Married in Vegas (The Townsends Book 3)

by Angie Campbell

  They had finally gotten all the water mopped up and the towels tossed in the washer. When he looked over at his wife, she looked like she had a whole case of nerves. “Hey, Angel, are you okay?”

  She looked in his eyes and bit her lip. “I was just thinking about what you said earlier. You know? When your dad walked in on us.”

  “I’m not going to force you to do something you don’t want to do.” She would never know how much pain this conversation was causing him.

  She knew she was going to have to be honest. She wanted him more than she needed to breathe. She was just terrified. She had spent the last four years running. She wasn’t sure how to reach out and take what she wanted.

  She shook her head in frustration. “I didn’t say, I didn’t want to. I just don’t know how to take charge. I need your help.”

  He gave her a slight nod in response, clinching his fists to help keep himself from grabbing her immediately. “Are you saying, you want me to take over?”

  “Please,” she whispered, staring him in the eyes.

  He didn’t realize until that single uttered word, that he had been holding his breath. “You’re going to have to ask me, Angel. Actually, say the words.”

  “Mark, please,” she pleaded.

  He shook his head, feeling a little frustrated himself. “Angel, I need to know you’re not going to regret this tomorrow.”

  She swallowed hard, trying to force her nerves down. “Make love to me, please.”

  He stepped forward and picked her up, cradling her in his arms. He hesitated, looking into her eyes. He didn’t want her to change her mind, but even more, he didn’t want her to regret what they were about to do in the morning.

  When she leaned in and kissed him, running her fingers through his hair, he stopped thinking and headed for the bedroom.

  He sat her down beside the bed and once again brought his hand up under her shirt. This time he managed to bring it up over her head and toss it across the room. When she reached for the button of his jeans, he stopped her. “No, not yet. Slow down. I intend to take my time tonight.” His words made her so nervous, she almost jumped and ran for the door. But only almost.

  He brought his mouth down on hers and she stopped thinking all together. When his hands started moving over her, she was so overcome she nearly fainted. All she could do was try and hang on and ride the waves of sensations.

  Chapter 9

  Monday, July 15

  It was still very early in the morning when she woke. The sun was just barely up. She glanced over at the clock to discover it was only six fifteen. It was amazing she felt so alert. She should be dead to the world. She wasn’t much of a morning person to start with and he’d kept her awake most of the night. He hadn’t been kidding when he said he intended to take his time. He had taken his time, repeatedly.

  She could feel herself turning red when she looked over and saw the box with the little foil packages scattered all over the hardwood floor. She felt it before she heard, when he started to chuckle as the blush spread across her face. Had she really knocked the box of condoms out of his hand? What had she been thinking? She looked up to discover he was propped up looking down at her.

  He brushed his fingers across her cheek and when she rolled to her back to make it easier to look up at him, she heard him suck in a sharp breath. “You are absolutely gorgeous first thing in the morning.” When his hand continued down her throat to caress her naked flesh, she couldn’t stop herself from moaning and arching into his hand. Her response seemed to be more than he could resist, and he leaned over and kissed her parted lips. After that, neither one of them was aware of anything but each other for a while.

  ******

  “Okay, we really need to get out of bed. We’re going to be late for work,” Jenny said, sounding depressed.

  “You know,” Mark said, giving her a big grin. “You don’t have to go to work today. I can fix it with the boss.”

  She chuckled softly, walking her fingers up his arm. “Well, you know, it wouldn’t be any fun if you didn’t stay home with me.”

  “Oh, don’t worry. I’ll stay home with you,” he chuckled, winking at her.

  She didn’t have to say anything. The look on her face said it all. Without any more discussion he picked up his cell phone and dialed the office. He explained that neither he or his new wife would be into work today. He kept it short and to the point and was off the phone in seconds.

  Once he had that done, he turned back to her and asked, “What would you like to do today?”

  She looked up at him, a blush spreading across her face. “Well, we could stay in bed all day.”

  “No, sorry,” he choked out, shaking his head vigorously. He backed himself off the bed, looking almost scared she was going to jump on him if he turned his back on her. “You may not realize it yet, but your body needs a chance to recover a little bit. I think you need to start with a warm bath.”

  She followed after him, trying to pull him back in bed with her. He stopped her by gently pushing her back. “That’s enough. I’m doing this for your own good. Please, don’t make it harder than it already is. I’ll go start your water,” he added before turning to quickly escape to the bathroom.

  ******

  After she had taken her bath and gotten dressed she was feeling grateful for Mark insisting she take a bath instead of them staying in bed. She was starting to feel like her body was her own again.

  When she finally wondered into the kitchen to see what he was doing, she found him fixing breakfast. He looked up and smiled at her. “Sorry, I know I’m not much of a cook.” He walked over to the fridge and got the orange juice out.

  “Your cooking is actually improving, but I have no problem with doing the bulk of it,” she said, giving him a reassuring smile.

  He walked over and pulled her up into his arms. He meant for the kiss to be quick, but when she kissed him back with obvious desire, he lost the tight hold he had on his control. It was several minutes later when he managed to let her go, and they were both gasping for air.

