Happily Ever After: A Contemporary Romance Boxed Set

by Piper Rayne

  “Fucking hell, it’s cold out there,” he said when we made it inside. He flexed his fingers and rubbed his hands together.

  “Are you okay?”

  He nodded. “Especially once I have the most important thing.”

  “Food?” I asked innocently.

  He chuckled. “You might be the death of me.”

  I grinned and grabbed my takeout menus. “What are you in the mood for?”

  His heated gaze raked up and down my body until I was panting and ready to forget all about food and just have him for dinner. He took a step closer and I froze, waiting for him to kiss me or touch me or something.

  Then he took the menus from my hand.

  I nearly sank to the ground with…I don’t know what. It wasn’t relief, but it wasn’t disappointment either. There was very little doubt we’d end up in my bed later, but he wasn’t racing there. He was taking it slow tonight. It was unnerving.

  “How about Mediterranean? This sounds good.”

  I nodded and took the other menus back while he picked something for dinner. When he’d decided, I called in our orders for delivery.

  “So, yoga? That’s what turns you on. I admit, before today, I didn’t see the appeal,” he said when I hung up the phone.

  “What?”

  “When you told me about the place you said it made you horny even though there was nothing sexual about it. I’m definitely going to argue about that last part, but I kind of get it now.”

  I shook my head and chuckled. “I really like yoga. I’ve been doing it for a while and I find it’s the only thing that makes me feel good lately.”

  Rowan went to my couch and took a seat. He crossed one socked foot over the opposite knee and looked at me. “The only thing?”

  My cheeks heated and I grinned. “Not the only thing, but one of the only things.”

  “Ah. I was getting worried there.” He grinned at me, then dropped his gaze to his lap. “I understand that, though.”

  “You do? You seem like a pretty easygoing person.”

  He shrugged. “I’m trying to be, but it’s not always easy. Especially when no one really knows me.”

  I snorted. “Trust me, I understand that. My sister was my best friend for my whole life, but now…”

  “What happened?” he asked.

  I looked at him and wondered for the hundredth time if he was just trying to get information. “I’m sure you already know.”

  He shrugged. “Maybe I’d like to hear your version of it.”

  “Why?”

  “Because people always tell a story from their own point of view. But there are always more sides to a story than just one. I learned that the hard way.”

  I licked my lips and lowered my gaze. I didn’t like him looking at me while I admitted my biggest regret and failure. And it was. What happened with my sister ruined my life, and I regretted it from the moment it happened. But I also couldn’t change it.

  “I was only about ten when Melody first mentioned Ramsey. She told me about this boy at school and made him sound amazing. I didn’t really understand relationships, but when they started dating and Ramsey started coming to our house, I started to get it. He would talk to me and ask me how my day was. My childish brain said he liked me. I was chubby as a kid, not like the girls I grew up with, and not like my sister, so having an attractive, older guy interested in me was intoxicating.

  “Over the years, Ramsey and I talked. He told me things about his life that he didn’t tell Melody, things about school. I was the first one to know he was going to law school. I thought it meant something. When I was a junior, he came over to our house for New Year’s Eve. We were talking and I kissed him. He didn’t pull back right away, but he did after a second. I told him I loved him and that we were meant to be together. He proposed to my sister that night.”

  Rowan sucked in a breath but didn’t say anything.

  “I was hurt and rejected, but I convinced myself he only married her because I was too young. I know now that it was stupid, but I think a part of me told myself I loved him because he was safe. As long as I believed we were supposed to be together, I didn’t have to worry about getting hurt. I didn’t have to put myself out there or try to find someone else. I loved him, and if I loved him, of course none of my other relationships were going to work.”

  Rowan put his hand on my knee and squeezed.

