by Ella Miles
“Come, Sloane.”
I do as he screams, “Fuck, baby!”
We both come, and then he collapses on top of me. He removes the blindfold as we catch our breaths, and we stare into each other’s eyes.
“I don’t think I’m ever going to get enough of fucking you, Sloane.”
I grin and bite my lip because I don’t think I’m ever going to get enough of him either. And, as much as we are compatible when it comes to sex, we aren’t one in any other way. I can’t fall in love, or even lust, with him because this isn’t going to last.
* * *
We can’t keep our hands off of each other as we walk down the street to the closest café. One fuck isn’t enough to satisfy either of us.
“If your stomach hadn’t growled three times while I was fucking you, I would still have you in my bed right now, finding every possible way to keep fucking you,” Asher whispers into my ear.
I grin. “Then, we must eat quickly.”
Asher shakes his head as he drinks in my body again. I’m wearing a simple sundress that Asher packed for me. He brought one dress, one pair of jeans, one pair of shorts, a few pairs of underwear, and my toothbrush. Everything else, he said we could buy or make do without. And it seems that we are going to be spending most of our time naked anyway. So, I guess it doesn’t matter.
We are seated at a small table and have to break apart in order to sit down. But, as soon as the waitress leaves, Asher scoots his chair over so that he is sitting right next to me. He puts his arm around my shoulders as we both stare down at the menu that is in Italian.
“Do you have any idea what any of these things are or how to pronounce them?” I ask.
He shrugs. “Does it matter? We are in Italy. I’m sure whatever we order is going to be amazing.”
“I don’t think I care as long as I can fill my stomach and then get back to our hotel room,” I say, winking.
He laughs. “I am not letting us go back to our hotel room until we have at least had a chance to explore more of Venice first.”
I frown. “Then, you are going to have to fuck me in an alleyway because I’m not waiting past lunch to have you again.”
Asher’s eyes dart playfully from mine up to where our waiter is standing, looking at us with a bit of a shocked expression on his face. We might not understand Italian, but it is clear that he understands English.
“What can I get for you two lovebirds?” he asks, finally smiling at us after the initial shock of hearing me swear in front of him.
“Um…” I look down at the menu, not having a clue. I’m not the most adventurous person with my food.
Asher notices my expression. “We will each have a glass of wine. Whatever red you recommend for me and…” Asher looks at me, waiting for me to answer.
“White,” I say.
“White for her. And we will have whatever you recommend for our meals. Something with a bit of variety would be good. We would love to try as much as we can.”
“Excellent, sir. I’ll have the chef prepare a sampler platter for you.”
“Thank you,” Asher and I say at the same time.
The waiter leaves and returns in seconds with a bottle of red and white wine that he pours for each of us. He leaves us again, and I open my mouth to say something when a basket of bread suddenly appears at our table.
Asher smiles at me and moves to hold my hand, but then he grabs for the bread instead. I laugh at his antics and then grab a piece of bread for myself.
“Oh God. This is the best damn thing I think I’ve ever tasted. Sorry, sweetheart, but this bread tastes better than you,” Asher says.
I laugh again and take a bite of the bread, and I immediately fall in love. “I think I’ve just fallen in love with a piece of bread,” I say with a mouthful of bread.
Asher laughs but shovels in more bread. I do the same.
The waiter comes back a few minutes later with two giant plates of all sorts of different foods. My eyes grow wide as I look at all the food we’re expected to eat.
“Bon appétit!” the waiter says before leaving us to eat our enormous meal.
We dig into the food. Neither of us speaks. We just eat. And eat and eat.
But, eventually, my stomach starts to grow full, and my hunger turns back to other needs. Asher is still shoveling in food, but I know he can’t keep eating for much longer. He must be close to as full as I am at this point.
And I don’t want him thinking that we are ready to go exploring just yet. I need to explore more of him before I spend any time exploring the town. I need a lot more of him. Like at least the rest of today, tonight, and part of tomorrow before I’m satiated enough to be able to focus on exploring the rest of the town. I just need to figure out how to get him on board with my plan.
We are seated outside on the patio of the restaurant. There are a couple of other couples here, but none seem to be paying us any attention. I know Paris is considered the place to go for love, but it looks to me like Venice might give Paris a run for its money.
I don’t think anyone is going to be able to see me or even care if they do realize what I am doing. So, I take a chance. I slide as close as I can to Asher and slide my hand under the napkin in his lap. He doesn’t look up from his plate. He just keeps shoveling in food until I slip my hand into the waistband of his pants. I find his cock, and within seconds, it starts to grow hard within my grasp as I massage him.
He cocks his head to one side and looks at me with a grin on his face. “Is that the way you are going to try and gain control back?”
I smile. “Is it working?”
He sucks in a sharp breath when I tighten my grip on his throbbing cock again.
“It depends on what you think a win is for you.”
“Getting you to spend the rest of the day fucking me in our hotel room is a win. So, have I won yet? Or do I need to work harder?” I say, winking.
