Flames from Ashes

by Caitlyn Willows

  He slipped one arm around her waist, then dipped to put the other under her knees. Sandy draped her arms around his neck, her lips seeking his. She lost herself in the wonder of their kiss. If they shared a billion kisses, she would never get enough of the feel of his lips on hers, his tongue dancing with hers, his breath and hers becoming one.

  She didn’t know how he did it, but somehow he managed to carry her to the bed without breaking the kiss. It was only when he placed her in the middle of the mattress that he finally broke hold. He shoved the covers—still rumpled from her earlier nap—to one side and stood at the foot. He said nothing. He didn’t have to. His eyes did the talking while he stripped. Sandy was mesmerized by the love in them, by the way his gaze glided over her as if she were treasure. Her breath caught when he knelt on the bed at her feet and reached for her zipper. She let him undress her, basking in the adoration in his eyes when they swept over each expanse of skin he bared. When she was fully nude, he smiled and looked her over from toe to head and back again. Warmth built, inside and out, and just when she was telling herself to grab the man and have at him, Clint bent forward and licked circles around her ankle.

  She gasped, and sparks skittered over her skin. He glanced up from under his eyebrows, smiled, and flashed his tongue over the other ankle, then up her leg.

  “Can you guess where I’m headed?” Pure mischief and the promise of pleasure gleamed in his eyes.

  “I have a pretty good idea,” she breathlessly replied, and spread her legs a little wider. “You’re going to have your way with me.”

  “And I’m going to savor every second. Take my time about it.” He flicked his tongue behind her knee.

  “Remember that later when I have my way with you.”

  He grinned. “I look forward to that.”

  Leaning in, he spread her labia and licked her slit. A soft moan escaped from her throat. Clint grunted in response. Eyes closed, she fisted the pillow beneath her head and gave herself over to the moment.

  True to his word, Clint did take his time. Licks, kisses, and gentle nips rained over her legs, leaving no part untouched. He teased her with the barest of caresses right where she needed it most, promising her clit attention but never delivering any. Each time he neared it, she tensed in anticipation of a suckle that didn’t come. He built a fire down there only he could sate, the heat swelling her clit to bursting. When his lips finally captured it, climax tore through her with the first flash of his tongue.

  She thrashed from the force, grappling to keep Clint’s head right where she needed it. The aftermath left her limp and gasping. She expected him to be as overcome as she had been and take her then. He’d be so overwhelmed he’d be compelled to fuck her like crazy. She fumbled for his shoulders, trying to drag him up her body and into place. He ignored her efforts, trailing kisses up and down her torso, kneading her breasts until she was writhing once more beneath him, then sucking her nipples until they felt like pebbles and her clit had risen with them.

  His erection nudged her entrance. Sandy locked her legs over his ass and rocked into him, desperate to make them one. Clint still evaded her, rolling to the side as he dropped his fingers over her clit. He cradled her to him through another body-racking orgasm, then took her before the tremors could die.

  Sandy clutched him to her, rocking into his steady thrusts that grew more intense with every plunge. She reveled in the heat pooled in his back, the tension in his muscles, and the feel of his body over hers. Her man. Her love. This is what he did for her—made her feel whole. God, the time they’d wasted. No more.

  “I love you so much,” she whispered.

  Teeth clenched, he snapped his head back and his pelvis deep. Over and over again. Orgasm quaked his body, and she swore she felt the force of his release inside her. She brought him down with kisses and caresses he soon returned.

  “I love you too.” He brushed the backs of his fingers over her cheek. “So much there aren’t enough words to tell you how much.”

  He relieved her of his weight and curled into her. “We need to talk. Or rather, I need to talk. It’s time I unpacked that baggage we talked about. I want you to know everything.”

  “All right.” Sandy pushed upright to lean against the padded headboard.

  “I honestly don’t know where to start.” He plumped up the pillow behind him and sat up. “Don’t expect me to come off in a flattering light.”

  “I consider myself forewarned. I promise not to judge. The beginning is always nice.”

