But something about Aidan touched her. He made her feel things. She felt so conflicted. She wanted him. But why? Was it the memory of the handsome man who did not hesitate to rescue a damsel in distress down by the creek? Or was it something more primal—the simple biology between a man and a woman.
She wished she had the answer. It might make it easier to understand these feelings she hoped would go away. Aidan made it clear he didn’t want her or their marriage. And tonight, what would take place between them wasn’t about his feelings for her. He wasn’t going to make love to her. He was putting the seal on the deal between their papas. It was about consummating a marriage that neither of them wanted, but both of them were depending on. She had better remember that, or her heart would pay the price.
Aidan turned off the single lamp sitting on the wooden nightstand next to his side of the bed. The darkness engulfed them. Maura felt the mattress sink beneath his weight. She turned on her side and waited for Aidan to lead. Her heart hiccupped in her chest pumping dampness to her core.
Aidan lay down on the bed next to her. His warmth caressed her body, making her feel weak and needy. But, he didn’t move.
She waited. Perhaps he was giving her time to relax before he approached her. After all, they were strangers.
The room was still and quiet. Maura turned her head to listen. Should she say something to her groom?
“Aidan? Are you okay?”
A soft snore vibrated through the darkness, and she knew he had fallen asleep. “That’s just as well.” Maura sighed and turned toward the wall and snuggled deep into the layers of blankets. It was deep into summer, but the mountain air was always cool year round.
Maura was drifting off to sleep when a hand traced her curves hidden under the soft bedsheets. Then, it drifted up her thigh, across the curve of her hip, into the hollow of her waist, up her arm, and over her shoulder.
Aidan's strong fingers pressed into her neck and pulled her closer to him. Their bodies touched, and his desire was evident against her belly.
“I—thought you were asleep.” It sounded lame even to her own ears.
“I was. But now I’m awake.” His masculine voice vibrated against her in the darkness of their bedroom.
She tried to relax. She wanted to relax. But this was all new to her, and as much as she wanted to enjoy this night, she was inexperienced. She was certain it showed.
Aidan kissed her on her lips. He was surprisingly gentle. His feather-light touch ignited a fire inside her. Ripples of desire coursed over her skin.
She raked her fingernails down his naked chest, tracing the ridges of his muscles. Her heartbeat stumbled a bit when she touched his rigid nipple. Curious if the other felt the same, she reached beneath him. He rolled to give her access. She was satisfied to know it did. Feel the same.
He pulled her closer, his hands cupping the cheeks of her bottom pulling her tight against him.
Instincts drove her forward, and any inhibitions she may have had disappeared in the waves of her passion. She slid her hand up and down his taunt stomach. Her breath caught when his whisper reached out to her in the dark.
"Ah, Maura. What are you doing to me?" Aidan groaned in her ear. He took her lips in a kiss that melted her core into a molten flow of need.
His lips traced the curve of her neck to her shoulder. The closer he got to her breasts, the more her core wept.
Anticipation was nothing compared to the actuality of his lips on her breasts. He stroked his hot tongue over each nipple.
"Do you like that, Maura?”
"Yes," she whispered.
He was half on top of her, resting the majority of his weight on the bed and his right elbow while his left hand worked its magic on her body.
"What about this?" he asked, his hot breath blowing along the wet trail he had just created with his wicked tongue.
Finally, Aidan rolled over her, bearing most of his weight on his arms. A thin sliver of moon glimmered through the lace curtains in the window, just enough she could see the sparkle of his eyes.
But when she heard his next words, she knew she might be in trouble.
"I will do my best to make this as painless for you as possible."
Maura knew what he was referring to. She lay back in the bed and stared at the ceiling, her nervous fingers picking at the lace on the sheet. Perhaps she should have told him.
Chapter Ten
Aidan was exhausted and content to lay under the covers with Maura's warm body next to his. That is, until his mind began to wander.
