Untamed Journey (33 page)

She thrashed against the bed in need, wanting
relief from the heat and pleasure. Then she felt his tongue stroke
down even further to firmly thrust inside her soaking body. With
that, the feelings inside her burst in unimaginable pleasure, and
her body shuddered in release over and over, moving in the rhythm
Jackson demanded with each thrust of his tongue.

When Jackson left her body to stroke his
hands up her swollen breasts and cup her still-heated cheeks in his
hands, she smiled in pleasure. She felt too deliciously languid to
be embarrassed.

She opened her heart to him when he kissed
her mouth and whispered his love for her.

“Again,” he demanded into her fully-sated
eyes. “I want you to come for me again.”

Ruth’s eyes dilated in anticipation, knowing
now that Jackson could make her feel this pleasure over and over
again. When he latched onto her nipple, the heat surged up her
sensitized body, faster than before. Her feeling of languidness
quickly evaporated, as her body, with a will of its own, responded
to his every touch.

Thinking of the pleasure he knew how to bring
her, Ruth responded without hesitation. She touched and stroked
Jackson with sensitized fingertips. She took free rein with his
flesh, finally stroking the muscled back, chest, and arms she had
hesitated to touch before in the woods.

When she felt him part her legs further and
settle his body at her entrance, she sighed in anticipation. Ruth
ran her nails down his muscled back as she felt him slowly enter
her, feeling her wetness surround his hardness. He was larger and
wider than she had imagined and felt a tiny moment of panic,
wondering if she could take him completely. Jackson had no such
reservations and thrust the last bit, fully encasing himself in
Ruth’s heat.

She responded to Jackson’s moan of desire,
taking satisfaction in his pleasure. She squeezed him tightly, in a
delicious rhythm, experimenting with parts of her body never before
explored.

Jackson thrust up hard into her tightening
grip and lost his battle to go slowly. He withdrew and entered her
again, over and over, until without conscious thought, he slowed
his hips, reaching a perfect rhythm with his lover.

Ruth felt herself respond in step with
Jackson, following his movements, until the heat and strength of
him made all thought evaporate, and once again, she only felt. His
every thrust moved her closer to that feeling of release, which her
sensitized flesh now craved. She burned stronger, pushing her hips
closer to him at every thrust; stroking her hands down his
slickened skin; pulling him closer and further into her heart.

When he paused, only half-embedded in her
aching flesh, she protested and made a futile effort to pull him
back to her. When he easily resisted her efforts, she opened her
glazed eyes to demand his return.

His eyes burned, focusing on her wanting
gaze, as he reached between them and gently stroked her swollen
lips, parting them as before – spreading her aching wetness up and
over her until her eyes closed of their own volition.

The waves of pleasure overtook her body once
again, and peaked in ecstasy when Jackson thrust his body
completely into her one last time – releasing into her – filling
her with overwhelming heat.

“R
uth, wake up.”

She heard the rough voice, but buried her
chin in the warm covers, thinking she was just dreaming.

This time, Jackson shook Ruth a bit as he
called her name, hoping the urgency of his voice would clear away
the fog of a long night in his arms. “Ruth, you need to wake up. We
need your help.”

Jackson’s insistent shaking finally got her
heavy eyelids open, but she still struggled to focus on what he
wanted in her room hours before the sun was due to rise.

At his firm tugging on the covers, Ruth
bolted upright in bed, finally coming to her senses. “What’s the
matter?” she grumbled.

“It’s Meghan Brown, one of the neighbors. She
went into labor last night, and she’s having trouble. Sue asked for
your help.”

Before Ruth could fully process this
information, Jackson had yanked the covers away and was calmly
handing her bits and pieces of her clothing that had remained
strewn about the floor all night long.

As he nonchalantly handed Ruth her stockings,
she blushed to the roots of her tangled hair, suddenly realizing
whose bed she was lying in, and remembering hotly what she had been
doing there half the night.

Jackson couldn’t help grinning a bit at her
discomfort, seeing as he was the sole cause of it. “Put your shoes
on. We’ll have to ride over to the Brown place right away. It must
be bad if Sue can’t handle it alone.”