  “Sometimes it’s hard to know where that is.”

  He laced their fingers together, gently tracing his thumb over hers. Sandy had to wonder if it was intentional or an absentminded action to ease a case of nerves.

  “I understand.” A prompt from her might help. “Has your family always been that way?”

  He released her hand and shifted her way. “I don’t know. Chuck and I are so close in age, only eleven months apart. But I was more connected to Tommy. He was my little brother, and he looked up to me, while it often felt like there was a competition between me and Chuck. I want to say it wasn’t on my part, but I don’t know anymore. Things like sports and schoolwork came easier to me than him. He didn’t like it. I couldn’t help it, and I sure wasn’t going to play stupid for his ego. He and Tommy never got along. I loved that Tommy adored me. Then the Annie business happened. She’d been going out with both of us, and we didn’t have a clue. Well, I didn’t have a clue. I can’t say for sure about Chuck. Sometimes he did stuff to spite me, to show he could take something I cared about. So it’s possible that’s what he did with Annie—went after her because he knew I liked her. I don’t know what Annie thought she was doing. When it all came out, Chuck and I got into this fight. I let my temper get the better of me and beat the shit out of him. Put him in the hospital.”

  “That’s when you decided the Marine Corps was a better choice.”

  He dropped his hand to her thigh. “I had a hard time dealing with my actions. It was a side of me that scared me to death. I also couldn’t stand to stick around and watch him marry the woman who’d played us both. I wasn’t jealous. I was pissed he couldn’t see her for the manipulative little bitch she truly was and still is.”

  She gave a little snort. “Judging from what I heard today, I’m guessing he’s aware.”

  “I think that was more a dig at me than his dislike of her. He was trying to knock me down a peg or two, reminding the family of a past that none of us can ever forget. I probably shouldn’t have come back here after I left the Marine Corps. But honestly, I was such a mess at the time. The things I had to do when deployed… The killing. The fear. The death all around me. I couldn’t live with myself and wanted normal, or what passed for normal. I wanted home and got hell instead. At first I ate up the fact that my parents clung to me, depended on me, had me doing things for them because Chuck and Tommy weren’t able to do so. Tommy’s drug problems were his own, but he blamed me for leaving him when he needed me most. He was twelve when I left and eighteen when I got back. So I blamed myself too. I felt like the family had fallen apart because…”

  “Of the Annie incident.”

  He let out a long breath. “Yes. I’m not saying the family was perfect, but once that happened…” Staring at the bed, he shook his head.

  Sandy leaned forward and grasped his hand. “There were two other parties to that action. One of whom was fully aware of the game she played.” The games she still played. “Tommy might have missed you terribly, but blaming you for his addiction was an excuse. Surely you both know that.”

  Clint nodded. “We do. We’ve moved on and are closer than ever. I don’t know what I’d do without him.” He squeezed her fingers, then let go. His gaze wandered a bit before returning to her.

  “Marjorie was the home and normal I’d been needing. I loved her and her kids. Hated her family. Still do.”

  Sandy knew that feeling well.

  “We got two months of happily-ever-aft
er before it all blew up in our faces when she found out she was pregnant. She was furious with me—hitting me, cursing, threatening, throwing things. She’d started focusing on her photography and not only wasn’t ready to add another child to the household, but informed me that she never wanted another child. I was beyond shocked. I thought kids were a given. Hearing that…” Eyes closed, he shook his head. “She threatened to get rid of it. I begged her not to. I told her I would do anything, take care of everything. That I’d never ask her for another thing if she would have my baby. It was hell, Sandy. I was on my fucking knees, begging for the life of my baby.”

  He massaged his temple with his fingers. Her heart broke, seeing her save-the-day love devastated by the memories. She wanted to wrap her arms around him and tell him the baby she carried wasn’t going to be the last one, that she’d give him as many kids as she could. But this was his story, and she knew he had to get it out. And she had to listen without breaking down.

