Married for His Heir

by Sara Orwig

  “Paula’s watching her, but the family is entertaining her. None of us will let her toddle off.”

  “I’m glad you got a fence for your swimming pool,” she said, glancing out the window to the backyard.

  “Let’s not worry about Hattie right now,” he said, pulling her against him to kiss passionately.

  Her heart thudded and all she could think about was Nick, her husband. She wrapped her arms around his neck and clung to him, kissing him in return, feeling as if she was on fire with longing.

  “Did I tell you how beautiful you look today?” he asked in a husky voice when he broke the kiss.

  She smiled at him. “You did.”

  “I’ll say it again. You’re a beautiful bride.”

  “Thank you. You’re a very handsome groom,” she said lightly. She would never tell him that when she first saw him waiting at the altar, he had taken her breath away. He’d looked like a celebrity, handsome, sexy and exciting.

  Then she remembered how his look had changed.

  “I’m sorry, Nick, if this is making you remember your first wedding and if it’s stirring up old hurts.”

  “I live with those hurts on a daily basis, so this is nothing new. Life is filled with constant reminders of Regina and Artie. Each day, each month, I think how old Artie would be. And I won’t lie. This has made me think about my wedding with Regina.”

  She felt her heart tighten in sympathy. But before she could offer him comfort, he changed the subject.

  “But I’m more worried about you,” he said. “You’re getting cheated today. You should be marrying a man who loves you and who you love. I hope someday Hattie looks back and realizes how much you loved her and how much you sacrificed personally so you could be a mother to her. When she’s old enough, I’ll tell her, but right now that seems eons away. You’ve made a giant sacrifice to give her your love and be a mother to her.”

  “It’s no sacrifice, Nick. To be her mother was my dream. She’s so precious. I’ll always be grateful to you,” she said and meant it.

  She put her hands on his chest, feeling the rock-hard muscles from his physical work on the ranch. “I want to give you something in return, Nick. I want to make you happy. I want us to be happy together and I want this marriage to be good for both of us,” she said.

  He looked down at her and she couldn’t read the expression on his handsome face. For a moment she thought to ask him what he was thinking, but then he finally spoke.

  “I don’t think it’s going to be a task to be happy together, Talia. And I’m sure the marriage will be good for both of us.” The smile he gave her didn’t quite reach his eyes, but she returned it anyway.

  This was one of the happiest days of her life. She only wished Nick could feel the same way.

  She could hardly believe how things had worked out. She was getting to raise Hattie as a stay-at-home mom, like she’d always wanted. Her resignation had already been accepted by the college. And despite her objections, Nick had set up her and Hattie with incredibly generous trusts that would ensure their financial safety for life.

  Once again, as she had done at the altar hours ago, she vowed to make her new husband just as happy.

  They rejoined their guests, and by midafternoon the only ones left were Nick’s brothers. They sat on the patio and Nick seemed to be enjoying their time, so Talia slipped away to put Hattie down for a nap.

  When she came down, Adam and Blake had gone and Stan was saying goodbye. As usual, he was the last to leave.

  “Well, we did it,” Nick said when he closed the door behind Stan. He placed his hands on her shoulders. “You’re now Mrs. Duncan and the stepmother of a little fourteen-month-old toddler.”

  She was aware of his hands, lightly moving back and forth on her shoulders and setting fires in their paths.

  She was his wife. And she was ready to love him tonight the way only a wife could.

  Warning bells went off in her head, but she ignored them. A sexual relationship wouldn’t sweep her into falling in love with him. Or was she fooling herself and already sliding down a slippery slope into being in love with her handsome, appealing new husband?

  * * *

  It was after ten when they finally tucked a sleeping Hattie into bed for the night. Because of her late nap, she hadn’t been ready to go down at her usual bedtime. Once Talia placed her in the crib, Nick slipped his arm around her waist. “Come have a drink with me and let’s sit and talk. I couldn’t go to sleep now if I tried.”

  “Sure,” she answered, smiling at him.

  He walked her out of the suite, not taking his hands off her. He wanted Talia in his arms, wanted to carry her off to his bed. She excited him and enticed him. But guilt stopped him cold. It shook him because he felt all his loyalty and love should be with memories of the life he’d had with Regina, his best friend until her death. Talia and Hattie would never displace memories of Regina and Artie or replace his love for them, but he still felt guilty for wanting Talia.

  He’d thought he was beginning to mend, but today had set him back. The loss of his first wife and son still hurt and it hurt badly.

  While Talia knew there was no love between them, that theirs was strictly a marriage of convenience, she should have had a better day. He’d planned to make it so, but when this morning came, he didn’t want to do anything except get through the ceremony and the day.

  He was glad for Talia, who was happy because now there was no danger of losing Hattie. She deserved that and Hattie should be with Talia, someone who would pour out love and be a good mother. He was certain Talia would be that.

  As they walked down the steps together, he couldn’t get it off his conscience that he should have done better for her sake. She shouldn’t be marrying out of convenience. She should have someone who loved her. A beautiful woman, Talia deserved a man who would shower her with love and attention. Nick felt guilty about Talia, and for other reasons, he felt guilty about Regina.

