Whisper In The Dark (The McKinnon Legends-- The American Men Book One) (22 page)

“May I?” Robert asked sympathetically as he cupped her chin. She had hesitated in this marriage, and he could not emphatically say he blamed her. No woman of Katherine’s ilk would take to having all her options removed. He gave her the out clause, promising they would annul without question once this was over. He also agreed not to consummate the relationship nor push for anything remotely physical. That was going to be much easier said than done. At least it would be for him. She now belonged to him in the eyes of the world. He had staked his claim.

She nodded, not trusting her voice, again wondering what fate was up to lately in dealing her this very strange hand.

He kissed her softly and held her closely, briefly reassuring her before he let her go to shake the hand of the minister; he slipped the man a folded one hundred dollar bill as a way to say thank you for the sudden ceremony. Robert had no illusions and knew this was not her ideal wedding, but it was for the best.

Within a few moments of saying "
I Do,
" she was alone in the cozy cabin. Robert had walked the minister and his tiny wife out to their car and after they left he went to retrieve the bags from the SUV leaving Kate alone with her jumbled thoughts. The cabin was small by the jet-set standard, but very comfortable, furnished with rich woods and natural materials. She liked the feeling of being surrounded by so much nature. After living so many years in the concrete jungle of New York City, this was a welcome change. Standing in the middle of the cabin’s living room, feeling lost and disoriented, she did not know whether to laugh or cry, so she did a little of both. As a woman she felt it was her prerogative to be overemotional given all she had lost within such a short period of time.

Her marriage to Robert did gain her one very important thing in the process, the McKinnon name. With that name came a lot of privileges and security. It was not all bad. He was a good, kind man, and if she were to admit it, he was also a beautiful man. He was now her husband, at least in name, and that name carried a lot of clout.

Exactly eight minutes after walking through that cabin door, she was married again for the second time in her life. She knew this one would not last either. At least there were no delusions of happy-ever-after with Robert. He had married her to protect her. It was logical just as he had said.

She sat down in the middle of the floor and cried.

Robert walked in, immediately dropping the bags and locking the door. His heart ached to see her cry and was not sure why she did. There were just too many reasons for it, so he was not about to venture a guess. He pulled her to her feet.

“Hey, hey, hey. We’ll have none of this. It was a wedding not a hanging,” he teased cupping her face and brushing the tears away with the pads of his thumbs.

He felt her reach her arms around his waist and rest her head in his chest, realizing it was the first time she had reached for him first. He rocked her. She just needed a little time to adjust, and pulling her close he kissed the top of her head.

“We will eventually get this all sorted out, I swear. All right?”

She nodded. “What next?”

“To get some sleep," he answered. "Tomorrow will be brighter. The view from our balcony cannot help but make it better. I promise.” He sealed that promise with a peck on her red, runny nose.

She was a realist, and as she looked at the man she called husband, she knew she could not grow to be dependent on him. It would be costly for her, and it was a price she was not willing to pay.

“You know, one of these days, Robert, there will come a point you won’t want to bail me out or won’t be able to come riding in to save the day,” she said swatting at the tears.

“I doubt that very seriously, but either way, today is not that day, Kate. I have done this gladly, and to my way of thinking, for the right reasons.”

She looked up at the man she had, with much reservation, married. He was a good man. He had proven over and over again he was a man she could trust and rely on to do the right thing. And yes, he had married her for the right reasons. They were just not her “right” reasons.

Nodding, she did know where his intentions rested. He married her to protect both their interests in the land and to protect her. Now, she was legally his bride and no one else could get to the Golden Circle by way of that avenue.

She shivered to think how close Brice had come. She could have been held forever behind those iron walls, figuratively and quite possibly literally, with no one on this planet able to save her. There was enough money bankrolling Dallas Langston’s desires to possess the fabled land he could have bribed, forged, and certified any document and had her held in some tropical hellhole for the remainder of her natural life. She shivered at the thought.

Robert had seen to it no man would ever get to her or the ranch by those means. The announcement was already in the Ft. Worth
Star Telegram
and the
Dallas Morning News
.

Forbes
and
GQ
magazines would also run a spread. Robert McKinnon, one of the top ten most eligible bachelors in the world for the fifth year running, was now officially off the list. This was a very sad day for many hopeful, young women, who had aspired to get her claws into a hunk like him. For the first time in years, she actually had something fifty percent of the world’s population would have loved to have, his name which came along with a nice bonus, him. That was a nice consolation to losing her freedom. He was eye candy, a beautiful man with a beautiful mind, kind heart, and a killer ass. Reaching out she gave that ass a playful pat as he walked by to get their bags settled in the bedroom.

“I’ll bet there are mothers gnashing teeth all over the world tonight,” Kate smiled.

“Why is that?” he asked while placing their bags on the only bed in the cabin.

“There is one less hunk of burning love available, now that you are officially off the market, at least until all this is settled. Then there will be giant ripples running through the ranks of the gossip columns once you are fair game again. Can I sell the story? Please, Robert? Pretty please,” she teased. “I promise to be kind and not say one single derogatory thing. I’ll not say your yacht is really a dingy.”

She smiled and he melted. It had been a very long time since he had seen those beautiful dimples.

He laughed fully understanding her reference to his manhood.

“We’ll see.” That was all he would commit to at that moment in time.

He was very quickly becoming accustomed to being a husband and actually loving the fact Kate was his. He could protect her, and in return she would make a great partner and mother for his children. He knew he cared deeply for her. Truthfully, he did not love her, but it was still a solid start on which to build a life together. He was no young romantic fool thinking he needed deep passionate love to make a marriage successful. If she would accept those terms, then they stood more than a passing chance to make it work.