  “Okay, we really need to get out of the house, or my good intentions are going to be for not,” he said, taking a step back. She tried to pull his head back down, so she could kiss him again. “No, time to eat.” He pulled a chair out for her and waited for her to sit down. When she looked up at him, pouting, he just rolled his eyes, and playfully said, “I’ve created a monster.”

  “Fine,” she huffed and sat down to pick up her fork. “Mark, I have a confession to make.”

  She sounded nervous, and it caused him to give her a hard look as he took his seat. “What?”

  “That first night, when I woke you up and you thought I was asleep. I wasn’t,” Jenny said, her voice starting to shake from the nerves.

  At first, he just sat there not moving. Not even his eyes. It almost looked like he had stopped breathing. When he finally took a gulp of air, he asked, “Why did you pretend to be?”

  “I panicked,” she answered with a blush. “Then when you flipped me off of you, I thought maybe you didn’t want me as much as I had thought, and I couldn’t get my confidence back up.”

  He just snorted. “Not want you? Are you crazy? You’ve been driving me insane for years. Do you really think I would have tried so desperately if I wasn’t madly in love with you?”

  “No one said logic had anything to do with it. It seemed like every man in the county wanted me. How was I to be sure the only one I really wanted, wanted me as much as I did him?”

  He had to close his eyes and swallow before he could find voice to speak. “Why has it taken so long?”

  “I’m not sure I can tell you that yet. I can tell you this though, I was thinking about saying yes, the next time you asked me out. I don’t know if I really would have or not, but I was thinking about it.” She took a deep breath and decided to go on. “The day I came over here to get plane tickets to Vegas, and we started to get carried away. The reason I panicked, was I was about to b
eg you.”

  “You were?” he asked, sounding surprised.

  “Yes,” she said, taking a deep breath once again. “I was getting ready to ask you to marry me.”

  “Marry you? Then why were you so upset?” he asked, just looking confused.

  “Because, I was still panicking. The whole time I was trying to argue with you, I knew I would never truly try to divorce you.”

  He sat there a few more seconds, trying to digest what he had just heard. When he finally spoke, he just said, “Okay, I can wait to hear the rest.”

  ******

  By the time they had finished eating and cleaned up, they still hadn’t decided what they were going to do for the day but headed to the truck anyway. Mark started the truck, pulled out on the road and asked, “Well, do you know what you want to do today yet?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe go see my mom. Or we could go swimming. Of course, what I’d really like to do...,” she said, her hand running up his thigh and straying to the waist band of his jeans.

  Mark, normally a really good driver, swerved, and almost went off the side of the road. “You have a one-track mind, Woman,” he growled. “It’s not been long enough yet, but, I promise, if you’ll be good for the rest of the day, I won’t say no tonight.”

  “What if I’m not good for the rest of the day? Are you really going to say no?” she asked walking her fingers up his thigh.

  He was groaning when he said, “No.”

  “Good. I’m going to have fun trying to get you to change your mind.” This time his groan was even louder. “Hey, where are we going,” she asked, noticing they were headed toward her parents’ house.

  He shrugged and smiled down at her. “You said something about maybe seeing your mom.”

  She gave him a dirty look, lowering her brows. “Are you trying to make sure I’ll behave myself.”

  “Maybe.”

  “I like the swimming idea.”

  “No, we’re going to go see your mom. I don’t think I need to be looking at you in a swimsuit, right now.”

  “I didn’t say anything about wearing a swimsuit,” she replied, giving him a sly look. “I’d rather go skinny dipping.”

  “Yeah, we’re definitely going to see your mom,” he said on a groan.

  “Bully,” she said with a grin.

  “I’m not trying to be a bully. I just know how little self-control I have where you’re concerned. And you don’t plan on trying to help me.”

  “We’re married. You don’t have to practice so much self-control.”

  “I’m just trying to take care of you. I’m afraid things would be a whole lot more uncomfortable than you realize.”

  “How would you know?”

  “I don’t know for sure, but I have heard things. I’m just being cautious, no matter how much it’s killing me.”

  Mark came to a stop in front of her mom and dad’s place and shut off the truck. When he got out of the truck and turned to give her a hand down, she pushed it away. With both feet on the step, she leaned toward him and wrapped her arms around his neck. The second her lips touched his, he groaned and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her to him.

  It took Jamie hollering from the porch to bring either one of them back to the present. “Hey, kids. What are you up to?”

  He swung the door shut and sat her down on the ground. “We took the day off, and she said she would like to come and see you.”

  “Come to see what impending chaos you can intercept?” she grumbled. She looked like the chaos had already hit.

  “Are you okay mom? From the look on your face, I’d say we were too late.”

  “Oh, we just couldn’t find your youngest sister for nearly two hours,” she answered in an offhand manner.

  “Okay?” she hissed, raising her eyebrow. “Where was she?”

  “Zoe had talked her into crawling into the washer to hide.”

  “Wow!” she chuckled. “Does Zoe have any hide left?”

  “Just barely,” her mother frowned. “Of course, I learned this after Michael set the back yard on fire with fire crackers left over from the fourth. I think he was protesting being grounded.”

