Terms of a Texas Marriage

by Lauren Canan

  “Hey, Dad? Do you think she likes us?”

  “Oh, I’m sure she does, son,” he lied.

  * * *

  Shea was standing next to a big Appaloosa and a portable medic unit writing something on a form attached to a clipboard when Alec and Scotty walked into the paddock area near the main barn. The tension in her carriage was obvious. He was tempted to step over and give her shoulders a quick massage, but immediately decided against it. The last thing he needed was to get so close to temptation.

  “What are you gonna do?” Scotty asked her, his eyes wide and curious.

  “I gave him a shot that’ll help keep him healthy,” she explained simply. She patted the horse’s shoulder. “Okay, Jason, take him away.”

  After making some additional notations she turned her attention back to Scotty. “Have you ever seen a horse get shoes?”

  Scotty shook his head.

  “No? Then, come with me.”

  Alec followed as they walked to the north end of the barn where a blacksmith had set up his rig for shoeing horses. The clang of his hammer rang out through the late afternoon calm. Alec stood slightly to the side, content to watch the interaction between Shea and his son. It appeared they already were bonding, a fact that both surprised and intrigued him.

  “This is Charlie.” She nodded toward the burly man dressed in a sleeveless shirt and jeans. A faded red bandana tied around his forehead kept the sweat from his eyes.

  “What’s he doing?”

  “He’s making a shoe for one of the horses.” Smiling at Scotty, she selected a metal horseshoe from the trailer, handed it to him. Scotty held it as though it were made of gold.

  “Each horse has different size feet, just like people do. Charlie selects a shoe close to the size of a horse’s hoof, then heats the metal so when he beats it with the hammer it will change the shape a little bit until it fits. Then he cools it and nails it on.”

  “Doesn’t it hurt?”

  “Nope. He uses special nails. The horse can’t feel a thing.”

  Scotty looked again at the metal shoe, then held it out to Shea.

  “Keep it,” she said. “Hang it on a wall in your room. Like this.” She turned the metal shoe around so that it formed the shape of a cup. “It will catch good luck.” Fascinated, Scotty smiled up at her. He took a few steps in Charlie’s direction before stopping and looking back at Shea and his father.

  “It’s okay, son.” Alec assured him. “You can go over and talk to Charlie. Just don’t get too close to the horses.”

  He hesitated only a few seconds before walking over, proudly holding his horseshoe with both hands.

  Alec was moved by the gentleness and attention she’d shown Scotty. It was something he hadn’t anticipated. There was no hidden agenda he could see. Unlike some women, she certainly wasn’t doing it to impress him. She seemed genuine, as though she not only enjoyed teaching Scott about the things in her world, but she honestly liked Scotty, as well. And his son seemed equally fond of her.

  She glanced at Alec as she walked past to return to the medic unit.

  “Thanks,” he felt obliged to say.

  She frowned. “For what?”

  “For taking the time for Scotty.”

  She shrugged it off. “I like kids. He’s a sweetie. There’s no point in making him feel unwelcome. But you brought him. He’s your son. Your responsibility. If he gets hurt, it’s on you.”

  With that, she picked up the clipboard and began to check her data.

  “How many cattle do you have?” Alec asked, glancing beyond the barn at the distant hills.

  “On average the Bar H runs about three thousand head.” She turned to him, her captivating eyes moving over his face. “The number, of course, drops after we ship in the fall, but is reestablished the first of the year when the calving begins.”

  “Shea?” Hank called from the doorway. “Where do you want Shonie?” He led a large painted gelding into the area.

  “Bring him over here,” Shea instructed, setting the clipboard aside.

  “Is there something I can do to help?” Alec wanted something to keep his mind occupied, his hands busy. In the short time he’d been back, his body already had begun responding to her.

  His question appeared to take Shea by surprise. “Have you ever been around horses?”

  “Some.”

  “I’ve got eight more to check.” She looked down the hallway. “The stalls are numbered. I’ll need to see the ones in eight, twelve and fifteen next. Their halters, with leads attached, are hanging on the doors.”

  Finding the correct stall, Alec slipped the halter over the head of a docile mare and led her out of the barn.

  Shea took the lead from his hands. “She’s no problem. I can handle her by myself. While I check her out, go ahead and get Ransom. Number twelve.”

  She was just finishing with the mare when Alec arrived with the spirited bay gelding. The feisty animal nickered playfully and attempted to rub his head against Alec’s shoulder.

  “You seem to have made a friend.”

  “You sound surprised,” he noted, turning to rub the neck of the striking animal. He appreciated quality and this big gelding reeked of good breeding, as did most of the horses he’d seen here.

  “I am. Hold him here while I take Essie to Charlie. Her shoes need replacing.”

  * * *

  On the horizon, fiery remnants of red and gold accented the darkening sky as Shea checked the last of the horses. When she brought the final one around the corner of the barn, she was surprised to see Scotty perched on top of one of the trail horses tied securely to the fence. Frowning, she looked at Alec, who stood next to the child.

