Hardheaded Hubby, page 5
But as he looked at Sophie, who was glowing as she stood and stretched, he internally balked at Lucas’s observation. It didn’t suck to be him. Far from it.
He loved his wife and his life, and her little game this week only proved to him how much she loved him in return.
When his erotic punishment was over, though, there would be a lot of sucking going on, and he was counting down the days until he could turn the tables on her. Revenge was too strong a word.
Erotic payback felt more like it.
Chapter Six
One more night.
All Sophie had to do was get through one more night of doling out temptation, which was good, because she hadn’t taken into account how hard this was going to be for her when she’d devised this plan. She’d assumed it would be difficult, but she’d been going without sex for several months already. One more week should’ve been a cakewalk.
It hadn’t been.
Nope, it was as if her body ignited whenever Sawyer walked into a room, and the little looks he’d given her made her believe he knew his effect on her. Not that she’d made it easy on him. Oh no, since the night at Hannah and Lucas’s place, Sophie had kicked up her efforts. Nowhere near the level of sexual display at Hannah’s house, though. That night had topped everything.
When Hannah had suggested that particular movie, Sophie had immediately known why. She had read about it in a magazine while at the doctor’s office one visit before she’d given birth. It had mentioned lots of sexual overtones with a supposedly hot scene between two female friends. It had been the perfect suggestion. In fact, she’d had to hide her smile as she’d eaten her chicken and potato and think about something totally unrelated to keep from giggling. But whenever she’d looked up at Hannah, her expression had been cool, calm. Hannah had definitely taken one for the team that night.
And Sophie had heard the next day all about how Lucas had rocked her world after they’d left, so technically it hadn’t been much of a sacrifice for Hannah after all. At least one of them had gotten to reap the benefits of their orchestrated tableau.
Thankfully, tomorrow was the playoff party at the bar. If she could get through this night without ripping off her husband’s clothes, she could count the objective as a success. Although spending the last week turning on and then turning down the man she loved didn’t feel like a major victory. If she counted how many times she’d had to change her wet panties after getting him all riled up, she might be just a little embarrassed. She was so horny now that she just knew she’d be flooded when his rock-hard dick got anywhere near her aching pussy.
Stupid punishment. Object? Ha! More like asinine assignment. But she was unable to stop what she’d started for two very different reasons.
One, Hannah had blabbed to Taylor about what had happened the other night. Sophie could not blame Hannah for sharing how hot her night with Lucas had been, but Taylor had demanded details. Then, as if that wasn’t bad enough, Taylor had told Brindle. Brindle! The woman was currently questioning the worthiness and necessity of all men. The last thing she needed was Brindle—and her ulterior motives—rooting her on. Sophie wasn’t sure if it had gotten around to everybody else, but those two were enough. She had been screening texts and fielding calls about what she should do to make Sawyer suffer and prolong his punishment. She loved her friends, but they so did not understand she was suffering just as much. She was beyond ready to be finished with this bright idea.
But the second reason for not stopping was always lurking in the background ready to go all Chuck Norris on her ass.
Sophie was too dang competitive! This past week, she’d seen more glimpses of her old self than she’d noticed since prior to even being pregnant! She’d forgotten how much fun it was to engage in a little harmless competition, and how much she’d hated losing. If she succumbed to temptation now, it would be like giving up. That was something she had never done. All the volleyball trophies at her parents’ house would mock her each time she came by for a visit for even considering it.
Besides, she’d made it this far. This time tomorrow night, any touchy-feely stuff that happened at the bar could be continued at home afterward. Sawyer had made sure of it. He had asked his mother to babysit tomorrow night, which was why Sophie was in the nursery packing his bag while Sawyer was rocking him to sleep. It was her baby boy’s first time to stay the night anywhere without her. She had to make sure they didn’t forget to take anything over to the in-laws, and she didn’t want to wait until the last minute to make sure everything was ready. If her parents weren’t an hour away, she’d insist Alexander stay over there—because she was naturally closer to her own mother and easily trusted her more with their precious bundle—but that was too far away for her sanity. She could be at the Marks’ house in under fifteen minutes if there was an emergency.
