Their Bride (Marriage Lottery Series Standalone) Read online

  By now, it had dawned on Vanessa they were talking about sex. “Really? Are you serious?”

  Her voice was hopeful and it made Michael’s cock stiffen even more. She wanted it. She wanted him.

  “But why now?” she asked. “Why all the sudden do you think you’d be able to—”

  “Silk,” Michael said.

  “That’s what you are, baby,” Logan offered. “Just like you said. Liquid silk.”

  “That’s the only thing I’ve been able to endure one hundred percent,” Michael said. “If I don’t touch you in any other way, if you don’t touch me… If it’s just that one point of contact between us…” He’d still want more, but this…if it worked…it would be more than he could have dreamed of.

  “You think you can do it?” she asked. “If you can, no more talk about being replaced?”

  “If this works,” Michael said, “you won’t be able to get rid of me.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  MICHAEL

  Michael couldn’t get to the kitchen fast enough. He didn’t know if this would work, but God, if it did…

  Vanessa walked in front of him and she stripped off her clothes as she went. Her shirt first. Then she reached around to undo her bra.

  She tossed it to the floor and spun to look at Michael, taking the last few steps into the kitchen backwards.

  Michael’s chest heaved as he watched her small, pert little breasts bounce with her every step. She backed up all the way into the kitchen table and her hands immediately went to her belt buckle and then the button of her jeans. In the blink of an eye, her pants and underwear were on the floor and there she was, standing before him naked and unashamed.

  Fuck but she was glorious.

  Michael wasn’t the only one who noticed.

  “So this is new,” Cam said, palming his cock through his jeans. “But I approve.”

  Michael growled, about to tell him to step the hell back, but Logan was already there, moving in front of Cam.

  “You and the twins are just watching tonight.”

  “We are?” This from Riordan, as he and Ross came in from the living room.

  “Oh come on, man,” Cam said. “You already had her out in the—”

  “Not me, dipshit,” Logan growled. “Michael’s finally going to have his turn.”

  “Michael?”

  Michael ignored Cam’s shocked question. He only had eyes for Vanessa as she hopped up on the table and stretched out, leaning back on her elbows. Her eyes met Michael’s and the fire he saw there had his cock pulsing. He was so fucking hard. God, he didn’t think he’d ever been so hard in his whole life.

  The table was higher than the bed, and perfectly aligned with Michael’s hips.

  “Ross, Riordan, hold her arms,” Logan ordered. “Cam, help me hold her knees. For this to work, she needs to stay perfectly still.”

  Vanessa rolled her eyes as Logan ran his hand down her thigh and took her left knee, Cam taking her right.

  “This isn’t necessary,” she groused. “You don’t have to hold me. I can control myself. I won’t touch him.”

  “The scratch and bite marks you gave me earlier say different, baby,” Logan said.

  Vanessa made an outraged noise, but she was biting her lip and arching her chest as Logan and Cam stretched her legs wide.

  Damn, she was so flexible. Michael had a thousand fantasies about her flexible little gymnastic body.

  This won’t work. You’ll make contact with her body and no matter how ‘silky’ she’s supposed to be, you’ll fall apart and throw a shit fit like the little bitch you are.

  “Let one of us get her ready first, Michael,” Logan said.

  Michael nodded shakily.

  “On it,” Cam said. He reached between Vanessa’s legs and swirled his finger gently over her clit. She squirmed and her stomach flattened.

  “That’s it, sweetheart. Let’s see that honey start to flow.”

  Michael took another step closer to see better. God, he’d never been this close when— Logan wasn’t wrong about how wild Vanessa could get in bed. Michael always stayed by the wall to make sure he was well clear of any flailing limbs when they were—

  But with everyone holding her down, Michael ventured closer than ever before, and holy God, her pussy, it was beautiful and complicated and even as he watched, wetness began to glisten on Vanessa’s swelling petals.

