The Mischievous Mrs. Maxfield (46 page)

“I’m yours, Brand,” I rasped, sliding my fingers through his damp hair and wrapping my legs around his hips, lifting my own to press him closer to my womb. “Please. Make me yours.”

I cried out when his mouth captured my nipple, his tongue teasing the hardened tip with relentless intent.

His hand followed the slope of my body down to the spot between my legs where I ached for some kind of relief, his fingers finding that empty space I needed him to fill.

“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered as he feathered a kiss along my brow, his fingers exploring my moist, secret space where I was craving him. “I’ve waited to have you like this for so long.”

“I would rather you get to it than spend the next ten minutes telling me how long you’ve waited to do this,” I told him dryly, gazing at him through heavy-lidded eyes.

A deep, rich laugh broke out of him. “Hmm, I can see that you’re just as patient as I am.”

Whatever I had for a retort disintegrated in my brain when Brandon took my mouth for another wild, wanting kiss, his fingers abandoning me. Before I could protest the loss, I felt something much larger and harder press against my entrance. 

“Hang on, love,” he murmured in a strained voice. “Give me a second. I don’t want to lose control and take you roughly. I don't want to hurt you.”

A tender ache shot through my body and heart at his endearment and his self-restraint.

“I won’t break, Brand,” I assured him, squeezing my legs around his hips to encourage him to continue. 

His breaths were coming in quick, short gasps. “I have to... find something first. To protect you.”

“Taken care of,” I told him, nipping along his jaw. “I went on the pill. Went to the doc the next day after we danced on your desk. I want this. I want all of it.”

“Oh, God. Charlotte.” The sound of his low growl thrummed down my spine and I gasped when his hands grabbed each side of my hips, spreading me even wider.

“Baby, I want... Oh, God!” 

We both cried out when he thrust into me.

I winced at the quick sting but promptly forgot about it when Brandon kissed me deeply, slightly pulling back his hot, hard length out of me. The next time he nudged himself back in, there was a lot less resistance and discomfort. Knowing he wasn’t all the way in, I clamped my legs around his hips and lifted myself up, pulling him in deeper until he could be no closer to me than my own skin.

What followed was a slow yet frantic build of the most sensually overwhelming sensations I’ve ever felt in my entire life.

Brandon was both tender and demanding, coaxing me to my own release before he roared out his own.

We were both breathless and panting as we collapsed in bed together, his arms encircling me and holding me possessively against his trembling body.

I thought that we should say something after the life-altering experience we just shared together but I couldn’t come up with any words.

All I managed was a sleepy smile and the soft murmur of Brandon’s name as I drifted into the most peaceful sleep I’ve had in years, the sound of our matching heartbeats drowning out the thunderstorm that continued to rage way late into the night.

***

“This is perfect.” I couldn’t help grin as Brandon came into the room, handing me one of two large mugs full of steaming hot chocolate topped with mini-marshmallows. “Thank you.”

He set down an overnight bag he’d grabbed when he went into the kitchen to fix us a hot drink. He took a sip of his hot chocolate before setting it down on the night stand on his side of the bed.

It was several hours later, just a little past ten at night, after we’d stirred awake and made love again. 

The second time was considerably slower and sweeter but no less mind-blowing.

Brandon really took his time, acquainting himself with every part of my body with his hands, mouth and tongue. I was a quick study, trying some things that brought out some of his more savage reactions. Our sex life was in no danger of being dull.

We’d finished showering a second time but only dressed in cotton robes we’d found in the closet along with an assortment of linen.

“I hope the weather clears up tomorrow,” he said as he climbed back into bed and pulled me into his arms. “I want to show you the beach. The ocean is no match for your beautiful blue-green eyes but it’s pretty enough. We could go for a walk. Make love by the beach.”

I grinned. “Even though I’m now officially a vixen, I’m not sure I want to scandalize the neighbors just yet.”

Brandon’s eyes glinted with amusement. “You can run around naked and no one would see you. It’s rare around here but I managed to keep this area private. I bought the land around it as well so no one else would build next to it. It’s also quite a bit further away from the more populated stretch of the bay.”

“When did you buy this place?” I asked, taking a sip of my drink.

“About eight years ago,” he said. “It was the first piece of property I bought for myself—even before I bought the penthouse. I love the beach, and my family has a property here on the other end of the bay but it wasn’t as solitary as I’d like it to be. I wanted to be able to come out here and have some peace and quiet.”