She tried to explain she was not holding him to anything, and the prenuptial agreement she had him sign was for his own good. Mr. Lyles had faxed them over to the airport. Those documents had been there upon their arrival. Both had signed at her insistence.

He hesitated to sign, and for the life of her she did not understand that perspective. He had a net worth of millions, and she did not have a right to any of it. She did not want him to feel he had to share anything or that she expected anything from this union once the annulment was finalized.

“I’m in this for the long haul, Kate. I thought you understood that,” he said shaking out his shirts and hanging them up in the small cedar lined closet. She was the one to ask for the out clause not him.

“There is nothing permanent here, Robert. Let’s not fool ourselves and set up house.” Being a realist, she felt expressing the painful truth was for the best. She wanted him to know that she did not expect anything from him, and he should not expect anything of her. She had nothing to offer him financially or emotionally. Her heart was the least of the things used and abused to the point of death.

“Who knows where this might go,” he said leaning in for a kiss she did not offer up. She stepped away.

He did not push it.

“Look, Robert, we had to do this. Logically, I understand, but I’ve seen the kind of ladies you are drawn to and well you should be. You may hide behind those crisp, pressed jeans, and boots, but you are just as comfortable in a two thousand dollar tux at a thousand-dollar-a-plate charity function. I may be intelligent and I know I’m not too hard on the eyes, but refined I’m not. Let’s not lie to ourselves here. I feel safe in venturing a guess you would not have chosen me if the circumstances had been different.”

“You do not know that for sure, Kate. Sometimes fate chooses for us. I can think of several very good reasons I feel I would have chosen you.”

“However, my refinement is not one of them.”

“No, your refinement is definitely not one of them.” He had to agree. “But you are good company, Katherine, and you are made of solid stuff. You’re smart, intelligent, and funny, and I would venture to say you clean up very nicely.” He winked pulling her into him.

Kate sighed, feeling tired to her marrow. “I will not deny there is a strong physical attraction going on between us and you are a wonderful man, but those are not the basis on which to build a life together.”

It was his turn to counter her argument.

“There have been lots of marriages built on less.” He took a long breath letting her go. “Kate, I agree with you. We have been pinned into a corner, but it doesn’t mean we cannot make this work. You are a fantastic woman.” His argument was only serving to give her hope. Hope was something she could not afford.

“Robert, I’m not in love with you and neither are you in love with me.”

It would be grossly unfair for either of them to expect anything more from each other. They were in the middle of a real mess, and they had entered into this marriage for a very specific reason. Eventually, it would cease to be to Robert’s advantage to stay in a pretentious relationship with a woman he did not love.

“This marriage is a necessary evil in order to protect the Golden Circle. I am grateful you were willing to do it, but I cannot expect you to take it any further than a business partnership.”

“And if I want to take it further?” he asked stepping closer and invading her personal space again.

She closed her eyes, slumped her shoulders, and let out a deep sigh.

He could see she was exhausted and was ashamed he was pushing her at a time she really needed space.

“You’re exhausted. I’m sorry. We can drop this conversation for now,” he offered massaging her tired shoulders.

“Thank you. I just do not have the energy to hash out our hypothetical future together. Not tonight.”

She took the bathroom first while he secured the cabin’s doors and windows. He was in the process of building a fire in the double-sided fireplace that separated the living room from the bedroom to ward off the April chill when he heard the bathroom door open. Through the glass screen covering both sides of the opening, he saw her exit the bath wearing one of his flannel shirts as a nightgown.

“All yours,” she shouted to let him know the bathroom was available.

“Damn right it’s mine,” he instinctively answered under his breath, a surge of possessiveness filling him.

Toweling her hair dry, she sat on the end of the queen size bed crossing over one of those long legs over the other. He figured he would sleep on the sofa. It was safer for them both.

Although he possessed traces of the ancient shape shifters DNA, those predatory cats of his ancestors, he would never be anything other than a human man. Still, she looked good enough to devour. It was a good thing he knew she was tired or else he would follow Chase’s advice. Grabbing her by the hair and making love to her until she felt like a million bucks was sounding pretty good at the moment.

Their eyes met through the fireplace glass. She was unreadable. What she saw in his eyes was clearly identifiable; he was not bothering to hide his desires. He was a predatory male with his prey in full view.

The rush was unmistakable and surprising given the fact she had been past exhausted and hovering on empty in her energy reserves only moments earlier.

Her desire shot through him like someone flipping a switch, drilling him to the core. She watched him rise in a single fluid motion and walk to the door separating the bedroom from the living area.

She patted the bed beside her. He only shook his head.

“I’ll take the sofa, Kate. Go on to bed. I promise not to bite you in your sleep no matter how tempting you may look.”

Kate remembered pieces of a dream she had the night before. It had been the most erotic experience of her life. She wanted to feel him, taste him, to have him possess her.

“And if I want you to bite?” she asked playfully.

“Uhuh, Kate.” Robert firmly shook his head. “Don’t go there,” he warned sternly.

No trace of softness remained. The steel mantle around him was tangible. It was as visible as the evidence of his desire for her.

Kate knew she had opened a door to the inner world of this man. Did she want to venture there? This was a side of Robert she had never seen, dark and predatory. It was a side she knew she must tread carefully lest she get too close and the animal strike, which was not necessarily a bad thing itself. She just wanted to be ready if he did.

She thought for a moment, and as he turned to go she asked a question that stopped him in mid motion.

“If I offer up my flesh freely how much would you take, Robert? What would you leave behind for me to say was still my own?”

She was tiptoeing around in a minefield. They both knew it.

She did not want to be possessed or be a possession. She still needed to be her own woman. Yet, she had to know. Would he demand it all? Could she give him everything? Could she hold nothing back? Would he let her hold back, or was he the man to make her desire to give her all? They did not love each other, yet there was something there, but was it enough?