As he searched for her coat and scarf, Ruth
mechanically went through the motions of lacing her shoes. She was
glad that he could not see her continuing blush.

“I thought you said there was a doctor in the
area?” Ruth recalled Sue nagging Jackson into seeing the doctor for
his injuries when they had first arrived at the ranch.

“He’s in a settlement east of Fort Lyon.
There’s been an outbreak of smallpox. We can’t risk bringing him
here and exposing everyone. We’ll have to do our best. Sue serves
as our unofficial midwife, but that only includes two children. And
those births went along easily. I think she’s hoping you might be
able to help, seeing as your father was a surgeon.”

“I’ll do my best for her, Jackson, but a
dozen births of livestock do not make me a trained physician in a
proper hospital.” Ruth was suddenly a bit pale at the enormous
responsibility she felt weighing down on her.

“Don’t borrow trouble before we even see
what’s happening. I didn’t speak to Sue in person, just got her
message from a nervous husband. Come on, he’s waiting outside for
us.” Jackson had Ruth bundled warmly in her coat and halfway down
the stairs before she could second guess herself again.

They hurried down the front porch to their
waiting horses. The minute Ruth saw the sweating father-to-be, a
sense of calm settled over her. Her father had always praised her
strength in moments of crisis, even as a child. It did not fail her
this time, either.

“Hurry, Miss Ruth. My wife’s doing mighty
poorly, not like with our first boy. I don’t know what to do. I
don’t know what I’d do without her, Miss Ruth.”

“She’s a strong woman and loves you and your
son to pieces. She won’t give up without a fight. You keep your
wits about you and we’ll take care of her. You need to show me the
way. I’m still a little turned around in the dark.”

Giving Tom Brown a task to do settled the
panicked husband, as Ruth had hoped. He jumped into the saddle and
set off at a quick pace, while Jackson pulled Ruth up behind
him.

“I can ride Caboose.” She started to protest
the close quarters, but Jackson matter-of-factly cut her off. “It
was quicker to saddle mine. Besides, Caboose isn’t familiar with
the terrain and there’s barely a sliver of moon out. We don’t need
you breaking your neck, or the horse a leg, before we reach
Meghan.”

“Of course. I wasn’t thinking,” Ruth said,
somewhat grateful she had the option to lean against his warm frame
in the early morning frost.

Jackson could just as easily have saddled
Caboose with little chance of a delay or injury. Ruth likely knew
that as well as he did, but Jackson had needed her closeness this
first morning. He did not delude himself into thinking that one
night in his arms would automatically convince Ruth to change her
entire life plans and marry him. She was always a bit skittish in
the full light of day.

Maybe it was her promise to her family, he
thought. He could understand the power of that, particularly when
that family was all but gone now. After the losses of the War, many
survivors clung to the past. Or, like Jackson, they shed everything
and started over. He was afraid Ruth might fall into the former
category and still be struggling with the thought of abandoning the
life her Aunt Kate had arranged.

But Jackson was determined to keep this woman
by his side, no matter what it took. He just hoped the Browns had a
healthy new baby to welcome into their makeshift community, rather
than a tragedy Ruth might harbor guilt over.

“We’re here,” Jackson announced. “Why don’t
you go in with Meghan and Sue, and I’ll take care of the horses.
Call me if you need anything.”

Ruth slid off the back of the horse and
nodded in agreement. “I’ll see what’s needed and send Sue out if
you can help.”

Ruth quickly followed Tom into the warm
cabin, only to be rattled by a high-pitched scream coming from the
other room. She grabbed Tom Brown’s arm with as much force as she
could muster, stopping him from rushing into the room in a state of
panic.

“Mr. Brown, you need to calm yourself. You’ll
be no help to your wife like this. I want you to stay out here
until we call you.”

She roughly pushed the panicked man down in
the nearest chair and motioned for his son, Johnny, to come out of
the corner, where she’d spotted him hunkered down with eyes full of
fear. “Johnny, you come over here and hold on tight to your Pa. I
want you to say a prayer and stay put until I come out and tell you
what to do next, you hear?” The tired little boy nodded his
frightened eyes and squirmed his way into his father’s lap.

