Ultimatum: Marriage Read online

  “No. They’ve probably already cooked dinner for us.”

  “So, they can eat it themselves and have more leftovers to enjoy.”

  “You know that people always go to more trouble for guests. They spend hours doing all sorts of things they’d never do otherwise.”

  “Things they need to do.”

  “I don’t want to be rude to your family just because I feel nervous about going there pretending I’m your wife.”

  “You are my wife. I told you I’d like to try to make this work.”

  Heat washed over her. When she made no comment, he didn’t push as he often did, and for that she should have been grateful. But when he didn’t speak to her until he pulled into the oak alley that led up to the pillared mansion where he’d grown up, she grew more nervous.

  The deep shade and banks of flowers made the house look like something out of a dream. Could they make a go of it? Would she ever feel she belonged here?

  “I’d forgotten how beautiful your boyhood home is.”

  His knuckles were white; his face was tense. “I never forgot, no matter how long I stayed away. And believe me, I tried. Time and again I told myself I’d never come back here. There was too much emotion to deal with.”

  “So, here we are,” she said lightly.

  He parked as far as possible from the house, maybe so his family wouldn’t hear the car and come out to greet them. Was he trying to put off seeing them for as long as possible?

  Sunlight sifted through the trees and leaves crackled underneath her feet as they walked through the humid heat up to the house, pulling their overnight bags behind them.

  “It’s not quite so hot here as it is in the city,” she said, trying to lighten the mood with conversation again.

  He nodded but didn’t elaborate.

  Like a child eager for Christmas morning, Noonoon must have been watching for Jake. No sooner had he planted one long foot on the bottom stair that led up to the veranda than she opened the door in a rush and hurled herself into Jake’s arms.

  “Mister Jake, you don’t get home near often enough.” Her dark eyes shone with pleasure.

  After a moment, he said, “Have you met my wife, Alicia?”

  “We met before,” Noonoon said, smiling as she released Jake so he could include Alicia in a three-way hug.

  When his family heard the commotion, they spilled out onto the veranda too. Hayes Daniels, Logan’s CEO and best friend, who was tall and dark, was with them. Alicia wasn’t too thrilled to see him, because he’d been a key player in bringing her father down. She avoided his stony gaze. Obviously he didn’t approve of her. Logan kept his distance—maybe because they’d dated in the past.

  Cici had a red scarf in her curls, gold earrings dangling from her ears and gold bangles on her arms. She wore a soft white dress. The skirt swirled around her slim ankles every time she moved, and she moved a lot. She looked beautiful and wild and too thrilled to see Jake. Or was she simply so exuberant because she was newly married herself?

  Hard to tell for Alicia, since the green monster held her in thrall.

  Everybody talked and laughed at once—nervously, Alicia thought. Was that because they were all trying too hard?

  More hugs were exchanged, and it seemed to Alicia that Jake embraced Cici much longer than he held anyone else. When Jake released Cici, did Alicia imagine that Logan and Jake barely shook hands? Jake was definitely ill at ease around his family, especially his brother.

  Logan took their bags and carried them upstairs. Even though Alicia had always longed for a close, loving family, her spirits sank every time Cici smiled at Jake.

  Then Pierre, who was eighty, hobbled up to Alicia on a cane and told her how glad he was to see her again. He alone seemed relaxed and unaware of any familial undercurrents.

  Taking her hand in his cool, shaky grip, he led her inside and invited her to sit beside him so that he could get a good look at her. Jake joined them. Logan returned and put his arm around Cici and held her possessively on the other side of the room. Cici, her eyes alight, tossed her blond curls back and kissed her husband on the cheek. She did seem to be deeply in love with Logan.

  Although Jake’s family asked her questions about her life as a new bride, Alicia felt so shy and tongue-tied that Jake did most of the talking. He told them how she’d improved his backyard. He spoke of their evenings out at some of the better New Orleans restaurants, making it sound as if they were truly and happily married.

