Chapter Five
Lala's outfit for the gala on Day 3 was a crimson gown with a deep V-neckline that Hope was starting to lose hope on, pun not intended. It hadn't seemed this deep on their first and second fitting. But now, it was making her feel a little too exposed.
A knock sounded on her bedroom door, and she asked Colin to come in. "What do you think?" she asked worriedly as he entered. "Is it too much?"
"You look breathtaking in it."
"But?" She totally heard a 'but' coming.
Colin's lips tightened. "It's nothing."
"I could just change—-"
"It's fine," Colin said curtly.
Was it just her or was he in a bad mood?
"Is something wrong?" she asked gently.
A muscle started ticking in his jaw.
"Is it Princess? Is she in trouble—"
"Stop being so nice about her."
Her eyes widened, but she was more surprised than hurt by the sharpness of his tone.
"I'm not blind," Colin gritted out. "It took me a while to see the truth, but I know she was deliberately trying to cause trouble between us yesterday."
"I never said—"
"It was just one mishap after another," Colin said with a curl of his lip. "Only an idiot wouldn't have realized what was happening after the fourth or fifth incident ."
"I'm sorry."
"I'm the one who should say sorry," Colin said grimly.
Oh no. Here he goes again.
"I should never have left you—"
She cut him off and did her best to keep her voice steady as she reminded him, "We talked about this, remember? You were very clear about what you wanted from this marriage. And I was just as clear when I told you I was fine with it. So please stop apologizing for something we both signed up for."
"And that's all our marriage is to you, isn't it? A business arrangement."
"There's no need to test me like that" she said lightly. "You're making it sound like you want this marriage to mean something to both of us. But we both know that's not true. So please just take my word for this: I don't have any designs on your fortune. And that won't ever change. What you've promised me once this is all over...it's enough."
Or at least it should be. It had to be. Because otherwise, losing Colin would kill her.
****
Colin guided Hope through the entrance, his hand warm against the small of her back. She felt the stares immediately—some admiring, others speculative, a few openly hostile.
They circled the room, exchanging pleasantries with Colin's former classmates. Hope maintained her role as the devoted wife, laughing at appropriate moments, touching Colin's arm with practiced affection. The performance came more easily now, muscle memory after days of repetition.
Too easily , a voice in her head warned. Remember what this is. Remember what it isn't.
"Colin!" A booming voice interrupted their conversation with a retired teacher. "Holding out on us again, I see."
Hope turned to find a tall, broad-shouldered man approaching, his grin wide beneath a carefully groomed mustache. Wilson , according to his name tag, and captain of the wrestling team, if she remembered correctly.
"Wilson." Colin's greeting was cordial but contained. "This is my wife, Hope. Hope, Wilson Bards."
The other man extended his hand to Hope, holding hers a beat too long. "This is quite the honor: to be in the presence of the woman who finally pinned down the unpinnable Colin Soukoulis."
"I, um, feel the same." She couldn't help but smile at his colorful vocabulary even as she carefully extracted her hand from his grip. She had no idea if 'unpinnable' was an actual word, but whatever. She smiled at Wilson, adding, "It's an honor to be in the presence of high school wrestling greatness."
Wilson immediately clutched his heart. "How unfair life is, to fall under the spell of a woman already taken." He then looked at Colin, asking dramatically, "Would you take pity on a poor soul and let me at least enjoy one stolen dance with your wife?" Wilson turned to Hope with a wink, saying, "For old times' sake."
Hope couldn't help laughing despite herself. "We didn't have any old times."
"Recollections can vary," Wilson said piously, "but I still stand by my words." He glanced at Colin then, asking, "It's alright, isn't it?"
Colin looked at Hope. "Only if it's alright with my wife."
Wilson's hopeful look had Hope laughing again. "Well, in that case—"
He offered his hand to Hope, but just as she was about to place her hand in his—-
Oh!
"Good try, Wilson," Colin drawled as instead he caught her hand and slid it into his trousers' pocket instead. "But I think not."
Wilson's laugh was good-natured. "Well, well, well. You were never this jealous, not even with Princess."
"Isn't that to be expected? We were just kids back then. But Hope is my wife." Colin gave Wilson a nod. "We'll see you around."
Hope wasn't even given a chance to say goodbye, with Colin already taking her hand out so he could curve an arm around her waist. And then they were walking away, and it was all she could do not to trip as she did her best to keep up with her husband's long-legged stride.
