Make-Believe Marriage

by CA Quigg

  “You think that’s a good idea?”

  “It’s a great idea.”

  The earth’s crust moved, sending shockwaves up her legs, and when Ronan reached for her hand, she gave it willingly. He looked perfect laying there with his hair sticking up at weird angles and a dust smudge on his cheek.

  “Aren’t you afraid it’ll mess things up even more? We’re rivals. You don’t like me.”

  “We’re not rivals, and I do like you.” He lifted her hand to his lips and pressed them against her palm. “I can’t get you off my mind.”

  “Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”

  “A very bad thing.”

  “Is there anything I can do to make my being on your mind a good thing?” One-night stands weren’t something she did, not anymore, but she’d made up her mind—she’d do it, or rather, she’d do him. Sex with the enemy could be a gigantic mistake, but she didn’t care. Not one bit.

  “I can think of a few things.” One at a time, he kissed her fingertips. “This wasn’t supposed to happen. But I can’t help myself. You’re too fucking sexy to resist.”

  She sucked in a breath and sat beside him. “Then what are we waiting for?”

  “Nothing.” He eased her onto her back, placed a kiss on her neck, her cheeks, and her forehead. Everywhere but her lips.

  Staying locked in this room with him forever wouldn’t be a hardship, but if he didn’t kiss her lips soon, she would jump on top of him and pin him to the bed. The lust monster beating on her chest was ready to break through.

  Her back bowed off the mattress, and a moan sounded in her throat.

  “Want something?” he asked.

  “I’ll let you decide.” Damn right she wanted something. She wanted—needed—him to rip her clothes off and kiss her nipples, her stomach, and then lower. But, oh, no, Mr. Patient had something else on his mind. He’d taunt and tease her until she lost her sanity. Maybe if she begged him, he’d do something other than torture her.

  “Was this your plan all along?" she asked. "Drive me insane and have me committed so you can take over?”

  “A little frustrated?” He got on his hands and knees and knelt over her.

  “We’ve shared a bed. You kissed me a few times. And it’s been a few months since… well, since whatever. So, yeah, I’m a little frustrated, and you aren’t doing anything to help unfrustrate me.”

  “Tell me what’ll unfrustrate you?”

  She laughed to hide her embarrassment. “What? No way. I don’t even know you.”

  “And yet here you are, ready for us to fuck.” He swiped the tip of his tongue over her lips. “Do you want me to undress you?” He straddled her hips and pushed her sweater up and off her body, revealing a red lace bra. He unhooked the clasp and pushed the cups to one side. Whoever invented front-opening bras deserved a Nobel Prize.

  “How about your nipples?” He leaned down and brushed his lips over the taut peaks, and a satisfied moan fell from her and ricocheted around the room.

  “Can’t forget about your pussy, can we?” He stepped off the bed and stood between her splayed legs.

  The sound of his dirty words mixed with his sexy accent meant one touch from him, and she’d come immediately. And coming was something she wanted to do again and again. She wrapped her legs around the back of his and dug her heels into his thighs.

  “And what are you going to do to my, um, pu—down there.” She couldn’t bring herself to say the word. Dirty talk wasn’t part of her repertoire. Catholic school was to blame.

  He raised an eyebrow and smiled. “Down there?” With a flick of his wrist, he opened the button on her jeans and pulled down the zipper. “I’m going to bury my face ‘down there’ until you scream my name.”

  “Oh.”

  She lifted her hips from the bed, allowing him to peel off her jeans and soaked underwear in one go. Nerves and pleasure raced through her body, and she held her breath. Who knew sex with a man she barely knew could be this intoxicating?

  “You should walk around naked all the time,” he said.

  “Then they’d definitely lock me up and throw away the key. There you go again, trying to get me out of your way.”

  His eyes twinkled. “Caught me.”

  “Take your clothes off? It’s not fair that I’m naked and you’re not.”

  “Is that what you want?”

  “You know it’s what I want. Stop teasing me.”

