Ready for Marriage? (9 page)

‘‘Okay,’’ she finally said, setting her coffee cup down with a snap. ‘‘What’s going on?’’

‘‘Huh?’’ Derek glanced at her over the top of the paper.

‘‘Don’t pretend you don’t know what I mean. You’re doing your level best to ignore me this morning. I thought—I expected—oh, never mind!’’ She slapped a hand on the table and rose, uncaring that her coffee sloshed across the paper he’d laid there.

‘‘Kris, honey, wait.’’ He moved faster than she imagined he could, grabbing her arm before she could leave the kitchen. ‘‘I’m sorry,’’ he said. ‘‘I’m just not used to sharing my morning yet.’’ He wrapped his arms around her and she let him hold her, burrowing into his embrace and laying her head on his chest.

‘‘You looked like you were a million miles away.’’

‘‘I was…thinking.’’

‘‘About what?’’ The steady beat of his heart reassured her, as did the warmth of his arms around her and the slow glide of his palms up and down her back.

His hands stilled. ‘‘Deb,’’ he said quietly. ‘‘I was thinking about Deb.’’

Kristin said, ‘‘Oh,’’ in a small voice and fell silent. He expected questions but when she didn’t say anything else, he relaxed and let himself savor the feel of her in his arms.

The moment she walked into the kitchen, he’d realized his error. Deb had hated his habit of rising early and slipping out of bed to read the paper, although she’d never said so flat out. She’d just been snippy and cool when she came down later, and he’d usually beaten a hasty retreat since he’d assumed that her first-thing-in-the-morning bad mood just needed time to mellow into her more usual placid temperament.

It wasn’t until they’d gone to counseling a year later that he’d found out how it bugged her, that her bad mood was a result of his behavior. He’d been happy to change and it hadn’t taken much. She didn’t want to get up with him. All she’d wanted was a little nudge and a good morning kiss before he got up and left her dozing.

How could he have forgotten that? He’d felt guilty as hell so he’d immediately buried his head in the
paper, hoping the moment would pass. Tomorrow morning, he’d make the effort for Kris.

She was quiet in his arms, and he savored the feel of her soft curves, marveling at his good fortune. How had he gotten lucky enough to find this kind of physical compatibility with one of his best friends? Slowly, he ran his hands down her back to her hips, tugging her more firmly against him and leisurely rubbing his hips against her, feeling the insistent rise of desire shorten his breath as his flesh firmed and filled.

He dropped his head and sought out the soft hollow just beneath her ear, nuzzling into the warm space, then tugging on her earlobe with light nips. Kristin shuddered, lifting her face to his and without hesitation, he took her mouth even as he reached down and put his hand beneath one of her thighs. She willingly lifted her leg and twined it around his hips while balancing on the one remaining, opening herself to allow him to boldly press himself against the warmth of her opened thighs.

He shoved his tongue into her mouth, suddenly feeling a burning need to brand her. She was going to be his wife. His wife! He hadn’t allowed himself to think about marriage again after Deb—no. He wasn’t going to go there. When he kissed her with renewed passion, she kissed him back with abandon, but when he reached beneath the little denim skirt she wore, she said, ‘‘Wait. Derek, we can’t! Mollie—’’

‘‘Never wakes up much before nine,’’ he reminded
her. ‘‘It’s barely seven. But if it makes you feel better…’’ He lifted her with his hands beneath her bottom, and as she circled his hips with both legs and locked her arms around his neck, he carried her across the kitchen to the bathroom in the front hallway. Once inside, he closed the door firmly, then turned and leaned Kristin’s weight against it. It was dark and cozy and though he could have turned on the light, he found he liked the clandestine feeling. He fumbled to pull the little skirt out of his way—and froze when he realized she wore no panties beneath it.

‘‘Just what do you think you’re up to?’’ he said, laughing and trying to sound stern at the same time.

She laughed, too, lifting her face for his kiss again. ‘‘I don’t believe I’m the one who matches that description.’’

His amusement faded as he fondled the warm, smooth globes of her buttocks, exploring the tender flesh in her hidden folds. He made a rough sound of delight when his seeking fingers encountered slippery heat, and slowly, he let her slide down to stand on her own feet. He probed deeper with one finger before withdrawing, spreading the sweet moisture over her, delving again and again to repeat the process until she was twisting and crying against him.