  He pulled in a breath and looked at her. Unshed tears shimmered in his eyes, squeezing her heart all the more, bringing a rush of tears she had to rapidly blink away. He needed her strength right now to get through this.

  “Honestly, it was the worst time financially for us to have a baby. I’d just bought the upholstery business, and money was tight. I was trying to hold it together and continue to give the customers the quality they expected. I was Clint Clifford, the guy who beat up his brother and sent him to the hospital. I was Clint Clifford, the messed-up-in-the-head marine. I was the fool who hired a former drug addict. It didn’t matter that Tommy was clean and dedicated to turning his life around. Martin Hall never for one second let the public forget all the bad. He was determined to bring me down because Marjorie had defied him by marrying me.”

  Things hadn’t changed much. Martin was still trying to bring Clint down. All because Clint wanted to move on with his life, and Clint moving on meant facing a reality the Halls couldn’t handle.

  “It was so much to deal with, and the one person I wanted to turn to couldn’t know I felt like I was failing her. By that Easter Sunday, the day before she disappeared, everything exploded. Going to Chuck and Annie’s was the last thing I wanted to do. I couldn’t stand being around them, and Marjorie and Annie didn’t get along. Mom insisted it was time to bury the hatchet. I wanted to bury it all right. Right in Chuck’s head when he brushed off the cooler incident and blamed her kids for it. Marjorie was beyond consolable. I was livid. Then when we got home, I found out she’d spent money we didn’t have on this whoop-de-do camera she swore she needed. The sucker cost a thousand dollars. All she could focus on was the fact that she’d lost her bracelet. Again. I yelled that I’d buy her another damn bracelet. She sobbed, ‘How can you, when we don’t have any money?’”

  When he leaned toward her, Sandy grasped his hands.

  “We just stared at each other. Then we started laughing. Laughing so hard, we were crying and hugging with our baby tumbling around between us. And then we were crying-crying, falling all over ourselves to say we were sorry, and I love you. Her telling me she was proud to be having our child. We decided to make the rest of the week all about us. We hadn’t been alone since our honeymoon. Danny was going to have the kids. I cleared my schedule at work. A week to work on us. And then she disappeared. Her parents, my parents, goddamn Chuck and Annie…everyone kept asking me, ‘What did you do? What did you do?’ Sweetheart, I did everything to make her happy, and still she was gone.”

  A sob tore from his throat. Tears blinded Sandy’s vision. She wrapped her arms around him. He clung to her, his tears wetting her neck, hers dampening his shoulder.

  “I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” He pulled far enough away to wipe her cheeks.

  “No.” Sandy curled her hands around his wrists, stilling his frantic movements. “You have nothing to be sorry about, certainly not for loving her or grieving for her or being upset.”

  He slowly shook his head, kissed her palms, pulled in a steadying breath. “Seeing that bracelet today brought everything crashing in again. I hear every harsh word we threw at each other. Then I did the same thing to you today.”

  “Well, in your defense, I threw a couple at you too. We’ll work on that.” She captured his face between her hands, forcing him to meet her gaze. “You also remembered holding each other, laughing, planning to work on things together. All good things.”

  “You’re right. It’s hard to be a glass-half-full person when it comes to Marjorie.”

  “I can understand why.” He’d lost a lot. People around him hadn’t made it easy either. And it seemed Marjorie had a trigger temper. “Focus on the happy times, not the bad. I don’t have a problem listening to it. In fact, I think it’s rather sweet.” And heartbreaking to realize the extent to which Clint would go to be everything for someone he loved. Sandy hoped she was worthy enough to be that someone for him.

  “I’m going to marry you one day, Clint Clifford. We’re going to have a houseful of kids to drive us crazy. Dogs too.” She wrinkled her nose. “No cats, though. We’re going to love and argue and work it all out. You don’t have to hide anything from me. Not ever.”

  “All I have to do is come up with a kick-ass proposal,” he said with a laugh.

  “Yes. I’m not saying it’s a deal breaker, but…” She cocked her head to one side.

