Married by Contract (2 page)

“Liar.”

Giving up the pretense, she groaned and rubbed at her scalp
with her fingertips. “I don’t understand why I can’t get rid of these damned
things.”

“You know why. You’ve got to learn to relax a little and not
try to hold the universe together with your own hands.”

“I don’t try to hold the universe together. I just have a
stressful job.” When he didn’t reply, she continued, “And I’ve always had a stressful
job. Why have these gotten so bad just in the last year?”

“That’s easy.”

She’d been closing her eyes as she rubbed her head, but now
she turned to look at him. “What?”

He was watching her soberly. “Your business has really taken
off in the last year, so now you’re trying frantically to keep it all from
slipping away.”

“I am not.” She frowned, thinking through what he said. “Why
would I think it will slip away? We’re doing better every quarter.”

“I know that, but that’s what has you so stressed out.
Anything good, and you think it’s just going to walk away from you.”

For some reason, his relaxed words—almost offhand,
nonchalant—hit her hard. She froze, trying to process them. “I don’t think I do
that. Do I?”

“Of course you do. And you know why.”

“My dad? Because my dad walked out on me?” She posed it as a
question, but as soon as she said the words, she knew they were right, true.

Her mother had died when she was born, and her dad had been
in and out of her life until she was nine. Then he’d walked away and never come
back. She could still cry, thinking about it. It had been the most devastating
thing to ever happen to her.

Nick just raised his eyebrows.

“Maybe a little,” she admitted. “With relationships. I mean,
I’ve never had any luck with relationships. But not work. I don’t think my work
is going to just walk away.”

“You think the success is going to walk away. That’s why
you’ve been holding on so tightly this year.”

She thought through the words for a long time, until she
finally shrugged them off. “Maybe. Maybe that’s right. But it doesn’t help me.
If I’m not aware of doing it, then I’m not sure how I can stop myself from
stressing about it.”

“You can work less. You can relax more.”

“I can’t relax. When have you ever known someone who can
relax just because someone else tells them to?”

He chuckled and stood up, taking his empty wine glass to the
sink. “There are things you could do. I’ve told you before that massages would
help.”

“And I’ve told you that I don’t like strangers touching me.”

He was still laughing softly as he walked back over to the
bar. Instead of sitting down again, however, he stood behind her.

She gasped when she felt his hands on her head.

“Calm down,” Nick muttered. “Jesus, you’re so uptight.”

“What are you doing?” She asked that mostly for something to
say. She knew what he was doing. He’d taken the clip out of her hair and was
running his fingers through it, gently rubbing her head.

“I’m not a stranger. You can’t complain about me touching
you.”

“I can still complain.” The words were mumbled, though, and
without any real heat. He’d increased the pressure on her head and was now
massaging it with all ten of his fingers.

It felt good. Really good. She closed her eyes and leaned
back into his touch.

“Good,” he murmured. “Just try to relax, sweetheart.” When
they’d first gotten married, he’d started calling her that in public, just as
part of their act. But then he’d gotten in the habit, and now he called her
sweetheart all the time. It felt familiar—no different coming from him than her
name. He was kneading the excruciatingly tight muscles that circled her head,
and the pressure found and then released the painful tension.

“Oh God,” Jenn moaned, flattening her hands on the counter.
“That feels so good.”

“Good. So just sit quietly and try to enjoy it.”

She normally would have had a few things to say about his
bossiness, but she was feeling too good to conjure up enough energy. The pain
in her head was lessening the longer he massaged her, and the relief was
palpable, filled her whole body with delicious sensations.

Nick worked on her head for a long time, and then he slid
his hands down to her neck. She groaned some more as he massaged it skillfully.

“Where did you learn to do this?” she asked hoarsely, her
whole body now limp. She had to lean against the counter to not slide right
down to the floor from her stool.

“Shh. Just relax.” His hands were strong and seemed to know
exactly where to touch her, all of the trigger points that were filled with so
much tension.

He massaged her neck and her shoulders and even down her
arms, and eventually she was feeling so good she kept gasping, “Oh Nick,” and
“God, that’s so good.”

