The Marriage Replay

by Maggie Cox

  So much had happened to prevent him from thinking clearly. First the problems within their marriage that he hadn’t known how to fix, then Sorrel losing the baby, and Reece being involved in the car accident and seeing Angelina get hurt, then Sorrel’s hurtful accusations about his fidelity. For a while he’d done nothing but wallow in his own misery and pain. But now his thoughts were razor-sharp. He wanted his wife back in his life for good.

  Not wanting to delay seeing her for one second more, he climbed out of the driver’s seat, slammed the door behind him and walked up to the front door of the house. There were a couple of small bicycles with stabilisers standing to the side on the gravel, along with a striped toy buggy and a bright orange football. Something about the very ordinary sight that denoted a family lived there struck Reece with forceful realisation. He was in no doubt that that was what he wanted, too…a family.

  Melody answered the door dressed in jeans and a white shirt, with a single string of white pearls round her neck. She was a pretty woman, with a fresh-faced ‘outdoorsy’ look about her, but next to Sorrel her undoubted attractiveness paled to the merely ordinary.

  ‘Hi.’

  He unleashed one of his most destroying jaw-dropping smiles, did he but know it, and for a full second Melody opened her mouth to speak and nothing came out. Then, quickly gathering herself, she frowned a little and stepped back inside the hall to let him in.

  ‘She’s in the living room. Do me a big favour, Reece? She’s worked hard to start rebuilding her life…don’t go and ruin things for her, will you?’

  Flushing a little beneath his tan, Reece nodded briefly before brushing past her and heading towards the living room.

  Still sitting amongst the children’s toys on the carpet where she’d been playing with her nephew and niece earlier, Sorrel was flicking through a pad of Daisy’s drawings when she happened to glance up and to her utter amazement and shock saw her husband standing in the doorway. Golden-tanned and golden-haired, his long legs encased in dark blue denim and wearing a fitted black sweater that could not hide the impressive musculature underneath, the sight of him stirred a heat inside Sorrel that touched to tinder would blaze into an inferno. She could hardly catch her breath for the need and longing that engulfed her.

  ‘What are you doing here? Why didn’t you phone to say you were coming?’

  ‘I wanted to see you…I can’t do that on the phone.’

  That slow melting drawl of his, along with the hotly examining glance that he swept over her face and body, made the blood in her veins all but bubble. Unsure of how to respond, Sorrel rose slowly to her feet, dusting the seat of her jeans as she straightened, then absently fingering a button on her cream blouse as she regarded Reece more closely.

  ‘I—I was going to ring you myself. We need to talk and I—’ She broke off from what she’d been going to say because her husband was studying her intently…almost as though he’d never seen her before.

  She looked like a million dollars…what had she done to herself? No other woman could make a pair of jeans look classier or more sexy than Sorrel, Reece was thinking, as every muscle he owned tightened and throbbed and his blood could think of only one direction in which to travel. But today she took both those descriptions to new heights. Not only that…but when she’d been sitting there, amongst the detritus of Will and Daisy’s toys, she’d looked like home to him—more than any place or any house or any country in the world he might visit. She was where he wanted to be…not just now, but for every single remaining day of his life.

  He shrugged and smiled. ‘I agree we need to talk, but I haven’t come to discuss divorce, if that’s what you’re thinking.’

  ‘Then what have you come for, Reece?’

  He shifted from one booted foot to the other, looking as if the words he wanted to say were frustratingly eluding him. ‘I’ve come to apologise to you for the way I’ve behaved and to ask your forgiveness.’

  ‘You have?’ Her blue eyes considered him with definite surprise.

  ‘Do I have it?’ he pressed, more quietly.

  ‘Oh, Reece, I—’

  ‘Wait…let me finish.’ He held up his hand. He had to reach deep inside himself to try and articulate what was in his heart, but articulate it he would. ‘I want you back, Sorrel. I should never have pushed you away like I did after the accident, but I was mad as hell that you’d accuse me of sleeping with Angelina when just the night before we’d spent the most amazing time together.’

