Fortune's Twins

by Kara Lennox

  The warmth of his hands on her bare skin sent pleasurable shivers throughout her body.

  She said nothing when he unhooked her bra and slid the straps down her arms. The dress was bunched at her waist now—or where her waist would have been if she had one. He caressed her breasts from behind, pulling her against his chest, the rough hair crinkly against her tender skin.

  Gwen was both aroused and relaxed. Her nipples beaded against his palms. Pregnancy had made her breasts more sensitive than ever, but Eli’s touch was never too firm. He breathed into her ear as his hands migrated downward to caress her belly. He must have sensed her reticence about revealing her entire body to him, even in the low light, because he left her dress where it was, sliding his hands beneath the velvet to run his fingers reverently over her taut skin.

  Gwen knew she should be embarrassed. But she was too caught up in the moment to object. No man had ever made her feel so desirable, so beautiful, even when she’d been slender.

  She wanted to make love—she really did. But she couldn’t possibly.

  Eli leaned back, removing the pillows that were bunched between them and urging her to lie against him, spoon fashion. His arousal pressed at the small of her back, reminding her that he would want satisfaction.

  “Eli…”

  “Just relax. I want to do this for you.” His hand slid farther down, to the top of her panties, then under the elastic, and she realized exactly what he had in mind.

  Reflexively she parted her legs slightly. She craved release too strongly to worry about the fact she was being a really bad, selfish and lazy lover. That night in Roan, she’d been a wild woman, racking her brain for ways to please Eli, constantly moving, adjusting, finding new positions, new places to kiss, new ways to stroke and tease. Now she lay passively, taking pleasure but not giving it.

  When Eli’s fingers dipped into the valley between her legs, she moved beyond reason. Every brain cell became devoted to receiving the intense sensations, Eli’s clever fingers moving slickly inside her, inexorably finding the exact spot that would drive her insane.

  Her peak came quickly. Like a rose bursting into bloom, petals of desire opened and spread in an ever-widening circle, spreading to her limbs, swirling around her heart, then melting into warm honey.

  “Oh, Eli, that was…that was…” She couldn’t complete the sentence. She couldn’t adequately describe what he’d done to her, and anyway, her tongue felt thick and unwieldy.

  “Good.” He placed a soft kiss on her lips, then her cheek.

  Gwen lay there, thinking she should move. Her new husband had just given her an incredibly sensual experience, and she wanted to return the favor. She knew of at least seven ways she could pleasure him. Though it had been a long time, she still remembered all the places he liked to be touched and which caresses made him writhe with pleasure.

  But her arms and legs refused to move. She wanted to open her eyes, lift her head and launch a sensual campaign that would convince Eli he hadn’t married a dud. But she was losing the battle with the sleep she so craved.

  When next she opened her eyes, the room was dark. She was naked under the covers, and Eli was gone.

  Chapter Ten

  The image of Gwen awash in pleasure stayed with Eli as he ran his very necessary errands. He knew the wedding and hospital visit had exhausted her. He felt a little guilty about drawing her into any sort of sex play at all, when he should have just encouraged her to rest. But she’d been so lovely, he hadn’t been able to keep his hands off her.

  He was pleased he’d been able to kindle a fire in her so easily, but she was incredibly responsive, just as he remembered. Though he still thrummed with longing himself, it hadn’t exactly been a hardship for him to explore her body in ways she enjoyed. He’d been gratified to watch the ecstasy steal over her, feel the spasms that wracked her body, hear the small, involuntary cries she made in the back of her throat. If he couldn’t experience that level of pleasure himself, it was a small price to pay. The last thing he wanted was to make her feel guilty for not being able to accommodate him.

  He ran his errands as quickly as possible, hoping to return to the room before Gwen awoke from her nap and wondered where he was. But given their unfortunate history where notes in hotel rooms were concerned, he’d decided to skip that gesture.

  His first stop was a bank that had an ATM machine. Though he’d only brought that one useless credit card, he had a debit card for emergencies.

