by Kelly Moore
“Don’t move,” he orders. His breath is on that sensitive spot of skin behind my ear. It only fuels me, making me more eager to feel him deeper inside me. I wiggle my hips, and he stills me with his hands.
“Don’t fucking move,” he orders again. He slowly pulls out, so his tip is at my entrance. He slides his hand between us and spreads my own wetness around. He inserts two fingers into my rear end. I gasp at the burning sensation.
“Has anyone ever touched you here?” He moves his fingers in and out.
“No,” I barely get out as I bite my bottom lip between my teeth.
“Good,” he says as he continues his movements while he pushes his cock inside me.
There is no building; my orgasm explodes like fireworks around him, drawing his cock and fingers deeper inside. He lets out a wild groan as I squeeze him tighter and tighter.
When my orgasm starts to wane, he removes his fingers and thrusts harder and harder, pushing me back into the couch. He suddenly stops and pulls out of me.
“Turn around,” he demands. I get up and do as he says, placing my knees into the back of the couch with my hands braced on the top. He presses forward and moves in behind, spreading my legs wider with his knees. He has me bent over the back of the couch when he enters from behind. He’s kneeled beneath me and pulls me onto him as he reaches around my chest and tugs at my taut nipples. I use the back of the couch to lift and lower several times on to him.
“Damn it, Mags!” he yells and grabs my hips. His fingers are going leave a mark, but I don’t care. With every thrust he’s deeper, hitting a spot I didn’t know existed inside. I lose myself in the sensation and let go, and he roars my name behind me and pulses deep inside.
When we finally find our breath, he lays me beside him on the couch, lying face to face.
“That was incredible,” I tell him.
“You are incredible,” he says, kissing me softly on the lips.
We spend the next two weeks lounging by the beach, swimming, and taking long walks during the day. Our nights are spent in each other’s arms, learning more and more about how well our bodies work together. Will is so in touch with the noises that I make, he makes me lose control, and I’ve learned he really does like a little kink.
I haven’t told him yet, but I’ve fallen madly in love with him. He’s the sweetest and not to mention a demanding lover. There isn’t anything that I don’t love about this man, and I feel pretty lucky that he walked into my life.
Chapter 10
One month later…
* * *
“Hank, are you here?” I yell out into the market. I’ve been calling him for the last hour, but he hasn’t answered his phone. “Go look upstairs,” I tell Will. The market is normally closed by seven, and it’s Hank’s night for dinner, but the open sign is still hanging up in the front door. Will and I had set our chairs down at the beach to watch the sunset before we headed to Hank’s for dinner. I had just sat down and dug my toes into the sand when I swear I heard a woman whisper Hank’s name. That’s when I started calling him.
My heart stops when Will yells, “Maggie, call 911.” I rush up the stairs two at a time to find Will leaning over Hank, feeling for a pulse. I snatch my phone out of my purse and call for help.
I can feel my own face turn ashen from fear. “Is he”—I swallow my shaky voice—“alive?”
“Yes,” he answers quickly. “Hank, can you hear me?” Will rolls him onto his back.
There’s a visible knot on the side of his head where he evidently hit the ground. My shoulders start to quake as I kneel down next to him. “We’re here, Hank. You’re going to be okay,” I tell him, trying to convince myself. “Help is on the way.” I rub my hand up and down his arm as if touching him will fix him.
“Stay here. I’m going to go outside to meet the ambulance.”
I nod as Will runs down the stairs. “Please, Hank, you have to be okay. I can’t lose you.” I keep glancing at my watch as time seems to have stood still. I hold back my tears and keep talking to him.
“He’s up here.” I hear Will barreling up the stairs with heavy footsteps following him.
Will wraps his arms around me as we stand out of the way and let the paramedics work on Hank. After they hook him up to their equipment, one of them says it looks like he’s had a heart attack.
