Sudden Pleasures

sell Quinn. Many of my friends have admired him. I should realize a nice profit from the sale, and I will use it to make our new home perfect.'

'I think you will regret your decision, Cordelia, but I am not unhappy to have you come. It is lonely in northern Gaul, and cold,' he warned her.

'And your whores smell,' she teased him. 'Now you will not have to avail yourself of those savage females, Max, for you will have me to fuck whenever you want to, my darling!'

'I am of a mind to fuck you now, wife, for your speech excites me,' he told her, pulling her into his arms, one hand kneading her breast. 'Yes, I very much want to fuck you right now!' he said, yanking his garment off.

She felt his cock-thick, hard, long-against her belly, and she was so eager for him. And then Ashley heard the ping of the Channel's warning bell. 'Damn!' she swore as she felt her fantasy sliding away, and she awoke in her bed alone. Wednesday. It was Wednesday, and she had two long days and another long night ahead of her before Ryan got home. She rolled over, and slipped back into sleep for a few more hours.

He hadn't gotten back to her yesterday after she had called him about his sisters, but she expected he would eventually. The five harpies were his problem. Yesterday's little incident had made it certain in her mind that she wasn't going to like them at all. She and her brother had never been like that with each other. They had gladly shared everything they had between them. If one had a success, the other cheered that success. Oh, yes, she and Ben had had their disagreements, but neither of them would have ever deliberately tried to hurt the other. She didn't understand how his sisters could be that way. It wasn't as if their father hadn't remembered them when he died. Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars each was a damned nice inheritance. And it had been Ryan who had seen that they got that money. Money he had made for their father.

Lacy Nothings was being inundated with new merchandise when Ashley got down to the shop. Jerry, their UPS man, was lugging it all in from his truck and piling it on the counters and floor.

He grinned as he handed her the clipboard to sign. 'Looks like Christmas is coming,' he said. 'Do you think that teddy I ordered for my girlfriend is in one of those boxes? It sure looked sexy in the catalog, Ms. Kimbrough. And thanks for getting it in her size. Not many shops carry sexy stuff above a twelve.'

'I'll go through the shipment today and see,' Ashley promised him, signing, and then handing him back his clipboard. 'It should be in this shipment or the next. We'll have it in time for her birthday next month, I promise. And it's Mrs. Mulcahy now. I got married August twenty-fifth.'

'I thought I heard some gossip around the village about that,' Jerry admitted. He had been the UPS man in Egret Pointe for almost fifteen years now. He knew everyone and just about everything that happened in the town.

'What's the gossip on Emily Devlin?' Nina asked boldly.

'I just delivered some baby things over there on Friday,' Jerry said. 'Essie says she won't get a nanny cause she likes being a mom. She's hurrying to finish her latest book,' Jerry informed them. 'You can tell she's real Egret Pointe, like you are, Mrs. Mulcahy. She's got that good work ethic. Well, gotta go. Truck is pretty full today.'

'That man knows everything that's to know,' Nina said with a chuckle.

Before Ashley might answer, her cell rang, and, pulling it from the pocket of her slacks, she flipped it open. 'This is Ashley,' she said.

'Hey, wife,' she heard Ryan's voice. 'I got your message yesterday. Sorry I couldn't get back to you. I had to take care of the problem personally, Ash. You aren't upset, are you? I really apologize for the harpies.'

Ashley moved from the shop floor into her office as he was talking. Now she sat down at her desk. 'Yes, I was upset,' she said. 'But I got over it. What the hell is the matter with those women, Ryan? A private investigator? What do they think you married, anyway? I don't know whether to laugh or get mad.'

'Well, first off, they're sure the marriage isn't legal. And they're sure you're nothing more than a gold digger out for my money, and I'm too dumb to realize it,' he said. 'Flattering, huh? But what do I know? I only took a nice little restoration shop and morphed it into a multimillion-dollar business.'