  He and Talia had touched casually, lightly, off and on all day long. They’d held hands and repeated vows. But where was it leading? He glanced at Talia. She wasn’t going to have a real marriage...but did she want a real wedding night? There was one way to find out.

  * * *

  “We’ve got the monitors in the family room to hear her if she should wake. Let’s go have that drink.”

  The video monitor had been one of her earliest purchases. Talia had one in her small house, but here, in the Dallas mansion, it was a necessity.

  “Fine, Nick, if you really want to. If you’re doing that because you feel you should for me, don’t,” she said. She knew he was hurting and still wrapped up in memories of when he had married the first time.

  He smiled at her. “I’m doing it because I want to be with you.”

  “I won’t argue with that, then.”

  As they went downstairs, she was intensely aware of his hand on the small of her back. She cast a glance at him. He had shed his jacket and tie, and the first couple of buttons on his shirt were unfastened. After the long day, his hair was tousled, begging her to reach out and smooth it. She had to admit he looked sexy, too appealing, and she could think of many things she’d rather be doing with him than talking.

  When they went into the family room she saw a bucket of ice with a bottle in it. Surprised, she walked across the room with him, pulled it out and read the label. “Champagne? Where and when did this arrive?”

  “I had Kirby put it out for us,” Nick said, taking the bottle from her. When he popped the cork, he picked up a delicate crystal flute and poured the pale, bubbling champagne in first one flute to hand to her and then into the other flute. When he put the bottle back on ice, he turned to look at her and raised his glass.

  “Here’s to our marriage. Even though it is a marriage of convenience, may it be happy and may we be wed a long time.” She touch
ed her flute to his with a ring of crystal against crystal and they both sipped their champagne. When she looked at him, she realized he was paying attention to her now, gazing at her intently. Gone was the shuttered expression he’d had through the ceremony and most of the day.

  She held up her flute. “May this marriage bring you the joy and happiness it’s bringing to me.”

  He touched her flute and they sipped again. He turned to pick up the remote to turn on music and then he set his glass of champagne on the table and took hers from her. He stepped close to take her hand and draw her closer as he began to dance to the ballad with her.

  “It was hard for me to get through today,” he whispered against her ear. “You knew it was and you were so good about it.”

  He held her away to look into her eyes as they danced. “I should have made a bigger effort to hide those feelings,” he told her. “I loved Regina with all my heart. I can’t just shut that off. In some ways I feel as if I’m betraying her. Common sense makes me know that I’m not, but I can’t stop feeling that way. And Arthur. I loved my son.”

  “You don’t need to explain loving them,” she said, feeling his pain, yet touched that he was trying to explain it. “I understand that.” She’d certainly cried buckets of tears over losing her parents and her two unborn babies.

  “I couldn’t keep from getting carried back and thinking about my wedding with Regina.”

  “I really do understand.”

  “I know you do, Talia, and you were wonderful about it.” He gestured to the champagne. “This is just my way of saying thank you.” He twirled her around the family room in time to the soft music, then dipped her back over his arm when the love song ended. His gaze drifted over her, from her face down past her breasts, and it was as if he had lightly caressed her instead of giving her just a look.

  Her heart thudded so hard, she thought he could hear it in the silence before the next song started.

  His eyes settled on her lips and she thought he was about to kiss her. Instead, he whispered something she wasn’t sure he intended her to hear. “You should have had more.”

  She straightened and framed his face with her hands. “Nick, stop worrying that we’re not in love and I’m not marrying a man who loves me. Today you gave me what I wanted most in my whole life—that sweet child I love as if she were my own.”

  “No, I only partially did,” he said, looking solemn. “I gave you what you wanted, but I’ve been in love, Talia. I married for love and had a baby we both loved. That’s a whole lot more. It creates a world filled with joy and happiness during a wedding day and honeymoon. I couldn’t give you that.”

  “But I’m happy, Nick, so stop worrying.”

  He opened his mouth to object, but she covered his lips with one finger. “Nick, life is filled with risks. We both took risks today. I took the risk of this ‘convenient’ marriage and I got what I wanted. You took the risk of marrying me and you got someone to care for Hattie. And I intend to do just that for the next eighteen years, give or take a year or two.”

  He gave her a searching stare as she lowered her hand. “How is it possible that I got so lucky finding you? Or rather that you found me. I’m so grateful for you, Talia.” He took her hands in his and stepped back to sweep her with a glance, his eyes searing her flesh through her clothes. “Now that I can lay my conscience to rest, I want to say, you look stunning in your beautiful blue dress.”

  “Thank you,” she said, smiling at him. “You look quite handsome yourself.” She meant the compliment, despite the fact that at the same time she was trying to deny his appeal. She had to, because it’d be too easy to fall for this amazing, sexy, handsome man. She couldn’t fool herself into thinking that he was happy about their arrangement. Surely he’d have preferred to go on his way, to live his life without including her in it. But she was part of it now, and as long as he was a good daddy for Hattie, Talia would be happy. She just hoped she could guard her heart enough so that she never lost it to Nick, because he was still in love with his late wife.

