by Cora Seton
He felt as if the ground was sliding beneath his feet. As if all the walls that ever held him in gave way at once, leaving him surrounded by a world of possibilities. Freed from a lifetime of his family's strictures, Morgan's words left his future open wide. "That's the best gift you could ever give me," he said gruffly. "I'll build you that winery. I'll get you that money."
"And I'll help you do whatever you decide to do."
"Let's have lots of babies together," he said, leaning forward to brush a kiss across her cheek.
She nodded, her eyes shining. "Hold on, just a minute." She got to her feet and moved first to the kitchen, then into her bedroom. Rob waited for her, secure in his soul for the first time in his memory that everything he was doing was exactly right.
Who would have guessed when he got on that plane that his life would change like this? Could it be only twenty-four hours ago that he was back in Montana, stuck, miserable…?
When she came back she held candles that she lit and put on the narrow coffee table.
"You kneel there," she said, pointing to one side. "Put the ring there." He did what she told him, placing it on the glass surface, curious to see what she'd do next.
She took a position on the other side, and set another ring in front of her. It looked old and tarnished, definitely meant for a man.
"My mother gave me a box of jewelry last year, some things she'd inherited but didn't use. This was one of them. I always liked it." She picked it up and took his hand. In the candle-light, she looked lovely – intent and radiant. "Rob Matheson, I promise right now to bind my life to yours, forever and always, to love you, honor you, respect you, and build a life by your side. I make this pledge now…" She trailed off uncertainly.
Rob picked up the thread. "In the presence of God?" he said softly. He felt like God was here in this room. Nothing he'd ever done had felt this right.
"In the presence of God," Morgan echoed. "Forever and ever, amen." She threaded the ring onto his finger.
Rob picked up the engagement ring Rose Bellingham had helped him choose this afternoon, with many assurances he was following the right path. This darkened, quiet living room was a far cry from the bustling chrome and glass interior of the little shop in the middle of Chance Creek.
"Morgan Tate, I promise right now to bind my life to yours, forever and always, to love you, honor you, cherish you and build a life by your side. I make this pledge in the presence of God. Forever and ever, amen."
He slid the ring onto her finger.
As he stared across the table, the candles guttering between them, Rob was positive he'd spun his life on its axis and it would never be the same again. He pulled her to stand, tugged her around the table, and bent to seal the bargain with a kiss.
Yes, he would choose to love this woman. He would choose to love her right now.
* * * * *
Morgan ran her fingers through her hair and checked her reflection in the mirror, gathering the courage to leave the washroom and return to the bedroom where Rob waited for her. She still felt like she was walking on air. Her own body didn't seem to belong to her. Instead it hummed and tingled and her heart beat fit to burst right out of her chest.
She had no idea what impulse made her fetch the ring and conduct her own quasi-wedding ceremony in the drab little living room of her apartment.
Of course it hadn't felt drab with the candles lit and Rob staring across the coffee table from her. It had felt magical. It still did.
And now she was going to make love to the man she'd spend the rest of her life with.
An idea that both thrilled and terrified her.
It had been a long time since she'd been with a man. A really, really long time.
And she wasn't entirely sure she should be with a man now. Hadn't she told herself she'd wait until her wedding night before she had sex again? She hesitated, staring at her reflection. Wasn't being engaged good enough? She'd promised to marry him, and he'd promised it, too.
She wanted to know what making love to Rob would be like. She'd waited long enough. Smiling, she opened the bathroom door, made her way to the bedroom and found Rob under the covers, leaning back against the headboard of her queen-sized bed.
"Thought you'd never get here." He grinned and her heart did a little flip.
"Sorry." She sat down on the end of the bed, and played with the coverlet. She was wearing a plain blue satin short nightie with spaghetti straps. She wished she'd had something sexier, but since she hadn't been with a man in such a long time, she…didn't.
