by Force, Marie
Skipping her core, he slid his oiled hands over her belly, drawing a sharp inhale from her when his thumbs caressed her hipbones. She was writhing again by the time he got to her breasts.
“Paul…”
“What, sweetheart?”
“I want you.”
“You have me. I’m right here with you, and I’m not going anywhere.”
She held out her arms to him, and he went willingly to her. “I want you inside me.”
“You’re too sore.”
“You’d go slow, right?”
“We could go slow.” What did it say about him that he was so desperate for her that he let her talk him into making love when he’d planned to let her rest and recover from what they’d already done? Despite his reservations, he found himself removing his bathing suit and coming down on top of her.
She wrapped her arms around him and released a sigh that sounded like relief to him.
Her oil-slick skin heated on contact with his body, which was the hottest fucking thing he’d ever experienced until he began to enter her. That was hotter. She was so wet but also so tight, and he was forced to go so slowly, lest he hurt her. It was pure torture of the best kind, and it didn’t help that she moved beneath him like a sexy siren determined to have her wicked way with him.
“Does it hurt?”
“Not too bad.”
“That’s not no.”
“It burns a little, but that’s because of you, not me.”
He stopped moving and looked down at her. “Because of me?”
“You’re big, Paul. Like you didn’t know that already.”
Unfortunately, her words only made him bigger, which drew a groan from her. “Note to self, never mention he’s big when he’s trying to get inside you.” Her eyes widened, and her mouth fell open. “Stop! I can’t take any more!”
He grinned at the face she made at him. “Then you need to stop talking dirty to me, baby.”
Her fingers dug into the muscles of his back as he entered and retreated over and over again until she finally relaxed and allowed him in.
“Ahhh, God, that feels so good,” he whispered into her neck, making her shiver. Her muscles pulsed and rippled around his cock, which nearly finished him off before he’d even gotten started. “Can I talk dirty to you?”
“If you must…”
“How dirty am I allowed to get?”
“As dirty as you want.”
She had no idea what she was asking for. With his lips nearly touching her ear, he said, “You have the tightest, hottest, wettest pussy. I love the way you grab hold of my cock and squeeze me so hard.”
Her inner muscles contracted around him.
“Christ,” he said through gritted teeth. “Do that again.” She did it again and again, and the sensations triggered his inner beast, making him forget all about his plans to go easy on her. He started to move, giving her the deep thrusts that she’d loved so much last night.
“Yes,” she whispered. “Don’t stop.”
“I’ll never stop.” He slid his hands under her, gripping her ass in both hands as he let loose. “Feels so fucking good.”
Her thighs tightened around his hips, and the spasm of her inner muscles let him know she was close, so he went for broke, drawing another keening cry of completion from her. That was quickly becoming his most favorite sound in the world, he thought, as he went deep one more time and lost himself in her as she clung to him.
“Hope… God…” He wanted to tell her he was falling in love with her. He wanted to tell her he wanted a life with her and Ethan. He wanted to tell her everything, but he held back. More than anything, he was afraid to scare her away, so he bit his tongue for now. But eventually, when she was ready, he would tell her everything.
The ringing of his cell phone interrupted his thoughts. He took the call from the hospital.
“Mr. Martinez, the doctor would like to meet with you tomorrow at eleven if that’s convenient.”
“I’ll be there.”
With those three words, reality returned to remind him that this time away with Hope had been a mere interlude. The real challenge would begin when they returned home.
Chapter 21
Mac and Maddie had breakfast at the South Harbor Diner and then took the stairs behind the diner to Dan Torrington’s new office. Wearing a pink polo shirt with plaid shorts and loafers, Dan met them in the reception area.
Mac cringed at his friend’s flashy outfit. “The Preppy Handbook called. They want their cover model back.”
“Ha-ha, very funny. A man has a bit of style, and this is the abuse he takes.”
“If you want to call that style…”
“Be nice, Mac,” Maddie said. “We’re here because we need his help.”
“Come on in.” Dan led them into his office in which a desk sat amid boxes in various stages of unpacking. “Sorry for the mess. My stuff from LA arrived on Friday, and I haven’t had a chance to do much with it.”
“So this is an official move, huh?” Mac asked as he took one of the visitor chairs and Maddie took the other.
“Looks that way. I’m keeping my office in LA, but this is where Kara wants to be, so it’s where I want to be, too.” He offered a sheepish grin and a shrug. “Plus, I seem to have a practice here since Jim Sturgil was charged with a felony.” He held up the hand that bore a healing pink scar across the palm where Jim had sliced him with a carving knife during Dan and Kara’s engagement party.
“I still can’t believe he did that,” Maddie said. “He’s lost his mind.”
“He stands to lose a lot more than that,” Dan said. “My contact in the attorney general’s office tells me they’re going for prison time for the assault with a deadly weapon charge.”
“Wow,” Maddie said on a long exhale. “Poor Ashleigh. How could he do this to his daughter?”