I flashed him a teasing smile. “I think you just ruined that plan by bringing me here.”

His arms tightened around me. “No, I didn’t. While I did find my peace and quiet out here, I also found it lonely sometimes. Having you here is the farthest thing from being lonely.”

“Were you lonely a lot, Brand?” I asked gently. 

He picked up his own cup of hot chocolate and took a sip, lowering it to his lap as he took a moment to answer my question.

“Sometimes,” he said. “I love my family. I loved Evelyn when she came into mine and Dad’s lives but I always felt that I was separate from their new family, especially when they had my sisters and Mattie. They never did anything to intentionally make me feel that way but it was just how I felt sometimes.”

While I didn’t know exactly why he felt that way, I understood how it was to be completely alone in one’s family. 

“At first, I thought it was because I had a different mother, and that to stay true to her memory, I had to always remember that Evelyn would never replace her,” Brandon continued. “I loved my Mom. I only have good memories of her when she was alive. Looking at it as an adult now, Evelyn may have not been my biological mother but she had been a good parent to me, and I have to give her that credit.”

“Oh, Brand.” I reached for his free hand and gave it a squeeze. “I’m sure that your mother’s just happy to know that you had Evelyn to step in and take care of you the way she would’ve wanted you to be taken care of. I don’t believe she'd resent your fondness for Evelyn.”

He smiled at me. “I know. It’s funny how we start with an idea and realize a completely different thing much later on.”

I don’t think he’s just talking about his mother now. I think he’s talking about the two of us. After tonight, I don’t know how we’ll ever go back.

“Thank you for being here with me, Charlotte,” he said, gazing at me with a tender expression on his face. “Thank you for giving me tonight. I don’t remember being any happier than I am right now.”

I bit my lip in an effort not to grin stupidly at him. “Me too, Brand.”

He gave me a rakish smile. “You know that this is only the beginning, right? I plan to make love to you at home and take you away to many more romantic getaways. We’ll plan it all out so we can go anywhere you want to go.”

“I’m happy just to stay here or at home with you.”

He shook his head. “No. The trip to this house was a back-up plan. You deserve a lot more than that. Give me a sec. I’ll show you something.”

He set down his mug and reached for the overnight bag. He rummaged through it, taking out a black leather journal. 

“What’s that?” I asked. 

“Just my notebook where I scribble some ideas on,” he answered, flipping the notebook open and slipping out a folded sheet which he handed to me. I set aside my hot chocolate and unfolded the paper, my curiosity growing. 

“Why are you giving me a map?” I stared at all the purple dots scattered across the map of the world, trying to make sense of what they meant. “What are all these dots for?”

Brandon returned to my side and held up one corner of the map. “They mark all the destinations I plan to take you to—Venice, London, Maldives, Hong Kong, Madrid... Paris, of course.”

My eyes widened as I studied all the different marked locations on the map. It went all the way to South Africa. “Um, there over a hundred locations here. Unless you plan to go every couple of days, there won’t be enough days in the year to complete this list.”

“Who said all we’ve got is a year?”

My hands jerked in surprise but I managed to lower the map before lifting my eyes to Brandon. He was gazing at me with a determined glint in his piercing hazel eyes, as if challenging me to dispute what he just said. 

Who said all we’ve got is a year? Well, there was you and me and a legal contract.

I swallowed hard. “What are you trying to tell me, Brand?”

His expression softened as he took my hand and brought it to his lips. “I want you to stay, Charlotte. When the year is over, I want you to stay with me as my wife.”

I’m either running a fever or Brandon really just asked me to stay married to him even when the contract is over.

“Why?” I blurted out and I nearly punched myself in the face. 

Why are you questioning this? Isn’t this what you wanted?

I stiffened my spine, ready for some practical explanation that I was certain was the only reason Brandon had for asking me to stay.

Why? Because you need more than a practical purpose for this marriage, Charlotte. Because you know you owe it to both of yourselves to marry for the right reasons. Because you know you’ll let him go if that was what he needed to be happy.

As much as I knew it would hurt, I knew it was true. There wouldn’t be much to my happiness if Brandon wasn’t happy.

“Because I’m in love with you.”

I. Literally. Felt. My. Heart. Stop.

I gasped in a breath, pressing a hand on my chest, desperately trying to pump my heart back to life. “W-what?”

Brandon smiled, removed the map from my reach and cupped the sides of my face. “I love you, Charlotte. I didn’t see it coming but I have absolutely no doubt about it.”

