An Arranged Marriage

THE month before the wedding passed in a frantic blur. Aunt Pet regained her good health and they both waded into wedding preparations like a pair of maniacs.

To her surprise, Allison rarely saw Blue, though she spoke to him daily on the phone to keep him apprised of wedding preparations. He sent his decorator to her aunt’s house and even Aunt Pet was pleased by the plans he and the decorator had worked out, subject to Allison’s approval.

At Aunt Pet’s insistence, she and Allison spent an afternoon looking through the ranch mansion to give them both a better idea of the furnishings that would have to be bought. Though Aunt Pet was reserved and cautious with Blue and he was aloof with both of them, Aunt Pet came away from the ranch deeply impressed by the house he’d built.

Pet was sparing in her personal remarks to Allison about her future husband, but she did allow that Blue Sumner was ruggedly handsome and had a macho presence that could be considered exciting.

No one mentioned that this was an arranged marriage between two strangers, and sometimes Allison got so caught up in preparations that she almost forgot. Until she spoke to Blue on the phone or saw him face-to-face. He grew more remote by the day. It was as if the kisses they’d shared that Sunday afternoon had never happened. He seemed even more a stranger to her, and at times, she had to struggle to keep her downcast spirits about the marriage to herself.

While she and Pet were busy with the wedding details, Blue’s house was finished and he set about ordering the furniture Allison had chosen. He also hired a butler, a cook and a housekeeper.

By the night of the rehearsal dinner, they remained little more than acquaintances. By mutual agreement, they’d limited their wedding party to a maid of honor and a best man, who turned out to be one of the wealthiest ranchers in the area.

Blue had once worked as a foreman for Ty Cameron, but their friendship seemed to have withstood Blue’s distance and years away from the Cameron Ranch.

Charles was impressed by the connection between the two and, to Allison’s horror, had immediately begun to speculate about attracting Ty to some of the mortgage investments he had in mind for Blue. His frequent comments about saving the bank continued to trouble her, as did his ongoing refusal to report the embezzlement.

Blue drove her directly home after the dinner, but they were more stilted than ever with each other. Their conversation was so sparse and infrequent that it was as if they hadn’t spoken to each other at all.

On the night before her wedding, Allison laid in her bed a long time, staring up into the darkness, certain she was about to make the mistake of her life.

The ceremony at Chaney Community Church was the largest ever held in Chaney, and the most perfect.

Allison had been to a lot of weddings. Something seemed to go wrong in every one of them, from a wedding cake that leaned off center, to a flower girl who dropped her basket of rose petals and burst into howls of dismay.

Nothing, however minor, went wrong at their wedding. On the other hand, everything was as wrong as it could possibly be.

Two strangers repeated vows to love, honor and cherish. Two strangers were pronounced man and wife. Two strangers turned fully toward each other, hesitated for the lifting of the veil, then pressed cool, stiff lips together at the preacher’s enthusiastic, “You may now kiss your bride, Mr. Sumner.”

Those same two strangers, perfectly poised and elegant in their wedding finery, smiled and walked down the aisle arm in arm. Later, they posed for wedding photos that the photographer swore were worthy of a high fashion layout.

Afterward, two strangers got into the limousine that took them to the Sumner Ranch for the reception. They officially received their guests, fed each other the traditional bite of wedding cake, then toured the gift room where a mountain of wedding presents had been displayed.

By the time Allison could slip up to the master suite, where Aunt Pet would assist her with her gown, her nerves were shattered. The traveling suit she’d planned to wear to Dallas was laid out neatly on the huge bed, but suddenly, she was reluctant to face the idea of a honeymoon.

She’d not allowed herself to dwell on thoughts of what would come after the ceremony, but the sight of that pale pink suit on the bed triggered every worry and misgiving—every fear—that she’d repressed about their wedding night and all the other nights that would follow.

The memory of those two kisses a month of Sundays ago, flooded her mind. A flash of heat burst up from deep inside, and she suddenly felt dizzy.

I reckon sex won’t be something we have to put off till we know each other better, Blue had said.

Allison couldn’t recall that she’d actually voiced an objection, and she couldn’t help the panic she felt.

Surely Blue wouldn’t expect her to consummate their marriage right away. If he’d truly expected to, surely he would have taken time to actually court her these last weeks, or at the very least, he’d have given them time alone to get to know each other.

Allison pressed a shaky hand to her middle, then forced herself to give a little laugh. The stress of putting together the huge wedding on such short notice was beginning to tell on her. She was keyed up and exhausted and this worry about intimacy with Blue was likely nothing more than bridal nerves.

Determined to calm herself, she crossed to the huge dresser mirror to start removing the hairpins that anchored her headpiece. She was facing a bit away from the mirror to reach an elusive pin when the bedroom door opened, then closed.

She called out a relieved, “There you are, Aunt Pet. I can’t seem to locate all the pins—”

She turned her head to peer into the mirror’s reflection of the room, expecting to see her aunt. Instead Blue stood just inside the door.

Slowly his eyes traced every bead and design detail of her gown, lingering hotly on every curve along the way. As almost an afterthought, his gaze at last came up to hers, and he stared intently at her flushed face.

The blatant lust in his gaze seemed to blaze higher. Allison was barely breathing.

“I was…expecting Aunt Pet,” she said.

Blue’s steady look never wavered. “She won’t be coming up now.”

