“You feel so good,” she whispered, amazed at how raspy her voice sounded.
“Not as good as you do. I hope I can hold out, but it doesn’t seem I’ll be able to.” He panted out his last few words, and then picked up his rhythm until Rachel again felt the tightening of her muscles, and all her concentration centered on one spot. She cried out her release just as Rusty threw his head back and groaned, pouring his essence into her.
He collapsed over her, then quickly rolled, tucking her against his side. The cool air felt good on her sweat-soaked body. So this was what all the fuss was about. She’d always wondered why her Aunt Tori wore such a happy expression all the time. Even her sister-in-law Heidi gazed on her brother Michael a certain way that always had Rachel wondering.
Rusty took her chin in his fingers and turned her head toward him. “That was your first time, wasn’t it?”
“What do you mean? I’m a mother.”
“Ah, sweetheart, I don’t mean the first time you made love with a man. But the first time you reached your woman’s pleasure.”
She ducked her head, blushing, even though what they’d just done was far more intimate than his question. But for some reason she felt innocent, and in other ways downright stupid.
“It’s all right. I’m happy to be the man who gave you what every woman should have.”
“I need to get dressed and leave.” She loo
ked up at him, his head blocking the light from the lamp behind him, shadowing his face. “We never had the pie.”
“I’m feeling quite a bit like I’ve already had my dessert, but I’ll never pass up a piece of your apple pie.”
Rachel wrapped the sheet around her body and excused herself to hurry behind the screen to clean up while Rusty dressed. “Can you throw my clothes over the screen, please?” She hadn’t reached the point yet where she was comfortable walking out from behind the screen, naked.
“Sure.” Within moments her clothes were draped over the screen. “I’ll go make some coffee.”
“Tea.”
“Right.”
She was amazed to realize when she joined Rusty in the kitchen, she felt so at ease with him. Any awkwardness she’d expected had vanished, once she’d put her clothes on. He reached for her as she entered the room and pulled her against him. “You are one incredible woman.”
His words brought a blush to her face.
“Don’t try to wiggle away.” He lifted her chin with his index finger. “I make it a policy to never take to bed a certain type of woman. We need to have a serious conversation soon.”
What did he mean by that? And what ‘type of woman’ category did she fall into? Before she could question him, a knock sounded at the door, making both of them jump apart like adolescents caught by an adult.
The door slowly opened and Amelia stuck her head in. “Where is everybody? I thought the dance was over at ten o’clock.”
Rusty released Rachel and pulled out a kitchen chair. “It was. Mrs. Stevens and I were just going to have a piece of pie. Do you want to join us?”
The girl shook her head and gave a loud yawn. “No thank you. I just wanted to see where Rachel was. Good night.” She turned and headed back out the door before they could respond.
They grinned at each other, then worked side by side as they made tea and enjoyed the pie.
***
Two days later, Rusty took the plate Rachel handed him, loaded down with sausage, eggs, hot cakes and potatoes. The line for breakfast moved fast, as always, the cowboys filling up for a long morning of hard work.
Rusty studied her as he chewed. Her face was flushed from her work, brown ringlets plastered to her neck. She used the back of her hand to wipe the sweat from her forehead. Once in a while she would glance up at him and offer a shy smile, which went straight to his gut.
They hadn’t had time yet to have a real conversation, with his duties and hers. Plus Will had come down with a sore throat and slight fever, so Rachel’s free time was spent in nursing her child. The more he dwelled on the change in their relationship, the more he was convinced the next step was the right one.
He would ask Rachel to marry him.
Now that he had a future—a place of his own—he could consider settling down with a wife and family. That thought no longer caused him to break into a sweat. Rachel was a loving, sensual woman. He’d only tapped the surface of her passion, and looked forward to many years of discovering all the secret places that aroused her. It would be an enticing journey.
“Hey, darlin’, how about making some time for us tonight?” He squatted next to her and spoke softly into her ear as she sat behind the serving table fanning herself with the lower half of her apron.