Reed slept, waking sometime later. He couldn’t see what time it was without disrupting Clare, and he didn’t want to risk that. She slept contentedly in his arms in the sweetest torture he’d ever experienced. His first thought was that he wanted to make love to her again, then chastised himself for being so greedy. They had time, to make love before they left for the airport. He would let his wife sleep.
His wife.
Reed felt a smile touch the edges of his mouth. He liked the sound of the word.
Clare amazed him. She was warm and generous and more woman than he’d ever hoped to find. Unable to resist, Reed kissed her forehead, and pushed aside her tousled hair.
Clare’s eyes fluttered open and she yawned, stretching her arms above her head. “What time is it?” she asked with half-closed eyes.
“I don’t know,” he whispered, “your head is on my watch arm.”
She scooted closer to his side and Reed bent his elbow so that he could read the dial. “A little after three, “‘he told her.
“Good,” she whispered, lifting her head so their eyes met in the dark.
“Good?”
The room was dimly lit, but Reed had no trouble reading the heat in her gaze. Slowly she lowered her mouth to his and kissed him until his breath was quick and shallow.
Their need for each other was as great as it had been earlier, which surprised Reed. He’d never felt more drained, or more complete than with Clare. That his body would be so eager for her again was something of a surprise.
When they’d finished, Clare’s mouth sought his in a gentle, heady exchange. “Thank you,” she whispered.
Reed didn’t understand. She was the one who’d unselfishly given to him, yet she was the one offering appreciation. His puzzlement must have shown in his eyes because she traced her finger down the side of his face.
“For loving me…for showing me how beautiful lovemaking can be.”
He went to move, to find a more relaxed position for Clare.
“No,” she pleaded, stopping him. “Stay where you are.” She purred, closed her eyes and smiled. Within moments she was asleep and Reed found himself dozing off, as well.
This was an incredible woman he’d married.
This was an incredible man she’d married, Clare mused as she stirred awake. Reed was sprawled across the bed, his arms draped from one side of the mattress to the other.
Silently she slipped from the covers and glanced around the room. Her clothes were tossed from one side to the other in silent testimony to their lovemaking. Clare sighed and headed for the bathroom. A long, hot soak in the tub would do her a world of good, and when she was finished, she’d find a special way of waking her husband.
She closed the bathroom door and ran the water, hoping the sound of it wouldn’t wake Reed. The hotel didn’t offer bubble bath, which Clare would have found heavenly at the moment, but a soak in a tub filled with steaming water was indulgent enough.
She sank gratefully into the tub and was resting her head against the back when a solid knock sounded against the door.
“Come in,,, she called out lazily.
“I’ve ordered us some coffee. It’s late.”
“Late?” Their flight was due to leave at eleven. She hadn’t bothered to look at the time. Only on rare occasions did she sleep beyond eight. She’d always been a morning person.
“It’s almost nine.”
“Oh, my goodness,” she said, sitting upright so abruptly that water sloshed over the edge of the tub. “How could we have slept so long?”
The sound of his chuckle came from the other side. “You don’t honestly expect me to answer that, do you?”
She reached for a towel and wrapped it around her. “I can’t very well wear that dress on the plane…. I’m going to have to get my suitcase from my room.”
She came out of the bathroom in a tizzy, gathering her clothes against her stomach as she progressed across the room.
“Relax,” Reed said, stopping her. He gripped her by the shoulders and turned her around to face him.
Clare did a double take, startled by the man who stood before her. Reed had dressed, and he wasn’t wearing his tuxedo. His hair was combed, not as it had the day before, but into thick braids that flaunted his Native American heritage.
She wasn’t expecting to see him like this. Not so soon. And giving a small startled cry, she leaped away from him.
Chapter Five
“What’s wrong?” Reed demanded.
“N-nothing…you startled me is all. I’ll get dressed and be gone in a moment.” She was jerking on her clothes, with little concern to how she looked. Her hands were trembling as she hurried about the room, her head spinning. Something was very wrong, and she didn’t know how to make it right.
It would have helped if Reed would say something, but he remained obstinately silent. Once she was presentable, she glanced at this man who was now her husband. “I’ll need to go to my room.”
He nodded, and the dark intensity of his eyes held her immobile.
“I did more than startle you.” His words were ripe with incrimination.
Clare froze and closed her eyes, her heart pounding like a sledgehammer against her ribs. “You’ looked different is all…I wasn’t expecting it,” she whispered, turning her back to him. She’d always been a little afraid of him. Now, here he was, looking at her the same way he did when he walked into the library. Aloof and bitter. Their marriage, and even more important, her love, hadn’t fazed him. Their night together had been a moment out of time. He didn’t intend it to last.
“I am different, Clare,” he said. “I’m Native American—and that’s not going to change.”
“I know, but…”
“You’d forgotten that, hadn’t you?” His words were softly spoken, so low she had to strain to hear him. He wasn’t angry, but there was a certain resolve she heard in him. A certain conviction, as though this was what he’d expected from her from the first.
