by Faye Avalon
When she released her grip on him, he shifted and settled between her legs. Slowly, he pushed up her left leg until it was draped over the back of the sofa, then he pressed against the thigh of her right leg until her foot dropped to the floor.
She was deliciously, self-indulgently open to him, and as he raised himself up onto his knees, he looked down at her with eyes that gleamed from beneath heavy eyelids. “Looks to me like there’s one hot little pussy just waiting to be licked and tortured.”
Sensation burned between her legs, but Lissa pouted as she stretched. “And you think you’re just the man to do it?”
“I’ll let you be the judge of that.” With a grin, he lowered his head and, using his thumbs, parted her pussy lips. At the first touch of his tongue she jerked and bucked.
He stroked slowly, oh so damn slowly, along the entire length of her slit.
Lissa arched. “Yes, oh yes. Don’t stop.”
Not that he showed any sign of stopping as he continued those long slow strokes, and soon she felt the heady pull of orgasm. Her muscles clenched, her pussy wept, but just as she felt on the brink of flying, Reed drew back.
He kneeled up, his eyes narrowed slits, his lips moist from her juices. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he leaned down to kiss her. When she reached down and tugged at his jeans, he hoisted himself on his elbows to give her room, then levered up so he could use one hand to help her.
When he was naked, she pulled him down to her again. His cock pressed against her and she levered her hand between them to find his hard length. Reed gasped in air as she stroked him, then she shifted, easing herself out from under him until their positions were reversed.
Straddling him, she bucked her hips slowly so that she was stroking his cock with her pussy. She raised her arms up as she moved, lifting her hair and offering him her breasts.
Reed watched her, his eyes erotic slits of crazy blue. “You’ll want to come down here, so I can suck those delicious tits of yours.”
She kept up the slow slide of her hips. “Maybe you should come up here.”
“If I do, you’ll stop riding me. And right now, it feels too fucking good.”
She drew her arms down and cupped her breasts. She kneaded them as she moved, watching him all the time.
His gaze dropped to where her hands moved over her breasts and he licked his lips.
Lissa smiled as she let her arms fall, then she shifted down his body until she could wrap her fingers around his cock. He sucked in a breath and she began to move her hand, sliding her fingers slowly up and down his hard length. She lowered her head, touching the tip of her tongue to the top of his erection. She licked around the head, all the while moving her fingers slowly up and down. When he inhaled sharply she took him in further, sucking him harder while she kept her hands anchored at the base of his cock.
“Hell, Lissa.” The statement came out on a breathy plea. “What the fuck are you trying to do to me?”
Since she had her mouth full, she didn’t respond. Anyway, she assumed the question rhetorical.
She continued to work his cock until he grabbed her hair and drew her away none too gently. As she had earlier, he shifted until their positions were reversed. After he’d scrambled for his trouser pocket and sheathed himself, he pushed her thighs apart and drove himself inside her.
Later, they made it to the bed again and Lissa lost count of how many times he made her come that night. When the light started filtering through the flimsy gauze curtains, Reed shifted onto his side and looked down at her. “What if I threw in hot sex whenever you wanted it?”
She smiled. Although part of her wanted to drift into sleep, she also wanted to stay awake as Reed’s hand was currently between her legs and he was doing amazing things to her overworked pussy. Only the tip of his finger was inside her, but he’d found her clit and was rubbing it oh so slowly in excruciatingly tiny circles.
Her whole body ached deliciously and she marveled that he’d failed to leave even one centimeter untended or appreciated.
“Lissa?”
“Hmm?”
“Hot sex. On tap.”
She smiled sleepily, shifting her hips a little as the sensation to her clit intensified. “Yes, please.”
“I’ll have it written into the contract.”
That got her eyes open. “What contract?” Since his hand never stilled, Lissa had to really focus.
“Our business arrangement. The marriage contract.”
She blinked furiously, and scrambled up onto her elbows. “I didn’t agree to that.”
“You said, yes please.”
“I was referring to the sex. I thought you meant—” She wrapped her fingers around his wrist and pulled his hand away from between her legs. “Stop doing that.”
He grinned, slow and sexy. “That’s the first time I’ve heard those words from your lips tonight.”
Well, she couldn’t deny it, but right now she needed her wits about her. “You can’t possibly think I can agree to what you’re offering.”
“Beats me how you can’t. I’m offering to pay off your debts, back your new business, and give you blow-the-doors-off sex in the bargain. Seeing as we’re having sensational sex anyway, we might as well both get what we want from this. Where’s the problem?”
Right there, Lissa thought as her head began to spin. Because that was what it was to him. A bargain. A contract. A business deal. Okay, she hadn’t exactly ever expected to be swept off her feet, whisked to the altar for her very own happy ever after, but still. Every woman wanted a little romance, didn’t they? Expect that the man she married was in love with her?
Except she wasn’t exactly in a position to put romance or love at the top of her to-do list right then, either. Reed was offering her the chance to start again. Wipe the slate clean.
She would be able to keep the house. The house that had been in her family for over a hundred years and was her beloved aunt’s inheritance. The house that had been Lissa’s home for most of her life. The house that had been mortgaged to help finance Lissa’s failed business and was now in danger of being repossessed because Lissa had been an idiot.