  “He’s fine.” Alec assured her, as though reading her mind. “Having the time of his life.” His booted foot was propped on the lower rail of the fence, his jeans hugging his muscular legs and hips. His arms rested easily on the top rail. He looked lean and strong. She swallowed hard, fighting back the insane desire to walk over and step into his arms.

  “I’m beat.” She could hear the tiredness in her own voice, no doubt the cause of her temporary insanity. “I’ll see you back at the house.”

  Alec nodded before she turned and headed toward the house. She refused to let her mind dwell on the night ahead and the possibilities it could hold. Entering through the kitchen door, she walked to the stairs and made it as far as the second-floor landing when she saw the open door at the end of the hall.

  The master bedroom.

  She stopped in her tracks.

  The new furniture had been delivered, the bed prepared with clean linens and the door closed. It had remained closed—until today. Until Alec returned and opened it. Now it taunted her, dared her to enter and face the moment of truth.

  She clenched her hands at her sides, fighting her growing panic. She turned and almost flew down the stairs.

  Alec and Scotty were just coming in the door when Shea reached the kitchen. She grabbed her car keys and a manila folder containing information Leona had asked for a month ago.

  “I’ll be back,” she muttered.

  “Mind if I ask where you’re going?”

  “Um...I’ve got to take some records over to Leona.”

  Without waiting for any further comment, she quickly walked out the door.

  * * *

  The house was quiet when Shea stepped into the kitchen much later. Closing the door behind her, she dropped the car keys onto the counter and walked toward the stairs.

  “Have a good visit?”

  “Oh!” She spun around in the direction of Alec’s voice. “You startled me.” She clutched the neckline of her shirt.

  “Sorry.” He stepped out of the shadows. “I came down to get some water and heard you drive up. What are y
ou doing back here?”

  “I live here?”

  He shrugged. “I just didn’t think you’d come back tonight.”

  He didn’t know how close he was to the truth.

  Or maybe he did.

  He was clad only in jeans, the ripple of hard muscle in his arms and chest apparent even in the semidarkness. She could sense the pure male aura that always seemed to surround him.

  “Did Scotty settle in all right?”

  “It took a while, but he’s asleep.”

  Shea gave him a strained smile, nodded and together they climbed the stairs. When she stopped in front of the door to the bathroom, he proceeded down the hall without another word.

  Stripping off her dirty clothes, she turned on the shower, stepped under the fine spray and let the hot water massage away the stress running rampant through her body. But she knew it would take more than hot water to make her relax. Alec had to go. Finding a way to make him leave was imperative and she had to do it quickly. She turned off the water and stepped out of the shower.

  Her arm was tender from the bashing she’d taken from Bonnie Blue earlier. A large, reddish-purple bruise had begun to appear over much of her shoulder and upper arm. She carefully donned a worn-but-comfortable cotton T-shirt. After drying her hair, she applied moisturizer and brushed her teeth. With nothing more to keep her in the bathroom, she swallowed her trepidation and opened the door.

  Two steps down the hall in the direction of the master bedroom, her feet suddenly reversed direction. Vivid in her mind’s eye was the picture of lying in the bed, Alec’s hands and mouth caressing her body, preparing her, priming her for the sex to follow. While she couldn’t argue he oozed sex appeal, he was still a stranger: a cold man whose sole reason for being here was to take away her home.

  Quickly, she made her way to her old bedroom, and quietly closed the door. With any luck, Alec would be asleep and never notice her absence. She pulled back the covers and climbed into bed.

  She lay still, hopeful, watching the shadows from the leaves on the tree outside her window dance on the ceiling. She was so tired. Slowly, the tension began to leave, her muscles relaxed, and she closed her eyes and let sleep overtake her.

  She was floating. Yet she could feel an iron brace holding her firmly against tremendous warmth. Groggily, she blinked open her eyes. She was being carried. Instantly she was awake, and just as quickly, she knew who was carrying her and where they were going.

  Seconds later, Alec placed her on the large new bed. Before she could scramble away, he leaned over and placed his hands on either side of her, effectively preventing her escape.

  “I told you in the beginning, you will sleep in my bed.” She could hear the annoyance in his voice. “Unless you want to start packing right now, you’d better learn to deal with it.”

  Slowly he stood over her and Shea scurried to the far edge of the mattress, eyeing him with apprehension. He frowned, resting his hands on his hips.

  “Where’s your ring?”

  The question threw her. “What ring?”

  His mouth quirked. “Your wedding ring. Remember the little ceremony when you promised to love, honor and obey?”

  “It’s over there—” she nodded toward the dresser, deciding to ignore his taunt “—in that little box. I...didn’t want to wear it while I worked in the barn.”

  He walked to the dresser and took the ring out of the case and then came back to the bed.

  “Give me your hand.”

  With a grimace, she extended her left hand and he slipped the sparkling wedding band onto her third finger.

  “Leave it on.”

  Without another word, he unzipped his jeans. Shea turned away, hugging the far side of the bed as close to the edge as she could get. He turned off the light and she felt the mattress shifting to accommodate his large frame. Then his heavy arm slid around her waist as he settled next to her.

