Page 11 of Cord

“I can’t eat another bite. You bought me food every time I turned around.” I move to grab my bag before hurrying to the bathroom. “I’ll only be a minute.”

I’m so tired that I barely manage to brush my teeth and comb my hair before taking a warm shower to wash off the travel grime. I’m in the bathroom for a total of seven minutes, but by the time I come out, Cord is already sprawled onto the bed and snoring lightly.

“I guess you can sleep anywhere, Marine,” I murmur as I crawl into bed next to him. I fall asleep the moment my head hits the pillow and don’t wake until I feel eyes on me. It takes me a few hazy seconds to remember where I am and who I’m with.

I blink open bleary eyes to see Cord staring down at me. He looks rumpled and hungry. Very hungry.

“What are you doing?” My voice is croaky from sleep.

His fingers are on my arm, tracing slow circles. The touch is sending electricity through my veins, making my breath come quicker. “Admiring God’s finest creation.”

My body is so warm, and I haven’t felt this relaxed in ages. It doesn’t hurt that he’s always so quick to take care of me. He makes me feel safe, not physically but emotionally. Like I’m not carrying everything on my own. But that doesn’t mean that any of this is real. After all, he’s not here because he wants to be. He’s here because I hired him. “Does that line usually work?”

Amusement flickers across his features which isn’t what I was expecting at all. I figured he’d be annoyed. “Do you always overthink?”

“Hard not to when you carry the weight of the world,” I admit. Hundreds of people count on me for jobs that feed their families and countless pet parents depend on me to make smart decisions. That’s to say nothing of the non-profit initiative that requires my time and attention. There are moments when it all weighs heavily on me.

He doesn’t sneer at me the way Stuart would or try to insist that my job is so much easier than I make it out to be. “Want me to distract you for a few minutes?”

“What did you have in mind?” I’m definitely panting now and my pulse is thrumming everywhere, especially in that neglected spot between my thighs.

“Just this.” He brushes his lips against mine, the gesture filled with gentle tenderness and something that feels a lot like possession. I groan and fist his shirt, my nails raking against his shoulders. He’s so big and thick everywhere. Is he hard again, like he was when I woke up yesterday?

“I want to lick your pussy,” he murmurs, lifting his head to pin me with that intense brown gaze. He’s normally so hard to read but both times we’ve been in bed, he hasn’t hidden his desire for me.

So, what if he’s only here because he’s completing the terms of the agreement? So, what if I married him just yesterday and he’s a total stranger? He’s in my bed. He’s hot and he just offered to go down on me.

I make a strangled sound in the back of my throat and quickly nod. His head between my thighs sounds like the perfect way to start the day.

He smiles and reaches for my nightie, the silky red one that I chose because I liked how the material feels against my skin. I wasn’t tired in the shower last night and fantasizing about what our honeymoon could look like.

Cool air rushes over my skin when he removes it, tossing it casually onto the bed beside us. My nipples pebble, and I’m not wearing any underwear. I’m completely bare to him, and the appreciation in his gaze has my normal apprehension melting away. “You are beautiful everywhere,” he murmurs and reaches to cup himself through his pants. “Been hard since the moment I first saw you. Can’t believe I get to call you wife now.”

My cheeks heat at his words. “I liked you the first moment I saw you too.”

“Good. Then we’re in mutual like,” he says and presses a kiss to my stomach. He lavishes his attention on my curves, pressing hot kisses across my skin and running his tongue around my belly button.

“Love every inch of her body,” he murmurs and the soft words spoken under his breath, like a private conversation he’s having with himself, have me unexpectedly tearing up. He’s not doing this just because it’s our weekly scheduled sex date. He’s doing this because he wants to. Because he likes me.

He moves down to my legs, ignoring that spot where I’m aching. He kisses to my ankle before starting his way back up. By the time he’s reached my knee, I’ve spread my legs. I’m ready for whatever he wants to give me.

“So much cream down here.” He runs his fingers across my slick folds then holds them up to show me the glistening digits. He sucks them into his mouth, holding eye contact the entire time so I can see him enjoying his first taste of me.

“You’re going to have me addicted,” he growls and ducks his head. That soft feeling of his beard between my thighs is heavenly. I need to feel him against my pussy. Need him licking and sucking and satisfying me.

I whimper, and he understands.

“I’ve got you,” he whispers.

It’s the last thing he says before he licks my slit, and I melt into the sheets.

He uses his tongue to tease my soft folds, slowly working me into a frenzy until I’m pulling on his hair and rubbing myself into his face. He makes obscene growls as he eats me out, and I’m pretty sure he’s making dirty promises against my swollen flesh. I’m too far gone to know exactly what he’s saying.

The orgasm builds slowly until suddenly I’m riding a powerful wave of bliss that sweeps through my body. Everything else fades, and I can only focus on this moment and the feel of Cord’s beard and the way he growls, putting an arm across my hips to still me. He eats me out until I can barely remember my own name and have to push him away.

He stares up at me, his face and beard glistening. But it’s that look of satisfaction in his gaze that gets me. He looks like he enjoyed that just as much as I did. The thought makes me warm all over as my body continues to pulse with pleasure.

“It’s my turn now,” I say and reach for him just as my phone dings with a notification.