HisMarriageBargain (17 page)

“That’s enough.” He grabbed Autumn’s arm but she didn’t even
acknowledge him. This had been a mistake. They never should have come. This was
getting out of hand. All eyes were on them. They might as well be in a ring at
this point.

“At least I’m not wearing some thrift store outfit.” Dalya
pursed her lips, and still not even a line creased her face.

“Yeah, and?” Autumn snorted and rolled her eyes. “At least I
don’t spend my daddy’s money. I buy my own clothes. So what if I had enough for
a dress and a cheeseburger? At least I know how to eat one.”

Dalya stared at Autumn, her jaw slack. Sammi could see the
meltdown coming. He grabbed Autumn’s arm again, but before he could pull her
away, Dalya launched herself at Autumn, slinging her glass of wine and dousing
Autumn with the red liquid.

That brought the crowd to action. Onlookers lunged for
Dalya, but Autumn grabbed her first, twisting and shoving the stick-skinny
woman against the bar. Autumn upended her glass of wine onto Dalya’s back,
soaking her hair. Calmly Autumn set the glass on the counter and turned to him.

“You bitch,” Dalya screeched, sputtering and wiping wine off
her face. Two men held her back.

“I’m ready to go. Are you?” Autumn asked, ignoring the red
patterns staining her dress.

He nodded and offered her his arm. “Yeah, let’s go.”

Arm in arm, they walked out less than twenty minutes after
arriving, their heads held high, and still clueless as to how the situation had
dissolved so fast.

* * * * *

Autumn entered their house, clenching each shred of dignity
close to her chest.

“Will you talk to me now?” Sammi shut and locked the front
door.

If she said anything, even a single word, she was going to
cry and she wouldn’t give anyone the satisfaction of seeing her break. Autumn
had been objectified and harassed in her life, but never had people looked at
her with such utter disgust and loathing for simply breathing. It was evident
that Dalya wasn’t the only one who thought she’d committed some sort of sin by
being with Sammi.

“Autumn?” He followed her into the bathroom, but she ignored
him. Fuck him and his overly righteous so-called friends.

She wheeled on him and jabbed a finger in his chest. “You
knew this would happen.”

“No. I expected Aaron to be a smug ass, people to make
comments about me, not you. I did not expect Dalya to outright attack you. If
I’d had any idea tonight would turn out like this we wouldn’t have gone. I
swear to you on my father’s grave. Please, I’m sorry.”

It wasn’t good enough. He’d fumed all the way home but never
allowed her to vent her frustration. She wanted to be done with it. Move on
already, except the evening was wrapped around her. She pushed her glasses up
and wiped her eyes, careful not to smudge her makeup.

The scent of red wine was soaked into her clothes and hair.
There was no escaping the sensory reminder. She turned the showerheads on and
kicked out of her shoes. At least they were unscathed. She stripped out of the
rest of her clothes and popped her contacts in while Sammi leaned against the
bathroom counter, watching.

Autumn stepped into the glass-walled shower stall and closed
the door. Steam fogged it over almost immediately, giving her a little privacy.
She stood facing one of the three showerheads and slowly released her death
grip on her emotions.

Pain stabbed through her chest anew. Every time she thought
people couldn’t get worse, they did. What kind of people invited her into their
home to be judged and scrutinized?

Sammi hadn’t seen it as he led her into the house, but the
openly disgusted, judgmental and sneering guests hadn’t hidden their thoughts
from her. Rebekah had warned her on St. Maarten that the Jewish community would
not welcome her. She hadn’t expected outright hostility, and that didn’t even
include Dalya.

At least Autumn understood Dalya. She’d met the woman once
before in passing at a club, and she couldn’t blame her for wanting Sammi back.
They weren’t the first women to fight over a man and they wouldn’t be the last.
Autumn’s only regret was that she hadn’t punched the bitch in the face. But
that aggression had been aimed at their hosts, not Dalya.

She shuddered and sucked in a breath. If there were tears
she couldn’t feel them now, and that was what she wanted.

The shower door opened and closed behind her and her skin
prickled at the gust of cooler air. She shivered and inhaled a deep, calming
breath.

