Her Arranged Alpha Husband by Alicia Banks

Chapter 8

Teri

Teri ran off after the wedding and she went to her place on the roof, the place that held all of her hopes and dreams. Teri wanted to believe that she had destiny and free will ahead of her. That wasn’t at all what she felt like at the moment.

When it got late, Teri hunkered down and decided that even though it was her last night in the Valley, she wasn’t going to spend it anywhere near Ben. He would want things from her, things that she had no intention of giving away. He would want to consummate the marriage and take his prize, but Teri wasn’t going to let that happen. She wanted to put it off as long as she could.

She fell asleep up there on the roof and woke up with a start, nearly falling off of the roof because of it. She shook her head, trying to clear it so that she could think straight. Nothing was going to be the same for Teri ever again. Her life was no longer her own, and it killed her inside.

She had to go home though. It was early in the night and Teri needed to get back. She would look bad to all of her people if she didn’t even go home. She couldn’t run off; this was her obligation, and she’d run long enough. Knowing that she had to go back didn’t make it any easier.

The trip back to her home was short but felt like it took forever. She went to go lay down in her bed, but the man she’d married was in her bed. It was the first time that she had seen him up close, and Teri wasn’t sure what it was she felt for him. He was cute, really cute, and he was so big. He’d taken up her whole bed and there was no room for anyone else.

His dark blonde hair was pushed back from his face and when it was relaxed, he was young and determined. Teri remembered his dark green eyes meeting hers from across the room, and it had made her feel some kind of way. Now, standing over him and taking a moment to inspect him, Teri couldn’t find much wrong with the specimen that was in front of her. Ben was a hell of a man, and she was pretty sure that he knew it.

When his eyes popped open, those emerald ones meeting hers, Teri was shocked and gasped a little under her breath. She was caught staring at him and she didn’t know what to say. It wasn’t pleasant for him to be looking at her the way he was. He was checking her out, taking in every inch of her, and Teri could feel the effects of all of his scrutiny. It was hard to focus on anything else.

“You finally coming to bed?” Ben asked with a lazy smile. It was the sort of smile that was supposed to draw her into the bed for something other than sleeping. Teri wasn’t going to let that happen though. The last thing that she wanted was for anything between them to occur. She needed to keep her distance.

“No, I just fell asleep outside and thought I should come in. I am not looking to do anything with you in that bed.”

Ben grimaced and then smiled. “Ben. I feel like we should introduce ourselves.”

Teri would have laughed if it was funny, but it wasn’t. It was her life, and the best she could do was try to stay as far away from her new husband as possible.

“I know who you are.”

“Well, I have tried to meet you for a while now. You are a hard woman to get to know.”

Teri sighed and turned to face him. Ben was still lying in bed, but he started to get up. It was then when the blanket slid off of him, that she got to see some of the bare skin that he had to show. Ben wasn’t wearing anything else besides boxers, and the hard muscles assaulted her mind. She suddenly couldn’t breathe all the way, her breath coming in short gasps. She didn’t know what to say about it, except that her mouth was dry for a reason.

She backed up from where he was getting bigger and closer. “I don’t want to get to know you. This wasn’t something I had a choice in, so this isn’t pleasant for me.”

Her eyes darted to the part of him that was hard and confidentially poking out for everyone to see. Teri couldn’t keep her eyes off of anything. Instead, Teri was breathing hard, and the view was too much. She looked away, but not before seeing the pleasure on Ben’s face. He liked to see her all worked up.

“I promise you, Teri, I will make it very pleasant. I will do all the things to you if you just let me. It’s not over yet. This is still our honeymoon. Wouldn’t you like to get to know each other intimately before we start the long trek back to Alaska?”

Something in her wanted to say yes, but Teri knew better. She wasn’t going to get to know him sexually at all if she had a choice. If he wasn’t the type to take it, Teri knew she wasn’t the type to give it up. She looked forward to a loveless and sexless marriage. It was the only way that made sense, even if there was a brief moment of sadness with the thought. Ben was a fine specimen of a man, and her mouth was dry, brain a little foggy after being so close, with him having so few clothes on.

“I don’t think we need to get to know each other like that, ever.”

Ben chuckled and sat up all the way, running his hands over his face. He was sexy when he smiled and flirted with her, but Teri meant it. The last thing she was thinking about was the two of them being together. It didn’t sound like a good idea at all according to her.

“Come on, Teri. Aren’t you a little curious why we were brought together? Fate has deemed us perfect for each other. Don’t you want to know what that is like?”

Teri couldn’t believe that he was so nonchalantly saying things like that. It was hard for Teri to focus, her eyes on his smile, and the way his lips curled into the grin. He wasn’t supposed to entice her. Her heart wasn’t supposed to flop around in her chest. None of this was what was supposed to happen. When he started to move his hand toward her, to touch her likely but she wasn’t sure what, Teri jumped out of the way like he was going to get her. It wasn’t the best reaction, but her fear was palpable.

Other men might have liked how wound up she was, but not Ben. He just frowned and sat back down on the bed. “Were you on the roof?”

Teri didn’t like that he knew that about her. She didn’t know how and wondered why he would know that. “What?”

“Last night I looked for you, but I didn’t check on the roof. That’s where you were, wasn’t it?”

Teri agreed that it was, though she felt violated that he even knew about it. It was her place and one of the many people and places that she was going to miss. Everything was going to be gone, and the more Teri thought about it, the more her frown deepened. She couldn’t imagine anything good coming from the mating and the move. It was all just a nightmare as far as she was concerned.  “How do you know about that?” Teri wanted to know.

“Just because you haven’t bothered to get to know me, Teri, doesn’t mean that I haven’t been trying to get to know you. I have talked to your family and friends, learned your likes and dislikes, all of it. I know what you love and what you hate.”

Teri grinned. “Is that so? What is something that I hate?”

Ben smiled and shrugged. “Well, getting married and being owned for one. I think you would put that in your ‘hate’ category, wouldn’t you?”

Teri didn’t know what to say. He was right, she did hate him and the idea that marriage was going to make him own her. It wasn’t what she wanted at all, and freedom and the loss of it was all that worked her mind. She didn’t want to be owned. It was just that simple.

Yet he knew and still married her…Why?