Kalin smiles at me from across the room, and it suddenly dawns on me that we have all invited ourselves over to his beautiful Hampton hideaway. The people that I love most in the world are right here in this room, and Kalin has generously opened his home up to us for no other reason than he knows how much they mean to me. The events of the past week have tested all of us in our own way, and have taken us all by surprise before we barely even had a chance to celebrate Kalin’s recovery. I’m reminded of the very fine line that brought us here together alive and well and happy.
Peter and Lauren arrive from their morning walk, and Kalin introduces them to my parents. Lauren insists on taking them on a morning walk after breakfast to show them the gardens, scenery, and beach. My parents oblige, and I sit back, content that they will have a chance to get to know each other.
My dad takes a deep breath and draws attention to the elephant in the room. “So is this where everything happened last week?”
Kalin chews through a bite of croissant and takes a sip of coffee. “It was actually out by the bay on the dock, Mr. Ried. We had just gotten back from a cruise celebrating our breakthrough in the evidence. We were sure arrest warrants were about to be issued. Apparently our visitors felt the same way,” he grumbles.
“Kalin disowned us at the time,” Peter says with a flash of amusement.
“Of course I didn’t want them to know you were my parents.” He places his hands over their backs and caresses them softly.
“He pretended we were interested in buying his forty-million-dollar boat,” Peter explains.
We all laugh.
“I would have given you a bargain,” Kalin smirks.
“When Annabelle called us after that terrible accident, I was shocked.” My mom sets down her tea, and her expression tightens. “It was a miracle she walked away without a scratch. We were going to visit, but she wanted to wait until you came out of this.” The crinkle between her brows relaxes, and she turns her gaze to Kalin. “I think her energies were spent on taking care of you, Kalin.”
“You can say she saved my life twice now, Mrs. Ried. The first time when she nursed me back to health at the hospital, and the second time with her expert marksmanship.” His eyes sparkle with what looks like amusement mixed with adoration. “I hope I’m not trying your patience, Annabelle.”
“Not yet, Kalin.” I shoot him a glance. “I just hope you get some new colleagues.”
He runs a finger over the Cupid’s bow dimple above his lip, but I can still see the small smile playing on his lips. “If you recall, I didn’t hire any of them. I hired you instead. See what a difference good judgment makes?”
“I certainly do,” I huff with an air of mirth.
I glance at Lia and she’s hiding a grin behind sips of coffee. “You can’t afford her right now, Kalin.”
“You’re right, Lia. So I had something else in mind.”
I raise my brows at him, and my amusement turns to curiosity.
Kalin strolls over to me in front of everyone, and stoops down beside me by the sofa. Taking my hand, he presses his lips to the back of my hand, causing my body to tingle from the warm, soft caress of his lips. He lifts his eyes to mine, and a muscle quivers in his jaw. “I can’t afford you, Annabelle. I never could.”
I pull my hand away and blink in confusion. Lia folds her lips in and stares at me as if she can’t believe what she’s just heard. Mixed feelings surge through me. I just didn’t want to sign any contracts. I never intended for Kalin to say goodbye forever. I wanted us to be together without all the complications. Maybe it was too much to ask. Maybe I came in a close second to his first love: TALVIS Advertising. I stare at the floor, feeling an ache in my chest.
His deep voice sinks beneath my thoughts. “Annabelle, my intuition was right about you all along. Lia is right. I can’t afford you. This goes way beyond anything I would have ever imagined. I knew when I met you that there was something about you that caused me to lose my focus. Certainly you’re beautiful. I won’t deny that I noticed that about you first.” He shakes his head, and glances down for a moment. Taking a deep breath, his liquid chestnut eyes return to me. “But over the weeks, I learned that there was so much more to you. I wanted to see you more and more, and it had nothing to do with advertising.” He glances up at me and smiles. I stare at my hands, focusing on the spot where he kissed me. I struggle to find words to save what we have before it’s gone forever.
“Kalin, we can still…”
“Shhh. Please, let me finish. When everything came to a head during that terrible night, I knew the first thing I wanted to see when I woke up was you. And like a dream coming true, there you were, my beautiful Annabelle, bringing me back to life. But you had done this before, though you may not have realized it. When we met, you were bringing me back to life every day. You saved my life more times than I can count.”
Kalin reaches into his jacket pocket and fishes out a small case, a case I have seen before when we were walking on the beach, before our lives were shattered by events that none of us could have imagined. My heart begins to pound in my chest, and confusion is replaced with anticipation. “I can’t afford to lose the first thing I want to see when I open my eyes, Annabelle. I can’t afford to lose you. Make my dreams come true, Annabelle. Will you marry me?”
The heaviness I felt from the chance of losing him gives way to warmth now surging through me. My mixed-up thoughts are frozen in my head, and the gasps in the room remind me that I’m not the only one in shock. All of the reasons that I have to run away from this commitment are weighed in my mind, but it all pales to the quiet peace I feel in my heart, knowing that I have been in love with Kalin this whole time.
Lia smiles at me, her eyes moist, and I immediately know I have the blessing of my best friend. My dad clasps my mother’s hand with his, and they await my response.