  He glanced up toward her face but leaned over like he was, he couldn’t see because the twins had leaned over to suckle at her breasts. Already she was liquefying over Cam’s fingers.

  “Oooooh,” she gasped.

  Michael knew that noise. It meant she was getting close to coming.

  No surprise with Cam playing with her clit and the twins at her tits.

  It was a hot fucking scene, there was no denying it: Vanessa spread out on the table like a feast the five of them were ready to devour.

  But Michael was ready to do more than just watch.

  It was now or never.

  He shoved down his silk boxers and stepped forward the last foot until his cock bobbed only an inch away from Vanessa’s entrance.

  Michael’s heart started beating so fast he could hear it in his ears.

  “Please, Michael,” Vanessa whined. “I need it so bad. Please.”

  Michael could see the evidence too. Wetness seeped down from her pussy to her ass.

  Holy fuck.

  “Hold her steady,” Michael said, voice shaky.

  And then he grabbed his shaft and took that last step.

  He couldn’t help the “Fuck!” that escaped the second the tip of his cock made contact with the lips of her sex.

  “Oh God, Michael,” Vanessa cried. “I’m sorry, am I hurting you?”

  “No,” Michael shook his head so fast he thought it might give him whiplash. “No. God no. It feels—”

  He pushed in another inch. “Ohhhhhhhhh.”

  He couldn’t describe it.

  Oh God, it was— She was—

  Silk was the wrong word, though.

  Better. She was better than silk.

  It was like this was the place his cock had always meant to be.

  Vanessa was made for him.

  His wife.

  He was fucking his wife.

  Oh fuck, that thought did him in—he shoved all the way home, burying himself to the hilt.

  And Vanessa gasped—she made the gasp, the one she made when any one of her husbands penetrated her. Because Michael was as much her husband as any of them now. He could give her everything.

  He pulled his hips back and then pushed back in.

  Michael had only ever watched, but he picked up the rhythm quickly enough. And with every thrust and Vanessa’s every little pleasured cry, he felt more and more like a whole man.

  And when they climaxed together, her amazing, perfect pussy clenching on his cock and driving him over the edge, he swore there was nothing he wouldn’t do for this woman because she had given him everything.

  Chapter Eighteen

  VANESSA

  Were people really allowed to be this happy?

  It didn’t seem real. Every day Vanessa awoke, surrounded in their huge oversized bed with her four gorgeous husbands, and Michael over in his smaller bed off by the wall, she did more than count her blessings.

  She clutched onto them. Literally, more often than not. Finding an eager wife wrapped around them was a fact her husbands were more than happy to take advantage of. Especially considering the morning wood that was always on hand.

  She smiled even as she walked down the street toward Shay’s house, running her hand from her cheek down her neck.

  There’d certainly been plenty of wood this morning—enough to light a bonfire. She’d been burrowing into Cam’s arms when he woke up, already stiff as a fire poker.

  Logan wasn’t far behind. He was at her back and as Cam started kissing her, hands wandering to her breasts, Logan began thrusting his rock hard erection ag
ainst her ass.

  That man was endlessly fascinated by her derrière. Her ass cheeks clenched just at the memory.

  The fact that she had a training plug currently wedged up her backside? Well, that only made her cheeks flame hotter as she hurried down the street through the already steamy Texas heat.

  The anal plug was a surprise for her clan. She hadn’t told any of them she was preparing for... that.

  The only reason she had the toy in the first place was because she and Shay had been getting closer lately. Vanessa had just straight out asked her some very frank questions when they’d gotten together to do laundry last week.

  Shay was the least shy person Vanessa had ever met. She gabbed about her sex life like she was discussing the weather. And ever since Logan had stuck his finger... up there, something he’d done several times since, Vanessa had been curious. So she’d asked Shay about the whole thing and boy did Shay have a lot to say on the topic.