My tears that had been held back start falling. I watch helplessly as they load him onto a gurney and carry him out through the store into the ambulance. Will snags Hank’s keys, and we follow them to the hospital in Hank’s beat-up old truck. A split second after we are in the cab, he jams the truck into gear and guns the engine.
During the short ride to the hospital, I can’t help but think about how much Hank has come to mean to me in such a short time. I love him like a father, and I’m not ready to lose him so soon. Will is quiet and focused on the road, but he slips his hand down from the steering wheel and grasps my hand. We share a look, but no words are spoken between us.
The truck is barely in park before we open the doors and rush inside the emergency room. It’s a small hospital with only a few people scattered among the chairs in the waiting room. I sit while Will checks us in at the front desk. There is a fresh coat of paint on the newly decorated room. It doesn’t smell like your typical antiseptic hospital. There is a woman cradling a baby, rocking back and forth. In the far corner, there is a man lying down with a hoodie over his head. His clothes are tattered and dirty. He sits up as a woman dressed in scrubs brings him a cup of coffee.
“I’ve got us all checked in. They said they will let us know something as soon as they can.” Will sits beside me, and I lay my head on his shoulder. He wraps his arm around me. “He’s going to be okay,” he says in a whisper.
For the next two hours before a nurse comes and gets us taking us to Hank’s room, memories of the last few weeks bounce around in my head like Ping-Pong balls. My knees feel weak as we follow her to his room. He’s hooked up to all kinds of equipment and surrounded by pale walls with fluorescent lighting. There is a whiteboard on one of the walls with a nurse’s name written on it. The beep of the heart monitor draws me back to Hank.
“Is he okay?” I ask the nurse, whose name is Ava.
“He’s going to be fine. The doctor will be in to see you in a few minutes,” she says as she cancels an alarm.
Will pulls up a cushioned chair next to the bed. “Here sit beside him.” I do as he says and squeeze Hank’s hand. Will stands behind me rubbing the tension from my shoulders.
“I’m Dr. Smith,” a tall man says as he walks in, holding out his hand. “Are you related to Hank?” he asks.
“We’re the only family he has,” Will answers.
“Well, Hank is a lucky man that you found him when you did. He suffered a heart attack and a mild concussion from his fall.”
“Is he going to be okay?” Will asks.
“Yes. We were able to stent one of his coronary arteries that was blocked.”
“Why isn’t he waking up?” I sniff.
“He was sedated for the heart cath. He’ll wake up soon. We did a CT of his head to make sure he didn’t have a bleed from hitting it on the ground when he fell.”
“Thank you, Dr. Smith.” Will shakes his hand again.
“He’s going to need to take it easy for a few weeks. I’ve known Hank a long time from the market. He’s not going to be a very good patient.” He laughs.
“We’ll see to it that he behaves,” Will says.
As soon as the doctor leaves the hospital room, Hank’s eyes open.
I stand over him and hold his hand. “It’s okay, Hank. You’re in the hospital.”
“What happened?” His voice sounds raspier than normal.
“You’ve had a heart attack, but you’re going to be fine.”
He raises his hand and rubs the knot on his head.
“You fell and hit your head. Do you remember anything?” Will asks.
“I remember walking up the stairs an
d feeling a little light-headed.”
“Were you having any pain?”
“Not pain, but a slight pressure in my chest.”
“They fixed you all up.” I rub his shoulder and tears fill his eyes.
“I do remember one other thing,” he says as his lip quivers. “Alice was there. She kept telling me to get off the floor. She said there was someone that I needed to meet. I loved the woman, but she could be crazier than a sack full of raccoons. I have no idea what she was going on about.”
“Alice,” I whisper. “I heard her over the wind call your name. I knew something was wrong.”
“You two do know Alice isn’t alive, right?” Will says with raised eyebrows.
We both say in unison, “I heard her voice.”
Hank continues. “I didn’t want to come back. I wanted to stay with her, but she kept telling me it wasn’t time yet.”
