Gansett Island Boxed Set, Books 1-16

by Force, Marie

  “Are you flirting with me, Dr. James?”

  “Yes, definitely.”

  Mallory laughed and pressed a kiss to his jaw, which was prickly with stubble.

  “How was the lunch with your folks?”

  “It was great.”

  “What did they think of the letter?”

  “They liked it a lot.”

  “It’s a good letter. I’m glad they liked it. How do you feel now that you’ve shared it with them?”

  “Unburdened.”

  “I’m happy to hear that.”

  “The Summer of Mallory is turning out far better than I ever could’ve hoped for.”

  “Is that so?”

  She made herself right at home in his arms. “Mmm-hmm.”

  “Have I mentioned that I’m feeling a lot better? Like ninety-nine percent better?” As he said the words, he rubbed his erection against her belly.

  “That much better, huh?”

  “You know what would make me feel even more better?”

  She chuckled at his terminology. “I can’t imagine.”

  “Spending the rest of this afternoon naked in bed with you.”

  “Are you sure you’re up for that?”

  He pressed against her again. “Positive.”

  “I’ll only agree to this plan of yours if I can do all the work.”

  Quinn’s brain went completely blank except for a series of images that featured her naked and on top of him. “I’m completely fine with that.”

  She laughed as she took him by the hand to lead him into the bedroom that had become theirs over the last week. His laptop was on her desk, his sweatshirt hung from a hook behind the door, and his shoes were on the floor by the bed. He liked having his stuff mixed in with hers. He liked the way it felt to spend all his spare time with her, and he loved, absolutely loved, the way she looked at him with such affection.

  “Hey, Mallory.”

  After closing the blinds, she turned to him. “Hmm?”

  “Thanks for everything over the last week.”

  “Having you here has been a terrible hardship,” she said with a teasing glint of humor in her eyes.

  “I’ll be out of your hair soon.” Only because he was watching her so closely did he notice her face fall with disappointment.

  “Really?”

  “Brutus and I don’t want to outstay our welcome.”

  “That’s not possible. I like having you guys here. In fact… If you want to stay indefinitely, that would be fine with me.”

  “Would it?”

  “Yes, it would.” She helped him remove the suit jacket and laid it carefully over a chair. Then she dragged his T-shirt up and over his head. “I could look at this sexy man chest every day and never get tired of the view. You wouldn’t want to deprive me of my favorite view, would you?”

  “I wouldn’t want to deprive you of anything.”

  “Good answer.” She ran her hands from his well-developed pectorals to his broad shoulders. “You and Brutus are fun to have around. I’d be sad if you left.”

  “We can’t have that.”

  “Unless you miss living on the boat and would rather be there. The star-gazing is so much better out there.”

  He looked down at her. “The overall view is way nicer here.”

  “So you’ll stay?”

  “I’ll stay.”

  Chapter 29

  Quinn kissed her softly at first but with increasing urgency as she responded with the same sense of desperation he felt. As he kissed her, he raised her shirt up until he had to stop kissing her to remove it. Reaching behind her, he unhooked her bra and sucked in a gasp when her hands brushed against his abdomen as she unbuttoned and unzipped his pants.

  He kicked them off, no longer giving a shit if she saw his leg or any other part of him, for that matter. She made him so crazy with desire that he couldn’t be bothered worrying about things that now seemed trivial when stacked up against his need for her.

  “Sit,” she said, giving his chest a gentle push.

  He did as she asked and watched as she knelt to remove his pants and boxers, working them carefully over his leg. “On or off?” she asked of the prosthetic.

  “Off,” he said, and leaned back to watch her move quickly and efficiently to remove it. What would’ve been inconceivable to him only a week ago was now no big deal, thanks in large part to the matter-of-fact way she approached his disability. She didn’t care that he was an amputee, so why should he? “Hey.”

  She looked up at him with big brown eyes that just did it for him.

