Terms of a Texas Marriage(15)

“Where’s your ring?”

The question threw her. “What ring?”

His mouth quirked. “Your wedding ring. Remember the little ceremony when you promised to love, honor and obey?”

“It’s over there—” she nodded toward the dresser, deciding to ignore his taunt “—in that little box. I...didn’t want to wear it while I worked in the barn.”

He walked to the dresser and took the ring out of the case and then came back to the bed.

“Give me your hand.”

With a grimace, she extended her left hand and he slipped the sparkling wedding band onto her third finger.

“Leave it on.”

Without another word, he unzipped his jeans. Shea turned away, hugging the far side of the bed as close to the edge as she could get. He turned off the light and she felt the mattress shifting to accommodate his large frame. Then his heavy arm slid around her waist as he settled next to her.

“I missed you, Mrs. Morreston.” His breath was warm against her ear, his voice deep and sexy. “I missed kissing you.”

“Leave me alone.”

“Remind me of what I missed.”

“No.” She tried to push his arm away, but her efforts were futile.

Alec’s hand settled gently on her shoulder to turn her onto her back. She couldn’t hold back a cry of pain when he touched the bruised area. He immediately released her. There was a faint movement and then light shattered the darkness.

“Let me see your shoulder. Take off your T-shirt.”

She sat up. “It’s nothing. Just a bruise.”

“Now.”

“No.”

“Either you take it off or I will.”

The hard lines of his face contained no sympathy, only determination. But she faced him with equal strength of purpose. “You have no right to make that demand. Nothing in the contract gives you the right. If I want to cut off my nose it’s none of your concern.”

“Does everything have to be a battle with you?”

She clamped her mouth shut and glared. He was about the most demanding man she’d ever met. Nothing in those rich golden eyes and handsome features showed the tiniest indication he would relent.

“I want to look at your shoulder,” he stated evenly. “If you don’t want me to see, then get dressed and I’ll take you to the emergency room and have a doctor check it out. But I’m not going to ignore the fact that you’re injured.”

She searched his face, looking for any way to pierce the armor of his resolve. Finding none, she turned away from him and eased the injured arm out of the sleeve. Raising the tail of the shirt over her shoulder, she refused to meet his eyes.

Alec inspected her arm with a muttered curse. “You damn near broke your arm. You could have a fracture. I think you need to have it x-rayed. Why the hell didn’t you say something?”

“I... It’s not that bad.” She shrugged. “It’s not any more painful than being forced to live with you.”

She heard him sigh. “What are you afraid of, Shea?” His raspy voice was compelling, tuning her senses to his every word. “I can feel you respond to me. I know my touch doesn’t repulse you. Surely you’ve had sex before?”

Her head shot up, and she spun around on the bed to face him, pushing her arm back through the sleeve while glaring at him for his audacity. “I’ve made love before. To someone I knew and cared for very much.” He watched her intently, his golden eyes again reminding her of a predator amusing himself with his prey while deciding if he was hungry. She turned away from his scrutiny. “I don’t know you. And I certainly don’t care for you.”

He reached out, his fingers grasping her chin, turning her to him. His eyes held her there. “I have no intention of remaining celibate during our marriage. It’ll be easier if you try to accept that. Accept me. The sooner you come to terms with it, the better off you’ll be. Or you always have the option of leaving and bringing this craziness to an end.”

Wrenching her chin from his grasp, she tried to swallow the feeling of doom welling in her throat. “I’m not going anywhere. Why don’t you go visit one of your lady friends? I’m sure there must be one out there somewhere who isn’t completely repulsed. Hell, you supposedly have money. Go buy one.”

“Why would I do that when I already have a beautiful, desirable woman in my bed?”

He reached out to switch off the small table lamp, and she noted again his wide shoulders and large biceps. His bronzed skin gleamed in startling contrast to the white linens that barely covered his hips. She swallowed hard.

The light went out and the mattress shifted as he lay back.

“How long has it been, Shea?”

