He landed against her and held her to him for as long as he dared. He knew he was crushing her, and lifted his weight onto an elbow.
Emma felt the warm liquid on her stomach and the stillness of his body and thought that it was probably over. She opened her eyes to find him watching her, once again. His eyes were dark and impenetrable. She knew he must be angry, but he wasn't saying anything and her emotions were too embroiled inside her own head to wonder much about what was going on in his.
He'd tell her soon enough, anyway.
He got to the heart of it fast enough.
"Is your last name really Martin?"
"Yes."
"Only it's Miss Martin." His words were a statement, not a question.
"Yes."
"You've sealed your fate now, Miss Martin," he said in a deep, controlled voice.
"What--what do you mean?"
"Now you're mine."
He rolled with her until she was spooned against him and tucked under his arm.
Emma's eyes remained open as she looked across the room and tried to decipher his meaning without asking. He'd made that bald statement with an intent and purpose in his voice.
Finally curiosity won out and she tried to twist to see him but he clamped that brawny arm around her mid-section and held her in place. "Be still or you're going to set me off again."
Set him off again? Emma gulped and tried to be still and quiet but it was impossible. She wanted to know, she needed to know what he'd meant or she wouldn't get a bit of sleep. "Luke--"
He must have read her mind because his voice was firm and offered no room for dispute or negotiation. "We're going to town in the morning and getting married."
"Married?"
"What the hell did you expect would happen, Emma?" His voice contained an edge of anger and she shifted restlessly in response to it.
His hand clamped down firmly on her hip and she felt the full effect of the warning he had given her begin to harden against her backside. "Be still." Even as he said it, he pushed against her. "Unless you're not sore. Are you sore?" The hand on her hip began to slide over her skin in a beguiling movement.
Emma did feel a mild discomfort in the location he was undoubtedly referring to. But she didn't think it was too sore for what he had in mind, but the sharp pain of her denouement was still too fresh in her mind to want to try it again. She'd need some time before she got her nerve up. "I am a little sore."
"Then try to be still and go to sleep."
His tone was harsh and she tried to explain. "I didn't think you would know."
"Know you were a virgin?"
"Yes."
"You meant to keep me in the dark?"
"I suppose so."
"You were going to pretend you had experience and then what--just go on about your merry way?"
"I didn't think about it like that."
"What the hell were you thinking? What were you planning on telling your husband when you did get married? Or was that your plan all along? To get me to marry you?" Anger became the only emotion she could hear in his voice and his disappointment upset her.
"No! I didn't have a plan, Luke. I've never thought marriage was even an option for me, and you'd already spelled out all your reasons why I wouldn't be suitable. I took that to heart."
"Why wouldn't marriage be an option for you?"
"The same reason you said I wasn't suitable wife material."
"I never said that."
"You did. You said I couldn't live on a ranch, that I didn't have the stamina or strength for what it would take."
He pushed her down onto her back and loomed over her where he could see her face in the darkened interior of the bedroom. "Well, you've taken that choice away from me." Anger bled from his voice.
"Why? I don't understand the difference. The only reason I've been pretending to be married is so I can have more freedom than a single woman has. You were all for seducing me when you were under that impression. Well, now the deed is done. It's not a crime to--what we did isn't unlawful.
"It's immoral, Emma. It's against my code of honor to seduce virgins. I can't send you off into the great big cold world after having relieved you of your innocence and expect you to be able to find a husband to take care of you. It would be a huge disadvantage for you. I can't accept that."
"I'm never going to get married, Luke. No man will want me with this lame leg--"
"That's bullshit, Emma! You're sweet and--"
His words were full of impatience and anger but she wasn't scared and cut him off anyway. "You didn't want me because of it! Why would another man?"
He let out a deep growl of impatience and rose over her, his hands on either side of her head. "I've always wanted you. Besides, I'm talking about the kind of men that live in a city--the cities are filled with thousands of goddamned dandies that would give their last cent to have you in their beds."
Emma lay perfectly still under him and was fascinated by the anger pulling at his cheekbones, making his skin taut across his face, and made his eyebrows angry spikes of promised retribution. She was fascinated that he seemed to think it was perfectly reasonable that a different kind of man would want her as his wife.
They studied each other in prolonged silence, the breaths they were taking coming fast and hard.
Finally, with a groan of need and impatience,
Luke's mouth fell to hers and he kissed her with raw passion. Emma felt the need take over and harden his body as he pushed his way between her legs and hung over her again.
He raised his head and watched her with desire in his eyes. "It doesn't matter anymore. It's all a moot point because nobody will ever have you but me. No man in a damned city, no damned cowboy on a ranch, no other person on the planet earth." Anger and lust combined to make him a fearsome sight as he hung over her.
"You can't marry me when all you feel is anger toward me." She tried to reason with him.
"Oh, I can, Emma," he softly threatened. "I've told you before, I can do any damn thing I want. You've made your bed and now you have to lie in it." His knee pushed her legs wider, and his manhood nudged threateningly at the entrance to her body. His hand slipped down and with his thumb and finger, he began tweaking her nipple until her eyes closed and her body softened under his. He nudged her again with the head of his erection. "Are you too sore?" His voice was harsh and ragged; Emma was sure he wouldn't stop no matter what her answer was.
She had no intention of trying to get him to stop.
By this time, any soreness Emma had felt was mitigated by the wild sense of need boiling in her blood. "I don't think so."
Luke wrapped his fingers around her wrists and lifted them over her head. He transferred both wrists to one lean hand and moved his other down to lift her face to meet his eyes.
He began a slow, inexorable penetration as he held her gaze with his. The impact was as raw as lightning in the dark of the night. His hips pushed slowly but with firm purpose and Emma felt herself stretched beyond comfort. But there was no pain. He pushed until he was in her to the hilt, and his nostrils flared as he sucked oxygen in through his nose.
It was a raw act of masculine possession, and Emma realized that he was deep inside her again and it hadn't caused her anymore pain. "It didn't hurt."
He took a smooth stroke and when he came back in he stilled again and their heartbeats pulsed in a fierce tandem between them. "No, it won't hurt again."
"Are you sure?" Her voice was hesitant, full of apprehension.
"Yeah, I'm sure." His words were full of a wealth of knowledge.