We stay connected, him inside me, while we both catch our breath. It happened. I can’t even begin to process how good it feels. What a different sensation it is to have his big, stunning cock in my body. “I’m going to pull out now and it might hurt a bit. Ready?”
“I’m not made of glass, Holiday.”
He smiles a knowing smile and slides out of me in one swoop. “Ow,” I say, automatically grabbing my vagina with a cupped hand.
He leans up on his knees and looks down at me. “I told you,” he chastens. “How was it? Are you scared of me now?” He takes his dick in his hand and shakes it a couple of times. “Was it what you hoped it would be? That’s a lot of pressure. I thought I was going to blow my load the second I got all the way in there.”
I let my fingers glide over the tender, wet skin as he watches. “I’m surveying the damage to see if there’s any possible way we can do it again right now. I’m glad you held out. It felt so good. I can’t believe I’ve been missing out on that. I feel empty now.”
“We have the rest of our lives to play fill the hole. I want to make sure you’re not going to walk funny tomorrow.”
“You came in me,” I remark, grinning. “You’ve never done that before.”
“It’s a day of firsts isn’t it?” he replies. “It felt so good coming inside your tight body. I’m getting hard again just thinking about it.” He does too, his dick growing back to full tilt right before my eyes. “That, I want to do every single day.”
Instead of focusing on the sensitive skin, I rub my clit instead. Tahoe watches, stroking himself as he does. “This marks the best day of my life,” he says, eyes lowered in a mask of lust. “One I don’t want to end. I want to keep it forever.”
“It doesn’t have to end,” I reply. “We’re defining everything from now on. Today doesn’t end. Let’s repeat this every single day for the rest of our lives.”
He grins. “Every single day?” I nod. Tahoe lays next to me on the bed, his hand still on his dick, my slickness still coating him, making his hand slide easily. “That thing you did before. On my abs,” he says, slanting his gaze my way. “Except on this, instead.” Pushing down until it’s standing straight in the air, he sighs. “If you’re up for it, that is. Basically I want to replay every time we ever messed around, except ending it with me inside you.”
“You’re up for it. So am I,” I coo, slinging my leg over his wide hips. I take over holding, and have to lean to one side to position him where I think he’s supposed to be. From this angle, actually seeing it, the size looks harrowing. “Tell me if I’m doing it wrong,” I say, meeting his eyes.
He shakes his head. “You can’t do this wrong. If it’s in you, it will always be right. Always.”
I sit down, and to the side and suck in a sharp breath when his head opens me wide. “Right. That’s right. That’s right,” he hisses. “Nothing has ever been more right. Keep going,” he urges.
He closes his eyes and wets his bottom lip. His chest and stomach are rippled to perfection and it seems every muscle in his body is textbook perfect. Looking at him, piece by piece, underneath me, gives me a power I didn’t know I had. He’s mine.
I sit down further, and feel a throbbing jerk deep inside me. I lean over and put my hands on his sculpted midsection and ride him up and down. This feels like a different pleasure, another angle that rubs me just the right way, and I can’t escape the moans of pleasure I know are coming. My clit slides against him, and his huge girth brushes me.
When I meet his gaze, he gives me a lopsided grin. “Every day, yeah?”
“Oh, fuck yes, every day,” I cry out.
“Say fuck again,” he says, narrowing his candlelit eyes.
Riding him, I crawl forward until my lips are balancing just above his. “Fuck me,” I tease, mouth barely brushing his. “I never was good at being your girlfriend,” I breathe, grinding on him in a slow tempo.
He catches my bottom lip between his teeth and pulls. “Because you were always meant to be my wife.”
He said the word. I kiss him hard, and his hands slide from the sides of my face down my body to land on my hips. He guides me to our orgasms, the waves tearing through us at the same exact time.
I lay on top of his chest, listening to his heartbeat for what feels like forever. Though I know it can’t possibly be that long because forever is what you ask for, and right now is all you’re promised.
For us, our love was destined, a mark in time that came hurtling toward us without our consent. Found and lost. Love and loss. Promises and lies. Floating and falling. Forever and never.
Defined simply: happily ever after.
Epilogue
Caroline
Three years later
I found him there. In between who I was and who I wanted to be. In the place I’ve always been, the same small town I grew up in, surrounded by the people who love and loathe me in equal measure. And he stayed. And he loves me more than I knew a human could love another human. I love him more than that. The relationship is existential—existing in its very own realm of love.
The airport is my second love, still. The accident served as only a roadblock to finding my happiness in all ways instead of in merely one. Still to this day, I consider the healing process my rebirth, the thing that shaped me into a person willing to accept faults, wary, but strong. From the ashes rose a woman desperately wild, capable of loving, and forgiveness, seeking adventure, with the ability to take mistakes and learn from them instead of letting them crush me.
