Texas Tiger TH3 (23 page)

"Your face wasn't all they wanted to rearrange. Don't you think we ought to call a doctor?"

Daniel smiled as her fingers brushed over him. It was almost worth the price he had to pay to have Georgina touching him like this. And she wasn't fussing or nagging or yelling at him. Just the expression of concern on her face made it all worthwhile. He expected she would get around to berating him sooner or later, but it was nice letting her take over for a few minutes.

"Dr. Phelps is with Betsy right now. It probably wouldn't be a good idea. As long as none of the ribs are cracked, I'll be fine. I've survived worse."

"Worse!" Georgina stared at him incredulously.

Daniel had let his eyes drift closed. He opened them again when her soothing touches halted. Her blue eyes were wide with horror, and he offered a sympathetic smile. "Broken bones are much more painful, I assure you. Why don't you fetch me a clean shirt and I'll finish up here?"

Gritting her teeth, she returned to her ministrations. "Men are animals. I can't imagine how the world has come this far in their care."

"Because of women," he murmured. "They patch us up and send us back good as new. You don't know how good your touch makes me feel."

Georgina wanted to throw the wet cloth at him and run, but she seemed to be caught in some magnetic spell that held her bound to him. She pressed a particularly impressive bruise over one rib, and he cringed.

"Might be a crack there," he admitted. "I'll see about it in the morning. We'd better find something to eat before I'm too stiff to move."

Georgina had never been more frightened in her life. Even when those two thugs had attacked her, Daniel had been there to help, and she'd had her home and family to run to. But now she was on her own, and the man she had relied on to help was injured so badly she feared for his health. And she could do nothing. She didn't know how to treat his injuries. She couldn't cook his meal so he didn't have to go out. And she didn't even know where to buy food so he wouldn't have to move. And if the villains who had done this to him came back, she could do nothing to stop them. Was the world outside her father's home always like this?

"You shouldn't go out," she murmured in protest as he stood up.

'There's a little restaurant not far from here. If I don't scare them with my pretty face, we'll be all right. Will soup and sandwiches be enough for you?"

Georgina didn't know how he had made it home. He was swaying just standing there, and she knew he couldn't see out of that one eye. She might be terrified, but she wasn't inhuman. She shoved him back into the chair again.

"Tell me how to find it. I'll take Max and bring something home. Do stoves cost very much? Maybe we should look into finding one."

She was bustling around the room, tidying her hair, looking for a wrap, checking her pockets for coins, and calling for Max. Daniel closed his eyes and let the pounding in his head have its way. He knew better than to let a lady loose in these streets, but he simply didn't have the strength to argue. His hero instincts had had enough for the day. The idea of buying a stove together tickled him. He would have to give that some thought.

"Just say, 'now, Max,' and he'll go into attack position if someone threatens you. Don't say 'attack' unless you have no other choice. He'll go for their throats. I don't think you'll have any trouble. There's no one around this time of night."

Tucking money into her pocket, she brushed the unruly cowlick back from his face and dared a quick peck on his cheek. "You're the bravest, silliest man I've ever met," she whispered.

Daniel grinned and let her go with Max and his instructions to guide her. Georgina Meredith was made of stronger stuff than he had first imagined.

* * *

Georgina nervously rinsed off the plates they would need to take back to the restaurant in the morning. Had she married Peter, a maid would have been carrying off the crystal and china they would have received as wedding gifts. But her thoughts weren't on their lack of proper wedding gifts. They centered on the man resting in the easy chair by the room's only table.

Daniel had only sipped at his soup and coffee after attempting to chew a bite of sandwich and declaring it not worth the effort. She wished she had gone for the doctor.

He needed to be in bed. Georgina threw a glance at the pallet still lying against the wall. That was where she had intended for him to sleep, in here with his machinery and his dog.

But he looked so pale, she knew he was in pain. And the bed in the other room would be a hundred times more comfortable. She had moved all her clothes into that room, but she supposed she could carry some back here. It wouldn't hurt to sleep on a pallet for a few nights. She would feel much better when Daniel was back to normal, and that time would come sooner if he slept comfortably.

Having made that decision, Georgina started for the door, meaning to fetch her night things and some clean clothing for the morning.

Daniel opened his eyes and pushed himself from the chair. "Good idea. I don't think I can stay awake any longer."

Georgina stared in horror as he followed behind her, carrying the lamp. Trying to calm herself, she said sensibly, "I'll just get a change of clothes before you go to bed."

Daniel whistled at the dog and pointed to the presses, "Guard," he ordered. The dog whined and dropped obediently in front of the pressroom door, tongue hanging out and paws crossed. Daniel pressed his hand to Georgina's back. "He'll be fine. Come on. Let's test that new mattress."

Obviously it was the flames of hell washing through her at the touch of Daniel's hand at the small of her back and the sound of his words in her ear. Georgina's face burned with heat that coursed through the rest of her body. This wasn't the way it was supposed to be. Even on a proper wedding night, the groom was supposed to leave the bride some privacy. She balked halfway across the hall.

Daniel looked down at her quizzically. "Did you forget something?"

"No, you have." Gathering the shattered remnants of her courage, Georgina tried to explain. "I'm not really your wife, remember? I can't share that bed with you. I'll get my things and sleep in the room with Max."

"Don't be foolish. There's plenty of room in that bed for both of us. And I'm not in any shape to take advantage of you, if that's what you're worried about. You'd probably fracture the rest of my ribs if I tried." He pushed her toward the opposite door.

And she went. It was madness, but she went. She was tired and scared and lonely, and she didn't really want to sleep alone on a pallet with a dog as company. She didn't think she really wanted to sleep with Daniel, either, but he wasn't giving her much choice. She opened the door into the room she had thought of as her own.

