The Reluctant Debutante (15 page)

Joseph was drowning in a sea of delicious torment. He wanted to touch every part of her body as fast as he could, yet he wanted to take his time with her and explore every inch of her luscious body. He had an urgent need to press his finger in the dimples he had spotted on her derriere when he took off her bloomers. He wanted to run his thumb along her instep and the back of her knee, just to see her response to her touch. He cupped her upturned face in the palm of his hand and blew a light breath up her nostrils, much like he did with his horses to gain their trust. He captured her mouth in a long kiss, his tongue flicking against her lips until she opened her mouth to him. His tongue greedily entered, and then withdrew, only to enter again, setting up a ritualistic rhythm. He smiled in satisfaction as she gave a small moan of delight.

He wanted to do the same with the rest of her body, and touch her in a way no man had done. To be the one to bring her to her first orgasm and to watch her eyes fog over in ecstasy. He wanted to be the first, and the only man to teach her the ways of sexual fulfillment. But for now, he slowed the pace of his heart, and his thoughts, and enjoyed the leisurely exploration of the woman who had so long been denied to him.

His hands recaptured her breasts as his mouth continued to ply hers. He ran his thumbs over her nipples, causing her to catch her breath. She innocently arched her body up to him, granting him even greater access. She pulled him nearer and returned his kisses. Her moans of delight became louder as he once again moved his mouth to a nipple and resumed the same sensual rhythm he had been using on her mouth. As her passion rapidly mounted, he backed off from his exploration of her breast.

Her moan of dismay made him smile.

“Be patient,
ma petite
.”

He ran his hands up her body to her face and kissed her again. His gentle kisses continued, first very slow and light as a feather, then intensifying in force and duration, until he sensed her heat rising once more. He backed off again, teasing and tormenting her, as well as himself. He wanted them both to remember this night forever.

He positioned his leg between her thighs, and began to lightly pulse his thigh against her sweet spot. The deerskin of his leggings added an extra tactile sensation and she began to react to the motion Joseph was setting for her. She wrapped her thighs around his leg and rose up to meet him each time he pressed against her. Her moans became louder and more insistent. Feeling her body tightening, he glanced at her face. Her eyes were tightly closed, and she was running her tongue over her lips.

“Open your eyes,
ma petite
. I want to watch you.”

Her green eyes locked with his brown ones and he watched them go wide with pleasure and then cloud over. She moaned one final time, and her body shuddered. She released the blanket from her fists as her body relaxed into a puddle of satiation.

As her breathing returned to normal, she pulled Joseph close again. “Is it always like this? This lovemaking?”

He smiled. “Most of the time I would have my clothes off as well, which would make it much better.”

“Oh, having you naked too
would
make it better. Shall we try again?” She began to tug on his shirt. He laughed, and kissed her again. “I think you need a few minutes.” His kisses were gentle, but he never stopped touching her.

She gazed lovingly up at him. “Tell me, Joseph, what does the word ‘Giz-ah-gin’ mean? I know some of the French language, but I have never heard of it.”

“How do you know that word?”

“You whispered it to me during the night, sometime. I woke up a little and felt you next to me, whispering softly, the word ‘gizahgin’ over and over. Is it Canadian, or something?”

His lips curved up slightly. “Or something. It, ah ... it means ‘I love you.’”

Ginger’s breath caught in her throat. “Do you mean it, or were you just saying it to get me to wake up?”

He brushed a strand of hair from her face and captured her lips in a long, passionate kiss. “
Gizahgin
,” he murmured, taking her in his arms again.

She ran her fingers through his hair and pulled him close to her.

Just then, the door crashed against the wall, and Basil stormed into the room.

As Ginger screamed, Joseph rolled out of the bed and landed on his feet, like a cat. He stood protectively over Ginger, who had drawn the covers up to her neck. Basil surveyed the room with Ginger’s clothing laid out near the fire. He ran his hand through his hair and then locked his angry stare on Joseph.

“What have you done to my sister?”

