The Contract: Sunshine Read online

  “I...I don’t know,” she tugged her face from his hold. “I’ve never felt like running away from anyone before.”

  “Well, being your husband, I don’t plan on being your first.” He turned her around to face him but he didn’t let her go. “You are sleeping nowhere else in this house but in this bedroom with me.”

  “I hadn’t planned on sleeping anywhere else,” she defended herself. “I was going to get my nightgown out of my luggage.”

  “Sunshine, I need you to promise me something,” he began. “I had one bad marriage because I had a wife that refused to express her feelings. If you’re upset with me, just tell me. I can’t fix it if I don’t know it’s broken.”

  “I’m not upset,” she snapped.

  His eyebrows lifted in question.

  “Okay, maybe I’m a little upset,” she murmured.

  “With me?”

  “No,” she lied worrying her lower lip.

  “Lying.”

  “How do you do that?”

  “Because when you were telling me the truth I thought you were lying. Now I know it was the truth, I know the difference,” he replied. Besides, your bottom lip grows plumper when you lie because you keep biting at the inside of your bottom lip even though no one can see you doing it.

  “YOU pop your thumbs,” she retorted. “When I’m worried; not when I lie.”

  “What do you do when you lie?” Sunshine asked, hoping to stash the information away for future references.

  “Sorry, I’m a business man. I have no tell-tale signs when I lie,” he bit back a smile. Tapping her nose he added, “Because...I....don’t...lie...”

  She laughed. “Oh, man...that was a big fat one right there.”

  His laughter joined hers and it thrilled her as much as his touch did.

  “Wife, you’re trying to the change the subject.” He released her to shed the navy suit jacket and pitched it across the overstuffed settee at the foot of the bed followed by the tie that hung loosely about his long neck. The small Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed.

  Wife. She liked the sound of it way too much.

  She stood there with bated breath enjoying the view as much as he had enjoyed hers earlier. It took effort to keep her hands from touching herself; so instead, she reached out and ran her hand along the expansion of beautiful skin that appeared inch by glorious inch as his nimble fingers worked to undo the buttons of the pale blue dress shirt he wore.

  Yoon’s body was lean and sleek, yet muscular in a pleasing way by being not too bulky. Never had she felt such soft skin on a man before. His chest was smooth and completely hairless and not a shaving or waxing type of hairless. It was obvious there was never any hair to grow in this area.

  How was it possible for a man to have such thick hair on his head and eyebrows with a shadowed darkness on his handsome face indicating he had to shave his handsome mug at least once a day, yet nothing here?

  Sunshine boldly ran both her hands over the expansion of chest and a hard defined “chocolate bar” of a stomach. How many sit ups did he have to do to get this?

  Spreading his unbuttoned shirt off his shoulders, her eyes longingly admired the expansion of flesh. His skin was the shade of a rich French vanilla ice-cream. Amazing, she thought.

  She rested the side of her face against his chest. She could hear his strong heartbeat and pressed her lips to the spot above his heart. His stomach muscles tightened beneath where hands rested as he drew in a breath that sounded more like a hiss.

  “I never imagined a man’s body could be so beautiful,” she felt inclined to admit aloud.

  She practically purred as his hand came up to smooth her hair and graze her scalp with his fingertips in what was a loving and comforting way her father’s hand had been. Yet with Yoon, it was also sexual in nature in itself.

  Everything about the man reeked sex and she was so ready for him her teeth hurt.

  “You ready to tell me why you were upset with me now?” He asked.

  “Later.”

  His fist balled in her hair and he tugged lightly until she was looking up at him. Her hands glided to his waist where her thumbs linked into his belt to feel more balanced for he had her all turned out, over and under inside.

  “No. Now,” he insisted.

  His hold in her hair told her she wasn’t dodging anything this time. He wanted her to be honest. Well, it was time to see if he could handle full disclosure.

  “You...you scare me.”

  She could tell by his expression he hadn’t expected to hear her say that, but he did ask for the truth and the truth was that he scared the hell out of her.

  “Sunshine,” his brow crinkled. “Sweetheart, you know I would never hurt you don’t you?” His fingers moved in her hair. “I know we haven’t known each other long, but please tell me you sense that much in me.”

  Sunshine swallowed deeply. She did and that is what scared her. Abrupt lovers. Selfish lovers. Indifferent lovers. Lying lovers. Those were men she could give up a year of her life for in an attempt to ease the loneliness that lived inside her because those men were forgettable; but she knew at the end of the year when they parted, Yoon would not be so easy to forget and then what?

  How would she be able to ever find happiness if she spent the rest of her life comparing other men to this ONE man?

  “I know you would not hurt me physically...”

  “Or any other way intentionally,” Yoon said.

  “That’s it,” she licked her lips. “I thought this would be easy for me. You’re just another man that came into my life. You will eventually disappoint me like others and I will walk away without looking back and chalk it up to experience. No big loss.”

  His frown deepened and the ridiculously long lashes shadowed his Asian eyes from her until they were glistening slits. “Of course, why should I be any different than any other man you’ve been with?” He said. His voice held a hard edge and his hold loosened a bit. “Could it be because I married you and they didn’t?”