Hope cleared her throat. "So, I'm not sure what happened—"
Colin looked sharply toward her, and Hope ended up gulping at the fury in his gaze.
"Did you even notice how you had him staring at your breasts the whole time?"
Hope's jaw dropped.
"For as long as you're my wife," Colin said between clenched teeth, "you're to act like it."
"But—"
"If you need an explanation, then think of it this way. You're mine. Everything of you is mine. Got that?"
Before Hope could respond, another former classmate of Colin approached, pulling them into conversation. The moment passed, but the tension lingered, electric and unexplored.
Throughout the evening, Hope noticed Colin's heightened awareness of other men's attentions. The way his hand stayed at the small of her back when the investment banker from Jackson Hole complimented her dress. The possessive brush of his thumb against her wrist when another man told her she had grown even prettier over the years.
It was a side of Colin she hadn't seen before. Territorial. Protective. It should have felt stifling. Instead, it sent shivers of awareness dancing across her skin.
The string quartet transitioned to dance music, couples moving to the cleared floor at the center of the hall. Colin extended his hand to Hope.
"Dance with me."
Colin ignored the surprise that flashed in her eyes as he drew her to the dance floor. He already knew she had meant to turn him down.
Being this close to her husband discomfited her, and Hope's discomfort only grew when she caught sight of a lovely blonde making a splash as she entered the ballroom. "Colin? It's Princess—"
"I don't give a damn."
Her eyes widened. "What's wrong with you? She's just arrived—"
"She has her own husband. Let him deal with his own wife. I already have my hands full with mine."
"Excuse me?" He was making her sound so wonderfully troublesome, when all her life she had gotten used to thinking of herself as dull and boring.
His gaze bored through hers. "You heard me."
"I have never tried to cause trouble—"
"Then that's even worse."
A choked laugh escaped her despite everything. "What is wrong with you, seriously?"
"Jealousy."
Hope rolled her eyes. "No, really—"
"And it's not the kind of jealousy I've ever felt before," Colin grated out. "Not even with Princess."
Hope could only stare now that she realized he wasn't joking. Jealous? Her husband was jealous? Over her? How? Why?
"I finally have your attention." Triumph glittered in his gaze. "Good." And he suited action to words by drawing her close.
Oh no.
Hope's breath caught upon finding every inch of her body plastered against her husband's. Around them, other couples danced, but Hope barely registered their presence. How could she, with the way Colin's hand had now curved possessively around her backside?
From across the room, Hope caught sight of Princess watching them, her perfect features arranged in a mask of polite indifference that didn't quite reach her eyes.
"She's watching us," Hope blurted out.
"Ignore her."
"But—"
Instead of answering, Colin covered her mouth in a kiss, and all she could do was hold on to the massive breadth of his shoulders. The kiss deepened. Her senses reeled.
And when he pulled away, her husband said quietly, "I want you."
She didn't even have to think, with her heart already his. "Then take me." Her words had him jerking. It was obvious she had taken him by surprise. It was to be expected, since she had also surprised herself.
But the more Hope thought about it, the more she realized it was what she wanted, and she then heard herself say, "I'm tired of being a virgin, Colin." This was neither a lie nor an absolute truth. Instead, they were words she was pinning her every hope to. Her every prayer. Because she was hoping, once they made love, he would realize the same thing.
This marriage was right. This marriage could last. If they chose each other.
Hope mustered a smile as Colin stared down at her in brooding silence. They had ceased to dance completely, their still figures drawing increasing attention from other guests, and most especially from Princess. But he didn't seem to notice this, and she took it as a good sign.
"I'm not pressuring you or anything." Hope decided to keep things light with a teasing tone. "It's just an, um, offer that I wanted you to be aware of. And in any case, I can always go to Wilson—-"
"Try it then, and you'll have his death on your hands."
Hope was about to laugh when she belatedly noticed the rage in his eyes, fueled by jealousy.
"I was just j-joking," she stammered.
"You think it's funny to consider giving yourself to someone else when I already own you?" Colin glared down at her. "I think it's time I give you a lesson of what it means to be mine."
And off they went, with Hope once again half-running to keep up with her husband's pace, and oh!
They had just walked past Princess, and it was as if the other woman didn't even exist for Colin. Hope glanced up, wondering if he was just faking it, but oh!
He had sensed her looking at him, and Colin immediately met her gaze with another glare. "I know what you're thinking."
