Loving the Wild Card (20 page)

Josh’s eyes traveled over her body and missed nothing. It had been too
long since he’d seen his wife naked. When she turned around and reached for the
soap, he got a full view of the backside he loved; hence his nickname for her,
Peaches.

By the time she was facing him, he didn’t care that she was on to him.
In fact, now she was finally naked and about to wash his body, Josh knew he
couldn’t, nor did he want to hide his erection that strained for her touch.

Feeling his strength ebbing, he managed to turn his back to Lux and
brace his hands against the wall of the shower.

“Lux, you need to leave.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m about to turn this shower onto its coldest setting,” he
hissed through tight lips.

“Haven’t I been taking care of you?” Came the calm voice. “Don’t worry,
baby, all you have to do is brace yourself, I’ll take care of everything else.”

Josh whipped his head around so fast a spasm ran up his neck. The sight
of her was so sexy he wanted nothing more than to take her in his arms, but he
didn’t have the strength.

Her first contact was a touch of her lips on his back. That was all it
took for his breath to deepen and his heart to begin to pound as though it
wanted to explode from his chest.

Then she washed him with tender care. Her hands traveled all over his
back, the cheeks of his backside, his thighs, and calves, and for a while, Josh
forgot about his need for release. This was what it meant to have a wife.
Having someone to care about his needs when his size and strength no longer
defined him.

When she was done with his back, she slipped under his upraised arms.
When the sponge she used passed over his chest, Josh hissed at the abrasive
pull as it made contact with his nipples. She looked up at him, but didn’t stop
her ministrations. Without hesitation, she moved down his chest and along his
abdomen.

“I’m so glad to see you’ve kept yourself in shape.”

“All for you, my love.”

Lux snorted at his comment and hesitated just above the place he wanted
her touch the most.

“Really Joshua, are you about to tell me no other woman has touched this
body since me?”

About to respond with something glib, he again sucked in his breath when
instead of the sponge, he felt the rasp of her nails against his belly. Josh
snapped his mouth shut before he got himself into any more trouble. She already
knew the truth and was just toying with him.

“That’s right, it’s best you say nothing.” Lux reprimanded.

Josh thought he detected a note of jealousy and he wanted it confirmed.
“You left–”

“I said, say nothing!”

He complied, knowing full well she took full advantage as his strength
wasn’t up to par.

When she dropped to her knees, Josh held his breath and closed his eyes
in anticipation. The only thing he received was a bypass of his cock as she
cleansed his legs. She even got him to lift his feet as she washed between his
toes.

Josh knew he was on shaky ground and no matter how his body cried out
for her to take him in her mouth, he held back the plea. Lux wasn’t finished
with making him suffer.

“So... Joshua... how many women have you made love to since I’ve been
gone?”

“None.”

“Boy, that’s a dirty lie!” She exclaimed, which came out sounding like
dutty
.

“None, Lux. I haven’t made love to one single woman since you left me.”
He knew what she was asking, but until she voiced the right question, he would
continue to give the same answer.

Standing up, she stood facing him, her chest rising and falling with
vexation. “How many women have you slept with in the last seven years?”

“None.”

Lux narrowed her eyes as she eyed him.

“How many women have you had sex with?”

“A lot.”

“How many, Joshua?!”

“Do you really want a number?” He asked, holding her stare. “Be very
sure you want me to answer that question, Lux.”

When she dropped her eyes, Josh sighed as he considered what would come
next.

“Were you at least safe when you were with these women?”

Josh had nothing but respect for what she was asking him, and he
answered her with complete honesty. “The only woman I have ever slept with
without protection is my wife.” He waited for a short time to pass before he
asked his own question. Her answer might well kill him, but he knew he needed
to hear what she had to say. “What about you Lux?”

Her hesitation twisted his gut. He’d deliberately left the question
ambiguous so she could answer it in whatever way she liked. He knew he was a
hypocrite, but the thought of her with other men killed him.

“I’m clean.”

Josh waited for her to say more, but it seemed that was all he was going
to get and he couldn’t help but feel relief. Unable to stop himself, he moved
one leg and placed it between hers.

“Josh, behave. You’ve been ill.” There was no real censure in her voice
so he ignored her words. Even though, he was losing energy, the feel of her
against his thigh and her breast pressed against his chest was something he
wasn’t prepared to bypass.

“You feel so good, Luxie,” Josh murmured as he ran his rough cheek
against hers. Not wanting to damage her soft skin, he pulled away to rest his
forehead against hers. As if by a will of their own, they moved at the same
time, searching and then finding each other’s lips. Their first touch was like
an explosion going off in his head. Everything within him reacted to her.

Still braced with one arm against the wall, Josh pulled her up his thigh
and kissed her as though she were his last breath. Her response was
instantaneous. They didn’t even attempt to sip at each other, their kiss was
raw and dark, a battle of who could take the most.