“I believe you. I know I heard a woman's voice saying your name when we were sitting on the beach. It had to be Alice. She’s the one that saved you, Hank.”
“I don’t know that I believe in all that mumbo jumbo, but I’m glad you’re alive,” Will says, sitting on the edge of the bed. “Look, you’re not going to be able to work in the market for a few weeks. You have to take it easy.”
“I can’t close the shop. The people in this town count on me being open.”
“Will and I will run it for you. I don’t want you to worry about a thing,” I say.
“Have you ever worked in a store?” Hank asks.
“No, but I’m sure you’re going to be sitting in a chair telling us what to do.” I look up at Will, hoping he’s supporting me.
“I think between the three of us, we can handle it.” Will laughs.
Two days later, sure enough, Hank is sitting behind the counter at the market supervising us. I hadn’t realized how busy his little store gets during the day. Several women from the town have dropped off baked goods for Hank. One of the ladies even flirts with him, but he’s clueless to her touching him every chance she gets.
“I think Shirley has a thing for you, Hank,” I tease when she shuts the screen door behind her, but not before turning and smiling back at him.
He runs a hand through his gray mop of hair. “There is only one woman for me,” he says, but I catch him watching her walk away.
“I don’t think Alice would want you to be alone the rest of your life.”
He looks up at me like he’s never even considered it before. “Do you think Shirley really likes me?”
“Okay, killer, I think you need to recover fully before you even consider what Shirley wants from you.” Will chuckles.
“Will, you’re awful. They can just be friends.” I slap him in the chest.
He leans forward and speaks in my ear. “At his age, there is no time for friendship.”
“You are bad. Don’t go giving him any ideas.” I laugh.
“Don’t worry, dear, I have no interest in anyone but Alice. I’m only teasing with you. I’ve known for a long time that Shirley likes me.”
“I’m done with the two of you.” I point my finger between the two of them, and they both snort in laughter.
As the last customer is leaving and I’m flipping over the closed sign, I see an unexpected familiar face getting out of a limo. “Uh…Will, were you expecting a visitor?”
He walks over and stands beside me. “How the hell did he know where to find me?”
“I’m guessing your mother.”
“Help Hank upstairs. I’ll handle this.”
I take Hank by the elbow and help him up. He keeps looking over his shoulder and grumbles something all the way up the stairs. Once he’s settled onto the couch, I quietly trickle midway down the stairs like a slow leak.
“Why are you here?” Will’s words are sharp as a tack.
“I was passing through, and I wanted to see for my own eyes. Your mother told me you were lending a hand to someone in need.” He looks around the market with his nose in the air. “Why aren’t you in New York running your business?” His tone is tinged with anger.
“Don’t worry about my business. It’s being taken care of.” I can hear the anger building in his voice.
“You followed that girl here, didn’t you?”
“That girl has a name. It’s Maggie.”
“Ah, Ms. Harper, the elementary school teacher.” He laughs sarcastically. “You should be in Savannah trying to make up with Phoebe.” My name comes out like something sour against his tongue, sharp and jagged. It makes me cringe, and I can only imagine what it tasted like to Will.
She’s getting married, Dad, in case you haven’t heard.”
“I happen to know she would take you back if you would apologize for your…indiscretion.”
I hear Will’s shoes pad across the tile floor and then a loud thud like fists slamming on the counter. “How many times do I have to tell you that I didn’t cheat on her. She was in love with Patrick. Not me!” His thunderous voice echoes through the store.
“Your brother is gone, and yet you choose to walk away and do what? Work in a small-town market? Marry the school teacher?”
“You are some fucking piece of work, Dad.” Anger like sharp barbs forms on his words. “I happen to like my life, and yeah…maybe I will marry Maggie. I love her, but you don’t seem to care about any of that. You’re more worried about your prestige than you are about your son’s happiness. Did you ever stop to think that Patrick did drugs because of the amount of pressure you put on him?”