As she thought of the woman who had raised her after her own parents died, Lissa knew that she had to grasp any opportunity to keep from losing the house and along with it the risk of breaking her aunt’s heart.
She sat up and crossed her legs. “How would you see it working?”
Lazily, he stroked a finger along her thigh. “You’d sign a contract to say you’ll agree to stay married to me for a couple of months. In return, I’ll sign a contract to say I’ll settle your debts and assist you to start up on your own. I’ll throw in some business advice and, of course, the hot sex.”
He grinned, but Lissa couldn’t return it. She felt a little nauseous. “It’s bizarre.”
“What part?”
“All of it.” She clasped her hands together. “It makes me feel like a mercenary, getting married for money.”
“Then think of it as doing me a favor. You’ll be saving me from an awful fate, helping me escape the clutches of an undesirable woman.”
Lissa wondered if he was simply trying to lighten the gravity of the situation, or if he really wasn’t taking this whole thing at all seriously.
Then there was the other problem to consider. Once they were married, wouldn’t Ethan want to meet Mrs. Reed Fitzgerald at some stage?
“Could we keep it a secret? Just between you, me, and the lawyers?”
He shook his head. “Not sure that would be possible. Grapevine around these parts is healthy and thriving.”
“You could just tell that woman. Show her the marriage certificate. Wouldn’t that be enough?”
“Maybe.” He raised an eyebrow. “What’s the matter, princess? Ashamed of people knowing you’re hooked up with me?”
“It’s not that,” she improvised. “It’s just that when we dissolve the arrangement, or whatever you call it, I won’t have to answer l
oads of questions about what happened between us that we decided to call it a day after so short a marriage.”
As excuses went, Lissa thought that wasn’t too shabby, and her shoulders sagged with relief when he nodded. “Okay. We’ll keep it quiet.”
For the first time since the conversation had begun, she felt herself relax a little. “Thanks.”
“It’s settled then.” Reed slipped his hand between her legs again. “I’ll make arrangements.”
“I haven’t actually said yes, yet.” Although the way the man could excite her so quickly, it was hard to refuse him anything.
He pushed her back on the bed, levered himself above her, and dropped his head between her legs. He used his tongue, and pushed two fingers deep insider her. Soon she felt the orgasm build and build, finally exploding as Reed continued to work her.
Lying breathless, she watched as he grabbed a condom. She closed her eyes, listening to his rapid breathing as he rolled on the rubber. Her legs were already open, but he pushed them wider, hoisted up her hips, and thrust into her with one powerful stroke.
She screamed his name as, amazingly, she climaxed again.
Seconds later, Reed joined her.
She slipped into sleep and woke to the smell of fresh coffee and the realization that at some stage during a rather active night, she’d agreed to marry Reed Fitzgerald.
Chapter Seven
Lissa stared at the slim gold band encrusted with diamonds that wrapped uneasily around the third finger of her left hand.
Reed’s friend, Jack Holland, acted as witness to their marriage, along with a nameless clerk who’d been roped in at the last minute to attend the short civic ceremony. In the ten days that she’d known Reed, Lissa had come to realise that Jack was the person he trusted most. Despite her reservations, since Jack had drawn up the contract and knew the truth of their arrangement, she took a liking to the handsome lawyer. She didn’t feel that he judged her, or looked down at her for having entered into a marriage that was purely a mutual arrangement between two people for business purposes. His unspoken support had made her feel a little better about the whole thing.
Considering its nature, the contract itself had been straightforward. She appreciated Jack’s patience as he’d talked her through it, and while she should maybe have had her own lawyer look over the contract, as both Reed and Jack suggested, she didn’t want anyone else knowing what she had agreed to. Besides which, the contract was pretty black and white and left little room for ambiguity. She probably knew it verbatim, having gone through it carefully several times before signing on the dotted line.
Now, sitting beside Reed as he drove along the coast to a hotel he’d booked for their wedding night, she toyed with the gold band.
“Still wish I hadn’t given you that?”
She glanced over at Reed. “It’s far too opulent for a sham marriage.”
“Would you have preferred I’d slipped on something from a thrift shop? Or a candy machine?”
“Don’t be funny. You know what I mean.”
“The marriage itself may be a sham, but that doesn’t mean I can’t show my appreciation for what you’ve done for me.”
“I’m not keeping it.” Lissa slipped the ring to her knuckle and back again. “As soon as we’re divorced you can have it back.”
He shrugged. “If that’s what you want.”
“And why on earth you’ve booked a hotel for the night is beyond me.”
As he coasted along the road, Reed took one hand from the steering wheel and placed it on his thigh. “I wanted to mark the occasion.”
“It’s too much.” Distracted by his long, adept fingers resting on his powerful thigh, Lissa clasped her hands loosely in her lap. “And it’s unnecessary.”
“Lissa,” he said with exaggerated patience. “We’ve had sex at my place every night for the past week. Maybe I thought you’d like a change of scenery.”
“In the honeymoon suite at some swanky hotel?”
