His Indecent Proposal (8 page)

David felt the tight clasp of her body and
the sweet electric heat of her hot, wet skin clamping down on him
made him shake. She was warm and soft in his arms, and for now,
just the intense relief of being inside her was enough. His brain
took a walk, and his body and emotions took over. He lifted her
hips and forcibly made her take a stroke on him. And then
another.

By the fourth stroke, she took over and his
hands left her hips and sank into her hair, pulling her face to
his, his mouth finding hers. He kissed her softly, trying to give
her the same kind of gentle movements she was taking with her
hips.

Lifting his mouth, his eyes were on hers when
she slowly opened them. He watched her intently and held her face
in his palms. "You're mine. Nobody can have you but me."

Jenna's mind and body splintered at the
possessive tone. His eyes held hers, and it was enough to push her
over the edge into oblivion. Her body tightened on his, her muscles
clamping down and contracting on him, and all she remembered when
she collapsed against him was the primal sound that vibrated from
his chest as he spilled into her.

****

Late the next morning, Jenna came from the
bedroom, showered and dressed. She felt slightly more human after a
good night's rest. She was surprised she had gotten any sleep at
all, but didn't waste time thinking of her good fortune. Her nerves
were a mess. She had to talk to him.

She found him in his study, through an open
door that led from the living area. He was concentrating on the
laptop in front of him, a cup of coffee by his side.

She stood in the doorway a moment until he
looked up. A subtle difference changed his features when he saw
her. A small coil of helplessness ran through her system. A feeling
of not being in control of her person, her body or her own free
will.

"Good, you're up. You must be hungry." He
stood and walked toward her, stopping in front of her and sinking
his hand into her scalp. A quiver of heat ran through her. He
lifted her face and put a gentle kiss on her lips.

"You smell good." His voice was deep as his
mouth moved to her ear and she could feel him breathing in her
scent. Serious doubt took hold of her. She could try, but she knew
she wouldn't be able to fight against his possession. She would be
fighting herself. His power over her was insidious, already
addicting.

A soft sigh escaped her.

"Why the sigh, baby?"

She looked up into his strong, dominating
face. The truth came from her lips. "Because I know you're going to
win this fight. You're not going to let me out of this, no matter
how much I argue." She watched her words hit him. "Even though I
made a stupid, foolish mistake, you think you own me already."

His hand in her scalp clenched tight around
her skull and his other hand captured hers and lifted it high above
her head and pressed it against the door frame, trapping her. His
eyes devoured hers. "You got the first part right. You're not going
to win, so there won't be a fight.
You're my
wife
,"
his voice hissed out. His erection pushed into her stomach. "But
haven't you figured it out yet? You've
owned me
since the
first day you walked into the office."

A small gasp escaped her. Her lashes flew up
and her eyes opened wide on his, her skin softening with a
delicate, pink flush, as her heart hammered from his
disclosure.

He leaned in and kissed her, his tongue
penetrating her lips and swirling around hers. He lifted his head,
studied her trembling lips and slowly released her from his death
grip. Retaining one soft, white hand in his, he led her from the
room. "Let's get you some food so we can get you moved in
here."

Jenna sank back on her heels as she knelt in
the huge, walk-in closet in the master bedroom. It had been a long,
tedious day. She put the last pair of her shoes on the shelf and
slowly looked around. His clothes were all around her. Suits, dress
shirts, jeans. All lined up and in precise order. There was nothing
out of place. By comparison, her clothes now hung in one small area
of the closet, taking up a tenth of the space of his. Her apparel
was here now, in his closet, by his command.

The day was almost over. Everything she owned
was in his house now, moved from the basement of the brownstone
where she had been living. Her stomach tightened.

She had made another attempt at breakfast to
tell him she thought they had made a hasty mistake. He had squashed
her attempt at communicating and hustled her out the door and into
his vehicle in the blink of an eye.

Jenna heard a noise at the door leading into
the bedroom and looked up from the incongruous sight of her shoes
lined up next to his.

David stood in the doorway watching her. He
casually lifted his hand and motioned for her. "You finished here,
baby? I want to talk to you."

Jenna lifted herself from the floor with an
unconsciously graceful movement and turned toward him. He was
watching her with a penetrating stare and her footsteps stalled. He
reached out, took her hand, and led her into the bedroom where he
motioned for her to sit in one of two armchairs that sat in an
alcove of the room.

She quietly sat and tried to control the
turmoil racing through her. Her outward appearance was calm, demure
even, but inwardly, she was a mess. She folded her hands in her lap
and raised her eyes to his.

"I don't want you to go to work tomorrow.
Your job is finished."

Jenna continued to sit silently and watch
him. So this was it. She hadn't expected it quite this soon. She
knew he was going to make her quit,
but to not even let her go
in another day and say goodbye. . .

He continued. "I don't want you put in a
position where you have to answer questions. You'd get a million of
them, and it would be constant. I'm trying to protect you, baby.
You're so sweet and honest." Jenna felt an arrow of guilt slide
through her as she listened to his speech. "I can tell you have a
problem with lying, and that's as it should be, but in this
instance a small amount of fabrication can't be helped. I'll be
better at it than you. I'll handle it."

Jenna waited for the pulse of three
heartbeats. "I'm not taking the money."

There was a silence in the room and then he
spoke, scowling. "Jenna--"

She cut him off. "No. I'm not taking the
money. I made a mistake and now I have to live with it." She
paused. "
For awhile
. I married you. I get that. Stupid of
me, I know. I'll stay and live up to my side of the agreement about
making this look like a real marriage.
But I do not have to
and
I will not take your money."
Her heart hammered and
her body trembled as she waited for his reaction.

