by Cora Bell
Fuck. I didn’t know how I was going to make it through tonight. I needed her more than I needed air.
“You’re divine,” I murmured into her ear. “The perfect wife.”
She exhaled. I wasn’t sure it was because she could feel my arousal or because she was still steeling herself for the idea of marriage to me.
“You think I need a necklace or something?” she asked, gesturing to her neck.
My eyes dipped there, and then lower, taking in the swell of her breasts. I could imagine myself slowly peeling off the dress and putting my mouth to her puckered nipple. I could imagine her back arching to give me better access. I could imagine her growing wet between her legs and begging me to take her.
“Do you have something that will work?” I asked, distracted.
“Not really.”
“Back at home?”
She eased away with a smile. “Probably not. No problem. I have earrings.”
I caught her hand as she started to turn to go back to her room. “Isabelle.”
Isabelle turned back with a smile, but it looked forced. “Yes?”
“Tell me.”
She blinked. “What?”
I took her chin between my thumb and forefinger. “You won’t talk about your old place and you refuse anytime I say we can go pick up more of your stuff. Why the secrecy?”
“There’s not…” She shook her head and smiled more sincerely this time. “It’s nothing.”
“I know where you live,” I told her. When she choked on a laugh, I smiled gently. “I know that came out like a threat or something. I just mean, the lawyers had to draw up paperwork for the contract and there’s other information we needed. Basically, I know where your apartment is. The one with your mom.”
Her cheeks flushed. “Nick.”
“You don’t think we can keep things from each other, right?” I asked, then realized immediately that there was a lot I was keeping from her. But only because I was afraid to scare her.
“I didn’t want to talk to you about it,” she said honestly. “I didn’t want it to cause a fight.”
I weighed this, trying to see where she was coming from. She lived in a building I had purchased. Why would that cause a fight? Then it dawned on me.
“Is that why you said you didn’t like me in the interview?” I asked her.
If possible, her cheeks flushed even further. “Yes.”
“Why? I have plans for those condos.”
“To renovate them?” she asked.
I nodded.
“And then turn around and sell them for twice what they’re worth? Or raise the rent on—”
“Wait, hold on,” I said as it hit me. “That’s why you don’t like me? You think I’m—what? Planning on putting everyone out in the street?”
Her mouth opened soundlessly. Then she nodded. “Yes.”
“Why the fuck would I do that? Those people need homes. Shit.” I shoved a hand through my hair and paced away, irritation rolling over me in waves.
“I had a plan. Like I said. To offer to buy them out at a very generous price or keep the rent the same.” I turned to pace back and then froze when I found Isabelle standing right in front of me.
She held up her hands like she was trying to placate a child. “Wait. Nick, wait.”
I propped my hands on my hips and waited, like she asked, remembering who Isabelle was and realizing she probably had a reasonable excuse for assuming the worst.
“I didn’t know,” she said softly. “I had no idea. All I knew was that we were already struggling with rent—especially with me trying to save for my mom’s surgery. And then you come along and… I didn’t know. I assumed the worst and I was wrong. I’m sorry.”
My frustration melted away. It wasn’t often, especially in my field of work—and even my family—that I heard such sincere apologies.
And then she did the last thing I expected and set her hand on my cheek. “Do you forgive me?”
I set my hand over hers and entwined my fingers with her slender, cool ones. “Of course. I understand why you might think that—”
“It was unfair.”
I shook my head. “It doesn’t matter. It’s not a problem, right? And maybe you can even help me come up with a plan that will work best for the people in the building since it seems like you know so many of them.”
She smiled and nodded, looking excited. “I’d like that.”
It was what I should have said in the first place when I found out where her apartment was. I’d learned how resourceful Isabelle could be. She was going to be an asset as a wife.
…If she agreed to marry me—without a contract.
“Anything you want,” I murmured, stepping back up to her. “It’s yours.”
Her lips parted. I caught her response with a kiss, sealing my mouth over hers. Every time I thought I’d solved the puzzle that was Isabelle, she did something else that confused and amazed me. She was more than I ever thought would walk into my office that day when I’d been hunting for a wife.
I massaged her tongue with mine, urgent kisses that elicited a moan from her. My cock reacted instantly to the sound, knowing what I was doing was pleasuring her. My erection dug into her hip, and in response, she pressed harder against me.
“Isabelle,” I growled. I twisted my hand in the back of her hair and tugged so her head tilted and I could take the kiss even deeper.
Her hands roamed, running down my back and to the front, where they brushed the zipper of my slacks.
“Fuck,” I hissed, knowing somewhere in the back of my mind that we were supposed to go soon.
“I know.” Isabelle’s lips were swollen, eyes blurry when she looked up at me. “We have to go, right?”
“Only if you promise me we’ll finish this later.”
She paused, and for a moment I thought she might say no. Or tell me that wasn’t professional or we were going too fast.
Then she said the one word that made me hard again.
“Yes.”
Chapter 9
We arrived at the gala as the sun was setting. The lights, the people, the outfits, and dozens of limousines should have overwhelmed me, left me in awe, but it was hard to see anything more than Nick.
