5. Mira
Mira
I swallow for the second time in thirty seconds. My nausea has ratcheted to a solid ten now that I’m waiting in the airport for our flight. “Is my dad still here?”
“Don’t worry about him,” Cord says, taking the hard, plastic seat next to me.
He disappeared for a few minutes, and for one horrifying second, I wondered if he was abandoning me right here before our honeymoon.
But he returned with a plastic bag. He passes me an electrolyte drink and a pack of sea salt chips.
“You’re hungover. You need sodium and fluids. ”
I twist the cap off the drink and take a tiny, hesitant sip to see how my stomach responds. Thankfully, it doesn’t lurch and I take two more small ones. “Thanks for this. But I’ll pass on the sodium. It makes women swell, that’s what Stuart always said.”
He leans close, invading my space which isn’t hard to do in these tiny seats. “Number one, your ex was an idiot. Number two, your health matters the most. I want my wife to be healthy and strong. I want her to feel good, so don’t let that fuckwit have any more space inside your head. You got it?”
My heart skips a beat at the passion in his voice, and I start to nod my head in agreement. But it hurts too much to try, so I abandon the effort. Instead, I reach for the bag of chips and bite gingerly into one.
When it’s clear my stomach is trying to settle, I go for another. I eat my snack slowly, keeping my gaze on my new husband. I love watching him, the way the sunlight catches his tanned skin and his tattoos. The way his thighs move beneath his blue jeans as he bounces a leg up and down.
What happened last night? Did he pin my hands above my head and ravage me? Did he take me up against the wall, bouncing me up and down until we were both screaming? Did he call me his good girl as he came deep inside my body?
The last thought has me squeezing my thighs together. He said last night was the best night of his life. He can’t possibly know how much that meant to me, how I’ve spent so long feeling anything but sexy.
Stuart spent years picking me apart in bed.
He could be so cruel in some ways, always telling me the things he liked seeing the girls in the videos do.
Then sometimes, he’d go and do something nice for me.
I never understood his moods, how he could swing between kindness and cruelty in as little as a breath.
But maybe that’s the thing about it. He never loved me.
He only loved my money and what it could have done for him.
“You’re thinking awful hard over there,” Cord finally says, breaking into my thoughts.
I glance at my watch to see we’ve been waiting for almost an hour. Our flight got pushed back, and I’m grateful. It gave my migraine time to recede to a dull headache. Now, my stomach has settled from the chips and electrolyte drink. “I’m just wondering how a sweet cowboy like you is still single.”
He taps his wedding ring. “Was single.”
“Well, how about it? Any insights?”
“Don’t go there.”
There’s a story underneath the surface, something he’s not telling me. I want to ask him about it, but I don’t let myself. After all, there are plenty of things I’m not ready to talk about with him.
“Are you really going with me on the honeymoon?” I glance around, scanning the airport for him. He’s a busy man. He’s not possibly waiting around for me...is he?
“Eyes on me,” Cord says, his breath fans my face, and he places a gentle kiss on my forehead. It’s the sort of tender gesture that has me unexpectedly tearing up. At least, it does until he adds, “Twelve o’clock. Trying not to be noticed.”
I blow out a breath, reminding my quivering insides that this is for show. The moment the plane touches down, he’ll probably hop right on the next flight home. Not that I blame him. He more than fulfilled his duties as the wedding objector. “So, when we get there, what are we going to do?”
He smirks at me. “Probably what most couples on a honeymoon do.”
I roll my eyes even though I like the way he teases me.
I had forgotten how it feels to flirt with someone.
With Stuart, I just assumed it was because we’d been together for so long that we’d fallen into a rut.
“Kauai has some beautiful hiking options, and there’s snorkeling too.
Plus, the sunset dinner boat tour...you know, if you want to stick around. ”
“If I want to stick around? You’re stuck with me for life.” His gaze goes to the wedding band.
“Or for a year, like we agreed,” I point out because my foolish heart does not need to be thinking like this.
It’s crazy to say yes to marrying a stranger twenty minutes after meeting him.
It’s even crazier to take him on the honeymoon you meant to take with a different groom.
But hey, here’s to unplanned adventures.
A voice over the intercom announces that our flight is finally boarding, and I glance at Cord. “This is your out.”
“Never taking it,” he stands, reaching for my hand. “Now, let’s go on this honeymoon of ours.”
