Brides of the West Read Online Free PDF Page A

brow. She was halfway tempted to
strip off her nightgown. Mother would be horrified. Or perhaps not.
With the new man in her life, Mother seemed oblivious to
everything, particularly anything Tess had to say. If only Albert
would give up his foolish notions of striking out on his own and
come home everything could be comfortable again.
    She punched at her pillow. Blasted heat.
    Perhaps if she opened the window more... She
swung her legs over the side of the bed and padded across to the
pale break in the dark wall. She found the casement ajar just a
fraction and flung it wide. To her surprise it opened all the way
to the floor. It was a door. And beyond it a balcony.
    Cautiously, she stuck her head outside. It
wasn’t a balcony, so much as an extension of the porch. It must run
around the corner to the front door. The boards out here felt
wonderfully cool beneath her bare feet.
    The thought of cool night air on her parched
skin seemed to grab her throat with longing. Dare she? What about
snakes?
    She quelled a shudder. Drat it. Was she going
to be intimidated by a creature no wider than a stick and half as
tall as she? Surely snakes didn’t come near houses? They lived out there . She glanced at the moon-drenched landscape with the
twisted limbs of mesquite standing like tormented guardians of the
wilderness. Snakes slumbered on rocks in hot sun. Jake never said
anything about them slithering around at night.
    One step at a time, maintaining gliding
contact with the rough wood planks beneath her feet, she headed for
the railing. Like the trail of a silent rocket, pinpoints of stars
emblazoned the sky, only fading into inky black to the west, where
the colder light of the moon over-powered their twinkle.
    “Oh my,” she breathed.
    “Beautiful night, ain’t it?” a deep voice
said. Satisfaction thickened the deep drawl to the texture of rich
cream.
    Jake. Her vision adjusted. Leaning against
the railing, his solid bulk blacked out the brighter sky, a shadow
outlined in sequins. She wasn’t the least bit surprised, she
realized with wry amusement. Even if her mind hadn’t told her he
would be here, alone in the dark, her wicked body had known it on
some deep primal level. The pulsing desire that had been a low hum
in her blood from the moment she looked into those indescribably
bright blue eyes now filled her ears with a wild drumbeat.
    Oh my. This time, she kept the thought to
herself.
    “Good evening, Jake,” she murmured. “I hope I
did not disturb you.”
    A long low chuckle emanated across the dark
divide between them. “I came out for a breath of cool air and a seegar .”
    He pronounced it with such sensual
appreciation her toes curled into the wood.
    “Don’t stop on my account. I love the scent
of tobacco.”
    He took her at her word, because a moment
later a match flared with the pungent smell of phosphorus. It lit
the hard lean angles of his square face along with the slender
cigarillo clenched in strong white teeth as he inhaled. The cigar
glowed red. His long slow exhale of pleasure blew out the match and
turned her insides to porridge.
    The aromatic smoke curled around her as if
forming some invisible link between them.
    “Would you care to set a spell?” he
asked.
    “Set a spell?” Did he think she looked like a
witch? Was that the reason for his instant dislike?
    “I—”
    “I can pull the bench up to the rail if you
like.”
    Chairs. She squeezed her eyes tight for a
second. He meant sit for a while. Sometimes it was as if these
Americans spoke a foreign language. “Yes. I would like that very
much.” More than she really dared admit, despite the little skip of
her heart.
    His shadow moved, disappeared. Wood scraped
against wood and a thump vibrated the planks beneath her feet.
“There you are, ma’am. I mean, Tess.” The smile she couldn’t see
came through loud and clear in his voice. Her heart clenched in
foolish longing and she found herself blinking back moisture.
    Gaining her