Regency Romance: The Rake's Fake Marriage (Historical Arranged Marriage Romance) (19th Century Victorian Romance) (13 page)

Harry took out some coins and put them in the coffee machine they were standing
next to
. ''Okay so he's a leader. But what about his behavior? Have you got anywhere with him?''

''I've had two days with him so far. Give me a bit more time. But rest
assured,
Josh is quite some guy.''

''I knew it,'' Harry said.

''What?''

''You're falling for him. God help us. If you can't sort him out, nobody can.''

Loren looked at Harry and wondered if he and his wife still made love. ''I'm not falling for him, not at all, okay?'' Harry nodded.

Loren and Harry spent the rest of the evening sitting on a sofa in the corridor.
Every now and then
they heard Josh talking. After six hours and countless cups of coffee, Loren nudged
Harry,
who had fallen asleep. Josh was standing next to them with all his siblings. ''Tubby we're going to London. They're all coming with me. We've said
goodbye,
and now it's time to go. I'll look after them all. I'll hire some help. My house is big
enough,
and it'll be great to have them all with me.''

''You and Loren will have to take the train back to London, there isn't enough room in the chopper for all of us.''

Harry and Loren looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders.

*****

''Loren, what a surprise,'' Josh said when he answered the door at his mansion the next day.

''Can I come in?'' she asked.

''Sure. But no stupid questions okay?'' Despite the loss of his mother, Josh was
horny; he
hadn't had sex for a few
days,
and Loren looked good enough to eat. She was wearing lip gloss. Lip gloss always turned him on, as did the black pantyhose she was wearing. 

''Can we talk?'' Loren asked.

''Come on it's four o'clock, I'm gagging for a drink. There's a great little place just down the road.''

''What about the kids?''

''
Mrs.
Booths looking after them. They're all round the kitchen
table
eating her chocolate cake.''

Josh told his bodyguard to wait outside the George and Dragon. It was a real English pub, the sort Loren had read about but never visited.

''Tony, my boy, get us a bottle of bubbly and a couple of glasses.
This is
Loren; she
's
American,
and she thinks I’m fucking mental.''

''You are, mate,'' the barman replied.

''Cheers. You're looking gorgeous today,'' Josh said to Loren.

''Josh, I want to be serious for a while.''

''Fuck me.'' Josh rolled his eyes. ''Don't you ever give up? I know you've changed your mind about me in the last few days. I can see it in your eyes.''

''Josh, I.....''

''And Loren do you know what's more?'' Loren shook her head. ''You want to screw me, and that's fine because I want to
screw
you as well because you're hot, and for my sins I've started to like you.''

''Josh, you
really
are the biggest asshole. No wonder they call you a prick in England.''

''I may be both, I may be neither, I don't give a dam. But I know when a woman wants
me,
and I'm looking at one right now.'' Loren put her hand to her neck and played with the pearls she was wearing.
He leaned closer.
''You like me don't you? You don't want to like me, and you aren't sure why you like me, but
you
do,
and you want me so badly, it's written all over your face.''

''Josh, what you did in Manchester with your siblings, it was....''

''Fucking shut up and kiss me,'' Josh pulled her to him. She tried to
resist,
but her body betrayed her. When his lips touched
hers,
she put her tongue in his mouth. He pulled away. ''See I told you, you were gagging for it.'' She pulled him back to
her,
and they kissed once more. ''Tony, we need a room,'' he shouted across the pub. Loren looked around, but they were the only ones there.

When they reached the door to room four, Josh unlocked the door and pulled Loren inside. He kissed her
neck,
and she moved her head to one side to give him better access. All the time she was fighting with herself. What she was doing was unprofessional, but whatever she said to herself she came back to the same theme. He was gorgeous, talented, and possessed mental strength the like of which she'd never seen before.

''Come on pretty lady, stop thinking about how bad you are. Relax, I wanna fuck you so bad, '' Josh said as his hands began to unbutton her blouse.