  Clint laughed and hugged her tight. “God, I love you like crazy. I don’t know when it happened. Sometimes I think it was always there, because when I heard your laugh that night, I was hooked.”

  “And all this time, I thought you were lusting after my power tools.”

  “Well…” He started to laugh, then cut it off. “Oh shit.” He sprang to his feet. “I left something in the truck. I’ll be right back.” He hauled on his jeans as he headed for the door, half walking, half jumping to get them on.

  “Need help?”

  “No, but you might want to get dressed.” He smiled. “It’s a surprise.”

  It had to have been important for him to run out barefoot. Sandy hurried to dress and follow. She reached the front door in time to see him walk in bearing a full flat of succulents and a huge smile.

  “Oh my goodness!” She clutched her hands under her chin. He could have given her jewels on a velvet pillow and it wouldn’t have meant as much.

  “Other than the little jade plant, I have no idea what I bought. I just picked one or two of each variety.” He held out his prize.

  Sandy fluttered her fingers above the thirty-six little plants. “Oh, Clint.” She pressed her fingers to her lips and blinked away tears. “You do know the way to a woman’s heart.”

  “I try my best.” He bent down to kiss her. “And right now, seeing the joy on your face, I feel like a fucking king.”

  Sandy slithered against him and cupped his ass. “As you’ve recently proven, you are a fucking king. And as promised, later I’m going to worship your body from head to toe.”

  He grinned. “I can hardly wait, but let’s take care of these first.”

  Grinning, she reached to take the tray from him.

  “I’ve got it.” He jerked his head toward the back door. “Let’s get them outside, so you can work on them. I also bought soil, pots, and tools.”

  “You’re spoiling me.” She dashed ahead to open the door.

  “Not nearly enough or to the extent you deserve.” He grabbed a kiss as he ducked outside. “I hope they survived the time in the truck. I know it’s silly. You need so much more than plants. But gardening is a big part of your soul.”

  So true. Her hands-in-the-dirt therapy.

  “So were the renovations you were doing on your house. And while my house doesn’t need the fixing up yours did, my yard pretty much sucks.” He set the tray on the round patio table badly in need of a paint job. “Fix it, please. Make it shine. Make it yours.” He spread his arms wide. “Everything I have is yours. Nest. Redecorate. Just let me know before you start tearing out walls.”

  Damn, he was
going to have her crying. “I love you.”

  “Love you too.” He dragged her against him and kissed her head. “I’ll get the rest of the stuff from the truck.”

  “Don’t forget to call your mother!” she shouted to his retreating back.

  He waved it off and kept walking. Still, when he returned carrying huge bags of soil in each arm, she saw he’d placed a bluetooth device in his ear and was speaking—or rather, listening—to his mother. She also saw something else—a picture in her mind of him carrying a child in each arm, their children. Choked up, she focused on grouping the plants for potting. Still, the image of children sneaked in, this time with her teaching them how to garden. She dropped her hand to her belly over the little one growing inside, then slid it away when Clint returned with a big box of pots.

  He managed an uh-huh into the phone, rolled his eyes, and walked off. A peek in the box revealed a dozen pots in varying sizes. It was another tweak to her heart, proving how closely he’d paid attention, how overjoyed he must have been to get these things, to do something for her others might not consider.

  She heard him return and glanced over her shoulder to see him with another smaller box. The bluetooth was gone. “And here are your tools.” He placed the box beside her. “You might want to check to make sure I’ve got everything you need.”

  She peered inside. One item was strategically placed on the top, unpacked and ready to use. “You got me a new gardening knife!” Awestruck with pleasure, she picked it up, unsheathed it, and tested the feel. “It’s a beauty.”

  “I wasn’t sure if yours made it out of the fire.”

  “It did.” She beamed a smile his way. “But I love having two. You can never have too many tools.”

  “I hear you on that one.”

  “When did you have time to shop?” She resheathed the blade and set it beside her pots.

  “Before I met with the attorney. I’d actually stopped at Walmart to buy a go-bag and was distracted.”