Married by Contract (8 page)

It didn’t take any time at all for them to get a room—for
the night, of course, since they weren’t about to admit they just needed it for
a couple of hours—and then head upstairs to a quiet room decorated with an
elegant gentility.

Nick didn’t give Jenn time to look around or even kick off
her shoes. He hauled her into a kiss and pushed her back against the wall of
the entryway.

Jenn’s head spun and her body throbbed and she clung to Nick
desperately, trying to catch up to what seemed to be happening.

As they kissed, Nick’s hands roamed all over her body,
pushing aside her clothes when they got in the way. She was turned on before
she would have believed it was possible and started grinding herself against
the hardness of his body.

“Nick, this is crazy!” she gasped, at one point. “It’s
one-thirty on a Friday afternoon.”

“So?”

“I didn’t call into the office to tell them I’d be late.
Mary is going to worry.”

“She’ll get over it.” Nick had been pressing kisses against
her jaw and neck, but now he pulled back, his face damp and hungry. “Tell me
you want to do this.”

There was nothing she could say but the truth. “I want to do
this,” she whispered.

He made a growling sound and pulled her farther into the
room, but he didn’t get all the way to the bed. He backed her up against the
dresser and started to take off her skirt, jacket, and blouse, dropping each
piece of clothing onto the floor when he’d removed it.

Jenn felt completely out of control, like her body had a
will of its own. She couldn’t do anything but gasp and then moan when Nick started
to caress her.

Soon, he was leaning over with her breast in his mouth,
teasing the nipple with his tongue through the satin of her bra. She was
off-balance, clutching the edge of the dresser and trying to keep from melting
into a puddle on the floor.

“Damn, you’re so hot, sweetheart,” Nick muttered, pulling
away enough to gaze at her, his eyes full of lust and a kind of dominance she
wasn’t used to seeing there. “Turn around for me.”

She normally would have questioned his bossiness, but she
had no desire to resist him at the moment. She turned around, staring at
herself in the mirror over the dresser as Nick moved behind her and started to
stroke his hands over her body again.

So she had to watch as her nipples grew tight beneath the
fabric, as her cheeks flushed even more deeply, as her features twisted with
pleasure so sharp it ached. Her hair was tousled around her face and shoulders,
and Nick’s hands were big and skillful as they teased and fondled her.

When one of his hands slid between her legs, she gave a
little cry and bent forward, planting her hands on the dresser to keep from
falling.

“That’s right,” Nick murmured thickly, staring at her in the
mirror. “Give yourself up to this. Let go. This is you too.”

She didn’t know how it could possibly be her—this wild,
erotic woman—but evidently it was. She whimpered helplessly as Nick worked her
up into a fervor and then finally moved his hand beneath the waistband of her
panties.

She was already very wet, and she cried out loudly when he
slid one finger inside her.

“Now you can watch yourself come,” he murmured, his eyes
still raking over her face and body.

She had to bend over even more, holding on to the dresser
desperately as he took her with his fingers. She bit her lip to stifle the loud
sounds she was making, but she couldn’t hold all of them back. He brought her
just to the edge of orgasm and then pulled back his hand.

“Nick,” she rasped, almost sobbing at the loss of sensation.
“Nick, please. Make me come.”

“I will, sweetheart. I will.” He fumbled with his trousers
and then with a condom. Then he bent her further at the waist and moved aside
her panties to line himself up.

When he entered her, she released a shameless moan at the
deeper penetration.

“That’s right, sweetheart,” he murmured, sliding his hand up
and down her back as he fit himself into her more snugly. “You’re doing so
good. You can take all of me. Just give yourself up to this.”

She couldn’t stop making silly, mewling sounds as he moved
just slightly inside her. Then, after a minute of agonizing anticipation, he
made a slow thrust.

She huffed and clutched at the dresser, unable to tear her
eyes away from her own face and Nick’s deeply possessive expression behind her.

As he built up a faster, harder rhythm, she couldn’t
possibly stifle her cries of pleasure and need. She was saying things like,
“Please, Nick,” “Faster, harder,” and “I need this so much.” She had absolutely
no control over what was coming out of her mouth or what her body was doing.
She couldn’t move much in her position, and he was holding her bottom in a
strong grip, so all she could do was feel and take what he was giving her.

