The Tie That Binds: A Marriage of Convenience Novel

I’ve been antsy all day. It’s been four days since Daniel made me promise him fidelity, and true to his word, we did sign a contract this time. We defined cheating as sexual intimacy with someone else; the fine being our respective shares in DM Consultancy.

I expected us to get a little closer, but neither one of us has had time to spend together. Daniel is working late at Devereaux Inc. most days while I’m at DM. By the time we get home we both collapse. I’m hoping it might be different since at least we’ll be together all weekend now. I’m not even sure what exactly I’m hoping for, but I miss him.

I exhale in relief when I walk into our house to find Daniel sitting on the sofa with his glasses on and documents littering the place. I walk up to him and throw my arms around him. He freezes for a second and then pulls me onto his lap and hugs me back.

“I missed you,” I whisper without thinking.

Daniel tightens his hold on me. “I missed you too, baby,” he murmurs.

My heart flutters at the endearment he uses and I blush. I hide my face in his neck and relax in his hold. We stay that way for a couple of minutes, neither one of us saying anything.

“Tired?” he asks.

I nod and inhale deeply. “You must be pretty tired too. I’ve barely seen you.”

Daniel nods, his stubble brushing against my hair. “Exhausted,” he whispers.

I pull back and sit down next to him. “Are you going to work all weekend again?” I ask, pouting. Daniel chuckles and pets my hair, earning him a glare. He always used to pet my hair when I was a kid and I used to love it then, but I hate it now. It makes me feel like he still sees me as a child.

“I won’t. I’ll keep Sunday free, okay?”

I nod and get up to cook. Daniel grabs my hand as I walk past him. “Let’s just get some takeout. Why don’t we open a bottle of wine?”

I nod and walk to the wine fridge. “How about red?” I ask. Daniel nods at me from the sofa and leans back to watch me as I fill two glasses.

I hand one to Daniel while I put the bottle on the coffee table. I sit down on the small patch next to him that isn’t cluttered and hold my glass up to his. He clinks his against mine and takes a big gulp. I chuckle and take a sip of my wine.

“Pretty damn good,” I mutter.

Daniel winks at me. “We only have the best in our house, babe.”

My heart flutters. Does he even realise what he’s calling me? Does he realise he’s referring to his apartment as ours?

“Go on. Go take a shower and get into comfy clothes. I’ll order some Italian. It’ll be here by the time you get out.”

I nod gratefully and walk to my room, eager to get out of my work clothes. As promised, the food’s here by the time I walk back into the living room. Daniel’s eyes roam over my clothes and I tighten my robe. I’m wearing a short navy silk and lace nightgown that’s far sexier than anything I’ve ever worn before, hidden behind a thick and fluffy robe. He has changed into his pyjama bottoms with nothing else on.

The way Daniel looks at me makes me think he’s wondering what I’m wearing underneath the robe. How would he respond if I take it off?

He pats the sofa and hands me a plate. I can’t remember the last time I felt so comfortable with someone. So at home.

“Delicious,” I murmur as I take another bite of my pasta. Daniel chuckles and wipes his thumb across my lips. He brings his thumb to his tongue and licks it, rendering me speechless. I grab my wine glass and take another big sip, which does nothing to calm my raging heart.

“Should we watch a movie later?” I ask. “We can put something on while you work, maybe.”

Daniel nods and hands me the remote. I scroll through the list of movies we saved on Netflix before settling on a chick flick, while Daniel continues to read through documents. I feel content sitting here with him, doing essentially nothing.

Daniel puts the plates away when we’re done with dinner and then joins me on the sofa, a stack of papers in his hands. He pushes his glasses up and my heart skips a beat. He’s far too alluring with those glasses on and his muscles on display. I sneakily grab my phone and take a photo of him. He raises his head and looks at me suspiciously. I’m in such a rush to hide my phone that I nearly drop it. Daniel takes it from me, but thankfully I managed to lock it in time. I’m blushing and it only increases his suspicion.

“What are you doing?” he asks.

I shake my head and smile innocently. “Nothing,” I say far too quickly.

Daniel points the phone towards me and unlocks it using facial recognition. As it unlocks, the first thing on the screen is the photo I took of him. I look at him in outrage and lunge for my phone. Daniel grins and turns me over so I’m underneath him, his documents wrinkling and flying off the sofa.

“Taking unauthorised photos of me, Wifey?”

He holds himself up on his forearms and pushes my legs apart with his knee, settling between them.