"Come on over here. Let me get a better look at you." He took her hand and gently tugged it. She slid onto the bed and made her way closer to him. When he drew her into his arms, she sighed and accepted his kiss eagerly.
Soon he was ready for more, however. And when he slid her down onto her back and moved a hand up to her breast, her heart began to pound again. Was she ready for this – right now?
What if Rob changed his mind about getting married?
What if this was one of his jokes, after all?
She blocked his hand with her own, covering up the movement by lifting it to her mouth and kissing his palm. He moved it away and kissed her again, but just as she relaxed and focused on the taste of him, he slid his hand down to her neckline once more, tugging the thin cloth to the side to expose her breast to view. He pulled back, smiled in appreciation, and bent to take it into his mouth.
Morgan stiffened, and when he grazed her nipple with his tongue, she surged up and pushed him away. She hopped off the bed, gripping the nightie to her.
"What…hey – what's wrong?" Rob sat up, too, ready to come after her.
Morgan held out a hand to stop him. "I'm sorry. I'm not ready for this. I…can't."
Rob leaned back. "Are you kidding me?"
"No. I just…I thought…" She shook her head in confusion. Sliding out of bed, she grabbed a robe from a hook on the back of her door, but he scrambled out of the bed and stopped her before she could reach for the handle and escape into the living room.
"Hold on. What's happening? You can't walk out on me without an explanation."
"We're not married yet." She hesitated, trying desperately to keep her gaze above his waist. She should have told him earlier about her vow. He was right – this wasn't fair, but she hadn't expected to still feel this way. "I don't believe in sex before marriage," she blurted, afraid if she didn't, she'd lose her nerve.
He stopped in his tracks. "Are you saying you're a virgin?"
Now she had his attention, she thought wryly. "No. I'm not a virgin. I didn't always have this attitude toward sex, but some years back I had a…scare. And the man involved was the last man I'd pick to raise a child with. I realized I had to stop fooling around, so to speak."
Rob didn't smile at her little joke. In fact, he looked downright angry. "How long's it been since you've done it?"
She felt her cheeks heat. "About five years."
"Five years?" Now he was shocked. And her neighbors knew the length of her dry spell, too, since he'd practically shouted the words.
"It's been a while," she acknowledged curtly. She felt like she'd been caught doing something perverse, instead of the opposite. Why should she have to feel bad about abstaining? She held the moral high ground. Didn't she?
Rob cocked his head, relaxing a little. "Is this about your mother?"
Damn. Nailed it right on the nose. "Yes. It's about Aria. I grew up hearing how much my birth screwed up everyone's lives. I won't do that to a child."
"But you just told me you wanted to get pregnant. You said you wanted a baby," Rob said, moving closer. "How exactly am I supposed to get that done if we don't have sex?"
"You can get that done on our wedding night." She couldn't believe him. Was he really trying to use her desire for a child to seduce her?
"Meanwhile, you want us to keep our distance." He began to advance on her again, and she was all too aware of a certain part of his anatomy. Evidently it hadn't gotten the news that
there wouldn't be any under-the-sheets celebrations tonight.
Although…
"We can still fool around," she heard herself say as he pulled her back into his arms. He bent down and scraped a kiss across her jaw. "I think that's only natural." Her voice faltered as he nipped her earlobe.
"Oh, yeah?" Rob straightened. So did that certain piece of his anatomy she was trying so hard to ignore. "How much fooling around do you think is okay to do?" He pulled her in tighter.
Morgan laughed breathlessly. "As much as it takes."
He brushed another kiss over her forehead. "I'm up for fooling around."
Boy, was he. She scooted away, putting a few inches between them. "I'm serious, though, Rob. If you so much as try to go farther than the limits I've set, I'll tell you to leave and I'll mean it. It's hard enough sticking to my guns without you pressuring me."
"Do you find it hard to stick to your guns?" He edged closer again.
"Only around you," she said.
A smile curved his mouth. "That's what I like to hear."
"So you think you can get this done without going all the way?" she pushed.
