Married by Contract (5 page)

With a giggle, she rolled over on her side to face him. “I
don’t actually want to pass out.”

“Oh. I’m disappointed.”

“That might be taking this tension-relieving too far.”

“I understand. You can only lose control to a certain
extent, and then it becomes untenable. Just let me know if you change your
mind. I’m your man for getting you to the point of passing out, if you ever
want to take that risk.”

His voice was dry and teasing, but the words struck her
strangely—as if there were more in them than was revealed on the surface. She
peered at him closely but didn’t see anything but that warm laughter that was
so much a part of him.

Deciding she’d been imagining the undercurrent, she leaned
forward to kiss him on the cheek. As she was pulling away, he turned his face
into the kiss and drew her back to claim her mouth.

They kissed for a while, just lightly playing with their
lips and tongues, until Jenn felt Nick’s body starting to tighten again. Her
own body responded in kind, and it wasn’t long until she felt the pressure of
arousal building inside her again.

“Good thing you have a short recovery period,” she murmured
against his lips.

“Why’s that?”

“Because we have to make this evening good enough to get us
through a whole week.”

“How much is it going to take to do that for you?”

“I don’t know.” She pulled back to smile at him tauntingly.
“A lot, if you think you’re up to it.”

“No question about that.” He was smiling as he rolled over
onto his back and pulled her on top of him. She adjusted her legs so she was
straddling his hips, but he’d drawn her down into another kiss. She was lying
on top of him as his tongue stroked her lips and the inside of her mouth,
causing her to moan and squirm shamelessly against the hardness of his body.

Eventually, he released her head, and she straightened up,
still straddling his hips.

“Okay,” he said thickly, his eyes running up and down over
her naked body. “This time you get to be on top.”

She gazed down at him, her arousal clenching at the words.
“So I have to do all the work?”

He chuckled. “I did all the work earlier, so it’s only fair.
Anyway, this will be your chance to take all you need to tide you over until
next week.”

She wasn’t sure any amount of sex would be able to do that,
but she recognized a challenge when it was issued. So she rolled on another
condom and raised herself up as he held his erection in place, and then she lowered
herself over him.

She sat for a while without moving, just breathing deeply
and enjoying the feel of him inside her. He reached up to fondle her breasts as
she arched helplessly into his touch. Then she finally started to ride him.

It took a little while for her to figure out a good angle
and rhythm, but when she did it was incredibly good. She felt another orgasm
building surprisingly soon, and she huffed out her pleasure and effort as she
moved over him until it broke.

Nick moaned huskily as her body clenched around him. His
hands were holding onto her bottom tightly, possessively. But his voice was dry
as he said, “I think it’s going to take more than that to tide you over.”

She’d come down enough to slant him a cool look. “Did I say
I was done yet?”

He slid his hands up her sides until he was cupping her
breasts, twirling the nipples with his thumbs. “Well, I’d advise you to get busy
then. Even my iron control has its limits.”

She chuckled and leaned down to kiss him. She was very wet
by now, and he almost slid out of her, but he used his hand to keep himself in
position. Then she straightened her back to ride him once more.

It took longer this time, but she enjoyed even the slow
build up, and eventually he moved his hand down close to where they were joined
so he could rub her clit. She arched backward at the intensified pleasure, and
it wasn’t long before she was coming again.

She’d barely come down when she felt Nick rubbing her off
again. “Keep going,” he murmured. “I know you’re not done yet.”

So she kept riding him, hard and fast and shameless. Her
breasts were bouncing with her motion, and he was having to hold his erection
in place so he wouldn’t slip out. He’d started to mutter out words that just
drove her pleasure even higher. “That’s right. So good. Take it. Take all you
want.”

She was really sweating now. Her cheeks were burning, and
her thighs and abs shaking with effort. But she couldn’t seem to stop. She
needed Nick. So much more.

She’d come two more times when she finally collapsed forward
with a hoarse cry of surrender.

Nick stroked her hair and back. “Is that it, then? You don’t
need any more.”

Ridiculously, her body was still craving even more of him.
“Yes, I need more,” she gasped. “I’m just too tired to keep going.”

“Then why didn’t you say so?” It sounded like he was smiling
again when he rolled them both over. He checked the condom before he pulled her
legs apart and lifted her hips until she was aligned with his erection.

She stared up at him, hot and breathless. She’d never seen
another man in the entire world whom she’d wanted more.

She clutched at the bedding as he slid himself inside her
again. She was even wetter than ever, but she was also a little sore. She
moaned at the pleasurable ache and arched helplessly.

“I love to see you like this,” he murmured, starting to
thrust into her.

“Like what?”

“Like you can’t hold yourself back, no matter how much you
might want to.”

Her eyes had been closed, but she opened them now and saw
how his eyes were raking over her body. He
did
love to see her like
this. It was like he was a starving man, eating her up.

