Read Online Scandalous by Victoria Christopher Murray - Free Book Online

with the marina right outside my window. I felt rich, I felt sexy, I felt satisfied in the luxury of this bridal suite; I wanted to live like this always, forever a bride.
    Rolling over, I smiled at the round mound of chocolate next to me -- and that was just his head because round was not the way I would've described any other part of him. This man was all muscles: a lean, mean, male machine.
    So here I was in this bridal suite, not yet a bride, lying next to the man who was not my husband to be. But who could blame me? How could I not take advantage of the opportunity that was handed to me to live out this ecstasy-filled fantasy?
    And ecstasy-filled it was! Last night had been nothing but pure pleasure. Roman was my favorite kind of lover ; the time we spent together had been all about me. His hands explored, his tongue wandered, and he had me singing in twenty-seven different languages -- all at once -- while he carried me around the suite with my legs clinging to his waist. Then, when I introduced him to my favorite position -- upside down -- I had him singing, too. Roman wanted to go all night, and I'm telling you, there's nothing like a man who is ready and willing to do the bidding of a sex-starved woman.
    Roman's skills had me all messed up. He made me forget all about my plan, which was to just bring him back here to the hotel for an hour or two. I planned to send him home before dark, sure that by then he would have scratched my three-week itch. But how was I supposed to know then that I'd given this man the appropriate nickname -- Mr. Chocolate. He was as addictive as any Godiva bar. And that was why two hours had turned into four, then eight, and now it was almost six in the morning and the sun was rising on my wedding day.
    It was definitely time to let this man go.
    I gave Roman a shove, but when he didn't move, I pushed harder. I hoped he wasn't going to be one of those hard-to-wake-up dudes. I needed this man up and out of this room. Not only did I need to put some time and space between this mistake and my future, but I needed him gone before I got busted. Kyla wasn't coming over until seven, but knowing my best friend, her promptness and excitement might have her knocking on this door much earlier. Not to mention my sister, Serena -- and the wedding planner, Yolanda, who had been assigned to me by the hotel. It wouldn't do me well to have any of those people see me with a man who didn't look anything like my husband to be.
    “ It's time to get up, ” I said when Roman stirred just a bit.
    He rolled over and his eyes opened slowly. Then, he grinned and stretched, kicking the sheet off at the same time.
    I looked down at his body and sighed.
    He said, “ Morning, sunshine. ”
    The look that he gave me -- like he wanted more -- and the look I gave his body -- l ike I wanted more -- had me longing to fall right into his arms. But I had to stop this madness and start acting like the bride-to-be that I was.
    Roman reached for me and with all the strength I had, I pushed his hands away.
    “ Sorry. Can't do that anymore, ” I said, as lightly as I could.
    “ What? Don't you believe in morning love? ”
    I chuckled. “ Trust me, I do. It's just that I can't do morning love with you. ”
    “ Why not? ”
    “ First of all, I don't have time. And secondly, I'm not about to have sex with anyone but my husband on my wedding day. ”
    He laughed, hard, like I'd just told a Saturday Night Live kinda joke. “ Oh, so having sex with someone besides your husband the night before your wedding is cool? ”
    Roman had me there. I mean, I really did feel horrible about what had gone down last night, but what was I supposed to do? I was a woman who was used to getting mine on a regular basis. Having lots of sex and having lots of good sex. The sex part, I could get from Kenny. But the good sex part … not so much. Not that it was Kenny's fault. He had no idea that he was competing with all of these men in my mind.
    I