“Let me go,” I ground out. “Don’t touch me! I know that you only married me to...” The humiliation burns in my throat, preventing the words from forming.
“What?” Joel frowns as he cups my face in his hands. “I know why I married you, but I’d love to hear what you think my reasons were.”
“You know why,” I roll my eyes. “You wanted my ranch, that was your real reason for entering into this marriage, wasn’t it? Revenge for the way my father treated you. God, I bet you couldn’t believe your luck when I turned up out of the blue and presented you with the perfect chance to get your hands on Redlands. No wonder you seized such a golden opportunity with both hands. And by insisting on a ‘real marriage’, you get some bed action thrown in as an added bonus. Naturally, your bitch-face-money-grabbing girlfriend is none too happy about this, which is why she keeps popping up and doing her best to get between us. But you’re telling her she has to back off for now, not wanting to risk the marriage getting annulled on the grounds of non-consummation.”
“Christ, Tara, is that what you really believe?” He looks appalled as he shakes his head in apparent disbelief.
“Sure is, you piece of shit,” I manage to push hard enough to force him back a couple of steps, so I’m able to slip out of his hold and run to my room.
But he comes right after me, his footsteps echoing on the wooden floor as he gives chase, like a lion stalking his prey.
“Why do you assume the worst of me, Tara? Why don’t you ask me straight out what I really want?” he shouts angrily.
“Because I don’t want any more of your lies,” I yell back, with the sanctuary of my room just a few short steps away.
“But I’m not lying. I’mnot the kind of man you’re making me out to be,” he insists, catching me by the arm.
I turn, unable to resist laying it out for him.
“Aren’t you, Joel? Have you never lied to me? Has it conveniently slipped your memory? You know, that promise you once made, the one where you solemnly vowed you’d come and get me, that I should have faith that you’d never leave me? Ring any bells? Yet like that freaky magician Copperfield, you vanished and never came back. So, yeah, I’d say you’re exactly that kind of man.”
He stands there with clenched fists, looking set to explode.
“Seeing as you have such a low opinion of me, it begs the question—why did you come looking for me?” he challenges, standing back and folding his arms over his chest.
Because I’m an idiot.
Because my heart believed in him when my head didn’t.
Because something in me refused to give up on him.
Because I’d run out of options, out of time.
I refuse to answer him, so I open the bedroom door to make my escape, but he follows, slamming the door behind us. Now I’m trapped with nowhere left to run.
“Tara, for the love of God, just hear me out, will you?” he roars.
“I’m sick of empty promises! Why on earth would I want to listen to any more?”
“Because you should know that I have no intention of selling the ranch.”
“Whatever you say, Joel, but it’s irrelevant. First thing tomorrow, I’m instructing a lawyer to act on my behalf and protect my interests, protect Redlands.”
“Don’t bother wasting your time or money, Tara,” he states. “We’re husband and wife. You willingly, without any kind of coercion, signed over control of the ranch to me, your legal husband.”
“We may have gotten married, but legally I’m not your wife yet. The marriage hasn’t been consummated, and it’s not going to be,” I retort.
“Oh really? You sure about that?”
Suddenly, he yanks me into his arms and walks me backwards until my legs hit the edge of the bed, where he throws me down. Then he kisses me, devouring me.
He’s staking his claim. Taking what’s his.
And I let him. Because Joel does own me. I’m drowning in him. No matter how I try to resist, I’m hooked and he’s reeling me in.
He pulls down the thin straps of my dress as he kisses me, while I tug and pull at his shirt. My body arches as he trails hot kisses down my neck. This can only end in disaster, but I no longer have the strength to resist.
My dress is tossed across the room, quickly followed by his shirt.