The Stranger I Married

Chapter 11

“What have I done?”

Although he heard Pel’s whisper, Gerard remained still with his eyes closed, feigning sleep. Her head rested on his bicep and the soft curve of her ass pressed against his hip. The air around them was redolent of sex and exotic flowers, and he felt like he was in heaven.

But obviously, his wife did not.

She heaved a forlorn sigh, and pressed her lips to his skin. The urge to roll and embrace her tightly was nearly overwhelming, but he resisted it. Somehow, he needed to puzzle her out. There was a key to her, if only he could find it.

To bargain with him for his fidelity…That was what she had done. He was flattered and touched, but decidedly curious as to her motives. Why not simply ask him to be true to her? Why go to such lengths-threatening to leave him-to accomplish her aim?

Constancy toward one woman was unknown to him. His needs were sometimes violent as they had been today, and while some women served such a purpose, others, such as his wife, were made for lovemaking. Opening his eyes was not required to know that Isabel’s body was bruised by his ardor. If he subjected her to such treatment often she would grow to fear him, and that was something he could not bear.

But for now, she was his and promised to his bed. That would bide him some time to do a bit of research. He needed to learn more about her, so he could understand her. With understanding would come the ability to keep her happy. Or so he hoped.

Gerard waited until Pel was asleep before leaving the bed. Despite how he wished to linger, it was time to find Spencer and attempt to explain. Perhaps Spencer would understand, perhaps he would not, but Gerard could not allow the situation between them to remain as it was for a moment longer.

He blew out his breath. A temper was something he was still becoming accustomed to. Prior to four years ago, he had never felt deeply enough about anything to become angry over it.

Walking past the full-length mirror, Gerard paused, having caught a glimpse of himself as he passed by. He turned, and stared at his reflection, noting the bite mark on his chest. Swiveling at the hips, he perused his back and the scratches that laced either side of his spine. Just above his buttocks, two round shadows hinted at bruises to come, marks left by his wife’s heels as she spurred him on.

“I’ll be damned,” he breathed, his eyes wide. He looked nigh as bad as Pel. No passive lover was she. He was well met.

Something wondrous tingled in his chest, and then burst forth as a low chuckle.

“You are an odd creature,” came the sleep-husky voice behind him. “Laughing is not the first thing I think of doing when I see you naked.”

Heat rushed over his skin. He moved back toward the bed, and as he did so, he could not help but notice the marks of his teeth on her neck. His blood heated and rushed at the sight. He was a primitive beast, but at least he knew it. “What is the first thing, then?”

Pel pushed herself up to a seated position. Disheveled and flushed, she looked ravished and it was an air of satiation that would linger around her throughout the evening, an unspoken claim.

“I think your ass is divine, and I wish to bite it.”

“Bite it?” He blinked. “My ass?”

“Yes.” She tucked the sheet beneath her arms, her face devoid of the humor that would have revealed she was teasing.

“Why on earth would you wish to do such a thing?”

“Because it looks taut and firm. Like a peach.” Licking her lips, she arched a challenging brow. “I wish to see if it’s as hard when clenched between my teeth.”

His hands moved without volition to cover his rear. “You’re serious.”

“Quite.”

“Quite.” Gerard studied his wife with a narrowed glance. It never occurred to him that Isabel might also have some…quirks in the bedroom. Since she had indulged his anomalous cravings, he supposed it was only fair that he indulge hers, even if his flesh did tighten warily at the thought.

Her amber eyes darkened and heated, a sensual invitation to dally, and he could not refuse. Not when her capitulation was so fresh. He had wanted this, wanted her willing, and if that meant allowing her to bite his ass, he would bear it. It would only take a moment. Then he would dress and speak to Spencer.

“Odd, this,” he muttered, lying facedown beside her.

“I did not suggest this very moment,” she said dryly. “Or even that I wished to make the thought a reality. I simply answered your question.”

He heaved out a relieved breath. “Thank God.” But when he moved to leave the bed, she dropped the sheet and bared her breasts. Groaning, he asked, “How in hell is a man expected to go about his business when you tempt him so?”

“He isn’t.” Wiggling her courtesan’s body out from under his sheets, she stunned him with her beauty so that he lost the sense to move as she crawled over him. “Or are you comfortable only when you are the biter?”

Isabel straddled his back in reverse-her feet by his hands, her hips at his shoulders, her breasts at the small of his back. The lush feel of her curves and the seductive heat of her sleep-warmed body made him hard again.

And he had thought himself spent for a while.

Encircling her ankles with an apprehensive grip, Gerard waited. Then he felt her hands, so tiny and soft, stroking along the curve of his buttocks before squeezing gently. That he could not see her actions only increased the surprising eroticism of the act. Ridiculous though it was, the thought of her admiring another man in such a manner unnerved him.

“Have you always had this fascination?”

“No. You have a singular ass.”

He waited for more, but she said nothing further. Instead she began to hum a soft appreciative sound, and his cock grew so hard it hurt to be prone. The tips of her fingers kneaded his flesh, rubbing and pressing in a way that made every hair on his body stand at attention. Gooseflesh dotted his skin. Closing his eyes, he buried his face in the bed.

A soft touch followed the crease where his buttocks met his thighs. Then he felt the heat of her breath gust across his skin. He tensed all over-starting at his rear and then spreading outward. The wait was endless.

And then she kissed him.

First one cheek, and then the other. Soft, open-mouthed kisses. He felt her nipples grow stiff against his back, and took some comfort knowing he was not alone in this. Whatever this was.

Then his wife bit him, ever so gently, and his toes curled.

His bloody toes curled!

“Christ, Isabel,” he said hoarsely, his hips moving restlessly, pressing his aching cock into the bed. He knew for a certainty that no other woman could bite his ass and actually arouse him unbearably while doing so. He was positive that if another female were to take Pel’s place he would be laughing now. But this was no laughing matter. This was torture of the most sensual kind.

Something hot and wet slid across his skin, and he jerked. “Did you lick me?”

“Shhh,” she murmured. “Relax. I won’t hurt you.”

“You are killing me!”

“Should I cease?”

Gerard grit his teeth and considered. Then said, “Only if you wish to stop. Otherwise, no. However, I feel I should remind you that my body is yours to take whenever you desire.”

“I desire it now.”

He grinned at the steel that laced her bedroom voice. “Then by all means.”

Time passed and he lost track of it, lost in the sultry scent of his wife and the masculine satisfaction derived from being so thoroughly admired. Eventually, she moved away from his rear and moved onto his legs. When she