by Marie Force
She wouldn’t know what that was like because she’d never even been on a date. Sure, she’d been asked plenty of times, but she always said no. How was she to know if that perfectly nice drug rep who’d come to the doctor’s office where she worked would turn into an abusive monster the minute he had her under his thumb?
It was easier to say no than it was to take that kind of gamble. Except… Last night, watching Owen dance with Laura, seeing the love they had for each other, knowing what they’d been through to get to this day, realizing he hadn’t let fear rule him… Katie had begun to wonder if the fortress she’d erected around herself was keeping the heartache out or trapping it inside.
She suspected the latter. As long as she kept the doors and windows locked, nothing could get in, but nothing could get out either. And now that her father was gone from their lives forever, now that he would be locked away and made to pay for what he’d done, perhaps now…
“No,” she said emphatically. “Absolutely not. Just because he’s out of the picture doesn’t mean his kind aren’t still out there looking for their next victim.” She said the words out loud, hoping they’d permeate the unreasonable longing her brother’s wedding had generated in her. She wanted what he and Laura had. Anyone would, especially a thirty-two-year-old woman who’d never been kissed.
Her thoughts wandered back to Laura’s ridiculously handsome brother who had saved her life and stared at her breasts like a hungry man who’d just found a thick, juicy steak. The memory of his hands on her, bringing her back to life after the near miss, carrying her up the stairs when her legs had been too unsteady to hold her… She trembled, with embarrassment now, as she recalled the heat in Shane’s eyes when he’d stared at her bare breasts as if he’d never seen breasts before.
And then later, in the white shirt he’d worn to the wedding that had offset his deep tan and the blond sun streaks in his hair. The way he’d looked at her, as if trying to forget he’d seen parts of her that no man had ever seen, not that he could possibly know that.
Her nipples tightened under the lightweight T-shirt she’d slept in, making her squirm in her bed, trying to get comfortable. A needy ache between her legs took her by surprise, reminding her that while she might’ve sworn off men forever, she was still a young, healthy woman who had no control over her body’s decision to rebel.
She tamped down those urges the way she always had, determined to steer clear of men and all the trouble that came with them. Her brother’s wedding had shown her what she might be missing, but it hadn’t made her forget the many reasons she’d taken this path to begin with.
Katie would never forget her upbringing at the mercy of a violent, unpredictable man and couldn’t risk letting that nightmare back into her life—even if it meant spending the rest of that life alone.
Chapter 2
Waking as a married man for the first time, Owen Lawry experienced a feeling of pure contentment and relief. The contentment came from having his new wife sleeping naked in his arms. The relief was because he could now finally admit he’d been waiting for something to go wrong.
He’d worried about his father’s trial somehow derailing their plans. He’d worried Laura would wise up and realize she could do better. He’d worried about… well, everything. But none of the things he’d worried about had come to fruition, and now he was married to the only woman he’d ever loved, with twins on the way and her son, Holden, in Owen’s life to stay.
Speaking of Holden, they needed to get up and get going to relieve Uncle Shane, who’d been good enough to spend the night with the baby so they could have their wedding night to themselves.
Owen began kissing Laura’s back, starting at her shoulder and working his way down.
“Mmm, is that my husband trying to wake me up?”
“Who else would it be?”
Her soft, sleepy laughter was an immediate turn-on, although everything about her turned him on, from her blonde hair to her blue eyes to her gorgeous breasts and the belly that was just starting to protrude with pregnancy. He adored every perfect inch of her.
“What time is it?”
“Just after nine.”
She jolted. “Holden.”
“Is with Shane, who would’ve called if he couldn’t handle the morning routine.”
Laura relaxed, but only slightly. “We should get going.”
“We have an hour until brunch.”
“A whole hour?”
“Sixty minutes to do whatever we want before we have to rejoin our lives already in progress.”
“Whatever shall we do?”
He nudged at her from behind. “I have a few ideas.”
Laughing, she said, “You always have that idea.”
“Never more so than right now. I’m so happy you’re finally my wife, and I get to keep you forever.”
She curled her hand around his, which was nestled right beneath her breast. “You got to keep me forever before vows were spoken. Yesterday was just a formality.”
“Still…”
Laura turned onto her back and looked up at him, propped on his hand as he gazed down at her. “Were you worried something would go wrong?”
He thought about dodging the question, but there was no dodging the honesty or the love he felt coming from her every time she looked at him. “A little.”
“Why?”
Owen felt stupid for letting his insecurities invade their first morning as a married couple. “Doesn’t matter now.”
“Yes, it does. Tell me.”
He blew out a deep breath and looked down at her, so perfectly beautiful and all his for the rest of his life. “I guess I still wonder how I got so lucky to find you, first of all, and then… That you fell in love with me. Still boggles my mind, Princess, even after all this time.”
She reached for him, and he went willingly into her loving embrace. “You know when I fell in love with you?”