He held my hand tightly in his own and didn’t release me nearly the entire time. Every so often he’d brush his thumb across my knuckles or lean in to whisper something in my ear, sending chills racing down my body.
Once we were inside, he set his hand on the small of my back, so low he was nearly touching my ass, and all the blood drained from my head.
My clit throbbed in earnest. I had to squeeze my thighs together as we sat at a table with fancy candles and china and listened to a few speakers.
It was only halfway through that I realized the gala was in honor of a charity Nick had started. One to help clean up the city and provide affordable housing to the less fortunate.
I snapped to attention just as Nick stood to walk to the podium at the front. My cheeks burned as I noticed several women glaring at me from multiple tables. God, did they know who I was?
Had they gone in for the interview too?
They had to have as many questions as I did. Like, if Nicholas Holden had found a wife, then why hadn’t he announced it?
I’d been secretly wondering the same thing myself. We’d signed the contract already. And even though I’d done it in a rush and still hadn’t read the fine print, I wondered why he hadn’t taken any other steps to make the upcoming union more final. Simple things, like telling his parents or any friends. Giving me an engagement ring.
It wasn’t adding up. But I couldn’t deny one part of the engagement I didn’t expect to be there was there.
Attraction.
Nick met my eyes from across the room as he spoke. It hit me like an electric current to my body, making me shift in the seat. My clit throbbed, longing to have him in between my legs. Right where he seemed to want to be.
Tonight. I couldn’t w
ait anymore.
After the applause, Nick walked back to our table, his eyes still locked on mine. Like he couldn’t see anyone else in the room.
“We’re leaving soon,” he whispered in my ear when we sat.
A shiver raced down my body.
Then I remembered my mom. I hadn’t seen her since yesterday. She kept telling me to do what I needed to do, “spend time with that handsome man of yours” in her words, but I still needed to be there for her. She was recovering well, and if she kept going like this, she might be able to go home in a few weeks.
Then what would happen? I needed to be there to take care of her.
I glanced at Nick, all those thoughts and more racing through my mind. I wasn’t doing such a great job playing the bad-girl sexy Isabelle Davis part.
But then Nick’s fingers linked with mine and he pulled me from the seat. “We should probably dance to at least one song.”
My lips curved. “Of course.”
When he pulled me into his arms, the sexy side of me returned and encouraged me to press my body as close to his as I could.
“Let’s check on your mom on the way home,” he said, looking down at me.
Warmth ran through me. It was sexy that he cared just as much about my needs as his and he knew I had to check in on my mom.
“Then,” he murmured, his lips brushing my ear, “you’re mine.”
Nick kept saying things like that the entire ride to the hospital, and the entire time there, secret whispers my mom couldn’t hear. He was patient through the whole visit, but when we got in the limousine, he shut the partition between us and the driver and turned to me.
“You’re too beautiful in that dress,” he said, voice low and husky. “Everyone was looking at you tonight.”
My cheeks heated. Maybe my sexy Isabelle ruse was working better than I thought. “Thank you.”
He reached out, fingers brushing my cheek. “I have a feeling you’re going to look just as beautiful out of that dress.”
My lips parted in surprise as the rest of my body heated. Nick’s gaze dropped to my mouth, and then without warning, he swooped in.
He gripped one hand in the back of my hair and ravaged my mouth with his, tongue pressing inside and demanding I open.
My body responded to him like it always did, with instant compliance and need. I couldn’t control myself, and I didn’t want to.
“Isabelle,” he murmured, moving his mouth to my cheek, down my jaw, and then to my collarbone.
I moaned softly and ran my hands over his jacket to undo the buttons in front. It hit me with a naughty thrill that we were still in the back seat of the limousine. One more point for sexy Isabelle Davis.
“God, I need you,” he said, voice muffled against my skin. The warmth of his breath gave me the chills and made my clit throb harder. “I don’t know if I’m going to make it all of the way back home.”
It turned me on even more that he wanted to take me right here in the limousine. That he was so hot for me that he didn’t know if he could make it back home.
“You don’t have to wait,” I told him, surprised to hear those words coming out of my mouth.
But I wanted him just as badly as he wanted me.
Nick’s eyes locked on mine. “Fuck,” he hissed. His fingers fumbled to a button by the door. He pressed it and said in a husky voice, “Andrew, please continue to drive until I instruct otherwise.”
The authority in his voice only turned me on more.
Then it occurred to me. Maybe he’d done this before. Maybe I wasn’t the first woman he’d circled the city with and fucked in the backseat.
Nick gripped my chin. “Isabelle. What are you thinking?”
My cheeks flushed. “It’s nothing.”
“I think we’re past that,” he growled. “I can tell by now when you’re not telling me something, and this something made you stop.”
I realized my hands had dropped from his chest. He was right. Even though my cheeks flushed harder, I said, “I was thinking that maybe…” I swallowed and just said it. He wouldn’t stop asking until I did. “Maybe you’ve done this before with another woman. Back here.”
His eyes widened, then narrowed. “Seriously? First of all, no woman has ever turned me on as much as you do. Secondly, I’m a man who keeps business and pleasure separate—usually. For you, there’s an exception, and there always will be because you’re special.”