''Oh God Josh, you're so irresistible.
You just never give up do you?''

''Giving up is for wimps. I see what I
want,
and I get it. And I want you.''

Loren hadn't had sex for two years since she'd split with her TV presenter boyfriend. He'd betrayed her so badly she'd had trust issues with any man that came anywhere near her. She knew one day she would begin to trust again, but that it would happen with such a wacko as Josh she could never have imagined. How was she going to explain to Harry what had happened? She may even lose her reputation. But nothing seemed to matter
now; Josh
was going to screw her and boy
was
she ready.

Josh continued to nibble her neck and unbutton her blouse. When it fell open, he put his hand inside and felt her breasts through her bra. She tossed her head back and took out the clips that held her hair up. It
fell down
over her shoulders and
back,
and Josh gathered it in his hand and pulled her head back further. Loren groaned but was silenced by his tongue making small circles
on
of her many erogenous zones. He let her hair go and pushed her blouse from her. In a second her bra was lying on the floor next to
it,
and he was running his thumb over her nipples.

''You've got
the most gorgeous
tits I've ever seen.'' Her nipples were rock hard under his touch and so sensitive she felt a charge running down to her moist center.

''Take your clothes off, Josh. I want to see you naked too.''

Josh stood back and pulled his T-shirt over his head. She rubbed her hands over his torso feeling the tight muscles under his warm skin. ''I like the eagle,'' she said.

''You've never fucked anybody with tattoos before have you?'' he said. ''You've only ever been with posh boys.''

''Oh God, why do you make me feel so secure in your company?''

''Because you are.''

She ran her fingers over the eagle and looked into its eyes. They were menacing as if it was eyeing up its prey. Josh was eyeing up his
prey,
and he liked what he saw.

Loren licked her lips when she saw his hand unfasten the button on his jeans. He pushed his jeans and his shorts down in one movement. When he stood back up again, she moaned at the sight of his smooth shaft, rock hard pointing at the ceiling.

''Well don't just gawk at it. Come and get some,'' he said massaging his length seductively.

Loren had always hated porn. As far as she could see it was all about the man.
She
hated shots of women on their knees in front of men, sucking their cocks. But now she wanted to do just that. She wanted to take him into her mouth and taste him. 

When she
did,
he pulled her head onto him and moved in and out of her hot mouth. She so loved the smoothness and the taste of him, fresh and masculine.

''Go
on, touch
yourself, you know you want to,'' he said when he saw her hand loitering between her legs. ''Pull up your skirt and feel yourself.'' She looked up at him and saw his eyes urging her on. She hitched her shirt up around her waist, pulled down her pantyhose, and put her hand inside her panties. When he saw her fingers moving down below, he pushed deeper into her mouth feeling her lips encase him, and her mouth sucking on his tip. After a couple of minutes, he threw her off him. She looked up anxiously but soon realized it was her turn.

''I wanna taste you, Loren. You look so fucking good.'' He pulled her to her feet and pushed her back onto the bed. He ripped her pantyhose and panties from her in a show of strength she'd never experienced before. He took hold of her ankles, pushed her legs wide apart and buried his head in the softness of her womanhood. She screamed out his name as soon as she felt his tongue touch her clitoris. As he circled her tiny bud, he inserted two fingers into her and began to massage her G-spot. Loren wondered where he had learned to do that, but it was so pleasurable she didn't care. It was an attack on all
fronts,
and she soon began to pant uncontrollably. Josh was now so turned on by this wonderfully sexy professional woman, that his penis began to ache to be inside her. But he wanted to make her
come; he
wanted to feel her body quivering on the end of his fingers.
He
didn't have to wait long. A soon as he began to suckle on her clitoris, she exploded in
a loud,
brazen show of feminine sexuality.

