For Richer, for Richest (8 page)

He tightened his grip around my waist, holding me firmly against him, and drove it home. The pleasure was so intense, I screamed, a high, throaty cry of pure pleasure. And maybe his name. There was no conscious thought attached to it.

A spectacular round of fireworks burst over the near hill.
Damn you, Jus, and your fireworks talk. Damn you for being
right.

I had never been a screamer, always thought it was put on and faked when I heard other girls. Now I knew.

Jus caught my startled expression in our reflection in the window. As my legs went weak, he grunted, called out my name—at least I think it was my name—and collapsed against me, his chest pressed to my back. His bearded cheek soft against my shoulders. He held me tight, he held me up as my legs trembled, as we caught our breath.

"I can barely stand," I said when I could finally find breath enough.

He laughed softly. "Don't worry. I got you." He turned his head, kissed the top of my spine, and ran his tongue along it until I shivered while he held me up.

"Are you trying to kill me?" I stared at him in the glass.

He gave me an odd expression. "Yeah, that's exactly my plan. Kill you with my lovemaking." He slipped out of me, resting his chin on my back while I hung my head and took a deep breath.

"I'm not kidding, Jus. Really, my legs are shaky."

He spun me around into his arms and carried me to the bed. "That good, huh?"

"Oh, shut up. Yes, you get an A this time."

His answering grin was sweet and adorable, sexy in a way I hadn't thought possible. It made my heart ache. "Not just for effort?"

"Oh, Jus, that was for way more than effort. That was an A for
every
thing. Now put me down."

He pulled back the covers with one hand and set me down in the middle of a pile of pillows. He climbed into bed and lay next to me with his head in his hand. "I thought you weren't a screamer?"

"Don't get cocky, kid." I brushed his nose with the tip of my finger.

"Too late." He grabbed my hand and moved it to his hard dick.

Just then Data barked and whined to be let in.

Jus frowned. "Settle down and go back to bed, Data."

I bit my lip. "I hate to tell you this, but that's what she's trying to do."

The furrows in his forehead deepened. "You didn't?"

I shrugged. "You were gone and we were both lonely. She's used to sleeping with me now. And probably scared by the fireworks still going off."

He grumbled and got up to let the dog in.

"Get me a nightgown while you're up!"

He gave me a dark look as Data bounded in and I scooped her up. He watched while she settled herself in at the foot of the bed between us and gave us a satisfied look.

"Nightgown?"

He froze.

I laughed. "I'm not traumatizing her further by doing anything X-rated in front of her. She's just a baby."

He cursed beneath his breath and grabbed me a nightie.

I woke up in the morning with a pounding hangover. I plodded into the bathroom and ran myself a glass of water to take a painkiller. My birth control pills were right there, too. I might as well take the two pills together. I popped the pill out of its pill pack. As I tossed the two pills into my mouth, I thought I heard something drop, something small. I swallowed my glass of water and looked around. I didn't see anything. My head was too thick to think.

I went back to bed to sleep the rest of the hangover off. Jus was up, talking on the phone.

He hung up and gave me a sheepish look. "That was Riggins. We have an emergency on our hands. I have to fly out ASAP. I'm meeting him at the airport."

"On the Fourth of July weekend?" I didn't want him to go.

"Fourth of July doesn't mean shit in the rest of the world." He came over and took me in his arms. "I'm sorry. It's not my first choice."

I touched his arm. "How long will you be gone?"

He sighed. "Weeks, at least. I was supposed to leave again on Wednesday for a week-and-a-half trip. Now there's no point in coming home in between."

"No," I said. But I didn't mean it. I had no right to complain. I was only his wife-for-hire.

"Look on the bright side," he said. "The less we're together, the less chance we have of screwing up and giving ourselves away." He sounded almost rueful.

Oh, boy. He had no idea how much I could screw up while he was gone. "The gossip rags will say you've tired of me already," I said with a tease in my voice.

He should have laughed. Instead his expression became serious. "They would be wrong."

He rushed off without noticing, or at least commenting on, the changes I was making to the penthouse. And left me with a warning: "Keep my dog out of your purse."

K
ayla

I was late. Late. Late. Late.
Late.

Say a word often enough and it starts to sound ridiculous. Even the idea of being late was absurd. One of those inconveniences of the body.

But it happened from time to time. Even though I was on the pill. It was a wakeup call. Life's way of warning me to be more careful. In college, I'd had two pregnancy scares. Who hadn't had at least one? Eric was a douche about them both times, yelling at me to be more careful. As if birth control was my sole responsibility. I was taking the pill. What more did he want? He was the one who didn't like condoms.