Tears filled my vision as Brandon’s words slowly registered. “But I... You.. We married b-because...”

“I didn't marry you for love, but I’m definitely staying married to you because I’ve fallen in love with you, my wife,” he continued. “I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Charlotte.”

“B-but I’m the wrong  girl!” I sputtered. “You told me so yourself in very creative descriptions when we first met.”

He grinned. “I was a stupid fool, then. An angry, stupid fool. I met up with you to offer you money to tell my father that you weren’t going along with his plan. I had no intention of marrying you at all—not even just temporarily. When I saw you, those plans shifted into something else and I ended up proposing a marriage of mutual convenience, which was crazy enough considering how much we disliked each other at first. For a while, a temporary marriage was all I wanted—it was my only plan. But just like best laid plans when it comes to you, Charlotte, I failed spectacularly at that too.”

I sniffed. “I’m not sure that’s a compliment, Brand.”

He laughed. “It is when that plan was to walk away from you after a year. I had no idea what I was signing up for when we both agreed to that contract. I guess it was only a matter of time.”

“It was only a matter of time to do what?” I asked, my brows furrowing in confusion.

“To fall in love with you,” he answered with a small smile. “Yes, you were all wrong from the start but every moment I spent with you was like getting a slice of sunshine—I was always smiling or laughing or just being plain happy. Each time you did something courageous and kind, I admired you more. Each time I saw your vulnerabilities, saw your pain, I wanted to protect you and make you happy. Each time you touched me, kissed me, I wanted to hold you in my arms and never let go.”

“If I couldn’t walk away from you the first time we met, without proposing an outrageous arrangement that ended up in a wedding, then I can’t see how I can walk away from this marriage with my heart and soul intact,” he added, touching the side of my face. “You have no idea how you make it so easy and effortless to fall in love with you, Charlotte. I had no defense.”

I snorted and rolled my eyes. “Considering the number of guys who’d declared love for me, I’d say you might be exaggerating a bit.”

Considering those two guys are Brandon and Jake, he might be on to something though. They don’t strike me as the type to go falling head over heels with the first girl to pay them any attention.

He hauled me up into his arms until I was sitting on his lap. “I hope no one else realizes it, love, because I don’t want any other guy declaring his feelings for you. I don’t want any competition. It’s already going to be hard enough to convince you to forgive me and forget the stupid things I said and did the first time we met. I don’t want to have to deal with kicking the ass of some guy who plans to steal you away from me.”

I burst out laughing. “Sheesh, Brand. There’s no need to start beating up every man who looked my way.”

He scowled. “I don’t like men who think inappropriate thoughts about you. Even Jake.”

I laughed harder. “You know you’re crazy and jealous but that’s okay. I still love you anyway.”

He froze. “What? Say that again.”

I blinked up at him, smiling at his stunned expression. “Which part? You’re crazy? You’re jealous?”

“Charlotte!”

I grinned. “Oh, right! The part where I said it’s okay.”

He groaned helplessly. “Stop torturing me! I know I heard you say it. Say it again.”

I took pity on him. I touched the side of his face and tilted it up so I could press a kiss on the corner of his mouth. “I love you, Brandon Maxfield.”

The smile on his face broke my heart.

I’ve never seen him this happy.

His hazel eyes were bright and smiling, and crinkling at the corners lightly like they always did when he wasn't holding back. His cheeks were flushed with color, his teeth flashing white as he fought not to grin too much.

I rested my other hand on his chest. “I love you. I think I fell in love with you first in my fantasies where you starred as my prince charming after your father told me so much about you. When we met for real again, I thought my fantasies were nothing more but childish foolishness. I married you for all the wrong reasons but I’m staying married to you for the right one.”

He put a hand over the one I had pressed against his heart. 

“I’d love to spend the rest of my life with you, growing old but never growing apart,” I told him, feeling every word of the promise engrave itself in my soul. “I’ll spend my days making you smile, taking care of you, loving you and making sure that you never feel lonely again because you aren’t, Brand. Wherever you go, you take my heart with you.”

With a slow, sweet kiss, we sealed our vows—ones we only made between each other without an audience except for our eager, hopeful hearts.

There was a certain freedom in being able to openly express what we felt for each other and how deeply we felt it. For the first time since we started this strange and sudden partnership, the lies felt closer to the truth and that was freeing in itself.

And while this certainly sounded like a happily-ever-after, this Cinderella story wasn’t over yet. 

The princess may have the prince but there was an entire kingdom she has yet to conquer.