  “Or maybe it’s because they didn’t love me and you don’t either,” she spouted back at him with just as much self righteous indignation as he’d displayed.

  His gaze dropped from her eyes to her shoulders then to her breasts as he slowly and seductively appraised her. “I want you.”

  “You want my body and so did they,” Sunshine countered.

  “I want more, Sunshine. I want to give you the independence from your family that you desperately crave and I plan on making sure that is what you get with or without your inheritance.”

  Her eyes widened with surprise.

  “Did any other man offer you that or were they only taking what they could get from you until they realized getting to that money that you feel has cursed you all your life wasn’t going to be as easy as they thought?”

  “How did you...”

  “Some of the things you’ve said and some I gathered from what I know since finding out you are who you say you are. You have to remain married a year before you gain your inheritance. That is why you insisted, isn’t it?”

  “Partially,” she admitted.

  “Partially? What other reason is there?” He must have seen her hesitation for he reminded her, “Remember we’re being open and honest in this room of the house.”

  “I asked because I want more time with you and I believed if you gave several years to your last wife, you wouldn’t begrudge me the one year.”

  “You were right,” he easily agreed. “But if not to give you the time you ask for to get your inheritance, you still didn’t say why.”

  “It’s stupid.” She shook her head.

  “Say it any way.”

  “I...I hoped with more time you would grow to love me and seriously consider making this marriage work.” Her voice was but a whisper when she finished. Although he held her head in his hands, her eyes dropped away from a gaze that was as soft as his caress. “I told you it was stupid.”

  “And within this y
ear, will I be the only one falling in love in this marriage?” He cocked an eyebrow at her. There was a maddening hint of arrogance about him that drew her to him like a moth to a flame.

  She nodded.

  “Then what’s the point?” He grounded out between clenched teeth. He lightly shook her. “You want to be the one that walks away, Sunshine? What?” Something intense flared through his entrancement; when it appeared, a realization hit him like a sucker punch. “Oh, I see. I am the chosen jackass you want not only to give you your financial independence, but you also want to get your pride back for all the men that have screwed you over in the past.”

  “Yoon, no. That’s not me at all,” she cried. “It’s because...”

  “Because?”

  “Because...I...I hate this bedroom confession rule you have!”

  “You will learn to appreciate it when I get you in that bed,” he crooned, bending his head to brush his nose against her and stealing a quick peck from her lips before lifting his head again. “Because...what?”

  “I...I think I’m already falling in love with you,” she replied “Okay, are you happy now? So who’s the dumb jackass?”

  His smile was slow and smug. “I didn’t say dumb.”

  “No, I did because you made it clear what kind of marriage this was going to be and I started getting ideas in my stupid head.”

  “You started thinking about this before I even asked you, didn’t you?”

  “No,” she smiled.

  “The cleaning? The wearing of my shirt and cooking me that awesome breakfast?” His eyes narrowed suspiciously. “The chocolate chip cookies,” he feigned a gasp of horror. “Of for shame. You brought out the big guns on me.”

  She laughed. “No. I cleaned because as I told you before, I was bored. I wore your shirt because that suit costs too damn much to clean in and I cooked because I was hungry. The cookies...well...well...I saw the chocolate chips were about to expire and I didn’t want them to go to waste.”

  “You’re actually telling the truth,” he laughed.

  “So are you saying you have a thing for the domestic goddess types,” she teased.

  It was tender teasing moments like these that drew her to him emotionally. It felt so wonderful to have a man she could laugh with. He could have reacted badly at her confession and called the entire thing off like she thought he would when he found out the powerful family he would be taking on by being married to her. But then again, his family didn’t sound like the type she would be spending any happy holidays with.

  “Okay, all this talking is now really putting a damper on the mood,” Yoon announced. “Not mine as you can feel, but I can tell by looking at that expression on your face you’re either thinking too much or you’re regretting your confession.”

  “Well my mother told me the worst thing a woman can do is confess her feelings to a man before he says them to her,” Sunshine said sarcastically.

  “And you quote your mother because of why? What great thing has she done in her entire life except having you?”

  She was surprised by his question and her love was growing in leaps and bounds because he was on her side. She wasn’t in a dream marriage full of love, but she wasn’t alone anymore either.

  “Thank you.” She took one more instant to admire his handsome mug before she reached out and cupped his face drawing his mouth to hers. They both tumbled sideward onto the bed in a tangled mass of arms and legs.

  Her hands started working on his belt buckle. Yoon broke the kiss so he could make it easier for her by shedding his belt, dress pants and underwear as if he was running in a marathon.

  “I hope you aren’t that quick at everything,” Sunshine laughed and squealed as he began to tickle her.

  “As of today Mrs. Young, there will be absolutely no more bedroom stereotypical bullshit about Korean men, because I’m about to represent.”

  He laughingly kissed her until her giggles became moans.

  Chapter 11

  Until you truly make love, you never realize all the other times were merely basic training for what was to come...

  Yoon gave her a lazy smile that sent shivers of delight through her. “Are you sure this is what you want? There is no annulment afterwards and we will be stuck with each other for at least a year.”