He wanted her in every way there was, and though his own body was rigid and aching with the need to be inside her, there was something more he wanted to do, something he’d been fantasizing about in hot, erotic dreams for the past week. Slowly, he lowered
himself to his knees and she clutched at his shoulders. ‘‘Derek, what…?’’

‘‘Hush,’’ he said. ‘‘Let me taste you.’’

‘‘Oh, no,’’ she moaned. She covered her feminine mound with one hand but he only kissed and nibbled around the edges of her palm until she relaxed. Then he drew her hand away, returning it to his shoulders so that both of his were free to press against her inner thighs and widen her stance. He buried his nose in the sweet, spicy curls and inhaled deeply. ‘‘Ah, Kris, you’re beautiful.’’

He’d said it before and he knew it was inadequate, but it was all his feeble brain could come up with at the moment. Slowly, taking his time, he licked a line along the curl-covered folds of tender flesh, tasting the dew he’d drawn forth. As her body gave way beneath his probing advances, he curled his tongue and thrust deep inside her, then found the tiny button of her desire and flicked it back and forth relentlessly, gauging her response in the shifting motions of her hips and the small cries she made above his head.

He was so hard he ached, and he finally pulled away long enough to rise and shove down the baggy pajama bottoms he wore and free himself. Kristin sagged against the door, but he slid his hand down her arm to capture her palm and drag it to him.

‘‘Touch me,’’ he said in a hoarse whisper, folding her fingers around his rigid length. Her hand was small and warm and he almost whimpered aloud at the exquisite sensation as she tentatively began to explore him. He did groan aloud when she found the
small bead of moisture that had already escaped his control and spread it all around the throbbing head, her tentative touch so thrilling that he felt like throwing his head back and howling out his pleasure.

‘‘Show me what to do,’’ she implored.

‘‘Like this.’’ He put his hand over hers and began a slow rhythm. He showed her how tightly to grip him, how fast to stroke, and within moments she proved so apt a pupil that he was thrusting his hips into her hand and gritting his teeth as the inescapable conclusion to such shattering pleasure rose higher and higher. ‘‘Wait,’’ he finally choked out.

He pulled her hand away with frantic haste and reached for her in the darkness, clasping her by the hips and yanking her up and onto him in a single wild motion. Immediately, he leaned forward, pinning her against the door. He’d prepared her so well that she came almost immediately as he thrust deep into her, driving her relentlessly up and over the edge so that she was arching and crying in his arms as her body rippled with contractions around him. He couldn’t wait, couldn’t last, and he let the dance of passion whirl him into his own release as he came heavily into her, his weight shoving her so hard against the door he knew he probably would bruise her. But his body didn’t belong to him, didn’t want to obey his commands. He could only cling to Kris and bury his face in her neck as he poured himself into her receptive body, her arms and legs anchoring him to the sweet reality of his new world.

He was gasping for air when the world finally
stopped spinning. Slowly he straightened. Kris’s legs slid limply down to the floor but he didn’t let her go because she felt as floppy as a rag doll to him.

‘‘Hey.’’ He had to stop, clear his throat and start over. ‘‘Are you okay?’’ He could actually feel himself blushing. God, no wonder. He’d acted like a man marooned on an island for years without sex.

‘‘I’m fine.’’ Her voice was dreamy and soft, and amazingly, he felt a twinge of renewed desire stir him. It was the first time in his life he really understood the phrase ‘‘ruled by his hormones.’’
His
hormones were very definitely in control. And what they wanted was sex. With Kris. Anytime, all the time.

Slowly, he lifted her away from him and set her down. He snapped on the lights and cleaned himself up in a few quick motions, then turned and gathered a folded pad of toilet tissue. When he dropped to his knees in front of her, she uttered a startled squeak.

‘‘Wha—?’’ She tried to close her legs when she realized what he was doing, but he held her thighs apart with gentle, yet inexorable fingers and gently blotted her sensitive flesh. Then, unable to resist, he leaned forward and pressed a kiss to the soft tangle of curls, letting his tongue lap at her just one time.

She nearly jumped out of her skin, and he chuckled as he rose to his feet. ‘‘We’ll get back to that later,’’ he told her in a deep, satisfied voice before letting her go.

H
e took her hand and started back to the kitchen, leading her across to the breakfast nook and drawing her onto his knee. He was supremely conscious of the fact that she wore nothing beneath her skirt.

‘‘So how did you lose your underwear?’’ he asked, smiling.

