She didn’t want to remember that. She scrambled for a rejoinder. “That was before being introduced to Rona.”
“She doesn’t have anything to do with you melting into your shoes. And if you say you didn’t, my winnings say you’re wrong.”
Jewel folded her arms and fought down the memories of how dazzling the kiss had been.
“Cat got your tongue?”
The leveling look she sent him only broadened his grin.
“I could kiss you right now, Jewel Grayson, and you’d melt just like before. I won’t even take your money this time.”
“You’re supposed to be driving.”
“And you’re running scared.”
“I am not afraid of you.”
“You are of my kisses, and I can prove it.”
“Drive.”
“Coward.”
“You’re trying to bait me but I’m not biting.”
“Coward.”
She socked him in the arm. Hard.
Chuckling, he rubbed at the small sting. “Punching coward.”
She turned to keep her smile hidden.
“I want to kiss you, Jewel.”
The soft, honey-toned declaration slid through her defenses like smoke, and almost made her jump from the buggy for real. “We’re going to be late,” she pointed out in a voice far less commanding than she’d planned.
He pulled back on the reins, and when the horse stopped, he studied her. “Yesterday’s wasn’t nearly long enough.”
“I thought you were going to make me beg?”
“Hell will freeze over first.”
Jewel swallowed her laugh.
He reached out and gently raised her chin so that her chocolate eyes met his. She felt herself grabbed by the shakes but prayed they didn’t show.
“I can only imagine how embarrassing it must have been for you yesterday with Rona and everything. I’d never knowingly cause you pain. Ever.”
Jewel wanted to deny she’d been wounded, but because she was so completely mesmerized by his nearness, the only words that would come were, “I won’t be another notch on your bedpost, Eli.”
He leaned his head down and kissed her with such slow and tender passion she immediately began to smolder. “From now on, the only notches on the bedpost will be ours,” he whispered—hotly.
Jewel melted right down into her shoes. She couldn’t help it. The timbre of his voice, the spell of his lips conspired to render her breathless. Mindless, too, and even though she swore to herself that she wanted to back away, she couldn’t. His mouth tempted her to taste the sweet fire she’d only gotten a sample of yesterday in the meadow. This version was longer, fuller, and far more wonderful than anything she’d ever experienced. Yesterday’s kiss had been her very first in life, and in spite of the logical mind that usually ruled her thoughts, a woman she did not know was being born inside who didn’t care for logic. All she wanted was more of the promises flowing from his lips.
The realization made her draw back in order to keep from losing touch with her true self. Every inch of her body was humming like she’d been strummed. Her nipples were standing up inside of her blouse, and there was a damp fullness between her legs she wanted to assuage. “What are you doing to me?” she whispered before she could stop the words and take them back.
Eli ran a slow finger over her gorgeous, kiss-swollen mouth. “Seducing you, I think.”
“You think?”
He gave her a lopsided grin. “Yeah. It wasn’t anything I’d planned, though.” But after the tantalizing interlude it was all he and his manhood could think about. “Had planned on this marriage being built on friendship and respect, but now, there’s something else going on here.” Although her kisses were virginal and untutored he’d tasted a heat in her that he wanted to coax into full bloom. He leaned in and kissed her again, slowly, fervently. “So what do you think?”
Jewel wanted to be argumentative and in control but couldn’t muster the emotion. He was right. There was something happening between them, and it had her body and senses opening like a spring rose. Feeling his warm lips against the curve of her jaw, she purred in response. “I think you’re right.”
He pulled back and noted what an alluring sight she made with her glittering eyes and passion-parted lips. Unable to resist he ran the tip of his finger over the sultry curve and wondered how mad Adam would be if they didn’t show up. Being with her had gone from duty to desire, and he didn’t know why, how, or when.
In those few seconds, Jewel managed to drag a small portion of her mind back from the fog. “I’ll still want a divorce,” she stated, although the words were far softer than she’d been aiming for because her world seemed to be spinning.
