by Lucy Score
Ty nodded, blew at the steam rising from his mug.
“That means no trial?” Aldo pressed.
“No trial. Do not pass go. Go straight to jail. Attempted murder, stalking, assault, handful of other charges. Third-time offender thanks to that DUI a few years ago. Adds up to about twenty years and change.”
For the second time that morning, Gloria felt her knees go a little weak.
“So, that’s it. He’s out of my life.”
“You’ve also got a nice shiny piece of paper that forbids him from contacting you. And makes it awfully uncomfortable if his mama gets within fifty feet of you.”
Aldo dropped a kiss on the top of her head.
“Oh my God. I don’t know what to say.” The monster was gone. She was free to live her life. Free to tell Aldo she loved him. Free to go to work and make plans and have a future. There was nothing standing in her way. No shadows left to block out the light.
“Diller had her keeping tabs so he’d know where to find you as soon as he got out. She admitted that much. But still didn’t fess up to vandalizing your car. You can press charges, and we’ll have a go at her,” Ty offered.
But Gloria shook her head. “No. I’m done with that family.”
Aldo squeezed her arm in agreement. They were done with Glenn. Done with the sordid past. They had a whole big, bright future to look forward to.
63
“Well, well. If it isn’t my own personal hero,” Aldo said, answering the video call that popped up on his desktop screen.
Luke’s face grinned back and him. “If it isn’t my vertebra-dislocating, dead-weight friend.”
“You called all the way from Afghanistan to tell me I’m a lard ass?” Aldo kicked back in his desk chair and smoothed his tie. He was in the office early this morning before the hordes—his partner and their associates and interns—descended with fancy coffees, endless chitchat, and smartphones that never shut the fuck up.
He hadn’t stepped back into his role at work so much as dove in head first. It was sink or swim. They’d landed a contract for a massive, state-wide bridge study and replacement project. It meant at least a couple of years of consistent work—and huge volumes of red tape. Today alone he had an on-site inspection and two zoning board meetings in addition to his actual normal work.
“Well, that, and to tell you I’m coming home.”
Aldo sat up. “No shit? It’s about damn time.”
Luke rubbed a hand over his head. “Yeah, two weeks, and I’ll be able to see your lard ass in person.”
“I can’t believe Harpist didn’t spill her guts,” Aldo said, thinking of their morning run. They’d worked their way up slowly, but surely, and now met up several mornings a week to run through the quiet, sleeping town. He was proud of her…and pissed that she’d keep her lips zipped about Luke.
“Well, that’s kinda the thing. Harper doesn’t know,” Luke grinned.
“And you want to surprise our little ray of sunshine,” Aldo said, catching on.
“Exactly.” Well, well. Luke Garrison planning a surprise homecoming. There was hope for him yet.
They talked strategy for a few minutes with Luke nixing every big, public spectacle idea that Aldo threw at him just to annoy him.
“Let’s keep it simple. Private,” Luke said. “And don’t tell anyone. That town has bigger mouths than a lake full of bass.”
“I’ll have to tell Gloria. She’d murder me in my sleep if I kept a secret like this from her. Plus, she’s a good organizer.”
“How are things there?” Luke prodded.
“Good, good,” Aldo said, playing it cool. The first person to find out he was in love with Gloria Parker was not going to be Luke. “Diller’s in prison for a long-ass time. Gloria and I are…seeing each other.” He was a gentleman after all. Plus it would be plain mean to tell Luke about his explosive sex life while his friend had nothing but miles of desert and his hand.
“So, how’s everything else going?” Luke asked. It was bro code for “how’s life with only one leg?”
“Oh, you know. Living the dream. Sleeping in a real bed, taking hot showers, sleeping late on Sundays.” He could stick it to Luke just a little.
Luke sighed. “I can’t wait to come home.”
“You better make it quick. I saw Linc chatting up Harper at the bar the other night.”
“What?” Luke’s general dislike of Lincoln Reed was still alive and well.
Aldo chuckled. “Relax. I’m just messing with you.”
“You’re such an ass. Why are we friends again?”
“Because no one else will put up with your surly ass.”
“Right. I forgot.”
Aldo ignored the steady stream of emails pouring into his inbox as clients around the tri-county region started panicking at the start of their business day. “Given any more thought to retirement?” he asked. Aldo knew the idea would be more tempting at this stage of deployment: close enough to home to taste his mama’s apple pie and his girlfriend’s sweet mouth.
“Yeah,” Luke nodded. “I’m thinking about it a lot. We’ll see how things go when I get home. Talk it over with Harper.”
Luke Garrison wanted to talk his future plans over with a woman. It was about fucking time. Maybe Luke didn’t realize it, but Aldo could see the truth written plainly on his friend’s face. Luke was in love with Harper. And that also was about fucking time.
64
Things are good. Really good. I’m sleeping. I’m…doing other things that a healthy adult does in bed. Ivan finally stopped trying to claw my eyes out.
And Gloria is. Everything.
I’m happy. Happier than before I deployed. I’m better than I was with two fucking—sorry—legs. I never thought I’d get to this point. I’m still working my way back to where I was in some areas. But overall, this is the best time in my entire life.
