Page 29 of The Bargain Bride

Wide awake now and faintly alarmed, she started rambling about anything and everything that popped into her head. When it became obvious to them both that she was going to keep talking about nothing, he steered the conversation in a new direction.

“Have you done this before?” he asked. “Gone outside in the middle of the night when no one is around and there's a blizzard? I don't even want to think about what would have happened to you if I weren’t here.”

“We usually have several men staying in the bunkhouse, and they take care of stuff like this.”

“But no one is here in the house with you, right?” His arms tightened around her. “They don't know if you stumble out into a blizzard. No one would know until they found your frozen body the next day.”

She wanted to argue that she was a capable woman and didn't need looking after, but it was sweet that he cared. The thought warmed her quicker than his body heat. Could Jared be developing feelings for her? Of course, even if he did, he'd made it clear he wouldn't willingly live on the ranch again.

“Why do you hate this place so much when Simon loves it?” she asked. He stiffened, and she was afraid he would pull away. “You had the same childhood.”

“It wasn't exactly the same.”

She lifted her head to search his gray eyes. “What does that mean?”

Jared sighed. “He wasn't there when our mother died.”

Although she had spent years living on the ranch, she still didn't know exactly how their mother had died. No one talked about it. Not even Simon. It brought such sadness to their eyes when she mentioned the woman's passing that she'd learned early on to keep her mouth shut.

But she felt she had to know for Jared's sake. She had the feeling if he talked about his mother, it might set him free. “I know that she died, of course, but not how. Do you want to tell me?”

“No.”

“You really should—”

“It was my fault.”

Hearing those words so laced with guilt broke her heart. She wanted to help Jared in the same way he helped others, but she didn't know how. She didn't know what to do, so she did nothing. After a few moments, he began to speak on his own.

“I was alone with my mother that day.” His sentences became short and awkward as if he couldn't catch his breath. “Everyone else was gone. She fell and hit her head. Happened in the kitchen. There was so much blood. I was scared. She kept telling me it was okay. I didn't know what to do. She told me she needed a doctor. Somehow, I got her into the truck. She passed out cold. I was only nine. I couldn't reach the gas pedal. I just sat there and cried. Until my father came home.”

They sat in silence for a while, holding each other close for warmth, but not speaking. She had no idea what to say. She was sure people had told him it wasn't his fault. Hearing it from her wouldn't make him feel any better about the situation. At least she knew now why he hated the ranch so much. Anyone would feel that way after suffering such trauma.

Since words wouldn't help him, she tried a non-verbal method. She raised her hands from beneath the blanket and took his handsome face between them. She kissed his forehead first, a gentle kiss of compassion. Then she kissed his cheek, followed by his masculine jawline. Finally, her lips went to his mouth.

She pressed her mouth to his. Part of her still feared rejection, but this time was different because it wasn't about unrequited love. It was about mending a broken heart. She wanted to heal his soul with a compassionate touch.

His hands came up to cup the back of her head, and he returned the kiss with a growing passion that left her breathless. Just as she was about to melt, he pulled away. “I don't want to take advantage of you,” he said.

Feeling warm and oddly confident in herself as a woman, she smiled. “What if I take advantage of you?”

His eyes widened in surprise. “Are you sure?”

“I think it's okay,” she teased. “We are married, after all.”

He grinned. “That's right. We are, aren't we?”

She half-expected him to ruin the moment by reminding her their union would be short-lived, but he didn't. He wisely kept his mouth shut, and she relaxed a little. Was he going to make love to her? Finally?

Hopefully, she hadn't built it up so much in her mind that reality couldn't compare with the fantasy. Part of her inability to relax was due to her certainty that someone or something would interrupt their moment. It just didn't seem possible that she was about to do something she'd dreamed about half her life.

He gently held her face between his hands and kissed her full on the mouth. His lips, surprisingly soft, molded to hers. They were tender, yet commanding. Even though he had kissed her before, this kiss erased all others from her mind, and she wanted to remember it forever.

Her hands slid up his back until they reached his broad shoulders. She clung to those shoulders as a wave of blissful dizziness threatened to wash her out to sea. She pressed her thighs together on the heat pooling between them. Should she tell him she was a virgin? Did it matter? She had no idea what the etiquette was concerning a person's sexual history. Perhaps they should have discussed it long before now.

The tip of his tongue touched hers, and all logical thought fled. Her head rolled back on her shoulders, giving him access to her throat. Hot kisses trailed up the column of her neck to her ear. He sucked on her sensitive lobe before nibbling on the tender flesh.

The blanket slipped, but neither of them corrected it this time. Cold air hit her hot skin. She didn't care because she was going up in flames. Jared had that effect on her.

---