Jewel (15 page)

“Good,” he voiced softly while trailing a finger down her satiny cheek. “Be warned, though, the place is pretty cluttered. I’d have cleaned up had I known I’d be bringing my wife home.”

“I live with five brothers remember. I won’t be shocked.”

“Can you put that in writing?” he asked, thoroughly captivated.

“Whatever you like.”

“I’d like to go home with my wife.”

“Then lead the way.”

She walked with him to the buggy. He helped her in then stowed her valise. As they drove away, Jewel looked back at the sprawling house she’d lived in her entire life and saw her father watching the departure from the porch. As her eyes met his, he gave her a nod of satisfaction, and her heart was so full, tears stung her eyes.

Eli’s small cabin was made of brick and wood. Surrounded on all sides by large trees, it was plain and unadorned. He pulled back on the reins to stop the horse. “Well, we’re here. You promised not to be shocked.”

“Unless you’re hiding dead animals inside, I’ll be fine.”

He came around to help her down and Jewel fought off a rising case of nerves. She didn’t know anything about taking on a husband, a panicked voice inside wailed, but calming herself, she waited for him to grab her valise, then followed him to the door.

The interior made her stare around in awe. Papers were everywhere. Her surprised eyes met his and he shrugged. “Told you.”

She took a hesitant walk deeper into the room.
Newspapers were stacked on every flat surface. There were piles set against the walls, and piles beside the chairs; or at least she assumed they were chairs. It was hard to tell with everything covered. Portions of the floor were carpeted with writing tablets while more mounds of newspapers lined the surface of the brick mantel. “Nice place you have here, Eli.”

He grinned ruefully. “I knew you’d like it.”

“When can I start cleaning?”

He draped his arms around her waist and gazed down at her small face. “I didn’t bring you here to clean.”

The intensity in his eyes and the deep tones of his voice caused her heart to pound. “Are you sure? I could be done by Christmas,” she tossed back as his nearness flooded her senses.

“I have something more wifely for you to do.”

“What’s more wifely than cleaning?”

“This…”

The slow fervent kiss he placed against her lips singed her from the soles of her feet to the top of her head. It was so sweet she didn’t remember moving closer, but found herself flush against him, aroused by every hard inch of his tall, lean-muscled frame. The kiss deepened and he ran a possessive hand up to the back of her neck to bring her even closer to his masterful mouth. She was drowning, weightless, and shimmered as his kisses moved to her ear. “I want to make love to you, Jewel….”

Overcome by all that he was and the riot of sen
sations he was making her feel, she trembled in response to the husked-out request.

“Let me teach you, show you…pleasure you,” he breathed in a voice that made her core ripple and come alive.

Under the play of his hand, her nipple strained and hardened, and when he lowered his head and bit her gently through the thin cotton of her white blouse, she gasped with pleasure. He treated its twin to the same wanton salute until her legs went weak.

Eli thought this was far better than cleaning; she was gorgeous, vibrant, and beautifully formed. The soft weight of her breasts drew him into the web of desire he felt caught by, and he wanted her bared so he could love her as ardently as she deserved. Alternating between capturing her passion-parted lips and undoing the buttons of her blouse, his blood pounded with need. Beneath the blouse she was wearing a thin lace-edged camisole that moved seductively over the buds under the impetus of his warm hand. He dragged it down while savoring the scent of roses on her skin, then took the nubbin into his mouth.

Her answering moan of pleasure made his manhood throb and harden. He loved her slowly, fully, enjoying her as if she were his own personal candy until their ragged breaths filled the silence.

Jewel didn’t know which was more masterful, his mouth or his hot hands. In reality it didn’t matter. She just wanted it to continue.

He didn’t disappoint. While he continued to make her nipples plead, the hand moving over her skirt-covered hips tempted her with its lazy wanderings then slid scandalously between her thighs. The
little death
crackled through her like summer lightning and the echoing thunder shook her entire being.

A smiling Eli continued to ply that warm damp place, watching the pleasure play across her face. He wanted to take her there and then, but not on a carpet of newspapers, so, before she came back to herself, he hoisted her gently into his arms and walked them into his bedroom.

