by Marlie May
His mouth hovered between my legs. He panted, the air puffs arousing me further. Control slipped away, leaving me a writhing mass of want.
“Fuck,” he said. “I don’t think I can do this. I need to be in you.”
“Now.” I strained against the ties, aching to touch him, stroke him.
“Hold on a sec. I…give me a sec.”
“Please.”
His breath raged in the silence. “Wait, wait, wait. We’re not quite finished here yet, are we?”
I was. One more rub and I’d be crying his name.
He trailed his fingertips up the soft skin of my inner thighs, lighter than feather down. He teased between my legs. “Want me to stop now?”
I let my knees flop wide. “No.” A fever consumed me.
His fingertips parted me, and he breathed again. His tongue slid down my length.
“Shit.” My word was a shriek.
He paused. “Too much?”
I groaned. “Not enough. Never enough. More.”
“Like this?” He dipped one finger inside me, swirling it around while his tongue licked me. “You’re sweet. And so wet.”
“You think?”
His tongue dove inside.
And I flew into the sky.
He massaged my legs, bringing me back down. “That was beautiful.”
“Oh, God.” I laughed. My skin burned. My limbs refused to do a damned thing. “I want to take my turn with you.”
“We’re nowhere near done. I think you need more.”
The thought made my limbs weaken further. “More? So soon?”
“What do you think of this?” His hands began at my ankles, massaging slowly upward. Something cool and wet joined into the mix.
“You had something else in your bag of goodies,” I said with a sigh.
“How can you tell?”
“Because it’s…slippery.”
“Caught again.” He massaged my calves. My belly. My breasts. Dragging his palms along the tops of my thighs, raising my shivers. My aching muscles relaxed. My body melted. His fingers danced between my legs.
“Oh, shit.” Guess I could be ready again.
He untied my ankles.
“Done?” I squirmed, my hips lifting, seeking him.
“No way. We’ve just started.” He released my wrists. “Leave the blindfold on, if you want.”
“I want.”
Bracing his hands on the bed, he drank from my mouth. Kissed along my jaw to my neck. “I need to be in you. That’s all. And I want to feel your legs around me.”
I locked them around his back, and he plunged inside.
Wiggling, I savored the tug and pull, sucking in the heady sensation of him filling me. Clinging to his shoulders, I writhed. Arched up to meet him.
And we came undone.
When my brain could perform a normal function again, I pulled off the blindfold. I rolled over and kissed him.
“We’re bringing those scarves home, right?” Because I had some “surprises” I wanted to try out on him.
“Absolutely.” He sat up on the side of the bed. “You want water? I think we have one more left in the fridge.”
“Sure.”
Rising, he padded across the room.
That mark on his butt. “What is that?”
He turned, eyebrows lifted. “What?”
“On your butt. A shape.”
Twisting, he glanced down. “Oh. It’s a birthmark. All my blood relatives have one, ever since my great-great-grandma. Genetically impossible, but, for some reason, it always breeds true.”
I climbed off the bed and went over to examine it because I’d seen something like this before.
On Arie.
While chills chase across my skin, Roan went into the bathroom.
Before my legs could give out, I slumped on the bed, rubbing my face.
It couldn’t be possible. I’d seen the paternity results with my own eyes. They said Jason was Arie’s father.
I no longer had the paperwork. When I moved, I hadn’t found it in the safe and assumed we’d inadvertently thrown it out. Not that it mattered. We hadn’t needed the results any longer.
We.
Jason had always picked up my mail in my apartment building lobby since he’d offered to bring dinner whenever I had to work late. I’d told him he could wait inside and let him have my spare key. He’d wanted to move in with me, but I wasn’t ready to get back together with him.
Jason had done kind things for me during that time. He’d always tried to be helpful, to anticipate my needs. At first, I’d seen it as caring.
Later, I knew for sure what it was: controlling.
But, Jason. Had he…I shook my head.
