Marriage At a Price

by Miranda Lee

  'Great,' Jack agreed.

  Agnes bustled off, leaving Jack to face Courtney's droll expression. 'I know who's the wicked corrupter around here,' she said drily.

  'And I'm glad to see your guard dog is on such good form,' Jack countered, still stroking Biggs behind the ears. When the dog suddenly dropped down and rolled over onto his back, offering his stomach to be rubbed, Jack obliged.

  Courtney scowled at her pet, but Biggs was too deep in doggie heaven to notice, or care.

  'Oh, for pity's sake,' she snapped, sweeping the cases up from where Jack had dropped them. 'Do stop spoiling that infernal dog and come along.'

  BIGGS trotted into the house with them, slavishly staying by Jack's side and looking up at him with doleful eyes as they mounted the stairs. Jack resumed petting him behind the ears.

  'You're not doing him any favours, you know,' Courtney remarked tartly as they reached the top landing. 'He'll start howling when Agnes puts him out tonight'

  'I thought you said he slept on your bed.'

  'I lied.'

  His blue eyes gleamed. 'You're afraid of me.'

  Courtney glared at him. 'Too right I am. You know I fancy you and, being a typical male, you're not above using that fact to your advantage.'

  'Like Larry did?'

  'No, not like Larry did,' she snapped. 'For your information, I propositioned Larry, not the other way around.'

  "That's pretty daring behaviour, for a virgin.'

  Her chin lifted. 'I'm a pretty daring sort of girl.'

  'I know. I'm depending on it.'

  'See? You're doing it already. What's next? Are you going to dare me into going to bed with you? Or will you grab me and kiss me once we're alone, thinking I'll melt. Well, I won't melt, buster,' she warned. 'I'll knee you in your pride and joy so hard you won't be any good to any woman for quite some time.'

  He grimaced. 'I'll keep that in mind if I ever feel like grabbing you and kissing you.'

  'Do that!' She stalked off along the upstairs hallway, dropping her bag by her door before carrying his case into the front room and dumping it at the foot of the dreaded bed. One glance at the velvet spread had her swivelling round to leave straight away. Unfortunately, Jack was at that moment sauntering through the door, his devoted dog-slave at his heels.

  'Now, that's some bed,' he said as he walked towards her.

  Courtney stiffened and backed into one of the bedposts, her hands flying up ready to fight him off. 'Don't start, Jack,' she warned.

  'I won't. I just wanted you to know that my offer's still open, in case you change your mind later tonight.' He stopped at a short arm's distance, reaching out to pick up a stray curl and loop it behind her ear. The feel of his fingers brushing against her ear broke the surface of her skin out in goose-bumps.

  'I won't use any dirty tactics,' he went on, his eyes never leaving hers. 'Or pressure. Or passes. Though I suspect if I did you just might melt, and you know it. But that's not what I want from you.'

  'And what is it that you want from me, Jack?' she asked, her voice strange. It wasn't like her to sound like that, all soft and husky.

  'Everything,' he returned, and there was nothing soft in his voice. It was hard and determined and oh, so sexy.

  The temptation was acute. To say Yes, yes, you can have everything. Do everything. It's what I want, what I need, what I crave.

  Suddenly, it wasn't Jack tied naked to that bed in her mind but herself, helpless and mindless, writhing under his mouth, his hands, his body, moaning and groaning, crying out, begging.

  The begging bit saved her.

  God, the very thought of it. Begging some man. Begging Jack. No, no, no, that was not on!

  'I'll just get you those towels,' she said, pleased to hear her voice had returned to normal. 'And, Biggs, you get yourself back downstairs. If Agnes catches you up here in the bedrooms, you'll be exiled to the stables.'

  Biggs, who was terrified of the stable moggie, did a bolt for the stairs.

  'And you,' she added,.swinging back to Jack. 'You can get your mind back on the reason you came here;'

  Jack smiled. 'If you insist.'

  'I insist. Now...that brand' spanking new door over there leads into your en suite, a recent addition for privileged and usually married guests. I'll be back with the towels in less than a jiffy, then we'd best get downstairs too. I don't want Agnes thinking things.'

