. Now, close your eyes, woman. Wives are supposed to be obedient.”
Jessi grinned and placed her hands over her eyes. “I’m the most obedient wife you’ll ever have.”
“You’re the only wife I’ll ever have.”
Jessi savored the sound of that.
“Are you peeking?” he asked.
“Nope,” she responded truthfully. He sounded as if he’d gone across the room. She then heard sizzling noises. The smell of something burning wafted across her nose.
“You can open your eyes now.”
When she complied, her eyes widened with excitement and delight.
He was walking towards her with a beautifully decorated chocolate cake. Atop the cake were lit sparklers.
“Happy birthday, Jessi.”
Filled with wonder, she brought her hands to her cheeks. “Oh, Griffin.”
“It’s from Neil and Two Shafts. Gillie sent along some ice cream. I’ll bring out the freezer in a minute.”
She had him set the cake on the linen covered table. The sparklers spewed and spit little bits of light while Jessi watched with happiness etched all over her face. “This has been a very special birthday. Thank you, Griffin.”
“Glad you’re having a good time.”
Her love for him
swelled her heart three times its size and she cupped her palm against his bearded cheek. “Will you always be my light?”
He turned her palm to his lips and brushed them gently against its warmth. “Always.”
She blew out the sparklers, then cut them both a wedge of cake. After he served up the ice cream, they sat to enjoy the treats.
When they were done, Jessi pushed her plate away and groaned, “I cannot eat another bite.”
“No?”
“Not a crumb.”
“Then come here.”
Jessi stood and walked around to his side of the table. He eased her down onto his lap and she leaned back against the solid strength of his chest as he circled her with his arms. “You look awfully fetching in this gown, boss lady.”
“I hoped it would get your attention. At my age, I need all the help I can get.”
“You’re not old and you don’t need any help. When we’re both old and gray, I’ll still want you.”
“Do you promise?”
“With all my heart.”
He kissed her to seal the pact, and she wrapped her arms around the pillar of his neck to bring them closer. The kiss deepened and she could feel him sliding the gown over the skin of her back. “Let’s try to make it to the bed this time,” he murmured against her ear.
But neither of them wanted to part because their passions were just beginning to rise.
“Stand up, Jessi.”
She slid the tip of her tongue over the sensitive corner of his mouth. She didn’t want to stand, she wanted him.
He gifted her with a series of short, sweet kisses as he ran his hand up the outside of her thigh through the wide split of her gown. “I thought you said you were an obedient wife…”