Chapter Eleven

KHELLEN

Had Sophie just given me permission to fuck her right here? The plants secluded the ledge from view, and this was supposed to be a private island, so there was no chance of anyone seeing us. Those were my rational thoughts. The other part of my mind imagined the idea of making love to her in a public place and made me aroused immediately. I searched her face and saw a hint of the anger she professed toward me, but it was fading quickly. Underneath was a new look showing naked longing and desire.

“It won’t be gentle,” I warned her, and her eyes got round. “Or slow.”

“You talk like you have a lot of experience.” If she was trying to upset me, it wasn’t working. It only increased my lust. “Show me what you’ve got. Or are you all talk?”

I pulled at her dress and yanked it down so that her breasts spilled out. She gasped. I grabbed one and squeezed, pinching the nipple firmly, which made her moan. While I massaged one breast, I took the other in my mouth, sucking it.

Eventually, I pulled away and undid my pants. Her eyes were on my crotch as my pants dropped around my ankles, and she looked shocked when she saw the change.

“You’re a different color than before.” She was referring to my butt and groin, which had changed color after we had fucked last night.

“That’s because I’m a fully mature Biyahan male after our evening together. One who is about to fuck you hard, Mrs. Lynch.”

She took two steps back, eyes wide, and bumped into the altar. I looked at the altar again and realized it would be perfect for what I had in mind. I picked her up and set her on the platform, which happened to be at the height of my hips. I raised her dress up around her waist and pulled her panties down and away from her body. I felt the dampness of her juices. I was glad she was ready because I didn’t want to wait any longer. If she wanted it, she was going to get it.

“Spread your legs, Sophie.”

She opened them slightly, but it wasn’t enough for me.

“Spread them wide. Your husband wants to fuck you.” I took her knees and moved them far apart, then looked at her. Her body was beautiful to me. I brought my eyes up to hers and found her staring at me. “Tell me you want me to fuck you, Sophie,” I said leaning forward and whispering in her ear, making her hips twitch. “I won’t do it unless you say you want it.”

She made an impatient sound, and I stroked her clit in tiny circles until she started to moan. Still, she wouldn’t speak. I stepped back as if to leave.

“Stop,” she said, putting her hand on my arm. She spread her legs even wider, face red. “I want you to fuck me.”

The moment the words were out of her mouth, I had myself lined up at her pussy. I shoved in until I penetrated all the way inside.

“Oh, fuck,” she said, her eyes rolling back in her head with pleasure. “Go slowly, Khellen.”

I pulled out and drove into her again, fucking her in long, slow strokes that drove both of us wild. She was writhing and making a lot of noise, so I kissed her to keep her quiet. I sped up and pounded into her, exploding inside her as I felt her climax pulse around me. I kissed her as she came, swallowing her cries, which would have carried far across the lake if I hadn’t done anything.

I pulled out as soon as the contractions from her orgasm stopped. I started to put on my pants while she tucked her breasts back into her dress and looked around for her panties. They had disappeared, vanishing off the cliff when I threw them away. The thought of her naked under that dress almost made me hard again.

Sophie’s emotions had shifted again. “Is this how it’s going to be?” she asked, her body and expression loose and relaxed from her orgasm. Then her eyes got angry. “You tell me when and where we’re going to fuck?”

I stared her down, wondering if she was angry with herself or with me. “I was about to ask you the same thing.” I held her face between my hands and kissed her deeply until I had to pull back or start all over.

“It’s just a marriage of convenience,” she said, adjusting the skirt of her dress with sharp movements. “I’m yours to use, both for saving your ass from dying and for fucking. I only want things to be clear. I mean, you want me to be explicit about everything, right?”

I gazed at my enigma of a wife in consternation. Then I shook my head and looked at the ground. Our first argument as a couple was resolved, I supposed. We had fought and made up all in ten unbelievable minutes. And now it seemed we were fighting again.

A marriage of convenience? I wasn’t sure if it was convenient or not.

SOPHIE

I was frustrated with myself. Ten minutes ago I told Khellen that we couldn’t be intimate any longer. How did I find myself begging him to fuck me? What was the matter with me? I felt like everything around me was spiraling out of control, and I didn’t know how to get things back to the way they were supposed to be.

Falling in love with Khellen had made me crazy, and I was doing things that were totally out of character. It felt like I wasn’t myself. And yet, in another way, I felt more myself than I had ever been before. It was baffling. When I turned to look at him, he had a small smile playing on his lips, which made me even angrier. I hadn’t wanted to get married, but there he was, ordering me around. And I let him fuck me wherever he wanted to. I had broken my vows. We hadn’t used protection, and it was all his fault.

My mindset lasted until we reached the shore. We were at a different spot, a little bit down from his house, not across from it. After entering the water to swim back, I started to calm down. I admitted to myself that I had freely chosen to get married, knowing full well what the consequences might be. I also realized I had enjoyed making love as much as he had, and I had asked for it up there on the ledge.