The envelope with the results had been sealed. Sure, Jason had handed it to me the second I walked through the door, then eagerly waited for me to open it.
He’d made it clear all along that he hoped he was my child’s father.
A graphic designer, Jason had been a whiz with a computer. Had he intercepted my mail and then forged new results?
How far would a man go to win the woman he loved?
My belly spasmed, and I couldn’t catch my breath.
“No,” I hissed out. It couldn’t be true. Jason wouldn’t do that to me, would he?
I couldn’t be sure about the results until I obtained a new copy from the company who’d done the testing, which should only take a few days.
Should I tell Roan?
How could I when I wasn’t convinced myself? This could be nothing.
That birthmark.
My heart jumped around in my chest, because, shit, was Roan Arie’s father?
“I’ll hold off until I knew for sure,” I whispered.
Waiting a few days would not make a difference.
Roan
When I came out of the bathroom the next morning, Cara jumped.
She closed out whatever she’d been studying on her phone and dropped the device on the bureau.
“Message from home?” I asked.
“What?” Her eyes darted aside, and her hands twitched. “Just looking at something online.”
Probably nothing, then.
Crossing the room, I kissed her, continuing along her jawline to her neck. I’d never get enough of her taste, her feel. But while she responded to my touch with a soft moan, and her shoulders loosened, she stepped back when I started to slip my hands along the back of her waist. She stooped down and fidgeted with her carry-on bag.
“Everything okay?” If I didn’t know better, I’d believe something was wrong. I didn’t want to think we could grow apart, so soon after we’d found each other, but her hesitancy…It made me uneasy.
She sent a half-smile my way, before returning her attention to her bag. “Of course.”
“You seem…distracted.” I grinned with full confidence, though inside, it was slipping. We’d made love all through the night. That was real. Us. This was…well, I wasn’t sure what it was, but it couldn’t be anything significant. To lighten the mood, I teased her. “You’re making me worry about my technique.” Voice lifted, I tried to come across like a prissy virgin. “Now that you’ve had your way with me, will you promise to call me in the morning?”
“Cute, Roan.” Her smile becoming more solid, she rose and headed toward the bathroom, stopping to give me a quick kiss on the way by. “I’m sorry I’m distracted. I’m just tired.”
And, my joke had fallen flat. Gut sinking, I followed her at a slower pace. “We have had a frantic week.” I leaned against the doorframe while she packed her bathroom things.
She didn’t look up. “Stressful, for sure. A quick marriage, finding each other again, and the trip.”
“All good stressors, right?” Why was I doubting this, for even a second? We were solid. But I couldn’t shake the tense coil tightening inside me. It reminded me of…I didn’t want to think about that.
Her face softened, and my unease dropped in seconds. “I love you.” Surety
reigned in her words. “This has been the best time of my life.”
I entered the bathroom and handed over her brush, her hair spray, her tote with jewelry. She packed everything until the granite counter was empty. After zipping the bag, she dropped it in the hall and returned, moving up on me until the warmth of her skin met mine.
I could make love to her a thousand times, and I’d still want her as much as I did now.
“What time do we have to leave, again?” Gaze full of mischief, she slid her hands down, inside my shorts. “We don’t have to go to the lobby quite yet, do we?”
My breath kicked into high gear, and I drank from her lips, pulling her love inside me. Sending it back tenfold. Settling my uneasy feelings.
“Roan,” she whispered, the ache in her voice unmistakable.
Turning, I lifted her up onto the counter and stepped between her thighs, caressing her bare skin beneath her sundress. I kept kissing her, my hands moving upward until I discovered her damp panties.
“Take these off,” I said hoarsely as she undid the button to my shorts, yanked down my fly.
We scrambled out of enough clothing so that flesh could meet flesh. She tipped her head back and gave me access to her sensitive throat as I drove into her warmth.
Bracing her on the sink, I watched our erotic reflection in the mirror beyond the wide vanity, moving within her until I brought us both to the edge.
