if she was being honest with herself, she was here for her own pleasure too because her husband set her alive in a way she would never have known if they’d never met.
Rationality fighting with her senses, she put a hand to his chest, still uncertain if she was going to push or pull. Her fingers splayed against him and before she knew it she’d gripped his shirt. Her lips softened and parted as she melted into him.
His kiss was hard, demanding, his tongue moving within her, her own dancing against it.
Her grip on his shirt loosened and she wound her arms up and around his neck, her fingers pressing into the back of his head, leaning against his strength as he kissed her so thoroughly she doubted she would have been able to stand if he weren’t there supporting her.
Time became nothing. All she knew and all she cared about was now, this moment, and the heat burning through her.
His kisses deepened, then he broke away long enough to dip his head and nip her neck.
Then his hands clasped her bottom and she was pushed against the wall while simultaneously lifted off the ground.
Wrapping her legs around his waist, she pressed kisses over his face, tasting him, inhaling him, rubbing her nose into the smooth skin of his cheeks that roughened as she nuzzled his jawline.
He held her tightly to him, as if her weight meant nothing, and carried her through the kitchen to the narrow stairs. She had no idea how he managed to make it up the two flights with her in his arms, could only assume the fever burning through them drove him onwards until he kicked open their bedroom door and threw her effortlessly onto the bed. Stepping back, Raul gazed down at her, his handsome features taut, his chest surging. Her heart thrummed painfully, pulses racing through her as she stared right back.
Without a word, his eyes holding hers, he pulled at his belt to undo it then opened the buttons and dropped his trousers.
In reply, she raised herself enough to tug off her top and throw it onto the floor.
Working methodically, Raul undid the buttons of his shirt while Charley fumbled with the zip of her denim shorts before kicking them off and sending them sailing towards the other clothes that were forming a messy pile by his feet. His shirt joined them, leaving him in nothing but boxer shorts that stretched over his snake hips and tight buttocks, the strain of his erection visible through the fabric...
Heat bubbled deep within her, a sweet yet torturous sensation that begged for attention, and she dragged herself to her knees, taking in every part of him from his toes to his cropped dark hair as she unclasped her bra and threw it to one side, not caring where it landed. Then, finally, she pulled her underwear down past her hips, as Raul’s eyes watched every move she made, his strong throat moving as he swallowed.
‘Lie down,’ he instructed, his words guttural.
She did as she was bid and laid back, posing provocatively for him with one arm hooked over her head, a hand clasping a breast that was practically crying for attention, deliberately encircling a hard nipple.
A muted groan came from his throat and he yanked at his boxers and tugged them down past his muscular thighs, freeing his erection.
More moisture filled her, the heated ache in the apex of her thighs now nothing but a mass of sensation begging for his touch.
A warning thought rang out, breaking through the haze.
‘I’m not on the pill any more,’ she managed to gasp, beyond caring if this gave away her total lack of sex-life since their parting.
His blue eyes widened a touch before darkening, his desire as easy to read as anything she’d ever seen before.
Wrenching his gaze from her, he took the three steps to his dresser and opened the top shelf, rummaging for a moment before producing a packet of condoms.
She couldn’t deny the relief at seeing the box still in its seal.
Raul used his teeth to rip the clear seal off, then pulled a foil square out of the box and ripped it open.
They hadn’t used condoms since their engagement. Her heart twisted to see him struggle with it, as if he were out of practice...
All thoughts vanished when he turned to her and feasted his eyes on her naked form. ‘Spread your legs.’
Parting her thighs, she exposed herself to him, thrilling in the dilation of his eyes as he drank her in, then strode over to her and climbed on the bed, grabbing her hands and pinning them beside her head, his fingers entwining in hers.
His mouth crashed down on hers, crushing her lips, his tongue sweeping into her mouth while the tip of his erection found the heart of her and, with one long thrust, he pushed into her, filling her whole.
Charley could no more hold back her cry of relief than she could swim to the moon.
Raul’s hold on her hands tightened as he moved within her with no hesitation, no lingering caresses, just pure carnality.
She parted her legs ever wider, her pelvis tilted so they ground together, taking everything he gave and giving it back with sobs of pleasure. Sensation fizzed and built within her, heightening with every stroke.
The feel of him on her and inside her, his powerful thrusts, the way his chest crushed her breasts, everything fused together to form one whole sensitised buzz forming into a tight ball that, with one long final stroke, exploded within her. Raul’s groan of release toppled her over the edge.
She clung to him, her hands, freed from his hold, clasping his head as she buried her face in his neck, whimpering into his skin as pulsations rippled through her.
For the longest time they lay together, her legs wrapped around his waist, Charley savouring the feeling of release and the weight of his body upon her.
But all too soon he shifted off her and padded to the bathroom, leaving her alone for long enough that the glowing feeling deep inside her dimmed.
This means nothing. He hates you. He thinks you’re a gold-digger. He didn’t even want to hear how you felt during your marriage, he cared only about getting you naked.
She pushed the thoughts away, refusing to acknowledge the way her heart felt as if someone had grabbed hold of it and given it a mighty squeeze.
Silently he returned, climbed back under the sheets and pulled her into his arms. He dropped a kiss to her forehead.
Her heart twisted as she listened to his deepening breaths, his hand remaining buried in her hair as he fell into sleep.
It didn’t matter what he believed or that he hadn’t listened to her. It wasn’t as if they were intending to give their marriage another go in the proper fashion.
She was here for his pleasure, nothing more. And that meant her pleasure too.
Things were already different between them. It felt different and not just because she’d been blackmailed into being here. The dynamic between them had changed. In a sick kind of way, it was better like this, more honest. She didn’t have to mask who she was any more; her fear of disappointing him was gone.
She should be celebrating.
