I lifted my drink and simultaneously placed my other hand on his cock as the drink touched my lips. He was hard and long and I was suddenly breathing heavy.
Mac pulled me out of my sexual fog as he asked, “Emberly, have any more friends you can put on a plane tomorrow?” His eyes were alight with amusement.
I let out a shaky laugh. “Most women hate me, Mac. There aren’t any others that don’t already have me on a hit list.” I lilted.
Laughs sounded down the row of chairs.
A slow song with a killer beat and bagpipes came on and Cailen reached for my hand pulling me off the stool. The isle was cramped but he pulled me into his frame and looked down into my eyes as he led me around. He had a strong frame and I could tell he was an excellent dancer—his lead was solid.
We twisted, our bodies close together until the song ended and he whispered, “I’m ready to put a ring on your finger and make you mine, Emberly.” He pulled back and claimed my eyes.
“Let’s do it.” The words came out automatically without hesitation.
They shocked me still and made him stop in his tracks. It was as though the heavens opened and all the stars aligned. Everything was crystal clear. Nothing else mattered in this world but this man. The fact that I hadn’t thought about my job in days—and even more importantly could care less now—gave me my answer.
I wanted to be wherever he was. Period.
The most beautiful smile came across his face before he kissed me so tenderly and encircled me in his strong arms.
He reached into his pocket and pulled a blue velvet box.
“I made a stop on the way back from the gym.” He said slyly opening the box and dipping down to his knee.
My breath caught and my hands started trembling.
He stared into my eyes as he lifted my left hand. “Emberly Landon. I promise to always love, protect and honor you. Would you do me the honor of being my wife?”
I felt my knees almost buckle and the tears spilled over my eyes as I nodded emphatically.
“Yes! Yes!”
He smiled as he slid the ring on my finger and stood to wrap me in his arms.
I heard the shouts and yells behind us. The entire bar erupted in a sea of congratulations and screams. He leaned down to kiss me and I basically attacked him where he stood.
By the time I pulled back his lips were thoroughly worked over and his hair was scattered in every direction from my pawing action.
He licked his lower lip and grinned. “I think it’s time we say goodnight to these wankers, love.”
I nodded dramatically. “Yes!”
I walked over and tipped back the rest of my glass and glided down the row giving hugs to each of my newly favorite people. They all smirked as we left the bar hand in hand.
“Don’t rough her up too bad, mate, I’m going to need her to help me with Lila.” Kincaid called out as we drifted through the door.
I snorted.
“That is one awesome group of friends you have there.” I looked into his eyes. “You are very fortunate.” I said sincerely.
He pulled our linked finger up to trace my cheek. “Yes. I am, but it’s because of you, Gemma.”
We walked back to the hotel because the night was mild and I was flying high. I took the opportunity to finally learn about Cailen.
“Tell me about your life.” I asked staring at his profile as he led us down the street.
He glanced over with a smile. “What would you like to know, Gemma?”
“Well seeing as it’s going to be mine, too, soon, everything, please.” I pleaded.
He smiled and winked before answering, “That it is, love. Well, it’s fairly boring, actually. I travel a lot, obviously, because of the job. My main home is here, in Scotland but I have been spending a fair amount of time in NYC lately freelancing with several large magazines.”
“Vogue.” I stated.
He smiled. “Ah, yes. Well, you see that was a last minute decision. After I met you I knew I had to have you so when that was offered I jumped. Normally, that’s not my cup of tea but if it put me near you I couldn’t resist.” He smiled as he kissed my fingertips.
My brows furrowed. “What do you mean your cup of tea?”
“Well, I don’t normally work on commercial photo shoots with live models. Not my thing, love.” His tone was amused.
“Well, what is your type of shoot then?”
He looked up in thought and turned to me. “Mostly documentary but I really enjoy action and time-lapse. I’ve consulted on a few satellite jobs and those were truly amazing.” He beamed as he talked. I could tell he loved what he did and loved sharing it, too.
I was so curious I couldn’t stand it. “So, who do you mainly work for then?”
“Myself. But I freelance for Time quite a bit. Have for many years. I’ve seen some incredible things working for them and they are one of the few publications that I admire, therefore I’m always honored when they call and allow me to feature my work.”
I was staring wide-eyed. They probably looked like saucers. Working with Time Magazine is like the holy grail of the publishing world and the fact that he had done it many times over a span of years spoke volumes of his talent. A sudden burst of pride swelled through me and I realized what a fucking lucky person I was to have met this man and I could call him mine.
“Wow. That is truly incredible, Cailen. I know, myself, I would kill to have a chance to work for Time so I know you must feel amazing.”
