by Ravenna Tate
“Fine. I know that, okay? But could we please not refer to it that way?”
His gaze softened a bit. “All right. Agreed. It’s a marriage, and we’ll call it that. Now answer my questions. Please.”
She brushed away her tears. He had a right to get answers from her. He hadn’t asked anything outrageous, after all. Lynda sat up straighter and straightened her legs. She folded her hands in her lap and carefully chose her words. If she told him just enough that he accepted her explanation, she could avoid outing her secrets. He’d never have to know.
Yes. That was a good plan. She could do this.
Chapter Five
Merrick was grateful they were finally going to get this out in the open, but he wished she’d stop crying. He didn’t understand her reaction. She had his assurance she’d have everything she wanted from this marriage.
He also was frustrated by the waffling. One minute she looked and reacted like she wanted to fuck him, and the next she was fearful and hesitant. What the hell had he missed in her background report, and why hadn’t Todd told him about it?
“When I was … young, I—”
He cut her off as a sickening feeling coursed through him. “Wait. How young?”
She picked at a loose thread on the comforter. “A teen. An older teen.”
He wished she’d look at him because he had the unmistakable sensation she was making up this story as she went along, or lying to him about the actual event. But he was reluctant to push it because then she might not continue. Obviously he’d missed something important, and now needed to uncover it.
“Go on.”
“When I was an older teen, at a party my father gave, two … boys … two boys I knew … coerced me into—”
“You mean they forced you?”
She shook her head, but a muscle under her left eye twitched. She wasn’t telling him the whole truth for some reason. Merrick hadn’t expected anything like this. It explained everything, and it made him fucking angry. Did Todd know about this? “Please continue.”
“They coerced me into performing oral sex on them. I never told anyone. I was humiliated and afraid. I’d never done anything like that before.”
He didn’t speak this time. He wanted her to keep talking so she felt relaxed enough to give him something else to go on. Two asshole teens at a party forcing this girl to suck them off wasn’t enough. Merrick wanted to find them and hold them accountable.
“Then during my freshman year in college I met a man. We started dating, and he waited a year until I got to the point where I was finally able to have sex with him.”
Merrick’s heart gave an odd lurch at that revelation. So much for coercion. Sounded more like rape to him. He wanted so badly right now to stroke her pretty hair and hold her, but he was concerned that any physical contact would make her stop talking. He had never suspected this was hiding in Lynda’s background.
What kind of a relationship did she and Todd really have? From her father’s point of view, they had always been close. Merrick now believed that was pure bullshit.
“We dated for six more years. Then he … he betrayed me.”
Six more years? She’d had a relationship with this man for seven years and there was no fucking record of it? What the fuck? And Todd had never mentioned it? Did he even know? He did the math in his head, realizing that meant she’d stopped seeing the guy about three years ago.
“Define ‘betrayed’ for me.”
The thread she pulled was longer now, and Merrick’s hand twitched with the urge to make her stop tugging on the damn material. “Let’s just say I found out our sex life was no longer private, and leave it at that.”
That bullshit explanation had more holes in it than Swiss cheese, and left open all sorts of unpleasant possibilities. But Merrick had enough good sense to know this wasn’t the time to push it further. He wished he had a name, but he knew he wasn’t getting that out of her. Not right now, at any rate. The best he could hope for was that one day she would trust him enough to tell him the real stories. Unless he found them first, that was.
“Lynda, I’m sorry those things happened to you. But I want to reassure you that you have nothing to fear from me. I would have no reason to make our sex life public, and I have no intentions of forcing you to do anything to me or with me.”
She finally met his gaze. “But you want sex to be part of this marriage.”
“Yes, I do, but not if it’s going to cause you physical or emotional pain. I don’t wish either on you.” Under the circumstances, he no longer wanted to fuck her tonight, despite how delicious she looked. He needed time to digest this, and time to dig further. And then he’d confront Todd.
“I don’t know what to say.”
His heart gave that strange lurch again. She looked and sounded so damn vulnerable right now, and it tore at him. He usually shied away from a woman as soon as things got emotional, but Lynda wasn’t some casual fling. She was his wife, whether the circumstances that had led them both here were ideal or not.
“Is there anything else you’d like to tell me?”
“No. Not now.”
But another time, perhaps? When she got to know him better? In the meantime, he would do some serious digging on his own.
“Is it all right with you, then, if we return to the original subject of our discussion?”
She nodded. Her big blue eyes were no longer filled with fear or uncertainty, and that made him relax a bit. In the morning, he’d get to work uncovering the truth. But for now, it was important to finish up this talk so he had as much information as possible.
“I told you what I expected from you earlier. I mean about putting on a show when we go out together. So let’s take sex off the table for now, since it’s a volatile subject.”
“I’m not opposed to it.”
He raised his brows, and his cock did some rising of its own. “Thank you for letting me know.”
“I thought it was important I tell you that. I’m not sure what will happen if we try, and you need to know that, too.”
Merrick had never felt like more of a giant shit. If he’d known all this about her, would they be here right now? Was Shelton Energy worth putting her through this?