Jewel knew she was being carried but didn’t care where. Her body was pulsating from her orgasm and the only solid things in her hazy world were his strong arms. Moments later she felt the bed beneath her and she slowly opened her eyes. He was above her, and the passion in his gaze touched her like a hand. He traced a finger over her kiss-swollen lips.

“I know this is your first time, so we’ll go slow. Promise.”

There was a virgin’s nervousness hovering beneath her desire, but Jewel wanted whatever came next, so she sat up and after raising herself on her knees kissed him with a fervent invitation that made him groan and pull her closer. “Lord, woman,” he murmured, not sure how he was going to keep himself from taking her as vigorously as his manhood longed to. Kissing her back down onto the bed while his hands kept her nip
ples tight and ready, he explored her slowly and possessively. He thought her small form perfectly made, and his hands moved over the satin skin reverently.

She whispered, “What should I do?”

He leaned over and touched his lips to hers. “Nothing, this first time will be all for you.”

And it was. He removed her blouse and, while she held his eyes shyly, her skirt and slips. Lying next to him wearing nothing but her camisole, drawers, and dark cotton stockings, she felt the nervousness return, but as if sensing her hesitation, he ran his hand gently up and down her torso and asked softly, “Do you know how beautiful you are, Mrs. Grayson?”

Jewel couldn’t respond because she was too busy spiraling from the caresses touching her everywhere, especially the ones wantonly teasing the damp vent between her thighs. Touches that had her breathing harshly and infected her hips with a rhythm that coaxed her to part her legs even more.

She was so lush and open, Eli had to force himself not to lean down and pay her the ultimate lover’s tribute. Deciding to forgo that gifting for another time, he drew back, and while she lay on his bed with her eyes closed, he removed his shirt and undid the placket on his trousers. He was bursting with need and all he wanted was to slide into her dampness and let the little death carry him away. As hard as he was, he knew it wouldn’t take long, but he wanted her to be ready.
So he began again and worked his way sensually down her body from her lips to her hips. Her soft breaths and the untutored caresses she gave him in response drove him to the edge. She let him remove her drawers and as she lay there watching him he moved his palm over the warm soft hair crowning her thighs. “This may hurt sweetheart, but only this once.”

And it did at first, so much so that the pain showed in her face. A sympathetic Eli would rather cut off his arm than cause her injury so he touched her mouth softly. “It won’t last long,” he promised while he throbbed in the tight virgin channel and forced himself to remain still.

Jewel didn’t want to do this anymore. She hurt, and having him inside of her body felt foreign, strange, but as he began to move back and forth slowly and invitingly, the pain slid away and she could feel the desire return. It bloomed deep within and rose with each new stroke. Soon she was matching his rhythm and all the hurt was forgotten.

When Eli felt her body open to receive him, he knew she was no longer in pain, and that pleased him immensely. He kept his pace slow, however, even though her answering responses were bewitchingly sensual. Reaching out, he grabbed a pillow and placed it under her hips.

The added height increased the pleasure.

“Like that?” he asked.

“Oh, yes.”

Further words were eschewed; their joined
bodies communicated in the language of passion, and Jewel thought she might lose her mind. Sensations became her world, and when he reached down and teased the tiny bit of flesh from which all pleasure emanated she danced the dance of the little death once again. She came, arching, filling the room with the cry of his name.

That did it for Eli, the orgasm roared over him like wildfire and he stroked her with a controlled ferocity that left him shuddering.

Jewel came back to herself with him lying beside her atop the disheveled bedspread. She felt limp as pudding. Turning her head she met his eyes, then smiled. He responded in kind. Noting the sunlight outside from the cabin’s small window, she said, “I thought married people were supposed to have relations at night.”

“At night, at dawn, in the middle of the afternoon.”

“You’re something.”

“So are you. Are you sore?”

She nodded. “Yes, a little bit.”

“Then we’ll wait for your second time.”

“I’d no idea it would be so moving.”

“It gets better.”

At her surprised face, he laughed softly and brushed a finger over her cheek. “Just you wait.”

