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“Young lady,” Judge Carlson censured. “It’s a woman’s place to look to her husband for guidance, to follow his lead. It clearly states in the Bible—”
“It’ll do.” Asa’s deep drawl cut the judge’s tirade.
“What?”
“I said I’d take an honest try.”
Judge Carlson drew himself up to his full height. “Young man, I cannot proceed with this ceremony in good conscience without having my say.”
“You serious?” Asa asked in that low drawl that just goaded a listener to react.
Elizabeth shot him a glance. A blind man could see this bloated fool of a judge was serious. He practically vibrated with indignation and moral outrage.
“I most certainly am. I’ve married more than two hundred couples in my ten years of serving God and country, and I can assure you while the fervor of love that brings a man to the altar can make him overlook the basics, it’s always in the best interest of the marriage to start as you mean to continue.”
“Seems like that’s what we’re doing.”
The judge cleared his throat, shifted his Bible in his plump hand, then snapped it closed. “I’m afraid, young man, that your bride’s reluctance to promise love and obedience bodes ill for your union.”
His censure elicited amusement rather than anger in her husband as evidenced by his bland response. “Ever heard the expression, ‘you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink’?”
“Of course.”
“Then I suggest you hitch us up, and let me worry about who’ll be wearing the pants in this outfit.”
Elizabeth thought the judge was going to refuse. She thought she’d have to lie. Midway to the attempt, her husband’s hand tightened painfully on hers. He caught her gaze with his darkly silver one and gave one shake of his head. It was an order to keep silent. She pressed her lips together and swallowed her resentment.
“It’s highly irregular and I feel ill-advised, but I’ll go along with this request.” Elizabeth let out her breath on a sigh of relief, only to suck it back in outrage as the good judge felt compelled to add, “But only because I feel you’re a man capable of keeping your wife in line.”
“I appreciate the vote of confidence, Judge.”
Elizabeth would have dearly loved to kick Asa MacIntyre in the shins. She had to settle for unobtrusively digging her nails into the back of his hand.
His retaliation was swift. “Lift your face, darlin’, like a good, obedient wife.”
She didn’t miss the emphasis on the word obedient. Cursing her promise and the desperateness of her situation, she did as ordered. His lips were planted on hers before she could gasp. She dug her nails deeper. His lips pressed harder. He clearly wasn’t going to give ground. Well, neither was she.
Through gritted teeth, she muttered, “The judge.”
“Isn’t seeing anything he hasn’t seen before,” Asa drawled, barely removing his lips from hers. “Open your mouth.”
Her eyes flew wide at that. Her gaze collided with his. This close, she could see the flecks of slate gray splattering the lighter irises. She could also see Asa MacIntyre was a determined man. She kept her mouth closed.
His finger touched the corner of her mouth. “Open.”
“I don’t want to.”
He drew back a quarter of an inch. His breath intermingled with hers. “I don’t remember asking if you wanted to.”
It was an order. Clear and simple. Only obeying wasn’t simple with the judge watching, and, with the space between their lips yawning like a chasm, almost too great for her modesty to cross. She thought of her ranch. She thought of her father and the duty he’d left her with when he’d died. Her lips parted a hair’s breath.
Asa’s nose touched hers. “A little more, darlin’.”
As soon as the ranch was flourishing, she’d kill him. She opened her mouth a fraction more. If he wanted it any wider, he’d have to get a pry bar.
She soon discovered he didn’t need one. Only his tongue, which he slid through the slight opening with shocking smoothness. Her breath caught in her lungs as his taste flooded her mouth. She wanted to hate it, him, but he tasted of coffee and cinnamon. And it wasn’t unpleasant. She closed her eyes as he nibbled at her lower lip, sending sparks shooting through her body.
“Kiss me back.”
The words drifted into her mouth, his breath becoming hers as he tipped her head back, arching her back over his arm so the suddenly sensitive tips of her breasts pressed into his chest. Against her stomach she could feel the hard ridge of his erection. His tongue traced the full curve of her lower lip, taking her gasp as his own as she caught his shirt front in her grip and tentatively touched his tongue with hers.
“Damn, darlin’, I love your mouth,” he whispered for her ears alone as the judge cleared his throat.