I swam away, thankful for the life band. I was exhausted, and the sleepless night had not recharged me at all.

“Are you doing okay, Sophie?” Khellen treaded water next to me, keeping himself up so effortlessly that it made me wish I could swim like him. I didn’t want to admit that I was running out of energy, but I couldn’t hide it. I nodded, avoiding his eyes.

“Give me your hand,” he murmured. I relented and held out my hand, which he took and pulled me into his body. He wrapped one arm around my chest and under my arm. “Lie back and relax,” he said, leaning back into the water and starting to kick with his feet. “I’ll pull you.”

I couldn’t deny that I loved being in his arms. It was a pleasurable connection, and I once again rued the fact that I had fallen in love with him. I wondered if it would be enough to enjoy our friends-with-benefits arrangement.

The evening was surprisingly uneventful. We returned to the house where Khellen’s mother filled us in on what happened while we were on the island. The government men had appeared, and the servants had tried to dismiss them. They had insisted on searching the house but, finding nothing, they reluctantly departed, promising to return the next day.

Khellen’s mother had entered the marriage data and checked the system to see who was responsible for his arrest. She made sure Khellen’s name was removed from the lists and innocently continued her regular daily activities. As the day progressed, no one questioned her. Eventually, she relaxed, put it behind her, and went about her business.

I felt a tremendous sense of relief, and Khellen did as well. We shared a smile, glad that he was safe. His mother didn’t miss the glance we exchanged, but I didn’t care. Khellen was not going to disappear. Maybe he didn’t love me and never would, but I would get to spend the next year with him before I returned to my life on Earth.

I still had a strong drive to achieve and move up through the ranks of Single for Life, but I was also pushed in a different direction toward my incredibly handsome, sexy husband. Khellen didn’t appear to want a long-term relationship with me, so that made my choice easier. At the end of the year, our time together would come to an end. As long as we kept it a secret, I could go back to my life on Earth.

“Morda’s coming over,” Khellen’s mother said as we sat at the table finishing dinner.

“Why would she do that?” Khellen’s fork stopped midway to his mouth.

“She thinks she lost a bracelet at the party and wants to look for it.” She seemed unperturbed. “Is something wrong?”

“I guess not,” Khellen said. “It might be awkward to see her again this soon.”

His mother shrugged. “Help her find her trinket and send her off.”

Turning to me, he asked, “Are you going to have a shower before bed, Sophie? Do you want me to get us a snack?”

My lips twitched, resisting the urge to smile. He was thoughtful all of a sudden. “Sure.”

“Come down after you’re in your pajamas, and I’ll get it ready. I can shower later.”

I thought I caught a satisfied look on his mother’s face and wondered if she was changing her mind about me?

When I came back down, I found Khellen and Morda together in the living room. The sight of her made me filled with jealousy, though I don’t know why. Khellen had never even liked the girl.

I stopped in the doorway, watching Khellen hanging over the back of the couch, searching for Morda’s missing bracelet. His sweatpants had ridden down his ass. It wasn’t enough to show his butt, but there was a definite red line above the waistband. Morda’s eyes got big; she had apparently seen the same thing. She glanced at me, her look reproving and shocked. I became tense, not sure what she might do with the information.

Khellen popped back up holding the shiny bracelet in his hand. “I found it.” He proudly held it out to her.

Morda plastered on a smile. “Thanks so much,” she said, reaching for her jewelry.

“I was making a snack for Sophie and me. Did you want to stay for a little while?” He was almost maddeningly polite.

“It would be rude of me to refuse, wouldn’t it?”

“Make yourself comfortable. I’ll be right back.” He vanished, leaving me alone with Morda.

She approached me immediately. “You little Earth bitch.” She was practically vibrating with rage. “How dare you? He was supposed to be mine. Have you convinced him to sleep with you? Only sluts sleep with men outside of marriage, you know.”

“What are you talking about?” No one had ever attacked me like that before.

“I saw that he’s red down there now. He wasn’t when I left. You fucked him, didn’t you.”

It was not a question, but an accusation. “I’m not answering that. It’s none of your business what I did or didn’t do.”

She ignored me and went on with her tirade. “I was feeling sorry for myself for losing Khellen. But now I’m glad because he couldn’t use me for my body.” She wrinkled her nose at me in disgust. “You know he’s not going to keep you, right? Once men get their way with you, they move on. He has to get married. His family isn’t going to let him marry some Earth trash. Especially used goods like you.”

I suddenly understood why women slapped other women. I didn’t slap her, but I wanted to. I avoided her eyes, taking deep breaths, trying to control my outrage. As I did so, I rubbed my right hand on my left arm and caught the bit of compound again that felt like dried skin. I wanted to pull on it, but I knew that it might remove the covering and then part of the marriage certificate would be visible. That was the last thing I wanted to reveal right now. I rubbed my finger over it compulsively as I tried to calm myself.

