Episode 21
Episode 21
Third Time’s a Charm
MEMPHIS
I paced back and forth in the signing room waiting for my bidder to enter. Energy sizzled up and down my nerve endings like electricity, making me feel buzzed and a little out of control. I shook my hands and jumped up and down a few times trying to shake it off.
“Memphis, get your shit together. You want to impress your bride, not freak her out,” I said to my shoes.
“Is that right?” A voice called from the door behind me.
I spun around and could not believe my fucking eyes. Even tried to rub them with my fists to clear away what surely had to be an illusion.
“Naomi? Holy—you can’t be here!” I choked out as my eyes widened with worry. “Fuck, this is not good at all.” I groaned and looked up at the chandelier hanging from the center of the ceiling, the crystals shooting rainbow rays of light in every direction. “God, seriously!” I snapped.
“I’m afraid God can’t help you now,” she said moving farther into the room.
I shook my head and lifted my hands in supplication. “Naomi, I’m so sorry to do this to you, but you have to go.”
“Why?” She smirked. “You have a hot date? Your fiancée meeting you, perhaps?” She blinked her long eyelashes in a slow, sultry move that was sexy as fuck.
Damn, she was beautiful. The kind of pretty that a man like me could never even hope to score long term.
Why was this happening? Come on, God. I trusted you, I mentally complained. The Big Guy always listened, even when I was having one of the most jacked-up moments of my life. Hopefully He could save me from the embarrassment I was about to befall if my bidder walked in on this situation.
“I am waiting for my fiancée.” My shoulders fell as defeat weighed me down. “She’s going to be here any minute, and I can’t risk her being angry seeing someone like you here.”
Her head snapped back with purpose, and she cocked her neck. Uh oh. When a woman cocked her neck to the side, eyes narrowed, you best be careful. In my experience, it was like poking a rattlesnake; you never knew when they were going to strike.
“Someone like me?” Those eyelashes fluttered with even more intent.
“Yeah. Someone who looks as gorgeous as you, talks with that sexy rasp, has the commanding presence you have. You could make anyone feel small in comparison. Yeah, I don’t need my fiancée feeling out of place. Especially after what we shared.” I lifted my hand to my neck and rubbed at the tension there. “I already feel bad.”
Her features softened, and I couldn’t help but take her in one last time before I asked her to leave again. She wore a slinky, body-hugging dress that left absolutely zero to the imagination. Her curves were poppin’ and on full display. Her height paired with her toned arms and legs had my mouth watering and my hands itching to slide across all that bared skin.
The dress was shiny and gold. One arm was completely bare as the fabric wrapped around one shoulder, molded to her breasts, and slashed across her collarbone. The sleek material coasted down her small waist and rounded hips and clung to her thighs, falling to a couple inches above her knees.
“You feel bad?” Naomi interrupted my blatant perusal, walking toward me on a pair of heels so high she could have been a model. “Because your fiancée could be here any minute?”
I watched her glossy lips move into a smirk. I had to bite down on my own bottom lip at the desire to see if that shimmer on her lips tasted as good as it looked.
“Mmm-hmm,” I managed, lost to her beauty as she moved deeper into the room and went over to the high-top table where the final contract waited for my bidder. I’d already signed my name across the candidate line, knowing I was fully invested in this plan, no matter who purchased me to be their husband.
“What’s this? Your prenup?” she asked, fingering the pages, her onyx gaze shrewd and assessing.
Prenup?
Fuck, I was losing my mind. She shouldn’t be looking at the contract. No one was supposed to see it besides Madam Alana, Jade, me, and my bidder. I was so excited I didn’t even hear the name Alana had called out during my auction. All I’d heard was, “ Sold for ten million, ” and everything else just slipped away.
Kind of like now.
Naomi was a force of nature. Just being in her presence stole points straight off my IQ.
“Uh, something like that.” I approached and stopped mid-stride as she lifted the pen, flipped to the end of the contract, and signed her name across the bottom.
“What are you doing?” I barely heard myself speak as the edges of my vision blackened and warped. My heart beat so loud in my chest I thought I could hear the heavy beat echoing around the small room.
She spun around and grinned. She had one hand on her hip while the other tapped the pen against the wooden surface of the table. “Signing my commitment to marry you for ten million dollars.”
I stood stone-still, afraid everything she’d just said was a messed-up hallucination my mind had conjured up because of how much I wanted her to be the woman for me.
Was I even awake yet?
Was this all a dream?
Hell, if it was, I never wanted to wake up.
“Is this real?” I croaked, not sure my voice was capable of much more as uncertainty weighed heavily against my subconscious.
She chuckled, and the sound was so sweet I wanted to listen to it for the rest of my life.
“Yeah, it’s real. Who needs fate anyway?” She winked, referencing the conversation we’d had the second time we ran into one another. “I guess third time’s the charm for us,” she beamed.
“I can’t believe it.” I stared and stared.
“Are you going to keep looking at me like I’m a mirage, or are you going to come over here and greet your fiancée properly?”
Without so much as a single thought, I raced over to her, looped one arm around her waist, and pulled her against my chest, tucking my free hand around her nape. My head came down at the same time she lifted her face.
Our lips met.
Spoiler alert, her fucking lip gloss tasted like peaches. Delicious.
I ravaged her mouth like I’d never get another taste. She was just as hungry, her hands clasped on either side of my face, holding me close. As if I might take my mouth off hers any time soon.
Not a chance.
She weighed nothing as I lifted her off her feet and carried her to the nearest wall, pressing her back against it as our fronts touched from chest to knee. Naomi clung to me, our mouths staying sealed.
The sweet little moans and sighs she gave as I devoured her whole lifted my confidence to mountainous heights. As we ate one another, our hands started to roam. She hiked up her skirt indecently and wrapped one long leg around my hips.