  Acting the part, she smiled while he talked. Maybe he really did want to make their marriage work. Gradually she relaxed. With all her heart she longed to be the happy, carefree couple he described even as she wondered if it would ever be possible.

  “When are you going to go on a honeymoon?” Hayes Daniels asked suspiciously as Noonoon served the first course.

  “What do you think, darling?” Jake brushed Alicia’s fingertips with his lips. “After things settle down? Maybe in eight or nine months?”

  Dazzled by his expectant gaze and unexpected touch, she couldn’t think straight. The baby might be old enough to leave for a long weekend by then she thought—if they were still together. If was the key word.

  “Who knows?” she whispered.

  “You two seem so good together,” Logan said. “And to think I never saw it coming.”

  Guilt made Alicia’s pulse quicken.

  “It took us by surprise, too,” Jake said.

  “Funny how things work out,” Hayes added as he turned to Jake. “You and Mitchell Butler’s daughter together. You were so angry that morning we went to the feds.”

  “Yes I was.”

  “Well, it’s good having you back in Louisiana, Jake,” Logan said. “Now that you’re settled, do you think you’ll stay awhile? There’s still a lot to rebuild.”

  “A year ago I would have said no unequivocally,” Jake said.

  “And now?”

  “Would it matter? You’ve always been busy with Claiborne Energy. You never needed me.”

  “You’re wrong. That was just your perception of the way things were,” Logan said. “The truth is Grand-père and I regretted our part in the estrangement. We’re glad you’re back in Louisiana, and all of us want you to stay. On a side note, we’ve decided we need a bigger building for our headquarters downtown and we want you to design it.”

  “That’s wonderful,” Alicia said, smiling until she looked at Jake and saw that he wasn’t.

  “I’d prefer not to discuss the past or business tonight,” he said.

  Logan nodded. “So I’ll call you Monday.”

  “Fine.”

  Cici smiled at Alicia. “We think you’re a wonderful addition to the family. Logan, can I please please tell her our news?”

  When he nodded, she beamed. “I’m pregnant! That’s why I’m wearing this full skirt. We felt the baby move this morning.”

  Wistfully Alicia placed her hand on her abdomen. She hadn’t yet experienced that.

  “Congratulations,” Jake said even as his gaze followed her hand.

  He made a toast. “To the future. To more babies in the family.”

  Alicia blushed when all eyes focused on her. No sooner was dinner over than Noonoon brought in a white birthday cake with candles. Then everybody, including Noonoon, sang “Happy Birthday” to Alicia.

  Their radiantly smiling faces blurred as emotion overwhelmed her.

  “Thank you,” she whispered. “I’ve never had such a wonderful birthday celebration.”

  “Wait, we have a birthday present for you, too.” Cici handed Alicia a small white box wrapped with gold ribbon.

  The tiny card on the gift read, “With love to our new sister, Alicia.”

  “The earrings inside belonged to Logan’s and Jake’s great-grandmother.”

  After Alicia tore the paper off, she held her breath when she saw the exquisite diamond earrings inside the box.

  “Françoise, our grandmother, didn’t want to be accused of pride or van
ity, so she painted them black. That was about one hundred years ago.” Alicia smiled.

  “The earrings were Pierre’s idea, but Jake was in on it, too,” Logan said.

  “But they should go to Cici,” Alicia said.

  “I have her ring,” Cici said.

  “Even so, I…I can’t accept them.”

  “Why not?” Jake asked.

  “Because this isn’t…real! Because…”

  “What isn’t real?” Logan looked confused. “I can assure you, the stones are genuine. We had the last of the black paint removed by a professional, but they’re real.”

  “That’s not what I meant!”

  Jake was frowning at her as he took her hand and pressed her fingertips.

  “Look, this was very kind of all of you. But I—I need a minute. To freshen up. Where’s our guest room?”

  “Down the hall,” Cici said. “Then you go upstairs. First door on the right. Are you sure you’re feeling well? Do you want me to take you up to it?”

