Tessa caught her breath as he laid a hand against her jaw. Heat pulsed across her skin and beat through her blood. This man wanted her? Loved her? She could not see it in his eyes, but it was there in his touch. So hot and possessive and tender all at once, it had to be love.
'Aw, Tessa.' Desire for her flickered in his eyes. 'You are a dangerous woman.'
'Mayhap that is why all the bachelors in the village avoid me.'
Laughter flirted along his mouth. 'I will have to be very careful around you.'
'Because I'm so dangerous?'
He puzzled her, filled her up, and left her dizzy. How could a man do that, affect her in such a way? Her entire body felt alive as it pulsed and tingled, and all for him. She didn't think she loved him, but she did want him, did feel something for him. And it tingled in her blood and buzzed on her lips.
'You're dangerous because you make me forget to think.' His mouth captured hers.
The chunk of snow she still held slipped from her hand and clattered to the icy ground. The night seemed to silence as his kiss deepened and his hold on her tightened. He tasted like a cold winter night and something deeper, hotter, more thrilling. His tongue traced the seam of her lips, his hands cradled her neck. She tipped her head back, opening her mouth, accepting the intimate caress of his tongue.
How strangely wondrous. He was all velvet heat, warm and heady, and she surrendered to him completely. His hands smoothed down her back, sending tingling waves of pleasure through her spine. Then up the side of her ribs, dangerously close to her breasts.
Jonah backed her against a tree trunk and trapped her there with the breadth of his magnificent chest and the strength in his body. She didn't mind at all, not when he could make her feel like this. She feathered her fingers across the span of his shoulders. How could a man feel like heaven? He was hard muscle and strength and her fingers ached to touch more.
On a moan, Jonah wrapped his arms around her and hauled her hard against him. She felt every plane of him, every hardness. Her blood pulsed down low in her stomach, and lower still.
He tore away from the kiss, his breathing ragged. Want glazed his eyes, and even in the thick darkness broken only by a dusting of moonlight, she could see how he wanted her, how he desired only her.
She leaned back against the knobby tree trunk, struggling to catch her breath. It was impossible. Jonah just kept gazing down at her, then he reached out and his fingers caught the collar of her cloak. He tugged and buttons came free.
Before she could think to stop him, he smoothly loosened the wooden buttons on the front of her dress. Just four, and he slid his hand beneath the placket. The heat from his fingers seared through her wool underwear. He plundered those buttons too, never lifting his gaze from hers.
'Jonah, you mustn't do this.' She breathed the words.
'I already am.' His fingers brushed the soft inside curve of her left breast.
A sharp gasp drew her up. 'But what about my betrothal?'
'By this time tomorrow, it will no longer exist. Trust me.' His clever fingers molded the curve of her breast and began kneading.
On a sigh, she tipped back her head, exposing the long elegant column of her throat Cascades of black curls shimmered with Stardust, and he'd never seen anything so beautiful. She tossed her head to one side and then the other. With a moan, she arched her back and pressed the soft heat of her breasts into the palms of his hands. Soft light brushed her face, accenting the bow of her mouth, so relaxed with pleasure. He'd never seen such an enchantress.
She was a danger, this one. She could reach right in and grab hold of his heart. Blood liquefied in his veins, so hot and molten it thrummed in his groin, and his shaft pulsed hard and taut.
He tugged at more buttons, revealing her perfect flesh to the silvered moonlight. Sweet heaven, but she was a sight. Creamy white, her breasts, softly rounded, and pink tipped. She fit perfectly into his hands.
'Oh, Jonah,' she breathed, her fingers curling around his upper arms, digging into his muscles.
Need punched through his body. His groin felt heavy and aching. She looked so ready, with her head tipped back and her eyes closed, making tiny moans as he slipped one hand down her abdomen to inch up her skirts.
Forgotten were the reasons he'd come. He adored the firmness of her breasts, so ripe he wanted to taste them. He bent down, intending to draw one generous nipple into his mouth.
But her hands caught his wrists, stopping him. 'I hear something.'
The words were whispers, spoken so raggedly he could hardly understand her. 'Probably just my heart.'
It was pounding like a war drum. All he could think of was finding his way beneath her skirts and burying his aching shaft deep within her willing body.
'Jonah-' The warning sharpened. She clutched her dress over her breasts, covering them.
Ely Bradford stood in the clearing, his gun in one hand. 'I ought to shoot you where you stand, Hunter. My granddaughter has an agreement with my neighbor and good friend. She is not your property.'
'Not yet.' Jonah stood in front of Tessa while she fumbled with the buttons. Something wet struck his hand.
Her tears. With chin down, he couldn't read her face, but a warning went off in his head. Tessa Bradford was as tough as stone and twice as cold, or so many people said.
'You and I have much to discuss, Ely.' Jonah turned his back on the man. He stared at Tessa's tears.
Her clothes straight, she lifted her chin. Heat stained her face. Shadows made her eyes black.
She was embarrassed. No, ashamed. Maybe Tessa wasn't as experienced as he thought.
Chapter Nine
Rain dripped from the eaves and beat at the outside walls of the attic, but Tessa refused to let the dreary weather dim her spirits. It was her wedding day.
'He sent his brother to come get your things,' Violet huffed as she stormed into the tiny bedchamber. 'Notice that he must not have wanted to come himself.'
Tessa took one look at the triumphant malice on the girl's face. It had been no secret that everyone in the household had thought Violet held a good chance of being the major's choice for a bride. She kept her voice low. 'His father is gravely ill. Jonah rarely leaves his side.'
'He did to be alone with you in the woods.' Violet's lip curled. 'To compromise you. Everyone is talking about it. And wondering how many men there have been over the years.'
Tessa clamped her jaw shut and tamped down her anger. She would not let the vicious girl rile her on this special day. She was getting married, something she had wished for on endless first stars of the night
And to a man who would not be abusive or cruel, to one who made her blood heat and her heart pitter-patter.
'Tell Thomas I'll be right down.' Tessa turned her back and knelt to secure the old trunk's clasp.
'I'm hardly your servant.' Violet's words came sharp, dripping with unveiled hatred. 'There is only one reason why Major Hunter has agreed to marry you, and everyone knows it. And it isn't because you were caught with your bodice down. 'Tis because he wants you to take care of his father.'
'He could hire ten women far more skilled than I am to tend his father. Everyone knows that, too.' She held her chin firm and refused to let Violet's mean words bother her, even if the same thought had occurred to her last night when sleep would not come and she was remembering Jonah's touch, Jonah's passion.
'But some services he cannot hire here in the good township of Baybrooke, as last night proved. Why else would he risk getting caught trying to rut with you? Why else would he want an ugly, sharp-faced old hen when he could have-'
Heavy footsteps knelled in the tiny landing outside the attic room. A man cleared his voice.
Tessa stood to face Thomas Hunter, who was too tall to straighten to his full height outside her tiny bedchamber. 'Thomas, I thought to bring the trunk down myself. The ladder is hard to manage.'
'I've climbed ladders before carrying heavier items than your small trunk.' He looked uncomfortable and his mouth crooked down in the corners. 'Are you ready?'