  “I didn’t try to break them up. I wanted my sister to be happy. Yes, in my twisted head, I wanted Ramsey for myself, but I wanted Melody to be happy, too. Maybe a part of me tried to sabotage their relationship, but I…I don’t know. For the last year I’ve been trying to make sense of it all in my head. I feel like I was another person sometimes. Like I made up stories to make myself believe things. I saw things that weren’t there. And I hurt my sister and almost ruined her family because I was jealous of what she had but too afraid to get it for myself.”

  “So, do you love him?”

  I opened my mouth to answer and was interrupted by a knock on the door. Saved by the bell.

  10

  Rowan insisted on paying for our dinner. I carried the bag of food to the table and unpacked it while he went in search for drinks. When he sat down again, he said, “You never answered my question.”

  I sucked in a breath and finally met his gaze. “I don’t think I ever loved Ramsey. I loved the idea of him. Of having someone in my life who would look at me the way he did. Not that it was sexual, but like I mattered. He treated me like I was important instead of like I was useless and needed to be tossed aside. And he was good to Melody and Amber. He was that guy I put on a pedestal and measured everyone else against, but I don’t think I ever loved him. Not the way she does.”

  Rowan nodded and opened his container of food. He was silent a few minutes while he ate. I wasn’t sure if it was a good sign or a bad one, so I tried to pretend it was okay. I’d gotten good at pretending over the years.

  After a few minutes of silence, Rowan said, “My former partner killed himself.”

  “What?” I breathed.

  “It’s why I’m here. He got involved with some people who were happy to take down anyone who got in their way. It started as messing up something on their cases so they would get thrown out of court. Then he progressed to concealing evidence that would convict them. By the end, he was doing everything they asked, including building a case against me to take the fall for everything he did.”

  “Wow.”

  Rowan nodded. “His conscience got the better of him, and he told me what he did. When I realized what was going on, what he was admitting to, I recorded the conversation as evidence, but the fake documentation was already sent out. My captain tried to tell me for months that something was going on with my partner, but I didn’t see it. I didn’t want to see it. When the information landed on his desk, he finally put it all together.”

  “What happened?”

  “My partner, John Sanders, had a crisis of conscience and admitted it to me. He told me he was sorry. He asked me to forgive him and to tell his ex-wife and son he was sorry for what he did to them. I was outside his door when the gunshot went off. I broke the door down, but it was too late. He was already gone.”

  “Oh, my God.”

  Rowan nodded. “Since the only confession was recorded by me, they didn’t trust it. Sanders was dead, so they couldn’t ask him. And, of course, the men he worked for weren’t really cooperative. I’m here because there’s an investigation into the last three years of my career. Technically, I’m on leave. I’m not getting paid for the work I do here. I’m volunteering, but no one knows that except Captain Reynolds. He knows my captain and agreed to let me help out until things get cleared up.”

  “And then you’re going back?” I asked.

  He shrugged and nodded. “As long as they clear me, yeah. That was the plan.”

  I breathed a laugh. “That’s why your screen name is JustVisiting.”

  He grinned. “I figured it’s
accurate.”

  I sucked in a breath at his admission. It shouldn’t hurt because I wasn’t looking for something long term either. I wanted to leave. Staying in MacKellar Cove was too painful. Why would I want him to stick around if I was leaving?

  We weren’t a couple. Whatever happened with us was temporary. And I couldn’t get upset about it.

  “I don’t know what’s going to happen. If they decide I was the one working for this group, I’m going to jail. If they let me off, they still might not let me have my old job back. There’s a lot up in the air right now.”

  “But you want to go back,” I said. It wasn’t a question.

  He opened his mouth, then shrugged. “I don’t know. I did. When I got here, I was pissed off that I was here. That I wasn’t allowed to stay put, to do the job I was hired to do. To bring down the people who put Sanders in the position he was in where he thought there was no other choice. I’m trying to take a beat and figure out my life. I’m thirty-three. I have a lot of years left on the force. And I need to make sure I’m on the right one and doing the right things.”

  “And you don’t know where that is anymore.”