“It’s not what you’re thinking,” she told him, hearing the panic in her voice. “I don’t regret marrying you…. I went into this marriage knowing exactly who you are.”
“Did you?” he demanded.
“Yes…of course I did. Can’t we talk about this later?” There wasn’t time to discuss it, not now when she was barely dressed and they had to rush to catch a flight home. Later they could talk this out rationally when they’d both had time to think matters through. She wanted to kiss Reed before she left, but hesitated. He was tense and she was flustered. It seemed impossibly wrong that so much could have changed between them in so short a time.
“I’ll meet you in the lobby,” she said, and quietly left the room.
She was grateful their hotel rooms were only two floors apart. Clare didn’t meet anyone in the elevator, and when a couple passed her in the hallway, she kept her gaze lowered, certain they must know she’d spent the night in another room.
Her hands wouldn’t quit shaking and she had trouble inserting the key card into the lock. Once she was inside the room, she sank onto the end of the crisply made bed and buried her face in her hands.
Everything was so different this morning, so stark. Reed was cold and seemed withdrawn, and Clare feared it was all her fault. Her mind was crowded with all the if only’s.
Where had the time gone? While lazing away in the tub, she’d imagined them sitting down to a leisurely breakfast and making necessary plans for their future. A multitude of decisions needed to be made, and Clare was eager for all the changes marriage would bring into their lives.
Now, however, there wasn’t time to collect her thoughts, or for that matter anything else. Forcing herself into action, she quickly changed clothes, then hurriedly packed her suitcase, slamming drawers open and closed in her rush to stuff everything back into her suitcase.
Reed was waiting for her in the lobby when she arrived. He took the key from her and set it on the front desk, then removed the lone suitcase from her hand. “
The taxi’s waiting,” he announced without looking at her.
Clare was convinced when they finally arrived at the airport that they’d missed their flight. Most of the passengers had boarded by the time they reached the departing gate. Because they were late, nearly all of the seats had been assigned, and Clare was deeply disappointed to discover they wouldn’t be able to sit together.
Everything was going wrong. It wasn’t supposed to work out this way. She’d endured the terrible tension between them in the taxi, knowing they’d have a chance to talk later. If nothing more, she could reach for his hand and communicate her commitment to him in nonverbal ways while on the plane. Not being seated together was another mini-disaster in a day that had started out so right and then gone very wrong.
The flight was scheduled to take two hours, and Clare was convinced they’d be two of the longest hours of her life. She was seated by the window, four rows ahead of Reed, making it impossible to see him or communicate with him.
Her thoughts remained confused, and try as she might, she was having trouble naming her fears. She married Reed, but she felt no misgivings over that. She’d known exactly what she was doing when she’d married him and would gladly tell him he owned her heart.
Something had changed that morning when she’d first seen him, and she needed to discern her reaction to him. This wasn’t the man she’d married. Overnight he’d turned into the brooding man who’d frequented the library. The one who’d intimidated and confused her. The man she’d fallen in love with and married was sensitive and gentle. He had little in common with the one who wore a bad attitude like a second skin.
Clare looked out the small window of the Boeing 767 to the harsh landscape far below. All that came into view were jagged peaks.
“Did you win anything?” asked a delicate-looking older woman with white hair, seated next to her.
“Ahh…” At first Clare was uncertain the woman was speaking to her. “Yes, I did,” she said, feeling a burst of enthusiasm well up inside her. She’d nearly forgotten she was carrying a thousand dollars in winnings in her purse. In cold, hard cash no less. Remembering, she edged her foot closer to her stash, just to reassure herself it was still there.
“I did, too,” the spry older woman claimed excitedly. “Five hundred dollars, on bingo.”
“Congratulations.”
“I generally win at video poker, but not this time. I wasn’t going to play bingo. I can do that any time I want at the Senior Citizen Center, so why fly to Vegas to play there? But my eyes gave out on me on poker and I decided to play bingo for awhile. I’m certainly glad I did.”
“My…husband and I played craps.” It was the first time she’d referred to Reed as her husband, and it felt good to say it out loud. “It was my first time in Vegas.”
“I fly down at least twice a year myself,” the woman continued. “It gives me something to look forward to.”
“I imagine we’ll be coming back ourselves.” Clare would like it if they could plan their anniversary around a trip to Vegas. It seemed fitting that they would.
A smile touched her heart when she realized for the first time that she shared the same wedding day as Erin and Gary. The four of them could make an annual trip out of it.
“I thought you must be traveling alone,” Clare’s newfound friend added conversationally.
“No, my husband and I overslept. We’re lucky to have even made the flight, but unfortunately they didn’t have two seats together.” Husband definitely had a nice ring to it, Clare decided. Before the end of the trip she was going to sound like an old married woman.
The friendly stranger seemed eager to talk, and Clare was grateful to have someone turn her thoughts away from her troubles. It helped pass the time far more quickly. When they landed, Clare was anxious to talk to Reed and clear away the misunderstanding.
