Married by Monday (Weekday Brides)

by Catherine Bybee

  “I honestly don’t know.”

  Eliza wasn’t sure either. And when the guards could be moved on, would that mean her marriage to Carter could to? Damn, she wasn’t married a full day and already she wondered how long the union would last.

  The aircraft dropped a couple of feet as it hit unstable air, and Eliza clutched the hand rest of her seat. Carter covered her hand with his. “Smaller airplanes have a harder time hiding bumps.”

  “Mr. and Mrs. Billings. We will be up here a little longer. The weather in Hawaii isn’t ideal for landing. We are waiting for a break to make our descent.”

  Eliza swallowed hard. “Did you fly a lot as a kid?” she asked to take her mind off the nasty flight.

  “Holidays when my parents couldn’t avoid the Hammond gathering. You?”

  “Not much. I don’t remember any flights with my parents. After, there were a few. But nothing like this.”

  “The turbulence or the private jet?”

  “Either.”

  “If you fly as much as Blake it makes sense to own your own ride.”

  They hit another air pocket, and Eliza’s wine glass tipped over.

  Carter pushed it way to avoid it soaking her dress.

  “You fly all the time.”

  He nodded. “I do. Which is why I’ve been talking with Blake about a co-op.”

  The plane sunk then leveled out.

  Eliza swallowed hard. “You want to own your own plane? Isn’t that expensive?”

  “Not if you fly all the time.”

  “Please…”

  “Okay, yeah, they’re costly. But when I travel, I have people with me. I need to go quickly, and I don’t have time for domestic schedules. Besides, I’ve hitchhiked off Blake enough. It’s time to put some of my slush fund to use.”

  “Slush fund?” Somehow Eliza didn’t think he was talking about a simple savings account. Or a 401K. “My slush fund is in a coffee can back home. It would take a hell of a lot of coffee cans to come up with a private jet.”

  They hit a couple more bumps before the jet sailed through the air.

  “Life happens once. I have money. I might as well use it.”

  What does that mean?

  Eliza glanced down at the rock he’d put on her finger. It was Kardashian huge, to the point where she wondered if it was real. After listening to Carter, she knew better than to ask. She needed to thank him for it at some point, but now didn’t seem right.

  The aircraft started its descent, and her ears popped with the change of pressure.

  Eliza released a sigh when they made it to the ground. Not that she was overly anxious that they would crash, but the flight rattled her nerves.

  Rain pelted them as they left the plane. The airport was flooded and the car that was supposed to be waiting for them had been delayed.

  It was still light outside, which somehow made everything a little better, but still, the flight had been long, and they were now two hours behind their schedule. Not that they had a schedule, but for them, it had been a long day and a plush bed in a five star resort sounded divine.

  “Apparently a road washed out, but the locals think it will be fixed within the hour.”

  “I thought Hawaii was always sunny. Like California.” The humidity licked her skin, and she knew her assumption was just that.

  “It rains a lot here this time of year. It doesn’t last long though.”

  It didn’t. But the locals had a hard time getting the road passable, and it was nearly two more hours before they made it to the hotel.

  With a flower lei around her neck, Eliza passed through the lobby in a daze. The wicker decor and open-air foyer would simply have to wait to be appreciated. Right now, a hot shower and a bed was all she wanted.

  In their room a fruit, cheese, and wine basket met them. It was from Carter’s parents.

  “I like your parents.”

  “They like you to. Why don’t you take the first shower,” Carter suggested.

  It was well after midnight on their body clocks when Eliza slid into the hot pulsating water. What a day. She thought back on several moments when she envisioned her parent’s faces, their smiles. They might not have been there in body, but she’d felt them in spirit.

  Even though it was late, she dressed in the lingerie meant for this night. Hopefully, Carter would shower quickly or stand the risk of her falling asleep on him.

