Page 21 of A Nine-Month Deal With Her Husband

She was skimming in and out of his life, and soon, the fragile ties that bound them would be broken. She wasn’t for ever, he didn’t do that long. He wasn’t into commitment, of any length or any type. This was about pleasure, nothing more. And if he kept telling himself that, maybe he would, at some point, start to believe it.

Ben divested Millie of her underwear and, sitting on his heels, he looked at her, gorgeously naked. He was entranced by her delightful body, her long, shapely legs and her creamy, scented skin. ‘You are exquisite, Millie.’

Millie’s eyes darkened, her lips curled up and she sighed, but her eyes didn’t leave his. Although he wanted to kiss her more than he wanted to breathe, Ben kept his eyes on her face and watched emotions slide in and out of her startling eyes and across her face. Lust, desire, crazy attraction—they were all there, but he thought that under the want was affection, a little fear and a lot of anticipation.

He wanted to remind her, remind himself, that romance had no part in this. This was about sex and escapism. They were doing what women and men did best...

Ben pulled away from her and lifted his hand to grip the back of his shirt. He pulled it over his head in one easy, fluid movement. Millie growled and ran her hand over his chest, lightly touched with hair. He flipped open the buttons to his jeans, hooked his thumbs into the waistband and pushed his jeans down his thighs, taking his underwear with them.

The sigh that followed was one of pure female appreciation.

Naked, Ben gripped her waist and moved her down the couch. When she was where he wanted her, he lay down on top of her, chest to chest, his erection finding its natural place between her thighs. Wanting more, he pulled back to kiss his way down her neck, across her collarbone. She was so lovely, and he couldn’t get enough of her. He pulled her nipple into his mouth and her fingers twisted in his hair. She liked that, seemed to like everything he did. She was so damn hot...

He was so close to making her his...one little push and he’d be in heaven. But...aargh! He needed a condom or Millie would be getting that baby sooner than she thought.

He looked up and pushed a strand of hair from her face. She gripped his hips and dropped her legs open. Ben groaned and shook his head.

‘What’s the matter?’ she whispered, immediately tensing. He saw the vulnerability in her eyes—she thought he was slamming on the brakes. There wasn’t a remote chance of that happening.

‘I need to get a condom, sweetheart. I’ll be back in a sec.’

Ben reluctantly pulled away from her. He knew he had a condom in his wallet, which lay on the hallway table, just outside the door to this lounge. He moved quickly and came back into the room, scattering cards and cash over the intricate parquet floor as he searched for the condom he’d shoved into one of the compartments a few months back. Finally digging it out, he ripped it open, sheathed himself and lowered himself back down to the couch, settling himself back between her thighs.

Ben kissed her gently before skimming his thumb over the spot between her eyes. ‘Second thoughts?’ he asked. He wanted her, wanted this more than anything he’d ever wanted before, but he needed to know whether she felt the same. If she didn’t, his withered heart might just crack...

Her ankles were already curved around his calves, and she was lifting her hips, trying to push him deeper into her. ‘No, but I’m tired of waiting. Ineedyou.’

Oh, he liked her like this, a little breathless, hunger in her eyes, her body pushing up into his, wanting what he could give her. He deliberately brushed his chest against hers, teasing her nipples with his chest hair. Unfortunately, his teasing backfired and he knew he couldn’t wait much longer to make her his. He was running out of patience.

‘Quick question?’ she asked.

His eyes bored into her. ‘Make it very damn quick.’

‘I was just wondering how long you are going to tease me?’

‘This long.’ Ben entered her with one fluid stroke, burying himself to the hilt. Yeah, this was what he loved, what he craved, being encased by a woman, enveloped in her heat and scent, feeling her lift her hips in a silent but powerful demand for him to go deeper, to take her harder. Then Millie lifted her mouth to find his and Ben forgot how to think.

All he could concentrate on was the warm, sparkly sensation building in a place deep inside him, each spark igniting another until a million tiny fires danced under his skin. Ben placed his hand under her back, yanked her up and he pushed deeper into her, and those fires joined and created an explosion that consumed him from the inside out. All he wanted was this heat and light and warmth. Her. He wantedher. This. Again and again and again.

Millie’s internal muscles clenched around him, he felt her wet gush against him and heard her sob his name. He’d had good sex before, great sex often. But this was better, hotter, brighter. And that, Ben thought as followed Millie into that white-hot, blinding rush of sensation, was a huge problem.

Much, much later, after Ben had loved her thoroughly and exquisitely again, Millie heard the sound of his deep breathing and watched him in the low light coming from his spectacular en-suite bathroom. Millie lifted his big hand off her bare stomach and held her breath, waiting for him to wake up. He didn’t, so she slipped out of his enormous bed and picked up one of his long-sleeved T-shirts lying on the back of the chair in the corner of his spacious room. She pulled it over her head, rolled up the sleeves and, after finding her panties and pulling them on, padded downstairs, needing to be alone.

She approved of Ben’s renovated, now contemporary, split-level house, with all the levels arranged around the original, central courtyard. All the rooms had parquet floors, high ceilings and big windows, letting in as much natural light as possible. She loved its layout, and its decor, not overly minimalistic, and she felt at home.

Moving down the steps, Millie walked into the kitchen area with its mahogany cupboards, granite counters and stainless-steel appliances. A big island dominated the room and to the left was a spacious, casual eating area under a massive window. The built-in, L-shaped couch half framed the dining table and it was wide enough to sleep on.

Millie took a bottle of water from the fridge and cracked the top, took a long swallow and looked out, sighing at the still-falling snow. She needed a few minutes to make sense of what had happened upstairs and to get her brain to restart. If that took a while, she wouldn’t be surprised—she felt as though she’d been hit by a massive power surge.

She’d had a few lovers over the years, but sex with those men couldn’t compare to what she’d experienced with Ben. He was a tender and thorough lover and he’d shown her how fantastic sex could be. It was an eye-opener to realise she’d only ever had boring sex, mediocre sex and okay sex. Making love to Ben was a transformative experience and she’d never be satisfied with anything less than brilliant sex again.

That shouldn’t be a problem because, after she left Reykjavik, her focus would move from having a lover to acquiring a baby. She doubted she’d be interested in sex while she was pregnant and, after the baby was born, all her focus would be on her child. Hopefully, by the time she finally turned her attention back to her own sexual needs, the memory of this incredible night spent in Ben’s arms, and how brilliant he was in bed, would’ve dissipated.

Millie sat on one of the bar stools at the island and crossed her bare legs. She pulled her laptop towards her—she’d left it here earlier—and switched it on. They’d had sex, it had been stunning and amazing, but she had to put it into perspective: it was a fling, not destined to last. It didn’t matter that she wanted more than one delicious night, wasn’t important that she needed more of his growled compliments, to hear his murmurs of appreciation at how fantastic she made him feel.

He’d made her feel more like a woman, fierce and fantastic, than she ever had before, but where did that get her? The harsh reality was that there was nothing more between them than a once-convenient marriage and pheromones.

Unfortunately, she hadn’t expected to like him so much. They’d both had good reasons to marry back then—she to get her stepfather out of her life, he to get her stepfather out of the company. Things ticked along happily until her biological clock started setting off alarm bells...

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