  “No! If you’ll just excuse me, I’ll find it on my own. I’ll be fine in a minute.”

  Folding her napkin into a perfect square and placing it on the table to the left of her plate very precisely, Alicia stood. As soon as she’d escaped the brilliantly lit dining room and their concerned faces, she took in a deep breath and tried to calm down.

  She was beginning to want it all—love, a real marriage, a future. Jake had said he wanted to try to make their relationship work, and now his family was being so accepting. And yet her father and all the crimes he was accused of stood between them. Part of her wanted to do as Jake said he wanted and go with the flow, but another part was afraid to trust in her wildest hopes.

  Walking down the hall and up the stairs, she opened the door of their guest room and sat down on the bed. She shut her eyes and was fighting to control her conflicting emotions when the door opened and closed, and she heard heavy footsteps striding toward her.

  “What’s wrong now?” Jake said from behind her.

  She whirled. “I can’t lie anymore—at least not to your family. I certainly can’t take family heirlooms.”

  “You’re the mother of my child. That’s real. I want you to have the earrings.”

  “No. It will be easier if we break up if I never wear them and treasure them as a gift from you and your family. Don’t you see, it will be one less thing to lose?”

  He was silent for a long moment. “All right. I can understand that. I’ll talk to my family. But while we’re on the subject of lying, I have a question.” His gaze had hardened. “Did you go visit your father on your birthday?”

  Swallowing a quick breath, she shut her eyes briefly and then looked away from him. “Yes.”

  He hissed in air.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “One of the terms of our marriage was that you would stay away from him.”

  “I couldn’t.”

  “Damn it, you agreed.”

  “I know. But he called me. Usually he ignores my birthday. It meant a lot to me that he called—and wanted to see me.”

  “So why didn’t he ignore it this year? What did he really want? He wanted something. I’d bet money on it.”

  She cringed when she remembered the pin hidden under her mattress. She wanted to tell him about that, but she couldn’t—not without hurting her father. Not without making a mess of everything.

  “What we feel for each other is too fragile to withstand all the pressures from the outside world,” she said. “I’m Mitchell Butler’s daughter. You couldn’t possibly ever really care…” She hated the passion that had crept into her soft voice, exposing her vulnerability as well as her most heartfelt longings.

  “I care,” he whispered, his low tone heavier and huskier suddenly. “You don’t really want me to go, do you?”

  She took a quiet pleasure in him asking her that, even though she knew she should tell him to go.

  “I don’t intend to leave,” he whispered.

  He leaned down. When he stroked the length of her spine, his warm, caressing hands caused an involuntary shiver. “We’ve both fought this too long.”

  “J-Jake, you have to go.” Not that she tried to twist away. His touch was too pleasant, too consoling. Too sexually arousing. In seconds he had her on fire.

  “What I have to do is kiss you,” he said.

  “We have to go back down!”

  She felt his hand stroke up the length of her spine again. Then he turned her around. When his gaze locked with hers, his hand moved to her neckline. Slowly he began to unbutton her white linen dress.

  Staring into his eyes again, she couldn’t resist the hot, naked desire she saw there.

  “Here. Now,” he whispered.

  Thirteen

  His mouth was on her breast. “Delicious birthmark,” he murmured.

  To his surprise she arched her back to draw him nearer. Not only was she not putting up a struggle, but her pulse was beating faster and faster.

  Her hands came up and cupped his rough chin. Slowly her soft fingertips guided his mouth down to hers. He knew longing when he saw it. Her eyes burned with need. Her fingertips shook.

  “You’re as ravenous as I am,” he whispered.

  “No…”

  “Wanna bet?”

  He could feel the tension in her even as her warm lips that quivered under his made him want more. He ran his hands through her soft hair soothingly. He knew he should probably let her go, but he wanted her too much.

  He’d been on his own so damn long…and so had she. In a way they were alike, fearing attachment for different reasons. She’d sought love and had never found it, while he’d hated being manipulated by those who’d loved him and had a habit of running if anybody got close.