Heaven knows they had enough to discuss. They were married, and yet hadn’t made the most fundamental decisions regarding their new status. Where they’d live had yet to be decided, although Clare hoped he’d agree to move into town with her. The Skyute reservation was several miles outside of Tullue and would require a lengthy commute for her. She’d feel out of place living there, too, and hoped Reed would understand and accept that.
The plane landed in Seattle shortly after noon. The sky was overcast, the day gray and dreary. Las Vegas had been clear and warm, even at ten in the morning.
Because Clare was seated several rows in front of Reed, she was able to disembark ahead of him. Not wanting to cause a delay to the other passengers, she walked out the jetway and waited just inside the terminai.
“It was nice talking to you,” the elderly woman said as she came out of the jetway. She was using a cane and moved much slower than the others.
Reed came out directly behind her, and Clare looked to him eagerly, drinking in the sight of him as though it had been days instead of hours they’d been separated. His eyes met hers, his expression closed, his chiseled features proud and dark.
“How was your flight?” she asked, stepping forward and linking her arm with his.
“Fine”’ came the clipped response.
From the corner of her eye, Clare caught sight of the older woman who’d sat next to her on the plane. She was staring at Clare and Reed, and her friendly countenance had altered dramatically. The smile had left her eyes and she glared with open disapproval at the two of them.
Clare couldn’t believe a look could reveal so much. In the woman’s hostile eyes she read prejudice and intolerance. She appeared openly shocked that Clare had chosen to marry a Native American. Never had Clare had anyone look at her quite like that, and it left her feeling tainted, as if she’d done something wrong, as if she were something less than she should be.
Reed was looking down on Clare, and he turned, his gaze following hers. She felt him tense before he stiffly said, “I warned you. You can’t say I didn’t.”
“But…”
“Ignore her. Let’s get our luggage.”
He was outwardly cool about it, outwardly unconcerned, but Clare knew better; she could almost feel the heat of his anger. Clare didn’t blame him, she was furious herself. She longed to march up to the woman and demand an apology. How dare that woman judge her and Reed’s love! Clare wanted to remind Reed that the woman’s prejudices were long outdated but she could see it would do no good.
Reed remained uncommunicative while they waited at the luggage carousel. Clare was conscious every moment of the woman who’d been so friendly only moments earlier, who now blatantly ignored her and Reed.
It didn’t help matters any to realize that within a short time she’d be facing her own relatives and friends with the news of her marriage to a man who was half Skyute Indian.
Her parents were wonderful people and she loved them both dearly, but when it came right down to it, Clare didn’t know how they were going to react to Reed. Her father had never made a point of asking her not to date Native Americans, but then there’d never been any reason for him to approach her with the subject.
Deep in her heart, Clare feared her father might disapprove of her marriage to Reed. He might not come right out and say so, but he’d make his feelings known.
That wouldn’t be the case with her mother and her two brothers. They’d have no qualms about telling her what they thought. Her mother, in particular, would assume that Clare had grown so desperate to marry that she’d acted unwisely. She might even suggest Clare had married Reed as a means of getting back at Jack.
Jack.
She hadn’t thought about him all day, hadn’t wanted to think of him. Having her parents, especially her mother, regard him so highly could complicate the situation with Reed and her family.
Clare’s last conversation with her mother burned in her mind. Ellie Gilroy had urged Clare to be more patient with Jack, to give him time to get his company on its feet before pressuring him on the issue of marriage. The landscaping business was only an excuse, Clare realized
. There’d always be one reason or another Jack would find not to marry. It had taken her a long time to recognize that, much longer than it should have. But it was more than Jack’s putting her off that was wrong with the relationship. It was much more.
It didn’t matter what her family thought, Clare decided, tightening her resolve. This was her life, and she’d marry whomever she pleased and Reed Tonasket pleased her. Having concluded that, she was relieved. This marriage wasn’t going to be easy. They knew it would require effort on both their parts to make it work. Clare was willing, and she’d assumed Reed was, too. Now she wasn’t so sure.
Their luggage arrived, and Reed silently lifted the two bags and walked away, leaving it for her to choose to follow him or not. His attitude irritated her, still she had no choice but to tag along behind him.
“I…I was sorry we weren’t able to sit together,” she said, rushing her steps in order to keep pace with his much longer stride. “There’s a lot we need to talk about.”
Reed gave no indication that he’d heard her. He was so cool, so distant, and that infuriated her even more. If he refused to slow down, then she wasn’t going to trot along beside him like an obedient mare.
She deliberately slowed her pace, but it was apparent he didn’t notice. If he did, he found it of no concern.
By the time she reached Reed’s truck, he had loaded their luggage into the back and unlocked the doors. Once again he didn’t acknowledge her.
“Will you stop?” she demanded, standing beside the passenger door.
“Stop what?” he asked in cool tones. Their gazes met over the hood.
“Acting like I’m not here. If you ignore me long enough I’m not going to disappear.”
His steely eyes narrowed before he pulled his gaze from hers and jerked open the door. “I won’t, either, Clare. This is what you wanted, remember that.”
“What I wanted? To be ignored and frozen out? There’re so many things for us to discuss, I don’t even know where to begin. The least you could do is look at me.”
Hasty Wedding Page 7