I ground my cock against her as my hand gripped her ass firmly, making sure she felt everything I had for her. “You want that, my queen?” I whispered against her lips as she sucked in air and moaned.
“Fuck, yes,” she groaned, then tightened her leg muscles and dug the point of her high heel into the back of my thigh, forcing my erection to press harder exactly where she wanted it.
I hissed at the small bite of pain, then curled a hand around the front of her throat in a commanding but gentle hold as I gave her another roll of my hips and watched her eyes as the pleasure overtook her.
“Fucking beautiful,” I grated through my teeth, loving the desire swimming in those obsidian pools.
Her breath caught and then she whimpered. That needy sound would be my undoing. I was about to fall to my knees and give the woman exactly what she needed, right here, right now, when another voice stopped me cold.
“Oh, wow. Okay, so, this is working out better than expected,” Jade spoke from somewhere behind us.
I tightened my hold on Naomi’s ass and let go of her neck so I could use that hand to ease the insanely restricting dress back over her luscious form. And ensure my own body protected her modesty as she dropped her leg and shimmied the fabric into place.
I turned around and grinned, looping an arm around Naomi’s shoulders protectively, wanting to keep her close. “Jade, I’d like you to meet Naomi, my fiancée.” I said the words with such pride I couldn’t contain my very obvious elation.
“We know each other.” Jade smirked then waved a finger. “Hi, Naomi. Glad to see you found the perfect man for you.”
“Boy, did I ever,” Naomi cooed with exuberance and clucked her tongue with a little sass and a snap of her fingers. Praise from my intended, I felt ten feet tall.
Jade moved to the table, scanned the contract and our signatures, then smiled rather sweetly. Surprising for Jade because she was like The Mona Lisa . You never really knew what that woman was thinking based on her facial expressions. “Congratulations. I’m looking forward to receiving a wedding invitation,” she said.
“You’re on the list, lady. And be sure to tell Alana that I could not be happier with my bidder.” I ran my hand up and down Naomi’s arm. She was unbearably soft. I couldn’t wait to feel more of her skin. With my entire body. Preferably naked.
“Kind of got that impression when I walked in on the two of you mauling one another,” Jade teased, yet another small smile splitting her lips.
My hand slid down to Naomi’s hip where I squeezed it, glorying in the fact that I could touch her freely. She was going to be my wife. “Hey, now, I may have been a wee bit excited about my bidder. It’s not every day God answers all your prayers.”
Naomi shifted her head so she could look me in the eye while still standing hip to hip. “Are you suggesting you asked God for me?” Her eyes sparkled as she dug her long nails into my ass. “That compliment is going to get you laid for sure,” she taunted.
“I heard that! Then again, it’s not like I wasn’t going to be tappin’ that ass the minute we get to one of our rooms,” I stated with absolute certainty. There was so much sexual tension in the air, it could have lifted ten hot air balloons into the sky.
“On that note, I’ll be filing these documents with the lawyers.” Jade tapped the edge of the contract against the table. “Have fun, you two!” She waved and left the room as quickly as she’d entered it.
“Tappin’ that ass, hmm?” Naomi placed her hands within my own and started to walk backwards, leading me toward the door where Jade had just exited.
“Unless you had something else in mind. Lady’s choice.” I licked my lips, wanting to suck on hers and see if there were any peach remnants from her gloss.
“Oh, the lady wants to get right to business ,” she assured, her voice a sultry timber that had a shiver running down my spine.
Then I remembered the item burning a hole right against my heart and I grinned stupidly. “Hold up just a minute.”
She puffed out her bottom lip and I swear she became even more fuckable. My pants became infinitely tighter. I’d take a pretty pout when she was on her knees and my cock was tapping that sexy bottom lip playfully, but I was the one who needed to be kneeling for this part.
“Close your eyes. I got something I gotta do,” I said.
The pout deepened, and she made a cute huffing noise.
“Trust me to take care of you. Playtime will happen very soon. But there’s something I need to do first.”
“Right here?” she asked.
I nodded.
Naomi rolled her eyes. “Fine,” she sighed as she finally closed them.
I got down on one knee, pulled the velvet box out of my jacket, and opened the lid. The diamond ring I’d maxed out my credit card for sparkled beautifully. I couldn’t wait to see it on her finger.
I held the box aloft, the ring nestled against the dark velvet.
“Hold out your hand,” I asked, my throat drying out instantly.
She did so without peeking.
I took hold of her hand and looked at the answer to every last one of my prayers.
My gift from God.
Naomi.
“Okay. Open them.”
She did so and her hand gripped my fingers tight, clearly surprised at the gesture of me down on my knees before her.
“Naomi, my queen, would you do me the great honor of making me the happiest brotha on the planet by marrying me…in a month…for ten million dollars?” I gave her my best cheeky grin.
“Memphis, I will marry you.” She laughed as I put the diamond ring on her finger.
I jumped up, grabbed her cheeks, and kissed her hard and fast then rested my forehead against hers. “Are you sure you want to do this? And for all that money?” I couldn’t help but give her one last out. This was all happening so fast and even though it was supposed to be like this, she was a person I actually cared about more than the money. Someone who I could truly see myself with long-term.
Her hands slid up and around the back of my head as we breathed one another in, faces so close our breaths intermingled. Which was why I heard it clear as day when she said, “I would have paid twenty million for you.”
“Woman,” I chastised teasingly as my throat once again gave out and the emotions swelled between us in large, earth-shattering waves.
She wasn’t finished blowing my mind.
Not even close.
With her forehead to mine, her hands cupping my cheeks she whispered, “Hell, I might have even given it all up to have a man like you as my husband.”