Her Wyoming Man Read Online Free PDF
Author: Cheryl St.john
glad you chose to travel to Wyoming, but it must be quite a change for you.”
“It’s a big change,” she answered. “And all for the better.”
Rowena gave Nathan a grin. “You are a lucky man, Nathan Lantry.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he agreed.
He gazed down at Ella, and she gave him the smile his friends expected. He wrapped his arm around her waist, and she leaned against him. They stood hip to hip, more or less, and she was the first to break their locked gaze and look away.
With all the attention and after meeting so many new people, she’d grown tired, but she kept her fatigue and emotions well disguised. When the guests at last took their leave a few at a time, Nathan assured her it was acceptable for her to excuse herself and go upstairs. “The last room on the right,” he told her. “I’m afraid your things aren’t unpacked, but you’ll have plenty of time to settle in over the next few days.”
Climbing the stairs, she left the murmur of voices below to find the room he’d indicated. Oil lamps lit the generous space in a welcoming glow, and she wondered who had made the preparations. The woman in the black dress and white apron who’d answered the door perhaps?
Her six enormous trunks were neatly lined against one wall, and she opened each to find her hairbrushes, nightgowns and toiletries.
A pitcher of water and towels had been placed on a stand behind a divider brightly painted with peacocks and oriental flowers. Ella was well practiced at unbuttoning the low-cut back of her gown, and she quickly stepped from her dress and hung it over the screen before stripping out of her underclothing. She washed with the thick cloth and her fragrant soap and then dried.
After using glycerin on her elbows, hands and feet, she dusted her body with talc and pulled a shimmery sheer gown over her head. She took time to brush out her hair and sparingly rouge her lips and cheeks. She unwrapped jewelry that had been rolled in stockings, placed the stockings in a drawer and the necklaces and rings back in a wooden chest. She poked through the gemstones, each of them reminding her of the life she wanted to forget. Without selecting an item, she closed the box and tucked it into the bottom drawer of the bureau. Lastly, she slipped on a silk dressing gown and belted the sash at her waist.
Ella dabbed perfume behind her knees and a little on her décolletage and examined her reflection in the mirror. Everything about her new life was unfamiliar…everything but this. The one thing she knew how to do was please Nathan when he came to their room.
Chapter Four
T he thought of pleasing her new husband had her looking around the room one more time. She opened the closet to find bare pegs and the shelves barren save for extra blankets. The bureau drawers held nothing but the items she’d placed in them. There was no sign of the man or his belongings.
He owned an enormous well-furnished house with many bedrooms. Apparently she had her own. Was that usual? She had no inkling of normal sleeping arrangements for husbands and wives.
She put away the rest of her lingerie and hung several dresses to pass the time, but she was tired and eventually perched on the chair before the cold fireplace and studied a still life of fruit spilling from a basket. The painting hung by a gold cord from the crown molding over the mantel.
Her eyelids were drooping when after several minutes a knock sounded at the door.
Ella crossed the room to open it.
Nathan stood in the hallway, his broad form and dark hair lit by the wall lamps, still dressed in the formal clothing he’d worn for the ceremony and reception. With a welcoming smile, she stepped back to allow him to enter.
His gaze fell immediately to her dressing gown, and the lace that peeked from the deep V where the front overlapped. He swallowed.
Break the ice. “It was a lovely party, Nathan. Thank you.”
He drew his attention to her face. “It was my pleasure.”
Make him
“It’s a big change,” she answered. “And all for the better.”
Rowena gave Nathan a grin. “You are a lucky man, Nathan Lantry.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he agreed.
He gazed down at Ella, and she gave him the smile his friends expected. He wrapped his arm around her waist, and she leaned against him. They stood hip to hip, more or less, and she was the first to break their locked gaze and look away.
With all the attention and after meeting so many new people, she’d grown tired, but she kept her fatigue and emotions well disguised. When the guests at last took their leave a few at a time, Nathan assured her it was acceptable for her to excuse herself and go upstairs. “The last room on the right,” he told her. “I’m afraid your things aren’t unpacked, but you’ll have plenty of time to settle in over the next few days.”
Climbing the stairs, she left the murmur of voices below to find the room he’d indicated. Oil lamps lit the generous space in a welcoming glow, and she wondered who had made the preparations. The woman in the black dress and white apron who’d answered the door perhaps?
Her six enormous trunks were neatly lined against one wall, and she opened each to find her hairbrushes, nightgowns and toiletries.
A pitcher of water and towels had been placed on a stand behind a divider brightly painted with peacocks and oriental flowers. Ella was well practiced at unbuttoning the low-cut back of her gown, and she quickly stepped from her dress and hung it over the screen before stripping out of her underclothing. She washed with the thick cloth and her fragrant soap and then dried.
After using glycerin on her elbows, hands and feet, she dusted her body with talc and pulled a shimmery sheer gown over her head. She took time to brush out her hair and sparingly rouge her lips and cheeks. She unwrapped jewelry that had been rolled in stockings, placed the stockings in a drawer and the necklaces and rings back in a wooden chest. She poked through the gemstones, each of them reminding her of the life she wanted to forget. Without selecting an item, she closed the box and tucked it into the bottom drawer of the bureau. Lastly, she slipped on a silk dressing gown and belted the sash at her waist.
Ella dabbed perfume behind her knees and a little on her décolletage and examined her reflection in the mirror. Everything about her new life was unfamiliar…everything but this. The one thing she knew how to do was please Nathan when he came to their room.
Chapter Four
T he thought of pleasing her new husband had her looking around the room one more time. She opened the closet to find bare pegs and the shelves barren save for extra blankets. The bureau drawers held nothing but the items she’d placed in them. There was no sign of the man or his belongings.
He owned an enormous well-furnished house with many bedrooms. Apparently she had her own. Was that usual? She had no inkling of normal sleeping arrangements for husbands and wives.
She put away the rest of her lingerie and hung several dresses to pass the time, but she was tired and eventually perched on the chair before the cold fireplace and studied a still life of fruit spilling from a basket. The painting hung by a gold cord from the crown molding over the mantel.
Her eyelids were drooping when after several minutes a knock sounded at the door.
Ella crossed the room to open it.
Nathan stood in the hallway, his broad form and dark hair lit by the wall lamps, still dressed in the formal clothing he’d worn for the ceremony and reception. With a welcoming smile, she stepped back to allow him to enter.
His gaze fell immediately to her dressing gown, and the lace that peeked from the deep V where the front overlapped. He swallowed.
Break the ice. “It was a lovely party, Nathan. Thank you.”
He drew his attention to her face. “It was my pleasure.”
Make him