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Emma gasped at the intended insult to Luke and knew it had hit home when Luke stiffened and glared at the sheriff. "It's Miss Martin, and the marriage can't wait two weeks."
The sheriff's eyes landed on Emma again. "You're not a widow?"
Emma glanced down at her shoes and shook her head as fiery heat spread up her throat and onto her face.
"Well, damn, Luke, I guess that changes things a mite. Your best bet would be the preacher. You might be able to get him to agree to a quick ceremony under the circumstances."
"Is he at the church?" Luke asked the question as he reached for Emma's hand and began turning away from the door.
"Should be." The sheriff tipped his hat at Emma. "Good luck, Miss Martin." A wicked glint came to his eyes. "You're gonna need it."
Emma was still looking back at the sheriff as Luke marched her to the door and pulled her by the hand to the church were the preacher was more than happy to perform the service for a fee.
The preacher rounded up two witnesses in a matter of minutes, and before she knew it, Emma was agreeing to the words that made her Mrs. Luke Butler.
After that, Luke had taken her to the restaurant at the hotel and they'd shared a quiet meal. He'd watched her between every bite, and after her third unanswered attempt at small talk, Emma had given up and focused on the food on her plate. It was a treat for her to enjoy a restaurant meal, and she tried as hard as she could to remember it for some time in the future when she might want to look back and remember this day. She ran her finger over the pattern on the silver setting, and measured the weight of the cut crystal water glass as she raised it to her lips.
"What are you doing?" Luke must have noticed her fascination with the multitude of small things at their table.
"I'm trying to commit our wedding day to memory." She looked across the small table at him and found his heated eyes locked on hers.
And now, they were almost home and Emma's emotions were in turmoil. Luke's attitude had shifted a bit the closer they made it to the ranch. He was short, but not mean, and she thought he seemed more pensive than angry or disturbed. Her mind kept falling back to last night, and the things they'd done in bed, and the echo of his words when he'd mumbled 'That's the way it should be.' His voice then had seemed almost gentle, and Emma held the memory of it in her heart.
When he pulled up in front of the house, he jumped down and moved around to her side where he helped her down. He walked with her to the front door and opened it but before she could step through the entrance, he lifted her in his arms and shouldered his way into the house.
"What are you doing?" He'd taken her totally by surprise and her voice held that emotion.
"Carrying you over the threshold." His words were abrupt and matter-of-fact.
"Oh." Emma was dismayed; she hadn't even thought of the ancient tradition. She thought the reason he picked her up might have something to do with her leg, and that was the first thing that occurred to her. She was pleasantly surprised that he had thought of the romantic tradition when she hadn't.
The day had been long and it was late in the evening. He dropped her carefully in a chair in the living room and turned to go. "I need to check on Jesse and make sure everything else is as it should be. I'll be back as soon as I can." He picked up his hat and shoved it on his head.
She nodded her head in agreement and he walked back out the door.
And that, thought Emma, was that.
She stood up, looked around the room again with new eyes as the sudden realization came to her that this was now her home. Her home for good, and not just a few weeks. A small feeling of awe slipped into her heart, and suddenly the house became dear to her.
Her eyes slid over the sturdy furniture as she walked into the kitchen. She reached out and lovingly ran her hand over the mahogany sideboard and touched the beveled mirror above it. She walked around and touched this and that, and her eyes fell to the deck of cards on the counter. She smiled a wicked little smile to herself and promised herself right then and there that she would be the best wife to Luke that she could possibly be.
****
It was late when Luke came back even though he hadn't had any trouble. Jesse was on the mend, Red was well enough to cook again and Maria had a firm hand on the domestic side of the ranch while Cody had seen to it that things ran smoothly in Luke and Jesse's absence.
It had only been a day and he hadn't really expected otherwise.
He tossed his hat down on the kitchen table and ran his fingers through his hair. Emma had left a plate of food out for him and the light turned down low. Hungry, but annoyed at the delay, he sat down, plowed his way through the food for the sustenance it would give him, and swallowed a whole glass of water before he stood to go find his new wife.
