by M. S. Parker
“Charles, this detective is asking about you,” Millie said in a stiff voice.
The cop turned then, rising from the seat he’d taken across from Mila and me.
“Asking about me…?” Charles offered a tight smile. “What can I do for you, detective?”
Blood roared in my ears as the cop calmly said, “Mila was attacked earlier. The man who attacked her said you sent him.”
Charles froze.
“He…I’m sorry, what?” He recovered quickly, but I’d seen the fear in his eyes.
Carefully, I started to ease Mila off my lap. The cop had his hand on his weapon and was looking at Charles with the same mistrust I felt.
“He said he’s an associate of yours and that you sent him after Mila.”
“That’s…” Charles forced a smile. “That’s absurd.”
“He gave us his phone – there are numerous calls to a Charles Gamble on it.”
“I’m a lawyer,” Charles sputtered. “Any number of people have my phone number.”
“You son of a bitch,” Millie said from behind Charles.
He spun around to her.
Millie threw the carafe of hot coffee she’d been brewing into his face. He screamed and jerked up his hands, but not in time to keep Millie from swinging out with the coffee pot.
It hit him square across the cheek, and he stumbled, falling to the side.
He curled up into a tight ball, but a cop from outside the room had rushed in, grabbing Millie’s arm before she could do anything else.
Well, except yell.
“You son of a bitch,” she screamed. “Did you try to hurt my Mila?”
“I had to,” Charles babbled, his hands hovering in front of his face. “You were going to give her the island, and I had to stop you!”
The detective took a slow, deep breath, then stepped forward. “Mr. Gamble, I’m going to advise you against saying anything else until you have an attorney present.”
Charles didn’t even seem to notice, his red, burned face contorted in pain.
“Get the paramedic back in here,” Detective Hodge said, sounding disgusted.
Then he looked at Millie. “I’ll have to ask you to put the coffee pot down, Ms. Thatcher.”
Millie blinked, looking down at the glass carafe she still held.
A second later, it fell down on the carpeted floor, landing with a dull thunk.
38
Mila
Millie clung to me, her thin body feeling far too frail.
“If he’d hurt you…” Her voice broke.
“I’m here, Grandma,” I said, pulling back and cupping her face so that we stared at each other. “I’m right here. I’m fine.”
“But he could have…”
“Don’t do that to yourself,” I told her.
Charles had been hauled out of the office, still whimpering about his burnt face.
I was a little in awe of my grandmother, but now as she reached for me once more, I decided I’d tell her later.
She patted her hands across my head and my shoulders. I knew what she was doing. “I’m fine,” I told her again. “The paramedics have already looked me over. I’m just scraped and bruised.”
She opened her mouth, then stopped, pressing her lips together. “I know.” She pressed a kiss to my cheek, then she pulled back, pacing a few feet away before turning to look at us. The cops were still out in the main part of the lodge, making a lot of noise.
Some guests had noticed the fray.
Millie smoothed her hands down her dress, then focused her smile on me. It was a fake smile – bright and confident and fake as hell – but if she could smile, so could I. “I think I’ll go out there and talk to the guests,” she said in a firm tone. “Liam, I want you to take her back to her bungalow and see to it that she cleans up and gets some rest.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He nodded at her.
Satisfied, Millie turned on her heel and strode out.
“I think your grandma scares me a little now,” Liam said.
I leaned against him, too tired to come up with any sort of reply. All the adrenaline had drained out, leaving me feeling like my limbs had been filled with concrete.
“Can we go back to the bungalow?” I asked, tipping my head back and looking at him.
His pale green eyes met mine, and he nodded.
We slid out the back of the lodge and sought out the path that would take us to our bungalow.
“Will the cops need to talk to me again?” I asked. My teeth kept trying to chatter, and I had to focus to keep that from happening.
“Probably,” Liam said. “But I think you’ve had enough for the night.”
I laughed weakly. “I’ve had enough for the next ten years. No. The rest of my life.”
I leaned heavily on him as we walked, my feet dragging more and more with each step.
“I think I can safely say the same.” Liam’s arm around my waist tightened as I half-stumbled again.
“I think I’ve forgotten how to walk,” I said.
“It’s a reaction. Once we get you warm, you’ll feel better.”
I laughed weakly. “I don’t know if I’ll ever be warm again.” The chill I felt went down to my very bones.
“You will. I’ll make certain of it.” His lips brushed my temple.
Tears burned my eyes at the tenderness of the gesture. “I should have listened to you. You were right.”
“We don’t need to talk about this right now,” he told me as we came to a stop in front of the bungalow.
Two guards were at the door. It didn’t bother me at all either. Once we were inside, I turned to Liam. “I have to talk about this right now. I was pissed off, frustrated…I drank some wine, and I got stupid, Liam. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
“Stop.” He caught my face in his hands. “Somebody was hired to hurt you. That’s not your fault.”
“Me being stupid is–”
“Stop it,” he said again, sounding exasperated. He pressed his lips to mine.