David stood over her, watching the mutinous
lines of her body.
For awhile?
She wanted to throw that in
his face again? Not even two days married, and she couldn't wait to
get away from him. Bullshit. She wanted to issue him fucking
ultimatums? He had one for her. "If you don't take the money, you
negate the two year clause in the contract. That's fine with me.
But you won't get a quick divorce, baby. I'll contest it and you'll
be stuck with me for a long, long time. Your choice."

"Wh-why?" Her voice shook.

"Why do you think?" He punched the words
out.

"I d-don't know."

He didn't answer her. He didn't respond in
any way, only continued to watch her.

Jenna felt his burning look boring into her.
His scowl deepened and his shoulders squared as sexual heat and
aggression radiated from him. His hands clenched into fists as he
tried to maintain control.

Jenna bit her lip and tried again. "Are you
saying you want the marriage to last longer?"

"That's fine."

"What does that mean?"

"It means I'm sick of you saying that you're
ready to leave. To quit before we even get started. I'm tired of
hearing you say you want out, that you don't want to stay
married."

"David, we don't even know each other. I'm
only trying to be sensible. How can this work?"

"How can it work when we're already planning
a divorce?"

"Are you saying you want to make it work?
Like forever?"

"I'm saying I don't want to keep hearing you
throw it in my face every two seconds that it's short-term. That
all you want to do is get out of it and go find some fucker to
sleep with."

Shock hit her full in the face. "I didn't say
that. I'm not--I'm not even thinking of sleeping with anyone
else--"

"That's good.
Because you're not
."

He held himself rigidly, braced for more
confrontation.

"Then you're talking about monogamy?"

"I told you that before this started, Jenna.
You knew that's what I had in mind."

She shook her head, clearly trying to
understand. "I'm trying to wrap my head around this. You're okay
with me not taking the payment as long as I agree to longer
terms?"

He slashed his hand through his hair in
aggravation. "
No
fucking terms!"

Jenna sucked in a breath, shock coursing
through her. "David, we spoke for the first time not even a week
ago. You bribed me into a marriage for your convenience, a
short-term deal, and now you're saying all bets are off?" She came
to her feet on legs that trembled. "What's changed?"

"Nothing's changed." His eyes ran over her
length. "It's the same fucking way it's been for the last six
months, only worse."

Jenna slowly scooted around him toward the
door. "You want a real marriage." Her words were a softly spoken
accusation.

He glared at her as she sidled toward the
door. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Nowhere far. Calm down. I'm going to have a
bath and think." They stared at each other, electric currents
passing between them. He took a step toward her.

"Jenna, I--"

"Later, David. We'll talk later." She fled
the room.

****

Jenna came down the steps an hour later half
expecting him to be in the chair waiting for her. He wasn't. It was
late, they had eaten supper long before. All she wanted was to curl
up in bed and go to sleep. She wanted a bed to herself, but she
knew that wouldn't be acceptable to him. Besides,
don't lie to
yourself
, she really wanted to sleep in his arms.

She saw a soft light glowing from his office
and decided to try to get to sleep before he came to bed. She
walked through to the master bedroom. She was already in her
nightgown, and she slipped into bed. The sheets were cool to the
touch and she laid her head down on the pillow, wrapping her arms
around it.

Her thoughts raced.
He wanted a real
marriage
. Why?

The bathroom light clicked on and the shower
started running. Ten minutes later, he dropped the towel from his
hips and let it fall to the floor. Her stomach muscles clenched in
anticipation, and he crawled into the big bed and took her in his
arms. Holding her in the circle of his embrace, his chest cradling
her back, she felt him softly kiss her hair in the darkness.

"You awake, baby?"

"Yes," she whispered.

He kissed her hair again and took a deep
breath. "I want you without a contract. I want you without an
exchange of money, without a deadline on the marriage. I want you
to want that, too."

She turned over in his arms to face him.
Emotion pulsed from his body into hers. The look on his face was
conflicted. Tenderness coursed through her. "Okay." Her answer was
simple.

His grip tightened. "Thank you."

"D-David?" Her voice was hesitant. "Was
it--was it all subterfuge? Is there really a reason you need a wife
for office politics?"

He sighed. His fingers slid from her back and
lifted her nightgown to her waist and caressed her silky hip. "I'll
tell you, but first I want to know something. Are you my wife? Or
are you the girl from the accounting department?"

His touch was doing crazy things to her heart
rate. "I'm your wife."

His hand stilled a moment and then clenched
even tighter. "Craig thought a wife would help me attain the
presidency when my uncle steps down. It was his idea and I was
humoring him. I'm not worried about it. When the time comes, the
job will be mine, wife or no wife."

She wiggled against him as his hand swirled
to her upper thigh and back over her hip. "But you told me--"

"It was an excuse, baby." He lifted her thigh
and draped it over his waist, running his hand up and over the silk
of her panties. She sucked in her breath.

"He was arguing with me about it, and
suddenly there you were, popping up and offering to make my wet
dreams come true." He slid her panties off her hips and pushed them
down her legs and off completely.

His finger slid to her sweet spot and pressed
softly against her, teasing her. His voice dropped an octave. "By
that time I'd have done anything to get in your panties." His
finger moved down to her tight opening and her wet heat almost
unmanned him. He slipped his finger inside. "Seeing you, day after
day, and not being able to touch you, or talk to you." He
manipulated his finger inside her, rubbing the top wall of her
vagina, swirling in a pattern that had her undulating against him.
"You were driving me crazy, baby. I couldn't date you, couldn't ask
you out, couldn't fucking touch you." His head reached down and he
put his mouth on her nipple through her nightgown. The fabric
became wet immediately where he tried to get to her soft skin.

He lifted his head and pressed his lips to
her ear. "I wanted you so fucking bad and every time I saw you
there was fear in your eyes. I scared you shitless and there was no
damn way I could make a move on you."