Shameful Secret

Our bodies were inseparable as I stroked his hair, trying to come down from my orgasm by distracting myself. He craned his cane so that he could look at me. Our faces were so close that I felt his slowly calming breath on my clammy skin. I wondered whether I appeared to be as content as he did when he grinned with satisfaction.

"Are you alright?"

I blinked. "Yes."

Before giving me another kiss, he traced my lips. "Thank you for giving me the pleasure of being with you."

That's right, I gave this man my virginity. I had no regrets.

"I appreciate you making it good. I've heard a lot of terrifying tales regarding people's first times."

He smiled and looked down at me with mirth dancing in his eyes.

"Practice makes perfect, sweetie. So, it will only get better." He kissed me, showing me just what he was promising. Sooner than I wanted, he got off me to settle down by my side.

We simmered in the afterglow for an unknown amount of time. He occasionally gave me a kiss or brushed a strand of hair out of my face. It made my stomach burst out into butterflies.

"Let's tie the knot."

Well, that was a surprise. He caught me raising an eyebrow.

"What?"

He encircled me in his arms, pressing my body close to his.

"Oak Run. We can take a plane there, get married there, and then have our honeymoon there. Or wherever else you desire. Wherever your heart desires as long as it is on the planet and accessible.

As he caressed my neck, my heart skipped.

"Don't you have to go to work?"

I felt the vibration of his chest as he chuckled.

"Francis is capable of handling things. I believe it is perfectly alright to take some time off to get married. I have never put anything over my work before."

Francis wasn't a name I was familiar with, but Nicholas had a valid point.

"How is your family going to react? Will they be upset if you leave them out of your... wedding?"

"Mrs. Rowe, are you attempting to put off getting married? You are aware that is included in the deal, right?" he said as he ran his fingers over my ribs.

I giggled as I made an effort to escape his grip.

"No, I'm just attempting to reason with your irrational decision."

He growled in my ear as he pressed his fingers on my hip to keep me still beside him.

"My Willow, be careful. If you keep wriggling around in that manner, you'll get me hard again."

My skin flushed, and I gulped. "Then, you shouldn't tickle me. You are at fault here."

"I get really excited when you snap back," he admitted.

He took my hand and wrapped it around his cock, which was becoming visibly harder.

I turned to face him. "What should I do with this?"

He collapsed onto his back and covered his eyes with his arm as he laughed out loud. I released the cocky little friend from my hand, and I stared in awe as it slapped against his stomach before springing back into place.

Good movement... rather funny.

I laughed quietly.

He raised his arm off his eyes and cast me a wary look.

"What's so funny?" he asked. He raised his head to look down at himself, following my gaze.

"Nothing."

Men could be very sensitive.

I stretched, exaggerating my motions so that Nicholas could fully appreciate my naked body.

This was his punishment for constantly staring and not taking action like he had promised.

Suddenly, he lunged, pinning me under him.

"Willow, don't provoke me."

Despite his best efforts to look fierce, I laughed at him.

"Why? Will you discipline me?"

He stared at me for a long time before grinning.

"I will make sure you enjoy the consequences of your words."

I understood that he wasn't just talking about tonight. I wished he was correct.

He crawled down my body and took one nipple between his lips before kneading the other one. He wanted to give them equal treatment, it seemed. I groaned and gripped his hair, urging him on.

He raised his head, asking, "So, Oak Run?" Many couples chose to perform their weddings in Oak Run with a view of the snow-capped mountains in the background since Oak Run had stunning snow-covered slopes all year long. He seems to like the scenic and romantic setting for his wedding.

I sighed. "You are playing with me. You're going to keep talking until I give you what you want, won't you?"

"No." I squirmed with need as his tongue danced across my flesh.

His tongue was so distracting that I couldn't even truly be irritated with him.

I opened my eyes to glare as he pulled away, leaving me cold and wanting his touch. He was kneeling over me, on his hands and knees, his brows arched. I was aware that he was waiting for a reply.

"Fine!"

Marriage. Nothing major, right?

I could manage this.

But his insistence on having his way every time would lead to a lot of friction in our future.

.

The following day, I boarded a plane and traveled across the country to get married. I had been awake for most of the night because Nicholas couldn't have enough of me. Or it could have been me constantly demanding more

Who knew I had been a sex junkie all along?

He appeared to have released the nymphomaniac who had been hiding beneath my discount store clothing.

The pain, which caused me to walk strangely today, was the only issue. When Nicholas commented on my little limp, I yelled at him several times.

My sexually-induced haze just served to enhance his arrogance—as if he needed someone to stroke his ego some more. Even so, it was surprising that his head could squeeze through doorways.

While Nicholas sat next to me, I glanced at my phone and flipped through the roughly twenty text messages from Lorelei. It was also distracting as Nicholas squeezed my thigh.

It would be challenging to explain what was occurring to her without telling her the whole truth, so I realized I needed to contact her. I sighed once again as I scrolled through her texts, which were becoming increasingly urgent.

"What is wrong?"

I glanced his way. It was hard to fathom what had transpired over the last few days. God, he was so gorgeous.

I couldn't believe I was going to marry this guy.

At his question, I sighed.

"Lory." I accepted the hand he extended and laced our fingers together. "I need to call her. Simply put, I'm at a loss for words. I don't know how to explain this to her. What will we say to people?"

"I sent my PR company a statement this morning," he informed me.

My mouth dropped in shock.

What did he do?

"Were you going to tell me, or not?"

"I was. I'll tell you right now."

He held onto my hand even tighter when I tried to remove it. I was enraged by his indifference.

"I can see that we'll need to work on the portion where you consult me before making decisions that have an impact on me as well."

"Willow, it's not really a big thing. Don't make it into something it isn't."

Yes, I wanted to scream, but not in the good kind of frustration I had come to associate with him.

"Oh? What were the contents of this statement you sent to your PR team? You didn't tell me anything about it either."

He combed his head with his fingers. "A gossip magazine had images of me putting the ring on your finger. I had to make an official statement. It is easier for us to spread the story this way. Please trust in my experience and stop worrying about it."

Evidently, one of the spectators on the sidewalk decided to inform the media.

"So you handed them fresh gossip to quell rumors?"

"No, I just made a brief statement to thank them for preserving our privacy and to confirm my engagement."

I laughed. "Preserving our privacy? That will work, I'm certain. I still believe you ought to have informed me prior to issuing a statement."

He grinned. "It won't be too unpleasant. They're not quite as eager if you feed them a bit. I didn't give them your name, either. And I warned them not to publish any information related to you."

I grimaced. Did he want others to be unaware of who I was? Was I a shameful secret to be kept in the dark?

He must have noticed that I was upset because he leaned over to plant a kiss on the corner of my lips.

"I want to wait until our wedding. I will make a separate statement after our nuptials to name you. You better believe I'm eager to announce to the world that you are forever mine."

He coaxed me with his words and kisses, making me let his actions slide. Just this once.

"What will we say to our friends and your family after all that?"

He reclined in his seat but kept his body facing me. "It's quite simple. We tell them that we were introduced through a scholarship mix-up and you had to come down to Quentin to sort it out. We met and it was love at first sight."

I gave a slow nod while secretly hoping that was the case. I attempted to disregard the pain in my chest.

"It's fine, I suppose we'll stick with that. We'll see how that works since I have to get on the phone with Lory now."

I paused and cast another glance toward Nicholas while holding the phone. I was still unsure of my ability to keep my best friend in the dark about something so important. He was unaware of her persuasive abilities when seeking out information.

"What if Lory actually discovered the truth? Would that mean our relationship will be over?" I nervously bit my lip.