He shrugged. “As long as we don’t have to live this farce for a day longer.”
I scoffed. “You make it sound as though I forced you into this marriage when you could have simply not married me when you found out.”
He took hold of my chin. “Artifice doesn’t suit you.You know what my father was like.” Carey's eyes sparkled in the low light. His breath hot on my cheeks. His head drooped and my center clenched as I waited for his kiss. My eyes fluttered and just as I was about to close them, he dropped my chin like it was hot coal and left me standing alone on the terrace.
Chapter 30
Carey
I DON’T KNOWwhy I thought her sleeping in the same bed as I would be fine. It was in the middle of the night while everyone was lost in the dreamworld including her, and yet, here I was unable to sleep. Her pretty little snores making me hard. But let’s face it, I’ve been hard ever since she came onto that terrace in that wispy blue dress with gaps on the side to tease what’s underneath. I couldn’t resist. I had to touch her just so I could know what her skin felt like. Like a possessive man, I wanted to claim her as mine in front of another man, regardless of how irrational that was.
That was the problem with Thalia. As much as I hated her, my body certainly did not. Every now and then, my resolve would falter and the need to have her again would become uncontrollable. There was one place I ran away to when that happens. This place. My sanctuary. Now she was here. Sleeping in my bed. One rollover and she’s in my arms. I could wake her up. Kiss her until her eyes fluttered open and then lower that cotton pajama top and claim her breast. Would she writhe and moan like she used to? My hand slid to my cock and stroked as I imagined her mouth on it. Kissing and worshiping it like she used to. Deep throating it. Driving me insane as she gagged on it. My hand worked faster as I saw her in my mind’s eye gettingon top of me, lowering herself on my length and riding me while I played with her breasts. My breath hitched as I felt an orgasm coming. I squeezed the bottom my cock, winced and rushed to the bathroom. Flipping the toilet seat down and taking my cock out of my pants, my hand frantically did what was a piss-poor job of what I truly wanted. Her mouth. Her pussy. Her.
Shame came with the climax. She was bad, I reminded myself. She used you. Betrayed you. I have to clamp down whatever feelings I still have for her during this weekend and the upcoming fortnight.
She was still sound asleep when I came back to bed. I got in and could finally close my eyes, but she still found me in my dreams.
I woke up to an empty bed the next morning. Thalia liked running and, sure enough, when I went to the window and flicked open the curtains, she was on the beach jogging along the coastline. It was still seven am and just as well she was out there and not tormenting me here. I took a shower, got dressed, and by the time I descended downstairs, Thalia was making her way back into the house. We passed each other in the hallway. She was sweaty and her hair was messy. Some of it had gotten loose and strayed out of her ponytail. She looked wild and untamed. The urge to carry her back to the bedroom and strip her out of that outfit and fuck her raw was hard to shut down. So much for control and hardened resolve.
I didn’t see her again until she joined me for breakfast. By then I had regained some control and soon after the Van de Morts came in. They expressed an interest in walking to the shops, so as soon as we were done eating, we all headed out. Mae and were happy walking with each other and taking in the scenery, leaving Thalia and I together.
“Aren’t you tired?” I asked Thalia when the Bardwells stopped again to take a picture. Thalia was facing away from me and tothe Bardwells who were behind us as she shook her head. “Why would I be?” she said without looking at me.
“You jogged in the morning.”
“Like I always do. I don’t mind some extra exercise.”
There’s some extra exercise you could do, I thought. I almost voiced the wayward thought until I caught myself. Thalia looked even more breathtaking than yesterday. She wasn’t wearing anything striking, but the white shorts she had on accentuated her shapely legs and the yellow tank top clung to her chest it looked it was tailor made. She’s lost some weight, I realized. Was it deliberate or because of something else? She whipped her head in my direction and I felt like I was caught staring. Scrambling for anything to say, I uttered, “You look great.”
Her eyes narrowed. “I don’t care what you think of my outfit. I like it like that.”
I frowned. “I wasn’t being sarcastic.” And I wasn’t talking about her darned outfit.
“Sure. Whatever.” She turned away from me. After a moment, she added, “If you think my outfit is inappropriate for a walk to the town, then deal with it.”
I was about to ask her why she was jumping to conclusions until I remembered the last time we were here. I had held a garden party for the law firm partners and she had had worn what could best be described as a white cocktail dress. Something you wore at the club and not at a garden party while hosting a party for your husband’s work colleagues. She looked hot in that tight little dress. Every man was eye fucking her. I got irrationally jealous. And instead of being a good husband and telling her in private to change into something more appropriate, I lashed out. Not scream or shout, but much worse. I humiliated her. “You look great. But when I said you’d be the hostess, I hope you didn’t think I meant club hostess. I want you to host the party, not service the party.” The double entendrewas not lost on anyone who heard. Everyone in the vicinity had laughed, and she was brave enough to make it seem like she wasn’t hurt by the comment.
“Your outfit’s great, I mean your body. You look…toned.”
Thalia titled her head to the side, slightly bemused. She looked like she was about to say something, but the Bardwells started walking again and Thalia marched a few paces in front of me. We walked like that until we reached the town. Because of Mae and Arther’s incredibly slow pace, it was almost midday when we arrived to our destination. The Bardwells wanted to buy some trinkets, so I showed them the tourist shops they could visit. They hinted they wanted to see the town without us, so I let them be, leaving Thalia and I to roam around together
“Was there anything you wanted to get?”
She shook her head.
We were standing between a cafe and an ice cream parlor. “Not even coffee?”
She shook her head.
“Or ice cream?”
Her gaze went to the fifties style shop and nodded. We headed in and I took our orders while she looked for a place to sit. She frowned when I came back with one chocolate mint caramel for me and a bubblegum rainbow sprinkle for her. She took the ice cream and said, “You know my flavor?”
“I wasn’t sure if it still was.” I took my seat, feeling a little more proud than I should for getting it right.
“How did you know?”
"Remember when the car broke down on our way back home and we had to wait at thatDairy Queenwhile your dad fixed the car? You ordered that."