  “Why would I stop teasing you?”

  Reaching out, she ran her fingers along the waistband of his jeans. He sucked in a breath, and she shivered. Telling him what she wanted didn’t come easy, but showing him what she wanted did. He yanked his t-shirt over his head, and the musky scent of aftershave mingled with the scent of a man who’d worked hard all day infiltrated her senses.

  “You smell like, God, I don’t even know what you smell like, but it’s amazing.”

  “You think dust and sweat smell good?”

  “On you they do.” Her gaze lingered on his hard muscles, on his chest and flat stomach, and she glanced down to where his erection stretched the material of his faded jeans, straining for release.

  “You’re still not naked enough.”

  “Soon.” He pressed her legs open, reached down, and gave a gentle caress, and arousal spiked through her body. “Beautiful.” He kissed across her stomach, up to her chest and down the center of her body, teasing her again, arousing her even more. Her nipples begged for his touch, but he ignored their peaked pleas for attention and pressed kisses along her upper thighs. What did she have to do? Beg him again, because if that’s what it took, she was getting close.

  Finally. Finally. He latched onto one of her nipples and drew it into his mouth. His swirling tongue drove her wild, and she was more turned on than she’d ever been in her life. The warmth of his mouth on her breast and the cold air drifting in from the still open window chased goose bumps around her skin.

  She scraped her hands through his hair and brought his mouth to her other nipple. Never in a million years would she have expected pleasure like this.

  To add to her pleasure even more, he lowered his hand between her legs. The lightest pressure from his fingers was as powerful as a hundred volts and her back curved, pushing her pelvis into his touch, but then he moved away from her.

  “Don’t stop. Please.” And there it was, she was begging.

  “I don’t plan to.” He unbuttoned and unzipped his jeans, and lowered them to the floor before kicking them off.

  Lord in heaven. If she’d known about how delicious his entire body was, she would have ripped his clothes off a lot sooner.

  “Get over here.”

  He chuckled softly. “Bossy, aren’t you.”

  “Only when I have to be.”

  She reached out and loosely curled her hand around his impressive erection and stroked from root to tip and back again. He cursed under his breath. Now it was her turn to tease and torture him.

  “I like how you feel in my hand.”

  “I love how I feel in your hand.”

  “Then you’ll love how you feel in my mouth even more.” She dropped to her knees and flicked her tongue over the head of his hard-on. Ronan flexed his hips and groaned and the anticipation of what was about to happen shook her hands. She licked the underside of his shaft, tracing the tip of her tongue up and down. Unable to resist, she kissed a drop of moisture beading at the head of his cock. “You taste even better than you smell.”

  He looked down, his eyes glassy. “Keep tasting.”

  “I think I will.” Quinn sucked him deep, corkscrewing her tongue around him, and dug her nails into his hard thighs.

  He wrapped her hair around his fist and tugged. “You were right, I do love how I feel in your mouth.”

  She hummed her reply and continued to suck him deep, running her hands up and down and around his legs, grabbing his ass, cupping his balls.
When was the last time she wanted someone like this? Felt like this? It’d been a while if ever. Pleasure pulsed through her. The kind of pleasure that tingled her skin and tensed her muscles and demanded a body-melting, heart-stopping orgasm. She looked up. He watched her. His eyes were as stormy as the snow clouds outside.

  She tugged his balls and was rewarded with a groan. “You have no idea how sexy it is watching you suck me off. But if you don’t stop, I’ll come.” He eased out of her mouth, curled his fingers around his cock, and tapped the head off her lips. She ached to feel his cock hit off her nipples, her clit, to have him drag it all over her skin.

  “Lay on the bed and spread your legs.”

  “Who’s being bossy now?” She lay down and bent her knees at the ankles and let them fall to the side.

  He massaged his hands up her legs and swiped his thumbs over the sensitive indents at the apex of her thighs. “Fucking perfect.”

  She laughed. “I’m glad you approve.”

