Renegades and Pretty Women

Chapter Twenty-Two

"Judging from my rough and rocky past, I wrote off love as just a game a fool will play and never win. And I felt certain i was right, 'til I turned a corner in the night and there was you."  Trace Adkins 'And There Was You'

Joe frowned as she and Jonah entered the hotel with their saddlebags over their shoulders and Jonah walked up to the counter.

“Hello?” he called out.

“I’m sure he’s done in bed, Jonah.” Joe assured him and Jonah shook his head and hit the bell on the counter several times.

“Jonah…” Joe scolded, wondering why he was being so rude. It was going on midnight and yet Jonah didn’t seem to mind waking up a man who was obviously in his room asleep.

A scuffling of boots indicated the hotel clerks approach just before the man came through the door behind the counter and scratched at his messy black hair.

“Oh it’s you.” he grumbled when his eyes fell on Jonah. “Two of the maids filled the tub up and I’ve been adding hot water to it all night. It should still be good and warm.”

“Thanks.” Jonah replied with a nod as he tossed several coins on the counter and then led Joe toward the back hallway.

“Tub?” Joe asked and Jonah smiled.

“Last time everything happened in a rush. This time, I’m taking my time with you and that includes a bath.”

Joe felt a little tremor of anticipation wash over her. “You seem to be getting mighty bossy.” she accused with a grin and Jonah nodded.

“Yes, ma’am, I am.”

Joe followed Jonah down the hall and then waiting with bated breath as he opened the door and stepped inside.

The hotel room was nothing to be too thrilled about in itself. The walls were a bit drafty, the floor creaked and bowed when you walked across it and all the furniture appeared to be on its last leg.

But the fireplace was glowing and crackling with firelight and warmth and a metal tub was filled with water that still had steam rising from it.

Joe was aware of Jonah locking the door behind them and she suddenly felt awkward once again. Exposed. Vulnerable.

Jonah tossed his saddlebags down and Joe quickly did the same as she continued to look around the room.

“You should enjoy your bath while it’s still good and warm.” Jonah urged.

Joe wanted to demand that he leave. The thought of undressing while he watched scared her and the thought of being in the bathtub while he was here made her uneasy.

She did not want to be helpless but surely he would see her as nothing but a helpless woman if she undressed and climbed in a tub under his hungry gaze.

Joe felt as if every nerve in her body was filled with lightning as Jonah stepped toward her and smiled. He put his face against her neck, his lips barely brushing against the sensitive flesh and his breath washing over her.

“It’s okay, Josephine. You can be a woman, just a woman, when we’re alone together, and I’ll be just a man.”

Joe swallowed down her fear as passion filled her. She turned her head and caught his lips beneath hers and Jonah wasted no time in deepening the kiss.

His body propelled her backward and Joe felt her back come against the wall, though she noticed that Jonah’s hand was between her head and the wall.

The kiss was hungry, desperate, passionate. Jonah’s free hand roamed down her arm, over her hips and then back up to feel her breasts through the buckskin and the cloth she had wrapped them in.