Ruth turned to the bedroom door. After a
quick, light knock, she poked her head in. “Sue, I’m here.”

Sue turned grateful eyes toward Ruth at the
sound of her voice. “Thank you for coming. Meghan and I could use a
little company right about now. I’ve run out of tall tales to
distract her from the pain this cute little baby is causing its
Ma.”

The mother in question barely glanced up, she
was so exhausted.

“How long has she been in labor?” Ruth
asked.

“Nearly twenty hours now,” Sue replied.
“She’s exhausted and I’m not seeing the head.”

Ruth washed her hands as best she could in a
basin of hot water and then drenched them in whiskey as her father
had taught her. She dried her hands thoroughly and went directly to
examine her patient. She kept up a running stream of chatter trying
to keep her patient awake and calm, although Meghan was so
exhausted, Ruth wasn’t sure her words were getting through.

“Meghan, I’m going to check on the baby’s
progress now, if that’s okay with you.”

Ruth took the mother’s lack of response as
permission to leave all modesty aside and do what needed to be
done. She could see that Meghan was dilated, but as Sue had
indicated, the crown of the baby’s head wasn’t visible.

“Sue, I’m going to feel around for the baby,
to see what position he’s in. We might just need to turn him about
and ease him out.”

Ruth could feel an arm where the head should
have been and knew right away that she would have to turn the baby
around in the birth canal if there were any hope of saving the
infant or its mother. Ruth had done it enough times with colts, but
was still a bit unsure with such a delicate child.

Ruth maneuvered an inch at a time around the
baby’s left shoulder, trying with her other hand to push the baby’s
arm against its body so it would not get caught up and hurt. As
Ruth reached the side of the head, she felt what seemed like a
think rope. Her heart beat rapidly, afraid she had found the cord
wrapped around the baby’s neck. She was not sure there was time to
save him.

She tried to recall advice from her father
and tidbits she had heard from the local midwife. The woman had
been a good friend of her parents, and often spent many hours
discussing cases with her father.

She recalled the midwife’s advice to unwrap
the cord before trying to pull the baby out, so as not to increase
pressure on the neck. Unfortunately, she also recalled the midwife
saying there was not always room to manage that. Ruth thought it
was worth a try. She had small hands and had been a great help to
her father with delicate work. She just hoped she could succeed on
her own.

Ruth explained what she intended to do to
Sue, and asked her to simply keep the mother as calm as possible.
Ruth knew her efforts would cause her patient more pain.

After a brief grimace of sympathy, Sue
announced that their patient had fainted. “Should I wake her?” Sue
asked, concerned.

“Not yet. It’s a blessing, as I need to make
room to get the cord out from around the baby’s neck.”

After several more frustrating tries, Ruth
finally got a good grip around the cord, and slowly started to pry
it away from the baby. It was only wrapped once, which Ruth hoped
would lead to good news. She felt around the baby’s entire head and
all seemed as it should be. She had to tug hard to get the baby’s
head into position, and then stretch the birth canal enough to
remove first one, and then a second hand to lie underneath the
baby’s back.

“Okay, Sue. Wake her up now,” Ruth
instructed.

Sue nodded and quickly placed smelling salts
underneath Meghan’s nose. “Wake up now, we’re almost there. Ruth
has the baby in the right position now, but we still need your
help.”

“I can’t – too tired.” Meghan’s voice was
barely audible as she muttered the protest.

“Come on now,” Ruth coaxed. “You need to push
and push hard – just one more time. Don’t give up now. You have a
sweet son and worried husband that need you, and we still have a
chance to help this little one. Do it now.”

Her patient, whether from Ruth’s
authoritative tone or pure instinct to make this ordeal end,
complied and strained to push the baby out. Ruth pulled with all
her might, not sure if the mother would have the strength for
another effort.

The baby slid out – wet, shiny and bloody –
but made no noise. Ruth quickly flipped the baby over and pounded
three times time on its back.