“You better get that ass in here and help me get these dishes out on the lawn, Caroline May Holiday Bae,” Shirley hollers from across my kitchen at the Inn. I’m washing dishes at the sink, my mind a million miles away as I study Tahoe and his friends chatting in a circle.
I pop my ass out so she can swat it on the way by. “Do not call me that. Bae is the Danish word for poop. How many times do we have to go over this?”
She shrugs. “The Kardashians say it, so it’s usable. Turn on a television every once in a while!”
I wipe my hands on a dishtowel, and refuse to reply to my friend. Caleb and Shirley have been going steady for about a year and I can’t say I’m surprised. She seems happy, and Caleb seems less…bitter. Grabbing a tray, I follow her out. It’s my parent’s wedding anniversary and we’re hosting a big party. It reminds me of my wedding and I’m feeling nostalgic.
My mama comes up beside me as I’m heading toward a tent, her white apron a gleaming white. “What can I help with?”
“Nothing. This is your day. Take off the apron. We don’t need your help today,” I say, swatting her away from trying to remove the tray from my hands. “Seriously. Go have one of those cranberry juice drinks. Tahoe was up late working on the recipe. They taste like candy. Go. Shoo,” I say.
“I love you, baby,” Mama drawls, giving me that sweet smile. “I’m so proud of you.” I grin in response. I did have to quit waitressing to help at the Inn, but I don’t think anyone was more pleased with that decision than my parents. I think they viewed it as me finally growing up and taking a life of my choosing. The airport is still my haunt and that’s my first and favorite job, but with the few employees I have, it’s not so much work that I feel overwhelmed. Six days a week I’m busy, but Sunday? Sundays are for my two favorite S words. Snuggling and sex. Not necessarily in that order. Tahoe has had to go on a few missions here and there, but for the most part the terrorists are controlled. Or so the government has made it seem. They’re still opening bases all over the U.S. Every once in a while, I say a little prayer and thank him for sending Tyler Holiday to this small town. And that he loves it as much as I do.
When desires and dreams collide, magical things happen. My current location as proof.
I’m sliding the tray of side salads onto the table when I feel him behind me.
“Mrs. Holiday, are you almost finished in the kitchen?”
I lean back, and he catches me against his chest, his big arms
cradling my body. Sighing, I say, “There’s a joke in there somewhere, but I’m going to let it go because you’re hugging me.”
He tightens his arms. “Everything is going so smoothly. I told you Malena wasn’t the only one who could pull something like this off. Your Dad is hitting the cranberry drink hard,” he says. Malena had a trip to the city planned forever, and couldn’t help as much as she wanted to. I freaked at first, but I’m glad it turned out as well as it has. Stick a feather in my hat, I can plan a party. His hands slide a little lower to rest on the bottom my stomach. He leans his head down to whisper in my ear. “When do you want to tell them? Still after dinner? Or now? Or now?” The second or now asked with even more excitement than the first. He is so excited. Granted it’s been weeks of keeping my pregnancy a secret, so the relief of everyone finally knowing will be great, but I wanted to wait until their milestone anniversary to let the cat out of the bag. I don’t think my mama will want for another thing as long as she lives when she finds out she’s going to be a Grandma.
“Are you saying we need to announce it before my daddy gets tanked on your juice concoction? Or are you just so stoked,” I say, using his west coast friend’s word, “that you literally won’t be able to keep your mouth shut a minute longer?”
He laughs, and kisses the side of my head. It gives me butterflies. Not baby’s fluttering kicks, either. The love tinged madness of him affecting me so fully that I have no control over my own body. “A little of both. What do you say?” Tahoe bounces from one foot to the other.
“Oh, goodness, go get the present already!”
“Yes!” he shouts. When people glance his way, he tries to hide his excitement. “Be right back,” he says, clearing his throat.
Hands on my hips, I watch him go, and skip a little as he tries not to sprint into the Inn for their gift. I walk toward where my parents are sitting at a table when I see Tahoe exit the house with the medium sized box.
It’s as good a time as any. Friends are mulling around the bar, and some couples are already dancing, or sitting down and eating. Tahoe’s parents weren’t able to make it tonight, but they will be here early next week to stay for an entire month. They haven’t been here since the wedding. We visited them last summer for a couple weeks and it was easy for me to see why Tahoe is so amazing. They are loving parents. His dad has blue eyes and a dimpled smile, and his mother has blonde hair and an understanding way. We’re going to wait to tell them until they arrive, but tonight is the night for everyone else. The Bronze Bay gossip column is about to be flooded with predictions.
Tahoe wraps an arm around me and pulls me close. “We got you a gift,” he exclaims, extending the box to my mama.