“That is your choice, of course,” he conceded, but his gaze matched his tone when he asked, “But, do you really want to deny yourself this…?”
Again, slow kisses blazed a meandering trail down her jaw to her throat above the frilly high collar of her blouse. Hands hot as a stove in winter cascaded at a snail’s space down to her waist and then back up to her arms. She swore her blouse had burned away and that he was moving his hands over her bare skin.
“I want to notch our bedpost, Jewel,” he husked out against the shell of her ear, and all she could do was tremble.
“We’re going to be late.” Her blood was pulsing in rhythm with her heart.
Eli knew she was right. “But I’m going to seduce you first chance I get. Just so you’ll know.”
“Thanks for the warning.” Jewel wondered how long it would be before she’d be able to think clearly again, and if the heat between her thighs would abate before winter returned. Nothing in her life had prepared her for her body’s response to his skilled caresses. She was in need of a very frank discussion with Maddie first thing tomorrow. Sensation had her pulsating and throbbing everywhere. “I’m assuming you know how good you are at this?”
He gave her a small grin. “I am.”
“Modest, too. I see.”
“I won’t deny my manly experience, nor how much I seem to want you.” And he did, totally and unashamedly.
“And how many times have you used that old saw?”
He shrugged. “Two, three times?”
She snorted. “Drive before Pa comes looking for us.”
He leaned over, gave her another quick kiss that left her breathless yet again, then he picked up the reins and did as he’d been told.
The house Adam and Abigail shared was one he’d built for her as a wedding gift. It was half the size of the huge sprawling home he’d lived in with his family, but Abigail had insisted on a place she could maintain without hiring help. Jewel had always loved its gabled roof and gingerbread trim and now that she’d decided to have a house of her own she wanted to incorporate some of the same decorative features.
Abigail greeted them at the door. “Come on in. Adam’s out back with Anna Red Bird seeing to the pheasants on the spit.” She paused for a moment, and Eli saw her taking in Jewel’s kiss-swollen lips and slightly lidded eyes. Turning her attention his way, she gave him a look of mild surprise but he kept his face impassive in response. “Lead the way, Mother. I’m suddenly very hungry.”
Outside, Jewel was delighted to see Gail’s old friend, Anna Red Bird, a Napowesipe of the Sturgeon Clan. Her tribe called themselves the People and were among the area’s original residents. Like the Native clans all over the country, most of Anna’s people had been forced off their land by the government, but a few families remained in the Grove.
The stout Anna stood and embraced Jewel warmly, saying, “Congratulations on your marriage.”
“Thank you.” Jewel returned the strong hug not only because of the congratulations but because, after her mother died, Anna had been one of the women looking after her, too, and Jewel loved her very much.
Anna, arm still around Jewel’s waist, turned to Eli. “I expect you to treat her well.”
“I will.” And the knowing look in his eyes made J
ewel’s heart pound so hard she had to look elsewhere.
As they ate, Adam asked Anna how her Lakota relatives were doing out west.
“Things have gone from bad to worse, and it doesn’t matter if you are Napowesipe, Lakota, or Apache. They have penned our families in like cattle. The buffalo are gone, as is the land.”
It was a sad tale. The U.S. government seemed intent upon wiping out a people and a way of life that had existed far before Jamestown or the docking of the Mayflower at Plymouth Rock. According to the last newspaper story Eli had read, the Lakota Chief Tatanka, more commonly known as Sitting Bull, had had his youngest son surrender the old chief’s rifle to the army at Fort Buford in Montana because he wanted to be remembered as the last man of his tribe to surrender his gun. “Did Tatanka get his reservation near the Black Hills?”
Anna shook her head sadly. “No. He and his men are jailed at Fort Randall as prisoners of war.”
“A war they didn’t start,” Abigail pointed out tersely and they all agreed.
Chapter 7
After dinner, Jewel and Anna helped Abigail gather up the dirty dishes and leftover food and take it back into the house. “I’ll wash everything up later,” she told them. “Right now, we need to plan your wedding reception, Jewel.”
