by Amy Brent
Declan laughed and looked forward. “It is my house. I bought it as an investment a while back, and it’s just me, so it’s fine for now.” Declan got out of the car and walked to my side as fear filled my head. What was I doing going to a strange man’s home alone? I didn’t know him well at all. He looked at me as understanding crossed his face. “You’re safe. I know how we met and everything but nothing happens here that you don’t want. We’ll eat and talk, Rayna. That’s all.”
I nodded slowly and got out, shoving my nerves aside as we each grabbed a box and headed inside of the house as I took one more look behind me. Declan unlocked the door and told me to head inside first, and I realized that it was clean and quite luxurious inside of the house. He led me to the kitchen and placed his box down before taking mine and setting it beside the first. Declan got some plates, and I looked around to see a glass bistro table against a window.
We got some slices and walked over to the bistro table as he asked me if I wanted some wine. I nodded, and he grabbed glasses and a bottle from the fridge before returning. “So why were you so set on seeing me?” I asked softly as he poured us each a glass and then looked at me.
I didn’t wear a ring since I knew our marriage was a sham. I noticed that James didn’t either. I knew that Declan would have no idea that I was unless I told him something.
“That was my first night hiring an escort, and it felt nothing like that as the evening went on. I wanted you from the beginning, feeling a connection between us from the start. When we were together in that bed, it was…mind blowing. I felt so much more than just a night in bed with a woman, surprising me.” He looked at me as I blinked. “How was it for you? Tell me the truth, Rayna. By the way, I like that name.”
“Thanks,” I replied as I sipped the wine and took a small bite of the pizza, chewing slowly. “I took the booking since the original girl was out on an emergency surgery. I was feeling a bit wild and told Lana that I would do it. She did a bit of research to make sure that it would work with you and…it did.”
“It took you weeks to see me. How come?” Declan asked, his eyes intent on me.
“I…I’m married, Declan.” I looked up to see the shock on his face. “It’s not a happy one or even an intimate marriage. It’s an agreement between two families and has been since the first day, but I suppose that I wanted it to be something more. In truth, it’s bad and getting worse by the day.” I looked at him again, seeing compassion in his eyes. “I was booking one day and saw his name as a client. He has no idea what I do since I’ve been making something up the entire time. It was later that week that I saw you.”
“You used me to get revenge on your husband?” He asked, his eyes dark and full of pain.
“Initially, I just wanted to rebel. I wanted to sleep with another man for the first time in my life with no strings. It sounded like the best way,” I admitted, pushing away my plate. My appetite was gone. “I was wrong about that. It left quite the imprint on me.” I shrugged. “I have been thinking of you as well, but I can’t see how this could work out.”
“Leave your husband,” he suggested, standing, and walking around the table to where I was. “You said that you’re not happy.”
“While he doesn’t love me, he also doesn’t want anyone else to have me. He’s made that clear,” I explained, staring at my cotton covered arms before he cupped my face to lift my eyes to his. “Declan…” His lips covered mine tenderly as I dropped my eyes closed. His lips molded against mine as I found myself returning his passion all too quickly.
CHAPTER 9
Declan
Kissing her again felt like Heaven to me. I clutched her face tightly and felt her return, our lips parting as our tongues met eagerly. She tasted of the little bit if the wine that she’d had and the grease of the pizza, but all I cared about was the way that her mouth felt against mine.
I knew that it was wrong to do this with a married woman. I knew it in my brain, but something about the fact I already knew every inch of her body overruled my logic. She wasn’t happy. She wasn’t cherished, and she deserved that. Rayna was beautiful, and I knew how passionate she could be.
I slipped one hand down over her shoulder, her arm. It was when she winced that I pulled away and stared into her face. Her eyes were shimmering with tears, and I looked down at the spot that my arm had just touched. “Rayna?” I found the edge of her shirt and started to push it up as she shook her head.
“No, Declan. No,” she protested as she leaned in to kiss me again. “Just kiss me.”
I knew that I shouldn’t let her distract me, but her lips against mine threw my focus from the way that she felt. I kissed her back, tilting my head to deepen it as she moaned against me. I felt her arms slide around my neck away from my hand as my hands slipped down to cup her ass. Rayna moved her legs around my body, and I pulled her against me, wondering if I should move us to the bedroom. I didn’t bring her here to fuck her, but her warm body against mine was almost too much to bear. I had to have her, and she moved closer as I stumbled across the floor towards the master bedroom down the hallway. “Is this hard for you?” she whispered as we moved, making my cock harden further.
“I’ve got you. You’re safe,” I promised Rayna as she clung tighter to me.
We dropped onto the bed and kissed slowly as our bodies molded together. We were clothed, but that changed as the moments passed. Soon, we were naked, and Rayna’s lips were on my jaw as I groaned softly. Rayna was draped over my body, her skin warm and soft as she moved her mouth down my neck. I felt the heat between her thighs as she sat on my lower stomach, flowing onto my skin. Fuck, I wanted to be inside of her again.