She lay gasping for air as he took his shaft in his hand and inserted it into her. The feel of him
parting
her, filling her, was
wonderful,
and she wrapped her legs around him. She looked at him as she thrust so hard that he shoved her up the bed out of reach. He didn't seem to care. He got on the bed, turned her on her stomach and entered her from behind.
He was so forceful, the vibration of his thighs slapping against her buttocks triggered another huge orgasm.

''What are you doing to me?'' she moaned.

''I'm fucking you. Don't you like it?''

''I love it.''

Once again he pulled out of her and rolled her over. This time, he straddled her and held her leg up against his chest. It wasn't possible for her to be more open, more exposed to his gaze, more at his mercy. But she wanted to be all of those things. 

''Give me it, Josh, come
in
me. I want it all,'' she shouted when she saw how close he was. She gritted her teeth and rode out her third orgasm just before he said her name and exploded in her.

They lay on the bed for some time, exhausted. It was Loren who spoke first. ''What was that then?''

''What do you mean?''

''Was that a throw away fuck or did it mean something to you?''

He rolled onto his side and propped himself up on his elbow. He kissed her on the mouth. ''A man like me isn't supposed to get all emotional. But if you want to know, it was more than
meaningful; it
was
special,
and I
wanna
do it again. A lot.''

*****

Josh stopped being a womanizer but not an Alpha male. He became Loren's
rock
.
He
didn't control her, he guided her, advised her and protected her. He also fathered her children, all four of them. One day when he'd made her come over and over, she'd admitted that
she'd loved
him from the moment she met him. But she'd had to stay professional. He told her he'd hated her at first but after a while, he'd noticed her sexy legs and wanted more.

They became
a celebrated
couple. A rock star and a psychologist, she ten years older than him, with a rock solid marriage and lovely kids. An exception to the rule, against all odds.

*****

THE END

Five years is a long time.  It would have been longer if my mother hadn’t up and got sick.  She was an old bat, crazy as they come, and to
me,
she always seemed invincible when I was younger.  I guess I was wrong.

I hated
her
while I was growing up.  We never saw eye to eye.  She was devout and resolute in her beliefs.  I was always the carefree spirit, ready to hit the road when the whim took me.  She probably hated that about me, kept wanting me to settle down and start a family.  She should have known that just wasn’t who I was.

When the taxi dropped me off in front of the old house, I wanted nothing more than to set the place on fire and leave, almost did when I was younger.  Too many memories
were made
in this house, and most of them I wished I could forget. 

The
house
looked as it always had, run down but taken
care of
.  The paint was faded and
cracking, and
the windows were so grimy they couldn’t
be seen through
.  The small white picket fence was still there, almost entirely knocked over now. 

I wondered what my dad would think of it after all these years.  I always thought of his grizzled face staring down
at
me from whatever cloud he was sitting on; judging as he always had.  I’d still received messages from him the entire time I was away, but they stopped after he caught a bullet.  I guess if you live as loud as he did, you’d end up in a grave sooner rather than later.

“Hey momma,” I shouted from the front door.

“Tara, is that you?” she replied from the den. 

I clomped around the house in my old motorcycle boots till I found her.

“Yeah, it’s me, momma.  How
you
feelin’
?” I asked.

“How the hell do you think I’m feeling?  I can barely get up to take a piss.  Get over here and give your momma a hug,” she said.

I learned from an early age that you don’t say no when your mother asks you to do something.  I leaned over her and gave her
a solid
embrace.

“Can I get you anything?” I asked.

“You can get me the last twenty years of my life back; that would do it,” she laughed only to start hacking and coughing.

I patted her back in a vain attempt to help her.  I looked through her prescriptions; one of which was
empty,
looked like painkillers.

“How about you just get me a refill on that before my aches start acting up again?  I was just going to watch TV
anyway
.”

“Alright, momma.  I’ll be back.”

“I think your old bike is still in the
garage,
if you want to use that to get around.  I haven’t had a car for a
couple of
years now.”

