Claimed (Passion in Paradise #4.5)

by Sarah O'Rourke

  “No more, Carolina. We’re never gonna be separated again. From this moment on, we’re together. You, me, and our baby,” he promised as he pulled his two fingers free of her clinging channel. Ignoring her whine of complaint, he quickly stripped her, shucking her jeans and panties with demanding hands as his eyes made a heated promise to her.

  “Yes, Aiden,” she agreed as her languorous eyes watched him rise to stand beside the couch while his hands began stripping his own clothes away with an economy of motion. Reaching out to rub her hand against his now bare thigh, she hummed her approval as the tense muscles leapt at her light touch, and she basked in the knowledge that this man wanted her. Desperately. It was written in every harsh line on his face, every rigid muscle on his body. He was as eager for her as she was for him.

  “You like what you see?” he asked as he bent to cover her naked body with his, bracing one of his hands on the couch just above her head as he came over her.

  “Every single inch,” she confirmed, lifting her head to nip his chin as she felt his cock nudge her entrance. “What about you? Is my body going to be able to keep your interest? Especially when I’ve gained twenty pounds of baby weight?”

  “I love your body now, but knowing that you’ll be thick with my baby? Dimples, I can’t lie. That thought has me harder than a fucking rock,” he rasped, rocking against her slick pussy for emphasis.

  The friction of their bodies meeting nearly rendered her insane. Gripping his naked ass, she dug her nails into the firm globes. “You are such a tease,” she moaned, meeting his smiling mouth for a brutally carnal kiss.

  “Dimples, a tease would never deliver on an unspoken promise,” he informed her gruffly as he drew his hips back. “Hang on tight, baby,” he warned as he plunged smoothly into her wet depths of her tight pussy.

  Groaning as she felt his cock stretching her, his girth filling her in the most profound way, Caro buried her face in Aiden’s neck and wrapped her legs around his lean hips as her core rippled around his length, his possession robbing her of the ability to think much less breathe. “Aiden,” she cried out needily as her legs trembled around him and she clung to him like a spider monkey.

  “I got you, Dimples,” Aiden vowed as he began to thrust deeply in and out of her tight, pulsing channel. “Fuck, Caro, you feel like heaven wrapped around my dick. Like sizzling hot, wet silk enveloping my cock every time I slide inside you,” he groaned as he bottomed out inside her, the smooth walls of her pussy caressing every millimeter of his cock. With every downward stroke, her pussy sucked at him, her tiny cunt hungry for his seed, the clasp of her pussy milking his dick and threatening to make him cum before he was ready.

  “Yes,” she panted as his hips churned faster, every thrust deep and true as he shuttled in and out of her body. White hot pleasure ran through her body, and a taut rope of raw bliss threatened to break at any moment and flood her with ecstasy. “Deeper, Aiden,” she begged as her hips lifted to meet his. “Fuck me deeper! I want to feel you in my throat,” she demanded, turning her head to bite the line of his corded neck.

  Cupping her ass, he tilted her pelvis to receive his dick. “Your wish, darlin’,” he bit out, clenching his jaw as he fought off his own climax when the change of position sent him even deeper into her scorching body. “Get there, Dimples,” he growled a minute later as he realized his surrender to passion wasn’t within his control. “Fuck, baby, you’ve gotta get there,” he hissed as her pussy clamped down on his dick. “I can’t hold off much longer.”

  “Then don’t,” she moaned as the pleasure grew almost painful, her pussy soaking his cock in her essence. “Just cum, Aiden,” she urged against his sweaty neck.

  “Not until you do,” he returned, sliding a hand between them to stroke the bundle of nerves at the apex of her pussy. “C’mon, sweet baby, let me feel this pussy flood my cock. Give it to me, Carolina. Give it to me right fuckin’ now,” he demanded, his voice like crushed glass as he impaled her on his dick and she began to spasm around him.

  Screaming her release against his ear as the sharp blade of bliss skewered her and shards of acute gratification pierced her body, Carolina felt like she was flying, her body weightless as Aiden’s brutal thrusts catapulted her toward the heavens. Distantly, she was aware of his hoarse cry of completion as every muscle in his body tensed and long pulses of his warm release began to fill her pussy for endless moments. Every splash of his cum seemed to stretch her orgasm, the agonizingly sweet sensation of climax overwhelming her until all she could do was hold onto Aiden and pray he kept her from crash landing back to Earth when the orgasm ended.

  Long minutes later, Carolina slowly began to emerge from the sensual haze Aiden created for her to hear him whispering gentle ‘I love yous’ in her ear. Blinking languidly, she slowly turned her head to smile at him. “Hey,” she murmured with a yawn.

  “Hey, baby,” Aiden greeted her, dipping his head to gently steal a kiss from her lips. “You and my baby okay?” he asked as she became aware of the warm weight of his hand covering her bump. “I think we might have got a little carried away,” he noted as she stirred slightly on the wide couch.

  “I feel amazing,” she whispered, lifting a hand to trace the curve of his lips as she stared at him with wondrous eyes. No man had ever given her what this man had. The love. The passion. The freaking orgasm. She might be biased, but she was fairly certain this guy was perfect. Or, at the very least, perfect for her.