  Since he’d withdrawn cash that morning, he could only get two hundred dollars. But that should be enough to tide him over until tomorrow. He’d paid in advance for the hotel with a different card, so at least that was taken care of.

  His next stop was the same jewelry store where he’d bought Gwen’s wedding ring. He wished he’d thought earlier of buying a wedding gift for Gwen. It hadn’t even occurred to him until he’d caught a glimpse of a gold-wrapped gift peaking out of her suitcase. He was no good at buying gifts for women, but he supposed jewelry was as safe a bet as anything.

  The clerk showed him several items, but none of them seemed exactly right for Gwen. Then he spied something in a display case. He asked the clerk to unlock the case so he could get a closer look.

  Oh, yes, these were perfect. “I’ll take them both.”

  “Both?”

  “Definitely. And can you wrap them?”

  “Certainly, sir.”

  She disappeared into a back room for a few minutes, and when she reappeared, she handed him a colorfully wrapped package. He paid for the purchase—a modest price, but in this case Eli believed it was the thought behind the gift that counted. He hurried back to the hotel, found the bellman who had carried their luggage and tipped him double because he’d had to wait, then climbed the stairs two at a time rather than wait for the slow-as-a-glacier elevator.

  It amazed him how eager he was to return to his bride. He couldn’t remember any woman captivating him so thoroughly. Maybe it was the novelty of suddenly having a wife; maybe it was the fact that Gwen carried his children. He didn’t know. His attraction for her was slightly disconcerting for a man who’d adopted “control” and “moderation” as middle names.

  Eli found Gwen reclining on the fainting couch with her book and her cup of tea, just as she’d mused about earlier. She wore a gold silk caftan and had left her hair unbound. It cascaded around her shoulders in a reddish-brown halo.

  “There you are,” she said, her smile appearing a bit forced. “Where have you been?”

  “I’m sorry. I thought I’d be back before you woke up. I had to find an ATM or you were going to be footing the bill for the entire honeymoon.”

  “I told you I didn’t mind,” she chided him gently. “What law says the man has to pay for everything?”

  “Eli’s law. Whoever comes up with the idea and makes the arrangements also comes up with the cash.”

  “Sounds reasonable. What’s in the bag?”

  Eli figured he might as well get this over with. If it was a bad idea for a gift, he’d soon know it. Gwen wasn’t very good at hiding her feelings. He reached inside the small shopping bag and pulled out the gift. Only then did he realize it was wrapped in baby wrap, with little yellow duckies and pink bunnies.

  “Uh, this was supposed to be a wedding gift. I didn’t specify when I asked for gift wrap.”

  Gwen’s green eyes danced with curiosity. “Oh, Eli, you didn’t have to—”

  “Don’t bother. I know you got something for me, because I saw the package. Anyway, it’s nothing much.”

  “Let’s just see about that.” She opened the package carefully, then reached into the tissue paper and withdrew the two antique silver baby cups. “Oh, Eli, they’re precious.”

  “When I saw two of them together in the store, I figured it was meant to be. I’ll have them engraved.”

  “With Thing One and Thing Two?”

  “I assume we’ll come up with better names at some point.”

  She studied
the cups again, then smiled. “These are so sweet. Thank you.” She stood and hugged him.

  Her nearness, her scent, had an immediate effect on his blood pressure. For the tenth time that day, he reminded himself of her delicate condition.

  Gwen went to her suitcase and retrieved the gold-wrapped box. “I wasn’t even sure I was going to give it to you. It’s kind of silly. But you’re very hard to buy for.”

  “Me? Buy me a new power tool and I’m happy as a clam.” But clearly no power tool would fit into such a small box. His curiosity getting the better of him, he ripped into the paper like a little kid on his birthday. When he saw the set of keys, he was confused. Oh, God, she wasn’t giving him a car, was she?

  “It’s a copy of all my keys,” she said, her face turning red. “The house, my office, my desk, my private quarters—which are yours, too, now—the garage, my car, everything. The key chain is a jaguar.”

  “Like my car,” he said, feeling a bit slow.

  “Oh, Sylvia was right. It’s way lame.”