Asher adjusts his chair, forcing me to let him go. I frown as I watch him reach into his pocket and pull out some money. He waves our waiter down and hands him money, asking if it’s enough. When the waiter nods, Asher grabs my hand, pulling me from my chair.
I grin as he does. I won. I knew I would. No man can resist, not once they are turned on, no matter how much they want to win.
We exit the restaurant and start walking the couple of blocks back to our hotel room when Asher pulls me abruptly into an alleyway. He pushes me up against the brick wall and kisses me harder than he ever has before. I can’t breathe while he kisses me. It’s too much and not enough all at the same time.
“What are you doing?” I ask when I can breathe again.
“I’m winning by fucking you here instead of in the hotel room.”
I grin. “I don’t care as long as you fuck me.”
Our plane lands back in Hawaii, and our fake honeymoon ends. Although we are back in paradise, we are back in the real world. Back to work where we can’t just have sex every day and pretend like the real world doesn’t exist. We have to get back to work, and I have to continue on with…
I don’t even want to think about it.
All I want to think about is all the sex. Sex in our hotel room. Sex in the alleyway. Sex in the restroom of every restaurant we ate at. Sex on the balcony. We had more sex than I think I’ve ever had in a week’s time.
And, even though we were in Italy and Asher planned on having us travel across Europe, I guess that is going to have to wait for another time, I think, smiling.
Because I wouldn’t change our honeymoon for anything. I wouldn’t have given up the sex for seeing all of Europe. Ever. Because sex with Asher is better than anything I ever imagined. I’ve never felt so in touch with my body. I’ve never ached to feel someone else’s touch so much that I’m in a constant state of pain because I can’t have him.
“So, what happens now?” Asher asks as we climb into a taxicab.
I give the cab driver my address.
“What do you mean?”
/>
“I mean, I’m sure you have our whole lives planned out. So, let’s hear it. What is your plan?”
I frown. I hate that he thinks I have everything planned out because, honestly, I don’t. I know what I want the end result to be. I know what I want from this arrangement. But that’s it. I don’t know how to get there. I’m just making it up as I go along.
“Well…you move in with me, and we continue on with our married life. We go to work. We make occasional appearances together as a couple. We have sex.”
“And how do we decide when this ends?”
I sigh. “When we have had enough.”
He nods but doesn’t say anything else until we get to my condo. We get out of the taxi.
“I don’t know when you need to get back to work or training or whatever you usually do with your time. But I would love for you to go to work with me today or tomorrow to meet everyone. And I can have a moving truck at your place to move whatever you want over to my place today or tomorrow or whenever you would like.”
He frowns. “Why are we moving into your place? Why not my place?”
“Because my place is…” I trail off, not wanting to finish that sentence the way I intended.
“Better,” he finishes for me.
I nod and blush a little. But I’m not going to apologize because it’s the honest truth.
“My place is better than your place. It’s bigger. It’s more secure. It has furniture that isn’t falling apart. It—”
“My place has the beach. It has everything I could ever want,” Asher says.
I frown. “My place has a shower that actually shoots out warm water.”
“Mine does, too. You just have to wait a little longer for it to warm up.”
I throw up my hands. “There is no arguing with you, is there?”
“For however long this arrangement lasts, I just don’t want to have to deal with your snobby attitude, thinking you are better than me. Because you’re not.”
I raise an eyebrow. “I’m not saying that. At least not because I have nicer things and you don’t. But I definitely have different morals than you. You think it’s okay to steal and cheat while I don’t.”
“Yes, you’re a saint, and I’m the devil. We’ve already established that.” He paces back and forth. “You know what? This isn’t worth it. Just file for divorce or an annulment or whatever you need to do to get me out of this mess.” Asher starts walking back to the cab.
“Wait,” I say, grabbing hold of his arm.
He stops.
“I’m sorry. You’re right. I am asking a lot from you to do this. And I appreciate you doing it. How about we come to an arrangement?”
He frowns. “Another arrangement?”
“A deal then? You stay here for a week. Then, I’ll stay at your place for a week. Then, we can decide what is best.”
He sighs. “Fine, but I expect plenty of sex, no matter which place we stay at.”
He walks over and kisses me on the lips, letting enough tongue in to let me know he is ready for sex right now if I’m up for it.
“Oh, I think I can arrange that. But, right now, I need to get changed and ready to go into the office for today. You want to come with me?”
“Sure. If it would help.”
I smile. “It would. Come on, let’s go get showered and changed, and then I can show you my life.”
* * *
I run a brush through my hair again and then head out of my bathroom in my khaki dress pants and pink blouse. I stop in my tracks when I see Asher in his swim trunks and T-shirt.
“Is that what you are wearing?” I ask.
“Yes. You have a problem with that?”
I shake my head. “Nope.” I grab my purse and then head to my door. “Let’s go.”
Asher grabs hold of my hand. This time, it feels more like he’s trying to reassure me that he’s with me, which I desperately need because, unlike the honeymoon, as soon as we step foot inside my office building, we are going to be swarmed with questions.