I had so many things I wanted to say to him but my thoughts were so jumbled.
I finally landed on these sincere words, “You inspire me.”
His head whipped around to my face and he pulled me to a stop. His eyes were burning blue and they were wide and shining. “That is the greatest compliment I have ever received and to get it from the woman I love and admire is indescribable.”
I smiled as he cupped my face in his hands. “I have a feeling we are going to be learning about each other for the rest of our lives.” I gave a crooked grin. “I’m more twisted than a fucking tornado so you definitely need to strap yourself in, bagpipe.”
He laughed, loud. “Good thing I have a helmet and a parachute because you’re going to be like jumping from a plane, love.”
I smiled as I pulled his hand and began walking. “Where is your house here?”
“It’s just outside of town. I live on a lake near Leith.” He said smiling.
“It sounds beautiful. I love the water. My dad used to take me to Connecticut during the summers and rent a house on the lake.” My eyes drifted up to the sky. “It was my favorite time of year. There’s just something about the quiet of the water that gives me peace.”
He pulled me to a stop again. “Well, let’s go. We can be there in an hour.”
I smiled wide, giddy at the prospect of being on the water again.
“Really?”
He nodded quickly. “Absolutely! Come on.”
CHAPTER 7: ANOTHER BITCH
He pulled me at a fast pace and we were back at the hotel in ten minutes. I wasted no time packing up my things and stacking them by the door. He made a few phone calls and then turned to smile at me as he lifted our bags onto his shoulders and reached for my hand.
An idea had been swimming around in my head since he told me about the lake house. Suddenly I knew exactly what I was going to propose.
I waited until we were in the car before I turned to him. “Why don’t we get married at the house? I have no one that I really want to bring besides Lila and she will be here tomorrow. We can have all the guys and make it a celebration.”
I searched his eyes praying he didn’t think I was rushing and that this was a bad idea.
“Would that be ok? What do you think?” My heart was hammering in my chest.
The biggest brightest smile I’d seen in my life spread across his face. “Gemma, I think that is the best thing I’ve heard in my entire life. Yes. It’s perfect, love.” He leaned over and p
ulled my lips to his.
He pulled his phone from his pocket smiling like a hyena and began dialing numbers. He spent the next forty-five minutes telling our plans to the guys.
I took that opportunity to check my messages.
There were a shitload of missed calls and twenty-two messages. I realized how much I didn’t give a shit and just skipped over them and began dialing her number.
It was a conversation I dreaded, like I dread any conversation with her.
My mother’s mother, Victoria. Even her name is snotty.
I heard the connection of our phones and paused then I heard her haughty voice. “Emberly.” It was an acknowledgment. That’s all.
I rolled my eyes. “Hello, Victoria.” I paused to see if she would proceed and as usual, silence.
I sighed. “I wanted to let you know that I’m getting married. It will probably happen in the next few days here in Scotland.”
I heard a reproving sigh. “I suppose I should be glad you bothered to call even if it is such last minute that we could never make it.”
The coldness in her voice made me seethe.
I remembered all the times she was cold and indifferent to my mother. Sometimes I wished I could just dust those blood ties away.
“Well, like I said, I thought you should know.”
She barely hesitated. “I’m sure your mother would be so proud to know that her daughter disrespects her mother in such a cowardly way. I guess you are expecting me to send an extravagant wedding gift. Is that the real reason for your call, Emberly?”
Her voice made me stiffen.
I blinked back the tears. She had hit the button. “Don’t ever speak of her to me. Do you understand? She deserved a better mother than what she got and I’ll be damned if I’m going to let you use her for your own selfish reasons.” I ran my hand through my hair. “Lose my number and forget you ever knew me.” I dropped the phone into my lap and squeezed my hands together.
I felt a warm hand cover mine. I quickly wiped my sleeve across my eyes. I looked out the window not able to meet his eyes.
We were silent for a long while when he finally said, “Would you like to talk about it, love?”
I had myself in check and I turned to meet his face. His blue eyes were piercing and pleading to help.
“It’s just unsettling anytime I have to deal with her. I would prefer if I never have to do it again, actually.” I let out a humorless laugh.
“Who, love?” He questioned.
“My mother’s mother, Victoria. She is the epitome of dysfunction and evil.” I stared down at my hands.
“I should have known better than to even bother calling. Her goal in life is to prove to the world that I was a mistake. She’s hated me since the day I was born. I, along with my father wrecked her daughter’s future. She wanted her to marry rich and connected like her and my mother ran. When she met my father the rest was history.” I smiled thinking about their love and the life they shared.
