Give My Love to Rose (16 page)

She curled her nose as a horrific scent
burned her senses. Then she realized the smell was coming from her
and she nearly gagged.

What was going on….?

“
You said if I was ever
around I could stop by,” Marston reminded her.

“
Yes, but why are you in
my room? Why is it dark? And why do I smell like a hog
lot?”

Marston brought his face close to hers and
gazed into her eyes with a tenderness that caused her body to ache.
She wondered what it would feel like to have Marston hold her
close—then again he’d done so in her dreams and Rose was beginning
to suspect that they hadn’t only been dreams.

“
I’m in your room because
I was worried about you and couldn’t force myself to leave it,”
Marston admitted. “And it’s dark because that’s what happens at
night and I won’t comment on the way you smell. I might be an
outlaw, but even I have manners.”

“
But why were you
worried?”

“
Why?” Marston shook his
head. “Because you’ve been damned sick woman. If you’d have stayed
asleep just a few more hours you would have been three days
unconscious in your bed. I showed up here a few days ago and you
were delirious with fever in your bed and poor Langley was scared
to death. I sent him after the doc and the doc said you have a lung
infection….”

Rose groaned. “You sent for the doc?”

“
Yes.” Marston’s golden
eyes narrowed. “And you need to get to explaining why you didn’t do
so sooner.”

Rose’s stomach clenched as a loud growl came
from deep within it. She grimaced and laid her hand over her
middle. “Can I eat before you scold me?”

Marston grumbled unintelligibly under his
breath as he stood straight. “I’ll bring you something. You have to
stay in this bed. The doc said you need rest. He’ll be by today to
check on you again, but I can tell already that your breathing
sounds better. So you stay in this bed and let me get your food.
The doc said it could be weeks until you’re feeling strong
again.”

“
Weeks?!” Rose exclaimed,
whimpering when pain tore through her lungs.

Marston laid a gentle hand on her dirty
hair. “Calm yourself, woman,” he warned, the sternness in his voice
not matching the tenderness in his touch.

“
But Marston... I can’t
stay in this bed for weeks. I have things to do.”

“
No you don’t,” Marston
quickly replied. He squared his shoulders and Rose knew she had met
her match in stubbornness. “I’m here now and I’ll take care of
things. Now, let me go get you something for that
stomach.”

“
Marston?” Rose called,
stopping him in the doorway.

He turned and raised his brow. “What?”

Rose fidgeted and toyed with the sheet
covering her. “How long.. how long do you plan on staying for?”

Marston gripped the door frame and his eyes
dropped to his boots. “For as long as you’ll have me, Rose.”

Rose found this display of nervousness from
the large men endearingly sweet and his words were not lost on her.
For as long as she’d have him? She could hardly believe this was
happening at all. Perhaps she was still unconscious and this was
merely a fever induced dream.

She smiled. “Forever should do.”

Marston’s head rose instantly and Rose
nearly slapped herself for saying such a foolish thing. Surely the
man would run screaming for the hills!

But instead, the hint of a smile curved his
lips and he nodded before turning and walking out of her bedroom.
He returned several minutes later with a steaming bowl in his hands
and an excited Langley on his heels.

“
Mama! You’re awake!”
Langley exclaimed.

Rose hugged him tight when he threw his arms
around her neck. “I’m sorry I scared you, baby.”

“
I’m not a baby, mama,”
Langley countered, pulling away from her. “Marston is teaching me
how to be a man. He’s taught me all kinds of stuff since he came
back.”

“
Really?” Rose
asked.

Marston grunted and used his elbow to nudge
Langley to the side. Marston kicked the chair closer to the bed and
took a seat. “Give your mama some breathing room, boy,” he scolded
but Rose could see his affection for her son shining in his eyes
and the sight of it caused Rose’s heart to swell with love for the
outlaw.

Marston sat the bowl on the table and helped
Rose to sit up, propped against her pillows. “Why am I so weak and
floppy?” she grumbled, unaccustomed to needing help doing
anything.

