Married by Contract Read online

  “I’m looking for a teenage runaway.”

  “What?”

  “My clients have a daughter who ran away a couple of months ago. She’s fifteen, and she’s just disappeared. I’m trying to find her.”

  “How do you even start doing something like that?”

  “I’ve talked to her friends and traced her movements for the first few weeks. Then she just dropped off the map.”

  “Do you think she’s still alive?”

  “I don’t know. I can’t find any death that seems to fit her, though. She ended up doing things a fifteen year old should never do.”

  “Shit,” Jenn said, shaking her head. “That’s awful. So what are you doing now?”

  “I’m following the last guy I can verify actually had contact with her. He’s…not someone I want to spend this much time watching.” He was trying to sound casual, but she knew he wasn’t.

  She understood the edge to his tone, and her heart went out to him. He’d been trying to live his life with as little pressure and turmoil as possible, after his experiences in the military. This job didn’t fit that description at all. “That’s got to be rough. How long will you look before you have to give up?”

  “I don’t know. Her parents have a lot of money, and they’re willing to spend it to find her.”

  “You’re not doing this one job all day long, are you? You need to do something else in between that isn’t so hard emotionally.”

  “I’m fine.”

  “Are you?”

  “Yeah. It’s actually nice to do something that feels…important.”

  “You do a lot that’s important.”

  “Do I?” It sounded like he was smiling now, which was a real relief.

  “Sure you do. I bet even those cheating photos you’re always mocking are meaningful to the spouses who needed proof. I can just imagine how they must feel. We’re not even in love, but if you were cheating on me, I’d be really upset.”

  “If you were cheating on me, I’d be more than upset.”

  Jenn smiled, glad to hear him sound more like himself. “So then we’re agreed. Even your cheater photos are important to someone.”

  “Right.”

  “And you really do need something else to think about besides this poor teenager.”

  “I have other things to think about.”

  She shivered at the slight thickness to his tone, wondering if he was remembering they could have sex this evening.

  She was definitely remembering it.

  “Okay,” she said, pushing away the thought. “I better get back to work. I don’t want to ruin my productive streak today.”

  “Go to it, then. Thanks for calling.”

  She wasn’t sure what to say to that, since she hadn’t really been calling to be nice to him. But she liked that he appreciated it, as if simply talking to her was a good thing. “Okay. See you later.”

  As she hung up, she was smiling.

  ***

  When she walked into the apartment that evening, she didn’t see Nick.

  He was normally hanging out in the kitchen or living room, watching TV, working on his computer, or cooking something for dinner. Her heart dropped painfully as she looked around at the silent, empty rooms.

  Why wasn’t he here? This was their sex night. Surely he didn’t want to put it off until another day.

  Reminding herself that he had a job and a life, and he wasn’t always just waiting around for her to show up, she dropped her bag on the floor. He was probably just running late. Or maybe he was having a beer with his friends. He did have a few guys he hung out with occasionally. She could use a shower before sex anyway.

  As she passed his bedroom door, she gave a little jerk of surprise when it suddenly swung open. Nick stood in the doorway, wearing nothing but a towel.

  He must have been in the shower.

  Surely that was a good sign.

  “Hi,” she said, trying to sound normal. “I thought you weren’t home.”

  “Why the hell wouldn’t I be home tonight? Am I crazy?” He reached out for her and dragged her into his bedroom, kissing her hard and deep.

  She clung to him, off-balance and thrilling with excitement and relief.

  At least she wasn’t the only one who’d been waiting for this evening.

  “So I guess you want to have sex?” she asked breathlessly when he finally released her lips. She was hit with the desire to tease him a little, maybe just an overflow of her mood.

  He stared at her, flushed, rumpled, and panting.

  “Did you want to ask if I’m in the mood too?”

  He blinked. “Aren’t you?”

  “It’s in our contract, you know, that we both have to be in the mood.”

  “You’re not?” He rubbed at his face with both hands. “Seriously?”

  He looked so taken aback that she couldn’t help but giggle. She planted her hands on his chest and pushed him back toward the bed. “It’s your lucky day. I’m suddenly in the mood.”

  “Damn it,” he muttered, swinging her around and then onto the bed. “You’re playing with me.” He lowered himself on top of her, narrowing his eyes as he propped himself over her with both arms.

  “Not playing,” she corrected, still trying very hard not to laugh. “Teasing a little. You just seem so…”

  “So what?”

  “Eager.” She said the word because she knew he wouldn’t like it.

