CHAPTER 16

RAYNA HAD DAVIS WRAPPED AROUND her fingers just like her mother. She had convinced him to let her sit with Nicole while she slept last night until bedtime. Only Rayna had fallen asleep with her arms wound tightly around Nicole’s neck, and he didn’t have the heart to move her. When DJ saw the two of them in bed, he pitched a fit until he was snuggled between them too. Davis ran a tired hand down his face. That was his family. The people he loved the most in this world, yet, he and Nicole couldn’t be further apart emotionally.

Davis hated sleeping alone the past couple of nights. Not that all the tossing and turning he’d done could really be considered sleeping. Still, in the early morning, he lay on his back staring up at the ceiling, wondering what the hell had happened to his life. How did things get so out of control? How had he allowed the most important relationship in the world to get that way too? Maybe Dana was right. He rubbed his eyes and forehead as if it could lighten the heaviness on his mind and heart. Have I really been a workaholic and part-time husband and father because I am afraid that what happened to my parents and sister might happen to them? He answered himself. “My fear is going to cost me my family and marriage. I can’t lose them.”

Davis heard the door to their bedroom open. She was up. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and got up too. He quickly made it out of his room before Nicole had gotten too far down the hall. His voice was gruff. “You’re awake.”

Nicole turned. She was hesitant. “Yes.” Davis was standing in the hallway shirtless wearing only a pair of pajama bottoms. Even in her current state, it was difficult to ignore how much she had missed him—emotionally and physically.

His arms were folded. There wasn’t an ounce of fat anywhere on his body. The man was ripped, and when he focused that hooded look at her, it always made her insides turn to molten lava. She forgot about everything else. It had been six long weeks since the last time they had made love, and she not only missed him but needed him. Nicole missed running her hands all over his muscled body. But it wasn’t all physical. She missed their emotional closeness. Davis grounded her and gave her a sense of peace—a sense of belonging—normalcy.

She realized she was staring and looked down at the floor then back up. It was time to put her big girl panties on. Nicole hugged herself as she walked in his direction. “I owe you a huge apology.” When she was only inches away, Nicole took a deep breath. “There was no excuse for my insensitivity about your sister. You do not need me adding more stress to an already stressful situation. I-I love you and—”

Nicole didn’t get to finish what she was about to say. Davis pulled her into his arms and kissed her hard. It was filled with every emotion running through him. “I don’t want to talk. For a little while, let’s just pretend nothing else exists except for us.”

She nodded and returned his kiss with her own brand of desperation. Nicole ran her hands all over his chest. She had missed the feel of him. Davis continued to kiss her as he walked her backward toward the guest room.

She tore her lips away from his. “Here?”

“If I don’t get inside you soon, it’ll be right here in this hallway. I’m not ready to give a sex education class to Rayna, but I will if I have too.”

“That won’t be necessary.” Nicole took Davis by the hand and led him into the room, closing the door behind them.

Once they were inside, as much as they wanted to rush, they also wanted to embrace the moment. It had been so long since the last time they had made love.

Davis kissed Nicole until her knees went weak, and backed her up toward the bed taking her robe off as they went. She was completely naked underneath. Her beautiful body spurred him on, and Davis made quick work of removing his pajama bottoms. They ended up somewhere in the room.

When the back of Nicole’s legs came into contact with the mattress, she fell backward pulling him down on top of her. She spread her thighs and raised her knees cradling his body in between them. The skin on skin contact sent them both into sexual overdrive. Everything became more intense. Her slick heat met his silken steel, and Davis felt like a teenage boy. It had been too long. Davis wasn’t sure how long he could prolong sliding inside her needy body and blowing his load since he was already on edge. Her touch, the smell of her arousal, her moans, all of it was enough to do him in.

“You’re so wet for me.” Davis ran his hands up and down the sides of Nicole’s body, never releasing her lips while they kissed.

“Yes, oh god, yes.”

His hands reached around her back and slid down until he found her ass. He grabbed handfuls of it, lifting her body up to meet his.

Nicole was trapped inside the sensations of her body, and it had a mind of its own. She ground her sex into Davis wanting him to hurry up and get in there. She thrust up into him hoping to hurry the process along.

He hissed.

She responded. “You are making me lose my mind.” Nicole was soaking. She writhed around underneath him, needing him to put them both out of their misery.

Using one hand to hover over her, Davis grabbed himself with the other. Nicole thought this was the moment she had been feenin’ for. But no. He stroked himself, and she had to watch. “Davis . . . I can’t take much more.”

Finally, he lowered that powerful muscle just outside of Nicole’s entrance but didn’t push inside. Instead, he dragged his cock between her swollen folds, lifting himself up and down over and over again. His strokes were excruciatingly slow and deliberate. Each time, parting her flesh and mixing her milky crème with the sweet cum that leaked out from the bulbous head of his shaft.

Nicole thought that Davis was trying to kill her with pleasure, or at the very least, intentionally torture her with every stroke, but to torture her was to torture himself. She could see the strain and control he tried to exhibit all over his face. With each movement, Davis increased the pressure, coming closer and closer to her sweet spot without plunging inside.

Her throbbing had turned into an oh-so unsatisfying ache. She reached out to take matters into her own hands. First, Nicole reached for him, but he made sure to stay just out of the way. Then she attempted to use her own fingers to give herself the relief she sought. But Davis wouldn’t let her. He swatted her hands out of the way. Nicole needed to hold on to something as she felt the walls of her core start to contract, so she clutched the sheets. She was close . . . so close . . . but not there yet.

