Chapter 8

Jacob Dunleavy was nervous as hell. He'd done a lot of things in his life but never this. He had never been in bed with a woman he loved.

He'd cared a little about some of the whores who had serviced him and one of them had become his regular partner during his last five months in Nebraska.

Stella had shown him how to make her feel good but he worried that Marnie would find those actions disgusting. The portions of love-making that Jacob liked most were the ones that whores disdained — the kissing, the touching, the closeness. Most whores wanted you in, then off, then out in as little time as possible.

He wasn't sure how to approach Marnie. But then again, he figured that she was so bossy that she would probably tell him what to do, when to do it and where it should be done.

At the very least she would let him know if he crossed a boundary that she didn't want crossed.

That thought eased his mind as he leaned forward and blew out the candle in the tub room.

Marnie Dunleavy was resigned to the fact that Jacob would want to lay with her. It was the only part of the marriage to Jacob that she dreaded. The thought of him plowing into her dry tunnel or turning her over and plowing into an even drier tunnel made her almost queasy.

Her limited knowledge of sex was exclusively with Wes Lambert. He was no gentler in bed than he was out of bed. Even their wedding night had been hurried, bloody and uncomfortable. When she complained that it hurt too much, Wes had forced her onto her stomach buttered up her back hole and forced his way in there.

It was almost a week before Marnie could stand to ride a horse again. She had seen her mother and father act the same way. She had seen her mother with a couple of range riders and it was the same. She was certain that Jacob would want to have sex but she hoped that she could dissuade him at least until they returned to the Double-M.

Jacob failed to suppress his smile when he walked into the room. Marnie was already in bed — with the covers pulled up to her chin. It was the first time he had seen the strong woman nervous.

Or maybe she's scared, Jacob thought. She told me her husband — her first husband, his mind added — was an ass. He used to berate her and hit her. He probably wasn't very gentle in bed either.

Jacob was glad he kept his lower half covered with his britches.

He sat gently on the end of the bed and turned to face — his wife.

"I'm a little nervous about this," he admitted. "Well, the truth is, Marnie, I've never been with a real woman before."

Marnie's eyes narrowed slightly.

"I mean a woman I hadn't paid ahead of time at least once or twice," he added with a small chuckle.

Marnie's lips turned slightly upward in a hint of a smile. It didn't change the look in her eyes, though.

"I guess what I mean is that the things I like to do, you might not like," he continued. "And I don't want you to think bad of me."

Marnie's face relaxed a bit but her shoulders remained tense. She was wondering exactly what Jacob liked to do. She thought all men liked things the same way — brutal. Just like a stallion dominated a mare.

"Some of the things you might notta done before," he said shyly. "So I want you to speak up if I touch you some place you don't like or you are unhappy with what I do. Okay? But we don't have to do none of anything you don't want to do."

He twisted his body and lay beside Marnie. She was under the coverlet and he was on top. He smiled at the incongruity. His bony, white chest was out in the open and her bosoms were covered. It was like a trip to a whore in reverse. Usually the whore would strip off and the guy would just lower his trousers.

Jacob rolled over toward Marnie and started to gently stroke her hair. She purred like a contented kitten. His soft touch felt wonderful.

There was no roughness — no smell of whiskey or tobacco on his breath — when he leaned forward and put his lips on hers. She returned the kiss with only a slight hesitation. He didn't force his tongue into her mouth and he didn't grab her by the hair and crush his lips on hers. Instead the kiss was slow and easy.

When Jacob's tongue gently started to lick on Marnie's bottom lip she opened her mouth willing to allow it in. Jacob didn't try to force his tongue down her throat. Instead he teased her tongue with his and he waited until she became an active participant before going any farther.

The pair lay side by side kissing for several minutes. Jacob's hand continued to brush Marnie's hair, the side of her face and her neck. Marnie started to feel things inside she hadn't felt since she was a girl — back when she didn't understand the actual process of sex.

It only seemed natural to her when Jacob's hand slid beneath the covers and started to trace circles around her breast. His touch was so light that Marnie found herself pushing forward to increase the pressure. Before she realized she had done it she had pushed the sheet down and slid her shift off her shoulder allowing Jacob access to her bare flesh.

Jacob slipped his mouth off hers and rained kisses on her neck and shoulder. Marnie's nipple had extended and Jacob would gently tease the bud occasionally before moving off to circle around it again. When his mouth replaced his finger and continued the same pattern, Marnie wrapped her hands in Jacob's hair and pulled his mouth to her warm breast. The feeling of his tongue there was indescribable. It only got better when his hand tickled down her flat stomach and her began to run his fingers through her downy nether hair.

Again, Marnie's reaction was involuntary. Her hips rose off the bed to meet Jacob's touch. When he first found his way between her legs he was so gentle that she didn't even know he was there until he spread moisture on her special spot at the top.

Marnie gasped in pleasure. She wasn't sure what Jacob was doing but felt wonderful. His kisses traced down her belly and into the red hair beneath. Then she felt something warm at the top of her slit and realized his mouth was where his fingers had been. In only a few seconds her orgasm washed over her. One hand held Jacob's head in place but her other one found her own breast. The light pressure she put on her nipple — a sensation only introduced to her a few minutes before — sent shivers down her spine. She could feel the copious wetness between her legs — another new sensation, at least when sex was involved.

She urgently pulled Jacob back up the bed toward her. It was only after she tasted what was on his lips that she realized it wasn't just Jacob's saliva proving the moisture down below.

"Please, now, love," she whispered. "I want you so badly."

Jacob stood up to lower his britches — and Marnie's eyes went wide.

Jacob was tall and lean — but the thing that stuck out in front of him was long, wide and angry looking. She was sure that Jacob was at half-again as long as Wes and probably twice as wide. She fought the memories of pain and humiliation that washed over her.