She was sobbing loudly—far too loud for a hotel—when her
body finally couldn’t take anymore. It erupted in waves of deep, helpless
pleasure that caused her vision to briefly white out.

She was still babbling as she came down, tears streaming
down her cheeks. Her back and thighs ached, and her knees were shaking
dangerously.

Nick hadn’t yet come, but he straightened up, pulling
himself out while taking care with the condom.

He picked her up and carried her over to the bed, staring
down at her with an intensity she didn’t understand before he climbed on top of
her. He pried her legs apart and bent them up toward her chest, and then he
entered her again.

She wasn’t any more in control in this position. She
couldn’t really move—her body could only rock to Nick’s motion. She had to
reach up to grab the headboard to give her some sort of stability, and she
started to make embarrassing little grunts when he built up another fast, hard
rhythm.

It wasn’t long before she was on the cusp again, every nerve
ending in her body firing intensely and every part of her feeling a pleasure
deeper than she’d ever known.

Then Nick started to talk, and it got even better.

“That’s right, sweetheart…Let me make you feel so good…Just
let go of what’s always held you back…You’re going to come again soon, even
harder than before…Let me do this for you…You’re so good like this…You don’t
always have to be in control.” His face was streaming with sweat, and his eyes
her ravenous, so possessive and dominant, nothing at all like the Nick she’d
always known.

She wasn’t anything like the Jenn she’d always known,
either. She was almost screaming now, helpless against the waves of pleasures
that bombarded her. It went on for a long time, and when the height of the
climax finally came, she was hoarse and blinded with tears.

She knew Nick was coming too. She could hear his shout of
release and feel the shuddering of his body against her. But she couldn’t see
him, and she couldn’t move her body, even when he finally pulled out of her.

He must have taken care of the condom, but she wasn’t aware
of any of it. She lay in a heap on the bed, shivers of lingering pleasure still
running through her.

Then she felt Nick get back on the bed with her and pull her
into his arms. “Are you okay, sweetheart?”

She made a sound, but it wasn’t a word. She clung to him.

“Did you pass out?” he asked, his tone both tender and
breathless.

“Maybe,” she managed to say.

He gave a huff of amusement and hugged her tighter.

It was several minutes before either one of them spoke
again, but finally Jenn’s body was recovering—sore but deliciously relaxed—and
her mind cleared enough to think again.

Nick was stroking her hair when he asked, “Better now?”

“Yeah. I’m good.”

“You’re a lot better than good.”

She felt an ache of tension in her chest, and it made her
uncomfortable—as did the memory of how completely shameless and out of control
she’d been just now. “I’ve never done anything like that before.”

“I know. It was amazing.
You
are amazing.”

“So are you.”

He kissed her hair and then tilted her head up so he could
kiss her lips. But the kisses just made her even more uncomfortable.

She lay in silence for a few more minutes until the nerves
finally propelled her to a sitting position. She groaned at the ache in her
back and between her legs.

“You okay?” Nick asked, his eyes looking at her closely.

“Yeah. Sore.” She groaned again as she swung her feet over
the side of the bed. “I’ve got to get back to work.”

“You’ve got time.”

“Yeah, but I need to get ready for that appointment.” She
made herself stand up, and then she gathered up her clothes and took them to
the bathroom. She took a very quick shower, trying to rub Nick off her body so
she’d feel more like herself. Then she got dressed and studied herself in the
mirror.

She definitely looked like she’d just had sex.

She wet a washcloth and patted down her face and neck again,
but they were still far too flushed. She smoothed her hair and hoped she didn’t
look as debauched as she felt.

Nick was still in bed when she came back out. He looked hot
and exhausted but with the same air of deep satisfaction she’d seen in herself.

“You okay?” he asked, for the third time.

“Yeah,” she replied, trying to sound casual. “Just need to
get back to work.”

“Okay.”

She was sliding on her shoes when he got out of bed,
completely naked. She looked at him questioningly.

“Come here,” he murmured, pulling her into a hug.

