Harlot (Bartered Hearts 2)

“Don’t,” she answered.

He kissed the tears from her cheeks and repeated it as he sank all the way into her body. “I love you.”

He fucked her slowly, sliding in and out as if he had all the time in the world, as if her body were his forever. Her legs kept him close. Her arms pulled him tighter to her.

“I love you, Jess,” he said one last time as he pushed as deep as he could. He held himself still while he climaxed, feeling the way his cock pulsed inside the tight grip of her. When he finally relaxed against her, she sighed and feathered kisses over his jaw.

It felt like their marriage bed, like they’d already said the vows. They hadn’t yet, but Caleb meant to see that they did.

Chapter 13

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“I’m sorry,” he said, the low words vibrating against the skin of her neck.

Jessica smiled at his sweetness. “Why?” she asked.

“I finished inside you. I wasn’t thinking.”

“I’ll make a tea in the morning. It should be fine.”

“Regardless, I mean to marry you, Jess.”

“No.” Her muscles went so rigid that her whole body twinged with pain.

“You won’t have me?”

“It’s not that. Not really. I can’t. You know I can’t.”

He pulled free of her body, giving her one last slide of pleasure that warred with the panic quaking through her. “We’ll go to California, then. Get married there if you want it kept quiet.”

Her heart raced so quickly it felt like it was trembling in her chest. “I can’t marry you.”

“I don’t care about those other men,” he insisted, falling to his back beside her. “Don’t you get that?”

“Caleb, that’s not it.”

“I don’t care how many or what you did. All I—”

“There was only one!” she blurted out, the words so rough they scraped her throat.

“What?” She heard the disbelief in his voice and wished she could take back her stupid words. She’d just wanted him to know. That there weren’t so many. That she wasn’t so changed. Stupid, stupid pride. It wasn’t as if it was beneath her to have more than one man. She’d taken Caleb’s money too.

“What are you saying?” he asked.

“There was… It was only one man.” Don’t ask who. “He wanted to keep me for himself. Like a toy. He did. For days. And then…”

“Then what?”

Then what? She almost laughed in horror. She shook her head.

“Then what, Jess?”

“He…he brought someone else here. He said the other man would wait in the parlor.” That had been the most horrible night. A low she hadn’t even thought possible. Theodore’s guest had been the minister, a man she’d known since she was twelve years old.

Jessica had thought she’d die of the shame, the horror. Who else had Theodore told?

But she’d gone dutifully to the bedroom with Theodore. She’d had two more nights to work off, after all.