Married by Contract Read online

  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.

  She didn’t have time to react, though, because everything else was feeling so good. They were moving together really well, fast, urgent, primitive, shaking the bed, shaking their bodies. Nick had started to grunt softly, and she loved the sound of it, like he was feeling too much to keep it inside. She was making helpless little sounds too as she clawed at his back and his ass.

  It all felt good—really good—but after a while it started feeling even better as another orgasm began to tighten inside her. She’d never had trouble coming during sex, but she usually didn’t come repeatedly this way. She had no idea what was happening to her. It was like her body just couldn’t get enough of Nick.

  “Oh God!” she gasped, arching her neck and closing her eyes.

  “Yeah, sweetheart,” he muttered, evidently seeing she was close. “Yeah. Come again. Come. Again.”

  She did, making an embarrassingly loud cry as she did. Then he was coming too. His body clenched up hard. Then froze. Then released in tight shudders that ripped through his body, causing him to choke on a helpless exclamation of his own.

  They were both panting desperately as he finally collapsed on top of her. She still felt the occasional little clench of pleasure, and her body softened in deep satisfaction.

  After a minute, Nick rolled off her, holding the condom carefully as he pulled out. But he didn’t get up. He just lay beside her, panting just as loudly as she was.

  “Wow,” she managed to say at last. “That was…”

  “Wow.” He turned his head to smile at her. “I knew we’d be good together.”

  “I didn’t. It never even crossed my mind.”

  “That was your mistake.”

  “It sure was.” Her hair was sticking to her damp face, so she brushed it back impatiently. “I can’t believe we did that.”

  “We can do it again,” Nick said, his eyes softening uncharacteristically as they rested on her face. “Any time you want.”

  “Okay.” She closed her eyes, trying to enjoy the feel of her body and not think too much about how things in their marriage might change.

  Things had been so good between them. She didn’t want them to get messed up. It had felt like her life was finally in order, and that was too precious to lose.

  Of course, after sex like that, she wasn’t sure how she was going to be able to stop herself from doing it again.

  After a few minutes, Nick finally found the energy to get up and walk to the bathroom to take care of the condom and clean up. As soon as he was no longer beside her, Jenn started to feel anxious and unsettled. She’d made smart, thoughtful, and well-reasoned decisions all her life. That was why she’d been so successful. Even the sex she’d had in the past had been chosen because it wouldn’t get in the way of what was most important to her.

  This was different, though. Nick was different.

  She got up, limping slightly because she was sorer than she’d expected, and went to grab an oversized T-shirt and clean underwear from her dresser. Now that the sex was over, she didn’t want to lie around naked.

  She was sitting on the edge of the bed when Nick came back into the room from the bathroom.

  He paused when he saw her, his expression growing strangely still. “You don’t want to have sex with me again,” he said.

  Her lips parted slightly.

  “You’ve thought about it and decided it was a mistake. You can’t let your life get messy this way, so you’re going to tell me we have to forget it ever happened.” He arched his eyebrows at her, his slight smile not reaching his eyes. “Right?”

  “No. That’s not right.”

  He was clearly surprised by this news and walked over to sit down beside her. “You look like you’ve been getting nervous.”

  “I have been,” she admitted. “I don’t want this thing to get weird or to make our lives messy.”

  “Naturally. We wouldn’t want that. No mess allowed.”

  His tone was familiar. Relaxed, almost lazy. Slightly mocking but not in a mean-spirited way. It actually made her feel better, that Nick hadn’t changed, that he wasn’t taking this any more seriously than he took anything else. He obviously enjoyed having sex with her, and it seemed clear he wanted it to continue—but he had nothing deeper than attraction invested in it.

  If there was any chance at all of hurting Nick in any way, Jenn would have called an end to this without a moment’s hesitation. Hurting him was something she was never going to do.

  “I know I’m kind of rigid and uptight. You can make fun of me if you want.” She smiled slightly to make sure he knew she wasn’t offended.

  “I wasn’t making fun of you.” He reached over to put a hand on her knee, which she’d bent up to fold her legs on the bed. “Tell me what will make you less nervous about this.”

  “I just don’t want it to get out of control. I barely have enough time to eat and sleep in my life right now—”

  “You know the solution to that.”

  She gave him a mild eye-roll, not willing to get into an argument about her work schedule at the moment. “The point is that this is going to get messy and then potentially damage our relationship and arrangement unless we set up some parameters around it.”

