The Billionaire's Marriage Contract

by Avery James

  “I’m trying to stay dry. What are you, crazy? Come under here.”

  Ethan laughed as he looked at the tiny patch of dry ground around Amy. “I don’t think there’s enough room for the two of us.” He leaned against her, letting the rain fall on him to prove his point.

  “We can get creative,” Amy replied, leaning in for a kiss. She wasn’t really interested in staying dry anyway.

  ***

  Half an hour and several creative stops later, Amy and Ethan made it back to his apartment. Ethan had barely shut the door before Amy started pulling his jacket off of him. “So this is the apartment?” She asked as she tossed the jacket onto the hardwood floor.

  Ethan leaned in and brushed the stray strands of Amy’s hair back from her face, but it clung to her wet skin. He smiled as she reached up and pulled her hair back. As they looked at each other for a moment, Amy could feel the charge between them building stronger and stronger with each passing second. She needed him, she needed to feel his skin against hers. She was filled with frantic, all-consuming need. Finally, Ethan leaned in and pressed his lips against hers, releasing another rush inside Amy, but instead of satisfying her desire for him, this kiss only made it stronger.

  As he kissed her, she fumbled with the buttons on his shirt. The thin white fabric clung to his chest, showing off his abs, and Amy wanted to rip it right off and run her fingers over his bare skin. Then Ethan began to kiss Amy’s neck. Each motion of his tongue sent waves of excitement through her body, making her want him more and more. “What was that you said about kissing?” As soon as she had his shirt unbuttoned, she pulled it off of his shoulders. She loved the sound it made as it hit the floor.

  Ethan kissed Amy’s neck again and whispered, “What?” He pulled back and pulled off his undershirt before pulling himself against Amy again.

  “About a kiss being a candle,” she replied.

  Ethan slid his hand over Amy’s back and unzipped her dress, so that it hung open in the back. He kissed her neck again. “I said it should be a promise.”

  “Of what?” Amy asked.

  Ethan leaned back and grinned. He slid his hands over the sides of Amy’s ribs and held them there for a moment, just short of cupping her breasts. “This,” he replied. Amy took a shallow breath. She could feel her entire body coming alive at Ethan’s touch. She nodded slightly, her mouth still open and her breath hot and humid on her lips as she tried to say yes. Ethan slid the dress down Amy’s body, sliding it over her waist, and down past her hips.

  Finally, the dress fell down around her ankles and Ethan placed his hands back on Amy’s bare skin, slowly sliding them back up her body, making her more and more excited. He kissed her neck and her cheek and finally pressed his lips back against hers, and Amy felt that rush of excitement all over again. She wanted Ethan, and she wanted him badly.

  Amy reached down and fumbled with Ethan’s belt, finally undoing it and pulling off. She tossed it aside and began to unbutton his pants. She could feel his heat through the fabric, and she couldn’t wait to feel Ethan’s bare skin against hers. Finally, she pulled Ethan’s pants around his ankles. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him, working her tongue against his, imagining what would happen next.

  Ethan ran his hand back up Amy’s back and slid a finger under her bra. With one quick motion, he unclasped it. He ran his hand up and down her bare back as he continued to kiss her. “What now?” Amy asked.

  Ethan grinned and spun her around pinning her against the wall for a second as he ground against her. Amy let out a little gasp of delight as he reached down and ran his hand over the back of her thigh. She could feel Ethan getting more and more aroused. Knowing he wanted her just made her more excited. Finally, Ethan said, “I thought I’d give you a tour.”

  He leaned in and kissed Amy’s neck again, and she took a shallow breath as the delight of his touch echoed through her body. “Let’s start with the bedroom,” she said.

  “Pity,” Ethan replied, “I had you pegged for a kitchen counter kind of girl.”

  Amy laughed in surprise and replied, “Oh, we’ll have plenty of time for that.”

  Ethan pulled back and said, “It’s the third door on the left.”

  “Aren’t you going to lead me there?”

  “If you don’t mind,” Ethan said, “I want to stand here and admire you while you walk.”

