“No,” I turn around facing him. “I don’t need to.”
My lips easily find his, as my arms wrap around his neck, he pulls me closer to him so there is no space between us. I can’t even begin to describe how I feel right now—my heart honestly feels like it’s going to burst. I have so many emotions running through me; emotions I can’t even put names on. I was so afraid to let myself think about anything long term because I didn’t think that was something he wanted. I didn’t dare let myself dream that today could ever be a possibility; I’ve learned the hard way not to dream.
“You’re sure?” he whispers, pulling back but still close enough so I can feel his breath against my lips.
“Positive,” I can only hope that the look in my eyes is enough to convey that there isn’t an ounce of doubt in my mind.
“I can have Hunter pick up the paperwork from the bank if you’re sure?” I nod in agreement. “I don’t want to rush you—”
“No, I want to do this. I have no need to keep the contract any longer,” I assure him.
“Me either. I need… I want… I feel like getting rid of the contract is like…”
“Moving forward.”
“Exactly,” his lips are on mine once again as he once again pulls me against his hard body. His hands roam my back, exploring my body as his tongue dances with mine. I run my fingers through his hair, loving the way it feels as I do.
“I love you,” Nicholas lifts me, grasping my ass as I wrap my legs around his waist.
“I… love… you,” I pant as he holds me against his erection, which manages to rub against my clit as he walks us across the room. My lips are on his, my hands gripping his shoulders tightly, although not out of concern that he will drop me.
My eyes flutter open when he lays me down on the soft blanket. He is above me, his body pressed against mine, as he looks down at me with love. His hand slips under my shirt quickly removing my nipple from the bra so he can tease it easily. His lips trail down my neck, nibbling and sucking as he goes. Within seconds, my shirt and bra fall to the floor, my back arches, pushing me closer to him as he sucks gently on my nipple. I tug at his shirt, pulling it over his head, forcing his mouth from me, if only for a split second.
He slowly kisses his way down my stomach, lightly nipping at my stomach as he unbuttons my jeans. I lift my hips so he can slide my jeans down; along with my panties, they join my shirt and bra on the floor leaving me completely bare on the couch.
“You’re beautiful,” he kisses his way back up to my lips.
“Nicholas,” I moan when his denim covered erection rubs against clit.
He slips an arm underneath me, grasping my ass, as he pulls me closer to him, just as his lips land on mine. I immediately open to him, welcoming him, as I touch him wherever I possibly can. I love that he not only trusts me enough to let me touch him like this, but that I can do so without causing him any discomfort.
With my body practically on fire with need, I reach between us and unbutton his jeans, gently pushing them over his hips and his firm ass. He buries his face in my neck, as he lifts himself slightly above me, allowing me to push his jeans down lower. When they fall to his knees and I can’t reach them any longer, I wrap my legs around his and use my feet to push them the remainder of the way down. He groans when his bare erection rubs against my damp sex.
“I need you,” I can feel my face heat up as I whisper those words to him.
“I’m yours,” with one hand on my ass he slips into me, filling me in the way that only he can.
My legs wrap around his waist, holding him close to me as I meet him thrust for thrust. No other words are spoken, the only sounds in the room are our heavy breathing and the occasional moan that comes from one of us. Yet, it feels as if our bodies are the ones doing all the talking, telling the other how much we love them and how deep those feelings run. The need builds slowly, with each thrust pushing me closer and closer to the edge until my entire body feels like it’s about to burst.
“Nicholas… I…” I beg though not entirely sure what for.
“I know, baby,” he thrusts one final time, holding himself deep inside of me while applying just enough pressure to my clit, to push me right over the edge.
“Nicholas!” I swear I see stars as the orgasm hits me hard, my body shaking as the pleasure rips through me. His arms wrap around, holding me close to him as he pushes even deeper into me, before calling out my name as his warmth fills me. His entire body relaxes against me a few seconds later; he is no longer holding his weight off of me. I run my hands over his back loving, the way his body continues to shudder against me.
“Sorry… let me move—”
“No, stay,” I wrap my arms around him not letting him move.
“I don’t want to hurt you—I’m too heavy.”
“Stay.”
He doesn’t argue but doesn’t move off of me either. I don’t know how long we lay like that, it could be hours or it could be minutes. All time seems to stand still; it’s as if nothing in the world exists outside of the little bubble we’re in right now. As if nothing from the last few days even exists; nothing and no one can pop the bubble we’re in right now.
“I love you,” he kisses me before moving to take a little of the weight off of me.
“I love you, too.”
“When things… are back to normal, I was thinking we could fly somewhere. Have another ceremony on the beach, just the two of us… unless you would want something different? If you do—”
“No, a beach and just us sounds perfect,” I reassure him. “We could do that, though? I mean legally we’re already married…”
“We can have a full ceremony in another country, though I think if we did something in the US it would be more of a vow renewal.”
“A beach somewhere sounds perfect,” I sigh.
“As soon as we can, we’ll go.”
“Sounds perfect.”