  “And our nugget?” Aiden questioned with a pointed look at her abdomen.

  “Our alien is fine,” she assured him with a chuckle.

  “Not sure how I feel about you calling our kid an alien,” he grumbled before pressing a kiss to her belly. “Nugget sounds much nicer.”

  “Uh huh… see if you still say that when he or she is making you heave your guts on a daily basis,” Carolina returned evenly, playfully twisting his flat brown nipple between her fingers. “Don’t judge me.”

  Hissing in a breath at her pinch, Aiden covered her punishing hand with his. “Point made, Dimples. No more judgment on my part. I promise.”

  Settling her head against his chest, she smiled. “That’s what I like to hear.”

  “Yeah, well, I think I’ve got something else you might like to hear, too,” Aiden stated hopefully as he rolled toward her and reached over her body to retrieve his jeans off the carpeted floor.

  Watching as he searched his pockets, Carolina fought another yawn. She’d been getting sleepy in the middle of the day for weeks. It was nice to know that her sudden penchant for lunchtime naps had a cause. But as she saw Aiden extract a small blue velvet box from his pocket, she was suddenly wide awake. Holding her breath as he cracked the lid on the box and plucked the elegant diamond ring inside from the cushion, Caro felt the world tip on its axis.

  A second later, Aiden shifted so that he hovered just above her, taking his weight on one elbow as he held the ring in his other hand. “Caro, six weeks ago you claimed my heart without ever realizing it. Today, I’d like to claim your hand for the rest of our days. Personally, I think it’s an even trade,” he declared with a wink, “But, I’ll ask the question anyway. Will you marry me, Dimples, and make my life complete?”

  “You had a ring in your pocket?” she returned dumbly as her eyes remained glued to the princess-cut diamond ring in his hand.

  “Baby, I’ve had a ring in my pocket since the day after I made you mine. My heart and my head were in firm accord. They both knew you were meant to be mine. All you need to do is say yes.”

  Happy tears filled her eyes as she tried to swallow the lump in her throat. “Yes, Aiden. My answer is yes!” she agreed, nodding quickly as she held her hand out for him to slide the ringer on her finger.

  “Perfect fit,” he noted with an arrogant smile before claiming her lips in a deep kiss.

  Long minutes later as they both collapsed on the couch, their bodies naked and sated, Caro lifted her hand for the hundredth time to stare at her ring. Look
ing up at the man she’d agreed to spend her life with, she found him still smiling conceitedly at the ceiling. “You look like the cat that swallowed the canary,” she accused lightly, rubbing her hand in circles on his chest.

  “I should,” he returned with a cocky look down at her.

  “Is that so?” she murmured.

  “Absolutely. See, I’m one happy man, Dimples. Today, I’ve claimed both your heart and your hand,” he remarked, bending his head to kiss the finger holding her engagement ring. “And you just don’t get any more claimed than that.”

  And with a silent laugh, she mentally conceded that he was right. He’d claimed her heart and her hand, but she’d gotten the better end of things.

  Because she’d claimed him.

  THE END

  For more of Sarah O’Rourke’s books, please click to visit

  Sarah’s Author Page at Amazon

  More by Sarah O’Rourke

  Fiction Novels by Sarah O’Rourke

  Passion in Paradise Series

  Cain’s Salvation

  Hard as Stone

  Ready, Willing and Abel

  Man of Honor

  The Homespun Holiday

  Tangled Hearts

  Wed by Wednesday

  The Sizzle Series

  Sizzle

  Scorched

  Others

  The Estate

  Slave to Passion

  Stranded

  Heartbeats

  Non-fiction Humor by Sarah O’Rourke

  The Bunny Tales

  Sneak Peek – Man of Honor

  You met Zeke and Honor in Claimed ... Read a sneak peek from their story, Man of Honor, and grab the full book today!

  Fear is a mysterious entity, complicated and dynamic in its components.

  Science tells us that when the body experiences a flood of pure panic fueled by a powerful rush of adrenaline, a man can become capable of all manner of things he would have sworn were impossible prior to experiencing that life-changing deluge of emotion. Emotionally, a man can essentially become a crazed powerhouse, both desperate and volatile in actions and deeds. For instance, a father can lift a car off his young child after a car accident. A guy can rush into a burning building to save his dog and never feel his burns blanketing his skin until both man and beast are safely outside again.

  And, for Sheriff Ezekiel Monroe, he learned that while suffering under extreme conditions of both stress and terror, he could actually hurl two fully-grown adult men through a plate-glass window when they both decided to get courageously stupid and try to keep him from the woman Zeke loved. Thankfully, one of those men was his brother, Ice, and the other man was a guy by the name of Jake Stone - a man that he hoped would one day be his brother-in-law if Zeke had anything to say about it.

  Luckily, neither man would hold his actions against him. Both guys knew him and were his friends. They understood that Zeke hadn’t been thinking, only reacting to a situation so far beyond his control that it had pushed him right over the metaphorical edge. More importantly, Ice and Jake got where Ezekiel’s thoughts were because they each knew how much the sheriff loved the woman now fighting for her life.