He squeezed my hand causing me to look over. “You are by far no mistake. You are my own personal miracle.”
That made my heart swell. I leaned over and pulled his lips to mine. “Thank you for that.”
He grinned. “I only speak the truth, so anytime, Gemma.”
“You are the only person in this world I can truly count on, Cailen. I’ve lived alone for so long and then you float into my life and suddenly the world looks different and new. I feel like I want to explore and live life instead of letting life lead me. I can’t believe how I’ve wasted all these years with such frivolity. So, see, it is you that is my miracle.”
We shared a long moment looking into each other’s eyes and I rested my head on his shoulder. He filled the silence with a beautiful song and I drifted off to sleep absolutely contented.
I felt the shifting of my body and opened my eyes to see that he was carrying me across a dimly lit room. I lifted my head. “Aww, I don’t want to miss the house. I’m sorry.”
He leaned his head down and whispered in my ear, “Shhh, go back to sleep, beautiful. There is plenty of time to do that tomorrow.”
His touch and his voice had me calm in a second and I felt myself drift back to sleep. I had a dreamless sleep and I could feel his strong, warm body just beside me as I breathed evenly.
I felt his hand grip my hip and his tongue on my neck and then he thrust his hip and entered me. I gasped loudly and realized it wasn’t a dream and turned my head.
“Oh fucking A, good morning.” I said breathlessly.
He began moving more violently and eagerly. “I just couldn’t fucking look at you in my bed one second longer. I had to feel you.” His voice was a growl and his hands began caressing my nipples as he rocked his hips back and forth.
The tension was building and within minutes I felt the orgasm hovering just within reach.
“Oh God.” I panted. “It’s close.” I barely breathed the words.
He went deeper and then touched me. I rocked back and felt the heat spread between my legs and the tremors rocked my body as I hissed his name through my lips when I peaked.
He slammed his hips into mine and I could hear the loud smack of his skin on mine when he tensed and yelled his release.
He leaned into my neck laying kisses across my collarbone and said, “Welcome home, Gemma.”
I turned onto my back and looked over at him. “God I love the sound of that.”
He smiled wide. “You are the first and only woman to ever share my bed.”
That did strange things to me. I felt extremely proud to have that honor. To know that I am the only woman he has ever loved is humbling. And to be able to honestly say the feeling is mutual, well, there’s no greater gift than that.
“Well good because I would hate for them to know that they failed miserably at measuring up to our levels of making each other scream.” I smirked.
He buried his face in my hair and laughed. “So fucking true, Gemma. So fucking true. There’s not a woman on this earth that’ll ever hold a candle to you, love. You have ruined me.”
“Hmm, I feel honored to carry that title.”
“Well, you should, love. It’s almost the best that I can give.”
I turned to meet his eyes. “Oh really, and what is the best, huh?”
His eyes turned serious and gentle. “When I call you the mother of my children. That will top anything in the world for me.” He traced his finger across my cheek.
I was frozen.
Shocked-fucking-still. I’d never thought about children and honestly I couldn’t think about something using me for an incubator while it racked my body. Children are loud and rude and annoying. Any that I have ever been around had me gritting my teeth within five minutes and after ten I have a twitch.
Marianne brought her two rugrats into the office for a birthday party last year and they basically trashed the break-room. We had to have new carpets installed in the editing room because they thought it was funny to spread correction ink all over the floor and walls.
Yea, the thought of children makes me recoil.
He sensed my apprehension and read me like a fucking book.
“Our children will be different, Gemma. Take a minute to breathe and get that mind back out of the despair you’ve created. We have time to enjoy life together before we have to make that transition. Ok? So, breathe and relax.”
“All children are monsters, Cailen. I’m not equipped to be a mother. I’m pretty sure that stringing them up and leaving them in closets for days at a time is illegal.” I stared at the ceiling raking my hands through my hair. “Seriously, I don’t think that is something I will ever be prepared for.”
He pulled one hand down and rested it in his between our bodies. “I can wait, love. Just don’t shut me out because you are afraid. Ok?”
I looked over. “I’ll never shut you out, Cailen, not again. But I just don’t want you to miss out on anything because of me. I’m a fucked up nugget and have a track record of destru
ction in my wake. I just never want to hurt you.”
He cupped my face. “Well, then stop talking. I can handle you, Gemma. I know how you work and I know you to the core. Just trust me, love.”
I took a deep breath and leaned in to kiss him. He smiled wide, at ease. “Are you hungry?”
I nodded. “God yes!”
He threw the covers back and I realized I was laying in my bra and panties. I looked over and raised an eyebrow.
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