Nick wasn’t saying anything at all—not even when his hands
returned to her head and rubbed her there for a few more minutes.

She could tell he was finishing up. She didn’t want it to
end, but she could hardly be selfish enough to demand that he keep going
because he was making her feel better than she had in months. “Why have you
never told me you could do this before?”

He cleared his throat, finally dropping his hands. “I’ll
tell you what. Any day you only work between six and six, I’ll do this for you
again. But if you work any longer than that, you’ll have to do without.”

“That’s awfully sneaky,” she mumbled. She’d kind of
collapsed forward on the counter, so she didn’t have much fight left in her.

“Hey, it’s me. Of course it’s sneaky.” He sounded like he
might be smiling, but his voice was also a little strange. Much thicker than it
normally was. “But that’s the deal. I’ve got some stuff to do, so I’ll talk to
you later.”

“M’oky.” She stayed where she was, slumped against the bar,
enjoying the feel of being free of the headache and the way her body felt so
good. Relaxed and boneless and good. Really good. Throbbing in a very pleasant
way.

It was several minutes until she realized what had happened.

She’d gotten turned on.

Turned on.

What the hell was wrong with her, anyway?

She found Nick quite attractive. In fact, when they’d first
hooked up back in their hometown, she’d thought he might be fun to have a fling
with. She’d had casual sex back then, since it was the only kind of sex she had
time for. But marrying him had been a much better decision, and she’d moved him
into a different compartment of her mind.

She hadn’t had sex at all in the last three years. That was
the problem with her now. She was just horny.

They’d both agreed, in the contract negotiations, that they
couldn’t date outside their marriage. It would be too embarrassing for the
other person if it got out that they were being cheated on, and it would get in
the way of the domestic reputation Jenn was trying to cultivate for her
business. So they’d agreed sex could only be had through discreet
professionals.

Jenn, however, had been too uncomfortable to ever get an
escort to satisfy her unavoidable biological urges, so she’d just taken care of
her needs on her own. She was so busy with work that most of the time she
didn’t even care.

But one of the consequences was this kind of urge, hitting
her at inconvenient times. She wanted to have sex. Right now. Really badly. And
there was a very good-looking, sexy guy in the other room, who’d just been
touching her and making her feel incredibly good.

That was clearly out of bounds, though. So her choices were to
live with the urges or go take care of herself. But if she went to her room and
got out her vibrator, she’d still be thinking about Nick. And it felt wrong to
use him as masturbation material. She liked and respected him too much.

So, instead, she stood up, went to change clothes, and then
headed to the workout room where she got on the elliptical trainer.

She could work off her urges in another way.

She’d just been going for ten minutes when Nick appeared in
the doorway.

“What the hell are you doing?” he demanded, scowling at her.
He must have taken a shower because his hair was slightly damp along his
neckline and he wore a T-shirt and another pair of flannel pajama pants.

“What does it look like?”

“It looks like you got all stressed out again. I had you
good and relaxed. What the hell happened in fifteen minutes?”

“Nothing happened,” she told him. She wasn’t sweating yet,
but she was getting hotter. And seeing him standing there all clean and cute
and grumpy wasn’t helping to get rid of her inconvenient urges. “It’s not work
stress.”

“Then what is it?”

She wasn’t going to tell him. That would just be too
embarrassing. “It’s other kinds of stress.”

He stared at her, clearly confused.

When he didn’t speak and he didn’t move, she tried to give
him a cool glare. “I’m allowed to work off tension if I want, in my own home,
and I don’t need an audience for it.”

When those words sunk in, his face started to relax, as if
he’d finally figured it out. He stepped into the room, giving her a little
smile. “Well, why the hell didn’t you tell me?”

“Tell you what?” She was flushing hotly now, but hopefully
he would think it was just from the exercise.

“Why didn’t you tell me you needed to work off some…tension?”

He knew. He
knew
. She had no idea how he did, but he
definitely knew.

“I didn’t have to tell you. It was none of your business.”

For no good reason, his face changed slightly. He was almost
frowning as he said, “You’re allowed to call up an escort, you know.”

“I know that. I don’t want an escort.”