  Eliza scrubbed her face clean but went ahead and put on a little lip gloss. She nibbled her fingernail before realizing what she was doing. “It’s Carter, Lisa, get a grip. No need for nerves,” she whispered to herself. After running a final brush through her hair, she smiled at her reflection before stepping from the bathroom.

  “The shower is all…” Her words died on her lips.

  Carter had removed his coat, tie, and shoes and had laid on the bed to wait for her. His features softened in slumber and the slow, steady rise and fall of his chest brought a wave of pleasure over her. He was sound asleep.

  Without waking him, she took a blanket from the closet and draped it over him. She removed her silk robe and slid between the cool sheets and cooed.

  He didn’t so much a stir.

  Eliza turned onto her side and watched him sleep.

  ****

  Sunlight filtered in behind her closed eyelids and pushed the cobwebs from her brain.

  Something tickled her nose and she moved her head to scratch it. The musky scent mixed with that of soap met her nose.

  Carter.

  Before she opened her eyes, Eliza realized two things. First, she was intimately wrapped around her husband who at some point in the night managed to slip out of his clothes and into the sheets with her. The second was that her husband wasn’t asleep.

  The sound of his heart beating in his chest met her ear, which was cradled in the crook of his arm. One of her legs was draped over his as if it had the right to be there.

  His fingers gently stroking her back and thigh.

  How had she managed to get so tangled? Cuddling wasn’t her thing. Normally.

  With Carter, there didn’t seem to be a normal.

  With as little notice as she could muster, she started to move away.

  Carter wouldn’t have it. His hand on her thigh pressed firm and kept her in place.

  Eliza opened her eyes and viewed his naked chest for the first time. Well, she’d seen him by the pool at Sam’s, but this was entirely different. After taking a brief moment to admire the sculpted way his chest looked from her angle she closed her eyes and sighed.

  This was something she could get used to.

  She picked up her cheek.

  “You’re not going anywhere,” he told her with laughter in his voice. “I worked up the nerve to touch you here…” He tightened his grip on her thigh to indicate what he meant. “…about twenty minutes ago, and I’ve wanted to travel higher ever since. Only, I didn’t want to wake you.”

  His words brought warmth over her skin. She envisioned his internal debate while she slept. Funny, she didn’t think of him as an insecure person. But apparently, when it came to seducing her, there was a hit of doubt. “I’m not the one who fell asleep last night.”

  He groaned and clicked his tongue. As he spoke, he made good on his threat and inched his way up her thigh with a slow ascent. “Guilty. I’m sorry about that.”

  “We were both exhausted.”

  She spread her palm over his chest. Her new ring sparkled off the sunlight streaming in from the window.

  “I woke around three and climbed in with you. I hope you don’t mind.”

  His fingers danced over the curve of her hip, maneuvered under the silk of her panties, and she shivered with anticipation of more. “I don’t mind.”

  Carter shifted to his side, and Eliza gazed into his eyes. “Good morning,” he whispered.

  He captured her lips in the softest of kisses. A slow gentle exploration. She could still taste the mint of his breath, which left her feeling guilty f
or not having the same fresh taste to offer him.

  The slow pace he set with his kiss proved he didn’t mind. He probed her mouth open with little nips until his tongue played with hers. Eliza didn’t realize she was rigid beneath him until all her muscles relaxed. Carter pressed her into the soft cotton sheets and ran his free hand up her waist, pushing aside her nightgown.

  He kissed like a man who should be paid to do so. He didn’t leave anything untouched and only moved away when he needed to breathe. When he did, she ran her fingers over his chest. When did he find the time to work out? Or was the definition of muscles from his gene pool? She’d thought about touching him more than she’d admit. Thinking about it and enjoying the feel of his warm skin were nowhere near the same.

  He brushed his thumb beside her breast, coaxing her skin awake.

  “You’re really good at that,” she told him as he moved to kiss the side of her neck.

  “At kissing?” He playfully bit her ear.

  “At making me feel like the only woman in the world.”