He did?
"You saw Wilson waving at you," her husband snarled, "and you're already thinking you're better off with him."
What was he talking about?
"You think you'll have a happier and less complicated life with him."
Hope could only blink. She had no idea where all of these thoughts were coming from, but...wait. Was he saying the truth about Wilson waving at her? It would be awfully rude not to wave back, wouldn't it?
She tried to look around, but the moment she did, Colin jerked to a stop, and Hope gasped as he yanked her toward him. He cupped her chin, his grip fierce.
"Eyes on me, wife," Colin growled down at her, "and no one else. Got it?"
They were on the move again even when she had barely finished nodding, with Colin driven by some inexplicable urge to... oh?
They were inside the elevator in a flash, and her heart leapt to her throat when she realized he was taking her back to their suite. She wanted to say something to diffuse the tension between them, but no words came to mind. All she could do was stare. And feel.
And with the way her husband was staring at her, and the way his glittering gaze was making her burn...
Once inside, he only had one question. "How do you want me to take you?"
Only one word leapt to mind.
"Passionately."
His nostrils flared. "So be it."
Colin claimed her mouth in a kiss that made his intent perfectly clear. She was his. And he would make sure of it by driving her so crazy with need that she would soon remember nothing but her name.
He swept her in his arms without breaking the kiss. Started undressing her as soon as they made it to his bedroom. Then laid her down on the bed before stepping back to strip himself of his own clothes.
Her throat dried as her husband eventually stood before her, his big, hard body magnificently naked.
"I'll let you stare as long as you like next time," Colin said thickly, "but right now..."
He joined her in bed, positioning himself between her legs, and the heat of his body started burning through her every thought.
"Look at me, Hope."
And so she did.
"I want you to look at me and see what you do to me as I take your virginity."
A whimper escaped her at the words. But this soon turned into a gasp as she felt him slowly enter her. The muscles in his arms tensed, and she could see the effort it took her husband to control his thrusts. Inch by inch he drove deeper inside of her, and she couldn't remember feeling anything like it. Couldn't remember being this wet. This sensitive. This filled.
The moment he came into contact with the barrier of her innocence, they both knew it, with how her husband's body turned rigid, and her own breasts started to swell and ache.
"Keep looking at me," he gritted out.
And then he was pushing past it, his shaft claiming her virginity in one forceful and possessive thrust, and to see the look on her husband's gorgeous face as this happened was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.
In that one moment, she realized just how much he desired her. Just how much she mattered. And even though such feelings might not last—she didn't care. Now was the only thing she cared about, and oh!
Her husband was starting to move, and every slide of his length in and out of her was glorious. She could only clutch his shoulders as his thrusts made her feel like she was about to drown any second. She had asked him to take her passionately, and indeed that was what he was doing now.
His mouth latching to the side of her neck, marking her skin to claim ownership.
His lips closing over the tips crowning her breasts.
His fingers digging into the tender cheeks of her bottom.
Her senses started to spiral as his movements became rougher. Faster. Deeper. And finally, oh, finally—
"C-Colin."
She could only cry his name out as she came apart for the first time in her life, and soon after, she heard him growling her name as he followed right behind her.
When Hope woke up in his arms sometime later, it was to find herself draped over him, and a blanket over the both of them. She felt blissfully tired, and this, too, was a first for her. But above all, she felt self-conscious and embarrassed.
She tried to pull away, but his arms only tightened around hers. "Stay."
A quietly spoken command, but one her body joyfully obeyed for some reason.
He then tipped her chin up, and Hope reluctantly met his gaze.
Oh.
She was afraid she would see something akin to regret, but instead all she saw was the same thing she had seen earlier.
He wanted her still.
And she mattered to him still.
"Are you alright?"
She nodded.
"Any soreness?"
Hope could feel her cheeks burning at the question, and she had to remind herself that she was forty, not fourteen.
"Just a little sore."
"I'm sorry about that—"
Hope opened her mouth to tell him it was fine.
"—but I'm afraid you'll feel a lot sorer by tomorrow."
Oh. Wait. What?
A gasp escaped her when he suddenly sat up and she found herself on his lap, his fingers between her legs, and oh. With just a few strokes, he already had her folds wet and swollen, and oh! He was inside of her once again, with Hope riding her husband all of a sudden, and—
"You wanted me to take you passionately," Colin whispered into her ear. "And I've always been a man of my word."
Oh...thank goodness.