“You’re packing more bags for the baby than you did for our honeymoon,” Sawyer whispered as he carried in a conked out Alexander and placed him in his crib.
Sophie stifled a chuckle. “I had a lot more than three bags when we went to Italy.”
He turned and pulled the onesie out of her hand and pulled her into a hug. “At least we don’t have to get teething rings through customs.”
“Oh, numbing meds for his gums,” she muttered as she pulled away to secure the ointment and tuck it in his bathing-and-medicine bag.
Eying the bottle of baby ibuprofen, she made a quick decision to pack that too, even though she’d already packed the baby Tylenol, and shoved it inside the bag with this other medicine. Then she stepped over to the crib and rubbed the baby’s belly—to make sure he was breathing. She wondered if she’d ever get to a point when she wouldn’t have to check that for herself. Her mom had told her it was a new-mother thing. Sawyer had teased it was a new-obsessed-mother thing. Men.
After verifying the monitor was on and working, they both left the nursery and headed to the living room. It was too early to go to bed, but she didn’t want to take the chance of waking Alexander if she continued packing while he was asleep only feet from her.
When she reached the couch, she literally fell onto it. Besides her mommy duties—and systematically avoiding her wifely duties—she’d been hitting the gym extra hard this week. She’d lost a couple of extra pounds, but nothing hugely significant. If she kept up the pace, however, in another couple of months she could actually be back down to her pre-pregnancy weight. She wasn’t sure if her body could keep up though. God, she felt mentally and physically exhausted.
The smell of something decadent made her eyelids peel open.
Sawyer held a glass of wine right under her nose, a crooked grin on his face.
“Mmm… Not on my diet, but I’ll take it,” she murmured as she sat up and took it from him. She sniffed it again and moaned before sipping.
“I don’t think I’ve told you how proud I am of you,” he whispered as he tucked a stray piece of her hair behind her ear and sat beside her.
She wrinkled her nose at him but didn’t take the yummy treat away from her lips. “What’s to be proud of?”
He scoffed. “C’mon. You decided to quit your job— ”
“The company I worked for closed after I pushed a baby out of my va-jay-jay. Not much of a choice there.” She leaned forward and put the glass on the table. If she didn’t, she’d suck that bad-boy down and not savor it like it was meant to be.
“Okay, you’ve got me there, but you know what I mean. You were willing to make that sacrifice before they relocated your office, choosing to freelance instead. You’ve tailored your career around our family. I know it hasn’t been easy, nor have I gone out of my way to show you my appreciation.”
Was that guilt punching her in the gut? She’d griped at him the first of the week about neglecting her, and it was her own fault for waiting so long before saying something to him about it. Then she took it upon herself to announce and enact his punishment.
She’d been his judge, jury, and executioner.
And here he was saying how proud he was of her? “Sawyer— ”
“Oh no you don’t.” He grabbed her hips and forced her to sit sideways, so he could maneuver himself behind her. “Scoot up,” he ordered softly, and she complied without question. “I know what that look was for. You’re feeling bad for calling me out on how I’ve been treating you since Alexander was born. You can forget it, Sophie. You were right. I sought out advice from Georgia instead of talking to you. I caused you to feel inadequate. Yes, you should have told me, but it was my fault you were forced to question anything.” He kissed her neck softly when his hands found her shoulders and rubbed. “Besides, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t thoroughly enjoy watching you parade around here like an avenging goddess.”
She chuckled, but the sound quickly morphed into a groan as his fingers dug into her shoulders harder. God, he hadn’t rubbed her back since she was pregnant…and then it was her lower back or her feet.
Mostly her big and hideously puffy feet.
