“Damn right only me.” Cock throbbing with raging desire, I nuzzle into her, lightly dragging my days-old softened scruff over her lips and chin. Both of us shiver as our mouths touch in the barest of caresses. A hint of wetness warms my chest. Did she leak milk onto me? Fucking hell. So close, but still so far. “But not tonight.”
“What?” Her eyes fly open. “Not tonight?”
“Nope. You need to go to sleep.” And she needs to gain more weight first so she’s healthy. It damn near kills me, but I roll us to our sides and lock our legs together. Doesn’t really help, though. Not with the way my shaft wants to nestle against the softness of her bottom. I try to be a gentleman and angle the damn thing to the side, but there aren’t that many places to hide something as long and thick as me.
Well…other than the perfect place mere inches away. But it might as well be miles for as off limits as it is right now. I swallow around a rough groan. Pretty sure I’m gonna have to take myself in hand once she goes to sleep if I’m to find any rest this night.
“How am I supposed to…when you made me feel…” She’s all raspy and befuddled and cute, and I love that I affect her like this.
“When I made you feel the way a woman should in her marriage bed? Believe me, it won’t be any easier for me to sleep either.” I run my lips over the silky softness of her hair, and damn it all if the scent of roses doesn’t send another wave of blood to my lower half. “But tonight isn’t our time yet. Besides, you’d better get more rest before Emmaline wakes.”
When she protests, I shush her and begin to hum.
Just like I did through her nightmares.
Just like I did in the creaky rocking chair.
Only one man, she told me.
Damn right. I’m about to court my wife, and I won’t stop until her heart is mine.
CHAPTER 13
MARA
The last ofautumn gradually gives way to winter, but instead of gently easing in, Mother Nature blew in with a blanket of white that all too quickly smothered the ground last night. And now that I’ve been going outside with Warren so often, having to stay indoors makes me feel restless.
Trapped.
My heavy exhale blends in with the crackling of the blazing fireplace as I glance to the sofa. Long legs stretched out and socked feet propped up on the sofa arms, my husband dozes with his hat over his face and Emmaline snuggled atop his chest. Her tiny fingers clutch his shirt as if to keep him in place, but I know there’s not a chance of him going anywhere as long as she’s sleeping on him. He’s such a good papa.
He’s a good husband, too. I wouldn’t mind napping in his arms right now, but the sofa isn’t wide enough to hold the three of us with how he’s stretched out. And maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe I need some space. Because eversince the night he told me he wanted to kiss me, Warren’s been…more.
More intense.
More husbandly.
And it’s more than just making sure I’m eating enough. It’s the way his arm tethers me possessively to his side even though no one else is around. The way he holds me in the rocking chair before the hearth, one warm hand running up and down my spine as the other gently plays with my hair. The way his thick fingers lock with mine as he presses tender kisses to my temple in the darkness.
It’s as if he means to make me fully acquainted to his touch. His words from that night echo in my head, and not for the first time today either.There’ll come a time when we learn each other’s bodies. When I lay you down on this bed and finally know what you taste like between your legs.
But a full month has passed since then, and still nothing. Nothing except a constant, aching awareness of how surprisingly good the warm, heavy weight of him felt between my thighs. I squeeze them together even now, imagining what it might feel like to have his lips brushing over me there like he said he would. I always did wonder if it could feel as good for a woman as it seemed for the men.
I steal a furtive glance again. Still dozing, and still holding Emmaline protectively with one hand cupping her bottom while the other spans the entire expanse of her back. With another look to make sure he’s still sleeping, I settle my gaze on his pants. What does he look like behind them? I’ve seen more cocks than a woman my age should, and after so many days without having to service any men, I don’t even know how I’d react if I saw one again. But something about Warren makes me want to find out. Another achy pang strikes my center, and frustration leaves me in aragged sigh as my head thunks against the chilled window pane.
“What’s all that noise about, wife?”
I turn back just as Warren lazily uncovers his face. An unexpected shiver—and not one from the cold—rakes over me at the intensity of his gaze. A gaze that’s definitely wide awake as it leisurely roams my body, pausing to linger on my hips and breasts.
Over the course of another six weeks, my body’s thin, bony frame has become rounder and more feminine, and my cheekbones lost their harsh angles for softer ones. My breasts, though? They were already of more than adequate size because of my milk, but now they’re even fuller. Almost enough to make me self-conscious, but part of me likes the way my husband can’t seem to keep his eyes from them.
“There’s too much snow for us to go on a walk today.” I don’t mean to sound so grumbled, but it’s true. No doubt I’d sink in halfway to my knees. A brief bit of concern hits me. “What about the workers? And Rosie and her mother. Will they be okay?” The men might as well be invisible for as rarely as I see them in the distance, but I don’t want them to freeze to death in this weather. I also don’t want them in here with us if they don’t have enough supplies.
“They’re all in the bunkhouse with plenty of firewood, and I’d wager that Rosie’s pestering them for plenty of treats. I do pity the poor fellas, though. Especially my friend Dalton.” With practiced ease, he deposits Emmaline into her cradle. It’s become routine to drag it from our bedroom into the parlor every morning and then back again at night so she’s always in the room with us.
“Why?”
Warren pauses to stretch on his way to join me. “Because he’s one of the men my family sent over to help. And they allhave to bed down with each other while I have the prettiest wife in the world to keep me warm.”
