Ashley squealed and squirmed out of his grasp. "I need a shower," she said. "You had one earlier. And the next one we'll take together, okay?"

"That's fair, but hurry up, baby. I'm getting hot just thinking about you naked again," Ryan said, his brown eyes caressing her long body.

And then she slid the spaghetti straps off her shoulders and, turning, walked slowly and seductively into her bathroom, her hips swaying as she went. Halfway there the nightgown slid down her frame, and without losing a step Ashley stepped out of it, treating him to the delicious sight of her graceful back and delightfully firm buttocks. He gave a long, appreciative wolf whistle, and she turned slightly to grin at him as she closed her bathroom door.

Ashley let the warm water from the twelve spigots in her glass and marble shower pour over her. She picked up the cake of Florentine olive oil soap and rubbed it over her sea sponge until it was foamy. Then she washed herself thoroughly and rinsed. But she wasn't of a mind to get too quickly out of the privacy of her bathroom. Something wonderful had just happened. Something totally unexpected. Certainly she had never anticipated that Ryan would suggest they try to actually make a go of what had begun as a marriage of convenience. Perhaps she had hoped a little bit that something good might come of their marriage, eventually. Yet they had known each other only two and a half months. But the day after the wedding? He had no reason she could think of to make the suggestion. Unless, of course, he thought he might be able to actually care for her. That he believed she could learn to care for him. Now she really did know how the heroines in romance novels felt when put into marriages not of their own choosing.

Ashley turned off the shower and, stepping out, wrapped herself in a large bath sheet. She took a towel and rubbed her arms and legs dry. Then, going to the sink, she brushed her teeth and swished a bit of mouthwash around her mouth. Picking up her hairbrush, she ran it through her hair, fluffing it up. Beautiful. He had said she was beautiful. She looked hard at herself in the mirror. Pretty. She would admit to pretty. Wrapped in the bath sheet, she exited the bathroom and reentered their bedroom.

Ryan was sprawled naked on the bed. He held out his hand to her. Ashley dropped the bath sheet and, coming across the room, took his hand, letting him pull her down onto the bed with him.

"You've got a body like the Venus de Milo," he said softly, reaching up to caress one of her breasts. "Last night it was hard and hot, Ash. Now let me do it to you slow and sweet." He didn't wait for her to answer, but pressed her down onto the mattress and began to kiss her. His mouth was firm and warm. His tongue ran along her lush mouth, encouraging it to open, sliding in when it did to play with her tongue.

Ashley let herself relax completely, putting herself into his care without any reservations. She had learned last night that he was a skilled lover, and he had given her no reason to distrust him. The kiss melted into another, and another, and another, until her head was swimming. The sensation of her breasts against his bare flesh was exciting. And then his mouth began to move from her lips, going beneath her chin, sliding easily down her throat. He kissed her shoulders. His tongue traced a line between her breasts. He kissed those pale mounds of flesh, sucking briefly on each nipple. She didn't see his smile when she sighed with appreciation.

His mouth moved down and across her long torso. The flesh beneath his lips was soft, and faintly perfumed with an elusive scent that set his pulses racing with the odd sensation that the fragrance was familiar, but he couldn't place it. He kissed her down one long leg, reaching her foot, nibbling on her toes, pushing his tongue between them suggestively. Ashley sighed again, and made small noises of pleasure.


He moved up her other leg, this time using his tongue on her skin. Her legs fell open, and he teasingly nipped at the soft, tender flesh of her inside thigh. Her pussy was a full thicket of mahogany-colored curls, and he wove his fingers through it. He could see she was already growing slightly moist. He slipped two fingers between the lips of her labia and, finding her clit, played with it, smiling again as it swelled beneath his ministrations. Then, carefully, he pushed those two fingers into her vagina, and she whimpered and began to encourage him by moving her hips. His fingers pushed as deep as they could, moving gently, but with increasing rapidity. He felt her tense and bedew his hand with her juices. "Tell me what you want," he whispered in her ear.

She was silent for several long moments, and then she said, "Lick me, Ryan! Please! And then fuck me! I want you inside of me."

"Whatever my baby wants, she will get," he answered. His head lowered, and, opening her with his fingers, he could see her swollen clit and the pearly juices of her arousal. The tip of his tongue touched her clit, and she shivered. He licked slowly around it, and her hips moved restlessly. He bent closer and, taking her clit in his mouth, sucked hard on it several times.

Ashley actually screamed softly. He was driving her wild, and it was wonderful!

Ryan was hard with his lust. He was ready to take her now. Giving her clit a little bite, he pulled himself up, mounted her, and pushed into her vagina slowly, slowly, until he completely filled her. Then he began to fuck her with measured, deep, deliberate strokes of his engorged cock.

Ashley felt him. He was almost desperate with his need for her. She wrapped her legs about his torso so he could go deeper. He was so big, and he seemed to stretch the walls of her vagina, but he didn't hurt her. Eleven long, hard, hot inches plumbed her tight depths. She squeezed her vaginal muscles around his eager cock. "Oh, yes, Ryan!" she encouraged him. "Yes!" Her head was beginning to spin. Fireworks burst behind her closed eyes as she climaxed with a cry of undiluted pleasure, and at the sound she felt him drenching her with his juices. It was a good thing she was on the pill, Ashley thought. It was going to be easy to make babies one day with Ryan Finbar Mulcahy.