Something had niggled at his brain while he consummated his new marriage. Something just outside his conscious thought that did not line up with the facts as he knew them. It was the alcohol and passion that dulled his senses, allowing him to ignore his unease. But now, in dawn's early light, he could think more clearly. And the truth laid itself bare.
"Maura. Is there something you would like to tell me?" His words were clipped and sharp.
He felt her tense against him, but she didn't respond to his question nor did she move away.
He waited, his mind racing at the repercussions of his lapse in judgment.
"Maura." He pushed her off his chest into a sitting position. He no longer felt the emotional connection. She had lied to him, that much was clear.
Cautious, she rose over him, her naked breasts taunting him, but he wouldn't allow himself to be distracted this time.
He watched her raise her chin in defiance. She stared down at him with those treacherous Jackson green eyes.
"You cheated me," he accused.
She rolled off him, covering her body from view with the tangled sheets of their marriage bed.
"How the hell did I cheat you, Aidan? It seems to me you got as good as you gave."
"You lied. About being a virgin."
She had the nerve to laugh at him. "A virgin? Is that what this is about? Well, then I guess that makes us even. You obviously can't claim to be a virgin either." She threw the accusation back in his face.
He left their bed and jerked on his rumpled clothing from the night before. He faced her with every ounce of indignation he could muster. "That's ridiculous. Of course, I'm not a virgin."
"Then why is it you expected me to be one? I'm twenty-four years old, Aidan. Not exactly virginal material at this point." She was taunting him.
"You should have said something," he informed her.
"You should have asked," she countered.
Maura lay in the bed long after Aidan stomped out of the cabin. She thought there might be questions, but she never dreamed Aidan would be such a jerk about the fact she had been intimate before. It wasn't like she had a reputation for sleeping around. If he had given her half a chance, she would have told him about it. But, the man never bothered to ask.
Aidan acted as if she had trapped him into marriage under false pretenses. They knew why they were here, and they had both coming willingly. Well, maybe not totally willingly but neither of them had been forced. They had weighed their options and made their decision.
Maura needed a bath, but the little cabin was the original dwelling Aidan's great-grandfather built with no indoor plumbing. Was she expected to make the walk of shame to the big house to take a bath? She prayed not.
As if an answer to her prayer, a knock on the door signaled an unexpected visitor. The woman stuck her head inside the front door. “Good morning, Mrs. Langley.” Maura had seen her the day of the wedding. It was Nola, the great-niece of the Langley family's nanny-turned-housekeeper, Nessa.
"Good morning, Nola. I’m not exactly dressed for company.” Maura tucked herself behind the half open bedroom door.
“Oh, no. Of course not. I saw Aidan leave, so I thought it was safe to bring you a tub and hot water for a bath."
Maura started to step out in her bedsheets but saw two men carrying a tub and several buckets of hot water. She stepped back inside and called to Nola through the door. "Thank you so much for thinking of me."
"I broug
ht you and Aidan a breakfast tray. Since he seems to be already on the move, there will be plenty for you."
The aroma of food drifted through the open door. Maura realized she was starving.
"Thank you, Nola. I'm so grateful to you—"
"Nonsense. You are part of our family now. If there is anything at all you need—anything at all, you let me know."
Maura wanted to tell the friendly woman she probably wouldn’t still be on the Langley ranch by the end of the day once Aidan announced to the world her deception of not being a virgin. It was humiliating.
She heard the door close and then all was quiet. The aroma of the food enticed her out of the bedroom. She peeked her head around the door and saw the scrumptious tray loaded with food. All thoughts of her tantrum-throwing husband disappeared when Maura wrapped the sheet around her and settled herself at the table. Two pieces of fried bacon, two pancakes covered in maple syrup, a biscuit smothered in gravy, and the best coffee she had ever drunk later, Maura dropped the rumpled bedsheets and slipped beneath the hot water in the old tin bathtub in front of the fire in the living room. It was heaven.