“Saved her from dying in the forest. A tree branch fell on her, knocking her off her horse and pinning her to the ground. Even if she had not been unconscious, she would never have been able to get out from under the branch without my help. You are most welcome.”

“And then you brought her here and took advantage of her?”

Ginger rose from the bed, wrapping the blanket around her. “He did no such thing, much to my regret, Basil. While I was unconscious, he stripped off my wet clothes and got me warmed up. Joseph has been a perfect gentleman.” She strode to Joseph’s side.

“It doesn’t look like it from my vantage point. Were you going to bring her back, once you were finished with her?”

“We were about to return to the house, now that it is first light.”

“We’ve all been out looking for you all night. The ladies even joined us in the search once dawn broke. It’s fortunate I’m the one who walked in here, or your reputation would be in tatters, Ginger. We’ll leave you to get dressed. Joseph, you will come with me outside.”

Ginger cried out in frustration. “No, I will not get dressed! Joseph and I aren’t finished here. I don’t need to listen to you. We want you to leave and pretend you’ve not seen us. Right, Joseph?” She turned to him with a look of confusion on her face.

Joseph quietly replied, “Do as your brother asks, Ginger.”

Basil turned on his heel, and left the room. Joseph let his gaze flicker over Ginger’s face briefly, one last time. He reached out to run his fingers through her hair, but stopped in mid-air and dropped his hand. He sighed and walked from the room without saying a word.

Joseph walked outside to find Basil pacing in the small clearing, pounding one fist into the palm of his other hand. Basil’s enraged glare moved up from the forest floor to meet Joseph’s face.

Joseph nodded at Basil’s curled fist as the two of them circled one another. “Would you like to take a swing at me?”

“More than anything, but I won’t, because you’d probably knock me senseless and take advantage of the situation to go back inside and continue to seduce Ginger.”

“I will offer no resistance to you. Go ahead and hit me if it will make you feel better.”

“No, I’d feel worse if you let me take a cheap shot. Neither outcome is a prospect I find enticing.” He dropped his gaze to the ground and then looked back at Joseph. “How could you?”

“I have done nothing to harm your sister’s reputation, Basil. She is still pure.”

Basil ran his hand through his hair again. “You were in bed with her while she was naked, for God’s sake! How is that ‘still pure’? If anyone other than me had found you, her reputation would be destroyed and she would be forced to marry you.”

“We would not need to be forced. It would be my honor to marry her, Basil.”

Basil’s expression changed from anger to incredulity as he glared at the man he had called his best friend. “It’s one thing to be my friend, but quite another to toy with the affections of my sister. She will marry someone worthy of her. I allowed you to come with me to New York and welcomed you into my family. This is my fault. I never dreamed you would force yourself on one of my sisters.”

Joseph’s defenses rose. Basil’s reaction to the scene in the cabin, to be told Joseph was not worthy, was an insult he had been dealing with his entire life. Somehow, his Indian blood overruled the French blood when it came to finding his place in society. He had entered into his friendship with Basil tentatively, knowing Basil had a naive approach to life on the border and that his friendship with an Indian could change at any time. It seemed the moment was at hand.

“So you are showing your true colors after all, Basil. You had a great deal of fun with the ‘Indian’ though, did you not? Amusing yourself with the people you know here in New York and wondering what their reactions might be if they only knew my true bloodline. You and your family have regaled each other with the joke you were playing on your friends. You all have had a great deal of fun this summer, at my expense. I thought all along it was a bad idea, did I not?”

Basil shrugged his shoulders uncomfortably. “I’ll admit, I believed it was a great joke to have you here. I thought most of New York’s high society was a bunch of old fuddy-duddies and I did want some fun at their expense. Little did I realize the joke would be played on my family. Well, it can’t be helped now. As much as I regret my foolish choices, at the end of the day, you are an Indian, my sister is a blueblood, and the two of you will never unite. I’m sorry I brought you here at all. I regret I got you involved in this wretched horserace. I’ve been going out of my mind all night, worrying about Ginger and fearing my foolishness at accepting William’s taunt might result in my sister’s death.” He looked up at Joseph. “But it seems my senselessness has done far greater damage than I ever thought.”