Marston chuckled. “Floppy?”

“
Yes,” Rose snapped with
irritation. “I can hardly move at all on my own.”

“
Probably your medicine
and the fact that you’ve been so sick and in this bed for so long,”
Marston guessed. He picked the bowl back up and blew on the
steaming contents.

The scent of chicken broth teased her nose
and Rose felt her mouth begin to water. “You made that?” she
asked.

Marston nodded as he scooped up a spoonful
and moved it toward her lips. Rose frowned. “Can’t I feed
myself?”

“
Nope,” Marston replied.
When she glared he let out a long breath. “Give me a break, Rose.
I’ve never cared about anybody in the world enough to want to take
care of them. Let me take care of you.”

Rose’s heart skipped a beat. “You care about
me?”

Marston’s golden eyes narrowed. “Open
up.”

Rose did as he ordered and was happy that
she did. The broth was delicious and full of flavor on her tongue.
She swallowed it quickly and opened her mouth for more which
Marston seemed more than happy to give to her.

“
Gosh mama, me, and
Marston have been busy,” Langley said as he sat at the foot of the
bed. “We patched the walls up so they’re not drafty anymore and we
fixed the hole in the barn roof so the horses don’t get snowed and
rained on. Marston even let me chop down a tree and the woodshed is
so full it’s busting apart! You should see it, mama!”

“
That’s good,” Rose
whispered, feeling overwhelmed. She was exhausted, her body weak
and her mind fuzzy. She had very nearly died… she had very nearly
left Langley all alone in the world. But once again Marston had
come. Marston was back, he was changed and he seemed to want to
stay.

Rose wondered what had happened to bring
about the change in the man and return him to her. She suspected
that she probably did not want to know. All that mattered was that
he was with them now. With Marston here, life would be so much
easier.

Winston Meade would no longer be able to
harm her. And even if he did take her cabin away, Rose knew that
Marston was the type of man who knew how to survive and he would
help her ensure that Langley had a place to live. They would never
go cold or hungry as long as they had Marston.

But it wasn’t just having him to share the
load with that made Rose happy Marston was back. Rose wanted to
know what it felt like to be loved and cherished by a man. All of
her life she had only known harshness from them, at least until
Langston, but Marston was not the father figure that Langston had
been. Marston was a young, strong, handsome, man who could very
well be her man—that though both thrilled and terrified her.

And then there was the pain that Rose knew
Marston carried inside him. She was pleased that he had returned to
them so that Rose could care for him. She wanted to help his soul
heal. She knew he could help her heal what was still broken inside
of her. The gentle, caring Marston sitting beside her now was
exactly what her abused heart needed.

“
Thank you, Marston,” she
whispered. “For coming back, for taking care of Langley, for taking
care of me… thank you.”

Marston growled and shoved another spoonful
of broth into her mouth. “What have I told you about thanking me
for things?”

Rose simply smiled and Marston sighed.
“You’re welcome.”

Langley laughed at Marston’s pouting before
launching into another long winded story about all the fun they’d
been having while she’d been unconscious.

***

“
I need to clean up,” Rose
stood her ground as Marston glared. The doc had come and gone and
confirmed that Rose was indeed on the road to recovery but would
need rest.

Rest? Rose didn’t even know what that word
meant!

“
I can heat up some water
and you can sponge off in here,” Marston replied stubbornly, his
thick arms crossed over his broad chest as he stood in the
doorway.

“
No. I’ll wash off in the
water closet.”

“
That water will be cold,
Rose.”

“
I’ll be fine, Marston.
Now, why don’t you go find something to keep yourself busy while
I’m cleaning up?”

Marston shook his head. “You’re gonna need
help.”

Rose glared and tried to tell herself he was
only being helpful. She wasn’t accustomed to being treated like a
child. “I can manage,” she insisted. Rose tossed back the dirty
sheets and it took her several painstakingly long moments to throw
her legs over the edge of the bed.

