by Amii Lorin
"If your mother and the twins get even a hint at the reason for this marriage, the silent rebellion they've been engaging in will turn into open warfare."
He ran his eyes over her speculatively then asked dryly, "How good an actress are you?"
"Actress? I don't understand."
Raising his eyes, as if seeking assistance from above, he sighed heavily.
"Sweetheart, I think the remark you made earlier about being a little slow today was a gross understatement. I mean, darling"—the darling was heavily emphasized—"that we are going to have to play to the gallery. Convince them we have suddenly fallen deeply, urgently in love. In other words, we have got to clean up our act. If we continue taking verbal potshots at each other they'll be on to the play in no time. Now, do you understand?"
"Oh, perfectly, darling." She added even more emphasis to the darling but some of the impact was lost as her voice wobbled. "Curtain up, let the play begin."
His soft laugh attacked her nervous system and, feeling her suddenly weak legs would no longer support her, she sank onto the bed.
"You are one fantastic little girl, you know that, chicken?"
If his laughter had undermined her poise, the silky purr he used on her now threatened to destroy her completely. In one fluid movement he was on his feet and moving across the room to her. One long finger hooked her chin, lifted her head.
"As they said in practically every cowboy movie ever made"—his voice took on the twang of a heavy Western drawl—"you'll do to ride the river with, pardner."
Dipping his head, he placed his mouth against hers and murmured, "A kiss in lieu of a contract, Anne." Then the pressure of his lips increased and his mouth, causing her heart to jump like a demented acrobat, drove out all reason and sanity.
"Yes, indeed," he whispered as he lifted his head after a few long moments. "You'll do very nicely. Now, I'll let you get changed, as Margaret and Melly are back from church and ready for lunch."
He had reached the door before Anne had gathered her wits enough to ask haltingly, "Jud, about this marriage. Will it be ... I mean will you want—" She faltered, searching for the words.
"A normal sexual relationship?" he supplied softly.
Anne swallowed hard, then nodded. His face gave away nothing of what he felt, his eyes remained steady on hers.
"Yes."
A finally, no-questions-asked yes.
"But, I never—" Anne bit down on her lip. "I mean, I don't know if I can. I—"
"Oh, you can," he countered. "The way you respond to my kisses convinces me of that." He studied the pink stain spreading across her cheeks a moment, then added gently, "But don't worry, honey. I'm a patient man, and I'll be very careful not to rush or frighten you."
After a quick shower Anne slipped into a light, cotton dress, applied a touch of color to lids, cheeks, and lips, and was finishing her hair when her door opened. Jud stood in the hall freshly showered and shaved, looking far too attractive in dark brown moleskin pants and a soft fawn shirt.
"Are you ready to go down?" he asked quietly. "I think it would be best to confront them together and get it over with."
Nervous, and trying hard not to show it, Anne licked her dry lips.
"Yes, I'm ready."
She left the room and walked beside him down the hall to the top of the stairs, where she paused, throwing him a quick glance.
"Do you want me to tell them or will you?"
"I think I'd better." He shot her a brief, devastating grin. "Your voice is none too steady." He started down the stairs, his hand grasping hers. "Don't give yourself away, Anne," he cautioned. "Or all hell will break loose. Just follow my lead and we'll be home free."
As they entered the dining room, Jud's hand released Anne's and slid protectively around her waist.
The action did not go unnoticed. Anne saw the surprise that filled her mother's eyes, the question that narrowed both Troy's and Todd's. Only Melly seemed unaware of the sudden tension in the room.
"About time you two showed up," Melly scolded lightly. "I'm famished. For some strange reason a long, uninspired sermon always makes me hungry. Now we can eat."
"In a moment." Jud's quiet, serious tone sent his aunt's eyebrows up. Anne felt his hand tighten at her waist as he said calmly, "Anne and I are going to be married."
He could not have achieved a better effect if he had dropped a snake onto the table. Melly looked stunned, Todd and Troy jumped out of their chairs, and Margaret gave a small disbelieving shriek.
