His Chosen Bride

by Marcia Evanick

  Liquid fire pooled at the junction of her thighs. Her nipples tightened and ached for his touch. Emptiness filled her soul as he released her mouth and trailed a moist path of kisses down her throat.

  The modest neckline of her blouse stopped his descent miles away from where she wanted him. She thrust her breasts outward and silently cursed their clothes and their surroundings. “Mason?”

  His fingers flexed against the curve of her bottom and his hips arched forward. His tongue drew an enticing circle around the indentation at the base of her throat. “Hmm…”

  Her head leaned against the door and she focused on the white plaster ceiling above, not on the delicious sensations Mason was causing. She had to call a halt to this before it got any more out of control. They were in his chambers, for crying of loud. Anyone could come by; this was a public building. She was surprised that Bill Grayman hadn’t come to check up on her yet. He had given her enough strange looks moments before. Mason’s reputation as a judge could be in jeopardy if he was caught in such a position. She knew Mason well enough to realize their upcoming marriage would never survive if she jeopardized his career.

  She had the answer she had been seeking. Mason did desire her. The second line to the children’s proverb brought a smile to her lips. And satisfaction brought it back. She wasn’t satisfied, not by a long shot, but she would be. The physical aspect of their marriage was definitely not a concern.

  Her fingers softly caressed the silkiness of his hair. “Mason, we have to stop.” Her heart was pounding like a racehorse, and her body was still plastered to his, contradicting her plea.

  Mason froze at her words. He slowly raised his head and stared at her.

  Gillian colored, but held his gaze. The flush of desire darkened his face, and his breath was anything but steady. A lock of black hair had fallen across his forehead, and her fingers itched to brush it back into place. Mason Blacksword had the look of a man who had just been thoroughly kissed.

  He took a step back, straightened his jacket and forcefully brushed the wayward lock of hair back into place. “I’m sorry. That shouldn’t have happened.”

  Gillian tugged at her jacket and straightened her blouse. That and a lot more should have happened. She was about to become his wife and he apologizes for kissing her. Damn his warlock heart!

  He knew what he had done to her. There was no way he could have missed her response. A dead man could have seen how turned on she had gotten with just one kiss. Furious with him, and with herself for starting the whole thing, she picked up her briefcase, which had slipped from her fingers during the kiss, and opened the door. “It works both ways, Mason.”

  “What does?”

  “The Council won’t give me a moment of peace until I marry. So it might as well be you.” She stepped into the hall and closed the door behind her.

  Chapter 4

  Mason sat in his car staring at the windows of Gillian’s apartment. She was home. He had seen movement in the windows about twenty minutes ago while he had been debating with himself if he should ring her bell or just go home. He still hadn’t made up his mind.

  Today was her twenty-fifth birthday and she had spent the majority of the night dining with her family in celebration. Her grandmother had called him earlier in the week to invite him along, but he told her he had to work late. Virginia Kenwood hadn’t been too thrilled with his excuse. She had given him the name of the restaurant and what time everyone was going to meet there. He had spent most of his night sitting in his office preparing for tomorrow’s cases and feeling guilty. He should have gone.

  Gillian was going to be his wife in five days and he hadn’t even bothered to attend her birthday celebration. He glanced down at the small, brightly colored package sitting in the passenger seat. At least he had bought her a present. His glance landed on two small gray-velvet jeweler’s boxes next to the birthday present. One contained matching gold wedding bands, the other an engagement ring. Gillian knew he had ordered the wedding bands because he had called her two weeks ago and asked her ring size. Buying her an engagement ring hadn’t even occurred to him until he entered the jeweler’s to purchase the wedding bands.

  He had stood there silently, staring at row after row of gold bands, trying to decide if Gillian would prefer a fancy band, or a plain band, which he preferred. An elderly gentleman had been browsing through watches at the front of the store. But what really caught his eye was a young couple examining diamond engagement rings. It had struck him then that he and Gillian had never been formally engaged, only betrothed by the Council. The happiness and love that had shone on the young woman’s face as she stared at the diamond ring glittering on her finger had touched something deep within him.

  He and Gillian might not love each other, but for the sake of the Council, the society and their families, they were getting married. He wanted to have their marriage appear as normal as possible. No one within the society called attention to themselves, and all gossip was frowned upon. Gillian should have an engagement ring—if not for appearance’ sake, then because she deserved it. She was forfeiting the rest of her life for the Council.

  While staring through the glass cases containing gold bands, he realized how hard this must be for Gillian. He had no expectations of love, happiness or wedded bliss. Not with Gillian. Not with any woman. Love was an illusion. Happiness was a momentary feeling that was impossible to hold. And wedded bliss was great for selling greeting cards but had absolutely nothing to do with real life. To his way of thinking it was more important to be content with life. He was content with his life just the way it was. He didn’t need or want a wife.

  Gillian, on the other hand, had been gifted with love and compassion. It was going to be a lot harder on her being married to a man who not only didn’t love her, but whom she didn’t love in return.