She burrowed against his familiar heat and strength for a
minute, feeling better than she had the minute before.

“You don’t have to be scared,” he said against her hair.
“It’s okay to let go of control with me. You can trust me.”

She had no idea how he’d read her mind so easily. “I know I
can. I do trust you.”

“I hope so.”

She wasn’t sure what to say to that, so she just smiled and
grabbed her purse.

As she was leaving the hotel, she had a suspicion that
everyone she passed could easily see she’d just had the best sex of her life.

A week and a half later, Jenn was
sitting in an expensive but generic hotel room in Sioux Falls, South Dakota,
wishing Nick was here with her.

He wasn’t, of course. She’d been out of town all week on a
business trip, hitting three different cities in the upper Midwest while she
was traveling. She made trips for work often enough, but she hadn’t been gone
for so long since she and Nick had started sleeping together.

It felt strange—and really lonely—to be away from him for so
long.

Her meetings had concluded by five-thirty, and she’d grabbed
some dinner to bring up into the room, so she wouldn’t have to go back out. But
now that she’d eaten and showered, she was bored and restless.

She wanted to talk to someone. She wanted to talk to Nick.

The obvious thing to do would be to call him up. He was
probably home by now, fixing him something for dinner and watching TV. She
didn’t, though. She still felt that jittering of nerves whenever she thought
about Nick, and it worried her.

She didn’t want to be too dependent on him. She didn’t want
to be heartbroken when he left her after their five years were over.

She’d done so well for so long in staying completely
independent so no one could hurt her the way her father had. She wasn’t going
to blow it now, just because she was getting a few soft feelings and having
such good sex with Nick.

So she stared at her phone but didn’t call him up. When she
realized what she was doing, she made herself put down her phone and started to
flip the channels on the television, although nothing remotely held her
interest.

She was still flipping twenty minutes later when her phone
rang. She grabbed for it, her heart skipping a couple of times when she saw it
was Nick.

“Hey,” she said, trying not to sound like she was smiling as
she answered it.

“Hey. Am I interrupting anything?”

“No. Work is done for the day, so I’m back in the hotel
room.”

“Oh good. How are things going?”

“Pretty good. I think I’ve got some new buyers.” She was
pleased with the results of her trip, and she tried to remember that was a lot
more important than spending time with her fake husband.

“I thought maybe I would have heard from you.” He sounded
overly casual, which made her think he wasn’t.

“Oh.” She swallowed. She hadn’t been calling him for her own
mental health, but maybe he would think she was just being rude. Things had
felt different between them since that day in the hotel room—the memory of
which still gave her shivers of excitement. They hadn’t had sex since, partly
because she’d been out of town but not entirely so. “It’s been pretty busy.”

“Yeah. I figured.”

“How is everything with you? Anything new on that case?”

“No. Nothing.”

“Are you okay?” she asked, hearing a kind of glumness to his
tone that wasn’t normally there.

“Yeah. I’m fine.”

“Good. I’m fine too.”

“Good.”

Jenn realized it was a silly conversation, but she wasn’t
quite sure how to change it back to something natural. “I’m glad you called,”
she said at last. “I was just thinking about you.”

“Really? What were you thinking about?”

“Calling you.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“I wasn’t sure what you’d be doing.”

“I’m sitting on the couch, looking for something to watch.”

“That’s what I’m doing too.” She sighed, wondering if she
was somehow turning into an old married person, even if her marriage wasn’t a
real one. “I’m just feeling kind of bored and blah. Maybe I should go out and
do something.”

“Why would you go out?”

“I don’t know. Just for something to do.” She wondered if
she had the energy. It would be different if Nick was here and she could do
something with him. But entertaining her on business trips was far beyond the
terms of their contract.

“You know, I could fly out there if you want. It’s less than
an hour flight from here.”

She almost choked on surprise. It was like he’d actually
read her mind. “Why would you fly out here?”

“You said you were bored and lonely.”

She hadn’t said she was lonely, but he must have read
between the lines. “That would be crazy.”

“Why? I’ve got nothing better to do.”