"You are what?"
"Getting married."
Jud's unruffled reply seemed to incite rather than calm them.
"But you can't," Margaret gasped.
"Can't?" One pale eyebrow arched arrogantly. "I assure you we can."
"But, Jud," her mother moaned. "Anne is your stepsister."
"Step being the operative word," he retorted. "It has no bearing at all."
"Now who's playing games, Jud?" Troy's voice was nasty. "And what's the name of this one? Force the twins into line?"
Todd's eyes, their color cloudy with an equal mixture of anger and hurt, fastened on Anne's.
"Or should we substitute the word blackmail for games? I might have expected something like this from him, Anne. But not you. Never you."
Anne paled. Jud's face went rigid and Margaret cried, "Todd!"
During the exchange Melly's head had swiveled from one to the other, her confusion mirrored on her face. Her glance settling on Jud, she sighed.
"I don't understand. What is the problem, Jud? Personally I'm delighted."
Jud's face softened, and he smiled gently at his aunt.
"Thank you, Mel. Don't be alarmed. There is no problem here I can't handle."
"Big man," Troy spat. "You're not forcing me into anything. You'd sell your soul to get your own way down at the mill, wouldn't you? Well, you can go to hell." His furious glance pierced Anne, and she gasped as he added, "And you can go with him."
Anne felt Jud go stiff beside her, felt the sharp pain as his fingers dug spasmodically into her waist. He frightened her. Everything about him frightened her, from his contempt-filled, cold eyes, to the still, coiled menace that emanated from every inch of him. Finally his chillingly soft purr broke the silence that had gripped the room.
"I don't have to force you into anything, Troy. You'll do as you're told." His voice went softer still, causing a shiver to tingle along Anne's arms. "And if you ever speak to your sister like that again, I will take the hide off your back. Strip by slow strip. Now make your apology."
Again the room was smothered in silence and Anne's fingers curled into her damp palms. When she felt Jud move in Troy's direction, she moaned softly.
"Troy, please."
Troy's eyes, weary and fear-filled, shifted to Anne's pale face and with a soft sigh of defeat he murmured, "I'm sorry, Anne."
"Jud?"
Although her voice was steady, Melly's eyes betrayed her unease.
"It's all right, Mel."
The change in him was almost unbelievable. Relaxed and easy, he laughed lazily, then drawled, "As a wedding gift to Anne, I'll let him live—this week."
The tension was broken. Melly's eyes laughed back at him.
"You're a devil, you know that?" she chided teasingly. "How dull my life would be without you." Her eyes lit with a mischief of their own. "Do you think you could stop playing El Macho long enough to give me some lunch?"
Jud threw back his head and laughed, the warm sound melting the ice Anne seemed to be enclosed in. Lunch was served and, although Troy and Todd remained resentfully quiet, Margaret finally gave in and joined the conversation to back up Jud's invitation to Melly to stay over for the ceremony.
"I wouldn't miss your wedding Jud—" Melly's eyes shifted to the twins "—any more than I'd miss Troy and Todd when they decide to take the plunge. Of course I'll have to call home but, as Frank's been doing so well, I'm sure it will be all right. Your Uncle Frank will be disappointed he
can't be here as well."
The meal proceeded at a leisurely pace, Margaret, with Melly's prodding, getting into the swing of the sparse arrangements when she suggested, hopefully, that Anne and Jud wait, if only long enough for her to plan a proper, as she put it, wedding, but Jud shook his head uttering a decided "No."
Neck muscles tight with tension, pain beginning to throb at her temples, Anne thought the meal would never end. When finally they left the table, Anne sighed in relief and excused herself.
"I have a slight headache," she murmured when Jud asked quietly if something was wrong. "It must be the excitement."
Wanting to run, forcing herself to walk, she hurried up the stairs and into her room. She was standing at the window, staring at the black, angry-looking clouds, when the sound of her door being opened was muffled by a loud nerve-jarring crack of lightning that rent the sky directly overhead.