  He saw her colour profusely at the recollection and her reaction gave him hope. ‘I need you. I can hardly contemplate going through another day without you. I can’t get you out of my thoughts for even a second. Don’t you know that?’

  ‘Well, I—’

  ‘I’m truly sorry, baby. I didn’t mean to be so cold when you told me you were pregnant. I didn’t really know what having a baby meant to you then, and even if you’d told me I don’t think I’d have listened. It was only after you had the miscarriage that I realised the importance of the life we had lost…the precious chance to be a family.’

  She looked stunned, her blue eyes focusing intently on him as though she couldn’t quite believe what he was saying.

  ‘And I don’t blame you for how you acted towards me after losing the baby either. I should have been more understanding, but I was impatient for your love. I was afraid you were withdrawing so much inside yourself that I’d never find you again…that soon you wouldn’t need me at all. That scared me to death, Sorrel. And now all I want you to do is to come home with me.’

  ‘Back to London, you mean?’

  ‘We have a house there, don’t we? But if you don’t like it where we are…if you want us to buy another place somewhere else…all you have to do is tell me.’

  ‘You’d be willing to do that?’

  He’d be willing to live any damn place in the world so long as she was beside him. Why wasn’t he getting through to her?

  ‘Whatever makes you happy, sweetheart. That’s all I want from now on.’

  His words brought a joyous, uninhibited smile to her beautiful lips. Light and hope went rushing through Sorrel’s bloodstream as if she’d been injected with pure golden sunshine. The sensation was making her almost delirious with happiness.

  ‘I want to make you happy, too, Reece! That’s what I wanted to talk to you about! All those things you said…I feel exactly the same way. And home isn’t an address, as far as I’m concerned…my home is wherever you are.’

  ‘You mean it? I couldn’t stand it if you were just saying that to placate me. If we’re going to make our marriage work, there has to be absolute honesty, absolute trust. Do you agree?’

  Seeing the ghost of pain still lingering there at the edges of his mouth made Sorrel yearn to go to him, to hold on tight and never let go.

  ‘I agree…with all my heart.’

  ‘Can you forgive me for being such an all-time jerk? I love you, Sorrel. You’re my life… No success I can achieve means anything to me without you to share it. The only achievement I really want is a happy, successful marriage with you. Is there any chance you might want to meet me halfway?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘What?’

  The hope that had appeared as he was speaking faded from his eyes in an instant. But Sorrel couldn’t stop herself smiling as she went towards him, her heart imbued with so much love that she was practically floating. He loved her! He really loved her!

  ‘I don’t want to meet you halfway, Reece. If we get back together I’m afraid you’ve got my one hundred per cent commitment to making this relationship work—and I want the same from you. It’s got to be all or nothing, because I just won’t settle for anything less.’

  ‘That sounds like a pretty good deal to me. I’d be a fool not to take it, don’t you think?’

  ‘You’re anything but that, Reece…and I can’t live without you either. I was so afraid when you said we’d given it our best shot and it hadn’t worked.’

&nb
sp; ‘I must have been crazy. I was mixed up and frustrated. I’ve made some wrong choices in my life, God knows, but that had to be the worst. However, now that I’ve got you back, I’m never going to let you go again.’

  Making no ceremony about pulling her hard against him, Reece tantalised her with his mouth almost unbearably, by pausing bare inches from her startled lips. Sensing his heat and desire, Sorrel was almost faint with longing, waiting for his kiss.

  ‘Is that a promise?’ she asked weakly.

  ‘On my life,’ he replied, just before his mouth touched hers….

  The stunning blonde—her silk chiffon dress clinging lovingly to her amazing body, her long slender legs tanned with the kiss of golden sun and her feet displayed in gold diamanté sandals with a killer heel—drew his attention as devastatingly as she drew the attention of every other male in the vicinity. He could sense them all practically swallow their breath as she turned from contemplating the picture above the fireplace to make an interested inventory of the rest of the stunning lobby, with its vast crystal chandeliers and exquisite furnishings.

