by Ella Miles
“Are you ready, Mrs. King?”
I nod. “Yes, Mr. King. The sooner we go to dinner, the sooner we can come back…” I let my hand trail down my chest, and he watches.
“Jesus, you’re mean,” he growls into my ear.
“You’re the one who insists on dinner.”
He clears his throat and then holds out his arm like a gentleman. I hook my arm through his, thankful to have his arm keeping me on my feet as I walk in heels for the first time in years. Sebastian is steady on his feet even though one is in a cast.
“You sure you don’t need your crutches?”
“I’m sure.”
Sebastian deposits the flowers in a vase he’s already prepared, and then we are walking out of the room toward dinner. The anticipation is killing me; I can’t wait until we walk back into the room after dinner.
It’s only for one night. I have to remember that, because if I don’t, I’m going to let Sebastian ruin me. I’m going to let him take my heart, and that can’t happen.
Maybe it will help me remember what happened that night. Sebastian seems to think us getting married was my idea, but if he knew my past at all, he’d know that is the last thing I would ever suggest to anyone.
We head into the empty elevator, and Sebastian hits the button for one floor up where the restaurant sits.
Nervous tension fills the small space as the doors close. Every nerve in my body is shooting off, begging to be touched, begging to go back to the hotel room and fuck. Dinner is going to be a struggle unless I get a little taste first.
“Kiss me,” I say.
He looks at me but doesn’t move.
“Please, kiss me,” I beg, my voice heady and needy.
I grab his neck, not giving him a choice, but his lips were already halfway to crashing down on mine. He tastes fresh, minty, and hot. My tongue licks over his, pulling the kiss deeper. My lust demands that he doesn’t stop with just this kiss, tempting him until he can’t resist me.
The elevator creeps up. Please, get stuck. Please. I don’t need a bed. I’m just as happy getting fucked against the wall of this elevator.
But the doors do open on the top floor. Sebastian grabs both of my cheeks, pulling my face away to end the heated kiss. I breathe hard and fast, while he seems barely phased.
“Not fair,” I whisper.
He chuckles quietly. His eyes glance down between us, and I follow his gaze until I see his hardness straining against his zipper. “Oh, Mills, I’m definitely affected. But I still want to have dinner with you first.”
I shake my head. “You’re supposed to be an asshole. I might just want to keep you as my husband, otherwise.”
“Trust me, Mills. When I’m through with you, you won’t want to keep me. But you might want more than one night with me,” he breathes on my neck before taking my arm in his and leading me off the elevator like nothing just happened.
We walk side by side to the hostess stand.
“Mr. and Mrs. King,” the hostess says without asking for our names. “I have the private room all ready for you. If you will just follow me.”
My eyebrows shoot up. “Private room?”
Sebastian kisses the back of my hand. “Only the best for my wife.”
We follow the hostess to an outdoor patio. Turns out the private room is an outdoor terrace with a small intimate table for two overlooking the ocean, romantic lights hanging overhead, and roses everywhere.
I blink back tears. “You did all of this for me?”
“I arranged it. I didn’t actually decorate the space myself. Don’t give me too much credit.”
Sebastian pulls out my chair for me and then sits across from me. I try to catch my breath. No man has ever done anything remotely this romantic for me.
“Stop,” Sebastian says with a grin. “This is all pretend, remember? Tonight we aren’t ourselves. We are pretending to be married, so go all in.”
“So you won’t be yourself later? You’ll be pretending to be good at sex, because if last time was any indication, it was very forgettable.”
He chuckles in his deep and sexy way. The way that makes my stomach do somersaults.
I look around but don’t find any menu. Our glasses are already filled with champagne.
“We’re breaking our healthy vacation rule?”
“We’re breaking all the rules tonight.”
I blush. “And what are we eating?”
“Does it matter?” His gaze is heated and electric.
Nope, it doesn’t matter at all.
My question is answered, though, as our waiter brings over some heavenly smelling bread. I don’t do carbs very often, but I’m eating everything in front of me tonight.
“Welcome, Mr. and Mrs. King. Tonight, we are doing a tasting of the chef’s menu created especially for you. Do you have any allergies or preferences I should be aware of?”
I shake my head, as does Sebastian.
“Excellent. Enjoy the bread and champagne. I’ll have another course for you soon.”
I hold up my champagne glass, and Sebastian mirrors me. “To breaking all the rules.”
The corner of his mouth lifts in approval. And then we clink our glasses together before taking a sip, not breaking eye contact.
“So what are we going to talk about on this extravagant date that just prolongs what we both want?”
Sebastian’s eyes light up. “We talk about who we wish we were.”
“What if I’m perfectly happy with who I really am?”
“You’re not. But even if you are completely content, there must be some part of you that you wish you could change. Something you’ve always wanted to try or do.”
“Astronaut,” I say immediately.
“That’s hot. I’m married to a smart astronaut.” He scrapes his teeth over his bottom lip and practically purrs at me.
“Yes, you are, and I’m about to leave on a mission soon, so we better make tonight a night to remember.”
He laughs at my role-playing. I don’t know why I said astronaut. It just sounded fun and as far away from my actual life as possible. “What about you, hubs? What’s your story?”