Anne gasped, startled by the sudden violence of nature. She gasped again when large, masculine hands came down onto her shoulders.
"Getting cold feet, Anne?"
Jud's voice was low and, coming as it did with the sudden downpour of rain, Anne could not suppress a shudder or the tight note in her voice.
"No."
"Good, because I'm not about to let you back out."
His cool breath ruffled across the top of her head, his soft tone ruffled across her heart. Drawing a deep breath, steeling herself against the craziness of her body's response to his nearness, she replied steadily.
"The thought of backing out hadn't occurred to me."
"No?"
His fingers loosened and he moved closer until, his forearms resting lightly on her shoulders, his body was only a tingling whisper away from hers.
"Then why did you come tearing up here the minute lunch was over?"
"I really do have a headache, and I was upset." She hesitated, then added sadly, "I knew Todd and Troy wouldn't like the idea of us getting married, but I didn't expect—" She broke off, a sigh replacing the rest of the words.
His arms came toward her, crossed at the base of her neck, drawing her closer still to his body. Bending his head until it was lying beside hers, he said softly. "They'll get over it, Annie. You've all spoiled them, but I don't believe they're vindictive. They'll come around."
"I hope so, Jud." A small sob caught in her throat as she added, "It will all be so pointless if they don't."
At her words he went taut, his arms tightening their hold.
"Annie!"
At that moment another loud crack of lightning knifed the sky, followed by a window-rattling roll of thunder. Cringing back against him, she closed her eyes with a shudder. His teasing laughter tickled her earlobe.
"Surely you're not afraid of storms, little girl?"
"No, of course not." Her answer was quick and emphatic. "It was just so close, it startled me. And I wish you wouldn't call me little girl."
"Why not?" he murmured against her ear. "You are little and you sure as hell are a girl."
His hands moved caressingly over her shoulders, down her arms, causing a chill to feather her spine, fire to lick her blood.
"Soft too." His lips moved maddeningly down her neck, and she gasped when his tongue slid lightly along the curve of her shoulder. "Taste good, too. No doubt about it. You are definitely a girl."
The earlier unpleasantness, the tension, her headache, all combined with a sudden onslaught of desire that left her trembling and teary. Shaken by the depth of her own hunger for him, she went stiff.
"Jud, you must stop this."
"Why must I stop?"
His hand moved from her arm, fingers bringing devastation as they slid across her collarbone, down the V of her dress.
"I don't want to stop, Anne, I want you and I think you want me too."
His confidence, his obvious experience against her total inexperience, made her wary. And with her caution came the bitter thought, He's getting everything he wants so easily that now he thinks he can have me easily as well. The very idea that he could think of her as easy quenched the fire in her veins. Bringing her hands up to grasp his arms, she pulled them apart, stepped away from him.
"You're mistaken, Jud," she said flatly, then barbed coldly as he moved toward her. "You're using me to get what you want in the firm. I won't let you use me physically as well."
Incredulity, followed by blazing anger, narrowed his eyes. In an oddly strained hoarse tone, he growled, "Use you? That isn't what I would have said, but never mind."
He turned abruptly and walked to the door; then with his hand on the knob he turned back and said coldly, "Don't worry, Anne. I won't bother you with my attentions again. And I hope you freeze in your empty bed."
The soft click of the door closing behind him sent a shaft of pure misery through Anne. Anyone coming along the hall and hearing his last words may have looked out of the window and been puzzled, for it was June—stormy, warm, and sticky. But Anne knew what he meant and she was very much afraid that his hope would be realized.
The following week was full of uncertainty and unhappiness for Anne. At the breakfast table Monday, Jud stated calmly that Anne was not to go into the office that week. Anne and Jud were alone in the dining room, as Margaret and Melly were not yet up and Troy and Todd had already left the house, presumably choosing to go without breakfast rather than sit at the table with Jud and Anne.
"Not go in?" Anne felt the first strings of uncertainty. "But why?"