We have two layovers associated with our flight, but Cord never once complains.
He takes everything in stride, and he’s quick to help me navigate the airport, keep up with our luggage, and find food at airport restaurants.
If anything, being with him makes me feel like I have a partner.
It’s strange because even when I was with Stuart, I never felt like he was on my side the way I do with my new husband.
Husband. It’s wild that I’m looking at a stranger and thinking the word.
Behind me, I hear him stifle a yawn as he carries our bags from the car we rented into our villa. We’re finally here in Kauai and after over fifteen hours of travel, I’m exhausted. All I want is to collapse into a puddle and sleep for a whole day.
He lets out a low whistle when he sees the opulent villa with the ocean view. “Nice digs.”
I stiffen, remembering Stuart’s obsession with money. “What’s that mean?”
His tone isn’t defensive when he says, “It means I’m a former Marine who’s used to sleeping on the desert floor. Places like this are usually only seen in travel magazines by someone like me.”
He sets the luggage on the floor. He insisted on carrying everything in even though I told him I could help. He gave me a look that made my panties melt and said, “When your husband is traveling with you, he takes care of you.”
“Sorry. I can be prickly sometimes,” I mutter, feeling bad that I let myself paint him with the same brush. Cord has been nothing but kind and considerate since the moment I met him. It’s not his fault that he’s meeting me just after I learned my ex was cheating on me.
He grins and lets his gaze roam over my body. “I like prickly.”
I know he’s flirting with me, and I love it. I love that after hours of travel in wrinkled clothes and with frizzy hair, he’s still flirting with me. He’s being paid to, a little voice inside my head reminds me. Just like that, my excitement is doused. “I’m going to hit the bed. I’m exhausted.”
“Do you want dinner first?”
“I can’t eat another bite. You bought me food every time I turned around.” I move to grab my bag before hurrying to the bathroom. “I’ll only be a minute.”
I’m so tired that I barely manage to brush my teeth and comb my hair before taking a warm shower to wash off the travel grime. I’m in the bathroom for a total of seven minutes, but by the time I come out, Cord is already sprawled onto the bed and snoring lightly.
“I guess you can sleep anywhere, Marine,” I murmur as I crawl into bed next to him. I fall asleep the moment my head hits the pillow and don’t wake until I feel eyes on me. It takes me a few hazy seconds to remember where I am and who I’m with.
I blink open bleary eyes to see Cord staring down at me. He looks rumpled and hungry. Very hungry.
“What are you doing?” My voice is croaky from sleep.
His fingers are on my arm, tracing slow circles. The touch is sending electricity through my veins, making my breath come quicker. “Admiring God’s finest creation.”
My body is so warm, and I haven’t felt this relaxed in ages.
It doesn’t hurt that he’s always so quick to take care of me.
He makes me feel safe, not physically but emotionally.
Like I’m not carrying everything on my own.
But that doesn’t mean that any of this is real.
After all, he’s not here because he wants to be.
He’s here because I hired him. “Does that line usually work?”
Amusement flickers across his features which isn’t what I was expecting at all. I figured he’d be annoyed. “Do you always overthink?”
“Hard not to when you carry the weight of the world,” I admit.
Hundreds of people count on me for jobs that feed their families and countless pet parents depend on me to make smart decisions.
That’s to say nothing of the non-profit initiative that requires my time and attention.
There are moments when it all weighs heavily on me.
He doesn’t sneer at me the way Stuart would or try to insist that my job is so much easier than I make it out to be. “Want me to distract you for a few minutes?”
“What did you have in mind?” I’m definitely panting now and my pulse is thrumming everywhere, especially in that neglected spot between my thighs.
“Just this.” He brushes his lips against mine, the gesture filled with gentle tenderness and something that feels a lot like possession. I groan and fist his shirt, my nails raking against his shoulders. He’s so big and thick everywhere. Is he hard again, like he was when I woke up yesterday?
“I want to lick your pussy,” he murmurs, lifting his head to pin me with that intense brown gaze. He’s normally so hard to read but both times we’ve been in bed, he hasn’t hidden his desire for me.
So, what if he’s only here because he’s completing the terms of the agreement? So, what if I married him just yesterday and he’s a total stranger? He’s in my bed. He’s hot and he just offered to go down on me.