Davis dragged himself up and down the valley of her sex once more—then up again—only this time over her clit. Nicole detonated. Her back arched off the bed; she squeezed her eyes shut and screamed out his name as one of the most powerful orgasms barreled through her body.

That was the moment Davis had been waiting for. He rode the wave of her orgasm and thrust deep. Nicole’s body clamped down, hugging him like a glove. Hot . . . wet . . . tight. It was more than he could stand. He started to move. Davis thrust in and out of her with long, hard strokes. He pulled back almost to the point of pulling out only to slam back inside. The sound of their bodies coming together only increased their frenzied pace. Needing more with each thrust, Davis drove into her like a madman, lifting her hips slightly, and penetrating deeper until he was balls deep. The headboard of the bed beat against the wall with the rhythm of their lovemaking.

Davis stretched Nicole to the point of almost pain. It gave new meaning to the words—hurt so good. Still, she was needy. Every time Davis rolled his hips and buried himself inside her body, she rose up to meet him.

He leaned down and captured her mouth in another kiss. He fucked her mouth just like he did her body. Adrenaline coursed through him as he pounded her, and she squeezed his cock every—single—time, milking him dry. This was heaven, and Davis knew it. He felt the tightening, both hers and his. His climax was close, and so was hers. He strained to hold out for her. He hit just the right spot, and Nicole’s body began to shake and spasm, and he erupted.

She screamed.

He growled.

Makeup sex was a gift from the Gods. It was the best damn sex in the world.

Slowly, their heart rates came down, and their breathing returned to normal. Nicole loved to lie in his arms listening to the sound of his heartbeat.

No words. The silence was golden. Words would cause too many problems.

Davis laced his fingers with hers. “Nicole?”

She just wanted a little more time in paradise—to bask in the afterglow of their lovemaking for just a little while longer. But the real world was about to crash down upon them. She responded. “Hmm . . .”

He was solemn. “We need to talk.”

She spoke quietly. “I know. I just want to hold on to this feeling for a little while longer.”

Davis felt the same way and hesitated before speaking again. But he didn’t have a choice. He was running out of time. “I feel the same way. But you need to be prepared. I need you to know, whatever happens, you and the kids will be fine because the next few months are going to get kind of rocky.”

Nicole sighed. The weightlessness she had felt moments ago was replaced with a heavy heart. “Whatever happens I want to face it together.”

“I want that too. I might have to step down as the CEO of Chatham Industries. Our stock is plummeting. Money is going to be tight. We’ll have to make certain sacrifices.”

Nicole sat up pulling the sheet with her. She wasn’t expecting those words to ever come out of his mouth. “No. You built that company from scratch. You can’t leave.”

“If I have any chance of saving it, leaving may be my only option.”

Nicole had never seen Davis look so defeated. She cradled his face in one hand. “I only care about Chatham Industries because I know how important it is to you. Personally, it doesn’t matter to me and never did. If you had nothing, the only place I would want to be is in your arms. Losing the ability to be with you like this is the only thing that scares me.”

Davis kissed the inside of her hand. “I could go to prison for a long time. If that happens, I don’t want you to wait for me.”

“No!” Her protective instincts kicked in. “I won’t let you think that way. We’ll beat this.”

“Baby, we’ve got to be realistic. I plan to fight as hard as I can, but just in case, we’ve got to be ready for the worst-case scenario.”

Her eyes began to water. “I honestly don’t know what I would do without you, and I don’t plan on finding out.” She wiped away a tear. “What are the extradition laws in Fiji?” Nicole said it only half-jokingly. The other part of her was solemn. “If shit looks as if it’s going sideways, we need to figure something out.”

The edges of Davis’s lips curved up. “I wouldn’t do that to you and the kids.”

Nicole lay her head back down on his chest. “What can I do to make this better for you?”

“This. Just holding you in my arms calms me. I hate fighting with you. I don’t want to do it anymore.”

“Me too. I’m sorry about everything.”

“Yeah, me too.” Davis kissed the side of her head.

“Seriously, I want to help. Please don’t treat me like a porcelain doll.”

Dana’s words came back to him. What if the tables were turned? “The lawyers left some information for you to review when you have a chance. For now, we are not making any comments to the press. Our team is making any public statements on our behalf. They’ve been camped outside the gates ever since the news broke.”

Nicole lifted her head. “What? They’re in front of our house?”

“Not exactly, but close enough. They are hunkered down in front of our gates.”

“Rayna has to be freaked out.”

“On the first day, she was a little, but the past couple of days, Teena has been taking her to and from school. However, I was able to get an order for them to stay one hundred yards back.”

“Thank God.”

The alarm clock went off. Their hour of bliss was interrupted by the responsibilities of the day. Nicole had missed too many of them, but she wouldn’t this morning.

Davis groaned. “I don’t want to leave this bed, or you.”

Nicole glanced around the room that she had redecorated years ago. “This is the first time we’ve made love in here.” She wrapped her arms around his waist and tightened her hold, pulling his ear into her mouth. She moaned as she rubbed her sex into his thigh. “Mmm . . .” Her voice was thick. “After we get the kids settled, I want to come back.”

Davis’s smile grew. “You know . . . I may not be able to make any other promises, but that one I can keep.”