Married at Midnight

by Gerri Russell

  When Max and Connor walked away to get drinks, Olivia turned to Ellie, the ever-changing colors of the room reflecting off her crown. “How are things? You look great, happy, even. Is everything with the house going well? Is married life everything you thought it would be?” Her friend asked the questions in a rush.

  “Things are on track with the house. The weather finally cooperated, and the exterior is done. Now all we need to do is focus on the interior and the decorating over the next several weeks.”

  “And the two of you?” Olivia asked with a quirk of her brow. “I have to admit, Connor looks quite yummy in black.”

  Too yummy for her own good. “I’m having fun. That’s what I want for now.”

  Relief crossed Olivia’s face. “I’m glad to hear that. I was a little worried about how quickly you got married, but I have to admit, you really look like this arrangement agrees with you.”

  Arrangement? Ellie swallowed past the lump in her throat. Olivia had no idea how close to the truth she was.

  Olivia narrowed her gaze, suddenly seeing too much. “And the sex? Is that okay as well?”

  Ellie straightened and looked from side to side to make certain no one else had heard such a personal question. “Yes. That’s better than fine. It’s been amazing.” At least she didn’t have to lie about that. Just everything else.

  Olivia bumped Ellie with her shoulder. “Good. I’ll stop being your mother.”

  Ellie bumped her back. “It’s nice to know you care.” She sighed. “My mother never asked about our relationship. She was far too busy letting me know how happy she and Dad were to get me off their hands.”

  “Seriously?” Olivia laughed.

  Ellie gave her friend a droll look. “Oh, yes. They booked a cruise with the money they’d saved for my wedding.”

  “It could be worse,” Olivia offered, always trying to find the bright side to everything.

  “It is worse. I didn’t marry only Connor. I married his grandmother as well.”

  “Max mentioned Viola was a feisty one. Is she critical of you?”

  As best friends, Max had no doubt spent plenty of time with Connor’s grandmother. “No,” Ellie admitted, “but she’s demanding.”

  Olivia’s expression softened. “Aw, she’ll warm up to you. How could she not?”

  “I hope you’re right, before she moves into Grayson House with us.”

  Olivia cringed. “That’s not the best way to start a new marriage.”

  Neither was the way she and Connor had entered into their pretend marital bliss. Ellie looked away, no longer able to meet Olivia’s questioning gaze. “The guys are back,” she said, relieved to see Max in his swashbuckler black and Connor in his 1950s bad-boy attire, carrying beverages for the four of them.

  Connor slipped in beside her and kissed her cheek before handing her a seltzer with a twist of lime.

  “How did you know I like seltzer and lime?” Incredulousness laced her voice.

  “Max told me you like seltzer or pink champagne,” Connor admitted. “And since they don’t have pink champagne . . .”

  “This is perfect. Thank you.”

  Olivia watched the exchange with a raised brow but said nothing. For the rest of the evening, it was Ellie’s turn to watch how affectionate and in love Max was with her friend. Clearly the two of them had found their perfect match.

  Ellie’s observations were interrupted when Connor extended his hand to her. “Dance with me?”

  She accepted his hand, desperate in that moment to experience some of the same magic Max and Olivia had found. All around them costumed dancers undulated to the beat.

  A moment later, a new song started, one with a much slower tempo. Ellie narrowed her gaze on the man before her. “Did you do this?”

  “Not unless the DJ was reading my mind,” Connor replied, pulling her close for a slow dance. “Let’s just believe destiny is intervening on our behalf.”

  Ellie wasn’t sure she believed in destiny, but she was willing to embrace the concept, however temporarily, if it kept her in Connor’s arms tonight.

  They danced through several songs and had just started another when a pretty, dark-haired woman dressed as Olive Oyl approached. Except this wasn’t the frumpy, wear-her-heart-on-her-sleeve Olive Oyl depicted in the cartoons. This rendition wore a low-cut red blouse, a black miniskirt, and thigh-high boots that made her legs look long and sexy.