Just like that, the fear inside me shifted, becoming something else. I groaned and rose up onto my toes, wrapping my arms around his neck. “Make love to me,” I demanded. “Please.”
He swept me up into his arms and carried me into the bathroom. “We need to get warm first.”
I already felt like fire was licking inside me, but the moment he wasn’t touching me, I started to shiver.
Reaction, he’d called it.
I didn’t like it.
He left me standing in the middle of the floor, and I stood there woodenly as he turned on the shower. He came back to me and gathered my wet dress in his hands, stripping it away. “Burn it,” I said as he tossed it on the ground. “I don’t ever want to see that dress again.”
“Later.” He dealt with my bra and panties, then urged me into the shower.
I gave him a desperate, needy look. “Are you coming in too?”
He was already stripping his wet clothes away, and the knots in my belly loosened just a little.
He joined me under the warm spray, pulling me into his arms.
The feel of his warm, lean body against mine had me shaking. “Make love to me,” I said again. “Please. I need to feel you–”
His mouth crushed to mine and whatever else I’d been about to say just died.
His tongue swept into my mouth, and I opened for him hungrily. He backed me up against the wall. Skimming my hands up his arms, then down his chest, I took in the feel of him.
He’s okay…he’s okay…you’re okay. We’re both okay…
I needed the heat of him against me just then, reaffirming those very things – that we were both okay, both alive.
His hand cupped my ass, and he lifted me against him, letting me feel the heavy weight of his cock against my belly.
I slid a hand between us and closed it around him, squeezing tight.
Liam grunted and thrust himself into my hand.
He slid his between my thighs, a
nd I cried out as he thrust two fingers into me.
He was relentless, working me to the edge mercilessly. I couldn’t fight the tidal wave of want that overtook me. Impossibly fast, I was coming. I milked his cock, desperate to bring him to pleasure too.
But he caught my hands, dragged them over my head as he stared into my eyes. Water droplets clung to his lashes as he stared at me.
“I thought I was going to lose you,” he said, his voice thick with emotion.
“I’m right here.”
He boosted me and thrust inside, watching me all the while. He went stiff almost immediately after. “Fuck. I need a rubber.”
“No.” I curled my arms and legs around him, urging him closer. “Don’t stop. Please.”
He stared at me for a long, long moment, then he started to move.
I quivered at the sensation. I’d never gone skin to skin before, and the ridges of his cock, the swelling of his head, all of it seemed too intense.
“Don’t stop,” I said again, tugging his head down to mine.
Our mouths connected, tongues tangling in a greedy battle.
We moved together, mindless, blind to anything and everything that wasn’t each other.
I cupped the back of his neck when he broke the kiss, holding him close.
He gathered me up and thrust high, hard into me.
I cried out.
He did it again.
Again.
My skin felt too taut, too small, too tight for everything happening inside me, and I knew I was moments away from shattering for the second time in just minutes.
“Come with me,” I begged, pressing against him desperately.
He shook the water out of his eyes and slanted his mouth over mine again. I curled my tongue around his, drawing him into me. Then I bit on him gently and sucked.
He shuddered against me, and I felt his cock jerk.
The sensation made me moan and tighten around him.
That just made him swell even more, made his cock jerk again.
It was an endless pattern that went on and on – or so it seemed. One more pulsating thrust from him had me crying out into his mouth as I climaxed. I fought it back, desperate to have him come too. Then I felt it – felt him coming inside me, a heated wash against too sensitive tissues.
“Mila,” he muttered against my mouth.
I moaned as the climax shook me – shook us both.
And despite the exhaustion that was already washing over me, I slid my arms around him and clung tight.
We lay in bed, wrapped around each other.
I opened my mouth, words burning on the tip of my tongue.
“I love you,” Liam said abruptly. He rolled me onto my back, half covering my body with his as he stared down into my eyes. “I love you, Mila.”
My mouth fell open in shock.
He kissed me, hard and fast. “I know it’s soon. Hell, we haven’t even gone on an official date, but I know what I feel, and I know what I want.”
“You do?” I stared up at him, dazed.
“You.” He covered my cheek with his hand, his pale green eyes locked on mine. “I want you.”
He pulled me up against him, burying his face against my neck. “I know it’s too soon,” he said again. “But I know what I feel. Give us a chance, Mila.”
I swallowed, trying to find the words to respond but then he was kissing me again, whispering against my mouth. I pushed against his chest, needing room to speak.
“Liam!”
He lifted his head, eying me warily.
I shoved him back and climbed on top of him, staring down into his eyes. “I love you too,” I said, cupping his face in my hands. “Who cares if it’s too soon or if we’ve had a date? We can always go on dates.”
He closed his eyes.
“Liam?”
“Just…wow. I mean, I knew what I felt, but I didn’t…” His words trailed off, and he wrapped his arms tight around my waist, burying his face between my breasts.
“I love you,” I said again. “I don’t know when it happened. But I know I love you.”