His lips found the hollow behind her ear and shiver raced through her. Thoughts of pregnancy feet vanished as other, more titillating, visions assaulted her.
He knew all her weak spots.
“I love how you smell.” He inhaled. “Taste.” He licked.
And he knew that her weak spots weren’t just of the physical kind. “Sawyer,” she breathed.
Then he nibbled on her ear, and she forgot what she was going to say to him. Hell, she probably forgot her own name right at that moment. Her head fell back against his shoulder as his hand threaded through her hair.
“So beautiful.”
He forged a seductive path along her neck with his mouth. She could not help but squirm as her body ached to be touched, and he groaned in her ear when her ass rubbed against his erection. God, how she wanted him inside her!
Frankly, she didn’t care about the punishment, her friends cheering her on, or her competitive nature. She just wanted it over. She loved Sawyer, and there was no reason why she couldn’t make love to the man who lived at the center of her world. Afterward, she might feel a little pang at throwing in the towel on her plan, but she planned on being too sexually satisfied to care.
She unbuttoned her too tight, too low-cut blouse—one of many she’d worn this week to taunt Sawyer with it—until her bra was partly exposed.
“Touch me,” she panted. If he didn’t touch her right now, she’d combust.
When his hand slid up her thigh, she spread her legs and straddled him. He yanked open his legs, effectively spreading hers more.
“Tell me how much you want it.”
His hand was getting closer to her core and she kept thrusting up into the air and slamming her rear against his cock, rubbing and grinding on it whenever there was contact. When she didn’t reply, his other hand left her hair, trailed over her shoulder and slipped into the opening of her shirt, coming so close to her nipple.
“Please, Sawyer, touch me.” Why wasn’t he touching her yet? She’d asked, unbuttoned her shirt. Hell, she was hot, gyrating, physically begging already.
“I could.” He lightly nipped her earlobe. “Or I could just stop like you’ve been doing.”
She was going to kill him right here and now if he pulled this shit. “Sawyer— ”
“See how easy it is for me to turn you on and not do anything?” As he asked, his hands slowly moved.
Away from their targets.
And off her body.
But what really got her was his sudden laugh. He fucking laughed! At her.
As if this was some kind of joke. As if he—
She gasped in outrage, jerking away and turning to face him. “Oh my god, you tricked me!” But as she gaped at his smile, something harder, colder set in. More than playing a joke on her, he’d played her. “I can’t believe I bought all the shit you sold me on being proud when it was a ploy just to prove a point!” What a jerk! And to think she felt bad earlier for putting him through this.
“Wait a damn minute,” he growled, and then stood. “I was telling you the truth. I didn’t plan to hold out on you until after the no-action period had expired, but I zeroed in on the surprise opportunity tonight.”
“What?” she asked in what she knew was a deadly soft voice because Sawyer’s eyes popped open wider for a brief moment.
“I wasn’t going to actually tell you that, though.” He had the decency to look sheepish, the asshat.
“Let me make sure I understand here. Rather than use this past week to do something constructive—like, I don’t know think about how you could improve upon expressing your sexual interest in me—with me—you spent the time plotting your revenge instead? Is that it?”
“Baby, I love you. I’ve already apologized for the misunderstanding. It was your idea to hold out on me for days. So yeah, I did consider turning the tables on you after, but only to drive you crazy.”
She crossed her arms and glared at him.
He sighed. “I meant sexually crazy. I had no intention of pissing you off.”
“And how’s that working out for ya? Never mind. Don’t answer.” She turned to leave but looked over her shoulder at him. “Don’t bother coming to bed. If we had an actual doghouse you’d be staying outside in it tonight. I guess sleeping on the couch will have to do. It’s the proverbial one anyway.”
“You can’t be serious,” he said, exasperated.
She stopped stomping away and faced him. “You bet your ass I am.”
“Oh, come on! You’re acting like a damn teenager.”