She shrugged, and a pretty pink lit her cheeks. ‘‘I guess I just forgot it this morning.’’

He laughed aloud. ‘‘Well, you can forget any morning. I promise not to complain.’’

She smiled. Then she laid her head on his shoulder. ‘‘We need to talk about birth control.’’

Birth control. Holy unplanned pregnancy. It was several seconds before he realized he’d spoken aloud. ‘‘I never gave it a thought,’’ he said ruefully. ‘‘Deb
never…she had trouble conceiving so we never… Is it the right time?’’

‘‘Probably not.’’ Kristin raised her head and her gaze was steady and clear. ‘‘I know you said you’d like more children, but I’d rather take our time and be sure you feel all right with it.’’

‘‘I’m going to feel all right with it,’’ he said. ‘‘But I’d like to have you to myself for a year or so before we add anyone new to our family.’’

‘‘All right. I’ll take care of it today.’’ She laid her head back on his shoulder.

She’d take care of it…? ‘‘You’re going on the Pill?’’

‘‘I don’t know. That would be my first choice, but I’ll see what my doctor says.’’

‘‘Do you mind? Because if you really don’t want to, I can—’’

‘‘No.’’ She put her hand over his mouth. ‘‘I kind of like things the way they are now, without having to stop and think.’’

He chuckled. ‘‘The Pill’s probably a good idea. Thinking doesn’t seem to be something I’m real good at anymore when you walk through the door.’’

‘‘Good.’’ There was a wealth of satisfaction in her voice.

They sat in silence for a few minutes. He couldn’t remember when he’d enjoyed his morning more. Sitting here, with Kris in his lap, in his house, was almost perfect.

The moment he thought it, he felt disloyal. His life with Deb had been perfect. Or close to it. She’d taken
care of the house and helped him with the clinic. She’d been the perfect spouse for a busy young vet trying to establish a practice. Deb had never wanted to work outside the home, and had looked forward to being a full-time mother.

On the other hand, he and Kris were going to have some things to work out along those lines. ‘‘Are you still going to want to work?’’ he asked her now.

She sat up in his lap and her answer was slow in coming. ‘‘Yes, although I may not open a full-time practice like I’ve been planning. I want to be home with Mollie and any other children we have. Once the new employee for the sanctuary comes on board, I could go back to my old schedule, working part-time from home.’’

‘‘You don’t have to work at all,’’ he told her. ‘‘I’d be happy to support you if you want to be a full-time mom with no work commitments.’’

‘‘Oh, no, I have to work,’’ she said. ‘‘I mean, I
want
to work. And that reminds me—should we establish a joint account for the household expenses? We could put matching funds into it on a weekly or monthly basis.’’

He wasn’t sure he liked the sound of that. ‘‘We might as well just combine everything,’’ he said. ‘‘If you feel the need, you can bank your entire salary and I’ll take care of you.’’

‘‘No,’’ she said hastily. ‘‘I wouldn’t feel right about that. Besides, vets don’t exactly compete with human doctors on the salary scale. Wouldn’t one income be a stretch for us?’’

He laughed, thinking of just how far his extensive wealth would go without stretching in the least. He supposed he’d have to tell her about it one day; but that wasn’t something he wanted to get into right now. ‘‘Trust me, we wouldn’t have any problems making ends meet.’’

‘‘Still,’’ she said stubbornly, ‘‘I’d rather pay my portion of everything.’’

He sighed. ‘‘Kris, we’re becoming a family. Families don’t split things down the middle. They do things together.’’

She hesitated, and her heart-shaped face fell. ‘‘I know. It’s just that I have some financial obligations to conclude first.’’

Financial obligations? He idly wound one white-blond curl around his finger as he considered her words. Then he recalled something she’d said—or nearly said—the other day. What had it been, exactly? She’d been talking about opening a full-time accounting practice.

It would be a nice leap in my income level, let me
finally get out from under—

Under what?

It sounded very much as though she had debts to pay, although he knew that couldn’t be the case. When she’d insisted on selling her family home after her father’s death, he’d purchased it as close to the upper end of fair market value as he could without making her suspicious that he was doing it for her. He’d wanted her to have plenty of money for her education with some left over for a home of her own.
Although so far, she’d lived in a rented town house since graduating from college.

That was something he had been meaning to discuss with her when he had time. Instead of pouring her money into rent, she should be paying into a mortgage for which she would get home ownership in return. Not to mention the benefits at tax time.