For which she’d treated herself—and him—to sexy black lingerie she’d found on offer at a local store. When she purchased it she’d been feeling less shaky about this whole deal, but as the day approached she’d gotten more and more nervous. Twice, she’d thought about calling it off. She’d even picked up the phone to call him on one occasion, but the letter from the nursing home had stymied her decision and she’d bottled out.
There was no way she could pay the bill due for the next six months of her aunt’s care, not if she wanted to keep paying the mortgage on their house. The Victorian terraced property had been in the family for over a hundred years. Her aunt had grown up there. Even though she couldn’t remember things that happened yesterday, her aunt could still recall memories of her childhood in that home. There was no way Lissa was going to take that away from her if she could help it.
Marrying Reed was the only solution. If he cleared all her other debts, she could afford to continue paying off the mortgage on her aunt’s house, and if she was careful, she would also be able to cover the nursing home fees as they came due in the future.
She hadn’t told Reed about her aunt, the mortgage, or the nursing home bills. She didn’t want that part of her life sullied by what she was currently doing. Besides which, the mortgage and the nursing home bills were her responsibility.
She would need to ensure that she slipped off the ring when she visited her aunt. If the sweetheart was enjoying one of her lucid moments, her sharp eyes would latch onto that in an instant.
She jumped as Reed reached out and covered her clasped hands. “Try and relax. You might find you enjoy the evening.”
“I am relaxed.” She didn’t look at him, but kept her gaze straight ahead. “I’m just not comfortable with these grand gestures. A business arrangement, remember?”
“No reason we can’t enjoy ourselves along the way.”
A few more miles and Reed turned up a private road. At the top of the road, slightly elevated with what she imagined would be glorious views of the sea, stood a huge Edwardian villa.
Edged with an array of shrubs and flowering plants, the graveled circular driveway provided an impressive entrance to the property. Welcoming lights twinkled along the drive and glowed inside the villa. Since she didn’t see one unlit window, Lissa imagined it was likely full of guests.
When they pulled up outside the elegant porch, a uniformed doorman sprung from nowhere.
“Good evening, sir. Madam.” He stepped forward, tilting his head in deference. “May I take your keys, sir? I’ll arrange to have your vehicle parked while you check in.”
The man dipped his head again as Reed gave him the keys and what Lissa imagined was a healthy tip.
With his hand at the small of her back, Reed ushered her up the three steps to the porch and through into the reception area. She’d expected it to be larger, but it was a small square room with a desk behind which an elegant woman sat, beaming a smile.
As the doorman had done, she welcomed them both and went through the formalities of check-in. She took a key from the drawer beside her and another woman stepped up beside them. “Rebecca will show you to your suite. I hope you enjoy your stay.”
Heavy damask wallpaper lined the walls of a huge hallway where classical marble statues of naked women and entwined couples adorned the space. The woman motioned them into a lift, the old fashioned kind with ornate wrought iron doors and mirrored walls.
They traveled to the second floor and stepped out into a long narrow hallway with the same damask wallpaper and yet more amorous statues. The whole place had a sumptuous, almost sinful feel and Lissa thought if she was going to spend her wedding night in a hotel, it might as well be one like this with its vaguely erotic atmosphere and heady opulence.
The woman opened a door and stepped back to let them walk into the sitting room of their suite. Surprisingly light brocaded walls contrasted with dark mahogany antique furniture and extravagant artifacts. Through an open door to the left, Lissa glimpsed the b
edroom and saw that their bags had already been deposited on a low table to the side of the enormous bed. Her stomach, already tied in knots, trembled with anticipation at how she and Reed might use that bed. If the sex that week had been any gauge, she was in for one hell of a wedding night.
Lissa glanced around the sitting room. On a side table, champagne chilled in a silver bucket with two beautiful crystal flues alongside. While on another table, long-stemmed red roses bloomed from its antique glass vase, and a huge dish of chocolates lay next to a massive bowl of fruit.
Lissa wasn’t sure if her stomach churned with hunger or nerves, but guessed it was the latter as she turned to see Reed take the key from the woman. He walked with her to the door where she told him to ring if there was anything else he needed. He thanked her and slipped her a tip.
When they were alone, Lissa turned to him as she took off her jacket. “It must cost you the same in tips as it does for the room in a place like this.”
He placed the key on yet another side table. “You don’t like it?”
“What? That you spend a fortune in tips?”
He laughed. “Already you’re starting to sound like a wife. I meant the room.”
“I know that.” And she didn’t want to admit that the thought of being Reed’s wife, if only temporarily, caused a little flutter under her heart. “I was simply stating a fact.”
She draped her jacket over a chair, then walked into the bedroom and picked up her bag. She caught sight of herself in a mirror that took up almost an entire wall facing the bed. For the ceremony, she’d chosen a pale blue skirt suit and had asked the hairdresser to sweep her hair into a loose chignon as a salute to the bizarre situation in which she found herself. Since most of her hair had fallen out of its hold, she tugged at the pins and gave the remaining strands their freedom. Giving her head a shake, she looked up at the ceiling. “Oh, my God. You have to be joking.”
Reed stepped into the bedroom and looked up. “You’ve never slept in a room with a mirrored ceiling?”