Men of Fortune 1: Derek Read online

  Love. It really did make a difference, for underlying the desire was an upswelling of tender emotion that threaded through his hunger.

  Still smiling, she placed her mouth against his and kissed him with soft, feathery touches. “Good morning.”

  He groaned. “You have to do better than that, woman. Is that all you learned from me?”

  Her emerald eyes gleamed. “You might not be able to get out of bed.”

  “I’ll be the judge of that.”

  The kiss was open-mouthed and hot and passionate, involving lots of tongue and teeth. She devoured him like he was a favorite treat long denied. He was hard and panting by the time she raised her head.

  “You were saying?” she purred.

  “Good morning,” he rasped.

  She grinned. “You have to do better than that. Seriously, Derek, is that all—Oh!”

  He’d kicked the blanket off his body and maneuvered her over him. With his hands on her hips, he held her steady as he surged deep into her. He grinned back at her, at the pleased moan that came out of her mouth. “You were saying?”

  “I love action more than words.” Their fingers intertwined, she started moving up and down on his cock, her slick juices allowing her to bounce easily on him.

  “Same here, baby.” Especially when a kiss meant “good morning”, and a quickie…well, a great morning, obviously.

  She gyrated her hips, adding rolls to her rhythm in a way that spiked the pleasure and the lust. Their coming together was hard and fast, especially after the explosive kiss. She moved faster, but she couldn’t move fast enough for him or for the tension that was tightening his balls. Releasing her hands, he gripped her hips and drove his cock into her, over and over, short, sharp, quick plunges in tandem with the clawing need in him, the need to explode, to release the tension that seized his body.

  He strained, reached for it…She must…must—

  She screamed, convulsing around him, her pussy milking him with tenacious intensity. He couldn’t help but surge deep into her and unload himself, shouting her name. His orgasm rode him hard, and even when he thought he’d spent himself, he still thrust into her, loathed to be parted from her. But finally, he had to stop, when his flaccid cock slithered out.

  “Now, wouldn’t you say…that was…a better greeting?”

  “The best.” She heaved a deep satisfied sigh from where she lay on his chest. “Sorry to be a party pooper, but we need to get ready for work.”

  “Right. Do you want to join me for a bath?” he asked, ever hopeful. Perhaps they could—

  She chuckled. “We’d never get to work at this rate.” She sat up, tying the belt more securely about her waist. He’d been so needy he hadn’t even gotten her out of the robe. “You go on. I’ll finish my writing and take the second shift at the bath.”

  “Spoilsport.” He grimaced, reaching over to tweak her nose, but she evaded him, laughing as she sped away.

  * * *

  Derek mopped his wet hair dry before running the damp towel over his body to wipe up the stray droplets that had escaped the first pass. True to her word, Carly hadn’t joined him, but when he padded out of the bathroom, she was nowhere in sight.

  Something must’ve called her away, and judging by the female voices that drifted through the open door, someone must’ve dropped by, most presumably her sister who lived nearby. True enough, Charlotte’s voice came to him loud and clear as he moved to the doorway.

  “…your hunk of a husband. I’m going to steal him away from you one day, just like the time I stole your prom date away.” An evil, malicious laugh floated to him. “Remember him? What’s his name?” A sound of impatience. “Oh, never mind. He couldn’t take his eyes off me once I flashed him my breasts. It’ll be the same with Derek, you’ll see.” Another laughter pealed, devoid of real mirth. “He’s more suited to me anyway—we’re both tall, beautiful…we’re perfect for one another. You’re lucky you saw him first and got your claws into him real tight. If I’d seen him first, you’d have no chance at all.”

  Listening with mounting fury, Derek gripped the door and urged his wife, Fight her. Tell her she’s wrong.