I rolled her onto her back and looked into her eyes. “I want you.”
“I want you, Declan,” she admitted back as I looked down her bare body, athletic and toned. She looked good, and I let my eyes linger a little longer. “What?”
“You’ve been working out. I can tell looking at your muscles.” The light was dim, but I could still see her, noticing as she moved her arms out of the light with a frown.
“I go to your gym. I have seen you there a few times, but I never let you see me,” Rayna said as I looked at her with a smile. “I actually went to a different location for a little while just to avoid you.”
She kissed my lips tenderly, and I melted against her, just wanting to make her happy for a moment. We moved together easily, her legs parted as I moved between them and inside of her. She wrapped around me like a glove, and I moaned her name as I stilled inside of her. This was so wrong, but it felt so right as I started to move with her, easing towards our release. Her nipples were hard as they pressed against me and I made a mental note to worship them when this was done, to taste her and me together. I didn’t care. I just wanted to feel every inch of her sexy body all over again.
Hips rocked together as we cried out in the room. I was deep inside Rayna as she met me roughly with every thrust of her hips, bringing me closer to release as I buried my face in her tender neck. Rayna whimpered my name as she jerked forward and I felt her heat wash over me before I was going right along with her.
Adrenaline filled my body as I felt her sink onto the mattress and I kissed her face slowly, tasting her clammy sweat. I kissed her neck as she let out a sigh, nibbling softly and moving down to her wet chest. I couldn’t resist the pull of her pebbled nipples and covered one with my lips as my hand cupped the other one. My teeth dragged against it as she let out a guttural moan, making my cock twitch again.
I moved to the other one, tearing at it with my teeth as I wondered if her husband wanted her like this. She indicated that he didn’t but she was so beautiful and I let my eyes roam over her skin, finally seeing the bruises on her arms. I moved away from her as she squeaked in protest, staring at the clear marks of hands on her arms. “He did that to you?” I demanded as her eyes widened in fear. “He hits you?”
“Just for the last couple years or so. Like I said, it is more of an arrange
d marriage than anything else, a show that we put on for friends and family. I feel like…I feel like I have a whole different life at times.” She admitted as her eyes darkened. “It’s only where people can’t see it. The bruises.”
“I don’t want you to go back there,” I told her as I stroked her cheeks. “I can’t stand the idea of anyone hurting you.”
“He’s a powerful man, Declan. He could hurt you,” Rayna warned me as I stared at her.
“He’s just a man, one that doesn’t deserve you.”
“I think that if I leave him, I’ll lose my family too. We’re not close or anything, but they’ll choose him over me. I know it.” Her eyes were sad as she spoke and I kissed her. “You don’t even know me, Declan. You don’t want me in your life, not this fast and not with this baggage.”
“I want to protect you, and I know that I feel something for you. I brought you here to get to know you better, Rayna. Now that I am aware the truth, I want to help you. I can give you anything. I can get you out of that.” I promised her as her eyes looked warily at me.
She kissed me again, distracting me with sex as she rose above me before sliding down over my body. We used nothing, and I felt her heat against me as her pussy gripped me. I knew now that she was on the pill and while she told me that her husband was cheating on her, she said that he needed to use a condom with her. It made me feel ill that she was still sleeping with him, but they were married. I watched as her smaller breasts bounce with her movements as I gripped her hips. I wanted her to sleep here, to stay with me here. I didn’t know her well, but it was enough to know that I wanted to keep her away from the danger of her home.
We rested together after we were done and I watched as her eyes took me in before she looked around the room slowly. I told myself that she slept with me because she was mad at her husband, who was paying for sex when he had such an incredible woman was waiting for him at home. I told myself that it was just sex, but my heart said that it was more as our eyes locked.
She insisted on leaving after another hour or so in my bed. I hated taking her to her car, but I did, telling her that I’d contact her the same way the following afternoon. Rayna said that she worked every night just to get out of the house and to save up money to leave, even though I knew the idea of it broke her heart. Most women left a man with the support of her family and the strength and help to move on. She had nobody but friends and a bank account to help her, and I didn’t know if that was enough. I parked in the lot where her car was and watched her climb inside of the shiny SUV that showed that she had a wealthy husband. If he didn’t love her, he made it look like he did to society.
I saw her drive away and finally pulled away to go back to my empty house. I dropped into the bed that still smelled like Rayna and thought back to the times our bodies moved together tonight. It was sensual and one of the most erotic nights I’d ever experienced but more than that, I felt something forming in my heart for her. Was in insane to have feelings for a married woman with a questionable husband when I was just getting divorced myself, very soon?
Hiring an escort was supposed to be easy. It was meant to be a night with no strings like Rayna said, but it was much more than that. I thought about that as I felt sleep slowly take me over, planning to focus on my own divorce that I didn’t even mention to Rayna. Perhaps we both had luggage to bring into this, whatever this was.
