Grinning, she placed a hand on his arm. “Well, then, lead the way, Mr. O’Connor.”
His humor still apparent, John escorted her up the stairs.
“Where will we live?” she asked, once they had reached the first floor landing.
He dipped his head. “I have rooms above the stable,” he replied. “But I’ll be in search of a house for us as soon as I can.”
“Our own house. So soon?”
He angled his head to one side. “I promised I would spoil you,” he reminded her. “And I intend to start this evening.”
Ella Mae suppressed a giggle. “Mr. O’Connor?—”
“Call me John.” He paused before one of the doors and inserted the key into the lock. Asnicksounded before the door opened to reveal a room lined in flowered wallpaper and furnished with a bed, an upholstered chair , an escritoire, and a bench.
“Call me Ella Mae,” she countered. She inhaled softly. “You’re quite a conniving young man, aren’t you?” she added, her gaze sweeping the room.
“My mother used to say that to my father.” He arched a dark brow. “When you say it, it doesn’t make me sound so bad, though.”
Her eyes rounded. “Whatever do you mean?”
“Your hint of an accent. The way you say your words, all proper like, but not snooty. You could call me a bastard and I wouldn’t mind.”
She inhaled softly. “I would never call you that, John.”
“You might after what I’m about to do to you.” His warning was barely audible.
Ella Mae’s eyes rounded when he bent down and touched his lips to hers. She didn’t back away, though—not that she couldsince she was pressed against the door—and instead she parted her lips in invitation.
Before she knew it, his lips captured hers. She gripped the fabric of his sleeves with both hands in an effort to stay upright.
She tasted the punch and the champagne he had drunk. Her knees felt as if they had turned to jelly, and not just from the champagne she had imbibed.
When he pulled away, she let out a mewl of protest. He grinned. “I think one of us might be feeling a bit drunk,” he whispered.
“Oh,” she replied, disappointment evident in her response. “Does that mean you wouldn’t have kissed me if you were sober?”
“I’mnot the one who’s feeling the champagne,” he countered, his brow once again arching as a grin appeared.
“It was excellent champagne,” she whispered, a moment before she stood on tiptoes and kissed him. Her hands reached up to his shoulders as she pressed against him. She moaned when his tongue invaded her mouth and slid across her teeth.
She had never been kissed before, but she wanted it to go on and on. Wanted him to hold her closer, and then was sure he could read her mind, for his hand had moved to the small of her back and he was pulling her hard against him.
When he relaxed his hold on her, she stared up at him, her eyes finally focusing on his one good eye. “I’ve actually never kissed a man before.”
John regarded his new wife with a look of relief. “Well I should hope not.”
Grinning, Ella Mae reached up and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. “I think I shall enjoy being married to you.”
“Then I am even more blessed than I thought I was yesterday morning,” John replied, referring to the way he had felt the moment he learned he had inherited the stable.
Ella Mae gave him a brilliant smile. “I am so pleased you think so.”
He angled his head to one side. Holding her like this—her shoulders wrapped in his arms and their bodies pressed close—did have him feeling rather blessed.
Blessed and regretful, for what sort of life might they have had if he had never gone off to war?
John gave his head a shake. He hadn’t been looking for someone back then. Hadn’t been of a mind to share a hardscrabble life in a burgeoning town. The responsibility of seeing to it his father had meals and made it to work every morning was quite enough in his teens. Then, given the timing of his father’s death, it only made sense to leave Galena with the band of volunteers Colonel Grant had hastily assembled. He never imagined that in less than a year’s time, he would survive military training, travel over five-hundred miles, and fight in several bloody battles only to lose an eye and be discharged.