She shook her head. “Did you think he might fall in love with you? Is that why you did it?”

I didn’t say anything, but she read the truth in my eyes.

“You’ll both regret taking what is mine.”

What was she talking about now?

“Here we go,” Khellen said, coming through the door. “Snacks.”

He set the tray on the table and looked back and forth between Morda and me, sensing the tension.

“I just received a message, and I have to go. Thanks for finding my bracelet, Khellen,” Morda said with an insincere smile. As she turned her back to him, she glared at me before leaving the room. We were silent until the front door closed, listening for any outbursts.

“Were you ladies playing nicely together?”

“Not really,” I said, shaking my head. “She isn’t as calm about losing you as we might have hoped.”

“What did she say to you exactly?”

“Not much.” I didn’t want to relive the conversation in my mind. “She was very unpleasant. I don’t want to talk about it.”

“I think you should tell me. She always seemed like a troublemaker. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable, but what if it’s important? She could put us in danger, you know?”

There was no resisting the man. “First of all, she saw you were red.”

“This isn’t starting out well.”

“She also said I was a whore and a slut because I seduced you and took your virtue.”

He tipped his head back and forth as if admitting the veracity of that statement. “Well, she’s right there.”

“Khellen!” I swatted him, and he grinned.

“Sorry, but it’s true. I was helpless before your beauty, Sophie.”

I took a deep breath. “This is no time for joking,” I said, trying and failing to be mad at him.

“I wasn’t joking, Soph.”

“You wanted me to tell you something embarrassing, and now you’re not even listening to me.”

“You’re right. I’m sorry, Sophie. Please continue.” He composed his face into the semblance of a serious expression.

“She said that she saw the maturation marking and wanted to know if I had slept with you. Of course, I told her it was none of her business.” I decided to omit the part where she said Khellen would never keep me and that I was a fool for sleeping with him, thinking that would make him fall in love with me. I didn’t see the need to share my deepest fears with him. But the other things came out in a rush.

“She thought your family wouldn’t let me marry you because I wasn’t good enough for you.” Well, that was the one thing that was probably true. His mother would never have agreed if she thought there was another way to keep Khellen safe. “And she said I would regret taking you from her. She said both of us would regret it.”

“What a drama queen,” he said, shaking his head. “I wish Mother had never introduced us. What a disaster.”

“What do you mean?” I asked. “Do you think she’s going to do something?”

“I have no idea. She’s determined, though. I would be surprised if she didn’t try something.” He flipped his arm over and started idly tapping the concealed certificate. “I’ll see if I can talk to her. Maybe I can smooth things over.”

“Please don’t let anyone find out we’re married, Khellen.” I could see my world starting to crumble around me, and I began to panic. If I didn’t have my career, I had nothing. It would take years to climbing the ladder again in another organization. I didn’t want to start over. If Khellen didn’t love me, I needed my work more than ever.

“Nobody’s going to discover anything, Sophie. Don’t worry. I’ll talk to her and sort this out.”

But she refused to talk him. He tried calling Morda. He even went to her house and her parents’ house, but no one could find her.

“This isn’t good,” he said.

“Maybe she decided to visit a friend’s house.”

“Perhaps. I’m probably paranoid,” he said, laughing a bit. I saw that the laughter didn’t reach his eyes.

I went to sleep that night in a lonely bed. I was sure Khellen wouldn’t have refused me if I had knocked on his door. I might have longed for him with every fiber of my being, but I couldn’t make myself go and beg him to hold me. I had more self-respect than that.

It took me a long time to fall asleep by myself, but eventually I did. In the morning, I took a long, hot shower and put on my clothes. I went looking for Khellen downstairs, but he wasn’t there. I went back upstairs and knocked on his door. No one answered me. I opened the door and looked around the empty room. After that, I looked in every room in the house, then shook my head for being silly.

I activated my virtual assistant. “Teri, where is Khellen?”

She put on a thinking face as if she were considering the question. I knew she was accessing the house and trying to locate him. “He’s not in the house, Sophie.”

I smacked my forehead as I realized that he had probably left to take a swim in the lake. I wandered down to the beach, enjoying the beauty of the purple trees. When I arrived at the shore, I put my hand over my eyes to shade them from the sun and looked around. I couldn’t see him anywhere.

Fear struck my gut, and my breath started coming quicker. I ran back to the house and checked it over again. It was still empty. I grabbed my jacket and went to the front door. I yanked it open, but before I could burst out, I saw Fiona, poised to turn the handle.

“Fiona,” I gasped. “I can’t find Khellen anywhere.”

“I know. He’s not here.” Her shoulders sagged. “The government discovered most of the things we did. I’m under investigation. They’re holding him at the local jail.” She looked at me furiously. “I hope you remember that is all because of you.”