Marked for Marriage (15 page)

Noah's thoughts were jumbled and easily as foolhardy as Maddie's. He wanted her. His body wanted hers. His hands ached to touch every inch of her, and somewhere within the sexual fog clouding his brain he knew beyond a shadow of doubt that the most glorious gift in the universe would be to lie with her, to share her bed, to make love with her.

Neither of them was concerned with the blackout or the blizzard doing its best to blow the house into the next county. The inside temperature was already dropping because without electricity the furnace couldn't come on, but the heat generated by their hot kisses and caresses had each of their personal thermostats running on high.

In spite of his almost fierce passion, Noah was careful with Maddie's injuries. He could tell she had very little on—a sleeveless T-shirt and teensy-weensy panties—a far cry from the hilarious winter garb she'd been wearing at their first startling meeting.

He didn't ask for permission for what he did next, because Maddie's fervent response to his every kiss and caress was all the consent any man could possibly require. He bent and picked her up, lifting her without the slightest strain and holding her against his chest. Her arms, both of them, even her bandaged arm, went up around his neck, and she laughed. It was a husky, throaty sound that raised Noah's blood pressure another notch.

“Help to steer us,” he said. “I don't want to run into anything and hurt you.”

Maddie felt for the doorway to her bedroom and told him which way to walk. She felt weightless and so full of wonder and elation she marveled that she didn't fly into the room. But being carried by a very big, very strong man was better than flying, she decided dreamily. How have I lived for twenty-
three years and not experienced these incredible feelings at least once?

Of course, if she
had
felt this way before she would probably be married or…or…something.

She was frowning slightly when Noah reached the bed and gently laid her on it, only to immediately lie next to her and pull up the blankets over them. He touched her face then, and the frown disappeared completely, especially when the tenderness of his fingers on her face was instantly followed by a kiss of unabashed hunger.

Her mouth opened under his, and his tongue mated with hers. He slid his hand under the blankets and began exploring the beauty of her perfect little body. Her breasts were small with wonderfully firm nipples, her waist was a delightfully curved indentation and then he basked in the ripe femaleness of her hips.

Maddie did some exploring, too. She was mesmerized by his arousal. He was definitely big all over, she thought a bit impishly when she encircled his manhood with her hand. He was
beautiful
all over, from the top of his magnificent head of hair to…well, she hadn't actually seen his feet without shoes or socks, but she would bet anything they were beautiful, too.

Noah was mesmerized by Maddie's bold behavior in taking the initiative and caressing him intimately. It heightened his desire, and he was just about to make the final move when he remembered protection.

“Maddie,” he whispered, “I've got to get up for a minute. Stay here. I won't be long.”

“Wha— Why are you… I don't understand,” she stammered, beset by confusion. She'd been so deeply involved, emotionally, mentally, physically, and Noah's abrupt change of pace truly took her by surprise.

Noah thought for a moment. He might know the facts of life in more anatomical detail than Maddie did, but his medical
education shouldn't be the only factor making him knowledgeable about certain precautions during lovemaking. After all, neither of them was an inexperienced kid. At least, he wasn't, in spite of a rather long period of self-denial. He could only guess at Maddie's love life, but her feverish responses certainly didn't indicate sexual innocence or ignorance.

He spoke bluntly. “I need a condom, and you need me to use one. There are some in my medical bag. Do you understand now?”

“Yes…of course.” Chastising herself for such stupidity, blaming her lack of experience and seeing it as a character flaw, she lay under the warm blankets and listened to Noah's quiet but easily discernible progress through the dark house.

And then, as her body and spirit cooled and began returning to normal, a question struck with awesome force: What in heaven's name was she doing? Or
almost
doing? She'd known Noah Martin one day. True, it seemed more like a year, given all that had happened, but the expansion of time in one's mind due to far too many events crammed into one short period didn't change a thing. She'd known Noah Martin for one day and she was going to bed with him?

“You can't, you just can't!” she mumbled thickly, truly shocked by her own unconventional behavior. This might be everyday stuff for Dr. Martin, but it wasn't for her!

Maddie felt a tear slip from the corner of her eye and slowly travel down her cheek. The darkness seemed to be closing in on her again, causing the fine hairs on the back of her neck to stand up. She'd never been afraid of the dark before, and her fear now substantiated the drastic changes in herself since her accident.

Drawing a nervous breath, she wished ardently that she had stayed in Texas. She could have boarded Fanny in a good stable—there were some excellent facilities in the Austin
area—and moved her truck and trailer into an RV park. She would have been comfortably set and probably farther along on the road to full recovery if she hadn't taken that horribly long and trying drive to Montana.

She heard Noah in the hall, saw the glow of a flashlight through the doorway, and her heart nearly stopped. Her romantic mood was completely gone, and how did a woman explain such a drastic change of heart to a man?

He'd found a blanket, she saw with immense relief when he walked in, because it was draped over his shoulders and hung down to his knees. Without his nudity to contend with, she felt somewhat braver.

“I have two flashlights, one from my medical bag and one that I found in a kitchen drawer,” Noah said. “I'll put one on the night stand for your use, all right?”

“Thank you.” She tried very hard to sound normal, but her voice came out weak and wispy.

Noah caught on at once. Timing was crucial to great sex, and that brief break in their passion had eroded Maddie's into oblivion. He felt a biting mixture of disappointment and relief. He would still love to
make
love with her, but he knew it was best if he didn't. She wasn't just any woman, she was Mark's sister.

Still, he wasn't quite ready to say good-night, and he sat on the edge of her bed. “Don't worry, I would never pressure you or any other woman into doing something she didn't want,” he said quietly. “But something's been bothering me. Would you mind talking a little?”

