The Worst Man (Wedding Season Series) Read online

  “You do?” I squeaked.

  “Mmm-hmm,” he hummed, sliding his hands back up my body to tangle in my hair. He pulled me close and licked his way inside my mouth. “I love the way you taste,” he whispered against my lips, his hips rocking against me. I could feel the long, hard length of his erection pressing against my core. “Tell me again that you’re not going to ask for a divorce.”

  The force of his demand caught me by surprise. I pulled back and stared down at him, the look of pure, unadulterated need on his handsome face taking my breath away. Suddenly, I realized how intensely my answer mattered. “Sorry, Talbot. You’re stuck with me.” I settled my hand on his chest, over his heart. “I’m like a penguin. I mate for life.”

  “I can’t tell you how happy I am to hear you say that.” He peppering my face with urgent, hungry kisses. When he reached me ear, he bit down on the lobe and then sucked it between his teeth to soothe the sting. “Because you’re mine, and I want to fuck my wife again. I can’t stop hearing your voice as you begged me to go harder. I can still feel your nails digging into my skin. The look on your face when you came is forever branded in my soul. I’ve never seen anything more gorgeous than your face in that moment. You slayed me.” He rolled us over, and caged me in beneath him.

  My breath hitched, the quick switch from playful to sinful giving me mental whiplash. One moment we’d been taking a stroll down memory lane, getting to know each other a bit better in the context of our new situation, and the next I’m pinned under him with his thick cock pressing against my naked needy center.

  Sensing my stunned reaction, Hank pulled back. All traces of humor were gone, and in its place was a steely determination I’d never seen on him before. “I won’t do anything you’re not ready for, but hearing you say that you’re as committed to this as I am just does it for me. I need to be inside you again. To make this all real in the cold light of day.” He hooked my thigh up around his hip and rocked against me again, his cock sliding against the slick evidence of my mounting arousal. “Do you feel that? Do you see what you do to me?”

  I screwed my eyes shut and my head fell back. “Oh god,” I moaned when he rocked forward again and the head of his cock slipped between my folds and then back out.

  “Not god. Just your husband. The only man who’s going to make you scream for the rest of your life.”

  I shivered at the dominance I detected in his voice. The dark tones Samuel had used to tell me to get down on my knees and suck his cock had felt less like sexy dirty talk designed to get me in the mood and more like an imbalanced exchange of power designed to make the sex good for him. With Hank, it felt like the exact opposite. His language was just as crudely spoken, but I got the distinct sense it was my pleasure that drove him. My need for him that turned him on.

  I slid my hands between our bodies, and taking his cock in hand, guided it to my entrance. “I’m on the pill and I’m clean.”

  He grinned down at me. “I know. You were pretty adamant about that last night.”

  “I was?”

  He nodded. “The second time, you threw the condom clear across the room and then straddled my lap.” His eyes heated with the memory of that moment, and his words shook loose my own memory.

  “Oh no,” I groaned with sudden shame. “I begged you, didn’t I?”

  “In so many words, yes.” He chuckled and dragged his cock through my slick folds, entering me just slightly and then retreating once again. “It was the sexiest fucking thing I’d ever heard.”

  That was his polite way of confirming that I’d actually said something along the lines of “I want your cum dripping out of me when we’re done.”

  The fact that something so scandalous had crossed my lips came as a shock to me. I’d never been a femme fatale or a temptress. Most of the sex I’d had had been missionary with the lights out. I was the furthest thing from sexually adventurous that one could get, but with Hank, I wanted to throw caution to the wind and let him lead me where no other man ever had.

  He braced himself above me, his thick, ruddy crown pressing at my entrance. “Tell me again.”

  “Are you hard of hearing?” I teased, lifting my hips in invitation.

  “No, I just like hearing you beg for it.”

