CINDERELLA BRIDE

by Monica McLean

  "Don't." She raised a hand before he could speak. "I've said my piece." She spun and ran for the door.

  * * *

  He found her outside in the meadow on her hands and knees. Under the starless sky, he wouldn't have seen her if not for the hurricane lamp she'd taken.

  "What are you doing?" he asked.

  "What does it look like?" she snapped, letting him know in no uncertain terms what she thought of his presence.

  "Marly, I—"

  "I'm planting tulip bulbs for the spring, if you must know. I plant them every fall in Annie Lou's garden, but either the weeds choke them, or the mice eat them, or they just don't grow in her soil. I thought they'd have a better chance here. Maybe not, but at least I'll know I tried."

  Unlike you. He heard her unspoken words.

  He crouched beside her, every muscle in his body taut with tension. The night air felt soft and balmy, still warm for an autumn night, even in the Carolinas.

  He didn't want to ask the question, didn't want to give her the chance to take back her words, but he had to know. "Marly, what you said earlier … did you mean it?"

  She nudged him out of her way and pulled the box of bulbs between them. "Contrary to what you might think, Carter," she said, stabbing into the dirt with a spade, "I've only lied to you about things that involved my identity."

  He stared at her hands, watching her scoop out the earth and drop a bulb inside. A cold sweat trickled down his spine. The words were going to hurt like hell, but he had to say them, had to make sure they were talking about the same thing.

  He swallowed hard and tried to keep his voice steady. "You love me?"

  "Well, if you really want me to tell the truth, it was a tossup between you and Mel Gibson." She shrugged and covered the bulb with dirt, patting the mound with the back of the spade. "But with Mel already married, you kind of won by default."

  He wanted to laugh. He wanted to cry. He felt like a convict released after ten years of false imprisonment. "I wasn't expecting this," he whispered.

  "No, of course you weren't." She waved the shovel in the air before spiking it into the ground again. "One high-society, narrow-minded witch did a number on you, and now the rest of womankind has to suffer for it."

  "I … I don't know what to say…"

  "Say good-night, Carter. I'm about out of scintillating wit. It's going to get ugly really soon." She turned her face to wipe it on her sleeve, and the hurricane lamp revealed the tears she'd been trying to hide.

  Guilt pierced at his gut. He'd done this to her, the last woman in the world he'd ever intended to hurt. His eyes stung with remorse, and he dropped to his knees. "I don't want you to leave, Marly."

  "Save your pity."

  "No, not pity. Never that. Try respect, admiration, awe—"

  "Stop," she cried. "I read your file. You don't have to pretend any longer. I know why you married me."

  "And I know why you married me. Because you had no other choice. And neither did I. But things didn't go as planned for either of us. I didn't want to want you," he admitted. "I couldn't stand the thought of falling in love with you and risking you walking out on me. I couldn't risk anyone ever having that much control over me again."

  "Thank you, Eva Ann." Marly mock-saluted with the shovel. "You turned an otherwise-brilliant man into a ding-dong in the relationship department."

  "I forced you to marry me, Marly."

  "Yes, you did," she said, jabbing at the earth. "But you bought the wrong model, and fraud certainly entitles you a refund."

  Carter reached out and took the spade from her. "I didn't buy the wrong model."

  Imitating her earlier actions, he proceeded to dig a hole, gesturing for her to plant the bulb before he went on to dig the next one. She must have surmised he wasn't going to leave any time soon. With obvious reluctance, she dropped a bulb into the ground and covered it with dirt.

  "When Eva Ann found out about my past, she wanted a divorce the very next day. She said I wasn't the person she thought I was. You know what really got me?" He stopped digging and waited for Marly to look at him. When she finally did, he met her gaze evenly and said, "I hadn't changed. I was still me. Only her perception had changed.

  "I was shocked to find out you were another person. Shocked, angry, hurt, confused. But I'm no hypocrite. Your birth, your upbringing, your true identity … they don't change who you are, the person you've become, the person you are inside. You told me that, and now I'm telling you. Your past can't nullify all the good you've done with the children and the center. Your past can't change the things that happened between us. You are my Marly."