  “I more than approve.” He leaned over and splayed a hand on the mattress by her shoulder, and slowly lowered his mouth to the center of her breasts. Her nipples drew tighter.

  Wanting.

  Waiting.

  Aching.

  He molded a hand around her breast and caressed and kneaded. Her pulse thundered and a fever scorched her skin, bathing her in a light sheen of sweat.

  Last night, the pillow barricade was a big mistake and one she would never repeat. Tonight, nothing would separate them and when the fire smoldered and died, they would create their own heat. Body heat was the best kind of heat there was.

  He moved his hand lower and cupped her mound, the heel of his hand massaging her swollen clit, his fingertips stroking her slick folds. She writhed and squirmed beneath his touch, and when he slipped two fingers inside her, the room spun and a fog of desire filled her brain. For the next while, nothing mattered or existed. Not Brady. Not Lily. Not Ella.

  “You want more?” he asked, moving his fingers in a slow, agonizing motion.

  “I want to feel your skin on mine.” Unafraid to show him what she wanted, she slowly rode his fingers, flexing her hips, bowing her back.

  “Soon.” Over and over, he dragged his fingers from her. Frenzied cries fell from her lips, and she arched her body, doing her best to force him to go deeper, harder. “Ready for me to fuck you?”

  “God, yes, so ready. I’ve never be more ready.”

  He chuckled. “Sorry. Not yet.”

  “I hate you.” And at that moment, she might have meant it.

  Using his thumb, he traced small concentric circles around her clit. The waves of her orgasm built slow and steady, gaining strength and intensity with every touch. But she didn’t want to come. Not yet. She wanted to feel her walls clamp around his cock. Feel the weight of his body on hers.

  “I need to taste you,” he said.

  “Since I tasted you, I guess it’s only fair.” She held herself up on her forearms and watched as he knelt between her thighs. The second his tongue touched her, she cried out and threw her head back. The sheer relief of having his mouth on her was instantaneous. Like something she’d waited for her entire life but didn’t know she’d wanted until now.

  He moved his attention to her clit, clamping his lips over her, scraping the edge of his teeth against her, bringing her to the brink but not allowing her to fall no matter how much her body strained and twisted.

  He feasted on her. Explored her. Devoured her.

  She curled her fingers through his hair and held him close, allowing him no escape, and even though she knew he could overpower her if he wanted, her body demanded she take what she needed. Instinctively, her hips rocked, searching, wanting, needing. He eased a finger and then another into her, curling them, twisting them, pressing them against her engorged walls. Her hips picked up speed and his fingers matched their pace, feeding the flames of her oncoming orgasm. She dug her fingers into his scalp and sucked in a sharp breath, and in a flash of light, an explosive climax obliterated her.

  Her cries echoed around the room, drowning out everything else. She wanted to kiss him, taste him, share in the pleasure he’d given her.

  With his fingers still inside her swollen channel, he moved up her body and mashed his lips to hers. There was desperation in the way he kissed. It was raw and messy, hard and soft, demanding and tender.

  He eased his fingers from her, wrenching a moan of protest from her soul.

  “Don’t stop.” She clamped her legs around his waist, pressing her feet into his lower back, urging him to take her.

  “I’m not.” The blunt tip of his cock hit off her and another set of spasms wracked her body.

  She ran her tongue over his lips, and whether he liked it or not, the wait was over. “Condom? Please tell me you have a condom.”

  “A Boy Scout is always prepared.”

  “If you’re a Boy Scout, I’m Mother Theresa.”

  He rolled his warm body off her, scooped up his jeans, and fished through the back pockets. With a smile, he produced a small purple square.

  “So you were expecting to get lucky?” she asked.

  “Hopeful.”

  He ripped the packet open and sheathed himself.

  “Fuck me.” She reached out with her toes and seized his thighs, pulling him between hers.

  “There you go being bossy again,” he said.

  “I know what I want, and I want you.”

  “What if I said I’m not ready to fuck you?”