Allison shook her head. “I need her help,” she said as he started toward her. A fluttering cluster of nerves surged to her throat, choking her soft voice to a ragged whisper. “With the buttons.”

Blue was so handsome in the severe black tuxedo that she couldn’t make herself look away. The starched white of his shirt emphasized his tanned, weathered skin tones, which contrasted strikingly with the fiery blue of his eyes. The cut of the tuxedo faithfully followed his broad-shouldered, lean-hipped build, and Allison couldn’t tell if she was excited or terrified by the sight of his breath-stealing physique.

Now that he could look at her as much as he liked, Blue couldn’t keep his eyes off his bride. She was decked out like a fairy princess, all white lace and pearly beads and satin. The stiff white veil she still wore haloed her head and shoulders all the way to the floor, hinting at angel wings.

But it was her beautiful face that set it all off. Framed by curls and wispy gold ringlets, her face was flushed. Her eyes were nearly as vividly blue as his own, but wider, more innocent, kinder—though right now it would have been hard to miss the worry in them. Or the feminine interest. In the end, though, it was her lips that drew him: lush and sweet looking and almost cherry red.

The memory of how soft and crushable they’d felt, even though their wedding kiss had been bloodless and cool, burst in him like a craving. It took everything he had to keep from rushing her, to keep from grabbing her and devouring her as if she were a choice sweet.

Instead he moved slowly toward her, then stopped when his booted toes touched the belled hem of her dress.

His low “I’ll help you with the dress” made the color in her cheeks go higher. He didn’t realize until he felt the stiff netting between his fingers that he’d reached out to catch a pinch of her veil.

Allison could barely move, though her brain was struggling to save her. She couldn’t possibly let Blue help her remove her dress. She wasn’t ready for that kind—for any kind—of intimacy. “A-Aunt Pet wanted—”

“Aunt Pet’s takin’ care of other things,” he drawled as he lightly rolled the delicate netting between his thumb and fingers.

Allison tried again. “I need—”

“I’m your family now, Miz Allis,” he said in a low voice that carried an edge of command. “From here on out, you’re to look to me for the things she’s always done for you.”

She was so shocked by the order that it took her a moment to recover. Blue took advantage of that moment as he released the bit of veil, then reached for the headpiece that was still pinned to her hair.

The feel of his fingers gently searching for hairpins sent a warm flood of pleasure from her head to her toes, scattering her objection to his edict. Gently, one by one, he found every pin, tossing each to the polished top of the dresser. He removed the headpiece and set it aside on the dresser, leaving the sheer veil to cascade off the front of the dark wood like a white waterfall.

He stepped around her and she bit her lip to repress the flurry of shivers that began when he started on the tiny pearl buttons at the back of her gown. One after another, lower and lower he went, steadily releasing the buttons, his warm fingers grazing her bare back as he went. Allison had never imagined that anything so simple could be so arousing, but with every tug of fabric, every gentle brush of his strong, hard fingers, a spark ignited in her. Considering the number of buttons—perhaps fifty or more—by the time he reached the very end, Allison felt a conflagration building.

Just when she thought this was the end, that Blue would leave her to undress in private, he placed his hands on her bare back. The heat of his callused palms scorched her and left her incapable of moving. She caught her breath when they pushed aside her open dress back, then slipped gently beneath the fabric.

The next thing she knew, he’d slid the gown off her shoulders. The neckline fell softly to her waist, exposing the bodice of her slip and the bra she wore beneath. Alarmed at being exposed—he could see her reflection in the dresser mirror—Allison clutched the front of the gown and tried to cover herself.

Blue’s fingers caught the beaded fabric and prevented her from doing so. She felt a soft gust of breath on her bare skin, followed by the shocking feel of his mouth on the back of her neck.

He released the fabric and let his palms trail down to her waist and slip beneath the gown. He pulled her back against him while his lips moved almost hungrily along her neck and to her ear, where he kissed and bit and nibbled until her knees gave way.

For the next several minutes, the only sounds in the room were the sounds of ragged breathing and of satin, beads and lace brushing against fine black cloth. The wedding dress ended up in a poofed circle at their feet. Sometime during those moments, he turned her toward him, and his mouth found hers for a long, hot kiss. Later, his mouth moved off hers, found her throat, then went on an erotic tour that ended torturously short of the nipple his questing fingers had uncovered.

As if he’d meant all along to arouse her to nearly the point of pain—and leave unfulfilled the ache to feel his lips on her breast—Blue eased her slowly away from him.

Allison could barely stand. She was too weak to keep her grip on his sleeves. The erotic haze that had burned away all her reason and all her inhibitions began to slowly lift. Her ability to stand on her own came back in the same proportions and she opened her eyes to look up at Blue.

It soothed her ego to see that his face was a mask of the same arousal she felt. But an iron control that she was too inexperienced to have developed was also there. She could see it in his eyes. She could see it, but she wasn’t certain how she felt about it. Her reaction was equal parts relief and frustrated anger.

How dare he toy with her, bring her to such heights, then switch himself off—switch her off—and leave her with a wild hunger she’d never suspected could exist?

Yet, how grateful she was that he’d stopped! The confusing whirl of frustration and relief and ebbing desire kept her silent, kept her standing long after he turned from her and left the room.

The long limo ride to Dallas was quiet. Blue had withdrawn from her, though they sat together in the center of the wide back seat. They didn’t speak, and the silence weighed on Allison.

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