Stefan (The Marquette Family Book Three) (2 page)

Stefan grinned and accepted the hug. “Ty, how are you? Things have been kind of busy. It’s not as easy to get away. Trust me, there’s nothing I like more than to come here.”

“Because we let you play the hot stuff, not just the elevator music in your restaurant.”

Stefan laughed. “That and…” He let his words trail off, but his gaze slid to her. If she weren’t so brown, she’d have blushed red.

Stuffing her feelings deeper, she approached them. “Come on. We can get out of here now. Ty, you coming, or you have a date?”

Her brother straightened and released Stefan. “I’m coming. Too tired, and turns out that bastard has a boyfriend. I don’t play the other man role.”

“Want me to show him something for you?”

A devious grin appeared on Tyjon’s face. “No, I have my own plan for showing him.”

“You kind of led him on a long time, didn’t you, Tyjon?” Stefan said.

“That’s different.”

Stefan waited for Tyjon to explain, but she knew her brother. Talicia grabbed his arm, and they headed out of the club. “My car or yours?”

“Mine.”

Talicia settled in the back seat next to Stefan. Tyjon rode in the front next to Jerome. “Do you ever drive yourself anywhere?”

He laced his fingers with hers in the darkness of the back seat, but they sat apart. Not even their shoulders touched. Tears pricked her lashes. He was ashamed, but so was she. She never pushed. What was wrong with them—with her? Tonight, she should let him go and tell him not to come back to her or the club.

“I would drive myself here,” he said, “but I’ve never been successful at slipping away from Jerome. Also, some of the things that have happened, I don’t want to leave him behind.”

She tensed. “What happened? Ty didn’t mention seeing anything in the news.”

“Everything my family deals with doesn’t make it to the media.”

She studied his face. He appeared calm. “You never talk about your family.”

Green eyes met her gaze and captured her heart as they always did. “You don’t talk about yours.”

Talicia gestured to Tyjon. “You’re looking at it.”

“Parents?”

“What about you?”

He grinned. “Fine.”

What did that mean? He said no more, and she didn’t push. They arrived at the apartment she shared with Tyjon and walked inside. Tyjon went to his room. Jerome settled himself in the third bedroom, which she had set up as a home office, and she and Stefan headed to her bedroom.

Stefan shut the door behind them, and before the latch caught he encircled her waist and drew her close to kiss her lips with hungry abandon. “Your mouth,” he whispered when he raised his head, “is what I miss the most when I’m away.”

“Stefan.”

“Shh, kiss me again, my beautiful little wife.”

Chapter Two

A knife shot through Talicia’s heart at his words. His wife. What he said was true. They were married, husband and wife, and they had been for eight months. Not once had they ever lived together. No one knew, including Tyjon. Her brother knew they were lovers, and so did the bodyguard. His family had no idea she existed.

Talicia kissed Stefan once and managed to wiggle free from his hold to put space between them. He moved toward the bed and began unbuttoning his shirt. Her pulse raced seeing the smooth taut skin coming into view.

Gasping for a breath, she half spun away. “About that, us being married. It was crazy. We didn’t know what we were doing.”

“We weren’t drunk,” he said.

She frowned at him. “No, we weren’t, but we had just met the night before at the club.”

“And made love all night.”

“Yes,” she croaked. “From what I’ve seen of you, it’s just like you to be impulsive, do whatever pops into your head. I’m not like that. I have to make sure—”

“Make sure of what?” He strode over and grasped her hand to tug her to him. Talicia tumbled against his chest and found she wanted to stay there forever. She shut her eyes as her fingers with a will of their own began exploring his body. The buttons on his shirt were a barrier, so she leaned back to finish undoing them. Stefan’s warm skin drew her lips. She rained soft kisses on his chest, and he moaned.

If she could just turn down the attraction for a minute, she could think clearly when it came to him. Maybe that was the problem. This was a lust problem, and the long periods between seeing him made it harder to move on. If she got his cooperation, everything would be fine.

