Tempted by Her Convenient Husband

by Charlotte Hawkes

  ‘I assure you I didn’t.’

  Was that really what he’d thought?

  ‘We had sex, I found out that you were a virgin, and then you told me that the most intimate you’d ever been before with anyone had been some scum who had attacked you.’

  He was clearly fighting to keep his voice down, yet she knew none of his frustration was aimed at her. It was a liberating experience.

  ‘I came to you that night because I wanted to. Because I chose to.’

  ‘I’m not the man a woman like you should choose to give such a gift to, Oti. I don’t think you fully appreciate that. This is an arrangement, not a proper marriage. The two shouldn’t be confused, and sleeping together just seemed to be blurring those lines.’

  ‘Are you saying you don’t think you can trust us to share a bed without...blurring the lines?’

  ‘I’m saying that I’m sure I don’t trust us to.’ His voice turned gravelly, and just like that her body started to melt again. And it had nothing to do with the heat.

  A heavy silence settled around them, loaded with meaning and thick with desire. She opened her mouth to try to break it, but it felt as if it was impossible.

  Perhaps he had a point. Every time she found herself close to him, sensations she didn’t care to analyse tangled inside her, and it was getting harder and harder to push them back down. It didn’t matter how ferociously she reminded herself, it seemed all too easy to forget that the agreement wasn’t about wanting to be with the man; it was about having to do it.

  ‘There’s been a Hep E outbreak in the local village,’ Lukas said, startling her, after a while. ‘I was talking to Clay earlier and he has already been to investigate, and he found no detectable free residual chlorine in the supplies the villagers are keeping in their homes.’

  ‘That’s strange.’ Oti frowned, not entirely sure why Lukas had changed the subject but trying to follow his lead, aware that Clay was their go-to water and sanitation guy. ‘We always chlorinate our water before distribution. We have to. Hep E and acute watery diarrhoea can kill quickly out here. If the water isn’t protected then that would likely provide a clear, active pathway for the water-borne diseases.’

  ‘We’re wondering whether contamination occurred at the tap stand, in the water container or elsewhere, and if recontamination can occur. We need some turbidimeters and photometers, as well as some chemical analysers, and then we’ll head out and conduct a full investigation.’

  ‘Great.’ Oti cranked her smile up a notch, still not quite certain what was going on. ‘It will be good to see the results. If there’s something going wrong it’s a chance to put it right and save lives.’

  ‘I thought maybe you’d want to put together a medical team to go and vaccinate them, or treat them, or whatever Hep E needs. We could work together,’ he suggested carefully. ‘Albeit from different sides of the problem.’

  It didn’t matter how Oti tried to tell herself to rein it in, her heart started doing a little race of its own.

  She didn’t want to tell him that there was very little her team could do for waterborne diseases such as Hep E or acute watery diarrhoea. They could test to see if people were positive, but usually it was about preventative measures and good hygiene education.

  But if Lukas wanted them to work together and maybe use that shared goal to forge a new connection and find their way back to where they’d been before, then maybe he was right.

  It made sense to work alongside each other whilst forcing a little space between them on a personal level. It was logical.

  The problem was...her mind and her body didn’t seem to agree that logic was the right way to go.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  ‘WE’VE ISOLATED SEVERAL men and women who have tested positive for Hep E,’ Oti told Lukas a few days later when he popped his head into her temporary medical tent. ‘But one of them is pregnant, and another has a pregnant wife. I really need you to isolate the source before we leave, or the entire camp is going to come down with it.’

  ‘Clay and I checked the water supplies HOP set up and they’re all clean. Plus, we’ve done a random check on households in the camp and they’ve all been clean too.’

  ‘There’s definitely a source somewhere.’ She frowned. ‘I have too many patients suffering.’

  ‘Which part of the camp do your patients live in?’ Lukas asked. ‘Maybe that will help narrow it down.’

  ‘Yes, that might work.’ Turning to her translator, Oti asked her to get the locations of their tukuls.

  Although there was little she could do for the patients with waterborne illnesses, she’d taken the opportunity to run a children’s measles drive out of the camp, and at least a thousand new displaced kids had turned up.

  ‘Here’s the list,’ Oti said, thanking her colleague as she took the paper with a sketch of the area of camp and the homes. ‘I’m coming with you.’

  She grabbed a bagful of testing kits and instructed her staff to do the same.

  As Lukas had predicted, they were clustered fairly closely together. On the downside, the tightly packed area coupled with the transmission method for the illnesses meant she was anticipating many more patients.

  On the plus side, at least it meant it was likely it was something they had locally, and not a main pump or water source that had been contaminated.

  ‘How much longer do you want to stay out here?’ he asked. ‘Or does your team need to get back to the main compound?’

  ‘No, we’ll be here for at least another couple of days. The number of kids who are here, and who we could vaccinate, makes it more than worthwhile. Are you and Clay heading back, then?’

  She tried not to look too disappointed. It had actually proved a good idea, she and Lukas working together. Taking their various teams out of the main camp seemed to also be giving the two of them a fresh outlook, and the odd awkwardness that had settled over them ever since they’d slept together finally seemed as though it was dissipating.