  As her unbelievably crystal blue eyes moved casually round the room, they alighted all of a sudden on his own magnetised gaze. As his mouth turned dry as sand and his heart began to thud heavily inside his chest, she slowly and deliberately moved towards him—almost gliding, with a provocative little sway of her perfectly slender hips—and never had a woman epitomised the phrase ‘poetry in motion’ more.

  ‘I saw you looking at me.’

  Stopping in front of him, she let her eyes dip purposely, flirtatiously, then lifted them in slow, bold contemplation of what he knew must be his frankly dazzled expression.

  ‘And I liked what I saw.’

  His confession was equally bold, and, allowing his hungry gaze to linger on the sexy décolletage of her dress, he lifted the curling blond tendril that glanced against the side of her jaw and examined it, thinking that the touch of the most exquisitely perfect silk in the world could not possibly match it for sensation. He wanted her so badly that his whole body was swept up into one aching, throbbing vortex of desire and need. So transfixed was he by her beauty and the spell it cast around him that truly all his life seemed to spin right down to this one incredible moment, when the only two people who existed in the world were him and her.

  ‘I’m waiting for someone.’ Dropping her voice to an almost-whisper, she lightly brushed her hand against his hip.

  Sweet Lord, have mercy…

  ‘So am I,’ he came back, bolder now, letting his fingers wrap possessively around her small-boned wrist.

  ‘And I think I’ve just found her. Do you want to go somewhere?’

  ‘You’re staying at the hotel?’ He heard the slight catch in her voice—the delicious nuance of forbidden thrill and anticipation—and a cascade of hot little shivers imploded all the way down his spine.

  ‘I am. Will you come up to my room?’

  ‘What could possibly be so interesting up in your room?’ she teased, blue eyes like melting crystals as they danced coyly back at him.

  ‘Are you the kind of woman who likes to play with fire? Who doesn’t mind getting…hot?’

  Her quick blush told him all he needed to know. Needing no more confirmation than that, he took hold of her hand and led her to the other side of the spacious lobby, where the elevators were.

  All the air was punched from her lungs when he kissed her. Hot, sweet, dazzling sensation flowed over her and left her feeling as though her feet no longer touched the floor. She hardly knew where they were going as his strong arms propelled her with him across the darkened room.

  The long, diaphanous white curtains at the two large windows were being teased by a gentle breeze from outside, and the only illumination of any kind came from the moonlight. She was so turned on by this game they were playing that she felt as if she was melting. It had been Reece’s idea to drive straight to one of London’s most ravishing hotels and stay the night instead of going straight home. It had been his idea for them both to dress up, and for him to ‘pick her up’ in the lobby—as though they were passionate strangers who’d glimpsed each other across the lobby and couldn’t contain their wild unfettered attraction.

  Now, with each passing tension-filled moment, Sorrel could hardly wait for him to possess her again—hungrily and without restraint, like he’d done in the early days of their passionate courtship.

  ‘Take off your dress,’ he ordered, his glittering green eyes devouring her as he released her and pushed her towards the bed.

  His commanding tone of no compromise secretly thrilled her.

  ‘I thought you liked me wearing this dress?’ she teased, suddenly more shy than she would have believed possible. But right now Reece was like a sexy stranger she was discovering all over again.

  ‘I like it just fine,’ he drawled, hands on his hips. ‘But I like what’s underneath it much better.’

  Obliging him, Sorrel swept her dress up over her head, then carelessly discarded it on the brass rail of the big double bed behind her. Standing there in her lacy white underwear, with Reece’s gaze touching her everywhere, she felt sexy and feminine and loved for the first time in what seemed like years.

  ‘Now take off the rest,’ he told her, a predatory smile settling unashamedly on his fascinating lips.

  Feeling all the blood rush to her head, Sorrel silently stripped for him, then stood there looking at him for long seconds, begging him with her eyes to make love to her.

