Husband Stay (Husband #2)

by Louise Cusack

  My mouth had gone dry, and those warm fingers stroking the sensitive skin inside my wrist was undoing me. If I’d been standing up, my knees would have wobbled.

  “You sure that’s all it was?” he asked quietly, staring deep into my eyes.

  It was a struggle to speak, but I managed to say, “A one-night stand—”

  “It won’t be…if we do it again.”

  The words hung between us like a dare, and suddenly the dim lighting, the warmth of his fingers and the mellow scent of whisky conspired to intoxicate me. I heard my own internal voice saying, He’s right. If you do it again, you won’t be a super-slut. It will be dating—kind of—and that’s far less promiscuous than a one-night stand.

  “Shall we?” His molten gaze continued to mesmerize me.

  I swallowed thickly and shook my head. “I think I should leave.”

  “At least sign the papers,” he said persuasively, but I shook my head again. I seriously needed to get out of his proximity.

  He smiled a tiny defeated smile. “Okay. But you can’t blame me for trying.”

  “Can’t I?” Sweet Shiva, I sounded so breathless.

  “You might have had three orgasms, Angel, but I had the best sex of my life.”

  I blinked in surprise and he nodded to confirm his statement.

  “But…I’m not experienced.”

  He shrugged. “What can I say? You’re my kind of sexy. Those warm curves and that succulent mouth, your mass of shiny hair sliding over me. I’m completely ruined. I can’t think of anything beyond making you howl.”

  Okay. Now I couldn’t breathe at all.

  “So…” he drawled, “Why don’t we go up to my room, sign the papers, and then see how you feel about…sex.” He eased out of the booth and stood with his hand out. “Angel?”

  I nodded. Although, what I was agreeing to was anyone’s guess. But I didn’t feel scared. I instinctively knew that No would stop him at any point.

  I just wasn’t sure what would stop me.

  I slid out of the booth, took his hand and let him lead me on shaky legs to the elevator where we stood in silence, him still holding my hand. When we reached his floor, he led me down the quiet nondescript corridors to his room—which turned out to be a suite.

  The beige walls and olive lounges led to big picture windows that framed the Sydney Opera House with its iconic white sails against a dazzling blue harbor. I had no concept of hotel prices, but I was sure this suite had to be worth a thousand a night, at least.

  No wonder he could care less about claims on his insurance.

  Before I could start feeling sorry for my current financial position, however, I realized that this was exactly the sort of accommodation Rosie would want me in if I was successful. Could I ever feel comfortable in this level of luxury?

  “Just two signatures, and your bank account details at the bottom, for the deposit.” He pointed to the table and I dragged my attention away from the huge king-sized bed I could see in the next room. It was neatly made up, but I knew it wouldn’t take much to muss it.

  A hot blush swept over me as I turned back to the table and fumbled for the pen. “Where?”

  He pointed, but my brain was so scrambled, after the first signature I had to ask him again where the second was to go before I could scribble my name again. Luckily I knew my bank account details off by heart, but it took more embarrassing moments to find where to enter them and my hand was shaking so much the digits were wobbly.

  “There.” I put down the pen and looked up into his eyes, belatedly realizing that he was very still and I was all jerky nervous energy. “It’s done,” I added, quite unnecessarily.

  “That part is done.” He continued to watch me, not moving a muscle, letting his deep, rumbling voice carry the innuendo, without any need for glancing at the bed. We both knew it was close. And convenient.

  I forced myself to hold his gaze, to say nothing, because I was afraid I might babble. The room felt suddenly too warm, yet my nipples were pressing against my bra, as if a chill had peaked them.

  “Angela…”

  I swallowed, wondering why I wasn’t just walking out. I wanted to go, didn’t I? There were very good reasons I didn’t want to step into his personal space and thread the fingers of my good hand into his hair and pull him down for a kiss that I knew would end in an orgasm that would rock my world.

  “…you have to say Yes please or I stay where I am.”

