As Long As I Have You (London Sullivans 1)

by Bella Andre

  And when she reached up to pull him down with her, he knew what true happiness was. Not only sharing a bed with Mari—but, if she returned his love, sharing his life with her.

  * * *

  Mari felt like she was floating on air. How many times had she longed to be close to Owen like this? It felt as though she had known him for years, rather than days.

  Though she wasn’t a virgin, she hadn’t been with many men. And as Owen kissed the pulse point on her neck, she realized none of those men had counted. They hadn’t even been practice for the real thing.

  Nothing could have prepared her for Owen. For meeting him. For falling for him.

  For hearing him say I love you.

  As though he could read her mind, he said, “I’ve told you I love you. Now it’s time for me to show you.”

  But though she hadn’t said the three little words to him yet, she wanted to show him too. Show him the emotions overflowing her heart.

  A beat later, she rolled them over in the bed. A flash of surprise lit his features at her strength and agility. “I took four years of karate lessons,” she said with a grin.

  Before she could feel shy, she reached for his T-shirt and pulled it up. His incredible washboard stomach muscles were revealed as he lifted his arms to help her draw the fabric up over his head.

  Oh my. She had to touch him, had to run her palms, her fingertips, over his gloriously tanned skin, his muscles rippling beneath her touch. “I thought it was impossible to get a tan in England.”

  “Any hint of sun and I’m guilty of whipping off my shirt in Gran’s garden, even in the middle of a workday.”

  She could feel his heart beating fast and strong beneath her hand. “I’ll have to remember to stop by whenever the sun peeks through.”

  And then she was giving in to yet another impossible-to-ignore urge, this time to kiss his bare skin, first his chest and then his flat stomach.

  Beneath his jeans, his arousal pressed hard against the zipper. Yet again, she wanted to touch, to kiss. She didn’t so much as pause before first laying her hand over his fabric-covered erection, then shifting to kiss the straining denim. She felt him throb once, twice, then a third time as a groan escaped his lips.

  She felt bold and desperately excited as she popped the button at the top of his jeans and pulled down the zipper. He helped her slide the denim off, kicking off his shoes and socks at the same time so that he was left wearing only boxers.

  Every inch of Owen was physical perfection, from his broad shoulders, to his washboard abs, to his muscular arms and legs. Mari had never been with a man so good-looking. Though she remained straddling him on the bed, she rocked back on her heels, moving slightly away from him instead of closer.

  “Mari?” Instantly attuned to her changing mood, he sat up with his back against the headboard so that he could hold her on his lap. “What’s wrong?”

  Shyness nearly came rushing at her. But then she realized there was no reason to get caught up in nerves and insecurity when only one thing mattered. Not whether he was a ten and she was a six, but that they felt exactly the same way about each other on the inside.

  She needed him to know what she hadn’t been able to put voice to before. “I love you.”

  His smile took her breath away…and then his kiss did the very same thing.

  There were no more nerves, no more insecurities—nothing but joy and pleasure as Owen’s mouth, his hands, were seemingly everywhere.

  In a matter of seconds, he pulled off her shirt and jeans, leaving her wearing only a matching red and yellow bra and panty set, printed with the emblem of the royal family. If she’d known they were going to make love today, she wouldn’t have worn this. Although on second thought, maybe she would have, if only to feel his laughter rumbling between his chest and hers.

  “Don’t worry, I won’t tell Prince William about your intimate apparel,” he said through his laughter.

  “You know Prince William?”

  He kissed her, another hot brush of his lips against hers. “You didn’t hear it from me, but Gran just might be one of his favorite authors.”

  “Of course she is,” she said, as proud of Mathilda as though she were her Gran too. “Who wouldn’t love her books, whether they’re royalty or a normal man and woman like me and you?”

  Although there was nothing normal about the heat smoldering between them, even as they talked about royal princes and bestselling mystery writers. Mari had never been with anyone where loving and laughter—even about her silly Anglophile undies—felt so natural. Or where she felt so hungry, so needy, so aroused.

  She’d never known it was possible to feel this way. For her limbs to be this loose and buttery while her belly fluttered and heat pooled at the tips of her breasts and between her thighs.

  “You’re anything but normal, Mari.” He whispered the words between the kisses he was running over her shoulders, sliding first one bra strap and then the other to the side so that they fell away from her skin. “You’re extraordinary.”

  She was certain that no one had ever thought so before. But after a week in London—a week where she not only didn’t turn tail and run at the bumps in the road, but had also found love—Mari was starting to believe that she actually was extraordinary.

  It struck her that every woman should believe in herself the way she now did. Silently, she vowed to help her customers do that, whether with a book recommendation, by bringing in guest speakers in her store, or by connecting them a group of fellow readers.

  “I love you,” she said again against his lips.

  With every kiss, the heat between them leaped higher, making them both nearly feverish with need by the time they finally drew apart. She wasn’t sure who ripped the remaining fabric from her skin—it could have been either of them at that point—only that the feel of Owen’s lips and tongue and the light brush of his teeth over her breasts were the most amazing sensations she had ever felt in her life. So good that she couldn’t hold back her moans of pleasure.

