Twisted Arrangement 3

by Mora Early

  Josh pushed suddenly back from the table and got to his feet, making Ben frown. “What’s up, man?”

  But he didn’t answer. Instead, he strode across the tent, determined to claim his bride. Of course, this was the moment William Ransler decided to step in front of him, the older man’s handsome face a portrait of chagrin.

  “Josh?”

  “William, I –”

  “La... Lolly and I have been close since we worked on The Bridge together. She was just a kid then. I trusted her word implicitly, even when she was having her troubles. So when she told me you knew she loved you and used that fact to manipulate her, and then tossed her aside when she told you she needed help, I believed her. I know I’ve said some harsh things to you, and it seems they were undeserved. I want to apologize.” Ransler stuck out his hand. Josh took it in one of his and gave it a brisk shake.

  “Thanks, but don’t worry about it. Water under the bridge.” He wasn’t even looking at William. It was probably rude. But Todd had lifted Emma back to her feet and was spinning her, making the wide skirt bell out around her. Josh caught a flash of her slender ankle. Another body part he’d never noticed could be quite so sexy before he met Emma.

  Ransler nodded. “Of course, of course. And I’m going to encourage Lolly to keep going to therapy. Obviously, she still has some issues surrounding her addiction. I’m really sorry she almost ruined your and Emma’s big day.” The older man smiled. “She’s something else, that Emma. You’re a lucky man.”

  “That I am. A fact I’m about to go take advantage of while I can, if you don’t mind, William. We’ll talk more later.” Josh gave Ransler’s hand another brief shake and then dodged around him, reaching the dance floor in three long steps. He tapped Todd on the shoulder. “May I?”

  Todd bowed slightly and handed Emma off to him. Emma was smiling as she slid into his embrace. She swayed to the music, some of the sparkle in her eyes due to the wine and champagne she’d drunk throughout the night. Josh felt lightheaded too. His feet remained glued to the spot.

  Emma’s hands kneaded his biceps absently as she stared up at him. “Aren’t we going to dance?” The sweet scent of her breath wafted up to him.

  Josh’s tongue was thick in his mouth. “Yes.” His voice came out a rasp. Emma shivered, her long lashes fluttering. She bit her lip briefly, and then shook herself and straightened her spine.

  “Then we need to move.”

  He obliged, twining his fingers through hers to lead her from the dance floor. Her dark brows knitted together over her nose, but she followed in his wake. Several people noticed his trajectory toward the house and called out, but he ignored them. Emma’s fingers were warm in his.

  “Josh? What are you doing?”

  “In a minute,” he replied. His thundering heart had moved up into his throat, making every word hoarse. He didn’t stop or slow down as he pushed through the patio doors, into the living room, and up the curved staircase. He was practically running, Emma on his heels. Her fingers tightened on his.

  “Where are we going?” she asked breathlessly, skirts lifted to keep from tangling her feet.

  When they passed the ballroom, her steps faltered a little. Josh waited for her to right herself and then drew her into the hall. The bedroom door loomed large and smooth before him. Emma’s green eyes widened in the mellow hallway light.

  “Josh...”

  He couldn’t wait anymore. Josh caught her face between his hands, the flushed skin of her cheeks warm and smooth against his palms. He stepped into her body and bent his head, brushing his mouth across hers with purpose. Her slender hands flew to his shoulders like startled birds.

  She gasped, and Josh took advantage of the part of her lips, delving his tongue between them to lick at hers. She tasted of good wine and Emma. Something dark and sweet and indefinable, a flavor that seemed to shift on his tongue the longer he tasted her, become more complex, just like the fine wine they’d shared all evening.

  Josh felt the fine tremor that moved through her as he pressed her back against the door, just as he had at the ball. The wide skirts of her dress prevented him from touching her legs, but he would deal with that later. For now, he kept kissing her. His tongue glided along hers with sensual friction, dancing better than anyone at the reception.

  Emma’s fingers dug into his shoulders as he dropped his hand to her breast and cupped the mound through the heavy fabric. Josh stroked fingertips down the sloped flesh, through her dress, down to the crest of her nipple. It was hard beneath the cloth, though hardly detectable through the thick layers. He groaned. Josh couldn’t wait to touch her without the barrier, to take that taut bud between his teeth and flick it with his tongue.