“I… no, I would never. Why would I?”

His face hovers above mine. Just a smidge lower and our lips would touching.

I place my trembling hands on his chest and slowly slide my palms up to his shoulders and then around him. Daniel’s eyes drop to my lips and my heart rate increases.

I can feel him hardening against my inner thigh, but just when I think he’s going to kiss me, he pulls away. He pushes himself away from me, my arms slipping away. He sits up and runs a hand through his hair as he grabs some random documents and tries to sort them. I sit up, confused. Why didn’t he kiss me? I’m sure he wanted to. I could feel his desire.

“Daniel,” I whisper. I rise to my knees and look at him, suddenly feeling both insecure yet certain of what I want.

“Hmm?” he murmurs, not looking at me. I undo the tie on my robe and let it fall open as I gather my courage and scoot closer to him. I cup his cheek gently and turn his face towards me. He looks at me, his expression unreadable.

I’m terrified of overstepping, but I’m even more scared of going to bed filled with regrets and what ifs all over again.

My eyes drop to his lips and I lick my own in anticipation. I’m breathing hard and my heart is beating wildly. I slowly lower my face to his, giving him enough time to pull away. I kiss the edge of his mouth and then press my lips against his, once, twice, before gently sucking on his lower lip. Daniel is tense and doesn’t kiss me back. Instead, he sits there, frozen. I pull away, filled with regret.

He stares at me and I look away, mortified. I was so sure he wanted me too.

“I — I’m sorry,” I stammer. Daniel doesn’t respond, which only adds to my humiliation. I stand up and walk away, intent on hiding away in my room. Forever, if need be. I’ve only taken three steps before he’s behind me. He grabs my arm and pulls me back against him. I stumble and place my hands on his chest to stabilise myself. He tangles one of his hands in my hair and puts the other around my waist. He tips my head up and his lips crash against mine hungrily. He moans against my lips as he kisses me. I rise to my tiptoes to deepen the kiss, and Daniel tangles his tongue with mine. His hands roam over my body eagerly. He tugs on my robe and lets it fall off my shoulders. It pools at my feet and I step out of it. Daniel lifts me up and I wrap my legs around his waist as he pushes me against the wall. He drops his forehead against mine, both of us panting.

“Alyssa,” he murmurs. The way he says my name turns me on even more. I tilt my head and capture his lips again, desperate for more. He kisses me roughly and pushes his hips against mine. He’s rock hard and I grind against him, trying to create more friction. I need him desperately.

“Daniel,” I moan. He pulls back a little to look at me. His eyes drift down to the nightgown I’m wearing. It barely covers me.

“Fuck, Alyssa.” He presses another lingering kiss against my lips. “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do this,” he whispers.

I smile at him and nip at his lips. “You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting for you to kiss me,” I tell him.

He looks into my eyes and the butterflies in my tummy go wild. He makes me feel like I’m all he can see. Like I’m cherished.

“I — I thought… I didn’t know—“

I cut him off by kissing him again. Now that I’ve finally got a taste of him, I can’t get enough. He smiles against my lips and kisses me back, deeply and gently this time. My heart feels so full that I’m feeling emotional. Is it possible for a single kiss to make you feel deeply loved?

I run my hands over his shoulders and down his arms. I’ve been dying to touch him so freely, and his muscles feel amazing underneath my palms.

The sound of an alarm goes off and Daniel pulls away from me, startled. He carefully lowers me to the floor and walks towards the lift.

“What is that?” I ask, following him.

“Means security has tried to contact us on our phones and they couldn’t get through. They checked whether we’re home, so they’ve now sounded the alarm to let us know one of them is coming up to speak to us. They usually only do this if it’s urgent, though.”

Daniel groans as he stares at the camera feed on the intercom and closes his eyes.

“Go grab your robe, babe.”

I nod, confused, and walk back to pick it up. I’ve barely got it tied around my waist when the lift doors open to reveal Bennet, our security guard, holding up a clearly drunk Dominic.

“Good evening, Mr. Devereaux. Your brother showed up here thirty minutes ago and refuses to leave. He isn’t on your approved list, so we couldn’t grant him access, and we were unable to reach you or Mrs. Devereaux.”

Daniel sighs. “It’s fine, Bennet. You did the right thing.”

Bennet lets go of Dominic, who glares at him. He straightens out his clothes and walks into the apartment. He walks straight past Daniel and throws his arms around me.

“I broke up with her, Lyss.”