Western Widows

CHARLOTTE

Liam had the wedding well planned. The only challenge that he encountered was me. The minister had been waiting outside—he'd agreed to arrive at my house at a specific time—and pleased to perform the ceremony. It was possible Liam was afraid I'd change my mind if we took the time to make the journey across town to the church, for I most likely would have.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife," Minister Pick intoned, his smile broad.

Within a matter of thirty minutes, I'd gone from contemplating my eviction from my home, my inability to support myself and where I would need to move. Alone in the world. Now, Liam looked down at me with a pleased gleam in his eye, thrilled it seemed to claim me as his wife. It wasn't chilly in the room, but I shivered nonetheless. Liam was going to kiss me. His gaze dropped to my mouth as he lowered his head ever so slowly.

I held my breath as tingles of awareness went through me. He was going to kiss me! It wasn't my first kiss, but it felt as if it were. Before, kisses had been the mashing of two mouths, no feeling, no desire. Now, this, well...this was something else entirely. I felt hot all over. Just looking at Liam's full lips had my nipples tightening. How did that occur? And lower, between my thighs, I ached. Why now? Why with Liam and not Richard was I aroused?

It was when Liam's lips touched mine that I found my answer.

The soft, light touch was like a lightning bolt to my soul, the hairs on the nape of my neck rising, my heart leaping into my throat. I'd expected a mashing of mouths, but this...oh, this. This was almost carnal in its simplicity, just a slight brushing back and forth of his full lips against mine, then a kiss at the very corner, as if learning me. His tongue touched my lip and the hot, wet caress had me gasping not only in surprise, but in pleasure as well. Shifting his head, he deepened the kiss, his tongue plunging into my mouth to find mine.

It was over just as quickly as it had started, my eyelashes fluttering open to meet the bemused gaze of not only my new husband, but the minister as well. I flushed knowing my response to the kiss was anything but chaste.

Liam ushered the minister out the door with a handshake and a promise to attend his service the following Sunday. I could only nod my head in farewell, my brain too foggy to think clearly. Liam had addled my brain with just a kiss! I could only imagine what he'd do to me once he got his hands on me. My skin heated at the very proposition.

Once the door was closed, Liam turned and faced me. It was then I felt the full brunt of what had just occurred. I'd been aroused by a man I'd longed for from afar even while married to another. And now I belonged to him. The tears bubbled to the surface, like water from the nearby hot springs, and spilled down my cheeks.

"Ah, love, don't cry."

I held up my hand to keep him from approaching, but it was no good. He pulled me into his arms, his big hand cupping the back of my head and held me against his hard chest. I could hear the beat of his heart beneath my cheek, feel him plant a soft kiss on my forehead and reveled in his clean, male scent.

"I never knew I could want a woman as I do you. You've possessed me, Charlotte. If you still mourned Richard, I would have waited. If your heart remained with him, I would have protected you from afar. But through a sad turn of events, we both can have what we want. Who we want."

His words mimicked my own thoughts and that had me crying even harder. I was finally able to accept the truth, that even though Richard saved me from uncertainty when my brother died, that was all he'd done. Saved me. He never had my heart and I felt sadness at that. Wiping my tears away, I took deep breaths to stem the flow. I tilted my chin up to look at Liam.

"Am I all that bad?" This close I could see the dark whiskers on his jaw, his full lips, dark eyes filled with concern.

I shook my head. "It's...it's guilt." I swallowed. "I should have felt for Richard what I feel for you."

The look in his gaze shifted from worry to lust from one heartbeat to the next. My world spun as I was lifted up into his arms. Liam carried me into the bedroom and, even though we were alone, kicked the door shut behind him with his booted foot. He sat down on the single chair in the room with me upon his lap.

"Tell me about Richard first. Now, before anything else. I don't want another man in bed with us." He angled his head in that direction. "Even a dead one's memory."

Why did he have to be so considerate? It was as if he could read my very thoughts. "What...what do you want to know?"

"I assume your marriage was consummated."

I looked down at my hands in my lap, my cheeks heating, remembering that first time. Richard had been nervous, yet at the same time overly eager. He'd fumbled with my nightgown, pushing it up and over my hips to settle between my legs. It had been

quick and painful, Richard's weight pinning me to the bed as he took me, falling asleep once he'd finished, his sticky seed mixed with my virgin blood on my thighs.

"Yes," I replied.

"What do you like?"

His question had me looking up at him. "What do you mean?"

"In bed. What makes you wet?"

I frowned, unsure how to answer. I liked many things and I wasn't familiar with his reference to being wet.

"Do you like having your nipples suckled? A man's head between your thighs? Being taken from behind? Your ass fucked?"

My mouth fell open at his crude words. The very ideas he'd suggested...I'd never known.

"Oh, um...well." I searched his face. He was being earnest. "I must admit that I have never...well." I didn't know what to say, never having a conversation such as this before.