Marriage of Convenience: The Raven Brothers - Book 1
Page 16
He groaned. “Maybe. I probably won’t last that long.”
Good to his word, he started by kissing me again, until I was a mixture of bonelessness and coiled need. Then he suckled my breasts until I was writhing, nearly begging him to touch me between my legs. I slipped my hand down, to take care of it myself.
He levered up, watching. “What are you doing?”
“I need to come.” I felt like I was about to come apart.
“Touch yourself, Sara. I want to watch you make yourself come.”
His words snapped me from my erotic haze. Embarrassed, I pulled my hand back over my belly.
“No,” he said, taking my hand and moving it back down between my legs. “I want to watch you.”
I swallowed. “Will you do it too? Touch yourself?”
Fire blazed in his eyes. “Alright.” He knelt over me, giving his dick one long stroke. “Now you.”
I slid my fingers through my folds and my hips arched at the sweet sensation. I started to close my eyes, but then I didn’t want to miss watching him. I was eager to know how he pleasured himself.
He stroked himself again. “I’m waiting.”
I massaged my opening, and sighed at the sensation.
“What about your tits?” He cupped his balls, gently fondling them as his dick stood straight out.
With my free hand, I kneaded my breast and then squeezed my nipple, moaning at the spike of pleasure it sent to my center.
“Your clit is hard and red, Sara.” He leaned over, supporting himself on one hand while he rubbed the tip of his dick on my hard sensitive nub.
“Ohhh.” I arched my head back as more pressure built in my center.
“Make yourself come,” he said again, stroking himself slowly.
I was close mostly from his words and the erotic situation. I moved my fingers to my clit and began to rub, making my hips gyrate from my ministrations.
He returned to his position kneeling over me, slowly moving his hand up and down his shaft. I wondered if he’d come on me and what it would look like.
“So fucking sexy, Sara,” he said, his eyes intently watching me pleasure myself, and his hand rubbed over his tip.
My fingers moved faster as the pressure built and built. “Oh… I’m coming…” My entire body went taut as my orgasm hit, and then my hips moved as I worked the pleasure, wringing it out.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck…”
I opened my eyes to find him stroking himself faster. Then he focused on just the end, rubbing it between his thumb and fingers.
His head dropped back, as that mixture of pleasure and pain showed on his face.
I sat up, wanting a closer look. I wanted to feel his smooth velvety tip against my lips. I snaked out my tongue, lapping at his pre-cum.
“Ah fuck Sara.”
I lifted my gaze. He was watching me. He moved the tip of his dick over my lips, rubbing his pre-cum on them as he continued to stroke himself.
“Put your sexy mouth on him,” he said roughly. “Suck it hard, Sara.”
I opened my mouth, pressing my lips around the velvety tip, and sucking like I would a lollipop..
“Ah fuck, I’m coming…” He started to move back as he continued to stroke himself.
“I want to taste you.” I put my hands on his ass and pulled him back to my mouth.
A deep feral growl came from him as his hips bucked forward, and hot liquid filled my mouth.
“Ah yes, suck it, Sara… take it all… oh fuck… so good.”
I sucked and licked and hoped I was doing it right. When some of his cum dripped from the side of my mouth, I worried I might be doing it wrong.
Finally, his dick felt softer in my mouth. He sat back on his heels, his breath coming in harsh gasps.
“You fucking undo me, Sara.” He wrapped his arms around me as he collapsed next to me.
“That was okay?”
He laughed. “Did you notice that I came?”
I blushed. “Yes, but did you like it? Not all orgasms are the same, at least according to what I’ve read.”
He lifted his head to look at me. “Are you saying that you’ve had some subpar orgasms with me?”
“No.” I worried he was now offended. “You drive me mad.”
He smiled, and lay back with a satisfied smile, and then frowned. “You’ve read about sex?”
I bit my bottom lip feeling self-conscious about how little I knew about sex. Heck, about life in general. “I was curious and wanted to do it right. I read about other stuff too.”
“Like what?”
“Self-help stuff mostly.”
He pursed his lips. “You believe that bullshit?”
“That bullshit got me here.”
“Huh. What did you learn from your sex books?”
“Not as much as I’ve learned from you.”
He grinned. It occurred to me that Chase liked being praised on his bedroom skills.
“I want to please you.”
His eyes softened, and he pulled me close. “You do, Sara. The fact that I can hardly control myself and the fact that I spew copious amounts of cum should tell you that you do.”
I felt pleased to hear it. I guess I liked being praised too. I nestled against him, so glad that I could. He was now allowing some intimacy after sex. I cautioned myself against thinking too much about it. It wasn’t wise to think it meant too much. There was definitely a change in our relationship, but that didn’t mean we were going to have a traditional, loving marriage. I needed to be careful that my wish for his love didn’t cloud the reality of our situation. We were in this deal for the long-term, but I could still get my heart broken if I hoped for the fairy tale.
He rolled away from me. “You get some rest, okay?”
He got out of the bed and started dressing.