She must have dozed off for a bit because the next thing she was aware of was a sense of someone watching her.
Aidan stood inside the door with a dog she assumed was his. He stood stock-still as if he were afraid to come further into the room. Her eyes met his. She knew that look, and she knew what he was thinking.
He might be beating his chest and crying foul to the world, but she read him like the open book he was. That was pure unadulterated lust in his eyes. And if the bulge behind the fly of his jeans was any indication, he wanted more of what she had to offer.
She was under no illusions when it came to Aidan Langley. He had no feelings of a loving nature toward her. No. Theirs was a business arrangement. But he most definitely had feelings of a carnal nature for her. And that's all it took to make a baby. Once she was pregnant with the heir apparent, then maybe they could reach an agreement of sorts. Perhaps they could live separate lives in peaceful harmony. She would help her momma with her herbs, and she would raise their child to be a fine human being. He could go back to doing whatever he’d been doing before this agreement changed their both their lives.
She watched him cast furtive glances at her naked body underneath the water. He wanted her, but he was wallowing in his male pride. Should she let him off the hook?
"I thought when you left you were gone for good. Did you…forget something, Aidan?"
He was most definitely flustered. "I forgot the keys—"
Maura chose that moment to stand in the tub, water sluicing from her body, running in rivulets down her stomach, her breasts, her legs.
"Can you hand me that towel on the chair, please? And would you mind putting another log on the fire? It's a bit chilly in here this morning."
He stood frozen in place by the door. He tried to look everywhere in the room but at her.
"Aidan? The towel. I'm freezing."
She waited for a second more and then stepped out of the tub, water soaking the braided rug on the floor.
Aidan rushed to give her the towel, making a fuss about the water on the rug. "That's my great-grandmother's braided rug, you know. She made that with her bare hands and rags from worn-out clothing—"
Maura took the towel from Aidan purposely brushing her fingers against his. Aidan was making a fuss about the rug, but she was certain it was not the priceless heirloom Aidan was making it out to be. It was a rug that had seen many decades of use and had proven itself quite durable.
“Aidan?” she wanted him to be honest with them both. Otherwise, this was going to be a long, lonely marriage.
And then, blue eyes met green. She held her breath, waiting to see what he would do. She could see the war he waged in his clear blue eyes. Would he give in to his baser needs or would he insist on playing the martyr again?
He turned away from her and walked to the front door. Disappointment hit her deep in her stomach. She had hoped—
Aidan opened the door, but instead of leaving, he ushered his dog outside. “Go on, Willow. Go find Nola. She’ll feed you some breakfast.” He closed the door behind the dog, and turned, the feral gaze in his eyes left her no doubt as to her new husband's intentions. Her woman’s core wept with anticipation.
He didn't waste words, and he wasn't gentle. But that was okay with Maura. She’d had a taste of her husband's passion last night, and as much as it pained her to admit it, she enjoyed his—company. And she had no intentions of pretending otherwise.
He picked her up and carried her to the bedroom, roughly depositing her in the middle of the bed. The bedsheets were lying on the living room floor where she’d left them.
There didn't seem to be any need for subterfuge. Last night, their sex was to consummate their marriage. They had done that in spades. Now, it seemed her husband was open to the fact his new wife wasn't virginal material, if the way he was looking at her was any indication. He wanted sex for the sake of the pure pleasure of it.
Aidan ripped off his shirt. She watched the buttons ricochet everywhere. He unzipped his pants, his hard gaze never leaving hers. She lay on the bed where he dropped her, watching the sensual scene before her unfold.
He shoved his pants from his body. He was magnificent. The fact he knew this was evident by his swagger toward her.
He wasted no time on niceties. There was no preamble. No foreplay. He covered her with his taut body and entered her. His blue eyes held her gaze. He withdrew and entered her again. He was punishing her. That's what this was about. He was exacting his pound of flesh for her supposed deception at not being a virgin.