  “Ah,” he breathed, leaning back as his eyes warmed in enlightenment. “Parameters. Of course. What were you thinking? No more than once a day?”

  She gave a little gasp. “Once a day! That’s way too much. We’d be having sex all the time!”

  “My mistake,” he said with a soft laugh. “What would be more appropriate?”

  “Once a week, maybe.” She frowned as she thought, staring down at the rumpled covers on her bed. “That would probably work—often enough to relieve tension but not enough to become a major part of our lives. Does that sound all right to you? Or is it too weird and restrictive, and you don’t think it’s worth the trouble?”

  Nick reached out to brush her hair back from her face in an uncharacteristically gentle gesture. “It is definitely worth the trouble,” he murmured. “I’m fine with once a week, if that’s what you’re comfortable with.”

  She swallowed over a tightness in her throat. “So no more than once a week, and we both have to agree to the time and place.”

  “Do we actually have to schedule it in advance?” His voice was mild, completely uninflected, but there was the slightest quiver of his lips.

  She narrowed her eyes. “I thought you said you weren’t making fun of me.”

  “I wasn’t then. I might be a little bit now.” He laughed and reached out to pull her into a soft hug. “You know I adore you, sweetheart. If you want to schedule our weekly sex appointments in advance, then I’m totally game.”

  She hugged him back, her chest filled with a fondness that wasn’t unfamiliar but that she usually didn’t acknowledge. “We don’t have to schedule them in advance,” she mumbled into his shirt. “We can be spontaneous. We just both have to be in the mood.”

  “Sounds good to me.” He released her and drew back, smiling with that same soft look that caused weird little flutters in her stomach. “You’ll want to add this to our contract, I’m sure.”

  “Yes. We better. Just to keep things tidy. Is that all right?”

  “Of course.” He leaned forward to give her a soft kiss on the cheek and then stood up. He’d pulled back on his flannel pants, but his chest was still bare. “I’ll sign whatever you want me to sign. I’m not going to say no to sex.”

  She gazed up at him, wondering how it would feel to stroll through life the way he did, just letting things occur and not trying to arrange them himself. She wondered what had happened to him in the Army. She tried to remember what he’d been like in high school, but she only had a few vague recollections of a cute guy who’d been several years older than her whom everyone in town had loved.

  “What is it?” he asked, his eyebrows drawing together.

  “Nothing. You’re sure you’re okay with this?”

  “Why wouldn’t I be? I’ve got no ties or commitments elsewhere. Why wouldn’t I take sex when it’s offered?”

  “Yeah, but it might be easier for you to just keep seeing escorts or whatever you’ve been doing.”

  He gave a little shrug. “I haven’t been seeing much of anyone lately.”

  This piece of information shouldn’t have made her feel so happy, but it did. It really did. “Oh. Me either.”

  His face relaxed slightly. “Okay. Good. It sounds like we’re both satisfied with the arrangement. No need for either of us to worry about anyone’s feelings.”

  “Good.”

  “Good.”

  “I’ll talk to my lawyer about the contract tomorrow.”

  “Naturally.”

  She tried to hide a smile at his dry tone. “Now get out of here before you start making fun of me again.”

  Nick was laughing as he left, and Jenn wanted to hug herself with exhilaration. She had no idea how this had happened, but her weeks felt a little brighter and more exciting now, since sex with Nick would be a part of them.

  Three

  Three and a half weeks later, Jenn woke up earlier than usual.

  It was still dark outside, and she tried to roll over and go back to sleep for another half-hour, but her mind drifted into dangerous thoughts, thoughts that wouldn’t allow her to sleep.

  She kept imagining having sex with Nick again four days from now.

  The four times they’d had sex so far had been amazing. On Tuesday of this week, it had been exactly a week since they’d had sex the previous week, so Jenn had come home from work, excited about the possibility of having it again—assuming Nick was in the mood.

  He’d been in the kitchen, and they’d made stilted conversation for a few minutes. Then Nick had said out of the blue, “I’m ready for sex any time you are.”

  Jenn had almost groaned in relief as she’d told him she was ready right then. They’d had sex on the couch and then against the wall in the hallway and then again in her bed.

  It had been a very good night.

  But it was only Friday today, and she’d have to wait until next Tuesday before they had sex again. It was written in their contract, and she had been the one to insist on it. She could hardly decide to change her mind now.