Talicia moved out of his embrace, but he caught her and drew her back. His big arms came around her from behind, and he held her in place with a gentle but firm hold. She wiggled just enough to feel his solid erection against her ass. She bit her lip.

“Let me go a minute, Stefan.”

Right away, she found herself freed, and she could have wept. Talicia willed herself to move away from him and kicked off her shoes.

“You’ve cut your hair,” he said.

She started. A hand went up to her head, and she smoothed the hair that was gelled close. Anger, sadness, and a slew of other emotions had hit her the other day, and she had whacked off most of her hair. Now it wasn’t more than an inch long. She and Tyjon must look like identical twins.

“Yeah, I did. You don’t have to like it,” she snapped.

His eyebrows went up at her meanness. She regretted it. Most of the time she kept the attitude bottled when it came to him, but it wasn’t easy. Not that she pretended, but Stefan didn’t deserve a bitch for his lover.

Well, he’s got one, so that’s a moot point.

“You would be beautiful even if you were bald.”

She rolled her eyes. “Whatever. I mean thanks, I guess.”

“Talicia, come here, please.” He held out his hand. She swayed in his direction but locked her heels to the floor.
“Please.”

“Stefan, we need to talk.”

“We can talk after we make love. I’ve been dreaming about your body, and I can’t wait to get you under me.”

She panted. Taking in Stefan’s size as he said stuff like that was killing her. Six foot two, built like a truck, and gentle as a lamb, he made her feel tiny under him. Most men did because she had a slender build, but with the others, she had to prove her strength. With Stefan, from the first night he produced a different emotion in her. One of being protected. The feeling was so at odds that when he flashed that ridiculously bright smile at her the next morning and said, “Let’s get married, see what it’s like,” she had agreed on the spot.

She needed to be firm with him. “If we talk after we have sex—”

“Make love.”

“—then we’ll do it the rest of the night like usual. You’ll get called home or to your restaurant or whatever. Or I’ll have to get to the club to stop my fool partner from doing something dumb. Then I won’t get to see you for…”

She trailed off because she heard the ache in her tone at the end. No matter what, she didn’t want him to know how much she loved him. Damn, it was love after all. Whenever he left, the thought of not having sex didn’t enter her mind but that face, that voice, his gentle embrace and kindness did.

Let it go, Talicia!

“I’m sorry, honey,” he said.

“Don’t call me honey,” she groused. That hurt too much. “Listen, we made a mistake.”

“It wasn’t a mistake.”

She blinked at him. Could he care about her the way she loved him?

“Nothing in life is a mistake, even if everything goes wrong. It’s a learning experience. It’s living, and I never apologize for it.”

Her hopes fell. “Okay, then. Now it’s better if we both experience divorce.”

“Is that what you want?”

“We’ve been married almost a year, and we’ve never lived together. We haven’t truly experienced marriage. We have a piece of paper. That’s all. So, let’s stop pretending and just dissolve it. What is it called? I think annulment?”

“We’ve been lovers all throughout. Annulment isn’t possible.”

“Then divorce.”

His eyes went dull. The light almost never disappeared in his gaze, and it about killed her to see it now, especially since she didn’t understand why. All she knew was she was causing it, and she wanted to put it back. Her response to Stefan was the same way she worked to make sure Tyjon was happy and had everything he needed.

“Stefan, I don’t understand why you’re hesitating.” She moved up to him as he turned his back. He had slipped his shirt off, and she couldn’t help exploring the tight muscles. His male scent, a mixture of sandalwood and soap, tantalized her nose. Their conversation was serious, but she had to press close and breathe him in. The crown of her head didn’t reach the top of his shoulders. “We have to.”

He rotated his shoulders, and she sensed an increase in his tension. “The only thing we have to do, Licia, is find our happiness. Currently, we’re happy with being lovers.”

She sighed and straightened. “What if I’m not happy?”

He whirled to face her and touched her waist. Her body lit on fire. “You’re not? I don’t please you? Tell me what you want, and I’ll work harder to satisfy you. Or is it…”

An odd expression came over his face. She frowned. “What?”