I sank down against his chest and sighed as he tightened his arms around me.
We lay like that until we both drifted off to sleep.
39
Liam
I talked Mila into coming to the wedding.
It helped that Michelle heard I wanted her there, and she popped in to give her two cents. “You never argue with the bride,” Michelle insisted, going over to Mila and hugging her. “Besides, how can the best man not have his plus one there?”
Once Michelle had gone back to her bungalow to finish getting ready, I turned to Mila. “You can’t argue with her. She’s the bride.”
“You shouldn’t have gone and pestered her…it’s her wedding day!” Mila scowled at me.
The bruise on her cheek had anger clenching inside me, but I shoved it down. Moving to her, I reached up and feathered my thumb over the shadowy mark. “Look at it this way…if we’re both there, bruised and scraped, I’ll feel a little less self-conscious.”
She rolled her eyes. “Nice try. But…fine. I’ll come.”
She dressed in a long sweep of green-gold. The sleeves were long but slit down the middle, camouflaging the bruises on her arms and hiding the scrapes on her legs from the struggle the night before.
I led her to her seat before returning to wait in my spot next to Jake.
“You two look like hell,” he said.
“You look nervous,” I pointed out.
“I’m getting married.”
“Yeah, well, Mila was attacked, and I fought off an armed man last night,” I replied.
Jake reached up and shoved the heel of his hand against his right eye socket. “Yeah, don’t remind me.” His mouth drawn in a tight line, he said, “You’re going to have to do a better job at bringing Michelle and me up to speed on whatever it was that happened.”
“Later.”
Jake nodded. “Later.”
The change in music had all the guests turning to watch.
A protective screen had been erected in front of the path, keeping anybody from seeing the bride as she approached.
Now Michelle stepped out from behind it, and people gasped.
“She’s so damn beautiful,” Jake said, his voice choked.
I cast a glance at Mila, my heart swelling at the sight of her.
Then I shifted my attention back to Michelle as she started down the aisle.
The rest of the wedding passed in a blur. Michelle’s maid of honor turned over the ring she’d been holding, and I passed the other one to Jake.
As Jake kissed Michelle at the end of the ceremony, everybody whooped and clapped.
They started down the aisle, and I cast one look at Mila and mouthed, “Be right back.”
Then I offered my arm to my cousin, Raye.
She’d stood up with Michelle, the two of us the only attendants at the small wedding.
At the end of the aisle, I let her arm go and turned to find Mila.
She was still by her seat, but her lips curved in a smile at our eyes met.
A rush of peace washed over me.
We danced at the reception a little while later.
A temporary dance floor had been placed where the chairs and arbor had been for the wedding, and the two of us swayed to the music while the sun sank closer to the horizon.
The storm from the past day had blown over, and it was beautiful out, a breeze teasing at Mila’s hair.
Next to us, Raye danced with her boyfriend, her head on his chest.
Just beyond them, we could see Michelle and Jake as they danced, completely wrapped up in each other.
I looked back at Mila, brushing her hair back from her chest. “I love you,” I told her.
She tipped her head back and smiled up at me. “I love you too.”
She gasped, then giggled as I spun her around with a flourish. “You’ve got some moves on you.”
I ki
ssed the tip of her nose. “Maybe a few.”
“And here I was thinking I knew all your moves,” she teased.
“I guess I’ll have to work on some new ones and surprise you.” I kissed her, and she sighed against my lips, sinking into me.
We swayed a few more moments in silence before I asked, “Is that job offer still open?”
She pulled away, peering up at me. “Are you interested?”
“Absolutely.” I pulled her back up against me, tucking her head under my chin. “The job is here. You’re here. So…I want to be here too.”
She wrapped her arms around my waist and hugged me tight.
“I think maybe I should give my dad a call and tell him thank you,” she said lightly.
“For what?”
“For sending me you. I love you, Liam.”
Possessiveness burned inside me. Skimming a hand up her back, I cupped her hip and drew her in closer. “I love you too.”
40
Mila
There was nothing like New Year’s Eve in the city.
I’d wrapped things up with my practice and was now living full-time on the island with Liam. He’d settled into his position with my security group perfectly – he’d settled into my life perfectly.
No. Our lives. We’d found each other somehow and had this amazing fit, and our lives were so much better for it.
But I did miss New York City, and when I’d suggested coming back here for New Year’s, Liam had been good with the idea.
Now, seated across from Liam in the limo, I leaned over and kissed him, my lips brushing over the stubble that darkened his jaw.
Kane and Raye were with us, and the two of them sat talking quietly as we whiled away the time. An engagement ring sparkled on Raye’s slim finger – I’d noticed it almost right away, and the moment they were settled in the limo, I’d had Liam open one of the bottles of champagne for a toast.
Jake and Michelle weren’t here. Michelle was due any day now, and she’d jokingly commented that knowing her luck, she’d end up in labor and we’d be trapped somewhere in the city, and a New York City police officer would have to deliver her baby.