"Anne," Jud sighed patiently, "I told you I want to do this as fast as possible and one assumes that every woman has things to do the week before her wedding."
"But this isn’t a normal wedding," Anne insisted rashly. "And I'm not the usual blushing bride."
Jud's eyes and tone went hard. "I know that. But no one else does, do they? You agreed yesterday to play this to the hilt. Have you changed your mind since then?"
Her uncertainty deepened at the sharp edge to his voice and with surprise she realized he was very, very angry. But why? Did his anger stem from frustration at being rejected the night before? Not wanting to even think about that, Anne answered quickly.
"No, I haven't, but I don't see what that has to do with—"
Her words faltered when he pushed his chair back angrily and stood up. Looking down at her coldly, he seemed to tower over her and unconsciously Anne shrank back against her chair. His eyes and face mirrored his scorn and he grated, "Relax, I'm not going to touch you, and I have no time to stay here arguing with you, either. I have a lot to do this week if I'm going to be out of the office next week."
"Out of the office," she repeated in astonishment. But why?"
Apparently his patience had reached the end of its tether.
"If you can refrain from interrupting," he snapped, "I will explain why."
Speechless for the moment, Anne nodded mutely.
"I would like to have the ceremony Sunday." He paused, then added sarcastically, "If that meets with your approval?"
Again the mute nod.
"Very well. I would also like to leave for New York immediately after the ceremony, as I have several appointments there next week I can't miss. Are you with me so far?"
Uncertainty was being nudged aside by his condescending tone, and Anne hissed, "Yes."
"Good," he rapped back. "I want you to meet me for lunch at one at the Elegant Spoon. While we eat I'll outline the arrangements I've made to that point. All right?"
Anne nodded angrily.
"Okay. Now, if you'll excuse me," he jibed nastily, "I have work to do."
He strode from the room and Anne sat perfectly still for several minutes, her hands clenched into tight fists. Who in the hell did he think he was? she fumed. The memory of his cool voice taunted, "The Boss."
* * * *
Her anger still a fierce glow inside, Anne met Jud at the restaurant. The anger was soon coupled with amazement as, forcing food down her throat, she heard him tick off the arrangements he'd made during the morning. Every
thing was taken care of, he told her smoothly, ignoring the warning flash in her eyes, from their stop directly after lunch at the license bureau, on through the name of the district justice who would perform the ceremony and the time of their flight to New York afterward.
Anne's mind latched onto the last of his plans.
"I'm to go with you to New York?"
Jud opened his mouth, then closed it again with a snap, glancing around the well-filled room as if suddenly aware of where he was. White lines of anger tinting his lips, he drew a long, deliberate breath through nostrils flaring in fury.
"Of course you're to go with me, you fool. By then you will be my wife."
Reaching across the table he grasped her hand painfully and, although his voice was low, none of its fierceness was lost.
"My God, woman, how would it look if I left you alone on our wedding night? Will you start thinking, please?"
His attitude toward her the rest of that afternoon was one of cool, withdrawn politeness. In growing wonder Anne observed the deference Jud was accorded wherever they went and the speed with which his smallest request was carried out. She had had no idea he had so many friends, and in such high places. It became increasingly obvious to her that as far as Jud was concerned, when he set a ball in motion, that object damned well better roll, and smoothly. For herself Anne was beginning to feel as if it were rolling over her, somewhat in the manner of an avalanche.
By the time Anne slid into bed that night, the bemusement and wonder that had kept her quiet and docile all afternoon began to burn off, leaving in its wake a residue of cold resentment.
Other than the actual day of their marriage, she had not been consulted at all about the other arrangements, she thought furiously. And if she was not to go to the office, exactly what was she to do with the rest of the week? Twiddle her thumbs like a good little girl? Bump him, she decided scathingly. She damned well would go to the office, and just let him try and send her home again. The decision made, Anne rolled over and went to sleep.
Her rest deep and undisturbed for once by nightmares, Anne woke refreshed and prepared to face any obstacle the day might bring, including Judson Cammeron.
