A Husband of Convenience Read online

  ‘I’m not sure I can drive,’ Josie quipped.

  ‘Sensible girl.’ Conan grinned. ‘Stay that way and let Jeffrey show you to our room. You need a rest before dinner. I have some work to do.’

  The room Jeffrey took her to was huge and elegant, with a massive double bed that seemed to dominate the room. Off it was a bathroom and a smaller dressing room with a stripped-down single bed that did not look as if it had been used in years. Josie walked back into the centre of the bedroom as Jeffrey reappeared with her suitcase.

  ‘Would you like me to unpack for you?’

  ‘No, no, I can do that.’

  ‘A cup of tea, then? Anything at all?’ he asked.

  ‘No, thank you. I think I might just have a rest, and then a bath.’

  ‘Excellent idea, Josie. You must take good care of yourself and the baby—and can I just say how happy I am about the little one?’

  Long after Jeffrey had left, Josie lay on the bed, trying to sleep, but was unable to do so. Her mind spun with unanswered questions. Her accident had only been a week or so ago. So how come Jeffrey had not known earlier she was pregnant? She rubbed her swollen stomach tenderly; it must have been pretty obvious. And why, as a pregnant married lady, did the thought of sharing this admittedly luxurious bed with Conan make her feel so apprehensive? She must have made love to him dozens of times before. She had the bump to prove it...

  Finally she slipped into a restless sleep, eventually waking to find it was almost dark, with the sound of running water coming from the bathroom. The sound surprised her into sitting up—Jeffrey must have left a tap running. Sliding her feet to the floor, she padded in stockinged feet across to the bathroom door, opened it and walked in. She came to an abrupt halt, her eyes widening to their fullest extent.

  ‘Sorry, did I disturb you?’

  ‘Disturb’ did not begin to do justice to the way Josie felt. Conan, obviously having just stepped out of the shower, was standing stark naked in the middle of the room, briskly rubbing his hair with a towel. Her fascinated gaze slid down over his wide shoulders, the broad chest matted with black curls that arrowed down over his flat stomach and bushed out at the junction of his legs. Words failed her at the sight of his manhood, his lean hips and long, tanned, well-shaped legs. Beads of water glistened on his bronzed skin, and she could not tear her eyes away.

  ‘You’re beautiful,’ she finally murmured. How could she have forgotten such a perfect specimen of masculinity? she wondered.

  ‘I think that’s my line, Josie,’ he said with a husky chuckle, and, walking towards her, he casually wrapped the towel he had been drying his hair with around his hips.

  Not before time, Josie thought, swallowing hard; she was in danger of having a heart attack. Glancing up at his smiling face, she turned scarlet. ‘Sorry. I... I thought a tap was...’ She stopped when she realised she was stammering like an idiot.

  ‘You have seen me naked before, Josie, I can assure you.’ And, placing his hands on her shoulders, he swooped down and kissed her open mouth. Then, grinning, he straightened up, lightly squeezed her shoulders, and let her go.

  ‘I didn’t mean to wake you, Josie, but I needed a shower and a shave before dinner. Will you come down for dinner, or would you prefer to eat up here?’

  ‘No. Yes. I—I’ll come downstairs,’ she stammered, and shot back into the bedroom, closing the door behind her.

  To her relief Conan did not follow her, but she heard him go into the dressing room. Of course! Where else would he keep his clothes?

  Her own clothes, she discovered, when she began unpacking her suitcase, were in the large wardrobe in the bedroom. She eyed the contents and sighed. Nothing jolted her memory; in fact they all looked new. But then why shouldn’t they? They were all loose-fitting or maternity clothes.

  She made her way downstairs and immediately Jeffrey appeared, and he showed her into the dining room. Like the rest of the house it had a comfortable feel about it, though elegant and totally in keeping with the Georgian era. But still not familiar. She frowned.

  ‘Stop it, Josie; you’ll end up with a line between your eyes. Remember what the doctor said? No forcing the issue.’ Conan strode into the room, and pulled out a chair for her. ‘Sit down, stop worrying and eat.’

  ‘Yes, oh, master!’ she joked as he sat in the chair at the top of the table with Josie on his right-hand side.