“Where are you going?” I asked, worried that his leaving was a sign that he didn’t like how close we seemed to be. Perhaps his limit for cuddling had been hit, or he was having second thoughts about letting me be close.
“I want to check on the arrangements for our arrival and follow up on some business. I promise there won’t be business on the island, but I do want to check on some last-minute things.”
“Yes, of course. The company is important.” That’s what this marriage was all about. Chase was business first, and even if he started to feel something for me, I knew I’d always be second to his work.
He stopped in the middle of buttoning his shirt and looked at me with his piercing gray eyes. “You’re important too, Sara.”
And just like that, I felt like he’d given me the world with those words. They weren’t a confession of love. I still needed to guard my heart. But for a man like Chase who hid all emotions except displeasure, his words were probably the closest I’d get to an expression of care.
I smiled, holding back the words I wanted to say to him.
“Get your rest. You’re going to need it.” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
“So will you.” I stretched out in what I hoped was a seductive pose.
He groaned. “You may need to go easy on me.” He winked and left the little room.
I snuggled into the bedding. Even on the airplane, the sheets felt softer than I’d ever had in my own bed growing up. With Chase I felt like Cinderella who finally found her prince, but fairy tales weren’t real, I reminded myself.
As easily as Chase had opened up to me more, he could just as easily close up. The run-in with my professor proved that. God, I wished there was a way to leave my past behind. That was the whole reason I left home and came to New York City. I wanted to start a new life and reinvent myself.
But as it turned out, leaving the past behind was impossible. It was like baggage that always stayed with me. I had to hope that both Glen and my professor would recognize that taking on the Raven family was a mistake and stay away.
Another part of me worried they’d think they could sell lies about me or extort money from Chase. They were
just smart enough to recognize the financial potential of my connection to the Raven family, and dumb enough to think they could force Chase’s hand.
The plane tilted slightly reminding me where I was and where I was going. Now wasn’t the time to worry about Glen or my professor. Chase was whisking me away to a private getaway. I needed to focus on that. Because I was extremely tired, I did as Chase suggested, and closed my eyes to rest. I wanted to be completely present during my honeymoon with my husband.
25
Chase
My father and Sara were right. I was jaded. Part of it likely came from growing up with money. Flying in a private plane to a private island was par for the course. But it also came from living in a ruthless business world. My father raised all of us to be wary and skeptical of others because they were always trying to take advantage of us. In the business world, that was nearly always true.
Even in my private life, it had been true. I’m not sure I’d ever been with a woman who didn’t have dollar signs in her eyes when I fucked her. Not that I didn’t enjoy or respect the women I’d been with, but I knew that most of them wanted a ring and the Raven name. Some so much they tried to trap me. I supposed that was why it was so easy to doubt Sara, which was unfair because I was the one who offered her money.
There was a part of me that thought she would have already walked away from our deal if there wasn’t the possibility she was pregnant. I’d offended her several times. I couldn’t blame her if she wanted out of our deal. If she wasn’t pregnant by her next cycle, I might have to work harder to convince her to stick with me.
It had been several weeks now since we started having unprotected sex. I wondered when we’d know for sure if she was pregnant. A strange swell of emotion moved through me. A baby. What the hell was I thinking? And why was the thought of a child not quite as unpleasant as it had been just a few weeks before? The only thing I could think of was the male ego. Men got women pregnant and had babies all the time, so it was crazy to feel like an alpha male for impregnating someone.
When we landed, the car I’d arranged was waiting to drive us to the main house. Since she rested, I decided on a driving tour of the island to help her get her bearings. We were in a convertible, and wisps of her hair, now pulled up in a messy bun that my fingers itched to undo, blew around her face. Her eyes sparkled as she took in the pristine beaches, blue water, and lush foliage.
I’d always known this island, but never really noticed how blue the water was or how lovely the flowers smelled until Sara pointed them out. We passed the dock that held a fishing boat and a larger cruising vessel used for longer trips out to sea. Finally, we turned up the drive to the main house. The property also had several bungalows, some of which each of us sons would use when the family was together, or where friends would stay when we were entertaining. There was a second, smaller home on the other side of the island, and housing for the staff that maintained the island and the facilities on it.
Since it was just Sara and me, we were going to stay in the main house. The large home sat nestled in the lush forest with a beautiful view of the beach, only a few steps outside the master bedroom.
“I feel like I’m in a dream,” Sara said, not hiding her awe. It was another thing I found fascinating about her. She was so easy to read. She didn’t hide from her feelings, whether it was embarrassment, anger, hurt, passion, or awe. Clearly she’d had a sheltered life that didn't involve travel or experiencing the world at large. But she was a sponge for learning. She wanted to know as much as possible about the world and how to live and be successful, evidenced by her interested in self-help books. I wanted to be her tour guide, not just in sex, but in seeing the world and experiencing it. I suspected I’d appreciate it more by seeing it through her eyes.
“It’s real, I assure you.” With my hand on her lower back, I escorted her into the open foyer of the house. The home was large and built so that every room had a view of the ocean. Windows were nearly all floor to ceiling, and could be opened to let the island breeze flow through, bringing the outside indoors.
