"Just a little more," he begged her, his hands fondling her breasts.

"No," she told him. "If we don't stop now I don't know what will happen."

"Yeah, you do," he countered, and fastened her bra back together before buttoning her shirt back up. "If we keep on like this I'm going to fuck the ears off of you, Ashley. You know that, don't you?" He nipped at her earlobe. "I cannot believe how hot I am for you."

She struggled to her feet, standing on shaky legs. "Me too," she told him.

"Tell me you want me to fuck you right now, Ashley," he said. "Tell me you want me to go deep and hard until you can't stop coming."

"No," she told him softly. "If I say it we're going to do it, and I'm not that kind of a woman, Ryan. And you really don't want me to be."

He nodded. "No, I don't," he agreed. "But I have never had such an instant attraction to a woman in my life. I don't understand it."

"When was the last time you were with a woman?" she asked him.

He thought, and then shook his head. "A long time, I guess," he said.

"So you're overdue for a good screwing," Ashley told him. "And we are going to get married in a few weeks, so you're ready to rumble. But I'm not. Do you excite me? God, yes! But I keep remembering the fraternity guy who did me twice in college and then bailed. And I remember the two men who were marrying me, but somehow never made it to the altar. So since we're making a marriage of convenience I think we'll just be old-fashioned and wait until our wedding night. Okay?"

"I'll wait quietly," he said, "but only if I can play with those again."

"I'll think about it," Ashley said with a grin. "Now I'm going up to bed. Good night, Ryan Mulcahy."

"Good night, Ashley Kimbrough," he replied.

Chapter 4

"Why, you're beautiful," Angelina Mulcahy said by W way of greeting to Ashley. She took the younger woman's hands in hers and, leaning forward, kissed her on both cheeks. "Welcome to my home, cara . I hope we are, despite the unusual circumstances of this impending marriage, going to be friends."

"I don't think I've ever been greeted so sweetly, Mrs. Mulcahy. Thank you for having me," Ashley replied as her future mother-in-law slipped her arm through hers and led her into the living room of the gracious house.

"You must call me Lina, cara . All my friends do," Angelina Mulcahy said. She was pleased. Very pleased indeed. Ashley was tall and healthy-looking. She had a wide span between her hips, which was good for childbearing. Yes. Ray had done well, even if this girl was an independent American. And she had never particularly cared for the blondes that her only son said he preferred. This girl had beautiful coloring. She was like a Tintoretto Madonna. And she appeared to have manners, for all she had been raised by an old man and his servants. She sat Ashley on the settee. "Now, you will tell me all about yourself," Angelina said. "You had a brother?"

"Yes, Ben. He died in Desert Storm," Ashley answered.

Angelina crossed herself piously. "God rest him, and bless him for the service he rendered our country," she murmured.

The doorbell rang, and Ryan went to let his youngest sister in. "Hey, babe," he greeted her. "Ash is getting the third degree right now from Ma."

Frankie Mulcahy O'Connor stood for a minute in the entry between the living room and the hall. "God, she's beautiful, Ryan. You didn't say she was beautiful."

"First thing Ma said to her," he told his sister. "I think I was too busy getting past the she-isn't-a-blonde stage."

"You can be such a jerk sometimes," Frankie told him. Then, giving him a friendly shove, she walked into the living room. "Hi, Ma. Hi, Ashley. I'm Frankie, the good sister." She grinned mischievously.

"So I've heard," Ashley said with an answering grin. Then she hugged Frankie.

Angelina nodded her approval. A warm heart. This girl had a warm heart.

"Anyone want an aperitif?" Ryan asked. It tickled him the way his mother and his sister had taken immediately to Ashley. But then, he had taken to her too.

At the dinner table Angelina watched as Ashley devoured her cooking. She almost wanted to shout with joy, and when Ashley returned for a second helping of tiramisu she almost cried. "Do you cook?" she asked her guest.

"Not really. I've never had to," Ashley admitted. "Mrs. Byrnes does the cooking at Kimbrough Hall. I'm such a workaholic. But I would love your recipe for the chicken and artichokes. Mrs. B. is always looking for new dishes to make."

"I will write it out for you," Angelina said. "But then one day I will come and teach you how to make it. Work is good, but you should also know how to cook a few dishes. What if your Mrs. Byrnes became ill?"

"She'd do what we all do, Ma," Frankie said. "She'd order out."

"Not in Egret Pointe." Ashley laughed. "We have one pizzeria, and he just does pizza and heroes. But we do have some nice restaurants."

The evening continued in pleasant fashion. Ashley and Frankie began to talk about decorating the master suite in the house.

"I've got to run it by my boss," Frankie said apologetically. "She's a real Tartar about any of her decorators doing private work. She's scared one of them might walk off with her client list. I hope you don't mind."

"Evelyn Claire was a friend of my mother's," Ashley replied. "They were in school together. St. Hilary's. Tell her I'm Rosemary Leigh Kimbrough's daughter."

"A Catholic school?" Angelina put in.

"No. Anglican nuns," Ashley replied.

"Your children…?" Angelina said.

"I don't think Ryan and I have gotten that far yet, Lina," Ashley said candidly.


***

Later, as she and Ryan drove back to Egret Pointe, he apologized to her. "I haven't told Ma yet that the marriage is just a temporary one. She thinks it's going to be like her and my dad: two people marrying for practical reasons and making a go of it."

