by Beth Yarnall
When he had control again, he turned his head to look at her. Her face was pink, her full lips were red, and her tear-filled eyes were so blue they rivaled a winter sky.
“I won’t screw this up,” he told her, his voice as scraped out as he was.
“I know.” She smiled at him even as the last tear slid down her cheek and into her hair. “Will you help me move my things across the hall? I want to sleep with my husband in our bed. Tonight.”
*****
Cal lay in bed that night, listening to his wife wash her face and brush her teeth in the bathroom, feeling like the luckiest man in the world. She trusted him. She finally trusted him. Ironically it had taken another woman’s lipstick on him to do it. No more walking across the hall to knock on her door and the sickening feeling low in his stomach at the thought that she might not let him in. But now, now he didn’t have to worry.
They’d spent the rest of the evening moving her things and then played with their daughter on the big bed before reading her a story and putting her to sleep for the night. It had felt real and right. They were a family in every sense of the word. He stacked his hands under his head and stared up at the ceiling he hadn’t seen in weeks, not exactly sure how he’d accomplished it.
Lucy came out of the bathroom dressed in some kind of flimsy see-through thing that had him sitting up in bed so he could get a better look. She wasn’t wearing a damn thing underneath.
“What do you think?” She spun for him, and the fabric flew out around her.
He had trouble forming any thoughts except for ones he couldn’t repeat. It was like someone had wrapped all of his favorite things in gauze so that he couldn’t quite see them.
“It was a gift from Mi.” She held the dress out at the sides, looking a little unsure. “I was supposed to wear it for our wedding night.”
“We can pretend tonight’s our wedding night.”
“But do you like it?”
“It’s a tease. Come here and let me rip it off you.”
She laughed. “Don’t you dare tear it. It’s too beautiful.”
“Then you better take it off before you climb up here, darlin’, because I can’t be responsible for my actions once your knee hits the mattress.”
She looked down at herself, smoothing her hands over her body, and then she lifted the skirt and pulled the whole thing over her head. Instead of joining him, she went into the closet.
He strained to keep her fine ass in view. “Where are you going?”
“To hang it up. I don’t want it ruined.”
She came back out wearing nothing but the jewelry he’d given her. He decided right then and there that he’d buy her a whole shop full of jewels if she came to bed dressed just like that every night.
She climbed up next to him, which was a bit of a struggle for her. He made a note to get a step for her or else buy a whole new bed she didn’t have to strain herself to get into. The only exerting he wanted her to do in bed was with him. She straddled him and flipped her hair back over her shoulders so that her breasts were fully exposed.
“I was thinking,” she said, “that we could try option number two.” She pulled a scarf from underneath one of the pillows and wrapped it in her fists, tugging on it to make it snap.
He ran his hands up her thighs. “Whatever that option is, I’m on board.”
“It’s the binding option, the one where I tie you up.”
“However you want me, wherever you want me, I’m there.”
She looked at the carved wooden headboard with a frown. “There’s no place to tie your hands to.”
“Hmm, that is a problem. What if you tied my hands together and I have to keep them above my head no matter what? And then tomorrow I’ll have a new bed delivered with a step for you to climb up and a wrought-iron headboard you can tie me up to any time you like.”
“That seems awfully extreme for just the one option.”
While she’d been deciding what to do, his hands had wandered up her thighs to her breasts, and he rolled her nipples between his fingers. She moaned and arched her back.
“If you’ve got your heart dead set on that option, then there’s only one thing to do—buy a new bed.” He leaned up and replaced one of his hands with his mouth.
“We don’t…ooohhh…need a new bed.” She fell forward, catching herself with one hand on the headboard, giving him better access.
He could’ve spent all night on her breasts. They were so sensitive that one touch had her rubbing herself against him. He could feel her slickness, smell her heat as she moved. He barely touched her, and yet she was so ready for him. He drifted a hand down her back to her ass and slipped a finger into her from behind. She moved up and down, pleasuring herself on his hand. With his other hand he slid a finger in from the front. She went wild then, bucking up and down. He added two more fingers, and she groaned, her breasts jiggling with her movements. He leaned up and caught her nipple between his lips and sucked hard.
