Branded (Strand Brothers Series Book 1) (28 page)

“Oh!” she gasped. “I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”

I stepped out from behind Nik and smiled, “No, you didn’t.”

She walked over and handed me a glass of water. “Well, you look better.”

I took the glass and downed it. After I finished, I said, “I feel better, also.” I shot Nik a knowing glance and continued, “Thank you for the water.”

She grinned, “No problem.”

Franco strode into the ballroom. “Why is everyone in here?”

Gina chortled, “No reason, caro. Come,” she motioned to us, “we must go tour the gardens.”

I laced my fingers with Nik’s and gazed up at him. “Yes. Let’s do that.”

I winked as we all left the ballroom, which had forever altered my life. Nik was the man I dreamt of every night since that masquerade. He was my Mr. Mystery. And I was grateful destiny had brought him back to me.
Finally.
No matter where we were,
he
would always be
my home
.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Nik

The rest of our afternoon was extreme torture. There was nothing I wanted more than to make love to my wife until morning. But that wasn’t going to happen. Once we received the call we had been waiting on, Franco and I left the ladies again to finalize the arrangements for his cousin. Back in the day, the man wouldn’t have lived another twenty-four hours. While a part of me could appreciate the completeness in that, I wasn’t going to murder someone in retribution. No matter how much I wanted the problem gone.

Before we were able to leave, we had dinner with Gina and Franco, promising we would return under better circumstances. Then, we headed back to the hotel. Sometime soon, I needed to inform Aimee of our change in living arrangements. But I was unsure of exactly how to handle it. Instead, I gave in to the lust that had been burning inside me since our interlude in the ballroom.

Inside the limo, I hauled her onto my lap—so she straddled my knees, facing away from me. “Let me show you how much I missed you today,” I murmured.

She gasped when my fingers unbuttoned her blouse. While I circled her taut nipples with my thumbs, she leaned her head back against my shoulder. That sweet move gave me full access to her throat. Aimee really had no idea just how breathtaking she truly was. Her curves were enough to make a man weep with joy. At that moment, I decided it was time to make her cry out in pleasure. I spread my legs, effectively opening her to me.

As I moved one hand to the inside of her thigh, stroking up to her drenched panties—
Fuck, yeah!
—I praised, “I love how you’re always ready for me.”

“Hmm,” she moaned, “Only for you.”

I nipped her ear as my thumb skated underneath the edge of her thong and entered her moist heat. Next, I massaged her inner walls and, with my other fingers, teased her swollen clit until her orgasm hit. She sat trembling on me while I continued my sensual assault of her sweet pussy. Unable to hold back a moment longer, I released my painful erection and traced it along the seam of her ass. Images of taking her there, in positions I was totally unsure were feasible, danced in my head. Holy Kama Sutra Batman! She rubbed herself up and down my dick, only fueling my fire more. When she leaned forward to grab the seatback in front of her, I slid home inside her core.

She began to ride me hard. After a few minutes, I grabbed her luscious hips and thrust up into her. She was so close. As soon as I felt her walls grip me, I inserted my thumb to the first knuckle into her asshole. Her scream of pleasure was my undoing.             My seed spewed as I growled, “Ah, fuck.”

She leaned back against me and turned to kiss my jaw while our breathing slowed. I met her lips with mine and then declared, “Someday soon, I’m taking your gorgeous ass.”

She whimpered, “Please.”

Well, shit. If I’d known she was down with anal play, I would’ve been happy to oblige. Though I should’ve known she would be up for just about anything. I mentally shook my head to clear the images of her with other men. It wasn’t that I blamed her, nor was I disgusted by the fact she had sold her body. How could I be? I’d long ago lost count of how many women I had used to ease my loneliness. Their faces and bodies all blended together. I didn’t even remember their names. How sad was that?!

Aimee shifted off me and smiled, “I think we’re here.”