"Oh, baby! Oh, baby!" Ryan groaned as he spasmed and spasmed with his ejaculation. Then he collapsed atop her for several long moments before finally rolling off of Ashley. Propping himself up on an elbow, he looked down into her face. "You," he told her, "are absolutely wonderful!"

"So are you," she returned. "I'd have us take a bow, but I don't think either of us can stand up quite yet. Where did you learn to make love like that? Or do I not want to know? No," she decided, "I don't want to know."

He chuckled, but he didn't answer her right away, and though she was curious, Ashley let it go. "One day," he said finally. "But not today, baby. Okay?"

"Okay," she agreed, and, pulling his head down to her, she gave him a quick kiss.

"That was nice," he noted.

"I like the idea of really trying to make this a real marriage," Ashley said. "I think your mother would be pleased, but could we hold off on telling her right away? I don't want to disappoint her if we can't do it. Let's at least wait until we've spent our honeymoon together to see if we can honestly stand being together long enough to do this right."

He nodded.- "Agreed. But I've got a good feeling about us, Ashley."


***

She called Nina later that day and then she and Ryan went to ground, not bothering to answer the telephone during the next week, letting Byrnes take messages. Finally after one desperate message from Frankie, Ashley relented and called Ryan's sister.

"Where have you been?" Frankie wanted to know.

"Ryan and I are honeymooning. Isn't that usual for newly married couples?" she teased her new sister-in-law.

"He took time from work?" Frankie said, sounded amazed. "My God! He must like you!" She paused when Ashley said nothing. Then she shrieked. "He does like you! Is the sex fabulous? Does he live up to his reputation? Tell me now! I can't talk at home with my kid there, and he doesn't go back to St. Peter's for three more weeks!"

Ashley laughed. "Yes, he likes me, and I like him. And yes, the sex is fabulous, but that's all I'm going to say. What's the matter? Is Lina all right?"

"It's my sisters," Frankie said. "They all got their marriage announcements, and I swear that they are going crazy. They descended on Ma today and demanded to know just what was going on. Incidentally, they didn't call me to join them. She told them if they got the announcements then they knew what was going on. You got married. She and I were there. You're lovely. He's lucky. But she could tell it wasn't enough for them. She reminded them that Ryan called them last Saturday night to tell them himself, but they said he was blind drunk, and they hadn't talked to the bride. Ma hasn't answered any of their calls this week. She didn't want to be bothered. Ryan didn't answer any of their calls. Ma called me after they left because she's not certain what they'll do."

"I think maybe you should talk to Ryan about this," Ashley said. "It's your family, after all. I don't know them yet, but I thought I'd have everyone up over the Columbus Day weekend. Save the date, will you? Here's Ryan."

"What's up, sis?" he asked Frankie, and then he listened. Finally he said, "Okay, you tell Ma not to worry. I'll be back in town after Labor Day, and in the meantime I'll call Bride. She can calm the rest of them down. After all, I did speak with them after the wedding. What did they think? That I was joking?"

"They said you were drunk, and they did think you were joking," Frankie answered him. She giggled. "Those formal engraved announcements have really done them in, Ryan. I think they're suddenly beginning to realize that you actually did do it."

"Tell Ma I'll take care of everything, and I'll call her later," Ryan said grimly. "Thanks for the heads-up, kid." He hung up the phone. Then he pulled out his cell. "I'm going to call Bride now," he told Ashley. "She has caller ID, and I don't want her getting the house number. She's a real pit bull when it comes to ferreting out information." He turned back to the cell and pressed a single number. The phone rang, and then he heard his oldest sister's voice as she answered. "Bride," Ryan said, "what the hell is the matter with you and the others, hassling Ma like that?"

There was silence, and then Bride said, "You really got married?"

"Yeah, I really got married. And I'm on my honeymoon right now, and I'm having to deal with you and the others, Bride. I'm not happy."

"How could you do this to us, Ryan?" his eldest sibling asked him.

"Not ask you to the wedding? Now, why would I do that, Bride? You and the others would have made it all about yourselves and spoiled what was an incredible day for Ashley and me. Incidentally, we're inviting you all for the Columbus Day weekend, so tell the others and save the date. And be on your best behavior, because if any of you cause trouble, you won't be invited again. Ma and Frankie are crazy about her, Bride, and Ashley already loves them." He was ignoring the real meaning behind his sister's question. Ryan knew damned well she was talking about money, and not hurt feelings.

"You know exactly what I mean, Ryan," Bride said, unwilling to let it go. "We're going to hire a lawyer. You can't do this to us!" Her tone was venomous.

He laughed at her. "But I did, sweetie. And incidentally, none of you has a leg to stand on, Bride. Dad's will only said I had to marry before my fortieth birthday, which isn't until next April. That was it. I'm married, legally and lawfully under the laws of this state. I didn't even have to have a church wedding, just get married-and I did." Bride hung up on her brother, and Ryan closed his cell, sticking it back in his pocket.

"I take it she wasn't happy," Ashley said softly. "I'm sorry, Ryan."

"They're only interested in the money," he told her. "Don't feel bad, baby. Frankie and I were always the outsiders where the five harpies were concerned. Bride was thirteen when I was born, and fifteen when Frankie came along. Dee, who's the youngest of them, was four. And I was a boy, and suddenly the family had its prince." He grinned. "They have never been happy with me." He chuckled.

"I'm sorry," she said.

"Don't be." He caught her hand up and kissed it. "Frankie and I were partners in crime. Ma and Dad spoiled us. And the harpies didn't count for us."

And then they heard a strident voice. "Don't bother announcing me, Byrnes. I know my way to the porch."