Night slips and slides in the desert, air vacillating between the heavy heat of the day and the touch of chill it can carry to your lungs before dawn. Dawn was still an hour away, but it would come as it always did and when the sun began its ascent, Caleb Hollis, self-made man, hoped he was dead to the world. He hated the dawn.
Nothing good happens in the wee hours. Nothing good, he concluded as he stood at the window, his eyes on some distant memory rather than on the sprawling lawn below. The outside lights would dim as the sun rose as would his occasional nightmares, his personal demons, his private hell - until the next time he faced the dawn awake and alone.
A soft sound of distress made him turn toward the bed. His reluctant bride slept... in a fetal position... so close to the edge of the bed she was in danger of falling to the floor. "Mara," he whispered as he lifted her. "Mara, you're safe with me. I won't hurt you."
He sat in the bedside chair, Mara curled into his arms, her head resting just below his shoulder, her soft warmth fitting his arms as if she had been looking for this home of sleep. Her slumber was restless, one hand tucked under her chin, the other occasionally twitching as if in protest. Her breath was stuttered and the few sounds she made in her sleep bothered him more than he cared to admit.
Surprised you, didn't I, Mara? he smiled in spite of himself. His not-so-amiable bride had been stunned when she got her first look at the "Circle C." She had been so sure the ranch would be "... some dirty, dusty, manure reeking, wind battered, God forsaken hellhole in the middle of the damned desert..." Well, it was definitely in the middle of the damned desert but hundreds of yards of underground irrigation pipes had turned his particular God forsaken hellhole into paradise. His ranch was an oasis, a personal Eden and he finally had "Eve" at his side.
"Eve," he murmured as he looked at the woman in his arms. "You're my Eve, Mara Stevenson Hollis. You just don't know it yet."
Remembering her reaction at her first sight of the "Circle C," he chuckled again. Her mouth had dropped open; expecting to see a dirty, dusty ranch, she had been unprepared for the resort-like look to his home. His home was no ramshackle affair but a warm and inviting lodge-like ranch house built from the trees that had been logged to carve paths in the foothills of the distant Sierras. Caleb was a bit of a patriot; he couldn't stop the National Parks Service from logging the trees but he didn't want them sold and shipped overseas. He had paid top dollar to keep them for use on American soil.
Mara had been stymied into silence when she saw the luxury of her new home and had stared at the man she was married to for a long time. She was equally speechless when she viewed the tasteful interior furnishings - leather and suede and soft rugs - but instead of crowing at her good fortune, she had withdrawn a little. The silver-haired housekeeper had warmly welcomed her, served a light meal at Caleb's request and drew a warm bath for the new mistress of the house.
Throughout it all, Mara said nothing and Caleb made no demands, sitting quietly beside her during their meal, silently urging her to eat, putting tasty morsels on her plate. When he escorted her upstairs to take a bath, she pushed him away but he ignored her protests and helped her disrobe. She flushed in angry embarrassment making him chuckle as he lifted her into the tub and laughed aloud when she told him to go ahead and look but she'd put a bullet in his gut if he tried to touch her.
He touched her - a warm washcloth in his hand soaping her - everywhere. His other hand rinsing her and his eyes devouring the pink blush that covered her body, the pink stain on her bottom cheeks the remaining evidence of the spanking he had given her the night before. He wanted her and had to grit his teeth as he held his lust in check. By the time he lifted her onto his lap to towel her dry, the day's events had taken their toll and she yielded to his ministrations.
"I hope you're not planning on sleeping with me," she murmured, the rest of her temper dying with the last of her energy.
"I *am* planning to sleep with you, wife," he said with a tinge of amusement and a slight hint of authority. "Conjugal rights," he reminded her.
"I won't allow it," she announced, her words fading as her eyes closed in slumber.
"I guess I'll just have to spank you, again," he smiled at his slumbering bride. "And again and again until you see things my way." He pulled a clean T-shirt from his bureau and dropped it over her head, pulling it down to cover her bare thighs. "But it will be gentle spankings, Mara Hollis, sweet gentle spankings," he promised as he placed her in their bed. "And I'm going to make you beg for them."
Remembering that she refused to sleep with him, he placed her back into the bed and tucked the covers under her chin. He knew he'd feel better once he showered and when he came back into the bedroom, he stood at the side of the bed watching his bride sleep. "I need you, Mara Hollis," he whispered. "I need you and though you don't know it, you need me, too. We'll have a good life; I promise."
Dawn was breaking as he slipped into bed beside her. The first few orange rays mixed with the gray mists of the night sky as daylight began its climb on the horizon. Caleb wasn't awake to watch it; the moment his arms pulled his bride into his arms, he was asleep, content for the first time in a long time.
~~~
Her dream had been delicious - a soft warm bed, an embrace that felt real, sweet murmurs in her ear as if someone genuinely cared about her. That can't be, she thought as she struggled to pull herself from the arms of Morpheus. Nobody ever gave a hoot about me. Why should I think...? The wall of warmth behind her was a surprise and she turned toward it, completely forgetting where she was. When she saw Caleb, she was so startled, she jumped.
"Shhhh, easy now. I'm not gonna hurt you," he said softly, waking when she moved. "It's early; go back to sleep. We'll talk later."
"Get out of my bed!" Mara hissed, coming fully awake, her arms trying to push him away from her.
His soft rumble of laughter swept over her as his arms pulled her closer. "I'm not in your bed, sweetheart. You're in *mine* and I'm not leaving."
"Get out!" she demanded as she struggled to get free of his embrace.
"Go back to sleep, Mrs. Hollis," he continued to speak softly, one arm keeping her close to him, his other hand cupping the back of her head. "Go back to sleep."
"Did you... um... did we...?" she blushed, trying to remember if they had consummated the marriage, perplexed that she couldn't remember what happened after he bathed her. "We didn't... um... did we? You weren't a pig, were you?" she finally hurled at him with all the indignation one can muster while dressed only in a T-shirt and lying beside a man she didn't even know and to whom she was married.
Oh God Oh God Oh God she moaned softly, thinking this had to be a bad dream, but knew it wasn't.
"You want me, huh?" Caleb laughed softly. "Knew you wanted me, baby."
"I do not!" she denied.
"You do," he argued, turning her onto her back and dropping soft kisses on her brow. "Admit it, woman. You're just as hot for me as I am for you."
"I'm not!"
"I think you're protesting too much," he chuckled, one finger brushing the side of her neck, his palm itching to cup her breast, explore further...
She felt him between her thighs, the hard evidence of his passion heating her. She *did* want him but she'd be damned if she would ever tell him that. She'd die before she admitted...
"Get off me," she demanded.
I'll kill her, he thought in frustration. I'll spank her until her butt rivals the heat of the sun, strangle her with my bare hands, and... "Mara," he groaned as he turned onto his back and pulled her on top of him. "Mara, you're going to kill me."
She shocked both of them when she giggled. Not a loud long laugh - just a small giggle, more like a hiccup but enough of a giggle that Caleb sat up against the headboard and stared at her.
"Sor... sorry," she apologized, another giggle escaping in spite of her best efforts to keep it contained.
"What's funny, woman?" Caleb demanded, not at all amused.
"You," Mara giggled again.
He arched a brow. She laughed out right.
"I'm going to spank you," he threatened.
She nodded. She expected that, but what she didn't expect was his gentleness... when he caught her up in his arms, his mouth descending... not demanding... giving. His arms held her, his hands sweetly touching, his whispered unintelligible murmurs in her ear, murmurs that sounded as if he genuinely cared.
She wondered why.