“I’m glad you never got rid of it,” I said.

“Some things you can’t get rid of,” she replied.

I gave her a kiss on the forehead and took the pill bottle, tucking it into my pocket. 

I went back outside and
circled around
to the old garage.  My dad’s old car was still sat there, waiting for someone to care.  I eyed my old motorcycle, peeking out from behind a canvas sheet I’d thrown over it years ago. 

My hand moved automatically, tugging the sheet away.  She was a killer ride, and I wondered how I’d gone so long without her in my life.  The day to day just didn’t have the same feel as it had when I was younger and more irresponsible. 

I ran my hand along the gas tank, wiping away the layers of dirt she
was covered in
.  She wasn’t the biggest bike, nor was she the fastest, but she was
mine,
and that was all that mattered. 

I threw my leg
over,
and a cloud of dust met me as I settled into the seat.  I jerked down on the starter and just as she always
had;
she turned over on the first crank. 

I hadn’t ridden in so many years; I started to get antsy.
  She wanted to be taken out to flex those old muscles.  I walked my way out of the garage carefully avoiding the old car. 

I started feeling that sense of freedom I’d had all those years ago.  The freedom I had when I snuck out late at night to meet up with my old boyfriend; the nights when
I
’d make a mistake and come home in handcuffs; even the nights when I wouldn’t come home at all, the memories were all flooding back.

I steered myself away from my old home and joined up with the road.  There was a canyon road that had some of the finest sights in the
area,
and I felt it the perfect time to see them, momma could wait a few more minutes.

When I was free from the town I let loose, my hair whipped in the wind, and the sun warmed my face.  I opened her up and leaned into the
corners;
I had these roads all memorized and could ride them blindfolded.

Then the familiar rumble of a motorcycle gang filled the canyon.  I sense of dread befell me; if it was the person I thought it was, then
I
had no idea what I’d say to him.  I pulled my cycle off the road and clicked her off.

From the bend in the road, a band of motorcycles
filed
out.  I didn’t recognize any of them, which left me with a feeling of relief.  But, the guys still made eyes at me as they
rode by
. 

I was used to it.  I’d had a lot of guys fight over me in the past.  But, none
were
as
strong
as Buck.  I once saw him beat up three guys at the same time just for looking at me.  He knew how to impress a woman.

There was a time when I would have done anything
for
that man, but he could never see me as his one and only.  I’d always catch him with another girl, and he never understood why I thought it was such a big deal.  If he wanted me to be his, then he needed to be mine.

Two of the bikers from the gang pulled off, and I knew what was coming.

“Hey there,” said the taller of the two that stopped.

“Howdy,” I replied. 

“Who do you ride with?” he asked.

“I’m with Buck and his boys,” I replied.

The two of them looked at each other,
in
a sort of horrified way. 

“Pleasure meeting you,” they said as they turned and zoomed back to their motorcycles waiting nearby. 

I laughed; Buck’s reputation was still just as
serious
now as it was before.  He had a bad
temper
and a lousy habit of letting everyone know. 

Despite all his faults, I still wanted to see him.  I somehow felt that he deserved to know that I was back in town.  Not a single member of his crew would come through without at least paying homage to the leader.  I felt no different.

I slung myself back in the saddle and kicked the old girl back on.  I tore down the road and towards the old bar that raised me; it wasn’t very far from here.

The Whiplash Tavern was a sort of landmark in these parts.  The sign outside was well past any state of repair.  The front of the bar was full of motorcycles of all shape,
size,
and color.  The signs in the windows hummed their neon tune as I eased my cycle into an empty place.

Before I could finish pulling in, I heard a loud crash echo from inside the bar.  Then what sounded like glass breaking, followed by the sound of a gunshot. 

Then I saw Buck, sauntering out the front door with another man held by his collar and his belt.

“You take your shit and stay out of my town,” shouted Buck in his grizzly tone.