His jaw twitches, and then he says, “Bartender.”
I raise my brows up, and my grin stretches across my face. “Really? I chose something original, and you chose bartender?”
He shrugs and then sips his champagne. “Maybe I’m looking for something more ordinary. Or maybe I think bartenders are sexy, and you’ll find me sexy if I’m a bartender.”
“Well, you’re in luck, I do find bartenders sexy.”
Course after course comes out after that. I continue to pretend to be the nerdy astronaut, while he pretends to be the sexy bartender. Neither of us mention our real life. We keep that separate. He’s right, it’s fun to be someone else for a night under the stars with the ocean waves crashing in the distance.
But even with all the pretend, neither of us can stop thinking about what is going to happen after dessert is over. So much so, I’m starting to get second thoughts. Not about the sex, but about protecting my heart.
“I’m going to the restroom a minute,” I say after I finish my dessert. Not because I have to go, but because I need some space to think.
Sebastian nods.
While I’m standing to go into the restroom, all the lights in the hotel go out. Suddenly, I’m standing in the darkness with only the moonlight lighting the small patio.
“Sebastian?” I ask. I can no longer see him, but I feel him move close.
“Don’t think, just be.”
Then his lips find mine in the darkness, and I forget about my doubts. I forget that I shouldn’t be falling for him, and I just fall.
“Fuck me, Mr. King.”
“Oh, I plan on it, Mrs. King.”
The lights flicker back on at our declaration. Then we race to get back to our hotel room. As much as I’m okay with fucking him on the balcony or in the elevator, we both still prefer the bedroom.
23
Sebastian
I should have had us eat dinner in our hotel room. There is no way we will make it the one floor down before I devour her. Her taste is so addicting, more addicting than any drug I’ve ever taken.
I know I have to be careful with her, but I crave sex, I demand all of her.
I saw the doubt in her eyes before she got up from the table, thank goodness for the darkness to give me a chance to change her mind. If she turned me down tonight, I’d go insane. I need her more than I need oxygen. She’s my sole focus.
Millie slams against me while the elevator doors close. My ankle throbs as I’m putting too much weight on it, but I don’t care. I’d cut off my leg if it meant fucking her.
The doors open, and we keep our mouths locked, stumbling hard into the hallway wall opposite the elevator.
“Ow,” Millie groans.
I bite her bottom lip, giving her an entirely different kind of pain to complain about. I’m rewarded with the most delicious moan that runs from her lips and hits me straight in the cock. These last few days together have been torture not getting to fuck her, but now, it’s finally happening.
Millie pushes me away and then jumps into my arms, wrapping her legs around me. I grab her ass in my hands, thankful to have her in my arms. This will be so much easier to get her back to the bedroom as fast as possible so that I can have my way with her.
My ankle can barely hold my own weight, though, and her’s sets me off balance entirely. I slam her back into the wall, trying to keep us upright.
She pants against my lips. “I need you, now.”
Her words are enough to get me to fly. I don’t know if I literally fly, levitate, or teleport us to the hotel room, but somehow we make it there in record time. I rest her back against the bedroom wall, not wanting to let go of her.
“God, you are the sexiest minx I’ve ever seen,” I kiss down her face, over every ounce of caked-on makeup, as my hand rides up her thigh to grip her ass.
Our kisses are hungry and unstoppable. I kiss down her throat, begging it to make more intoxicating dirty sounds, but somehow, that gives her a second to think—a second to realize what we are doing.
“I—I can’t,” she says suddenly.
I stop kissing her neck but don’t remove my hand from her ass.
I stare at her in the eyes. I’ll honor her wish, if this is what she really wants, but I can see it’s not because she doesn’t want me. She’s terrified.
The entire time I’ve known Millie, she’s been the most confident person I know. But right now, she looks timid—like she wants to crawl into a closet and lock herself away from the world.
I think I know why, and it kills me. If she ever tells me the truth, I’m going to kill the bastard who made her feel this way.
But I’m not going to let the monster take away a moment meant to be pure ecstasy.
“Talk to me, Mills.”
She bites my lip, and I know I’m not getting another word out of her.
“Do you want to fuck me?”
“Yes,” she whispers.
“What’s stopping you?”
Again there is a flash of doubt behind her eyes. “I won’t hurt you,” I whisper.
“I know, that’s not it…”
She hugs her middle. She doesn’t think she’s enough.
Jesus, this woman is more than enough. She’s more magnificent than any woman I’ve ever seen. She risked her life to help me. She took me on the craziest adventures. She got me to marry her somehow that night. I have no doubt that it was her that caused us to be husband and wife. At first, I wanted to yell at her for it. But now, I’m beyond thankful to her.
If she doesn’t want to fuck me, then fine. But I refuse to let her think less of herself. I refuse to let whatever haunting words another man has said to her play in her head while I do nothing. If I do anything, I’m going to ensure that my words replace his.
Thunder rolls overhead, and I hear the pitter-patter of the rain pick up again. It had stopped momentarily during our dinner but must have started again. This time I don’t curse the rain. I welcome it.