  “Charlotte…stop it…”

  He heard his wife’s weak, uncertain voice, before it was overridden by Charlotte, who continued to prattle on in the same vein. “You’re such an ugly duckling, Carly, surely you can’t expect to keep—”

  He couldn’t listen to such drivel any longer, so he shut the bedroom door. Fury raged in him, a fury that compelled him to rush down the stairs and show Charlotte just how wrong she was, but the knowledge that this was Carly’s fight stopped him from his impulsive action. He’d given his heart to Carly long ago, and as far as he was concerned, he was hers now and forever, but until she stood up to people like Charlotte, she’d never believe she “owned” him. This was one battle he couldn’t fight for her.

  Helpless anger dodging his steps, he walked passed her writing desk on his way to the walk-in wardrobe. To his surprise, her journal lay open on the desk. His gaze landed involuntarily on a written page, and his mind started registering words before he could catch himself.

  …wonderful, great, magnificent. Paltry words at best, but I can find no other words to describe just how…wonderful Derek’s lovemaking is. See, I’m repeating myself. Imagine me lit from within by different-colored light bulbs may be an apt description.

  Anger drained away from him, and a smile flitted about his lips. That he should be able to please his wife so caused great satisfaction to course through him. He started to walk away when his eyes caught some words in the next paragraph that sent a chill through him.

  Sometimes though, I feel it’s too good to be true, as if I may wake up one day to find it’s all a dream. Whenever I see the models he works with, I’m assailed by doubts. How can someone like Derek want to be with someone like me? This is all so…unreal. He comes into contact with so many beautiful women, he even dated some of them…so why me? I’m not pretty, my breasts are small (men like big breasts, don’t they?) nor am I particularly talented. Not even in the sack. I learned more about lovemaking from Derek than from my exes.

  Then there’s Charlotte. She’s tall, lovely, willowy and sexy, everything I’m not. I know she lusts after him, and it hurts and it’s embarrassing, but she’s always been like that. She always has to have the things I have, and it seems she’s now set her eyes on my husband. Why couldn’t she be contented with her own?

  God, I hate this, I hate the doubts that are eating at me. What if she’s right? What if Derek married me because he finds me a novelty, so different from the women he dated? C. predicted he’d drop me once he tires of me.

  I’m so scared. I don’t want that day to come.

  Four months of bliss with him, but I have an ominous feeling that

  She’d stopped there, presumably because of their unexpected visitor. Derek’s jaw clenched as he turned away, his wrath coming back in full force. His Aunt Marge always said no good came out of eavesdropping. Apparently, the principle held true for reading what he had no right to read. He stood in front of his clothes, yet he didn’t see them, his mind churning with thoughts.

  How could Carly feel that way still? When he’d first met her, she projected the aura of a confident woman, but it was only when he got to know her better that he realized it was a facade and hid deeper fears and insecurities than he realized. Her bitches of a mother and sister had really done a number on her. Instead of being turned off, however, his protective instincts were roused, and that was when he realized he was in trouble.

  The good thing about Carly was that she admitted she had a problem, and so, she’d readily agreed to see a therapist when he’d suggested it. He also thought he’d been making headway in restoring her self-confidence in the past months. He never gave her cause to doubt his fidelity or that he enjoyed her company, even when they did nothing but talk and laugh and hang around at home. He made sure to compliment her looks and her talents. She was good
at her work and she had a soothing, melodious singing voice, and he made sure to tell her at every opportunity. Still, there were times when she made some deprecating comment about herself, and when those moments came, he had a rebuttal ready. And he wasn’t just saying them for the sake of saying them. He truly meant them, like his comment about her breasts. They were small, yes, but they were delicious and made him hard like no other woman’s tits had.

  And Charlotte—God! That woman was a nest of vipers he didn’t want to touch. Apparently, her coming over during most mornings wasn’t as innocent as he’d thought, if he was to judge by the snippet he’d just heard. Her venomous words seemed to be tearing down whatever confidence he’d been able to build in his wife.

  What he’d been doing wasn’t enough. Jealousy, when allowed to fester and coupled with serious inferiority complex, could weaken a relationship and damage it permanently. He should be insulted that Carly didn’t believe in him enough, but he was wise enough to know it wasn’t him Carly didn’t believe in. It was herself.