All the feelings and sensations were too much for her to
process. She closed her eyes again and groaned uninhibitedly as he took her
hard, holding her body in position.

She kept her eyes closed as the motion and the friction
built her up to another release. She couldn’t hold back the sounds of her
pleasure, and she kept fumbling for purchase on the bedding. She tossed her
head and fought his hold on her hips and couldn’t remember when her body felt
this far out of her control.

This time, when she came, he came with her. His cry of
release was just as loud and helpless as hers was, and it took just as much out
of him. He let her hips drop back to the bed afterwards and then kind of fell
on top of her.

She wrapped her arms around him, needing to hold onto him,
hold onto something.

Nick was mumbling out more words, but she couldn’t think
clearly enough to work them out.

She enjoyed the feel of him on top of her for a few minutes.
Then she finally could make her mind work enough to give him a little push.
“You’re getting heavy.”

“I know.” He didn’t move.

“And the condom, Nick.”

“I know.” His breath was warm against her skin.

“Nick.”

“Yeah.” With a groan, he lifted himself off her, and then he
summoned the effort to straighten up to a sitting position. “Oh, God, I don’t
think I can move.”

“Me either.” She felt a wave of tenderness at the sight of
his outrageously messy hair and the damp flush on his face.

He smiled down at her, evidently seeing something in her
expression. “So do you think you can make it a week now?”

“It’s going to be days before I can even think about sex again.”
Her body was so sore and exhausted and sated that she really did think it was
true.

He gave a huff of amusement and stood up. “We’ll see.”

***

Three days later, Jenn was moaning
helplessly as Nick massaged her neck and shoulders.

She wasn’t just moaning because the relaxation of her
muscles was so good. She was feeling a lot of other things too.

She hated to admit defeat. And she hated to admit that Nick
was right and she was wrong. But some things were more important than that.

One of those things was the deep need in her body. “Nick,”
she said, rather raspily.

“What?” His voice was just as hoarse as hers was.

“Maybe…”

“Maybe what?” His hands had grown still on her shoulders.

“Maybe we should…rethink one of the terms of our contract.”
There. She’d said it. And it hadn’t been so bad.

After all, how much harm could it do to have sex more than
once a week?

Nick moved around to the front of her chair and crouched
down so he was on her eye level. “What term?”

“The…the once a week term. I’m thinking it wouldn’t hurt to
have sex more often.”

He groaned and hauled her up into a kiss. “Thank God! I
thought you’d never change your mind.”

A few days later, Jenn came into her
bedroom from the bathroom to see that Nick had pulled back on his pajama pants.

They’d just had sex. It had been very good—she’d wrapped her
legs around him and he’d moved into her with a slow, rhythmic pressure. It
hadn’t been as urgent as when they’d only had once a week, and for some reason
that left Jenn feeling a little jittery.

There was no reason for the sudden case of nerves, so she
blew out a breath and smiled as she walked back to her bed.

Nick could have gone back to his bedroom now, since it was
almost midnight, but he didn’t appear to be moving any time soon. He was
sprawled out on the messy sheets with one arm bent above his head.

“Are you cold?” he asked lazily, his eyes running up and
down over her body.

She’d pulled on a pair of knit pajama pants and a matching
long-sleeved top. “A little. Is that a problem?”

“Of course not. Only now I can’t see much of your body.” He
reached out to pull her down into the bed with him.

“Were you thinking we’d have more sex? I was thinking it was
time to go to sleep.”

“Maybe I like to look at your body, even when we’re not
having sex.”

She’d cuddled up at his side, since he was always so warm,
but now she lifted her head to check his face. He looked fond and amused—his
typical expression—so she relaxed back at his side. “Well, I’m not going to be
cold just so you can leer at me. There’s no clause like that in our contract.”

“Of course not.” He let out a long breath, like he was
relaxing, letting go of some sort of tension.

Jenn wasn’t sure what the tension would be, since he was the
most laidback person she’d ever met. She wished she could relax like he could,
just blow out all the stress as if it were nothing but air.

Since she was snuggled up at his side, she had a good view
of his bare chest. She idly rubbed her hand over the scattering of hair, the
slight rise of his nipples, the rippling firmness of his abdomen. Without
conscious thought, her hand moved over to the scar on the side of his ribs,
which she usually didn’t even notice. There was one stark white line that must
have been a deep wound and a number of fainter scar lines around it. The skin
was slightly puckered, and he had no hair there.

“Is it that bad?” he asked, after she’d caressed him for a
minute or two in silence.

“No. It’s not bad at all. Why would you think it’s bad?”

“Because you keep petting it, like it needs a lot of sympathy.”

She chuckled and moved her hand away. “I wasn’t petting it.
I wasn’t even really thinking.” She adjusted slightly, moving her eyes from the
scar to his face. “What happened?”