Inwardly Jewel sighed. Outwardly she smiled falsely. “Sure.”
They decided to hold the event on Sunday after church, which only gave them a few days to get everything ready. Gail said, “We don’t need big doings, but people can come by, eat cake, and pay their respects.”
Jewel was hoping only a few friends of the family would attend, but because she knew that small-town folks jumped at any occasion to socialize and get together with their neighbors, she envisioned everyone in the Grove showing up.
Gail was scribbling details on a piece of paper. “I’ll ask Edna to make her punch and since it’s the Sabbath she’ll have to forgo the bourbon she always adds. Adam’s not going to be happy but I’m sure he’ll survive.”
Anna and Jewel shared a grin.
For the next few minutes, Gail listed all the people she planned on asking to contribute to the festivities: from the small band Vernon commanded, to getting Jewel’s brothers to level out the horseshoe pits. Once she was done, Jewel was tired from just listening to all the things her stepmother had planned. No big doings indeed. “Are you sure we can get all of this ready in time. Today is Thursday, Gail.”
Gail waved her off. “Of course we can. How long does it take to bake a cake or make sandwiches? I’ll let all the ladies know what they are to bring at the meeting tomorrow night.” She was referring to the monthly meeting of the Female Intelligence Society of Grayson Grove.
“Okay. So what shall I bring?” Jewel asked. She supposed she could contribute her prize-winning pound cake.
“Nothing my dear. For once you are going to let someone else do the work.”
Jewel started to protest only to have Anna weigh in. “Listen to Gail. Your job on Sunday is to look beautiful for Eli, nothing more.”
Jewel mentally rolled her eyes. “Whatever you say.”
Once Abigail was done, the ladies went back outside to join Adam and Eli. The two men were hunched over something Adam was penning on paper. Peering over his shoulder curiously, Jewel had seen enough similar drawings to recognize the diagram as a building plan for a house.
Adam looked up. “Your brothers and I are going to build you and Eli a home. I’ve decided to put it on that land he owns near the lake.”
“But—”
He cut her off. “The lay of the land, the water. It’s a perfect spot.”
It wasn’t what she’d planned.
“Problem?” he asked.
Jewel shook her head. “No, Pa.” If he was determined to build on Eli’s land she could argue with him until she turned blue and it wouldn’t make a whit of difference. “Eli’s land is fine.”
Eli asked, “Do you want a sitting porch on the front and back?”
Her eyes brightened. “Yes. Like the ones Pa built for Viveca.”
Under Adam’s direction, the men of the Grove had built Nate and the doc a new home after an arsonist set fire to Viveca’s small cabin. Jewel had always coveted Viveca’s sitting porches. The thought of having her own overrode her disappointment at not having the house built where she’d originally wished.
She studied the drawing with interest. “Everything on one floor?”
Adam nodded. “For now. I want to get it built and you two in it as soon as possible. We can always add another floor and more rooms next spring.”
Eli thought the plan a sound one. By Adam’s estimation, if the Crowley’s could work on the house full-time, it could be ready for occupation in a month’s time, providing the weather cooperated. Eli also noted the excitement in Jewel’s eyes when he’d asked about the porches. Who knew being able to please his thorny rose would give him so much pleasure in return.
They spent a few more minutes further discussing the matter, then Adam folded the drawing and stuck it into his shirt pocket. “We’ll start clearing land this weekend.”
Jewel had to admit she was pleased and excited. Although Eli’s land was on the far side of the Grove, it was still close enough for her to continue keeping house for her brothers.
Anna Red Bird left shortly afterward, promising that she and her son Isaac would be on hand for Sunday’s reception. As Adam and Gail walked their good friend out to her wagon, Eli and Jewel were left alone.
“So?” Eli asked while wondering when he’d get a chance to kiss her again. “Are you pleased with the plans?”
“I am.”