‘‘You know,’’ he said, ‘‘that’s something I’ve been wanting to discuss with you. Why have you been renting instead of buying? I shouldn’t have to tell an accountant the benefits of a mortgage.’’

She shrugged. ‘‘I haven’t really had the time or desire to house-hunt.’’

‘‘Even so,’’ he persisted, ‘‘you could at least have bought a town house like the one you’re in. It—’’

‘‘Derek.’’ Her voice was soft yet implacable. ‘‘Has it ever occurred to you that one has to have a down payment to buy any sort of home at all?’’

‘‘Well, sure,’’ he said, ‘‘but you should have plenty of money from selling me this place.’’

She tried to rise but he held her on his lap. ‘‘I don’t,’’ she said. ‘‘After Daddy died I had some…things to take care of.’’

He was shocked and he let it show. ‘‘You mean you have
nothing
left from that entire sum? What the hell have you been spending money on?’’

Her face froze and her expression warned him he might have gone too far. ‘‘Gigolos. Gambling. And oh, gee, did I forget to mention I have a serious addiction problem that requires a couple thousand dollars a day?’’

‘‘Dammit, Kris,’’ he said, not appreciating the sarcasm, ‘‘what’s the big secret? I know you too well to believe anything as ridiculous as any of that.’’

‘‘You don’t know me as well as you think,’’ she shot back. ‘‘You have absolutely no idea what I’ve been dealing with since Daddy died.’’

‘‘I lost someone I loved, too,’’ he reminded her evenly, wondering what in the hell that had to do with her finances.

‘‘Yeah,’’ she said, ‘‘but your someone wasn’t up to her neck in debt, was she?’’

There was a stunned silence in the room. Kristin’s face grew red and her eyes filled with tears. ‘‘Dammit,’’ she said quietly. ‘‘I wasn’t ever going to tell you that.’’

‘‘Tell me, anyway,’’ he said. He was furious with himself for not being more attentive to her problems after her father died. Dammit! Paul had trusted him enough to name him Kristin’s guardian in the event of his death…and he’d let his mentor down. He fought not to turn the feelings roiling inside him on her, controlling his irritation with her secretiveness. What exactly had she been trying to prove, dealing with it on her own?

She sighed. ‘‘Daddy had to borrow a lot of money in the first couple years of the sanctuary to get it up and running the way he wanted. If he’d lived, I’m sure we would have gotten back onto solid ground, but…’’

‘‘But he died and left you holding the bag,’’ he finished for her.

‘‘It wasn’t like that,’’ she flared.

‘‘How could I not have known this?’’ he wondered aloud. ‘‘I was your guardian, for God’s sake.’’

‘‘You were only my guardian for a couple of months,’’ she reminded him. ‘‘And don’t you remember? When I said I’d been handling our bills for several years, you and Deb agreed that I could continue to do so with the help of my attorney and our accountant? I managed,’’ she added defensively. ‘‘And after I sold the house to you, I was able to get the debt down to a very manageable balance.’’

‘‘It’s not paid off yet, is it?’’ he asked grimly. He had a vivid memory of the banker who’d arranged the sale of the house nodding approvingly at the generous amount he had offered for the property. Damned old weasel. Why hadn’t anyone told him how much money she really needed?

‘‘Well, no,’’ she said. ‘‘It’s not. Not quite. I could do it in a year working full-time but now I’ll just—’’

‘‘I’ll pay it off,’’ he said. He felt a little sick to his stomach at the thought of Kristin laboring under what had obviously been a sizable debt for her entire adult life.

‘‘You will not!’’

‘‘Yes,’’ he said. ‘‘I will. You’re going to be my wife, that means you’re my responsibility.’’

Her face was red again but this time there was no trace of tears. ‘‘The last thing I intend to be is any man’s ‘responsibility,’’’ she said, making the word sound like an epithet. ‘‘I’ll take care of my own problems.’’

He measured the determination written in her face for a long, tense moment. She glared at him, her green eyes spitting fire. Finally, he mentally crossed his fingers behind his back. ‘‘All right,’’ he said, ‘‘you can handle your money problems by yourself.’’ And the first thing Monday morning, he was going down to the bank and pay off the rest of what she owed. The bank could just tell her they’d made a mistake, or that some other creditor had paid what they owed her father. It wasn’t as if he’d ever miss such a small amount.