I didn’t realize how much I wanted someone to come home to. Instead of hanging out at work, clearing a few hundred things off my list when everyone else leaves, I’m leading the pack out the door so I can see her face faster, get that smile fixed on me sooner.
She’s doing great. She’s planning the hell out of the town Christmas festival and light show. Things at work are going well for her. It’s like she’s this flower that’s finally bloomed. I think she’s surprised by how far she’s come. But I’m not. It was always in her.
I want to move things in a more permanent direction. You know? Like more than just swapping house keys and sleepovers. I want to ask her to move in. But I don’t want to spook her. Not when things are this good.
She’s been there for me. Even when I didn’t deserve her. Even when I was trying to fix everything myself. She stood by me, nudged me when I needed it. I want a hell of a lot more than just living together. I want a life together.
One step at a time. One foot in front of the other. Right?
65
Things were practically perfect exactly the way they were. For the first time in her adult life, Gloria felt comfortable, secure, appreciated. Work was challenging and interesting. She’d survived an online QuickBooks course and thoroughly enjoyed a weekend workshop on floral design. Her apartment was the cozy home she’d always wanted. And Aldo was…Aldo. He was the burliest, brightest part of every day.
There was just one teeny, tiny thing.
He’d been holding back on her. Keeping her up on that sky-high pedestal, drowning her in romance and sweetness. She wasn’t complaining. She wasn’t a monster, for God’s sake. But every glimpse she got of the darker side of sex, she wanted to explore it more. And she wanted Aldo to take her there.
He made her feel safe. Because of that, she could trust him to make her feel craved.
They’d enjoyed a flirty dinner together. Teasing, private touches. Long, warm glances. And it was about to pay off.
Aldo pushed in the front door with more brute force than finesse, stripping her of her sweater before the door was even closed.
&n
bsp; Ivan scrambled off of the back of the couch and rocketed across the room in the direction of his food dish.
“Damn cat,” Aldo muttered before he crushed his mouth to Gloria’s.
This was where she usually lost the battle. He’d dig deep, pull back, and make very civilized, careful, beautiful love to her. It was incredible. But she’d had tastes of what he held back and Gloria wanted all of him.
“Here,” she told him.
She saw it in the flaring of his nostrils. The immediate denial, the need to control the situation. To take care. Biting her lip, Gloria unclasped her bra and slid the straps from her shoulders. She took pleasure in the automatic clench of his jaw, the way his hands tightened to fists at his sides.
“Gloria.”
“I’m not just a good girl, Aldo. I want you to show me everything.” She tucked her thumbs in the waistband of her skirt and watched him as she slid it down her thighs revealing the fact that she’d neglected to wear underwear.
He came at her, a shark locking onto its victim. She prayed he’d never regain his legendary control because the way he was looking at her right now stole her breath.
“Pants,” she said, surprised by the sharp tone.
One hand on her naked body, Aldo worked his belt free, and Gloria lent him a hand with the rest. Pants, socks, sexy-ass red boxer briefs. Everything landed on the floor. Muscle, ink, hard, hot body. His cock was already hard for her.
Aldo was a spectacular specimen, and she wondered how he could see anything else in the mirror.
“God, you’re hot,” she breathed.
But there was no time for conversation because he was taking her down to the floor in a desperate embrace turned tackle. The hardwood bit into her palms and knees.
“I need you to be sure,” he told her, his voice a gravel road.
“I’m sure, Aldo. I trust you.”
He swore. “If you change your mind, tell me to stop, and I will.”
“Trust me not to break.” She was bared to him, her back arched, her core begging for attention.
He ran his hand down her from neck to hip in one long sweep of heat. It felt so good she purred like a damn cat.
“Okay?” he asked.
“If you ask me that again, I’m putting my clothes back on, going home, and buying a shower massager.”
He growled from behind her. And then she felt the delicious stroke of his tongue between her legs, the press of his face against her ass. She was so vulnerable in this position. He pushed her knees wider as his tongue probed and danced over her neediest flesh.
Her legs trembled, quaking as desire woke.
“You look so fucking sexy, so ready for me,” he murmured, brushing kisses along the insides of her thighs, over the round cheeks of her ass.
He went back to tasting her, quick thrusts of his magic tongue between her folds, nudging at her clit, her entrance. She was seeing static and shadows.
She could come like this, if he let her. She could come on her hands and knees, his face between her thighs. And she felt no shame.
Gloria gasped, shaking harder when she felt the velvet tip of his tongue dip between her cheeks to the secret puckered rim that no one had ever touched.
It felt…so good and so wrong. She wanted more and told him so with a rock of her hips.
He gave another grumble low in his chest. “Have you ever…?” He didn’t finish the question, merely replaced his tongue with the tip of his finger.
“No,” she squeaked at the gentle pressure. But for Aldo she would. She wanted it all.
“Do you want to?” His voice was barely a rasp now.
“Yes.”
He stroked both hands down her sides, over her hips, gripping her there. She could feel him deciding.
“Everywhere that you touch me, you erase something dark,” Gloria whispered.