She glared at him for a few moments while she gathered her thoughts. She wasn’t sure if this was going to come out right, but she wanted to try to make him understand. “Sawyer,” she began slowly. “I’m not perfect. I never claimed to be. But at least when I started this punishment, I made sure my actions toward you were an expression of how much I love you. Everything I did was to myself for your eyes. The clothes or lack thereof, touching myself, making out with Hannah. I never once touched you, nor did I pretend you’d get to take things further than you would. Not to say those thoughts hadn’t crossed my mind. Oh, they did, but even I knew that would be too cruel. You didn’t think about that when you pulled this little stunt tonight, though. Not to mention the fact that you were the one who jacked off in the shower for months rather than screw your wife, so who’s the one acting like a teenager?”
She turned and left before he could say anything else because she wasn’t in the mood to hear it. Yes, she’d felt bad earlier for enforcing a dry spell in the middle of a draught. Logically, the very idea was ludicrous. But her anger now trumped any of the guilty feelings that had crept in ahead of his botched seduction.
And tomorrow she’d have to face all her friends at the bar while wearing the sexiest outfit she’d purchased for Sawyer’s viewing pleasure.
Just fucking great.
Chapter Seven
How the hell had things ended up like this? Although Sawyer’s mother had his birth certificate to prove him otherwise, he knew he was a bastard. What kind of man toyed with his wife like that? As if she were some plaything without feelings?
A sorry bastard of a husband, that was who.
God, he was an idiot. First, he’d taken the advice of his wayward cousin, which ended up hurting his wife. Then his innocent idea to play with her had hurt her, too. In fact, the impromptu plan had blown up in his face. Looking back, he could see why she’d take it personally. Hell, she’d been right to do just that. He needed his ass kicked.
Alexander mumbled something from his car seat, so Sawyer glanced in the rearview mirror to look at him. “Almost there, buddy.” He watched a few seconds as the baby slobbered on a toy in his attempt to get it completely in his mouth.
When Sawyer looked back at the road, he sighed as his thoughts continued to assail him. He’d had good intentions when he’d first thought about giving Sophie a taste of her own medicine. The big difference, however, was the plan was to go down tonight once they were alone. With hours and hours to devote to her as he teased … and eventually pleased her over and over.
He hadn’t really thought it through. He’d been going with the flow, enjoying her body, her sounds, her sweet smells, and then he just acted, finding the humor in it initially, not thinking beyond the moment.
He turned onto his parents’ street and suppressed a groan. “Gam-Gam is waiting for you on the porch.” When he pulled into their driveway, her smile got even bigger.
Truck parked, he got out and opened the back door as he chatted with the baby. He pushed in some buttons, turning the car seat into a carrier. He’d have to come back out to get all the baby’s bags. “Let’s go, bubs, before Gam-Gam runs down here and tackles me to get to you.”
“Where’s that baby?” she called out as he shut the door, holding the carrier with Alexander still secured inside of it. He headed toward her.
“I left him at the park, hustling for pacifiers. Here’s his morning haul. Tell you what, Mom, that boy’s got a knack for gambling. Can’t wait until he’s five, and I can take him to Vegas.” He’d reached her by then, and he kissed her cheek.
“Oh, you.” She swatted his free arm. “Give him to me.” It wasn’t a request. Grandparents. He didn’t remember his gushing all over him when he was little. Then again, he’d lost two when he was young. One lived too far away for regular visits, and the other was on her fifth marriage by now, practically living on a cruise ship.
He handed his charge over to her. “Let me get his bags before you push me back into the truck and demand I leave so you can have him all to yourself.”
She sniffed. “Please. Your father is here. I’ll be lucky if I get five minutes alone with the little ham.” She clutched Alexander’s fist and shook it gently. “Isn’t that right, bubby? Poppy will snatch you away to show you his baseball card collection, and he’ll keep you in that room with him for hours. We can’t have that now, can we? No, no, no. Gam-Gam is going to bake you some cookies, and you get to help.”