  “You can’t be serious,” Amy replied. Here she was, throwing herself at him, and he wanted her to put on a show?”

  “I am,” Ethan said, running his hand over Amy’s body. Ethan pulled himself against her, and leaned in for another kiss. His firm hands sent a thrill through her body, and Amy let out another sigh of delight. Ethan stopped with his lips just short of her lips. He was close enough that Amy could feel his breath mingling with hers. She could hear his excitement. Ethan had succeeded in making every inch of her body ache with desire. “I haven’t been able to get you out of my mind since the other night.”

  “Is that why you want me in your bed?”

  “I want you wherever you’ll have me,” Ethan said. He placed his hands on Amy’s hips and swung her around. He stepped behind her and leaned back against the wall. He kept his hands firm on her hips. He pulled her back against himself. She could feel his arousal, and she wanted to feel more. Then Ethan began to slide one hand across Amy’s hip.

  “I need you now,” she said, but Ethan held her there for a moment. Amy could feel her heart pounding in her chest, and she could hear Ethan’s excited breaths in her ear. “If you want me, take me,” she said. She slid Ethan’s hands off of her, and started to walk towards the bedroom. She looked back to see him tilting his head as he admired her figure.

  “Was that so hard?” Ethan asked as Amy pushed open the bedroom door.

  A moment later, they had both tumbled into bed. Amy slid her fingers under Ethan’s boxers and pulled them down over his thighs. At the same time, Ethan reached forward and tugged at Amy’s panties. While she had rushed to pull his underwear off, Ethan seemed to linger, taking his time as he lowered the panties lower and lower down her thighs. By the time he had reached her knees, Amy was delirious with anticipation.

  Amy trembled with delight as Ethan worked his hands over her body. Dear God, did he know what he was doing. Each kiss, each pass of his tongue against her sensitive skin made her want him more and more. Amy could feel her worries and plans and anxieties floating away as she braced herself against Ethan. Soon, she felt like there was nothing in the world but her and him. “I need you,” she whispered in his ear. She kissed his stubbled cheek, and then pressed her lips against his again. She moaned as Ethan slid inside her, slowly rocking her back and forth, sending unbelievable thrills through her body.

  Ethan pulled Amy tight against himself as they tumbled against each other, settling into a low rhythm. Mind blank, heart racing, Amy listened to the echoes of her hurried breaths fill the room. The bed creaked beneath them as they began to rock faster against each other. The thrill of skin on skin drove new thrills through Amy’s body. The heat and the thin layer of sweat between their bodies felt wonderful. Amy felt pleasure pulsing through every inch of her body.

  Amy shouted with delight as every motion of Ethan’s body against hers brought her closer and closer to bliss. She could feel the surge of climax rising up inside her core, but she wanted to savor it. She wanted that feeling to last forever, that feeling of connection, of oneness and pure, unthinking pleasure.

  Amy could hear her shouts of ecstasy echoing through the room, but she barely realized them as her own. The pleasure filled her, throbbed inside her, made her weak and dizzy with excitement. Amy could feel the tension building, and she knew she couldn’t hold on much longer. Ethan kissed her neck and her collarbone, sending new thrills through her body, and Amy bit down on her lip, trying to savor the pleasure for one last moment before giving in to the overwhelming crush of orgasm.

  She pulled herself as tight as she could against Ethan, tensing her mus
cles as he pushed himself deeper and deeper inside her. She raked her nails across his back as she felt her pleasure begin to plateau. Amy shouted again as climax rang through her body. Finally, she relaxed and took a deep breath, filling her lungs with cool air. Amy’s heart was still racing. She could feel the sweat on her chest and her belly and she rolled over and laughed as she tried to slow her pulse.

  Ethan rolled over and kissed Amy’s shoulder. “So, have I convinced you to keep the keys?”

  “I’ll consider it,” Amy replied. “I might need to spend the night before I make my final decision.”

  “You can spend as many nights as you’d like.”

  “I just might.” Amy intended to take Ethan up on his offer. She rolled over and admired the city lights shining through the thin shades on Ethan’s window. Maybe this wouldn’t be such a bad arrangement after all.

