"Why wouldn't marriage be an option for you?"
"The same reason you said I wasn't suitable wife material."
"I never said that."
"You did. You said I couldn't live on a ranch, that I didn't have the stamina or strength for what it would take."
He pushed her down onto her back and loomed over her where he could see her face in the darkened interior of the bedroom. "Well, you've taken that choice away from me." Anger bled from his voice.
"Why? I don't understand the difference. The only reason I've been pretending to be married is so I can have more freedom than a single woman has. You were all for seducing me when you were under that impression. Well, now the deed is done. It's not a crime to--what we did isn't unlawful.
"It's immoral, Emma. It's against my code of honor to seduce virgins. I can't send you off into the great big cold world after having relieved you of your innocence and expect you to be able to find a husband to take care of you. It would be a huge disadvantage for you. I can't accept that."
"I'm never going to get married, Luke. No man will want me with this lame leg--"
"That's bullshit, Emma! You're sweet and--"
His words were full of impatience and anger but she wasn't scared and cut him off anyway. "You didn't want me because of it! Why would another man?"
He let out a deep growl of impatience and rose over her, his hands on either side of her head. "I've always wanted you. Besides, I'm talking about the kind of men that live in a city--the cities are filled with thousands of goddamned dandies that would give their last cent to have you in their beds."
Emma lay perfectly still under him and was fascinated by the anger pulling at his cheekbones, making his skin taut across his face, and made his eyebrows angry spikes of promised retribution. She was fascinated that he seemed to think it was perfectly reasonable that a different kind of man would want her as his wife.
They studied each other in prolonged silence, the breaths they were taking coming fast and hard.
Finally, with a groan of need and impatience, Luke's mouth fell to hers and he kissed her with raw passion. Emma felt the need take over and harden his body as he pushed his way between her legs and hung over her again.
He raised his head and watched her with desire in his eyes. "It doesn't matter anymore. It's all a moot point because nobody will ever have you but me. No man in a damned city, no damned cowboy on a ranch, no other person on the planet earth." Anger and lust combined to make him a fearsome sight as he hung over her.
"You can't marry me when all you feel is anger toward me." She tried to reason with him.
"Oh, I can, Emma," he softly threatened. "I've told you before, I can do any damn thing I want. You've made your bed and now you have to lie in it." His knee pushed her legs wider, and his manhood nudged threateningly at the entrance to her body. His hand slipped down and with his thumb and finger, he began tweaking her nipple until her eyes closed and her body softened under his. He nudged her again with the head of his erection. "Are you too sore?" His voice was harsh and ragged; Emma was sure he wouldn't stop no matter what her answer was.
She had no intention of trying to get him to stop.
By this time, any soreness Emma had felt was mitigated by the wild sense of need boiling in her blood. "I don't think so."
Luke wrapped his fingers around her wrists and lifted them over her head. He transferred both wrists to one lean hand and moved his other down to lift her face to meet his eyes.
He began a slow, inexorable penetration as he held her gaze with his. The impact was as raw as lightning in the dark of the night. His hips pushed slowly but with firm purpose and Emma felt herself stretched beyond comfort. But there was no pain. He pushed until he was in her to the hilt, and his nostrils flared as he sucked oxygen in through his nose.
It was a raw act of masculine possession, and Emma realized that he was deep inside her again and it hadn't caused her anymore pain. "It didn't hurt."
He took a smooth stroke and when he came back in he stilled again and their heartbeats pulsed in a fierce tandem between them. "No, it won't hurt again."
"Are you sure?" Her voice was hesitant, full of apprehension.
"Yeah, I'm sure." His words were full of a wealth of knowledge.
He stayed deep within her as he lowered his head and kissed her with his tongue and teeth. She was gasping and in need of oxygen when his lifted his head. He took another stroke and Emma was lashed with a hot tide of sharp pleasure. And then he stilled once again. His jaw clenched as he looked deep into her eyes. "Are you gonna give me any shit tomorrow?"