  Again.

  More than even that… they understood what any thought of Honor McKinnon being hurt did to him.

  Zeke wasn’t sure why this visit to the local ER was affecting him so badly. It wasn’t as though he was any stranger to fear. No, he had an intimate relationship with the feeling – especially where Honor was concerned. She’d given him enough scares over her short life to last him an entire lifetime and then some.

  This time, however, things definitely felt different. There was a sense of urgency… a sick sensation of foreboding flooding his soul, something unspoken warning him that this situation wasn’t like the others they’d faced together. This time he felt desperate to see her – to put his eyes on her beautiful face and keep them there forever, watching vigilantly so nothing else could harm her. His own emotions reeled as he eyed the nurses standing just behind the glassed-in window of the admissions desk and wondered what was happening behind those heavy steel doors separating him and most of Honor’s family from the rest of the emergency room. The burning need he had to get to her side ate away at his gut like acid.

  It was only the feel of a tiny feminine hand pressed against his chest to restrain him that stopped him from stampeding through those metal double doors. “Enough, Zeke! Get a handle on it because it’s not gonna help my sister in the slightest if you lose your frickin’ mind up in here,” Patience McKinnon Turner ordered on a harsh whisper, her worried face, pale and pinched with anxiety as her husband Abel moved behind her, gently squeezing her slim shoulders as he stood at her back in silent support. “Everybody here is already scared out of their ever-lovin’ minds. Don’t make it worse for yourself or for us by acting like a lunatic now. Crazy is just not your color, Sheriff. Hold it together!”

  Swallowing hard as he stared into the familiar blue eyes that were so much like Honor’s that it made his chest ache, Zeke forced himself to nod stiffly as he reached up to squeeze her icy hand. Hold it together, she’d said. Hell, he could barely keep his head attached to his shoulders… how the hell was he gonna calm down and keep it together for Patience and the rest of the family when it felt like his heart was on the verge of exploding? Focus was gonna be key here, he reminded himself as he fought to keep his head clear.

  “How is she, Patience?” he asked raggedly, staring at the woman with frantic dark eyes. “I was listening in on the emergency frequency as I drove here… dispatch said she coded once in transit.”

  For as long as he lived, he’d never forget the sickening, sinking dread he’d felt in the pit of his stomach or the heart-stopping fear that had gripped his heart when he’d heard the relay exchange between the paramedics and the hospital while the ambulance had rushed toward the ER. He’d been out on a call to the Haverly homestead about sixteen miles east of town. The old dairy farmer had found evidence of someone joyriding through his woods and knocking down a couple of fences the previous night. He’d been understandably upset and more than a little intent on filing a report for trespassing with the sheriff’s Department when Zeke had heard the radio he wore on his duty belt crackle to life. Dispatch sent through the emergency 9-1-1 call that Orla McKinnon had made after the old woman found Honor unconscious and unresponsive on the small loveseat in her office at family business, the I Don’t Care Café. His gut had clenched as he’d listened to Honor’s elderly aunt shakily describe what had happened, her normally lively voice rife with anxiety and concern.

  After hearing the initial distress call transmitted over the open air, Zeke vaguely remembered running toward his Durango while telling Mr. Haverly over his shoulder that he’d have a deputy get in contact with him to finish completing his police report. Honestly, at that point, he could have given two shits about a couple of four-wheeling assholes joyriding through the woods. His only thoughts revolved around one special woman that had stolen his heart years ago with her sweetness and bravery.

  He barely recalled the drive back into town, only knowing that he made the normal twenty minute trek in just over ten minutes, intent on making his way to Honor’s side whether the stubborn woman wanted him there or not.

  Now, as he stood there and tried to read the third McKinnon sister’s face for any sign of just how bad this situation was, he wondered why he’d left Honor on her own this morning. He’d known she’d had a bad night, her nightmares awakening both of them at least three times throughout the late evening and early pre-dawn hours. The last time her screams had jarred him awake, he’d taken a stand and refused to leave her alone in her room, ignoring her protests and climbing into her bed to sleep on top of her covers until she’d calmed again, holding her trembling body firmly against his until she’d drifted back to a still restless sleep.

  Damn it! He’d known something was wrong… or more to the point, he’d known something was more wrong than the usual wron
g with his girl for far longer than he wanted to think about right now. Hell, Honor had seemed off for days – weeks, even. Tired, wan and unusually quiet, she’d been going through the motions of life like it was some kind of punishment. He’d questioned her about it, begged her to let him help her through whatever was twisting her up inside, but she’d claimed it was just a cold bringing her low. Nothing for him to worry about, she’d said. As he thought on it now, not once had he heard her cough, sneeze, or sniffle. He’d been trying to let it go, to give her the space she’d asked for; now, he realized he’d made a mistake. A big one – one that could cost her dearly.

  Seeing as she’d been found unconscious, he could recognize that he hadn’t been overreacting in the slightest. In fact, he could kick himself in the teeth for not being more vigilant with Honor and to hell with her contrary nature.

  Want more? Grab Man of Honor here – it’s also free to read on Kindle Unlimited!