  “No turning back. Are we prepared? It’s been awhile so I haven’t bought any condoms,” Sunshine decided she should ask.

  The last thing she wanted was Yoon thinking she was a Black woman trying to trap him in some way. That would be too cliché and if he wanted to remain married to her, it would be because of her and not some moral obligation.

  “I hope you aren’t allergic to latex; it’s all I have on hand,” was Yoon’s answer as he gave her a great butt shot by crawling over her to an oriental box that looked like a cigar box but she noted it was brimming with every color foil wrap imaginable. Her mouth dropped wide as he brought the box to the bed and set up cross legged in the center of the bed.

  She rose up on her elbows trying not to stare at his impressive erection but he had a lovely cock and she was happy to see the number one myth at the top of the Asian male lover page was false. He wasn’t as long as some she had been with but he had a width that could be appreciated.

  Yoon cleared his throat to get her attention. Before she could tear her eyes away, she would swear his cock waved at her. It did it again and to her wicked delight Yoon was making it wave and dance at will. She could see the contraction of muscles tightening with each reflex movement.

  Hot damn!

  “I was just impressed a moment ago, but now I feel like I need to give it a standing ovation.” With a laugh, she brought her gaze up to meet his smiling eyes and sinfully sexy grin.

  “You stand up on this bed towering over me, I guarantee I will take advantage of anything my tongue comes in contact with and this will progress faster than planned,” he threatened.

  “As tempting as that is, I don’t want my after wedding night to be ruined by rushing, because I have a little exploring of my own to do. I never had a husband to play with at will. This is going to be too much fun.

  “Since you were impressed, would you like a closer look?” He teased. “I would hate for you to miss a mole or birthmark.

  “If you have any condoms that taste like strawberries, it is a guaranteed way to get me to go in for a closer look,” she quipped.

  “Do they even make those or are you setting me up so you will never get that closer look?”

  “Remind me to call my supplier.” She winked. “I don’t play when it comes to exploring and I’ve never been to Korea before. I heard the food is spicy.”

  “And I heard soul food was tasty good but bad for your blood pressure.”

  “Do you know how silly we sound?” She laughed.

  “I love to hear you laugh,” he admitted seriously. “I don’t think I’ve been with a woman that has made me smile as much as you have Sunshine.”

  “My Nana said the way to a man’s heart is through his smiles. I thought it was an old fashion fool’s saying, until now.” She moved in closer to him. “I find myself saying silly things just to see your cute dimples.” As if her words held magic, they appeared and sent her heart aflutter. “How are we coming with those condoms?”

  Like an excited child, he scattered the condoms in the box until half of them had spilled over onto the bed. “Damn, I have chocolate mint.” He held up a packet.

  “Hand over,” she snatched it from his hand. He threw the box aside onto the floor and a shower of color went wildly over the carpet. “You know you are going to have to pay me extra for picking up those condoms when I clean in the morning, don’t you?”

  “Clean,” he shook his head. “No way is my wife going to be the housekeeper too. You’re going to be busy enough looking after your husband and trying to figure out what you want to do with the rest of your life now that your family no longer has a say.”

  “I can worry about caring for the hous
e until I figure it out. Otherwise, I will be bored out of my mind sitting around waiting on you to come home every day from work,” she whined. “Besides, if I can’t find some old hag, no other woman is coming up in here with my husband.”

  She pushed him down on the mattress. He reached behind and dragged the pillows from the head of the bed to prop up his head. He didn’t want to miss a thing.

  “Do we need more light in the room?” Yoon asked.

  On her knees beside his slightly spread thighs, she looked at him from beneath lower lashes. “Yoon, it’s not even nightfall yet.”

  Her fingers grazed light as a feather over his chest and stomach taking care not to go anywhere near his penis that he practically had chasing after her hand as it smoothed from one side to another.

  He cried out and laughed when she popped his thigh with her hand. “What?”

  “Stop being silly!” She laughed. “I’m trying to get serious here and all I want to do is sit here and laugh. How long are you going to keep it up like that if we don’t get down to business?”

  “You want to find out,” he challenged. “I can explore you first.”

  “You know some men would be very intimidated having a woman laughing and pointing at his penis while in bed.” She straddled his upper thigh placing one of her knees between his.

  He drew in a hissing breath when the thick moist folds of her pussy brushed against his thigh.

  “That’s because they aren’t blessed like I am,” he said through clenched teeth.

  “Cocky...cocky...so unbecoming in bedside manners,” she chastised. “I think we are going to need some spanking toys up in here,” she crooned. His cock jerked and swayed and she knew this time it was she that was gaining control over the penis.

  She wrapped her fingers about his generous size and discovered oh my her finger tips didn’t touch which means oh hell yeah for her. It was a woman’s discreet way of gauging what she was going to be working with.

  “Show me,” Sunshine demanded. She didn’t have to explain. He knew what she was asking. He wrapped a large hand around her hand holding his penis and squeezed to show her the pressure that was pleasing for him. He started pumping to get her started and once she got the pace he wanted, he released her hand.