Daniel surveyed it with a grim shake of his head. "It's not as if I was exactly prepared to bring a bride home, I suppose. We'll find a dressing screen on Monday. Shall I blow out the lamp?"

Georgina nodded and hoped he would see. She wasn't certain she could make her tongue form a word.

The lamp went out and the room plunged into darkness. The uncurtained windows formed pale rectangles against the walls, but provided little light. Georgina took a deep breath and wondered if it was necessary to undress at all. These clothes couldn't be any more ruined if she slept in them.

There was a rustle behind her, and then Daniel's voice spoke over her shoulder. "Do you need some help?"

Her one stroke of genius this day had been to wear a gown that buttoned down the front. Her hand protectively covered the buttons. "No. Go on to bed. I'll be there in a minute."

He touched her shoulder anyway, skimming his hand along the bone, then up her throat to her chin. He held his finger there and turned her face slightly so he could place a kiss on her cheek. "It will work out, Merry. Smile, and everything will be fine."

He turned away after that, and she could hear the bed springs creak as he sat and tried to use the bootjack on his boots. His words and touch had burned right through to the bone, and she was paralyzed. How would she ever go through with this?

By smiling, as he said. This was an adventure. She had wanted a hero to rescue her from Peter, and now she had one. Perhaps Daniel wasn't the most romantic of heroes, but he was better than any other she had found. Unfastening the first buttons, she forced herself to smile. It was much better than bewailing the fates.

When she slid in beside Daniel, Georgina was wearing only her chemise and drawers. She felt scandalously undressed, but not nearly as naked as she had been last night in that indecent nightgown. Daniel hadn't touched her then. She doubted that he would touch her now.

"How did those other men look when you were finished with them?" she whispered.

Daniel chuckled. "Their noses will never be the same again. And they may walk with permanent stoops. Don't worry. They won't be back. Go on to sleep." It was easy to reassure her, not so easy to reassure himself. They might not be back with the same kind of attack, but he could swear on a stack of Bibles that Artemis Mulloney wouldn't give up with one defeat. And there wasn't a doubt in his mind that it had been his father trying to bribe him to leave town.

There was no point in worrying over it now. He had put on a clean shirt before supper, and out of politeness, he had left it on to come to bed. He was stifling in the folds of cloth, but having Georgina in bed beside him made all the day's troubles worth it. He folded her fingers into his.

In a day or two he would think about doing more—after he'd had time to consider how much trouble he was going to cause his father by taking this particular woman to wife.

* * *

Fighting the sun in her eyes, Georgina tried to roll over and go back to sleep, but a heavy weight held her hair pinned against the pillow. She tried to wake enough to free herself, only to discover that a hand was resting boldly across her breasts. Blushing clear to her roots, she squeezed her eyes shut and tried to squirm away.

The hand woke then. It formed a cup to cradle her breast. Even through her chemise she could feel the heat of the fingers wrapping around her. Her blush went deeper, burning somewhere inside her. When strong fingers began a stroking motion, she jerked away, trying to push herself into a sitting position. The weight on her hair held her down.

"You feel good, Miss Merry," a masculine voice murmured in her ear.

She nearly leapt from her skin. Lying on her side, she opened her eyes to confront the bruised and swollen face of her husband. It was not a reassuring sight. Even through the swelling, Daniel was grinning at her, and the light in his one open eye twinkled with mischief. His hand stroked her breast until it found the peak.

Georgina squealed and tried to break free. "You promised, Daniel Mulloney! You promised. Now stop that, this instant. I want to get up."

He sighed a deep sigh of regret. "You don't know what you're missing, Merry. But I suppose it's asking too much to have the princess kiss a beast like I must look this morning. Maybe I should go beat up Peter and you can compare us at our worst."

He rolled away, freeing her hair, and Georgina escaped. Hands on hips, she glared down at him and prepared to deliver a tirade, until she realized he'd thrown off the covers. He was wearing nothing but his shirt.

Color blazed in her cheeks at the sight of Daniel's bare legs. They were covered in a soft dark down until they reached his long, bare feet. She gulped, and her gaze drifted back up again. His shirt moved oddly over his hips, and she swung around, keeping her back to him.

"I'd thank you to leave until I can get dressed."

With his arms crossed beneath his head, Daniel contemplated the slender back she presented him. The light from the window silhouetted her body beneath the thin chemise. She had a tiny wasp waist without the benefit of a corset. Her hips flared roundly to firm thighs and straight legs that peeked out from beneath her knee-length drawers. He contemplated her bare calves with longing, wondering how they would feel when they were wrapped around him. That thought made his loins surge dangerously. Daniel let his gaze drift upward again, wishing he could see the curve of her breasts from this angle.

"I'm not sure that I can," he said lazily. "I ache all over. I may need you to massage me until I can move."

Her back stiffened. "I'm not coming near you until you're dressed, Daniel Mulloney. This isn't funny."

Glancing down at the rebellious part of his body pushing up his shirttails, Daniel agreed wryly, "No, it's not."

Georgina rigidly kept her back to him as his feet hit the floor.

"It's all right, you can look now," Daniel called after pulling on his trousers.

She swirled around, her hair tumbling over her shoulders and down her back, and Daniel took a deep breath of admiration. Her shift was transparent in the revealing light. She was magnificent.

Her hair shimmered in spun silver and gold over breasts that jutted wickedly against the thin cotton of her chemise. The prim buttons were fastened all the way to her throat, but a blue ribbon pulled the fabric into gathers beneath her breasts, revealing their grace and form to his eager gaze. He didn't think he'd ever had a woman like this one. He had always favored the tall, willowy types. Maybe it was time for a change.