  Apparently anal was a thing guys were really into. And Shay just happened to have an anal plug still in its packaging that was on the smaller side, perfect for training. Lube too, although apparently various types of oils could get the job done just as well. One of Shay’s husbands had picked it up for her—he was the trade secretary and could get his hands on all sorts of things, apparently.

  So every chance she could steal alone, Vanessa had been, well, experimenting. Stretching herself. Following Shay’s instructions and wearing the plug for extended periods of time.

  Because the thing was, as amazing as life was, there was always that niggling voice at the back of Vanessa’s head—are you doing enough? Are they getting bored?

  Stupid. She was being stupid.

  Probably.

  But every day she spent with her husbands, the more she saw how amazing each of them was.

  Like Cam. He put on such bravado but every now and then she saw beneath it. There was a core of vulnerability he never showed anyone. Except her.

  Occasionally, and it had only happened a handful of times, but sometimes when they made love, she’d look in his eyes and see… well, she couldn’t even really describe it.

  But it was like he was finally letting her see him. The real him, beyond the smirk and the cocky attitude.

  Then there was his skill as a doctor. He’d never let anyone call him a doctor—he insisted he was only a physician’s assistant—but she didn’t know why. He’d forgotten his lunch the other day and she’d dropped it by the clinic only to walk in on him stitching up a little boy’s knee.

  He was telling a funny story to distract the boy from what he was doing. The tear tracks were still wet on the little boy’s cheeks, but he was watching Cam’s animated face with wide eyes. Because that was just who Cam was—magnetic. Whenever he was in the room, you wanted to be there too, even if it was to just stare and share in the special.

  Compared to that… who the hell was she?

  Just some chick who happened to survive Xterminate. That was literally the only notable thing about her.

  She’d been a no one in the world pre-Fall. Barely anyone even knew her name back in school. She wasn’t bullied or anything. That would have meant she registered on people’s radar. And she just… didn’t. She showed up, went to classes, did her work. She had acquaintances, she hadn’t taken a vow of silence or anything. But there was nothing special about her.

  Nothing like Cecily, Dad’s other daughter. Unlike Cecily, Vanessa didn’t sing or play an instrument in band. She was a straight B student and was too small to play team sports, so she’d stuck to track. But even with that, her legs were too short to be competitive. She could run for a long time but she wasn’t any faster than anyone else. Gymnastics might have been good but they never had much money so apart from one summer program when she was a kid, it was nothing she could really pursue.

  In short, she was nothing worth sticking around for.

  She wasn’t the kind of girl who got the guy.

  Much less five of them.

  Hadn’t she learned the hard way that happily ever afters were never real?

  “Oh, hi, Vanessa!” Shay opened her front door, looking surprised when she saw Vanessa standing there. “Why didn’t you knock?”

  Vanessa blinked. She hadn’t even realized she’d walked all the way to Shay’s house. Even up onto her porch.

  “I was just heading over to pump some water.” Shay held up a water bucket. Then she leaned in. “Okay, truth? Sophia and Drea are getting into it again, and I’m sneaking out for a little escape.”

  “Oh God, what about this time?”

  “They’re arguing about what it means to be a feminist in a post-Fall world.”

  “Look at that,” Vanessa looked down at her wrist even though she didn’t have a watch on. “I’m suddenly in the mood to help you carry that bucket of water.”

  Shay smiled. “Thought you might be.”

  They started across the yard. There was a communal pump at the corner of Oak Street, several yards away.

  “How’s the sculpture coming for the President?” Vanessa asked. Shay was a talented artist. After a national newspaper did a piece on a sculpture she’d done for the Commander, she’d been commissioned to make a bust of President Goddard.

  Shay’s smile dimmed. “Fine.”

  Vanessa frowned. Was it just her or was something suddenly off with Shay?

  Before they’d made it three steps, though, the front door slammed behind them. Vanessa looked over her shoulder to see a red-faced Sophia storming down the porch steps, bucket in hand.

  “That woman is the most annoying, infuriating— Oh, hi Vanessa.”

