The Education of Madeline Read online

  Webster slapped his hand on his knee. “I knew it. She’s been skimming his money since he died, buying herself all kinds of stuff with the town’s money. I knew it!” he crowed.

  “I gotta get back before they figure out I’m not there.”

  Webster shrugged. “Good. You do that.”

  Teague wanted to smash this man into a stain on the dirt. His hands actually clenched into fists. Webster must have seen something in his face, because he backed up a step and put his hand on his six-gun.

  “You remember who can hang you in the blink of an eye. You get me more information like this, and you can go back to the hole you crawled out of.”

  Teague nodded, his jaw clenched so tight it popped. He turned to leave, when the sheriff called him back.

  “Hey, drifter.”

  “What?”

  “Don’t make me remind you again that your life is in my hands.”

  Teague ignored him and walked away. He could envision the bullet slamming into his back and almost wished for it. Back shooting a man was a crime the sheriff couldn’t cover up. But nothing happened.

  When he got to the street, he let out a breath all the way from his toes. He had planted the first seed of information in Madeline’s crazy garden.

  Madeline couldn’t help but think everyone was watching her. From the moment she sat down at the desk and realized her list of transactions was indeed missing, she could actually feel eyes on her. She was thankful to have made a copy of the list, which now sat in her reticule that she kept with her all the time.

  It was like a colony of bugs had taken up residence on her skin and spent the day crawling up and down. She had to stop herself twice from scratching at them.

  She wondered if Teague had met with the sheriff. She wondered if the sheriff had believed him. She also wondered if the information she gave Candice had made it back to Teague.

  Too many questions, too many unanswered questions. She was driving herself insane with them. She thought about what her father would do in a situation like this.

  Well, first of all, he wouldn’t be in that situation. But if he were, he’d go on the offensive and not wait for whatever weapons they had to surprise him.

  “That’s it!” she shouted.

  Everyone in the bank turned to look at her. She would have heard a pin drop if she had one. Fighting back excruciating embarrassment, she pretended to have discovered a missing clerical error in her paperwork. After two very long, incredibly long, minutes, everyone began whispering and shooting furtive glances at her behind her big oak desk.

  Inside, she was gleeful. Madeline had a plan.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Teague did not join her for dinner that night. He might have been meeting with the sheriff. She didn’t want to even think about what he might be doing besides that. She hoped he was still recovering from the beating. The gaping wound in her heart was still fresh from his betrayal. Deep down, she still wanted to believe he had feelings for her. God knew she still loved him with every fiber of her being.

  After a lonely dinner of potato soup, Eppie ate in the kitchen with Isaiah, and Madeline went upstairs early with a book. It was a new dime-store novel she had been itching to read, The Marshall’s Misdeeds. The story sounded promising, and she loved a good yarn about a lawman.

  She took a long soaking bath and read her book, smiling and trying to keep her mood light. She tried, Lord knew she tried, to not think about Teague, but it was hard.

  She remembered the last time he was in the bathing room with her, and her temperature started to rise. As the book dropped down to the floor, her hands crept to her breasts, circling the nipples until they peaked. As her fantasy continued in her head, a knock sounded at the door.

  Madeline grimaced at the closed door.

  “Yes, who is it?”

  “It’s me, Maddie. Can I come in?”

  Teague’s voice sent shivers up her spine. She was angry with him, yet still aroused by the very thought of him. Her pride won out over her hunger.

  “No. I don’t want to talk to you right now. I’m trying to relax.”

  Silence met her petulant-sounding response. She hadn’t meant to sound petulant—she’d meant to sound assertive. So much for her pride. It was her body. The thought of him excited her, and her body was fighting with her mind over possession.

  “Please, Maddie.”

  Why did he have to go and sound so sincere? Now she wanted to fling open the door and throw herself in his arms. Her will reasserted itself.

  “I said no. You can wait until after my bath.”

  Madeline heard his booted footsteps trail back down the hallway. A mixture of disappointment and triumph swirled through her. Was she hoping he’d insist? Or break down the door like a man come to claim his lady?

