Up All Night Long: From Lust to Love (Romance Anthology)

by Ali Parker

  Chapter 19

  Elizabeth

  I wasn't going to call him. I shouldn't have, but the moment he wrapped his arms around me, everything faded. The pain of sitting there with her while she took her last breath. The need to lock myself in a closet and scream until my throat was raw. Gone. It was gone for the moment.

  "Come home with me." He pressed his mouth just beside my ear. "I know you don't want company, but my family's hurting tonight too. Let my mom feed us, my kids entertain us, and then we'll go back to your place and I'll fuck you all night if that's what you want."

  I wanted him to make love to me with the windows open. To feel the wind against my skin as he reminded me that I was alive and would get past this.

  "Okay," I whispered against his neck. "Just get me out of here."

  He moved back and took my hand, turned and walked us toward the car. I half expected him to pepper me with questions, but he didn't. He rolled down all the windows, took my hand in a tight grip and turned on jazz music.

  I leaned back and closed my eyes, shocked by how in tune I felt with him. I glanced over at him. "You like jazz?"

  "I love it." He looked over at me. "I know you don't want to hear this, but you look incredible. I swear my fucking heart stops in my chest every time I see you."

  "Lately?" I asked.

  "Lately, what?" He brought my hand up to his cheek, rubbing the back of my fingers across his five o'clock shadow. I couldn't fathom a more handsome man in all the world.

  "Your heart stops in your chest when you see me lately. Before we were just co-workers and such." I shrugged. "Right?"

  "Since I've met you, Lizzy. I've struggled since I met you." He brushed my fingers by his lips.

  "And yet you never said a thing. You never made a move." My chest tightened.

  "I never would have. No matter what." He shrugged and released my hand. "Janice was a horrible wife, but she was mine."

  "I'm sorry for your loss." I squeezed his thigh and pulled my hand back into my lap. "I know how it feels."

  "Do you?" He glanced over, his voice fluctuating enough to let me know that maybe he didn't know as much about me as I thought. Funny how paranoid I had become that everyone would know that I was cheated on. That I wasn't good enough. Or really enough at all.

  "I do. Steven was the love of my life, or so I thought." I chuckled simply because I wasn't sure what else to do. "He slept around most of our seven-year marriage. He was powerful and ran the city in Seattle. A big personality and a great man to know."

  "He's no great man if he cheated on you." He reached over and ran his hand behind my shoulders, squeezing my neck softly.

  "I realize that now, but it was so hard letting go. We built our lives around each other, or maybe I built mine around him. Forever was supposed to last more than seven years." I pressed my fingers to my eyes. "I'm so over all of it, but it changed me. Numbed me."

  "It has the power to do that." He rubbed softly and pulled the car to a stop. "Do you want me to take us somewhere else? Somewhere where we can talk?"

  I glanced up at the little country-style house and smiled. "No. That’s really the end of the story. He cheated. Mother and I left and came here, and I promised myself I would never fall in love again. Not ever."

  "I hope that story has an alternate ending." He leaned across into my seat and pulled me to him, kissing me slow and deep.

  I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him closer to me, coveting the taste of him against my tongue and needing more. So much more. "I hope so too."

  Something hit the car, and I jerked back with a yelp. A little girl stood at the front of the car with a quizzical look on her face.

  "My daughter, Samantha." Nate laughed and got out. "You're going to put a dent in the car, super girl."

  He picked her up and spun her around as she squealed with delight. I stood beside the car, falling in love with him far more than I thought possible. I didn't think having kids would ever be something I would let myself dream about again, but seeing the fulfillment on Nate's face... how could I not at least consider it?

  A handsome boy walked out the front door, and stopped short as he turned toward me. "I'm Patrick. Are you Elizabeth?"

  I ran my fingers through my hair and nodded as Nate spoke up.

  "This is my friend, Lizzy, guys. She works with me. Well, actually, she's my boss." He laughed and walked toward the house toting his little girl. "Come on in and let's get something to eat. I'm starving."

  I walked toward the door and paused by Patrick as he tilted his head and studied me.

  "Are you okay?" he asked softly.

  "No." I gave him a sad smile. "My mom just died."

  "Oh wow." He reached out and squeezed my hand. "I'm sorry. My mom didn't die, but it feels like someone did."

  "I'm sorry too." I put my hand over his, connecting with him immediately. "I'd say let’s steal a motorcycle and go for ice cream so we could cry over it, but I don't see a bike anywhere."

  He laughed loudly, surprising me a little. "I like you. Don't hurt my dad. He's the best of the best."

  "I know he is. Tell him to run from me?" I smiled as we walked into the house.

  The smell of fried chicken filled my senses, and I breathed in deeply. I hadn't had a good home cooked meal since my mother was well. I loved to cook and yet found no purpose in doing it for myself. It just brought back memories that hurt too much to face.

  "You must be Elizabeth." A portly woman walked from the kitchen and pulled me into a hug. "My Nathaniel has told me a lot about you."

  "No, I haven't, Mom." He moved up beside me and put his hand on the small of my back. "I told her you were beautiful and that I needed to go pick you up."

  I laughed. "That's about all there is to know."

  His mom moved back and studied me. "I doubt that, but that's okay. Over time everyone learns to let love have its way with them. It's too powerful to deny for too long."

  "Mom, really?" Nate's cheeks turned pink as he pulled out a chair at the table for me. "Come on. Sit down and I'll get you some tea."