'How did they find me?' Ashley wanted to know.

'Kathleen is married to a cop. Well, actually he isn't a beat cop anymore. He's up there in the police hierarchy. He used some contacts of his to track you down, at my sister's urging. Kevin is actually a decent guy. Not too bright, but decent.'

'That is a serious violation of my privacy and my rights,' Ashley said angrily.

'Look, I spent all day yesterday visiting each of my sisters personally. And I went downtown to One Police Plaza and spoke with Kevin. I had him call Judge Palmer, and we got him to fax a copy of our marriage license to Kevin. I told my brother-in-law that I would be visiting all my sisters with the copy, and he was to talk with the other brothers-in-law, and tell them that if their wives tried any more nonsense, our next step would be legal.'

'And?' Ashley said.

'Kevin took care of the guys, and I took care of my sisters. They aren't happy about the fact that I'm married, but they're stuck with it,' Ryan said. 'Ash, I apologize. I never thought they would go crazy-crazy. I didn't realize how out of touch with reality the thought of getting their hands on all that money would make them.' He sounded very embarrassed, and for a moment she felt sorry for him.

'Right now I'm not certain I want to meet them,' she told him candidly.

'I don't blame you,' he responded.

'But I'll do the October thing for your mom's sake. Not a whole weekend, like I was planning, though, Ryan. If your sisters were counting on grabbing your money that much, then they aren't going to have calmed down in a month. They might never calm down over this, and while that's their problem, I don't want to have to put up with it. I'm good to a point,' Ashley told him.

'I understand,' he said.

'We'll invite them for the day, and make it easy for them by hiring a stretch limo to bring them out and take them home,' Ashley said.

'Let's do it Saturday, so we have the rest of that long weekend just for us,' he suggested. 'Now, don't let this go to your head, but I missed you last night.' His voice was warmer than it had been previously.

She smiled. 'Yeah, me too,' Ashley admitted. 'Do you have to stay away until Thursday night?'

'Yeah, I have to, baby. I lost a whole day yesterday running uptown, downtown, and into suburbia dealing with the harpies. And then I had to stop and tell Frankie what went down, and go see Ma, and tell her everything was all right. I didn't get to my office until late afternoon. That's why I didn't call you. I worked until almost one this morning, and then I just crashed where I was. I haven't even gone back to my apartment yet to change my clothing. I'll do that later, as I have clients coming in from Europe. I just wanted to make sure you were all right.'

'I'm fine, Ryan. I'm tough, and I don't collapse too easily,' Ashley told him. 'Anything special you'd like for dinner tomorrow night? And incidentally, what time do you think you'll be home?'»

'Steak,' he said with male predictability. 'I'll try to get there by eight.'

'I'll see you then,' she said.

'Say hello to the girls for me,' he teased her, and then he asked mischievously, 'Are you blushing, Ash?'

'Bite me!' she shot back, and she heard his laughter as she flipped her cell shut. She was blushing. She didn't need a mirror to feel the warmth flooding her cheeks. And her nipples were tingling with the thought of his mouth on them. Damn! What was the matter with her? She had always enjoyed good sex, but now her mind was consumed with it, despite her evening on the Channel. The fantasy wasn't enough. She wanted reality. She wanted her sexy husband, a man she hadn't even known three months ago. Tonight she would try the B fantasy. Maybe being dominated by Rurik would ease her.

'Oh, no!' she heard Nina's voice exclaim.

Ashley got up and went back out into the shop. 'What's the matter?'

'Elegance sent the wrong size for Jerry's girlfriend's gift. They sent a six instead of a sixteen,' Nina said irritably. 'And you know how long it always takes to get an order from them, Ashley. Her birthday is early in October.'

'You know what to do,' Ashley said. 'Call. Get tough, but remind them we have two new shops opening this autumn, and I can't do business with a firm that's unreliable,' she said. 'Listen, can you handle the shop alone for