His wife.
He liked the sound of that.
He'd never given marriage much thought, but he couldn't deny he was pleased that Emma couldn't slip away from him now. And rightly or wrongly, he felt no guilt in the way he'd acquired her. Yes, he'd seduced her, that was true, but she'd been more than willing. A man couldn't be blamed for wanting a taste of what she'd been offering. The memory of that seduction was fresh in his mind when he turned down the light and left the kitchen.
He thought he might find her asleep in the living room, while trying to wait up for him. Although her scent lingered in the air, she wasn't in the room. His spied her shawl on the back of the sofa and his fingers ran over it. It made a bright blue splash of color in the otherwise dark interior of the living room, and he briefly wondered if she'd left it there on purpose. It was the shawl she'd worn to town, the one she'd worn while she stood beside him and promised to obey him. His lips turned up into a wicked smile at that memory. When she'd repeated the words, love, honor, and obey, he'd lifted an eyebrow and she'd had the good grace to flush. He dropped the shawl back down as he moved to the hallway and down to the room she'd been using and the one they'd shared the night before.
The room was dark with only a sliver of light coming from the moon, and he made his way over to the bed, fully expecting her to be sound asleep, all tucked in.
But she wasn't.
His eyes roved over to the chair where he'd found her sleeping the night before, but it was empty as well.
An arrow of fear at her absence was the first emotion he felt, but he quickly realized that nothing could have happened to her while she'd been in the house. Then anger hit him down deep as he wondered what game she was playing. But that didn't sit right either as he puzzled over her disappearance.
And then a seductive thought hit him straight in the groin and he left the room and strode down the hall to his bedroom. He stood in front of the closed door for a moment in time, pure pleasure curling in his stomach at what he hoped to find.
He opened the door, and in the darkness, he could barely make out a small mound in the center of his bed. Satisfaction, hard and fast, swept through him and he quickly stripped off his clothes and boots and made his way over to where she lay asleep in the center of his big bed.
&
nbsp; He crawled under the covers, and his first thought was to take her hard and fast, the way he'd been dreaming of doing since he'd first met her. But as soon as he felt the warmth of her slight body in slumber, his intentions changed even if his desire for her did not. He wrapped his arms around her female form, heard her mumble his name in her sleep, and a deep contentment filled him.
His hand ran softly up and down her arm and landed on the small hand that rested on her belly. He picked it up, and the warmth from the gold band sent a sharp, insidious pleasure streaking through his system.
He breathed in her scent, thought about all the nights he'd be able to hold her naked body in his arms, all the card games they would share, and all the sunsets they'd watch together from the porch, and fell into the most contented sleep he could ever remember having.
****
It was already full daylight when Emma woke up in Luke's bed. She raised herself onto one elbow, and saw the deep indention in the pillow beside hers that told her she hadn't been dreaming when he'd come to bed and held her in his arms.
Her mouth turned up into a soft smile that changed into a huge, happy grin when she found the daisy he'd left for her, now smashed against the bedclothes, but still very much appreciated. She lifted the bedraggled flower to her nose and inhaled the soft scent of summer.
It was a new day, a happy day, and she bounded out of bed, quickly ran through her ablutions, and went into the kitchen to start her first full day as Mrs. Luke Butler.
****
The next few weeks passed in a blur for Emma. Luke seemed more than willing to meet her half way in this new marriage of theirs. On the days he could spare time from his work around the ranch, he took her riding as promised, and as she was a quick learner, he was more than pleased at the result of his tutorage.
More than once, they ended up at the stream down in the small valley, where he'd let the horses graze on their tethers and then slowly seduce her into lying down with him in the soft green grass. Maria had exclaimed at the stains on her dress and asked her if she'd taken a tumble, and Emma had blushed and knew her red cheeks had given away their game.
