We both groaned at the penetration, and then I leaned forward to claim a deep, sloppy kiss.
He rocked up beneath me, and I needed the motion, needed the friction, needed him to match my deepest rhythm.
“So good, Cole,” I whispered, still pressed against him fully. “You feel so good.”
Cole just made wordless, guttural noise, but I knew exactly what he meant.
Then I took his earlobe between my lips. Sucked it a few times. Every time I applied suction, his pelvis bucked up involuntarily.
Letting his earlobe slip out, I murmured huskily into his ear, “Let go, Cole. Let go.”
He released a long, gravelly moan—like some kind of primitive creature—and held my hips snugly against his as he levered us both over without pulling out.
He sank deeper inside me as I wrapped my legs around his middle, arching up with a cry of pleasure.
He pulled back and thrust—long and deep—and I responded to his motion, propelled by the need to love and be loved. Both of them at once for the first time in my life.
I gasped and rolled my hips, digging my fingers into the back of his neck. “Cole!”
He reared back and thrust again, rasping out “Eve” on the in-stroke.
I basked in the sound of him saying my name, my real name, one no one else ever used. Together, we built up a shared motion that was urgent, hungry and almost primal in its rhythm.
I knew he was with me. That he needed this as much as I did.
“Cole!” I gasped as his hips rocked with mine.
The tension inside me broke. My body shook desperately and tightened around him as the pleasure swept through me.
Cole released a rough exclamation, freezing inside me for a moment, like he was trapped in the cusp of the moment, like he needed my help to release.
So I breathe, “Cole. It’s me. Let go.”
He let go, the pleasure and feeling twisting on his face.
Then his arms were gathering me in, and he’d collapsed into the embrace.
And it was the first time in my life I felt known for who I was, needed for who I was, loved for who I was. The first time I could give all of that back.
I knew that was most important, and that Cole now knew that too. The rest of our lives, wherever they took us, could shape themselves around that one truth.
Epilogue
Cole
“Does this look all right?”
I turned and saw Eve standing in the doorway to our bedroom modeling yet another outfit. “Absolutely,” I said with a grin. “But then again, I thought the last four outfits looked great too. What’s this all about?”
“I’m meeting the rest of your friends tonight—and their wives. I just want to make a good impression.”
I could only stare. Seriously? It amazed me that this beautiful, confident woman was suddenly feeling a little self-conscious and shy. Standing, I slowly walked across the room toward her. I didn’t stop until we were toe to toe. I put my hands on her waist and leaned my forehead against hers.
“Sweetheart, you are going to blow them all away no matter what you wear.”
“Oh, stop,” she said softly, playfully. “I want to look nice without looking like I was trying too hard.”
The chuckle came out before I could stop it. I pulled back just in time to see her pout. Reaching up I skimmed my knuckled across her cheek. “You’re beautiful,” I said as I looked at her. “Absolutely perfect.”
And it was the truth.
“Cole,” she said shyly.
How could she not know? Slowly, gently, I let my hands cup her face so she had no choice but to look at me. “It’s the truth, Eve. Every time I look at you—and it doesn’t matter if you’re dressed for an event or we’re sitting on the couch watching TV—you take my breath away.”
Her eyes went a little wide at my admission. “Oh.”
I scanned her face. It was burned in my memory and yet I couldn’t ever seem to make myself stop looking at her. “I still can’t believe that someone like you could ever want someone like me.”
“You underestimate yourself. I think you’re pretty amazing too.”
And that made me smile. She was always saying things to build up my self-confidence. Me. The guy who pretty much seemed like the most confident guy in the world to outsiders, still struggled with actually feeling it. It didn’t matter what she was doing—what was going on with her day—she always managed to find time to leave me a note or send me a text just to tell me that she was proud of me or was thinking of me.
If it was possible, I think I actually blushed.
She started to step back. “I should probably finish getting—”
“I love you,” I blurted out.
She froze. “What?”
I had no idea I was even going to say that to her, and yet now that I had, it felt good. Right. “I said...I love you.” I took my own step back and looked down at my shoes. “You...you know you don’t have to say it back or anything.” I looked back up at her. “I just wanted you to know how I felt.”
A slow smile crossed her face as she closed the distance between us. “I love you too.”
It was the most natural thing in the world to pull her into my embrace and kiss her. I poured everything I felt for her into it and was rewarded with her matching me in enthusiasm. Reaching down, I began to hike up her skirt and back her up against the wall.
“Cole,” she said as she felt the wall behind her. “We can’t. Your friends—”
“Will completely understand,” I murmured, trailing kisses along the column of her throat, loving the sounds she was making.
“No,” she said and somehow managed to step away from me. “It took me a long time to find the right thing to wear, and I can’t have you messing that up.” She turned toward the bedroom and then gave me a sassy look over her shoulder. “But you can be damn sure I’ll let you mess me up when we get home later.”