  Jeffrey served their meal—broccoli soup, then fresh poached salmon, both of which he insisted was good for pregnant mums.

  Josie accepted the salmon Jeffrey offered her with a wrinkle of her nose, then flushed as she saw the amused lift of Conan’s eyebrow. ‘Excuse him, Josie; I’m sure Jeffrey thinks he is having the baby!’

  ‘That would be a miracle,’ she smiled, and some of the tension eased from her body. ‘But I don’t think I like salmon,’ she concluded—but put a forkful in her mouth anyway. She chewed for a moment. ‘Actually it’s quite nice. Obviously I can’t trust my own instinct.’ And she ate the rest without comment.

  The pudding she did refuse, simply because she felt full. But she watched Conan devour a generous portion of apple pie, smothered in cream, and wondered how he kept so hard and lean. A vivid image of his naked body flashed into her mind, which was enough to set her pulse racing, and hastily she picked up her glass of water and finished it off. Suddenly the thought of the night ahead loomed large in her mind. She had no excuse for not sharing the marital bed. The baby maybe? But she didn’t think so; the doctor had made a point of telling her, along with a lot of other advice, that sex was perfectly safe. She really had to get over this childish fear of intimacy with her husband.

  Conan suggested coffee in the drawing room and Josie agreed. She sat down on the sofa and Conan joined her, casually putting an arm around her. Curved as she was against his side, her head resting against his broad chest, the steady rise and fall of his deep breathing lulled her into a deep sense of security.

  Jeffrey walked in and set the coffee tray on the occasional table, and said goodnight.

  Josie smiled her thanks, and unthinkingly placed her hand on Conan’s thigh to push herself up into a sitting position. ‘Shall I pour?’ She threw him a glance, and caught a flare of desire in the darkening depths of his eyes. She felt his muscles flex and tense beneath her palm, and she was belatedly aware of the intimacy of the situation.

  She snatched her hand back. ‘Sugar, milk?’ she asked, edging away from him, suddenly hit by an attack of nerves.

  ‘Black, one sugar.’

  Keeping her attention fixed on the tray, she filled two cups and handed one to Conan. She picked up her own, drained it in one gulp and jumped to her feet.

  ‘I’m going to bed, if you don’t mind. It has been a long day and I’m tired.’

  Conan rose to his feet. ‘Of course,’ he agreed, with a sardonic glance down at her flushed face. ‘I have a few telephone calls to make. I’ll be up later.’

  Josie dashed out of the room, sure he had guessed how nervous she felt. Standing in the bathroom twenty minutes later, fresh from a shower Josie surveyed her naked body with a grim smile. While rubbing baby oil on to her tummy, she remembered Conan’s magnificent nudity earlier, and decided ruefully that she had nothing to worry about. Conan was hardly likely to be overcome with passion for a small round person. Even if he did love her.

  ‘Here, let me help you do that.’

  She spun around, her eyes widening on Conan’s serious face. Lost in her own thoughts, she had not heard him enter. Her instinctive reaction was to hide her nakedness from his intent gaze, but something in his expression stopped her. He was openly studying the soft fullness of her breasts, and she shivered as he stepped forward and took the bottle of oil from her unresisting grasp.

  ‘I’m getting fat,’ she blurted—the first thing that came into her head.

  ‘No, Josie. You’re a ripe, voluptuous woman, and I adore you,’ he said huskily.

  Josie trembled. He was so close she could smell
the cool, masculine scent of him; something quivered in her belly, and it was not their child...

  ‘Come.’ He lowered his head and brushed her lips with his. ‘I can do this better in the bedroom.’

  He was her husband, and he had the right, but none of that mattered to Josie. The simple truth was, she wanted this man. She made no effort to stop him as he gently lifted her into his arms and, cradling her against his broad chest carried her into the room, placing her in the middle of the wide bed. She reached for the sheet, but Conan stopped her.

  ‘No, Josie, darling; let me look at you.’ Sitting down on the bed, he poured some oil direct from the bottle on to her stomach. Then, reaching over, he placed the bottle on the bedside table.

