Married for Real (Harlequin Presents)

by Lindsay Armstrong

  And she grimaced again as she eyed herself in the mirror. It was deliberately sexy, this swimsuit, and clung to her figure like a second skin. There was a white voile shirt that went with it, but it was so sheer it didn’t hide much, either. She put it on all the same, tied her hair back, and with an odd little breath, went to join her husband.

  He wasn’t there when she got to the pool, although the phone was. She shrugged and looked around. The pool was in a walled garden with flowering creepers growing riotously over the mellow, old pink bricks. There was thick smooth grass on three sides of it then a paved area that led out of a side veranda and some dark green garden furniture. There were small statues dotted about that were also plant holders with flowering shrubs growing out of them. There was a bower, smothered in climbing roses, and a small waterfall at one end of the pool. It was a lovely, peaceful, scented and very private area.

  She took her blouse off and was just testing the water with her toes when she heard a low whistle. She straightened and turned to see Declan with a tray in his hands, walking towards her.

  ‘Oh. I wondered where you were,’ she said a little breathlessly.

  ‘I went to see where you were and to bring us some drinks,’ he replied, putting the tray down without taking his eyes off her. ‘We must have just missed each other.’

  ‘The water looks so inviting.’

  ‘So do you. That costume is quite stunning.’

  Arizona laughed a little then said ruefully, ‘It’s not exactly my usual style.’

  ‘No? So it was one of your heat-of-the-moment purchases? Designed to teach me a thing or two, one way or another?’

  ‘Yes, but I’m not sure what,’ she replied.

  ‘In that mood, perhaps an eat your heart out, Mr. Holmes type of message?’ he suggested with the wickedest glint in his blue eyes.

  Arizona blushed but couldn’t deny it. ‘Perhaps.’

  ‘Thank God things have turned out the way they have, then,’ he murmured wryly. ‘I’d be an absolute case, otherwise. Would you like a swim first or a drink first?’ He gestured to the tray. ‘It’s not alcoholic, just very cold and refreshing fruit juice.’

  ‘I think I’ll have a swim first.’ And so saying, Arizona dived into the water. It was heavenly, also refreshing, and she swam quite a few laps energetically before she pulled herself out and accepted the dark green towel he handed her.

  ‘Feel better?’

  ‘A whole heap better!’ She rubbed herself down and wrung out her hair. ‘Thanks,’ she added, sinking into a chair.

  ‘I—hell,’ he said as the phone rang. ‘Sorry about this, but it will be the last one today, I promise.’

  It was a fairly long conversation, and she couldn’t help divining it was to do with the current political crisis, something she’d normally have been very interested in. She grimaced as she thought that nothing outside her immediate situation seemed to have the power to interest her or hold her attention, and as she sipped her drink her mind wandered to the night before, what had happened and how it had happened—and when it was likely to happen again. So that it was out of quite a considerable reverie he brought her when he said her name.

  She coloured faintly because she hadn’t even realized his phone call had ended. ‘I was miles away.’

  ‘Where, I wonder?’ he murmured.

  She coloured more brightly this time but said honestly, ‘I was thinking of last night.’

  ‘So have I been, all day—could this be the right time to relive last night?’

  ‘I don’t know. I mean—’ her lips twisted into a wry little smile and her eyes were suddenly mischievous ‘—we could wait until we go to bed tonight.’

  ‘That might be harder than you think,’ he responded.

  ‘But…’ She hesitated and looked at her hands then shrugged. ‘I don’t know how to begin, I guess.’

  ‘May I make a suggestion?’

  She grinned. ‘You always do, and, much as it has pained me on occasions, they’re nearly always good ones.’

  ‘Thank you! That might even spur me to greater heights. Let’s see. Had you noticed that the sun has just set?’

  ‘Uh-huh.’ Arizona looked around. The garden was now a mysterious place of rose-tinted shadows, and the sky was reflected on the pool in streaks of orange and lemon amidst the glassy blue surface of the water. ‘I’ve also noticed,’ she said impishly, ‘that you never rush into your suggestions. You often set the scene first, so to speak.’

  He raised a wry eyebrow at her. ‘Any guesses?’

