Surprise

Talon concentrated on his food.

Although he spoke lightly, he was serious. He was not taking no for an answer.

“Talon…”

“Yes?” Talon looked up at a very red Wren.

She really was cute when she got embarrassed like this.

“I do not appreciate the joke,” Wren replied stiffly.

He was doing it again. Teasing her for the benefit of others.

“I am not joking,” Talon spoke softly. “I think we should get married.”

“You think…” What was he playing at now?

~Damn, wrong choice of words.~ “Marry me.”

“No.”

“Why?”

Just then, the waiter reappeared.

“We will chat about this later…when there is not an audience,” Wren whispered with her head down so no one could see or hear her.

Talon smiled and nodded. “I am sure we shall, but prepare yourself, because we will be married.”

“In your dreams,” she snapped back, making sure to keep her voice low and a smile on her face.

“Every night.”

Wren choked on her food, and Talon waited patiently for her recovery.

“Better?”

“Shut up.”

“As my lady wishes.”

Wren rolled her eyes. “I cannot believe you have even brought this up.”

“Why?”

“Why… Because… I mean… This is so not happening right now. I am not marrying you.”

“You sure about that?”

“I am sure. There is no way, no matter what you try.”

“Is that a challenge?”

“Nope. A promise.”

“Be prepared for that promise to be broken.”

Wren felt a sliver of excitement run up her spine. ~Is he serious?~ If he was, she knew she was on the losing side of this contest.

Shit, now what was she going to do? She had barely acknowledged her own feelings, so how was she supposed to jump headlong into his?

He was moving way too fast for her to keep up.

They finished dessert, and Talon escorted her toward the door after paying the bill.

“Shall we have one last dance before we head home?” he asked, pausing before the ballroom doors.

As tempting as it was to wrap herself into Talon’s arms one more time, they had an important conversation to attend to.

“Home. We have a chat to finish, remember?”

“How could I forget?”

***

They rode back to the house in silence, Wren watching the scenery go by. She was tired, and it had been a very long day.

She finally dozed off, dreaming about being held in Talon’s arms as he twirled her around the room.

“Wren? Wren, honey, we are home. You need to wake up, or I will carry you.”

Wren looked up from where she was lying against Talon’s chest. She pushed away from him, and he had to suck in his breath as the feeling of her hands on his chest caused a pleasurable pain that resounded in his lower extremities.

Wren heard it and glanced down, her eyes widening at his very aroused member.

Talon shrugged. “It cannot be helped. He has a mind of his own.”

Wren blushed and quickly climbed out of the car. His member filled his pants very nicely, and the palm of her hand began to itch, wanting to explore just how well it filled those nicely fitting pants.

She stopped short. Talon almost ran into her.

“This is…your home,” she said as she looked up at the mansion she had left a few hours before.

“I thought it would be nice to not sleep in the compound. After all, you did not get to take the vacation, and you need one.”

Wren shrugged and headed inside the house. Talon quickly closed the gap in time to open the door for her.

Wren walked past him and headed straight for the room she had previously occupied. “I assume I may use the room I saw earlier?” she asked as they headed for the stairs.

“Yes, but you will have to share it with me.” Talon grinned.

Wren stopped for a moment before continuing. She needed to think through everything before she said anything, or she would say or do something she would regret later.

“Are you not going to talk then?” Talon asked as she opened the door.

“I…I need to change and sort a few things out. Give me half an hour.”

Talon grabbed her arm and spun her around, crushing her against his chest. “No. I will not give you time to make excuses,” he said, feeling her halfhearted struggles. He knew that if he gave her time, she would only strengthen her walls against him.

“You do not seem to understand. I will marry you, and you need to accept it.”

Wren pushed against his chest, halfheartedly trying to get away. She knew she should be furious with him, but she was secretly a little excited at his abrupt change in attitude.

He was still the same stubborn and proud Talon underneath all of the smiles and sweet words. Besides, she could not lie to herself; the thought of marrying him was now firmly planted in her mind.

“Talon?” Wren had gone still in his arms, and he stared down at her.