“Adam picked a good spot.”
“It’s not my first choice, but he’s the experienced one.”
“I’m glad there was no fight.”
“I saw the look in his eyes. He wasn’t going to be moved.”
Eli got the impression that she had moved a few inches closer to being a true wife and that pleased him as well. “How about we drive over and look at that land before I take you home?”
The inner parts of Jewel that wanted more of the passion he’d planted in her rose like a seedling in the sunshine. “That would be fine.” I want to notch our bedpost. The memory of his voice continued to echo in her blood, and desire flared anew. She supposed she could try making lemonade again but she’d sip slowly this time so she wouldn’t choke.
After Eli and Jewel made their goodbyes to their parents, they took a slow drive through the countryside. The peace of their passage was broken only by the clop of the horse’s hooves against the hard-packed earthen road. In spite of everything swirling around in her life, the quiet was calming and Jewel sighed with contentment. She loved the Grove; glad she’d been born there and hoped her children would grow up there, too. Thinking about children had come out of nowhere. Granted, it wasn’t the first time she’d contemplated motherhood, but because she’d been unmarried for so many years, it was not something she’d deemed attainable, so she’d stowed it away with all the other life wishes that would never be, like seeing her mother one last time. Now, however, as she glanced over at Eli holding the reins, she wondered if things might change. Certain she didn’t want to proceed any farther down such a slippery slope, and because she was still planning to divorce him, she set the musings aside and took in the beauty of the land. “I wonder what the Grove looked like when your grandparents first settled here.”
“Far more trees since there were no Crowleys about yet.”
She knew he was poking fun at her family’s lumberjack roots but she didn’t mind. He was correct, though. The virgin forests of beech, oak, and maple must have spread far as the eye could see. Game had probably been more plentiful then as well. Yet even though the state’s forests were being leveled by the lumber companies faster than anyone would have ever thought possible when the first French explorers set foot on Michigan’s shores, the land still held a spirit a person could feel in her bones.
“I don’t th
ink I’d want to live anywhere else,” Eli told her truthfully.
“You might if Hicks makes you and the Gazette famous.”
He shook his head. “Not even then. The Grove’s in my blood.”
“And in mine.”
“Good to hear.” Eli wondered if quiet talks like this were common in a marriage. As he’d told Adam, being married was unfamiliar territory and he had no idea what to expect or anticipate. Lord knew he’d never planned to take a wife, but now that he had he wanted to be a good husband, even if she did have her sights set on divorce. He told himself that her plans to dissolve the marriage didn’t matter, but that was a lie. The whole idea stuck in his craw like a fishhook. Admittedly some of his reaction stemmed from vanity. He’d never had a woman publicly state that she’d be kicking him out of her life just as soon as it could be arranged. The Lothario in him was unaccustomed to being dismissed so out of hand. Humility was good for the soul or so it was said, but he wasn’t so sure. He who’d sampled beauties from Detroit to Chicago had been brought to his knees by a rose-planting woman with a mouth sassy as a firecracker and sweet as summer peaches.
And it was that mouth that would change the balance of power, he knew. He wasn’t called the Casanova of Cass County for nothing. He’d tasted the passion beneath her thorns waiting to be set free. He doubted she knew the depths of her sensual nature, but he did, and once he finished teaching her all she needed to know, she was going to have trouble spelling the word divorce, let alone pursuing one.
They reached their destination a few minutes later. Eli guided the buggy up the slight slope and came to a halt in the tall grass in the center of the bluff overlooking the shimmering blue water below. The view was spectacular. His grandfather had named the lake after his wife, Dorcas. A few years back, the state had given it a “proper” name, but the locals still referred to it as Dorcas Lake. In a state known to have thousands of lakes, the one he and Jewel silently gazed out over now wasn’t very big but was more than deep enough to boat on. It was also teeming with fish. “I almost sold this lot back when I was drinking.”
“I’m glad you didn’t,” she said softly and looked over to find him watching her.