And, sure enough, the second I pull up to the building, we are swarmed with photographers and reporters. I guess it is a big deal when the local girl who runs a large nonprofit almost dies, calls off her wedding, and then marries someone else all in a matter of two days.
I climb out of the driver’s seat of my car without even thinking about Asher. I’m sure he’s dealt with his fair share of press before. I smile and wave as lights flash all around me. I walk toward the back of my car and wait for Asher to join me. He looks a little shell-shocked, but when he makes it to the back of my car and I grab his hand, his smile lifts.
“You didn’t tell me there would be so many people excited to see us, sweetheart,” he whispers into my ear.
I laugh. “Just smile and wave until we make it inside where we will get a whole new group of people attacking us.”
I start leading him toward my office building as dozens of reporters yell out questions to us.
“When did you get married?”
“Where did you get married?”
“How long have you two known each other?”
“How are you doing after your near-death experience?”
The questions keep coming and coming.
I see Marissa, a reporter who I actually respect, standing near the entrance to the building. She smiles at me and then leans into my ear as I open the door.
“Give me an exclusive, and it will get this mob of people to leave you alone.”
I look at her, giving her an I’ll-think-about-it look.
She smiles brightly because she thinks I’m going to take her up on her offer. And maybe I will if it will get all the photographers outside to leave us alone.
I take a deep breath once inside. Even though I can already feel the stares on me when we enter the two-story building, I don’t care. This is my home. This is where I flourish.
I start walking toward the stairs that lead up to my office, but Asher freezes, holding my hand. I turn and look at him with a fake smile on my face. I shake my head sideways, trying to get him to come on.
He leans down and whispers in my ear, “I’ve never felt like I should have worn something nicer so much in my life.”
I laugh and look at him. He looks like a wrinkled mess. I doubt he even owns an iron. Other than the stubble that covers his face and the tiny lines around his eyes, giving his true age away, he looks like he’s eighteen.
“You’re fine. Now, come on, or we are never going to make it to my office, and I have work to do.” I let go of his hand and start walking toward the stairs.
“Hello, Miss Hart—I mean, Mrs. Calder,” my receptionist says from behind her desk.
“It’s still Ms. Hart. I’m going to keep my name,” I say.
“Of course, Ms. Hart.” But Bonnie’s eyes don’t stay on mine long. Instead, they are eating up Asher.
He must have gotten his confidence back because he is strutting behind me as all the women ogle his body that I know they wish were more visible than what his clothes allow.
I sigh and walk back the five feet to where Asher is now getting swarmed with people asking for his autograph.
“Asher needs to come with me now. But I’ll make sure you all have plenty of time later to talk to him and get his autograph,” I say a little too sternly.
I grab hold of his hand again, feeling like a mother corralling a two-year-old, which, at the moment, makes me never want kids if it is anything like having to deal with Asher. We make it to the stairs, and I start taking them two at a time, despite my heels.
Even though I live in heels, my work requires me to be quick on my feet. I’m always putting out one fire or another. And I like interacting with the kids who live next door. They’ve been trying to better their lives after the abuse, neglect, and trouble they got into prevented them from reaching their full potential. I love seeing how resilient the kids are and how they are able to turn their lives around.
“I don’t know how you
do that in your heels,” Asher says when we make it up the stairs.
I smile at him. “Years of practice. I wasn’t always so good in heels. I know you won’t believe me, but for much of my childhood, I lived in tennis shoes and T-shirts. It wasn’t until my early twenties that I started wearing heels and dresses.”
“I would have never guessed, but then I’ve learned to never guess with you.”
I keep walking until I get to my office at the back of the building. It’s a small room. Not anywhere close to the largest office in the building. But I like it this way. I like having a small office that is just mine. It keeps other people from feeling like they can hang out when I have work to do. Plus, we have plenty of conference rooms that I can go to if I need to meet with more than one person. But there is one awesome benefit to my office that none of the other offices have.
“Holy shit! I thought your condo had a nice view, but this…” Asher says when he walks into my small office.
I take a deep breath, looking at the view. “It was the main reason I chose this building to house our offices.”
Asher walks over to the large window that my desk faces. It makes more sense for my desk to face away from the window, but there is no way I could have given up the view.
I take a seat at my desk and fire up my computer. I wait for the endless amount of emails that I get to start pouring in.
“So, what do you want me to do? Besides stare at this incredible view all day,” he says.
When I look up, he isn’t looking out at the ocean anymore. He is looking at me. I’m the incredible view he is talking about. I blush slightly but am not really that embarrassed.
I glance at my clock. “My mom is going to be here in half an hour. She’s excited to meet you. So, it would be great if you could take her to the café downstairs and just get a coffee or something with her.”
“Without you?”
I nod. “Most likely. I have a shit-ton of emails I need to answer. And then I need to go over and talk with some of the kids today. I’ve heard there are a couple who are struggling with the program, and I want to go see to them personally.”