Sammi wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against his
chest. He’d tried talking to her after they left, but words were the last thing
she wanted or needed. It wasn’t what was spoken that cut. People had called her
much worse with more creativity. It was the regard she was denied. As if she
weren’t human.

He released her, only to grab the shampoo. She could see him
in her peripheral vision squeeze some into his hands. He slicked it over her
hair, pulling the length away from her back and working the lather into it. She
tipped her head back and let him comfort her in this small way.

She couldn’t help chuckling at him. “Do you even know what
you’re doing?”

“Not really.” He glanced from her hair to her face, his
smile tight. “I’m sorry. I just thought they’d be stuck-up, I didn’t expect
Dalya to do this.”

Autumn pulled her hair from his hands and began working the
lather into her roots. Maybe it was some warped sense of innocence from
childhood she’d never lost, but Autumn saw all people as equals. The hobo on
the street was just as worthwhile as the businessman or housewife. They were
each made up of the same pieces, just dressed differently.

“Dalya is actually the thing I’m least upset about. I don’t
get the sense of entitlement. That guy, Aaron? I’ve seen him before. The way he
treats people—it’s disgusting.” It had only been at a club a time or two, but
the way he’d treated the waitresses was horrible. A person like that didn’t
deserve what he had.

“I know. I’m sorry, Sunshine. I just… I don’t know. I
thought we could get through the evening without them being assholes.”

“Why would you even pretend to be friends with those people?
They’re nothing like you.” Sammi wasn’t a saint, but he was polite to everyone
and she respected that.

“I’m not friends with them. We all go to the same temple and
it’s a small community.”

“And that means you have to play nice with them?”

“Pretty much.”

“I don’t get that. I would never associate with those
people.” She tipped her head back and washed out the soap, taking all evidence
of the wine and evening with it.

“Yeah, not sure why I ever ran with that crowd.” His voice
was full of self-loathing.

Her gut reaction was to comfort him, but in this she
couldn’t. She wouldn’t ask Sammi to change, but if he realized he could change
maybe he’d learn something.

Sammi wrapped his arms around her again, bringing their
bodies into line. “Why didn’t I meet you earlier in life?”

“You were too busy being like them.”

“Touché.”

“Not really. I bet you weren’t ever like them. Your dad
taught you too well.” She traced the black-and-gray Superman tattoo on his arm.
It had been his first. She’d inked it a year ago and their friendship had begun
in earnest.

Autumn looped her arms around his neck and lifted up on her
tiptoes. Sammi took her up on her offer, pressing a sweet kiss on her lips.

“Is it wrong if I admit thinking about you and Dalya
fighting makes me laugh?” One side of Sammi’s mouth curled up.

Autumn tipped her head back and laughed. “Nope. As far as
fights go, that was pretty pathetic.”

“Oh, she’ll be talking about it for years. By this time
tomorrow you’ll have broken her nose or something. I think I saw more
personality from her tonight than in all the time we were dating.”

“Here’s a tip. Don’t talk about your ex when you’re naked
and wet with your wife.”

“You’re naked? And wet?” He glanced down, his brows crawling
up his forehead. “Look at that. You are naked.” His hand slipped between her
legs. She widened her stance, allowing him to dip his fingers between her
folds. “I think you could be wetter.”

She grinned and lifted up on tiptoes for another kiss.

Her husband liked her; forget the rest.

Sammi pressed her back against the cold tiles, one hand
cradling her face, the other dropping to her breast to pluck her nipple. Autumn
groaned as the his fingers on the tight peak sent sensation zinging to her
pussy.

He grasped her arm and turned her. She flattened her hands
against the wall and widened her stance.

Autumn didn’t need words, only him.

Sammi gently bit the tendon on the side of her neck while
his hands roved over her breasts, down her stomach and over her hips. She felt
him trace one of the cupcakes tattooed on her left arm before biting the frothy
frosting.

She sputtered and laughed, glancing over her shoulder to
catch his grin. His gaze was serious, as if he saw deeper.

“I love hearing you laugh.” Sammi pushed her hair over her
shoulder, kissing a line to her neck.

The hard press of his cock against her ass was a promise.
He’d fuck her and they’d forget everything that had happened tonight. Tomorrow
would be new. Different.

