Turner's Rainbow 2 - The Rainbow Promise (38 page)

J
ames and Julia were married the following Saturday, Both Julia and Anthea exclaimed in horror that it was not proper to have the wedding that soon, but James set his jaw and replied that he didn't intend to wait any longer. He'd waited for Julia far too long as it was. Secretly, he was afraid that if he waited she would somehow get away from him again.

They had the ceremony late in the afternoon in the minister's study, with only their families present. Sarah and Anthea cried, though both declared they were tears of happiness, and after the ceremony they each hugged Julia and all three of the women cried again. James glanced at them a little nervously, wondering what was wrong. Luke chuckled. "Better get used to it. Sarah cries at the strangest times."

"Honestly?" James shrugged, then laughed, too.

Luke shook his hand. "Congratulations."

"Thank you." James looked at him. They were brothers-in-law now. It seemed a strange idea. There was an openness to Luke's face that James had never encountered before. James wondered if they might actually come to like each other in time. Stranger things had happened.

He glanced over at the women. Julia was dabbing at her eyes with a lacy handkerchief. She sensed his gaze and looked up at him, smiling. It warmed James all through. He reached out his hand, and she came to him and took it shyly. James raised her hand to his mouth and kissed it. The plain gold wedding band shone against her fair skin. His wife. It was a little hard to believe. He gripped her hand tightly.

They went back to the house, where Anthea and Lurleen had prepared an elegant wedding supper. The food was sumptuous, but James could hardly eat it. All he could think about was how long it would be before he could have his wife to himself. It was the worst of tortures to have to sit there, talking politely and pretending to enjoy the meal, when be wanted only to be alone with Julia.

Julia, too, had little appetite. In a matter of hours she and James would be on the train to Galveston, locked together in their private compartment, married. At long last they would make love with each other again. Her nerves thrummed with excitement and a hint of fear. What if it wasn't the same? What if James was disappointed, after he'd waited so long for her? She wasn't the young girl he had loved before—what if he found her body old when he saw her naked?

She glanced up at James. He was watching her, his gaze hot and dark, A quiver ran through Julia, and she realized that no matter what the fear in her, her desire for James was even stronger

He took her hand, lacing his fingers through hers. His hand was large around hers. Julia knew how strong that hand was, how sensitive and skilled. It was suddenly difficult for her to breathe. That hand would explore her body tonight. Julia could feel the blush rising in her cheeks, and she glanced down to conceal it. James's thumb caressed the back of her hand. It moved up to her wrist, tracing the small bony knob there. Her face grew even hotter, and she took a sip from her glass of water.

James watched her drink. Everything Julia did seemed sensual to him—the way her eyelids fluttered almost closed when he touched her hand, the movement of her smooth throat when she drank, the curve of her fingers around the ornately cut crystal. She finished drinking and set down the glass. There was a faint film of water clinging to her upper lip. He couldn't take his eyes from it. Julia's tongue crept out and wiped it away. Desire snaked through him,

Julia wore a dress of pale blue satin the color of her eyes, overlaid with champagne-colored lace, as delicate as cobwebs. The satin bodice was scoop necked and sleeveless, but over it the lace came up high around her throat and down her arms in long, tight sleeves, fastened at the wrist by a row of tiny pearlized buttons. The dress revealed nothing, yet the look of the gossamer lace over the bare skin of her chest, throat, and arms enticed James as the naked flesh of another woman would not have.

His hand slipped up onto her arm. He touched the lace, faintly scratchy against his fingers, and beneath it the softness of her skin. He heard the swift intake of Julia's breath, and that excited him more than anything else. He removed his hand; if he wasn't careful, he would embarrass them both with his obvious arousal.

At last the meal ended, and it was time to catch the train. They said good-bye to Anthea and the children at the house, and Luke and Sarah drove them to the train station. The train was only a few minutes late, but they waited for what seemed like hours before it arrived. James and Julia boarded and found their compartment. They waved a last good-bye out the window to Luke and Sarah, and the train pulled away from the small depot,

Julia had never been aboard a train before, and she looked around her in fascination at the cunning compartment where they would sleep, "It's just like a little room!"

James smiled, watching her. "Mm hmm."