They began packing her things Monday evening. Derek had just taken a load of winter clothes over to his house while Kristin tossed the contents of her drawers into a big trunk she’d had since college.

Her flying fingers paused on the T-shirt she was folding and she sank onto the edge of her bed, hands dropping into her lap. She couldn’t believe how quickly everything was falling into place. Just as he’d said, Derek had begun the process of acquiring a marriage license earlier in the day, and they’d made appointments for their blood tests.

It was hard to imagine that only five short weeks ago he’d been telling her that a marriage between them was a ridiculous notion.

The rest of the weekend had been heavenly. They’d spent the day together with Mollie on Sunday, and that evening, he’d driven her over to her town house to pick up clothing for work on Monday. She’d asked if he was sure he wanted her to move
in so quickly, and he’d only smiled. ‘‘Mollie and I want you with us,’’ he’d said, ‘‘the sooner, the better.’’

Wistfully, she thought that the ideal response would have been a declaration of love, but she knew that while Derek cared about her, he didn’t love her. He thought of her as a capable housekeeper, a great baby-sitter and a trusted friend. And as a lover, now. He wanted her, of that she was sure, but he wasn’t about to let his desire for her mesh with any more intimate feelings.

The telephone rang and she rose automatically. She needed to call tomorrow to have the service stopped, she remembered as she lifted the handset. ‘‘Hello?’’

‘‘Hello, Kristin. It’s Rusty. Is it true?’’

‘‘Is what true?’’ She tucked the phone between her ear and shoulder as she returned to her folding and packing.

‘‘A little bird told me you and Derek are getting married.’’

‘‘Goodness!’’ She was truly startled. ‘‘There are no secrets in this town, are there?’’

‘‘Oh, you’d be surprised.’’ His voice was amused. ‘‘Your news, however, has gotten around. I would say congratulations but I’m too busy kicking myself for not talking you into dating me first.’’

She laughed. ‘‘Sorry.’’

‘‘You two sure managed to keep things quiet,’’ he continued. ‘‘Even at Summerfest, no one had any idea you were more than friends.’’

She was beginning to feel uncomfortable. ‘‘I’m kind of tied up here, Rusty. Was there something you needed?’’

‘‘As a matter of fact, there is.’’ His tone changed, became more confidential. ‘‘I’ve been thinking about the money that’s missing. Have you pursued it any further?’’

‘‘I haven’t had much time since Friday,’’ she said, ‘‘but nothing’s leaped out at me. Whatever was done was hidden very carefully.’’

‘‘I’m really concerned about the sanctuary’s reputation as well as Cathie’s,’’ he said. ‘‘She’s dead. She can’t defend herself. I spoke to one of the bank officers at the Rotary Club meeting today and he alluded to her being in debt. I couldn’t pry without making him suspicious, but I’m afraid our fears may be well founded. I think Cathie probably took the money to alleviate some personal problems she was having.’’

‘‘Oh, no. I was so hoping…’’

‘‘I know. So was I,’’ he said. ‘‘But there’s no help for it now, and even if we do go public I doubt we have a hope in hell of getting the money back.’’

She sighed heavily, her heart aching. ‘‘You’re probably right.’’

‘‘So I think we should just write it off as a learning experience,’’ he continued. ‘‘I won’t tell anyone else what happened and if you don’t either, we can protect Cathie’s memory. I’ll tell the board that you feel our current financial system needs more checks and bal
ances, and establish a more stringent way to release funds so no one can ever do this again.’’

She felt like an ant in the path of a steamroller. ‘‘Maybe that would be best,’’ she said cautiously. ‘‘But what if it wasn’t Cathie?’’

‘‘If it wasn’t, and they try it again, we’ll catch them,’’ Rusty said confidently. ‘‘If it was her, it won’t occur again and we’ll know, right?’’

She nodded, then realized he couldn’t see her. ‘‘I guess so. All right.’’

‘‘Okay,’’ said Rusty. ‘‘If this works, we may not even have to alert whoever takes the job eventually that there was a problem.’’

She woke in the middle of the night and immediately her mind turned to the problem of who had embezzled the money from the sanctuary. She lay on her side in Derek’s bed, with his big body spooned around her and his hard arm circling her and she stared into the darkness as her mind raced.

‘‘What’s wrong?’’ Derek’s voice from behind her was little more than a quiet whisper but her body jolted in surprise.