“When?” He already knew, of course, but he loved to hear her tell him anyway.
“The first time you picked me up off the bathroom floor when I was so sick with Holden. There I was, pregnant with another man’s child, and you took care of me like the baby was yours, like I was yours.”
“You were already mine. Both of you were. You just didn’t know it yet.”
“And you were already mine. I love you as much as you love me, and I want you to have faith in that—always.”
“I do.”
“So you said yesterday.”
He laughed at the witty comment that was so in keeping with who she was. She made him laugh every day. She made him think. She made him want like he’d never wanted anything or anyone.
“Please don’t worry about something going wrong between us. You’re stuck with me forever.”
“Never been happier to be stuck with anyone.”
Her lips lifted into the sexy, sultry smile he loved so much. “Is that right?”
“You know it.”
“How about you prove it.”
“Haven’t I already proven it multiple times?”
“I’m not yet fully convinced.”
“In that case…” He began at her neck, kissing her until she squirmed under him, aroused as always by any attention he paid to that area. Moving down, he focused next on her breasts with gentle strokes of his tongue to her nipples that had her moaning and arching her hips. “So sensitive when you’re pregnant. I love it.”
“I honestly think I could come from that alone.”
“Want to try?”
“Not this time, but maybe next time.”
“Ah, something to look forward to.”
Her fingers combed through his hair, always trying to bring order to shaggy locks that refused to be tamed.
Owen kissed the small bump protruding from her belly. Their babies were in there, getting bigger and stronger every day, and he was counting down the days until they got to meet them. He settled between her legs, propping them on his shoulders and ensuring he
r comfort before he opened her to his tongue.
Her sharp gasp of pleasure was nearly his undoing. She was always so responsive to him, so willing, so loving. And she wondered why he felt incredibly lucky to have earned her love. How could he not feel lucky to be married to such an amazing woman who was beautiful inside and out, not to mention strong, resilient and incredibly joyful? Her infectious joy had filled his life with the kind of happiness that had eluded him before her.
He stroked her with his tongue and slid his fingers into her, aided by the flood of moisture between her legs.
“Owen,” she said, panting, “come up here. I want you.”
“Not yet.” He redoubled his efforts, not letting up until she came with the sharp cry of pleasure he lived for. Then he moved up, kissing her as he went.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and drew him into a deep, passionate kiss. He never broke the kiss when he took himself in hand and began to push into her, moving slowly to give her time to accommodate him. Going slow when she was hot and wet and tight around him was the purest, sweetest form of torture he’d ever known.
Laura broke the kiss and drew in a deep breath. “So much more than your share.”
“There it is! Every time.”
She smiled up at him. “It’s tradition now.”
Owen hooked his arm under her leg and bent it toward her chest, mindful of the babies who rested between them. The new position opened her and eased his entry. “Ah, God, Laura… So good. Always so good.”
“Owen…”
“What, honey?”
“I need you to move.”
“Are you sure? Are you sore from last night?”
“A little. Doesn’t hurt, though.” She cupped his ass and pulled him deeper into her, a move that made him see stars.
“Christ,” he whispered. “You almost finished me off with that maneuver.”
She giggled softly, and he melted on the inside. He loved the way they laughed all the time, even when making love. “Give me what I want. I’m your wife, and you have to obey me.”
“Oh damn, what’ve I signed on for?”
“A lifetime as my sex slave.”
“I can live with that.” He picked up the pace but kept a tight rein on the desire pounding through him as he lived in mortal fear of ever hurting her. He’d rather die than do anything to cause her pain of any kind.
“Yes.” She moaned and arched into him. “Like that.”
She brought him right to the brink with the way she moved and the way she sighed and moaned and gripped him from the inside. This was going to be fast, and he wanted to make sure she was with him, so he reached down to where they were joined, pressed his fingers to her clit and watched her ignite under him. That was all it took to finish him off, too.
Because he was so much bigger than she was, he didn’t dare flop down on top of her. Rather, he used the last of his strength to turn them so she was sprawled on top of him, still impaled on him, still quivering from the force of her orgasm. Her hair was all over him, her hand resting on his heart and her legs tangled with his.
This, right here, was all he needed to be happy for the rest of his life. As long as he had her, he could get through anything that came his way. “I love you more than life itself, Laura Lawry.”
“Love you just as much, Owen. I always will.”
Sarah came awake slowly, uncertain at first where she was or why she was naked. And then the memories of the night before came flooding back to remind her that she was in Charlie’s bed, where they’d made love for the first time. And the second time… Which was why her body ached in a few places where it hadn’t ached in longer than she cared to remember.
Her skin flushed and tingled with heat as she recalled the passion she’d experienced in Charlie’s arms. Sarah’s quiet, sweet fiancé had shown her a side of himself she hadn’t known existed until he got her in his bed.
Thinking about the discoveries she’d made not only about him but also about herself had her blushing from head to toe, her eyes squeezed tightly closed in embarrassment. How would she ever face him in the bright light of day after the way she’d behaved?