She assumed he’d gotten wounded when he was in the Army, but
she’d never asked him about it. She’d always sensed a stone wall where talk of
his days in the military was concerned, and she’d wanted to respect his
privacy. If talking about it would hurt him, then she didn’t want to do it.

But she was experiencing the strangest sensation of
discontent—like she needed to know him more, deeper, fuller. It was strong
enough to overcome her knowledge that this wasn’t something he wanted to
discuss.

He didn’t answer. Just shifted in bed uncomfortably.

She knew she shouldn’t be asking him this. It wasn’t her
business. It might not be part of their contract, but they had an unstated
agreement to allow each other whatever boundaries made them most comfortable.

But that same lingering discontent pushed her to ask, “Nick,
how did you get that scar?”

He cleared his throat, his eyes on her face but with a
guarded look he didn’t normally wear. “It was a roadside bomb. In Afghanistan.”

“Were you seriously hurt?”

“Not me.”

“Others were?”

“Three of our guys…died.”

“Shit.” She was stroking his scar again, and she lowered her
cheek to his chest so she wasn’t looking at his face. She somehow knew it would
be harder for him to talk about this if they were meeting each other’s eyes.

“Those things happen,” he said.

“Yeah, but it doesn’t make them easy.”

“No.”

She paused, since it felt like he needed some time to
breathe and let out the tension again. When she felt his body relax, she asked
softly, “Why don’t you ever talk about it?”

“People cope in different ways.”

“I know they do.”

“I had counseling, when I first got back. I’m not an
emotional basket-case, you know.”

“I know that! I’d never think that about you. If either of
us is a basket-case, it’s definitely me.” She lifted up her head and gave him a
wry, slanting look.

He chuckled and reached out to brush her hair back from her
face. “You are not. You take the things in your life seriously. There’s nothing
wrong with that.”

“I guess.”

“And I’m here to help you relax, so it’s all good.”

She smiled and cuddled up beside him again. She’d been
feeling good, like she’d connected with him in a new and deeper way, but after
a few minutes she reflected on what he’d said.

If he was here to help her relax, then she wondered what she
was to him. Was there any way she could give back to him? At all?

Then she suddenly had her answer.

She’d given him a lot of money to pay off his business loan.
She’d bought this apartment they lived in. That was what she gave him.

Just money.

“What’s the matter?” Nick asked, his hand moving up to
stroke her back.

“Nothing.”

“You know you’re pressed up against me, right? You always
get tense when something bothers you. I know something is wrong, so don’t lie
to me.”

She told herself not to be ridiculous. Yes, she provided the
money in their relationship, and he provided the emotional support. It was
working for them both, so there was no reason for her to feel bad about it.

She swallowed over the pressure in her throat. “It’s nothing
really.”

“Hey,” Nick said, tilting her head so he could look her in
the eye again. “Something is bothering you. If it’s important, then tell me
about it so we can fix it. If it’s really not important, then take a breath and
let it go.”

Jenn felt kind of silly, but she gave him a sheepish smile,
took a deep breath, and blew it out.

She did feel a little better. Maybe Nick was onto something
with this letting-it-go thing.

“Good girl,” Nick murmured, his eyes soft on her face.

She scowled. “You didn’t just call me good girl, did you?”

“What? Oh no. You must have heard wrong. I’d never call you
something so…”

“Patronizing.”

“Exactly. I’d never call you something like that.” He wasn’t
smiling, but there was suppressed laughter in his eyes and at the corners of
his mouth.

“I’m glad to hear it.” She let out another long breath,
releasing the last of her angst about their somewhat unnatural arrangement. “I
don’t know how you keep from stressing the way you do. I wish I could take
things less seriously, the way you do.”

When he didn’t respond, she glanced up and saw he was
frowning.

“That wasn’t an insult,” she said quickly. “I’m saying I
wish I could be more like you.”

“You don’t think I take things seriously?”

“Don’t be offended! I promise it wasn’t an insult. You’re
just really good at staying relaxed and not getting worked up about things.
It’s like you were saying before. People cope in different ways, and that’s
your way of coping. It’s not a bad thing. I wish I could be like that too. You
don’t keep spinning your wheels, working at something that may or may not pan
out for you. You just let it go.” She was so worried about hurting his feelings
that she kept rambling on, even though she could see on his face she was just
making it worse.

“I work hard at some things,” he said, lowering his brows
and staring at a spot just past her head.

“I know you do. I wasn’t implying you’re lazy or anything.
I’m just saying it wrong. I was trying to say I understand and like that about
you—that you don’t keep fighting battles you might not be able to win. I feel
like I’m always launching myself into wars that can’t really be won, but you’re
not like that.”

