by M. S. Parker
It was nice.
“Every two years. And that’s about five years too often.” Grinning, I reached up to run my hand through his hair.
He caught my hand. “That math doesn’t add up.”
“I know. It’s not that I don’t love my family, but they’re not the easiest people to be around en masse.”
“Why not?” he asked, rubbing his thumb over my inner wrist.
I bit my lip, considering how to answer. He watched me, not pushing, not judging, and I answered as honestly as I could. “Have you ever had anybody who expected certain things of you? I mean like all the time?”
He started to shake his head, then stopped and shrugged. “In a way. I don’t think it’s quite the same thing you’re putting up with.” He kissed my hand. “But I think I get it. It can be exhausting.”
“You nailed it.” I curled in closer to him, enjoying his warmth. “Thank you. I know you don’t want to hear it, but thanks for helping me.”
“I’ve already told you, I should be thanking you. The money…well, I need it, so you're helping me.” As he spoke, a dull flush rose to stain his cheeks, and the tips of his ears turned red. It was oddly charming.
“Family stuff?”
He gave me a lopsided grin, but offered no real answer. His eyes shifted away, distancing himself even if his body stayed close.
Understanding the need for privacy, I rested my head on his shoulder so he didn't have to feel like he was avoiding looking at me.
“You know, twenty-four hours ago, I was brooding and pissed off. I had no idea I was going to be doing this today. I had no idea I would be meeting you.” I laughed a little. “All in all, I’m pretty pleased with how the day is going. Granted, last night…” I exhaled a long breath. “My mind is still kind of blown. I wish I could remember everything that happened.”
“According to Astra, we got hitched.” He said it in a tone dry enough to make me laugh again.
“That’s not what I meant.” I nudged him. “Well, not entirely. I’m talking about…” Now was my turn to blush and avoid his gaze. “I mean, last night. We slept together, but I don’t remember anything. Considering how amazing what we just did was, I sort of wish I could.”
He cleared his throat. “I kinda have an answer about that I think.”
I pushed up and turned around, facing him. “What do you mean? You know what happened?” He wouldn’t meet my eyes directly, and he didn’t answer right away, so I prodded him, poking him in the side. He flinched a bit, and I tucked that into the back of my head. Ticklish… “Come on, tell me.”
Kaleb sat up, scooting until his back was against the headboard. “I don’t think anything happened.”
“But this morning…” I stared at him. “There was a condom wrapper on the nightstand, and you were…” I cleared my throat. “You had a condom on.”
“Yeah, about that.” He flushed bright red. “It…ah…well, it wasn’t used.”
“But…” I couldn't think of a single response to that.
“Maybe we were just both too drunk. I don’t know.”
Baffled – and oddly disappointed – I stared at him for the longest time, uncertain of what I wanted to say. I couldn’t think of a single thing, although there were a hundred stops and starts inside my head.
“Mystery solved, right?”
“Yeah.” I managed a weak smile. “Mystery solved.” I leaned against him and snuggled in closer, tucking my head into the hollow between his neck and shoulder.
His arm came around me, and it fit – we fit. We felt…perfect together.
Why did I feel so disappointed that we hadn't had sex last night? I didn’t understand it, but there was this strange hollow feeling inside me.
“Are you okay?” Kaleb stroked his hand up and down my back.
“Oh, I’m fine. Just thinking.” I was careful not to let my voice reveal anything. I’d become all too good at that. That was a skill you picked up early, being a politician’s daughter. Certain things, a girl just didn’t let show.
From where my head rested against his chest, I could feel the steady beat of his heart, and it was oddly soothing, comforting. My hand was on his stomach, moving up and down with each breath, and in that moment, it made a deep, gurgling noise. With a little laugh, I straightened. Before I could tease him about it, my belly rumbled in agreement. “I guess we should get around to ordering that pizza. What do you think?”
“Sounds like a plan.”
I kicked my legs over the edge of the bed and grabbed the first thing that came to hand. It happened to be his t-shirt, but I pulled it on without a second thought. It came to mid-thigh, and the scent of him wrapping around my body made me shiver a little.
“Hey.” His voice had a low sexy rumble to it that made my pussy throb.
I glanced back at him.
“Did I say you could borrow that?” The glint in his eye said he was teasing me.
Two could play at that came.
“Well…” I reached for the hem.
“Don’t.” He groaned and looked away. “Keep it on or we’ll never eat, and I’m starving.”
I laughed and blew him a kiss. As I moved over to the phone, though, I could feel his eyes on me, and when I glanced back at him, he was watching me with heavy-lidded eyes.
Heat swept through me, and I averted my gaze as a voice came on the line. By the time I finished ordering the food, I could hear water coming on in the bathroom, and I thought about joining him. We had half an hour.
Might as well enjoy the time…and it would conserve water too.
Between the two of us, we pretty much demolished an entire extra-large pie and several beers.
Now, belly full and pleasantly buzzed, I stretched back out on the bed, studying him.