  His hand left her breast and moved to her cheek. He leaned back and she opened her eyes to find him staring at her with his dark, blue eyes. “You are the only woman in my world, Eliza.”

  Who knew Carter’s thoughts ran deep? The compassion she found behind his eyes made her admit something she’d never done before. “It’s Lisa. My name before…it was Lisa.”

  His hands hesitated on their discovery trip over her body, and he lowered his voice to just above a whisper. “Have you ever told anyone else that?”

  “No,” she whispered. “I never wanted to until now.”

  The smile on his face reached his eyes, and he held her closer. “When we’re here, I’ll use your real name.”

  Tears welled in her eyes, which was silly. Her heart wasn’t filled with sadness, but joy in having trust in another human being. “I’d like that.”

  She slid her thigh between his and moved deeper into his embrace. She sought his lips and languished in his taste. His stiff arousal pressed firmly against her stomach. He sleeps in the nude. She notched the information into her brain and soaked in his slow, titillating touch.

  The leisurely kisses proved maddening as her skin heated and her body began to ache. Carter didn’t seem to feel the same urgency to move faster, and yet he kept devouring her mouth, face, and neck.

  Eliza found a sensitive spot on his hip and dug her fingernails into his dense muscles, marveling at his perfection. Everywhere she touched she liked, wanted more. Soon, the friction of his leg pulsating between hers wasn’t enough. She followed his hip and ran the tip of her finger over his erection.

  Carter groaned and moved his lips and tongue to the flesh below her collarbone. Her breasts ached, wanting his touch. With a gentle nudge, she guided him to where she wanted him. Lord he took his time pushing away her nightgown before swirling his tongue around one pert nipple. He licked her as if she was made of the finest cream, and he wasn’t going to stop until the bowl was empty.

  Suddenly the clothing she wore felt like a noose around her neck and the urgency to feel him skin to skin overwhelmed her. She stopped teasing his erection and tugged at the fringes of her lingerie. He took the hint and stripped it away.

  High color reached his cheeks as his gaze traveled her naked body.

  “I work out,” she teased.

  “I can tell. I always knew you’d be spectacular.”

  She squirmed under him, constantly aware of his heated sex and how close it was to bringing them both pleasure. “You thought about me?”

  “All the time.” He kissed her nipple again, and the one scrap of clothing she had left on dampen.

  “Even when we argued?”

  He moved lower, kissing under her breast and tasting her stomach. “Especially when we argued. You’re all fire and passion. I’ve always wanted a sample of that.” He ran a finger under her panties.

  She gasped when he found her moist aroused state.

  “You’re killing me,” he said.

  She laughed and lifted her hips to help him ease off her panties. He watched as she wiggled her hips.

  “Death by sex. I don’t know if that’s happened in real life. Fiction maybe.”

  He found her sex again, the way he had before all those weeks ago in her kitchen. “I want to taste you…all of you. But I don’t think I can wait much longer,” he told her.

  The waiting was killing her, too. “Then don’t wait, Hollywood.” She opened her thighs a little wider, enticing him.

  Carter reached to the table on his side of the bed. There he found a condom he must have placed there the night before.

  “I’m on the pill,” she told him.

  He hesitated with the package. “Are you suggesting we don’t use this?”

  Am I? She was a twenty-first century woman, she never slept with a man without one. The risks weren’t worth the pleasure. “I-I don’t…I’ve never not,” she told him. “But if we wanted to…” What am I saying? “If we didn’t use it, we’d be safe. We’ve never talked about these things.”

  He palmed the condom, leaned in, and kissed her again. “I’m clean,” he whispered between kisses. The awkward moment she’d just had disappeared like pixie dust on the wind.

  He stopped kissing her long enough for her to open her eyes.

  “Make love to me without a barrier, Lisa.”

  Hearing her name from his lips for the first time made her want to cry. “I’d like that.”

  The grin that stretched over his lips spread for miles. He tossed the condom to the floor and moved between her legs.