  She snorted. This wasn’t a fairy tale, and there likely was not going to be a happy ending. Her bath was over, thanks to Teague’s interruption. She just couldn’t enjoy it anymore. She let the water out and dried off quickly with a fluffy towel, ignoring the twinges of pleasure when the cotton rubbed against her nipples. “You’re going to start believing those stories soon yourself,” she whispered.

  She yanked on her nightdress and robe and then took the towel and brush to her room. Stomping in, she threw them on the chair by the fireplace. When she turned and saw Teague lying on her bed with his hands laced behind his head, she yelped and jumped nearly a foot off the ground.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “Waiting for you. You said after your bath, so I decided to wait here.”

  Madeline’s heart leaped at the sight of him. He was wearing his faded blue shirt with the sleeves rolled up and tight brown trousers again. The chest hair she loved to touch peeked out the top of the shirt. His tanned, beautiful arms flexed as he moved. And his pants, they left nothing to the imagination—she could clearly see, and remember, just how big he really was.

  Her body instantly heated at least ten degrees. She was thankful she was wearing a bathrobe so he couldn’t see how hard her nipples really were or how wet her pussy was. He could likely see her face flush.

  “You didn’t ask permission. I haven’t forgiven you, Teague. Get out.”

  He smiled, and she felt her knees wobble. Lord above, he had a beautiful smile.

  “I wanted to be there when you got home, but Eppie sent me on ten different errands.”

  Sounded like Eppie. Anything to keep Madeline away from Teague, and vice versa.

  “You weren’t there for dinner.”

  She wanted to bite her tongue when that slipped out.

  “I know. I missed you, Maddie.”

  She sniffed. “Get out.”

  “No.”

  Madeline’s mouth dropped open. “No?”

  He got up and walked toward her. She couldn’t stop the involuntary shudder that racked her body. He reminded her of a predator stalking its prey.

  “I mean it, Teague. Get out.” He stopped two inches from her, and she breathed in deep. Big mistake. Not only could she feel his body heat, but she took his scent into her body. A body already aching for his. “I’m paying you, remember? That means I’m your employer, and you…you have to listen to me.”

  Why did she sound like such an idiot?

  He grinned, and her resolve crumbled a bit more. “You haven’t paid me yet.”

  “But you agreed to it.”

  He reached out one finger and trailed it down her cheek. Her eyes closed, and she swayed toward him.

  “Don’t deny me, Maddie. Your body wants me. I can smell you.”

  She didn’t, couldn’t, say a word. It was true.

  “Tell me to leave again.” His hand trailed to her collarbone and pushed the robe off her shoulder. “Or tell me you’re ready for lesson five.”

  Oh, Sweet Mary, help me.

  “I…I want you to…”

  “Yes?”

  He kissed her ear, and Madeline felt the scrape of his whiskers on her tender skin.


  “Tell me, Maddie,” he whispered, and she groaned, throwing her arms around his neck.

  He pulled her against him, and she was lost in the feeling of his hard body. His mouth captured hers, and together their tongues dueled and slid in a mating dance. Her robe slipped completely off and fell to the ground. Teague’s deft hand slid the shoulders of the nightgown down slowly. His lips followed the path of the cotton.

  Kiss. Lick. Kiss. Lick.

  “Is this lesson five?” she asked breathlessly.

  He grinned against her skin. “Not yet, but we’re getting there.”

  Teague scooped her up, carried her to the bed, and then set her down on the edge as if she were made of china, not flesh and blood.

  “Take it off for me, Maddie.”

  She pulled her nightgown off and threw it on the floor. His eyes roamed from the top of her head to her feet.

  “Beautiful.”

  She tried to cover herself with her hands. He kneeled on the floor in front of her and pulled her hands away.

  “You’re blind.”

  “No, I’m not.”

  “I’m not a small, pretty little thing. I am as big as a man.”