The brush of his lips over her forehead let her know she was no longer alone with her salacious thoughts.
“Good morning.”
“Mmm, morning.” She couldn’t bring herself to look at him, so she kept her eyes tightly closed.
“I come bearing gifts.”
“Is that coffee I smell?”
“It is indeed, but you have to actually look at me before you can have it.”
“I can’t look at you. I might never be able to look at you again.”
His bark of laughter rang through the room.
Sarah raised the covers up and over her head.
“Now you’re just begging me to come in there to find you.” His hand sneaked under the covers, and naturally, the first thing he encountered was her bare breast.
Sarah gasped from the painful pleasure when he rolled her sore nipple between his fingers, sparking a throb between her legs. How was it possible that she could want more already? “Charlie…”
“Hmm?”
“I can’t…”
“Yes, you can.”
“No, I really can’t.”
“Have I ever told you how much I love a challenge?”
Before she could begin to formulate a reply to that, he was under the covers with her, drawing her nipple into the heat of his mouth with gentle tugs and soft strokes of his tongue.
Sarah wrapped her arms around his head, holding him to her chest even when she knew she ought to be pushing him away. Her body couldn’t take any more of his brand of passion. But even as she had the thought, her legs were wrapping around his narrow hips as he pressed his erection against her aching core.
As the mother of seven, she’d certainly had her share of sex. But there was no comparison whatsoever to what she’d done with her ex-husband and what she was apparently about to do again with Charlie.
“I won’t be able to walk for a week,” she said in a protest that sounded less than convincing even to her.
“Yes, you will. I’ll go easy.”
“You don’t know how to go easy.”
“It’s you… You make me crazy.”
“How do I make you crazy?”
“The way you look at me and the things you say to me and the way you want to take care of me. And then you get naked with me, and I can’t help that I want to devour you.”
Sarah finally opened her eyes and looked up at him in amazement. “Did you really ask me to marry you last night?”
“I really did, and you said yes, so you can’t take it back now.”
“I would never take it back.”
As he rocked his pelvis against hers, he cradled her head in his big hands and kissed her softly. “Your lips are swollen.”
“Gee, I wonder why?”
His face lifted into a grin full of male satisfaction.
“Don’t look so smug. You nearly broke me in half.”
He laughed again at the grimace she directed his way, but that didn’t stop him from pressing ever so gently into her. “I showed you hard and fast last night. Let me show you slow and sweet this morning.”
“I’m never going to survive you. Don’t you know I’m an old lady with seven grown children? I can’t be carrying on this way.”
“Yes,” he said with a low chuckle, “you can. And there’s nothing old about you. You’re beautiful and all mine.”
Sarah was mortified all over again when her eyes flooded with tears. Her emotions were hovering close to the surface after her son’s beautiful wedding and the life-changing night she’d spent with Charlie.
At the sight of her tears, Charlie froze. “Does it hurt, honey?”
“No. Well, sort of, but in a good way. Don’t stop.”
He kissed away the tear that rolled down her cheek. “Why the tears?”
“I’m so happy, Charlie. I had no idea that s
omething like this, like you, even existed.”
“Aw, baby, hearing you’re happy is all I need.” He continued to move slowly and carefully as he made love to her.
Sarah reached up for him and brought him down for another kiss. She’d waited a long time to kiss him, and now she was addicted to his kisses. Her fingers dug into the taut muscles on his back.
“That’s it,” he whispered gruffly against her lips. “Scratch my back like you did last night. I love that.”
“God, you turned me into a madwoman.”
“I love that, too.”
“You’re out to embarrass me to death, aren’t you?”
“No way. I’m out to love you until death do us part, starting right now.”
He picked up the pace, stealing the words from her lips, the thoughts from her brain and the breath from her lungs.
As an innkeeper for most of her adult life, Adele Kincaid was an early riser. Even years after she and her husband had retired to Florida, she was still, as Russ would say, “up with the roosters” every day.
Being here, back at the Sand & Surf Hotel she and Russ had owned for more than five decades, felt like being home. She’d forgotten how much she loved the old hotel, which had been brought lovingly back to life by Laura and Owen over the last year. Adele was so proud of what the two of them had accomplished here, and deeply thrilled to see the boy she’d loved so much all his life settled with a woman who not only loved him passionately but also suited him perfectly.
If anyone deserved that kind of love more than Owen, she’d be hard-pressed to name him or her. Well, except maybe for his mother, Sarah. Her daughter was happily in love with a wonderful man after living through a nightmare with her abusive ex-husband who was now going to jail, where he belonged.
When Adele thought about what Mark Lawry had put his family through… She was a peaceful woman, but left alone in a room with that monster, she might be tempted to commit murder. Each of the seven Lawry kids bore scars from their upbringing. Owen was the only one of them to find love and settle down. Adele hoped he would be the first of them to take a chance on love, not the last.