Chapter 14

FOURTEEN

SILAS

Hearing this beautiful cowboy call me husband did something to me. When Kenji had first used the word, it had been jarring. Wrong. A reminder of all the things I'd once thought I'd wanted before I learned how devastating relationships could be.

But now, the word cut through me, hot and sharp. It was a good pain, unexpected and strangely settling at the same time. While I had my sister and my brotherhood of friends, there was something about having a husband—even a temporary, accidental one—that felt different. More intimate. More… mine .

I crooked a finger at him, which made Way's eyes darken.

While we'd spent time getting to know each other at the table, I hadn't been able to keep my hungry eyes off him. His defined chest and arms, his sparse chest hair and rosy nipples, the little patches of faded freckles under his eyes, his thick blond hair sticking every which way after our shower. He was truly a golden boy—one of those men who seemed to draw the eye and spotlight in any crowd. The main character in a high school rom-com whose teeth sparkle when he smiles at the leading lady.

One of the main differences between Way and the leading man was the thread of insecurity running below his beautiful bravado.

He was nervous as fuck, and it brought out my protective instincts.

"Do you want this?" I asked as he moved closer.

The corner of his lips crooked up. "Not exactly sure what ‘this' entails, but I'm pretty damned sure the answer is yes."

I grabbed his hand and pulled him closer. His warm, soap-scented body landed solidly against my chest. I wrapped my arms around him and ran my hands up and down his smooth, bare back. "You're going to stop me if I do anything that makes you uncomfortable."

Way's crooked grin grew wider. "I'm not a virgin, Silas."

"Thank god for that," I admitted. "So you don't mind if I rail you into the mattress, then?"

The look on his face made me laugh out loud, which made him immediately turn twelve shades of red.

"Fuck off," he said with a laugh, shoving my shoulder. "But… I wouldn't mind if you were on the receiving end of a railing."

I didn't let him push me away. Instead, I held him tighter and leaned in to kiss the edge of his mouth. "I'd be more than happy to bottom for you, but right now, I just want to take your pants off and lick you all over."

The noise in his throat made my cock fill.

"You good with that?" I teased, trailing kisses down his jawline to his neck and chest.

His only response was another groan. His hands moved into my hair as I moved my mouth down to suck one of his nipples.

"What do you like, cowboy?" I murmured around the nipple I held gently between my teeth.

"I liked shoving my cock down your throat earlier." I glanced up at him. His hot gaze was locked on mine. "Did a good job of shutting off that never-ending chatter of yours."

I could tell from the glint in his eyes he was teasing. No one had ever accused me of chatter before, so his words would have made me laugh if I weren't so hard and desperate.

I moved my hands under the low waistband of his pajama pants and cupped his ass as it tightened in my grip. "You want me to suck your cock, Mayor?"

His gaze smoldered. The pink in his cheeks darkened to deep red flags that streaked down his neck and onto his chest, which made my dick impossibly harder.

"I want to suck you, too," he admitted in a low voice.

Ahh. That explains the blush.

I straightened up and pulled his ass closer so our dicks pressed hard together. "Permission granted," I teased before leaning in to kiss him.

Way grabbed my face and held it as I deepened the kiss. I took the opportunity to shove his pants down before reaching for my own clothes to get them off as quickly as possible.

We stumbled toward the bed, all the while touching and squeezing, running greedy hands over each other and kissing until our tongues seemed fused together. I couldn't remember the last time I'd been so physically attracted to another man. Nothing with Justin had ever been this exciting, this freeing, this… almost… obsessive . It was a feeling I wasn't sure I'd ever had before with anyone, and nothing in my experience could explain it.

Instead of thinking about it, I shoved it to the back of my mind and allowed myself to simply enjoy this temporary boon. If I was going to stay here in Majestic, pretending to be Way's husband, I wasn't going to overthink it. I would make damned sure to enjoy every minute of my marital duties instead.

Way crawled onto the bed first, but as soon as I climbed on top of him, he flipped me over onto my back and began kissing his way down my chest. His eyes never left mine.

Way's nerves seemed to have fled, now that things were actually happening, and there was a confidence to his moves, which surprised me.

"You sure you've never done this before?" My voice came out gruffer than usual.

"Given head? I've done it before on a woman. Many times. Surely that counts for something?"

I ran my fingers through his wild hair. "You gonna have trouble finding my clit?"

He ran his lightly stubbled chin down my hard shaft. "Probably. It's a tiny little thing, ain't it?"

I couldn't hold back a laugh. "Asshole." I tilted my hips up until my dick pressed against his neck. Seeing it against his blush-streaked skin lit me up even more.

His eyes were bright with humor as he stuck out his tongue to tease me. Gentle touches as if he was a nervous neophyte. I could tell by his expression he wasn't truly nervous, which only made me hotter for him.

"It's not mystery meat at a sketchy cafeteria," I grumbled. "Stop fucking with me."

He grasped my cock in his hand and stroked it up and down before running the flat of his tongue from base to tip. Just as he was opening his mouth to take the head inside, he pulled back and grinned at me. I groaned and squeezed my eyes closed. I felt my cock jerk in his grip.