I tighten my grip on her ass. “Hold on.”
I walk determinedly outside with her still in my arms.
“Sebastian! What are you doing?” she squeals as I throw the door to our balcony open, the rain immediately pelting us with its heavy drops. It won’t take long until we are soaked—perfect.
“Sebastian!” She pounds her fists against my chest, trying to get me to let her go so she can escape the drumming rain.
I’m determined, though. Nothing is going to make me let her go, not until she understands something. I’m more determined to make her see the truth than I am to fuck her, which is the absolute opposite of how I should feel. I shouldn’t be emotional about my fake wife.
Another crack of thunder sparks overhead, and I push those thoughts out and focus on my goal.
“Will you stop squirming?” I say.
“Will you get us back inside before we add getting hypothermia or struck by lightning to the list of things that have gone wrong on this trip?”
I smirk. “The odds of us getting struck by lightning are like a million to one.”
She shakes her head, trying harder to get out of my arms. “No, not if you are outside on a high balcony during a thunderstorm. The odds are like one in ten.”
I laugh. “Stop fighting me, and I’ll tell you why we are out here. Only then will I let us go back inside.”
She stops squirming and hitting me. I walk us over to one of the lounge chairs. I sit down with her straddling my lap, and then I take the sleeve of my shirt and wipe over her eyes.
“Stop! You’re going to get my makeup all over you.”
My eyes slice through the rain to her, telling her to stop fighting me.
She does.
I keep wiping until all the makeup is gone from her face. “You don’t need this. You’re the most gorgeous woman without it. You don’t need to hide behind it.”
I grab her ankles and remove each of her heels. “Just like you don’t need these.”
She sucks in a breath as I grab the back of her dress. “And you don’t need this dress.” I rip it open at the back but don’t remove it. My point is made.
“Do you feel my cock?” I ask, knowing that she can feel how hard I am for her as she straddles my lap.
She nods her head slowly, heat flowing through her body, making her cheeks flush. I’m sure her panties are soaked, and not from the rain. But I won’t push us any further than this unless she wants to, even if she gives me the biggest case of blue balls that have ever been recorded.
Her hands curl around the back of my neck, stroking my hair between her fingertips.
“You’re smart and sexy and adventurous,” I say.
She breathes in all of my words, considering them.
“Let go of all the words that hurt you. Let go of the past and just be present with me now.”
She exhales sharply.
“You are the most confident person I’ve ever met. Don’t let go of that version of you. That part of you isn’t pretend, no matter how much you think it is. I’ve seen the confident, brave woman. The woman who risked getting stung by a deadly bee to help me. That woman isn’t afraid of anything.”
She bites her lip, and I think I’ve gotten through to her, even though I suspect I’ve ruined the mood. Fucking in the rain isn’t nearly as sexy as it is in the movies. In real life, it’s wet and cold and uncomfortable.
Her hands leave my body, and then she grabs the straps of her dress and slides them off her shoulders. Then her hands push the rest of the fabric down until it’s bunched at her waist.
I can’t breathe. My mouth falls open, and rain drips down my face blurring my view of her fucking incredible body.
“Fuck me, Sebastian.”
24
Millie
Sebastian King is a player. I know that. I know that he knows how to feed m
e lines to get me into bed.
But when he spoke, it didn’t feel like a line. It felt like the truth. Maybe I’m naive, but I want to fuck him. I want this. I want to feel like his queen, if only for one night. So I push all my doubts and insecurities out of my head, and I let the confident, smart-aleck Millie take over.
“Fuck me, Sebastian. And this time, make sure I remember.” I nip at his earlobe as I elicit a deep throaty growl in response to my demand.
I expect that he’s going to take me here in the rain. I shiver, though.
“Oh, I will. But first, I need to warm you up.”
He scoops me back in his arms, somehow not missing a step even though he’s walking on a cast. A cast he wasn’t supposed to get wet—oops.
He devours my mouth again as he carries me back inside. I’ve never felt this beautiful, this wanted. I don’t know how Sebastian was able to read between the lines. How was he able to figure out that I’m not this confident woman when it comes to men? Somehow, he did exactly what I needed.
He tosses me down on the bed and then walks calmly into the bathroom. I stare at his soaked ass and shirt clinging to his back as he walks. When he returns, his shirt is off. Water droplets cling to his sharp chest, and he has two towels draped over his shoulder.
I reach out to take one from him, but he shakes his head. I lay back in anticipation as he uses one of the towels to wipe the water from my face, then down my neck. I suck in a breath when he rubs the towel over my bra, my nipples hardening, wishing there was less fabric between us. I never realized that a man taking care of me like this is the sexiest thing a man has ever done for me.
I’m in heaven as he continues down my body, over my underwear, and then down my legs. My mouth runs dry as he finishes, then steps back and dries off his chest while never breaking eye contact.
I’m practically naked in front of him, in my bra and panties with my dress around my waist. I’ve flaunted my naked body in front of him before, but I’ve never felt this exposed. He sees beyond my flesh. He knows my fears and anxieties without me speaking them. I don’t know how but him trying to take care of me makes this experience all the more incredible.
