Page 17 of Accidental Groom
And still, he doesn’t stop.
His mouth gentles but doesn’t retreat, coaxing me through the aftershocks before dragging me right back to the edge, tongue swirling, fingers relentless, each touch a promise ofmore, that he’s nowhere near finished.
The second one fractures me, tears pricking at the corners of my eyes as wave after wave of bliss pulls me under like a riptide.
“Still with me?” he murmurs, nipping at the sensitive skin where my thigh creases.
I barely manage a nod.
He kisses every inch of my body, my hips, my stomach, my breasts, mylips, claiming the same way he had on the pulpit,reverent in a way I’m not used to. He doesn’tstop, not once reaching for his belt, never taking anything for himself.
Just giving.
Over.
And over.
Andover.
Chapter 6
Harry
The courthouse had been as uneventful as peeling gum off the bottom of a shoe.
We’d answered the questions, filled in the forms, said the words one more time with my assistant, Matthew, acting as our legal witness. Eight in the morning sharp, first appointment available.
Elena had looked tired. It wasn’t exactly surprising, considering neither of us got much sleep last night, and when wedid, it had been with me practically passed out with my head on her thigh. But every time I close my eyes, now, I can still hear the sounds she made, can still feel her muscles tensing under my fingers, can still see the way she’d arched?—
“The modification to the agreement was fairly straightforward.” My attorney, Jason, spins a pen in between his fingers as he slides the documents across the mahogany table toward me and Ralph White. My patience is already wearing dangerously thin just sitting next to Elena’s father. The man has treated this meeting like any other business transaction, shuffling through contracts with the same enthusiasm he’d show a quarterly earnings report, like his eldest daughter didn’t just get married off yesterday to a man almost twice her age. “All ofthe terms remain the same, but with Harald substituted as the spouse in question.”
Ralph barely glances up from the papers as he flips through them. “The consummation requirements?”
“Archaic,” I mutter, pushing my reading glasses up my nose. I grab my copy from in front of me, glazing over it. “But it’s been handled.”
It’s a lie. Technically. It’s close enough to the truth that it doesn’t matter.
“Good,” Ralph says, picking up his pen and initialing the first page. The casual dismissal of my callout makes my teeth clench. Even when I was going through the motions of this with George, I was at leastcaring, but Ralph seems to be eager to get her out of his hair and space. And after the way she’d looked at me last night, like I was something miraculous just for making her fall apart with my hands and mouth, I can’t understand why anyone would want to push her away.
I click my pen against the desk. “I’ve been thinking,” I say carefully, turning my gaze on Ralph, testing the waters. “Elena might be more comfortable staying at my penthouse in Manhattan. She’d be closer to work, and I could give her some time to adjust.”
Ralph’s pen pauses mid-signature. “Why would she need to do that?”
It takes everything in me not to throttle him. “Because this situation is complicated enough without forcing her into completely unfamiliar surroundings,” I huff, keeping my voice as level and professional as I can. “She has a life, a career, and half of that takes place in the city anyway. I thought I’d allow her some autonomy while we figure out the next steps.”
“Next steps?” Ralph parrots, his brows practically gluing themselves together. “Harry, you’re married to her now. Thecontract is clear — she’s to integrate into the Highcourt family structure. That means your property. Your oversight.”
The wordoversightmakes my stomach twist. “She’s not a business asset.”
“Isn’t she?” He sets down the papers like I’ve somehow offended him, his white mustache twitching. “Let’s not pretend this is anything other than what it is. Elena understood her role when she agreed to marry George. All that’s changed is that it’s you instead. Same function, different variable.”
I can feel Jason’s stare over the desk, his pen poised as if he’s expecting to take notes. He’s been handling Highcourt business for nearly fifteen years, though, and knows when to speak up and when to let me handle things the way I need to.
But right now, I’m dangerously close to handling Ralph White in a way that would spread even more rumors about me.
“You’re right. Elena is my wife now,” I articulate slowly. “And because of that, and even despite it, she is not a commodity to bemanaged.”
Ralph, somewhere in his stick-figure frame and empty brain, finds the audacity to chuckle. “Of course. But let’s be practical. You’re taking on a significant responsibility here, and Elena is… well, she’s young, inexperienced in a lot of ways.”