  When the music started again, Nick stepped toward her. She thought he’d take her in his arms and resume the dance, but instead, his gaze settled on her lips. He inhaled deeply as his eyes met hers again—and she saw it.

  Desire.

  It blazed there in his green eyes, which had darkened to emerald.

  While her heart began to drum, his arm tightened around her waist to draw her to him. “You’re gorgeous, sexy and appealing, and it’s time you know you’re appreciated on more than one level,” he said in a husky voice. As he held her tightly against his solid length, he leaned down, slowly, inch by inch, stealing her breath until finally his mouth covered hers. His tongue met hers in a slow dance, a tantalizing torment that made her tremble. Moaning, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him in return.

  She forgot all the reasons to be cautious with him. At the moment she just wanted his kisses, his hard body pressed against hers, his hands on her. She had danced with him today, laughed with him, married him, and now she finally could kiss him. And she did.

  His kisses were sexier than she had ever experienced, this man who had made her biggest dream come true. It was a combination that was too enticing to resist. This handsome rancher had taken away her fears and worries about losing Hattie, had married her today. Tonight she wanted him—totally. She wanted his kisses, his body against hers, his hands on her. He must have read her mind, because as he continued to hold her close with one hand, his other hand trailed slowly down her back, over her bottom. Even through her clothes she could feel his caresses as he touched the backs of her thighs and then up her legs to her waist. While he kissed her, she felt his fingers at the buttons on the front of her dress. When she reached up to close her hand over his, he raised his head to give her a questioning look.

  “We don’t have to go to bed together tonight,” she whispered. “There’s a lot of time ahead of us. You’ve had an emotional day and I have, too, so if you’re doing this out of a sense of duty, you don’t need to do so.”

  He smiled as he unfastened a button. “Talia, I promise you, there is absolutely not one tiny shred of feeling that I have a duty to perform here,” he remarked drily and she could hear the amusement in his voice. He unfastened another button, pushed the dress open and ran his warm finger lightly on the rise of her breast. “This isn’t a chore for me,” he said as his smile faded and his voice became hoarse, breathless.

  “You’ll complicate our lives from the first night we’re together,” she warned.

  “I might do that,” he said, his hungry gaze making her heart pound. “We complicated it when we married and we knew we had complicated it after that first kiss.”

  “Nick,” she whispered, unaware of even moving as his arm wrapped around her waist and he drew her tightly against him. Her gaze flew to his mouth while her heart thudded. She couldn’t deny it. She wanted his naked body against hers. They were married, man and wife, and she wanted it all with him, and at the moment she was reckless and eager enough to risk her heart.

  “Nick, I want you, but I’m warning you, my body comes with a heart inside and emotions all tangled with sex. You’re taking a risk here just as much as I am.”

  “After hearing your first words before your warning, I’m willing to take the risks,” he whispered gruffly as he showered kisses on her throat and down her neck, onto her breasts.

  “You’ve been warned,” she whispered. “I’m not going to argue with you. I want you, and I have since that first kiss.”

  That may have been what Nick needed to hear, because he ran his tongue over her peaked nipple while he cupped her breast in his hand. Talia couldn’t stifle the gasp that escaped her lips.

  “You’re so soft,” he whispered. “Just to touch you is magic.”

  She framed his face with her hands, feeling the stubble on his jaw against her palms. “N
ick, no one has ever kissed me the way you do. I suspect no one has ever made love to me the way you will. I want you to take all night,” she said, certain that he was finally seeing her in the moment, that he was not lost in memories. He had come into the present and she was waiting, wanting him. “I want to kiss and touch you just as much as I want your hands and mouth on every inch of me.”

  “Sounds like the best possible plan,” he whispered gruffly as he kissed her throat. Peeling away the top of her dress, he brushed more kisses down her slender neck. “Right now, I want you and I want to kiss and touch you for hours. We have all night to pleasure each other, to discover what we like.” He straightened to gaze into her eyes and the desire she saw there sent delicious shivers up her spine. When his gaze lowered to her mouth, she couldn’t get her breath. Then, finally, he tightened his arm around her waist and drew her to him to kiss her.

  His mouth covered hers, his tongue heightening her desire while he kissed her. She wanted more of him, wanted him to make her forget everything else except their lovemaking. Passion spilled over her, setting her ablaze.

  She unbuttoned his shirt and pushed it away to let it fall. As soon as it was gone, she showered kisses on his broad shoulder, running her fingers through the thick mat of curls on his chest. Her hands were at his belt, and in seconds, she pulled it free and dropped it while he continued to peel away her clothing until she was wearing only lacy bikini panties. He held her hips and stepped back a fraction to look at her.

  “From the first moment I saw you, I knew you were beautiful. You’re perfection,” he said in a gruff voice, his gaze consuming her. “You make my heart race and my breathing difficult. You’re gorgeous.” He slid his hands down over her hips, pushing away the panties till they fell around her feet and she stepped out of them. He ran his hands lightly over her, starting at her throat, down over each breast, caressing her slowly, cupping her breasts and circling each tip with his tongue. He straightened, still watching her with half-closed eyes, as his hands drifted down, one sliding slowly over her belly while his other hand skimmed over her bottom.