  “I missed you, Mrs. Morreston.” His breath was warm against her ear, his voice deep and sexy. “I missed kissing you.”

  “Leave me alone.”

  “Remind me of what I missed.”

  “No.” She tried to push his arm away, but her efforts were futile.

  Alec’s hand settled gently on her shoulder to turn her onto her back. She couldn’t hold back a cry of pain when he touched the bruised area. He immediately released her. There was a faint movement and then light shattered the darkness.

  “Let me see your shoulder. Take off your T-shirt.”

  She sat up. “It’s nothing. Just a bruise.”

  “Now.”

  “No.”

  “Either you take it off or I will.”

  The hard lines of his face contained no sympathy, only determination. But she faced him with equal strength of purpose. “You have no right to make that demand. Nothing in the contract gives you the right. If I want to cut off my nose it’s none of your concern.”

  “Does everything have to be a battle with you?”

  She clamped her mouth shut and glared. He was about the most demanding man she’d ever met. Nothing in those rich golden eyes and handsome features showed the tiniest indication he would relent.

  “I want to look at your shoulder,” he stated evenly. “If you don’t want me to see, then get dressed and I’ll take you to the emergency room and have a doctor check it out. But I’m not going to ignore the fact that you’re injured.”

  She searched his face, looking for any way to pierce the armor of his resolve. Finding none, she turned away from him and eased the injured arm out of the sleeve. Raising the tail of the shirt over her shoulder, she refused to meet his eyes.

  Alec inspected her arm with a muttered curse. “You damn near broke your arm. You could have a fracture. I think you need to have it x-rayed. Why the hell didn’t you say something?”

  “I... It’s not that bad.” She shrugged. “It’s not any more painful than being forced to live with you.”

  She heard him sigh. “What are you afraid of, Shea?” His raspy voice was compelling, tuning her senses to his every word. “I can feel you respond to me. I know my touch doesn’t repulse you. Surely you’ve had sex before?”

  Her head shot up, and she spun around on the bed to face him, pushing her arm back through the sleeve while glaring at him for his audacity. “I’ve made love before. To someone I knew and cared for very much.” He watched her intently, his golden eyes again reminding her of a predator amusing himself with his prey while deciding if he was hungry. She turned away from his scrutiny. “I don’t know you. And I certainly don’t care for you.”

  He reached out, his fingers grasping her chin, turning her to him. His eyes held her there. “I have no intention of remaining celibate during our marriage. It’ll be easier if you try to accept that. Accept me. The sooner you come to terms with it, the better off you’ll be. Or you always have the option of leaving and bringing this craziness to an end.”

  Wrenching her chin from his grasp, she tried to swallow the feeling of doom welling in her throat. “I’m not going anywhere. Why don’t you go visit one of your lady friends? I’m sure there must be one out there somewhere who isn’t completely repulsed. Hell, you supposedly have money. Go buy one.”

  “Why would I do that when I already have a beautiful, desirable woman in my bed?”

  He reached out to switch off the small table lamp, and she noted again his wide shoulders and large biceps. His bronzed skin gleamed in startling contrast to the white linens that barely covered his hips. She swallowed hard.

  The light went out and the mattress shifted as he lay back.

  “How long has it been, Shea?”

  She jerked her head around to stare at him, even though now all she saw was a silhouette in the darkened room.

  “How long has it been since a man held
you in his arms, touched you...took you to the edge...made you crazy with wanting...then gave you release?”

  His deep, throaty voice sent shivers down her spine.

  “That’s none of your business!” she snapped, her voice sounding hoarse to her own ears. His words planted images in her mind she didn’t want to see.

  “On the contrary, as your husband I think it’s expressly my business.”

  “Think what you want.” She was not about to discuss her sex life—or the lack of one—with him; she refused to give him any more ammunition. She lay down, facing away from him and adjusted her pillow.

  “Why are you afraid of me?”

  “I’m not.”

  He was still for so long, she found herself holding her breath in expectation of what he might do. But he made no further attempt to touch her or harass her. Shea lay very still, staring out into the darkness.

  A man with Alec’s experience would recognize the battle that raged within her every time he came close. She was painfully aware of her limited ability to withstand his sexual magnetism. She’d only ever been with one man and that experience was nothing close to what Alec’s words described. His voice, his devastating good looks topped with his apparent expertise in bed made her traitorous body crave his touch. But common sense told her he would use her to his own end. Moreover, his tactics would be as low and cutthroat as he deemed necessary to prevail in this war of wills. She had to hold on.

  The sounds of the night closed in around her. A distant rumble of thunder echoed the turbulence in her mind. Sleep, when it finally came, was uneasy. Visions swirled around in her head. The ranch, encased in a fog, began to disappear while the thunder rumbled overhead. Powerless to stop it, she cried out. Then she sensed comforting warmth surrounding her, holding her close and protected. The dream faded, and she knew peace.

  * * *

  Alec held the innocent warmth of her body against the ache of his own. The last time he’d held a woman—just held her—had been too long ago to remember. With other women, there was no reason to stay after their needs had been satisfied, and certainly no desire to hold them as they slept.