I make a strangled sound in the back of my throat and quickly nod. His head between my thighs sounds like the perfect way to start the day.
He smiles and reaches for my nightie, the silky red one that I chose because I liked how the material feels against my skin. I wasn’t tired in the shower last night and fantasizing about what our honeymoon could look like.
Cool air rushes over my skin when he removes it, tossing it casually onto the bed beside us.
My nipples pebble, and I’m not wearing any underwear.
I’m completely bare to him, and the appreciation in his gaze has my normal apprehension melting away.
“You are beautiful everywhere,” he murmurs and reaches to cup himself through his pants.
“Been hard since the moment I first saw you. Can’t believe I get to call you wife now. ”
My cheeks heat at his words. “I liked you the first moment I saw you too.”
“Good. Then we’re in mutual like,” he says and presses a kiss to my stomach. He lavishes his attention on my curves, pressing hot kisses across my skin and running his tongue around my belly button.
“Love every inch of her body,” he murmurs and the soft words spoken under his breath, like a private conversation he’s having with himself, have me unexpectedly tearing up. He’s not doing this just because it’s our weekly scheduled sex date. He’s doing this because he wants to. Because he likes me.
He moves down to my legs, ignoring that spot where I’m aching. He kisses to my ankle before starting his way back up. By the time he’s reached my knee, I’ve spread my legs. I’m ready for whatever he wants to give me.
“So much cream down here.” He runs his fingers across my slick folds then holds them up to show me the glistening digits. He sucks them into his mouth, holding eye contact the entire time so I can see him enjoying his first taste of me.
“You’re going to have me addicted,” he growls and ducks his head. That soft feeling of his beard between my thighs is heavenly. I need to feel him against my pussy. Need him licking and sucking and satisfying me.
I whimper, and he understands.
“I’ve got you,” he whispers.
It’s the last thing he says before he licks my slit, and I melt into the sheets.
He uses his tongue to tease my soft folds, slowly working me into a frenzy until I’m pulling on his hair and rubbing myself into his face.
He makes obscene growls as he eats me out, and I’m pretty sure he’s making dirty promises against my swollen flesh.
I’m too far gone to know exactly what he’s saying.
The orgasm builds slowly until suddenly I’m riding a powerful wave of bliss that sweeps through my body.
Everything else fades, and I can only focus on this moment and the feel of Cord’s beard and the way he growls, putting an arm across my hips to still me.
He eats me out until I can barely remember my own name and have to push him away.
He stares up at me, his face and beard glistening. But it’s that look of satisfaction in his gaze that gets me. He looks like he enjoyed that just as much as I did. The thought makes me warm all over as my body continues to pulse with pleasure.
“It’s my turn now,” I say and reach for him just as my phone dings with a notification.
He freezes. “Work emergency?”
“No, the company can run without me.” I get out of bed on jelly legs and hurry toward my bag that I tossed carelessly on the kitchenette counter. I’m naked, and I don’t care. “My dad has...health issues.”
I check my phone and slump, relief going through me. “It’s not him. It’s a reminder. I scheduled a couples’ hike for today. It starts in an hour.”
I blink at the blurry screen and blow out a slow breath, trying to calm my racing heart.
“Hey,” Cord is beside me, and I don’t even know when he crossed the room. He puts a hand on my back, rubbing in a slow circle. “You’re shaking like a leaf.”
“He has a brain tumor,” I explain and sniff. “Sorry. Had a brain tumor. They caught it early, and he’s doing great now. But sometimes when my phone rings, or there’s a text message, I still tense up.”
“It makes sense that you’d fear bad news a second time.”
I glance up at him, caught off guard by his quick compassion. I shouldn’t be. Cord has been nothing but kind since the moment we met. “You understand?”
“It has to feel scary.” He keeps rubbing my back in those same slow circles. He gives me a minute to collect myself before he says, “Now, tell me. Would you rather go on the hike or get breakfast and lounge by the pool today?”
He’s giving me an out. He knows my adrenaline surged, and the terror that went through me, and he’s not expecting me to go back to bed like nothing happened. “But we didn’t get to—”
He sends me a look that tells me he’s not about to head back to bed, no matter the fact that his hard cock is still pointing straight at me. “We have a week. That’s a lot of time to spend exploring each other. Right after our first hike as a married couple.”