Along one wall was a bed, which the Pullman porter had already made up for the night. Julia swallowed and turned away from it. She went to the window and looked out.

The land was rushing past. How fast it went! She looked back at James. He was still watching her. Julia blushed. "Is there something wrong?"

"No. I enjoy looking at you—especially knowing that I won't have to leave you tonight."

James reached out and pulled down the wide window shade. Julia's heart picked up its beat. He crossed the room and turned the lock on the door He shrugged out of his suit jacket and hung it on the hook. His eyes never left her as he unfastened his cuff links and set them aside, then removed his vest.

Julia couldn't control her erratic breathing. She was certain that a flush had risen up her neck and face. She couldn't look away; she loved looking at him. Each move he made sent desire sizzling through her. Yet it scared her.

"I was beginning to think this time would never come," James said, undoing the first two buttons of his shirt.

Julia wondered if he would continue to undress before her, but then he stopped. He came across the narrow room to where she stood and stopped so close to her that she had to tilt back her head to see his face. His lids drooped down over eyes so dark they were almost black. His mouth was heavy and sensual. His hands came up to rest on her upper arms. His skin was searing.

"You looked so beautiful tonight. It was all I could do to keep my hands off you,"

His fingers slid slowly down her arms, exploring the texture of the lace over skin. When he reached her wrists, he raised her hand and pressed his lips to her palm. His lips were velvety and hot; his breath teased her skin. Julia's hand trembled in his. His mouth moved to the thin skin of her inner wrist, kissing her through the lace. His tongue crept out to trace the pattern of the lace.

"James!" Julia drew in her breath sharply.

"What?" He began to unfasten the row of tiny buttons that stretched halfway up to her elbow.

"I—I don't know. I just—said your name."

He smiled faintly. "I like it when you say my name. I can still remember how you would call me 'Jimmy.' All the different ways."

Julia's breath caught in her throat. She remembered quite clearly how she had whispered his name in the throes of passion—and the low, melting way he had said her name. She saw the same memory in James's eyes. His fingers halted their work on the buttons of her cuff, and for a long moment they simply looked at each other.

James bent his head to hers. Their lips met and clung. His hand came up to cup her neck, sinking into the thick knot of her hair. He kissed her long and deeply, and her mouth opened up eagerly to him. She tasted sweeter than anything he had ever known. Her mouth was warm and welcoming, a hot, dark cave of pleasure. He groaned deep in his throat. It had been so hard the past few weeks to not kiss her or, even worse, to give her only a chaste peck on the cheek. He loved her mouth; he wanted to know every part of it. He wanted to claim it, possess it. He wanted to possess her.

The hunger ran deep in him, a passion unfulfilled for eleven years, so strong that it was both pain and joy. He kissed her again and again, changing the slant of their mouths, working his lips against hers, deepening their kiss. Their tongues tangled and stroked, playing with each other, first slow and languorous, then more and more feverish. James's arms curled around Julia, pressing her into his body, and she strained up against him. Her flesh was soft and yielding to his hardness, and just feeling her in his arms sent a rush of joy through James that was so intense it made him tremble. God, he wanted her. He had done no more than kiss her, both of them still fully clothed, but he felt ready to explode.

James slowly released her and stepped back. Julia gazed up at him questioningly, too awash in her passion to speak.

Her eyes were lambent, her skin glowing, and there was a soft, crushed look to her lips that came from their fierce kisses. She looked like a woman lost in love.

"I love you," he told her huskily. He wished there were better words to express the depth of his passion. "I love you so much."

He touched Julia's face, and his hand moved over her jaw and onto her throat, wrapped in lace. He slid down her chest and cupped her breast. Her nipples hardened, pushing against the soft satin and lace. He wanted to see her, had to see her. His hands went to the tiny buttons behind her neck, clumsy in his haste. Julia bent her head to allow him easier access to the buttons, and desire slammed through him at the sweet, trusting vulnerability of her pose. The tiny, slick buttons slipped through his fingers, frustrating him, and he bit back a curse.

Julia giggled, and he smiled, loving the sound of her laughter. "So you think it's funny?" he asked with mock gruffness. "Did you wear this especially to thwart me?"