  ‘No—well, only a very general idea.’

  ‘Good. I like surprising you. Uh—the air is warm and balmy, would you also agree?’

  Arizona eyed him through her lashes. ‘Yes.’

  ‘How was the water?’

  ‘Lovely,’ she said slowly.

  ‘Ever swum without your clothes?’

  A little jolt of breath escaped, but she took time to say thoughtfully, ‘As a matter of fact, no.’

  He sat forward and picked up her hand. ‘Would you like to try it?’

  Arizona felt a tremor run through her and, foolishly, looked around and up at the sky.

  ‘They’d need a helicopter,’ he said amusedly. ‘I assure you, no-one would see, other than me.’

  ‘All right.’ But she bit her lip, then on an impulse, freed her hand, stood up, stripped her costume off and dived into the pool. When she surfaced, though, he was right beside her and he was laughing at her, his teeth glinting whitely, his dark hair plastered to his head, and he resisted the sudden rush of embarrassment that made her try to twist away by gathering her slim, satiny body in his arms and holding her against the length of his as he trod water then moved them to a shallower area where he could stand. ‘Don’t,’ he said as she made another effort.

  ‘Don’t laugh at me, then,’ she retorted.

  ‘If you knew what I’d really like to do to you,’ he replied, ‘you’d know it was no laughing matter at all. But,’ he continued, overriding her, ‘don’t you like this?’

  Arizona quietened suddenly and thought about it. Or felt it, would have been more to the point, she reflected, and in the sudden gesture of freedom it seemed to generate she wound her legs around his thighs and lay back against the circle of his arms, murmuring, ‘I hope this speaks for itself!’

  ‘It does,’ he agreed, his gaze intent on the water lapping around her breasts, the chill of which but not only that had caused her nipples to unfold and stand erect. ‘Most eloquently, my lovely mermaid. Did you know you were a symphony of rose and ivory and the most tantalizing curves?’ His hands moved down to her buttocks, and she floated on her back, still with her legs twined round him and a dreamy sense of delight in her heart. But he hadn’t finished, it seemed. ‘Then there’s this lovely slender waist—’ he moved his hands upwards, and her skin felt slippery and satiny ‘—and a veil of darkness here.’

  She gasped and shuddered as he traced his fingertips through the mound of curls that guarded the core of her most secret, sensitive area.

  ‘No good?’ he said, barely audibly.

  ‘Too good,’ she whispered, and pulled herself upright, slipped her arms around him and laid her cheek on his shoulder, her breasts against his chest. ‘If you see what I mean,’ she added with a tremor in her voice. ‘Is it any good for you?’

  ‘So good, my dear,’ he answered, ‘I’m going to get you out of here before it’s… too late.’

  ‘Not very far away, I hope.’

  ‘No…’

  In fact he carried her out of the pool and laid her on the grass beside it and it felt wonderful beneath her, thick and cool, and he knelt over her for a while, running his hands up and down her body, tasting her skin and her nipples while she stroked his back and moved with ever growing desire until she said his name urgently, and he parted her legs and claimed her powerfully and equally urgently so that they were united in a burst of white-hot passionate delight.

  ‘How… does it alwa
ys happen like this?’ Arizona said shakily, many minutes later but still cradled in his arms.

  ‘There’s certainly something about us that’s—highly combustible,’ he said. ‘How do you feel?’

  She considered and moved against him for reassurance, warmth and the pure pleasure that the grace and strength of his body brought her. ‘I feel…very womanly,’ she said at last.

  ‘Do you mind?’ he asked quizzically.

  ‘Right now, no. I love it. But if you’d ever asked me whether I would enjoy making love on a lawn beside a pool in the dark, I think I might have been quite scornful,’ she confessed.

  He kissed her hair lightly and grinned. ‘Then I’m honoured, Mrs. Holmes, to be the one to bring you to this state. Talking of the dark, though, and the possibility of getting chilled, would it be terribly mundane if I suggested we should go inside, have a shower and put some clothes on?’

  ‘No, as usual, Mr. Holmes, it’s an excellent suggestion!’