“All right. I understand. Why don’t you tell me what you expect from this marriage? What can I give you in return for hanging on my arm at fundraisers and playing the happy wife for the media?”
She sighed. “Be patient with me. I was raised knowing how to dress, speak, walk, and talk at the events you mentioned, but I’ve avoided them for years. Give me time to get the hang of it again.”
“Absolutely.”
“And I want to keep working. I won’t let it interfere with what you want from me, but I need something to do that doesn’t involve hair, nails, makeup, or clothes.”
He swept his hand in the air along the length of her very shapely legs. “So what was all this, then?”
“It’s a society wedding. I knew the press would be there. I didn’t want to let anyone down.”
He didn’t have any more answers now than he’d had before, but at least he knew one thing. He hadn’t done anything to elicit the earlier responses that had confused him. Lynda had terrible secrets in her past. So did he, and perhaps it was time to admit to himself that they might be influencing his judgment of her.
She’d confessed two very difficult situations to him, and he hadn’t told her shit about his life. She didn’t need to know details about Theresa, but was it fair to let her think all the awkwardness was coming from her alone?
“Lynda, we all have things in our past that are hurtful or terrifying. They make us who we are, as much as the happy or successful events do. Thank you for telling me what happened to you. I want to reiterate that I will not hurt you, and I will not betray you.”
“Thank you for saying so. I do have one question. I need to know.”
“What is it?”
She hesitated a few seconds, and the fear was back in her
eyes. He held his breath.
“Are you going to keep seeing other women, even if takes a while for us to have sex?”
“No. Absolutely not. Bad press and all, you understand. Plus, it’s not fair to you. I assume you have no plans of that nature either, correct?”
The relief in her eyes almost made him smile. “Of course not. And thank you. I really appreciate that.”
His gaze traveled over her face, across her breasts, and then along her legs. His dick throbbed as his attention lingered on the soft folds of her camisole, barely covering her panties. When he eyed her breasts again, he couldn’t help notice her nipples were taut. Jesus H. Christ. He was only a man.
He wanted this woman. She was his wife, and he wanted to fuck her. Now.
****
Lynda was consumed with guilt. She had lied to him. Twice. But he seemed to accept her explanations, and wasn’t the real purpose to prevent anyone from getting hurt? She couldn’t go back and change the past. Why should he have to deal with it? It wasn’t his burden to bear. It was hers.
She’d been able to get past what her uncles had done to her once, although the memories would never be completely gone. Despite that, she and Rey had enjoyed a satisfying and adventurous sex life. Maybe she could do so again?
Now that she’d had this talk with Merrick, she did feel a little better. He wasn’t going to cheat on her, and he obviously wasn’t going to simply demand sex from her. This marriage looked a bit more optimistic now than it had yesterday afternoon.
He was a very good-looking, sexy man, and judging by the way his gaze slowly traveled over her now, he didn’t find her hideous. Quite the opposite. Maybe this would be all right? Maybe she’d even enjoy it? And maybe, just maybe, if their sex life was good, they would find some common ground and learn to like each other?
Her father wasn’t always right. Maybe one day Merrick Dalton would learn to love her? And maybe she’d fall in love with him?
Right. Then when he finds out you lied, let’s see how thrilled he is with you.
Lynda mentally shook away that thought. She had lied to protect him. No other reason. She’d been protecting everyone she knew from those secrets for years, and she had to go on doing it for Merrick’s sake. Especially now that they were married. If the truth got out, his reputation would be ruined, and her family’s company along with it. She could not let that happen.
He gazed at her so intently, her breath caught in her throat. She couldn’t tear her eyes from his face. Three years was a long time to go without sex. Sure, she had a damn good reason why she’d avoided it, but that hadn’t stopped the heart-breaking, profound loneliness. Tears threatened again as she let the emotions wash over her.
Lynda didn’t want to be afraid any longer. She didn’t want to wake up in the middle of the night, drenched in sweat from a nightmare, or imagining that someone was in her room. She was tired of being a slave to those memories, and of living in fear it would happen again.
Merrick wouldn’t let anyone hurt her. He lived in a world filled with security teams and chauffeured cars. She’d ever have to be alone or unprotected again. And he wasn’t going to hurt her. If she gave herself to him, at least they’d have the common ground of sex.
And maybe … just maybe … that would be enough to send this marriage from sham to tolerable.
Chapter Six
Lynda knew Merrick was going to kiss her before he reached for her, cupping her face with a hard grip. She felt powerless in his presence, but not frightened. Not by a long shot. Her pussy was wet and her clit throbbed. The aura surrounding this man was possessive and determined, not cruel.
Merrick captured her mouth in a kiss so hot she was sure the bed would catch on fire. Lynda moaned into his open mouth, her body alive with sensations it hadn’t experienced in too long. A tiny voice screamed in her mind to stop, but she ignored it. She wanted this. She wanted her husband to take her, claim her, make her his own.
His tongue pushed inside her mouth and assaulted hers, sending shockwaves of arousal coursing through her limbs, and then into her groin. He cupped her left breast, squeezing it hard, but even that pain turned into desire as she moaned again.