She takes it, wearing a warm thankful smile. “Go on. Open it now,” I urge, when she goes to set it aside. Manners dictate one should wait until guests leave to open gifts so no one gets their feelings hurt if one present is obviously nicer than another. It was the same when I was a child. I remember having a big birthday party with a dozen friends and staring at the present table with longing. She’d say, “When everyone leaves you can open them all. I’ll make notes of who got what and we can write our thank you notes. Be polite. Use patience, Caroline May.”
“You’re sure?” Mama asks, tilting her head in confusion.
Tahoe clears his throat, and nods. “We’re sure. Open it now.”
My daddy looks at the box as my mom tears into it and starts unwrapping the layers and layers of white tissue paper. She finally gets to the little notecard. It explains what it is. Tahoe helped, but it was mostly my idea. It’s a metal starfish I made from scraps of an airplane. The airplane that almost killed me, if I’m being perfectly honest. On the starfish is an engraving. “A kiss the sky, blue hue, dream come true.”
Her eyes water and I know she’s connecting the dots. It’s our saying. The one they coined when I was born. “You’re going to be grandparents,” I say softly. Dad hugs mama, a one-armed lopsided hug. “It’s a boy. He’s due on daddy’s birthday.”
“Well that’s something, isn’t it?” Daddy says, “This is some anniversary gift! Anyone top this? I’m going to be a Grandpa!” he roars, standing to hug Tahoe and then he envelops me in a bear hug. “Oh, Caroline. Way to make your old man cry.” Those around us are clapping, and shouting. Tahoe’s friends are roaring with shouts and cheers, Shirley screams, and looks horrified I hadn’t told her. Britt, off in a corner, fakes a smile and nods in my direction.
Daddy sniffles a bit, and Mama looks on with loving, tear filled eyes. “Thank you,” she mouths, holding up the starfish. One of the arm points is blackened. I didn’t want to use a charred piece, but it happened to work out best with the design I planned, so I went with it. Symbolism be damned.
“Happy Anniversary, Grandpa and Grandma!” I say. Tahoe places his hand on my lower back.
My Mama finally pulls herself together enough to hug me. “I had a feeling, baby. I’m so happy for you and Tahoe. This is best gift you could have given us. Thank you so much.” She tightens her arms around my neck, and releases me to hug my husband. When she leaves to accept congratulations from their friends, I link hands with Tahoe and meet his loving, searing gaze. My eyes leak.
Not because I’m sad.
Not because I’m happy.
Just because I am here.
Being where you are is a gift others will never have. Bloom where you’re planted. Love when it’s offered. And keep it at all costs.
Note from the author
As always, writing a heartfelt novel is a painful self-exploration, tinged with moments of pure elation and sorrow so real, it depresses me in real life. After that painstaking, beautiful process is over, it takes a village to get this into your hands.
Thank you to Lindee Robinson Photography for the amazing images that grace the cover and all of the teaser images. You brought Caroline and Tahoe to life. Quite literally, in the most beautiful way possible.
J. Wells. The extraordinary editor that questions every single sentence I write. My timeline will never be tighter than when you have control of it. Thank you for fixing this story, and in the end, loving it, just as much as I do. Tahoe is secretly, and always, yours.
My family deserves thanks, because writing a book (or 11) takes time away from them even if I do my best to spread it evenly. My husband: bless you, and that AWFUL mask squeeze that you wore around like a Halloween mask for months. I mean, I’m glad it happened so I could write about it, but you really did scare the shit out of me. I love you, and our small hometown. Forever.
I grew up in a small, coastal town in Florida. It gave me so much more than a larger city could. Of that, I’m certain. Bronze Bay is my way of tipping my hat to the beautiful town that still to this day I call home. It’s the same place I met my husband (and grew up with him), and the town I return to visit my family and friends. If Bronze Bay feels real, it’s because it is. Kind of. I mean, it’s fiction, but my hometown is truly inspiring. Thank you for reading Caroline and Tahoe’s story, and I hope you enjoyed the adventure and love. If you want to know if you’ll see more Bronze Bay SEALs, the answer is yes. Leif and Malena are coming up next in TOSSING IT.
Other Titles by
International Bestselling Author, Rachel Robinson
CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
CRAZY GOOD SERIES
CRAZY GOOD
SET IN STONE
TIME AND SPACE
THE REAL SEAL SERIES
BLACK AND WHITE FLOWERS
HERO HAIR
LIFE PLUS ONE
ROMANTIC COMEDY
FROG HOG NOVELLAS
Frog Hog – Valen and Hutch
EROTIC ROMANCE
THE DOM GAMES
Visit Rachel Robinson online
www.racheljrobinson.com
https://www.facebook.com/racheljeanrobinson
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Keeping It: A Navy SEAL meets Virgin Romance Page 26