A Husband's Regret (The Unwanted Series)(21)

"I don't understand," she said helplessly, and he responded with another  mutinous flurry of sign that left her completely adrift. His eyes were  burning with anger and some other emotion that she could not define.

"Bryce, please . . ." she begged, not sure why it mattered to her that  she comfort him. "Don't shut me out like this." He said something else,  again with his hands, and then quite abruptly turned his back on her.  Once again shutting her out as completely as he could. She sobbed a  little before lifting a clenched fist to her lips and biting down on her  knuckles, not sure how to deal with this. She stared at his broad,  stiff back through burning eyes. She refused to let him do this.

Bryce had always been much too good at shutting her out. After a bad day  at work, he used to closet himself in his study and refuse to speak to  her about it until after it was resolved. She had never told him how  much that had hurt her, and the one time she had dared mention it, he  had quite condescendingly informed her that she wouldn't understand  anyway and not to worry about it. That had made her so furious, but she  had let it slide. She had let a lot of things slide back then, in an  effort not to upset Bryce. But she wasn't that silly, spineless girl  anymore, and she was determined not to let him shut her out again, not  this time. Not when it was so important to their future as a functioning  family. She threw back her shoulders resolutely before stepping around  him again to meet his glare with a ferocious one of her own. She chose  to ignore the scorching anger in his eyes.





  

"I won't allow you to turn your back on me this time, Bryce. And I  refuse to leave until you acknowledge me and we talk about this!" she  told him resolutely, and his lips tightened as he signed something  particularly vicious looking back at her.

"I don't know what you're saying," Bronwyn all but screamed in  frustration, and he smiled, a feral showing of teeth that bore no  resemblance to his normally beautiful smile. He signed again and quite  abruptly grabbed her upper arms and kissed her. Hard! His tongue forced  its way into the tender interior of her mouth, assaulting and insulting  rather than caressing and loving. There was nothing remotely  affectionate in the embrace, nothing but contempt and anger.

"I said," he told her scornfully, when he lifted his head to end the  vile kiss. "That since you refuse to leave, you might as well make  yourself useful!"

God, what on Earth had made her think she could deal with this man on an  equal footing? Whenever she tried, he moved the goalposts and left her  floundering. She couldn't take him on and win; she couldn't even hope to  try. More fool her, for thinking that she could.

"Not so eager to stick around now, are you?" he taunted when she took a  step back. "Then again, you never were any good at seeing things  through, were you? Important things like your studies and our marriage."

"You're the one who abandoned our marriage, Bryce. And then you  compounded your sins by believing, and telling, the most despicable lies  about me!"

"Will you ever stop singing this same pathetic tune over and over again?  Your self-righteous indignation does not sit well with me, Bronwyn.  This air of injured dignity is wearing thin and getting on my nerves."

"Since we're apparently ‘forced' to make a life together, don't you  think we should try to set our differences aside and be a family?"

"Then let's be a family Bronwyn," he muttered smoothly. "Let's be man  and wife." He took hold of her thin upper arms again and dragged her  toward him, securing her lips in another kiss. This time the kiss  contained all the elements the former had lacked-heat, sensation, and  desire. Bronwyn moaned in despair, but his mouth captured the desolate  little sound and swallowed it hungrily. His lips were soft but insistent  against hers; they opened her mouth with the skill that she had always  been unable to resist, and his tongue flowed in, skilfully subduing any  protest she may have made. But Bronwyn was beyond protest, hadn't even  thought of protesting. She knew that this wouldn't solve any of their  problems-would probably worsen them if anything-but she had always  melted at the first sign of tenderness from him, and this mocking kiss  was so humiliatingly tender.

His hands moved up to cup her face, thumbs caressing her jaw as he  coaxed her to open up a little more, to respond despite herself and, God  help her, did she respond. She kissed him back, parried with his  tongue, and ran restless, seeking hands over his shoulders, his neck,  and his face. He made a satisfied little sound when her questing hands  burrowed beneath his T-shirt and found the silky hot skin beneath the  cotton. Somehow, together, they managed to rid him of the T-shirt  without once losing contact. Her blouse soon followed suit. Before she  knew it, the rest of their clothes were off, and they were skin-to-skin,  with nothing between them but a fine sheen of sweat. He closed his  hands around her waist and lifted her up. Bronwyn immediately knew what  he wanted and obliged him by wrapping her long legs around his waist and  her arms around his neck.