His lips brushed the curve of her hip. Then his teeth grazed her flesh. The sensation was so new and carnal that Gloria’s skin pebbled.
“You like that.” A statement, not a question. For the first time, Gloria felt like Aldo was a willing participant in this exploration.
“Yes.” She peeked down between her legs to where his erection hung heavily, brushing the inside of her thighs. A drop of precum appeared and dripped down to the floor. She shuddered with the thrill of it. “Let me be your fantasy, Aldo,” she pleaded. “Like you’re mine.”
“Fuck, sweetheart. When you say things like that, how can I deny you anything?”
“Why would you want to?” she whispered, submitting to the slow, steady stroke of his hands down her body and back up. Over and over again until her skin was aflame.
“I want to be careful with you.”
“I won’t break,” she argued.
“God.” On that mournful word, Aldo slammed home into her wet, begging channel.
It stole the breath from her lungs, and Gloria gasped for air. With one hand, he reached under her to grip her breast, kneading it as he pulled out and sank back into her. He tugged at her nipple over and over again while he jerked her hips back into him. She could hear the steady slap of his balls against her and felt dizzy with desire.
It had never been like this. And she didn’t want to miss a second of it for the rest of her life.
He gave a guttural grunt as she flexed around him. “Already, baby?”
Still gripping her breast, Aldo used his other hand to find that needy bundle of nerves between her legs.
“OhmygodAldo!” She was incoherent as he fucked into her tight body with the power she knew his body possessed.
He was using her for his own pleasure, and that dark thought that had once might have disgusted her now liberated her.
She felt the shiver start at the bud beneath his talented fingers, felt it spread like a halo encompassing her entire body. She came, exploding around him, clamping down on that thick cock that he buried inside her.
He rode out her orgasm, swearing and sweating and bucking into her as her hungry little muscles clutched him. When she was done and trembling, he stopped, fully sheathed in her. His hands slipped over her slick skin to stroke.
“Why are you stopping?” she breathed.
“Need a minute or else this is going to be over too fast.”
As if echoing Aldo’s point, his cock jerked inside her once. Reflexively, Gloria closed around it.
Aldo growled. “Behave yourself, sweetheart.”
“What if I don’t feel like behaving?” She did it again, and he surprised them both by swatting her ass. The connection of his palm on her flesh did weird and wonderful things to Gloria.
Then he was moving again, slowly, methodically pulling all the way out and pushing in to the hilt. Lazily fucking her as if they had forever.
She could feel the fabric of his compression sleeve against her, wondered how they looked naked on the living room floor. Then she felt his fingers, damp and searching, slide up the cleft of her ass until they found what they were looking for. Back and forth, dragging the wet with them.
“Yes?” he asked, his thrusts coming stronger, a little faster. Just the way she liked them.
Gloria nodded.
“Say it, Gloria.”
“Yes.”
He stilled, and there was pressure as he pushed, discomfort as he slid in, and then a relaxation of sorts as his finger slid past the barrier. Then he was moving in her again. His cock and his finger worked her together, taking Gloria past anything she’d ever known in bed.
She was safe. She was treasured. She was craved.
“Aldo, I think I’m going to come again,” she gasped.
“Touch yourself, Glo,” he ordered.
It took only a few delicious, excruciating seconds, and Gloria was coming and slamming her hips back against him, urging him on. He thrust into her, cock and finger, faster, harder, feeling her orgasm build and break.
He shouted as he let biology take over, let himself rut into her body as his own orgasm exploded. She felt it when he re
leased his load inside her as deep as he could go. She looked down between her legs and watched his semen-soaked cock plunge into her body over and over again as they both trembled over the crest.
“Yes, Aldo!” She was with him, still coming.
66
“I’m impressed, Harpsichord,” Aldo whistled through his teeth as they rounded a corner on the path in the frigid morning air. “A few months ago, you couldn’t run the length of a football field. Now, look at you.”
Harper rolled her eyes at the nickname and tossed a smug look over her shoulder. “I could say the same about you,” she teased, increasing her speed to keep up with the pace he set. Their footsteps echoed quietly on the frozen ground beneath them.
“Yeah, but I’m a perfect physical specimen. I’m designed to run no matter how many legs I have. You were a late-sleeping desk potato.”
He smirked at her gasp that turned silver in the frosty air. “Desk potato?”
“Someone who doesn’t watch a lot of TV but spends all their time sitting at a desk.”
“Where do you come up with this stuff?”
He tapped a finger to his temple, his breath steady. “It’s all up here. All the secrets of the universe.”
“Let’s see if those secrets of the universe help you move a little faster.” She picked up the pace and shot him a haughty look over her shoulder.
They’d worked their way up to five miles together. Every step, every mile, a hard-fought battle. That made every run all the sweeter. He ran most mornings alone, slipping out of the house or Gloria’s bed when she left for early mornings at work. But a few times a week, he and Harper hit the park together. And today, today was going to be a memorable one.
He let his loose joints gear up and speed past her on the trail.
“Now you’re just showing off,” she laughed. “Don’t let your leg fall off!”
“Gotta get there before sunrise,” Aldo called. The lake at sunrise was the second-best way to start the day. The first being waking up naked with Gloria.