My eyes turn to Kalin, and I lose myself in the unquenchable warmth shining in the eyes of the man who already possesses my heart. I feel my eyes moisten, powerless to contain the happiness I feel in this moment. “Yes. Yes, I will,” I say with a slow smile that spreads across my face.
Kalin rises in one fluid motion and presses his mouth to mine, claiming my mouth and my heart with the sweetest kiss I’ve ever had. The room erupts in applause and jubilation. Kalin wraps his arms around me while his kiss deepens, setting me ablaze as only he can. When he lifts his head, I glance around to find everyone applauding and smiling. I am in a dream that I hope I never awaken from.
Epilogue
Always the gentleman, Kalin had already asked my parents’ permission to marry me. I had no idea that he had pulled them aside and showed them the ring. My mom had to clean herself up from the tears to return for breakfast. Our short time together already seems to have touched every emotional hue in the spectrum, but I know that I would choose the stormy seas that love inevitably brings to the sterile and safe travels of life without it.
Kalin had made this choice before we met, and almost drowned because of it. He is a war-scarred veteran on the topic. I am just no longer naive. But his courage taught me that love is worth risking, even if the price seems too high. Whatever we have suffered through together is worth the life and love that brings us closer together during those same moments.
As we plan the marriage in his Hampton retreat, Kalin pulls me onto his lap on the loveseat. “I can’t promise you there won’t be any more storms, Annabelle. I can only promise you that I will love you through them all.”
“It’s all I ask, Kalin. It’s all I can promise you, too.”
“That’s enough for me,” he whispers.
As he cradles me against his chest, I breathe in his scent of cardamom and mint that mixes with the sweet fragrance of flora drifting through the open doors. Smiling against my lips, he slips his hand over my belly to find the top button on my jeans. Unfastening the button, he slides his hand over my soft, sensitive skin. I gasp against the shell of his ear. Sliding his hand under my shirt, he r
uns his fingers over the curves of my waist, over the dip in the center of my stomach, along the indent from my stomach to my chest. My blood surges and my skin tingles under his warm touch as he feels his way to my bra. He moves his other arm around my shoulder and tugs at the bottom of my shirt, peeling it up and over my arms.
“So natural and sexy. So beautiful,” he rumbles in my ear. His erection is diamond hard against my bottom, and I tip my head back to steal another sultry kiss from his firm, strong lips. Kalin trails a heated path up and down my body with his fingers, running his hands up and down like my body was made for him. Snapping my bra off, he brings a flushed, hard nipple into his mouth, swirling his tongue around the rosy flesh, causing my back to arch immediately as I shift toward him. With a bearish growl, he probes his tongue between my breasts, then slowly up the swollen flesh of my other peak, causing me to squirm in his grip. Pressing my other nipple into his mouth, he tortures me some more with twirls of his tongue around the ultra-sensitive tip.
His hands move to the waist of my jeans. Pressing his fingers to my wet panties, he breathes hot in my ear. “I want to be inside of you so bad, but I have to taste you first. You’re driving me crazy. I have to have all of you.” Kalin drops beside me and tugs my jeans off, breathing me in like a drowning man breathing fresh air for the first time. “Jesus, there is no sweeter scent in the world.” He pushes his nose into my wet panties before tugging them down with his thumbs. The hot air from his breathing sends a rush of warmth through me. I spear my fingers through his hair, bracing for his skillful touch.
Gliding his thumb over my clit, he darts his tongue back and forth over my saturated center already craving all of him. Kalin delves into me, flicking at my center back and forth and enjoying my taste with deep, bearish groans. “Fuck, you taste so good.”
“Oh, please,” I beg.
His eyes are wild and possessive with lust.
“All mine.” His words mix with the lap of his tongue, causing a jolt of pleasure to break through me. “That’s it, my sweet Annabelle. Come. So sweet. Goddamn you’re so sweet. All for me.”
I whimper and moan from the waves of pleasure that rock my body, and Kalin grins with delight. Crawling on top of me, he presses his thumb over my brow to brush away a strand of hair. “Your sweet sounds have me hard as granite.”
“So I see,” I smile. “So what are you waiting for?”
Kalin instinctively fishes out a condom from the end table, and is just about to tear it open. He stares at the package for a moment before his eyes flick to mine.
“What’s wrong?”
“I don’t need these anymore. I don’t need anyone else, ever.”
“Me neither,” I smile. “Besides, we’re covered. We’re both clean. And I’m on a contraceptive.”
Kalin tosses the unopened condom onto the floor. “Mine. All mine,” he grins. His possessive words are as much of a turn-on as his hard body coming down on me. Thrusting into me with a powerful push of his hips, Kalin works me into a sweet inferno that engulfs my entire body, roaring through me in a powerful orgasm that moves me to heaven and earth and back again. Kalin comes inside of me in one explosive burst after another, making my orgasms that much more delightful. Moving my hands over his glistening body, I fall back into myself, trying to recall if I had died somewhere along the way before ending up here. In heaven.