“Are you saying that Ginger and me being together would be worse than her death?”

“If she was to run off with you, neither of you would be welcome in the family, which is the same thing as her being gone from this Earth. And I have no doubt, from what I saw in the cabin, the two of you would have been on the road to St. Louis this morning, if I had arrived an hour later.”

Joseph sighed, knowing Basil was correct in his assessment. The thought had certainly crossed his mind during the night to just pick her up, set her on Midnight with him, and ride off toward the West. And he knew it was what Ginger would want — at least until she knew his true heritage.

Ginger, still wrapped in a blanket, yanked open the door to the cabin and joined the men in the clearing. Rushing to Joseph’s side, she turned to face her brother.

“Basil, please leave us alone.”

“Not until you hear the truth. Joseph has to know his place.”

“What do you mean,
his place
? His place is here, with me! You’re the one who should leave, not Joseph.”

“No, his place is not with you, sweetie. It never has been. It never could be. Tell her, Joseph.”

“Tell me, Joseph.”

“I am only half French-Canadian. The other half is Ojibwa Indian. And I am equally proud of both halves.”

“So? What does it matter what your heritage is? The only thing that really matters is the nature of the man you are.”

Basil sighed. “It is the way of the West. He will forever be treated as an Indian, despite being half French-Canadian. He will never fit into society, especially the portion of society you belong to. You must forget about him, and pick a husband who is worthy of your station. It’s fortunate I was the one who discovered you, so we can salvage your reputation and one of your more patient suitors can still lay claim to you.”

“I will not pick another for my husband. Joseph has my heart, and has had it since the first night you brought him into our midst. I knew the moment he led me to the dance floor at the Cotillion that we were destined to be together for all time.”

Joseph’s smoldering gaze lit on Ginger. “You can come with me right now. I will take you home with me to St. Louis.”

“Ginger, please, think carefully about this.” Basil’s glance bounced from his friend to his sister. “If you go with Joseph, and marry him, our family’s reputation will be destroyed. Father’s customers at the bank will leave and the family will be destitute. You know how fickle the wealthy are. One hint of scandal and they’ll go running, so as not to be tarnished themselves.”

Ginger’s eyes filled with tears as she listened to her brother’s logical remarks.

Basil continued. “Please, listen to me. I thought it would be fun to have Joseph accepted into our society as my friend, all the while knowing he was an Indian. I wanted to show everyone how hypocritical New York high society was and to have a good laugh.”

“But instead, you’ve only shown yourself to be the hypocrite. I thought he was your friend. Why would you want to make a joke of him? What was the story you told about him saving your hide when you first arrived in St. Louis? Was that a big joke, too?”

She began to cry in earnest as Basil watched her put a hand on Joseph’s arm. Both men remained silent, waiting for her choice.

Her eyes raked over Basil. “Joseph and I share a very deep bond, much like you and he do. We saved each other’s lives a few weeks ago. We were in the path of a runaway buggy on Broadway. I saw it coming and jumped into Joseph’s arms, knocking him out of the way. Then he rolled us to safety at the last second. I knew he would never brag to you about how he saved both my blasted reputation and me, but I will. I literally threw myself at him time and again, and he would not be moved, until this morning. Even then, he made certain he did not violate me and I remain a virgin, capable of marrying another.” She spat out the words to her brother, her green eyes blazing.

“Mother and I had ‘the talk’ before the season began, Basil, so I know what I’m speaking about. I gladly would have given myself to Joseph in a heartbeat. I still want to.”

“But think about Father. And your sisters. What will their chances be for a successful marriage if you follow your heart instead of your head? Please, I’m appealing to your logical nature. Don’t compound my mistake by making one of your own.”

Ginger drew in a deep breath as she pondered her situation. “Basil is right, Joseph. If I went with you — and you know I want to beyond reason — I would be placing my family’s reputation and future livelihood in jeopardy. I’m sorry.”

She raised tear-filled eyes to him, and inched up on her toes to kiss him softly.