by A. M. Kusi
“Next time, just talk to me. Ask me to clarify. Don’t turn away and assume you know what I meant, or what I’m thinking. If I hurt you, tell me. I’ll do the same. We can work on this communication thing together.”
Isa nodded. The man who she had yearned for for so long was now in front of her. This was love pouring off every part of him, and she was drinking in every last drop. It was all for her. She gazed at the dark spheres staring back at her, seeing her tomorrows and her future once again.
“Okay, I will,” she promised.
“Good. Now let’s get you out of this dump. I’ll drop you off to Harper and Jax’s for a bit. There are a few things I need to take care of before we go home, where you belong.”
Home.
Her heart skipped a beat.
Chapter 34
Ethan dropped Isa off at Jax’s, walking her to the door and staying long enough for Isa to explain the bruises on her face to their shocked and worried friends. He left her with a kiss and a promise to return soon.
He went straight to his parents. He opened the front door with his spare key. Joy and Max were playing with the toys and wrapping paper under the tree. His father sat in his chair, watching the kids with a smile on his face and a mug of Milo in his hand, unaware of his son’s presence.
Ethan shrugged off his boots and searched out his mother who was right where he’d expected: busy cooking in the kitchen that smelled like roasting lamb.
“Hey, Mom.”
She looked up, surprised. “I didn’t hear you come in! How was your night?”
“Enlightening.”
She looked him over, her eyes pausing on his injured knuckles. “What happened to your hands? Are you okay?” she asked warily.
“I’ll get to that. I just need to say something to you and Dad, alone, without Joy hearing.”
“Okay. I’ll go get him.” She wiped her hands on the festive red apron she wore before leaving the room. She returned a few minutes later, with his father by her side and Max in her arms.
“Joy is watching the Grinch,” she explained.
“What’s going on?” his father asked.
“I found someone I want to spend the rest of my life with. I know what her father did to you both is unforgivable. I love and respect both of you so much. I came here to ask you to please keep trying for my sake to see past her connection to him and get to know her as Isa, and not as her father’s daughter. She’s nothing like him.”
His mother opened her mouth to speak and then hesitated.
“Is she the one for you?” his father asked.
“I believe so, yes. She walked away from her parents for me. She chose me over them, over their money. She gave up everything and then she didn’t tell me after finding out what Daniel did to you, so that I wouldn’t have to choose between you and her.”
“We know.” His mother’s expression was unreadable.
“You know what?” he asked, confused.
“A girl like that doesn’t drop everything to help take care of a man who just inherited two children overnight unless she cares about him. She wouldn’t suffer through my scrutiny if she didn’t think you were worth it,” his mother explained.
His father scratched his head before he spoke. “My son, you are a man. If this is what is right for you, then we will welcome her into our family.”
“Really?” Ethan asked, hopeful. He’d thought his parents would be harder to win over.
“We had a lawyer come knocking on our door the other day,” his mother started to explain. Ethan’s fists clenched, wondering what new crisis awaited.
“He had a note from Isa to me, and documents with enough proof that your father and I will be able to lay charges against Daniel. The lawyer man said they’d already worked out a deal with Crown Shipping to settle for an agreed amount, but we could also choose to pursue it in court.”
“What?” he asked in disbelief.
“She apologized to me for her family’s treatment of us. She assured me she did really love you and the kids, but she would leave us alone.”
“When?” he asked.
“A couple of weeks ago. I was wrong about her. I doubted her ability to take care of the kids, and even you. I was worried you would get so wrapped up in your relationship with this white American woman that you wouldn’t be the good representation of a Ghanaian father that these children need. She gave you up for you and the kids to have a better life, and I see that I was wrong about both of you now,” she admitted, taking a breath before continuing. “I know you will make a great team.”
Ethan was shocked by the news. Unsure how to process everything, he just stared at his parents for a few moments.
“What happened?” she asked, her soft grasp taking his hand in hers.
Her touch jolted him back to the present.
***
Isa relaxed on the couch between Harper and Ella while Mila played with Jax and River on the ground near the Christmas tree.
“The thing I regret most about my past is not leaving sooner. The second-worst regret is not reporting it. I wonder if I had, if maybe other women would have been saved from my ex. Maybe he would be in jail instead of . . . dead,” Ella said, her voice wavering.
Isa didn’t know a lot about Ella’s past, but it sounded horrific.
Now I understand why she wanted to pretend like it didn’t happen.
“I’m just so scared. I feel like if I had the money and connections my family has backing me, that would be one thing. Who am I to stand up against Griffin Smith; a rich and powerful man who happens to be one of my father’s right-hand men? Maybe I led him on . . .”
“It doesn’t matter if you walked naked into that party. He had no right to touch you. You didn’t owe him anything. You said no; that should have been that. Who is he to think he had any right to lay his hands on you? Who is he to have the audacity to believe he was entitled to your body? Your body is yours. No one has a right to it but you, unless you say so,” Ella said, reminding Isa just how angry she should be at the piece of shit who’d dared lay a hand on her.