  Eli laughed with delight, finally getting it. “No, Gwen, it’s wonderful. You obviously put a lot of thought into your gift, unlike me, and the gesture means a lot. And the key chain is classy. I’ll put my other keys on it right now.”

  “You don’t have to carry it,” she said. “You can keep it in a drawer. You won’t hurt my feelings.”

  “Of course I’ll carry it, and proudly.” As he inspected the key chain more closely, he realized it was made of eighteen-karat gold, and unless he missed his guess, the jaguar’s eyes were diamonds. This was no trinket. His heart swelled a bit as he fully absorbed the meaning behind the gift.

  She trusted him.

  “And, Eli?”

  “Yes, Gwen?” He couldn’t stop grinning. She was one in a million.

  “I’m sorry I fell asleep. You made me feel so wonderful, and I fully intended to…I wanted you to have fun, too.” Now her face was definitely red.

  He enfolded her in his arms. “You think I didn’t enjoy that?”

  “You know what I mean.”

  “I assure you, there will be many opportunities for you to reciprocate, if you so desire, but there’s no obligation, no expectation on my part. It can’t be that much fun carrying fifty pounds of extra weight, and I just wanted you to feel good.”

  “Forty pounds! Let’s not make it any worse than it already is. And you did make me feel good—better than I’ve felt since I don’t know when. I didn’t just feel good, I felt…pretty.”

  “You are pretty—gorgeous, in fact. Any time you want to feel even prettier, just let me know.”

  GWEN FELT LIKE a princess for the rest of the day. She was starving, so they ordered a sumptuous feast of roast duckling with wild rice and honey-glazed carrots and raspberry truffle cake, all washed down with sparkling white grape juice as a stand-in for champagne. They explored the hotel, which featured hidden alcoves and winding staircases. All of the antiques were for sale, and Gwen purchased several small pieces to round out the boardinghouse furnishings.

  Their room had a TV and VCR tucked away in an armoire, and the hotel offered an extensive library of classic films. They chose Breakfast at Tiffany’s, which Eli had never seen, and Gwen embarrassed herself by crying as she always did when Audrey Hepburn ran after the cat she claimed not to care about.

  When bedtime rolled around, Gwen dressed with care in the maternity nightgown Sylvia had bought for her, which was more revealing than Gwen would have chosen for herself. But she was starting to feel less self-conscious about her oddly shaped body, thanks to Eli’s attentions.

  He was waiting in bed for her when she came out of the bathroom. As promised, he gave her ample opportunity to bring him pleasure, though he certainly didn’t neglect her needs. They discovered creative ways to cuddle that Gwen was willing to bet even the Kama Sutra didn’t include.

  When they finally slept, Eli tucked Gwen against him. She was exhausted, but it was a good kind of exhaustion. Though neither of them had used words of love, Gwen felt loved. Intellectually she knew sex wasn’t the same as true love, and that hormones had a way of confusing the two. Still, she considered their wedding night an important step on the road to the deep and abiding, eternal love she’d always dreamed of finding.

  As she drifted off to sleep, she decided that though their marriage had gotten off to an unconventional start, things were looking up.

  GWEN AND ELI enjoyed a leisurely breakfast in the Westwind Hotel’s dining room. Eli signed it to the room, then checked out. They took a circuitous route home, taking in the fall leaves, which overnight, it seemed, had turned delicious shades of orange and rust. But then their idyllic tryst had to end.

  “I probably should have told you before,” Eli said as they crossed the Jester town limits, “but I have to go out of town. To Las Vegas.”

  “Oh? What for?”

  “Business.”

  “When? For how long?” She realized she was interrogating him, but the idea of being separated from him even overnight when they’d just started to bond was downright upsetting.

  “Just a couple of days. I leave tomorrow morning—early.”

  “Oh.” She wanted to ask him what business a mechanic had in Las Vegas, but she knew darn well that if Eli wanted her to know, he’d have volunteered the information. She tried not to feel piqued at the slight. Just because they were married didn’t mean Eli wasn’t entitled to some privacy.

  But, Las Vegas? The Disneyland of Perennial Debtors?