Lux finally pulled away and gasped for air, her lips bruised and
swollen. In this state, she looked even more beautiful to him. She was his
woman and he was the one who made her look wanton and lust filled.

“The things I want to do to you would take me a lifetime. But right now
I’d settle for ten minutes.”

“You really need to listen to what I say, baby. I told you, I’d take
care of you and that’s exactly what I’m going to do. Lord knows you should have
just asked rather than this whole saga with the hand to the forehead,” Lux
laughed as she looked at him.

Josh was grateful for the steam that surrounded them, hoping it lessened
the effects of the heat rising to his face. His embarrassment wasn’t about his
tactics, as much as it was about his bad acting. The hand to his forehead was
going to be hard to live down.

Another woman would have dropped to her knees as she palmed the hardness
of his cock. Not his Lux, she stood proud and strong as she moved her hand up
and down his shaft. From tip to root, she worked him as only she could; her
hands sliding over him in ceaseless motion. When one hand reached the tip, the
other was already in place at the root, pulling stretching, rotating him
without end. Josh didn’t have time to process his thoughts, his mind just honed
in on what she was doing to his body and how she was making him feel.

He would have closed his eyes in sheer pleasure, but her gaze was too
intense. By the way she watched him; he knew she was trying to find something
within his eyes. What she looked for, he was unsure. Then it was too late, he
couldn’t process another thing. All he had room for was the feeling that was
moving through him, culminating in the hardness of his cock. He knew he should
do something to bring her pleasure, but he didn’t have the strength.

When his release hit, it came with so much force his knees nearly
buckled. Moving closer she rubbed the length of his cock against her belly in a
soothing motion with one hand while the other ran up and down his shaft. By
increments, his gasps finally filled his chest with air. Spent and wanting to
pull her close, his overriding thought was how he was going to stay on his feet
long enough to get back to bed.

With quick motions, she again washed his body. Somehow, with her help,
he managed to get out of the shower and stumble across both rooms. He knew, if
left to his own devices, he’d have been sleeping in the shower.

Flinging himself down on the softness of the mattress, he heaved a sigh
of relief and closed his eyes. He wanted to say something to Lux, to thank her
for taking care of him, but his gratitude would have to wait because exhaustion
claimed him.

Josh spent two more days in bed; two of which the only thing the
dictator, formally known as Lux allowed him to eat was broth.

On the night of the second day, when he was sure she was asleep, he
snuck down to the kitchen and went hunting for real food. What he found in the
fridge made him laugh out loud. There was a dish with a note attached to it
giving detailed instructions of how to heat the casserole she’d left for him.

Josh had no clue what it contained, but it was delicious. There was also
enough of it that by the time he’d finished, he no longer felt as though the
word
broth
should be eradicated from the English language. Intent on
eating
real food
, he hadn’t noticed a plate of fruit on the table. Along
with the fruit was another note that simply said,
eat it all!

By the time he’d rinsed off the utensils and stacked them in the
dishwasher, his mind turned to Lux. He wondered if she was awake and whether he
should pay her a visit. Dismissing the idea, he turned off the lights and
returned to his room.

Once in bed, he closed his eyes as a natural sleep claimed him.

Chapter
22

Always an early riser, by 6:30 am, Lux made her way downstairs. Her
first stop was the kitchen. As she’d suspected, the food she’d left out for
Josh was gone. Actually, Lux was surprised she’d been able to keep him in bed
for so long.

The amount of griping, and underhand remarks he’d thrown her way
yesterday was her clue, she wouldn’t be able to keep him in bed for another
day.

Taking a bottle of water, she drank a few mouthfuls as she made her way
towards the gym. While it wasn’t ideal for her exercise routine, it would do.
The room was large and contained all the prerequisite equipment one would
expect to find in a modern gym.

What
pleased her
most was the bank of mirrors and a piece of apparatus over in one
corner that she could use as a barre. Lux pulled the appliance in front of the
mirror and began to warm up. It had been a while since she’d been before a
barre, and she battled with the ability to push aside all thoughts of the
changes that were taking place in her life. She also needed to give serious
thought to her marriage and where it was heading.

Forty minutes later, she was dripping with sweat, and her muscles
strained as she demanded even more from her body. By the time Lux was near the
end of her workout, she was exhausted, but pleased with how much she’d
accomplished. The punishment she applied to her body was only a fraction of the
demands expected of her when she had aspirations of being a professional ballet
dancer.

As she warmed down, Lux felt a tingle run along her spine. He was near.
She wanted to spin around to locate him, but she finished her variation. By the
time she finally allowed herself to relinquish concentration, he was gone.