Chapter 44
Nicholas
“I woke up to an empty bed,” I pout, as I walk into the kitchen, finally finding Kenzie leaning over the stove, cooking pancakes in the T-shirt that I threw on last night before we walked back to the main cabin. “What time is it?”
“Just after twelve thirty,” she smirks at me, knowing that I never sleep this late.
“You exhausted me last night,” I move closer to her, so I’m directly behind her, my body pressed up against her. I wrap my arms around her waist, anchoring her to me.
“I can’t imagine why,” she chuckles as her face reddens at the reason why I slept so late.
After I proposed to Kenzie (again) at the dock, we made love and laid next to each other for hours just holding each other. When we were both fighting to stay awake, we reluctantly left the boathouse and walked back to the main cabin. Again, we continued to celebrate our engagement, (is it still an engagement if you’re already married?) throughout the night. I can’t tell you how many times either of us came, or what time we finally crashed for the night, although, I do vaguely remember watching the sun rise as one point.
“Come back to bed,” my lips are pressed up against her ear, and I feel her body shiver against mine.
“No,” she whispers back.
“No?”
“I need sustenance before… that,” she blushes again.
“Okay, food and then we go back to bed.”
I reluctantly pull away, knowing that she’s right—we both need to eat. With that realization my stomach starts growling… loudly enough that she once again smirks at me, as if to say “see?” I make a cup of coffee for both of us. She carries over two plates of pancakes to the small table just off the kitchen, while I follow behind with our cups.
“I love the view here,” she sighs staring out the large sliding doors that lead to the wraparound deck. “It’s so peaceful.”
“You’ll like it in Vermont too, we’ll be just as secluded there as we are here. Snow covered mountains and trees are all you can see. It’s easy when
you’re there, or here, to forget the rest of the world exists.”
“That it is,” she says with her eyes still focused outside.
As I watch her, I don’t need to ask to know what she’s thinking about. The last couple of days have just been… hell. If I thought it would help, I would keep her here forever and say screw the rest of the world. However, even I know that we can’t hide forever. If I ever get my hands on her ex, I swear I’ll kill him with my bare hands for what he did to her and for what he put her though. How someone could hurt another human being like that, I will never understand. A knock on the door of the cabin quickly pulls me from my thoughts.
“That’s probably Carter,” I quickly take the plates, scraping at least half of what was on her plate into the garbage.
“I’m going to grab a quick shower and put on some clothes,” she says.
“If you wait until we’re done, I’ll join you,” I suggest.
“That’s okay, I won’t be long—you catch up with Carter.”
Another knock comes from the door before I can ask if everything is okay. I force myself to remember that the last few days are probably wearing on her. Just another reason we need to catch this fucker and get him out of her life once and for all.
“Morning, sir,” Carter says as soon as I open the door.
“Carter,” I nod and step aside to let him into the cabin.
“Mrs. Parker, sir?”
“In the shower—tell me you have something.”
“Asher cleaned up the image from the security camera,” he pauses.
“And?”
“The tattoo is exactly as Mrs. Parker described, sir.”
“So it was him,” I sigh in confirmation.
“Everything is looking that way, sir.”
“Tell me you found him or you found something…” I run my hands through my hair, practically begging Carter for information I know he doesn’t have yet. The longer this fucker is out there, the longer he poses a risk to Kenzie.
“Nothing substantial, sir,” he hesitates.
“But… you found something?” I try not to get my hopes up.
“We’ve been tracking the van that was found on the garage surveillance footage, the one we believe Westbrook left in and it’s been found abandoned.”
“How is this news? It sounds like you’re no further to catching him, than you were the other night! Damn it, Carter, give me something!”
“Relax, Nicholas,” Kenzie says softly as she walks into the room. “Maybe you should let Carter finish what he was saying.”
I stand up from the couch, turning and holding out my hand to her, pleading with her to sit by me. I don’t know what happened in the shower, but the Kenzie from breakfast seems to be gone. She smiles at Carter as he nods in her direction before she takes my hand and sits next to me on the couch. I wrap my arm around her waist and pull her closer to me, needing to feel her.
“Carter, if Nicholas didn’t already offer you some, there’s coffee and pancakes in the kitchen.”
“Thank you, ma’am, but that won’t be necessary.”
“At least have some coffee, you look like you haven’t slept in a week,” she says, at which point I finally look at Carter and realize that she’s right. He looks like shit—I doubt he slept much at all in the last couple of days.
“I… thank you, Mrs. Parker; I could probably use another cup,” he is obviously uncomfortable with the attention on himself.
“I’ll—” she offers.
“Stay,” I interrupt her. “I got it. Black, Carter?”
“Yes, sir.”
“How’s Hunter? Did you guys eat this morning?” I hear her ask as I walk into the kitchen. I smile and shake my head. Despite everything going on, and the obvious pressure this is putting on her, she always worries about everyone else.
“We’re fine, thank you, ma’am—”
“Stop calling me ma’am!” she interrupts loudly.
“Yes, Mrs. Parker,” Carter chuckles. “We’ve both eaten breakfast and Hunter is getting ready to fly back to New York tonight and will return tomorrow with the Parker family.”