And now he was smiling again—and looking at her with an
expression that was amused and slightly smug and way too hot. “Well, then I can
help you out, if you want.”

“What? Help me with what?” She’d completely stopped moving
on the machine now. She was just staring at him, excitement and anxiety both
throbbing in her veins.

“Help you work off your…tension.”

“That’s crazy.”

“Why is it crazy?”

“Because…because we don’t do that.”

“We could. I have some tension myself, you know.”

“You do?”

“Oh yeah.”

“And you don’t want to hire an escort?”

“That doesn’t really do it for me.” He’d stepped closer to
her and now reached a hand out to help her off the machine.

She took his hand and got off, feeling like she might just
melt into the floor. “So you think we should…”

“Work off tension together. Why not?”

“I…I don’t know.” She really didn’t know why they shouldn’t.
They were both adults, and they’d always gotten along well. Sex didn’t have to
be serious. She’d always known that. In fact, she’d never had any sex that
wasn’t casual in her life. At least with Nick, she wouldn’t end up with those
sick feelings she used to get when she’d fucked someone she wished she hadn’t.

Nick was smiling at her more fully now, like he already knew
her answer. “You want to, don’t you?”

“And
you
want to?”

“Of course I do.”

“You want…to have sex…”

“With you.”

Jenn
stared at Nick speechlessly, bewildered and self-conscious and strangely
exhilarated.

“Well?” he demanded after a
minute, when she didn’t say anything else.

“But why?” she finally
managed to gasp.

His forehead wrinkled. “Why
wouldn’t I want to have sex?”

He made it sound so simple,
like the only choice was between having sex and not having sex. When put that
way, then of course she understood why he might want to do this.

It was the same reason she
wanted to do it too. At the moment, she couldn’t even think of a downside.

“Okay,” she forced out.

“Okay what?”

She frowned. “Okay, let’s
have sex. What did you think I meant?”

“I didn’t think you’d agree
so quickly.”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“I don’t know. I thought
you’d want to make pro and con lists and angst about it for a few weeks. Maybe
develop a two-year plan for how it should all roll out.”

She sucked in an indignant
breath at the glimmer of amusement in his eyes. “Well, I don’t. So are you up
for this or not?”

“Yes, I’m up for it.” He
combed his fingers through his hair and glanced down at his bare feet, T-shirt,
and ratty flannel pants. “Just give me a minute to get in the mood.”

She had the strangest desire
to laugh, given that her body was already coursing with excitement. Deciding to
make good use of the time, she pushed passed him and hurried down the hall.

“Wait,” Nick called after
her. “Don’t run away! I wasn’t serious. I’m in the mood right now.”

She was giggling helplessly
as she told him just before she closed her bathroom door, “I’m taking a shower.
Be ready by the time I get out! And we need a condom!”

After pulling off her clothes,
she jumped into the shower, making sure not to get her hair wet as she scrubbed
herself down quickly and still having to fight not to laugh. What the hell was
happening here? Were she and Nick actually going to have sex?

And why did it feel like this
was the best thing to happen to her in…a really long time?

She was in and out in five
minutes. Then she realized she didn’t have anything but her slightly sweaty
workout clothes to change into. She wasn’t going to put those back on, so she
just wrapped herself in a towel.

She should have brought
something sexy with her into the bathroom. Nick had never seemed particularly
attracted to her before, and it would be nice if she could make herself as sexy
as possible.

Glancing in the mirror, she
shook her head in resignation. Her skin was clear and smooth, almost glowing
from the heat of the shower and her excitement. Her dark, shoulder length hair
was a rumpled mess. Her slim body wasn’t bad, wrapped up in the pale blue
towel, but it had never been anything special. She looked pretty good in
clothes. Not so great out of them.

She really hoped Nick wasn’t
going to be disappointed.

He was the one who’d
suggested this, however, so he had no one to blame but himself. Taking comfort
in this fact, she walked out of the bathroom.

She gave a little squeak of
surprise when she discovered Nick sitting on her bed.

“What are you doing?” she
demanded, tucking the towel around her more snugly.

“Waiting for you.” He eyed
her from her bare toes to her messy hair as he stood up. “Did you change your
mind in the shower?”

