He pulled her nightgown over her head, and his hands began roaming all over her naked body. “I’ve been dying to touch you since before I saw you naked yesterday.”
She smiled. “You wouldn’t leave.” He hadn’t mentioned the incident to her, and she really wondered if he’d forgotten.
He laughed. “And I got an eyeful.” He stroked his hands over her breasts, toying with her nipples. “You are so beautiful. With clothes and without.”
“I’ll do my best to keep my clothes on during the day, though.”
“That may be for the best,” he said. “I’m not sure I could be working out on the range if I knew you were here with no clothes on. It would make me crazy.”
She laughed. “I think you make yourself crazy already. You don’t need me to do anything to add to it.”
“What?” As he said it, he flipped her onto her back, and his knee came up between her legs, settling at her core. “You can’t talk to me that way, wife!”
“And who is about to stop me?” she asked. “Have you forgotten my aim?”
Doug saw no other way to quiet her, so he covered her mouth with his, as one hand slid between her thighs and probed her heat. He was surprised at just how hot she was there, and he toyed with her for a moment before rolling atop her.
He knew better than to take his mouth from hers, so he continued the kiss, even as he penetrated her body with his own.
Trudie gasped as she felt that part of him inside her, but he swallowed the small pained sound. It wasn’t long before he began moving inside her, and her feelings returned to the same fever pitch they’d been at before he had entered her.
All at once, he let out a loud sound and it was over. He rolled to her side, and wrapped an arm around her, holding her close.
She had expected him to praise her, but instead he was snoring in her ear. It made her want to swat his shoulder, but what good would that do? She’d get her praise tomorrow. At least she would get it if he knew what was good for him.
TRUDIE WAS UP EARLY, and she had breakfast waiting when Doug came in with the milk and the eggs. “I hope you’re hungry,” she said as she put a large omelet on the table in front of him, two pieces of toast on the side.
He nodded, and prayed as soon as she was seated. “I need to get out there early today, because I don’t know if my foreman is up to working again yet, and someone has to direct the men. I’m hoping for more calves today.”
“How many have there been so far?” she asked.
“We’ve had five hundred twenty this spring. I was hoping for six hundred, but we’ll see if we reach that.” He ate his food as quickly as he could. “All right, I’ll see you at lunch.” He gave her an absentminded kiss before heading for the door.
She frowned after him. She hadn’t gotten the praise she’d expected. The man needed to learn how to talk to his wife, and he needed to learn soon. He was making her crazy.
After finishing the breakfast dishes, she made the dough for the bread for the day, and then heated water for the wash. She hated doing the laundry, but it was a necessary evil, and she would get it done and then not have to do it for another week. Besides, she had Doug all to herself the next day, and they would be going to church. It would be a good day.
As soon as she’d hung the laundry on the line, she went in and punched down her bread, setting it in the pans to rise once more. She’d made a little extra, and she added some cinnamon and sugar to it, along with extra butter, knowing her husband’s fondness for sweets...and any other food he could get his hands on. Now he’d have some dessert for his lunch.
She reheated the fried chicken from the night before, and warmed up the potatoes for lunch. Now that she had a better idea of how much he ate, she was better able to judge how much he’d eat for a meal and have some left for lunch the following day.
She planned to get up early the next day and make her chicken and dumplings for the church potluck. Doug had yet to try her chicken and dumplings, and she was certain as soon as he tasted them, he’d fall madly in love with her. She wasn’t sure if she wanted or needed his love yet, but she’d at least make the effort.
When he came in for lunch, he quickly ate everything in front of him and headed back out, saying very little to her.
As she thought about it, Trudie’s temper rose. Now that he’d gotten what he wanted from her, he wasn’t going to talk to her any longer? What kind of man was he? She would have to tell him exactly what she thought of him when he came in for supper that night. She briefly thought about making his meal something that even he wouldn’t find palatable, but after eating with him as much as she had, she knew better than trying. If he wouldn’t eat it, then it wasn’t worth eating.
First, she baked a cherry pie. She’d whip the cream to go with it right before serving it. Then she sat down at the table and started on the curtains she wanted to make. Most of the afternoon was spent sewing, but right before Doug was due back, she fried up the pork chops she had in the ice box and made some fried potatoes to go with them.
She was just taking the potatoes off the stove when he walked in. “Supper smells good,” he said, washing his hands and sitting down at