  He gazed into her eyes as he slowly pressed his heated flesh into hers. It had been quite a while for her, but Carter murmured for her to relax and take him in. His eyes rolled into the back of his head, and he dropped his forehead to hers. “So wonderful,” he whispered.

  And it was. The heat, the tenderness of his touch. The trust she felt for the man making love to her. She’d trusted men before him, with her body, but never without protection and never with her given name. He was her husband and somewhere this felt more like an act of love than just sex.

  The word caught on her mind, and she swept it away. Love opened people to vulnerability and Lisa hated feeling vulnerable.

  With a tilt of her hips, Carter was seated inside her and releasing tiny gasps. His fit was perfect. She was already contracting around him, wanting more.

  Eliza never imagined Carter to be so complete in his lovemaking. She’d fantasized about him in bed more than once, but never thought he would make her want to roll him on his back and take over, yet at the same time, want to wait and see what he would incite from her next.

  “Carter?”

  He thrust his hips to hers and pulled away slowly. “I feel like a teenager again. I want to devour you slowly one minute and work you over the next.”

  She wrapped her legs around his waist and grinned. “You’ve devoured. It’s time for the work over.”

  “Thank God. Hold on.”

  For a minute, Eliza thought he was teasing, but then he started to move. Holding on became increasingly difficult as he pressed her deeper into the bed with each pass of his sex over hers. The intensity of his pace and the speed in which he brought her desire to a peak startled her. He found the perfect stroke and friction.

  She gripped his back and moaned, “Yes…” She tilted her hips, moving faster. He kept her there, hovering over her release. “More,” she cried. “Please.”

  He gave a soft laugh and surged into her with such intensity she couldn’t breathe. Her orgasm was instant and full of fireworks.

  Breathing was an effort, and Carter wasn’t anywhere near done. He whispered sultry things in her ear that kept her captivated.

  The sheer masculine power that was consuming her made her want to weep.

  “I want to make you scream,” he told her. He pinched her breast with his words and she nearly did. Her teeth found his shoulder, and she gave him a love bite that
made him moan.

  Perhaps their playful banter out of the bedroom would transfer into their love play. How fun would that be?

  Carter brought her to the edge again making her breath hitched in the back of her throat. “Yes,” she gasped.

  And then he emptied inside of her. The feel of his warmth filling her catapulted her into a place of rainbows. Her body couldn’t get enough of him as she shuddered, milking him dry.

  Carter collapsed on top of her, his heart beating wildly in his chest. Eliza…no Lisa, he reminded himself, struggled for air and damn that made him feel like a God. Her body accepted every last drop of his seed. That felt damn good. He’d had sex without condoms, when he was young. With Lisa, it was a gift. One he would cherish and hold dear.

  “Hot damn, Hollywood.”

  “You like?” He hosted his weight off hers enough to look at her satisfied face.

  The inner muscles of her womb constricted around him.

  He groaned.

  “If I told you how amazing that was, it would feed your already over-inflated ego.”

  He kissed her nose. “And we wouldn’t want that.”

  She wiggled her hips and ran her foot down his leg. “No we wouldn’t.”

  With a swift move, he positioned himself under her but kept himself tangled intimately within her.

  She sat tall and thrust out her perky breasts. He palmed them both instantly. He hadn’t paid enough attention to this lovely addition to her body.

  “This position does have possibilities.”

  “Yes, yes it does.” Carter pulled her down for a kiss and explored those possibilities.

  Chapter Twenty

  They ate, drank, laughed, and made love like happy fools on their honeymoon. Carter wanted to play the happy fool for as long as he could. Sadly, their time on the island was drawing to a close.

  They sat under the stars with Tiki torches and hula dancers. A native Hawaiian band played the drums so the women wiggling their hips could do so to a beat. He and Eliza drank sissy drinks and applauded the dancers when they finished.

  “I can’t believe we leave tomorrow,” Eliza leaned into him, comfortable in his embrace.