  “Thank you.”

  Her brows furrowed. “For what?”

  He gestured to his leg. “For making it no big deal.”

  “It is no big deal to me. I get why it is to you, but when I look at you, that’s the very last thing I think of.”

  “You have no idea how much that means to me.” He encouraged her to stand and removed her white shorts, leaving her in only a pair of tiny white panties. “Mmm, so sexy.”

  “You like them? I stopped by Tiffany’s store yesterday.”

  “I love them. I’ll have to stop by there myself to see what else she has that would look good on you.”

  She wrapped her arms around his neck, and Quinn nuzzled her belly, loving the way she trembled in his arms. “I’m supposed to be doing all the work.”

  Quinn released her and fell backward onto the bed. “Don’t let me stop you.”

  “Scoot up to the pillows.”

  He arranged himself to her liking and waited with breathless anticipation to see what she would do. For the longest time, she only looked at him, her hungry gaze making him so hard, he ached. Then she placed her hands on his inner thighs, making him nearly launch off the bed and then groan with frustration when she moved them up, making a wide circle around his groin.

  Laughing softly, she continued her journey up to his abdomen and chest, leaning forward so her soft breasts pressed against his erection as she kissed the fading bruises on his ribs.

  “You’re torturing me, but of course you know that.”

  She looked up at him, the picture of innocence. “What am I doing?”

  He released a sound that was part laugh, part groan. “Feel free to move things along.”

  “Like this?” she asked, kissing a path straight down the center of him until her lips were a heartbeat away from the head of his cock.

  Quinn held his breath, anticipating her next move.

  She ran her tongue over the full length of him and then wrapped her hand tight around the base as she took him into the heat of her mouth.

  Fucking hell…

  She took him deep while continuing to stroke him.

  He gripped handfuls of her silky hair, holding on for dear life. “Babe, hang on… Mall— Mallory… Fuck…” Ignoring his warnings, she stroked him to a searing release that made him cry out from the power of it.

  Brutus began howling in the next room, which made them both laugh.

  “He thinks I’m hurting you.”

  With his hands still buried in her long hair, he sat up to kiss her. “I love when you do all the work.”

  “You’ve only begun to see my bag of tricks.”

  “I’m not sure I’ll survive this.”

  Mallory glanced down at his cock, which was still hard even after the epic orgasm. “We’ll see about that.” She straddled him, the heat of her sex against his cock as the silky panties rubbed him until he was as hard as he’d been before. “I thought he might agree with my way of thinking.”

  “He’s a slave to your way of thinking.”

  She laughed, and watching her as she moved so seductively on top of him, her breasts swaying, her face flushed from desire, he couldn’t contain the emotions she roused in him.

  Taking hold of her hands, he brought them to his lips, kissing one and then the other. He looked up at her. “I love you, Mallory.”

  She faltered, and he took advantage of the opening to tug her
down on top of him, wrapping his arms around her. “You…” Her voice faltered.

  “Love you.”

  “I love you, too.”

  They stared at each other for a long, charged moment in which everything inside him settled, finally. Years of turmoil and hard work to put his life back together had led to her, and he couldn’t be happier to have found her.

  “I want to be inside you more than I want my next breath,” he whispered.

  She trembled in his arms. “Let me go so I can make that happen.”

  He released her and watched as she removed the tiny scrap of fabric that stood between them. Then she stopped his heart when she straddled him and made quick work of giving him what he’d said he wanted.

  Holy shit… He squeezed her buttocks as she began to move, taking him quickly to the edge of madness. Eager to slow things down, he sat up and drew her nipple into his mouth while anchoring her hips with his arm tight around her.

  “Quinn,” she gasped.

  Her internal muscles fluttered madly, squeezing him so tightly, he saw stars. He stopped trying to fight it and let her go so she could ride him until they came together. His fingers dug into the flesh on her hips as he rode the waves of release.