My heart swelled with sudden affection for him. Nick knew how to make me feel special. “Okay,” I whispered.
“Okay?” he asked.
I nodded, assuring him again. “I believe you.”
“Believe more than just my words,” he said, eyes heating. They lowered to my shoulders, my breasts, and then to my center. “Feel it. I’ve never wanted anyone as much as I want you. And I never will.”
He kissed me so passionately, I nearly melted on the seat, my body going limp for him. When his hand traced down my shoulder, then over my hip, and paused on my thigh, I shivered and pressed my chest against him, urging him to continue touching me.
“I need to taste you,” he whispered.
God, yes. I wanted that mouth on me—all over me—but especially between my legs.
In a flash, Nick yanked my legs so I was laying back on the plush seat, my heart nearly beating out of my chest.
He hiked up the skirt of my dress and then slid warm hands up the insides of my thighs.
My body shook at the feel, the anticipation of having his mouth on me. “Nick,” I moaned softly.
“I’m right here, baby,” he murmured, fingers kneading my thighs.
He hooked his fingers in the lacy panties I wore and pulled them down my legs, then murmured in approval. “Very nice. Next time I want to see you standing in these and only these.”
Throbbing coursed through me at the idea of standing before him naked, doing this again, but in our apartment. Our apartment. God, I was already getting used to the idea of being with him—and I liked it.
Then my mind blanked when I felt his warm breath on my legs. He pushed the skirt higher, bunching it around my hips so he could spread my legs. Kneeling on the floor of the limousine, he had the perfect spot to grip my hips and lean in.
Nick’s tongue flicked out, sliding the length of my already wet slit. “Ready for me, I see,” he said.
He used his thumbs to open my folds and run his tongue up my center, stopping at my clit. I gasped at the feel and then gripped my hands in his hair as he tongued me slowly, letting the anticipation build.
“So sweet,” he murmured, taking his time.
“Nick, please, I can’t—”
“Don’t rush me, baby. I’ve waited too long for this. I wanted you the minute I saw you in the lobby of my office.”
My breath caught—at both the words and the feel of his tongue sliding inside my heat.
“That’s better,” he murmured, the vibration of his lips turning me on even more.
Then he slid two fingers inside of me, making my back arch off the seat. “I’m going to make you come like this,” he promised, “and then again when I’m inside you.”
I was already almost there, the intensity building inside of me to the point I was about to burst.
“Nick,” I practically begged.
He flicked his tongue against my clit again, and I exploded. He continued to torment me while waves of pleasure rolled over me. Panting, breathless, I squeezed my fingers in his disheveled hair. “Nick,” I said, shaking my head. “I can’t—”
But he didn’t stop. Not until I issued my next command.
“Mr. Holden.” His gaze snapped up, eyes locking on mine. “I need you inside of me.”
Chapter 10
Goddamn, she was so beautiful. Half-clothed and spread out on the seat before me, my mind went through dozens of ways I could pleasure her. I wanted all of them right now.
But first, I needed to be inside of her. Feel her walls squeezing me tight until we both lost it.
Together.
Isabelle reached for my pants, fingers moving swiftly on the button. I shoved them down, along with my boxers, letting my cock spring free. Her eyes locked on it, widening. I knew it was going to be a tight fit, and I was going to enjoy every moment of it.
I leaned down, pressing my tongue into Isabelle’s mouth. She returned the kiss with fervor. I loved how turned on she was, how responsive she was. I hadn’t lied, I hadn’t wanted anyone else as much as I wanted her. I just wanted to make sure she enjoyed her time with me as much as anyone else.
I moved my hips so my dick hit her entrance, still warm and wet, waiting for round two. She shifted against me, lifting her hips and trying to get me to enter her.
“Not yet,” I murmured. I still hadn’t tasted enough of her. Her skin, her lips, her breasts. Even though it was killing me, I needed more first.
I slid the strap of her dress off her shoulder, pulling it low enough I could see the lacy bra underneath. It matched the pair of panties I’d discarded somewhere on the floor of the limousine. An image of her in only the bra and panties, standing in front of the wide bank of windows in the apartment, popped into my head, making my dick twitch.
Fuck, she was just as hot in my imagination.
“You’re so beautiful,” I murmured. The way she blushed made me think she hadn’t heard that enough in her lifetime—at least not enough she was used to it yet.
If she was my wife—no, when she was my wife—she’d hear it every day. And every day, I’d make sure she knew just how much she turned me on.
I pulled down the cup of her bra so I could see her breast. Her nipple puckered in a tight bud, and I ran my tongue around it in a circle. Her breath caught, making my lips curve.
In response, she moved her hand down between us to grip my thick cock. I shuddered at the feel of her warm skin on mine.
“Shit,” I said, resting my forehead against hers. “Everything you do feels so good.”
“It’s going to feel even better once you’re inside of me.”
My lips curved even further. She couldn’t wait any more than I could. I shifted her so her ass was on the seat and I could lever myself over the top of her. Peering down at her disheveled dress, hair wild against the leather seat and eyes heated with desire, a wave of love overwhelmed me.