He staggered toward his desk, her weight throwing him a tad off balance,  but his mouth never lost contact with hers. There was a terrible  clatter as he swept stationery from the surface of the desk, nearly  sending his computer monitor toppling over the side in the process. He  lifted his lips from hers as he laid her down on the desk and plunged  into her in the same fluid motion.

Someone sobbed in relief. Bronwyn didn't know which of them it was, but  she suspected it was Bryce. He rested there for a while, bearing her  down with his weight. He felt big, hot, and hard inside of her and  showered her face with worshipful little kisses as he began to move. Her  legs had fallen away from his waist and now dangled over the edge of  the desk with her thighs spread wide to accommodate his powerful  thrusts. His hands were flat against the desk on either side of her head  as he focused all of his formidable attention on their mutual pleasure.

He was starting to groan, and his long, smooth strokes were becoming  choppier and less controlled. Bronwyn drew her legs up and wrapped them  around his waist again, lifting her bottom from the desk to allow him  easier and deeper access. He lowered his head to her breasts, licking,  sucking, and kissing them hungrily. One of his hands dropped down to  where their bodies were joined and he touched her in a way that had  always driven her wild. This time was no exception-she grunted in  surprise, breathing his name, before squealing with pleasure as she  shuddered, then shuddered again and fell apart all around him.





  

He moaned, moving his hands to her slender hips to hold her steady as he  focused fiercely on her contorted face. Sweat was beading on his brow  as he slammed into her. Bronwyn, who was just descending from her  climax, tensed up again as yet another powerful orgasm crept up on her.

Bryce's back arched and he lifted her clear off the desk with his  frantic plunges. He held her close as he shuddered violently and poured  himself into her, as they came simultaneously. They cried out their  pleasure and desperately clung to each other as the world receded. Bryce  collapsed onto her and she briefly bore his full weight before he  braced his hands on the desk and relieved her of some of the burden. His  eyes were searching her face almost desperately, and Bronwyn wasn't  sure what he was hoping to find.

He kissed her sweetly and the part of him that was still buried deep  inside of her pulsed lazily in reaction to the gentle caress. Bronwyn  gasped as she felt the movement and wondered if they could do it again  so soon after the mind-shattering bliss of just minutes before. But he  ended the kiss abruptly and lifted himself off and out of her without  any warning. The suddenness of the separation left her feeling  ridiculously vulnerable. He swore, his face darkening with anger.

"I didn't use any protection." She flinched at the reminder of how much  he would loathe getting her pregnant again. But after the last time,  getting pregnant by Bryce wasn't exactly high on her to-do list either.

"I'm on the pill," she admitted huskily. "I asked the doctor for a  prescription last week during my checkup." She flinched when he laughed  scathingly.

"Do forgive me if I choose to doubt you, my dear. We both know how very  unreliable you are when it comes to taking care of the birth control,"  he mocked, and she trembled violently at the derision in his voice and  the contempt on his face. He gave her one last piercing stare before  dropping the matter.

"Did I hurt you?" he asked almost impersonally as he hunted around for  his boxers. Her reply obviously held little interest for him because he  had his back to her. She didn't bother responding but sat up, humiliated  by the position she found herself in-laid out on his desk, naked, and  spread out for his pleasure. She was covered in a mixture of their  perspiration and other fluids and smelled of sex and sweat. She felt  used and cheap and her cheeks burned with mortification. He couldn't  have made his disdain for her any clearer, and Bronwyn was disgusted  with herself for falling into his arms so easily every time. She was a  little shell-shocked by her unforgivable stupidity and could barely  gather her scattered thoughts. She just wanted out of the room and away  from Bryce but for some reason she couldn't seem to figure out how to do  that.