  The fancy glittering diamonds didn’t capture his attention. They were too ordinary and customary, and there was nothing common about this marriage. The rubies at the other end of the counter drew his eye. Gillian, with her inner fire and pale hair, seemed tailor-made for the fiery gem. Within an hour he had not only purchased two plain gold wedding bands and an impressive ruby engagement ring, but he had bought a pair of ruby earrings as a birthday present and a matching necklace for a wedding present.

  Tonight on his way home from work he had stopped at the jeweler’s and picked up everything. The jeweler had wrapped the earrings in brightly colored paper and bow, and the necklace was tastefully done in white and gold. He had been two blocks away from the restaurant where Gillian and her family were dining. Instead of walking the two blocks, he had returned to the parking garage for his car and headed home. He didn’t want to give Gillian the ring or her present in front of a crowd of curious onlookers.

  He didn’t want to face Gillian at all after what happened in his chambers a few weeks ago. He had avoided any society gathering and pleaded an especially heavy workload to his mother so she would handle anything that came up concerning the wedding. It was a rotten and unfair thing to do, both to Gillian and his mother, but he was stalling for time. He needed time to understand what had happened when he kissed Gillian. He had kissed other women before, but never with that kind of response. He wanted time to understand or at least accept his reaction before he saw her again.

  Tonight time had run out. He couldn’t very well give Gillian an engagement ring after the wedding ceremony. She needed the wedding bands so that they could be attached to the ring bearer’s pillow before he walked down the aisle on Saturday. And today was her birthday. With those three strikes against him, he might as well admit he was out. Out of time.

  He picked up the three small boxes, got out and locked his car. Night had fallen on the city, but the heat of day still baked any citizens who were unlucky enough not to have air-conditioning. July was an ungodly time to live in the city. Stoops were crowded with people trying to catch a breeze. The sounds of distant sirens, horns and traffic blended with the persistent hummin
g of air conditioners and the crying of fussy babies. Gillian’s neighborhood was a virtual smorgasbord of sights, sounds and smells. He wondered how she was going to adjust to living in his house in a quiet, stately suburb. More important, he wondered how he was going to adjust to having her live there.

  He noticed that the group of men sitting on the neighboring stoop was the same one that had been there the night he had driven Gillian home from the party. The man she had called Chico tilted his baseball hat and grinned at Mason as he pressed the buzzer to Gillian’s apartment. He ignored Chico and his stoop-sitting buddies as she responded to his buzz.

  Gillian’s voice came through the call box accompanied by ear splitting static. “Yes?”

  “It’s me, Gillian.”

  The buzzing of the door was his signal to come in. He stepped into the hallway and made sure the door was firmly closed behind him. He slipped the rings into one pants pocket and her birthday present into the other. All of a sudden he felt rather stupid standing in the hall holding the box containing their wedding rings. Was this how other couples the Council had betrothed did it? Somehow he doubted it. As her apartment door opened, he plastered on what he hoped was a friendly smile.

  “Hello, Mason.”

  “Hello.” He noticed the way she stood in the middle of the doorway, blocking his way, and frowned. What was he expecting, warm greetings and hot kisses? “May I come in?”

  She shrugged, moved back and opened the door farther.

  “Why not?”

  He stepped into the apartment and glanced around. Not one item had been packed up to be moved to his house. Granted, there wasn’t a lot he expected her do. The movers he hired would be here in two days to move everything over to his place. But he thought there would be a few personal or cherished items she would want to pack herself. “Are you ready to have everything moved Thursday?”

  “I canceled the movers you hired.”

  “Why?” He shot her a quick glance. Maybe she wanted to call off the wedding. She wouldn’t be the first bride ever to get cold feet, just the first witch to defy the Council. From what little he knew about Gillian, he wouldn’t put it past her. Maybe instead of spending years ignoring his future bride, he should have been getting to know her better. He was going to look awfully stupid standing alone at the altar on Saturday.

  “I hired Chico and some of his buddies to move the stuff for me.”

  “Why did you do that?” Chico and his friends looked like they wouldn’t know honest work if they tripped over it.

  “They could use the money.” She gave Mason a quarrelsome look. “Besides that, they’re my friends and neighbors.”

  He hadn’t come here to argue with her. By the stubborn tilt of her chin he was afraid that was what she had on her mind. Gillian looked awfully upset about something. It would be a lot better if they got away from the subject of Chico and his friends. “I take it the wedding is still on?”

  She gave him a peculiar look before answering. “With no help from you.” She walked over to the coffee table, where a pile of folders and papers were spread out, and started to gather them up.

  Mason gave a slight nod to acknowledge her words as the truth. He hadn’t helped to plan the wedding. His gaze slowly roamed the length of her bare, lightly tanned legs. Gillian obviously had changed after coming home from dinner. She was wearing a pair of denim cutoff shorts and a man’s white T-shirt. If it wasn’t for the shorts’ soft white fringe teasing the tops of her thighs, her outfit might have been indecent. Her feet were bare and each toenail gleamed with pink polish. All traces of makeup and jewelry had been removed, and her long blond hair was pulled up high off her neck and into a ponytail.