On the heels of his response the pictures in Maddie’s Kama Sutra rose to mind and Jewel wondered if all of the positions she’d seen could really be done. A desire to find out claimed her, but she put the shameless thoughts away.

“Penny for your thoughts,” he inquired quietly.

“Just thinking about Maddie’s pictures.”

The delight in his eyes was plain to see. “And what about them?” His finger tempted her nipple with a slow circling. As the bud tightened he leaned down and took it softly into his mouth.

Jewel groaned sweetly. “I can’t think if you do that.”

Desire rising again, Eli pleasured the chocolate tip until she arched sensually. He wanted her again, now, but didn’t want to make her more sore, so he raised his head and said into her eyes. “Good, because thinking is not allowed in our bed.”

His words thrilled her and so did the slow deliberate pleasure that he began to conquer her with, and this time she orgasmed while brazenly riding two of his well-placed fingers.

Later after being coaxed into yet another orgasm she finally sat up and looked around the small bedroom for the first time. To her amazement it was as cluttered as the front room, but with books. “You have enough books in here to start a lending library.”

Like the newspapers, the books were everywhere: piled on chairs, on the floor, on the dresser, and atop his dusty wardrobe. She turned to him questioningly and again he shrugged. “I enjoy reading.”

“Are you sure you didn’t marry me just to get someone to clean this place?”

He gave her a kiss. “Possibly.”

As his kisses dazzled her, she forgot all about the clutter. When it ended, she fell back onto the bed. “Lord, you’re good at that Eli Grayson.”

He chuckled. “Why, thank you.” He took hold of her hand and gently pulled her up. “Come, let’s get washed up. I’m starving.”

Having been raised in her father’s well-appointed home, she was a bit taken aback by his outdoor facilities. The shower or what passed for a shower was little more than an enclosed wooden stall with a large cooper’s barrel on a platform above the bather’s head. When you wanted water, a tug on the rope attached to the barrel’s bottom opened a small plug that let the water drain down. If you didn’t wash and rinse quickly, the barrel would empty before you were done.

A skeptical Jewel was scrutinizing the series of pulleys used to raise the barrel from the ground. “Has the barrel ever fallen on your head?”

“No, Jewel.”

“Not trying to offend you, Eli, but are you sure?”

“I’ve been here eight years, Jewel, and it’s never fallen.”

“Could probably kill a person if it did.”

“No doubt, but it’s safe. I promise you.”

She looked around at the space. “Do you heat the water somewhere?”

“Not usually.”

She stared. “So what do you do in the wintertime?”

“Wash inside.”

“Ah.”

“And don’t worry. There will be a true washroom in the new house, just like you had at home.”

“Thanks goodness.”

He grinned. “Do you want me to go first?”

She shook her head, saying, “I should be fine, and quick,” she added giving the barrel another skeptical glance. “Let me go back inside and get some clothing.”

As she hurried away, Eli looked up at his shower and couldn’t imagine what she found wrong with it. Personally, he thought the rigged-up contraption quite clever, and as a bachelor it suited him just fine.

Jewel had to admit the shower did work; of course she’d had to wash and rinse herself at lightning speed so that she wouldn’t run out of water, but as he’d predicted the big barrel did not fall on her head.

Later, after they were both clean and in fresh clothing, they sat on a blanket underneath the spread of trees and ate sandwiches and pieces of the pie left over from the reception. Because it was early May, the blood-thirsty mosquitoes weren’t about yet, which allowed them to enjoy the evening in peace.

“Do you mind if I start cleaning the place tomorrow?”

Smiling at her persistence, he said into her eyes, “Do I have a choice?”

She shrugged. “It’s your home.”

“Our home.”

“Then I’ll start cleaning
our
home tomorrow.”

“Thank you for giving me a choice.”

“You’re welcome.” Her tone turned serious. “I know how much you must value your things, so I promise not to throw anything away without your approval, but we have to be able to come in the door, Eli.”

He chuckled softly. “I understand.”

“Then first thing tomorrow.”

“Okay.”

After the short meal, he took her hand and pulled her to her feet. “How about we ride over to the bluff and watch the moon rise.”