  In the pale candlelight, he saw her lower lip tremble. "I lied to you, Carter," she said in a broken whisper.

  "You didn't trust me."

  She shook head. "I didn't think you would forgive me. I was afraid of losing you."

  "And I was afraid of losing you."

  She sniffled. "We were both ding-dongs."

  "I forgive you. Please, forgive me. I don't want a divorce. I never did."

  "Oh, God." She clutched her stomach, her breathing rough and uneven.

  He threw down the spade and crawled to her on his hands and knees. "Say you'll stay. With me. Because you want to, not because you have to."

  "But you don't want me—"

  He tipped her chin up, his gaze roving over every precious inch of her face. "I want you, Marly."

  "A plain-Jane?"

  "You aren't the least bit plain, not in my eyes. You're…" He lifted a hand, then let it drop to his side. "You're everything to me."

  "You can't honestly expect me to believe—"

  "That I don't want you every second of every damn day? That I can't work? I can't think? Go ahead. Take your pick."

  "You think about me at work?"

  "I think about you all the time. I can't get you off my mind." He raked his fingers through his hair. "You have no idea, you couldn't possibly know, what it's like to want something so desperately it's almost inhuman. To lie awake all night, aching inside because you know you'll never have it. Do you have any idea what happens then, Marly?

  "You start to die from the wanting, and the only way you know to survive is to convince yourself you no longer want it. But it's a lie. I never thought you would love me. I never thought I could be worthy—"

  "Don't say that," she cried in anguish. "Don't ever say that again, Carter. Any woman would be damn lucky to be married to you."

  "I don't want any woman. I want you. You have to know that. It's just you, Marly." He tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear. "Only you." He rubbed the pad of his thumb over her lips. "Always you." He reached into his pocket and withdrew his fist, opening it to reveal her rings. "Stay with me, Mrs. King."

  A sob tore from her chest, like carbonation from a can of soda someone had shaken. She dropped the tulip bulb and covered her mouth with both hands.

  Carter eased her left hand free and slid the rings over her third finger. He raised her fingers to his lips. "I want you right now, Marly," he whispered. "You can either take my word, or check for yourself. A guy can't exactly fake these things." He lowered her hand and placed it firmly on the evidence of his attraction, smiling when her eyes widened. "No more lies," he said just before his mouth came down on hers, hungry and insistent.

  She didn't resist, not even for an instant, but leaned into him, one hand pressed to the back of his neck, the other boldly stroking him, returning his fervor with an urgency all her own.

  Marly noticed how he held her in place, careful not to brush against her bandage. His tongue parted the seam of her lips, thrusting deep inside before tangling with hers in a swirl of mounting passion.

  "Sweetheart, stop me now," he whispered, his voice ragged with desire as he pressed damp, moist kisses to the hollow of her throat. "You're in no condition to make love in the dirt."

  "I'm fine."

  "God help me, I can't resist you."

  "Then don't stop." She threaded her fi
ngers into his hair, unmindful of his protests as she rocked her hips against him. "Don't ever stop." She wanted so desperately for it to be true, to believe a woman like her really could evoke such longing in a man like Carter.

  His hands went to her cardigan, and she noticed his fingers shook as he undid the buttons one by one. She held his hands on the last button.

  "It's ugly, Carter. I just want to give you fair warning."

  "Nothing about you is ugly." He opened the garment and pushed up her cotton T-shirt, gazing at her long and hard as pain and desire mingled in his eyes. "I want to see it."

  She nodded, and he lifted the bandage. His fingers lightly traced the puckered purple tissue, all that remained from the staples and stitches.

  "You are the most beautiful woman in the world to me. Don't ever doubt that."

  "Carter." She whispered his name like a caress, her flesh quivering beneath his gentle touch.

  "When you were lying in that hospital bed, I thought I would die if you didn't make it. I thought if only you made it through, I would let you go. I wouldn't force you to stay with me."