  “Connor Grayson. What are the chances of us meeting?” the woman asked with what seemed like a genuine look of astonishment.

  “What are the chances?” Connor said, his voice hard as he flipped up the collar of his leather coat. His stance changed, and Ellie was convinced he tried to make himself look intimidating. Connor’s lips thinned. “I’m just here dancing with my wife.”

  “Wife?” the woman said with disbelief.

  “Amanda Frost, meet my wife, Ellie Grayson.”

  Ellie didn’t extend her hand, and neither did Amanda. They simply glanced at each other with a civil nod of acknowledgment and, if Ellie were honest, a tinge of jealousy on her part. She’d dressed to attract Connor’s attention tonight. Yet the woman before them was far sexier in her modified Olive Oyl costume.

  “How do you two know each other?” Ellie asked, not really sure she wanted to hear the answer.

  “Amanda was my college girlfriend and the woman who stole the plans for my onboard GPS tracking system.”

  Amanda’s perfect face hardened. “You could never prove that.”

  “That you started your own robotics company tells me all I needed to know.” He shrugged. “That intelligence you stole is antiquated now. I’ve developed something much better. So, I should really thank you for pushing me to better my own best.”

  “I didn’t steal from you,” she objected. “Tiny Byte has its own development staff. We have our own technology, and we’re going to be first to market with our self-driving car design.”

  Connor shrugged once again. “Sooner or later the better technology will prove itself.”

  Amanda cursed. “You really get off on being such a know-it-all, don’t you, Connor?”

  “It’s not being a know-it-all. It’s solid science, research, and testing. It’s not about cutting corners; it’s about total dedication.”

  Amanda glared at him.

  “You know, I do remember reading something about the two of you getting married in Las Vegas. Vegas? Really? You couldn’t wait for a real wedding?”

  In response to the woman’s flippant remark, Ellie said, “Of course I married Connor in Vegas. I wanted to snatch him up before someone else got to him. The man’s a sexy, gorgeous hunk. I’m smart enough to know a good catch when I see one.”

  Amanda snorted. “I don’t see it.”

  Wanting to drive her point home, and maybe cause the other woman a twinge or two of her own jealousy, Ellie turned to Connor, stepped close, and gave him a sizzling-hot kiss. His arms went around her, pulling her close. Despite the fact that the kiss was for show, her body instantly flared in response. When she stepped back, Connor’s green eyes danced.

  “Well, isn’t that cute?” Amanda said snarkily. “You two look like you deserve each other.”

  Ellie continued staring up at Connor, smiling sweetly, letting Amanda’s barbed words wash over her. “Are you ready to go home, husband? I find I suddenly can’t wait to remind myself of how sexy you really are.”

  Connor’s gaze shifted to Amanda. “You’ve got to love a woman who can’t wait to get you naked.”

  Ellie’s cheeks flamed.

  Amanda choked.

  Connor said nothing more as he wrapped his arm around Ellie’s shoulders, leading her toward Max and Olivia.

  “Was it serious between you two?” Ellie asked Connor after they moved to the opposite side of the room. Ellie watched as the long-legged woman went back to the guy who was most likely her date, if the Popeye costume was an indicator. The man was older than Amanda by at least twenty years, bald, and p
udgy.

  “For a time, yes,” Connor admitted. “On paper, Amanda and I were extremely compatible. Like me, she’s smart, driven, and competitive. In the end, all the things that attracted me to her destroyed any chance at a relationship we might have had.”

  “She stole your work?” Ellie asked, glancing at Connor’s ex-girlfriend out of the corner of her eye.

  “Without a doubt.” Connor’s voice fell to a harsh whisper. “But as she said, I had no proof. It was my word against hers.”

  Ellie turned back to face Connor fully as a flutter of panic moved through her. “Are you worried about Amanda stealing your work again? You said you were close to a breakthrough on your car. Could she know that?”