  “I’d say you were a liar.”

  “I’d say you were right.”

  Still standing, he curled his hands beneath her knees and pulled her forward until the head of his cock lined up with her entrance. As if trying to entice him in, her inner muscles contracted and rippled. She needed him to fuck her now, but he didn’t. Taking his sweet time, he worked the broad head of his cock a few inches inside her but didn’t go any further.

  A few beats later, he eased out before reentering, going a little deeper, stretching a little wider. He pushed deeper still, and they both cried out, but he kept his thrusts painfully slow and controlled.

  She dug her heels into his ass, imploring him to quicken his pace, to take her the way she needed, but he ignored her soundless plea and continued to take his sweet time with slow, steady, and restrained thrusts.

  She’d had enough of his teasing, and that was all it was. He was testing her. Seeing how far he could push her before she lost control. What he had to do to make her beg. Wasn’t going to happen. No way would she beg again. But if he wasn’t going to do anything to give her another orgasm she’d take care of it herself. Later, when they’d taken the edge off their desire, they could take all the time in the world and make leisurely love all night, but now wasn’t the time.

  Reaching between them, she massaged her still sensitive clit.

  “Fuck, Quinn.”

  She smiled, tilted her hips, and circled her fingers around and around. “Exactly my thoughts, fuck Quinn.”

  Ronan sucked in a breath. His hooded eyes watched her, as if mesmerized by the hypnotic movements of her fingers.

  His muscles tensed and corded, and he clamped his hands around her hips. He was ready. On a groan, his thick cock filled her to the hilt and she met every one of his hungry thrusts.

  Her breath became labored and wave after wave crashed over her. She didn’t try to hide her enjoyment and allowed the sounds of her second, more powerful orgasm to spill from her. Her walls pulsed around his length and his once measured thrusts were now rough and unrestrained.

  The need to come contorted his face, groans and curses fell from his lips, and he drove into her over and over. His body stilled and he threw his head back. And with one final brutal thrust, he released her hips and fell on her, kissing her as if he needed her breath to live.

  After a few seconds of stillness, he eased himself from her and went into th
e bathroom.

  Her heart thundered and her body fought to get its equilibrium back. Never had the first time with someone been like that. Fun and lighthearted, and toe-curlingly sexy. A few more days of sex like that? Yes, please.

  Ronan rejoined her in the bedroom and grabbed his clothes. She looked into his eyes. They were cold and distant. Concerned, she sat up and reached for her discarded underwear. “What’s the hurry? What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing. Everything’s perfect.” The tone in his words and his jerky movements told her everything was anything but perfect.

  “There’s still lots to do.”

  “I’ll finish the rooms tomorrow,” she said with a languorous stretch. “Right now, I want to go to our room and continue what we started here and I’ll let you tease me as much as you want.”

  “Plenty of time for that later.” He scooped up her clothes and sat them on the bed beside her. “Get dressed. If we’re going to keep going all night, we need some grub for fuel.”

  “All night? Think you can keep up?”

  "Without doubt."

  Even though he’d used all the right words, and smiled at the right times, it was like he couldn’t wait to get out of the room and away from her.

  Confused and more than a little disheartened, she began putting on her clothes, and by the time she’d dressed, Ronan had disappeared.

  Chapter Six

  Ronan strode down the hallway. The walls closed in on him. A woman hadn’t had this effect on him since Abbey.

  He needed air. Needed to get away. Needed to think. His feelings for Quinn were growing into something more than he could handle. If he was merely passing time, why did his heartbeat triple whenever she was nearby? Why did his hands ache to hold her, stroke her? Hell, he could even tell when she walked into the room. He’d allowed his cock to control his brain.

  This couldn’t, wouldn’t, happen. But it was too late. His heart had put blinkers and earmuffs on and craved nothing but her.

  The phone clasped in his hand vibrated. He glanced down. A blocked number, and only one person would call him from a blocked number. Brady Gibson. Perfect fucking timing.