  ***

  A week later, Amy and Vi moved into Ethan’s apartment. They didn’t really bring much with them aside from clothes and a few personal items. The furnishings from Amy’s much more classic home just didn’t mesh with the cleaner, more modern lines of just about everything in Ethan’s place. Besides, Amy had told herself, this was all just temporary. As soon as Vi was well enough, they would move back to her house in Georgetown.

  When Amy carried in the last of their stuff, she sat down in the middle of the floor and looked around. “It just lacks a woman’s touch,” she said with a sigh.

  Vi smiled at her. “That’s funny dear, because the only thing I’ve been lacking is a man’s touch.”

  “Vi!” Amy said. She laughed and shook her head. There was never a dull moment.

  Chapter 18

  In the weeks after Amy moved in, Ethan continued to romance her, bringing her to dinner, bringing her flowers and leaving thoughtful little notes by the bedside for when she woke up in the morning. Of course, that was far from the most thoughtful thing he had done for her in bed. Amy had started saving the notes and bringing them with her to work.

  Since she had returned from the trip, she had no patience for her job. What had, for years, been the driving purpose of her entire life now felt like a burden, something to trudge through before going back to see Ethan. The work itself hadn’t changed much. Her nights were just that much more interesting. The romantic dinners, and the incredible, dizzying, mind-bending sex that always followed just made her job seem so uninteresting.

  Things were made worse by the fact that, for some reason, there was construction on the roof above Amy’s office. The cranes that hauled material up blocked her view for nearly two weeks, and the sound of work crews drove Amy nuts for at least a week after that. By the time the work was complete, Amy was content to slide her chair over to the window and stare out at the view. Occasionally, she’d take a call or go back to her desk to read through the notes from Ethan, but mostly, she put off her calls and her meetings and just stared.

  Callie and the other members of the team had been more than willing to take on the increased workload, and for the first time in her adult life, Amy found herself putting off paperwork and delegating calls. On this particular morning, she didn't even want to think about the paperwork. She just wanted to gaze out at the beautiful spring day. This was the kind of day that made her wish her office windows actually opened. For most of the year, the weather in Washington, DC was terrible. In the summer the heat and humidity were unbearable at all times, and, in the winter, the city was a frozen mess.

  At least they were finally done with whatever construction had been going on up on the roof. The noise from above had been enough to make her contact the building manager. He had been quite cryptic in explaining what had been going on and why she, as a tenant of the building, had not been informed.

  "You will know soon enough," was all he had said. What kind of answer was that? Amy wondered. It was still annoying her as she stared out the window.

  A knock at the door broke her reverie. Amy straightened her posture and headed back to her desk. "Come in," she said as she sat down and tried to look busy.

  Ethan stepped in through the door. "I knew I'd find you here. If we add a bathroom, you'd never have to leave."

  "Do you even have a job?" Amy asked. "I'm really starting to doubt it."

  "It's called delegating responsibility. You should try it sometime."

  Amy motioned for Ethan to close the door. "Really, what are you doing here?"

  "I was hoping to steal you away for lunch."

  Amy looked down at the stack of papers. "I really don't have time to sit down for whatever four course meal you have planned."

  "I knew you'd say that."

  "So why even ask?" Amy replied.

  Ethan grinned. "I guess I just like a challenge."

  "Fine, here are my terms. You get twenty minutes. If I'm enjoying myself, maybe I'll give you an extra ten, but after that, I need to be back in this office. Do you think you can pull that off?"

  Ethan laughed again. "Twenty minutes is more than enough. I know a little spot where we can have some privacy and enjoy the day."

  "You can't even get takeout in twenty minutes," Amy replied.

  "Good thing we won't have to," Ethan replied. He opened the door and stepped back into the hallway. A moment later he reappeared, holding a picnic basket.

  Amy raised her hands over her face as she tried to hide her surprise. "Where did you get that?" she asked.

  "Vi suggested it."

  Amy shook her head in disbelief. "The park is going to be completely full at this hour."

