Given (16 page)

“I won't continue to have relations with you,” she said flatly. That got a reaction. First he laughed. The deep creases around his mouth showed quite attractively when he was amused. While Mary Katherine was distracted by that, he suddenly walked around her desk. She turned to face him, then began backing away.

“Are you afraid that the big bad bear will sully your pristine white drawers, Lady Kate? I told you Eshu is not an animal.”

“And I told you that's not the problem, and it never was. I didn't think you were an animal—at least not when you're not a bear.” Mary Katherine shook her head. Try as she might, she couldn't see him as an animal. Goodness knows her life would be considerably simpler if she did. Despite everything, she still saw and responded to Jacob as a man. Even now, as angry and hurt as she was, it was a struggle not to press her body against his in answer to the ever-present invitation between them. And from the speculative look in his eyes, he knew it. Damn him.

Jacob's lips curved into a smug smile. “I seem to recall a young lady who has more than a passing fondness for relations. Are you sure you're not cutting off your nose to spite your… Well, it wouldn't exactly be your face, now would it?” he asked in a cajoling tone. Mary Katherine felt every word sizzling along her nerve endings, and when he reached out to stroke one long finger along her jawline, she shivered in response and swayed toward him in an unconscious invitation.

“I'm thinking you might have gotten a bit lonely these past few nights. Have you, sweet Kate?” he murmured softly as his lips followed his finger. His kisses were will-o'-the-wisp soft, almost as though she'd imagined them. Yet somehow they were like adding fuel to the fire that was already smoldering between her legs. Her drawers were already damp, and more than anything she just wanted to grind herself against him until she found relief. She refused to answer his question. Still, she was afraid that her facial expression must have given her away, because he raised her chin with one finger and lowered his mouth to hers. The first kiss was soft, almost tentative, but before long the usual conflagration followed from the low, intense heat between them.

He pulled her closer, and she could feel his hard cock pressing against her. Oh God, she wanted him so much. She began to grind against him, and he lifted her up onto the desk, his lips never leaving hers. He pressed her legs apart and moved between them. Their tongues tangled as the kiss grew more carnal, sliding together in a sensual rhythm that mimicked the feel of him deep inside her. Jacob groaned into her mouth when she began sucking on his tongue the way she had on his cock just a few days before. Then his mouth was on her neck, the soft, warm kisses broken up by slight love bites that were so unbearably arousing that Mary Katherine couldn't stop her answering groans of response. When he pressed her legs farther apart and pulled her closer against him, Mary Katherine could barely contain herself.

“Hurry.
Please hurry,” she whispered against the warm skin of his throat before taking a soft bite. His fingers slipped through the convenience panel in her drawers to find the throbbing wetness of her pussy. He slid one finger and then two into her slippery channel, and she wanted to scream her response. Her hips arched off the desk, and then he was there. His cock pressed deep on the first stroke, and Mary Katherine parted her legs even farther so he could thrust deeper. She buried her face in the curve of his neck to muffle her screams of pleasure, and his scent filled her nostrils.

His tangy, masculine aroma heightened the intensity of her excitement. When she thought about the scandal of what they were doing, she became almost unbearably aroused. Then Jacob placed his hands under her bottom and raised her off the desk, leaving her at the mercy of his deep, penetrating thrusts. He drove into her again and again, their bodies crashing together, and with each movement, the coil of pleasure tightened more and more. He slammed into her, his movements punctuated by his increasingly loud groans. Then suddenly it was too much, and ecstasy exploded over her, spreading out from her spine and through her nerve endings. But he wasn't finished. His hips moved with increasing speed. Then his body stiffened, his neck arched back, and he made an almost inhuman sound as he came with a rush.

Long minutes later Mary Katherine sat on the edge of the desk, stunned about what had just happened.
Jacob's words came to her as if from a distance, and it took her a moment to understand what he had said.

“What were you saying about our not having relations, sweet Kate?”

He stepped back, reached into his pocket, and pulled out a large handkerchief, which he handed to her. She took it thankfully and used it to clean up as he fastened his pants. When she finished, she placed the handkerchief in her pocket. Then she rose from the desk and adjusted her dress.

“That must never happen again.”

“What?

“I'm furious with you, Jacob.”

“And you demonstrate it so well. Besides, in case you haven't heard, it's better when you're angry.”

“That's neither here nor there. It won't happen again.”

Jacob gave her a frustrated look; then his face smoothed into blankness as he walked toward the door. “Well, we'll just have to see about that. Oh, and consider your drawers properly sullied.”

Jacob raised the glass to his mouth and drained it. Matthew, sitting across the table from him, studied him with a frown.

“Are you going to tell me what we're doing in this place drinking when you should be at home with your lovely wife?” His gesture encompassed the confines of the rather seedy establishment.

“My lovely wife won't have anything to do with me,” Jacob said as he picked up the bottle of whiskey and poured another drink.

“Well, Jake, you can hardly blame her. I can't believe you didn't tell her what we are.”

Jake gritted his teeth in frustration. “Not you too, Matt. I've heard enough of this from Grace, not to mention Papa.” He took another long swallow of the potent liquor.