To bring myself back to the here and now, I blinked hard and glanced out the window. Damn, we had arrived. I gave her a slow, wicked smile as I stuffed myself back into my pants and zipped up. She held my gaze with a naughty glint in hers. Oh, yeah. Tonight would be one wild ride after another. Once she was decent for other’s eyes, I opened the limo door. After assisting her out, we walked into the hotel hand in hand. Somehow, I had to keep our clothes on until we were privately enclosed in our suite. Shit. Talk about a lesson in self-control. Something I’d never had a problem with before. But with Aimee, that went to hell in a handbasket.

*****

Unable to keep our hands to ourselves, we put on quite a show for the other hotel guests and staff. Once safely enclosed in our penthouse suite, I directed, “Take off your clothes.”

Her lips pursed before she challenged, “You first.”

Oh, ho. So that’s the way she wants to play this. Fine by me.
I stalked forward until I towered over her. Then skimmed my hands under the collar of her blouse and pulled, effectively spewing tiny buttons across the room. Her eyes widened in shock as she calmly said, “I can’t believe you just tore my blouse.”

I grinned wolfishly and countered, “Should’ve listened.”

An elegant brow rose as she tugged on my tie. While she wrapped it around her neck, she backed up and proceeded to put on quite a show. After she was fully naked—well, except for my tie—she sauntered towards me. Once we were toe to toe, she unzipped my pants while she glanced up at me with hooded eyes.

“Uh-huh, babe.” I stilled her hands and turned around. “This is my scene.”

Her brows rose. “Says who?”

I shook my head while I reached back and tugged on my tie, which dangled between her tits. “Don’t challenge me, Aimee,” I warned as I yanked on the tie with her behind me.

She resisted—I knew she would—as she stamped her little foot, with a hand on her curvy hip, and hissed, “I do not take kindly to be ordered around.” Then she jerked the tie out of my hand. “I’m neither a dog nor your
submissive
.”

I fought back the laugh that threatened to erupt. I quickly schooled my expression and met her eyes. “I don’t want a bitch. And for the record, I don’t play the games my brother does. Hence, I’m not your
Dom
.”

She narrowed her eyes and replied, “I wouldn’t’ve married you if that were
your
thing. Although be forewarned, you will not tell me what to do.”

I chuckled, “Hell yes, I will.” With that, I threw her over my shoulder and carried her into the bedroom. When she squirmed and kicked, I swatted her ass, bringing forth a yelp. “Stop fighting me, Aimee,” I cautioned. “You and I both know you get turned on when I take control.”

She tried to deny it, but when I slid my fingers between her wet folds, there was no more to be said on the subject. As I stood there and toyed with her pussy, for a moment, her next squeal was one of pleasure. “Mine,” I growled as I eased her body down mine. “And don’t you
ever
forget that.”

While she held my gaze, she licked her lips and cupped my nads. “Just as
you
are mine,” she countered.

I threw my head back when she began to stroke my length, before releasing me into her warm hand. After a beat, she began to undress me. As soon as I was naked, I spun her around, so she was facing away from me, and ran my hands all over her delectable body. I would
never
get enough of her.

I eased her down to the edge of the bed—now she was on her hands and knees—and whispered, “Spread your legs as wide as possible.”

Without question, she did as I had directed. The temptation of taking her gorgeous ass was damn near irresistible in that position. Also, the desire to put my head between those lovely thighs and dine made my mouth water. But what stopped either of those actions was my too engorged cock. Instead, I placed the head of my dick into her slick core and thrust home. After a couple of hard pushes, I eased back and began to watch the erotic show. Then, I remembered how she had slapped me in the ballroom and decided it was time to repay her. On the next withdrawal, I held only the tip inside her as I smacked her right ass cheek.

She howled, “What was that for?”

In response, I buried deep and pulled back again. This time, I went for the left side.

She exclaimed, “Ouch!” When I soothingly rubbed my hands over both sides, she moaned. I thrust forward, once again, and then repeated the actions several times until she was dripping wet and groaning. “Please, Nikko,” she begged.

“Please what, lille?”

She backed into me. “Harder,” she commanded, “Fuck me hard while you spank me.”

I growled, “Hell, yeah.” I continued to do as my wife demanded. It was the single most erotic thing I had ever done. While I watched her ass redden, I pounded into her until we both climaxed, which went on and on.

Once we both came back to earth, I exclaimed, “Now
that
was hotter than hell!”