  He lowered the bandage and raised her T-shirt higher. The night breeze rushed over her exposed flesh as he took a dusky nipple between his thumb and forefinger. Already pebbled, it puckered even more at his touch, straining against the lacy confines of her bra.

  He bent his head and let his mouth follow suit, gently raining kisses along the trail. Then he lifted his head and gazed deep into her eyes. "Tell me what you want, Marly."

  Her heart responded tenfold. "I want it all." She reached for the buttons of his shirt. Baring him to his waist in a matter of seconds, she pulled his shirttails from his jeans. "I want you." Her hands spanned the expanse of his chest, exploring the textures before dipping to his belt buckle. She touched her tongue to the hollow of his throat. I want you to need me the way I need you, she thought.

  I want you to love me.

  She unbuckled his belt, her nimble fingers working loose the button-fly of his jeans. The zipper made a sensual ripping sound as she inched it lower, exposing the white material of his briefs, which were stretched taut over his hardened length. She slipped her hand inside the denim and rubbed her palm against him.

  Carter opened his mouth as if to protest, emitting only a strangled moan. She leaned forward and kissed his cheek, nibbling a path along his jaw. She brushed his mouth—once, twice. He pulled her into his lap and captured her face between two hands.

  "I want you, Marly," he said, his voice rough with emotion. "I want you more than I've ever wanted anyone or anything, and that scares the hell of out me."

  "A wise man once told me that we're all scared. Every one of us. We wouldn't be human if we weren't. So don't think for one second that you've got some kind of monopoly going here, Carter."

  "A wise man said that, huh?"

  "The wisest man I know. I'm just hoping he's smart enough to make love to me soon, before I die from the wanting."

  With his palms on either side of her face holding her still, Carter covered her mouth with his, kissing her hard. His hands tilted and tipped her head, his lips moving against hers as if he would never get enough, as if the dam of his reserve had broken and splintered into a million tiny pieces, never to be repaired.

  "I love your mouth," he whispered between ragged kisses. "Your lips, your smile, the way you taste. I love kissing you, but it always makes me want more."

  Her arms twined around his neck, tightening until they ached. When his tongue thrust into her mouth, she suckled it with a reckless hunger, then dipped her own into his mouth, urging him forward as she slowly leaned back on the ground. His body covered hers, limbs tangled together, kneading, groping in a primitive dance of unabashed desire.

  "I love the way you feel against me, the way you move, those incredible curves." Carter unclasped her bra. The scrape of his late-night whiskers electrified her senses as he trailed his tongue along the valley between her breasts. His mouth closed over one aching nipple, teasing it with his teeth, then blowing softly until she thought she would explode.

  His face had changed before her eyes, the mask he'd worn for so long slipping, baring to her gaze the hunger he'd hidden for so long.

  "You don't know how long I've waited to see you look at me … like this," Marly whispered, her hands trailing over his body.

  Carter groaned deep in his throat as her touch sent a sheet of white-hot fire through him, a fire fueled by furious need and long-suppressed passion, a fire unlike any he'd ever expected to battle. "I waited a lifetime for you. I can't believe I nearly lost you, nearly threw you away. How could I have been so stupid?"

  And then his head was dipping lower, his mouth exploring the contours of her belly, then lower still, he shoved her jeans down, his fingers tugging at the elastic of her panties. She wiggled out of them, then gasped as Carter parted her thighs.

  "Don't leave me, Marly."

  "I won't. I can't. I love you."

  A conflagration of desperate, almost violent need burst within him, her declaration singeing his control to ashes. Flames licked through him, blazing a trail of hot, wanton desire, leaving the charred cinders of reservations and doubts in their wake.

  He wanted to take her right here, right now, in the meadow, in the dirt. Again and again. He wanted to slide his rigid flesh into her, to watch her passion mount with every thrust. He wanted to kiss her with every fiber of his being, to drink the soul of her existence and absorb it into his. He wanted to explore every inch of her, to uncover every mystery, to lose himself in her. For the moment, he didn't even care if he had anything left afterward, if only he could assuage this primal, burning need.