Then we carried each other over the other side.
We finished packing and arranged for someone to take our bags to the lobby. Since we had a few minutes left before the driver would arrive to take us to the airport, we hit the gift shop. Cara bought Arie a stuffed sloth, and while the gift could’ve come from both of us, I wanted to get my new stepdaughter something from me. A stepdad gift. Or, a fill-in dad gift, in the hope she’d welcome me into that role eventually.
“What do you think of this for Arie?” I held up a decorative sword.
Cara snorted. “Just try getting that through security.”
“It’s meant to hang on the wall.”
“For Arie, it’s meant for slicing furniture, your back fence, and our legs, if we don’t watch out.”
“She’s too young for it, huh?” Sam, however, would love it. But Cara made a valid point about airport security. After putting it back, I studied the other things for sale. If a sword was out, a machete wouldn’t cut it. Or a knife.
Cara grabbed a bag of coffee beans. “For Dad.” And, for Barbie, she selected a locally-made, beaded necklace.
Coffee was a great idea. I added bags for Mom, Sam, and Dag to my cart then added a beaded necklace for Lark.
But what could I get Arie? It had to be special.
Stuffed animals would copy Cara. A jump rope? Felt like a lame gift to me, and it didn’t suggest Costa Rica. At almost-five, I doubted she drank coffee or wore jewelry, though she might like something simple, like a bracelet.
Strolling down the tight aisles, I stopped and fingered a pad of paper made from banana leaves. While Arie might not be old enough for journaling, she could draw on it, right? Feeling it wasn’t quite what I wanted, I dropped the paper and moved on.
Chocolate made from local beans might work, but I wasn’t sure what rules Cara enforced surrounding sweets. I imagined I’d find out soon since we’d live together.
Live together.
I stalled in the aisle and watched Cara laugh at something the clerk at the register said. The happiness in her eyes couldn’t be denied. My pulse surged, because I was fairly confident I’d helped put that emotion there.
Cara planned to rent her apartment. The movers would pack up and truck everything over to my place this coming week. She and Arie were moving in with me since my house had three bedrooms and a backyard. When we discussed the arrangement before the wedding, we hadn’t planned on sharing a bedroom. Now, we would.
I’d bought my house after I divorced, downsizing from the fancy four-bedroom place Lainie had loved. I’d savored my privacy since we split. But tonight, we three would settle into my house as a brand-new family. My heart expanded until it pressed against my ribs, to the point it ached. I couldn’t wait to fill my home with their laughter.
Cara caught my eye and smiled, but she couldn’t know what I was thinking. She walked over and gave me a quick kiss, which I’d take any time, day or night. “You find everything you want?”
“I’m still trying to figure out what to get Arie.” A coffee mug and shot glass with Pura Vida scrolled on the front were out.
“You don’t need to give her anything.”
“I want to.”
“How about a t-shirt?”
“Clothing feels impersonal.” Didn’t everyone bring home t-shirts when they couldn’t decide on anything else? My time for choosing something was ticking down, however, because the driver would be here any time.
“With Arie.” She held up a tee, revealing the crocodile on the front. “This’ll be the coolest thing she owns. She’ll wear it for a week, to the envy of all her friends.”
“You think so?” I warmed to the idea.
“Trust me about this.”
Grinning, I hugged her. “Okay.”
We rode to the airport and flew north, arriving back in Maine in time to pick Arie up at Ken’s and take her to my place, before it got dark.
The bags Cara had packed before we left for our honeymoon were still in the trunk of my car as I pulled into my drive and shut off the engine.
“Home,” I said softly. Taking Cara’s hand, I squeezed it, and the warm look she gave me, plus the answering tightening of her fingers around mine, sent a blade of joy through my heart.
The word home had never felt better.