Harper patted her knee. “We got your back, but the choice is yours.”
Isa was thankful to have the support of her friends, but they were right. Maybe he wouldn’t get the punishment he deserved for what he did to her, but at least there would be a record when the next woman tried to bring him to justice.
The doorbell chimed. Harper got up to open it and in ran a bundled-up Joy. Ethan walked in behind her with Max in his arms.
Isa couldn’t hold back her smile, seeing the two children who had stolen a piece of her heart. She stood as Joy turned to her.
The little girl’s face lit up when she saw her. “Isa! Isa’s back!” She ran across the wood floor, leaving a trail of snowy water from her boots. Isa opened her arms and caught her in a bear hug.
“I missed you so much!” she said before kissing Joy’s cold cheeks.
“Merry Christmas!” Joy laughed.
Max reached his arms out towards her with a big smile.
“Look at how big you both grew!” Isa said, standing to take Max from Ethan’s arms. She kissed his little face and hugged him close. She had every piece of her heart in that room and she finally felt whole again.
After they got settled, and the kids were happily playing with the gifts Isa and their friends had gotten for them, Ethan pulled Isa away. She followed him into the kitchen and grabbed a cookie, feeling famished.
“I just wanted to tell you how happy I am to have you in my life again. I want you to know that I love you, and I will respect your decision as hard as it may be. But the protector in me can’t let this go,” he explained, shifting where he stood.
Isa set the cookie down. “You mean about Griffin?”
Anger blazed in his eyes at the mention of the name. “I want you to come a
nd live with me. If you’re not ready for that, Harper said you could stay here.”
“I want to,” she said, her chest tightening.
Ethan sighed, and she could see his body physically relax. “My parents told me you sent them a note and some documents.”
She blinked a few times, feeling her cheeks heat. “I did.”
“How did you get them?”
“Liam.”
Ethan nodded. “I guess your brother and you are a little closer than you realized.”
“I don’t know what changed, but the old Liam has come back after meeting you. I think you’re a magician and you don’t even know it.” She smiled.
“I think it’s us together that’s the true magic.”
Ethan opened his arms to her. She gladly walked into his embrace. He kissed the top of her forehead and she fell a little more in love with him—a feat that had seemed impossible as she already felt the seams of her heart ready to burst. “Thank you.”
“I should have been there for you.”
Isa hugged him tighter. “You are here for me now, and that’s what matters.”
He sighed, and she knew he wasn’t ready to let the guilt go.
Tonight, she just wanted to try and forget everything and enjoy the fact that Ethan was back in her life, along with Joy and Max.
“Let’s go and enjoy the rest of the holiday with our friends and the kids.”
“If you say so.” He leaned and cupped her face with his strong hands. He looked into her eyes and she felt her body heat with want. Energy crackled and thrummed between them. It had been so long since he’d looked at her like that. Since he’d touched her like he wanted to make love to her.
“Isa, I’m gonna kiss you now and it’s gonna change everything. It means we start over. From here on out, we’re together through the good, the bad, all of it. When I kiss you, I’m promising forever, but I accept that you might not be ready to do the same.”
Isa’s vision grew blurry with unshed tears of happiness as she said, “Kiss me.”
His mouth crashed onto hers, and the room spun. His tongue sought out hers, and they melded together as her body swirled with a cyclone of love, desire, gratitude, and forgiveness for this man—her man. This kiss held promises of a future and vows of love, forgiveness, and freedom, unchained and unbound.
His hands gripped her tighter and she felt his arousal through his jeans. She pulled back, panting. “We should go. Everyone is probably wondering where we are.”
Ethan took a deep breath, staring at her mouth before speaking, “Okay, my love. Dinner and then we are going home where I can show you just how much I missed you.”
She smiled. “I’ll hold you to that promise.”
“Did I mention dinner is at my parents’?” Ethan asked, guiding her towards the door.
Any feeling of happiness and ease left her body, immediately replaced with dread.
Chapter 35
Isa followed Ethan into his parents’ house with Max in her arms and Joy holding her hand. The little girl didn’t want to let Isa out of her sight.
Esther met them and helped get the kids out of their winter clothes before directing everyone to the table to eat. She reached out and touched Isa’s shoulder. “Can I speak with you a moment?”
Isa glanced at Ethan getting the kids set up at the table before she turned back to his mother to answer. “Of course.”
She trailed after Esther into the living room. His mother turned and faced Isa with her arms crossed. “I wanted to let you know you are welcome here. I know it didn’t seem that way in the past, and I know you understand some of the reasons for my reservations. But my son loves you. You showed us your true character and we will be glad to welcome you into our home.”
Isa wasn’t sure what to say. She wasn’t expecting Esther to be so forgiving after everything that had happened. Her shoulders relaxed, releasing tension she hadn’t realized she was holding. “I appreciate it more than I can express. I am truly sorry for everything. I do love your son, and I will do everything in my power to prove that to him every day. Joy and Max are a part of my heart, and I know I can never replace their amazing parents, but I would like to give them whatever they need for as long as they need it from me.”