Having arrived in the country with literally the clothes on her back,
Lux didn’t have an extensive wardrobe. MacKenzie and Aviva had taken her
shopping, courtesy of Josh’s credit card. She hadn’t wanted to spend too much
of his money, but every time she turned her back the pile of clothing she’d
selected grew. In the end, she’d stopped protesting because both women had
ridiculously good taste.

For some reason, Lux spent more time than usual getting dressed.
Selecting a pair of low-rise, cream jeans, she matched it with a polo necked
brown sweater that showed a glimpse of her stomach whenever she moved her arms.
She finished the outfit with a pair of over the knee cream leather boots.

Her Caribbean glow still remained so she kept her makeup to a minimum. A
touch of mascara applied to her already thick lashes and a hint of lip gloss
later, and she was ready to leave her room.

When she arrived downstairs, Josh was sitting in the kitchen a cup of
coffee in his hand. Lifting his cup, he silently asked if she wanted a drink.
At her nod, he rose and fixed her coffee the way she liked it.

Lux took a seat and watched him. Dressed similarly in dark jeans and
sweater, he looked the picture of health.

When he handed her the cup, Lux took it with a smile. After her first
sip, she became aware of his silence. Glancing at him from under her lashes,
she saw that he watched her with a seriousness that caused the hairs on her
arms to rise. Only just managing not to squirm at the attention he was heaping
on her, she looked away as awareness took over her body.

Lux was annoyed at herself; all it took was one look from the blasted
man for her to be completely aware of him.

Josh laughed and she cut her eyes back to him annoyed that he found her
nervousness amusing. “What’s so funny?”

“You are. The way you’re wiggling around in that chair is giving me all
kinds of ideas.”

“I couldn’t care less what ideas you’re having!”

“Liar. All I have to do is look at you for you to wish you were sitting
on my dick.”

“How about this; why don’t you take your over inflated ego, and your
dick and get lost!”

“Because I’d rather be fucking you.”

Lux didn’t have a comeback because they both knew it was what they
wanted. Everything within her wanted to throw caution to the wind and have hot,
heavy sex with him, but something stopped her. There was too much between them
that wasn’t right. Too much that needed repairing.

Lux knew they would still be good together, but making love with Josh
would only apply a dressing to their wounds, not repair their injuries.

“I don’t think so.”

“I told you before and nothing’s changed. You need a good fuck.” Josh
said without inflection.

“Stop saying that!”

“I forgot to add that you need a good fucking specifically by me.”

“I said, stop it. That might be all our marriage means to you but it
means much more to me!”

“Really, what does it mean to you, Luxandria? Seriously, I’d really like
to know.” Josh asked sarcastically.

“I know what you’re doing and it won’t work.”

“Seems to me it’s working just fine, and I’m waiting for whatever nugget
of truth you’re going to spout about what our marriage means to you.”

“I’m not going to have this conversation with you right now. That fever
must have affected your damn mind!” Finished with what she had to say, for some
reason Lux picked up her cup and slammed it down on the table.

Before the sound finished reverberating around the room, Josh was on
her. Picking her up out of her chair, he held her suspended off the floor. The
anger she saw in his now black eyes caused her to suck in a breath of fear. One
minute his fury was palpable and the next his beautiful eyes contained so much
hurt, she wanted to cry.

“Please tell me you know I would never hurt you, Luxie.”

“I…I know.” Lux knew the words she spoke were the truth, but her
trembling belied them.

When, after a few moments Josh enfolded her in his arms the tears came.
Everything between them was such a mess and she didn’t know if they could ever
make it right.

“Don’t cry, my Luxandria. I’m sorry I scared you,” Josh pled as he
awkwardly rubbed her back in comfort.

Just like that, Lux wanted to laugh as memory came rushing back to her.
Josh had never been of any use when she cried. Now he was patting her back with
such a lack of finesse she barked with laughter.

“Sorry, was I doing it too hard…rubbing your back, was it too hard?”

Here was the quintessential Josh, the man who wouldn’t hide or lie about
the truth as he saw it. His true nature was one of protection imbibed with a
care for those he loved that was unmatched by anyone else she knew.

Kissing his neck because she couldn’t help herself, Lux in turn rubbed
his back in comfort.

“Should I fix you something to eat, Josh?”

“I’d love to be eating your p–”

“Joshua!”

“Pancakes! Really, Luxandria, that’s some dirty mind you’ve got there.”

“You don’t fool me for a moment, Joshua Kingdom,” Lux shook her finger
under his nose as she pulled away.

Grabbing her hand, Josh pulled her finger into his mouth and sucked on
it. Lux felt the pull travel throughout her whole body and her nostrils flared
in reaction.

“I can see you liked that,” Josh wiggled his eyebrows. “But seriously
Lux, you need to feed me because I can’t maintain this magnificent physique by
just sucking on your–”

“Joshua!”