Deal.
***
I thought it was going to be weird.
Actually, we all had.
Well, me, Levi, Declan and Sebastian.
While we always enjoyed hanging out just the four of us, we also enjoyed just hanging out with our significant others. The thought of the eight of us going out just seemed...I don’t know...strange.
Our time together with just the guys was kind of sacred. It was our time to just be ourselves, talk business and relax. The time with the women was completely different.
And none of anyone’s damn business.
The bar we chose was one that we often went to. The only difference was that now we were in one of those big booths along the perimeter of the room rather than a small table near the middle. I guess it worked out better because Eve got recognized everywhere we went, and having a little privacy so she can enjoy her night was a definite good thing.
“Is this the first time you’re out without the baby?” Kristin asked Harper.
“Kind of. We’ve left him with my parents and with Levi’s so we can go out for dinner, but this time we’re letting my parents keep him over night.” She turned and gave Levi a knowing smile. “We’re looking forward to having a night to ourselves.”
Levi laughed. “Don’t let her fool you. We’re looking forward to a good night’s sleep.” He took a drink of his beer. “I still can’t believe that he wakes up so much and how disruptive he is.”
Harper elbowed him in the ribs. “Please. That’s because, when it’s your turn to get up, you make enough noise to wake up an army just so I’ll get up and help you!”
He didn’t even try to argue. “Guilty,” he said with a grin and draped his arm around his wife’s shoulders. “What about you guys?” he asked the group as a whole. “Who’s up next for this parenthood thing?”
“Hey, don’t go pushing your misery on the rest of us,” Sebastian said with a laugh of his own. “Our wedding is only a month away, and we want to have some time to ourselves before we take on even thinking about kids.”
“There’s not that much of a difference,” Kristin chimed in.
“Hey!” Declan declared, placing a hand over his heart as if he were wounded. “I take offense to that.”
“Oh, please,” she said. “I have a daughter and—”
“We,” he corrected. “We have a daughter.”
Kristin blushed. “Okay, we have a daughter. But dealing with you sometimes isn’t much different than dealing with Lily.”
Declan went to correct her, but we were all laughing and joking, and he soon realized that it was pointless to argue.
This was good. The laughter. The teasing. The lightness. For far too long we had all been too serious. Too focused on the past or on the complexity of cases we were working on. Which was what made me ask, “So what’s next on the calendar? What is everyone going to be working on?”
Levi put his drink down. “Actually, we’ve got a lot of strong applicants waiting for placement. We’ve got a decent bunch now and a fairly full caseload. I’m thinking that—if you’re all agreeable—we could quite easily step back into mentor positions. You know, not have to be working the cases directly.”
“So, what? We’re just sitting at desks now?” I asked. “That doesn’t seem right.”
Levi shrugged. “It doesn’t have to be that way. But with you being based in New York now, and Harper and I staying in Virginia, and Sebastian and Ali deciding to be in D.C., it just seemed like we can branch out a little. We can work on training and really get this company to branch out in ways that others haven’t.”
Declan cleared his throat. “I, um, I noticed you didn’t mention Kristin and I during that whole thing.”
“I figured you’d want to tell them,” Levi said.
Looking at each of us before taking Kristin’s hand, Declan said, “Actually, Kristin and I are looking at moving up to New England. Getting a fresh start with our lives. So basically, I could start up a branch up there too.”
And then everyone was talking again.
“That will make it a little bit harder for us to get together for drinks,” I said.
“Yeah, but I think we’re all in a good place right now, and it will make the time when we actually can get together that much better,” Declan said.
“Here, here,” Levi and Sebastian added.
I knew it was the truth, but a part of me was a little sad. These were my friends, my brothers, my family. Ever since I moved to New York to be with Eve, I had missed them—the time that we’d normally spend together. But it was time. Declan had the right idea. It was time for a fresh start, and maybe that all began with each of us learning to rely a little more on ourselves rather than one another.
Together we were great. Almost unstoppable.
But with the women who were now part of our lives?
We were the best.
We were home.
Placing my arm around Eve, I reached for my glass with my other hand. “I’d like to propose a toast.” I waited for everyone to raise their glasses. “To the future. We’ve traveled a long road together—not all of it was good—but I know that I am a better man for just knowing all of you.”
Before we could clink glasses, Sebastian cleared his throat. “To the business that has not only brought us financial security and success, but also to the women we love.”
“And to the families we now have because of them,” Declan added.
As our glasses drew close, Levi stopped. “And to the man who really made all of this possible.” He stopped as emotion clogged his throat. “To Gavin.”
“To Gavin.”
***
If you enjoyed Home Bound and you haven’t yet read the other books, you might enjoy the first book of the Protector’s series, Duty Bound (Levi and Harper’s book). You can check out the excerpt from Duty Bound on the next pages.
