Authors: Opal Carew
She rested her head against his shoulder as they moved to the music. It was like floating … him guiding her through the air as if on a cloud.
Oh, God, she’d had too much champagne and was light-headed.
She relaxed against him, deciding not to fight it. Letting her cares drift away.
She could feel him breathe. The rise and fall of his chest. The gentle rush of air across her temple.
She sighed and melted against him. Caught up in his closeness. In his touch.
The desire—so long suppressed—came rushing through her.
Baby, isn’t that the way that love’s supposed to be.
She sighed. She wanted him like she’d never wanted another man.
…
all the walls come tumbling down.
She wanted to love him. To really be his wife.
She nuzzled his neck, dragging her teeth along the light shadow of bristles on his jaw. He tucked his finger under her chin and tipped up her head. Then his lips met hers. They continued moving to the music, his mouth coaxing hers, as the song washed through her, inciting a mélange of emotions.
She started to unbutton his shirt, running her fingers down the smooth skin of his chest as the shirt parted. He tugged off his tie and tossed it aside as her fingers continued their journey.
She pressed her lips to the pulse point at the base of his neck, feeling the blood pumping through him. Feeling it quicken. She pushed his shirt off his shoulders, and drew it down his arms until it fell to the floor.
He untied her dress, his trailing fingertips gliding along the bare skin of her stomach, and she drew the sleeves down her arms and let the garment slip away.
Now she stood before him in her bra and panties, and the garter belt and stockings he’d given her. She wished she’d worn something white and lacy that would look nice with the lacy white garter belt—something more bridal. But he didn’t seem to mind, gazing at her lavender bra and panties hungrily.
“Maybe I should go put on what you have in the box.”
“No.” He stroked her shoulder, gliding the strap of her bra to one side. “I like you just the way you are.” Then he scooped her up and carried her to the bedroom.
Candles filled that room, too, and the bed was already turned down, so he set her on the pristine white sheets. He stepped back and unfastened his pants, then let them drop to the floor. A second later, his boxers were gone, too.
She gazed at his towering erection, her insides quivering.
She wanted him. Oh, God, it was a desperate ache deep inside her that threatened to tear her apart if she didn’t satisfy it.
She reached out her hand. “Come here. Please.”
He stepped closer and she wrapped her hand around his pulsing shaft as soon as he was within reach. He sat on the bed beside her as she stroked his cock, the soft flesh gliding over the hard column beneath. He unfastened her bra and slipped it away as she stared at his erection, loving the feel of it, thick and hard within her grasp.
She slid to the floor and knelt in front of him. He stroked her breast, enveloping it in his hand as she nuzzled the tip of him. Pleasure quivered through her at his touch.
She’d missed this. Her hand stroked his length. She’d dreamed of doing this so many times.
He stroked back her hair as she wrapped her lips around his cockhead and enveloped him in her mouth. Her tongue flickered under the crown … teasing … then she swirled over the tip in circles.
“Oh, sweetheart.”
She loved the need in his voice. She stroked him with her hand as she sucked, then glided deeper. She tucked her other hand beneath his balls and stroked them gently. She sucked harder, and then glided up and down his shaft, loving the feel of it twitching … the sound of his soft groan.
She slid off his tip, continuing to pump his cock with her hand.
“Do you want me, Kane?”
His fingers glided through her hair, then tucked around her head.
“Fuck, yes, sweetheart.”
His words thrilled her.
She stuffed his cockhead in her mouth again and sucked deeply, caressing his balls at the same time.
“Show me. Come in my mouth right now.”
She pushed him back between her lips, stroking his shaft quickly. At the same time, she tweaked one of her nipples, and kept toying with it as he watched her, his eyes the color of midnight.
Then he sucked in a breath and she felt it, the semen pulsing through his shaft, then flooding into her mouth. She sucked and squeezed him, urging him on. He groaned, the flow continuing for another few seconds, and then his hand loosened on her head.
“Oh, God, baby. That was something.”