“I’ve been thinking,” I announced. He'd pulled a pair of jeans on after we'd gotten out of the shower, and while I was kind of sorry to see him wearing any kind of clothing, at the same time, it'd been a good idea. When he was all naked and beautiful in front of me, I lost track of important things…like breathing.
He glanced at me over his shoulder, a golden brow arched. “Just what have you been thinking about, Miss Piety?”
“I’ve been thinking…” I said slowly. I rolled to my hands and knees and crawled to the edge of the bed as I grinned at him. “That you and I need to be able to convince my parents and the rest of my family that we're comfortable together, that we fell head over heels in love…or at least in lust with each other.”
“Well, that is what you’re paying me for,” he said, turning to face me. Eyes locked on mine, he reached out and traced a bold finger down my cheek, my collarbone, then dropped his hand down to cup my breast through his shirt. “Are you saying I haven’t I done a good job of proving there’s a fair amount of lust on my side?”
I was having a difficult time concentrating as his thumb moved across my nipple. “I think…it’s safe to say there’s a fair amount of lust on both sides.”
He lightly pinched my nipple and I moaned, fighting the urge to wrap myself around him and tell him to just do me.
It took a supreme effort of will to continue.
“We have to convince them. We should…” I cleared my throat, heat rushing up to stain my cheeks red as he dipped his head and raked his teeth down my neck. He'd already left one mark, but I wanted him to leave another. But first I had to finish my thought. “We should be comfortable together.”
He pushed his knee between mine as he wrapped his hand around the back of my neck. “I don’t feel comfortable right now. Maybe after I’ve had you wrapped around my cock for a little while longer, after I’ve made you scream my name and I've emptied myself inside you…then I’ll be comfortable.”
Fuck me. Every cell in my entire body was practically vibrating.
“That’s not what I…meant.”
He grinned down at me, ice-blue eyes blazing hot. “What did you mean?”
“We should start sleeping together.”
/>
“Haven’t we done that?” He caught the hem of my shirt – his t-shirt – and started to drag it up, letting his fingertips trail across my skin as he went. “Let me refresh your memory.”
“Again, not what I meant.” But I wasn’t going to complain. Not when I could still feel what it was like to have him inside me
“Oh.” He let the shirt go. “You meant…share your bed.”
“Yes.”
He looked thoughtful.
My body burned as I waited.
Then he nodded. “I’m fine with that.”
He turned away from me and my stomach dropped.
“Wait! What are you…?”
He looked back at me. “We’re sleeping together, right? I’m tired, so I'm going to get ready for bed.”
“But…” Glaring at him, I folded my arms over my chest, knowing my nipples would be clearly visible.
He slowly shifted back around to face me, his gaze flicking down and then back up. “Is there a problem?”
“You started something. Aren’t you going to finish it?”
He came toward me, a loose-limbed prowling gait that was unbearably sexy. “So…sex and sleeping together. This is getting complicated, Piety.”
There was a teasing glint in his eye, though, one that made me want to smile, want to tease.
Smoothing my hand down the front of my borrowed shirt, I hitched up a shoulder. “Not so complicated. Don't you need to get your shirt back so you can pack it? Be ready for tomorrow.”
He caught my hips, and the feel of his rough hands against my smooth skin sent a shiver through me.
“You sound like you’re a big believer in being prepared.”
He said the words against my lips.
Before I could respond, he was kissing me.
No…no, I really wasn’t a big believer in being prepared. I just would've said anything to get him to touch me again. What did it matter anyway? No amount of preparation could have ever gotten me ready for him.
9
Kaleb
Waking up felt strange.
For a minute, I didn’t entirely understand why.
I lay there a few more minutes, trying to process. That didn’t take too long, but even after I’d figured out why things felt different, I didn’t move.
If I did that, it might break the spell.
It had been years since I’d woken up with a woman.
I couldn’t really count yesterday. We’d been hung over and irritated, and I’d been in a stupor for several minutes even after Piety had rolled out of the bed.
This though…
This.
It had been years since I’d had this.
I hadn’t realized I’d missed it. There’d been no time for a relationship, not really. Even the few I’d had when I was younger…hell. Nothing had felt as easy and right as this.
That in and of itself was just insane, because this wasn’t real.
Piety was paying me.
Not to sleep with her, but she was paying me money to stay with her, and if it hadn't been for the money, I wouldn’t have been around for any of this. And that bothered me more than I wanted to admit.
I couldn’t lose sight of the reason I was doing this. I couldn’t afford to. And I couldn’t afford to have feelings for this woman, even though it would be damn easy to have feelings for her. She was…funny. Sweet, but in a subtle way. There was a sharp, sarcastic side to her that hid that softness. I liked all of it, and suspected the more I was around her, the more I’d like it. Like her.
Which meant if I was smart, I’d get away and stay away.
Rising from the bed, I moved over to the window and stared outside. Under my feet, the carpet was plush and thick, feeling as foreign to me as the rest of the room, as strange and different as the woman lying on the bed behind me.
I didn’t fit in here.
Brooding, I looked back at Piety, but that only made me want to climb back into bed with her.
The temptation was so strong, I jerked my gaze away and headed for the small pile of clothes at the end of the bed. Grabbing my jeans, I headed for the bathroom.