He grinned and her heart gave a funny flip-flop. Damn, he was handsome. Damn, she wanted him.
"Probably can think of something. But about that wedding…"
"Yes?" Now that they'd settled matters she couldn't wait to feel his touch again.
"Let's get hitched tomorrow." He cupped her ass and pulled her in tight.
"You got it, cowboy," she said with a happy sigh.
CHAPTER FOUR
Had he ever wanted a woman as much as he wanted Morgan? Rob didn't think so. As he laid her back on the bed and fumbled with her nightie, he found that his fingers were trembling. He felt like he'd slipped downstairs early on Christmas morning and found all the presents he'd asked for under the tree. He couldn't wait to see her – all of her – as soon as he got rid of this stupid piece of satin.
Morgan seemed as eager to unwrap him. She reached for his buttons, but he was ahead of her. He shucked off his shirt and groaned with pleasure as she trailed kisses down his neck and chest.
"How the hell do you get this thing off," he growled in frustration, turning back to the nightie, ready to tear it off of her.
Morgan laughed, pushed his fingers away and made short work of stripping it up over her head.
The sound that came from his throat was half animal and all desire. He swept down to sweep his tongue around one full nipple and Morgan arched back with a little gasp. That was all the invitation he needed. Hunger growing inside him, he cupped her breasts and lavished them with attention.
He'd heard what she said, and he wouldn't push her boundaries, but otherwise all bets were off. He intended to show Morgan what he could do beneath the sheets, and meant to leave them both craving their wedding night. Nothing wrong with a little anticipation, and nothing wrong with a little fulfillment in the meantime. He was prepared to fulfill her every carnal wish.
Morgan slid her hands down his back as he took first one breast and then the other into his mouth. When Morgan cupped his ass and squeezed, he groaned aloud.
He wriggled lower, swooping kisses across her belly, running hands down her sides to curve over her hips. When he knew she was aching for a more intimate touch, he reached down and traced a finger over her folds. Morgan stiffened again.
"Shhh," he whispered into her belly. "I know the rules." With a hand on either side of her waist, he pushed himself up and kneed her legs apart, but instead of bending down then to minister to her, he sat back and gazed at her instead. He'd longed for weeks to see her like this, naked and disheveled, waiting for him, and he wanted to drink in the view.
After a moment she wriggled. "What are you doing?"
He knew what it cost her to bare herself to him this way, but that was what they'd promised each other out in the living room; that they would choose to love each other. Choose to make a life together.
Choose to give themselves to the other heart and soul.
"Looking at you." Morgan stared back at him, tense but aroused, too, judging by her flushed face and parted lips. "You're beautiful," he assured her. "I could look at you all night."
A smile curved her lips that was nearly irresistible. Every fiber in his body tugged at him to lean forward – to cross the divide between them and touch her.
Make love to her.
Still, he held back, and not out of a fear that he wouldn't be able to restrain himself once he did touch her. Rob wanted to see this woman he was pairing his life with. He wanted to know all of her. He'd never done this before; just sat and…looked.
"You're scaring me," Morgan whispered finally.
He shook his head. "You have no idea what you do to me."
"Show me."
It was almost a whimper, and the thought of his fiancée waiting for his touch – longing for it – finally propelled him to action.
As he bent to touch his mouth to her core, Rob had the feeling that marrying Morgan would be the easiest thing he ever did.
* * * * *
When Rob's mouth touched her, Morgan very nearly came undone right then and there. She'd had no idea how much she ached for him, until he began his sensual attack. His tongue was sweet agony, and she gripped the bedspread to keep from thrashing under his attention. She wanted him inside her more than she'd ever wanted anything in her life. Only the promise she'd kept for so long held her back.
