B00BWX9H30 EBOK Read Online Free Page A

we don’t suit, we can get an annulment much easier than a divorce.”
    He dropped his hand and closed the distance between them. “Get one thing straight.” He took her by the shoulders. “There will be no annulment and no divorce.” Then he brought his mouth down on hers the way he’d wanted to all day. He was gratified when her arms wrapped around his neck and she kissed him back. His tongue pressed against the seam of her lips as he begged for entry.
    She eased her lips apart and he entered, slowly, gentling the kiss. Tentatively, she touched her tongue to his and he thought he’d die if he didn’t get more. He dueled with her, feasted on her, forgetting she was untried until she pulled back.
    “Nathan?” she asked, her breathing hard.
    “Ella. I want you, but I’ll compromise with you. We sleep together, learn each other’s body. I won’t take you until you ask me, but I will touch you. Everywhere.”
    With those words he left her.
    * * *
    Ella sat down on the side of the bed and touched her fingers to her swollen lips. He was going to touch her, had touched her, kissed her and wasn’t the least repulsed. But what would he think when he saw the rest of her scars on her neck and shoulder? She had the feeling he wouldn’t care. There was no pity in his kiss or in the fire that had been in his eyes.
    “Oh, my.”
    He made her want more out of this marriage than just being comfortable. She wanted it all. She wanted love. But even he, kind as he was, couldn’t love her. Could he?
    Closing her eyes, she wished it could be. She was very afraid it would be all too easy to fall in love with her husband. He was kind, gentle, fierce and entirely too handsome for her own good.
    She took a deep breath and got up, grabbed one of her bags and opened it. There was a door at one end of the room she hoped was a closet. She shook out the skirts and blouses in the bag. Taking a skirt in hand she opened the door. It was a closet and there was even room for her clothes. Well, these clothes. They’d have to figure out something else when her trunks arrived.
    She hung her clothes up and looked in the bureau for an empty drawer. Nathan had anticipated it and the top two were empty for her. She put her chemises and bloomers in one drawer, her stockings and second corset in the other. She would be so very happy to get out of her corset. She hadn’t been able to do it by herself. Nathan would have to help her, but the way he looked at her she didn’t think he would mind. It didn’t take as long to unpack as she thought it would. Her clothes needed ironing after more than a week in the bag. She went down to see Martha.
    Wonderful smells wafted out of the kitchen. She followed her nose to the stove. There on top was a pot full of beans and another one full of stew. Her mouth watered and her stomach growled. She’d forgotten until that moment that she’d had nothing to eat today.
    “May I have some?” she asked Martha.
    “Of course, honey. Here, let me get you a bowl.” Martha opened a cupboard to the left of the sink in the corner. Ella saw plates and bowls in the cabinet.
    “Do you mind if I look in the cabinets? I need to know where everything is.”
    “No. Go on ahead and look all ya want. This is yer house now, too. The dishes are in the upper cabinets and pots and pans in the lower one. We have fifteen men we feed in here along with you, me and Nathan. It gets to be quite boisterous.”
    “You must use the dining room. The table here isn’t large enough.”
    “Yeah. Nathan says everyone is family and family eats in the dining room. I’ll have you help me with dinner. It will help you get familiar better than just looking in cabinets.” She bustled about grabbing a bowl from one of the cabinets and a spoon from a drawer under the counter. She quickly filled it with the savory stew from the large pot on the stove.
    “I knew I was going to like you, Martha. And you never flinched when you saw my scars. Why?