  ‘I’m cold.’ She shivered, crossing her arms in front of her chest, and silently, without preamble, Reece all but tore off his own clothes and came to her, tipping her headlong onto the bed behind them.

  When his hard strong body settled over hers, they were both too needy and excited to delay gratification a moment longer. Wrapping her long legs around his taut, hard middle, Sorrel tipped back her head and let out a long low moan as he filled her with his erection—sliding into her with one lingering, scalding stroke that sent her blood racing round her body like a blaze that burned totally out of control.

  ‘I love you,’ she whispered into his ear as he started to move rhythmically inside her. His silky hair brushed against her cheek, and the shadow that had started to form around his chiselled jaw was scratchy and slightly rough against her softer more feminine skin, but Sorrel loved every touch as though experiencing it for the very first time, and didn’t want it to stop.

  ‘I love you, too, my angel,’ Reece grated back to her, his voice warm and husky with passion and need.

  He drove into her like a man held deep in the power of some irresistible mystical enchantment, and Sorrel shuddered as her tight, hot muscles possessively claimed him, her eyes filling with helpless scalding tears that streamed down her face as she climaxed—the unbelievable intensity of forceful sensation taking her to a heavenly stratosphere never visited before and bringing her back down to earth again with dizzying slowness.

  Kissing her tears away with great tenderness, Reece moved his mouth down to her breasts, teasing and licking and suckling, until finally lifting his head as his body shuddered violently and he spilled the climax of his loving deep inside her.

  ‘We didn’t use anything.’ Her blue eyes wide and her lovely face even paler in the soft trail of moonlight that illuminated the bed from the window, Sorrel felt her breath momentarily suspended as she glanced up at Reece.

  ‘It’s no good using protection if we want to make babies, honey.’ His tone was gently mocking, but his emerald eyes couldn’t have been more serious.

  Her heart almost burst from her chest. ‘I’m not trying to make you be something that you don’t want to be, Reece,’ Sorrel assured him softly. ‘It was wrong of me to try and push you into being a father when I knew you didn’t want to be. It doesn’t matter if we don’t have babies. Children are important to me, but I wouldn’t want to lose you. I’ll go with you anywhere you want me to go, as long as we can just be together.’

  Knowing
that she meant it, Reece felt his love for this woman deepen even more than he’d thought possible. But he didn’t want Sorrel to make any more sacrifices for him. Especially not now, when he knew for certain that he wanted a family, too. He might have been injured or even killed in that car accident, and when he’d survived both catastrophes he’d figured that he must really have a guardian angel.

  Remembering back to that day in the beautiful Portuguese church, when he’d thought he’d smelled roses—his mother’s favourite perfume—Reece wondered if his mother might be that guardian angel. Considered too that she had been silently giving him her blessing and trying to give him the message that children were the most precious of gifts. He’d been spared from that accident for a reason. And Reece was now convinced that that reason was Sorrel and their future family…

  ‘Wherever you are is home to me, Sorrel…I mean it. I didn’t think about you having to spend so much time alone when I was working. And it was wrong of me to expect you to follow me around like some rootless gypsy…especially when I wasn’t prepared to listen to what you really wanted. I’m sorry, sweetheart. And you’re not making me be anything I don’t want to be. I want us to have a family together. I was honestly devastated when you lost the baby.’

  ‘Reece…’ Pulling his head down to hers, Sorrel tenderly touched her mouth to his, her heart so full she could barely find words for what she wanted to say. ‘You’re going to make the best father and husband…I just know it.’

  ‘Then let’s not waste any more time making that a reality, huh?’

  His wicked smile a mixture of angel and devil, Reece silenced anything else she might be going to say with a kiss that melted her right down to the very marrow in her bones….

  ISBN: 978-1-4592-1665-5

  THE MARRIAGE REPLAY

  Previously published in the U.K. as The Wedlocked Wife

  First North American Publication 2011