She pushed herself onto her feet only to
realize she couldn’t support her weight and she tumbled back down
onto the mattress. Her cheeks burned as she felt Marston’s gaze
burning holes in her. “You want that help now?”

Rose felt horror cloud her judgment. Let him
see her nude?! Have his eyes look upon the scars that covered her?
The disgust she would see on his face would be more than Rose could
bear.

And if Rose were without clothes and there
were no boundaries between them, would Marston take advantage?

Marston met her gaze and hurt flashed in his
golden eyes. “If I was going to take advantage of you, I would have
done it while you were unconscious.”

Rose felt her face redden with shame. “I
never said a word about that.”

Marston snorted. “Yeah, but I don’t have to
be a mind reader to know you thought it. Dammit, I’ve done some bad
things to a lot of people but hurting you or that boy isn’t
something I’m gonna add to the list.”

“
Okay,” came Rose’s weak
reply.

“
Then will you let me help
you?”

Rose nodded, unable to find the strength to
sit back up. Marston left the room and Rose wondered where he was
going. She heard the water turn on in the water closet and then
Marston was back.

He’d removed his bandolier and all his
weapons, but somehow that didn’t make him seem any less deadly as
he took up all the space in the doorway.

Marston closed the distance between them and
scooped her out of the bed, cradling her against his chest the way
a husband would his new bride. “What are you doing?” she demanded,
fearing for his back. Rose was not dainty nor was she light.

“
Can’t you just shut your
trap and let me take care of you without making a big deal of it?”
Marston grumbled.

“
You don’t have to be so
grumpy,” Rose snapped. “I’m not used to being taken care
of.”

“
Well I’m not used to
taking care of anyone so let’s just go with it and pretend it’s
normal.”

Rose smiled as she buried her face in his
chest and breathed him in. Horses, sweat, dust, and blood—Marston
smelled every bit the outlaw that he was.

When he carried her into the water closet,
Rose saw the chair he had placed under the spray of water. He sat
her gently on her feet but still held her close, supporting her
body with his own. “I’ll help you out of your gown and get you
settled in the chair and then I’ll leave.”

Rose’s heart froze. “I’ll remove my gown
myself.”

Marston frowned. “Woman, you can hardly
raise your arms. Let me help you.”

“
No!” she snapped
viciously.

Marston took a step back. “What the hell is
the matter with you?” he demanded harshly. “Do you think I’m going
to take one look at you without your clothes, throw you down and
force you right here on the water closet floor while your son feeds
the horses outside? Weren’t you the goddamn one who said I wasn’t
all bad?”

Rose bit her lip. He remembered that? She
leaned against the wall for support. “It’s not that I think you’d…
do that,” she insisted. “It’s just that I haven’t… I haven’t been
undressed in front of a man in a long time and….” Rose found that
she couldn’t bring herself to tell him about the scars.

She glanced at the mirror and gasped. There
was certainly no fear of the man succumbing to desire for her. Her
hair was limp and dirty, her face pale, her lips colorless and her
eyes surrounding by dark circles. Her gown was dirty and hanging
off of her and she mustn’t forget the scent she could smell coming
from her.

“
Rose?” Marston’s voice
was soft. “I’m not sure what’s going on in that head of yours, but
I’m not going to hurt you.”

Rose nodded, let out a long steadying breath
and looked him in the eye. “Okay. Just don’t look at me, alright?
Close your eyes and don’t open them again until you’re out in the
kitchen.”

Marston grumbled under his breath. He’d
likely break a damn leg trying to get around with his eyes closed.
Not to mention the fact that he wanted to finally gaze upon the
damn body that had been haunting his dreams for months.

“
Okay,” he agreed. Marston
stepped to her and could feel her trembling with fear as he undid
the top buttons of her gown. “Raise your arms,” he urged
gently.

She did and Marston closed his eyes tight
before lifting the gown over her head and tossing it to the floor.
He followed the sound of water to lead Rose to the shower and
helped her to sit down in the chair.