“No. Did you?”

“Not a chance.”

“I was going to put something
sexy on.”

“No need to waste time with
that.”

Her breath hitched as she
moved closer and recognized the hot look in his eyes. He couldn’t seem to stop
raking his eyes over her body.

Maybe she didn’t have to
worry about Nick finding her attractive after all.

The realization triggered a
wave of heat that washed over her body, starting in her face and spreading all
the way down. He was looking at her like he wanted to swallow her whole. She’d
never seen that look in his eyes before.

She’d always been a
confident, no-nonsense person—in bed and out of it—so she tried to pull herself
together. “So how do you want to do this?”

“Drop the towel.”

She gulped at the hoarse
authority in his tone. “What?”

“Drop it.”

She wasn’t in the habit of
following orders from anyone, but in this case she didn’t see any logical
reason to object. Plus, her whole body had clenched excitedly, for no reason
that made any sense.

Very slowly, she pulled out
the corner of the towel she’d tucked in and unwound it from her body, finally
letting the towel drop to the floor.

Nick made a thick sound in
his throat as his gaze got even hotter. His face was slightly flushed and damp,
and his body was unusually tense.

He was turned on, she
realized. Really turned on. By her.

“Damn,” he muttered, reaching
out for her at last. “You’re gorgeous, sweetheart. I’m going to make you feel
so good.”

She didn’t have time to
respond because he hauled her into a kiss. Gasping against his mouth, she clung
to his neck, trying to hold on as sensations overwhelmed her. The kiss was hard
and urgent and skillful, and she couldn’t believe this hot, hungry man in her
arms was her funny, laidback husband.

When had he gotten like this?
Why had she never known?

She was far too distracted to
work through any of these questions. His tongue was in her mouth, claiming her
possessively. His hands had slid down her back to her naked bottom, cupping it
as he kissed her. Then he lifted her up so she had to wrap her legs around him,
and he turned them around so he could lay her down on the bed.

Her body throbbed in heat and
arousal, and she grabbed for him eagerly, clutching at his T-shirt, not wanting
even the slightest bit of distance between them. She made a sound of outrage
when he pulled out of the kiss, but he was kissing his way down her body, so
she decided there was no reason to complain.

She gasped loudly when he
kissed one of her breasts, teasing the nipple with his tongue. And she
whimpered when he moved to the other one, giving it even more sustained
treatment. She cried out helplessly when his hand slipped between her legs,
exploring her hot, wet arousal.

“Damn, sweetheart,” he
muttered, lifting his head to look down at her as he caressed her with one
hand. “You’re already ready.”

Torn between embarrassment
and pleasure, she writhed in response to his touch. “I told you I had a lot of
tension.”

His eyes lingered on her
flushed, naked body, laid out beneath him on the bottom of the bed. Once again,
she was blown away by the deep urgency she sensed in him, a feeling she’d never
connected to him before. “Well, we’re going to take care of that for you.”

She arched up when he
penetrated her with two of his fingers. She clutched at the bedding as he
started to pump his hand. And she realized that she was going to come at any
second, from nothing more than this.

Nick was smiling as she
shamelessly tried to ride his hand, fumbling for purchase on the bed as the
sensations built up to a delicious peak. She cried out uninhibitedly as the
pressure broke and she came hard around his fingers.

“Damn,” Nick breathed, as she
panted and shook. “Damn, you’re so incredibly hot.”

She was still gasping and
trying to orient herself, but she loved the sound of the words. She loved that
he seemed to like her embarrassing eagerness. He seemed to think it was sexy.
She grabbed for his shoulders and pulled him down on top of her, and she kissed
him just as hard as he’d kissed her.

She bunched his T-shirt up in
her hands as their tongues dueled and played. She wanted to get it off. She
wanted to feel his skin.

Nick must have realized what
she was doing because he broke out of the kiss just long enough to grab his
shirt and pull it off over his head. She smiled in pleasure at the sight of his
bare chest, although he immediately kissed her again, so she couldn’t spend
much time appreciating the view.