Esther reached out and grazed her finger lightly over the bruises on Isa’s face. “It gets easier,” she said.
Isa knew what she meant. One woman reaching out to another, letting her know she was not alone. A truce of sisterhood. Esther opened her arms for a hug and Isa accepted it. It was a little awkward at first. But the way Esther held her broke something inside of her heart at the same time that it rebuilt another part.
***
The rest of dinner went by with great company and warm laughter. They passed the delicious Ghanaian food around the table. Phillip, who had always seemed to be a man of few words, seemed glad of the chance to tell them all stories of when Ethan and Abby were little and the trouble they’d caused. His and Esther’s eyes misted over as they discussed the good times when their daughter was alive. Joy and Max got sleepier as the evening progressed.
“We should get going,” Ethan said, standing with his empty cup to bring it over to the sink.
“The kids can stay here tonight,” Phillip suggested.
“You want to stay at Nana and Papa’s again tonight?” Ethan asked a sleepy Joy.
“Yes!” she agreed excitedly.
Ethan looked at Isa and gave her a smile that made her stomach flutter with butterflies.
“You two drive safe. The snow is really coming down out there,” his mother added.
After they’d said their goodbyes, Isa and Ethan got into his car and drove in silence. Holiday music played on the radio and his warm hand held hers, lovingly. Large snowflakes slowly drifted from the skies, falling onto the windshield before the wipers cleaned them off. Streetlights guided their path on the mostly empty roads. The glow of the full moon was hidden behind the large snow clouds. Everything seemed quieter, except the steady thumping of her heart.
Ethan turned the car onto his street. His house was decorated with holiday lights framing the front porch. Home.
They got out and walked towards the entrance, hand in hand. She was warmed by his touch, despite the freezing temperatures outside. He unlocked the door and opened it, pausing as he turned to her. Their breaths mingled. The distance between them grew shorter.
She gasped in surprise as he wrapped his hands around her and picked her up in one fell swoop. He carried her inside the house before closing the door behind him with his foot. He slipped off his boots. Was he going to drop her? She looped her arms around his neck and clung to him.
“I’ve got you. I won’t ever let you fall,” he promised.
“I know.”
His heartbeat thudded against her ear as she snuggled onto his chest. She inhaled his scent as he carried her up the stairs to his bedroom. Ethan laid her on the bed gently, not speaking a word as he removed her shoes. She took off her coat, mirroring him. He slipped his shirt over his head. Her eyes darted to his rippled chest and the defined V intersected by that happy dark trail. He slipped his pants down. Her mouth watered, wanting to lick every inch of him. She looked up in time to see his smirk. God, that smile. Heat burned her belly as her most secret area throbbed with want. It had been too long since he had been inside her, a part of her.
“Take it all off. I want to see you bare,” he commanded, hooking his finger in the elastic band of his briefs.
Isa moved to her knees, taking the T-shirt off. She unstrapped the black lace bra she wore underneath, exposing her breasts to the cool air in the room. She tried to ignore the pain of her bruises, not wanting to taint this moment with the darkness.
Ethan must have sensed her slight hesitation. “You’re perfect. You’re amazing and strong. You’re all mine.”
He was completely naked as he climbed over her, kissing the dark purple marks gently. Tears stung her eyes as his mouth covered her bruises with precious feathered kisses of a fierce love. His hands slid down, unbuttoning her pants and pulling them and her thong slowly down her legs as her body erupted with gooseflesh. Electricity crackled between them, and the air grew thick with anticipation. Her nipples were painfully hard as he caressed her skin with his heated gaze.
Her breaths increased as he climbed back on top, covering her with his body. His hardness against her softness. The weight of his body rested on her, pinning her to the bed. He moved one hand to her mouth before tracing the edges of her lips. Her tongue darted out, tasting the tip. He groaned, and she felt his arousal twitch against her.
“My love, I didn’t think I would ever have you here again. I’m never letting you go,” he said before he smashed his mouth to hers hungrily as if his appetite to be with her was as ravenous as her own.
She kissed him back, the pain of the mark Griffin had left on her lips mingling with the pleasure of being in her warrior’s embrace. He kissed her, and oh, that kiss. It was like she was his everything. As if this kiss was a hundred kisses all in one. As if he too thought that air was less important than fusing his mouth to hers. As though their lips were weaving a spell, and the fate of the world depended on it.
Moving his mouth to her injured wrist, he kissed every inch of her pain away. One of his hands squeezed her bottom, pulling her against him. He needed her as much as she did him. In this moment, she was powerful. She wouldn’t stop until she was one with him. His hardness poked her thighs as heat pooled in her center, the gravity of desire at work. Desolating want poured through every part of her until she drowned in it. A blazing wildfire consumed her. Desire. Need. Lust. Stirring, filling, and building. They filled the well inside her heart, threatening to overflow and burst, holding them both in the inferno of delirium-inducing ecstasy.