  He and Carly had a good thing going, and damn if he was going to let her insecurities—and her vile relatives—destroy it.

  For the first time since they started living together three months ago, he didn’t go home for dinner.

  * * *

  Carly gazed after her husband’s retreating back, his sexy back with the tight ass that still made her drool. However, she couldn’t give it the proper appreciation right now. She was too busy mulling over what he’d said.

  His request was an ordinary one and understandable, yet something about his demeanor made her uneasy. If pressed, she wouldn’t have been able to pinpoint it, as it was just a feeling she got. Women’s intuition, she’d say.

  Before she could stop herself, old habits took over, and her thoughts and doubts ran away with her.

  Did he lie to her? Instead of meeting his cousins as he’d said he would, was he instead meeting with one of the new models who’d come on board? A model who was so much prettier than she, sexier, younger, with the full-bodied figure men admired so much?

  Or did Charlotte have the right of it? Was he even now making a date with her sister? Her hand itched to call, to find out if she was right. After all, Carly never did hear him reject Charlotte’s non-too-subtle hints. He’d always either evaded or avoided giving a direct answer, as though he was leaving himself room to take her up on her offer later—

  No, no, no! NO!

  Carly forced her thoughts to turn away from that self-destructive path. Derek was meeting his cousins, just like he said. Why shouldn’t he? Before he met her, he used to see them once a week. But since they started dating, he only got to see them twice or thrice in four months.

  Moreover, she exhausted him so much in bed he didn’t have the energy to look at another woman. Carly was lovely and young, as pretty as any of the models he worked with. She was sexy and attractive, enough to hook one of the most eligible, renowned photographers in the country. She had a great sex life. She was insatiable, a tigress in bed!

  Every time her thoughts turned negative, she spoke the mantra of self-affirmation, as her therapist had taught her. One day, hopefully soon, she wouldn’t need to do so anymore.

  Though she could blame her mother and sister for her low—maybe non-existent—self-esteem, she refused to do so anymore. They might have pummeled her with how worthless she was throughout her growing up years, but she now chose not to believe them. As a kid, she didn’t know any better, and as she grew up, her confidence had been so crippled recovering was an uphill battle.

  But everyday, she was improving. Every little step forward was a victory. Meeting Derek, being loved by him, was a great boost her ego needed, even though sometimes, she’d lie awake at night and just look at him, afraid this was all just a dream.

  “What did your gorgeous husband want?”

  Carly glanced up at Sue, her boss and friend, and smiled. “Just to tell me he’s meeting with his cousins later on and he wouldn’t be home for dinner.”

  “Rather impromptu, isn’t it?” Sue perched a slim thigh on the edge of her desk.

  Carly shrugged. “Perhaps he’s had too much estrogen and needs some testosterone. We’ve been together everyday for the past few months, and the last time he saw his cousins was at our wedding. That’s a long time for a man to go without his friends, and they are very close.”

  “For women, maybe, but not for men,” Sue commented, then continued in a lower volume, “We do have a lot of beauties around here. Just sayin’.”

  That was what Carly was just thinking! Even as relief poured through her that she wasn’t being paranoid, a niggle of doubt lodged in her mind. Could there be any truth to Sue’s implication?

  No. Carly loved Derek, trusted him. He wouldn’t, and if she were sexy and lovely enough to catch him, surely, she was woman enough to keep him, too.

  “Sue, Derek wouldn’t,” Carly said with as much conviction as she could muster.

  “Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” the other woman said, straightening. “Men wouldn’t think twice about lying to their wives when they’ve got eyes on another woman, and not going home for dinner is the start of a string of heartbreak.” She pulled a nearby empty chair over and looked to be settling in for a long chat. Her voice lowered. “My own cheating husband lied to me for two whole years before I caught on to him. Do you know what he did?”