  As if she sensed his thought, Emma moaned into his mouth. Still kissing and nibbling at Emma’s mouth, Josh reached for the doorknob with his right hand. The moment was so reminiscent of their first encounter that Josh would have laughed if he weren’t so tied in lustful knots.

  Just like before, as soon as the door popped open and they stumbled inside, Emma spun out of his embrace. She glanced around the room, eyes widening at the sight of the bed, covered in bright pink rose petals. Off-white candles, some tall and skinny, others short and fat, burned on every available surface, bathing the bedroom in a soft, golden glow. He needed to remember to give Martin a raise. Later.

  Emma swallowed audibly and turned her wide green gaze on his face. “What is this? What are you doing?”

  Josh chuckled, though the sound was slightly strained with the force of his desire. His heart pounded like a bass drum played in a punk band. Blood throbbed heavily in his groin, his cock stirring against the soft, expensive fabric of his tuxedo pants.

  “I should think that was fairly obvious, Emma. I’m preparing to enjoy our wedding night.”

  ***

  The wicked grin on Josh’s face should’ve been illegal. Classified as some sort of deadly weapon. It made the dimple in his cheek deepen and his blue-green eyes sparkle with mischief. It slayed her higher brain function. Emma blinked rapidly at him in the warm, flickering light from the candles, trying to process his words and think.

  “T-this was not part of the deal,” she squeaked. The protest sounded feeble, even to her. Her cheeks burned with blood, not just from the mad dash up the stairs, or the kiss – which had been just as amazing as she remembered – but because she couldn’t deny that she’d had more than the occasional spare thought about their wedding night herself.

  Josh tugged at his bow tie with strong fingers, unraveling it and jerking it free from his shirt collar. “You never stipulated no sex. In fact, you’ve been very hands on these last few days. You’ve been driving me crazy, Emma.”

  Add the way he said her name, like a husky breath of desire, to the ranks of his unfair arsenal. She shivered, nipples throbbing at the mere sound of his voice. Emma clenched her hands into fists at her sides. “I was being your fiancé. Fiancés touch each other. That’s all.”

  Josh shrugged off his tux jacket and set it aside. His fingers moved to his cufflinks, tossing the silver rounds haphazardly onto the table beside the door. Emma bit her lip as his hands went next to the buttons on his shirt. He stalked toward her a few steps. Emma scrambled backward, heart skittering at the heated look in Josh’s eyes. Her sex throbbed in response.

  “Well, then be my wife now. Wives touch their husbands. Touch me, Emma.” He took her wrist and pressed her palm flat against his bare chest. They both groaned at the contact of skin on skin.

  Josh’s chest was furred with curling blond hair that tapered to a thin trail down his muscled belly and disappeared into the waistband of his slacks. Emma followed the enticing path with her eyes, licking her lips at the display of smooth, tan, masculine flesh.

  “This isn’t real,” she breathed. A heavy heat pooled in her belly. Josh chuckled, dragging her hand lower, over the hard plane of his stomach and down, pressing her fingers to the rock hard length of his cock.

  “This is re
al. I want you, Emma. I think you want me too.”

  She whimpered, unable to form words. He thought she wanted him? The thin scrap of silk panties she wore beneath the elaborate gown were drenched already, just from the kissing, from this one touch. Her whole body tingled at the prospect of finally being back in this bedroom and finishing what they’d started at the masquerade.

  But she couldn’t! That way laid danger. She’d already let Josh too far into her life. She couldn’t let him into her body as well. Then her heart would be next. And he may want her, but he’d never really trust her.

  “No.” Emma yanked her hand free and backed quickly away from him. If she didn’t get some space, she wouldn’t be able to resist him. But Emma hadn’t realized how close to the end of the bed she was. When the solid wood struck the backs of her legs, her heel caught in her train and she tumbled over the footboard, landing hard on her back with a startled gasp.

  One shoe went flying off, and her heavy skirt slid partway up her thighs as her legs kicked out. She pushed up on her elbows just in time to see Josh sink to his knees before her with a groan. He’d done the same thing at the ball, she remembered. Dropping to his knees behind her to press his warm, wet mouth to the base of her spine.