We got out of the car and grabbed some of the bags from the trunk. “If you ladies want,” I said as we strode up the walk, our boots squeaking on the newly fallen snow, “I’ll bring the rest of our things inside while you two start getting Arie settled in her new room.”
“The blue one, right?” Arie squinted up at me while I dropped what I carried on the front deck and typed in the passcode on the door lock. A beep rang out, and I pushed open the door.
Arie and Cara had come for dinner once and, another time, for a few hours in the afternoon, prior to our wedding, so Arie could get a feel for her new space. There hadn’t been time for more visits than that.
“Yup, that’s your room,” I said. “We need to talk about how you want to decorate it, right?”
Nodding, she stepped inside the foyer. “With dinosaurs. And a croc. “’Cause I like crocs, now.”
“We can look at wallpaper borders and decals if you want.” I’d given her the t-shirt at Ken’s, and my knees had weakened when she squealed. She was wrapping me around her pinky finger already.
Cara was right, the tee was the perfect gift. While some might consider dinosaurs or crocodiles boyish, I’d grown up with Sam, and Arie was just like her. I found it cool that Cara hadn’t guided her solely toward dolls or traditional girly things.
“Put your bag in your room, Arie,” Cara said.
While the little girl skipped down the hall, I gave Cara a quick kiss. “I’ll be right back with the rest.”
Her arms wrapped around me, underneath my coat, and her fingers found the skin at the back of my waist. She nuzzled my neck. “I love you, Roan.” The words came out like a sigh, but one filled with hope and affection.
“Love you, too.”
My lungs just about bursting with joy, I returned to my car. Even though it felt silly, I couldn’t stop grinning when I started back toward my front door, my arms overloaded. My house wasn’t just a structure protecting us from the weather, it represented a future filled with happiness.
Later, I followed Cara and Arie as they went through her bedtime routine, memorizing each component, in case I got the chance to go through it with her by myself. Brushing teeth. Tucking her into the twin bed I’d set up in my spare bedroom. Making sure she had her special blanket, the new stuffed to
y. Listening to prayers and Cara’s bedtime song.
“Goodnight, kiddo,” I said from the door. Cara’s hand rested on my side, sharing in this defining moment.
“Night, Roan.” The bright smile Arie gave me, plus the fact that she wore my crocodile shirt to bed, just about floored me. Outside of the upcoming court case, my life couldn’t get much better.
I followed Cara down the hall to our bedroom. We shut the door and gravitated to each other. Even a second not touching her felt like I’d crawled through the desert for days without water.
She pulled off her shirt and stepped out of her pants.
Jesus. Silky red matching bra and panties. I had to taste her. Now.
“I think we need to christen our new home, don’t you?” Everything wanton beckoned in her voice. Backing toward the bed, she curled a finger my way.
This woman had cracked my heart wide open and stepped inside to fill it completely, and I was going to do everything possible to show her how much she meant to me.
In seconds, I’d shucked my clothing. My body responded to her nearness already.
As she lay back on the bed, a sultry smile lifting her lips, I strode over and climbed up and braced myself over her. “Hell, yeah, let’s christen this place good.”
Her arms wrapped around my neck, and she tugged me near. “I’m yours, Roan.”
“Damn straight. And I’m yours.” I captured her lips and lowered myself down on top of her welcoming warmth.
* * *
Over the next week, we settled into a routine. Breakfast. Get Arie on the bus. Then, I’d go to the Brew House in the morning and the hot sauce plant in the afternoon, while Cara worked on getting her tea room ready to open. We’d join up together by dinner time, then spend the evening together after, playing board games, helping Arie with homework, and relaxing on the sofa, watching TV until bedtime.
“I want to help you downtown,” I said on Thursday over a shared breakfast of apple cinnamon muffins and tea. “Now that I’ve put managers in place, I have time.” Not quite true, because there were still a ton of needs calling for my attention at all hours, but I wanted to help her. She was strong, and I was proud of how she was progressing, but there was no reason I couldn’t share her burden.