  Sweet mother of Shakti. Tear my panties off!

  He made no move to comply, and I suddenly realized I’d only thought that. I hadn’t said it aloud. So there was still time. I could—

  “Jack.” I sucked in an uneven breath. “I want…what you do.”

  “I know.”

  He stepped in and pulled me hard up against his chest as his lips found mine, so smoothly, so hotly, that I couldn’t even gasp. One of his arms held me locked against him while he dizzied me with the sort of kiss that says I’m going to fuck you when I’ve made myself crazy with lust. But it was me who was crazy.

  I could feel his other hand sliding into my hair to tilt my head so he could deepen the kiss, then his fingers were brushing down my throat to the side of my breast and gliding down to close over my ass and pull me even harder against him. Everywhere we touched, I was alive with sensation, pulsing with hunger to feel more, harder, faster.

  When he pulled away from my mouth to start kissing down my neck, I thought I would melt, and it was only when he pushed me gently against the wall that I stopped wobbling.

  Then his tongue delved into the crease of my cleavage, flicking around before he reached behind my neck and, with the slightest of touches, undid the clasp that held my halter-neck on. In the next second, my dress was sliding down to expose my bra, but before I could begin to feel embarrassed, he flicked open my bra clasp at the front and slid the thin fabric away to feast on my breasts.

  There was no other word for it. I felt like a banquet, and I wanted him to gorge on me. My good hand cupped his head as he licked and sucked and even nibbled on my nipples. That drove me wild, and I could hear myself moaning deep in my throat. I adored what he was doing, but I wanted more. There was a crazy throbbing inside me that just—

  “Jack,” I panted.

  He tilted his head up and those beautiful teak eyes of his were very dark. “Angela.” His voice was impossibly husky. “Do you want me to stop?”

  Immediately I shook my head, and my hand fell away to hang at my side while I panted. “I want you…here.”

  “Against the wall?” He’d gone very still again, and I had a moment of thinking I’d shocked him until he said, “You come first. Every time.”

  He unzipped my dress at the back and slid it down, then he kissed my lips so hard and hot that I didn’t feel his hand sliding down between our bodies until it slipped into my panties. After that, the only thing holding me up was his arm around my waist while he made love to my mouth and his very clever fingers stroked and teased and slid through the wetness he’d created.

  But it wasn’t enough. It wasn’t his body slamming into mine, which was what I wanted. Still, it pushed me over the edge so fast that I’d barely realized I was close before I pulled away from his lips to cry out, shuddering in his grip, my breasts bouncing around like brown jello. His mouth closed over one nipple again and he sucked hard, making the orgasm shudder on.

  At last I had to say, “Stop,” and when his fingers slid out of my panties he sighed with what sounded like disappointment.

  “Can I just stay here with your breasts.” He licked the rock-hard nipple again, tiny flicking licks that created delicious spasms down low, where I wanted him inside me. “I’m sure there’s a plane I’m supposed to be on. Or a taxi coming. Or something. But…”

  He pulled me closer and started licking the other breast. “…when I can smell you and taste you and feel that incredible body shuddering under my touch…” He glanced up into my eyes. “I never want to go.”

&nbs
p; I nodded. It was all I was capable of. The future was…out there. Outside the room. Somewhere I didn’t need to be right now. All I cared about was the way his eyes devoured me, the rumble of his voice, and the fact that I was about to feel him inside me.

  “Against the wall,” I breathed. “You promised.”

  He hadn’t. But that didn’t matter. I wanted it.

  He let me go, and somehow I managed to stay upright, propped against the wall.

  “Condom.” He pulled one out of his pocket. “Straightaway this time.”

  I saw him frown, and wasn’t sure what that was about. But then he was unbuckling his belt and pushing down his pants I licked my lips as I watched him strip, revealing the acres of toned, tanned flesh I’d been fantasizing about for days.

  When he was naked and his more-than-a-handful erection was sheathed, he grabbed the front of my panties. “You want to be fucked against the wall?”