His perception was astounding to Maddie, also his calm acceptance of something he'd figured out the second he'd entered the room. Her overall opinion of Dr. Noah Martin rose dramatically. Men with Noah's understanding didn't come along every day, and Maddie couldn't help being impressed.
Very
impressed.

“No, I wouldn't mind at all,” she said in a much stronger voice than she'd spoken in a second before.

“Is it all right if I sit here?”

“Yes, of course,” she murmured. Truth was she was glad he was there. The beam of the flashlight was better than no light in such total darkness, but it wasn't very comforting emotionally. Only the presence of another human being had that power. Noah had that power at the moment, and Maddie hoped he would sit with her for the rest of the night, even though she knew that was a rather childish wish.

“How did you get your truck and trailer from Texas to Montana?” Noah asked.

Maddie frowned. She could see only the faintest details of Noah's face. Neither of them was directly in the flashlight's beam, and so she was certain he could see no more of her than she could of him, which was not the cause of her frown. It was his question, which struck her as inane when the answer was so obvious. “I drove it here.”

“Alone?”

“Well, Fanny was with me, of course, but she's not a very good driver.” Maddie couldn't help smiling at the visual that comment created in her mind.

But her sense of humor and Noah's sense of humor didn't coincide. “That's not funny, Maddie,” he said sternly. “You were taking painkillers, and you should not have been driving.”

“For heaven's sake, do you think I'm a complete moron? I didn't take those pills during the day. I knew better than that.”

“You, uh, took them at night?” Noah was thinking of the residual effects of taking a strong painkiller at night that could easily affect a person the following day. Especially a person with Maddie's sensitivity to pain medication.

“Yes, I took one after I stopped for the day. It was a long
and very tiring trip. I drove only a few hundred miles each day, and then I had to take care of Fanny. She needed to get out of the trailer and walk around a bit, and then, of course, she had to be fed and watered. If I felt badly during the driving part of the day, I took over-the-counter pain relievers. They helped.”

“Did a doctor okay that long trip?”

“Well, no, but you see I didn't make an appointment to see Dr. Upton in his office, like he told me to do before I left the hospital.”

“Why not?”

Talking in the dark was nice—or it could be—and Maddie was still glad that she wasn't alone. But Noah wasn't just chatting; he was grilling her!

There was a chilly note in her voice when she replied, “Let me tell you the whole story, although I know in advance that you will disapprove of everything I did. But here it is to do with as you will. When I came to in the hospital, my first thoughts were of Fanny. Was she all right? Where was she?”

“Back up a second. Was Fanny involved in your accident?”

“Was she involved? I was on her back when she went down. Of course she was involved.”

“I guess no one ever told me what you do in rodeo.”

“Do you know what barrel racing is?”

“Oh, you're a…um, a barrel racer.”

“Don't make it sound like a deadly disease, for God's sake. I make a very good living. Last year I won a total of ninety-six thousand dollars, and since I've been making good money for five years I own my truck and trailer outright and I have a pretty impressive savings account. I rent storage space in Austin, Texas, and in Billings, and whenever I'm in either
area I unload all the trophies I've collected since my last trip. Aside from all of that, I love what I'm doing.”

“I can tell. And Fanny is an integral part of your life and career?”

“She's the reason I'm successful. I don't know if you realize the role one's horse plays in barrel racing, but believe me, it's crucial to have a well-trained horse. Fanny knows what to do in the arena as well as I do. Let me add one thing more about Fanny. I raised her from a foal, I trained her myself and I love her. So, you see, when I woke up in a hospital and remembered that both Fanny and I went down, I became more than a little concerned. You might say that I got a bit hysterical…I think. Actually, that was an awful day, and there are portions of it that I don't recall at all.”

“You were in the hospital only one day? How'd you accomplish that?”

“One day and one night. They wanted me to stay another night, but I had to make sure Fanny was all right.”

“Like you did today.”

“Well, it wasn't storming in Austin, but yes, it was a similar situation. Someone, Dr. Upton, I think, told me that Fanny was stabled at the rodeo grounds, but I really had to see her for myself.”

“Maddie, have you always done exactly as you pleased and to hell with the consequences?”

She bristled. “You're a fine one to talk!”

“I'm stubborn and independent, too, I grant you that, but you're worse…or better…I'm not sure which word to use in describing your temperament.”

“You fit that old saying, the pan calling the kettle black, if anyone ever did,” Maddie snapped. “There's not a damn thing wrong with my temperament! Worry about your own.”

“I have been…since I met you.”

Maddie was momentarily lost for a comeback, but recovered
quickly. “In other words, you believed you were perfect before meeting a woman who proved you weren't?”

“I never thought I was perfect…I doubt anyone is…but I was satisfied with who I was and with the life I've made since moving to Whitehorn.”

“Which brings to mind a question or two,” Maddie drawled. “For one, where did you live
before
Whitehorn?”

He hesitated because he never talked about himself, and Maddie was blatantly prying. After a few moments, however, he found himself saying, “San Francisco,” and then wondered why he was so different with Maddie than he was with anyone else.

“Obviously you left San Francisco for a reason,” she said. “People rarely make a move of that magnitude without a strong and compelling reason.”

“I had a damn good reason, or so I thought at the time.”

“Does that bit of insight into your psyche mean that now you're not so sure that you did the right thing by moving to Montana?”

“To be honest I don't know what I meant with that comment, and it was hardly an open door to my psyche. You have quite a vivid imagination.”

“Not vivid enough to imagine what drove you out of San Francisco and to a small town in Montana. Are you going to enlighten me, or are you going to leave me hanging?”

“I doubt that you'd lose much sleep over it.” Noah got off the bed and shone the beam of the flashlight on and around the night table next to Maddie's bed.

“What on earth are you looking for?” she asked.

“For the note I wrote when I left you alone today.”