  But there was even more pleasure, more breathless sensation to come, as he slowly kissed his way over her breasts and stomach, his large hands cupping her hips as he lowered his mouth to her sex.

  Mari arched up off the bed, giving him everything they were both so desperate for.

  Again and again, he tasted her so that the bliss of his hands and tongue and lips on her skin was the only thing she knew. Soon, she couldn’t hold her tremors back. Tremors that spun into a soul-shaking earthquake as she catapulted into climax.

  She didn’t know when he climbed back up her body, only that he was holding her, and stroking her hair, and telling her that he’d never seen anything so beautiful as she was in all his life.

  She wanted to give him the same pleasure he’d just given her, but her limbs, her lips, wouldn’t obey any command but to wrap herself even more tightly around him.

  As he levered up over her, she realized he’d already put on protection. Beyond thankful that she didn’t need to wait one more second to make him hers, she gained control of herself enough to roll them again so that his back was on the bed—then she took him inside with one thrust of her hips against his.

  “Owen.” She stilled over him as pure joy washed through her. She wanted to remember this moment forever, wanted to imprint it on her brain and heart. But there was no stopping the instinctive roll of her hips against his at the same moment that he thrust even harder into her.

  They reached for each other’s hands, their fingers threading together as they drove each other higher and higher. Needing to kiss him, she leaned forward, their hands entwined above their heads as their bodies sped toward bliss.

  And as he groaned her name against her lips, his deep pleasure spinning hers out a second time, Mari could feel the love flowing from his heart to hers and back again.

  At last, though much in her life remained uncertain, she finally knew peace and unconditional love in Owen Sullivan’s arms.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-
THREE

  Owen woke the next morning to find Mari standing beside the bed, holding two cups of coffee, steam rising from the mugs.

  “Good morning.” Light was streaming in over her smiling face. “I know we’ve always had tea together before, but coffee is my first drink of the day.”

  “Mine too.” He took both mugs from her and put them on the bedside table, then drew her down with him to the bed so that she was cuddled into the space between his legs, her back pressed to his chest. He handed her a mug and took the other for himself. “I can’t think of a more perfect way to start the day.”

  She took a sip. Then said, “I can.” Her voice had pitched slightly lower. A little husky. Just as it had when she’d asked him to come upstairs with her last night. “Come take a bath with me.”

  “There isn’t one single thing I’d like to do more.”

  They put their mugs back on the side table, but before they got out of bed, she turned to kiss him. Her kiss was soft and sweet, but no less powerful for its gentleness. Though she wasn’t the kind of woman to raise her voice or push her way to the front of a line, Mari’s passions ran deep.

  And she stirred Owen’s soul in a way no one else ever had.

  Slowly, she drew back. “I could kiss you all day and never want to stop.”

  Of course he had to kiss her again, because he felt exactly the same way.

  For a few minutes, it looked like they might not make it into the bath. But just as he was about to lay her down in the sheets, she tugged him up. “One of the first fantasies I had about you was in the clawfoot tub.”

  Pleasure shot through him to know that she’d been fantasizing about him all the while he’d been fantasizing about her. “Tell me more.”

  Her cheeks had flamed from her sensual admission, but that didn’t stop her from saying, “I’d rather show you.”

  Last night, he’d led her up the stairs. This morning, she led him to the bath.

  Mari was wearing a thin silk robe, and it brushed his ankles as it fluttered behind her while they walked into the bathroom. He couldn’t wait to strip the silk from her body, with its curves and hollows that felt as though they had been made only for him. The robe slipped off one shoulder as she bent to turn on the taps. Focused on getting the temperature right, she didn’t seem at all aware of her incredible allure. Which, of course, was one of the many reasons she was so desirable.

  Owen had been with too many women who treated life like one continual photo shoot, with every situation another reason to strike a pose. Mari, on the other hand, clearly never thought anyone was watching her, and had no idea that her natural beauty captured attention wherever she went. Owen would never tire of looking at her. Never tire of holding her. Never tire of talking with her.

  And he certainly would never tire of wrapping one hand around her waist from the back, then bending his head to press a kiss to her bare shoulder.

  Feeling her shudder of arousal against him, he ran kisses up the sensitive skin at the side of her neck to her earlobe. As he bit down lightly, he loved hearing her soft gasp of pleasure.

  “The water’s warm now.” Her words trembled slightly, as though she could barely get them out when he was kissing her this way.

  “In that case,” he said in a low voice, “let’s get you out of your robe.”

  Still standing behind her, he reached for the silk belt at her waist and untied it, teasing both of them with his unhurried movements. Though a part of him wanted to tear the fabric from her skin, he also wanted to savor the anticipation of just how gorgeous she would be when her naked body was uncovered one inch at a time.

  At last, the tie was undone and the silk fell open. Using every ounce of his self-control, he slowly ran his hands over her bare curves. From the soft swell of her breasts, to the indentation of her waist, to the flare of her hips, and then, at last, to the vee between her thighs.

  Her head fell back against his shoulder as he cupped her sex, then slid one finger inside her slick heat as his other hand caressed her bare breasts.