Maybe a little time was all that we needed to figure this out.
CHAPTER 10
Rayna
I went home to an empty house, relieved that James wasn’t home. I could make something up if needed and the chances are that he wouldn’t even be awake to ask if he was home. I just wasn’t sure. It was easier to be alone when I showered and crawled into bed, feeling like I avoided a storm tonight.
If I told James that I was leaving him, what would he say? What would my parents say? I had money in a bank account that would get me an apartment, but I felt like I’d be completely starting over all on my own.
Declan was a wonderful man, and I loved the way that he made me feel, but realistically, it was two nights. Two nights of sex. He told me that he’d help me, protect me but Declan didn’t realize the cost. If James or my parents didn’t find out about him, things could be okay. But if they did, they could ruin him financially or even harm him. My dad was just as powerful as he was and he would hate me for leaving a powerful man like James. Mom would tell me that I was stupid and I looked back at their own loveless marriage sadly. They were never affectionate towards one another, and I was put right in the same place as if it was just an arrangement. That wasn’t what marriage was to me, and I knew that I had to find the strength to leave and face life on my own.
Still, I stayed. I chatted with Declan on the computer almost every day, finding out that he was involved in his own divorce. That was why he was seeking the attention of an escort, but it had been more than that for both of us. I learned about his hotel chain and how his grandfather passed it down to him when he died ten years ago. Declan had a warm and loving family, with two parents and a brother and a sister that lived in Oregon. He went to see them on holidays and spoke to them every day.
It was so different from what I was used to. I grew up in a house with staff and parents that were rarely home, without any love.
I booked appointments for the girls around our chats, just working through everything that was happening around me. There wasn’t a lot going on with holidays or any family celebrations, so I was mostly left to myself. James was gone more than ever, and I felt like I could sleep safely. He seemed occupied and busy, something that worked out well for us.
I caved and saw Declan a week later on a Friday night, where he picked me up after my shift. He had glanced at me before he pulled away from the curb, telling me that he had some food in the trunk already. He knew that it wasn’t a good idea to be seen out together and hurried to his house, where we pulled the food from the trunk and ate on the couch in front of a movie. It was Thai this time, and I enjoyed the noodles as I kept glancing at him.
I knew so much more about him after our chats. He was a good man, and I took another bite of my food as I looked around the room. It was cozy with a couple of couches and a great fireplace on the opposite wall from the television. “You lived here with her?”
“Yes. Claire only had an apartment, so she moved in here before we married. I thought we loved each other, but the distance just grew between us. When she admitted that she was in love with an ad exec at her office, I knew that was it. I know we’re over but right now, I want the court proceedings to go smoothly and not give her half of everything that I’ve worked for.” He looked at me. “I’m happier without her. I know that.”
“If I leave, when I leave, I won’t ask him for a thing. I just want to be free, and I’ve saved some money. I just know that I’ll lose my family as well.” I stared at the television blankly as he reached over to touch my hand.
“You’ll be okay,” Declan assured me as I stared over at him. “People die when they stay with people like that, Rayna. I don’t want that to happen to you, and I am willing to do anything to help you.” He raised an eyebrow. “You have that friend at work and other ones, I assume? They’re your family, Rayna. Family isn’t always blood.”
“I have pleased them for so long, Declan. I’ve been seeking their love my entire life and getting married was the icing on the cake. They love James for what he represents and have no idea what he does to me, but I don’t even know if they’d care. My dad might be like that, too. I don’t know.” I narrowed my eyes and tears filled my eyes. “I have been living a lie my entire life.”
Declan pulled me towards him, and I snuggled against him. Looking back, it was never like this with James. I had looked at him before I kissed him gently, closing my eyes. His lips were so warm and comforting, and I leaned in closer to him. It deepened slowly as our lips parted and our tongues met before he pulled me over his body.
All thoughts of James left my m
ind as the kiss grew hungry. I’d chosen a deep red dress to work tonight, and he was sliding it up to my thighs as my breath caught in my throat. His hands lit a fire along my skin as he found my lace covered pussy, stroking it as I arched my back.
We ripped our clothes off, and I slipped over him easily, taking him deep inside. I was addicted to the way that he made me feel and moaned as he gripped my ass, pulling me tighter against him as I moved hard and fast. Declan nipped at my neck, and I felt him shoot inside of me as I broke around him. Tonight, though, it was more than sex because I knew Declan. I loved our chats where we told one another things about us from separate places, making me feel like this wasn’t wrong.
Being in his arms felt right as well, but I knew the risk that came along with it. James could really do damage if he chose to since he was aware that we made a good team in the eyes of his world. By being married to me, he could merge with my father’s law firm and become even more successful. That was the plan all along, I was sure. I knew now why I was an only child. My parents weren’t in love, and I might have even been an accident, and that idea made me sad. “Why didn’t you have kids with her?” I asked as I looked at him with curiosity in my eyes.