“Mr. Raven. We have prepared an afternoon meal per your request,” one of the many staff who worked at the main house said when he greeted us.
“Thank you. Can you take our bags to the master suite?” I said to him.
“Yes sir.”
I took Sara’s hand and led her to the veranda where a table was set with fresh fruit, grilled shrimp and fried plantains.
“Would you like a drink sir?” Mathilda, one of the other house staff said as she came out to us at the table.
“Seltzer water please,” I said to her. I held out the chair for Sara to sit.
“I keep thinking I’m going to wake up,” Sara said eyeing the food.
“Not until you reach the sex dreams, I hope.”
“I had that on the plane.” She grinned at me.
I grinned back, which was another new thing in my life since Sara arrived. I think I’d smiled, hell I’d laughed more than I’d ever had. What was it about her?
“What do you do all day here?” she asked as I served her some food.
“Whatever you want. Sleep. Read. Swim. There’s a pool or the ocean. We can snorkel or go for a boat ride. Have sex.” I wiggled my eyebrows. “Whatever sounds fun.”
“The sex of course. All of it actually. I’ve never been on a boat except the ferry.” She popped a shrimp in her mouth. She closed her eyes and moaned, much the same way as she did during sex.
I ignored my dick’s response to her sexy sounds. “We’ll do it all then.”
Because of the long trip, the first day, we mostly lounged on the beach. It was hard because she was in that red bikini again. It was a difficult balancing act to show her I thought she was sexy without her thinking that was all I saw in her.
After dinner, I took her for a walk, watching the sun set over the water. By the time we got back to the front of the house, the moon was casting a beautiful glow over the water.
Sara walked to the water’s edge and put her feet in where a strip of moonlight shone. “It’s like touching the moon.”
“You amaze me.” I’d thought it, but only after she smiled at me over her shoulder did I realize that I’d said the words out loud. “Would you like to swim?”
“I don’t have my suit.”
“Who needs a suit? This is a private island,” I said.
She blushed. “But other people are here.” She looked up toward the house.
“They were here when Ash and Kade were conceived.” I pulled my shirt over my head.
She gaped. “How do you know that?”
“Because they were both born about nine months after my mom and dad came here. And my mom used to joke that she’d never come here again with my dad because she always got knocked up.”
Sara looked down. “Is that why you brought me here? To get me knocked up.”
Crap. I didn’t want her thinking I viewed her simply as a sexy body or business contract.
I put my hands on her shoulders. “I brought you here to relax and to make up for the ass I’ve been.”
She pressed her hands on my chest. “Thank you. I needed this.”
“So let's swim.” I shoved my shorts down. “Full Monty.”
“I don’t have a Monty,” she said as she undressed.
“No, you have spectacular tits.”
I took her hand as we walked into the water. It was the perfect temperature. When I was chest deep in the gentle waves, I pulled her to me, loving how her warm body felt against mine as the water lapped around us. But it wasn’t just her body that had me in a tailspin, I realized. It was her. Her sweetness and honesty. Her acceptance of me even though I was clearly not worthy. Her bravery and outspokenness. Her ability to see and appreciate the small things in the world and the people around her.
My father wasn’t just right that I was jaded, but also that there was more to life than convincing some schmuck in Florida to sell his failing resort. All my life, and m
y brother’s lives, we’d been raised to sacrifice everything for the company. In doing so, this was what we missed out on. We missed out on sweetness and life. On love.
Christ, I was in love with her.
That had to be what this crazy cracking opening up of my heart meant. This swell of emotion, and powerful need not just to protect her, but to keep her by my side and cherish her.
I wanted to tell her and yet, I wasn’t as brave as she was. Despite my epiphany, I was scared shitless. I felt vulnerable and raw. I didn’t think Sara would betray me, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t get hurt. She entered into this marriage as part of a business deal and while there had been a noticeable shift in how we related to each other, that didn’t mean she was feeling the same way I was. It didn’t mean that at some point she wouldn’t get tired of being in this family and decide to leave, forcing us to co-parent a child apart. I couldn’t blame her. Many times, if I had the option, I’d have left the family.
The answer was to renegotiate this deal. Change it from a business arrangement to a relationship. I could ask her to marry me again, in a real wedding that all our family and friends could celebrate with us.
But first, I had to grow some balls and learn to trust what I was feeling. What if I had it wrong? Perhaps I was just swept up in the moment; the beautiful setting and lovely woman.
When I got home, I’d reassess. I’d make sure what I was feeling was real and not just a passing flight of fancy. Until then, I would focus on Sara and make sure she understood that I saw her; the real her.
“How many ladies have you brought here?” she asked as she looped her arms around my neck and wrapped her legs around my waist.
“One.” I nestled her closer to me.
“Was she posh?”
“She was young and sweet and brave.”
Sara quirked a brow.
“Just you, sweetheart. You’re the only one I’ve brought here.” My brothers had brought women here, I think, but for me this place had always been a respite from the ruthless world. I could come here to be away from demands and manipulations.