  'Would she?'

  "There's nothing Agnes doesn't think me capable of, Jack. Having a quickie with a handsome hunk like you would probably come low on her list of my many sins.'

  "Then why worry?'

  'Because I care what the old dear thinks of me, especially now, with Mum gone and her future in my hands.'

  Jack frowned. 'Ah, yes. Agnes's future...'

  'If I ever had to sell Crosswinds, it would kill Agnes.'

  'And you, Courtney? Would it kill you?'

  'Probably. But not before I killed every single person who made it happen!'

  "That was simply wonderful, Agnes,' Jack complimented as he sipped the last of his afterdinner cup of tea. 'I haven't had a meal like that in years.'

  You'd be right there, Courtney thought tartly. Not too many fancy Sydney restaurants serve up baked pork and crackling, with pavlova for afters. And I can't imagine darling Katrina specialised in home cooking. Her talents would have lain elsewhere, with the emphasis on lain.

  Irritated by her sarcastic thoughts, Courtney stood lip abruptly, scraping back her chair on the polished wooden floor. 'If you'll excuse me, I have to go see if any foals are due tonight. No, don't get up, Jack. You stay here. It's pitch-black and pretty cold outside. Far better you tour the place with the benefit of daylight and sunshine. I shouldn't be too long. But, if I am, don't worry. Foals don't always do as they're told.'

  'Fine.' Jack shrugged those broad shoulders of his. Til give Agnes a hand while you're gone, loading up the dishwasher."

  'We don't have a dishwasher,' Agnes informed him.

  The surprised look on Jack's face annoyed Courtney.

  Actually, everything about Jack tonight was annoying her. His charm. His kindness to Agnes.. But most of all the way he could make her feel, without any effort on his part. He only had to be in the same room now, to set her heart pounding and her mind racing in erode directions.

  The dining room at Crosswinds was not a small room, the table large by any standards. Eight high-backed chairs could easily be accommodated around it. And there was still room for a selection of corner cabinets and sideboards,

  Courtney had dashed in and set the table earlier whilst Jack had been busy drinking sherry with Agnes in the front living room. She'd placed Jack down the end near the fireplace, herself right at the other end not far from the door. She'd even strategically positioned a bowl of flowers, the blooms big enough to block any direct view of the ever increasingly attractive Jack.

  But it had been a futile gesture. Jack had simply whipped the vase away on entering, dumping it on a sideboard with the witty aside, 'Roses are red, violets are blue, but I'd really much rather look at you.'

  And look at her he had. Curiously. Speculatingly. Seductively.

  Physical passes weren't the only way to seduce a woman, she was beginning to realise. The right man could do it with words, or his eyes, or simply by being under the same roof.

  Courtney decided then and there that she would stay down at the brood-mare barn for a good few hours, whether a mare was foaling or not.

  'Agnes likes to wash her own dishes,' she told Jack coolly, 'but I'm sure you could help by drying up. Now, if I am held up, there's always the TV for entertainment. We have satellite. And there are plenty of books to read.' The shelves in the living room had an eclectic mix, from biographies to novels of all genres, as well as books on everything to do with horses and horse breeding.

  'Don't worry about me,' Jack replied with annoying nonchalance. Til be fine. Agnes and I are going to play Scrabble. Naturally, you're welcome to join us, if and wh
en you return.'

  'Courtney doesn't like games,' Agnes said.

  'Really? Why not?'

  Too much luck involved,' Courtney said sharply.

  'Actually, luck only plays a small part in most games,' Jack countered. 'Winning depends more on concentration and skill.'

  'You're skilled at Scrabble, then?' she asked archly.

  'Never played it before in my life.'

  Agnes chuckled as she rose and started clearing the table. 'Let's get this done in a hurry, then, young man. After which you can come into my parlour...'

  Jack stood up, laughing! his teeth flashing white. Courtney groaned silently and fled the room.