“Yeah, but you do that because you’re genuinely passionate
about life. And you think I’m not.”

She was so upset by his tone and uncharacteristic tension
that she sat up, folding her legs beneath her and gazing down at him urgently.
“Nick, please don’t take it that way. I was trying to say something nice.”

“I know you were.” He sounded almost resigned now, and she
saw him take and release a deep breath. “I’m not offended by what you said.
You’re right. I never go into a fight unless I know I can win, which means I
don’t try very hard at all. Which means I might even walk away from things I
care about.”

“I don’t think that’s true, Nick. You’re a really good
friend. And a good son. You call your parents every week, don’t you?”

“Sure. But I haven’t been to see them in months. And they’re
getting old.”

Jenn had occasionally wondered why he didn’t visit his folks
more often—since he wasn’t that far away—and she suddenly understood why. They
were getting old, and it was hard for him to see it. And he avoided anything
that might hurt him.

It was why he’d agreed to their bizarre marriage in the
first place—not really to get his loans paid off but to make it impossible for
him to invest in a real relationship.

This marriage might be a convenience for her, but it was a
safety net for him.

But still…she didn’t want him to think badly about himself.
He was an amazing man, and he should know how much she appreciated him.

“So you go see your parents,” she said lightly.

He gave a huff of dry amusement. “Yeah.”

“And don’t beat yourself up too much because it’s not as bad
as you think. You’re more than capable of investing in the serious things in
life, whenever you decide that’s what you want to do. Just consider how much
you’ve done for me—how much you always do for me—and we’re not even in a real
relationship.”

Nick had been gazing at her, something deep in his eyes, but
he glanced away at her last words. “Yeah,” he said again.

Jenn was afraid she’d gone too far, pushed him too much. He
didn’t like this kind of conversation, and he was likely to shut down pretty
soon. He’d go to sleep in his own room, and she’d feel a distance between them
again.

She didn’t want that to happen, so she stretched out beside
him, tucking herself under his arm. “Anyway, I guess that’s enough talk for one
night. I’m ready to sleep, if you are.”

“I am. You want me to go sleep in my room?”

“Only if you want to. Either way is fine with me.”

He made a low murmur, like he was already starting to go drift
off, and he adjusted their bodies so his arms were wrapped around her and he
was spooning her from behind.

It felt very nice. Jenn told herself not to brood over the
conversation they’d just had. She closed her eyes and tried to go to sleep.

***

The following week, Jenn and Nick
were cleaning up after a dinner in the kitchen when her phone chirped with a
text.

Nick arched his eyebrows at her over his shoulder, his hands
wet from rinsing a plate, when she went to check.

“If it’s work, I’ll leave it alone,” she told him,
recognizing his expression. “No need to give me that look.”

Seeing the text was from a college friend, Jenn smiled and
replied. After a few more texts and responses, she looked up to see Nick
leaning against the sink, obviously waiting to hear who it was.

He didn’t usually expect to be told the details of her text
conversations, but maybe he was still suspicious that it was work-related. She
said, “It’s Raina. She wants us to go to a party she’s having next Friday.”

Nick thought briefly, probably mentally reviewing his schedule,
before he said, “That’s fine with me.”

Jenn sent one more text to end the conversation and then put
down her phone. “I haven’t seen Raina in a few months.” They’d been roommates
in college and as close as Jenn had ever gotten to another woman. They’d seen
less of each other as the years went on, but they still made a point of getting
together regularly.

“I know.”

She frowned at the significant note in his voice. “What does
that mean?”

“It means I’ve noticed that you haven’t seen her in a few
months.”

“Well, I’ve been busy. Why do you make it sound like it’s a
bad thing?”

“I didn’t mean to sound judgy,” he said, his expression
relaxing into a smile. “Just that it’s good for you to have friends.”

“I do have friends. I’ve got plenty of friends. I can hardly
be a social butterfly when work takes so much out of me, but I’ve got more than
enough friends. Plus, I have
you
.”

“That’s true.”

“I hang out with friends about as much as you do,” she
added, wondering if Nick thought she was too isolated or something. He had some
guys he hung out with every couple of weeks, but he certainly wasn’t any more
social than she was.

“I told you I didn’t mean to sound like I was judging you,”
he said, coming over and sliding a hand down from her shoulder to her hand in a
casual, intimate gesture. “I see friends when I feel like it. Most of the time,
I’m too tired. I’d rather hang out with you.”

She couldn’t help but smile at this. “Me too.”

When their shared smile stretched on a little too long, Jenn
cleared her throat and pulled away. “Anyway, don’t you want to hear what kind
of party it is?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, Raina isn’t the kind to have a normal, boring
cocktail party. She has something else planned.”

Nick appeared to recognize the hidden laughter in her
expression. His smile faded. “What is it?

“It’s a dancing party.”