  Teague grinned and ran his hands up and down her legs. “You are the right size for me, Maddie. I’d be afraid I’d break a little woman.”

  She didn’t believe him. Well, not completely, but she was warmed by his sincerity. He meant it. She could see it in the depths of his blue eyes, the eyes that were devouring her even as her skin heated.

  “Now comes lesson five. Are you ready?”

  She nodded, unsure what he could teach her that he hadn’t already. Medical textbooks never went past lesson three. He gently pushed her back on the bed until her legs dangled off the side. She swallowed as he spread her legs wide.

  “Teague?”

  “Shhhh, Maddie. Just feel. No more talking. Just feel.”

  His roughened hands delicately skimmed up her legs, followed by his mouth. He paid special attention to the skin behind her knees, kissing and caressing until she felt wet with need between her legs.

  His thumbs circled and teased as his mouth made love to her skin. Kissing, nibbling, and licking as he traveled the path up to her pulsing core. She didn’t know what he was going to do, but she had an idea it involved his mouth. The very thought of that made her even wetter.

  When he reached her upper thighs, he blew lightly on her hot skin. She clenched and nearly jumped off the bed. The combination of hot and cool was intoxicating.

  “You are beautiful, Maddie.” His thumbs opened her nether lips as he blew again on her. “Lesson five.”

  She closed her eyes as he descended on her pussy. His tongue circled her with the lightest butterfly touch all around the edges to the middle. He put one thumb inside her while he gently laved her.

  Never, never had she known this existed. This incredibly sensual experience that she would have missed had it not been for a stupid old horse that had wandered.

  Teague.

  He nibbled at her core, and his thumb began to move in and out of her. He licked her over and over, faster and faster. In between licks were bites and sucks. She moved her hips in rhythm with his thumb without even thinking about it.

  Her body wanted him. It wanted release. It wanted more.

  Teague.

  His rhythm grew to a crescendo as her body pulsed beneath his talented mouth. Over and over, licking, sucking, biting at her until she felt a wall of pleasure building and building. Suddenly it crashed over her, pulling her down into a whirlpool of ecstasy. Her body clenched at his thumb as he sucked her pleasure button, prolonging her orgasm. Waves crashing over and over.

  Amazing. Intense. Life-changing moment.

  “Teague,” she gasped as he lifted his head and smiled at her. “I love you,” she blurted.

  He looked as if she had hit him with a poleax. Stunned and stupefied. She cursed her runaway tongue and her impulsive behavior.

  “Forget I said that.”

  He stood, still looking shocked. Madeline felt her cheeks heat with embarrassment as she tried to close her legs. One big hand stopped her.

  He started unbuttoning his shirt. Maddie’s heart leaped. His eyes bored into her. Without breaking eye contact, he shed his clothes completely.

  The beauty of Teague’s body struck Maddie again. Tanned skin stretched over well-defined muscles, topped by a sprinkling of dark hair everywhere—by a patch of dark hair that lovingly cupped his hardened staff and balls.

  Teague.

  Hers. He was hers.

  He stepped closer to her. The quilt brushed against her behind as she scooted to make room for him on the bed. As he crawled up onto the bed, the heat from his body came at her like a summer breeze. She shivered and ached at once for him.

  “Maddie,” he whispered as his skin skimmed against hers. He reached her mouth with his and slammed his lips down on hers, kissing her until she was mindless.

  She arched against him, reaching for him even as he slid into her wet, welcoming core.

  Yes, oh, yes. That was it. Sweet God! That was it.

  He sank inside her slowly, inch by inch, until he had buried himself to the hilt. She was full, fuller than she’d ever felt in her life, and not just inside her, but within her heart and soul.

  After a moment, his breath gusted across her cheek, and he began to move. His rhythm was slow and measured, in and out, again and again. He kissed his way across her shoulders, up her neck, and then down the other side. One hand kneaded and tweaked her breast in time with his strokes.

  Madeline’s frustration was building. She wiggled beneath him, willing him to move faster. Deeper.