  As it turned out, a mare was foaling when she arrived at the brood-mare barn, so she stayed and helped the night manager deliver the stylish bay colt. It was good to put her mind to something else for a couple of hours, other than that infernal man.

  The birth was slow, and a bit tricky, and she was covered in blood by the time the new arrival slipped out into the waiting bed of straw.

  'Glad that's over,' Fred said with a relieved sigh. 'I hate it when their legs get all tangled up like that. The mare panics. It was great to have an extra pair of hands to keep her calm. You're damned good at that, Courtney. You have just the right touch.'

  The right touch...

  The longing was back straight away, and so was the need, so sharp she almost cried out. In sheer desperation she stared at Fred. He wasn't a bad-looking man. Not the brightest, but still male. He wouldn't knock her back. Maybe if she...

  Bile rose from her stomach to sting her throat. She gulped it down, even more panicky now. Because now she knew, knew that the thought of touching any man other than Jack revolted her so much that it made her sick.

  Oh, God...

  'Something wrong?' Fred asked.

  Courtney shook her head. 'Just wool-gathering. You be all right by yourself for the rest of the night?'

  'Sure. Nothing else doing here tonight. Next week things'll begin to hot up a bit, though. Then you might be losing some sleep. You'd better get back up to the house and to bed while you got the chance, I reckon.'

  Courtney wished he hadn't said that.

  'I think I'll go for a walk first,' she said. 'I like looking at the horses in the moonlight.'

  It was chiming midnight on the grandfather clock in the hall by the time she tiptoed up the stairs. A light still glowed under the door of Jack's bedroom, which didn't exactly help her state of mind. Wretched man! Why couldn't he have been sound asleep, with everything in darkness? Why did she now have to 'contend with the thought of him lying there, still wide awake, his beautiful body ready and willing?

  Gritting her teeth, she crept into her own room opposite his, snatching up a nightie from underneath her pillow and creeping back down the hallway to the far bathroom, hoping against hope that Jack wouldn't hear the shower running. She was careful in closing the old wooden door, then turning the big brass key in the lock.

  Washing herself under the shower proved a torment. Her breasts felt full, her nipples electrified, and the area between her legs on fire. She tried to be quick, and not linger over sensitive spots, but the second she slid the soap over her private parts, she groaned. The temptation to keep doing it was acute. All she had to do was close her eyes and think about Jack, and surely...

  'Damn it all, no!' she muttered. 'This is not what I want.'

  She wanted Jack. Only Jack.

  The soap clattered to the floor and her hand shot up to snap off the shower. She didn't bother with her nightie. A towel would do, wrapped tightly around her wet, heat-drenched body. Her hair hung in damp curls around her bared shoulders but she didn't give a fig about her hair.

  She was past the point of no return, past caring about anything but finding some peace for her poor, pathetic, frustrated flesh.

  How she had the forethought to return to her room for the box of condoms surprised her. At least she wasn't that far gone that she couldn't think of protection.

  Her hesitation over the knob on Jack's door irritated the death out of her. Having made her decision, any lack of courage at this stage was not to be tolerated. It was just that he'd be so annoyingly smug and triumphant!

  Too late to worry about that, she resolved boldly.

  Opening the door, she slipped inside his room.

  HE WAS asleep. Sound asleep. Sprawled out on the bed, one of the lamps still on, a book lying open on the pillow beside him. The remnants of a fire smouldered in the marble fireplace, making the room quite warm, which was possibly why he'd thrown back the sheets and was lying there wearing nothing but a pair of navy blue satin boxer shorts with some kind of jazzy red design all over them.

  Feeling even more frustrated, Courtney stalked over and glared down at it.

  Hearts, they were. Red hearts. Not the sort of thing a man would buy himself. Probably a Valentine's day present from a woman. No...from Superbitch.

  Courtney practically ground her teeth. Did he think of her every time he put them on? Did he like sleeping in them, remembering how good she'd been in bed? Or how deliriously bad?

  Piqued by her thoughts and by the fact that Jack hadn't tossed and turned into the night with wanting her, Courtney snatched up the book, snapped it shut and glared at the title.