He could see her thoughts racing through her head and felt the conflicting emotions running through her. More importantly, he wanted to hear her thoughts, not just feel them.

“Wren,” Talon murmured as he pressed his lips to her temple, “stay with me tonight. Let me make love to you.”

Wren woke from her thoughts in a rush and blushed, pulling away. “No.”

She turned toward the bedroom and quickly made her exit.

Talon leaned his head on the door and let out a sigh. He was very frustrated right now.

He looked down. In more ways than one.

He slowly headed to the other room set aside for him, deep in thought. ~How do I break her defenses?~

He knew he should be handling her gently, what with her past and all, but it was hard with the way she reacted to his advances. He wondered how long it would take before she noticed his gift.

He headed for the shower. The prelude aside, Act One was about to start, and he wanted to be ready.

***

Wren leaned against the door. ~Damn, the man is good.~

He had easily broken through so many of the barriers she had put up to keep others out in an instant. The proof? The fact that he was able to make her wet and needy without even a kiss.

She had not thought she could ever react to a man that way again, and yet, here was a stubborn, proud, gentle, and strong man standing before her, wanting a future with her.

Could she trust his words, or would he change his mind if she did not conform to his wishes? Did she have to conform just to be with him?

She did not want to give up that part of her again. She had fought so hard to gain it back.

She shook her head and started to undress, heading for the shower. She needed to cool off and think this through.

She started to wash all the hairspray out of her hair. It made her hair all sticky, and she hated the smell.

“Oweee.” Her ring caught in a tangle of her hair and just about scalped her.

~That hurt.~

She untangled her hand from her hair and looked down. She did not remember putting a ring on this evening.

She looked at her hand, dumbfounded. Sitting on her ring finger, twinkling in the soft light of the bathroom shower, was the exact engagement ring she had tried on that afternoon with Talon.

What the hell? When had he put this… She thought back to his behavior a few moments ago, realizing now why he had done what he had.

She had been distracted by his words, and he had been holding her hand between his and her body.

That no-good, son of a… She quickly finished her shower, pulling on a nightgown and robe, and headed next door, where she assumed he had gone.

She was going to strangle him for such an underhanded trick.

“Talon!” she bellowed as she entered his room without bothering to knock.

No sense in letting him have a chance to escape. She was so going to smack his face.

She came up short just inside his bedroom. Talon stood there, a towel wrapped around his waist with another towel over his head, drying his long locks.

Water droplets ran down his chest and were absorbed by the towel. She felt her thoughts fly away and her mouth run dry.

“You bellowed, my dear?” Talon commented as he removed the towel from his head, his hair loose around his shoulders.

She had not seen it loose since that first morning, not even when he was sleeping. It softened his features and showed them in the best possible way.

~Shoot, what did I come in here for?~ She rubbed her hand over her eyes, suddenly tired and cranky.

~What was it? I know it was important.~

She felt the cool metal on the side of her temple and remembered.

Talon was smiling benignly at her as he watched her search for why she had come. It was a good thing she had hollered when she entered.

Otherwise, she would have seen every part of him, and he was not sure she would have been able to take that right now. As it was, she looked like she would pounce on him with just a little prodding.

Oh, the possibilities.

“It looks even better now than it did in the shop,” Talon said, nodding toward the ring.

“That is right.” Wren gave him a sweet smile and started stalking toward him.

Talon knew the smile for the fake it was, but allowed her to approach, steadying himself for whatever was to come.

Wren stopped just short of him and looked up into his eyes. “You are not going to run?” she asked sweetly.

“Nope. I figure I deserve whatever you decide to throw at me.”

“You are right,” Wren agreed.

He was close, and he smelled good. An itch to press herself against him was so strong she felt her body starting to sway.

What was it she was going to do to him? Oh yeah, that was right… SMACK!

She felt the contact as her palm hit his right cheek. It stung, but it was nothing near what he had endured before.

“Feel better?” he asked.

Wren stepped back and crossed her arms around her waist. She turned away. “No,” she said, and headed for the door.