  “Teague?”

  “Hmmm?” he asked from her collarbone.

  “Can you…uh, that is…?”

  “Lesson six, Maddie. Tell me what you want.”

  Six? Moved past five already, apparently. Not that five wasn’t the most incredible experience of her life.

  “I don’t know how.”

  He chuckled. “Yes, you do. Let it out, Maddie. Tell me.”

  Madeline was silent, wrestling with her entire being. Against everything she’d been taught.

  “Tell me.”

  Teague stopped moving completely inside her. She clawed at his back, but trying to get him to move was like trying to pull up an oak tree by hand. She grew desperate, needful. Finally she tossed her pride aside and went with her heart.

  “Please, Teague, I need you. Deeper, faster.”

  He started plunging into her again, this time deeper. She clenched around him, pulling him in completely.

  “Tell me.”

  “My breasts. I like it when you put your mouth on my breasts.”

  He immediately suckled her nipple, laving and nibbling at it while his hand tweaked and rolled the other. Her pleasure increased again.

  “Yesssss,” she hissed. “Oh, my God, Teague.”

  Although she had reached her peak already, her body was building up to another. Building so hard and so intensely she could hardly keep a breath in her lungs.

  Teague’s rhythm increased again. Madeline thrust against him, slamming her clit against his pelvic bone. Sensations battered her body as she coiled tighter and tighter around him.

  Suddenly the world stopped for a moment as she reached her second peak. Pleasure radiated through her over and over. Teague bellowed her name as he thrust into her one last time, carrying her along on his journey.

  His arms were shaking so badly he fell on top of her. After a minute, she realized she could hardly breathe, so she thumped his shoulder. He rolled off and landed on the bed next to her.

  Madeline felt like one great big tingle. From top to bottom. Zings, shudders, and shivers raced up and down as if competing for which one could reach an area the quickest.

  Teague was breathing hard and staring up at the ceiling. Madeline snuck a peek at him from under her lashes. He looked a bit dazed. She figured she did, too. She certainly fe
lt dazed.

  “You okay?” he asked.

  “Yes, just…” She trailed off, unable to find the words.

  “Me, too.”

  “About what I said…” she began.

  “I don’t think I can talk about that right now, Maddie.”

  Madeline felt her heart pinch. She couldn’t tell from the tone of his voice if he was upset or simply overwhelmed.

  “I talked to the sheriff.”

  Her ears perked up immediately. She sat up and looked at him, forcing herself not to stare down at his nakedness. “What happened?”

  “I told him what you said about the closet full of clothes and jewels. He was drooling like a dog at dinnertime.” Teague frowned as he met her eyes. His hand reached up and cupped her cheek. “Let’s see if he takes your bait.”

  Madeline dressed in a plain blue dress to go to the bank the next morning for her usual hours. She fixed her hair in a stiff bun rather than her usual braid. She wore her clumpy black shoes and walked down to the bank with a stiff back.

  A few whispers, titters, and turned heads met her. Interesting. A bit more gossip than usual. Most times people ignored her, but this…was different.

  She clutched her reticule, and the crinkle of paper inside comforted her. She still had her list of ledger records. It was a start, but it wasn’t enough. She had to collect more information about the sheriff, the judge, and whoever else they were working with.

  The key was to ferret out who those individuals were. Obviously there was someone at the bank. Madeline would bet a million dollars it was Mr. Cleeson. His actions recently were suspicious already. Now that she knew someone was trying to ruin her, she would watch him like a hawk.

  Madeline walked past the general store and waved at Candice inside. Candice waved back with a friendly smile. She would hate to think her friend was part of the town’s conspiracy. She fervently hoped news of Teague’s eavesdropping habit was not going to come back to her. She needed to be able to trust someone besides Teague and Eppie.

  Madeline arrived at the bank and nodded to Mr. Cleeson, who was busily scribbling on a piece of paper on his desk. No doubt noting what she was wearing today, she thought with a wry grin.