He thrust his hips at her again and Emma couldn't hide her reaction from him when she felt another jolt of pleasure. Her eyes slipped closed and although she tried to stay still, it was impossible and she pushed up against him.
"Emma." He wanted an answer.
"What?"
"You planning on giving me shit tomorrow?"
"What do you mean?" Her voice sounded as confused as she felt.
"Are you gonna put up a fuss about getting married? I want it done tomorrow and I need to know if you're planning on being difficult--putting up a fight."
She pushed against the strong hand that still held her captive but his grip only tightened and he didn't release her. Her breath snagged and she had the urge to push against him again. It was a feeling that was getting more pronounced by the second. "Why do you need to know right now?"
"Because I want to come inside you this time," he gritted between clenched teeth.
Emma flushed red and her lips trembled but she remained silent.
His lean hand ran over her cheek and over her forehead and into her hair in a soothing motion as he offered an explanation for his question. "The first time I spilled myself on your stomach. It will be more pleasurable for both of us if I come inside you, but I need to know if you're gonna marry me first."
Emma's mind raced as she thought of the warm, thick liquid and she came to a conclusion. "That was--that was the seed? The seed that makes a baby?"
Luke felt completely gutted by that question. The innocence of this girl was going to be the death of him yet. "Yeah, sweetheart."
"And you want to--to come in me?" she borrowed his term with a flush of embarrassment.
"Jesus, yes." He answered with a stroke of his hips, followed quickly by another.
Emma squirmed against him as pleasure from his movements, sharp and intense, hit her and made her lift her hips against his. He continued to take deep strokes of her body as he waited for her answer.
"Answer me now. You will marry me tomorrow?" This was it; he was at a point where he needed to know how this was going to end, how much control he needed to have. Above all else, he wouldn't risk a baby if she refused to marry him. He thought he could force her to do what he wanted, but in the end, she was the one that had to agree to say 'I do.'
He hung on a suspended moment of agony before she answered him.
"Yes," she said on a gasp as she pushed against him.
Her answer was like a godsend to him, he knew he was losing it fast, but she was like fire in his arms and he thought he might be able to bring her to a climax this time if he could hold out long enough, and he knew that wasn't going to happen as long as he was on top. As soon as he had her agreement, he released her wrists, grabbed her firmly by the buttocks, flipped to his back and brought her over him with one quick movement that never separated their bodies.
Chapter Twelve
Emma was stunned when she found herself on top of Luke in such a dominant position. But the thought passed quickly and all she felt was the depth and fullness of him inside her. It was an incredibly, luxuriant feeling. It was almost a feeling of decadence. It was something that she couldn't describe and wouldn't even try.
And then he pushed her torso up and moved her knees over him in a way that had her almost sitting on him. Shock and bliss combined slid down her spine. Her hands landed on his chest to hold herself upright and he grunted in what sounded like satisfaction. "That's right, baby."
He lifted one hand and slid it to the white fullness of her breast and palmed it completely. Emma felt her nipple harden and push against the rough pads of his fingers as he tweaked it. Liquid heat flooded between her legs and she felt the intense need to know his strokes again.
"Luke," she moaned in agitation.
"It's all right, baby. Like this," his voice was almost guttural as he put both hands on her hips and lifted her almost completely off him, and then let her fall back over him as he thrust his hips up at the same time.
She let out a moan and the sound of her pleasure bewitched him. It sent a craving, a compulsion through him that made him want to keep her locked away in his bedroom forever. He gritted his teeth against the need to flip her to her back again and instead, he helped her take a few more strokes, teaching her the way of it until she took over and began riding him in earnest.
Luke watched her in the still of the night, sliding over him so gracefully, whimpering softly as she learned her first real taste of desire. How could he have been angry that she'd been untouched? Nothing in his life had been this good, nothing he'd seen or felt could ever compare to seeing Emma as she experienced lovemaking for the first time. His lovemaking. She would never know another's.