  She came down on top of him, and he gathered her up, holding her as their bodies twitched and cooled.

  “Holy cow,” she whispered.

  “Mmm, seriously.”

  Her lips moved softly on his chest, right above the heart that beat for her. “Quinn?”

  “Hmm?”

  “About that job you offered me.”

  He hadn’t been expecting that, not now anyway. “What about it?”

  “If the offer is still on the table—”

  “It is.”

  “Then I’d like to accept.”

  “Really?”

  She nodded. “I talked to my uncle Kevin about it, and he made a good point. If it doesn’t work out, I can go anywhere I want with the credentials I have. We’re both professionals, and we can separate our work life and our personal life.”

  He held her tight, his heart full from knowing she was going to stay after the summer, that they would live and work together to make a go of the facility—and their relationship. “It’s going to be great, and you’re not going anywhere. I need you far too much here with me.”

  She raised her head off his chest and gazed into his eyes. “So we’re really going to do this, huh?”

  “We’re really going to do it.” Holding her tight, he rolled them over so he was on top. “Starting right now.”

  Epilogue

  Mr. & Mrs. Torrington

  A Gansett Island Short Story

  Kara hadn’t been kidding when she referred to her family as a shit show. The Ballards had descended en masse onto Gansett Island two days before the wedding, and now Dan was at the police station to retrieve three of her brothers who’d been arrested after the rehearsal dinner.

  Blaine Taylor greeted him, a grim expression on his face. “Quite a crew.”

  “How bad are we talking?”

  “They busted up the Rusty Scupper,” Blaine said. “The owner is determined to press charges.”

  “I’ll reach out and see if we can make it go away.”

  “They’re leaving after the wedding, right?”

  “First boat out on Sunday.”

  “Excellent.”

  “Sorry about the trouble.”

  “Certainly not your fault.” Blaine led him into the hallway that housed the island’s single cellblock, where Kara’s brothers Keith, Kieran and Kyle had spent the night. Keith and Kyle had sleeve tattoos, earrings in both ears and chips on their shoulders a mile deep. Kieran was slightly more tolerable when he wasn’t under the influence of his older brothers.

  “Gentlemen,” Dan said, using the term loosely. He often wondered how the oh-so-prim-and-proper-country-club maven Judith Ballard had managed to raise a bunch of hoodlums.

  “Aren’t you supposed to be a hotshot lawyer?” Keith asked. “Get us out of here, will ya?”

  “Happily, but there’re conditions. Chief?”

  “Make restitution to the Scupper, or he’s going to press charges,” Blaine said. “Stay out of trouble, or I’ll put you on the next boat to the mainland, wedding or no wedding. Am I clear?”

  Keith didn’t like being told what to do, that was obvious, but he nodded nonetheless. “We’ll take care of it.”

  “I’ll expect to hear from Pat at the Scupper within the hour, or I’ll be rounding you up again.” Blaine unlocked the cell, and the three brothers filed out. “Good luck,” he said to Dan under his breath. “You’re going to need it.”

  “Thanks for calling me and not Kara. I’d hate for anything to ruin this day for her.”

  “No problem. See you at the wedding.”

  Dan’s future brothers-in-law were in the parking lot when he emerged into the bright sunshine, dropping Ray-Ban Wayfarers from the top of his head to cover his eyes. “Let’s have a little chat, boys.”

  “We’re all set,” Kyle said.

  “Yes, I can see that by the way you spent the night before your sister’s wedding in jail,” Dan said.

  “What’d you want?” Keith asked, hands on hips.

  “Keep it together for Kara today and tonight, or you’ll deal with me, and I can be a royal pain in the ass when I want to be. We clear?”

  “All good,” Keith said tersely. To his brothers, he said, “Let’s go.”

  They headed toward the Sand & Surf Hotel, where they were staying. No doubt Laura and Owen would have a few stories to share after the weekend. “You’re welcome for getting your sorry asses out of jail,” Dan said to their retreating backs.