  'How To Breed Champions,' she read aloud, then glared at him. 'Breeding champions is not your job, buster,' she muttered, tossing the book onto a nearby dresser. 'Your job is to stay awake long enough for me to change my mind and take you up on your offer.'

  'Your wish is my command...' His eyes flicked open as he rolled over and looked up at her through long dark lashes. 'Mmm. Glad to see you didn't overdress for the occasion.' And, reaching out, he tugged at the bottom of her towel.

  It dropped to the floor, leaving her stark naked before him, clutching a box of condoms.

  'You were awake all the time!' she accused.

  'Not quite. But I certainly am now.' His hooded gaze travelled slowly over her from head to toe, drinking in every inch of her stiffly held nudity.

  Do something, she ordered herself. Don't just stand there like some undressed dummy in a shop window.

  'You are one beautiful woman, Courtney Cross,' he said thickly. 'Now, come here...'

  It was a softly voiced order. A seductive order.

  How easy it would have been to fall into his arms and let him do as he willed.

  It was a struggle to find the boldly assertive creature she usually became when she wanted sex. Because it wasn't just sex she was secretly craving this time, was it? It was the mindless ecstasy of total surrender.

  Which made it all the more imperative that she follow her usual path.

  'Now, Jack,' she said firmly, and busied herself ripping the Cellophane off the box of condoms. 'I told you. I like to be at the wheel. Besides, you must be tired after all that driving today. That's why you fell asleep with the light on. So just lie back, relax and let me take responsibility for everything. You'll enjoy it. Trust me.'

  The Cellophane gone, she flipped open the box and tossed it onto the bedside table before pushing Jack onto his back and climbing up onto the bed beside him.

  He looked taken aback when she immediately started pulling down his boxer shorts. 'Hey! What the heck do...?'

  Too late. His shorts were already off.

  'Do be quiet, Jack. Agnes is not a heavy sleeper. We don't want her coming in to find out what all the noise is about, do we?'

  His dark brows lifted but he eventually lay back and shut his mouth. Which was good, Courtney told herself. She didn't like her men to talk. She wasn't there for a tete-a-tete. She was there to soothe her galloping hormones, or whatever it was Jack had evoked in her to such a maddeningly compulsive level.

  'Now,' she murmured, straddling his wonderfully muscular thighs then sitting back on his knees. 'Let's have a look at you...'

  If she'd been struggling for control before, now was the real moment of truth, with Jack naked and immobile benea
th her, his magnificently macho body on full display for her hungry gaze.

  And hungry she was. Oh, so hungry. As her eyes raked over him she wanted to ravish him on the spot. Every single bit of him.

  Courtney tried telling herself his body was no better than any she'd seen before. Just bigger. And bigger wasn't necessarily better.

  Or so some stupid fool had told her once. Some people simply had no idea.

  'You are one beautiful man, Jack Falconer,' she murmured, and leant forward to run her hands all over his wonderfully hairy chest, his smooth as satin shoulders, his strong upper arms. Her breathing became ragged as she moved back to his chest again where her fingers splayed sensuously within the mass of soft dark curls. He gasped when they grazed over his nipples.

  When his hands reached for her, she grabbed his wrists and pushed them into the pillows on either side of his head, a position that unfortunately had the tips of her breasts brushing against the hair of his chest For a second or two, she almost lost it.

  His smiling at her snapped her back to the potential disaster of this situation.

  'I'm the driver tonight, remember?' she whispered harshly against his lips. 'Not you. No touching,' she commanded. 'No moving. No nothing. Do you think you can manage that for once?'

  'Yes, boss,' he replied, but he was still smiling.

  She kissed him, deep and hard, a powerful punishing kiss which was supposed to tell him who indeed was boss. But once again it was herself in danger of losing control. If he'd been able to put his hands on her, she might have. As it was, she kept her head. Just.

  As for Jack, he was breathing very heavily by the time she wrenched her mouth away from his and straightened up again. His eyes had darkened to slate and he was no longer smiling. His erection spoke for itself, lying huge and high against his stomach.