  I sucked in an unsteady breath. “Hard,” I clarified, wondering who this sexually liberated woman was who’d taken over my body. Because it sure as heck wasn’t me—Miss Orgasm Faker of fifteen years. Somehow that was all in the past. In that moment, I didn’t care a scrap about Jack’s pleasure. All I cared about was feeling his hard cock inside me, pounding me into the wall, making me howl.

  “Then let’s do it.”

  My lower body jerked forward as he ripped off my panties, then my backside bounced back against the wall.

  He smiled down at my body, slow and wicked. “I do love watching those curves jiggle.” When he met my gaze again, his eyes were narrowed, his expression almost challenging.

  I swallowed hard and stared back at him, unable to think past my body’s throbbing to anything except satisfaction.

  “Last chance to stop me,” he said.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  His cheeks were slashes of red, his jaw tight, almost as if he was gritting his teeth. It was a world away from my wobbly limbs and post-orgasm trembling. Thankfully the wall was behind me, holding me up.

  “Don’t stop,” I commanded, and probably for the first time in my life, I meant that. We could knock a wall down and I wouldn’t care. He could break open my cast and it would only make me clutch him tighter. “Don’t make me wait.”

  He grabbed my ass with two hands and hoisted me up the wall. My legs wrapped instinctively around his hips and I was catching my breath when his cock stabbed into me, making me gasp against his neck. Not in shock. I was ready for him. I was probably so wet it was running down my legs. But the sensation of that hard cock driving into my soft folds totally undid me.

  I clung to his broad shoulder with my good hand, feeling his bunched muscles move as he gripped my ass even tighter.

  “Fuck…” he breathed, then I heard him swallow noisily. “Could you be any more perfect?”

  The question hung between us for endless seconds, and because he wasn’t talking to me, I didn’t bother to answer. He was just crazy with lust. I could feel the tension of it rippling around his body. Then he let go of my ass, letting the wall and my legs around him hold me up, so he could run his hands up over my breasts and around my shoulders to tunnel into my hair, holding my head still. I was balanced on his hips, but I knew he was going to move soon. He was going to bang me against the wall. And it wanted it so badly my teeth hurt.

  His nose was almost touching mine when he said, “I want this to last…” And in the second before he kissed me, he whispered, “…forever.”

  But I had no time to wonder what that meant because he started to move his hips. That rock hard cock slid in and out as he kissed me, slowly at first as if he was trying to persuade me, but soon his thrusts grew harder and his tongue more insistent. All the pleasure that had so recently peaked inside me started worming its way back and I started to moan.

  I was dizzied with his hot scent and the soft grunts he was making, and when he pulled away from my mouth, it was only to watch my breasts sway as he pounded me against the wall.

  His eyes were narrowed even further then, as if his world had tunneled down into only my body, and all I could do was cling to his shoulder with one hand as another blinding orgasm slammed into me, making me shudder uncontrollably.

  I certainly wasn’t able to be quiet. In fact, I cried out so loudly I’m sure they would have heard me at reception. But Jack just ran a hand up into my hair and gripped it in his fist, holding my gaze on his as he continued to pound into me. Then his eyes widened and his next thrusts were punctuated with, “Nobody…does…this…to…you…but…me!”

  The final word came out on a triumphant groan that rattled through my brain like a freight train crushing everything in its path.

  Nobody does this to you but me.

  He was right.

  Nobody had ever done this to me. The orgasms. The sex against the wall. The way he made me feel so desirable.

  So desired.

  It was incredible.

  He was incredible. And when I was with him, I felt incredible too.

  He stared into my eyes for the longest time, mouth breathing, and I had no idea what he was thinking. Finally, he glanced down at my chest. “Nipples up.” His breaths were harsh. “Another orgasm. That’s two so far.”

  “Not that we’re counting,” I said breathlessly.

  “Yes we are.” Competitive bastard. But then he surprised me by tenderly tucking a handful of fallen-down hair behind my ear. “I have no idea who this Doug fucker is that you mistook me for. But I’m making damn sure you don’t think you’ll get better from him.”