"Don't tell her," Ashley said. "It would upset her, and I don't want to do that."

"She liked you."

"I liked her, and I really like your sister Frankie. She and I are going to be good friends no matter what," Ashley told him. "You're staying the rest of the weekend, aren't you?" she asked as they pulled off the parkway. "I want to discuss several things with you. The wedding. Our bedroom. I want to do announcements to be sent out afterward. Personally, I like the old-fashioned black script on white or cream paper, but I'd like your opinion also. You've got a stake in this too. And I'll need a list of people you want to receive the announcement. I'd like to get the busywork out of the way so we can relax over the next few weeks, if that's okay with you."

"That's fine," he agreed. "We'll start in the morning." He pulled up in front of the hall.

The portico was lit, but Ashley had told Byrnes to go to bed because they would be late, and she didn't want her butler waiting up. They let themselves in and walked upstairs to their separate bedrooms. In the dim upstairs hall Ryan pulled her into his arms and began to kiss her. She slid her arms about his neck and ran her tongue across his lips. He followed suit.

"You've got the sexiest mouth," he told her. "Like that actress with the same name as my mother."

"Angelina Jolie," she said.

"Yeah, that's her." His hand began to fondle one of her breasts.

"Oh, don't," she said. "If we get started I don't know what will happen, Ryan."

"I miss the girls," he said softly in her ear. "You haven't let them come out to play since that night on the porch."

Ashley swallowed hard. His hands were big and gentle. She found she liked it very much when he touched her breasts. They were already growing firm, her nipples hardening, and she was absolutely getting wet between her thighs.

"I want to get naked with you," he whispered.


"No," she told him, but she didn't yet pull away from his hand.

"I took you to meet my mother and favorite sister. The prenups will be ready to be signed next week. I'm not gay, and I have no plans to go to Vegas or anywhere else in the near future." The hand fondling her breast slipped down, under her skirt, and up to caress the soft flesh of her thigh. "You're wet," he said. "You want this as much as I do."

Ashley whimpered. He wasn't telling her anything she didn't already know, but even if this was a marriage of convenience, she was going to do it right this time. Gathering every bit of her strength, she pulled away from him, her hand reaching for the doorknob. "On our wedding night, and not a minute before," she told him as she turned and stepped into her room, shutting the door behind her firmly, clicking the lock.

He was so hard he thought it would probably break off if he touched it. Damn! He really wanted her! Wanted to bury himself so deep he could touch her womb. What would she be like? he wondered. Would she cry out with her climax? Would she claw him? Or was she one of those silent types who just lay there? No. He didn't think she would be silent. Ryan rubbed his penis trying to ease the ache. That sexy mouth of hers could have tempered his discomfort. Would she do that for him? He sure wanted to go down on her. Wanted to peel back her labia, lick her clit, and then suck it until she was screaming with her climax. And she would scream. He entered his own bedroom.


***

In the morning it was as if the incident had never occurred. They sat at the table in the breakfast room and discussed the few guests who would come to the wedding. Ashley had decided to have the local calligrapher do the invitations on pale cream paper. The gentleman had been sworn to secrecy. They would do engraved announcements on cream as well, with elegant black script. The wording would be traditional, and there would be a separate card indicating their residence. The announcement cards were small.

Ashley Cordelia Kimbrough

and

Ryan Finbar Mulcahy

Announce Their Marriage on

Saturday, the Twenty-fifth of August

Two Thousand and Seven

The separate enclosure cards read: At Home After September First, with their address.

"My sisters are really going to be pissed," Ryan said with a broad grin. "And when they find out Frankie was there… well, Bride will split a gut. There goes her new big house, which she doesn't need. Betta ain't going to get her Ferrari, and Dee's spoiled brats are going to need loans to finish college. Considering their grades, I'm not sure they'll get them. My nephews like to party. As for Katy and Mags, their husbands are going to have to pay for those around-the-world cruises on the QMII they've planned."

"That is truly mean-spirited," Ashley said. "Your older sisters can't be that bad."

"Yeah, they can. Wait till you meet them," he said. "Those five bitches had already lined up a buyer for R &R, Ash."

"Well, then, let's hold a party at the end of September to celebrate our first month's anniversary," Ashley suggested mischievously. "Just family, okay?"

"You are a glutton for punishment." He laughed.

"I have to meet the wicked sisters sometime," she pointed out.


"True," he said, "and by that time you should have that well-fucked look that women get in the first month of marriage, and they'll know it's for real," he said softly, reaching out to take her hand in his. He nibbled at her knuckles.

Their eyes met, and Ashley felt her heart turn over suddenly. What was that all about? She had known him just a few weeks. She blushed, and he grinned.

"I like it when you blush," he said.

"And you seem to have a knack for making me blush," she told him. Then she drew her hand from his. "Let's decide on the menu for the wedding dinner."

"Are you a cock tease?" he asked her suddenly.

"No! I don't think so. Why would you ask a thing like that?" she demanded.

"I touch you and you retreat," he complained. "And yet if I can manage to kiss you, you're on fire almost at once."

"This started out as strictly business. But now sex is entering the equation," Ashley said slowly. "You obviously like sex, and I sure do, and yes, we're going to be married, but I don't want to jinx it this time, even if love is not part of the picture. I don't know how to explain it any better."

"This is the damnedest thing," he told her. "No, love is not part of this, and business is the reason we're getting together, but I can't believe how hot I am for you, Ash."