  “Lemme guess,” Vanessa said, “You had a sudden, unquenchable thirst?”

  Sophia huffed, blowing a lock of dark hair off her face. “I swear she makes a sport out of getting under my skin.” Sophia stomped past Vanessa and Shay. “Can you believe my dad’s actually thinking about taking her with us on the delegation to the capital in a few weeks? He says she won’t let up until she meets with the President herself! I say the best way to shut her up is to take her to the edge of town and boot her in the—”

  “Sophia,” Shay chastised.

  Sophia’s mouth pursed as she obviously bit back whatever else she’d been about to say. It worked for about two point three seconds. “I’m sorry, but that woman never has anything helpful or kind to say. She’s a total witch. We save her, my dad takes her in, feeds and clothes her, and what’s her thanks? Badgering him every single day—” She cutoff mid-sentence and took a deep breath.

  Then she looked over at Vanessa. “God, here I am obsessing about her when I’m not even in the room with her anymore. Vanessa, tell me about you. How’s your week going?”

  Vanessa fought to hold back her smile.

  “Oh, guys,” Sophia stopped, slinging the bucket up her arm so she could grab both Vanessa and Shay’s arms. “When we get back inside, make sure to try to be extra cheerful. Audrey got her period again and she’s trying to pretend she’s not upset.”

  Shay’s brows drew together.

  Sophia rambled on. “She wants a baby so bad. I shouldn’t have let Drea draw me into a fight. We really need to be focusing on Audrey right now. She’s hurting.”

  Vanessa looked Shay’s way, but Shay was staring steadily at the ground, an unreadable expression on her face. For as open as Shay was about some topics, sometimes her face would go so distant she seemed as unreachable. The only time Vanessa had asked about her past, Shay had changed the topic quicker than a hummingbird’s heartbeat.

  Sophia’s voice dropped as they reached the water pump. “Okay, I have a secret, but swear you won’t tell.”

  Vanessa looked back to Sophia who was barely holding back a grin.

  “What?”

  “Well, I overheard Nix talking to Dad last night. He was asking about getting time off to take Audrey away for a couple of weeks before we all go to the capitol. To take her on the honeymoon they never got. Isn’t that romantic?” />
  Vanessa nodded, smiling at the thoughtfulness of Audrey’s husbands even though most of her mind was still caught up on the previous topic.

  Babies. Pregnancy. Periods.

  And the fact that she hadn’t had one in seven years.

  She was still thinking about it an hour and a half later when she was heading home after a good time visiting with her friends.

  She’d laughed and joked along with everyone. Gone along with Sophia’s cheer-Audrey-up agenda. It was good to see everyone. Kylie was fun to hang out with and it was good to get a chance to spend more time with her.

  But Vanessa’s mind was only half present.

  She’d never told her husbands about the no-periods thing.

  How did you bring up the fact that you couldn’t perform one of the—according to Sophia “primary functions of being a woman?" Childbearing. Vanessa had certainly heard Sophia and Drea argue about it often enough.

  Sophia could go on and on about how it was a woman’s main purpose in life. Of course, Sophia was a healthy, vibrant nineteen-year-old. Still, what did she know about it?

  Vanessa hadn’t given it much thought when her periods first stopped. She’d remembered from school learning it could happen if you were an athlete or got too skinny. If you had less than a certain percentage of body fat, blah, blah, blah.

  She remembered being relieved, back when it stopped. It was one less hassle when every day was a struggle to survive.

  But now…

  What if she’d screwed up her body permanently by all those years living on the edge of starvation, barely surviving?

  And of course her husbands would want children. So when they realized she couldn’t…

  God, there was even that provision in the Marriage Lottery law. If a woman couldn’t have children, she was allowed to stay unmarried.

  Because no one would want a barren woman, right?

  The more Vanessa thought about it, the tighter her chest cinched. So tight that by the time she got to her own yard, it was difficult to draw in breath.