Mac took hold of her hand and gave it a squeeze. Jim Sturgil had done a lot of things to his wife and daughter that Mac couldn’t believe, beginning with leaving them in an empty house after he moved out and took most of what they’d owned with him. The assault on Dan, whom he’d accused of ruining his law practice, was the latest in a long string of bad moves by his former brother-in-law. Thank goodness Tiffany was happily remarried to Blaine Taylor now, and Ashleigh would have Blaine’s influence in her life growing up.
“So you’re here for estate planning.” Dan shuffled some papers on his desk. “I’ll confess that I haven’t done much of that since my first years out of law school, but I’m hoping it’ll be like riding a bike. I printed out some worksheets to get you started. You’ll have to list assets and other tangible property.”
“We’re mostly concerned about making sure our kids are taken care of,” Maddie said.
“After what happened to Lisa Chandler, it’s on our minds,” Mac added.
“You’re not alone in that,” Dan said. “I’ve gotten quite a few calls from other parents with the same concerns. Looks like I’m about to get back up to speed on estate planning right quick.” He reviewed the worksheets in depth with them, highlighting the areas he needed them to complete before their next meeting. “It’s all pretty straightforward.”
“Except for the part about who we want to get our kids if the worst should happen,” Maddie said. “That’s not straightforward at all.”
“What’s the issue?” Dan asked.
“We have too many candidates,” Mac said.
“That’s not a bad problem to have,” Dan said.
“No, but we’re concerned about causing divisiveness in our family by choosing one sibling over another,” Maddie said. “How do people handle that?”
“One thing I’d suggest is to decide on who you want and speak to that person and only that person about what you’re asking of them,” Dan said. “Make sure they fully understand what they’d be taking on and that they’re willing. After we make it legal, you don’t need to ever speak of it again. There’s a very good chance no one else will
ever know who you chose. Or at least we hope that’s the case.”
“I like that,” Mac said. “Why would anyone else need to know as long as the person or couple we choose knows?” Speaking directly to Dan, he said, “You have a way of making sure that everyone involved understands that whatever we decide is what we wanted for them, right?”
“Yep. We’ll sew it up nice and tight so there’s no room for interpretation.”
Maddie glanced at him, her golden-brown eyes seeing right through him as usual. God, he loved that face, those eyes, those lips, the way she looked at him with love—except for when he was exasperating her, which was often. He could tell the conversation was distressing her, so he decided to wrap it up.
“This is a great start, Dan,” Mac said. “We’ll get going on this and make an appointment for next week.”
“Let’s do that now while you’re here.”
After they set up their next meeting, Dan walked them out. “See you Saturday night at Paul’s party?”
“I’ll be there,” Mac said. “Did you hear what the girls are up to for Jenny’s bachelorette party?”
“No, what?”
“Strippers,” Mac said. “Male strippers.”
Dan’s mouth fell open. “No way.”
“Yes, way. They were all abuzz over it at my house the other night.”
Dan glanced at Maddie, who smiled and shrugged. “I know nothing.”
“She lies,” Mac said. “Right to my face.”
“Well,” Maddie said, “gotta go get the kids from my mom. Come on, Mac.” She took him by the hand and dragged him down the stairs while Dan laughed at them. They met up with his fiancée, Kara, as they emerged onto the sidewalk.
“Hey, guys,” she said. “Is he up there?”
“Yep,” Maddie said. “He’s all yours. See you Saturday night?”
Kara grinned widely. “Wouldn’t miss it.” She went inside, leaving them on the sidewalk.
Mac had a million things he needed to do, beginning with the job he had pending at Seamus and Carolina’s, but his top priority was looking up at him with amusement dancing in those beautiful eyes. “You’re not going to Jenny’s party if there’s going to be strippers there.”
“You can’t tell me what to do.”
“Wanna bet?”
“Yep.”
When he glared at her, she laughed right in his face!
“You’re so cute when you’re trying to boss me around, Mac.” She went up on tiptoes and bit down on his earlobe, making him instantly hard.
He yanked her in close to him, not caring in the least that they were standing on a sidewalk where anyone might see them. “No strippers for my wife.”
“You’re really being ridiculous about this.”
“No, I’m not. How would you feel if I was cavorting with strippers?”
She raised a brow. “Male strippers?”
“No,” he said emphatically. “The female variety.”
Shrugging, she said, “Boys will be boys.”
“Are you freaking kidding me right now?”
“Do you honestly think I’m going to leave you for a male stripper, Mac?” She kissed him and disentangled from his embrace. “Now go to work and let me go get the kids from Mom. She has a hair appointment to get to.”
“We’re not done talking about this.”
Walking backward, she flashed a sexy smile and waggled her fingers at him. “Bye, Mac. Love you.”
“We’re not done!” he yelled after her.
The last thing he heard before she rounded the corner and disappeared out of view was her ringing laughter. They were definitely going to talk more about this later—and she was not going to that party.
Kara entered Dan’s office and found him sitting with his feet on his desk, pen in his mouth, papers in hand, brows knitted in concentration. He was so damned sexy, not that she could ever tell him that, because it would go straight to his already overinflated ego. But she loved that overinflated ego, just like she loved everything else about him.
Leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed, she cleared her throat.
When he saw her there, his smile lit up his whole face. She loved that, too, the way he was always so damned glad to see her, even when he’d just woken her with slow, sultry morning lovemaking two short hours ago.
“Why, hello there, young lady. Are you in need of legal counsel?”
“Not at this time, but it appears you’re in need of some unpacking help. This place is a disaster.”
“You’re not spending your one day off unpacking my office.”
“Why not? I don’t have anything else to do, and this way I get to spend my one day off with my fiancé. It’s a win-win.”
Dan held out his hand to her. “Come over here and see me.”
She went to him, took hold of his hand and let him guide her onto his lap.
He nuzzled her neck, his whiskers abrading her skin. “I have a bone to pick with you, my love.”
Shifting on his lap, she felt his erection settle between her cheeks. “I thought we already picked that bone this morning.”
“Ha-ha, very funny. I’m talking about the male-stripper bone.”
“Oh. You heard about that, huh?”
“You’re goddamned right I did, and I’m none too pleased that I didn’t hear about it from you.”
“I was going to tell you.”
“When?”
“Sunday?” she asked with a grin.
“So we’re going to keep secrets in this marriage of ours? Is that how it’s going to be?”
“We’re not technically married yet.” She loved to wind him up, and judging by the stormy look he gave her, the comment was a direct hit.
“You’re actually going to get me on a technicality?”
“I’ve learned about such things from the best lawyer I’ve ever known.”
“No strippers.”
“Yes, dear.”
“I mean it, Kara. No one touches this sweet body except for me.” To make his point, he cupped her breast and teased her nipple.
“Do you really think I’d let anyone else touch me the way you do? Especially knowing what happened to you the last time you were engaged?”
He sighed deeply. “No, I don’t think you would, but the thought of it… It makes me crazy, Kara. I don’t want to be like that, but I can’t help it.”
She brought her lips down on his and ran her tongue over his bottom lip. “You have nothing to worry about where I’m concerned. I’m all yours. Forever and always yours.”
Cupping the back of her head, he dove into the kiss like a man who’d been starving until she came along. Another thing she loved about him was how much he wanted her. She kept expecting their ardor to wane, to burn itself out, but it only burned brighter the longer they were together.
“I don’t know how I’ll survive until next June when I can put a second ring on your finger,” he said when they came up for air.
“That’s a formality, Dan. As far as I’m concerned, we’re already married in all the ways that matter most.”
“I thought you said—”
“Forget I said that. I’d never, ever want you to feel insecure about me or us.”
“I don’t. Not really.”
Those two little words he added on at the end exposed the truth.
She took him by the face and stared into his glorious eyes. “I will never, ever, ever do to you what she did.”
“And I will never, ever hook up with one of your sisters the way he did.”
“Please don’t have those worries until June. I’d hate to think of you feeling like that between now and then.”
“I’ll try not to.”
“I know I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating—I’m sort of glad now that Kelly hooked up with Matt, and that your ex did your best man before the wedding. Both of those awful things led us to exactly where we belong—with each other. And nothing has ever been like this for me.”
<
br /> “Me either, baby.” Burying his face in her hair, he held her tight, seeming to breathe her in.
“Now that we have that resolved, can we please do something about this office of yours?”
“If you insist.”
“I do.” Kara got up from his lap and tugged at his hand to bring him with her. Dropping to her knees in front of one of the open boxes, she started taking things out.
“Thanks for the help, babe.”
“Happy to do it.”
“Now, about those strippers…”
“Shut up, Dan, and get to work.”
Chief of Police Blaine Taylor paced from one end of Naughty & Nice to the other, full of barely contained rage as he waited for his wife to finish a customer transaction that she seemed to be dragging out. Or so it seemed to him. He could not believe what he’d just heard over coffee at the South Harbor Diner with Adam McCarthy and Joe Cantrell.
Strippers? Male strippers? Were they out of their goddamned minds?
The customer finally left the store, and Blaine pounced on Tiffany. “You want to tell me what the hell you’re thinking hiring male strippers to perform at Jenny’s party?”
“Hi, honey.” Wearing a cheerful smile, she came around the counter to hug and kiss him.
When she would’ve pulled back, he anchored her to him with an arm around her waist. He wanted to rage and scream and protest, but she was pregnant with his baby, and he’d never do anything to hurt or upset her. “Don’t try to use your considerable charms on me, Mrs. Taylor,” he growled. “Answer the question.”
“A, I did not hire strippers. Sydney is Jenny’s matron of honor, so you’ll need to take this up with her.” She batted her eyes at him. “I’m just an invited guest.”
“What’s B?”
She thought about that for a second. “No B. Just an A. I had nothing to do with it.”
“I don’t believe that for one second. In fact, I happen to believe this whole thing was your idea.”
“Why, Blaine, whatever are you inferring about your wife?”
“That she’s an operator of the highest order, and if anyone knows where to get male strippers, it’s the island’s sex-toy queen.”
“I’m offended by the implication.”