She had fallen face first on the bed while we were catching our breath. I sidled in next to her and drew her onto my chest. As she gently stroked my pecs, I played with her silky hair. Eventually I suggested, “Would you like to take a bath with me?”

“I’d like that, a lot,” she answered sleepily.

“Stay here while I get the water warmed up.”

After I poured some bath oil into the tub, I sauntered out to see why she hadn’t joined me yet. All I needed to hear was her light snore, to realize what had happened. I chuckled as I covered her luscious body with a blanket. Not wanting to let the bath go to waste, I decided to stretch out in the oversized tub.

I awoke to slender fingers caressing my jaw. “Hey,” Aimee greeted as my heavy lids began to lift.

“Hello,” I rasped while I tugged her into the tub with me.

She squealed when the tepid water met her body. I leaned forward and turned on the hot water to rewarm the bath. After it met her approval, she shut the water off and then turned to face me. I pulled her astride my erection and grasped her face with both hands. Our joining was slow and rhythmic, all consuming. With no hurriedness, like the times before, we eased into our climax. Once we had disengaged, we took turns bathing each other. It had been a very long time since I’d simply enjoyed the pleasures of pampering a woman, or being pampered by a woman.

Aimee stroked my face, with a look of concern in her eyes, and whispered, “Is everything okay, Nikko?”

That was when it finally registered; I had tears on my cheeks. There had been a time when I would’ve called myself a pussy for showing my softer side. But I didn’t do that this time. Instead, I tenderly kissed her and poured out all the love I had with actions, not words. Though I recognized she should hear me say it, so I murmured, “I love you, lille.”

She traced the outside of my mouth with her tongue. “I love you, too, Nik.”

We made love again on the vanity of that bathroom before calling room service for a midnight snack.

I knew it was time to talk about our move, so I hedged, “Tell me…did you really want to live in California?”

One elegant brow arched. “Yes. Why do you ask?” she inquired.

Man, my wife was not an easy person to fool. I liked that, a lot.

While I fought the smile that threatened, I replied, “We own a home there.”

That got her attention. Her eyes widened. “What’re you saying?”

I casually shrugged one shoulder. “The business I had to handle with Franco involved my San Fran companies.”

She began to bounce with excitement, like a little girl on Christmas morning. And it was that very moment in which I realized, there wasn’t anything I wouldn’t do for her just so I could see that reaction time and time again. There was no hiding the shit-eating grin on my face. My damn cheeks ached it was so frickin’ big. She was suddenly in my arms. “Seriously? We’re going to San Francisco?”

I chuckled, “Yes, Aimee, my love. That’s what I’m trying to convey.”

She exclaimed, “OMG!” Kissing me over and over again, she gushed, “I love you, so much. Thank you.”

Had I really been concerned with her response to our move? There was obviously nothing to worry about. Honestly, I couldn’t have been happier. Although California held many ghosts for me, to see my wife that elated made me more than ready to move forward.
Time to put those ghosts to rest.
And maybe—just maybe—it was time to share it all with Aimee. Her enthusiasm was downright contagious. So to show my gratitude, I brought her to the height of pleasure, over and over again, until she begged me to stop.

A-fucking-mazing. Night.

Chapter Thirty-Three

Aimee

Elated was not a strong enough word to describe my feelings with regards to living in San Francisco. If you had told me four-and-a-half weeks ago I’d be married, and fulfilling my dreams of residing in California, I would’ve called you a bold-faced liar. Now, all of my hopes and dreams were coming true. I fell more deeply in love with my husband each and every day. Not to mention the sexual chemistry between us was out of this world! To help calm me down on our plane ride to the West Coast, he exhausted my body with one pleasure after another. The man was a damn sex god. I was willing to bet his brother Even had nothing on him. All right, maybe E had kink down in spades, but Nik knew how to truly
please
a woman. His ministrations were quite successful, and I eventually gave in to a blissful sleep.

I awoke to soft, firm lips on mine. Nik announced, “We land in about twenty minutes. I thought you might like to freshen up.”

I smiled up at him. “Yeah, I would. Thank you.”