  Her hands and lips fell away. “I don’t want to play sexual games,” she said, but her voice was a velvet purr that lured him.

  “I’m not playing games.” His lips slid down her throat to the other nipple that he’d neglected before. He began to suck it in a leisurely way until it was wet and flushed and hard and she lay trembling beneath him.

  “You don’t want me for anything but sex,” she whispered.

  “Lucky you,” he teased.

  “This isn’t a game. If we don’t go back down soon…what will your family think?”

  “That we’re newlyweds. That I can’t keep my hands off you, which is all too true.”

  He wanted to touch her, to kiss her, to feel her silken flesh beneath his, to feel the muscles of her legs contract around his waist when he first entered her. He wanted to make her writhe and explode with passion at the exact same moment he did. He wanted to crush her close, to possess her completely again and again, for the next forty years.

  That last thought stunned him. It wasn’t that he no longer cared if her last name was Butler or that her father had robbed him and ruined his hard-won reputation. Still, for her, he would throw everything away and start over. He wanted to make this work even though he knew it wouldn’t be easy.

  He kissed Alicia on the mouth again, taking his time, nibbling her lips until her hands began to roam his body and she began to kiss him back. Her lips parted to accept his tongue. As always she tasted like honey. His mouth didn’t leave hers until she was making little moans of ecstasy and begging him for much more than chaste kisses.

  “I want you inside me,” she whispered, hunger making her voice rasp and her eyelids droop lazily.

  When he slid his body over hers and probed her sleek, wet entrance with the tip of his erection, she cried out. He fused his mouth to hers and drove into her. Their tongues mated. Their bodies grew hotter and hotter. With each thrust, her fingers dug into his shoulder and her legs tightened around his waist. Her excitement fed his, pushing him even nearer the edge. When it came, their crisis was mutual and spontaneous, shuddering through them both like a hot wave of pleasure.

  With a voice muffled by passion, she said those three little words that shouldn’t matter but did.
Too profoundly.

  “I love you.”

  He didn’t want to hear them, so he tried to blot them out. But she repeated them.

  “I love you, Jake. I think I’ve loved you from the first. I want your child more than I’ve ever wanted anything. And I want you…like this…close to me…always…again and again. Inside me. I don’t want a divorce. I want to be your real wife, and that scares me.”

  He froze, wishing she’d stop.

  Love. Marriage. A lifetime together. Children. Grandchildren.

  “Alicia…” He put a fingertip to her lips.

  “Okay…okay… I’ll stop.” But her shining eyes continued to caress him with unguarded emotion for another long moment.

  “Sorry I said all that mushy stuff,” she whispered as she curled herself into his body.

  “Don’t worry about it,” he said, tracing his thumb around the curve of her earlobe.

  She squirmed, and soon he felt hooked by her soft arms and legs that wrapped themselves warmly around his. Slowly the need to answer her in words dissolved as he slipped into a black, welcoming unconsciousness.

  When he woke up hours later, she was still there, was breathtakingly lovely as ever in his arms as she slept.

  He wanted her again, but if he kissed her, he would awaken her. And she might start asking all those troubling questions he wasn’t ready to answer.

  He was the one who’d pushed for more, and now that she was trying to take their relationship to the next level, he wasn’t sure how to deal with it. Suddenly his marriage to Alicia felt like way more than he’d bargained for.

  “What are you doing?” Alicia was standing just inside the bedroom door of Jake’s New Orleans home.

  Ridiculous question. It was plain as day that he was unpacking his suitcase from their overnight trip and repacking a backpack.

  If only she could be as cool and suave as he was. If she were a clever bride maybe she’d be able to ignore his coldness and reserve—hold her tongue and bide her time.

  Why did she wear her heart on her sleeve and feel compelled to throw herself at people when she craved their love? Last night he’d made wild, impassioned love to her, and she’d been so profoundly touched she’d told him how she felt.