She jerked her head around to stare at him, even though now all she saw was a silhouette in the darkened room.

“How long has it been since a man held you in his arms, touched you...took you to the edge...made you crazy with wanting...then gave you release?”

His deep, throaty voice sent shivers down her spine.

“That’s none of your business!” she snapped, her voice sounding hoarse to her own ears. His words planted images in her mind she didn’t want to see.

“On the contrary, as your husband I think it’s expressly my business.”

“Think what you want.” She was not about to discuss her sex life—or the lack of one—with him; she refused to give him any more ammunition. She lay down, facing away from him and adjusted her pillow.

“Why are you afraid of me?”

“I’m not.”

He was still for so long, she found herself holding her breath in expectation of what he might do. But he made no further attempt to touch her or harass her. Shea lay very still, staring out into the darkness.

A man with Alec’s experience would recognize the battle that raged within her every time he came close. She was painfully aware of her limited ability to withstand his sexual magnetism. She’d only ever been with one man and that experience was nothing close to what Alec’s words described. His voice, his devastating good looks topped with his apparent expertise in bed made her traitorous body crave his touch. But common sense told her he would use her to his own end. Moreover, his tactics would be as low and cutthroat as he deemed necessary to prevail in this war of wills. She had to hold on.

The sounds of the night closed in around her. A distant rumble of thunder echoed the turbulence in her mind. Sleep, when it finally came, was uneasy. Visions swirled around in her head. The ranch, encased in a fog, began to disappear while the thunder rumbled overhead. Powerless to stop it, she cried out. Then she sensed comforting warmth surrounding her, holding her close and protected. The dream faded, and she knew peace.



Alec held the innocent warmth of her body against the ache of his own. The last time he’d held a woman—just held her—had been too long ago to remember. With other women, there was no reason to stay after their needs had been satisfied, and certainly no desire to hold them as they slept.

After Sondra’s infidelities, he made certain his relationships stayed free of emotional entanglements. The women he chose knew the score. It was sex, mutually enjoyable, nothing more. With Shea, her claims to hate him one minute then passionately respond to his kiss the next affected him in ways he neither liked nor knew how to deal with. She was pretending. Acting. She had to be. She couldn’t possibly be as naive as she was letting on.

A glimmer of speculation made him question if she could be for real. He hated that glimmer. He hated not knowing. But most of all, he hated the idea that he cared either way.

Sondra had acted completely innocent when she’d just come from the bed of another man. She’d shown him what she’d wanted him to see until the end when she’d displayed her true colors. He knew what women were capable of when they wanted something badly enough. Shea wanted this land. And, like Sondra, there were no rules as far as she was concerned. Nothing was out of bounds. Nothing off-limits. No holds barred until she got her way.

And he’d be every kind of fool if he didn’t keep that at the forefront of his mind.





Seven

When Shea awoke in the predawn hours, the birds sang outside the window and for the first time in her life she scoffed at the sound.

Raising her head, she was shocked to realize she’d used Alec for a pillow. Immediately rolling away from him, she eased over to her side of the bed. Holding her breath in the hope her actions wouldn’t wake him, she lifted the covers and swung her legs to the floor. His light snoring continued as she made her way to the door. Unable to resist she spared a quick glance at Alec. Even relaxed in sleep, he was an intimidating presence. She had to be strong. There was too much to lose if she didn’t find a way to send him packing.

Entering her old room, she grabbed a clean shirt and a pair of jeans and made her way to the bathroom. Her right shoulder screamed as she pushed her arm through the sleeve of the fresh T-shirt. Her head felt as muddled as it had the night she’d tried to sleep in the barn. This was going to be a very long day.

She trudged to the kitchen, needing a strong cup of coffee. When she opened the pantry door to grab the coffee tin, she saw the jar of Yolanda’s homemade hot sauce sitting on the same shelf. A smile kicked up the corners of her mouth as she grabbed both the coffee and the jar of liquid fire.