“Nick, seriously. You don’t have to fly all the way out here
just because I’m bored. I’m fine. If I get too bored, then I’ll just go out for
a while. Maybe—”

“Hold on a minute,” Nick interrupted. “I’ve got a call
coming in about work.”

“Okay,” she said quickly. “Go ahead and take it.”

She sighed when he clicked over and she was left in the
lonely hotel room again. She’d had the right instinct before. There was no
reason why she had to sit here all evening. She could go out and see people.
She could be the person she used to be, before she’d gotten married and things
had gotten so complicated.

She’d hauled herself out of bed and was changing into
something cute when her phone rang again.

Nick. “Hey, sorry about that.”

“No, it’s fine,” she said, checking herself in the mirror
and deciding she needed a little lipstick and mascara so she didn’t look like
she’d rolled out of bed. She’d put on dark jeans and a green top that made her
look like she had pretty good boobs. “Anything important?”

“No. Nothing important.”

She could hear he sounded disappointed. He was still worried
about this case he was working on, and she really wished he was able to make
some progress with it. It wasn’t his fault that this girl had run away from
home, but he still felt responsible for not finding her. “I’m sorry. Maybe
something will turn up.”

“Maybe. What are you doing?”

She’d been leaning over to fasten her shoes. “I was putting
my shoes on. I actually decided to go out.”

“Where are you going?”

“I don’t know. Just to get a drink or something. I’m sure I
can find something.”

“In Sioux Falls?”

“It’s not that much of a nothing town. They have a few
bars.”

“You’re really going to go out drinking?”

“Just to get a drink and see people. I feel restless. What’s
wrong with that?”

“Nothing, really. Didn’t you used to pick up guys when you
went out drinking?”

“Occasionally. Not as much as you make it sound. And I’m
obviously not going to pick up a guy tonight. You know that, right?”

“Right.” She sighed in relief when he sounded sincere.
Surely he trusted her at least that much.

“I’m just going to go out and get a beer or something and
then come back and tuck myself in like a good girl. You should do the same.”

“Tuck myself in like a good girl?”

She snorted. “Go out and get a drink with a friend to
relax.”

“Okay. Talk to you later.”

She said goodbye and hung up, unable to stop herself from
thinking that she would have loved it if he’d actually done something as crazy
as fly out to see her. She had two more days before she headed back home. It
felt like forever.

She shrugged it off and grabbed her purse and the room key.

She hadn’t changed as much as she feared. She still got by
just fine on her own. She didn’t need a husband. She didn’t need Nick.

***

Three hours later, she was in a cab
on the way back to her hotel, a little bit worse for wear.

She’d found a bar that had a good atmosphere, so she’d gone
in to get a drink. She chatted with some folks and played a few games of pool
and was propositioned more than once.

Obviously, she would never take any of those guys up on it
while she was married to Nick. She would never cheat on him, even if theirs
wasn’t a normal marriage.

But the most startling and upsetting thing was that she
didn’t even want to. A couple of the guys who’d been interested in her had been
good-looking and charming, but she wasn’t remotely interested in them. And she
wouldn’t have been, even if she hadn’t been married.

She didn’t want to be with anyone but Nick.

That realization had been so disturbing that she’d drunk
more than she’d intended in an attempt to drown it out. Her marriage to Nick
was supposed to be easy and convenient for both of them.

It wasn’t supposed to turn her whole life upside down.

She drank too much to dull the reality of this conclusion,
and she was definitely buzzed when the cab dropped her off at the front of the
hotel.

She took a deep breath and focused on walking as she entered
the lobby.

“Jenn,” a familiar voice came from near the windows.

She stopped, blinked, and turned her head slowly to see
Nick. She gasped, slightly delayed as her brain took a little time to catch up.
“How did you get here?” she demanded.

“I drove to the airport. There was a plane leaving in a half
hour. I bought a ticket, got on it, and it flew me here.”

She blinked again, her mind fuzzier than ever but something
telling her that she shouldn’t let Nick know how fuzzy. “Wow. That was quick.”

Nick looked a little tired—his eyelids heavy and his hair
rumpled. But he narrowed his eyes as he studied her face. “How much did you
have to drink?”