  Dan got into his Porsche and drove home to the house he shared with Kara. She was at the Chesterfield, where the four-o’clock wedding would be held. He checked his watch. Right about now, Chloe would be doing her hair and makeup. She’d left that morning with everything she needed for the rest of the day, kissing him and telling him not to be late.

  As if he’d be late for the most important event of his life. He’d almost done this once before. On the short drive home, he thought about catching his best man fucking his future wife the night before their wedding. What had once been one of the most traumatic things to ever happen to him, second only to losing his brother in Afghanistan, he now listed as one of the great blessings in his life.

  If he’d married her, he never would’ve met Kara, and that would’ve been a tragedy of epic proportions. He wouldn’t have known how lacking his earlier relationship had been because he wouldn’t have had Kara to show him the way it should be.

  Dan missed his brother, Dylan, today, but that was nothing new. He missed him every day. He ran his hand over the steering wheel of the car that had belonged to his brother. Having the car kept Dylan close, but on days like this, his absence was a physical pain that nothing could soothe.

  He pulled into his driveway and parked beside his best man’s car. As Dan emerged from his car, Grant McCarthy came out to greet him.

  “You got one hell of a day to tie the knot,” Grant said of the gorgeous sunshine.

  “We sure did.” June weather on Gansett was a crapshoot, but it could be pouring rain for all he cared.

  “Where you been?”

  “Getting Kara’s brothers out of lockup.”

  Grant’s mouth fell open. “Seriously?”

  “Serious as a heart attack.”

  “What’d they do?”

  “Busted up the Scupper.”

  Grant wrinkled his nose. “Why are they hanging out in that dive?”

  “Your guess is as good as mine. What’re you hearing from Stephanie?”

  “Everything is going well and right on schedule.”

  “Excellent. I’m going to grab a shower, and then we can head over there.”

  “A little eager, much?” Grant teased.

  “You have no idea.”

  Kara stood before the mirror, tak
ing a critical look at herself in the casual yet elegant dress she’d chosen for her big day. The ivory silk hugged her curves in a way that Dan would appreciate, but it wasn’t so sexy that she’d be uncomfortable in it. Tiffany had helped her pick it out, and as usual, her friend had been spot-on in her suggestions.

  She wore her long auburn hair in an elaborate updo that left her shoulders bare, and had gone with just enough makeup to appear dressed up and to ensure that Dan would actually recognize her when he saw her. She couldn’t wait to see him in the navy sport coat and khakis they’d chosen for him and Grant to wear.

  At the thought of him waiting for her downstairs, the tension and strain of the last few weeks slipped away. Kara had followed his advice and kept her contact with her mother to a bare minimum, which had infuriated her mother. Not that Kara cared. She refused to be sucked into her family’s never-ending drama on this of all days.

  No, today was about her and Dan, and she was determined to make it the best day of her life.

  Stephanie came into the room, wearing a navy blue, tea-length dress that showed off her spectacular legs. The two women had become even closer friends during the winter they’d spent together in LA, and having Grant and Stephanie as their only attendants had been an easy choice for her and Dan.

  “You look amazing.” Stephanie had brought Kara’s bouquet of white hydrangeas, and Stephanie would carry the same bouquet in blue.

  “Thank you. I feel pretty amazing today.”

  “Your handsome groom has arrived along with mine, and the guests are taking their seats.”

  “Glad to hear he actually showed up,” Kara said with a smile.

  “Wild horses couldn’t have kept that man away from you today. Your dad is in the hallway, and Lizzie says we’re ready whenever you are.”

  Kara took a deep breath to calm the butterflies in her belly. She never had liked being the center of attention, but even that couldn’t detract from her joy at marrying Dan, the absolute love of her life. “You can send him in, and Steph? Thank you so much for being my matron of honor.”

  Stephanie squeezed her hand. “My pleasure. See you downstairs.”