  Her thoughts drifted to the scene at the hospital, when Eli’s credit card had been refused. Her grandmother had told her stories about Gwen’s father going to Las Vegas, a desperate attempt to win the money he’d owed his creditors. He’d met Gwen’s mother soon after that debacle, and a new plan for paying off debts had presented itself.

  No. She wasn’t going to question or doubt Eli. She’d promised him and herself that she would trust him.

  “I’ve been alone a long time, Gwen,” Eli said. “For my entire life, I’ve been responsible to no one but myself. It may take me a while to develop the habit of consulting you about things.”

  “It’s okay. You were right not to bring it up until now. If you’d told me before, I’d have fretted the entire trip.”

  “Does that mean you’ll miss me?”

  “Yes, I’ll definitely miss you.”

  “You aren’t going to have those babies while I’m gone, are you?”

  “I have three weeks to go.”

  “But if you do go into labor, you can call me on the cell phone. I’ll keep it on twenty-four hours a day, and I’ll hop the first plane home if I need to.”

  “The twins aren’t going to be born early,” she assured him. “I’ve instructed them to wait, and they’re already very obedient children.”

  Just then one of them gave a particularly emphatic kick, as if objecting to her assessment. Obedient, huh? We’ll show her.

  Gwen tried to put Eli’s upcoming trip out of her mind as she settled in at home. A smattering of wedding gifts had arrived during her absence as news of the marriage had spread, and she had to open those and send thank you cards. She had to open mail, pay bills, answer phone messages. She forced herself to don her walking shoes and take her slow, lumbering laps around the block. Every time she passed Mac’s Auto Repair, where Eli was putting the finishing touches on the Nash Coupe he’d been restoring, she drank in the sight of him in his worn-to-white jeans, which looked especially nice when he was bent over with his head in a car engine.

  He never noticed her passing.

  ELI WOKE UP at four the next morning to make an early flight from Billings. Gwen wanted to get up and make him some breakfast, but he insisted she needed her rest, that he would grab something at the airport. She settled for several drowsy goodbye kisses and a promise to call.

  When she awoke several hours later, she found a long note from Eli regarding the Nash. Apparently the owner was on his way to pick up the car. Eli needed for
Gwen to collect a cashier’s check for twenty-three thousand dollars before turning over the classic car’s keys.

  Twenty-three thousand dollars? For the Bucket o’Bolts? That seemed an unrealistic sum for a car that didn’t even have air conditioning. Still, she was relieved to see that Eli had income coming in. It made her worries over his financial situation seem silly.

  When the mail arrived, Gwen noticed an envelope addressed to Eli at his Denver address, then stamped with all sorts of forwarding notices. It appeared the mutilated envelope had taken a side trip to Tampa, Florida before finding its way to Jester. And unless Gwen missed her guess, the envelope contained a credit card statement. That would explain why his card had been refused. He probably hadn’t paid the bill because he hadn’t seen it. The same thing had happened to Sylvia once when her bill had been eaten by a post office sorting machine.

  She was glad to have that mystery solved.

  Gwen set the bill on her desk, then noticed that the flap was open.

  She knew she shouldn’t. But she just couldn’t resist a small peek.

  The balance was over sixteen thousand dollars.

  Okay, no reason to panic. The payment from the car buyer would more than cover the debt. And this was none of her business anyway! Or was it? Now that they were married, his debt became her debt.

  Still, she tried very hard to put it out of her mind. Debt was the American way. She’d read somewhere that the average American owed eight thousand dollars on credit cards. Just because Eli ran up his credit cards didn’t mean he was a candidacy for bankruptcy. All it meant was that they approached their finances differently, and they would have to reach a compromise.

  Or she could pay the bill herself.

  Eli would have a fit, she thought as she got out her checkbook. But the interest and late charges mounting up over this one bill were no doubt hideous. Each day the bill went unpaid, the debt grew. She wouldn’t miss the money, and Eli could pay her back if he wanted. In fact, she was sure he would want to. She wrote the check, stuck it in the envelope, added a stamp, and put it with the outgoing mail before she could think more about it.