His body was firm and strong
and hot as an oven beneath her hands. It was like there was some kind of fire
inside him—one she’d never been aware of before—and the heat from it was
radiating out to consume both of them. She could feel the hair on his chest
against her breasts, the bulge of his arousal against her hip. Her previous
orgasm didn’t come close to satisfying the deep hunger overwhelming her.

She reached for his waistband
and tried to push down his pants so she could feel all of him. His body was
pressed against her, though, so she couldn’t get them down. She tugged and
tugged, whimpering in frustration when she only got the pants a few inches
down.

“What are you doing?” Nick
murmured thickly. He was smiling as he lifted his head.

“Trying to get your damned,
ugly pants off.”

He chuckled and lifted his
hips, so she could get the waistband past his erection. “They’re not ugly.”

“They’re ugly and ancient and
falling apart. You need to throw the stupid things away.” Despite her words,
she was smiling too as she finally pushed down the pants and got a good look at
his naked body. He wasn’t waxed and sculpted into some sort of artificial work
of art. He was real and natural and damned sexy, with his long limbs, toned
muscles, coarse hair, and a nicely sized erection.

When she glanced back up at
his face, his expression had changed. He must have seen her appreciation and
really liked it.

“Did you get a condom?” she
asked, her throat feeling overly tight with an emotion she didn’t recognize.

He reached over to pick up a
packet he must have laid on the bed earlier. He tore it open, but then she took
it out of his hands so she could roll it on him herself.

“You ready for this?” he
asked, his eyes searching her face closely as he settled himself between her
legs.

“Oh yeah. Please hurry up.”
She parted her legs and bent her knees and grabbed for his ass so she could
move him into position more quickly.

She was wet, really aroused,
so he didn’t have any trouble easing himself inside her. He was big, though,
and she was tight from going so long without sex, so she arched up with a
broken gasp as he sank in more deeply.

“Okay?” he asked, holding
himself very still.

Her eyes were closed, but it
felt like Nick was still searching her face. “Yeah. Oh, yeah.” She rolled her
hips, relaxing her inner muscles until he fit comfortably inside her. “This is
going to be so good.”

“Damn right it’s going to be
good.” It sounded like he was smiling as he gave a few little thrusts, like he
was trying it out.

She moaned at the resulting
sensations and finally managed to open her eyes. Staring up at him, she was
once again overwhelmed by the fact that this was Nick—who lazed his way through
life, who never felt anything too deeply—and he was into her so intensely.

She’d never known this was
part of who he was. Maybe she’d never really known him at all.

“What’s the matter?” he
asked, his eyebrows lowering slightly.

“Nothing.” She bent her legs
up around his hips and ran her fingernails lightly down his back. “Now get
going.”

“Should have known you’d try
to boss me around in bed.” Despite his dry mutter, he was smiling again as he
started to move.

She was smiling too.

He built up a fast, steady
rhythm that stimulated her all over, and soon she was losing control again. He
was filling her completely. Her whole body was being moved by his, and she
couldn’t keep control of the sensations. She fell out of rhythm, clutching at
his ass and trying to ride him from below.

“Damn, sweetheart.” His whole
body seemed to get even tighter. He was trying to move with her, but she too
far gone. “Damn.”

She let out a loud sobbing
sound as she reached climax, shaking and tightening and digging her fingernails
into his firm flesh. When the waves of pleasure finally worked their way
through her, she collapsed back onto the bed, a satisfied smile on her face.

Nick leaned down to kiss her.

“Sorry,” she mumbled against
his lips. “I kind of lost it there.”

“I have no complaints.” He
adjusted his weight so he could slide one hand down and cup her bottom with it.
“But this time, let’s try to do it together.”

“Sounds good to me.”

Since she was less urgent
now, she was able to move with him when he started to thrust again. He started
slowly at first until they’d managed to synchronize their motion. Then finally
his face twisted with what looked like effort and pleasure, and he started to
accelerate.

“Yeah,” she gasped, as he
pumped his hips hard against hers. “Yeah, Nick. Just like that.”

For the first time, he seemed
beyond words. His gray-green eyes never left her face, and they were so hungry,
so strangely needy, that it scared her just a little.