She came on a long, low moan, her head back, lips parted, her hair a wild mess around her. He released her nipple and laid back to watch as her orgasm rolled through her. She was so goddamned beautiful he could hardly believe she was his.
She collapsed onto his chest as her orgasm faded. “I’m never, ever going to tie your hands up. They’re too good. That thing you just did with them. Oh, my God.”
“I don’t know about that. That no-hands option we tried a while back was pretty damn great.”
“This was better.”
“I’m not done with you yet, Mrs. Sellers. This is our wedding night.” He rolled them so that he was on top. “We have to consummate our marriage to make it legal and binding.”
“Mmm, binding.”
He adjusted the pendant he’d given her so that it fell between her breasts. “We’ll get to the binding. But first I want to make love to my wife. This would be option number thirty-seven.”
She ran her hands into his hair. “And what happens in this option?”
“This is the option where I ruin you for all other men.”
“That might have already happened about three minutes ago.”
“That was nothing. Just an appetizer.”
He kissed her as he’d wanted to on their wedding day, sealing their vows. And then changed it, kissing her deep and long. Running a hand down her body, he mapped her curves, caressing her waist as it dipped in and her hip as it flared out. Long, slow movements down then up her leg. He repeated the motion over and over, his hand skimming her inner thigh and the underside of her breast, but never giving her what she wanted.
Her hands were all over him, relearning him as he was her. He kissed a trail along her jaw and down her neck. She shifted, nestling him between her legs. He wanted to go slow, but she had her hand on his ass and her knees bent so she was wide open. She kissed him like she more than wanted him, she needed him.
He broke the kiss and looked down at her. Her eyes were so blue, bluer than the stones between her breasts, and she was smiling up at him. No hesitation, no fear, she was his Lucy once again. He bent and kissed the slope of each of her breasts, gliding his tongue in circles until he was tracing around her nipples. She held his head in her hands, making little moaning sounds. He pulled her nipples into his mouth, one and then the other. By the time he glanced up at her face, she was squirming under him.
She grabbed the condom off the nightstand and rolled it on, taking her time about it. He’d get her back for that. While she was busy torturing him, he slid two fingers into her. She sucked in a breath. He gently stroked her clit, easing her legs wider apart. He kissed her, mimicking the thrusts of his hand. She clutched at him, and he knew she was close so he slowed down.
This wasn’t going to be one of their mad couplings. He wanted to show her with his body what he felt for her and how she made him feel when he was with her, inside her. She gripped his ass and tilted her hips, trying to get him to hurry it along, but he kept up the slow, agonizing pace until he felt h
er give over to it. Her head dropped back, exposing her neck for him to kiss, so he obliged her.
He positioned himself at her entrance, and for a brief moment he hesitated. And then he saw his ring on her hand and everything they were, everything they would be, slid into place for him.
“Look at me,” he told her.
Her lashes fluttered open. Their gazes locked as he eased into her. When he hit deep, she made that sound that drove him mad, and he nearly lost it. He had to take several breaths to hold on to some kind of control. And then he pulled back and slid into her again. Stroking in and out, he kept the pace where he wanted it, but not quite where she needed it. He watched her expression change as she drew close to coming.
“I want you to look at me. I’m the one inside you.” He drove into her harder, watching as her lips parted and she drew nearer to orgasm. “I’m your husband.” He pumped faster into her, and she bit her lip, digging her nails into his back. “And I love you.”
She sucked in a breath and came, still biting her lip. He thrust into her once more, jerking as he too found release and collapsed on top of her. This time he faced her, waiting for her to turn her head and look at him.
She finally did, her gaze roaming over his face as if seeing him for the first time.