  “Mari.”

  His breath shook in his lungs as he touched her. Owen had never needed anyone as much as he needed her. Never wanted to hear a woman’s cries of passion, of pleasure, the way he wanted to hear and feel Mari come apart for him. Right here. Right now. Standing at the side of the tub, with her robe half on, half off.

  Adding another finger, he slid deep, and that was when she crashed into a heady climax in his arms. He rode the waves with her, stroking her, urging her on with heated whispers.

  At last, they stood together, neither of them speaking, both of them breathing hard. Until Mari stepped into the tub and held out her hands. Together, they sank into the water so that they faced each other, their backs against the porcelain, her legs splayed around his hips.

  Her gaze roved his face. “Coming here, coming to England, to this store and flat—you’re the very last person I ever thought I’d find.”

  “And now that you have?”

  “If I had known you were here on Elderflower Island, I would have come years ago.”

  “Which is why we’re not going to waste any time now,” he said softly.

  “Definitely not,” she agreed. As if to prove the truth of her words, she floated forward so that she was sitting on his lap, clasped her arms around his shoulders, and kissed him.

  It was impossible to keep from rocking his erection into her. Fortunately, she had thought to bring protection into the bathroom and was soon ripping open a condom packet.

  Her hands weren’t quite steady as she slid it onto him, but neither were his as he gripped her hips and brought her up over him. Every moment with Mari, every kiss, every time they made love, felt brand new. Brilliantly exciting. And when he lowered her so that she could take him deep, both of them lost their breath as pleasure filled them up in its place.

  “Mari.” He couldn’t stop saying her name. Over and over and over again as they loved each other with such intensity that the water nearly sloshed over the sides of the tub. Lifting his hands from her hips, he threaded his fingers into her hair and kissed her with all the love in his heart.

  Together, they flew, soared, leaped over the edge of pleasure, before landing safely in each other’s arms.

  * * *

  Mari’s phone rang as they were stepping out of the tub. He saw her tense at the ring tone, felt it in her muscles as he gently rubbed a towel over her skin.

  “If it’s your mother,” he said softly, “everything is going to be fine.” He wouldn’t let things go any other way, even if he had to spend hours on his knees begging her family to see the situation in a better light.

  Mari let out a long breath and nodded. “I know it will be. Because I’m not going to change my mind, and she’ll have to accept that. I just hope we don’t end up battling one another to get to that point, because I can’t stand the thought of fighting with her. Not when I know how much she loves me and truly does want the best for me…even if the things she thinks are best aren’t necessarily the ones that I do.”

  “As my father always says, there’s no need to borrow trouble. First, let’s get her here. And then we’ll deal with her reaction once we see what it is.”

  “We.” Her shoulders fell back to a more relaxed position as she smiled at him. “That’s a lovely word. And it’s even lovelier to know that I’m not in this alone.”

  “You’re anything but alone, Mari. Me, my family, your new friends—everyone on Elderflower Island is behind you.”

  Her smile grew. “I really do want my parents to meet all of you. I don’t see how it’s possible that they wouldn’t like everyone as much as I do.” She wrapped the towel tightly around herself. “It’s nearly midnight in California. I’d better call her back before she goes to sleep.” Just then, his cell phone rang too.

  “I’m just a text away,” he reminded her, though he knew Mari could handle anything life threw at her. With one more kiss, he went to pull his clothes on so that he could h
ead back to his office at Gran’s cottage.

  * * *

  As soon as Owen left, Mari made the call. “Hi, Mom. How are you doing?”

  “Just wonderful, now that we’re finally able to speak with one another! But poor Eleanor. Finding out her appendix was about to burst was quite a shock. I’m glad I was able to be there for her.”

  “I wish I could have helped too,” Mari said.

  “I know you do, and I gave her your love. She asked about your trip to England.” Her mother’s tone changed slightly—less open, with definite undertones of worry. “But I didn’t have many details to give her, other than from the one phone call and email you sent a few days ago. You mentioned having some adventures.” There was an unmistakable edge of wariness in her mother’s voice now. “I’m curious what you might be referring to.”

  “Actually, instead of simply telling you about my experiences here, I’d love to show you in person. Once Eleanor’s daughter comes to stay with her on Friday, do you think you and Dad could fly here? I’d be more than happy to buy you both tickets.”

  Her mother’s silence went on for long enough that Mari almost thought the call had been disconnected. Finally, Donna spoke in a shell-shocked voice. “You want us to come to London?”

  “Yes. To Elderflower Island and the bookstore.”

  “Why?”

  “It would mean a lot to me if you could see the work I’ve done. And meet my new friends.” Especially one very special friend who had only just left her bed…and bathtub.

  “Well,” her mother said, “I certainly hadn’t planned on a trip to Europe, and I know your father is very busy with work. Surely you’ll be finished doing whatever it is you’re doing with the store and flat soon?”

  “The work has been going very well,” Mari said. “But there’s no way I can adequately describe everything to you over the phone. Whereas if you came and saw the store and the island for yourself and met everyone—”