Maxwell

 

Though she was my new bride, I didn’t consummate things with Nicole that night—or morning or day or whatever—because we still had to drive. As far as we could for as long as we could. I needed to put some serious distance between myself and the Lions before someone got ahold of Nicole again.

 

I was still shaken by what had happened to her while walking that night. How much worse it could have been.

 

It wasn’t a lie when I said I wanted to marry her because I’d gotten into this. The Lions were after her because of me. That was unacceptable in my book. But it wasn’t the only reason I’d dragged her to that church and invited her to be mine until death do us part. Or until she demanded a divorce, but I was hoping to put that part off for a while.

 

No, it was actually her ex-boyfriend who gave me the idea of tying the knot. He was obsessed with her, that much was clear, and I was pretty sure at this point that he was dangerous, too. Maybe not in the same way the Lions could be, but not far from it. I was pretty sure he would stalk her and pressure her and maybe even hurt her until he got his way or she turned up dead.

 

I wasn’t willing to let that happen.

 

This was my way of protecting her. If we were married for real, I could keep an eye on her and it would be much more permanent in Ben’s eyes. Whatever claim he felt he had on her, our being married would snuff out. Or at least I hoped it would.

 

That being said, I knew better than to tell Nicole all of that. It was pretty obvious that whatever else Ben had been, he’d been controlling to say the least. Nicole had taken a big step to try to distance herself from him and I could see how, in her eyes, my marrying her to protect her would be seen as the same type of controlling. It wasn’t, but I wasn’t sure I could convince her of that.

 

So I’d leave it as all having to do with the Lions until later. Much later.

 

***

 

We stopped once we hit California. Along the way Nicole didn’t say much, but drifted in and out of sleep. We listened to music, stopped at rest areas and gas stations, but otherwise remained fairly quiet. I thought maybe she was still in shock over being nearly raped the night before and married right after.

 

I drove for as long as I could, but eventually exhaustion hit me. I pulled over at a hotel, not the nicest, but definitely not the worst, and got us a room. It only had a single bed and I tried to tell myself it was to keep costs down.

 

It wasn’t.

 

We checked in and headed into the room. If Nicole had any issues with a single bed, she didn’t say anything about it. In fact, she dropped down onto it unceremoniously, completely dressed, and passed out. Though she’d napped on and off, the drive had exhausted her and the sleep hadn’t been any good. She was tired enough that I didn’t think she had it in her to contemplate much of anything beyond a bed that she could really crash out on.

 

I, however, despite being completely wore out, couldn’t seem to sleep. Instead, I found myself sitting in the chair facing the bed, watching her. She looked beautiful, just like that first night, and I considered how I’d gotten myself here.

 

Marriage.

 

If someone had told me even a week ago I’d be married now, I would have laughed in their faces. It wasn’t something I had ever seen myself doing. Marriage was all about settling down with someone and I just never felt like I was the settling down type. I was a wild child, meant to be on the road, living life to the fullest.

 

Yet here I was, and while I told myself it was for her safety, I couldn’t help but feel like that wasn’t all of it.

 

Yes, a huge part of me took sick pleasure in knowing I’d foiled her ex-boyfriend’s plans. A part of me liked the idea that I’d given him the proverbial kick in the nuts. And a part of my liked the idea that we were man and wife, Nicole was a lot more likely to sleep with me. Sex was a part of marriage, after all, and even if she intended to end it as soon as we cleared all of this up, I had a feeling she’d be up for a round with me.

 

All of that was why the idea of marriage wasn’t completely abhorrent to me…but there was something else, too. Something lingering deep in my primal subconscious I couldn’t quite place. I didn’t know what it was, but it caused my body to react, stirring my arousal until I was lusting after Nicole’s sleeping body.

 

My mind started to go into scenarios. How would I seduce the delicious creature in my bed?

 

Oral, I thought. Spreading her legs and sliding my tongue along her inner folds would likely go a long way towards making her want me. And not just a little bit, either. I thought I could get her interested in my tongue fucking her pretty easily, given our heavy petting session earlier. Some kissing, some fondling, and by the time my hands were gripping her breasts I’d have her skirt pushed up to her waist. By then, it would be easy to slide my tongue into her.

 

After making her come once, she’d be putty in my hands. All I’d have to do was undo my pants and show her my package. I was confident she’d beg for the rest.

 

My thoughts continued along this vein for a while, hours maybe, until I finally admitted I needed to sleep, at least a little.

 

Not trusting myself to just lie there next to her, I nodded off on the couch to dreams of her curvy, luscious body sliding over mine.