  He had spoken the truth when he said she was the most beautiful woman at the society’s party. Gillian Barnett was a very desirable woman and he, after all, was human. He still had his doubts about their upcoming wedding but not about the physical aspects of their marriage. Getting Gillian into his bed was becoming more appealing to him with each passing day.

  Gillian finished picking up all the papers and carefully put them into a folder, which she placed on the kitchen counter. She joined Mason by the couch and sat down. “Any particular reason why you didn’t bother to show up at the restaurant?”

  So that’s what had her in such a bad mood. Here he had thought she was still ticked about the day in his chambers when he told her he might as well marry her as anyone else. He hadn’t realized how bad his words had sounded until she turned the tables around on him and said it back. He really should apologize for that remark, but he wasn’t going to. He had apologized more to her already than to any other person he had ever known. This marriage had been a bad idea from the start, but he wasn’t going to make the whole affair worse by playing the submissive, apologetic partner.

  “I told your grandmother I wasn’t going to be there when she issued the invitation.”

  “We held dinner for almost an hour waiting for you.”

  Damn the guilt he felt and damn her sweet blue eyes. “Talk to Virginia about that, not me.” He sat down on the far end of the couch and tossed her the small gray box. “Here’s the wedding bands I told you I’d pick up.”

  She caught the box with one hand. Slowly she opened the box and stared at the rings for a moment before softly closing the lid and carefully placing the box on the coffee table. “Was that all you wanted?”

  Mason cringed. Her lack of a thank-you was never more obvious or more deserved. She had been working on their wedding for months, making all the decisions while he sat back like a sulking child hoping the whole thing would go away. Well, it wasn’t going to go away and five nights from now he would be a married man. “No, that wasn’t all I wanted.”

  She shot him a quick glance before sinking farther back into the couch and putting her bare feet up on the coffee table. “Well, what else do you want?”

  Gillian looked as if she didn’t have a care in the world. He was about to knock that nonchalant look off her face. “I want you.”

  He lowered his shields and allowed her to feel the heated desire pumping through his veins. There was no way he would be able to hide the physical need he felt for her after the ceremony. Gillian might as well get used to the idea that he wanted her.

  “Oh?”

  She gave him a guarded look but continued to look calm and cool. She hadn’t even tried to read him. He wondered if she naturally assumed he had his shields up or if she was afraid of what she might discover. “What do you suggest we do about that?”

  Gillian raised one brow and grinned. “Get married?”

  Mason couldn’t help it. He gave a rusty bark of a laugh and sputtered, “Get married!” Why hadn’t he noticed the spark of humor in his future wife before? “All right. What are you doing Saturday around five o’clock?”

  “Nothing much.”

  Mason shook his head and pulled the box containing the engagement ring out of his pocket. This time, instead of tossing the box, he held it out toward her. She presented him with the perfect opportunity to give her the ring without making a big deal about it. There was no way he was getting down on bended knee and asking for her hand in marriage.

  Gillian took the box with a bemused expression on her face. She glanced between the box and Mason several times before opening the box and gasping. “Good Lord Almighty, Mason. Is it real?” She gingerly took the rubyand-diamond ring out of its velvet bed and held it to the light next to her.

  Mason didn’t know if he should be insulted or flattered. Did she honestly think he would buy her a fake engagement ring? “I had to eat twenty-seven boxes of Cracker Jacks before I found that.”

  She held the ring closer to the light. “My Lord, it’s real!”

  “Of course it’s real. What were you expecting, cubic zirconia?”

  “I wasn’t expecting anything. Why would you buy me something like this?” She turned the ring this way and that way, seemingly entranced by the way the light lit the gem. .

 
“Isn’t it traditional for the man to buy an engagement ring?”

  “There’s nothing traditional about this marriage, Mason.”

  “I know. That’s why I bought a ruby instead of a diamond. Diamonds seem so cold, like little pieces of ice. Somehow I don’t picture you as a cold person.”

  “You picture me as a bloodred ruby?”

  “No. If you hold the ring just right, there seems to be an inner fire burning within the gem. The inner fire reminded me of you.”

  “Oh.” She stared harder at the ring for a minute, as if looking for the inner fire. “How would you know what I’m like on the inside?”

  “I have a few ideas, which I’m sure will be either confirmed or proven wrong over the coming years.” His gut instinct told him Gillian was all wrong for an arranged marriage. She was probably looking for love and a house full of babies. The first thing he couldn’t give her and the second was something he didn’t want. Not only was he going to make a lousy husband, but as a father he would be deplorable. He was his father’s son, after all.

  Children should be cherished and wanted by both parents, not forced upon people by the Council. He understood the need to keep the sacred bloodline flowing, but why did it have to be him? The day it was determined he was fertile was one of the darkest in his life. Not only was the Council thrusting a wife upon him, they were forcing parenthood upon him, too. Just because both he and Gillian were deemed fertile didn’t automatically mean there would be children. There were other supposedly fertile couples in their society that had never produced any children.

  Gillian’s voice pulled him away from his dismal thoughts. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”

  “I was just remarking on your comment about the ‘coming years.’”

  Mason noticed the way her fingers trembled as they toyed with the ring. She hadn’t put it on yet. “What about the ‘coming years’?”

  “It just sounded like a long time.”