“How’s Julie?”
“Wishing she were here instead of with her sister,” he chuckles.
“She could have come… there’s plenty of room.”
“If she hadn’t promised her sister to spend the holiday with her, she would have.”
“Carter,” I hand him a cup of coffee.
“I heard you saying that you found the van he was driving?” she asks after a few minutes of silence.
“Yes, we’re waiting for confirmation from the police, but the description matches the vehicle from the security footage. The plates were removed, so we don’t have that to confirm. The police have their IT department, working on matching the vehicle to the footage we provided, however, according to Asher, it’s a match.”
“Where was the van found?” I ask.
“Two buildings down from where Mrs. Parker lived before… she moved into the condo at Accord Towers.”
Well… fuck… I wasn’t expecting that.
“He knew where I lived,” she whispers. “Oh my God… could he have been the one who broke into my apartment that night?”
“We looked into his whereabouts once we learned who he was, as we initially thought he might have been responsible for the break in.”
“And?” I ask.
“He was in Colorado that entire weekend.”
“You’re sure?” Kenzie asks.
“His company had a work outing that day; there were pictures on their website of him the day of the break in.”
She lets out the breath I think she had been holding since she realized he may have broken into her apartment. I feel, rather than see, her body relax against mine as the realization hits her that it wasn’t him. I know from experience that someone like this is the last person you want in your home.
“How does this help us find him, Carter?” I feel like all we’ve done is talk in circles—I have no fucking idea how this is good news. We have an abandoned van near an apartment that Kenzie hasn’t lived in for more than a year.
“According to New York PD, his fingerprints were found all over the van along with… Ms. Snyder’s prints. The van was also reported stolen by a neighbor of his in Colorado; this neighbor also confirmed that he did not lend or give permission to Mr. Westbrook to use his van.”
“How does this help us, Carter?” Again… we’re in fucking circles.
“Because as soon as we find Westbrook, the police can arrest and hold him on grand theft auto charges. The security footage confirms he was driving the van at the time it was reported stolen. Combined with the fact that he crossed multiple state lines, means he will be held without bail once he is arrested since they will consider him a flight risk.”
“So, how the fuck do we find him?” I growl.
“We’re working on that, sir,” Carter sighs heavily.
I know he is just as frustrated by the situation as I am; there is no denying that Kenzie has worked her way into all of our lives in the past few months. I have no doubt that Carter would do anything to protect Kenzie. “Asher has hacked into the security systems for every public transportation location possible. He has some sort of facial recognition software program he developed in the last forty-eight hours, that is screening practically every camera in the city for Westbrook’s face. According to Asher, his system is more accurate than New York PD’s software.”
“Is Harper talking at all yet?” I ask.
“No. She’s met with her public defender, but otherwise has had no visitors and no phone calls.”
“Has anyone figured out how they knew each other?” Kenzie asks.
“Not yet.”
“She was seeing a shrink, right?” I remember.
“Yes, sir, she was.”
“Perhaps that therapist can talk to her. We need to figure out what the fuck Westbrook’s plan was!”
“Sir—”
“Someone needs to figure something out because I will not put my life on hold again for one of these fuckers! Enough is enough! Get them out of our lives, so that Kenzie and I can get on with our lives!”
“Relax, Nicholas,” her touch instantly calms me.
“Carter—”
“I get it, sir, no apology needed,” he says. “I’ll speak with her therapist and see what he can do.”
“There has to be some way to get her to flip on Westbrook,” I wonder aloud.
“We’ll figure it out, sir,” Carter stands essentially ending the conversation. “As a reminder, Hunter is flying out this evening to return to New York. He will be picking up the document you requested from Mrs. Parker’s bank and then will fly back with your family tomorrow morning. Ben has already flown in and is being briefed by Hunter right now. If you need anything from a store, I would recommend you providing me a list of what is needed before Hunter leaves, so at least two of us will remain here at all times.”
“I don’t think we need anything—”
“I have a list,” Kenzie interrupts, surprising me. “I spent some time online this morning, figuring out what all is typically made for Thanksgiving dinner–besides the turkey of course–and how to make it. We need a few items if you don’t mind, Carter.”
“Of course, Mrs. Parker, it won’t be a problem,” his eyes soften and the reason is not lost on me at all. Twice in the last twenty-four hours Kenzie has made reference to not having family dinners during the holidays and I cringe wondering what holidays were like for her growing up. I wonder how different her holidays were from my own before the Parkers took me in.
“Here you go, I think I have everything,” she hands him a hand-written grocery list that looks like it has entirely too much food on it for just a few people.
“Kenzie, baby, if you don’t feel like cooking, it’s not too late to find someone to cater—”
“Absolutely not! You can’t have a catered Thanksgiving Day dinner!” she slaps my arm, and I can’t help but chuckle at her. “Plus, it sounds like your mom is coming tomorrow, so she’ll be here to help cook too! Of course, Cara will be able to help.”
“My mother confirmed she is coming tomorrow and not Thursday morning, Carter?” I ask.
On Her Terms (The Arrangement Duet Book 2) Page 39