Wife Unwanted (Corrupt Vows #2)

Chapter 37

Thalia

WE ARRIVED AT a log cabin as dusk settled. It was situated in a small town in upstate New York. The plot of land it was on had nothing else but the cabin and tall pine trees. "Have you brought me here to kill me?" I said.

Carey chuckled as he drove the car down a pathway. "Yeah, arriving in the afternoon would have been better, but I miscalculated the time. I haven't been here ever since I was a kid."

"Ah."

"It's a family estate," he clarified.

"How many of those do you have?"

"Too many for our own good," he muttered under his breath as he pulled into the parking space in front of the cabin.

The cabin wasn't shabby. I could tell from the thick logs that this was a fancy, well-built cabin with a state-of-the-art interior. And when Carey opened the door with his shoulder, arms full of his bag and mine, I was right. He turned on the light and it bathed the living room. It looked like a rich person's idea of slumming it in the woods. For a place he hadn't visited in years, it was clean.

"Are you sure no one's been here in a while?"

He reddened. "I had the caretaker clean the place up before we arrived." He marched to the kitchen, and I marched in tow and watched as he opened the kitchen drawers. "He even stocked the place." I wandered around. The caretaker had even chopped firewood and placed it neatly next to the fireplace in the living room. Even the sheets in the single bedroom looked fresh and the bath towels in the bathroom smelled of newness.

"Like it?" Carey said, leaning against the doorframe of the entrance to the bathroom?

"It's cute," I said, my eyes taking in the gorgeous free standing white tub in the center and the large shower in the corner.

"I thought we do something different for your birthday."

"You say that as though we've celebrated my birthday before."He flushed, and I felt a little guilty for putting him on the spot.

"I have been an awful husband, haven't I?"

I marched past him getting out of the bathroom. The space was feeling cramped with him looking at me like that. "I was an awful wife too, so it all checks out."

The stay at the cabin ended up being a lot more tranquil than I expected. Because it was my 'birthday weekend' Carey did everything from cooking, cleaning and even chopping firewood. While it was still summer, the weather around this specific part of the country was more chilly than I expected. Carey said it was because of all the pine trees. Whatever the case, it gave me sight to something I never thought I would see, the beauty of Carey Hawthorne chopping wood. He was the last person I would have guessed to be good with an axe but he was not only proficient with it, and I sat on the steps of the porch watching him, he looked like chopping wood is something that was second nature to him. He was like a rugged mountain man, shirtless and in his jeans.

After seeing the amount of wood the caretaker had left beside the fireplace, Carey decided we were going to need more, and that is how I ended up gawking at him, mesmerized. Satisfied with whatever amount he chopped, he collected a bunch and marched up to me. "Excuse me."

I was in his way, I belatedly realized. I stood up and opened my arms wide, offering to help him carry the logs. He put half of what he was carrying in my arms. "I thought your only outdoor skill was sailing. Turns out you're a mountain man as well. Where did you learn to do…that?"

"Chopping wood?" He asked, as though the question was incredulous.

"Don't look at me like that," I went inside first, leading him. "Anyone would have thought you to be a city boy."

"You were gone then, but my father sent me to a wilderness retreat during my gap year because he thought I was getting too soft."

"Oh, Carey."

"It wasn't as terrible as everyone thinks it was. I learned a few life skills there. One of them was chopping wood. Mostly because one counsellor liked to use it as punishment and I would get into trouble a lot."

"That sounds awful."

"You know what pulled me through during that time?" He threw the wood he had on top of the fireside pile and I did the same. "You," he finished. "They didn't allow us to have phones, so I had this one picture of us. That day we went on an ice cream date."

"Liar." First off, there was no way he carried a picture of me to some retreat back then and second, he was calling our stranded at the roadside thing a date? And third, he remembered?

He went to the bedroom, came back with a wallet in his hand and took out a photo. It was worn where it was folded, but it was clear enough. Carey and I were sitting in the diner and he was posing while I was eating my ice cream, oblivious of the camera. It was a good picture of me; I have to admit. "You took this?"

He nodded. "And carried it with me, my entire life, basically."

I didn't want to think too much about the implications of that. All this time I was convinced I was the one pining for someone who didn't love me. But what if…Is this what his father saw? Nolan Sr must have recognized that his son felt something for me and that's why he knew I would be the perfect candidate to be Carey's wife. In a twisted way, he was thinking of his son.

I handed Carey the picture, and he folded it once more and put it back in his wallet. We went back to finishing collecting wood as though nothing had happened. The picture was on my mind the entire time.

Day turned to night, and I was still thinking about it. After we were done eating dinner, Carey moved us to the fireplace. He had lit it hours before and now it was burning warm embers. Perfect for marshmallows, I thought. And like he read my mind, he went to the kitchen and came back with a packet and some sticks. I grabbed a blanket from the bedroom, spread it close to the fireplace. He gave me a stick as he came to sit down beside me with the packet of candy between us.

As I watched the wood burn a glowing orange and red, the picture popped up in my mind again."Why didn't you ask me out? Back then?"