  The sex was supposed to be a tension-reliever once a week. It wasn’t supposed to dominate her thoughts on every other day of the week. She really needed to get herself together.

  Despite her mental efforts, she kept imagining what she’d do with Nick on Tuesday. She imagined it in so much detail that she was starting to turn herself on. Finally, she got out of bed, threw on her workout clothes, and went to run on the treadmill. She obviously had some extra energy to channel this morning.

  After a short warmup, she ran herself hard, but it still didn’t get Nick off her mind. So she forced herself to think about work. To distract herself, she even started to rehearse out loud a tricky conversation she needed to have with her receptionist, who’d been making personal calls and playing on her phone during work so often it was getting to be a problem. Jenn always tried hard to correct behavior in a way that didn’t hurt the other person’s feelings, so she tried out several approaches aloud as she ran.

  She was feeling better—more herself, more focused and ready for the day—when she finally got off the treadmill and went to take a shower and get ready for work. Her mental flights of fancy about Nick were obviously something she could control.

  At five-forty-five, she hurried to the kitchen, still holding her jewelry and buttoning her bronze-colored satin blouse. She liked the color and feel of the top and the way it looked vintage and just slightly sexy paired with her brown skirt and buff heels.

  “Hey,” she said when she saw Nick standing in front of the coffee pot in his pajama pants and a T-shirt.

  He just grunted an answer and didn’t turn from where he was watching the coffee fill up his mug.

  “You’re up early again.” She randomly wondered how he could look so sexy in that old shirt and those ratty pants. Then she remembered that she wasn’t letting her mind go down those tempting paths.

  He just gave another grunt.

  She started pulling out the milk, yogurt, and fruit for her smoothie. “Do you have another early stakeout? You’ve been having a lot of those. Are they all for the same job?”

  He mumbled something that might have been a yes.

  “What’s the matter?” she demanded, frowning at him with the milk in her hand. He hadn’t even turned around to face her.

  “Nothing.” He turned around then and gave her a bland look that appeared a little cool.

  “Something’s wrong. Are you not feeling good?”

  “I feel fine.”

  She made a face, since he was obviously lying to her. He might not be sick, but something was definitely bothering him. “Is your case not going well?”

  “My case is fine.”

  “Then what—”

  “Do we have to have an interrogation first thing in the morning? Maybe I’m just tired.”

  She took a step back at his tone. He hadn’t raised his voice, but there was a hoarse edge to it that was impossible for her not to notice. “Are you mad at me?” She searched her mind for something she might have done to piss him off, but she hadn’t done anything. They’d had a friendly dinner in front of the television the night before, and Nick had been smiling at her in that way she really liked—half sweet and half amused. He definitely hadn’t been annoyed with her last night when they’d gone to their separate bedrooms.

  As she was thinking, Nick turned his back on her again to pick up his filled coffee cup. There was a tension in his neck and shoulders she could recognize. It wasn’t like him at all.

  She also couldn’t help but notice that his hair—which needed trimming, as it always did—was curling up a little at the nape of his neck. It made her want to reach over and smooth it down.

  She wanted to caress away the tension in his body.

  Her breath hitched as she processed the wave of both lust and affection, and then she shook her head firmly to shake it away. “Nick?” she asked, trying to keep the impatience out of her voice.

  He was sipping his coffee and looking at his phone as he turned around. “What?”

  She took the phone out of his hand to make him look at her. “Talk to me.”

  He sighed and rolled his eyes. “It’s too early for this conversation, Jenn. I’m just tired. Don’t you have to get to work? I wouldn’t have thought you’d want to waste time this morning, since you started work so early.”

  “I didn’t start work…” She trailed off, trying to figure out what he was talking about. She’d kept her resolution to only work between six and six almost every day for the last three weeks—partly because Nick was serious about not giving her a massage if she lingered in the office even a minute too late.

  “I heard you on the phone in there,” he said thickly, nodding toward the wall that divided the main room from the workout room. “At four-fifty-five.”

  She blinked. And then she finally realized what was going on. She burst into laughter—more relief than amusement. “Are you all pissy about my starting work too early? Is that what’s happening here?”

  He narrowed his eyes. “I’m not pissy. But I don’t think it’s anything to laugh about. You’ve been doing a lot better this past month, now that you’re not working yourself into a heart-attack.”

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