  I licked my lips and smiled up at him, doing my best to look seductive coy as I mentally prepared myself to say the words I never thought I’d utter to any man, let alone this one. “I want you to make love to me like you’ve been waiting your whole damn life for this moment. Like you can’t get enough of me. Like you lo—”

  Before I could finish, he surged forward with a low groan, burying himself to the hilt. “Fuck.” He dropped his forehead down to rest against mine. “You feel so damn good, baby.”

  “So do you,” I murmured, marveling at how right this felt as Hank moved in and out of me with slow, deliberate thrusts. We fit together perfectly, like his body had been made for mine.

  Sex had never been like this for me, and I knew if I wasn’t careful, I could become addicted to the way my body responded to his. I had a symposium to lead later that afternoon, but with his lips wrapped around my nipple, I was sorely tempted to cancel.

  “Let’s never leave,” I said, my back arching off the bed when he used his teeth. “Let’s stay right here, fucking and ordering room service for the rest of our lives.”

  He growled in agreement, and in one swift motion, flipped us over so that he was on his back and my knees were planted on the mattress. “I want to watch you,” he said, his thumb finding my clit. “You’re so fucking beautiful riding my cock like this.”

  I rolled my hips over him and he rubbed tight little circles around that sensitive bundle of nerves, dragging me higher and higher toward the edge. My limbs trembled with the need for release, but I didn’t want to let go and fall just yet. Our first time together was a blur, and I wanted this time to last.

  Hank, however, had other ideas. He dug his fingers into my hips and surged upward, hitting my g-spot, that place inside a woman’s body I’d always assumed was a myth. With another hard thrust, my orgasm ripped through me, breaking the old Miranda into a thousand tiny pieces and then piecing me back together as a new, wholly formed woman.

  He banded his arms around my middle and surged upward, capturing my mouth in a rough kiss that felt like a brand as he emptied himself inside me, his body shaking with the force of his own release.

  We collapsed in a heap of sweaty, tangled limbs, our kiss going from hard and punishing to soft and savoring.

  He slipped from my body and gathered me up into his arms. He brushed the sweaty hair back from my brow. “Why haven’t we been doing this for years?”

  “Because I hated you,” I reminded him, hooking my arms around his neck so my fingers could tangle in the silky dark brown hair at his nape. He was due for a haircut, but I kind of enjoyed the rumpled way he looked now.

  “That’s funny,” he said, serious eyes latching onto mine. “Because I’m pretty sure I loved you that whole time. And I promise you now, I’m going to keep on loving you for as long as we both shall live.”

  Seven

  Our journey home from Las Vegas was a very different one from our flight there. For starters, Hank and I were seated in first class, a splurge he surprised me with when we checked in at the ticket counter. His other surprise? While I’d been leading my symposium, he’d skipped out on the conference altogether to pay a visit to a high-end jeweler an acquaintance had recommended located off the Strip. The moment I stepped out of Hall B, he dropped to one knee and asked me to marry him all over again. Naturally, I’d said yes.

  “What are we going to do about your parents and that ridiculous offer?” I lifted a glass of pink bubbly to my lips.

  “I think the more important question is what we’re going to do about your family. Should I be concerned about your older brothers showing up on my doorstep one morning demanding that I step outside?”

  I waved away his concern. “Honestly, I’m no
t all that close with my brothers. When all that shit with Tag came to light, they were angry that I’d ‘thrown myself’ at their friend.” I used my fingers to make air quotes.

  Baxter accusing me of some nefarious plot to trap his friend into a relationship had been a stark lesson in familial loyalty—or lack thereof. It had also sharpened my impression that no matter how good you might think a man was, he would eventually disappoint you. It was no wonder I’d developed a healthy skepticism where the opposite sex was concerned. I hoped Hank would help me break those old, ingrained habits.

  His gaze grew stormy. “I still want to strangle that fuck face. What kind of twenty-two year old preys on an innocent girl who doesn’t know any better?”