He drew her onto his lap and took her lips, the passion of his kiss stunning her. His tongue swept into her mouth and she met it eagerly.
He turned and laid her on the bed then kissed down her neck and nuzzled that place right at the base that drove her wild. She glided her fingers through his thick wavy hair, her pulse racing. Then he continued down her shoulder. His hand glided over her breast, then his lips found her swollen, tingling nipple and he took it in his mouth. When he suckled, she moaned, pulling him tighter against her.
He chuckled then his lips danced lightly down her stomach. When he settled between her thighs, leaning on his elbows and gazing up at her, her stomach fluttered in anticipation. He stroked a fingertip along the top edge of her lavender lace panties. Playfully, he dipped a finger underneath and lifted the elastic, then peered inside.
He glided the panties down, slowly revealing her intimate flesh. He flicked them down her legs and dropped them on the floor, then pressed her knees wider apart.
“Your pussy looks so damn sweet.” He smiled at her. “It’s a little different than I remember it.”
She flushed as she remembered she had been au naturel when they’d been together last.
He dragged a finger along the naked folds and she trembled in delight.
He leaned forward and pressed his mouth to her petals of flesh. When his tongue swept over her, she drew in a breath. His thumbs stroked the sides of her folds while he dipped his tongue inside her. Her eyelids fluttered closed. He glided a finger inside and stroked her passage. Soon he slid another finger into her opening and the feel of his fingertips, glazed with her wetness, gliding deeper, filled her with need. She arched against his mouth.
He found her clit and lapped at it. The sensitive bundle of nerves almost seemed to vibrate with pleasure, sending heated waves of delight washing through her. He lapped again and she moaned.
Then he suckled and pleasure rippled through her … rising like the tide … overwhelming her senses … until she gasped, then moaned as sparks flared behind her eyelids. She tossed her head back and forth, crying out in ecstasy.
His mouth continued to move on her as the orgasm waned, then he lifted his head and gazed at her … the look on his face tender and possessive.
She opened her arms to him and he prowled over her. His body settled on hers as he kissed her with passion.
She glided her hand down his body, seeking his penis. When she found it, it was hard and ready for her. Thick and heavy in her hand. And pulsing with need.
She pressed it to her slick opening and he nudged forward.
Oh, God, yes … she needed him inside her with an intensity that was almost frightening.
He wrapped his hand around his cock, over hers, and glided it along her slit, sending shivers of desire through her.
“I need you,” she murmured. “Please fill me.”
He kissed her neck, tingles dancing through her at the light brush of his lips.
“I will, sweetheart. Whatever you want is yours.”
He pressed forward and his cockhead stretched her. Wider. His thick shaft slowly pushing deeper. Stretching her narrow opening.
“Oh, yes,” she whimpered, stunned at how potent the sensations were. At how intensely she craved him.
He pushed deeper, her flesh gripping him tightly.
He nuzzled her ear, sending goose bumps along her neck. “You’re so tight.”
She nipped his earlobe. “Fill me,” she insisted.
He surged deeper. She squeezed around his thick shaft and he groaned, and then slid all the way in.
She clung to him, holding him tight to her body. His hard chest against her sensitive, swollen nipples. Her breasts crushed flat.
She rocked her pelvis against him, delightful sensations fluttering through her as the angle of his hard shaft shifted inside her.
She rocked again. This time, he groaned.
But he lay still, his hard body against hers, her fingernails digging into his back.
“Sweetheart, how many men have you been with since me?”
Oh, God, why did he have to ask her that?
River shrugged. “About two dozen,” she lied.
Kane’s eyebrow lifted. “Two
dozen
?”
Clearly, that was too many.
“I mean about a dozen.”
The way the light danced in his eyes, she didn’t think he believed her. But she didn’t want to tell him it had only been a couple.
He nuzzled her neck. “I had rather hoped you’d say none. That I had ruined you for other men.”
Her stomach clenched. That was too close to the truth, but she would never let him know that.
She dug her fingernails deeper into his back, desperately wishing he’d just fuck her again.