  At the first touch of his large hands on her stomach she quivered, then, as he gently massaged the oil over the mound that kept their child safe, she began to relax.

  ‘You must have done this before,’ she whispered, her eyes closing, relaxing at the soothing stroke of his hands on her distended stomach.

  ‘And much, much more,’ he said softly, his hands leaving her stomach and stroking up under her breasts.

  Her eyes flew open and clashed with the gleaming dark gold of his. ‘Conan?’ she queried as his hands inched higher, cupping her breasts, his long fingers massaging the firm flesh. She moaned as his touch filled her with delicious pleasure.

  ‘More oil, I think,’ he drawled. ‘And a little less clothing.’ Wide-eyed and breathless, she watched as he stood up and shrugged out of his clothes. Once naked, he picked up the bottle of oil and slowly, deliberately trickled a drop of liquid onto the hardened peaks of her breasts.

  For a long moment he stared down at her, drinking in her beauty with glittering eyes. While Josie fought down a brief flutter of fear at the sight of his massive aroused male body, at the same time her body ached for his caress. He lowered himself down on the bed beside her, and when he finally touched her she shuddered all over.

  His dark eyes gleaming with the banked-down fire of passion, his hands swept slowly down over her stomach and thighs in a long, smooth motion, then up again, his palms lingering on her stomach and then sliding up to her breasts.

  Josie gasped as he bent over her. His mouth capturing her parted lips, he kissed her. His fingers smoothed the oil into her breasts, his thumb gently massaging the hard tip, and still he kissed her, his tongue plunging deep in her mouth. She touched him, hesitantly at first, letting her hands slide over his shoulders. She felt him shudder and realised the control he was exerting over himself.

  His dark head moved from her mouth to her throat and his hair tickled softly against her chin as he moved lower. Then the feel of his tongue, warm and wet, encircling one taut nipple, sent tremors through every part of her.

  Conan lifted his head, his eyes heavy-lidded with desire. ‘More oil or...?’ The question simmered on the air as his hands stroked down over her stomach once more and lower to her thighs, the oil long since absorbed, although still he massaged her sensitive flesh.

  ‘Conan?’ she murmured. ‘How could I have forgotten?’ She trailed her hands down his back and lower over his buttocks. ‘You feel so right.’

  It was the sign he was waiting for. Conan’s head swooped down and their mouths met and fused. He teased her with long, drugging kisses, his fingers slipping between her legs which were parted and ready for him.

  Josie writhed beneath him, her oil-slicked body sliding against his naked flesh as his fingers found the secret centre of her. Then his mouth found the peak of her breast and gently he took the engorged nipple between his teeth. Her body was on fire. Her hands grasped his head and tangled in his thick dark hair, but still he turned his head and subjected her other breast to the same sweet torment, and all the time his seeking, teasing fingers brought her to new heights of pleasure, until the pleasure became one burning, aching need.

  He lifted his head. His eyes had narrowed to slits, and the flesh was taut across his high cheekbones. ‘I don’t want to hurt you, Josie.’ His hands slid across to grasp her thighs, holding her firmly against the mattress, and he pushed down on her, allowing her to feel the full extent of his arousal. ‘But I can’t wait much longer,’ he murmured, flicking both her breasts with his tongue in a sensuous reminder.

  ‘Touch me—show me you want me,’ he rasped.

  Want him! She would die if she did not have him, and, sliding one hand down his long body, she curled her fingers around him.

  His great body shuddered, and he guided her hand against his body, his mouth hard as he caught hers in a deep, hungry kiss, and Josie responded with equal fervour, the wonder of him filling her mind with a joy so profound, she could not understand how it was possible she had forgotten him.

  If Josie had ever had any inhibitions she certainly did not now. They touched tenderly, discovering and delighting in their mutual passion, the tension stretching almost to pain, until Conan rolled over on his back and, positioning her astride him, pulled her down towards him and suckled on her breast as he thrust up into her ready warmth.

  She clenched around him and within seconds his great body was bucking against her, driving her over the edge to a shattering climax as his hot seed spilled inside her, and she heard his deep growl of release. She lay sprawled across his chest, still joined to him, as eddying circles of pleasure feathered from her innermost being.