  I set my champagne down and laid my hand to his forearm. “Please, don’t take away my agency. When I walked into that room with Tag, I knew things would become physical. I made the decision to go in there because I wanted that to happen. Yes, the sex was absolutely terrible and he treated me abominably afterward—both of which I obviously regret—but I didn’t do any of it under duress. Being a strong woman means owning up to the role I played in my mistakes.”

  Hank’s glass joined mine on the console that separated our seats, and he clasped my hands in his. Raising them to his mouth, he placed a slow, tender kiss across the bridge of my knuckles. “How did it take me two years to notice how strong and resilient you are? I can’t believe I spent all that time rebelling against what I viewed as angry, man-hating feminism. Meanwhile, if I’d just stopped and listened to you for one fucking minute, I would have realized my mistake. Will you ever forgive me?”

  I slid my hands from his, and cupped his cheeks in my hand. He hadn’t shaved in a few days and his face bore the traces of what would grow into a dark, thick beard in a few days time. I’d never seen him sporting facial hair, but I was looking forward to it now. Selfishly, I could imagine how the soft whiskers would feel between my thighs. “With an apology like that, how can I say no?” I tugged him forward to press my lips against his. Immediately, a fire ignited low in my belly, a craving unlike anything I’d ever known. Now that I’d stopped fighting my attraction for Hank, whenever we touched, things turned electric.

  But we were in the middle of an airplane surrounded by fellow passengers, so I needed to cool my jets, so to speak. I slowed our kiss and pulled away with regret. “Later,” I said as he reached out to rub his thumb over my bottom lip.

  Ladies and gentlemen, we are beginning our final descent into Boston. Please make sure your seat backs are raised and your carry-on belongings have been stowed.

  Hank gathered our empty glasses and passed them to a flight attendant making her way down the aisle and then turned back to me. “So,” he said, his face suddenly bearing the traces of nervousness.

  “So,” I echoed.

  Suddenly, the slogan “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas” clanged loudly in the recesses of my subconscious. We’d gotten married on a drunken whim, and had agreed to stay married while the rush of fresh passion still pulsed between us.

  We’d made tremendous strides over the past forty-eight hours, but the fact remained that we’d arrived in Vegas enemies and were returning to New England as husband and wife. Our lives were about to be upended in a major way, and while we’d discussed a great many things since waking up naked together, there was still a lot of unresolved issues between us.

  “Going back to the question of the three million dollars,” Hank began. “What do you think about donating it to Planned Parenthood, or a local women’s shelter or something? It’d be nice for a change if the Talbot money was used for something good.”

  My heart melted and my worries about the future dissolved. Our relationship wasn’t perfect, and we’d likely go through some pretty epic growing pains, but Hank’s words proved one very important thing: he knew the contents of my heart. Also, that he supported them. That he supported me. “I think that’d be lovely.”

  As the plane touched down at Logan and we came to a stop at our gate, Hank gathered my hand in his and led me from the plane. He squeezed my hand when we stepped onto the escalator leading down to baggage claim. “At the risk of hearing something I’m not ready to, what happens now?”

  I looked up into his handsome face and felt a small smile tugging at my lips. “Did you drive?”

  He ran a hand through his hair, and smiled sheepishly back at me. “Not exactly.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “I, um, used the family driver. You?”

  “I took the bus.”

  “Do you want—”

  “—It occurs to me ...”

  “Sorry, you go first.” Hank gestured for me to continue.

  I stepped closer and wrapped my arms around him in what I hoped felt like a comforting embrace. At first his body was firm and unyielding, but then he melted into the hug with a long, drawn out exhalation.

  “Relax,” I said, my cheek pressed against his chest. “We’ll get through this. I promise.”

  “How do you know?” It was the first time since waking up next to each other that he’d verbalized any concern for our future together.

  I took a step back and straightened my spine. Putting on a brave face, I said, “Answer me this: do you know two more stubborn people in all of the world?”

  His lips hitched up in a small smile. “No.”

  “Okay, then. We can do this.”