  He shook his head. “I don’t. I thought I did, but…” His gaze locked on mine. He sucked in a breath and reached for my hand.

  I let him hold it. We were both wounded, both betrayed by people close to us, people we thought we could trust. I thought I could say anything to my sister and she would understand me and get over it, but she didn’t. She turned her back on me. And Rowan…his partner was going to let him take the fall for years of illegal activity.

  I shook my head. Was I Rowan or was I the partner? Was I the one who was betrayed or was I the one who betrayed someone?

  The questions raced through my head and I couldn’t answer them. For a year, I told myself Melody was to blame. That she should have given me a chance to explain and talked to me about it, but sitting there with Rowan, I wasn’t sure. I was feeling badly for him because his partner lied to him for years, but I did the same thing to my sister.

  I had to find a way to apologize to her and make her see that I knew I was wrong. I couldn’t go on without her. I didn’t want to. I had a lot to make up for, and I had to find a way to do it.

  “I need to apologize to my sister,” I blurted.

  Rowan squeezed my hand. “Now?”

  I chuckled. “No. I need to think about what I want to say to her. But she deserves an apology. She needs to know I’m not that person anymore.”

  “Do you think she’ll forgive you?”

  I hesitated and shook my head. “I don’t think it’s about that. I think it’s about me needing to own up to my mistakes.”

  “You know what?”

  “What?”

  “I think I understand what you meant about yoga. About something that’s not sexual at all turning you on.”

  “Seriously?”

  He nodded. “Yeah, because right now, you wanting to talk to your sister is turning me on.”

  “Really?”

  He nodded again. “You’re a good person, Willow. I’m glad I wrote you that ticket.”

  I scoffed. “I’m not. That cost me a hundred bucks.”

  He grinned. “I think it was worth it.”

  I raised an eyebrow at him.

  His gaze slid down my body and back up again. He moved into my space and in one motion slid one hand to my neck and the other around my back. Before I could think, his lips were on mine, prying my mouth open.

  My brain took a few seconds to catch up. When it did, I reached up for him. His skin was warm and heating me up in a hurry. He held me close to him, our bodies connected from our lips to our hips as he pressed me back against the couch. He grew against my stomach and was not shy about showing me how much he wanted me.

  He stood and pulled me up with him. His hands dipped to my hips and he guided me to the bedroom. I didn’t even try to resist him. I didn’t want to. I wanted him. All of him.

  He pulled back when we made it to the side of the bed. He was breathing as hard as I was, both of us struggling to keep it together. “Take off your clothes,” he commanded me.

  I tilted my head. “I thought you said I could be in charge.”

  He smirked. “Fine. After you get naked, you can be in charge.”

  I raised an eyebrow at him. “Take of your clothes, too.”

  He grinned. “With pleasure.”

  He let his zip-up slide off his shoulders and fall on the floor behind him. Then he grabbed his shirt with one hand and stripped it off, tossing it on top of his sweatshirt. His hands stilled at the waist of his sweatpants and he looked up at me expectantly.

  “You just like watching me strip, don’t you?”

  I raised an eyebrow. “A blind woman would enjoy this show.”

  He chuckled. “Why don’t you close your eyes then?”

  My breath hitched at the rough tone of his voice. Commanding and teasing at once. I let my eyes fall closed.

  And waited.

  I didn’t know what he was going to do, but as I stood there with my eyes closed, listening for him to move, every cell in my body stilled.

  His hand touched my neck, and I jumped. My eyes flew open.

  “Relax, Willow.”

  I closed my eyes again and drew in a deep breath. I tensed when his hand brushed my hair to the side, but I kept my eyes closed. He kissed the part of my neck he exposed, then licked his way to the collar of my shirt. One arm eased around my waist and pulled me flush to him.

  “I like having you against me.”

  “Me, too,” I whispered.

  “I like touching you,” he said. His hand lifted my shirt slightly, then slid into my pants. He kept going, his fingers teasing my sensitive flesh until he met my wet center.