But she couldn’t help asking, “What about you?”
A flicker in his eyes—of doubt or sadness—caught her off guard.
But he grinned and said, “How about I say two dozen, too?”
Then he began to move. Slowly. His cock dragging along her slick canal. Lighting a fire within her. Then he glided deep again.
Then out.
Then deep again.
“Ohhh, Kane.”
He nuzzled her neck. “Sweetheart, I want you to come for me.”
She nodded, her breath locked in her chest as his cock drove deep.
He filled her again and again, pleasure rising inside her. Swelling through her whole being.
Everything centered on his moving shaft. Pleasure rippling in its wake.
She squeezed, intensifying the sensations. He groaned and thrust faster.
Deeper.
“Oh, yeah.” She met every thrust with a rise of her hips, driving him even deeper still.
Joyful sensations coiled inside her, then like a flash flood, exploded through her body. She clung to him, gasping, as the orgasm tore through her.
Still he thrust.
The orgasm waned, followed by another, cresting even higher.
“Oh, Kane, I’m … ohhh.”
“Am I making you come again, baby?” he murmured against her ear.
She nodded, and then moaned. Her mind and body expanded as one, attuned in a total state of bliss.
Kane drove hard, groaning, and then erupted inside her.
He held her tight to his body as they both gasped for air. She dug her fingers into his back, never wanting to let him go.
Their breathing slowed and finally he rolled to his side.
He kissed her cheek then rested his face close to hers.
She gazed into his indigo eyes, loving how close he was. Wishing he was still inside her body.
He smiled. “I must say, this arrangement is working out very nicely.”
* * *
Oh, God, oh, God, oh, God.
Kane was asleep. His arm was around her waist and his body pressed the length of her back.
River tried not to rock to console herself—she didn’t want to wake him up—but his words kept echoing in her head.
I must say, this arrangement is working out very nicely.
She was an arrangement. A contract.
A convenient lover.
He’d been so sweet. So tender. Everything had been so romantic.
But of course he’d want to have things go smoothly during their first time together. That didn’t mean he was in love with her. In fact, ever since Will had told her she was the one who got away, she’d worried that he wanted her only because she was the one thing he couldn’t have, and that now that he had her, he would soon lose interest.
She bit her lip. The problem was … the way she’d felt in his arms tonight … the way she’d hungered for him ever since that first time so many years ago …
She knew … deep in her heart … her chest tightened … that she did love
him
.
Oh, God, he might be her husband, but he would never love her.
A deep loneliness filled her soul. She’d always been a misfit and now … She choked back a sob. Now she was a misfit in her own marriage.
Tears spilled from her eyes, but she swiped them away. She would not cry. She would not succumb to the deep melancholy that haunted her. She would make this work. She had walked into this marriage with her eyes open and she couldn’t blame this on Kane or anyone else.
She’d made her bed and now she was sleeping in it.
With Kane.
His arm flexed in his sleep, drawing her a little tighter to him.
Things could be worse.
Kane would take care of her, and help her with her business. As independent as she had always been, there was something seductive about the idea of someone taking care of her for a change. Someone she could depend on. It was more than she’d ever had from her father or mother.
She’d just have to remember what this arrangement really was and try to keep her heart safe.
* * *
In the morning, River turned to find Kane’s face on the pillow only inches from her own. His eyes were open and he smiled.
“Good morning, Mrs. Winters.”
“Hi,” she said in a sleepy voice.
Sunlight streamed in the window. It was a beautiful day out.
“I ordered breakfast to be sent up to the room.” He stroked her shoulder lightly, sending tingles through her. He gave her that heart-stopping smile. “But we have a little time.”
She wanted to.
Oh, God,
she wanted to. But she just didn’t want to be the good wife this morning. She needed a breather.
“I don’t think so, I”—she shrugged—“need to use the ladies’ room.”
He rolled onto his back. “Believe me, I can wait.”
At the sight of the tent pole under the covers, her eyes widened. Was this what it was going to be like every day? Waking up beside him? Him so clearly wanting her?