Autumn felt the head of his cock slide between her thighs.
It didn’t matter if her skin was slick with water or her arousal, she was wet,
and feeling him inside her was what she wanted. She tilted her pelvis and he
glided through her folds.

“Shit.” He groaned and thrust.

She gasped and pressed her cheek against the tiles. Warm
water pelted her from every which way, so the cool surface was a relief.

Sammi flattened his hand against her abdomen, guiding her to
the perfect angle. He thrust again and they moaned in unison. His cock filled
her, sliding deep, proving that she was, in fact, plenty wet enough. Slowly he
thrust again and again. She bit her lip and squeezed her eyes shut.

A warmth built inside her, starting in the vicinity of her
heart and spreading lower.

Autumn loved him. She did, and the voice inside her head was
screaming, “Sammi, I love you,” but her lips never moved. That vulnerable
sentiment stayed safely locked away. But she could still love what he did to
her, how he reached around and tweaked her nipples, startling a surprised
squeak out of her.

It made her a little crazed, focused her on the sensation of
his cock between her legs, thrusting harder and harder. He dropped a hand to
her mound, cupping her and wiggling his fingers until one found the piercing.
As he thrust he worked the needy button until incoherent, almost animalistic
sounds spilled from her lips.

Sammi thrust harder and she was especially glad for the
no-slip rubber floor. As he drove into her she shattered, screaming her
release. He dug his other hand into her hair, forcing her head around and
taking possession of her mouth in a savage kiss, drawing her lower lip into his
mouth, nipping it. The thrusts became jagged, uneven until his whole body
tensed, growing rigid behind her.

For several moments they froze, mouth to mouth, their bodies
locked together. Degree by degree Sammi relaxed first, pulling his weight back
so she wasn’t smooshed up against the wall, releasing her hair and easing his
body from hers. He hissed into her ear as he slipped free.

Autumn turned and wrapped her arms around his neck. Instead
of a happy, sated smile, his features were tight, completely what she didn’t
expect post-orgasm.

“What’s wrong?”

Sammi slid his hands up her arms to her shoulders. “I didn’t
use a condom.”

A cold chill gripped her core.

Those words were her worst nightmare.

Disease.

Pregnancy.

She’d always been careful. It was the one point where she
went completely counter to her nature to seize the moment.

“Autumn?”

Never had she let a man come inside her. Not since the first
few times when she’d been flat-out lucky. A friend’s mother had given her a
swift, horrifying education on how worse off her life could be with a teenage
pregnancy or contracting something from a partner.

But she was on birth control. The issue was Sammi’s health,
and that wasn’t a communicable disease.

“Sunshine?”

Autumn blew out a breath and swiped a hand over her face.
“It’s okay. Let’s be more careful next time?”

Sammi nodded, the tension easing slightly.

She stepped back and into the direct fall of the water.
Wordlessly they both washed up. Was the misstep okay? There had been other men
she’d loved and not allowed that privilege.

He was her husband though. And in that, a certain rightness
clicked into place for her. She’d live on after him, but he’d always be in her
heart.

“Finished?” Sammi asked.

“Yeah.”

He turned the shower off and stepped out before her. He had
a towel ready for her the moment her foot hit the bath mat.

“Is this your way of sucking up?” she asked.

“Maybe. I just don’t want you to be upset.” He ran his towel
over his body.

All she wanted was to be in bed. After a quick dry she took
her contacts out and tossed her towel over a bar. She walked out of the
bathroom, crawling straight into bed as naked as she’d been born. Sammi
followed her, towel still in hand.

“You’re going to bed?”

“Yup.” The sandwich she’d eaten before going to the party
hadn’t been much of a dinner, but she was too emotionally exhausted to think
about food now.

Sammi tossed the towel behind him and flipped off the
lights. He slipped into bed beside her and she scooted closer, wordlessly
asking to be held. She settled against his chest, wrapped up in his arms, skin
on skin.

“You sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah. Dalya is a nonissue. I don’t like your not-friends.
And we can just agree to be more careful. Got anything else you want to throw
at me tonight?” God, she hoped not.