“I had a little….a little bit to drink.”

He chuckled. “I can see that. You didn’t do anything else
besides drink, did you?”

“I told you! I don’t do that anymore. Not that no one
asked.”

“I’m sure they did.” Nick’s gaze moved up and down her body.
“What did you tell them?”

Now that she’d processed that he was actually here, she
couldn’t help but be glad about it. She smiled at him and patted him on the
chest with her left hand. “I told them I was a married woman.”

She kept patting him, staring at her wedding and engagement
rings on her finger. It was so strange to notice them now—like it was the first
time she was realizing how married she really was. “I can’t believe you’re
here,” she whispered.

“Well, I am.” He put a supportive arm around her and moved
her toward the elevator. “And I think you probably need to lie down.”

“I don’t want to lie down. I want to…” She drifted off,
having no idea what she was going to say. She stared at the elevator doors
close, leaving them alone in the elevator.

“You want to what?”

“Lie down,” she concluded, realizing that was exactly what
she wanted to do. She should have thought of it before.

Nick chuckled again, and he drew her against him as the
elevator descended to the eighth floor. She leaned on his chest, feeling
comforted and satisfied at the feel of him against her.

“You’re good to lean against,” she murmured, not realizing
she was actually saying it out loud.

He kissed the top of her head. “You can lean against me any
time.”

When the elevator reached her floor, Nick led out her out
and to her door. The hotel room was exactly as she left it, complete with her
pajamas tossed on the floor.

She leaned over to pick them up and almost fell down as she
was hit with a wave of dizziness.

“Picking up can wait until tomorrow morning,” Nick said,
guiding her toward the bed.

“I’m not tired. I feel…” She still felt dizzy, so she closed
her eyes and moaned.

“Are you going to be sick?”

“I don’t think so. I need some water.”

“I just gave you some.”

Jenn opened her eyes and saw a bottle of water in her hand.
She unscrewed the lid and took several gulps.

Nick sat down beside her. “Why did you drink so much
tonight, sweetheart?”

“I wanted to.”

“Why?”

It felt like he was prying, like he was getting far too
close to certain things in her head, in her heart, that he could never, ever
know. “I wanted to have fun.”

“Did you have fun?”

“Yes.”

“You’re sure you didn’t drink so much because you were
spooked?”

She blinked. “Spooked?”

“About us.” His eyes were sober now and meeting hers evenly.

She gasped after a moment, once again delayed from her
normal reaction time by her clouded mind. “I’m not spooked! Why should I be
spooked?”

“Because that’s how you get when things are good. You expect
for them not to last.”

Of course, their marriage wasn’t going to last—no matter how
good it was at the moment. It was just for five years. She’d basically bought
and paid for him.
Of course
, he was going to leave at the end of it.

“I’m not spooked,” she insisted, with more confidence than
was entirely warranted. “
You’re
spooked!”

“I’m spooked?”

“Yes. You flew all the way out here because you thought I
was going out to screw some other guy. Now tell me you’re not spooked.” She
nodded and then kept nodding because she couldn’t really stop.

“I didn’t think you’d sleep with someone else. I just felt
like…” He cleared his throat, as if he were reluctant to say this. “Like you
needed me.”

She had needed him, but she didn’t like that about herself.
She changed from nodding to shaking her head. “I don’t need you. I’m an
independent woman.”

“I know you are.” Now there was a smile in his voice, but
she couldn’t seem to turn her head to look at him. “That’s one of the things I
like about you.”

He seemed to really mean it—like he knew her for real and
cared about her anyway. She slumped against him. “I want to be independent,”
she mumbled, feeling more out of it than ever but wanting to somehow explain
her conflicted feelings.

He wrapped an arm around her. “You can be. No one is saying
you shouldn’t be.”

“But I don’t feel independent with you. I feel…” She buried
her face in his shirt.

“Tell me, sweetheart.”

“Needy,” she admitted, her voice muffled. She turned her
head to speak more clearly. “You make me feel needy.”

Nick wrapped his other arm around her too, and he tightened
the hug so she felt warm and protected and safe, even after saying such a
thing.