When he released her mouth, he held her face and gazed into her eyes with an intense, lust-filled expression that rendered her speechless. She couldn’t stop this now if she wanted to. It was going to happen, and the part of her mind that now begged her to say something was silenced by erotic images.
“You’re my wife.” His voice was gruff and smoky. “And I am going to fuck you.”
The small voice screamed in protest, but Lynda nodded. “Yes,” she whispered. “Yes!”
The triumph in Merrick’s eyes sent her hormones racing out of control until she was powerless under their force. She’d never felt this free or uninhibited. There was nothing she wouldn’t give him right now. All he had to do was ask.
Merrick released her face and grasped her camisole, lifting it over her head. He nearly tore it in his impatience to remove it, and then he grabbed the edges of her panties and pulled, hard. The damn things tore in his hand, and Lynda gasped. How strong was this man? Holy shit.
He tossed the material across the room, along with her camisole, and then he stared at her naked body as if he’d never seen one before. All the women he’d fucked, and he still was able to look at her with this … this awe in his beautiful dark eyes. How? Was it an act? If it was, it was a damn good one.
“Goddamn. You’re fucking beautiful, Lynda.”
She had no words. Her mouth was bone dry. She heard her own heartbeat in her ears, and wondered whether he could, too. It was that loud.
“Baby, I’m going to fuck you hard and long.” He grasped her breasts and kneaded them, sending jolts of electricity straight to her throbbing clit. She nearly came, and that shocked her more than anything. He rolled the nipples between his thumbs and forefingers, then bit each nipple. It hurt, but not enough to stop the desire racing through her.
“So fucking sexy. Holy fuck, you’re beautiful and so damn hot.”
Rey had never said such things to her. Lynda didn’t know what to make of it. Did he mean it, or was it the heat of the moment talking?
Merrick released her breasts and pushed her back roughly so she fell onto the bed. Then he turned her body so she faced the edge of the bed. He walked over to one of the chairs, dumped her veil and train onto the floor, then dragged the chair over and positioned it in front of her feet.
He spread her legs roughly. “Look at your pussy. It’s so fucking wet.”
As if she could help that. He sat in the chair, and when he grabbed her hips and pulled them toward him, she cried out in surprise and anticipation. He shoved his face into her pussy and licked her clit unlike anything she’d ever felt.
One finger pushed into her wetness, and she bucked her hips into his face, lost in the exquisite sensations. Another finger circled her asshole, and that tiny voice in her head was now louder, screaming in protest.
Lynda ignored it. She relaxed her muscles, and his finger slipped inside easily, gently probing, until her entire pussy contracted in tiny spasms. She was going to come. No doubt about it. When the climax washed over her, she let out a long, slow moan. But he didn’t stop until the contractions had long been spent, and she was on her way to another orgasm.
He straightened up, his face covered with a fine sheen of sweat, and a sexy grin on his face. “I knew you’d taste that fucking good.” His expression suddenly grew annoyed. “Fuck. “Fucking condoms are in my room.”
Lynda sat up, struggling to breathe normally. Birth control. She hadn’t even thought about it. “I’m on the pill. And I have no STDs.
He narrowed his eyes. “Neither do I, but why are you still on the pill if you haven’t had sex with anyone since that man betrayed you three years ago?”
Her stomach contracted in fear. “How do you know I haven’t?”
“Have you?”
“No. But how did you know?”
/>
“Are you kidding? You’re as fucking tight as a virgin.”
“I don’t need to be sexually active to be on the pill.”
“True.” He eyed her warily. “Your call. I’m fine with not using them if you are. Neither of us is going to fuck anyone else.”
“Either way is fine with me.” This conversation was suddenly so clinical and detached, it brought tears to her eyes.
His expression changed to one of regret. “I should have thought of this before, but you were so … I couldn’t stop myself.”
“It’s all right. It’s been a long day, and we’ve had a serious talk.”
“I don’t want to stop.”
“Neither do I.”
He shed his clothes so quickly she barely had time to process it. But oh holy fuck what a body he had! Tanned, muscular, and sporting tats on his torso and upper arms. She could not stop staring at him. She’d never seen such a damn gorgeous man. His dick was huge, red, and swollen. She swallowed hard. Would it hurt? God, she hoped not.
When she met his gaze again, his grin sent shivers down her spine. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure this is fun for you.”
“It already is.”
“Same here, beautiful.”
He moved her around again so this time she lay on the bed completely, and then he covered her body with his. Lynda cried out in pleasure and lust, wrapping her arms and legs around him as he shoved his tongue into her mouth once more. Hot desire spread through her, fueled by the incredible feeling of being skin to skin with him.
She arched her hips, rubbing her soaking wet pussy against his hard cock, wanting it inside her. He tortured her mouth with a long, slow kiss that sent fireworks shooting behind her closed eyelids. How did he have such control?
When he finally released her mouth, her waiting wasn’t done. He trailed his tongue across her collarbones, into the space between her breasts, down her abdomen, and across her clit until she writhed on the bed and clutched at him. She grabbed his hair, his arms, anything she could hold onto as her arousal built to crazy heights.