Sensations at her core rose. She wanted to get lost in the moment and just let things happen. But she couldn't. She hadn't done anything wrong. And she wasn't about to let Aidan think he could rule over her. They were partners in this arrangement. Martyrs of equal proportions. If anything, she was the one who would sacrifice her body for the sake of these two families. She would be the one bearing this child, nurturing it, loving it. Committing to its well-being.
She threw her leg over his thigh and pulled his arm, pushing his weight off-center. She pushed him to his side and gained the higher ground. Now she straddled him, looking down into his surprised face.
He was a well-endowed male, and she had no reason to apologize for enjoying her marriage bed. She pushed his hands to the bed on either side of his head, her fingers entwined in his, holding him in place.
Maura rode him for all she was worth. She rode him to assert her dominance in this relationship. And she rode him because—she wanted to.
Chapter Eleven
When Aidan woke, the sun was high in the sky. It took him a minute to remember where he was. And why he was here.
Maura. He turned in the bed to find himself alone. It didn't surprise him. Maura Jackson had certainly turned the tables on him.
He intended to return to the cabin long enough to get the keys to the ranch pickup truck where he had left them in his wedding suit pants pocket, but when he and Willow stepped inside the cabin, the sight of Maura naked in a tub brought memories of their night of—consummation. His attraction to his new bride was undeniable. Especially after she proved to be a formidable partner in the bed.
But he needed to refocus his attentions. He had made a mistake last night when he failed to use a condom. After all, if she were to get pregnant, Tommy's plan would no longer be plausible. He cursed under his breath. He had let his lust and his liquor get the best of him last night.
He had been mad as hell when he first discovered Maura wasn’t a virgin. Why, he couldn’t say—exactly. After all, he and Beth had made love long before either of them were Maura’s age. Was it fair to assume Maura had lived a nun’s life before she had returned home and agreed to their arrangement? The thought of her swimming nude in the creek underscored the fact that the girl wasn’t timid about her body. Not even Beth, as open as she had been with him, would take her
clothes off in the daylight.
And did it really matter at this point? He had no intentions of having a child with Maura. A little twinge of guilt poked his sense of fair play. He hoped not to see the look of betrayal in those vivid green eyes when his plan came to light.
Maura will have no reason to feel betrayed. She would get her fair share of compensation for the value of the Jackson land. Then she can live her life as she pleases while he and his family build an empire that would survive anything the world could throw at them.
The way he saw it, there was only one hurdle clouding the horizon. He’d had sex with Maura twice without benefit of protection. It would take him at least a month to ensure she was not with child. In the meantime, he needed to keep his distance from her potentially fatal charms. And the moonshine. And bathtubs of hot water. He chided himself for his bone-headed lapse in judgement.
Aidan dressed and hurried to the main house. He busted through the back door to the kitchen and stopped short just inside. His mother greeted him with a hug and a huge smile.
"There you are, sweetheart. You must be starving."
“Yes, my boy. Come sit down, and Nola will fix you something to eat. You must keep up your strength.” Nessa, his aged nanny from his childhood, spoke up. Aidan would guess she was about eighty-five now, but her mind and eyes were clear and sharp. And they were both trained on him. Her message was loud and clear, and he was embarrassed to be standing in a room full of women knowing what they weren’t talking about.
Nola jumped up to fix him something to eat. He stopped her in mid-stride. “No, thank you, Nola. I’m—not hungry. But thanks anyway.”
He saw Maura sitting at the end of the long table, cutting vegetables for the noon meal alongside the other women in his family. He wasn’t certain he was ready for this kind of homey scene when his thoughts drifted back to the mind-blowing sex she—they—had just shared.
Embarrassment colored her face a charming shade of pink. She knew what he was thinking. He was staring at her. Damn it. He wasn't sure what to say or where to look. He was making a fool of himself.
Aidan's Arrangement: (The Langley Legacy Book 4) Page 6