  Caught up in the fervent urgency of Sue’s voice, Carly could only shake her head. Sue was twice divorced, so Carly wasn’t even sure which husband her friend was referring to.

  “He bought an apartment near his office, saying he needed silence to work, which you couldn’t have with boisterous twin boys, I own. So even though our funds were tight, I told him to go ahead. After all, if he could bring in more accounts for his employer, he’s sure to be due for a promotion, right? He started staying over during weekends, then weeknights, coming home only once or twice a week. I wouldn’t have thought anything of it except that my sister caught him coming out of a restaurant with another woman, and in her words, they were kissing and hugging as though they couldn’t be apart for even a minute.” Sue’s eyes shot sparks, anger in every line of her body. Must be the most recent divorce then. “I confronted him, then squeezed him out of every cent he had.”

  Carly pressed a sympathetic hand to Sue’s arm. “Good for you.”

  Her friend’s eyes softened. “I don’t want the same thing to happen to you. Derek’s a player before he met you, and no matter how good reformed rakes sound, I don’t quite buy into the idea. Being around so many beautiful women day in and day out is bound to stretch a man’s resistance.” An expression of sympathy—pity?—crossed her face. “As your friend, it’s my duty to warn you. Let’s face it, dear, your looks are certainly not top tier around here.”

  Ouch.

  Sue wasn’t telling her something she didn’t know, yet Carly’s confidence—what little of it she had—was shaken. If such a horrid thing could happen to Sue, who’d previously been a runway model before she’d switched careers to events coordination, what was the likelihood that it wouldn’t happen to her? From the start, she and Derek were mismatched—the ugly duckling and the attractive, sexy prince.

  Perhaps she was novelty. In his world of beautiful women, finding someone who wasn’t up to that standard of loveliness was a curiosity, an exotic object to be examined and analyzed, and for a time, to be enjoyed. Perhaps he was tiring of her even now.

  No, no. She was attractive, a sex goddess—

  Yes, a sex goddess. They’d had insatiable, heat-filled nights every night for the past three months, except for her that-time-of-the-month, when they’d cuddle on the bed and fall asleep in each other’s arms. So, if they made love tonight, it would mean—

  Argh! She hated this, hated herself, her insecurities, her doubts, and right now, even Sue.

  Derek didn’t deserve this, not when he’d done nothing to make her think such awful things about him.

  Yet,
a small voice whispered from deep inside her.

  “That may be so, but what Derek and I have is the real deal.” Her voice contained a slight wobbling on the last words that she hoped the other woman wouldn’t pick up on.

  “I hope for your sake that you’re right.” Sue sighed, stood and put the chair away. “Break’s over, back to work.”

  Instead of looking forward to some quiet time by herself, as Carly had originally envisioned, the evening became dismal and bleak, fraught with uncertainties.

  Chapter Two

  “You’re doing the right thing, Derek,” Matthias commented after he took a swig of beer. “Carly’s insecurity is the root of everything. Once she becomes confident in herself, she’ll realize other women mean nothing to you.”

  In times of women trouble, a man should have trusted close friends he could call for help. Derek was fortunate; he had five of them, men whom he’d grown up with and with whom he’d shared a lot of things, even women. His cousins.

  However, only four of them were in attendance at the moment. Which was more than enough. He didn’t believe five intelligent men, including himself, couldn’t pluck out the little thorn that had entered his and Carly’s rose garden.

  Great, now he was using metaphors.

  “Confidence is the key.” The lone woman in the group, Lily Summers, chimed in from where she sat on Adam’s thigh, her arm around his nape.

  Lily grew up with the Fortune boys, as they’d all lived on the same street and played together. Lusty and in constant need of sex, she was all the more delighted when her boys had become men, not that she restricted her sexual favors to the opposite gender. Truly, Derek had never met a woman who reveled in her sexual freedom as much as Lily. As far as he knew, she hadn’t ever been in a serious relationship. The world was her oyster, and she meant to enjoy all it had to offer.