Matthew frowned in concern. “Hey, old man. Don't you think you need to slow down? You've already had enough to float a steamer. Besides, why don't you try sparking her again? You're good at that.”

Jacob rubbed his forehead, feeling the first indicators of what he knew would be an awful headache the next day. The only thing more frustrating than dealing with Mary Katherine was talking about dealing with her. Despite his best efforts, her bedroom door remained firmly closed. She'd consigned him to the guest bedroom down the hall for the past month. “What the hell do you think I've been doing?”

“Well, you could always avail yourself of the fancy ladies,” Matthew said, nodding toward the front of the room, where several women of that profession perched at the bar like bright birds in their gaudy costumes. They looked particularly incongruous in the dimly lit interior of the saloon.

Despite his sexual frustration, the thought of lying with another woman made the probability of the harsh liquor remaining in his stomach even less certain. He shook his head at his brother. “I'm not that drunk.”

* * *

Mary Katherine walked out onto the porch of the rooming house. It was a typical boxy Ohio farmhouse with white Dutchlap siding. When her father bought it, he'd immediately added the wraparound porch he'd always promised her mother, and they'd spent many warm summer evenings in cane-backed rocking chairs, enjoying the occasional breeze. Their rockers were still there, and as always Mary Katherine had a brief moment of sadness when she saw them. However, today she didn't have much time for reflection. New guests were arriving, and she wanted to ensure that everything was in order. The porch would have to be swept, but at least the windows still sparkled in the early-morning sunlight.

She stopped, puzzled as she realized that the low rumbling sounds she was hearing were loud snores. She walked around the corner and stopped short when she found Jacob sprawled on the porch swing, sound asleep. His chambray shirt was unbuttoned nearly to the waist, showing off his heavily muscled chest; the first button of his button-fly pants was undone as well. Several days' growth of beard darkened his face, and he stank of stale whiskey. Yet somehow she was still drawn to his potent masculinity. To distract herself from those treacherous feelings, she reached out and pushed the swing sharply with her foot, hoping to dislodge him onto the floor. Her plan didn't work, but it did startle him awake. With instincts honed by working on the underground, Jacob immediately sprang to his feet.

“What? What are you doing?” he asked, blinking at her owlishly.

“I can't believe you asked me that. What are you doing sleeping out here?” she demanded.

Both hands immediately went to his head. “Please don't yell. Obviously I was too drunk last night to unlock the door,” he said with a dignity that belied his disreputable appearance.

“You must have been unbelievably drunk to not notice that the door wasn't locked. I knew you were still out when I went to bed, so I left it open for you.” Her nose wrinkled in distaste. “Had I known you were out drinking, I would've barred the door.”

“Woman, do you mean to tell me that after what happened with those slave catchers, you went to bed with the door unlocked?” he asked with a growl.

“What else could I do? I wasn't sure if you had your key.”

“I'm a grown man, perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”

“I can see that. Believe me. If the situation ever arises again, I will leave you to your own devices. I've never known you to drink before, or is this something else you failed to tell me about?” Even as she was talking, Mary Katherine sensed a change in the atmosphere between them. Suddenly her nipples tightened in response to the charge of sexual awareness. She struggled to maintain a steady breath as her eyes focused on the smooth skin of his chest. More than anything she wanted to stroke it, lick it, feel it sliding against her bare breast.

Jacob approached her slowly, then grabbed her waist in both his hands and lifted her until they were at eye level. “If you don't want to get fucked right here on this porch, I suggest you leave me alone.” Then he kissed her—if such a brutal assault could be called by that tender name. When he lowered her to the floor, she gave him one startled look, then turned and ran for her life.

* * *

Jacob gradually awakened, a vague sense of unease penetrating his deep sleep. He lay on his back in the dark room, trying to assess what had disturbed him. He finally decided to get up to check on the house. It was probably just a guest moving around. And that was when he realized it. He couldn't move. Not a muscle, not even an eyelash, was under his control. His heart raced, and his breath choked in his throat as he tried to figure out what had happened to him. Just as he came to the only logical conclusion, the voice—really more of a malevolent hiss—echoed in his head. There were only three words, but they were enough to bring his heart to a stuttering halt.

“
We've got her
.”

Jacob had no doubt about whom they were referring. He lay there helplessly as the seconds ticked away like minutes, and the minutes slowed down to hours. Tears leaked from the corners of his eyes as the refrain played over and over again in his mind. “
We've got her. We've got her. We've got her
.” Just when he thought he would go mad from the insistent chorus, suddenly he could move. In one breath, he bounded from the mattress stark naked and ran down the hall, desperately hoping to find Mary Katherine slumbering in her bed. Even as his mind conjured up that fantasy, he wasn't prepared for what he saw when he threw the door open.

First he was almost blinded by the light. Someone had lit the room with what seemed like thousands of candles. It was like a cathedral, except for the blood.
Blood. Oh God, the blood
. It looked as though someone had painted the room with the viscous stuff. There was so much, puddles of it had congealed in black pools all over the floor.