  "I already got it!" Samantha bounced back into the room and handed me the tea before reaching out and running her fingers down a strand of my hair. "You're the prettiest woman I've ever seen. Are you a model?"

  "No." I smiled and glanced up at Nate. "Just a business girl looking to make it in this big world."

  "She could be a model though, right?" Nate sat down next to me and lifted his eyebrow. "Bringing you here was a mistake. My dad sees this and I'll never live it down." He pointed to his lap, where his cock was thick and quite outlined.

  I pulled his napkin down into his lap and shook my head, grateful that we were alone for the moment. "I can't take you anywhere."

  He laughed and leaned over, pulling me into a hug as everyone else joined us. "Then don't. Let's just stay here forever."

  "Not without paying rent." An older man who looked a lot like Nate sat down at the head of the table and looked over at me. "Nice to meet you, dear. If you haven't had proper southern-style food before, you’re in for a treat tonight."

  I laughed and pulled from Nate, feeling oddly at home. Everyone sat down as Nate's mom put a big plate of fried chicken on the table, and I took a shallow breath as they started to pray.

  I was breaking again, but not in a way that would leave me broken.

  In a way that would find me eventually restored.

  Epilogue

  Six Months Later

  Elizabeth

  "Get in here, sexy girl," Nate called from the bathroom as I paced the floor in our bedroom. We’d bought a new house together a few months after his divorce, and things couldn't have been better. Though it took some adjustments for the kids, it seemed more healthy to sell the old house and start new. Everyone was thriving in our new life.

  I left the firm and started my own ad agency with a partner. He was bossy as fuck most days of the week, but tying him up at night and riding him until he shook usually put him ri
ght back in his place.

  "I can't. I'm scared." I nibbled at my thumb and turned to face him.

  He groaned and moved across the room, wrapping his arms around me as he stood in nothing but a towel. "You look so good in my button down shirts. You wear these to tease me. And no panties?"

  "Duh. Of course no panties. What kind of tease would I be wearing panties?"

  He growled low in his chest.

  I glanced up at him. "What did it say?"

  "It said that you need to get your ass in there and check it out." He kissed the tip of my nose.

  "Fine. Dammit you get on my last nerve." I pulled from him and walked to the bathroom. The small stick I'd peed on a few minutes earlier sat on the edge of the sink. The blue word caught my attention and the air rushed from my lungs. "Oh my God."

  "Right?" He walked into the bathroom and picked me up, spinning me around. "I love being a daddy so damn much. This is going to be awesome."

  "I need a minute." I pressed my hands to my lips and swatted at him. "Get out."

  "Okay, baby." He kissed my cheek and walked out closing the door behind him.

  I dropped down beside the toilet and let the contents of my stomach go. I wasn't ready to be a mother, or was I? I wanted that relationship, that deep unending love that I knew would result from having a little one, but were we ready? We weren't even married.

  I brushed my teeth before picking up the stick and walking back out into the room. "I think we should get a second opin-"

  Nate was on one knee, butt-ass naked with a ring lifted in the air. "Marry me. I love you like I've never imagined loving anyone. You're it for me. Please, baby."

  "Oh my God." I pressed my hands to my mouth as my stomach turned again. "Of course."

  I plucked the ring from the box and slipped it on my finger as he stood up and wrapped me in a hug.

  "Good. I was a little scared there for a minute." He pressed his mouth to the side of my neck. "I don't know if I could have survived you telling me no."

  I turned and ran my hands down his firm chest, memorizing how good he looked. "How could I deny you? You proposed naked on purpose, didn't you?"

  He stepped back and smirked as I pushed at his thick chest. "Fuck yes."

  "You’re so bad. You should be punished." I reached for him, but he gripped my wrist tightly first and spun us, putting me on the bed and crawling on top of me.

  "Or maybe you should be for making me wait so long." He pressed himself against me and worked on the buttons on my shirt. "The kids will be home in an hour. Let's use it wisely."

  "We have a meeting in twenty minutes." I opened my legs and wrapped them around him as he shifted up and impaled me in one strong thrust.

  My eyes rolled back as I groaned loudly. I wouldn't ever get tired of feeling him inside of me.

  "Then we better hurry up." He pressed his teeth to the side of my neck and slid his hands between me and the bed. With sheer strength, he lifted my ass and squeezed tight as he fucked me hard and fast.

  "God, I love you." I gripped his shoulders and threw my head back as pleasure burst from my center.

  "Not as much, but we'll keep working on it." He lifted up, pressing his hands to the bed beside my head. "Work me. I wanna watch."

  "So fucking bossy." I watched him advert his eyes down to where our bodies joined as I lifted my hips and fucked him from beneath.

  "So incredible. Shit, Lizzy." He dropped back down on me and closed his eyes. "I'm close. Too close. I want this to last."

  "Why? You can have me again after dinner." I licked at his throat as he brushed my hair back and leaned down, sucking my tongue into his mouth. The slow rocking into me almost drove me mad by the time he came, but hearing him moan would never grow old.

  It was a sound I coveted.

  It was the admonition of truth.

  He was lost to me, and I to him.

  It was power.

  The End

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  Ali Parker is a full-time contemporary romance writer who is looking to flood the market this year with lots of great, quick reads. She loves coffee, watching a great movie and handing out with her hubs. By hanging out, she means making out. Hanging out is for those little creepy elves at Christmas. No tight green stockings for her.

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