Page 30 of Pretend Wife (Angels of the Secret Order #4)

TWENTY-TWO

Danielle

I couldn’t hold back the cry that climbed up my throat as Hayden sank into me.

There was the overwhelming feeling of fullness, but even more prominent was the feeling deep in my soul.

It was like coming home after being away for years, decades.

It was feeling like I belonged for the first time in my life.

“Oh fuck,” Hayden groaned, his lips kissing everywhere he could reach. He pressed soft kisses over my cheeks, my lips, my eyelids. “You feel so good, baby.”

I traced my fingers over his face and dragged them through the short hair over his jaw.

I couldn’t believe this man was mine, even if it didn’t last, even if I lost him when the truth came out, I would always have this moment.

No one would ever be able to take away the memory of being in Hayden’s arms, feeling him buried deep inside me .

“Are you okay?” he murmured as he started to rock his hips slowly.

“More than okay.” I clung to his shoulders, needing to hold on as our bodies moved like they’d been made for each other.

Any fear over not doing this right melted away as my body took over.

I could feel his desire in the tightness of his muscles and the passion behind his kisses, but I could also see it in his aura, which had turned the deep red of lust and love colliding.

Both emotions were red and passionate, but one was deeper, prettier, and I couldn’t help staring.

“Please tell me that expression on your face is a good thing.”

I grinned up at him. “I didn’t know it would feel like this. It’s so much more than I imagined.” His inky hair felt like silk as I sank my fingers into it, stroking and pulling lightly.

He growled. “You’re not exactly making it easy to be gentle right now.”

“Then don’t be gentle.”

“Danielle…”

“Please. I need more. I want everything.”

The look in his eyes turned so heated I half expected it to burn me. I loved watching his control slip and knowing I was the reason for it.

His pace picked up and so did the pleasure pooling in my lower stomach. I could feel the wave building inside me, drawing me closer and closer to the edge.

With every second that passed, I got more lost in the moment, in the fog of desire and need and longing.

My senses were going into overdrive, dragging me into a world where there was nothing but us—the sound of our skin slapping against each other, the smell of our combined arousal, the salty taste of his skin under my tongue.

It was all too much, and yet I wanted more and more and more .

The pleasure mounted inside me with his every thrust, spurred on by his grunts and frantic kisses, until it broke and I shattered into a hundred pieces.

I threw my head back against the bed and let the wave crash over me.

“You are so fucking beautiful when you come,” Hayden murmured against the shell of my ear as the orgasm continued on and on. “Do you feel how your cunt is milking my cock?”

I couldn’t answer even if I wanted to.

“Open your eyes, Danielle,” he ordered. “Look at me while I’m inside you.”

My lids felt heavy as I forced them to lift, to meet his dark eyes, which were so full of emotion and fire.

His pace picked up, his movements becoming more jerky and less controlled with every second.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck. Danielle! ” He went still, buried somewhere deep inside me as he came with my name on his lips.

He looked like a work of art hovering above me, every line of his body and face perfect and mesmerizing as a sculpture.

But he was real, and in this moment he was all mine.

Eventually he relaxed and collapsed beside me on the bed with a low moan. He slung one arm around me and tugged me into his chest, then hid his face against my neck. “You are amazing. ”

“Really?”

“I think you killed me.”

A surprised laugh slipped past my lips, and I squirmed out of his grasp. He made a sound of protest but didn’t attempt to grab me again. He rolled onto his back and closed his eyes, his chest rising and falling with heavy breaths.

I took advantage of his stillness to fully appreciate the sight of him in all his naked glory.

He was so beautiful, a thin layer of sweat coating his skin and beading in the hair on his chest and below his bellybutton.

His black hair was damp and messy where it fell across his forehead, making him look even more sexy than normal.

“What are you staring at?” he asked without opening his eyes.

“My husband.”

He hummed, his lips curving up in a lazy smile. “Come here. I really want to hold you, but I can’t feel my arms at the moment.”

“I was that good?” I asked with a teasing lilt.

“Better. Now get your cute little butt over here.”

I rested my head on his shoulder, reveling in the scrape of his beard against my forehead as he pressed a kiss there.