  “I thought I smelled burnt grass,” Mark said trying not to laugh. “Jamie, do you need a few hours away from this mad house? I’m sure Jenny and I could hold things together for a while.”

  “Yeah, Mom. Why don’t you go shopping or hide at the bed and breakfast for a while?”

  “Not today. I have guest at the bed and breakfast, and Annabel couldn’t make it in. I was over there preparing a roast for lunch when Michael caught the yard on fire. After we put the fire out, Hannah went back over there to finish up, only after informing me that Emily had been missing for an hour and a half. So, I had one child to find, and two to line out. It’s been a busy morning, and it’s just now barely nine.”

  “Okay,” Mark said with a thoughtful expression. “Pick a day, and we’ll be here for you. You can take the whole day to do what you want.” Jenny couldn’t help herself. She had to give her husband a hug. He really was a very considerate person.

  Just then, Hannah came running across the yard between the house and the inn. She ran right up to Mark and punched him in the gut. “Ow,” she muttered, rubbing her knuckles.

  Mark snorted, “Still mad, I take it.”

  “Is he made out of rock?” she asked, looking to her sister.

  She looked up at her husband with a grin. “No, I can assure you, he is flesh and blood. Just like the rest of us.”

  “Just like the rest of us?” Hannah huffed in response with an obviously questioning raised eyebrow, still rubbing her knuckles. She gave Mark a dirty look before turning to speak to her mother. “Do I need to stay over there?”

  “Once they’ve eaten lunch, they were going to check out. Do you want to fix lunch over there, or at the house? You might be able to get Jenny to help you at the house.”

  “At the house. If I have to stay at the B & B a minute longer, I’m going to give that guy a piece of my mind. He’s a jerk. He’s been yelling at the woman with him all morning like she’s stupid, and I’m sure this is one of those times when you would say, stay out of it.”

  “Yes, it is. I’ll go back to the B & B. Jenny and Mark should be able to help you with the kids.” As if on a second thought, she turned and looked at her oldest daughter, and asked, “Do you mind helping her?”

  “No Mom, we can help her.”

  ******

  Jamie had already made it back from the B & B. The couple had wanted to eat lunch early and checked out and were on their way before noon. She was now in the kitchen helping Hannah fix lunch for everyone, giving Jenny and Mark a few moments to themselves, and Jenny found herself feeling very sappy. Well, sappy for her anyway.

  She looked across the room at her very sexy, enormous husband. “You know? You are utterly amazing.”

  “How’s that?”

  “Luke and James are great. And they both love kids, but I don’t think either one of them has ever offered to help watch all my younger brothers and sisters for a day, so mom could take a break.”

  He shrugged, giving her an embarrassed smile. “It’s obvious she needs a break, but maybe they’ve just never been around at the right time.”

  “Maybe,” she whispered, taking a step in his direction. “But that’s not all there is about you that makes you amazing.”

  “If you’re not careful, you’re going to give me the big head,” he said, grinning at her.

  “Well, do you want to hear the rest or not?”

  “Yes,” he nodded, and swallowed hard. He was feeling a little nervous, not knowing where she was going with this.

  “As large as you are, you are still one of the gentlest people I have ever met.” She hesitated for a second, trying to find the right words. “It’s just very surprising to see that it is like second nature for you to be that gentle.” She knew her face had to be crimson. And that it would give away exactly what she was think
ing. It was more surprising to find she didn’t want to hide what she was feeling from him.

  Mark just sat there staring at her, unable to speak. When she walked over and sat down on his knee, he pulled her in closer, and cradled her against his chest. He still wore a mystified expression, so she decided to continue. “The way you made me feel last night took me completely by surprise.” She could feel him shaking. “I never dreamed it would be like that. I had no idea I could get so out of control. And yet, you were still so gentle,” she chuckled, feeling a little mystified herself. “It was very frustrating. I felt like I was the only one who couldn’t control themselves, last night.” She snorted, “I felt like the gentler you were with me, the crazier I got with you. You were making me insane.”

  He had finally heard enough. He groaned and pulled her head back with his hand in her hair and brought his mouth down to the hollow of her throat and worked his way upward toward her chin. When his lips finally touched hers, she started to wonder if she had pushed him over the edge. She could feel the dam breaking on his control. He was holding her so tight she could barely breathe. But that’s what she wanted. She needed to know he was reacting to her as strongly as she was to him. They were both lost in their own little world when they heard her mom come in the room and give a startled, “Oh!”

  Jenny looked up at her mom, who was now standing there with her hand over her mouth. “Sorry,” her mom said turning a little red. “I was wondering if you two were planning to stay for lunch.” Her mom spoke in a rush, trying to get it out in a hurry.

  “I guess so.” Jenny turned to Mark, who looked like he was still trying to reign his desire back in. All he could do was nod.

  ******

  A little while later they were sitting at the kitchen table eating grilled ham and cheese with salad and drinking freshly made lemonade. Emily had insisted on sitting by Mark. She was half terrified and half mystified by the size of him, and she just sat staring up at him.