  Emma had to squeeze her eyes momentarily shut at the combination of the memory of that sensation and the thought of what it might be like if he did the same thing now, putting his mouth on her slick pussy. Her inner walls clenched deliciously at the idea.

  Josh was gazing at her with an expression caught halfway between anguish and awe. “Emma, please...” His big hands rose and touched her stocking-clad knees. The warmth of his flesh through the silk sent an exquisite fire across her nerve endings.

  She had to stop this. Now. Because...

  He bent his head and kissed her knee. The press of his firm, warm lips sent a shock of pleasure straight to her soaked sex. Emma whimpered. Josh moved to the other knee, looking up at her as he murmured against her skin. “Whatever else, we know this between us is real. Don’t we?”

  The husky plea in his voice made her tremble. She could lie. She could tell him she didn’t feel what he was feeling. That this wasn’t real. Emma was pretty sure that if she did, he’d stop immediately. Most likely never attempt to touch her like this again.

  Every cell in her body collectively called out a denial at that. Josh’s tongue flicked quickly against the crease of her knee and Emma whimpered.

  She would be playing the part of Josh’s wife for the next several months. Where was the harm in enjoying the perks of that position? Right now, Emma’s brain was clamoring for any position Josh cared to put her in. He watched her with molten eyes, alternating open-mouthed kisses on each of her knees.

  Emma’s chin jerked into a nod without a fully conscious thought. She felt the rush of Josh’s exhaled breath of relief against the damp silk of her stockings and moaned. He caressed her calves, kneading the firm flesh before sliding his big hands up to her knees and drawing them apart.

  “Lift your skirt for me, Emma.”

  Gaze still locked on his flushed, gorgeous face, Emma reached down with shaking hands to draw the long, heavy skirt up to bunch at her hips. The motion bared not only the tops of her thighs above the stockings and the thin ribbons of the garter belt, but the tiny scrap of her panties and a thin strip of her smooth belly. Emma’s breasts heaved with her ragged breath, straining against the square neckline of the dress. Josh groaned.

  He returned his mouth to her knee, dragging his lips up her thigh to press teasing kisses along the top, lace edge of the stocking. Emma shook, fingers curling into the heavy satin of the wedding gown as Josh’s mouth trailed beside the ribbon holding up the stocking until he reached the joint of her leg and hip.

  He nipped her hipbone with sharp teeth before brushing his lips over the soft skin of her belly just above the garter belt’s waistband.

  “Josh!” she gasped, hips twitching as he flicked his tongue into her belly button. He grinned, caressing her calves. He took the opportunity to slide her one remaining shoe off and drop it to the floor as his mouth continued its journey back down her other thigh. He took his time, kissing and nibbling and licking at random bits of exposed flesh.

  Emma felt another flood of moisture wet her folds as Josh leaned in to skim his lips over her sensitive mound through the silk of her panties. His hot, wet tongue came out to prod her delicate flesh. Her head rolled back on her neck. She stared at the dancing shadows on the ceiling as Josh covered her with his mouth and sucked at her pussy through the sheer, damp fabric of her panties.

  She cried out, bucking against his lips as pleasure pulsed in her sex in time with his drawing mouth. She panted, arching against him as he tongued her slit through the flimsy undergarment.

  His fingers deftly unsnapped the garters and rolled down first one stocking and then the other, drawing them free of her fuchsia painted toenails, without ever lifting his head. Next, he hooked his hands in the waistband of her panties. He raised his mouth only long enough to gruffly order her to, “Lift up, Emma.”

  Emma’s stomach muscles tensed in immediate response as she raised her hips, helping him tug the scrap of her panties down and off. Josh tossed them away and returned his hands to her knees, spreading her wider, baring her to his gaze. He sat back on his heels and looked at her for a moment, eyes hot as he stared at her bare sex.

  “Please...” she pleaded. “Josh, please!”

  He finished by slowly removing the garter belt as well, leaving her completely bare below the waist. He leaned forward, one broad hand sliding beneath her backside, splaying wide to lift her to his mouth. He bent his other arm over his head and rested it on her stomach, long fingers parting the slick lips of her pussy to bare the tight bud of her clit to his ministrations.