"This is fun," he said. "Makes me want to edge you for hours just to see you get more and more upset."

I gritted my teeth. All I could think about was the wet heat of his mouth. "Suck my cock."

"Mm. Maybe. Or maybe I'll just…" He moved down and ran his tongue lightly in the crease between my balls and my thigh, nudging my sac with his nose.

I gripped his hair and tried moving his head back to its target. It only made him chuckle more. No matter what I tried, he continued teasing me until finally, fucking finally , he took the head of my cock into his mouth and wrapped his warm tongue around it before sucking it.

"Fuck," I groaned. "Just like that."

His eyes met mine which made my stomach tighten. Blue irises glinted at me, cutting through the teasing and making me feel a connection.

Husband , I thought. My husband.

I'd never imagined what it would feel like to be bound to someone in this way. It shouldn't feel different, especially with a stranger, especially when it wasn't real… but somehow, it did.

Way had a piece of me no one else had ever claimed before. He would always be my first husband, and even the legal proceedings ahead of us wouldn't take that away from him.

Suddenly, I was annoyed by the emotional response I was having. These feelings were ruining a hot encounter with a gorgeous man.

I sat up and grabbed him, maneuvering him around on the bed until his hard cock was above my face while his mouth remained on my dick.

Our sixty-nine turned sloppy and frantic, grunts and groans mixed with loud, wet sucking noises to fill the tiny space around his bed. My cock was impossibly hard as I thrust up into his mouth and took him as deep as I could. Within moments, his spunk hit the back of my tongue. I tried to pull out of his mouth before coming, which resulted in my release hitting his lips, chin, and neck. The look on his face would have been comical if I hadn't been distracted by my intense orgasm.

"Sorry," I said, chest still heaving.

"Why'd you pull out?"

I glanced over at him. He'd flopped sideways onto the bed and reached for a box of tissues on one of the nearby built-in shelves.

"Wasn't sure you were up for the full experience."

He grinned over at me. A wave of relief washed over me at the evidence he wasn't experiencing regrets. Another wave followed shortly after, only this one was heat and possession from seeing my release streaked across his face.

"Maybe so." He wiped his face without taking his eyes off me. "So I did okay? Found your clit?"

I reached out and grabbed his free hand. For some reason, the thought of him giving a woman head dimmed my afterglow. "You did okay. My lady parts thank you."

He turned on his side and pressed a kiss to the outside of my thigh. The gesture was sweet and affectionate. Unexpected.

Intimate.

My heart continued to pound wildly in my chest. What the hell was happening here? The last thing I needed from this man—this situation—was feelings. I was not a feelings person. Not anymore.

Temporary. That's all this was. Temporary slaking of lust. A temporary summer string of casual hookups that just so happened to be with the same man.

"We should get some sleep," I said, rolling away from him to climb off the bed. "You said morning feed comes early, right?"

I didn't stick around for his response. Instead, I headed into the bathroom to brush my teeth and wash up. Sounds from the main room indicated he was straightening up the dishes we'd left on the table, so when I finished in the bathroom, I found my boxer briefs and slid them on before stepping toward the kitchen area to help.

He'd already pulled his pajama pants back on, and I found I missed the view of his bare ass and legs.

While there wasn't much room to move in the small space, I tried to help tidy the remaining mess from our dinner and set the kitchen to rights. An awkward tension fell between us as the rest of the night sharing a bed loomed large.

"Are you sure you don't want me to get a hotel room somewhere?" I asked when I noticed Way avoiding making eye contact. "I can be discreet. Even if I have to drive a ways out of town to find one."

His question was angled down to our feet. "Is that what you want?"

Instead of giving him an immediate answer, I took a minute to consider the question.

"No. What I want is to share your bed. To touch you again and possibly fuck you again. But I don't want you to feel like I've invaded your space. We barely know each other, and I'm trying to be respectful of your?—"

Way's lips crashed into mine as he lurched forward to kiss me. The move nearly shocked me off my feet. I stumbled back until hitting the wall behind me. My arms came around to hold him tight, moving quickly down until I could sneak my hands into his pants and cup his ass again.

This time when we stripped down and hit the bed, it was too fast and frantic for anything other than a half frot, half handjob until we both came gasping and dribbling over each other. My balls ached from all the action, but I still felt like I would be up for a midnight repeat if I was lucky enough to get one.

We shifted under the covers of the messy bed and sprawled half together with tangled arms and legs. My brain floated in a postorgasmic haze, which led me right into a deep sleep.

Just before drifting off, I remembered the evening spent getting to know each other so we'd be prepared to fake it in front of the gentle townsfolk of Majestic.

If there was one thing I was good at, it was preparing well and performing even better under pressure. I was also known for creating efficient solutions to complex corporate challenges. Maybe I could make myself useful while I was here and try to lessen his burdens.

For Way's sake, I would think of this marriage act as a business deal I needed to nail. No feelings, no complications. Everything would run smoothly.

We had this all under control.