“Why you little bastard!” I hear and then a scuffling sound.
I run down the stairs, and Will’s father has him pinned against the wall with his fist balled up like an angry rock ready to hit Will.
“Stop it!” I scream and rush in between them, pushing his father away. My heart is banging inside my chest like a tiger raging against his cage trying to find its freedom. “Will is a better man than you will ever be! Now get the hell out of here before I call the police!”
“It’s okay, Mags,” Will says, moving from behind me. “I quit caring a long time ago about what you think of me. Maggie is the best thing in my life, and your head is stuck so far up your ass you can’t even see it.” He walks by him and opens the market door. “I’ll make sure Mom knows you stopped by,” Will says, waving his father out.
“Leave your mother out of this,” he snarls, stopping in front of Will.
He looks down and then back up at his dad. “It was nice of you to visit, Dad, but don’t come back again.” I know he really wanted to tell him to go to hell, but he held himself back.
The door slams shut, and Will leans his long frame against the wall. “Why didn’t you tell him what you really wanted to say?” I walk over to him and lay my hand on his heaving chest.
“Because it wouldn’t change a thing other than give him ammo against me.” He stands tall and takes me in his arms. “I’m sorry you had to hear any of that.”
“He’s lucky I didn’t put a buckshot in his ass.” We both turn to Hank standing on the landing of the stairs with a rifle in his hand. “If you were my boy, I’d never treat you that way. Someone needs to bring him down a notch or two.”
He starts walking to the front door. His face is boiling with anger. Will steps in front of him, blocking his path. “Hank, go put that thing away. You can’t go around shooting people that piss you off.”
“Like hell I can’t.”
Will grabs him into a hug and pats him on the back. “Thanks, old man.” It diffuses his anger, and Hank hugs him back.
“You’re a good man, Will. Don’t let him make you think otherwise. And, this one”—he points to me—“is a treasure.”
Will lets go of him and walks over to me and gets on his knees. “This is not how I planned this, Harper, Maggie Harper.” Tears start filling my eyes. “I wanted to ask you in the top of a lighthouse. I don’t have a ring yet and this is probably the worst proposal ever, but I love you, Mags. Will you marry me?�
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I’m completely thrown off guard. I’m staring speechlessly at this beautiful man kneeling in front of me. His gaze is boring into me, waiting for an answer. My mind tells me to give it more time, but it’s battling with my heart that wants to say yes. I love him, and for the first time in my life, I know what love really feels like. It’s bigger than the both of us. It’s an intensity and an intimacy that seeps into every crevice of your being without warning. It’s knowing that I could never live without him in my life, nor do I want to. He’s the smile on my face and the warmth that fuels my heart. I adore his mind and the touch of his skin on mine. He’s that little hitch of breath I take in the morning, knowing he’s lying beside me. He’s in me, and I’m in him. That’s what love is, and I want nothing more for the rest of my life.
I swallow my thoughts, letting the words slip through my lips. “Yes, Will Taylor, I will marry you.” I fall to my knees and kiss him. My hands are wrapped in his hair, tugging him closer. “I love you, Will.”
“I love you too, Mags.”
The stairs creak behind us, and then in a few minutes, they creak again. We look up to see Hank holding out something in his hand. “It’s the ring I bought Alice. I want you two to have it.” The old man wipes a tear from his blue eyes.
Will stands, taking me with him. “Thanks, Hank, but I planned on buying her a ring.”
“No. This is perfect, Will.”
He takes it out of Hank’s hand and slides it on my finger. “It fits,” he whispers in complete surprise.
“I knew it would.” Hank’s face beams with pride.
I hold my hand out to look at it. It has a single diamond in the middle, and the silver sides are wrapped filigree entwined all the way around the band. “It’s beautiful. Thank you, Hank.”
“I know Alice would’ve wanted me to give it to our daughter if we ever had one. You’re the closest thing to a daughter that I’ll ever have, and I know you two will make it.”