Excerpt from Duty Bound
As soon as I put weight on my ankle, my leg buckled, and Levi had to catch me around the waist.
I should have objected to the arrangement, but I couldn’t help but like the feel of his strong arm around me, the way I had to lean against his big, hard body.
“What’s the matter?” he asked.
“Twisted my ankle. It’s probably not too bad.”
“Can you walk?”
“I think so.” I put weight on the ankle again, and it hurt like hell, but I didn’t flinch this time.
All my life, I never liked for other people to see when I was hurt.
He sighed loudly and reached out to support me once more. “Why do you have to be so damn stubborn?”
“And why do you have to be so damn arrogant?” I bit out, immediately riling up at his exasperated tone. I tried to pull away from it, but it wasn’t a smart maneuver, since I put too much weight on my twisted ankle. The shot of pain ran through me, stealing my breath.
Down I almost went again.
Levi caught me before I did, and I manfully resisted the desire to jerk away from his arm.
“Can I at least help you get home?” The words were polite and conciliatory, but his tone was not. “Do you think you could put aside your dislike of me at least long enough for me to do that?”
So my first instinct was to snap his head off, but he did have a very small point. It was going to be very hard for me to hobble to my car and then drive home in my current condition. I could probably have done it, but it would take a lot longer and be rather painful.
“Fine,” I muttered. “Thanks.”
“Try not to sound so grateful.” Despite his sarcasm, he was actually being quite helpful, in that he’d already managed to get me moving toward my car. He was supporting quite a bit of my weight, and I was hopping one-legged to make myself feel like I was doing some of the walking myself.
He brought me around to the passenger side of my car and helped me in. As he was leaning over, I felt another sudden surge of attraction.
His face was so close, and his body was right there in front of me. His hands were strong and gentle at the same time as he arranged me in the seat.
I didn’t need quite so much help in getting situated in the seat, but I didn’t really want him to pull away either.
Clearly, my mind was hopelessly disarranged by the fall and near disaster.
He didn’t pull away when I expected, and I started to feel flustered again by his closeness and my response to it. So I said, “I think I’ll be okay just sitting here.”
His eyes lifted to my face, and the dark brown of his looked like melting chocolate. “You think?”
There was irony in his tone, but he still wasn’t pulling away. “Yeah. I’m sure I could drive home if you’d—“
“I’m not going to leave you to drive home with a sprained ankle.”
“I don’t think it’s really sprained.” When he started to move down to examine my ankle, I added, “You don’t have to mess with that here. Just get me home.”
His eyes moved back up to my face.
“Sorry,” I mumbled. “I appreciate your help.”
I’d appreciate it more if he’d back off a little so I didn’t feel so much like grabbing and kissing him.
He reached up toward my face, and my breath hitched, since it seemed like he was going to cup my cheek. Instead, he stroked a hand down my hair, which had messily slipped out of the clip I’d twisted it up with.
I stared at him like an idiot.
“You had dirt in your hair,” he explained, his eyes still warm and sweet like before, but also with a flicker of humor.
***
You can find out more about Duty Bound here.
About Noelle Adams
Noelle handwrote her first romance novel in a spiral-bound notebook when she was twelve, and she hasn’t stopped writing since. She has lived in eight different states and currently resides in Virginia, where she reads any book she can get her h
ands on, and offers tribute to a very spoiled cocker spaniel.
She loves travel, art, history, and ice cream. After spending far too many years of her life in graduate school, she has decided to reorient her priorities and focus on writing contemporary romances. For more information, please check out her website: noelle-adams.com.
Other Books by Noelle Adams
One Hot Night: Three Contemporary Romance Novellas
A Negotiated Marriage
Listed
Bittersweet
Missing
Revival
Seducing the Enemy
Playing the Playboy
Holiday Heat
Married for Christmas
Salvation
Engaging the Boss
Excavated
A Baby for Easter
Duty Bound
Overexposed
Honor Bound
Road Tripping
One Night with her Boss
Stripping the Billionaire
Forever Bound
A Family for Christmas
One Night with her Roommate
Reconciled for Easter
One Night with the Best Man
About Samantha Chase
New York Times and USA Today Bestseller/contemporary romance writer Samantha Chase released her debut novel, Jordan's Return, in November 2011. Although she waited until she was in her 40's to publish for the first time, writing has been a lifelong passion. Her motivation to take that step was her students: teaching creative writing to elementary age students all the way up through high school and encouraging those students to follow their writing dreams gave Samantha the confidence to take that step as well.
When she's not working on a new story, she spends her time reading contemporary romances, blogging, playing way too many games of Scrabble on Facebook and spending time with her husband of 25 years and their two sons in North Carolina. For more information visit her website at www.chasing-romance.com.
Other Books by Samantha Chase
Jordan’s Return
The Christmas Cottage
Ever After
Catering to the CEO
Home Bound Page 17