  ‘No. Even if the problem turns out to be a communal bucket which they’re filling from some kind of surface water pool instead of the clean water source the charity has set up, we found one of the pumps in a deep water well on its last legs and we want to swap that out before we go back. Clay’s due to be leaving in a few days so he wants to close off any jobs like this whilst he can.’

  ‘Okay, that’s good.’ She fought to suppress her grin of delight. ‘So we’ll probably head back to camp all together the day after tomorrow.’

  ‘Yeah, well, that’s the night Clay’s leaving party is scheduled, so he’s pretty determined to be back by then.’ Lukas laughed.

  It was hopeless not to grin back at him. ‘Ah, that means barbecue and beer. I can’t let my team miss that or they’ll never volunteer to come out with me on another away mission again.’

  ‘Maybe we could have a drink together.’

  Oti tucked her hands into her shorts pockets, just so that she didn’t throw them around in delight. ‘That would be nice.’

  ‘Good.’ He dipped his head as though that confirmed it. ‘Then we’ll have a drink at the party.’

  ‘Okay,’ she managed quietly, but he was already going, leaving her to watch his retreating rear for far longer than she knew was acceptable.

  * * *

  It had been a good mission, Lukas thought two days later, back at the medical camp, as he made his way across the compound to finally get a hot—hot-ish—shower.

  Several days away and, despite the T-shirts and field washes they’d had, the work had been manual and gruelling, even without the heat to contend with. But it had been as satisfying as ever—the feeling that what he was doing was really making a difference out here.

  Money was all well and good back home, but what he did here wasn’t about money—it was about saving lives. Literally. And somehow it left him feeling more at peace with hi
mself than he thought he’d ever felt.

  Or maybe that was the effect Oti had on him. He couldn’t deny that working alongside her had been harmonious and somehow...right.

  But now what?

  Sharing a tent with Oti the past couple of days had been taxing enough, and that was before they’d broken that invisible barrier between them. Tonight they would be back in their tukul—back to sharing a bed—and Lukas was forced to admit, as he crossed the compound again, he wanted her more than ever.

  Perhaps he could commandeer one of the outside hammocks? It might avoid any further conflict with Oti, and he was tired enough to sleep on a clothesline, and the mosquitoes weren’t a real problem during the heat of the day. It was only the evening and night when you seemed to get eaten alive.

  But he’d face that problem when it arose.

  Ducking into the tukul, he grabbed clean gear and his wash bag, then headed over to the shower block; one of the cubicles was already in use as he walked in. It didn’t take him long to strip off and stand under the shower head, his foot on the manual lever that was connected to the solar-heated water collector above which would tip to rain warm water down on him.

  It might not be the steaming hot power shower he had grown accustomed to, but somehow, out here, these jury-rigged systems seemed all the more blissful.

  By the time he emerged from the shower, towelled off with fresh shorts on, he felt cleaner and fresher than he had in the last couple of days on the road. What was more, he felt ready to face anything, even another night in the same bed as Oti, with their backs to each other as he resisted that roaring need to turn her over and remind her just how good they had been together.

  Gathering up his stuff, Lukas made to leave just as the other cubicle opened and Oti stepped out, a long, soft white shirtdress giving way to those incredible legs, her hair wrapped in a towel. Her blue eyes widened as she saw him standing there.

  ‘I thought you were restocking the vehicle?’ It was only half an accusation.

  ‘And I understood you were going for something to eat first,’ he countered lightly, not bothering to answer the question. ‘But I see you’re trying to avoid me.’

  ‘I’m not.’ She tried to deny it, but suddenly Lukas decided he was sick of the game.

  There was altogether too much rawness and leftover heat between them every time they found themselves alone. And the more they tried to deny themselves, the more intense it seemed to become. Which was why he found himself advancing on his new wife, revelling in that too-aware look in her eyes as he backed her up to the baked clay brick wall of the block, one arm braced against the wall behind her head and the other by his side.

  Deliberately not touching her. Deliberately angling his body just enough that she could push past him if she really wanted to.

  Oti didn’t even attempt to.

  ‘You missed me, didn’t you?’ he demanded, his voice hoarser than he’d expected.

  ‘No.’ She flushed. That deep colour which disappeared beneath the falling neckline of her top, making his hands itch to follow it. To trace her soft skin.

  ‘Do I need to remind you what happened last time you lied?’ he asked softly.

  ‘Do I need to remind you?’ she echoed unexpectedly, making his body pull taut.

  ‘You do not.’ His voice rasped over them. ‘I remember it vividly. I’ve been remembering it vividly ever since it happened.’

  He didn’t know what it was that made him reach out to take a strand of her long, damp hair—tumbling from the towel and around her face as it was—in his fingers. He wasn’t sure what made him twist it around his finger as he gazed deeply into her eyes—this woman who he now called his wife. He tugged the stray strand behind her ear as the jagged sound of her breathing seemed to echo that thing which moved within him. And he certainly couldn’t explain what made him step closer to her again and lower his mouth to hers.