  He made a growling sound, and she couldn’t hold back another giggle.

  He held himself very still for just a moment, and then he hauled himself back up to his feet, tucking the towel more snugly around his waist since it was at risk of falling off.

  She leered at the top of his towel—at the firm muscles, tight skin, and the top of the line of hair trailing downward.

  “Since you’re obviously not in the mood,” he said, “I’ll let you go. We wouldn’t want to break the terms of our contract.”

  “Hey! I’m in the mood. I was just teasing.” She searched his face and was relieved to see that the repressed indignation was just for show. It looked like he was trying not to smile underneath it. “Now get back here to bed.”

  He gazed at her for a minute, his expression softening just briefly in a way that made her heart jump.

  “And take off that towel,” she added, “since that’s just going to get in the way.”

  He chuckled, loosening the tail of the towel and letting it drop from his body.

  She perked up as she saw he was already erect. She reached out for him as he approached.

  He chuckled again as he lowered himself back on the bed. “I see I’m not the only…eager one.”

  “Definitely not.”

  He kissed her with a gentleness that surprised her, and her heart responded as much as her body. Her hands skated over the lines of his naked flesh, feeling the hardness of his muscles, the coarseness of his hair, a few softer spots that delighted her.

  Eventually, he pulled out of the kiss and slowly took off the jacket to her suit. Then her top. Then her pants. And then finally her bra and panties. He kissed and caressed her skin as he removed the clothes so, by the time she was naked, she was deeply aroused.

  “Nick,” she gasped, after he’d been teasing her breasts for what felt like a really long time. “I’m ready to go here.”

  He raised his head and stared down at her, his gaze hungry and possessive. “Are you?” He slipped one of his hands between her legs to check. “I guess you are.”

  “You knew I was ready five minutes ago,” she said, taking his face in both of her hands. “You’re just torturing me for fun.”

  He laughed softly and reached over for the condom packet on the corner of the bed that he must have taken out earlier before he showered. “I only get to do this once a week. I want to make sure it’s good for you.”

  “I’ll let you know if for some reason it stops being good.” She took the condom out of his hand, tore it open, and pushed him up enough
for her to roll it on over his erection. “Since we’ve obviously both been waiting for this, let’s get this show on the road.”

  He was still laughing as he eased her legs apart and positioned himself between them. There was something deeply satisfying about the feel of his laughter as he slid himself in. She gasped and then moaned as the tightness of the penetration, and then she wrapped her legs around his ass to pull him even deeper inside her.

  Nick was holding himself above her on straightened arms. His face twisted in a way that made it clear he was feeling just as much as she was, but when she looked up again, she saw he was smiling.

  “What are you smiling about?” she asked, since it was such an unexpected expression.

  He gave a little thrust, pushing her body in a way that felt incredibly pleasurable. “Because this is so damned good. Why do you think?”

  She realized she was smiling too as she reached up to hold onto his biceps. When he gave another hard thrust, she made a silly whimper.

  “You like that?” he asked hoarsely.

  When he thrust again, shaking her body, she gasped, “Oh, yeah!”

  He kept thrusting in the same way, building up a rhythm that jiggled her body, and her gasps and whimpers soon turned into cries of pleasure. She didn’t understand exactly why, but something about the way he was shaking her body as he thrust was stimulating all the right parts of her. She felt a climax rising inside her, and the pressure got deeper and stronger as Nick’s motion accelerated.

  Soon, Nick was grunting like an animal as he took her hard, and she was babbling out all kinds of helpless sounds as she clawed at his back and his ass. When her orgasm finally broke, her entire body clamped down around the pleasure, and Nick froze for a minute, a word choking in his throat.

  Then he released it with a long, low groan as his body jerked and shuddered through his own climax.

  Jenn couldn’t stop mumbling, “Oh, God,” as Nick rolled over and collapsed on the bed beside her, holding onto the condom so it wouldn’t leak. Her skin was hot and damp, and her muscles had relaxed in deep satisfaction. She managed to find the energy to turn her head to look at Nick and was pleased to see he looked just as exhausted and sated as she did.

  “It seems to get better and better,” he said, after a minute of panting.

  “Yeah.”

  “Just think how good it will be once we have even more practice.”

  “If it gets too much better, I might just pass out.”

  He chuckled and reached over to stroke her hot face. “Well, give me a few minutes to recover and we can get back to practicing. My goal now is to make you pass out.”

  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.
<
br />   “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.”