  "I know."

  "What aren't you telling me?"

  Ethan laughed again as he walked over to Amy and held out his arm. "Come with me, and I promise you'll be pleasantly surprised.

  "I told you I don't have time to go out and come back. This is incredibly sweet, but unless you're bringing me somewhere inside the building, I think we'd be better off just eating in my office."

  Ethan's grin grew even wider. "Inside the building? Not quite. We could already be up there if you stopped stalling."

  "Up there?" Amy asked.

  "I told you I had a surprise for you. Did you really think it was just a picnic basket?"

  Amy got up. "What did you do?"

  "Did I mention that the owner of this building is a friend of mine? He was more than happy to help when he heard it was for you."

  Amy got up and took Ethan's hand. "Do I even want to know?" As they walked out of the office toward the elevator, Amy leaned against Ethan. "You know, I've been thinking about that elevator ride at the hospital."

  Ethan led her right past the elevator. "It's too bad we're taking the stairs."

  Amy stopped in stride. "You want me to walk down five flights of stairs in heels?"

  "No. I expect you to walk up to the roof with me."

  "You want to have a picnic in a construction zone?" Amy asked. She wanted to know why Ethan was so pleased with himself. "I've been up there before. It's just a flat rubber roof where Rich used to smoke cigarettes before he quit. It's probably a hundred degrees up there right now."

  "Construction's done," he replied. "Now everything just has to grow in."

  "I give up," Amy said, "Let’s go."

  A minute later, Ethan opened the door to the roof for Amy. She couldn't believe what she saw. The roof, which had been a wide expanse of rubber and tar, was now transformed into a small park in the sky. The large air conditioners in the corner were now hidden by a wood wall, and the deck, which stretched out before them was surrounded by lush greenery. Amy felt like she was stepping into someone’s private garden and not onto the roof of her office building. After a moment, she realized why she couldn’t hear the sounds of the city below: there was a small fountain built into one of the new walls, and the sound of the water made the whole scene that much more relaxing.

  "Is this?" Amy asked, spinning around. "Did you?"

  Ethan pointed over to a table set up under a pergola on one end of the deck. "I wanted you to have a plac
e to go when work got too stressful. You’ll have shade in the summer and sun in the spring and the fall. Hopefully this will help you relieve some stress."

  Amy wrapped her arms around Ethan and kissed him. "Well, work isn’t half as stressful as dealing with you.”

  “Thanks. I’ll keep this in mind next time I try to do something nice for you.”

  "This is the most thoughtful and probably most expensive thing anyone's ever done for me." As soon as she finished her sentence, she leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. “Ethan, this is incredible, really, but I need you to ask me about these things before you do them.”

  “I don’t see that being a problem,” Ethan said. He had a mischievous grin.

  “Why the smile?”

  “Well this building only has one roof.”

  Amy placed her palm on Ethan’s cheek. “Very funny. You know what I meant. Please, consult me before making major decisions about us.”

  “Is it ok that I made a few more minor decisions?” Ethan asked. He leaned back and grabbed the picnic basket off the ground.

  “It depends on what they were,” Amy said, eyeing the wicker basket.

  “Wine and cheese pairing.”

  “Maybe I can let it slide this time,” she said before kissing him again.

  Ethan turned and met her kiss, meeting her tongue with his, running his hands up and down her back as if he wanted to possess every inch of her before the kiss was through. He held her there in his arms for a moment before she pulled her lips back and smiled at him.

  "I'm starving," she said, “and your time’s almost up. What else is in the basket?"

  Ethan laughed. "Come with me over to the table, and I'll show you."

  "So you're really the reason a crane was blocking my view for the past few weeks? When did you do all of this?"

  "Remember when I had to leave at the beginning of the trip? I made a detour on my way back. I wanted to do this for you as a surprise. As for the crane, I requested that they place it directly in front of your window, because I knew it would drive you nuts," Ethan said as he opened up the basket. Amy sat down across the table from him and leaned back in her chair, letting the warm spring breeze wash over her body.