"No. I have no wish to do that."

James pushed aside the lace that he had parted and bent to kiss the nape of her neck. Her skin was like velvet over the hard bone of her spine. He knew she was strong; he had seen it every day as she worked with him. But she seemed as fragile as a rose petal, as soft as the satin of her dress. He wanted to protect her, cover her, and keep her from all harm. At the same time he ached to rip her clothes from her and push her to the floor, to take her with all the force within him.

"Do you know what you do to me?" he mumbled against her skin. "I'm burning for you. I think I'd kill to have you tonight."

Julia leaned back against him, sighing. His words melted her. James's hands came around to caress her breasts while his lips roamed the back of her neck, sending shivers racing through her. Her nipples strained against the cloth of her dress, seeking his touch, and moisture pooled between her legs. She moaned softly. All her earlier fears and hesitations were gone. She yearned for his touch on her naked skin. She moved against him, rubbing her body up and down.

"Julie! Oh, Julie." James buried his face in her hair, and his hands pressed her back hard against him, roaming her body.

A shudder took her "Please. Please, I want to feel you on me."

He tore at her buttons then, popping several free in his haste. Julia worked at the long rows on her cuffs. There had never seemed so many of the little things before. At last James had the dress unfastened past her waist. He untied the drawstrings of her several petticoats and slid them all, dress and petticoats, down her body to pool at her feet.

James stepped back, his eyes on Julia. His breath rasped in his throat. Julia sat down on the edge of the bed and unfastened the buttons of her high-top shoes. James watched her. As she bent over, he had an excellent view of the softly rounded tops of her breasts above the lace-trimmed chemise. Her breasts were milk white and deliciously full. They trembled with the movements of her arms. His fingers itched to reach out and cup them.

Julia pulled off her shoes and reached up under the long, loose legs of her lace-trimmed underdrawers to take off the garters holding up her stockings. She rolled the white stockings down her legs and off her feet. She glanced up. James was watching her every move. She stood up, and her fingers went to the buttons of her chemise. Her chemise, like her underpants, was cream-colored satin edged in lace, a soft, lush garment that invited the touch. The hard buttons of her nipples pressed against the smooth material. James thought of crushing the material in his hands and pulling it aside to reveal her breasts.

Julia knew a flash of uncertainty at the thought of baring her body to James, but the smoldering fire in his eyes made her bold. She unbuttoned her chemise and pulled the garment off. James made an unintelligible noise.

"What?"

"Nothing. Go on. Don't stop."

James undressed as he watched her, his hands moving clumsily over his clothes. Julia pulled the pins from the heavy knot of her hair, and it tumbled down to her waist, a shining waterfall of gold. It barely veiled her breasts in front, parting over the pert thrust of her nipples.

Julia untied the drawstring of her final undergarment. She could hardly breathe. She felt shy and hungry all at once. She released the underpants and let them fall to the floor.

James gazed at her, entranced, unable to move. Julia was beautiful, small and delicate, yet utterly female. Her figure was more lush than it had been when he knew her before, her hips and breasts more rounded and womanly. She was graceful, with none of the awkwardness of youth. A tremor ran through him.

"You are more lovely than ever."

Julia blushed, pleased and relieved and a little shy before his ardent gaze. "So are you." James was broader and stronger than he had been years ago, the black hair thicker across his chest, his arms more muscled.

He chuckled, and his eyebrows went up. "Beautiful? I think not."

"To me you are."

Heat flooded him at her words. Quickly he stripped off the rest of his clothes and went to her. Julia watched him approach. She had forgotten the full grace and power of his naked male form. His manhood thrust out from among the cluster of dark curls, hard and distended. James stopped inches from her and rested his hands on her shoulders. His hands glided downward over her silken hair until they reached her breasts. He wrapped his hands around her hair and lifted it, revealing the soft white orbs centered by dark rose nipples. He brushed a strand of hair across her nipples, teasing them into hardness. He pushed her hair back so that it fell behind her, exposing the full glory of her breasts. His fingers curved over the luscious globes and cupped them from beneath, lifting them up as though to test their weight. He circled her nipples with his thumbs and watched them tighten at his touch.