“I love you too,” she whispered.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Cal proudly escorted his wife into the Dallas Young Professionals Ball. The ballroom had been decorated in an under-the-sea theme. Blue-green lighting made it feel as if they were underwater. They weaved around seaweed that sprang up from the floor along with anemones and other sea life. Decorative fish hung from the ceiling, and the fabric on the walls seemed to wave as if affected by a current.
Lucy had chosen a royal-blue floor-length dress that tucked in at the waist and showed a reasonable amount of cleavage. It was his favorite of all the dresses Felicia had dropped off for Lucy to choose from. Lucy’s hair was piled up on her head, exposing her creamy white skin and the necklace and earrings he’d given her. She was by far the most beautiful woman in the room. He couldn’t take his eyes off her. A lot of other men couldn’t either, he noticed.
Lucas had arranged for them to have bodyguards disguised as guests. One male and one female, so that when Lucy went anywhere—even to the ladies’ room—she was never alone. Cal wasn’t about to take another chance that her bastard ex could get to her. Poppy was at home, well protected by Sam and the security team that regularly patrolled the grounds of their estate as well as in-house staff whose sole purpose was to protect one tiny redheaded little girl.
Cal scanned the room and nearly groaned out loud when he spotted Joel and Anne Gleason headed their way.
He leaned down to whisper in Lucy’s ear. “If either of them offers you a drink, don’t take it. I wouldn’t put it past them to roofie us.”
Lucy glanced sharply up at him. “They wouldn’t.”
“You want to take that chance, darlin’? The only thing we drink tonight we get from the bar ourselves.”
“Cal, Lucy, how wonderful to see you,” Anne said.
She air-kissed Lucy and tried to go for Cal’s lips, but he successfully dodged her and planted a kiss on her cheek instead. He shook hands with Joel and watched very closely how he greeted Lucy. Joel gave her a chaste kiss on the cheek, but his gaze was glued to her chest.
Lucy tried to hide her revulsion for the Gleasons, especially after Anne had attempted to kiss Cal on the mouth. Again. She didn’t consider herself a violent person, but she’d have no problem pulling her gun from her purse, hoping Anne would get the point that Cal was hers.
“I never did hear back from you about dinner,” Anne was saying. “We’d love to have the two of you over. What about the weekend after next? Do you have plans?”
“A friend of mine owns Sur La Mer downtown. I could get us a table,” Cal offered.
Anne waved away his suggestion. “No restaurants. I insist on returning the hospitality.”
“I’ve just acquired a case of Château d’Yquem,” Joel said. “We haven’t had an occasion to open it yet. Don’t disappoint my wife. She loves to play hostess.”
Joel couldn’t have laid down the ultimatum any stronger. This was a hurdle she and Cal would have to jump in order to make the deal Cal needed so badly.
“We’d love to,” Lucy agreed, despite her feelings for the Gleasons. She knew Cal still hadn’t persuaded Joel to sell him his company. “Thank you so much for the invitation.”
“It’s settled then,” Anne said. “Dinner at our place a week from Friday at six o’clock.”
Joel rubbed his hands together, his gaze firmly fastened on Lucy’s cleavage. “I’ve been looking forward to showing you my collection of taxidermy from all over the world, Cal. We’ve got a lot to discuss you and I.”
Lucy wanted to ask why anyone would want to collect dead animals, but she could see that Cal was nearly at his limit for politeness.
“Oh, look. Mimi Vanderclark is waving us over,” Lucy said. “I’m so sorry to have to leave you,” she told the Gleasons. “But Mimi is an old family friend, and if I don’t say hello, I’ll never hear the end of it. Won’t you excuse us?”
They said their goodbyes to the Gleasons, and Cal led them across the room where Lucy had pointed.
“Who’s Mimi Vanderclark?” Cal asked.
“I made her up. I’m awful, aren’t I?”
“No, you’re brilliant.”