Despite his claims that he couldn’t move his arms, one of them wrapped around my waist, securing me against him. And I let myself relax in his hold, a kind of peace that surpassed anything I’d ever felt outside of Heaven surrounding me.

All my life I’d been searching for this feeling of belonging, and for the first time I felt like I’d found it. I felt like I was home.

I woke cocooned in Hayden’s arms. His bare chest was plastered to my back, and I could feel his breath against my neck. Sunlight streamed through the windows we’d never gotten around to covering last night, bathing us in warm light.

No small part of me wanted to snuggle deeper into Hayden’s arms and never leave this bed, but that wasn’t an option. Hayden had work, and I had promised Miles we would get together today.

My cheeks heated at the thought of seeing my best friend after what I’d done with his brother last night. Would he be able to tell? I felt like the words I had sex were written across my forehead in blazing letters.

I really needed to get up and take a shower. Maybe then I’d feel like I could face Miles.

Moving Hayden’s arms from around my waist, I slipped out of his hold.

He made a sound of protest and reached for me again with his eyes still closed. “No, come back,” he said in the most adorable sleepy voice.

“It’s getting late.” I picked up the white button-down he’d abandoned last night off the floor and pulled it on.

It fell to my mid-thighs, and the sleeves were long enough to completely cover my hands.

It probably looked ridiculous, but it was preferable to putting yesterday’s dress back on…

or walking through the penthouse naked .

“What are you doing?” Hayden asked, sounding much more awake than he had a second ago.

I turned around to find him staring at me with so much intensity it made my entire body warm. I raised my brows, waiting for him to elaborate.

“Fuck, you look sexy in my clothes.” The look on his face could only be described as hunger, and I estimated I had about three seconds before he lunged at me.

“No.” I took a step back and shook my head to emphasize my point.

He went still. “Why not?”

“Because it’s getting late, and I have plans today.”

“Naked plans?” he asked, cocking his head to the side.

My eyes dropped to his chest, to where the sheet covered his lower half. “Regretfully, no.”

“We could always change the plans.”

I shook my head. “Your brother is going to be here in approximately three hours, and I need to be showered and not look like I just had sex when that happens.”

“You’re choosing my brother over me?” He pouted, and I couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled from me.

“Don’t you have work?”

“You’re really trying to get rid of me, aren’t you?”

I rolled my eyes as I finished buttoning his shirt. “Don’t be a baby.”

“My wife is choosing to spend the day with another man over staying in bed with me, and I’m being a baby for not liking that idea?”

Before I could respond, he was out of bed and scooping me up in his arms, not seeming to care in the slightest about his own state of nudity .

“What are you doing?” I said with a laugh.

“You said you needed a shower.” He carried me into his bathroom, which was significantly larger than mine downstairs. A wall of windows let in the bright sunlight, illuminating the double sinks, the mirror that stretched above them, and the large rain shower surrounded by glass walls.

Hayden didn’t put me down until we were both inside the shower. His fingers moved down the row of buttons on the shirt I’d stolen from him.

I swallowed hard as my eyes landed on his very hard, very ready cock.

“Hayden—”

“Shh. Let me take care of you.”

When the shirt was gone, he turned on the shower and warm water cascaded down over us. Hayden took my face between his palms and pressed a soft kiss to my lips.

“Mine to love and cherish until death do us part,” he murmured.

I melted against him, wishing more than anything that we could make it until death. And that death wasn’t right around the corner.

Hayden reached for a bottle of body wash and slowly lathered it over every inch of my skin, his hands gentle and caring in a way that felt new.

I’d always known Hayden was protective, but he also had a tendency to be hard and demanding.

Seeing this side of him was a privilege I wasn’t going to take lightly.

He dropped to his knees in front of me, running his soapy hands over my calves and feet, giving his full attention to the task and making me feel like a princess. And for the first time, it made me feel cherished instead of weak the way it always had when my family doted on me.

When he stood again, his eyes were heated and even darker than normal.

“Turn around,” he said, his voice rough and husky.

I obeyed, and a second later I felt his hands in my hair, cleaning each strand with meticulous care. His fingers massaged my scalp as the water fell down on my head, washing away the soap.

“Do I get to wash you?” I asked when he pulled me back and wound his arms around my waist.