  Josh pressed his mouth between her legs like a dying man at an oasis, licking and sucking at her slick folds. Emma writhed, moaning as he nibbled along her lips and then speared his tongue inside her to wriggle against her tingling satin walls.

  “Yes! Oh, god, Josh, yes! So good! There!” She’d never been so vocal before, but the pleasure he was drawing from her with his talented lips and tongue made it impossible not to call out.

  Emma lifted her legs over his shoulders, pressing her toes against his back to push him harder against her. She slid the fingers of one hand into the thick locks of his honey blond hair, tugging gently, urging him on. Not that he needed any encouragement. He lapped and sucked voraciously at her pussy, using his tongue, teeth and lips to explore every sensitive nook.

  The tip of his tongue seemed to trace every fold and dip of slick flesh, pushing into her snug passage as far as it would go, then snaking upward to flick the stiff peak of her clit. She shuddered and gasped, arching against him, seeking more heat and friction to ignite the great ball of delicious tension growing in her belly.

  And then she felt the broad tip of Josh’s thumb brush her tight entrance, dipping into the welling moisture and swirling it around. He pressed the long digit inside her, sliding in relentless rhythm in and out as he sucked hard at her throbbing clit.

  Sweet, hot pleasure exploded through her like lava from a dormant volcano, running down along the muscles in her thighs and up into her belly, burning over her breasts and up her throat to her tingling mouth. She tensed, arching, keening through parted lips as Josh kept flicking his tongue back and forth against the engorged button of her clit.

  “Oh, god! Oh god! Josh!”

  Emma felt him smile against her still-spasming flesh. She shivered as he lapped gently at her hypersensitive clit for several long minutes until the last of her shudders subsided. The warm glow of her orgasm settled over her like afternoon sunlight, heating her down to her bones. All her earlier anxiety and worry about their arrangement and her feelings melted away beneath the luscious pleasure flowing through her.

  She relaxed back onto the soft coverlet with a long, quavering sigh. After a moment, Josh dropped a final, moist kiss onto he
r tender mound and pushed to his feet. He licked his lips, eyes dark with desire. The bulge in his slacks was blatantly obvious, tenting the expensive fabric. The sight set off another flare of lust deep within her, signaling the prompt return of her arousal.

  “You taste like a ripe mango. Sweet and tangy.” He chuckled, the sound slightly rough. Emma flushed at the words, but they sent a tingle over her skin.

  Suddenly desperate for his touch, Emma pulled herself up into a sitting position and reached for him. Josh stepped between her spread legs, his hands lifting to cup the curve of her jaw. Emma shoved the shirt from his shoulders, tugging it down, momentarily trapping his arms against his sides.

  While he extricated his arms from the impromptu prison, Emma stroked the hard wall of his chest with both hands, tracing the line of each muscle with her fingertips. She circled her thumbs around the flat copper discs of his nipples, bringing them to peak and then scraping her nails lightly over each flat nub. Josh’s breath hitched. He finally managed to free his wrists and whipped the shirt off across the room. It came to rest on a chair, dangling by one arm.

  Emma leaned forward and pressed her mouth to his ribs, licking at the smooth skin there. He tasted of salt, and soap, and smoke. As if he’d been standing close to a wood-burning fire. She slid her lips down the thin trail of hair on his belly, her fingers slipping down to tug at his belt.

  “Christ, Emma,” Josh muttered raggedly. His hands stroked her shoulder blades and reached up to tug free the elaborate coils of her hair. He tossed bobby pins and jewels alike, like so many matchsticks. The dark, silky mass tumbled in heavy waves around her shoulders.

  She pulled his belt free and flung it, toppling one of the candles. Thankfully the flame snuffed as it fell, because neither of them paid it any heed. They were too intent on each other. Emma nipped at the tight skin above the waistband of Josh’s pants as she fumbled with the buttons that secured them.

  He kicked off his shoes, which flew with a thunk-thunk against the dresser before clattering to the floor. Emma finally got the last button undone and drew open the placket of his slacks, revealing the smooth, hard expanse of flesh underneath. She gasped, reaching in to wrap her fingers around the thick shaft and licking her lips.