They were waylaid by some business associates of Cal’s, a couple of whom recognized Lucy from her days as the cohost of Pleasure at Home. Everyone seemed interested in speaking with her. There were a lot of questions about them and the rumors running through the media. Cal extricated them from those situations and maneuvered them around the ballroom so that by the time they found their table, Lucy was pretty sure she’d met everyone in the room.
Cal pulled a chair out for her and waited for her to be seated before he took his seat next to her.
“Have I told you how beautiful you look tonight?”
“Only about eighty times.”
“All I can think about is getting that dress off you.”
“I don’t know why. It’s not like I’m wearing anything underneath it.”
He groaned, leaned in to nip her earlobe, and proceeded to tell her exactly what he wanted to do to her once he got her dress off. By the time he finished, she was sure she’d flushed from her neckline to her forehead. She had to take several gulps of water before she felt like she had herself under control.
The MC began the program with a handful of corny jokes about businessmen, which earned him pity laughs. The awards ceremony was filled with names of people Lucy had only ever heard of or read about on TV or online. Every time one was announced, Cal would lean over and tell her something unrepeatable about them. A few times she had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing out loud and embarrassing Cal.
After that, dinner was served. It was surprisingly good for a banquet dinner. And then Cal told her how much it had cost per plate, and she knew why. Lucy was surprised to be having such a good time in a room full of people she had absolutely nothing in common with. The dinner conversation wasn’t nearly as boring as she’d expected.
Cal nudged her arm to get her attention away from the woman next to her. “How do I look?”
She examined him, which wasn’t a hardship. “You look great. Very handsome.”
“Good. I’m on next, and they’re about to announce me.”
As soon as the words were out of his mouth, his name was called and he stood to a round of applause that kept going until he quieted the crowd from the podium. The audience seemed to enjoy Cal’s speech, laughing at his jokes and nodding along with his observations. Lucy was so proud of her husband she could burst.
A siren pealed, interrupting Cal midsentence. A mechanical voice came over the loudspeakers, warning that this was a fire alarm and telling everyone to exit the building.
“I guess my speech was
too hot,” Cal joked, then motioned for Lucy to stay where she was, standing next to their table.
All of a sudden there was a lot of shouting and people rushing toward the doors. Smoke billowed from the overhead vents. Someone pushed Lucy, knocking her forward and into the swelling crowd that grew more frantic to get through the only open exit at the back of the room. She struggled to stay on her feet, but as the air got thicker, hits came from every side. She glanced back at the podium, hoping to catch sight of Cal, but he was gone.
A lick of fear slithered up her spine. Where was he? She’d worked her way out of the funnel of the crowd and out into the fringes of the room. Alone. She looked around for the two bodyguards Cal had hired, but they were nowhere in sight.
A hand grabbed her arm, yanking her back against a hard form. “Remember…” Kevin’s harsh murmur in her ear sent her heart skidding, “…I can get to you anywhere. Any time.” He released her, shoving her back into the mass of people, hurdling her closer to the exit.
She pushed blindly into the swell, knocking into people to get away. By the time she reached the double doors that led to the hallway, panic crawled all over her like biting ants. She had to get to Poppy. She had to make sure her daughter was safe.
Cal caught up to her just as she reached the street door. He wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her into his side. She grasped fistfuls of his jacket, hanging on to him for more than the steadying effect he was having on her senses. He was safety. He was everything she’d come to rely on, everything she needed in this world.
“I’ve got you, darlin’. You’re all right.”
“Kevin’s here. He’s here.”
“I saw. I can’t believe the balls of that son of a bitch.”
He ushered her past the fire trucks and police to their waiting limo and practically shoved her inside. As soon as he shut the door, enclosing them in the protective cocoon of the car, she grabbed for him again, climbing him to get closer.
“Hey.” He held her tight, his face buried in her shoulder. “You’re okay. I’ve got you now. It’ll all be okay.” The subtle tremor in his voice made a liar out of him. “He can’t get you. He’s not going to get you.”