  His need for her.

  Only her.

  Suddenly, the need felt as vital as his next breath, if not more critical. He stripped out of his jeans and lifted her hips, positioning himself. She was so wet, so incredibly ready for him, that he slid into her in one quick thrust, careful not to hurt her wound.

  They both cried out at the same time, the thrill of their joining almost too much to bear. Carter started to pull back. It was too much, too soon. Too soon for her. He was ready to explode.

  "Don't you dare hold back on me, Carter King. Don't you dare." She reached between their bodies, taking him in her hands.

  "Marly, what are you…?"

  "Trust me," she whispered.

  But then he could only cry her name, over and over as his aching flesh convulsed inside her.

  "You weren't ready," he said afterward, as they lay in the meadow bathed in the dim light of the hurricane lamp, Carter on his back, Marly draped across his chest. "I could have waited."

  She drew lazy circles on his stomach. "I didn't want you to wait. I wanted you to lose control for once."

  He felt the muscles in his belly contract as her hand drifted lower, closing around him.

  "Again?" she whispered, moving her thigh restlessly against his.

  "Yes," he answered. "Yes, please. Again and again."

  "You are insatiable, you know."

  He froze, then slowly pulled back, surprised to see her smiling up at him. And if he wasn't mistaken, she wore a decidedly smug expression on her face.

  "Don't ever change," she told him, drawing her body over his.

  He grinned then, and held her close to him.

  "Carter, can I try something?"

  "Sure. Whatever you want." When he realized her intent, he took her hips and helped guide her down.

  She smiled, her eyes heavy lidded with passion, and flung her head back. Her hips rocked against his, slowly at first, then gaining momentum.

  Carter levered himself up on his elbows to kiss her, while his hand slipped between their bodies. She cried his name as she splintered apart, her back arching like a bow. Just the sound of his name on her lips was enough to throw him over the edge. He gripped her hips and thrust into her with his own shattering climax.

  "Do I have to move?" she asked afterward.

  "No,
please don't." He pressed his lips to her temple. All the while, his hand stroked her back.

  "Can we stay here until spring?"

  "And watch the tulips come up?"

  "Umm-hmm. They will this time. I just know it."

  "Marly." He breathed her name, gathering her closer. "I love you, you know," he said, his voice raw with emotion.

  She froze, her playful smile wobbling before falling entirely. "You … you don't have to say that just because…"

  "What if I want to say it just because? What if I need to say it just because? What if you need to hear it as much as I do? For no reason other than the fact that it's true. I do love you, Marly. I've loved you for a long time."

  A cry escaped her lips, just before his mouth descended on hers. She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him with all her heart. Tears spouted from her eyes, dampening their cheeks.

  "You're not supposed to cry," he murmured, kissing the tears away. "Just love me back."

  "I do." Marly choked back a sob. "I love you so much, Carter. I just never thought that you … that you would… Oh, God, I can't even say it."

  "I can. I love you, Marly. I love you more than life. Do you want to know when I fell in love with you?"

  "When?"

  "The night of the fund-raiser, when I saw you all dressed up like Cinderella going to the ball. The night you dumped your drink in the plant."

  "No, that was your drink. I told you—I drank mine."

  "That was the night I knew. I tried to deny it because I never thought you would—"

  She pressed a finger to his lips. "Say it again, Carter."

  "I love you, sweetheart." He kissed the tip of her finger.

  She shivered, deep inside. "Canter, about those two kids…"

  "One down, one to go." At her perplexed expression, he clarified, "Tyler needs a little brother or sister, don't you think?"

  "Oh, Carter." She bit her lip. "Yes. Oh, yes. I don't think I've ever been this happy."

  "Me, either." He brushed his mouth against hers.

  "We're going to have such a great life. I love you so much."

  "More than Mel Gibson?" he asked, rolling over and taking her with him.

  "More than anyone or anything. You're my very own Prince Charming." Gently, she reached her hands up to cup his face. "Carter, can we make love again? Just one more time. I want to make your baby tonight. Nothing would make me prouder."