Page 28 of The Devious Husband

I stare at him in disbelief, unsure what to make of him. He seems different tonight — sweeter, more thoughtful, and I hate how much hope it gives me. Xavier gently places me on top of his kitchen counter and rummages through his wine fridge, until he pulls out an expensive looking bottle of champagne that just so happens to be my favorite kind, a blanc de noir.

He hands me a glass and holds up his own. “To new beginnings,” he says, his eyes on mine.

I nod and tap my glass against his, my heart racing. “You have good taste,” I murmur, surprised at how good the champagne is.

“Of course I do,” he remarks, without missing a beat. “I married you, didn’t I?”

I blink at the cheesy line and burst out laughing, unable to help it. “That was… that was kind of cute.”

He smiles sheepishly and places his glass down before moving to stand in front of me, his hands on either side of me. “I can be cute,” he says, his voice soft. “There are a lot of sides of me you’ve never seen before, Sierra. You don’t know me as well as you think you do.”

I instinctively reach for him and wrap my hand around the back of his neck. “No,” I whisper. “I guess I don’t.”

His expression falls, and he sighs as he reaches for my hair, surprising me when begins to pull out my hair pins carefully. My hand slides to his chest, and I keep it there as he moves closer, parting my legs to stand between them. “Why didn’t you tell me she was your sister?” I ask as my hair slowly begins to come undone. “How is it even possible for you to have a sister that no one knows about?”

He caresses my hair and carefully frames it around my face, his touch so tender that I hardly recognize him. “It isn’t my story to tell, Kitten. Valeria left home when she was twenty and she didn’t come back until five years later. Not even Dion knew about her until about a year ago.”

“I wish you’d told me,” I whisper. It hurts that they waited to tell me until I signed a non-disclosure agreement this morning, but I understand wanting to protect your family. I just wish I knew why they’ve gone to such lengths. Even when Valeria attends events with Xavier, he ensures there are no photographers on site, and she’s never been mentioned by name in any of the papers. That kind of silence from such vicious media outlets comes at a high cost.

He cups my face, his eyes darkening. “I’m a little glad I didn’t. If not for that, I’d never have gotten to see you acting jealous.”

“Jealous?” I repeat, outraged. “I was never jealous.”

“No?” he asks, placing his index finger underneath my chin. “Sure could’ve fooled me.”

Twenty-Six

Xavier

I pull my wife a little closer, loving the way she’s snuggled up to me in her sleep, her head on my chest and her leg wrapped around my hip. I bite down on my lip and softly caress her thigh, my need for her overwhelming. My cock twitches when she shifts a little as she stirs, a soft sigh escaping her lips as she brushes her nose against my neck. I keep my eyes closed and my body still as she begins to wake up, her entire body tensing when she realizes what position we’re in.

She gasps and sits up, the sheets falling away from me. I can feel her eyes on me, and just as I’m about to tease her for staring, I feel the tip of her finger lightly touching my abs. She holds still, almost like she’s trying to see if it’ll wake me up, before she explores my body further. It takes all of me to keep my eyes closed as she moves her hand to my chest and slowly drags her fingers down, taking her time to tease me with her featherlight touches. My heart is pounding wildly by the time she reaches the waistband of my boxer shorts, and I hear her breath hitch as she hesitantly touches the contours of my rock hard cock. I involuntarily moan softly, my head falling back just a touch, and just like that, her hand is gone. I hear the sheets rustle, followed by her soft footsteps as she escapes into the bathroom.

I smirk as my eyes flutter open, the room empty. It’d be pretty safe to assume that my wife quite likes my body. It hadn’t occurred to me that I could use my body to tempt her with. If I’d known, I’d have taken off my shirt last night, long before she fell asleep on the sofa after a few too many glasses of champagne. Our evening wasn’t exactly what I wish it’d been, but it was nice to sit with her and throw little jabs back and forth, neither of us quite sure where we stood with the other.

I sigh as I get up and walk over to my guest bathroom, not wanting to lose a moment with her. I know her well enough to know she’ll be back at the office bright and early tomorrow morning, which only gives me today with her before she’ll begin to hide behind work.

I smirk when I find Sierra in our kitchen wearing yet another one of my t-shirts, and she looks over her shoulder when I walk in, only to do a double take, her eyes slowly roaming over my bare chest and settling on my gray sweats. “Morning, my darling wife.”

Her eyes shoot up to mine, and she blushes so fiercely that I can’t help but chuckle. “Good morning,” she says, sounding a little breathless. A drop of water runs from my wet hair, over my neck, and down my abs, and she follows its journey with wide eyes. “Your, um… your hair is wet.”

I run a hand through it, loving the way she’s looking at me. I’ve never seen her look at me that way before, and fuck if it isn’t the most thrilling thing I’ve experienced in years. I hum noncommittally as I walk up to her and stand behind her, my fingers brushing over the hem of my t-shirt. “I see you’ve taken a liking to my t-shirts.”

I place my hand on her waist and look over her shoulder at what she’s doing. My sweet wife seems to have assembled all the cheese varieties I bought for her, along with some kind of weird contraption that definitely isn’t mine.

“It’s Raven’s fault,” she says, her tone disgruntled. “She didn’t give me any comfortable clothes at all. Everything she sent over is either highly inappropriate, or it’s workwear.” She turns to face me, her back against the counter and her eyes on mine. “I should’ve asked first, I’m sorry. Is it… um, is it okay for me to wear this?”

I place my hands on either side of her, caging her in. “If I say no, will you wear something inappropriate for me?”

“Xavier,” she warns. My sweet kitten places her hand against my chest, like she often does when I get a little too close to her, but this time, her breath hitches, and she pulls her hand back in a rush.

I chuckle and place her palm back on my chest, before slowly dragging it down to my abs, my fingers between hers. “Touch me all you like,” I tell her, my tone teasing. “You’re my wife, Sierra. I’m all yours.”

“I guess I should stop wearing your t-shirts,” she says, pulling her hand away with a hint of reluctance. “There clearly aren’t enough for us both.”

She turns around to face her cheeses again and I smile to myself as I place my chin on her shoulder. “I certainly won’t object if you take that t-shirt off.”

She gasps, and I chuckle, pleased she hasn’t stepped away or told me to fuck off. It isn’t much, but she’s letting me be near her, and that’s a lot more than she’d have given me just a few days ago.

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