Lux walked away to the sound of his laughter. With her back turned
towards him, she couldn’t stop the smile that split her face as she wiped away
the remnants of her tears. The man was completely irreverent. The earlier part
of their conversation forgotten, Lux concentrated on remembering how much she
enjoyed him when he was in a teasing mood.

He’d tried to help her prepare their meal but only managed to get in her
way. In the end, she’d relegated him to mixing the batter. Josh ate the stack
of pancakes and bacon she set before him with so much relish, Lux watched him
in awe.

“Thank you for breakfast, it was great,” Josh complimented as he took
another plate from her and stacked it in the dishwasher. “Where did you find
bacon?”

“Oh, I went to the store and got a few supplies.”

“You did what?!” He exploded.

Lux jumped and nearly dropped the cup in her hand. “What is the matter
with you?!”

“For God’s sake, Lux. You don’t go anywhere without me, do I make myself
clear?”

“Why?” Lux asked suspiciously. “Is there something you’re not telling
me?”

“No.”

“Now who’s the liar,” Lux rebuked.

“This isn’t up for discussion. You will do as I say and that’s the end
of it!”

“You just can’t help yourself can you. I was finally enjoying your
company and you had to spoil it. Do not order me around, Joshua Kingdom, now
the discussion is at an end!” Lux yelled on her way out the kitchen, and he
didn’t try to stop her.

****

Lux spent two hours secreted in her room. Josh thought about going up
and speaking to her but decided against it. She would come down when she was
ready. In the meantime, he waited in the family room his ears on alert for a
sound of her.

She must have been walking on tip toes because she made so little sound,
but he heard her. Josh wanted to see what she was up to, so he waited before
approaching her.

She had the front door open and was about to walk out the house when he
spoke. “I know I told you not to leave this house without me!”

Lux jumped at the sound of his voice, but came back fighting. “Well, you
better hurry up and get your coat because I’m going for a walk with or without
you.”

Amused by her comment, he should have known better than to think she’d
be willing to follow his order.

As they walked through the wooded area that ran behind the house, Josh
took a surreptitious look at the woman at his side. He wondered what she was
thinking, but refrained from asking. He could tell she was still mad at him and
decided, for now, silence was probably his best friend.

Using the time, Josh took the opportunity to contemplate how he could
move their relationship back to the position reminiscent of when they were
first married. Back then, their lives had seemed so uncomplicated; just two
young people loving each other without restraint.

He hoped, if he played things right, Lux would at least give their
marriage a chance. They might fight at the drop of a hat, but he was sure she
still had feelings for him. Sexual attraction wasn’t their problem. Her lack of
trust in his commitment to them as a couple was what stood in their way. More
accurately, his association with her brother and her stubborn refusal to talk
openly with Sam was the problem.

The vibration of his cell phone pulled Josh out of his introspection.
Reaching into his pocket, he withdrew and glanced at the screen.

“Hey–”

“Get out of the house, now!” Jason said with a seriousness Josh wasn’t
prepared to ignore.

Taking hold of Lux’s hand, he turned and began to pull her back the way
they’d come. His steps increased in speed even as he still held the phone to
his ear.

“What’s going on?” He asked as his eyes shifted from side to side,
attempting to take in their whole surroundings at once.

Jason’s voice faded in and out and Josh only caught portions of his
response. The one factor that was abundantly clear was the urgency in his
brother’s voice. Josh knew whatever Jason was trying to tell him was important,
and he wasn’t about to take any chances with their safety.

The line went dead and Josh stuffed the phone back into his pocket. The
lengths of his strides increased further and he realized he was practically
dragging Lux behind him. But he didn’t let up. With each step, his feelings of
urgency increased. “We need to get out of here!”

“I thought this was private property,” Lux responded.

“It is, but Jason was trying to tell me something. I couldn’t hear what
he was saying, but I know we need to hurry!” Josh said taking his eyes from
their surroundings in the hope of transferring his urgency at the
precariousness of their situation.

When she balked in response to his demand, his gaze finally followed the
direction she was looking in. Two men were now on the path, and they were
coming at them, fast.

“Shit!” Josh mumbled under his breath, worry taking hold of him. “Run!”
He shouted, spinning them both around. Although she was having difficulty
keeping up with him, his lady could move quickly.

Even as their strides ate up the ground, Josh knew they were in trouble
when three more people emerged from the trees. On his own he wouldn’t have
given the odds a second thought. With Lux beside him his anxiety grew in direct
relation to his heartbeat.

“Stay close to me,” Josh whispered.

“What are you going to do, there are five of them?”

Josh spared her a half smile as adrenalin pumped through his body. “I’m
about to kick some tree hiding ass,” he muttered, his grin widening.