  Doug?

  My mind flew back to the phone call a few hours earlier and Jack’s jealous tone at the time. Clearly he hadn’t moved past that. But I couldn’t bring myself to tell him my life was my own business. Not while he was still inside me. So I forced myself to say, “I’m not having sex with Doug.”

  Although, one day I might, if he ended up being the one—the man I intended to have babies with.

  “You’re blushing,” Jack growled. “There must be something going on.”

  I unwrapped my legs and slid them down to the floor. Then I used my good hand to push on his chest. He took the hint and stepped back, glancing at my breasts again as they jiggled.

  “Why do you care?” I demanded, deliberately keeping my attention on his face and not the deliciousness of his body that rippled with muscles as he shrugged. “Are you jealous of Doug?”

  He shook his head. “I just want our arrangement to be exclusive.” His chin was up, and there was no disguising the arrogance in his expression. Sexual confidence be damned!

  “Is that exclusive and permanent?” I asked, trying to pretend I was used to negotiations. Trying to channel my inner Rosie, to pretend I was dealing with the big boys. Because Jack was certainly big, but he was also all man. Nothing boyish about him. And as I waited to hear his response, there was no denying that in his presence, I felt like a woman.

  The compliant girl who had tolerated Danny’s flirting and her mother’s bullying appeared to have been overtaken by some inner goddess that Jack had unleashed. Whether that was going to be a good thing or a bad thing remained to be seen. But at least I wasn’t running away from it, especially not around Jack!

  “Exclusive,” he agreed, but then there was a pause that went on too long. So he clearly wasn’t going to commit to permanent.

  It was my turn to tilt up my chin. “But only so long as it suits you?”

  “Or so long as it suits you,” he shot back. “I’m not looking for a long-term lover.”

  “Why?”

  He blinked, and I have to admit I was shocked at my own audacity. Although, I wasn’t saying I wanted to be that long-term lover. Or even that I wanted one myself. I was just asking why he didn’t want one. If we were really as compatible as he kept saying—and I kept feeling—then why not keep seeing each other. Why not even move in together? Or…

  I blinked as cold reality slapped me in the face.

  Before Jack had even responded,
I realized I didn’t want him to. Together we were wild and crazy, and orgasms just exploded. That didn’t fit with babies and children and family life. It was the stuff of sexual fantasy, or porn perhaps—not that I’d ever seen porn. But I was sure it would be all about explosive sex and no consequences.

  In the real world, however, there were consequences. What if the baby was crying and Jack was about to blow my mind? Would I tell him to wait? Or would I be so distracted by the lure of pleasure that…

  I shook my head and felt suddenly angry with myself, as if I really had left a baby crying while I’d pandered to my own sexual pleasure. The fact that Jack was probably the only man on the planet who could distract me that much, made me even angrier at myself. Instead of pushing him away, what the hell was I doing?

  He grabbed my shoulders, his expression wary now. “Why are you angry?”

  Damn my inability to hide my emotions.

  When I tried to pull away, he held me gently against the wall. “Did you think this was leading—”

  “I knew it was leading nowhere,” I spat, unable to control my emotions. “And yet still, I let myself be lured into even more pointless sex with a man who—” I stopped myself before I could say anymore.

  He let me go, and even took a step backwards. “Pointless.” He raised both dark eyebrows. “So there has to be a point to sex? Beyond pleasure?” He waited me out but I said nothing. I was too busy trying to tamp down the anger that came so effortlessly around Jack. “Because,” he added, “I stupidly imagined that pleasure was why you were here.”

  I glared at him a moment longer before I said, “I came to sign forms.”

  “You came to have sex.” I just stared at him, so he added, “Hot, hard sex against a wall. Sex that makes you forget every other man you’ve ever met. Including this Doug.”

  My anger faltered as I realized he was gritting his teeth. What the hell? “You know nothing about Doug.”