  Connor’s jaw set. “I’m wise to her tricks and have excellent security at the lab. The university implemented a state-of-the-art biometric system to keep our development secrets safe. Amanda would have to do something pretty drastic to walk away with my prototype this time.”

  Ellie’s gaze strayed back to Amanda, who was looking at them as if she was trying to figure something out. That’s what worried Ellie. The sexy, smart woman looked entirely capable of doing something drastic.

  “Ellie.” The sound of Connor’s voice brought her attention back to him. “Let’s not let Amanda ruin this night for us.” Leaning closer to her ear, he whispered, “Did you mean what you said a few minutes ago?”

  A shiver went through her as his breath brushed her overheated flesh. Pulling back to look him in the eyes, Ellie replied, “I meant every word.”

  “That’s my girl,” he said with a devilish smile as he planted a kiss on her lips that made her weak in the knees.

  When he finally broke the kiss, she slumped against him. “What was that for?”

  “For wearing those tight leather pants tonight. I held off as long as I could, but when you called me sexy, I lost control.”

  She laughed. “You can lose control anytime, gorgeous.”

  “First I have to get you home. Then watch out.” His eyes flared before he scooped her off her feet, carried her down the flight of stairs, out the door of the museum, and back to the car.

  As they sped off down Mercer Street, Ellie was extremely grateful Connor had borrowed his friend’s very fast car.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Ellie had called him a sexy, gorgeous hunk in front of Amanda, whose gasp of surprise still warmed Connor’s heart. Needing a connection to the woman beside him, Connor laid his hand on Ellie’s leather-clad thigh.

  At his touch, Ellie turned to him. In the moonlight pouring through the windows, her eyes glimmered with appreciation and raw lust, making the ride home from the party pure torture. He kept to the speed limits on the streets, but if they didn’t arrive at Grayson House soon, he was certain he’d erupt into flames.

  He should be wondering why Amanda had suddenly reappeared when she lived out of state. He’d always been happy about them living so far apart, especially since they ran in the same social and professional circles. He’d been able to avoid her at conferences over the years, but tonight their paths had crossed once more. It might behoove him to figure out why. Those thoughts were cast aside as Connor remembered the way Ellie had looked up at him, the way she’d kissed him, as if she truly cared about him.

  He drove a little faster.

  As soon as they stood inside the house and the door closed behind him, he scooped Ellie into his arms as he had earlier. Only this time he pounded up the stairs to the master bedroom. He set her on the bed on her back, then plucked off her black stilettos, tossing them aside.

  “You’re very sexy tonight,” he said. Looking at her made him hard, and desperate to appease the need racing through him—need that had sizzled to life the moment she’d walked down the stairs tonight.

  “And you’re wearing too many clothes, Mr. Grayson,” she said. There was a smile in her eyes, a smile he’d grown to appreciate this week, more than he’d thought he could. A smile he would miss when this flame of theirs ended.

  Connor kicked off his boots and tossed them beside her shoes. The rest of his clothes followed in a rush, thrown down as his temperature spiked even higher at the sight of her creamy breasts rising and falling above her sweetheart neckline.

  He crossed to the bed and knelt down beside her. He touched the bare flesh of her arms. Her breath caught as she waited, ready to follow his lead. He bent his head and kissed her—a soft kiss, slow and gentle. This kiss was freely given on both sides, a kiss that allowed their mutual passion to burn.

  His arms locked around her as she pressed against him, into him, wrapping her arms around his neck. His tongue dueled with hers, explaining without words how much he needed her, wanted her, desired only her tonight.

  She read his message and, in response, traced the muscles of his back with her hands, possessing every inch of him, stroking and arousing.

  He closed his eyes, reveling in the sensations chasing through him. His heart raced in his chest at the promise in her touch. A powerful current stretched between them, dispelling rational thought, leaving them with only hunger and desire and that indefinable something more. It was that unnamed element that rose up in him, filled him, and flowed into her.