  I moaned softly and leaned back, spreading my thighs.

  “I like the way you respond to me. How you give yourself over to me and let me touch you.”

  I nodded. His other hand found mine and wound our fingers together. He brought our hands up to my breast and teased my pert nipple through the layers of fabric I still wore.

  “Are you going to come for me, Willow? Just like this? With your eyes closed, letting me touch you?”

  “Yes,” I whispered.

  “I can’t wait to be inside you. Having your hands on me all class was torture. I wanted to just say fuck it, and have you right then. But I’m really happy these pants are so stretchy so I can watch you bent and twist in them, then slide my hand inside and fuck you with my fingers.”

  I moaned loudly, and his cock twitched against my back. His fingers speared into me, stealing all the thoughts from my head. My body wanted him. Needed him. He pressed his thumb to my clit, and I couldn’t hold back.

  I bucked against his hand and called out his name. I never thought of yoga as foreplay, but I’d never done yoga with Rowan before. Watching him and touching him had turned me on as much as it did him, and I was wet and ready for him before his first touch.

  He didn’t let me stop at one and toyed with my body as I rode out my orgasm.

  “You’re so fucking gorgeous when you come. Again, Willow. Again.”

  He rubbed his thumb over my clit and my body responded to him. I was at the edge and falling when he nipped my shoulder and said, “Open your eyes. Watch as you come for me.”

  My eyes flipped open and I saw the two of us in my mirror. His hand disappeared into my pants, the bulge in the front moving as he stroked my clit. Our joined hands cupped my breasts, his fingers teasing my nipple. And behind me, he was completely naked. His body rocked with mine, riding out my orgasm with me.

  And then I saw his eyes. Dark eyes blazing into mine in the mirror. Watching me, taking in everything. Staring at him, I lost all control. My orgasm shook through me, but I refused to break eye contact with him. He stared at my reflection as I stared at his. I moaned and screamed and rode his hand without a care in the world.

  “Fucking beautiful,” he whispered a
gainst my neck. “I need you, Willow. Right now.”

  He yanked my pants down, both of us struggling to get me free. When his hand was available, he grabbed a condom and rolled it on. I was bent at the waist, trying to pull my pants off, when he stepped up behind me and grabbed my hips.

  His cock slid over my flesh. I spread my thighs and grabbed the edge of my bed. When I pushed back against him, he groaned.

  Then he slammed into me with one hard stroke.

  “Oh, God,” I moaned.

  “Jesus, I’m not gonna last long,” he groaned.

  His fingers bit into my hips. The pain grounded me, centering me. I looked up at the mirror and found him watching me. I crossed my arms on the edge of the bed and looked at him. His jaw was clenched tight, his muscles corded and tense. His eyes were darker than black. Everything about him said determined and focused, but every so often, he glanced down. Breaking our eye contact.

  I pushed back against him, feeling the pull of another orgasm. He tilted his hips and found the spot that was just out of reach. I gasped, instantly closer. He did it again, and I was right there. Just that quickly, he brought me to the edge.

  “Willow,” he groaned.

  The one word, just my name, was a plea, a request, a demand, all at once. I answered it on his next stroke, my body letting go. I squeezed around him, not letting him out, and he responded with the same need. He slammed into me once more, and stilled, holding himself deep inside me as our bodies pulsed.

  We stayed like that, locked together and staring at each other, until our bodies cooled. Only then did Rowan move. His eyes stayed on mine as he slid out. He kissed my shoulder and ran a hand up my spine.

  “I’ll be right back,” he whispered.

  I nodded, unsure what I was supposed to do. The other times, he was one and done, disappearing into the night like a thief with something to hide. I wasn’t expecting him to stay.

  But I also wasn’t opposed to it.

  When he walked out of the bathroom, I was sitting on the edge of the bed, still trying to decide what I should do. The edge of his mouth quirked up.