She was dreaming…of Jack Yates.

Something feral emerged from my chest. It was violent, and it absolutely shocked me.

Bloody hell. It had to be due to the impending wedding tomorrow. It had to be. I mean, what else could it be? Any man would react in such a way. After all, she was to be my wife, even if she’d be a secret one. It didn’t bode well for me that I was sharing her bed while her dreams were filled with her getting fucked by another man.

My eyes acutely gazed at her. The candle’s reflection softly glowed on her skin. It had been forever since I was awestruck by a woman’s beauty. She didn’t need makeup or anything else to enhance her beauty. She simply was exquisite. True, I only dated the cream of the crop, one beautiful woman to the next. I’d had stunning, gorgeous, sexy, off the charts sex appeal, but never exquisite.

My heated eyes brushed about her delicate face, wondering if her being off-limits made her all the more alluring to me.

Unconsciously, my thumb rose to meet the bottom of her lip, softly tracing it. It felt soft, inviting…and deliciously forbidden.

Exquisite, the word floated again in my mind.

So, when my drastic gesture dawned on me, my thumb hastily detached from her lip as if scalded. After Paige’s death, kissing another woman was out of the question. And after nine years, the urge to suddenly taste Gisele’s luscious lips troubled me greatly.

It had to be the thought of her becoming my wife, even if in name only. It aroused something primitive in me.

This couldn’t go on,my mind raced. Something had to be done.

Tomorrow…I had to see Rose first thing in the morning, or I’d go bonkers. My cock needed to unload all the frustration Gisele stirred in me.

CHAPTER9

Jared

The deafening soundof an alarm blaring loudly awoke me. Then the warm softness of a woman’s body alerted my manhood to come to attention. My senses instantaneously circulated down south. My body hummed as my arousal became evident. Slowly peeling my eyes open, the first thing I realized was Gisele’s face was merely inches from mine. My arm slung low around her hips, her left leg clung onto my thigh while my right leg lodged in between hers…and my stimulated manhood nestled against her bare mound.

How did we end up entangled like this? Didn’t I sleep on my back? Hell, I made an inward groan as my ravenous body fought not to move away from her moist cleft.

If I fuck her slowly, would she wake up?A shocking thought bubbled out of my mind, and I immediately shut it down.Fight it, you idiotic fuck.She’s forbidden. Remember that!But my cock persisted, and it instinctively nudged farther, rubbing against her parted pussy. Again. And again. The friction too good to resist. Somehow, I couldn’t get enough. In no time, my boxers were saturated with her wetness.

Gisele made the sexiest moan, ensuring my already rock-hard member to carry on my frantic grinding. Her leg tightly secured around my hip as she met my demand. Her lips parted before those stormy crystals slowly began to open, still in a dreamy state before she shut them again. “Jared,” she moaned in that deep raspy voice of hers. It almost made me come undone.

I knew then that if I didn’t stop, I’d regret taking her. Our situation was complicated enough; adding sex into the mix could only be disastrous. My body ached as I halted my frantic movements. My nostrils flared as I tried to steady the maddening beat of my heart. “I’m sorry, I can’t…We can’t do this.”

“Don’t stop…please,” she pleaded in a breathy voice. To prove how much she wanted me, she pressed her womanhood against my hardness and began to rock her hips, resuming what I started, moaning my name as she did so. “Jared…please.” She repeated her request. “You’re so huge…It feels so good,” she breathed out before I felt a fresh new wave of slickness soaking my boxers. “We’re not really having sex…just don’t move…I’m almost,” she choked out a moan, nearing ecstasy, “…there…”

Then she came apart, creaming all over me.

She imparted a mesmerizing smile before she kissed the tip of my nose. “Thank you for being such a gentleman. I’d have died had you pulled away.” Her pussy remained glued to my soaked boxers. Gray eyes glittered with mischief. She was teasing me, and I wasn’t sure if I should laugh or fuck her senseless.

“I have to go to the doctor’s,” she began to say as she untangled herself from me. Then her eyes dropped below, grinning madly at me at my blatant pained state. “Do you need help with that? I can spare time.”

This had to stop. It was best I went the direct route, hoping to curtail this budding madness that had sprouted the second I woke up with our sexes touching. I immediately disconnected from her playful banter. My lips pursed as I shifted out of bed, shrugging as I shook my head. “It’s okay. It’ll be taken care of soon,” I stated before raising my eyes to meet hers.

Her bright smile gradually receded. “Are you going to see Rose?” she softly inquired, clearly disheartened.

Steadily holding her gaze, I didn’t cower from baring the truth. “Yes. I am.”

“Likerightnow?” she asked in disbelief. The glitter in her eyes vanished. She tensed, seeming as if she wasn’t sure if she should believe me, as if she couldn’t fathom why I’d commit such a thing on our “wedding” day.

Playtime was well over and done with. I had made a mistake. It was my fault that I couldn’t refuse the temptation presented before me. It could’ve been worse, but I was pleased it hadn’t come to that. “After I’ve showered, I’ll be on my way. I’ll be back before noon. Will that be a problem?” She and I had an agreement, and I wanted to ensure the deal's validity. And to also ensure the barrier between us was well erected.

Gisele appeared saddened by my response. I realized I had made the right decision by immediately thwarting whatever hopes she had from flourishing.

"No." She hesitantly shook her head, flinching a little. "I understand."

She and I stood at either side of the bed, her nipples budding against the silk, still evidently aroused. Though she tried to hide the hurt, I could tell my statement got to her. The last thing I needed was for her to get attached to me. I had nothing to offer her; best she understood that from the start. I did the right thing—the best thing.