  Ellie groaned and writhed beneath him as his hands possessed every inch of her body, every curve. She willingly accepted what he offered, allowing it to suffuse every inch of her skin, right into her bones.

  Connor broke the kiss and pulled back. He opened his eyes, studying her face—seeing her need but also her response to his touch. Brown eyes filled with heat as well as appreciation.

  Swept away by a relentless tide, he tenderly pulled the edge of her top from her waistband. He slid his hands beneath to find her heated flesh as he shimmied the fabric up and over her head. A quick release of her lacy bra, and her breasts were freed to his touch.

  Her lips curved up with need and anticipation that sent his pulse drumming. He reached for the zipper along the side of her skintight pants. He released the fabric’s caress against her soft skin, replacing its possession with his hands. He slid her pants down her legs, slowly exploring the length of them, caressing and possessing until she was freed of all obstacles and his world became only her.

  Everything around them grew silent except the creaking of the old house and their mingled breathing. Connor reached for a box at the bedside and hurriedly rolled a condom over his erection. Protected at last, he drew her body full against his. Her soft, womanly weight molded against him, and her nakedness sent a jolt of heat to his very core. He felt himself throbbing, flexing against the firmness of her thigh. He inhaled her scent—wildflowers and sunshine. She smelled too good. She felt too soft.

  “When I first woke up in Vegas and saw you standing above me, I wondered what I’d done in this life to deserve such punishment.”

  She tensed.

  “I was wrong,” he continued. “The punishment was you not being in my life.”

  She drew back, studying his face. “What are you saying?”

  “I’m not sure, exactly,” he admitted. “But this, whatever this is, feels like the first honest thing between us in a very long time.”

  There was so much more he wanted to say, yet he couldn’t force the words past his lips. When her brown eyes met his, he saw in their depths a connection so deep it filled his chest with warmth. Neither of them knew what their future held beyond this moment. But they had this moment. He had to make that count. Letting all else slide from his mind, he brought a finger up to her lips. Gently, rhythmically, he stroked circles around their fullness. He feathered his fingers down her arm, to her fingers, stroking each one as though memorizing every nuance of her body.

  He trailed his touch across her hips, the flat of her stomach, and upward, tracing the underside of her breasts. Moving slowly, he palmed them. He closed his hands around her flesh, and the flames inside him leaped even higher. He stroked, sampled, and caressed until her breath shuddered, until his own skin burned, until need ached ins
ide him like a molten fire.

  Giving in to that urgent need, his own raging desire, he moved over her, spreading her thighs, settling between. His hips cradled hers. Her welcome heat drew him forward until he thrust in.

  Her body arched under his, accepting all he offered. She climaxed at his entrance, but he’d never let her settle for that. There was so much more to offer her tonight.

  Connor moved within her, each stroke deliberately stoking the flames. The moan she uttered was music to his ears, encouraging him on, spinning them both into an all-consuming, rapturous spiral.

  Lost to all else, he continued the driving rhythm that would be their salvation. Over and over he filled her until their mingled breath came in panting gasps, until he felt himself tightening toward that senses-stealing moment.

  Then he came apart, taking her with him into the rippling cascade of their release. His senses shattered, stretched, and finally floated on a plane of complete satisfaction.

  A quiet, tender moment passed as his heartbeat slowed and the glow faded. His arms gave way, and he slumped over her, coming down on his elbows. Finally he withdrew to shift to the side. Her heated flesh pressed against his, and he felt her heartbeat in a similar cadence to his own, both comforting and evocative.

  They lay together for what might have been minutes or hours until he summoned the strength to draw up the covers and rearrange them in his bed.

  Ellie stirred. “I should go back to my room.”

  “Stay,” he responded, unsure if he meant for the night or forever, as his senses were still raked raw. “Let me hold you awhile.”

  Satisfaction flared in her eyes as she snuggled into his arms. He buried his face in her hair, breathed the sweet scent of it. A wave of fierce possession tore through him. He’d never felt anything like it before. He wasn’t certain where it came from, but it rocked him to his core.