He threw the man to the ground as though he were a sack of flour. 

“You’ll regret this,” said the man on the ground.

“I get told that a lot,” started Buck, “and I’m still waiting.”

The young pup picked himself from the ground and sprinted to a nearby motorcycle.  Another man, about his same size, ran out of the tavern and joined him.  They looked like they were in a hurry.

Then Buck turned over to me.  It was the first time I’d seen him in five
years,
and it looked like he hadn’t aged a day. 
He
was still the
barrel-chested
and grizzled man I’d known since I was a girl.  He towered over nearly every other man I knew, and when he wasn’t the tallest, he was still usually the biggest.  His cropped and disheveled beard was starting to show slight signs of
grey
, giving him a distinguished look, and his tattooed arms still looked just as strong as the first day I met him, maybe even a little bigger than before.

He clenched his
jaw
and let out a grunt before disappearing back inside.  Maybe he wasn’t excited to see me, and it made me a little nervous.

I entered quietly, but recognized everyone, and they all recognized me.  A loud cheer echoed through the small
establishment,
and I waved a meek hello.

“Thought that was your bike
comin’
down the road,” Buck said as he walked back behind the bar.

“I’m amazed you can always tell,” I said.

“I damn near built that bike myself,” he replied, “I know my
own
work.”

He shoved a beer my direction.  I took it and sipped anxiously.

“What brought you back to town,” he asked.

I couldn’t bring myself to look him in the eye, so I just stared into my drink.

“My momma’s
sick,
” I said.

He stayed silent and washed a glass with his dishrag.  He wasn’t one for words.

“I’ll be here a
couple of
months till she either gets
better
or dies,” I said, “and I don’t know which one would be better.”

“That old hag won’t die,” he started, “Paul knew how to pick his women.  And, he picked a good one.”

Paul was my Dad’s name; he used to run the gang here.  Buck was always his second, and when Dad finally kicked the bucket, all his assets went straight to Buck; the bar, his bike, and to some extent, me. 

“Whatever happens, I just don’t want to be here too long.  I got a new life to get back to.”

Buck slammed the glass
on
the counter so hard it shattered.

“Why the hell
you gotta
go
sayin’
stuff like that.  You just got
back,
and you’re already
fixin’
to leave.”

“I’m not
fixin’
to leave nowhere, yet.  But, my eye is always on the door,” I replied.

“I’ll never get what made you take off the first time.”

“The train of girls that was always
walkin’
out of your bedroom would be a good place to look.”

“I quit all that, and you know it,” he said.

“I never saw any of that,” I replied.

“Well, maybe if you stuck around like you were supposed to, you would’ve seen it.”

I turned to look him in the eye.  He still had that
soulful
glare; I could never tell if he was getting ready to break something or kiss me, but sometimes I’m sure it was both.

“I’m here now, Buck.”

He started sweeping the shards of glass from the bar with his hand. 

“That’s right, you are,” he said.

The men around the bar seemed entranced by our conversation, but as I looked around at
them,
they all did their best to return to their
normal
conversations.

“What’s that supposed to mean,” I asked.

He leaned over the bar, which I could hear
crack
and groan under his weight, and whispered in my ear.

“Now that you’re here, I’m going to make you remember why it was so hard to leave.  You always get me hard when you walk in the bar in those tight jeans.”

I wanted to have him, but I knew that if I
did,
I would regret it for the rest of my life.  I needed to keep that part of my past closed.  His boyish charms were the hardest to resist. 

I leaned over and whispered a reply in his ear.

“I can’t do it, Buck.  I can’t go back to that life.”

He stood back up, only to lean on the back bar.  I made the mistake of letting my real feelings show with my eyes, and he knew it.  I always had large expressive eyes; which were a blessing and a curse.  Buck told me, once, that he could tell what was on my mind by what showed through my eyes.  I didn’t want to believe it but knew it to be true.