  They showered together, and it was while she was drying her rose and ivory body with a huge, snowy white towel before a wall of mirrors, and studying it quite openly and with some curiosity, that she was struck by a sudden thought.

  She turned to Declan, who was towelling himself off also, and said, ‘Is that what you meant?’

  He raised an eyebrow at her, hung up his towel and came to take hers from her. ‘Meant?’

  ‘I mean—did you plan that all in advance?’ Her eyes were very grey and serious.

  ‘I planned to make love to you some time today,’ he said gravely and put his hands on her waist. ‘But, no, I did not say to myself, we’ll do it by the pool at six-thirty on the dot after an unclothed interlude in the pool. Why do you ask?’

  ‘What I really meant was, when you said earlier that you wanted me to look unapproachable so you could contrast in your mind—’ She stopped abruptly.

  ‘Ah, that,’ he drawled. ‘Yes, the contrast is quite stunning.’ And his blue gaze swept up and down her body, from the top of her head to the tips of her toes and all the flushed, silken, curved and slender spots in between. ‘Does it bother you?’

  ‘No,’ Arizona said slowly, but it did. For no reason she could put her finger on, though.

  He narrowed his eyes. ‘You don’t sound too sure.’

  She moved, but he kept his hands on her waist. Then he surprised her—he turned her around so they were both facing the mirror, she standing in front of him, he looking at her inscrutably.

  ‘What?’ she whispered after a long, tense moment.

  His eyes met hers in the mirror and he brought his hands up and cupped her breasts. ‘It’s mutual, Arizona. We do this to each other, don’t we?’

  ‘I… yes,’ she said uncertainly then closed her eyes and laid her head back against him as those long fingers plucked her nipples almost absently. ‘But again? I mean…so soon?’ Her voice cracked a little.

  ‘We’ve a bit of lost time to make up for,’ he said, rather dryly she thought, but before she could take issue, he added, ‘I’m afraid it can’t be soon enough for me at the moment.’ And without waiting for her permission, he picked her up and took her to the vast bed in the master bedroom. But what surprised her most, perhaps, was the corresponding hunger he was able to arouse in her, again, so soon and despite her better judgment for another, obscure reason.

  But there was no doubting that he did arouse her, and as their limbs mingled and his hands sought and stroked and teased, her breathing grew ragged and she stretched her arms above her head and pointed her toes and made an odd little sound in her throat as she grew warm and wet, and ached for him to commit the final act. Which she participated in with growing boldness that secretly amazed her but seemed only to please him until they were breathing as one and the pleasure ran through them at the same moment.

  Minutes later, he rolled onto his side, taking her with him in his arms, and said into her hair with a tinge of amusement, ‘For a second time, and so soon, how was that?’

  ‘It was—I can’t actually describe it,’ she whispered. ‘But I do know I’ll be good for absolutely nothing for a while. You’ve worn me out, Mr. Holmes, although I must say you did it beautifully.’

  He laughed and hugged her. ‘Go to sleep then.’

  And she did.

  She woke alone, saw drowsily on the bedside clock that it was ten o’clock at night, and for a few minutes simply lay with her hands at her sides wondering where he was. Wondering if millionaires had separate bedrooms. Wondering if it was common amongst them to spend the first night of their marriages in separate beds and rooms. Then she realized she was hungry and thirsty, and she shook off her odd feeling of foreboding, had a quick shower, pulled on the dark blue towelling robe that hung behind the door and padded to the kitchen.

  The light was on and Declan was there in shorts and a T-shirt with a percolator of coffee bubbling aromatically on the gleaming range. The kitchen was tidy but the remains of their turkey was on a platter on the table. He looked up as she stood in the doorway and simply held out his hand.

  Arizona hesitated then slipped into a chair beside him. ‘I wondered where you were,’ she said quietly.

  ‘I was starving but I didn’t want to wake you. Like some?’

  ‘Yes, please.’ She looked around.

  He carved her some cold turkey and buttered her some bread. ‘Coffee?’ She nodded and he got up to pour it.

  ‘So you’re fairly domesticated,’ she reflected between mouthfuls of turkey.

  He glanced at her quizzically. ‘Well, the Navy teaches one all sorts of useful things. How to open a tin of baked beans, for example.’

