Chapter 6
SIX
TINA
Josh wraps his arms around me, holding me close.
I’m glad he does. It would be all too easy to melt into a puddle without his support. Not with the echoes of ecstasy still flowing through me.
“That was… You were…” I shake my head, unable to finish a sentence.
Instead, I tangle my fingers into his hair and pull his lips back to mine. I pour everything I want to say from my heart and my soul into the kiss.
He responds in turn, cuddling me closer. Moving his lips against mine. He blindly presses buttons on the panel and the elevator starts moving again. This time, when it stops, the door opens to his private room.
I’ll take a look at it later. Right now, the only thing I care about is getting both of us naked and in his bed.
Clearly on the same page, Josh fumbles at the buttons on the back of my dress while I tug his crisp white shirt from his slacks. I pull it over his head and toss it aside.
I stop kissing him for a moment, so I can stand and appreciate the chiseled muscles on his chest and the dark smattering of hair across it. For a man who spends most of his time in a casino, he’s certainly giving rugged.
And I like it.
Almost as much as I like the way he strokes every inch of my exposed skin with his fingers and lips. And the way we leave a trail of clothes across the suite leading to the California King.
Nearly as much as I love the way he eases me down on his bed and presses me into it. The way his body covers mine.
As much as I love the way he seems to savor every curve, every stretch mark on my body that I’ve only ever seen as pesky flaws before. With his whispered words of praise and gentle caresses, he makes me feel cherished in a way no man has before.
When his lip captures one of my nipples in his mouth, my body tightens. I’m already so close again. But I fight the urge to give in immediately.
I don’t want to lose control yet. I want to take him with me. I want this to last.
Pushing on his chest, I turn him onto his back so I can rise over him. I trail kisses over his shoulder blades and down his chest, swirling my tongue around his nipple.
I slide my hand down the washboard of his abs until I wrap my hand around his hard cock. He groans as I capture him in my fist. Giving him a squeeze as I pump my hand up and down his shaft.
“Oh, fuck.” He tangles his hand in my hair and pulls my mouth back to his. “Oh that feels so good.”
“I bet it would feel even better in my mouth.”
“Fuck, yeah.”
I start to move down his body, so I can do just that, but he tightens his grip on me. “Not yet. You first.”
Pulling me further up his body, he sets my thighs on either side of his face and plants his mouth on my pussy. I cry out and grab the headboard as he laps at me like a kitten with cream. Licking and swirling his tongue around my clit, those familiar pangs of pleasure build from my core and spread.
As much as I intended to repay the favor, my second orgasm of the even crashes through me. I ride his face through it, his fingers digging into my hips as he urges me along over wave after wave.
When it subsides, I’m left clinging to the bed frame so I don’t collapse.
“I knew you’d be delicious,” he says, licking at his lips. Giving my behind a fond pat, he slides out from under me and reaches into his nightstand.
I hear the foil rip. “Wait,” I say over my shoulder. “It’s your turn.”
“Later,” he growls against my ear, kneeling behind me. He pulls my hips back until I can feel his cock pressed against my entrance. It’s a tantalizing position, and one that gets me hot again. “But first, I want to bury myself inside of you before you suck me off.”
The words are so unlike any others he’s used before, but I love them.
Just as much as I love the way he fills me when he thrusts inside of me and rides us both over the edge of ecstasy together.
I wake in a strange bed. Again. Only this time I’m clear-headed and my heart is full.
Turning to cuddle with Josh, my arm falls on an empty mattress. Frowning, I sit up to discover that I’m alone. Still, I’m in his bed. So I know last night happened.
Though, even if I hadn’t woken in his bed, I’d know by the tenderness between my thighs. My belly flutters at the memory of how we came together in the middle of the night, and made love once more as the sun was rising.
Besides, the bed isn’t completely empty. On the pillow next to mine, there’s a folded note. I open it and my lips curve up as I read the greeting.
Wifey,
Fulfilling my husbandly duties by bringing you coffee in bed. Ran to get fresh beans.
Don’t get up.
XO Josh
I trace the “XO” and signature and press the note to my fluttering heart. This man. He really is the sweetest thing.
Maybe, just maybe, there’s hope for us.
I’m not saying we need to stay married, but maybe we could date. It’s not like I’m tied to my job or my hometown. Honestly, it might be nice to get a fresh start somewhere new.
To live somewhere I can disappear, and no one knows my name or where I came from. Maybe, I could find a job here. Josh and I could date. See where things progress.
I’m getting ahead of myself. Rolling my eyes, I carefully set the note on the nightstand and swing out of my bed. I fully intend to be in bed and waiting when he returns with our coffee, but nature calls.
I also wouldn’t mind brushing my teeth and freshening up a little. I’m sure my hair is wild and my makeup from last night has to be smudged.
I’m sliding on a borrowed robe when there’s a knock at the front door. I pause in the middle of tightening the belt around my waist and wait. There’s another knock.
“Who could that…” I gasp. “I bet he forgot his key.”
The idea that Josh was so intent on his mission to get me coffee in bed that he forgot his key only makes the whole thing more endearing.
Striding to the door, I throw it open, ready to tease a smile out of him. But, instead of Josh, I find a man in a suit. I close the door slightly and move behind it to cover my barely-clad body.
“Can I help you?” I ask.
The suit looks me up and down. “Ms. Dillon, I presume?”
I pull the robe around me more tightly. “That’s right. Can I help you?”
“I’m R.J. Banks.” He looks at me expectantly. “We spoke on the phone.”
I search my brain for the name. Recognition slowly dawns. “You’re Josh’s lawyer.”
“That’s right, and as his lawyer, we need to talk.” His eyes narrow a fraction. “I’m sure you know why.”
Dread washes over me, sending a flush of ice through my veins. He knows. Of course, he knows. It wouldn’t take any lawyer with his retainer much to learn more about me. About my history.
About the skeletons that are in my closet and won’t ever leave.
I should have known they’d come back to haunt me. Maybe part of me did. I’d just hoped the ink would have already been dried on the annulment papers when they finally came out.
That way, Josh would know I wasn’t one more person trying to take advantage of him.
Now, it’s too late. Or is it? There’s still one thing I can do.
I push the door open wider and step back, motioning the suit inside.
“Can I get you anything to drink?” I ask. “This might take some time.”