  She melted against him instantly. The sigh she emitted was like the hottest, longest lick against the hardest part of him. Driving him crazy and making him ache all the more.

  Kissing her more deeply, and angling his head for a better fit, he allowed his free hand to snake around to pull the towel from her head, dropping it to the ground before he slid his fingers into her hair.

  He explored her mouth, using his lips, his tongue, his teeth. And then he explored that line over her jaw and down her neck, right round to her sensitive earlobe, and the pressure point behind.

  He pressed closer and she arched against him, pressing her breasts into his chest, tight nipples grazing him even through the thin top that she wore. Enough for him to realise she wasn’t wearing anything underneath it, and he lost whatever sliver of self-control he had left.

  It was everything he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about ever since that night. Or maybe his whole life.

  With a low groan of need, Lukas brought his other hand off the wall to slide down her back, taking his time tracing her spine and over her peachy backside, before reaching for the hem of her dress and pulling it upwards. Exposing one nipple, which he proceeded to take into his mouth, drawing it against the length of his tongue.

  ‘We shouldn’t...’ she rasped, though he noticed her choice of word was shouldn’t, not mustn’t.

  ‘Everyone else is already at the party, unless they’re working,’ he murmured against the satin-soft feel of her skin, not wanting to lose contact for a second. ‘They won’t come in here.’

  ‘I know,’ she managed. ‘We’re the last...’

  ‘So stop talking,’ he growled, shifting his attention to the other side, and lavishing it with the same attention.

  Her gasp of pleasure was so raw as she moaned out his name, and Lukas was lost. So lost in her heat, and her taste, and her scent. With her still arching against him, he let his hand glide down her body, taking his time to reacquaint himself with her. As though it had been years since he’d last held her, rather than a few weeks.

  He let his fingers walk over every dip and every curve. Playing with her belly button and the faint swell of her belly, toying with that mouth-wateringly neat triangle before tugging aside the flimsy lace barrier and inching painfully slowly to her core.

  ‘So wet,’ he muttered, his mouth still full of her. He slipped his finger though her slick folds and revelled in the way she bumped against him already. ‘So perfect.’

  She moaned his name again, and it was all he could do not to wrap her legs around his hips and bury deep himself inside her. She was going to be the death of him.

  He thought she probably already had been.

  And then Lukas began to stroke her. Taking his time. Long, slow sweeps designed to build the tension slowly, no matter how much his hungry bride bucked against his hand.

  She was breathing harder now. Choppy, ragged little sounds that made his own sex ache all the more. He couldn’t remember anything ever being hotter than this. Never.

  Carefully, he built the pace. Alternating between his mouth on her breasts, where he paid attention to one hardened nipple and then the other, to his hand between her legs. Setting the rhythm for her to follow, every breathtaking inch of her responding perfectly to his touch, he built her up, and up, until he could feel her racing towards that peak.

  With a final twist of his hand that felt as though he’d been perfecting it just for this moment with her, Lukas sent his new bride soaring. Her head tipped back as she came apart against his hand. Shattering in his arms.

  ‘My beautiful wife...’ The words slipped out before he could bite them back, and yet he couldn’t bring himself to care the way he should.

  Oti was all he’d never realised he wanted, and he felt wonderfully lost in her. So lost that he almost missed the voices approaching the shower block.

  ‘Hold still,’ he commanded quietly, not letting Oti go, even as he reached behind him and pulled the shower curt
ain closed.

  He’d been so lost in her that he hadn’t even thought to do it sooner. He couldn’t imagine any other woman making him this out of control. This fervent. Only her.

  Only ever her.

  A few moments and the newcomers would be in their respective cubicles, leaving it free for him and Oti to make their escape. It was surprising how silly and youthful he felt. It had been so long since he’d been that way. Had he ever been that way? Now he thought about it, perhaps not.

  He’d begun taking care of his mother from such an early age that the usual schoolkid pranks and fun had bypassed him completely. And then he’d been so busy building up his business that there hadn’t been time for frivolity.

  Yet Oti made him feel fun. And youthful. It occurred to Lukas that maybe he needed a little more of this in his life.

  A little more Oti.

  A few moments later and he heard first one shower start up and then another. Carefully peering out to ensure the coast was clear, he sent his wide-eyed bride on her way back to their tukul, waiting a minute or so longer for the sake of appearance before following.

  * * *

  Oti stood hesitantly by the side of the bed, waiting for Lukas to follow her. Was their intimacy over, or was she supposed to wait for him? Her whole body still seared from his touch, and a part of her was terrified that he might have changed his mind in the moments between the shower block and their hut.

  She had never, ever done anything that crazy before, and she’d never wanted to—though she’d never judged any of the other volunteers who might have bed—or shower—hopped over the years. It wasn’t a daily occurrence, though it was common enough. They might be out here to try to do good work, but they were still red-blooded young men and women at the end of the day.

  And all she wanted now was to be back in their bed. Truth be told, she’d never really wanted to leave it after their first night together. But she’d been frightened. Scared off by the intensity of her feelings for him. Now it occurred to Oti that if she wanted him she could always stop waiting for him to come to her. She could take more charge over her own destiny.