I wasn't particularly happy about being late. But I wasn't worried. Or scared. I did wonder, though: if Jus had been around, would I have told him like I did Eric? Eric and I had at least been a real couple. Which meant we dealt with stuff together, even if we fought about it.

It was probably just stress. Stress did crazy things to my body. I'd been so busy, busy, busy while Jus was gone. Going, going, going, wrapped up in my Justin's-away lifestyle while July rapidly slid toward August and our upcoming honeymoon. Trying not to think about missing him. Or how deep I was getting in our deception. Our how much I was in love with his dog and enjoyed living in his penthouse and spending his money. And how much I thought I was actually falling in love with him. And how I'd even resorted to buying the Sport Fresh scent of deodorant because it smelled guy-like and reminded me of Jus. Wearing the Sport Fresh scent was a cheap way for the man-less girl to pretend she had a guy around. I was pathetic.

The remedy for a late period was simple—take a pregnancy test and put my mind at ease. Before Jus got home. Then destroy the evidence.

He'd been gone for weeks, always promising to come back soon. He had to make good on it sometime.

If things had felt complicated in college, when I slunk down the row at the drugstore and bought a pregnancy test on the sly, things were way more complicated now. If the media got hold of me buying a pregnancy test, it would be all over the news. And I couldn't very well ask any of my friends to buy me one, either. This was top-secret business. So I ordered my usual brand online, from my old single girl's account so Jus wouldn't find out about it, and had it delivered same day. It seemed like a waste and a lot of stealth to go through for peace of mind. All this secrecy was getting to me.

When I went into the bathroom first thing the next morning to take the test, I still wasn't worried. I felt no test pressure at all. I had no symptoms. No tiredness. No sore breasts. Nothing. No reason to worry. And this brand was reliable and comforting. It hadn't let me down yet by giving me the two bars of pregnancy positive doom.

I thought about the last time Jus and I had been together. Great sex didn't make you pregnant. I mean, not any more than crappy sex could get you pregnant. There was no need to be superstitious.

I opened the test, took out the stick, stuck it in midstream, and set it on the counter to cure. My cell rang on the nightstand in the bedroom. Jus was calling. I rushed out of the bathroom and grabbed it, feeling guilty. Like I'd been caught in the middle of a nefarious act.

"Hey, Kay! How's my baby?"

My pulse raced at the sound of his voice. His question was badly timed. "You mean the dog?"

I hoped he meant the dog. On top of everything else, he couldn't possibly be psychic, too, and suspect I was in the middle of testing to see if he was going to be a daddy.

"Yeah, sure, the dog!" He laughed. "I couldn't possibly be calling
you
baby."

"We aren't in public. No one can hear us, so you don't need to keep up the act." I sat on the bed and glanced at the clock. Another few minutes and I would be in the clear.

"Mom called. Did she send you the itinerary she has planned for us in Naples?"

Hearing his voice was sweet, but I was barely listening. Too distracted. "Yeah. She did."

He started talking about Italy excitedly. Hinting at surprises while I watched the minutes tick by and got up to check on my test. I was only half listening as I wandered into the bathroom.

I picked up the stick just as Jus said, "How are things going on your end in Seattle? Kay? Kay, are you still there?"

T
he story continues
…

If you liked
For Richer, For Richest
, you’ll want to read
In Sickness and In Wealth
,
Episode 6 of
Switched at Marriage
, right away!

In Sickness and In Wealth

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The Switched at Marriage Series

Part 1—
A Wedding to Remember

Part 2—
The Virgin Billionaire

Part 3—
To Have and To Hold

Part 4—
From This Day Forward

Part 5—
For Richer, For Richest

Part 6—
In Sickness and In Wealth

Part 7—
To Love and To Cherish

The Rushed Series

Book 1—
Rushed
, Zach and Alexis’ story

Book 2—
Crushed
, Dakota and Morgan’s story

Book 3—
Hushed
, Seth and Maddie’s story

The Reckless Series

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Reckless Longing
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Reckless Secrets

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Reckless Together

G
ina Robinson's
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A voracious reader and fan of all types of romantic stories, she writes romance and women's fiction across a wide variety of subgenres—new adult, contemporary, historical, and romantic suspense. Her love stories are infused with a happy blend of romance, adventure, a bit of mystery, and humor. Readers are drawn to the light touch she gives even serious topics and the fast, fun, easy-to-read pace of her books. From college campuses to Seattle to Las Vegas to England, her settings become almost characters of their own, driving the story.

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