  He stared at me intently as if I was a puzzle he couldn’t quite work out. In the background, the buzzer announcing our flight’s bags had arrived sounded and the carousel began circling the baggage claim area. “I think what I’m struggling to understand is why you would want to,” he said eventually.

  I twisted my head from left to right dramatically. “I’m sorry. I’m looking for the man I was just sitting next to. Have you seen him anywhere?”

  Hank rocked back on his heels and shoved his hands into the front pocket of his jeans. “I know. I’m just …” he trailed off, leaving the thought unspoken.

  “Just what?” I asked, taking a further step back.

  If he was going say he thought we should call this whole thing off after I’d just spent the last two days convincing myself that it could work, I didn’t want to be within striking distance of him. I’d never punched anyone before, but if he thought he could toy with my emotions like that, I just might be tempted to give it a try.

  “I guess I’m just waiting for you to realize you’ve made a mistake.”

  One by one, my fingers unclenched from the balled up fist I hadn’t known I’d made. “Funny,” I said, “because I was just thinking the same thing.”

  I took hold of his hand and dragged him over to a corner where no other passengers were standing so we could have the rest of this conversation in relative private. “If you don’t want to be married to me, I need you to say so right now. No harm, no foul. We can go back to the way things were before Vegas. We can pretend like this never happened, and go on with our lives. Separately.” My gaze darted away from his, hearing the lie even as it slipped from my lips. The truth was, no matter what happened between us in the future, I’d never be able to look at Hank the way I had before. Going back to hating him simply wasn’t an option now.

  “You’d be able to do that?”

  We stared at each other, our gazes locked in a silent face off for what felt like ages. His eyes were unreadable, but his jaw was set in a firm line, and every couple of seconds his temple pulsed as if he was grinding his teeth.

  This conversation was going in circles—questions being answered with more questions—and until someone admitted what they really thought about this situation, it would continue on that way. I’d never been afraid to let Hank know exactly what was on my mind, so why was I so hesitant to start now?

  Because everything has changed, my subconscious whispered. You’ve had his dick inside of you. There’s no going back from that.

  I blew out a breath and my shoulders slumped in on themselves. “N
o, I wouldn’t be able to do that.”

  “Me either,” he admitted, his words coming in a rush as he yanked me into his arms and crushed me to his middle. “I don’t want to go back to how things were before. I want you in my life, Miranda. Improbable as it is, I can’t imagine myself settling down with anyone but you.”

  I leaned away and looked up at him. “Let’s promise to always communicate with each other.

  “Deal,” he said, kissing my forehead. “And in the spirit of communicating, we should probably discuss a few pretty important details.”

  “Such as?”

  “For starters,” he said, suddenly letting go of me to grab our luggage from the carousel before they passed us by. Setting my bag down and raising the handle, he spun it my way. “There’s the small matter of where we’re going to live. Last I checked, married couples slept together under the same roof.”

  At Hank’s mention of sleeping in the same bed, my cheeks heated and my lady parts practically shouted with joy. Now that my dry spell had been broken, I wanted sex all the damn time. He had turned me into a fiend, his very own succubus. Fitting since his area of expertise was the supernatural as it was represented in folklore throughout the ages.

  “We definitely need to figure that one out,” I agreed, firmly putting all thoughts of stripping him naked and having my evil way with him from my mind. “I live in a four hundred square foot one bedroom apartment near campus. Not great for one person, let alone two.”

  Side by side, we rolled our luggage out of the terminal and out onto the walkway rimming the arrivals terminal. He lifted his chin, motioning toward a lot a few hundred feet away that was filled with waiting cars. “My driver should be waiting over there. What do you say you come back to my place tonight and we can figure this all out over some takeout?”

  I opened my mouth to say that I should really get back to my place but then closed it. The only thing waiting for me at home was a stack of research that I needed to go through for the paper I was writing and a box of cold pizza from four days ago. Both could wait. “That sounds great.”