~~~
Kalin has been working with TALVIS as the CEO, regaining the company’s most valuable clients and reestablishing their trust. As long as they know Kalin now runs the company, it’s a given with them. The memory of working with Madison on the marketing study has weighed on my mind with sadness. The next morning I skim the headlines on my computer. “Executives Charged in Attempted Murder of TALVIS CEO Claim Perpetrator Acted Alone.” I shake my head in disgust. “Please,” I snort to myself.
Dale was a patsy who had his life destroyed first by ProEast Energy, and then snuffed out by the same managers who fixed their callousness on Kalin. Madison was caught in the middle. She had fallen in love, and was now surrounded by ruthlessness and greed. Her only choice was to play along or get out. I could only guess that she was taken in by the cold-heartedness of their ambitions. The new executives probably even convinced her how easy it would be to take over the company, which played into her lust for revenge.
The gentle grip of Kalin’s hand on my shoulder arouses me from my thoughts. “Hey, are you okay?’
His tender smile soothes my nerves immediately. “Yeah,” I smile. “I just want this to be over.”
“It’s going be over soon, baby. I just want you out of the city during the trial. I don’t want you anywhere near those reporters.”
Kalin has called the paper and told them to keep me out of the articles, with the exception of anything I testify to in court or other legal proceedings. He suspects anything else would be a fabrication. His lawyer also gave them friendly reminders of their past misdeeds, and wanted to save the paper from any “future embarrassment.” It was a veiled threat, and I loved him for it.
Always protective, Kalin has me stay in the Hamptons until the trial is over. Per his instructions, he has barred the media from entering the affluent community. Each of his neighbors seems to have their own stories to tell of media intrusions, dishonesty, and outright fabrications that damaged their reputation, so they gladly agree to bar them from the private community during the trial.
“I like staying here. It’s so peaceful.”
“Get used to it,” Kalin says with a soft caress on my shoulder.
My eyes dart to the headline and back to Kalin. “We trusted Madison. But I was wrong. You were wrong. How can we be so sure about anything anymore? She was in love with you.”
Kalin shakes his head and his lips curve into a slight frown. “We can’t be sure about everything. She was caught up in something bigger than herself. In times like that, you have to be stronger than all of it.”
He turns to me with a familiar grin, the gleam in his eyes beaming through all my doubts. “I wasn’t in love with her, Annabelle. I’m in love with you. So my heart was right.”
I spring into his arms, and the warmth of his embrace dances over me.
“I’m approving the new board members today.”
“More drama?” I ask lightheartedly.
“Let’s hope not. I’m vetting them personally. They won’t have cushy contracts or ulterior motives,” he smiles. “They certainly won’t be from ProEast Energy.”
“God forbid.” I take a breath of exasperation. Kalin and I agree to cancel the transfer of stock, and I resign from TALVIS until further notice. The board is generally following Kalin’s recommendations anyway in light of the trial, and I don’t want to be part of the ongoing drama.
As the months go by, we have also learned that the executives on trial had planned to use TALVIS for a major advertising platform to promote and improve the reputation of ProEast Energy in light of various scandals and investigations into criminality, something Kalin had consistently refused to approve. After nine months, all three of the “Hampton Three,” as the media dubbed them, are convicted of attempted murder.
I feel nothing for Jeff Corman and Brian McMillian, but can’t help feel a shade of sadness for Madison. She didn’t seem to realize she had everything already, but she let the new executives blind her to that by focusing on what had been taken from her to the exclusion of everything else. Dale was desperate and dying and used. The temptation was too much for him.
Kalin has little reaction. He always felt that Brian McMillian had changed so much over the years, that there was not even a vestige of the person that he knew anymore. Whatever was left of him, ProEast Energy had taken the rest. He only wishes Dale would have trusted him more and reached out to him at some point in his suffering, instead of placing his life in the hands of the same cold-hearted management that would use him to the very end.
Kalin explains to me that he wants us first now. Of course, through lessons learned, he w
ants to clean up the company board and restore it to the principles that he founded the company on. But he is ready to walk away, if that’s what I want. I know his heart is in the right place, and that’s all that matters to me. “We’ll have the right board members in now, who put the clients and employees first, as originally planned. I don’t need to stage a coup with you to vote them out,” he says with a disarming smile. “Besides, now that we’re getting married, I’m simply willing all my shares to you.”
“To me or to us?”
“What do you mean? I can’t will the stock to myself, silly.”
“Kalin, I mean us.” My voice is light and bubbly. I can barely contain my joy.
Kalin gives me an incredulous stare.
I smile and pat my tummy.
“That is, if he doesn’t rebel against his dad and become a poverty-stricken artist.”
Kalin drops to his knees, clutching my hand on the arm of the leather chair. “You’re pregnant?”
I nod at him, and he takes me into his arms, planting tender kisses against my temple.
“We’re having a baby,” he whispers with excitement into my ear.
“Yes,” I say with a wide grin.
Kalin draws back and searches my eyes. “I thought you were on the pill.”
“Nothing is a hundred percent, sweetheart. It’s only ninety-nine percent effective.” My grin widens.
Kalin breathes out a deep, rich laugh that’s as warm as his embrace. He pulls me into him, and my happy bursts are muffled into his strong shoulder, knowing that we’re ready and enraptured to start our new lives together.
*~The End~*
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