What would their wedding night be like? Would they try to conceive right away? She knew one thing; she'd gladly make love to him then. She could barely restrain herself now. As Rob moved his tongue farther into her folds, she moaned aloud. He paused, and she let go of the coverlet and wrapped her hands in his hair. "Don't stop," she cried, and he chuckled but resumed. Licking, touching, he slipped his hands beneath her ass and squeezed, crushing her against his mouth.
With a cry, Morgan went over the edge, bucking against him, shuddering with pleasure again and again until finally she was spent.
He kissed her thighs, brushed his mouth over her sensitive mound and propped himself on his elbows, the better to see her face. Morgan covered her eyes with her hands. "Sorry," she said. "I meant to wait for you."
He slid up beside her and nudged her hands away. "I liked watching you come."
Heat surged into her cheeks. No man had ever done what he'd done before – simply sat back and looked at her – all of her – for so long. At first she hadn't liked it; she felt stripped of every defense she had along with her clothes, but as the moments ticked by, she'd understood what Rob was feeling. His desire for her and his wonder at her body bathed her in warmth until she hummed with anticipation of the acts to come. She hoped he loved to watch her as much in ten years as he did now. She hoped their marriage stayed passionate.
But right now, she wanted to get a better look at him. "Your turn now," she said, pushing him down on the bed.
"If you insist."
CHAPTER FIVE
The next morning, Rob called his father's cell phone as he watched Morgan grab a box of fiber cereal from her barren cupboards and a small carton of one percent milk from the fridge. Yuck. That was her idea of breakfast?
"Rob? Where the hell are you?" Holt said. "It's past time for chores." Behind him, cattle lowed and bawled. He must be right among the herd.
"I know. I'm…out of town. Actually I'm out of the country."
"Out of the country? What the hell does that mean?"
"I'm in Canada – with Morgan. I've got some news." Rob grinned when Morgan lifted her head and smiled tentatively at him. "Dad, just listen, will you? I'm getting married."
He held his breath. From the look of things, Morgan was holding hers, too.
"Married."
"That's right, married," he said. "To Morgan Tate, Ethan and Claire's half-sister. I'm in Victoria right now. Last night she agreed to be my wife." He flashed her a thumb's up.
"You're marrying that whore's daughter?"
R
ob jerked and spun on his heel, striding to the far side of the living room, afraid Morgan might be able to hear his father's words. "Dad. That's no way to talk…"
"I'm calling it like I see it. If my wife ran around like Aria Cruz did, she'd see the backside of my hand. I certainly wouldn't hitch my wagon to a filly whose mare was that kind of wild." Holt was breathing hard, probably walking back to the barn or the house, to get away from the noise of the cattle.
"For God's sake." After a furtive look in Morgan's direction, Rob paced to the bedroom and shut the door behind him. "First of all, I never want to hear you speak about my wife or my wife's family like that again. Second of all, it's no fault of Morgan's if her parents' marriage was less than perfect. My parents' marriage ain't all sunshine and roses, either."
"You done?" Holt growled.
"For now," Rob growled right back. "If I think of anything else, I'll let you know."
"When's this so-called wedding?"
"Tonight if I can swing it. Tomorrow or the next day if I can't. We haven't figured out what it takes to get a civil marriage yet."
"Civil marriage? A civil marriage ain't going to do you any good. You want the land I told you about, you'll get married right here on our lawn."
"But…"
"But what? You afraid if she has to wait a month or two, she'll lose interest? Or are you paying her to marry you? You get a divorce, I'll expect that land back, you hear me? Should have known the first thing you'd do is pull off some joke."
Rob's anger surged. "I'm not joking, and we planned a civil wedding because we were in a hurry. And yeah, part of that hurry is I'm afraid Jake or Ned will beat me to it and grab that land. I don't trust you to keep your word."
He wondered if he'd gone too far. Holt had many faults, but he considered himself to be an honorable man.
"I won't go back on my word as long as the marriage is real. You bring back that girl of yours and you stand up before our family and friends and pledge your vows, and I'll give you the land then and there. But if I think you're playing a trick, the whole thing's off."