  ‘Are you all right?’ The words seemed to rumble from his chest.

  Josie lifted her head and folded her arms across his heaving chest to look down into his face.

  ‘Awestruck,’ she breathed, her eyes clinging to his own, which were narrowed and black with passion. ‘I feel as though I have just discovered the meaning of life, love and all that.’ A lazy smile curved her love-swollen lips. Resting on one arm, she used her other hand to brush his damp hair from his brow in a tender gesture of love, not taking her eyes from his flushed face. ‘I can’t believe I forgot this.’ She moved her hips restlessly against him, and gasped as she felt him swelling inside her.

  ‘Give me a minute and I’ll remind you again,’ Conan drawled, his arms wrapping firmly around her, holding her pressed to his heart.

  ‘Is it always like this between us?’ she asked, gently nibbling on his chin, and she did not see his eyes narrow with grim determination.

  ‘Always, and for ever. Now stop talking and let me show you again,’ Conan growled, and rolled her beneath him. Leaning on his elbows with his hands cradling her head, he began to move gently inside her, while he sipped at her mouth and breasts in a long, lazy loving that ended in the same breathtaking climax.

  CHAPTER NINE

  JOSIE’S eyes fluttered open. It was dark and warm, she was snuggled against the side of a very large man, and she was dying to go to the lavatory. Very gently, she wriggled a little down the bed to escape the long arm that curved around her shoulder.

  Carefully she raised herself up on one elbow and looked down at her sleeping husband. His dark hair was tousled, his long lashes curled against his cheeks. He looked younger and somehow vulnerable. Josie’s heart squeezed with love for him, and carefully, so as not to wake him, she slid off the bed.

  Naked, she padded to the bathroom, and a few moments later she picked her nightdress off the rail and slipped it on before returning to the bedroom.

  ‘Josie,’ Conan’s voice greeted her. He sat up in bed, and switched on the bedside light. His sleep-hazed gaze searched urgently around the room, until he saw her walking towards him ‘What...? Where have you been?’ he demanded, his dark eyes skimming over her face and down over the long white cotton nightdress that covered her small frame.

  Josie was wide awake, and chuckled at his bemused expression. ‘The call of nature beckoned. According to Dr Masters, one of the down sides of pregnancy is the urge to go to the bathroom more often. Apparently it depends on the way the baby is lying,’ she told him chattily as she walked across the room and climbed back into bed. ‘Sorry I woke you.’

  ‘Oh.’ Cona
n reached out and pulled her into the circle of his arms. ‘You gave me a fright I thought you were a ghost, in this thing.’ He plucked at the pristine white cotton enveloping her. Switching off the light, he turned her in his arms and leant over her to kiss her eyes, and nose, and lips.

  ‘Again,’ she murmured teasingly against his mouth, her slender arm curving around his neck.

  ‘You’re insatiable, woman!’ He chuckled and slid his hand down her thigh and up under her nightdress, quickly removing the offending garment.

  A long time later Josie lay against him, tired but curious. ‘Conan?’ She murmured his name.

  ‘Go to sleep,’ he rasped. ‘It takes the male of the species a little longer to recover than the female; I need a rest.’

  ‘No, not that.’ She nuzzled his neck. ‘But I was wondering. Have I ever done this with anyone else?’ She could not imagine she had shared such bliss with anyone other than Conan. ‘I can’t believe I have but I don’t know.’ His arm tightened around her, and she felt a brief tension in his hard body.

  ‘You were a virgin when we first met,’ he stated emphatically.

  ‘I’m glad.’ She sighed deeply, snuggling into him. ‘I might have lost my memory, but I knew you were my soul mate,’ she murmured, and in minutes was asleep.

  But if she had seen the expression on Conan’s face she would not have slept so trustingly.

  ‘The March wind will blow and we will have snow.’ Josie murmured the proverb to herself as she gazed idly out of the drawing-room window, watching the snowflakes dance past and fall gently to the ground. She stirred restlessly on the sofa as the baby gave her a mighty kick. Usually the feel of their child moving inside her brought a smile to her lips, but not today.