Page 4 of The Marriage Bid
His tone was harsh. Almost… angry? But I didn’t have time to dwell on that peculiarity because he took my hand anddragged me to the kitchen counter, where he bent my body face forward onto the surface. A thrill ran down my spine when his hands made contact with my butt, and I heard more than felt his hand ripping off my panties. The thrill accelerated when his fingers danced around my clit, caressing the nub before delving into my wetness.
“You’re drenched,” he said in my ear. I reached behind him to touch him, but he slapped my hand away and shoved it on the counter. The move should have been rough, but he held me in a gentle manner that was both comforting and confusing. But I had no time to contemplate what that meant because he was driving me crazy with his strokes. Electric pulses shooting from my clit spread all over my body until I was sure I was about to come. That’s when he withdrew his hand. The sound of a belt buckle clicking, the rustling of clothes, and my own ragged breathing filled the quiet apartment. Ripped foil and the snap of latex, and a few moments later, he thrust inside me. His cock filling me—thick and long. A moan left my lips. It had been a long time since I’d been with someone. And never with anyone as big as him. He paused, his hand caressing my back. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought he was letting me adjust to his girth.
I pushed my body back against his, and he began thrusting. His hands held my waist in a vice grip as he drove into me. My nipples rubbed against the counter as he set a relentless pace—a fuck meant to punish. But pity him because I was with him all the way. My hands and face were flat against the countertop, afraid to make a move or he would stop. That seemed to have been the instructions anyway when he slapped my hand away. And I didn’t want him to stop. I’ve never felt like this before. I’ve never been at the mercy of someone and loved every minute of it. He fucked me so hard I thought I was going to faint. But that’s not what happened. Instead, my legs shook as my pussy milkedhis cock, tremors running through my body. My knees buckled, and I had to grip the counter so I would not fall, but Tyler’s grip was so strong that would not have happened.
Was that how it felt to orgasm with someone else? I expected him to come soon, but he withdrew out of me, lifted me in his arms again, and placed me on the loveseat. He sat beside me, lifted me by my waist, and swung me onto his lap. I slid down onto his cock, facing him. His face was taut and blank of any emotion.
My pussy was still sensitive from the orgasm, but I rode him regardless. My knees scraped the sofa, my hands on his shoulders. He was impassive as he watched me ride him. The only thing that betrayed his emotions was the way his hands held me. His tight grip showed how he was barely holding his control.
“Fuck, Tyler,” I whispered as another orgasm came close. I leaned down to kiss him, but he moved his lips away. Okay. No kissing, then. Suddenly he whipped me around until I was lying on the couch and he was on top of me. He fucked me relentlessly, thrusting so hard as though he was exorcising a demon. My legs trembled as a wave of ecstasy washed over me. Tyler pinched between his cock and his balls as he withdrew. Still hard. Still, he had not come. Before I could ask if this was normal, he got up, dragged me to the stairs. I thought we were going to the bedroom, but he stopped in the middle, bent me over the glass rail, and fucked me there again. And again, on the steps. And again, at the door of his bedroom. My tits on either side of the frame, my hands holding onto the door handles. Finally, when I thought I could not take any more orgasms, he came and immediately withdrew out of me.
Tyler stumbled onto the bed. With one hand behind him, he removed the condom with the other. Cum dripped onto theterracotta-tiled floor as he said breathlessly, “That’s it. I’m done with you.”
Chapter 3
Saffron
5 years later
My husband was a hard man to find. Well, soon-to-be ex-husband if the process server could get to him. Tyler had been all over the country and the world according to the server, making him hard to track. I needed this divorce. I had spent five years in a relationship with a husband who never contacted me throughout that period. He never cared what I did with my life. We were strangers and lived separate lives. And now that my dad had died, a clean slate was what I needed, starting with getting rid of Tyler Hawthorne. I was no longer the self-conscious twenty-five-year-old who still had a residual crush on Tyler. I was a grown woman with a business that, while not as successful as I wished it could be, was something I had built all on my own. Without his help or my father’s help.
Malaya came into the office, throwing her purse on her desk opposite mine and turning around to face me, arms akimbo, and I thrust Tyler to the back of my mind. She was wearing her signature, client-luring outfit of a dark tangerine blouse that complemented her light brown skin and a tight white pencil skirt that reached slightly below the knees. My partner only put on that fit when she was trying to snag a big fish.
It’s been a year since we’ve been official with our interior decorator business. Malaya and I started off moonlighting while we worked at one of the prestigious interior design companies. But we were getting so much business on the side that starting our own felt like a no-brainer. But acquiring offices seemed to have brought a run of bad luck. Try as we might, we were having trouble getting lucrative clients, and bills were literally piled on the desk. My desk specifically. And as though to put a point on it, our assistant, Kayla, opened the door and handed me our electric bill. I sighed.
“What’s that?” Malaya nodded at the letter in my hand.
“We’re going to have to move to that Queens office. I don’t think we can keep up with Manhattan rates.”
Malaya folded her arms, leaning against her desk. “What if I say we don’t need to?”
“Please tell me you brought good news.”
“Well, goodish news. Remember that civil engineering friend from college I told you about? Well, he finally got me in contact with one of his architect buddies, and guess who is coming from a meeting with Hawthorne and Hawthorne?”
“Haw-Hawthorne?” Cold sweat dripped down my back. Oh god no. Anyone but those two. Malaya had been actively networking for months to get five minutes with Hawthorne and Hawthorne. I had let her go on this wild goose chase, assuming she would never be successful. Hawthorne and Hawthorne were large and prestigious. We were small potatoes. Barely small potatoes. But if my dread was on my face, Malaya did not register it as such.
Her eyes widened with excitement. “Right! I should have told you, but Ethan caught me by surprise when he told me one of the Hawthorne brothers would be joining us. I thought I was meeting his other friend. You know, that Italian guy who’s building houses all over Staten Island. Anyway, guess who sitsdown to lunch? Sebastian freaking Hawthorne. So I gave him the same pitch I planned for Ethan’s Italian friend, and he seemed impressed. He was impressed. He wants to work with us!” she screamed the last sentence, jumping up at a height her three-inch pumps should not allow. Her face fell when she finally registered my trepidation. “Well? Why aren’t you happy?”
“Did, uh… Hawthorne, Seb…”
“Sebastian. Or Seb, as he likes to be called.”
“Right. Did he give any guarantees that he would definitely be working with us?”
“Um. I see what you mean. And I get you might be a little wary, but he’s very interested. I didn’t sign a deal or anything, but all he needs is our portfolio, which I will send to him, and he’s ready to work with us.”
“Sebastian Hawthorne?”
“Right! I couldn’t believe it. Ethan has earned his date. That was some amazing pull.” Malaya strode around her desk, sank into her chair, and opened her laptop. “If we get this deal, we are set for years. And if we play our cards right, H&H could end up being our cash cow. Seb was talking about all the permits he got for constructing apartment and office buildings. It’s insane how much building they’re doing.”
“Sebastian said it’s a deal?”
Malaya looked up from her laptop. “You… don’t look happy?”
“What? I’m happy! This is amazing!” My too high-pitched voice failed to convince her.
“Saff. What’s wrong?”