  ‘Seriously,’ Arizona said.

  ‘Seriously?’ He raised a wry eyebrow at her. ‘Did you have me pictured as some dangerous beast you might have to house-train?’

  ‘No, of course not.’ Arizona grimaced. ‘I just don’t know, well, those kind of things about you. Some men are great cooks. Pete was, for example.’ She stopped abruptly.

  Their eyes met, and she tingled curiously, not only because as soon as she’d said it she’d wished fervently she hadn’t mentioned Pete’s name, but also because of the sudden little glint of steel she thought she saw in the blue depths of his eyes.

  ‘I know,’ he said at last. ‘No, I’m not in Pete’s class cooking-wise, although I mightn’t starve if left to my own devices. How did you cope with Pete’s uninspiring lovemaking, incidentally?’

  Arizona went cold and her eyes widened. ‘What do you mean?’ she said with difficulty.

  ‘Did you fake it?’ he suggested.

  ‘No.’

  ‘He must have wondered what he was doing wrong.’

  ‘He knew… he—’ She pushed her plate away suddenly and stood up. ‘Why are you asking me this, Declan?’

  ‘You brought his name up, Arizona,’ he said with irony.

  ‘I’m sorry about that,’ she said evenly. ‘It just—’ she paused ‘—came out in the context of what we were talking about. It wasn’t because I’d been thinking of him or anything like that.’

  ‘How kind of you,’ he said dryly and put two mugs of coffee on the table. ‘Going somewhere?’ he added coolly.

  ‘I… it crossed my mind to wonder whether the honeymoon was over,’ she said tautly. ‘If so, I might as well go back to bed, alone.’

  ‘Sit down, Arizona,’ he ordered. ‘Let’s not get all dramatic.’

  ‘You started this,’ she countered.

  ‘Perhaps I have an unusual sensitivity on the subject. It is, after all, our wedding night.’

  Arizona stared at him because the way he’d said it didn’t seem to match up with what he’d said. In fact there’d been a flat sort of indifference in his voice that made her blood run cold and made it very hard for her to believe that she’d genuinely touched a nerve even though she knew it was not in the best taste, if nothing else, to mention one’s previous husband to one’s very new husband.

  ‘Is—’ her voice shook slightly
‘something else wrong, Declan?’

  ‘Such as?’ He raised an eyebrow at her.

  ‘I don’t know. I’m only guessing. Perhaps I didn’t altogether please you last time round.’

  ‘Not at all, Arizona,’ he drawled. ‘You please me exceedingly. But you were the one who came into this room with something on your mind, then brought Pete up.’

  It was true, of course, only she’d forgotten that in the last few minutes. But it struck her suddenly, so that she bit her lip as the words formulated in her mind—yes, I always seem to wake up alone and it bothers me! But the implication of that sentiment suddenly hit her with a force that made her close her eyes briefly and then sit down as she swallowed unexpectedly. Have I fallen that much in love? she wondered.

  ‘Arizona?’

  She swallowed again then lifted her coffee mug. ‘Not really—I mean there wasn’t much on my mind. I—’

  The telephone rang.

  Declan swore then lifted the wall receiver, and his voice was hard as he said hello. But it was Rosemary, worried because Daisy kept waking up with nightmares and asking for Arizona.

  ‘You better talk to her,’ Declan said and handed her the phone.

  She got Rosemary first, who said, ‘Darling, the last thing I wanted to do was interrupt your honeymoon but she seems quite upset and I just can’t get her to stay asleep. None of us can! I think she might have had just a bit too much excitement today.’

  ‘Let me say hello, Rosemary.’ And a moment later, ‘Daisy, is that you, pet?’

  ‘Arizona,’ Daisy wept down the line, ‘I don’t want to stay here any more. I want to go home and I want to see you and I can’t sleep because there’s cars smashing and crashing and—’

  ‘Daisy.’ Arizona tried to stern the flow. ‘Darling, I’m coming home first thing in the morning, I promise you! Now I’ll tell you what I want you to do. You know your Christopher Robin book? Well, get it out and let Cloris read it to you, it’s your favourite book, remember? Tell you what, why don’t I say some of it to you now?’