“Is there another man you prefer? Someone you want to be with instead?”

She couldn’t let him believe that ridiculous lie. Another man who could make her body feel the way he did? Who went to such lengths to make her come and looked the way he did? Hell no. She was twenty-nine and had a handful of lovers over the years. Every one of them insulted her figure straight out or they hinted around that they wished she had more meat on her bones and her breasts were bigger. One asshole, whose tooth she had knocked out with a punch to his jaw, had said she looked like a boy, and it grossed him out to have sex with her. Why the hell did he sleep with her then?

Thinking about the past brought a fresh bout of shame and hurt, and she spun away from Stefan before he could see it. Maybe this was why she had clung to him and said yes to his proposal—because she didn’t think anyone else would want her.

I’m a woman like any other one. I deserve a man who loves me just like I am.

She spoke the words in her head, but she already knew they were hard to believe and accept. Talicia hugged herself, and Stefan’s arms came around her to cover her own. His hard body met hers, and she sank into his embrace.

“There’s no other man,” she said.

He kissed along the side of her throat, and she turned her head to invite one on the lips. Stefan’s tongue slid into her mouth, and she moaned. He captured her chin to raise it higher and took the kiss deeper. Every nerve ending tingled, and her pussy clenched. He brought one big hand around to flatten on her belly and slid it lower. She didn’t mean to give in, but she spread her thighs a little to let him cup her heat.

Stefan took his time raising his head, and he stared into her gaze. “The attraction between us is still too hot to let go. I thought it would burn down, and then we could walk away. Every time I touch you, I have to have you. I have to make you come, and I have to come inside you.”

“Stefan,” she whimpered. “Don’t say that.”

“It’s true, isn’t it?”

Of course it was true, damn it. “It’s true that you’re insane. I mean you’re a billionaire, Stefan. Do you know what you’re risking being married to me, having sex with me without a condom, and all the risks you’re taking? You’re too trusting.”

“Do you want my money?”

She frowned and broke away from his hold again to face him. “Excuse me?”

He held up his hands. “To divorce me means you get a portion of my money.”

“I—” She was too pissed to speak.

“You could also demand I take you to my house so you can move in and live as my wife in the open.”

She stiffened. “You’re not saying you want that.”

“No, I’m not.”

A knife stabbed her heart. “I don’t want it either. I’m not living in your world. I have my own reasons for never wanting anyone to know about us being married.”

“That’s why I can come in you.”

“Stefan! It could be a plot.”

“Sure. I’ll take the risk.”

“You take too many risks.”

He grinned. “What would life be without risks, and I’m not so protective over my money that I care about a wife taking half of it. It’s just money. Someone else manages the boring parts. I was once poor, and I can be again. I don’t care. All I care about is enjoying every breath I’m given. Life is a gift, and it’s short. It should be spent doing the things I love, not worrying about who’s going to fleece me.”

“You seriously irritate me.”

He grinned. “You turn me on.”

“You’re impossible to deal with.” She paced. “So what you’re saying is you want things to continue as they are? We stay married and continue as sometime lovers?”

“Yes, as long as we please each other.”

“But when we don’t and one or the other isn’t satisfied anymore? What about then?”

“Then we deal with it at that time.”

“Divorce?”

“Licia.” His voice took on a firm tone she rarely heard from him. “Let’s not mention that term anymore. You want me. I hear your body crying out for me, and mine is vibrating it aches for yours so bad. That’s all that matters. I’m living for right now, tonight. I’m living to be inside you and nowhere else.”

She shook from head to toe. Leave it to Stefan to make sex sound like love. He had to know his words produced that effect. There was no way he didn’t see it. No, of course he saw it. He knew she wanted him and would kill a bastard to get to Stefan. She just hoped he put her emotions down to physical and not those of the heart.

“Can I have you?” he asked gently, holding out his hand. “My wife. Can I lie between your legs and take you until neither of us can move?”

She stopped pacing. There wasn’t a chance in hell she would turn him down.