Page 16 of Rival Heart
Closing the door behind me, I smile slightly when I hear her feet running into the bathroom.
My wife. Whistling, I toss my keys up in the air and stroll downstairs, my boot heels thudding on the solid marble stairs. Very soon I’m gonna claim my wife in every way possible. Her little ass is mine.
My smile fades when I think about her father. I know damn well that man is about to be a huge thorn in my side. But unlike before, I’m no lovesick teen that he can push around.
I’m bigger, stronger, more determined and a helluva lot richer than he is. And my motives are pure.
I grin wickedly. Okay. Not quite pure. But I’ve only got good reasons for being a little tricky with my new bride. She’s more skittish than a wild mustang in a circus ring.
Slow and steady, my man. Slow and steady. That’s the only way I see to win the woman who holds my heart.
And this time… I can’t fuck it up. I don’t think I’ll get a third chance if I do.
TWELVE
Rebel
My hands runover my skin in the shower, and my heart is racing like a jackrabbit’s.
He wants to make this a real marriage. Not just in name only. He wants me.
That single sentence has my lower body humming like an engine. My fingers drift down my belly and part my pussy lips, strumming my clit lightly.
I moan, my head falling back as I picture Jace. I haven’t seen him naked yet but there’s nothing on him that makes me think he won’t look like a Greek god in bed.
My hands drift up and push my breasts up, plumping them and I can practically feel his warm lips around my nipples, tasting, teasing them, scraping along the stiff peaks until a fiery zap of heat runs straight from my nipples to my pussy, his scruff rough on my sensitive skin. My fingers pluck at them but I’m not the one that I see in my mind.
It’s all Jace. His long, thick, calloused fingers. His broad shoulders and muscular arms holding me tight as he teases and torments me, building the hunger that’s swirling in me until I explode in the fiery rush of release.
My heart pounds as my eyes open, water trickling down my face as I slip my fingers from between my thighs where my slick rushes down my flushed skin, swirling with the water beading on my legs.
What the hell was that?
I’ve never had that wild a response. Especially to my own touch. No matter who I fantasize about.
I growl under my breath and grab a washcloth, pouring body wash into it and washing my tingling skin until it glows.
I step out of the tub, my breath still panting out. This whole thing is turning into a nightmare of massive proportions, and I don’t really know what the hell to do about it. It’s too late to change my groom. And if the stubborn, heated look on Jace’s lean, handsome face is anything to go by… he’s not letting me go.
All I have to do is manage to keep my hands to myself for five years while my not-quite fake hubby tries to… what? He wants to make our marriage real but what does that mean?
And does he mean for five years or forever? Because I’m not sure I trust him now.
He left me the first time. Beat boots like his wranglers were on fire. I honestly don’t know what to do with the leftover anger still rippling through me when I think about that.
When I think about my dad’s involvement in it? That just about makes me want to hunt his ass down and tear a strip out of him. But it wouldn’t do any damn good and he’d tell me for the millionth time that he only has my future happiness at heart. He just wants the best for me.
“Hmmph!” I snort, yanking my dirty dress and heels on. There’s no fucking way in hell that that pompous prick he’s currently got picked out is in my best interests.
There’s something in it for him and if I had the time or inclination, I’d find out what it was. Other than just winning a figurehead hubby to take over the ranch for me.
I hear the outside door open and then a muscular arm is pushing the bathroom door wide open, holding a bag out for me.
“You decent, sweetheart?”
I roll my eyes. “I’m already dressed, Jace.”
He pushes the door open the rest of the way and grunts. “Well, get undressed.” He shoves the bag at me. “You’ve already worn those clothes and you don’t have anything else with you so here you go.”