I didn’t bother putting them on until the door was closed behind me. Once I was lost in the relative privacy, I checked my phone to see if there had been any calls.
No.
Not that too many people would call.
But Camry should have.
But, of course she hadn’t. I squeezed my phone around the casing, hard enough that the plastic cracked a little. Then, slowly, I lowered it and punched in her number. She didn’t answer. Big surprise.
I waited till the voicemail started and once it beeped, I left a message.
“Hey, Camry. It’s me. Listen…something’s come up, and I’ve got to leave the city for a little bit. When I get back, I’ll have money. I’ll have everything I need to make all of this right again. It’s going to be okay.”
Make it right again…
I wanted to laugh at my own stupidity.
Instead, I disconnected the call and shoved my phone in the pocket of my jeans.
How could I make things right? How could I possibly hope to do that?
Frustrated, I wrenched the door open, half thinking I’d go for a walk or something.
And I came to a dead stop at the sight of Piety lying stretched across the bed, taking up two-thirds of it. She had the sheets wrapped and twisted around her, her face turned toward me, a faint smile on her lips.
The sight of her was like a blow straight to my chest, and without thinking – without letting myself think – I went to her and laid down, curling around her. I tucked my face against her hair and breathed in the scent of her.
In a few days, a few weeks, this would be over.
I’d go back to my life.
She’d go back to hers.
She’d probably forget this whole interlude. All she wanted was for her parents to get the idea that she was her own person. She was a grown woman. A fact that the body pressed to mine made abundantly clear.
Me, though…I’d go back to my life and do what? Do what I'd been doing for years?
This was my escape. My escape, brief as it was. I was doing what I needed to do, yeah. I couldn’t deny that. But I wanted to do it. I hadn’t wanted to walk away from Piety yet. From the moment I’d first seen her, I'd wanted her. And then I'd wanted to know her.
When it was all over, I’d go back to a life I was just now recognizing as completely empty.
Yes, I was going to try to fix things with Camry.
How could I not?
But nothing was going to be okay.
Things hadn’t been okay in a long time.
So I might as well enjoy this for as long as it lasts.
Piety made a low, humming sound and stretched.
I slid my hand down her hip, and she covered it with her own. The cool metal of the new ring she’d bought brushed against the matching ring I now wore. She’d insisted on it – her parents would never buy that she’d gotten married without an appropriate ring – for both of us.
It hadn't felt right letting a woman buy something so…personal for me.
But when she’d grinned at me so playfully, then slid it on my finger, I realized how personal things between us already felt. She’d told me that once this was done, I could keep the ring – sell it or do whatever.
I would keep it. I already knew that. Even after we annulled this farce of a marriage, I’d keep it. A little piece of her.
She stretched again, wiggling her ass against my cock. I closed my eyes as blood rushed south. When she did it again, I realized she was holding her breath a little. Little minx.
“Something tells me you’re doing that on purpose.”
She broke out in a laugh. “It took you long enough.” She did it again.
I rolled onto my knees, dragging her along so that her back was flush against me. She gasped as I slid a hand around and down, pushing my fingers between her thighs. She was already wet, the
slick heat making my cock even harder. She moaned as I rubbed my fingers against her clit until she swore. Her head fell back against my shoulder as she rode my hand, rocking back against my cock, until I thought I just might embarrass myself.
“Come for me, sweetheart,” I spoke through gritted teeth just before I pressed against that little bundle of nerves. She cried out, her body jerking as she came.
Damn, she was beautiful like that.
I eased her down onto the bed before I eased away and tore open one of the last remaining condoms on the nightstand. We’d need more. Had to remember that. No matter how much I loved the idea of sliding into her bare. I would do at least one thing smart here.
I rolled the condom down, as I trailed my eyes up along the curve of her spine. As I watched, she lifted up on her hands and knees, threw her hair back, and turned her head to smile at me over her shoulder.
It was a sweet, wicked little grin that made my heart flip over and my stomach clench.
Groaning, I grabbed her hip with one hand and held her steady, wrapping my other hand around my cock. “I think you want to drive me mad.”
“No, I just want you.”
Such simple words, but the things they made me feel...
Swearing, I buried myself balls-deep inside her pussy with one thrust. We both cried out, our voices mixing together even as our bodies joined. I gave us both a moment to gain control before I started to draw back. She clamped down tighter around me, like she was trying to keep me trapped inside her. I wouldn’t mind staying like this, wrapped inside her, where I belonged.
My balls went tight as I eased back, then slid forward. Slowly at first, then building in speed, I drove into her. Each time, she tightened around me, friction and pressure forcing me higher. I could feel my orgasm coiling in my stomach, fighting to break free. But I wasn't going to give in, not until she came first.
Bracing my hands against her hips, I bent over her, sweat blooming on my skin, need knotting in my gut. I slid one hand under her and rolled her nipple between my fingers. She moaned and arched her back.
“Touch yourself,” I ordered. “Rub your clit and come for me again. Let me feel that hot little pussy of yours squeeze me.”