His gaze was on his marshmallow, which he was roasting to perfection. "I was shy? I didn't think I had a chance. I thought you were better than me. Take a pick."

"Better than you? I was the chauffeur's daughter! My mother and I worked part time as maids at your house."

"My teenage brain didn't see your status, trust me. I wanted to be with you more than anything, but I was afraid you'd laugh in my face if I asked you out."

His revelation was stunning, but it felt true. He didn't look like he was trying to manipulate me. "I would have said yes. The Carey Hawthorne asking me out? I would have been over the moon."

Carey shook his head. "We wasted so much time apart when we could have been together a long time ago."

"I guess we have to thank your father for being a matchmaker who takes things in his hands."

Carey stared at me, then he crawled over to come, sat behind me and drew me into his arms, so I was sitting between his legs with my back against his chest. "I've been wanting to do this all night. Might as well just do it, right?"

I leaned back into his chest, enveloping myself in his scent. His hard chest was the softest pillow in the world. It felt right. Everything about this felt right. I ate my slightly charred marshmallow and let Carey replace it with a fresh one on my stick.

"Yours are coming out perfectly," I said, almost whining."You can have them." He circled his close to my mouth, but I shook my head. I was enjoying my burnt marshmallows.

"You seem to like outdoorsy stuff," I said after a long period of silence.

I felt him nod.

"Did you want to run?" Once the question was out there, it was tough to put it back. "I know it was your father's dream…"

"I used to think so. My father had a knack for making you feel like his dreams are your dreams. He wanted me to become a lawyer, so I became a lawyer. He wanted me to run for office, so I prepared myself for a path to run for office. But if I am to be honest with myself… kissing babies sucks."

I laughed, and he chuckled along with me. "So you didn't want to be a lawyer?"

"That l like. I like getting into the minutia of law and I love as corny as that sounds; arguing in court. Preparing a case. Making my case and winning the case."

"At least there's something both you and your father agreed on."

"Two actually."

"Really? What's the second one?"

"You."

I should have seen that one coming. "Darcy said you're love bombing me."

He squeezed his arms around me. "Is it working?"

I leaned into his chest. "Maybe."I must have felt too comfortable because I relaxed a little too much and before I knew it, my marshmallow was on fire. Trying to turn the fire out only made it worse and after fighting a short losing battle, I gave up my marshmallow to the fire.

Carey's chuckle rumbled against my back. He brought his well toasted candy to my mouth and offered me a bite. I sank my teeth into the candy and it stretched instead of splitting in half. I started to giggle when the marshmallow kept stretching until Carey caught the other end with his mouth and removed it on the stick. Slowly, he twisted the tongue around the stretched candy, drawing more of it into his mouth and drawing me in the process. Our mouths met, and we shared a slow sugar-coated kiss.

The kiss quickly burned into something much urgent as we clung to each other. Carey turned me around so I was facing him. I straddled him and kissed him deeper in this more comfortable position. He devoured me and I him. Every breath I took, he stole. I humped his cock that I could feel through his jeans and mine. My hands went to his neck as I drew him down and down until I felt my back touch the blanket beneath me.

Carey removed my clothes in a slow, agonizing pace, kissing every part of my body he exposed to the glowing embers. He drove me wild with need, and yet he did not change his pace. When he was done with my clothes, he removed his at the same deliberately slow speed. Once he was naked as I was, he draped his body on top of mine and began a second worship. This one was much more erotic, much more satisfying as he kissed me where it mattered. First on my lips. Then each of my nipples and finally my pussy were devoured it like it was the only food he wanted to eat. He sucked my clit. Licked my nether lips and lapped my juices until I was screaming, thrashing and almost pulling his hair out as I held his head to my pussy.

The orgasm ripped through me and almost shattered me with its impact. Carey straightened and kissed me once more. Tasting myself on his lips was intoxicating. His hard cock nudged against my pussy. I raised my knees and opened my legs. He sighed as he entered me in one solid thrust. He fit like a glove. As if my pussy was made for him.

"You fill me up like no one can," I blurted out.

"Good," he kissed me. "I am the only man for you." His voice was thick with need. He began moving. "Fuck. You feel so good." His thrusts drove us both to the edge. My hands went to his butt, and I gripped him and pushed him into me. He increased his pace until we both reached that crescendo. We came together. In fact, we were together throughout. One body. One mind.

"I love you."

Under him and under the afterglow of our incredible lovemaking, I stilled. He said the words.

"I love you," he said again. "I know I love you, but I was too dumb to admit to myself."

"Are you saying—"

"That I am in love with you?" He laughed and brushed off the sweat on my forehead. "Yes! I love you."

"I never thought I would see the day."

"It's okay if you don't love me," he added and I put a finger to his mouth.

"Since we're making confessions, I love you too."

He bent down and gave me a long, sweet kiss full of promise and passion. "I promise to be the best husband you could ever wish for."

Somewhere behind us, a phone rang. It was the sound of an alarm. I raised my eyebrow at Carey.

"It's my phone. I wanted to be the first person to wish you happy birthday."

I kissed him. "That's the gift I want."

He frowned. "What?"

I kissed his frown away. "You. Just you."

The End